Book 58: Chapter 5: Evenly Matched

Xu Ziling looked at Shi Zhixuan, there was a strange feeling, a bit like looking at another person. The Shi Zhixuan in front of him was still the Demonic King, a master of Jianghu, no one in the world can do anything to him. No one dared to doubt that this number one martial art master of the demonic school still had the obeying me you flourish, opposing me you perish – power and prestige; yet he clearly grasped Shi Zhixuan's people rebelling and friends deserting, isolated and without help – desolate and grim situation. An Long's betrayal, and being betrayed by that unknown person tonight, have put him in an absolute disadvantage of lone army fighting alone, plus Yang Xuyan, in the other side vanishing, I am growing – situation, gradually emerged to take Shi Zhixuan’s place.

Even if Shi Zhixuan could successfully assassinate Zhao Deyan, the focus of the demonic school would shift to Yang Xuyan. Once Yang Xuyan merged the Bu Si Yin Fa and the Yu Jin Wan Fa Gen Yuan Zhi Jing’s martial arts, Shi Zhixuan, with only one person’s power, even if he had the ability to know all under heaven [idiom: exceptionally talented], it was still not easy to put Yang Xuyan in order.

The bottom line was that the reason why Shi Zhixuan was trapped in such a plight was because he could not let go of his father-and-daughter love toward his daughter Shi Qingxuan, moreover, his love for Bi Xiuxin was still as deep as the sea. Just like he said, in his heart, Shi Qingxuan was more important than unifying the demonic way and contending for the hegemony over the world, and thus he could not accomplish the requirements that the demonic school demanded of him.

For the first time since he raised the question, he felt pity and closeness towards this dreadful enemy.

The feeling of closeness came from the subtle link with Shi Qingxuan.

Xu Ziling sighed lightly, he spoke serenely, “As long as Xie Wang can lie low and not make appearance before striking Zhao Deyan, we will be able to avoid all the contradictions and the conflicts between us.”

Shi Zhixuan's gaze slowly swept past Kou Zhong and Hou Xibai, before finally fell on Xu Ziling. His manner relaxed, he laughed involuntarily and said, “You may not believe it, but I have a very bad habit: anything that I am unable to obtain, I would rather destroy it than giving other people the convenience. Currently, Ol’ Shi’s hostility towards Shaoshuai has completely disappeared, let alone toward Ziling. If you guys are willing to cooperate with me, it will bring good to you without any harm.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “Our plan is very simple, which is to lure Xiang Gui and Xiang Yushan out. When the fortunate timing comes, we will kill them without mercy, the bait is Situ Furong's banking business. Otherwise, if the wind is leaked, Xiang Gui father and son will slip away. With their financial resources and scheming ability, the world is so big, where could we find them? If we let them to flee outside the Great Wall, we can only sigh due to the whip cannot reach [idiom: beyond one's influence]. I already made a candid disclosure; I don’t know if the grand plan to assassinate Zhao Deyan will still proceed according to our earlier discussion.”

Shi Zhixuan revealed a grim smiling expression and said, “That’s for sure. Apart from this, I also want to destroy Li Family’s power completely, to see how chaotic the world will be! You can temporarily leave, but Xibai must stay. I have something to talk to Xibai, and I also want to spend a few days giving him a couple of pointers in martial arts.”

Once again Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling felt the helplessness of being led by Shi Zhixuan by the nose, they looked at Hou Xibai at the same time.

Hou Xibai felt that he had become Shi Zhixuan's only close relative in the boundless sea of people, he nodded and said, “Tu’er [disciple] obeys!”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling left Shi Zhixuan's new lair and went to a dark forested area of the Cao Canal to talk. It was still two sichen before dawn, the wind and the snow were picking up, the floating snow turned into flurries of snowflakes, the heaven and earth turned vast and indistinct.

Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “I have a very ominous feeling, there is a great chance that Shi Zhixuan already saw through that we are here not just to assassinate Li Shimin, as simple as that. What do you think?”

Smiling bitterly, Xu Ziling said, “That’s what I am always afraid of. The biggest problem is that this is not our usual style; when we wanted to fight, we would simply decide victory or defeat on the battlefield. Ay! What do we do?”

Kou Zhong said, “Before assassinating Zhao Deyan, he can’t possibly expose us, because we still have our value of being useful to him. After Zhao Deyan breathes his last, even divine immortal will find it difficult to guess how Lao Shi would fix us, the only way is to kill him first; once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved.”

Xu Ziling resolutely said, “We’ll do it that way then!”

Kou Zhong stared at him, after quite half a day later, he sighed and said, “But how are you going to explain to Shi Qingxuan? After all, he is her father.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, "For the sake of the overall situation, what does personal sacrifice matter? Only those who are ruthless enough will be able to survive. Until today, this sentence is still our golden rule.”

Kou Zhong said, “In that case, tentatively, we are going to deal with him like this. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Chang'an has become a cruel battlefield, we must grab any information that we can used. Ling Shao, you are going to see Deyi, ask him to try to figure out from where Li Yuan knew Lao Shi’s hiding place, and then we can figure out who betrayed Lao Shi.”

“Why don't you go with me?” Xu Ziling asked.

Kou Zhong said, “I am going to He Chang Long in West Market to try my luck. The wind and snow are so heavy, I have a good chance to sneak in and find out the situation clearly.”

Xu Ziling put on his hood, patted his shoulder, and left without saying anything anymore.

Kou Zhong stood blankly for a moment, to drive the distracting thoughts out of his mind, and then he left the canal bank, and leaped over the perimeter wall of the West Market. Several ups and downs later, he came to the roof of the shop across the street from He Chang Long, intending to observe the situation first. Who would have thought that before he even crouched down, he heard a slight sound of the wind from behind? ‘Not good!’ Kou Zhong cried inwardly and looked back, only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The newcomer was Ba Fenghan. He flew over to him and crouched down by his side, tearing off his hood, revealing a grave expression, he spoke heavily, “Chi Shengchun had just entered in. When he comes out, we will kill him.”

Kou Zhong was shocked, but he was also puzzled; he asked in astonishment, “It was not the original plan.”

Ba Fenghan spoke serenely, “We have no other choice. After the banquet, Chi Shengchun went to the Six-Happiness first, and then took a carriage to Guangfu Li [bright happiness neighborhood, reminder: ‘li’ is neighborhood/city district] at the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, to meet a big merchant by the name of You Baisan. Who do you think this You Baisan is? Unexpectedly he is a traveling merchant from Pingyao who had once met the real Situ Furong. Chi Shengchun, this turtle egg, is going to take him to see our Furong Ye tomorrow morning, this turtle egg wants to get the truth. Were it not for I saw that he was not going home, I would have made my move to take his life early on. Now, there is a great chance that Xiang Gui is hiding in He Chang Long.”

Kou Zhong's heart sank straight down to the bottom; having a headache, he said, “Other than that, is there any other good way?”

Ba Fenghan replied with a wry smile, “Another way is to get rid of the inviting-disaster-on-himself You Baisan, but this will only make the still-in-the-world-of-the-living Chi Shengchun more suspicious.”

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Kou Zhong said, “You Baisan only met the real Furong Ye once, and our fake Furong Ye’s disguise came from the portrait provided by Ou Liangcai. The real Furong Ye has never liked to talk, and the fake Furong Ye’s voice and intonation were under Ou Liangcai’s personal instruction and adjustment, so perhaps it could still deceive him. Ay! But you’re right, in just a glance, the other people, like Shen Wenjiang, the Housekeeper and so on will be full of flaws, so we might as well kill Chi Shengchun, neat and clean. His Niang’s! How did it suddenly become like this? And if the ignorant You Baisan talks about old affair, our Furong Ye might not remember, he would be put on the spot.”

His spirit aroused, Ba Fenghan said, “On the contrary, that won’t be a problem. The question is whether our Furong Ye has a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Pingyao's affair, so that he won’t be afraid of any inquiries.”

Kou Zhong did not understand, “Why won’t it be a problem?”

Ba Fenghan smiled and said, “Shaoshuai is indeed forgetful. Do you still remember my unique method of extorting a confession that I used against Guan Ping in Longquan? Afterwards, not only did he forget everything, he was even heavy on the head but light on the feet, making it difficult for his small brain to function properly.”

Greatly delighted, Kou Zhong said, “I remember, I remember! Of course, I remember. Because he was afraid someone in Chang'an might be familiar with Pingyao, Lei Dage has worked hard on Furong Ye in this regard. Besides, Furong Ye is aloof and remote, and he decides what he wants to answer. Ha! The matter should not be delayed, let You Baisan, because he is upholding yiqi, to suffer this catastrophe on Chi Shengchun’s behalf.”

When Xu Ziling returned to the Situ Mansion, it was still one sichen before dawn, everybody has gone back to their rooms to sleep and rest. Only Lei Jiuzhi was talking to Zha Jie, who had just come back, looking to be at a loss.

It was obvious that Lei Jiuzhi was extracting every detail from Zha Jie about her meeting with the beauty. He heard him blurted out, “What? Unexpectedly you were playing chess with her?”

Xu Ziling stepped into the hall and said with a laugh, “Didn't Lei Dage say you were very tired? How come you are not in bed to rest?”

Lei Jiuzhi’s old face turned red, he said, “I was worried about you, so I could not sleep peacefully. Now I just woke up, and when I came out, I came across this muddleheaded kid, his pursuit has turned into a game of chess.”

Zha Jie spoke in embarrassment, “It was Qingqing Furen who taught me, she said Xi’er Guniang loves playing chess the most.”

Proud of his age and experience [idiom], Lei Jiuzhi slapped his thigh and said, “So that's how it is. Why didn't you say so earlier?”

With a ‘how could I have the chance to say it?’ of being-wronged expression, Zha Jie cast a ‘help me’ look at Xu Ziling, who was sitting on the other side of the round table.

How could Lei Jiuzhi be willing to give up? He pursued on, “Did you win or lose?”

Zha Jie was helpless against him, he replied, “We ended up in a tie.”

Lei Jiuzhi slapped the table and exclaimed, “Wonderful! Wonderful! Victory or defeat has not been decided, fancy that you, this kid, could come up with the idea. Of course, there will still be more games to play.”

“How was Xi'er's chess skills?” Xu Ziling asked.

Zha Jie said, “Not concealing anything from Xu Ye, my chess skill is not up to par yet; fortunately, Xi’er was half-a-jin-equal-to-eight-liang [more or less the same], so although she was allowed to go first, because I was afraid to make a fool of myself, I dealt with it with my heart and soul, every move was always very cautious, so that I barely got a tie, not likely to be looked down upon by her.”

Greatly astonished, Lei Jiuzhi said, “Unexpectedly it was a game of Go. A game that ends in a tie rarely happens in the world; it should be an omen of great happiness.”

Zha Jie dejectedly said, “But I still did not dare to talk to her, did not dare to look at her.”

Amazed, Xu Ziling said, “So you did not talk with her at all?”

Zha Jie was blushing even deeper, he said, “She asks one sentence and I answer one sentence, along the way I stole a glance or two at her. Can that be considered a conversation?”

Lei Jiuzhi, “Later on you must tell me what she asked and how did you answer, but tell me first, did you two make a date to meet again later?”

Zha Jie said, “She told me to come to Feng Ya Ge at wei hour [1-3pm] tomorrow to play chess.”

Roaring in laughter, Lei Jiuzhi said, “Success! This is called the next time it will be resolved. Didn’t I tell you? Xiao Jie, you should follow Xiao Jun as an example. When that kid sees Hu Xiaoxian, immediately he’s like shedding his mortal body and exchanging his bones, becoming the supreme expert in the affairs of the heart, praising openly and flattering secretly, fawning and tooting his horn; nothing he cannot do. Girls must be wooed; if you don't believe me, you can ask your Xu Ye.”

Xu Ziling spoke crossly, “I’ll say it's better to let nature take its course in everything.”

Zha Jie hurriedly said, “Shaoshuai gave xiaozi [this kid] similar instruction.”

This moment Ba Fenghan slipped in through the window and went straight to the table; he said, “Quickly wake up Song ErGe and Xiao Jun, things have changed. Kou Zhong is going to get Chen Fu here, but don't worry, this time we will definitely pass the hurdle.”

The wind and snow stopped before dawn. Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong, who had not yet had a chance to close their eyes, left Situ Mansion and walked in the direction of the imperial city. Along the way, they saw Chang'an soldiers and civilians working with a common purpose, busy with shoveling the pile of snow.

Kou Zhong spoke with emotion, “Soldiers and the people are of one heart, such a city is the hardest to conquer. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about it anymore.”

Noticing Xu Ziling stayed silent, he said, “Chi Shengchun, this little muddled egg cannot be underestimated, just from the fact that he invited You Baisan, he is quite remarkable.”

Looking pensive, Xu Ziling responded casually, “As a liar, he is particularly wary of others, not because he really suspects anything.”

Kou Zhong said, “You seem to have a little load on your mind?”

Xu Ziling said, “I am worried about you, because there is a good chance that you are going to see Li Xiuning today.”

Kou Zhong halted his steps on middle of the street and blurted out, “What?”

Xu Ziling pulled him to continue walking, he explained the situation one time through, and said with a wry smile, “I think Shen Luoyan is right. In order to convince Xiuning Gongzhu, it must be you, LaoGe who must go down the arena.”

Kou Zhong’s countenance turned pale, he said, “Don’t tell me that I have to tell her I am going to kill her two elder brothers? If you don't speak frankly, in the future she might blame me for deceiving her and hate me for the rest of my life, ay!”

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “Let her know that this is a matter of this side survives, the other side perishes, and also the pros and cons, the degree of seriousness of this matter. You just need to change according to the situation. In the end, she has to choose whether to let Li Shimin live and be a good emperor, or whether to let Jiancheng and Yuanji continue to damage the country and cause suffering to the people [idiom].”

Kou Zhong said, “Won’t that mean I will have to put everything out including the tray [idiom: to reveal everything] to her?”

Xu Ziling replied, “It seems to be the case, it depends on how deep her love to you is.”

Suddenly Kou Zhong’s heart was moved. Raising his eyebrows, he said, “I finally understand why Shi Zhixuan was skeptical. The problem lies with me, because I am too relaxed! To tell you the truth, since I decided to support Li Shimin to be the emperor, you don’t know how relaxed and happy I am, as if relieved from a burden [idiom].”

Xu Ziling said, “Shi Zhixuan only mistakenly think that you have reached the Heavenly Saber Song Que’s Forgetting the Saber realm, he did not suspect that you have forgotten your worries because you don't have to think about being the emperor. Why would Kou Zhong, who has a 90% chance of obtaining the emperor throne let someone else sit on it? If you tell this, I guarantee nobody will believe it.”

Kou Zhong spoke happily, “I hope Shi Zhixuan will not be the only exception. Ha! Going with Shi Zhixuan to kill Bi Xuan and Zhao Deyan, plus the assassination will be carried out deep within the palace, what could be more exciting and interesting than this in the world?”

Laughing involuntarily, Xu Ziling said, “It seems to me you no longer have hundred knots of worry in your intestines [idiom: weighed down with anxiety] about Xiuning Gongzhu anymore.”

Kou Zhong spoke dejectedly, “This is called you are finding joy in sorrows; after all, one must try to keep oneself in a good mood. Huh?”

The sound of hoofbeats abruptly came from the behind, gradually coming closer

The two boys turned their heads to look back, fast as lightning, Qiao Gongshan, with more than a dozen Changlin Army soldiers, were coming after them.

The reins were pulled, the horses neighed and stopped.

Qiao Gongshan shouted to his men, “Get two horses!”

Two of his men jumped off their horses, they waited upon Kou and Xu to get on the horses, and then they rode together with their fellow soldiers.

Qiao Gongshan started slowly, he smiled at the two men riding by his side and said, “Xiaodi went to look for you but pounced on empty air, fortunately I caught up with you here.”

Kou Zhong asked in surprised, “What makes you so anxious to find us?”

Qiao Gongshan said, “Your good luck is here! During the morning imperial court today, Wen Daren reported to Huangshang about your return to Chang'an. Huangshang’s dragon countenance was greatly pleased, he ordered the grand palace supervisor Wei Gonggong to immediately summon you to the palace, in turn, Wei Gonggong pass on the order down. You tell me, can I not look for you in a hurry? Come on! If after the morning court Huangshang did not see you, Xiaodi will meet disaster.”

Finished speaking, he urged the horse to go fast. The two boys did not know whether it was a good or a bad luck, they had no choice but to brace themselves and followed closely behind his horse.

Under the Changlin Army soldiers’ escort, they turned to Guangming Avenue and galloped towards the imperial city. Cutting into Anhua Street, they turned north, and continued on riding through the Shunyi Gate and entered the imperial city, passing through various government offices standing in great numbers, crossing the traversing public square, and reaching the Chengtian Gate before they dismounted from their horses.

The Yu Ji Chang [chief of imperial riders] Cheng Mo was already waiting impatiently. Taking over the two men from Qiao Gongshan, he led them into the imperial palace. Walking and talking at the same time, he spoke in a friendly manner, “Huangshang indeed treats two gentlemen favorably. Hearing two gentlemen came back, I don’t know how happy he is. Ever since the Tujue Wolf Army began to stir [idiom: become threatening] at the border area, Huangshang is rarely seen to be in that kind of mood.”

Trying to sound him out, Kou Zhong said, “All the venues are covered with snow and frozen, I'm afraid it is not suitable for a polo match?”

Cheng Mo said, “It depends on Huangshang’s idea and imperial decree. Huangshang only needs to say a word, I guarantee there won’t be the least bit of ice and snow left in the Square.”

The two groaned inwardly; if Yang Xuyan came to be among the spectators, there would be a great chance that their true colors would be revealed, not to mention that Bi Xuan, Zhao Deyan, Ke Dazhi, and so on might honor them by their presence.

Things have come to this, they have no choice but to follow the situation and think of a way to deal with it. They could not simply immediately pack and quit and slip away, right?

Naturally Cheng Mo also treated them favorably; lowering his voice and acting like they were old friends, he said, “Listen to Wei Gonggong‘s instructions. Gonggong is the person that Huangshang dotes on and trusts; with him taking care of you, I guarantee that you will be proud of your official positions, your prospects boundless. From now on, we all are good brothers.”

The two were led to the personal political palace hall, located east of the tribute hall, inside the rear palace complex. Last time after the game, this was precisely where Li Yuan received them.

Cheng Mo had not had a chance to tell the two to sit down, the guard at the gate already heralded, “Huangshang is here!”

The two boys hurriedly followed Cheng Mo kneeling down at the entrance to welcome him.

In high spirits, Li Yuan, accompanied by Wei Gonggong and Pei Ji, stepped over the threshold and entered the palace hall. Seeing the two boys, unexpectedly he hurried forward and bent down to help them up. “Two Qingjia [term used by the emperor for his subjects], you may rise,” he spoke in great delight.

The two, acting like dumbstruck birds, stood up; they were baffled to be on the receiving end of Li Yuan's excessive enthusiasm toward them.

After Li Yuan ascended to the dragon seat, Wei Gonggong stood by the dragon seat’s side, Pei Ji and the two boys separately sat down on either side. Considering the two boys did not have either official position or rank, to be on an equal footing with Pei Ji, such an important minister, it was certainly unusual.

Li Yuan casually inquired about their recent situation, so the two boys offered their well-prepared answers one by one. This master of the Li Clan, the Emperor of the Great Tang, turned to the main topic, “In ten days’ time, respective delegations from Tujue and Gaoli will arrive in Chang'an. This is a grand occasion since the founding of our Great Tang. One of them, the Gaoli delegation even stated clearly that they hope to exchange experiences with Zhen [I, imperial use] on the polo field, which gave Zhen a sudden inspiration, why not hold a three-party polo match? Now that the two Qingjia are back, we are people-strong-the-horse-robust, potentially we will have success within our grasp, ha!”

And then he threw his head back in long laughter, his heroic feeling and strong air were not inferior in any aspects compared to when he was leading soldiers on military campaign.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling suddenly understood; furthermore, they cried ‘Not good!’ inwardly. In thousand ways, a hundred plans they wanted to avoid Bi Xuan, Fu Cailin, or even Ke Dazhi, people who were familiar with them, and now they were recruited by Li Yuan for an international polo match. What's the difference with they were being identified and were escorted to the execution ground?

With their mouth, however, they could only thank the master for the dragon kindness, how could they dare to speak a word of truth in their heart?

Li Yuan went on, “You must stay in the palace. Wei Gonggong, see what position suits them. From now on, we must exhaust our strength to practice and make adequate preparation for the game.”

These words were like a thunder from a clear sky, shaking the two boys’ ears that they were buzzing. If they were locked up in the palace, how would that be any different than being imprisoned? Were it not for they were wearing masks, Li Yuan and the others would discover that their countenance has turned extremely unsightly.