Book 63: Chapter 2: Enmity Disappears, Hatred Gone
Accompanied by Wei Gonggong, Xue Wanche had barely entered the bedroom palace’s plaza, he already fell into the Flying Clouds Guards’ heavy siege, while Yuwen Shang, Granny You, Chu Junming, Hua Ying, and Dugu Feng [phoenix] appeared all around, blocking all his escape routes.
Xue Wanche’s countenance changed drastically, he turned to Wei Gonggong and spoke sternly, “You have the impertinence to betray me.”
Wei Gonggong replied nonchalantly, “I’m just doing it for your own good.”
The sound of clapping hands was heard, Kou Zhong, clapping his hands, stepped out unhurriedly from bedroom palace, side by side with Li Shimin. He said with a laugh, “Wei Gonggong said it brilliantly, Xue Xiong indeed blamed a good person wrongly, Yuanji has passed away, if Xue Xiong wants to keep glory, splendor, wealth and rank [idiom], your family, big and small, safe and sound, there is only one choice before you. Xue Xiong is a smart man, no need for Xiaodi to draw a portrait and draw his intestines and viscera?
Xue Wanche’s face alternated between burst of red and burst of white, and then, like a defeated rooster, he fell to his knees, bowed his head and lay prostrate to Li Shimin and said, “Qin Wang above, from this day on, Xue Wanche vows loyalty and devotion to Qin Wang, if I have two hearts, let me be ripped apart, and die without a burial place.”
Li Shimin rushed forward to help him up, and spoke cheerfully, “As long as Xue Qing [term used by the emperor for his subject] is willing to exhaust your heart, exhaust your strength for our Great Tang, loyal and dependable and undivided, I, Li Shimin, definitely will not treat Xue Qing meagerly, let the Heaven be my witness.”
Xue Wanche revealed an emotionally touched expression, he was speechless. For him, under such circumstances, to be able to save his life was already beyond expectation, much less to keep the power, riches and honor before him.
Wei Gonggong spoke with wooden expression, “Can we leave now?”
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Wei Gonggong has been able to hide in forbidden garden, deep in the palace for so many years, you should have more patience than anybody else, why not wait patiently for a moment, later Xiaodi will personally send you off.”
He also said, “Send Wei Gonggong to take a bit of rest for me, remember not to lack tea or water.”
Wang Xuanshu responded to accept the order; taking the Flying Clouds Guards along, they escorted Wei Gonggong away. Yuwen Shang and Granny You still did not feel reassured, they spontaneously followed behind. Toward this senior figure demonic school martial art master, no one dared to treat it lightly.
With head hung low, Xue Wanche said, “Any errand, would Qin Wang please give instructions?”
Kou Zhong asked, “Where is Yang Xuyan, that kid now?”
Without the slightest hesitation Xue Wanche replied, “He is at our temporary headquarters, Chengqing Dian, waiting for instructions.”
The Chengqing Palace Hall was located west of Liangyi Palace Hall and Ganlu Palace Hall, with its back to the Yeting Palace.
By this time, the sky was very bright, sunlight was streaming in from the east, brimming with languid spring morning atmosphere.
Li Xiaogong, Yuchi Jingde, Zhangsun Wuji, and Duan Zhixuan, four generals came to the side, quietly waiting for orders. Seeing that Li Xiaogong also threw his lot to Li Shimin, Xue Wanche knew that the great momentum has gone. He suddenly thought of something, he was about to speak but hesitated, in the end he did not say anything.
Kou Zhong understood the load on his mind, he said, “Let Xiaodi and Xue Xiong speak a few words in confidence first, and then we’ll come back to discuss the grand plan.”
Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around Xue Wanche’s shoulders, and took him away to a corner. He spoke in a low voice, “Huangshang is still alive.”
Xue Wanche’s countenance changed again.
Kou Zhong knew that his guess was not incorrect. Because Li Yuanji colluded with the demonic school and plotted against Li Yuan’s life, it would be difficult for him, Xue Wanche to avoid responsibility. Even if he could atone for his guilt by rendering meritorious service, one day Li Yuan was still sitting on the emperor’s throne, he could forget about having auspicious days to pass.
Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Therefore, not only you must support Qin Wang, you must support me even more. Only I have the determination and ability to ask Huangshang to abdicate and yield to the worthy person. This matter will happen today. What kind of person Li Shimin is, what kind of person Kou Zhong is, Xue Xiong should be well aware?”
Xue Wanche was so touched that his pair of eyes turned very red, the load on his mind was gone. Nodding his head resolutely, he said, “For Qin Wang and Shaoshuai, if I, Xue Wanche, still don’t know how to repay kindness, I am a beast.”
Kou Zhong wrapped his arms around him again and took him back. Letting go of his hand, he laughed and said, “What the next move [in the game of chess] is, Qin Wang, please bestow direction.”
Li Shimin exchanged understanding glances with Kou Zhong, he spoke calmly, “With Wanche standing on our side, plus the tiger tally, the problem can be like bamboo splits when it meets the knife’s edge. We are going to acquire contact with Chang He and Cheng Mo first, and then maneuver the men and horses, heavily surround the Chengqing Dian without creating any noise, and catch the [freshwater soft-shelled] turtle in an earthen jar.”
He also asked, “Is Tang Jian in Chengqing Dian?”
Xue Wanche replied respectfully, “Tang Zongguan was transferred to guard the Chengtian Gate.”
Li Shimin said, “That is even better! If we obtained Tang Jian’s cooperation, handling the maneuvering of the garrison troops will be like as the arm moves the finger [idiom: freely and effortlessly].”
Kou Zhong was not in the mood to listen any further, he laughed and said, “In everything, let Qin Wang make the arrangement. I am going to look for my two brothers, so that we can escort our Wan Meiren to the Yin Mansion to rest, to settle the load on our mind.” Finished speaking, he went back to the bedroom palace.
‘Tock! Tock! Tock!’
Xu Ziling wasn’t sure whether he should go look for Shi Qingxuan first, or deal with Liexia’s remaining leather bag. The sound of wooden fish started in a distance but was coming near, making him feel that the sound of the wooden fish transcended the desolation caused by Liexia.
Chang Shan Ni gradually approached, with palms together and drooping eyebrows, she uttered ‘Amitabha Buddha’, and then said, “This Shizhu [benefactor] can leave it to Pinni [impoverished nun] to make arrangement. Qingxuan’s safety, Ziling need not be anxious, this moment she is at the Dong Da Si, participating in religious ceremony presided by Huangshan Shixiong, Zhihui Shixiong, Jiaxiang Shixiong, and Dixin Shixiong, to purify the suffering people all over the world. After Ziling finishes everything, you can go to Dong Da Si to see her.”
Xu Ziling’s heart was shaken, unexpectedly the world’s Four Great Holy Monks gathered in Chang’an, no wonder Shi Zhixuan did not dare to keep watch by Qingxuan’s side.
Putting his palms together to return the greeting, Xu Ziling left in a hurry.
Kou Zhong stepped into the outer hall of the bedroom palace. Li Fan, who was in charge of protecting Li Yuan, came out to meet him. After paying his respect, he said, “Huangshang is still asleep.”
Kou Zhong’s eyes fell on Ba Fenghan and Hou Xibai sitting quietly on the side, relaxing with their eyes closed, he said, “Be careful!”
Lowering his voice, Li Fan said, “What should we do when Huangshang wakes up?”
Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “That is the problem that gives me a headache, hey! Let me think. Got it! You go to notify Qin Wang, have him send someone to invite Xiuning Gongzhu over, have her stabilize Huangshang, I hope he won’t wake up so soon!”
Li Fan accepted the order and left.
Kou Zhong sat down on Ba Fenghan’s other side, he spoke indifferently, “This time Yang Xuyan is finished! Unless he can really turn into a phantom. But the sun is shining, no phantom can escape from the cracks of my fingers.” [Translator’s note: huanying – phantom, literally means fantasy/illusion shadow; Yang Xuyan’s nickname was Shadow Assassin, the same ‘shadow’ character.]
Ba Fenghan and Hou Xibai opened their eyes at the same time.
Kou Zhong told them the situation. Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “We are not really ten-grabs-nine-stable [confident of success]. Based on Yang Xuyan’s cunning and intelligence, his shenfa and sword technique, plus his familiarity with the environment in the palace, it is very possible that he would break the siege and escape before we wind him around. If we let him notifying Li Jiancheng first, things could get very messy, it won’t be beneficial to us.”
Knitting his brows, Hou Xibai said, “What should we do then?”
Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Then we will see whether he is fast, or our arrows are fast.”
Kou Zhong clapped his hands and shouted, “Lao Yang’s life or death is so decided. Let me make the arrangement. Ling Shao should be back soon, how about we send off Wan Meiren first?”
Xu Ziling returned to the palace via the secret passage, everything was ready. Without realizing anything unusual on the surface, other than the Chengqing Palace Hall, the imperial palace and the imperial city were completely in Li Shimin’s hands. Tang Jian and his group of the imperial guards, and all the high-ranking military officers of the garrison troops swore an oath, vowing loyalty and devotion to Li Shimin. Not only because he has the dragon tally and tiger tally in his hand, but also because he has always won the hearts of the army and the people. Chang He and Liu Hongji, two sides had no problem even more. Under this kind of circumstances where he totally occupied the superiority, Li Shimin, with the various generals cried out ahead and gathered around behind – reached the main gate of the Chengqing Palace Hall.
Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin, two men, pulled their throats and shouted together, “Qin Wang’s good-self arrives, those who kneel will live! Those who stand will die!”
The guards on the gate were all the personal soldiers of Li Yuanji’s faction; seeing the plaza outside the palace hall was full of warriors with prestige like torrential rush, they were overwhelmed with shock, and did not know what to do.
Li Yuanji’s subordinates, more than a dozen trusted aides and high-ranking military officers, hurriedly swarmed out of the palace hall’s gate, including Yu Wenbao, Jin Dachun, Diao Ang, Gu Ju, Wei Jiaqing, and so on. Everybody was ashen-faced, only Yang Xuyan was nowhere in sight.
Xue Wanche shouted, “Qi Wang colluded with foreign enemies, intending to plot a rebellion, and was ordered to be executed by Huangshang. If thou obstinately persist in going about things the wrong surrender, you will be punished with the extermination of your entire family.”
When Yuwen Bao and the others heard that Yuanji has been executed, and saw Xue Wanche surrender to Li Shimin, who would dare to persevere? One after another they abandoned their weapons and knelt down.
At this moment, the figure flashed. Yang Xuyan, taking advantage of this chaotic moment, flew out from the main gate, as if to attack Li Shimin. The crowd of soldiers did not dare to release the arrows, for fear of accidentally injuring their own men. While the various generals were drawing their weapons to protect Li Shimin, Yang Xuyan soared and somersaulted, and landed on the edge of the roof of the palace hall, attracting all the powerful arrows to be released, but one after another they all shot the thin air. Yang Xuyan has already flashed one step ahead toward the top of the palace hall where the arrows and darts could not reach.
Kou Zhong, Ba Fenghan, Hou Xibai, and Xu Ziling stood at the northwest corner of the top of the tallest tower of the Taiji Palace, they completely grasped the development of the situation on the Chengqing Palace Hall without missing anything. Kou and Ba, two men were carrying quivers, with the two famous bows, Piercing the Sun and Shooting the Moon, in their hands, while the troops guarding the Taiji Palace were completely transferred away.
Hou Xibai sighed and praise and said, “Shaoshuai indeed can prophesy with supernatural accuracy, Yang kid is striving to escape to the East Palace, which is his only way to survive, if it doesn’t work, he can first escape into the West Inner Garden, and then from the West Inner Garden into the East Palace.”
Gazing far away into the distance, Kou Zhong said, “The two gentlemen Lao Qianbei [old seniors] make your move to intercept, Yang kid will not dare to zealously continue fighting, he will use the Shadow Sword in his hand to slash a row of powerful arrows, and escaped to our direction instead. Hee …! Do I sound like a storyteller?”
Xu Ziling looked at him, although Kou Zhong was speaking in a joking manner, but his pair of eyes were icy cold, he knew that there was old hatred in his heart, his murderous intent was aroused.
Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “I hope it won’t alarm the people in the East Palace.”
Kou Zhong said, “Hence the reason we deployed heavy defense to prevent Yang kid from crossing the central axis of the Taiji Palace, and the crowd of brothers are not allowed to make noise, they are only watching the flag signal to advance or retreat to intercept.”
Xu Ziling said, “I’m going!”
Soaring up, he leaped off the surface of the roof tiles, and flew down at an angle, rushing toward the back gate of the Taiji Palace.
Hou Xibai said, “I’ll hold the disposition of troops for Ziling.” Finished speaking, he also left.
Kou Zhong bent the bow and put on the arrow, he spoke coldly, “The moment Yang kid enters the range of the arrow, it will be the moment of his death.”
Ba Fenghan also put up the arrow on the bow, he smiled and said, “Don’t underestimate Lao Yang, he earned his title, ‘Shadow Swordsman’, four characters [ying zi jian ke] relying on his strength. Your first arrow will only sound the death knell for him, as for which arrow decides his life or death, it will depend on his ability.”
Before he finished speaking, Yang Xuyan rushed out of the imperial garden outside the west wall of Taiji Palace, with Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai at his tail, pursuing him relentlessly, chasing him up to the courtyard wall.
Kou Zhong’s heart and spirit entered the Moon in the Well realm, an arrow shot out, exactly the moment Yang Xuyan tapped the top of the wall to leap. Yang Xuyan snorted, fast as lightning the Shadow Sword slashed swiftly, hitting Kou Zhong’s spiraling arrow.
The powerful arrow was knocked and flew away, Yang Xuyan’s entire body shook violently, his ascending momentum was difficult to maintain, he tumbled down from the top of the wall.
‘Whoosh!’
Ba Fenghan’s fully-opened bow shrank suddenly, sending out a powerful arrow, swiftly shooting toward his throat, both accurate and ruthless, and it arrived the moment before Yang Xuyan touched the ground.
Yang Xuyan was certainly exceptional, his left hand turned black, he raised his finger to swipe, the powerful arrow met the hand and flew sideways.
This moment Xu Ziling dropped down from the sky, both hands transformed into palm shadows filling the whole sky, hiding the sky and covering the earth, enshrouding him and striking down. After Yang Xuyan tapped the ground, his sword shot up, turning into dots of rain of swords, to meet Xu Ziling’s swift and fierce all-out killer move – head-on.
The sound of qi power clashing against each other lingered in the air like the sound of firecrackers.
Xu Ziling incessantly flung high and dropped low in the air, and then made a somersault back to the top of the wall.
Yang Xuyan knew that in order to save his life, he had to avoid Kou Zhong and Ba Fenghan, the formidable enemies who seriously threatened his life. The only way was to return to the outside of the wall. In an emergency, he thought fast, without waiting for landing to the ground, he simply flipped his palm down to push, and use the reaction force to soar into the sky, the Shadow Sword was fully deployed to protect against attack from above. Just like that he attacked straight up at Xu Ziling, whose feet’s disposition of troops was not yet stable, every single move was a technique to die in such a way that the opponent also perished.
Suddenly Hou Xibai glided down along the top of the wall, taking advantage of the moment while Yang Xuyan was struggling to deal with Xu Ziling who was guarding the wall. The Fan of Beauties closed and jabbed at his chest.
Yang Xuyan shouted angrily, the Shadow Sword shot out of his hand, straight to take Xu Ziling, then both hands turned into sinister black, he pressed down on the Fan of Beauties.
Hou Xibai let out a long laugh, the Fan of Beauties changed from closed to open, and swept Yang Xuyan’s pair of palms. He said, “How about letting Xibai sending off Yang Shixiong for a moment?”
‘Bang!’
Yang Xuyan’s attempt to break through the wall to avoid the arrows was done for, he staggered in the opposite direction from Hou Xibai’s.
Xu Ziling laughed and said, “Yang Xiong, you forgot your Shadow Sword!”
His palm chopped down, it hit the sword right in the middle. The Shadow Sword immediately spun like a top, producing a high-pitched noise like a pinwheel, chasing after Yang Xuyan, who was swiftly retreating back into the air.
The sound of the bowstring vibrated inside Yang Xuyan’s eardrums, powerful arrow shot straight to the left side of his neck.
Yang Xuyan used up the skill he kept at the bottom of his trunk, relying on the strength of his waist, he twisted his upper body backward, missing the powerful arrow by a hairsbreadth, while at the same both legs bent down and swiftly straightened up again, and then stepped on the big gift that Xu Ziling was giving him back.
Yang Xuyan’s entire body shook violently; because he was unable to deal with Xu Ziling with all his strength, he was immediately injured, spurting blood waves all over the sky, and tumbled backward to the ground.
If he was allowed to set foot on the ground, there would be a great chance that relying on his exceptional qinggong, he would be able to escape from the south wall of the Taiji Palace and enter the traversing square.
Suddenly a powerful arrow came again, and just the moment before he touched the ground, it entered through his back and came out of his chest, bringing out a burst of rain of blood.
Seeing Yang Xuyan slumped to the ground, Ba Fenghan on the top of the palace hall stroked his bow and said with a laugh, “Xiongdi! Speaking about archery skill, I’m more all right than you are.”
Kou Zhong put away his Piercing-the-Sun Bow, took off his quiver, and somersaulted down three times in succession from the top of the palace hall, and landed in front of Yang Xuyan, while Xu Ziling and others stayed where they were.
Blood was gushing out of Yang Xuyan’s, his countenance deathly pale, he sat on the ground, with his hand pressing on his chest, breathing out more and inhaling less. Ba Fenghan’s arrow carried the power of his entire body, it broke the qi protecting Yang Xuyan’s body, shattered his five viscera and six bowels, as well as the meridians in his whole body. Yang Xuyan was able to hold up to this moment instead of falling dead on the spot, it was extremely hard to come by.
Yang Xuyan exerted his last strength to look up at him, his expression was unusually tranquil. Coughing up blood, he said, “You win!”
Yet Kou Zhong felt that his enmity toward him disappeared without a trace. Smiling bitterly, he said, “Does Yang Xiong feel it’s unfair?”
Yang Xuyan shook his head and said, “The winner will be called the king, what is there to say!”
And then his pair of eyes lit up, a hint of pained and bleak and cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, he said, “The world should have been mine, I watched it slipping away and tried hard to seize it back; but only now that I understand how much impossibly stupid I was. This time my defeat is inexplicable, but I accept wholeheartedly. If it were in another situation, perhaps we would be brothers rather than enemies.”
Kou Zhong knew that he was returning to the light and that he would breathe his last any moment. He hurriedly squatted down and asked, “Yang Xiong, what is your last wish, Xiaodi will definitely exhaust my strength to fulfill it for you.”
The expression showing in Yang Xuyan’s eyes turned dull, he struggled hard to speak, “Tell Shuni, she is the only woman in my heart, but I let her down.”
Ignoring the bloodstain, Kou Zhong hugged him and said, “Don’t worry! Not only I will tell her as things really are, but I will also help her to leave Li Yuan.”
Yang Xuyan’s pair of eyes closed, he said, “Thank you!”
At this point he breathed his last.
An indescribable sorrow welled up in Kou Zhong’s heart. What was the reason for all the trouble? When would the hatred and struggle between people end? Looking at this young martial master’s, whose name, for a period of time, intimidated the world – eyes turned dark and passed away, all sorts of feeling welled up in his heart!
Ba Fenghan, Hou Xibai, and Xu Ziling came to his side, looking at Yang Xuyan’s serene countenance after his death, momentary they were speechless.
Kou Zhong slowly brought Yang Xuyan down, he sighed and said, “Because he could not let go of his previous burdens, he ended up like this. Otherwise, with his talent and martial art skill, wouldn’t he have the pleasure of roaming the world freely and unfettered?”
“There is not much time,” Ba Fenghan reminded, “There is still the battle of Xuanwu Gate, after taking care of Li Jiancheng, we could go to Fu Ju Lou for lunch.”
This moment Li Shimin, leading the crowd, arrived. Kou Zhong was the first to come over to greet him; he said, “Bury him well, all along Lao Yang has been an extraordinary enemy, only his luck was not as good as ours!”
Li Shimin instructed his attendants to properly treat Yang Xuyan’s remains.
Kou Zhong put a hand on Li Shimin’s shoulder, he spoke in deject, “I am a bit unable to bear it. It’s really strange, but on the battlefield, I don’t have the feeling like I have today.”
Li Shimin nodded and said, “I understand!”
Kou Zhong asked in astonishment, “What is it that you understand?”
Li Shimin replied, “I’ll tell you later, now we have to rush back to Yeting Palace immediately to prepare for the Xuanwu Gate.”
Kou Zhong said, “I have a request.”
Li Shimin asked, “Do you want me to let Ke Dazhi off?”
Kou Zhong replied, “Not only I want to ask you to let Ke Dazhi off, but I also hope to reduce the casualties to the minimum. If your Huangxiong [emperor brother] is willing to admit defeat and surrender, we will exile him to the frontier fortress and be done with it. I am old and my heart is softened.”
Breathed a sigh of relief, Li Shimin said, “It’s rare that you, Laoxiong have this intention. Of course, I will do my best. Leave this matter to me to arrange. I hope that after you recover your essence, you can harden your heart to deal with the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall.”
Behind them, Ba Fenghan laughed and said, “Based on the Kou Zhong that I know, Qin Wang really does not need to worry about him.”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud, he let go of his hand on Li Shimin’s shoulder, and strode forward with head high. Those who followed behind him had a strange feeling, which was there was nothing in the world that could stump Kou Zhong.