Zong Xianghua’s long and slender hand left the sword hilt. With a bit of every-hope-turns-to-dust impression, she appeared to be stupefied as she said, “You guys should leave immediately, as far away as possible, and afterwards must not appear before my eyes again, otherwise don’t blame us for being impolite.”
Hearing that, Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling you look at me I gaze at you, they were both at a loss. Zong Xianghua did not immediately pull her sword to fight them, or summon Da Ming Zun Jiao people to help her, it was already greatly beyond their expectation. And now unexpectedly she even let them leave. It was indeed extremely strange. Translated by foxs
Kesubie, who had always been mild-mannered, sighed and said, “Zong Shiwei [imperial bodyguard] learned from Xiufang Dajia that Shaoshuai has personally promised to protect the people of Longquan’s life and property, also saw how at Little Longquan you let her go; therefore, she does not wish to be enemy with you. Ay! We … we …”
The two men understood. Moreover, they understood that the reasons Kesubie mentioned was not the most important; the real reason why Zong Xianghua was unwilling to make her move was that she already lost the will to fight, as well as any hope – for the incoming battle, that she could only stare blankly and wait for the misfortune of extermination of an entire family [ancient Chinese punishment], for the massacre of everyone in the captured city.
Xu Ziling’s compassion arose greatly, he spoke softly, “Things are still not at the turning point yet. As long as we can find the Five-Colored Stone, and your honorable superior is willing to give up the establishment of the country, we can try to persuade Tuli, and then he could go to advise Xieli.”
Zong Xianghua shook her head dejectedly and hung down her cicada head.
Kesubie swept his gaze all around at the tranquil and beautiful scenery of the river and the bridge. Revealing a feeling-as-if-having-his-heart-cut-out expression, he spoke in great distress, “Let’s not talk about Da Wang is obstinately clinging to his course, that he is determined to fight to the death, even if we are willing to give up the establishment of the kingdom and offer the Five-Colored Stone, the Tujue still will not let the matter drop. Ba Xiong ought to be clear of Xieli’s killing-to-the-last-one style.”
Xu Ziling recalled the prosperous situation of the Vermilion Bird Boulevard when they first arrived, he thought about the horrible scene of women and children and the old and the weak under the Tujue Army’s iron hoof trampling all living things and turned them into charcoal. Righteous indignation bubbling up deep within his heart, he resolutely said, “I definitely will not let the Tujue massacre everyone in the captured city.”
Zong Xianghua raise her head to look at him; she wanted to say something but then hesitated, in the end she did not speak, but the beautiful pupil of her eyes no longer showed the slightest bit of hostility.
Knitting his brows, Ba Fenghan said, “How could the situation get to this point? Could it be that you have never thought that relying on the meager strength of one tribe at the remote corner of the prairie to challenge the powerful tyrant of the grassland, the cowering-the-Central-Earth-by-their-military-force Tujue Wolf Army – is merely striking a stone with an egg? Even if Gesuwen is your wonder troops [troops appearing suddenly], at most he could somewhat delay the fate of the perished tribe.” Translated by foxs
Revealing a sad regret-is-already-too-late expression, Kesubie spoke with hatred, “This is called Da Wang is repeating errors, but in the end it was Ma Ji who led him astray. Under his recommendation, he revered Funantuo as his master, he spared no effort in accumulating wealth and expanding the armed forces, moreover, he made contact with Gesuwen, having the superstition belief that Funantuo pointed out, the so-called Mandate of Heaven. And now that Funantuo is powerless to defend himself, he finally came to his senses. But once he took a wrong turn, it’s very difficult to turn around. At that time I implored him not to trust Ma Ji and Funantuo, but I was reprimanded severely by him; henceforth I distanced myself from this matter and only do some work for him taking care of foreign guests. Yesterday Zong Shiwei and I admonished him strenuously not to capture that Song Gongzi, but he resolutely refused to listen to us, inciting you guys to capture the Little Longquan, while also angering Fu Dashi’s disciple Qiang Xiaojie and losing Gaoli, this powerful ally, and finally Funantuo’s life was gone under Shaoshuai’s hands. Ay! I don’t know either how the situation could get to this point.”
Zong Xianghua recovered her cold and detached demeanor, she spoke indifferently, “Stop talking! Gentlemen, just consider it a favor to us: immediately leave the city, otherwise it would be very difficult for us to explain to Da Wang.”
Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “Lady and gentleman, please don’t underestimate Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling; they said they are going to resolve the massacre in Longquan, they must have a way to do it, moreover, they will need your cooperation. Even if you do not consider your own life or death, you ought to consider the innocent civilians, the common people in the whole city.”
Sneering coldly, Zong Xianghua said, “Isn’t Ba Fenghan famous for having a heart of stone? Why suddenly become like a knight-errant that bemoans the state of the universe and pity the fate of mankind? If you really give thought to us, just give back the things that you robbed, I guarantee that Da Wang is going to hand over the people to you.”
Ba Fenghan understood her mood; although he was rebuked, he did not get angry. He signaled Xu Ziling with his eyes, telling him to speak.
Xu Ziling understood what he meant, he calmly said, “I am asking lady and gentleman a question, but please think thrice before answering: are lady and gentleman loyal to Bai Ziting, or are you actually loyal to Sumo tribe? Please don’t answer in haste, I want to know your true intention. Sumo tribe is at the life and death juncture of the extermination of the entire family, perhaps your answer will determine its future fate.”
Zong Xianghua and Kesubie revealed a shocked expression at the same time; they looked at him.
Kou Zhong and Pingyao merchants, seventeen people altogether, were taken to the mule carts, which were originally prepared to carry goods, under escort of Gongqi and nearly a hundred guards, paraded ostentatiously across town like convicted criminals – galloping toward the imperial palace.
The mob on the street’s anger has not diminished; although they were being prevented from taking these Han people down from the cart to beat them up fiercely, they still continuously hurled insult or threw rocks at them, scaring Luo Yi and the others that their face was devoid of any color, so that they huddled into a pile and only knew how to tremble. Translated by foxs
Naturally Kou Zhong also put on the same act and scared expression like them, but inwardly he was actually very happy; he even beseeched God and worshipped Buddha that Gongqi would put them in the same jail that Song Shidao and the others were imprisoned.
This possibility was quite high, considering putting the hostages in one central location would both be convenient to defend, also to facilitate ease of transport.
Right this moment, rapid sound of hoot beats was heard. Seven or eight riders were galloping from behind, the leader was surprisingly Han Chao’an.
Kou Zhong almost reached for his saber. This is called enemies meet bringing red to the eyes; after getting rid of Funantuo and Shen Mohuan, the one he wanted to kill the most was this abominable fellow, and next in line was Liexia.
Looking back, Gongqi laughed and said, “Han Xiong is back from Bie Yuan!”
Han Chao’an’s face was calm and collected; not even looking at Kou Zhong and the other prisoners, he went straight to Gongqi’s side and rode side by side with him. Furious, he said, “How did things happen, and how could it happen? You let Kou Zhong, that kid attacked Little Longquan and robbed three ships’ worth of goods that are extremely important. That already made Bohai lost its face entirely. The more nonsensical thing was that while the entire city was staring blankly to watch, you let Kou Zhong struck and killed Da Guoshi, and afterward unexpectedly he escaped without any trace. Tell me, what is going on here? How are we going to fight the battle tomorrow? Merely Kou Zhong is enough to cause Longquan’s destruction.”
If Gongqi was a Sumo man, he certainly would not be able to bear it.
Gongqi spoke in low voice, “Han Xiong must not get angry, how could things of the world always follow people’s expectations? We made a mistake by underestimating Kou Zhong’s ability to escape, but were it not for us receiving Han Xiong’s suggestion to plot against Song Shidao, the situation might not escalate to this level!”
Han Chao’an also lowered his voice, but he still could not conceal the hot anger in his heart; he said, “Clearly it was you who mucked things up, yet you are blaming me? Have you put Song Shidao to death?”
Kou Zhong was shocked. Immediately he was able to recreate the chain of events in his mind. Not only Gongqi said that capturing Song Shidao was Han Chao’an’s proposal, he even used the phrase ‘plot against’; it could be imagined that at that time Han Chao’an was the first to make his move, so that Song Shidao, who did not guard against him at all, was taken in by surprise, and then with Funantuo’s help they attacked Song Shidao that he had no time to deal with it. Otherwise, with Song Shidao’s martial art skill, or it might be that he fought with all his might until he perished, he could not possibly be so useless as to suffer the humiliation of being captured. Translated by foxs
Why would Han Chao’an do this? It could be inferred from this that if his plan succeeded, such as Song Shidao and Kou Zhong were killed, Bai Ziting would be joined by Gesuwen’s wonder troops, using ten-thousand-jun-thunderbolt momentum to recapture Little Longquan and to annihilate Xu Ziling, Ba Fenghan, and Gunatai brothers in one move, and then the officers and soldiers’ morale would be aroused, their will to fight resolute. That would be the immediate result.
The further objective was to roll Gaoli King and Yijian Dashi Fu Cailin into this matter. To have both his future son-in-law and his son die in Longquan at the same time, as Bai Ziting’s partner, it would be hard for Gaoli to escape the blame, so that when Fu Cailin came to the Central Earth in the future, Song Que would definitely fight a life and death decisive battle against Fu Cailin. And Song Que was one of the very few persons in the world who had enough qualifications to challenge Fu Cailin.
To Han Chao’an and Gesuwen, Fu Cailin was the biggest obstacle for them to ascend the throne of Gaoli, hence they wanted to accomplish it sooner rather than later.
These thoughts flitted through Kou Zhong’s mind like lightning flash or a flint’s spark, but then he immediately thought of another imminent serious problem.
After receiving the news, Han Chao’an hurried back, it could not be just because of bad temper, but because he wanted to kill Song Shidao to shut his mouth, so that Gaoli’s side would never know that he had a part in capturing Song Shidao. Otherwise, he would be the first person that Fu Cailin was unwilling to let go.
Kou Zhong wiped his cold sweat inwardly; fortunately he accidentally came across this matter. Otherwise it would be a matter for regret throughout his life; moreover, he would be unable to explain to the Song Family.
Gongqi replied indifferently, “Concerning Song Shidao, it would be best if Han Xiong personally ask Da Wang. We as his subordinates can only carry out his orders.”
Kou Zhong’s heart was moved; he guessed that Han Chao’an did not know that Gongqi belonged to Da Ming Zun Jiao.
Han Chao’an turned his head around to glance at Kou Zhong and others, crowded into a pile on the mule cart, “Who are these people?” he asked.
On the horseback, Gongqi suddenly leaned toward Han Chao’an, he focused his voice into a thread and whispered a few words toward Han Chao’an. Although he focused his power into his pair of ears, Kou Zhong was still unable to hear a sentence or half a word; he cried, ‘Not good!’ inwardly.
Sure enough, Han Chao’an’s spirit greatly aroused, he laughed evilly and said, “Since Xiaodi has time, I might as well accompany Gong Jiangjun to the inner palace to tour the inner prison a little bit. Ha! Gong Jiangjun is a true friend indeed.”
Kou Zhong’s heart sank straight down, thinking about what he could have missed from being unable to hear.
Gongqi practically had bad intentions; he wanted to borrow Han Chao’an’s hands to kill Song Shidao, and this could make Kou Zhong fall into a no-room-to-advance-or-to-retreat situation. In the Imperial Palace’s Inner Garden, even if he, Kou Zhong had three heads and six arms, it would still be difficult for him to have it both ways: to rescue the people and save his own life. What’s more, the sixteen Pingyao merchants all lacked the strength even to truss a chicken. If fighting broke, the first to suffer calamity would be them. But how could he stare blankly at Han Chao’an killing Song Shidao? Translated by foxs
Suddenly the color of blood receded entirely from Zong Xianghua’s face, unconsciously she shook her head slowly. Kesubie’s countenance alternated between clear and dark, revealing the conflicting different thoughts in his heart.
Letting out a cold snort, Ba Fenghan said, “One person’s mistake, the entire tribe should not bear it!”
Out of character, Zong Xianghua screamed, “Stop talking!”
Lowering his voice, Kesubie spoke to Zong Xianghua, “Zong Shiwei, please calm down, their words are not totally unreasonable.”
Shaken, Zong Xianghua said, “You want to betray Da Wang?”
Smiling wryly, Kesubie said, “I am just hoping to save Longquan.”
Zong Xianghua leaped off the boat, she made a somersault in the air and landed on the shore. She skipped over the Xiao Hui Yuan without entering, and rapidly went far.
Regaining his gaze from the direction she was disappearing, Kesubie spoke helplessly, “Gentlemen, please don’t worry, Zong Shiwei Zhang is a person with deep understanding of reason, I am confident she will never report this matter to Da Wang.”
Xu Ziling was actually afraid that someone from Da Ming Zun Jiao might come out to get the boat and catch them head-on; he said, “Let’s move to a secluded place and discuss this further!”
Vermilion Bird Gate was in sight. Even after wracking his brains Kou Zhong was still unable to come up with any brilliant scheme, he had no choice but to gamble. He spoke with trembling voice, “This Jiangjun Daren, is it possible for Xiaoren to make a proposal on behalf of everybody else?”
Riding side-by-side at the front, Gongqi and Han Chao’an impatiently turned their head around to look at him. Luo Yi and the others’ heart was pounding inside their chest, they also looked at him.
Kou Zhong already restrained the expression showing in his eyes. Pretending to be panic-stricken, with ten thousand acting, he hung his head low and said, “We all are businessmen who have prestige in Pingyao, as long as …”
“Shut up!” Gongqi barked.
Kou Zhong still pretended to be terrified as he made his last effort, “We can guarantee not to tell anybody.” Translated by foxs
Gongqi angrily said, “One more word, I will cut off your tongue.”
While Luo Yi and the others did not understand, Han Chao’an was reminded by Kou Zhong; he hurriedly whispered in Gongqi’s ear.
Kou Zhong sniggered inwardly, knowing that Han Chao’an fell into his trap, realizing that if afterwards information was leaked that he, Han Chao’an entered the Inner Palace’s jail and Song Shidao was reported to die tragically, anybody would suspect that it was Han Chao’an who rendered the deadly blow. At least Gongqi would not want to take this responsibility on himself. Becoming the ‘Heavenly Saber’ Song Que’s personal enemy who killed his son was not a laughing matter, not to mention he would also become Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s mortal enemy.
Therefore, not only the two must not let the Pingyao merchants to know about this matter, they must also conceal it from the other Sumo soldiers, so that the number of people that Kou Zhong would have to deal with was greatly reduced.
The only problem was how he could get away to prevent this tragedy from happening; without any better option, he had to wait for the opportunity and act accordingly.
The mule cart, under escort in front and behind, passed through the Vermilion Bird Gate to enter the imperial city.
Sure enough, Gongqi pulled the rein to stop. He issued his order to transfer the Sumo and Mohe soldiers within his team to the lower-rank general in charge of guarding the gate, leaving only a dozen or so personal guards, which, looking at their appearance, were clearly wolf-bandits, plus Han Chao’an’s seven men.
Gongqi spoke to the general at the gate, “Report to Da Wang immediately, Pingyao merchants are all caught in the net, they are going to be detained at the Inner Palace jail.”
And then he gave another order to have the mule cart galloping toward the Inner Palace gate.
Kou Zhong cheered inwardly. Gongqi’s next move would be to temporarily send them to a secluded place; only after they have done the deed would the merchants be sent into the prison.
He beseeched God and worshipped Buddha to focus his power into his pair of ears, to concentrate his attention completely to listen to the dialogue between the two men, his mind entered the Moon in the Well realm.
Not far off his guess, upon reaching the Inner Palace gate, Gongqi leaned over to speak a few words into Han Chao’an’s ear.
Kou Zhong smiled wryly in his heart, because he could not hear even half a sentence.
Entering the Palace City, Gongqi deliberately fell back. He passed on some orders to one of his men, and then he said, “Han Xiong, please go see Da Wang by yourself, Mojiang still have other important affair, forgive me for not accompanying you.”
Han Chao’an cheerfully replied, “Gong Jiangjun, no need to stand on ceremony.”
With the wolf-bandits, Gongqi’s men leading the way, Han Chao’an and his entourage galloped in the direction of the main palace hall.
Other than Gongqi, only Kou Zhong’s hand knew and his belly understood that the two already agreed to meet again outside the Inner Palace jail to take Song Shidao’s life. Translated by foxs
Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling left the boat and went ashore. They went around to the main entrance of the Xiao Hui Yuan’s outer courtyard. The former smiled and said, “I really wish we could break the door down and enter, kill anybody in sight, wiping them all neat and clean to our heart’s content. It’s a pity Ziling does not like this kind of style. If it were Kou Zhong, he would surely raise his hand in approval.”
Xu Ziling said, “The only thing I want to do the most right now is to rush into the palace to rescue people. But acting rashly like that would only make Kesubie unable to proceed with his difficult and heavy responsibility to lobby the other high-ranking military officers. There’s not much time, we have to restrain ourselves for the time being.”
They learned from Kesubie that Bai Ziting sent them here to have a feel on Da Ming Zun Jiao’s real intention, to see if in the circumstances that developed rapidly after the abrupt turn, they were still willing to support him.
This time Da Ming Zun Jiao’s whole nest came out to fight, the original idea was to take over the control from Funantuo’s Tianzhu Jiao. According to Kesubie, they were hoping to combine the Sumo and Huihe, two tribes’ power, taking advantage of while the internal strife between Xieli and Tuli was at the peak – to fish in troubled water, to expand Da Ming Zun Jiao’s influence in the political arena.
Who would have thought that man proposes but God disposes, feeling that crisis was brewing, Funantuo played the Five-Colored Stone card to force Bai Ziting to stake all on one throw by confronting the Tujue Army’s invasion head-on. Also, left with no other option, he had to show the wolf into the house by inviting Gesuwen, the assisting troops, which harbored some other evil intentions. Even if he beat back the Wolf Army, not only Bai Ziting might be suppressed or even harmed – by Funantuo and Gesuwen acting together, Da Ming Zun Jiao would also have no place to set foot in Longquan.
Da Ming Zun Jiao’s inferior position did not stop here; if Pusa succeeded in taking back his lost power and position within the Huihe tribe, it would also seal Da Ming Zun Jiao’s fate even further.
Kesubie’s information also verified that what Du Xing told them was the truth.
Ba Fenghan picked up the doorknocker and heavily banged it against the door. The sound reverberated across the Xiao Hui Yuan, which occupied quite a large tract of land. He calmly said, “Remember, Liexia is mine.”
The sound of footsteps came, a female voice was heard, “Which noble guest is it?”
Ba Fenghan responded indifferently, “Is Liexia Gongzi in? Please let him know that Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling are coming to look for him.”
The woman at the other side of the door’s breathing immediately became hurried. “Two gentlemen, please wait a moment,” she said.
The footsteps went away. Translated by foxs
Ba Fenghan reached out to caress the door, he said, “This door is very sturdy, do you think I can shock and shatter it with one palm?”
Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “No need to be so intense!”
Astonished, Ba Fenghan laughed in spite of himself; he said, “I heard Kou Zhong said that in Chang’an you disguised yourself as Yue Shan, went to Huang Gongcuo’s mansion to look for him to give him bad luck, without saying anything further you simply break the door down and enter. Where did that kind of heroic spirit go?”
Xu Ziling shook his head and said with a sigh, “I give up! Perhaps evil people must be pestered by evil people’s ways. LaoGe, be my guest, Xiaodi will give you my full support.”
Laughing aloud, Ba Fenghan said, “How can I give Ziling any trouble? Someone’s coming!”
‘Creak!’ the main gate was opening to the inside, left and right, Liexia’s smiling face appeared. But before he had any chance to speak, Ba Fenghan’s leg flew out, it swiftly kicked toward the right side of his chest.
Liexia cried out in alarm, he hastily flew back to evade, and landed on the open space in front of the stone steps of the main building.
As if nothing had happened, with his hands behind his back, Ba Fenghan stepped over the threshold and entered, he laughed aloud and said, “Good skill, you are not ashamed to be the chief of Da Ming Zun Jiao’s Five Bright Sons.”
Xu Ziling followed behind him into the garden.
Looking like he had just received unjust treatment, Liexia protested, “Ba Xiong, even if you wanted to test this ignorant person’s skill, no need for you to assault while the door had just barely opened; what if you take someone’s life?”
Ba Fenghan swept his gaze around. Other than Liexia, there was no one else. He laughed slyly and said, “How can I have the leisure to test your skill? I am coming today to give you bad luck. Whether you survive or not, it will depend on whether you, Liexia have the skill.”