The Glory After Rebirth [重生之尊荣]

Chapter 373- 375

Chapter 373: Jiang Yu's Decision

Ling Zhang was shocked by Jiang Yu's words. Most importantly, he could tell that Jiang Yu meant every word he said.

"I don't need you to serve me heart and soul. You're a childe of the Jiang family. Why are you so insistent on being my attendant?" Ling Zhang was baffled.

Jiang Yu replied, "Firstly, I want to repay you for saving my life. Secondly, I trust you."

Trust him? Trust him to do what? Ling Zhang gazed at Jiang Yu, whose face manifestly registered determination. The tricky part was that the current situation struck him as a trifle thorny. By saying those words in the presence of all so many people, Jiang Yu had virtually humiliated himself numerous times, and he would become a laughing stock of the whole capital city the moment he walked out of this hall. He really didn't mind? Ling Zhang was really astounded by Jiang Yu's act. What would Jiang Yu have to face if he declined Jiang Yu's offer?

Ling Zhang felt somewhat awkward. He had merely saved Jiang Yu's life in passing, and after that Jiang Yu had stopped seeing him as an enemy and even forewarned him of the King Duan's trick once. He had thought that the two of them were even.

"What do you say?" Yuwen Tong asked Ling Zhang.

On hearing this question, Ling Zhang came to know Yuwen Tong's take on this matter. If Yuwen Tong didn't want him to agree to Jiang Yu's request, he would never have asked this question – he wouldn't even have summoned him to this hall. In other words, Yuwen Tong actually wanted him to grant Jiang Yu's request.

Ling Zhang was somewhat bewildered, but owing to his trust in Yuwen Tong, he hesitated for a brief moment and then looked at Jiang Yu. "I'll only ask you once – are you sure you've thought it through?"

"I am," answered Jiang Yu without a second thought.

Ling Zhang's eyes swept across all the others present in the hall and then said slowly, "Then get to your feet and come with me."

"Yes, Childe Ling. Thank you." A hint of delight appeared on Jiang Yu's face and Ling Zhang noticed it.

Yuwen Tong sitting in the throne, however, suddenly furrowed his brows, his piercing eyes flashing towards Jiang Yu, who sensed it but just glanced at Yuwen Tong in a seemingly unintentional way before following Ling Zhang out of the great hall.

Yuwen Tong's face fell.

After walking through the doors of the hall, Ling Zhang led Jiang Yu forward for a certain distance before he came to a halt and pivoted around to look at Jiang Yu. "Why are you doing this? I want to hear the truth," he said.

Jiang Yu gazed at him silently for quite a while and then replied, "I meant it when I said that I wanted to repay you. Apart from that, I'm also doing this for the Jiang family and my own aspirations."

Ling Zhang looked at him in bemusement. "Even if you want to restore the Jiang family's status, there's no need for you to go to such great lengths, and if you have some particular aspirations, it'd be yet another reason why you shouldn't ruin your career prospects."

Jiang Yu shook his head and replied, "No. Serving you will allow me more opportunity to realize my aspirations. You might feel that I'm being reckless, but like I said, I trust you."

"And that's all?" asked Ling Zhang.

Jiang Yu inclined his head. "That's all."

Ling Zhang stared at him for a long moment. "No. I think there's something you're not telling me."

Jiang Yu was astonished. Beneath Ling Zhang's gaze which was calm but penetrating, he suddenly gave a smile. "You're right. Returning the favor, revitalizing the Jiang family, fulfilling my aspirations – these are all just pretexts. I just... I don't know the reason either. If I must give one, I would say it's because of my curiosity. I'm uncontrollably curious about how far you could go. You'll have to face many knotty problems after you become the empress, and I want to know how you're going to tackle them. Also, I want very much to find out what kind of scenery you'd be seeing when you're at the top of the hierarchy. The decline of the Jiang family made a lot of things clearer to me. I loathe the official circles, but I have a craving to see the ebb and flow of those struggling in official circles. My thoughts sound quite contradictory, right?"