Book 61 Chapter 13 – Five Saber Strikes Wager
Inside the honored guest bedroom at the rear courtyard of Yeting Palace, Xu Ziling sat cross-legged on the bed. Li Shimin, in company with a group of trusted aides, imperial strategic advisers and great generals sat all around the bed. Due to the limited space, although several chairs were temporarily brought in for their use, there were still many people who had to stand.
The attendees included Zhangsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, Yuchi Jingde, Li Jing husband and wife, Pang Yu, Duan Zhixuan, Hou Junji, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Shubao, Gao Shilian and the others. Everyone’s expression was grave, which showed that the confrontation between the Heavenly Policy Mansion and the forces outside the mansion became more and more acute.
The entire building was the honored guest pavilion originally used to entertain important foreign guests, adjacent to Li Shimin’s bedroom. It was heavily guarded by Wang Xuanshu-led Flying Clouds Guards and Li Shimin’s specially appointed Dark Armored Elite Troops, they wanted to deceive Jiancheng, Yuanji’s spies hidden beneath the surface inside the Yeting Palace, so that the other side would not doubt that Xu Ziling was not injured.
Xu Ziling did not tire of explaining the situation since returning to Chang’an this morning one by one. He did not dare to overlook the slightest amount of detail. Hearing that, everyone’s heart was heavy, but Li Shimin’s demeanor, who was sitting closest to Xu Ziling, was still cool-headed and calm. He kept asking questions to understand everything clearly.
Finished speaking, Xu Ziling concluded, “Now the situation is becoming more and more clear, Bi Xuan’s departure is just a cover, in order to pacify our hearts, so that while we do not guard against him, he could slaughter us. Huangshang has completely stood on Taizi and Qi Wang’s side, he accepted all their actions tacitly. When we enter the palace tomorrow morning to participate in the alliance ceremony, it will be a critical moment to decide who lives and who perishes.”
Li Shimin neither expressed his agreement or voiced his disapproval, he said, “Gentlemen qing [subject] can speak freely and express the thoughts in your heart. Ziling definitely will not take offense; moreover, I would like to hear a bit more different opinion.”
Xu Ziling had a feeling in his heart that when Li Shimin was facing various generals of the Heavenly Policy Mansion, it was like he was a different person from when he was speaking alone with him. He did not reveal the slightest bit of negative emotions in his heart, but fully showed his determination, self-confidence, wisdom and courage, comprehensive side.
He allowed his subordinates to display and offer opinions, which could encourage morale and make everyone unite in absolute good faith – even more.
Fang Xuanling cleared his throat, he opened the chat box and said, “According to what Xu Gongzi said just now, in the duel against Bi Xuan, Shaoshuai fell into the disadvantageous position. If Huangshang intends to eliminate Shaoshuai, why didn’t he let Bi Xuan to have ample time to make his move to get rid of Shaoshuai? Once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved.”
Xu Ziling smiled and said, “First of all, we must be sure that if Bi Xuan has the determination to kill Kou Zhong, even if Huangshang graced them with his presence, Bi Xuan could still press on, at least he could attempt to send the full-strength attack with the stored-up momentum that he already gathered to the full at that time. However, the fact was that he immediately gave up, thereby, it can be inferred that he did not have the confidence to kill Kou Zhong. Afterwards, Kou Zhong also said that in the process of the duel, he continuously obtained new insights, therefore, although he was at a disadvantage for a while, at whose hand will the deer die in the end was still unknown.”
Everybody praised in chorus. It should be noted that Bi Xuan is one of the three great grandmasters in the world, he was able to move unhindered for decades without finding his rival. If Kou Zhong was able to make Bi Xuan not have the confidence to win over him, this matter was enough to shock the land under heaven.
Li Shimin spoke indifferently, “Listening to Ziling’s words, it seems that there are still thoughts that have not been said, why not continue to say it so that we can collate and examine critically?”
Xu Ziling secretly praised Li Shimin’s wisdom in seeing through the whole thing, otherwise it would be difficult to cooperate with him and let him make a comprehensive analysis. He nodded and said, “Whether we can understand clearly Huangshang’s intention is very important, it will be the key to firm up our determination. All along Huangshang has been hesitating over what move to make about the alliance, naturally it is due to Taizi and Feipin [imperial concubine] factions opposing strongly, and the heavy pressure caused by the intimidation, as well as the use of gain as a lure – brought about by the Tujue. However, because he is the Lord of the Great Tang, furthermore, this matter directly implicates Qin Wang, coupled with the desires and expectations of his Chang’an subjects, he has to carefully consider the consequences of accepting or denying the alliance. Any decision he makes will have a completely different outcome.”
Speaking to this point, he paused. What he said did not seem to have direct relation with Li Yuan’s interruption to Bi Xuan and Kou Zhong, but because it concerned Li Yuan’s position, everyone listened with rapt attention.
Li Shimin exhaled a mouthful of air, he said, “The decision to form an alliance involves different considerations and variables. If he does not form an alliance, he must keep Shaoshuai and Ziling in Chang’an, so as to weaken and strike Shao Shuai, the Song Family and the Jianghuai Armies’ combined power. Furthermore, he has to attempt to pacify the subjects’ heart, in such a way as not to become the target of the world’s pointed fingers, spit and curse of being not benevolent and not righteous; we must be clear about this.”
Xu Ziling cheerfully said, “What Qin Wang said was a penetrating insight, Huangshang definitely does not wish to give people the idea of actively participating in harming Kou Zhong, hence he interrupted the decisive battle, which was most likely just a gesture; in terms of time, he should have been gone to collect the corpse, only he never thought that Kou Zhong would still be without the slightest bit of damage, which was beyond his expectations.”
Knitting his brows, Du Ruhui said, “Bi Xuan pretending to storm off in a huff, it shouldn’t be a premeditated conspiracy. Because with Bi Xuan’s status and position, he should have full confidence in subduing Shaoshuai, he did not need to resort to other tricks.”
One after another everybody nodded, because Du Ruhui’s analysis was reasonable and fair, if Bi Xuan already thought that it would be difficult to take Kou Zhong’s life, so he deliberately displayed a few empty moves, and then asked Li Yuan to stop the duel, it would not make any sense instead.
Li Jing spoke heavily, “About a sichen after the duel, Bi Xuan led his group to leave the city. During this period of time, they could have discussed with Taizi, calmly made plans, moreover, they would try to beat us at our own game, so that we will not have any suspicion toward Huangshang.”
Li Jing’s analysis gave the others a feeling of the willow trees made the shade, the flowers gave the light [idiom: light at the end of the tunnel], while it could also explain that Bi Xuan’s departure was a deliberate conspiracy at the same time.
Cheng Yaojin nodded vigorously and said, “Well said! How could Tujue people have any good intentions?”
Xu Ziling said, “Huangshang’s heart must be full of contradictions, but the news that Song Que is suffering a heavy injury so that he could not lead the army immediately swept his hesitation clean. If Kou Zhong could be eliminated, Shao Shuai Army would collapse without a fight, due to his injury Song Que is not enough to be a worry, the world almost becomes the object in Huangshang’s pocket, it will be easily obtained. Even if Xieli broke the agreement of coming down to the south, at most he could move the capital to avoid it, plus he could flee to Luoyang. Taizi had just succeeded in resolving the threat from Liu Heita, so that he no longer has to rely on Qin Wang. Under such circumstances, Huangshang feels like he could eliminate us and Qin Wang in one fell swoop. As long as Huangshang is not personally involved, after the event, the blame can be completely pushed to Taizi and Qi Wang. As for how he is going to deal with them, two men, naturally it would be up to the dragon’s intention.”
Li Shimin sighed and said, “When Shaoshuai and I had a secret discussion earlier, it occurred to me that Fuhuang has a way to get rid of me and the Shaoshuai at the same time, which is tomorrow’s alliance ceremony. Since Fuhuang has issued a decree that hereafter I and Taizi and Qi Wang are to enter the Palace via the Xuanwu Gate, when we enter the palace through Xuanwu Gate tomorrow morning, Taizi and Qi Wang could set up a heavy ambush at the palace gate, moving swiftly to kill suddenly. Because there is no way to escape in front or behind, even with Shaoshuai, Ziling’s ability, the only way out is to fight with all our strength and die.”
Zhangsun Wuji, who was originally sitting, stood up behind Li Shimin, losing his usual scholarly elegant manner, he raised his arms excitedly and cried out, “Tomorrow’s Xuanwu Gate will be the critical moment that determines our Great Tang’s rise and fall, Huaxia’s [old name for China] honor and disgrace. We must jump into scalding water and plunge into raging fire [idiom: brave any danger], and die without fear.”
Except for Li Shimin and Xu Ziling, everybody stood up and responded with a roar, the atmosphere was intense and boiling over.
After Li Shimin repeatedly said ‘Good!’, he nodded calmly and said, “Indeed you are worthy to be our Tian Ce Fu’s fine ministers and fierce generals. Chang’an is no longer the Chang’an of the past, but the battlefield that determines the slaughter of our Huaxia Central Earth. Shaoshuai and Ziling’s great benevolence and righteousness, Song Fazhu, the Senior treating me favorably, is indeed the well-being of all the people in the Central Earth. I, Li Shimin, hereby make an oath, I swear to live and die together with Shaoshuai and Ziling, to create a new situation.”
A burst of emotional stirring grew in Xu Ziling’s heart, although Li Shimin did not say clearly that he would place righteousness before family [idiom], but his remarks made it clear his standpoint of putting aside father and son, older and younger brothers’ family love. He no longer regarded the other side as father and brothers, rather, the enemy on the cruel and unfeeling battlefield.
He could imagine the troubles Li Shimin suffered in this regard. Fortunately, in this life and death crisis, the moment that would decide the fate of the world, he was finally able to let go.
Everyone responded with salute and agreement again, the morale soared, they had no doubt about Li Yuan’s intentions.
Xu Ziling said, “As for the details of the operation, after Kou Zhong returns from putting Ge Suwen in order, we will take our time making a decision.”
Ge Suwen, leading Han Chao’an, Jin Zhengzong, Ma Ji, Tuoba Miefu, and a group of his men, rushed out of the house, and stood in opposition to Kou Zhong, standing alone on the plaza of the outer courtyard, with the saber back inside the sheath.
Ge Suwen threw his head back in laughter and said, “Shaoshuai honoring us with your presence, it is my, Ge Suwen’s honor. You only need to let me know and I will definitely open the middle door to welcome you, no need to break the door and enter.”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “I found that Dashuai’s door is unpleasant to the eye, so I simply chopped it with my saber, Dashuai need not be concerned about it. Just like toward Dashuai, I find it a little bit unpleasant to the eye, especially when I think of Dashuai, covering his head and covering his face, not fit to be seen by the light, leading the crowd, mounting a sneak attack on my brother, who was walking alone. I also want to chop you with my saber to vent my anger, I wonder if Dashuai left your five treasured sabers inside the collection storehouse of your honorable home in Gaoli?”
The ominous light in Ma Ji’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he snorted coldly and said, “Death is near at hand, you are still showing off your prestige and brilliant martial art; extremely ridiculous.”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud, he flashed and swept forward, a palm slapped toward Ma Ji. It appeared to be aimed at him, one person, but the palm momentum completely shrouded the other side’s more than a dozen people.
Ge Suwen’s side has never thought that Kou Zhong would be this brazen, not only did he not fear their side’s many men, a great force, but as soon he said fight, he immediately fought. However, Kou Zhong was as fast as lightning flashes, only Ge Suwen, Han Chao’an, Jin Zhengzong, and Tuoba Miefu, who were standing in the front row, had the opportunity to make a move.
Ma Ji backed off in shock, Ge Suwen already blocked in front of Kou Zhong, he raised his hand to parry.
On the other side, Jin Zhengzong and Han Chao’an attacked from Kou Zhong’s left side. The former’s leg flew to kick Kou Zhong’s left waist, while the latter put his fingers together into a palm chop to slash towards Kou Zhong’s neck.
In the rear, one after another the Gaoli warriors flashed their weapons, only momentarily they were unable to join the battle circle.
Kou Zhong laughed aloud, he tested Shi Zhixuan’s life-could-turn-into-death, death-could-turn-into-life Huan Mo Shenfa on the spot. When Ge Suwen struck on the gap, he had already flashed away to where Ma Ji retreated.
At this time, only his number one man, Tuoba Miefu, was able to protect Ma Ji. He wanted to take advantage of the moment when Ge Suwen, three men were besieging and intercepting Kou Zhong to draw his lance to mount a sneak attack, but beyond his expectation, Kou Zhong appeared in front of him. Helpless, he exhaled and raised his voice, the lance swiftly moved up at an angle.
Kou Zhong did not mean to kill Ma Ji, in fact, he even loathed to kill him, he just wanted to establish his mighty power. Suddenly he stepped back and kicked straight ahead, and hit the spearhead right-on.
‘Pow!’ qi power exploded.
Kou Zhong was full of stored-up momentum, while Tuoba Miefu was in haste to meet a contingency, on top of that, the difference in two men’s power was quite some distance away, hence the relative superiority was immediately seen.
Tuoba Miefu let out a miserable groan, his whole body trembled violently, he stumbled and fell back, nearly fell sitting down on the ground, he even could not help spurting out a mouthful of fresh blood, and suffered injury on the spot. It was not that he was unable to withstand a single blow, rather, Kou Zhong’s tactic was brilliant, his strategy outstanding.
Kou Zhong flew back at full speed. At first glance, it looked like he was about to fly out of the split open door, but he suddenly halted and shouted loudly, “Stop!”
Ge Suwen immediately raised his hands to stop his men, his demeanor was still cool-headed, calm and collected, the air of a martial art master, he said with a sneer, “It was Shaoshuai who started fighting, and now it is Shaoshuai who cried out to stop the fighting, is Shaoshuai joking?”
Laughing involuntarily, Kou Zhong swept his gaze past Ma Ji, who was so angry that his fat face turned deathly pale, and Tuoba Miefu, whose pair of eyes were spitting fire with hatred. He spoke casually, “You think I am joking, I have no problem, when was I, Kou Zhong ever afraid of many people? Even Xieli’s Golden Wolf Army, I did not consider them worthy in my eyes. His granny’s, if you want your whole nest to come out, I, Kou Zhong, will gladly keep you company.”
Ge Suwen was at a loss for words, Kou Zhong had already shown clearly by his action that he was not afraid of the many men, a great force on his side. If he ordered an attack, Kou Zhong might injure one or two men, and then swagger off, would he still have the face to stay in Chang’an? He still had lingering fears about Kou Zhong’s ghost and demon like shenfa just now, besieging him really would not work too well.
Ge Suwen slowly lowered his hands, the divine light in his pair of eyes came into focus, he said, “What good proposal does Shaoshuai have?”
Kou Zhong raised his thumb, smiling mischievously, he said, “Dashuai really understands people, which makes me, this Xiaoshuai admire from the bottom of my heart [reminder: Dashuai and Xiaoshuai are big and small commander, respectively]. Ha! I came here this time to make a bet with Dashuai, I want to see if Dashuai has that kind of guts.”
Hearing the singing to a string accompaniment, Ge Suwen knew your kind offer. He shouted to his subordinates first, “Light the lamp! Get the saber!”
Under the fine rain filling the sky, the lanterns were lit up.
Ge Suwen spoke slyly, “What kind of stake does Shaoshuai want to bet?”
Kou Zhong pointed to Ge Suwen, and then pointed to his own chest, he spoke indifferently, “The unfinished battle in the palace last night, let us carry it out here tonight. The loser will immediately pack up and go home, if you don’t accept the bet, then you are a lowly kind with no regard of shame. Will Dashuai have this kind of guts?”
Five Gaoli warriors, holding five treasured sabers of different styles and sizes, ran out of the mansion and came behind Ge Suwen.
Ge Suwen took two steps forward, stopping about three zhang away from Kou Zhong, he threw his head back in laughter and said, “Such an interesting gamble, how could I, Ge Suwen refuse? Only I’m afraid that the loser will practically not be able to go home on his own power, hence why worry about whether keeping one’s word or not keeping one’s word?”
Kou Zhong sighed, he smiled wryly and said, “To be honest, towards you, not only do I have no ill will, I even feel that Dashuai is a heroic figure worth making friends with. How about this? I will let you fully use your five sabers one by one, during the fight, whether you can knock me down, Dashuai should know what’s going on, no need to see blood to conclude. If after carrying out five consecutive saber strikes Dashuai still has no merit but retreat instead, Dashuai will have no choice but to return to Gaoli to continue your cultivation. Dashuai, what do you think?”
These words made Ge Suwen felt greatly astonished. After he and Kou Zhong looked at each other for half a day, he nodded slowly and said, “Very well! We’ll do it according to Shaoshuai’s words. Here comes the saber!”
Kou Zhong nodded cheerfully and said, “Dashuai is really frank and straightforward.”
He was about to observe carefully the weapon that Ge Suwen had taken over from his subordinates, suddenly the alarm went off in his heart, a stream of swift and fierce sword qi was coming from behind toward his back.