Book 17 Chapter 5 – Nurous Crafty and Fantastical Changes
Kou Zhong untied his horse from the nearby tree and rode speedily toward the appointed eting place with Song Jingang.
The situation on the street did not change, but he felt his interest was slightly waning.
In the end Wang Shichong could not beco a very capable man, all he could be was a local hegemon, unlike Li Mi, Li Shimin, and the likes, n who had qualifications to vie for the world. Even compared to Du Fuwei, he was still far behind. Although he could be considered a man full of scheming, but due to his stupid and cowardly attitude, it would be difficult for him to unleash his aspiration.
Currently Li Mi had hundreds, if not thousands, reasons to attack Luoyang, but with his amazing self-restraint, as long as he knew Wang Shichong was still in control of Luoyang’s general situation, he would not be willing to risk the danger.
Otherwise, even if he prevailed, Li Shimin’s main force would co from Guanxi in surprise attack, and it would be the mont Li Mi sounded the mourning bell. Li Mi would rather let Wang Shichong enjoy his power for a while longer, and used him to block Li Shimin, while giving his troops and generals the ti to recuperate as much as possible, while also recruit new soldiers and recover their strength.
Could it be that the plan to deal with Li Mi would fail through lack of a final effort? This kind of ‘losing what one has just obtained’ feeling was like knowing that the card in hand would definitely win, but the opponent suddenly threw his cards away indicating all bets are off; an extrely disappointing feeling.
Current situation in Luoyang might change any mont, and nobody knew what would happen the next ti such fantastical change occurred.
Tiele people retreated, Dugu Ba was killed; would the Dugu Clan bring about new deploynt?
In that instant, a divine light flashed in Kou Zhong’s mind; suddenly he understood everything clearly.
Based on Shen Luoyan’s loyalty and devotion to Li Mi, she could not possibly kill Dugu Ba for personal vendetta.
Just from the fact that Dugu Ba personally ca to Tiele people’s hideout, it was clear that within the Dugu Clan, Dugu Ba was not the one with close relationship with the Tieles. At most he was only in charge of threading a needle [fig. acting as a go-between].
Shen Luoyan killed him, it was precisely to disrupt the relationship between the Dugu Clan and the Tieles.
Ba Fenghan forced Qu Ao to leave, actually he was doing Li Mi a big favor.
Supposing he could tell the Dugu Clan who the real culprit that killed Dugu Ba was, what might happen?
Thinking to this point, he was dejected, because he knew the Dugu Clan would never believe him.
This mont his horse already reached the highest point on the Tianjian Bridge, and was starting to stroll down.
Although the street was full of pedestrians, vehicles and horses, yet Kou Zhong felt incomparable loneliness, as if he and the rest of the people lived in two separate worlds.
His train of thought shifted to Li Shimin.
Contrary to Kou Zhong’s expectation, Li Shimin’s power was indeed very strong. None of the martial art masters of the Heavenly Strategies Mansion was not intelligent and brave; any one of them could make people bag their food before they finished eating and leave.
And now Ba Fenghan was gone, the two boys’ strength was greatly diminished. Although their problem with Shi Feixuan was resolved, it was offset by similarly headache-inducing fallout with Li Shimin, so that he had a feeling that his life was hanging by the thread at all ti.
In this kind of situation, he considered whether he should withdraw imdiately, taking advantage while Li Shimin had not returned to Guanzhong, to get the ‘Duke Yang Treasure. Ever since his arrival in Luoyang, this was the very first ti that he had a strong desire to withdraw.
Thinking to this point, he fiercely clenched his teeth, and turned his horse around. He made up his mind to go to the Imperial City first to find Xu Xingzhi. The appointnt with Song Jingang was thrown to the back of his mind.
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“Xu Ziling!”
Xu Ziling closed the book up and put it inside his pocket. Without even looking back he spoke coldly, “How are you going to harm us this ti?”
Shen Luoyan ca to his side and gracefully sat down. She sighed and said, “How can Heaven play such trick on us, fitting you and I on hostile position against each other?”
She was wearing plain white clothes, and has beco so thin that within her lucid and elegant jade countenance, there was a hint of hard to describe lovely and touching charm.
Xu Ziling’s anger suddenly vanished away.
She was right; at the ti where the whole country was in rebellion, people of different parties fought desperately with all their wits and with all their strength, committing all manner of cris, just like people on the gambling table, each one desperately want to win all the other people’s money into his own pocket. There really was nothing surprising about it.
“Let’s go!” Shen Luoyan spoke indifferently, “Wang Shichong’s days are numbered; if you wait too long, you might not be able to leave at all.”
Xu Ziling was still pondering the new astronomy knowledge he had just obtained from Lu Miaozi’s legacy just now; his mind was peaceful, his thinking clear and bright. He spoke calmly, “Tell , how can I tell whether your suggestion is malicious or co from your kindness?”
Shen Luoyan faintly said, “Let tell you sothing: Dugu Ba’s body has been discovered. From the bruises on his body, they were able to ascertain that it was you and Ba Fenghan who did this.”
Xu Ziling was slightly stunned, but imdiately ca to see the truth. Smiling ruefully, he said, “What an excellent plan to shift the bla onto soone else!”
Seeing he did not suddenly flare up in fury, Shen Luoyan was greatly surprised. It was quite half a day later that she hung her head down and spoke in low voice, “Each ti I am harming you, the pain in my heart is really sothing that I do not need to tell others. Do you understand? You had better go!”
Xu Ziling sensed sothing was really wrong, but did not know where the problem was.
If Shen Luoyan were not confident that in the battle over the Eastern Capital they would surely win, she would not have spoken to him in such tone and deanor.
Intuitively he felt that she has been going through an internal struggle before coming to urge him to leave; in no way would she let him know about their conspiracy.
If the Dugu Clan would recklessly avenge Dugu Ba’s death, while the two boys were completely unprepared, Kou Zhong and his little lives would certainly be as precarious as a pile of eggs.
Shen Luoyan raised her face and gazed deeply into his eyes; she said, “I have said what I wanted to say! I even said what I wasn’t supposed to say, a leader can submit or can stand tall as required. Ziling, take care of yourself!”
The last sentence was spoken with a voice as soft as mosquito; finished speaking, Shen Luoyan left as if she wanted to escape with her life.
Xu Ziling stood up suddenly and took a deep breath.
The only thing he had to do right now was to find Kou Zhong to see how they were going to deal with the Dugu Clan’s raging temper.
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Kou Zhong was still thinking about how to find Xu Xingzhi without attracting undue attention when Song ngqiu called him from behind, “Kou Xiongdi, Shangshu Daren is looking for you.”
Kou Zhong stopped in front of the flight of steps in front of Shangshu Mansion’s main gate. Turning around and saluted, he said, “General Song must be very busy these past couple of days, otherwise how can I have a feeling that I haven’t seen General Song for a long ti?”
Song ngqiu ca to his side and pulled his hand inside; it was only after they passed the main entrance that he halted his steps and said, “These days we don’t even have ti to sleep, therefore, even Shangshu Daren needs to find sothing to help him relax.”
Even from the beginning Kou Zhong did not have too good of an impression on this man; he always felt that he was slick and sly, a hypocrite whose mouth did not agree with his heart. However, in order to find Xu Xingzhi, he thought that ever since he started, there has never been a better way than to ask Wang Shichong directly; therefore, without any choice he said perfunctorily, “I really can’t imagine what can make us, these bunch of n without any good night’s sleep, to forget our worry and not to think over our anxiety.”
Acting mysterious, Song ngqiu leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Won, of course. Not only that, this is the most attractive beauty. Her voice, appearance, all kind of arts, and her beauty could make a man forget his old man’s surna.”
Kou Zhong nearly forgot Xu Xingzhi; greatly amazed, he asked, “Whose family’s beauty has this kind of charm and power?”
Song ngqiu replied with glee, “Naturally it’s the number one courtesan under the heavens, Shang Xiufang. Other than she, who else is worthy to be reputed as the number one voice, appearance, and all kind of arts?”
‘Turns out it is she,’ Kou Zhong mused inwardly.
The first ti Fu Qian challenged Qu Ao for a duel at Man Qing Yuan, Wang Bo was inviting her to perform her art in public, but he, along with Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan, ssed it up.
Also, because they were taking Shangguan Long away, they did not have the good luck of seeing her; they weren’t even sure whether she did perform or not. Thinking about it, he was amused.
Song ngqiu proudly said, “Wang Daren knew that after performing on stage for Rong Fengxiang tomorrow evening, she is going to enter Guanzhong. Therefore, with thousand ways, a hundred plans he is inviting her. He even prepared two banquet tables, hence he urged us to find you to join the fun.”
Stroking his tummy, Kou Zhong said, “What ti is it now? I have just had my fill of food and wine; I would be powerless to stuff my tummy with more than half stead bun.”
Naturally Song ngqiu did not know that he was thinking of taking advantage while Wang Shichong was too busy for him to look for Xu Xingzhi. Laughing involuntarily, he said, “Kou Xiongdi must be joking. How could a wine lover thinking about the food [to accompany the wine]? Shang Beauty loves to take a nap is well-known, hence if we want to invite her, we can do so only after wei hour [1-3 pm]. Co!”
Kou Zhong only followed him for two steps before stopping; he said, “I want to go to the toilet first. Otherwise, after taking a seat and looking at the exquisite choices, if I wanted to leave, it would be very difficult to leave. It would be extrely awkward. Ha!”
Song ngqiu had no choice but to nod and said, “I’ll see you later then!”
Kou Zhong cried inwardly, ‘Heaven helps !’ and went away quickly.
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Xu Ziling walked over to his horse; while stroking the horse’s neck tenderly, he pondered on how to find Kou Zhong.
If he wanted to look for Kou Zhong, first of all, he had to find out where Song Jingang was staying in Luoyang. To do this, his only choice was to contact Green Snake Gang’s Ren En. In Luoyang, he had a better chance than Xu Ziling.
While he was about to leap onto the horse’s back, soone was coming rapidly toward him.
Xu Ziling turned his head to look, and saw a skinny young man wearing servants attire, coming directly at him from a distance; his delicate features were sowhat familiar-looking, but montarily he could not rember where he had seen this person.
The young man revealed a friendly smile, but did not say anything until he was right by Xu Ziling’s side, “Xu Ye don’t rember Tongtong? The other day when Xu Ye t with Commander Liu, I was the one pouring tea for you!”
Now Xu Ziling rembered that after eting Liu Heita again, in the house where Liu Heita was staying he saw a delicate and pretty woman Tongtong [see Book 13 Chapter 1]. It’s just that now she was wearing n’s attire, hence montarily he could not rember. Otherwise, with his highly retentive mory, how could he forget?
Speaking about beauty, naturally she could not surpass Shen Luoyan, Song Yuzhi, that kind of beauty who can overturn a country, but in term of simple beauty, she was cheerful and pleasant, giving others the impression that she was candid and friendly. She had different and distinct personality traits.
Smiling, Xu Ziling said, “Your disguise skill, was it taught by Zhuge Dewei Xiong personally? There is no woman-dressed-as-a-man flaw at all. I still rember Liu Dage praised your exceptional flying blade skill.”
Tongtong’s pair of clear and pretty, beautiful eyes lit up. She said delightedly, “It’s hard to imagine Xu Ye to be this unassuming. When I saw you the first ti, I was a bit afraid of you!”
Taken aback, Xu Ziling asked, “What’s so scary about ?”
Tongtong excitedly replied, “Not really scared, just felt that Xu Ye was that kind of n who don’t like to talk, an aloof man who always keep a distance from other people, that kind of man. You know! Xu Ye’s fa is so great!”
Her naivete evoked Xu Ziling’s childish heart; he laughed and said, “That was because I was pretending to be a tiger to scare the little girl.”
And then he frowned and said, “Didn’t you co with Liu Dage back to the north? Leaving you here is too dangerous.”
Only this mont Tongtong seed to rember what she wanted to do. She said, “This place is too exposed, could Xu Ye co with Tongtong to speak elsewhere?”
First of all, Xu Ziling did not have the heart to refuse this delicate and pretty beauty; secondly, he thought that maybe he could find out Song Jingang’s place from her. Thereupon he nodded and said, “No problem. But I do have an important matter I have to take care, so I can’t waste too much ti.”
Tongtong was excited, “It will take but a mont,” she said, “You can leave the horse here, we have soone to look after it for you.”
Hearing her last sentence, Xu Ziling imdiately knew that she did not remain in Luoyang alone; hence he gladly ca with her.
※ ※ ※
Kou Zhong arrived at the door of the room where the feast was being held inside the Shangshu Mansion; he sighed inwardly first before stepping inside.
The guards saluted solemnly.
He had spent so ti crashing to the east and breaking through the west and asked nearly everybody he t along the way until he finally learned from the mouth of a young pretty maid’s mouth that Xu Xingzhi was participating in the late afternoon luncheon.
If it were before, he would be happy for the benefit of Xu Xingzhi receiving Wang Shichong’s favor; but now that in his heart he was already thinking of sounding the retreating drums after the initial success, this situation could only increase his worries.
Even if he found a way to communicate his decision to Xu Xingzhi, the two of them leaving the banquet together, or even one after another, would be very inappropriate.
The hall was indeed setup with two banquet tables, arranged side by side at the southern end of the hall, and this mont all seats were nearly taken.
On the east side of this gorgeous hall, about a dozen n and won that looked like musicians were sitting solemnly, waiting respectfully. Obviously this was the ensemble to accompany Shang Xiufang later.
Including the servants and maids, there were nearly fifty people in the hall, but most of them were quiet. Several people around the banquet table were chatting and joking, but they also kept their voices down. The ambience was that of a formal governntal dinner party.
Kou Zhong’s arrival imdiately attracted everyone’s attention. Wang Shichong, sitting on the head of the table, laughed aloud and said, “Mr. Kou, please co over here!”
It seed to be the very first ti that Kou Zhong was addressed as a ‘Mister’. Imdiately he had goose bumps all over, from head to toes. While exchanging greetings and saying hello to everyone, he stole a quick glance toward the other table and signaled with his eyes to Xu Xingzhi – it was unclear whether the ssage was understood or not – before walking over to Wang Shichong’s seat.
Eight out of ten people sitting around the main banquet table were old acquaintances, there were only two n that he did not recognize, but he did not see either Shang Xiufang or Dong Shuni.
Wang Shichong ordered the servant to pull a seat separated by one empty chair from his own while quipping, “I thought you were going to miss out on this distinguished eting. Seeing you so destined, I’ll bestow you this dragon seat next to the phoenix seat, a pavilion near the water [fig. using one’s proximity to the powerful to obtain favor]; what cos next will have to rely on your luck!”
Other than Linglong Jiao, everybody, especially the n, around the table let out an uncertain laughter, even Ouyang Xiyi.
Wang Shichong’s move could be considered giving Kou Zhong enough face. But since Kou Zhong repeatedly rendered outstanding service, plus his capacity as an honored guest, plus considering his soaring prestige in Luoyang recently, nobody thought Wang Shichong’s arrangent to be inappropriate.
As soon as he took his seat, Kou Zhong pretended to grumble, “Apparently Wanggong is not such a true friend; if Wanggong had been willing to tell early this morning that we are going to see Miss Shang, even if Dugu Feng [peak] had his entire family, young and old, blocking the entrance of the Imperial City, I would have fought my way in!”
His remark imdiately provoked hoots of laughter, breaking the previously solemn atmosphere.
Perhaps Wang Shichong’s mood was extrely good that day; he sighed dramatically and said, “Xiao Zhong, you did not know this, but it was only about one sichen ago that Miss Xiufang notified that she is willing to attend the banquet. Tell , if you wanted to inform you early this morning, what do you want to say?”
Amidst the agreeing laughter, Wang Xuanying, who sat opposite to Kou Zhong, spoke cheerfully, “Die’s face right now is brighter than the sky; originally Miss Xiufang ca to the Eastern Capital this ti, she was only willing to perform twice, so everybody else was rejected. But this ti she made an exception. I am so sure that we will incur a lot of people’s envy!”
It was only then did Kou Zhong know that Shang Xiufang put on such air; he could not help feeling curious and wanted to have a glimpse of her fragrant countenance.
Hearing his son flattering his old man, Wang Shichong was greatly comforted; he said, “Speaking of which, I nearly forget to draw Mr. Kou’s attention.”
And so he introduced the two n, which were the Xianzhou’s Zongguan [lit. chief manager] Tian Zan and Guanzhou’s Zongguan Yang Qing, two of Wang Shichong’s right hand n who were stationed at the townships outside Luoyang.
Naturally these two did not co here to listen to the performance. Clearly Wang Shichong was constantly summoning his subordinates and deploying his troops everywhere.
Other people around the banquet table consisted of Wang Xuanshu, Wang Honglie, Wang Xingben, Linglong Jiao, Yang Gongqing, and Lang Feng. With Shang Xiufang, who has not arrived yet, altogether there were exactly 12 people. [I think Huang Yi miscounted; I counted 13.]
But he did not see [Taoist] Priest Ke Feng and Zhang Zhenzhou.
The forr probably was unwilling to attend such a sensual event, and the latter probably has already left the Eastern Capital, leading so military operation elsewhere.
The other banquet table was for second rate officials and aids and advisors to top officials such as Xu Xingzhi and the likes. Kou Zhong knew several, hence he nodded and greeted them.
Seeing Wang Shichong was speaking in low voice with Yang Gongqing, who sat next to him, Ouyang Xiyi, who sat next to Kou Zhong, leaned over slightly and said, “How would Zhong Xiao Xiong thank ?”
Taken aback, Kou Zhong asked, “What good thing did Qianbei do for this kid?”
Ouyang Xiyi laughed and said, “It was Laofu [old man] who made arrangent of your seat. Tell , shouldn’t you thank ?”
A warm feeling burst forth in Kou Zhong’s heart; this senior martial art master has always taken a good care of him as much as he could, promptly he expressed his gratitude.
The ensemble suddenly played their string and wind instrunts; lodious music reverberated around the banquet hall.
Shang Xiufang finally arrived.
※ ※ ※
Xu Ziling and Tongtong went through the store and back to the house where he and Liu Heita had their eting the other day.
After being seated, Tongtong served him fragrant tea, and sat next to him. “About Dugu Ba, did Xu Ye do it?”
Xu Ziling smiled wryly and said, “I originally wanted to take care of him, but the one actually doing it was soone else. But now it does not matter anymore.”
Tongtong nonchalantly said, “Dugu Ba’s stinky reputation spread far and wide, the news of his death is actually to the satisfaction of everyone. But the strangest thing about this matter is that for so reason Dugu Feng [peak] seems make notable move, so that I beco even more anxious for Xu Ye.”
The sothing-was-amiss feeling in Xu Ziling’s heart was getting more intense.
What exactly was the reason that the hot-tempered You Chuhong was driven to seize control over this matter? If he could not see through the enemy’s move, he and Kou Zhong might suffer a crushing defeat.
“When did they find Dugu Ba’s body?” he asked in heavy voice.
“Ought to be around the third watch of the night [11pm – 1am] last night,” Tongtong replied, “His body was discovered by the patrolling troops, it was hanging from the Tianjin Bridge.”
Xu Ziling was shocked. Shen Luoyan’s thod of shifting the bla onto soone else was indeed very sinister. Anybody would think that they deliberately hung the corpse like this as a retaliation of getting besieged on the Bridge the previous night.
Tongtong added, “They also said that if you don’t die, then I perish. It would be best if Xu Ye and Kou Ye gain the initiative by striking first, otherwise you will get the worst of it.”
Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “I was going to look for Kou Zhong to discuss this exact matter. Do you happen to know where Song Jingang stays?”
Tongtong nodded, and promptly told him the address.
Amazed, Xu Ziling said, “You really have a fast and abundant news network.”
Utterly delighted, Tongtong said, “This is precisely our mission in staying in this place. There’s another important information Xu Ye needs to know: we are suspecting that soone of Wang Shichong’s camp is a mole who work for Dugu Feng.”
Xu Ziling was stunned, “There is such thing?” he asked.
Tongtong solemnly replied, “The speculation ca from a few spider’s thread and horse track that we gathered so far. Honestly, we also have an inforr inside the Palace City. For example, Yang Dong’s chancellor Yuan Wendu has always been greedy for life, afraid of death. But concerning Wang Shichong’s massive military force in the Imperial City, he still acts like romance is in the air [orig. wind, flower, snow and moon (trite poetry subject)]; not only in his talks he does not appear to be afraid at all, he also said that he knew Wang Shichong’s entire plan.”
After a short pause, she went on, “Just by looking at how Dugu Feng unscrupulously deal with Kou Ye, we know that Dugu Feng is clear about Kou Ye devising battle plan in a tent [idiom] on behalf of Wang Shichong!”
At last Xu Ziling’s countenance changed.
If that was the case, not only he and Kou Zhong were in grave danger, even Zhai Jiao and her n might face fatal disaster at any mont, so much so that they might implicate Song Lu, Song Yuzhi and the others.
Xu Ziling suddenly stood up and resolutely said, “I must find Kou Zhong imdiately.”
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