Book 59: Chapter 3: Due to an Unexpected Turn of Events[1]

The two boys leaped into the Situ Mansion’s backyard; immediately the alarm went off in their hearts. While they cried, ‘Not good!’ inwardly, Shi Zhixuan walked out of his hiding and blocked the two boys’ path. His pair of eyes burning, he sized the two boys up and down, and spoke in heavy voice, “Where did you go?”

The two mused inwardly that luckily they did not have the least bit of kerosene smell on their body; otherwise their secret would be immediately revealed. However, the two boys were still baffled and had a headache, because it would not be easy to muddle through this question, not to mention that the other side was the Shi Xie Wang, whose outstanding wisdom and scheming ability was above theirs.

Kou Zhong saw the flickering lights in the direction of the main residence, he knew that Ren Jun, Song Shidao and the others were all awakened by their first artillery shell. In fact, in the entire City of Chang’an, soldiers and civilians alike were awakened. His heart moved, able to think fast in an emergency, he sighed and said, “We were sleeping soundly, suddenly we were awakened by the ‘Peng! Peng! Bang! Bang!’ from the Imperial Palace, without any better option, we went out to see what happened.”

Beyond the two boys’ expectation, Shi Zhixuan was slightly led by their lies; looking up at the night sky, he said, “What did you see?”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “Fires are raging in the East Palace, explosions are frequent, but we still don’t know what happened.”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Shi Zhixuan said, “It’s really strange!”

Kou Zhong spoke in astonishment, “Xie Wang came here, it must be because you suspected that the culprit in the East Palace had something to do with us. How come with just a few words, it was like Xie Wang believes firmly without any doubt?”

Xu Ziling applauded inwardly. Speaking about the ability to tell lies and cover up, even if he slapped the horse’s butts, he still could not catch up with Kou Zhong. For example, this sentence was precisely a stroke of magic. On the contrary, it was indeed strange that it was so easy for Shi Zhixuan to trust them, which showed that there was no ghost in his heart.

Shi Zhixuan’s gaze fell on Kou Zhong’s face, he spoke indifferently, “My first thought was that the big explosion in the palace must be related to the two of you, hence I rushed to Yin Mansion at full speed to see if you, two boys would drill out of the tunnel. However, I happened to see Li Yuan and his attendance coming out of the tunnel and hurriedly returning to the palace. Every time Li Yuan enters and exits the tunnel, he is escorted by his personal guards, no one can enter through the tunnel. Therefore, this has washed away the suspicion toward you.”

The two boys cried, ‘Close call!’ inwardly, while also cried ‘What a good luck’. When they left, Shi Zhixuan must have been on his way to come here to look for them, no one caught them red-handed with the stolen goods in their hands.

Shi Zhixuan seemed to be thinking a hundred thoughts without finding the solution [idiom: puzzled] by the explosion in the East Palace; he knitted his brows for quite a while, and suddenly said, “Xibai will come back tomorrow, you guys have a good rest.”

Kou Zhong hurriedly said, “Xie Wang, please hold on, this kid still has something to ask.”

Shi Zhixuan’s countenance gentle, he said, “Speak!”

Even Xu Ziling did not know why Kou Zhong wanted this demon-personifying-pestilence to stay, he could not guess what he wanted to ask Shi Zhixuan even more; therefore, full of curiosity, he listened with rapt attention.

Kou Zhong said, “Did Xie Wang learn the secret of the tunnel leading into the palace from Yin Zuwen?”

Shi Zhixuan smiled and said, “That is precisely the same question in Shi’s heart; how did you find out about this secret tunnel?”

Kou Zhong replied frankly, “We were able to discover the tunnel, it was all thanks to Li Yuan impersonating Cao San and went to Chi Shengchun’s place to steal Zhan Ziqian’s famous paintings and Xiao Ling was following him from behind, it’s that simple.”

Murderous intent flashed through Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyes, he said, “Seeing that you are so frank, I don’t need to conceal anything either. I found the tunnel from you, all along Yin Zuwen kept it a secret from me, humph!”

The two boys understood that the murderous intent in his eyes was flaring because of Yin Zuwen, immediately they put down the load in their mind.”

Shi Zhixuan spoke heavily, “Such a headless monster fire appeared in the East Palace, it will definitely affect our operation adversely. You must be a bit more cautious, before the operation, you must never touch that secret tunnel.”

Finished speaking, he flashed over the wall and left.

Kou Zhong put his hand on Xu Ziling’s shoulder; while walking towards the inner hall, he sighed and said, “Our thinking was not thorough enough, we never thought that Shi Zhixuan would have such a move. Fortunately, due to an unexpected turn of events, we passed this barrier. Tomorrow morning we must thank the gods’ kindness with a gift. Ha! Tonight, it was entirely due to Song ErGe’s remark, ‘the night is long, the dreams many’ that we were able to reverse the whole situation.”

The next day the two boys entered the palace, harboring ulterior motive in their bosom. In the Palace City, the Imperial City, the atmosphere was peculiar, everyone’s expression was grave; clearly their heavy, frightened and confused mood still had not recovered from the last night’s disaster.

They went to see Cheng Mo; this immediate supervisor of theirs said, “There’s nothing going on today! All activities in the palace are cancelled, you can take off work early.”

Hearing that, the two boys were greatly delighted, they never expected that they would receive such a relevant benefit.

Pretending to be ignorant, Kou Zhong asked, “What happened last night? We were so scared that we jumped out of bed.”

Revealing a frank, won’t-conceal-anything-to-you-brother, Cheng Mo lowered his voice and said, “About this matter, you must never, ever talk indiscriminately outside. Last night, there was a sudden big fire in the East Palace’s Ju Bao Dian, burning it until not a single roof tile was spared. It even injured more than a dozen men and seven or eight mules.”

Kou Zhong asked in surprise, “How can there be any fire without any reason? It even created ‘Peng! Peng! Bang! Bang!’ noise?”

Cheng Mo revealed a shocked expression, he said, “Luckily you are asking me so nothing will go wrong, but you must never ask anybody else in the palace. Huangshang already issued strict order not to talk about this matter.”

Xu Ziling asked, “Did the enemy do it?”

Cheng Mo shook his head and said, “That’s impossible. If you want to suspect anybody, you can only suspect that there is an inner ghost [mole/traitor]. Most probably it was an accident.”

Knowing that he would not get anything from Cheng Mo’s mouth, Kou Zhong bade farewell and slipped away with Xu Ziling.

It was unclear whether Fu Ju Lou was affected by what happened in the palace last night, but the crowd was sparser than usual. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were happy for the peace and quiet. They sat down at the table by the window overlooking He Chang Long to eat their breakfast.

Kou Zhong spoke cheerfully, “The thunder of our first artillery shell last night echoed throughout the world, it has more impact than any rumors. Those who know the facts affirm that we possess great magical power, nothing we cannot do; those who do not know the facts believe that Laotianye wants to put Li Jiancheng in order, that it is a warning and an ill omen to him. No matter which kind of thought, it has a hundred benefits without a single harm for us.”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “Don’t take things so easily. In fact, we are facing the greatest risk yet. As long as there is the slightest mishap in Li Xiuning persuading Li Shentong, we will have to pack our bag and leave before we finish eating.”

Full of confidence, Kou Zhong said, “Don’t worry! Gongzhu has the appropriate behavior, Li Shentong has been in military campaign with Li Shimin over many years, not only he has deep understanding of the current political situation, he is also very clear about the formidable power of us and Li kid working together, plus I have had great kindness to him in saving his life. When the soldiers were at the city walls in Luoyang, he was still willing to show comradeship by persuading us with kind words. I have the confidence to win him over.”

“Don’t forget the appointment with Wei Zheng at noon,” Xu Ziling said.

Kou Zhong took a sip of the hot tea, he smiled and said, “I can’t wait to ask Wei Zheng about Li Jiancheng’s reaction; I want to see if he is suspicious of the strange fire last night? How could he forget? Hey! While we have a bit of time, Ling Shao, why don’t you go see Liao Kong and report our accomplishments? I’ll go on Zha Jie, that kid’s behalf to see if his marriage is destined by Heaven.”

Xu Ziling cast his gaze toward He Chang Long, he said, “I wonder if Yang WenGan will change his course of action?”

Last night they obtained information from Zha Jie that Yang WenGan and his entourage went to the wharf area north of Yong An Canal at dusk, and have not returned to He Chang Long.

Kou Zhong said, “If he goes, he will throw away his life, if he stays, he is only waiting for us to slaughter him. Ay! You don’t know how hard it is for me to bear it, there are too many muddled eggs in Chang’an that I want to kill.”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Xiaodi deeply felt the same; however, great plans can be ruined by just a touch of impatience [idiom]. You …”

Noticing that he wanted to say something but hesitated, Kou Zhong asked in astonishment, “What’s the matter? Why are you humming and hawing?”

Xu Ziling said, “I have always wanted to ask you, now that you and Yuzhi have become reconciled, have you ever thought about how are you going to treat the having-deep-love-toward-you, silently-waiting-for-you Chuchu? When Shang Xiufang comes back to Chang’an, how are you going to face her?”

Kou Zhong’s excitement was swept clean, on its place was deeply knitted eyebrows. Smiling bitterly, he said, “Why don’t you tell me what to do? Your words are the most pertinent.”

Xu Ziling said, “Chuchu is like Little Lingzhong’s Niang, just by looking at Su Jie’s face, you must not turn your back on her. As long as you are willing to speak to Yuzhi, let her understand the rise and fall of the terrain [idiom: the ins and outs of things], there should not be any problem. You can even adopt Little Lingzhong, so that Su Jie’s spirit in heaven can obtain rest.”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “I have had this intention for a long time, and now that I obtain your, Ling Shao’s personal support, that is how the problem will be solved. As for Shang Xiufang, ay!”

Xu Ziling said, “Shang Xiufang is not an ordinary woman, she has her own set of ideas. This kind of thing cannot be forced. My opinion is not to think about it for the time being, see how Laotianye decides. The most urgent business right now, the difficult problem that is giving us the most headache is not how to deal with Jiancheng and Yuanji, but how to guard against Shi Zhixuan uncovering our secrets. Last night, we were able to cross the barrier it was purely by luck. Next time, if we make a mistake, I am afraid we won’t have the same good luck.

Kou Zhong muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment, he leaned over and said, “If we throw out everything and make our move with all our strength, would we have any chance to put him in order? This aspect, you should know better than me.”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling replied, “Even though fully aware that giving thought to the overall situation, we must get rid of him, this root of the trouble, but now he is ending up as a lonely soul, I really a little cannot bear to throw stones at him who has fallen down a well [idiom]. My relationship with him is very weird. Sometimes I really want to get rid of him, sometimes I sympathize with him very much.”

Kou Zhong said in deject, “Your analysis is very true. After all, he is both Qingxuan’s biological father and Xibai’s Shifu. His Niang’s! Furthermore, he has repeatedly started off leniently to you. Hey! How about a change of form? Do you think we have the ability to make him unable to win, but unable to escape either?”

Staring blankly, Xu Ziling said, “Won’t that be more difficult than killing him? One thing goes wrong, the one suffering a calamity will be us! Besides, even if it can be done, what good will it bring?”

Kou Zhong said, “A moment ago, I suddenly really want you to go see Liao Kong. At that time, it was still very vague in my heart. Turns out I already had this idea, which is in all the world, there is only one person who can stop Shi Zhixuan, and that person is your future tender wife, Qingxuan Meiren’er.”

Shocked, Xu Ziling said, “You want them, father and daughter to see each other?”

Kou Zhong said, “I understand that you don’t want Qingxuan to be involved in the ugly struggle and vendetta of the human world, but after all, Shi Zhixuan is her father; I am hoping that Shi Zhixuan will mend his ways just like her mother Bi Xiuxin’s final wishes before her death. Ling Shao must talk her over since she is Shi Zhixuan’s only flaw, no matter what. This way, we will no doubt have the victory within our grasp. As long as we can trap Shi Zhixuan firmly, he won’t be able to escape to resolve the flaw that hit his vital point.”

Xu Ziling remained silent. It was quite half a day later that he smiled bitterly and said, “You don’t understand Shi Qingxuan at all. To persuade her to violate all her nature and natural instinct is some kind of a destructive blasphemy. Hey! I wonder if when she was blowing her Xiao, has she ever thought that Shi Zhixuan would be nearby to eavesdrop her immortal rhyme, and to take a peek at her flowery countenance?”

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, “What are you talking about? Those last two sentences do not seem to have anything to do with the previous ones, am I right?”

The divine light in Xu Ziling’s pair of eyes flashing, a hint of smile escaped from the corner of his mouth; he said, “Please don’t interrupt my train of thought, maybe I have figured out a way to restrain Shi Zhixuan, which is to ask Qingxuan to play a song to him, to let her, using the most moving way, convey her heart via the sound of the Xiao, Lao Shi will definitely be defeated without any victory; Shi Zhixuan’s flaw is precisely his ‘heart’!”

Kou Zhong was about to speak, suddenly he made a signal and said, “Chang He is here! Also Wen Yanbo and Liu Zhenghui; all are the target that we want to win over.”

Xu Ziling turned around and raised his hand to greet Wen Yanbo, while Kou Zhong cup his fists from a distance to salute the Jianghu way. His mouth continued to talk to Xu Ziling, “They must have come here to discuss the strange events of last night and exchange opinions. Clearly our first artillery shell created the shock and achieved success.”

Wen Yanbo returned the salute absentmindedly. With Chang He and Liu Zhenghui, they sat down in the corner farthest away from them and spoke in a low voice.

Kou Zhong leaned over a bit and said, “Liu Zhenghui is Chang He’s best friend. In the past, when Xiaodi was acting as the ugly divine doctor, Chang He only cared about Liu Zhenghui, one person; clearly their friendship is very deep. If we could persuade Liu Zhenghui, we will have the chance to win Chang He, this most crucial figure, over to our camp.”

Xu Ziling said, “The success or failure will be determined by whether we can win over Li Shentong. With Li Shentong selecting the loyal and righteous for us, why worry that the grand plan will not succeed?”

Kou Zhong’s spirit greatly aroused, he said, “I hope Gongzhu will have the good news today.”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “Other than Shi Zhixuan, this one barrier, there are still Bi Xuan, Ke Dazhi and Yang Xuyan, these three dangerous figures. They have the best chance to see through our disguise. I wonder if in this kind of situation we should find a different life, and let Taihang Shuang Jie disappear?”

Kou Zhong said, “If you said this before I witnessed the eight-saber-strike battle between Ning Daoqi and Song Que, I would definitely agree with both hands and feet, but his Niang’s! After watching them, two martial art masters crossing swords, I finally understand the Moon in the Well’s highest realm, which run in parallel without hindrance [idiom] with Song Que’s ‘Forgetting the Saber’ and Lao Zun’s [not sure, lit. old senior/venerable] ‘Dao Xin Jing Wei’ [the profound heart of the Way]. At that time, although I understood tacitly, but my comprehension was not deep enough. Until last night when our spirits merged in harmony, suddenly I was able to completely grasp this kind of down-to-the-smallest-detail realm in my heart. When I went to look for Gongzhu, all along I was always in this kind of mental state. Ling Shao is still better, actually, you were one step ahead of me to enter this down-to-the-smallest-detail realm.”

Xu Ziling’s tiger-body trembled slightly; he thought deeply over what he said.

Lowering the volume of his voice one step further, Kou Zhong said, “Precisely because I have entered this kind of realm so that although at the time Gongzhu had two maidservants waiting upon her alongside, I still have the confidence that I could pass my voice into her, one person’s ears only; even the distribution of the sound, I was also able to fully grasp it. This is something I could never do before.”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Are you planning to continue using the Taihang Shuang Jie disguise, and you have confidence that we can conceal it from anyone, including Bi Xuan?”

Kou Zhong said, “In order to impersonate Taihang Shuang Jie, we have spent some laborious effort. You are afraid that we cannot conceal it from Bi Xuan and Ke Dazhi, it’s because you are afraid that there are still flaws, a little spider’s thread and horse’s track that could make our original identity fully revealed. But if we can reach the forgetting-self realm, even we do not consider ourselves as Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, plus the ingenious changes in our body shape, there won’t be any flaw; who can see through? Only if we disregard success or failure, no worry in our hearts, we will definitely be successful.”

Finally Xu Ziling nodded and said, “What you said is not without any reason, but at most, I have only 50% confidence.”

Kou Zhong spoke happily, “It’s so decided then, his granny’s bear, Taihang Shuang Jie are here!”

Xu Ziling blurted out laughing, he said, “You, this kid, are still acting like the rascal who drifted along in Yangzhou in the past.”

Kou Zhong said, “There is one more thing I want to discuss with you. Our Furong Ye’s Zhen Guan Bank’s head office, which fine time, lucky day [idiom: good opportunity] should we hold the opening ceremony?”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Xu Ziling said, “The auspicious day of grand opening must be not too far away from the day of the uprising, maybe around ten days, eight days, so that we can have more time to lure Xiang Gui out and fully grasp the Xiang Family’s movements.”

Kou Zhong said, “In that case, tentatively, it will be in the second or third month. Let’s Song ErGe select an auspicious date and report to Li Yuan. At that time, our people should also be seventy, eighty-percent arrive.”

Xu Ziling said, “In order to make things easier, we must set up a base for our operations, so that during the uprising, we can act quickly.”

Kou Zhong said, “This matter, it would be best if a group of men and horses other than either us or Qin Wang take care of it, Huang He Bang should be an ideal candidate; they once owned Shang Lin Yuan, naturally they have wide network of relations with the people in Chang’an, plus a lot of real estate properties. Let’s clear this matter up when Lei Dage comes back.”

Xu Ziling said, “It’s time for Ji Qian to come back, we will have the addition of Yin Xianhe, this capable helper.”

Kou Zhong agreed, he said, “I will ask Xiao Jie to handle it right away. Ay! What should we do with our brother Tuli? Why is he so stupid? Could it be that he does not know that Xieli is a person who, after crossing the bridge he would pull the board? When Xieli succeeds in controlling the overall situation, he would turn his spearhead to deal with him. Tuli supports Xieli like this, he is dragging our Shiwei and Huihe brothers down into this muddled water, making things even more difficult for us.”

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “The key lies in Bi Xuan. If Lao Ba can defeat Bi Xuan, he would burst the myth of Bi Xuan’s invincibility, then Tuli will no longer have to look at Xieli’s face; he could even form an alliance with our Central Earth, hence the crisis will be resolved by itself.”

Kou Zhong said, “I have been a commander-in-chief, in this aspect, I have a bit more insight than you. If Tuli marches his army over a thousand mountains and ten-thousand rivers to go down south, he would never want to retreat without success. Even if he looks at the old sentiments, the tribal chiefs under his command would never want to let the matter drop; in turn, it will affect his decision. Therefore, the only way is to use both gentle methods and force, to make Tuli sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat [idiom], so that while maintaining beautiful friendship with us, he will be able to step down the stage.”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “I understand! Therefore, what we are pursuing is not a war that spreads across the whole country, but a decisive coup d’etat that is limited to a certain area at a certain time, destroying the forces that oppose Qin Wang’s ascension to the throne in one fell swoop. After the goal is clear, we will stride forward until we succeed.”

Kou Zhong spoke cheerfully, “Since leaving Yangzhou, we seem to have never tried such a totally-without-disagreement working together with one mind, striving in the same direction. Ha! I am so happy that I want to sing loudly in public.”

Xu Ziling said, “Last night’s first artillery shell broke the tightly-closed situation, the initiative is back to our hands. Let’s meet in Meiren’er Junshi’s mansion later!”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “This meal is on me, to celebrate I don’t have to be the pain-in-the-butt emperor, let Li kid do everything for me. Such a life, what is there to regret?”

The two were about to pay the bill and leave, Song Shidao’s Shen Wenjiang climbed up the stairs and walked towards them with grave expression.

The two boys cried ‘Not good!’ inwardly. What could make the usually calm and collected, clear-headed Song Shidao to disregard everything to come looking for them?

[1] Chapter title: orig. yinchayangcuo, yin error, yang mistake.

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