Book 58 Chapter 10 – Danger Like a Hangover

Translator: Foxs' Wuxia

Inside Shen Luoyan’s fragrant chamber, Xu Ziling was sitting on the edge of the bed, while Shen Luoyan was sitting wrapped inside her quilt. It was actually an extremely romantic, charming and tender scene, but there was not the slightest bit atmosphere that attracted people’s wild and fanciful thoughts.

The beauty showing grave expression on her face, she spoke in heavy voice, “I went to the Palace to see Xiuning Gongzhu today, her mood is extremely unstable. I’m really afraid that she can’t wait for Qin Wang’s return and go to Li Yuan to complain tearfully, hoping that relying on her own strength she could resolve the internal division within her family. You must quickly think of a way, otherwise the consequences will be too horrible to contemplate.”

Xu Ziling precisely had a headache because of this, so he lacked the word to answer.

Shen Luoyan examined his expression carefully, her jet-black eyebrows lightly furrowed, she said, “Do you have your hands bound and are unable to do anything about it [idiom]? I really regret letting Kou Zhong to see Li Xiuning.”

Xu Ziling said, “If Chai Shao comes back to persuade her, would it make any difference?”

Shen Luoyan said, “If Chai Shao returned to the capital so suddenly, he would only raise suspicions; before seeing the benefit, he would see the harm first. Because this matter involves the Wang Xiong [brother king] related to Xiuning Gongzhu by flesh and blood, I am afraid outsiders won’t be able to play any role.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “In that case, the only way is to find the batch of firearms, and then try to prove that Li Jiancheng really has the heart to kill Qin Wang.”

Shen Luoyan shook her head and said, “This batch of firearms is most likely in Yang WenGan’s hands; even if you find it, it is still not enough proof that this is Li Jiancheng’s treacherous conspiracy.”

Xu Ziling said, “Let me go back to discuss it with Kou Zhong, to see if there is any good way; you must try to stabilize Xiuning Gongzhu.”

Anxious and in distress, Shen Luoyan said, “I have no choice but to do so.”

And then she added, “I met Wei Zheng and sounded him out.”

Xu Ziling struggled hard to raise his spirit, he said, “How did he react?”

Shen Luoyan said, “Wei Zheng is very resentful that Li Yuan murdered Mi Gong, toward Wang Bodang’s forgetting favor and violating justice, he even gnashes his teeth in anger. Li Jiancheng killing Liu Heitai also made him very disgusted, thinking that Li Jiancheng can’t compare with Li Shimin. Wei Zheng is a man of great ambition and ideals, in the past, he persuaded Mi Gong to surrender to the Tang for the sake of the big picture. I hinted that there was something I wanted to talk to him, if he is willing to take the initiative to come to see me, I think I can explain the matter candidly to him, this risk is worth taking. If Wei Zheng throws himself into our camp, not only we could know Jiancheng’s plan clearly from him, we could also persuade people in Jiancheng’s side, to achieve the goal of splitting apart Jiancheng’s faction.”

Xu Ziling said, “Any operation in Chang’an, it would more or less carry a bit of risk, you figure it out for yourself!”

“It’s me! Fu Qian!”

The familiar voice rang out in Kou Zhong’s eardrums, he hastily pulled back his pair of striking fists.

Needless to say, the other person was Fu Qian’s chief great general Xing Mofei. He made a meeting-again-after-a-long-period-of-separation signal toward Kou Zhong, before moving across into the garden, and then soared into the sky.

Kou Zhong was terribly worried, but the two men were able to appear at this moment, not only to intercept him, but Xing Mofei even took his place in leading the chasing troops away, apparently they had full grasp of the situation; realizing the opportunity, he hurriedly pursued closely and waved his hand to acknowledge the gesture. With Fu Qian following behind him, fast like a demon they rushed through the houses and over the buildings, and left via the north wall.

Going straight toward the eastern bank of the Yong’an Canal, the two men hid in the dark inside the forest by the bank.

‘Close call!’ Kou Zhong cried inwardly, if it were not for this change, the grand plan of facilitating the emperor might be over at this point.

Concerned, he asked, “Will Mofei be all right?”

Fu Qian pull off his hood, revealing his dragon-beard-across-his-whole-face unique appearance [dragon here refers to 虯 (qiu), young dragon with horns], he smiled and said, “Don’t worry! Mofei’s qinggong is above mine, plus he is good at escaping and hiding his track. This time we came here prepared, I guarantee that he can get away safely.”

Kou Zhong also took off his hood, musing inwardly that luckily, due to he was afraid his qi would be stifled, he did not put on the mask, otherwise, he would have to explain a little bit more. He said, “Were you following Yun Shuai’s tracks? That is impossible; this old kid’s lightness skill, I am afraid even Shi Zhixuan will not be able to catch up with him.”

Fu Qian bade him to sit down side by side by the shore, he spoke slyly, “We have our man among Yun Shuai‘s subordinates. I know that Yin Zuwen is the contact person between him and Li Jiancheng, therefore, these several nights we have been waiting for him at the Yin Mansion. It would be best if we could kill him, who would have thought that we encountered Shaoshuai instead.”

Embarrassed, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly I spoiled your, LaoGe’s big plan.”

Fu Qian said, “Perhaps it’s not the time for his life to end.” And then, his eyes burning, he stared at him and spoke heavily, “Shaoshuai should be in the south commanding your army to put Lin Shihong and Xiao Xian in order, how could you unexpectedly show up in Chang’an?”

Kou Zhong’s mind was churning at the speed of light, he really wanted to lie to him by saying that he was here to assassinate Li Shimin, however, the other side has just done him a gargantuan favor, how could he say that? He sighed and said, “Not concealing anything from you, LaoGe, we are already reconciled with Li Shimin, and currently we are supporting him with all our strength to ascend to the throne.”

Severely shaken, Fu Qian blurted, “What?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong said, “I am practically not an emperor’s material, if I am forced to do it, it will only bring suffering throughout my life, as well as harming the common people under the heavens that they cannot pass their auspicious days earlier. In what capacity are you coming to Chang’an this time?”

Fu Qian revealed an emotionally-touched expression, he said, “Shaoshuai really regards me as a true friend, otherwise you would never be willing to tell me such a confidential matter. Don’t worry! I won’t disappoint you.”

Kou Zhong reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, he spoke cheerfully, “We are brothers who have been through trials and tribulations together, what is it that I must hide from you? Your enemy is our enemy, if Li kid becomes the emperor, he will definitely help you to sort Tongyehu out. Now, let’s go see if Mofei is safe and sound first, and then we’ll sit down and research carefully to see how we can turn Chang’an over.”

Xu Ziling returned to Situ Mansion in a nasty mood. It was only about a couple of sichen before dawn, Ba Fenghan was sitting alone in a corner of the dark inner hall, he smiled and said, “Just now there was a martial art master coming to step into the arena. This person, if he was let loose in Jianghu, he would be a very famous character, his skill is quite exceptional. I tailed closely behind him, watched him go around a few times, and finally left the words ‘Cao San kowtow’, four characters on a prominent place in the main hall, and then quietly left. If it were not for I am giving thought to the overall situation, I would have caught him alive.”

Xu Ziling sat down beside him, he laughed and said, “Chi Shengchun’s playing his ridiculous trick! He wants to affirm whether the gold is hidden here, but any Jianghu veteran would know that seeing everyone has lay down and are sleeping soundly, the gold can’t possibly in the mansion.”

Ba Fenghan said, “He did not go inside the residence to snoop through the windows, obviously he is not suspicious about your identities at all.”

Xu Ziling asked, “Has that batch of firearms materialized yet?”

Ba Fenghan shook his head and said, “After Er Wenhuan parted company with you guys at the Six-Happiness, he hurried back to Shang Lin Yuan, troubling me to endure the cold outside for nearly two sichen. I still did not see him out, so I had no choice but to come back to sleep; it’s really his granny’s bear!”

Xu Ziling said, “Lao Er is infatuated with a popular courtesan in Shang Lin Yuan called Chunxiang, he hasn’t returned home for many nights. I am hoping that he will still continue to linger on and unwilling to let go tomorrow night, then as long as we know Chunxiang’s whereabouts, we can serve our great punishment to him.”

Ba Fenghan spoke in astonishment, “How come Ziling is suddenly so proactive about this matter?”

Xu Ziling was about to speak, Kou Zhong entered in through the window, blurting out, “Tonight I went through death and came back to life; can you guess whom did I meet?”

Finished recounting his thrilling encounter tonight, Kou Zhong finally said, “Fu Qian is now acting on behalf of his father; accepting the invitation, he is leading Tuyuhun delegation to Chang’an, so that although finding out that Xing Mofei fled into the foreign guesthouse on the Vermillion Bird Boulevard close to the Imperial City, Li Jiancheng is still helpless to do anything to him.”

Ba Fenghan nodded and said, “Xing Mofei is indeed very exceptional, even with Yang Xuyan and Yun Shuai, two major martial art masters pursuing relentlessly, he could still escape to the foreign guesthouse safely.”

Xu Ziling’s face revealing grave expression, he spoke in heavy voice, “Who invited Fu Qian to Chang’an?”

Kou Zhong said, “It was Li kid who presented a memorial to Li Yuan, and he obtained Li Yuan’s nod of approval. I am positive Li Yuan did not know about the relationship between Jiancheng and Tongyehu. On the second night of Fu Qian’s arrival, Li Yuan even hosted a state banquet to entertain him. During the banquet, he kept asking about the Western Tujue. Why is your countenance so unsightly?”

Xu Ziling expressed the misgivings in his heart, he said, “The way he spreads the rumors, he seems to be a bit afraid that our Central Earth will not be chaotic enough, making me suspicious of him.”

Ba Feng said, “The ones having friendly relations with Fu Qian are you guys, not Li Shimin. But now we and Li Shimin are merging together, if Fu Qian destroys our grand plan, potentially he is going to forge an unresolvable enmity with Li Shimin. In the future, if we are successful in helping Li Shimin unifying the world, Li Shimin will definitely open his blade against the Tuyuhun. To him, it will only be harmful without any benefit. If I were him, no matter what the previous plan was, this moment he would definitely cooperate nicely with us, joining hands to deal with the Eastern and Western Tujue. The way Fu Qian attaching most importance to his country is not to be censured too strictly [idiom: understandable], no one can blame him.”

Kou Zhong agreed, he said, “When I told him frankly about our current partnership with Li kid, he revealed a deeply moved expression, and praised me as a true friend. Don’t worry! In the final analysis, his main enemy is Tongyehu and not us. If Jiancheng get rid of Li Kid and ascend to the throne, Tuyuhun will definitely suffer calamity.”

Xu Ziling felt somewhat relieved, he nodded and said, “No wonder that during the extraordinary period when Xieli’s army was pressing on the border Li Jiancheng still wants to deal with Qin Wang first, simply because there is Tongyehu supporting him, thinking that if necessary, Tongyehu could control the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall headed by Xieli.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “Tongyehu must have bad intentions, he is merely exploiting Li Jiancheng to shake the Li Tang’s foundation. If Li Tang is unstable, he could launch large-scale invasion into the Central Plains’ western frontier and divide up the Central Plains with Xieli. Furthermore, he would use the Central Plains as the battlefield where he pits himself against Xieli, and thus repeating the chaotic situation during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.”

Thinking hard, Xu Ziling said, “What agreement does Li Jiancheng have with Yun Shuai? Why did Yun Shuai have to come to Chang’an bringing a large number of martial art masters?”

Kou Zhong said, “The one who is most qualified to answer that question is Fu Qian. According to his analysis, Li Jiancheng wanted to use Yun Shuai’s hands, with the help of firearms – to kill Li Shimin at the Hongyi Palace. After the fact, Jiancheng, Yuanji, can push away the blame, nice and clean.”

Ba Fenghan slapped the table and said, “This move is superb.”

Kou Zhong said, “With the firearms in hand, plus catching the enemy off guard with a surprise attack [idiom, from Sunzi’s ‘Art of War’], also the Hongyi Palace can’t compare with Yeting Palace in term of scale, Yun Shuai will have a great chance of success. Even if Li Shimin has a spy among Jiancheng’s men, it won’t be too effective.”

Xu Ziling said, “Fortunately, we have arrived in Chang’an first to make adequate preparation for Qin Wang’s return to the imperial court, otherwise we will be beaten up silly. Ay! How are we going to solve this Yun Shuai’s wonder troops? If we rush to make our move, I am afraid we will just beat the grass to scare the snake.”

Ba Fenghan said, “As long as that batch of firearms is destroyed, Yun Shuai’s bunch of men will become toothless tigers. Problem is, this will also beat the grass to scare the snake.”

Kou Zhong said, “Let’s find out the firearms’ whereabouts first and talk later.”

Xu Ziling said, “There is another difficult problem; have you ever thought about the consequences of assassinating Zhao Deyan?”

Ba Fenghan said, “Xieli’s invasion to the south already becomes a foregone conclusion, it’s just a matter of timing. Zhao Deyan’s death inside Chang’an’s Imperial Palace might give him an excuse to launch a punitive campaign.”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “Ling Shao is worried about the dreadful state of the Central Earth being ravaged by Xieli’s army. Fortunately, the man of the mountain has a brilliant scheme; as long as we can create some kind of situation to make Xieli not dare to support massive operation so that he would go straight at the fastest speed to attack Chang’an, we could intercept him with all our strength outside the city of Chang’an. Others are afraid of him, I, Kou Zhong, still do not consider him worthy in my sight.”

Ba Fenghan looked out the window, “It’s dawn!” he said.

The Xuanwu Gate was made up of two forts and one gate. It was located due north of the imperial palace, and was the only passage leading from the rear to the Taiji main palace.

The gate was divided into three layers, its depth was nearly one hundred zhang. East and west inside the gate, one each on the left and right, there was a fort, surrounded by solid perimeter walls. Leaning to each side of the gateway, there were three separate sentry multi-story building, like six rumbling giants who never rest inside the earth wall, continuously looking down at the people passing through the gateway.

The two forts were the place where the imperial guards were stationed for a long period of time, they were heavily guarded. Even if magnificent army with thousands of men and horses were coming to attack, due to the constraints of the terrain, it would still be the case of having enough power but difficult to put into effect.

Outside the Xuanwu Gate was the Xi Nei Yuan [West Inside Garden], which was a forbidden park area, part of the Imperial Palace. The Xi Nei Yuan’s Dongshan Ge [East Hill Pavilion] was the Han Guang Dian [Hidden Ray (of light) Palace Hall] where Yuanji resided. To get in and out of the Taiji Palace, Li Shimin, who resided in the Yeting of the West Palace, or Li Jiancheng, who resided in the East Palace, and Li Yuanji, who resided in the Xi Nei Yuan, often had to go through the Xuanwu Gate.

To get into the various gates of the Imperial City and the Palace City, civil and military officials must present their identity documents, and each month the document must be verified and went through an easier procedure at the supervisor office located at the Jin Wei Jun [imperial guards] general headquarters at the Xuanwu Gate.

This moment, Yu Qi Chang [Imperial Rider Chief] Cheng Mo personally led Xu and Kou, two men to go through the formalities at the Xuanwu Gate’s East Command Post. They needed to change into the daily informal uniform of the Imperial Guards on the spot, a busy process that took nearly one sichen before the two were able to get away.

But Cheng Mo told the two, “Wei Gonggong wants to see you, to explain the compass and set square of the imperial court to you in person.” And then, lowering his voice, he said, “Wei Gonggong is a very busy man in the palace, it’s rare that he attaches such importance to advise new appointees, two gentlemen’s future prospect is really bright.”

And then he took them to Wei Gonggong’s place, the palace supervisor office west of the Taiji Palace. Wei Gonggong was still waiting upon Li Yuan and had not returned yet, Cheng Mo had no choice but to accompany the two sitting blankly.

Half a sichen later, Wei Gonggong hurriedly returned, he really untiringly explained to them the situation in the palace and reminded them of the things to pay attention to, the general etiquette, and so on. Halfway through, the two boys began to realize that they, two Left and Right Polo Chiefs, not only had to wait upon the emperor, they also had to train the players, and had to accompany the imperial concubines in the palace playing polo; no wonder Wei Gonggong was so nervous.

Finally, Wei Gonggong spoke in displeasure, “Did you not sleep last night? Why are you looking like you don’t have any vitality at this moment? Fortunately, Huangshang is not free today, otherwise, how would this supervisor explain to Huangshang?”

Kou Zhong mused inwardly that you, Gonggong can see very accurately, but even if you are full of energy, finished listening to your boring damn admonition, you will become drowsy [orig. mythological insect that makes people doze off]. Naturally on the surface he respectfully replied, “Last night Er Daren and Qiao Daren pulled us along for a drink, hence we did not have enough sleep.”

Letting out a stifled snort, Wei Gonggong said, “After becoming Jin Wei Jun [imperial guard], you have to restrain your activities. Were it not for Huangshan’s showing favor to you, allowing you to temporarily live on the outside, I will definitely have you monitored for twelve sichen a day. Today it’s all right! Come to see this supervisor in good spirits tomorrow morning.”

The two boys were like receiving amnesty by the emperor’s grace, they slipped away immediately.

On the way back to the mansion.

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “If we keep being tossed from side to side like this, we won’t even have time to sit in meditation, sooner or later we will not be able to keep up. His Niang’s! Listening to the tone of Wei Gonggong‘s voice, it seems like tomorrow we will be so deadly busy.”

Xu Ziling calmly said, “No need to worry about that, Yuanji is back today, not only Li Yuan is busy, but the imperial concubines are also busy; they are busy means that we have free time. We are in charge of training ball players, without needing me to tell you, you ought to know what to do?”

And then, knitting his brows, he said, “Is there any way to find out where Chunxiang’s fragrant chamber in Shang Lin Yuan is?”

Kou Zhong said, “That will require a trip to Feng Ya Ge, Qing Jie definitely has a way to find out for us.”

Xu Ziling said, “In this kind of matter, Xiao Jie is more suitable to handle than we are. When we are back, I want to have a big sleep, to forget anything about other people’s affairs; before dark, I don’t care even if the sky collapses.”

Kou Zhong spoke cheerfully, “Exactly what I want.”

As soon as they stepped into the Situ Mansion, Wang Xuanshu met them and spoke in low voice, “Qiao Gongshan and Er Wenhuan are waiting for you in the main hall.”

Kou Zhong cursed, “His granny’s bear! The way they are using this exhausting-people-to-their-death strategy has reached perfection; who else has been here?”

Wang Xuanshu replied, “Pei Ji and Hu Fo, father and daughter have come one after another to see Furong Ye. As for the details, you have to ask Furong Ye, he did not have time to talk to me. Lei Gong left at daybreak by boat.”

Kou Zhong instructed Wang Xuanshu to take Zha Jie to Feng Ya Ge on an assignment, and then entered the hall to see Qiao and Er, two men. Song Shidao, who had been accompanying them in one-sentence-no-sentence idle talk seized the opportunity to get away.

Kou Zhong looked at the east wall where the words ‘Cao San was here’ were written, Wang Xuanshu has cleaned it up as ordered, he even added paint and new lacquer, so that there was no trace at all. Feeling amused inwardly, he sat down and said with a laugh, “I wonder if two Daren are coming to take us on a romantic, merry trip again?”

When Er Wenhuan saw the two wearing imperial guard uniforms, plain black headbands on their heads, red-trimmed collar gown on their bodies, plain-colored outer sleeves, and black tall boots on their feet, he hurriedly congratulated them respectfully.

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “What’s so good to be congratulated, merely Wei Gonggong is already very difficult to wait upon. Ay! Let’s not talk about this kind of thing, you have not arrested Cao San, that bastard and bring him to justice yet?”

Er Wenhuan exchanged glances with Qiao Gongshan first, pretending to be astonished, he said, “Why did Cai Daren suddenly mention Cao San?”

Xu Ziling spoke nonchalantly, “Last night, someone left ‘Cao San Kowtow’ four characters in the mansion, his Niang’s! If he dares to come again, we, two brothers will definitely break his legs. Fortunately, it was me who saw it first and immediately had someone wash it out. If we let Furong Ye see it, he would definitely curse us.”

Qiao Gongshan pretended to be aghast, he said, “Cao San must be looking for your gold, this matter is extremely important, we are all brothers, we are definitely not going to sit back and watch.”

Without needing to guess, Kou Zhong already knew that he would have said this, and he had already prepared a good answer; he spoke unhurriedly, “Qiao Daren, don’t worry, our Furong Ye’s work has always been dependable. Rong Da Da Ya in the city has a big iron storehouse, the safe must be opened with a special key, only then it will turn to activate the lock, moving the large iron bolt that seals the door. Otherwise, to break the iron safe open by force will take at least a few days of effort. The most wonderful thing is that the gold is cast into golden bricks, weighing five hundred catties each. Being able to carry one block with bare hands is already extremely amazing, this is to prevent rat thieves and dog bandits like Cao San. Now the key is kept by us, two brothers. Want to take it? They have to ask our blades first.”

Helpless, Er Wenhuan said, “Then we can rest assured! How did you transport the gold?”

Xu Ziling replied, “In the past few months, we shipped them block by block. At present, we have men taking turn to guard the gold deposit twelve sichen a day, all are trustworthy brothers under our command.”

Kou Zhong took the opportunity to say, “But in any case, we have to raise our vigilance, no matter what. His Niang’s! With Cao San creating such a trouble, tonight we have to keep watch by Furong Ye’s side, only if the two Daren can catch Cao San a bit earlier will we dare to go on a romantic, merry trip.”

Hearing that, Er Wenhuan and Qiao Gongshan looked at each other, they were unable to do anything to them. Could it be that they need to tell the two that it was they who sent people to leave Cao San’s writing on the wall?

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