Book 26 Chapter 7 – After You
The Song Family’s mountain city consisted of several hundred courtyards, big and small. The courtyards became an inseparably close system and linked to each other, with the ancestral hall, which contained the spirit tablets of the past generations of Song Family – at the center.
Each courtyard was divided equally into straight courtyard and slanted courtyard. None of the dividing structures was not constructed from choice material of superior quality, the workmanship was exquisite.
Under the hazy light of the dawn, Kou Zhong and Song Que walked side-by-side to the Ming Yue Lou [bright moon building], which was located right next to the Mo Dao Tang. As they stepped into the flower garden, he saw an old man with white hair peppered with grey – pruning the flowers and plants. After casting a sidelong glance to the two men, he turned a blind eye to them and continued working.
While Kou Zhong was greatly astonished, Song Que laughed and said, “Fang Shu [uncle] is the only person in the mountain city who is not afraid of me, because he has been serving me since childhood.” Kou Zhong nodded his head, indicating that he understood.
Passing through a long corridor, with flowers and trees supported on trellises on both sides – there was a stone beam bridge spanning across the pond. All around them the trees were quite dense; there was quite a seeking-serenity, exploring-beautiful-scenery ambience. The other side of the pond was precisely the main gate of a two-story wooden construction, above which door was hanging a wooden board, carved with three characters ‘Ming Yue Lou’ in gold lettering.
The wooden door and windows were fretwork with ornamental design. The interlocking wooden brackets between the top of the columns and crossbeams reached high into the eaves, embedded with stone carving; refined, colorful, brilliant and varied.
Song Que stopped in the middle of the bridge. Leaning over the railing, he looked down and fixed his gaze on the fish swimming lazily in the serene pond. He asked, “Your shenfa, did you develop it based on the swimming fish?”
Full of admiration, Kou Zhong said, “Fazhu is indeed formidable; you could even see through this.”
Shaking his head, Song Que said, “I never understood a real natural talent, until now. How’s Xu Ziling compared to you?”
Kou Zhong said, “Ziling is the only person in the world that I really admire, so much so that I am afraid of him. Luckily he is my best Xiongdi. If he is willing to help me to obtain the world, it would be much easier for me.”
Song Que said, “Everybody has his own aspiration, you can’t force it. Come! Don’t let them wait too long!”
Kou Zhong was stunned; who might be waiting for them?
Xu Ziling was awakened by a child’s cry, followed by the voice of Han Zenan, husband and wife, comforting the child. After Little Jie went back to sleep, Han Zenan spoke in low voice, “Xiaochang [lit. little skirt]! What kind of person do you think that Gong Chenchun is?”
Originally Xu Ziling did not have any intention to eavesdrop personal conversation between a man and his wife, but since his name was being mentioned, naturally he focused his power on his ear to see how Mrs. Han would respond.
Lowering her voice, Mrs. Han, who was called Xiaochang, replied, “Although his appearance is fierce and tough, his manner of speech and his bearing are like a very cultured man; he is also quite kind and cherishing Xiao Jie. Is Xianggong [husband] thinking of asking him for help? Ay! It’s hard to fathom a person’s mind, Xianggong needs to think three times before going.”
After muttering to himself irresolutely for half a day, Han Zenan said, “Although his name did not spread far and wide in Jianghu, but looking at how effortlessly he forced He Yi Pai people to retreat, this man’s martial art skill is strong enough to be comparable with people of Xie Hui’s level. If he is willing to help, perhaps we would be able to break away from those people.”
Sighing, Xiaochang said, “Why would he want to invite disaster on himself?”
Han Zenan said, “Even if he declines, we have nothing to lose anyway. I have a strange feeling that he seems to really care about us.”
Xiaochang said, “That is precisely what qie [I, your servant] is most afraid of; I am afraid he has some other evil intentions.”
Smiling ruefully, Han Zenan said, “With his skill, while the world is in chaos like this, dealing with us, a family of three, is actually as easy as a hand’s turn, there is no need to plot and scheme. That Jianghu fellow surnamed Lei has been talking with him behind closed door for the whole day, I wonder what they are talking about.”
Xiaochang said, “Let’s talk about this when we get to Jiujiang! Perhaps we would be able to throw off the pursuing troops by then, and then the wide sea and the sky would let us soar into it!”
His sleep completely abandoned him, Xu Ziling got out of bed, put on his clothes, and went out to the deck.
Following behind Song Que, Kou Zhong entered the Ming Yue Tang, which, in term of scale, was as grand as the Mo Dao Tang. He saw several young warriors of the Song Family were setting up a sumptuous table of breakfast. Song Zhi, Song Lu, two men immediately rose up from their seats.
Seeing how respectful they were toward Song Que, it was obvious that within the Song Clan, Song Que held supreme authority.
After the host and guest sat down, Song Que waved his hand to dismiss the young warriors from the building, and then he asked Song Lu, “Where’s Yuzhi?”
Song Lu replied, “Just now she was getting ready; she should be here soon!”
Only this moment did Kou Zhong feel deeply the inscrutable style with which Song Que conduct himself. Just by looking at the steaming hot, elaborate and tastefully chosen vegetable and meat dishes of various kinds on the table, he knew that the chef must have started working in the middle of the night, while at that time he was still engaged in a life and death battle against Song Que.
It was obvious that before then Song Que has already had accurate judgment on him, hence he had the feast in front of them prepared in advance.
Thinking about he was going to see Song Yuzhi soon, inwardly he was really happy but scared at the same time, simply because he was unsure on how ‘hospitable’ Song Yuzhi would be toward him, furthermore, he was unsure on how Song Que would ‘handle’ the two of them.
Song Que was in high spirits; he poured wine for the other three cheerfully. Turning to Kou Zhong, he said, “This is Hangzhou’s specialty, the Osmanthus wine. Not only the flavor mellow and rich, the taste smooth, it also has calming effect and nutritious, and can improve blood circulation; harmless to drink a bit more.”
Kou Zhong looked at the amber colored wine in his cup, transparent and clear, emitting the sweet fragrance of Osmanthus flower, which was quite intoxicating. Even without drinking it he could already taste the wonderful floating-in-the-air, high-in-the-clouds feeling.
A single look at the table and he noticed the utensils, whether it was the cup, dish, bowl, plate, goblet, oil lamp, were all of meticulous craftsmanship, appealing and elegant. The most particular thing was that all the vessels were glazed with dots like raindrops; the base color was black, but it was covered with silvery-white tiny dots in radial pattern. The bigger dots were about the size of a pea, the small ones were about the size of a millet, like pleated silvery light.
Only this kind of precious household utensils would fit Song Clan’s position, which surpassed the other big clans.
Noticing Kou Zhong was paying particular attention to the vessels containing exquisite wine and culinary delicacy on the table, Song Zhi said with a laugh, “This type of raindrop glaze is also known as Heaven’s Eye glaze. From the chi-long pitcher to cun-size basin, all are considered out-of-the-world treasure; even the fragments can worth as much as gold and jade. We have only been able to collect this set after searching for a long time.”
This was the second time Kou Zhong sat down and talked with Song Zhi, already he felt the difference.
From Song Zhi’s cordial tone, Kou Zhong clearly knew that he had already considered Kou Zhong as family. Surprisingly, it was Song Lu who proposed a toast.
“For more than ten years,” he said with a laugh, “This is the first time that I see Da Xiong with so much smile on his face. This toast is for Da Xiong; the next one is Xiao Zhong’s turn.”
Laughing involuntarily, Song Que said, “Lu Di [younger brother] must have kept that remark in your heart for close to ten years, and only today you can take others’ precarious position to reveal your feeling. Ha! Let’s drink for victory.”
And then they took turn toasting each other.
After several rounds, Song Que suddenly asked indifferently, “Did Shidao fall in love with that Gaoli [Korean] woman?”
Kou Zhong was caught off-guard; a bit flustered replied, “On that …! Fazhu, please do not get angry; the truth is … ay! I cannot escape the blame, because …”
Song Que cut him off, “This affair, we already knew the details from the letter that he sent to us, so no need to repeat. I just want to know, based on Shao Shuai’s observation, whether Shidao is in love with that Gaoli woman, Fu Junyu.”
Kou Zhong did not dare to lie to him; smiling wryly, he said, “Strictly speaking, Er Gongzi [second young master] ought to be in love with the house and its crow [idiom: ‘love me, love my dog’]. However, whether a feeling would develop gradually, this is very difficult to say.”
From the start, Song Zhi and Song Lu have been interrogated by Song Que about Song Shidao, so they did not dare to utter a word or half a sentence. It could be inferred that Song Que had exploded over this matter, hence nobody dared to butt in.
Song Que was deep in thought for a moment. Suddenly he picked his chopsticks and got a dish for Kou Zhong, as if he already forgot about Song Shidao, and said with a smile, “This is Ma Xiang [lit. sesame fragrant] chicken, eat it while it’s still hot and crispy. I heard you and Ziling used to be chefs at the Flying Horse Ranch, you must be more expert than we are.”
Kou Zhong took a bite; emotionally moved, he said, “Compared to the expert who prepared this Ma Xiang chicken, Xiaodi is far too inferior!”
Song Que turned to Song Zhi and said, “Is there any new development about the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying?”
Song Zhi replied, “According to the latest flying pigeon dispatch from the Du Zun Bao the day before yesterday, Xi Ying has not shown his face; but Yin Gui Pai’s Wanwan has made appearance in Chengdu.”
Kou Zhong’s heart skipped a beat; he could not help feeling worried for Xu Ziling. Unable to hold himself, he asked, “This ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying, what kind of fellow is he?”
Song Lu laughed and said, “Xi Ying is a demonic school’s martial art master who is ranked number four within the Eight Major Martial Art Masters of the Demonic Way, barely below Zhu Yuyan, Shi Zhixuan, and Zhao Deyan. In the past, he has suffered crushing defeat under Da Xiong’s hands, and ran away abroad for many years, but recently returned to the Central Plains. He even openly show off his prowess toward Da Xiong; should be because his demonic skill has had great progress that he dares to abandon restraint.”
Letting out a cold snort, Song Zhi said, “If he really has guts, he ought to climb over the mountain city to issue formal challenge, but now he hides in the distant Sichuan, baring his fangs and brandishing his claws; obviously he is harboring evil intent.”
Song Que’s countenance became incomparably grim; he spoke slowly, “Even if Zhu Yuyan has the audacity to prop his waist, it will still be difficult for him to escape his fate to have his soul cutoff under my, Song Que’s saber.”
Light footsteps were heard; Song Yuzhi arrived. This graceful beauty did not wear any cosmetics; her beautiful hair was rolled into a simple bun on top of her head, she wore blue flowers on white background dress, with jade belt around her waist, lucid and elegant like the lotus in the middle of the pond.
Her pale countenance, minus her usual somewhat unyielding temperament, made her somewhat more lovely and touching; some kind of ‘when I see you, I feel compassion toward you’ beautiful demeanor.
Deliberately avoiding Kou Zhong’s burning hot gaze, she sat on the other side of Song Que.
Song Lu lovingly poured wine for her, but a little displeased, Song Que said, “Zhi’er, what’s delaying you?”
Song Yuzhi lightly hung her head down and spoke in low voice, “Just received flying pigeon letter from Xie Baozhu [fort master] in Chengdu. Last night the ‘Heavenly Lord’ Xi Ying was killed bare-handedly by Yue Shan, who has returned to the fray after a long period of inactivity, at San Hua Lou. The witnesses include Chuan Bang’s Fan Zhuo and Ba Meng’s Feng Zhen.”
“What?” Kou Zhong blurted out.
Song Que and the others’ gaze were immediately turning toward him; even Song Yuzhi could not help looking at him. Nobody understood why his reaction was more urgent and intense than anybody else in the room.
Recomposing himself, Kou Zhong smiled an embarrassed smile, while taking the opportunity to meet Song Yuzhi’s limpid, profound gaze.
Song Zhi moved his gaze toward Song Que, whose expression remained serene; he said, “This is certainly no small matter; could it be that Xi Ying’s Ziqi Tian Luo still had not reached great height yet?”
Song Yuzhi said, “Repeating Fan Zhuo and Feng Zhen’s words about the situation, Xi Ying’s Ziqi Tian Luo had astonishing prowess, it’s just that it was not a match for Yue Shan’s empty hand, empty fist using Huan Ri Da Fa. With this battle, once again Yue Shan has climbed over to the top martial art master position.”
Exhaling a mouthful of cold air, Song Lu said, “This man Yue Shan has always been narrow-minded; this time he has mastered Huan Ri Da Fa, he must be coming to Sichuan city to settle old debts.”
Song Que casually said, “I am most afraid that he wouldn’t come.”
Suddenly throwing his head back in long laughter, he said, “Good ‘Overbearing Saber’ Yue Shan, please forgive me, Song Que, for underestimating you.”
Turning toward Song Yuzhi, he instructed, “Notify Chengdu immediately, I don’t care how they do it, they must find Yue Shan’s whereabouts. Because I went out to deal with Cui Jixiu and his gang, I already missed Xi Ying. This time I don’t want to lose another opportunity.”
Inwardly Kou Zhong cried, ‘This is desperately serious!’ Helpless, he forced a smile and said, “Fazhu, I am afraid this time you will be disappointed again!”
Stunned, everybody turned their eyes to him. Steeling himself, Kou Zhong added, “Because this Yue Shan is an impostor.”
His countenance did not change at all, Song Que said, “Can you explain that?”
Kou Zhong leaned back into his chair; slapping the table, he said with a sigh, “The one killing Xi Ying was Xu Ziling, who was wearing Yue Shan mask personally made by Lu Miaozi. This kid is really good that he even managed to kill the fourth ranking man of the demonic way’s martial art master list.”
Everybody, including Song Que, was emotionally moved.
After giving brief explanation, Kou Zhong said, “Xiao Ling must have had another breakthrough in the martial way, otherwise, he would not be formidable to such a degree.”
This time it was Song Que’s turn to smile wryly and said, “This is called all one’s hopes and efforts come to nothing. In the future, I am afraid the Central Plains’ Wulin will belong to you and Xu Ziling.”
And then he calmly declared, “On behalf of the Song Family, I have reached agreement with Shao Shuai; although our Song Family will not be directly involved in Shao Shuai’s struggle to obtain the world, but we will give him our full support in the background. If Shao Shuai’s army is defeated, this agreement will be voided. But if in the end he can unify the world, Yuzhi will become his empress. Ladies and gentlemen, is there any objection?”
Song Zhi and Song Lu did not say anything. Only Song Yuzhi’s pretty face suddenly blushed; the red clouds color went straight to the tip of her ears, as she hung her head low.
Song Que rose up to his full height and walked over behind Kou Zhong. Reaching out to grab his shoulders firmly, he said, “After breakfast, Yuzhi may send Shao Shuai off. As for the other details, you may discuss it carefully later!”
Finished speaking, he laughed aloud and floated away.
Standing on the bow, Xu Ziling was enjoying the light of the river and the color of the mountain, while myriad of thoughts was surging in his mind.
Han Zenan, husband and wife’s martial art skill was definitely not ordinary. Mrs. Han, Xiaochang was even more superior, enough to place her among famous martial masters of Jianghu. What kind of enemy would make them flustered and panic like this?
Even with his ‘Gong Chenchun’ prestige of beating He Yi Pai back, Xiaochang still described asking for his help as ‘inviting disaster upon oneself’; evidently their family’s foe was tremendously powerful, at least it was on par with his perceived martial art skill, so that the good-hearted Xiaochang was afraid to incriminate him.
While he was still in deep contemplation, Lin Lang came behind him and said reverently, “Turns out Gong Ye is a sage presents as an ordinary person, no wonder Hou Gongzi, who is inordinately proud of his ability, was willing to rush about to make arrangement for Gong Ye.”
Xu Ziling was amused inwardly; he had never declared that his martial art skill was meager, so how could he be called a sage who presents himself as an ordinary person? But he has indeed not shown his true colors, simply because he was wearing a mask. “Are we going to cast anchor today?” he casually asked.
Lin Lang nodded and said, “The big city ahead is Badong County. We may stop over there for half a sichen to replenish our water and provision.”
Focusing his power to his eyes, Xu Ziling looked ahead, and was able to see the outline of city wall. On both sides of the river, the number of buildings among the forest was increasing dramatically, not scattered like before.
At this time Lei Jiuzhi came, thereupon the two of them went to the hall to have breakfast.
They were the first guests to arrive. As soon as they were seated properly, Wu Jiang Bang people were scrambling to serve them. Naturally Lei Jiuzhi received the benefit of Xu Ziling’s glory.
After some small talks, not even one out of three sentences that Lei Jiuzhi spoke meandered from his profession; he was talking about gambling again. This time he was talking about Paijiu [pai gow]; fortunately he was quite expressive, like springtime grew out of the corner of his mouth, so that it was not too boring.
He said, “Casinos have a taboo, which is there is no number ‘eleven’, and nobody is allowed to say ‘eleven’. Because in Paijiu, there’s a combination of ‘five’ and ‘six’, which make ‘eleven’, which almost always lose. There’s also a ‘ten’, because in Paijiu, number ‘ten’ is the smallest. When someone swore ‘limping ten’, it came from this tile combination. ‘Two-plank six’ is also a cuss word, because ‘two-plank’ makes four, and four and six combination makes ten. Ha!”
Xu Ziling laughed and said, “If you tell it like that, it might be easier for me to learn.”
Immensely proud of himself, Lei Jiuzhi bragged, “The secret of Paijiu is in ‘killing to the last one’, this four-word saying [gan jin sha jue] is the most sentimental emotion.”
This moment the hull slightly shook, while the speed was gradually reduced, as the ship was touching the riverbank on their port side.
Lei Jiuzhi praised, “Wu Jiang Bang’s skill in steering the boat is definitely topnotch. No wonder that although over the years shipwrecks and accidents over the Three Gorges have been heard repeatedly, but none ever happened to their boat.”
The sailboat finally stopped at the dock.
Xu Ziling was looking down, he was about to drink a bowl of thin rice porridge, when there was the sound of sleeves splitting the air. When the two men were looking at each other in surprise, a burst of weird-sounding laughter came from the deck, followed by a voice saying, “We have a business to attend to in here, anybody dares to meddle, don’t blame my staff for not showing any mercy.”
Another tender female voice called out, “Hey Xiaochang! Jiejie [older sister] is coming to give my respect and wish you a good health! Why haven’t you rolled out for me?”
Xu Ziling’s heart was shaken; he finally knew whom Han Zenan, husband and wife, were afraid of.
And they definitely had reason to be afraid.