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Book 61: Chapter 5: Despicable Crafty Villain

Kou Zhong barely left the imperial study, he was stopped by Wei Gonggong outside the door, who said, “Xiuning Gongzhu is asking Shaoshuai to come and see her.”

Inwardly Kou Zhong was apprehensive, he was not sure why Li Xiuning blatantly [orig. eyes wide open, guts spread out] asked to see him at this moment; naturally she had an important matter. He just hoped that it was not another bad news that he would not be able to bear.

Leading the way, Wei Gonggong took him straight to the main hall of the Princess Palace, where he saw Li Xiuning on the upper floor of Wang You Lou [forgetting worry building].

After dismissing her attendants, without trying to avoid suspicion, Li Xiuning lightly tugged at his sleeve to sit down in a corner, she even personally served him fragrant tea.

As if his soul was flying out of his body, Kou Zhong took a sip of hot tea, and unceremoniously plopped his butt on the imperial tutor chair, to ease the tension and relax the tiredness on his backbone. Turning to Li Xiuning sitting quietly on the side, he said, “Luckily I did not bring disgrace on your order!”

Li Xiuning blissfully cast him a sidelong glance, she said, “Xiuning and you don’t talk words of politeness, I have long known that you possess great magical power, nothing you can’t do.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “You praised me too much! Actually, we nearly had our ship capsized in the gutter, defeated, the ground blanketed with bodies [idiom: failed miserably]. It was entirely due to Laotianye had pity on us that we barely cross the barrier. I hope Laotianye will continue to look after us.”

‘Pfft!’ Li Xiuning giggled tenderly, like a flower in full bloom, she spoke softly, “It’s much better to have you here to relieve the boredom! Last night Xiuning has not even dozed off, by daybreak I was summoned by Fuhuang, who investigated in detail about your relationship with Er Wang, and then he set off for the Hong Yi Palace.”

Speaking to this point, her jade countenance darkened. Hanging her head down, she said, “But Xiuning is still very worried.”

Kou Zhong was puzzled, “Why is Xiuning so worried?” he asked.

Li Xiuning’s wonderful eyes looked at him, she spoke softly, “Before leaving for the Hong Yi Palace, Fuhuang issued an order, he is sending Chai Shao to immediately head off to Taiyuan to check the movement of the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall, and then come back to report to Fuhuang.”

Kou Zhong understood, he nodded and said, “This kind of matter, there’s no need to trouble Chai Xiong, it is thus clear that he wanted him to leave Chang’an, so that he won’t be drawn into the struggle in Chang’an. Ay! Do you know that when I mentioned Liang Shangming purchasing firearms from Haisha Bang to your Fuhuang just now, what his reaction was?”

Li Xiuning shook her head blankly, her eyes emitter fear, which made people I see you and I pity you, apparently she could not bear to take the excitement anymore.

Kou Zhong reached out across the small table, he grabbed this golden branch, jade leaves’ [idiom: nobility] honorable silky arm, and spoke heavily, “Xiuning, don’t be afraid, Chang’an has become a battlefield where power is being overturned, no ethics and human feelings to talk about. We must courageously confront everything.”

Li Xiuning stretched out her slender hand from inside her sleeve, and pressed it against the back of his hand, as if she wanted to draw courage and strength from this touch brimming with friendly regard, “Go on!” she said.

Kou Zhong flipped his hand to hold her soft-as-if-it-was-boneless wrist, clenching it tightly, and only pulled it back with great difficulty. Smiling wryly, he said, “He just said, ‘Unexpectedly there is such matter’, and then let it drop. He didn’t ask for details, furthermore, he deliberately avoided this topic. From this, it can be seen that not only he has the intention to kill your Er Wang Xiong, he will not even let me off.”

Li Xiuning was surprisingly calm, she spoke softly, “What are you going to do?”

Kou Zhong revealed a smile brimming with confidence, he cheerfully said, “Originally my heart is weary, my strength exhausted, no longer have any fighting spirit, fortunately I held Xiuning’s hand, unexpectedly it seems that I immediately obtain magical power. Ha! He has Zhang Liang’s scheme, I have the ladder to cross the wall. We will all just wait and see!”

The color of rose-tinted clouds at sunset grew on Li Xiuning’s jade cheeks, she cast him a rebuking glance, but she spoke bashfully, “You, this man! You are never serious.”

Kou Zhong nearly flipped over with joy, he leaned over and spoke in a low voice, “Xiuning, what else do you have in your mind? Tell me everything.”

Greatly embarrassed, Li Xiuning said, “Get out of here! Watch out, or I’ll tell the Song Family’s Xiaojie.”

Overjoyed, Kou Zhong left.

Sha Zhijing’s pretty face stretched taut, she left, and Liexia chased after her. Before going down the stairs, he deliberately cast Xu Ziling, three men, a don’t-care look. Even Hou Xibai, who has always loved the wind, flower, snow and moon, trite poetry subject, who paid no attention to the gratitude and grudges of the human world, also found it difficult to endure.

Knitting his brows, Ba Fenghan said, “I wonder if this kid is wholeheartedly courting death?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “He is more greedy for life, afraid of death than anyone else, his purpose is only to infuriate us.”

Hou Xibai was puzzled, “What good is it to provoke our anger?” he asked, “Dealing with him, we are definitely not going to follow any Jianghu rules. We are going to do whatever it takes to have his corpse lying flat on the street.”

Xu Ziling said, “It’s easy to say, but in reality, we have no way to make our move. The place he is staying is the Ling Yan Pavilion where our Shigong is in charge, he formed a gang with Zhao Deyan and the others, plus his whereabouts are erratic; how could we have the chance to make our move?”

Ba Fenghan said, “Even if he feels secure in the knowledge that he has backing, by forcing us in thousand ways, a hundred plans to put him in order like this, it is still a hundred harm without a single benefit for him, he should not be that unwise.”

Xu Ziling said, “It’s very hard to say, everything is different from person to person, even for someone as smart as he is, he might be blinded by hatred. As I see it, he is carrying out a conspiracy, his objective is to use Bi Xuan and Shigong, two sides, to attack from both sides to deal with us. As for the real situation, we’ll just have to wait patiently.”

This moment Kou Zhong appeared on the stairs, immediately he attracted the attention of the diners in the entire hall. In high spirit, he sat down next to Xu Ziling, several waiters busily serving him politely, calling him Shaoshuai this and Shaoshuai that incessantly, waiting upon him attentively.

Ba Fenghan said, “Didn’t Shaoshuai bump into Liexia and the Sha Family Xiaojie?”

Kou Zhong was responding to every gaze that was cast at him, nodding and smiling, appearing to be in in a very good mood and painstakingly trying to win the people’s hearts. Among those present, there was no lack of high official and noble persons, wealthy businessmen, plus not a few old acquaintances from when he was playing the ugly divine doctor Mo Yixin. However, when his eyes fell on the four people sitting around the table in the other corner, immediately his eyes turned cold. It was precisely this moment that Ba Fenghan’s words entered his ears. Severely shaken, he said, “What?”

Ba Fenghan spoke indifferently, “You did not hear me clearly? Shall I repeat it?”

Only the murderous intent in Kou Zhong’s eyes was flashing, he cursed in low voice, “This mother-of-thief who deserves to be killed with a thousand saber has moved the dirt on top of my Taisui [dictionary: nickname for somebody who is the most powerful in an area] head again and again, he is indeed tired of living.”

Turning to Xu Ziling, he signaled with his eyes, “Over there!”

Xu Ziling followed his gaze, immediately his countenance sank. Sitting around the table at the opposite corner were, surprisingly, Mei Xun, Zhuge Dewei, Wang Bodang, and Dugu Ce, whom they had not seen for a long time, the beautiful gang leader Yun Yuzhen’s former lover for many years. These people had unsolvable hatred and desire for revenge toward him and Kou Zhong, they got together like this, naturally they were talking about how to deal with him and Kou Zhong.

Among the four, other than Zhuge Dewei, who lowered his eyes and did not dare to look at them, the other three looked back at them with vicious gaze and disdainful I-want-to-see-how-miserable-you-will-end-up smile.

Looking heavily, Kou Zhong said, “Toward Liexia, this kid, I am at the end of my patience, do you guys have a good strategy to put him away?”

Hou Xibai sighed and said, “Although he came to Chang’an riding on the tail of Fu Dashi’s thoroughbred horse, he is, after all, Li Yuan’s honored guest. It is clear that dealing with him would make our relationship with Li Yuan even worse.”

Ba Fenghan coldly said, “Can’t we just do it while keeping our hands and feet clean?”

Kou Zhong looked at Xu Ziling, asking for his opinion, the latter smiled wryly and said, “Liexia, this kid is as devious as a ghost, to make him fall into the trap, the degree of difficulty is extremely high. Plus this moment we are facing enemies from all sides, we should not act blindly without thinking even more, to avoid saving a little only to lose a lot.”

Kou Zhong spoke heavily, “Tolerating someone with the heart of wolf and lungs of dog like Liexia is not my, Kou Zhong’s usual style. However, what the three LaoGe said makes sense, so let’s make a compromise. While waiting and creating opportunities, we strike back at him in various ways.”

Knitting his brows, Ba Fenghan said, “If not moving saber, moving spear, how are we going to strike back at him?”

Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “For example, by using Shang Xiufang, or perhaps Chang He. Both can separately affect his relationship with Shigong and Sha Zhijing. The most ideal is to make him lose his backing. The day he is driven away from the imperial palace will be the day he loses his life under Ziling’s Zhenyan Shou Yin [Mantra Mudra, incantation hand image]. His Niang’s, I will do everything in my power to prevent him from dying of old age.”

Xu Ziling asked, “What did Li Yuan have to say?”

Kou Zhong said, “He is still hesitant in his heart, because Xieli offered a deceptive condition to withdraw the troops, which made him hoping for luck inwardly. His granny’s! We only have five to ten days, one is to pack up and go home, the other is to send the troops to uphold righteousness.”

Turning to Hou Xibai, he said, “Hou Gongzi could use the pretense of admiring our Shen Wenjiang, Shen Daye, to visit him at home and request an audience, and openly become the liaison between us and Furong Ye. This matter is very important, as for the details, I leave it up to you.”

Hou Xibai spoke cheerfully, “This kind of trivial matter, leave it to me! If I don’t go to see Shen Wenjiang, other people will feel it strange.”

Turning to Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong said, “Ling Shao is in charge of murmuring endearments [idiom] to your future tender wife, naturally it is for the sake of dealing with our number one formidable opponent Shi Zhixuan. Moreover, you must attempt to contact Lao Feng, to let him, the Senior knows the urgency of the matter. Do everything you can to find out who are in favor of us within these five days.”

Ba Fenghan said, “I hope you also have a task to be assigned to me, because right now, I really want to kill someone.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “Originally, I wanted to say that your task is to wait for Yu Yi, for instance, sitting here alone until she comes to see you, but I knew you would definitely not agree.”

Ba Fenghan let out a sigh of relief, he smiled and said, “Not concealing anything to you, brothers, actually, I feel like I have a weight off my mind, because I had exhausted my strength, yet she chose to miss the appointment. It could be considered I have the explanation, no need to feel guilty, I feel a lot better! The matter between me and Junyu is hereby over, afterwards, no need to waste your time, understand?”

Hearing that, the three men you looked at me I gazed at you, they were helpless against him, and were speechless.

Right this moment, Ke Dazhi appeared on the stairs, his countenance grave, he walked over toward them.

Kou Zhong hurriedly stood up, pulled out an empty chair, and said with a laugh, “Dazhi, please have a seat.”

Yet Ke Dazhi did not show any appreciation, his cold and sharp gaze swept across the four men, before he stopped behind the empty chair, and finally fixed his gaze at Ba Fenghan.

Ba Fenghan’s eyebrows slightly knitted, his eyes turned sharp, he spoke indifferently, “What are you looking at?”

Xu Ziling was afraid that the two men would clash verbally and went to war, hence he hurriedly interjected, “If you have something to say, sit down and talk.”

Ke Dazhi acted as if he did not hear Xu Ziling, meeting Ba Fenghan’s eyes, he spoke heavily, “I’m watching how you are going to react. Badai’er has just arrived in Chang’an.”

Ba Fenghan’s countenance changed, “What?” he blurted out.

Ke Dazhi turned to Kou Zhong and said, “I came to you not to give you the information, but remembering the friendship in Longquan, I just want to tell you something in passing.”

Kou Zhong was worried about Ba Fenghan, smiling wryly, he said, “Then what is it that could trouble you to come here?”

Ke Dazhi spoke indifferently, “Shengzhe [the holy one] wants to see you, only you, one person, just wanted to see whether you have the capacity to do so. Don’t blame me for not telling you, no matter what happens in Tao Chi [pottery pond/lake], even Li Yuan cannot interfere.”

Kou Zhong said, “Just to see your Shengzhe, does anybody have to be bold? This should be a wen [literary/gentle] meeting rather than a wu [military/martial arts] fight. Shengzhe can’t force me to go down the arena to fight anyway, perhaps he is setting up an ambush to kill me.”

It was as if Ba Fenghan could not hear their dialog, he stared straight at the bowls and dishes on the table, his face turned pale. From this, one could see the position and the weight that Badai’er held in his heart.

Ke Dazhi spoke heavily, “I say this to make you understand that I’m just a pawn receiving the order and executing it, Lin Chi Xuan [overlooking-the-pond pavilion, see Book 60 Chapter 1] is not my decision at all. If Shaoshuai thinks it’s not necessary to take risks, he can refuse Shengzhe’s invitation. No one, including me, will think you’re cowardly, on the contrary, they will think that it’s your sensible act.”

A burst of warmth welled up in Kou Zhong’s heart, Ke Dazhi was willing to point this out to him, it was clear that deep in his heart he still regarded him as a brother. He spoke cheerfully, “Shengzhe has opened his golden mouth, he also sent you, LaoGe as a messenger, naturally I must not disappoint him, the Senior. Besides, I really want to hear what he has to say.”

Ke Dazhi sighed and said, “I knew you are like this. The carriage is waiting respectfully for Shaoshuai’s honorable self at the main entrance, Shaoshuai, please go on the journey.”

Kou Zhong signaled Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai with his eyes, telling them to straighten out Ba Fenghan well, and then he left with Ke Dazhi.

After Kou Zhong and Ke Dazhi left, Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai’s gaze fell on Ba Fenghan, neither one knew what to say.

Revealing a pained smile, Ba Fenghan sighed and said, “Why is she here? Didn’t we come to an agreement already?”

Xu Ziling spoke softly, “Emotional matters are not something that human power can control, Fenghan should take this opportunity to clarify things.”

Ba Fenghan said dejectedly, “What is there to clarify?”

Hou Xibai said, “What you have to clarify is your own heart, honestly confront the truth at the bottom of your heart, don’t deceive yourself, so much so that you will only harm yourself and harm others.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “Before the decisive battle against Bi Xuan, I don’t want to be distracted by other things.”

Hou Xibai said, “Escape is not a solution, a matter that gnaws at one’s mind and hard to dispel will become a tiring thing instead.”

Xu Ziling said, “In my opinion, Badai’er is coming to Chang’an at this moment to stop you and Bi Xuan’s decisive battle.

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “She’s not that kind of person. She is coming to Chang’an to witness the decisive battle between me and Bi Xuan. If I lose and die, she will die together in the name of love with me. Ay!”

Stunned, Xu Ziling remained silent.

Ba Fenghan recovered a little bit of his vitality, he met Hou Xibai’s warm, caring gaze, nodded and said, “Xibai’s words are very reasonable, now I just want to go back to Xing Qing Palace alone to think deeply about the matter between me and her, both sides. Frankly speaking, since I left Badai’er, I have never had the courage to either confront or reflect on it, but at this moment you reminded me, I feel that I really need to do this.”

After a short pause, he went on, “Bi Xuan only invited Kou Zhong alone to see him, it shows clearly that he is humiliating me, Ba Fenghan. I will make him regret it.”

And then he rose up to his full height and said, “You guys don’t need to see me off back to Xing Qing Palace. Being a human being naturally has being-a-human-being’s troubles.”

After Ba Fenghan left, the two men you looked at me I gazed at you, they were dejected and had nothing to say.

This moment Mei Xun left his table and walked over toward the two men, full of smile. Observing propriety, the two stood up to welcome him.

Mei Xun laughed and said, “Xu Xiong, Hou Xiong, no need to be polite, Xiaodi only has a few words, and then I will leave.”

Xu Ziling said, “Mei Xiong, please take a seat.”

Mei Xun cheerfully took the seat. After sitting down, Mei Xun said, “Xiaodi has something to ask. If it is not convenient for the two gentlemen to answer, Xiaodi will not mind at all.”

In his heart, Xu Ziling was not only worried about Kou Zhong, but also worried about Ba Fenghan, how could he have the mood to be pestered by him? He just wanted to send him away as soon as possible, “We are listening with respectful attention,” he said.

Acting like he had the victory already in his grasp, Mei Xun, remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, said, “Song Que did not stay in Liangdu, but suddenly rushed back to Lingnan, moreover, he has not put a foot outside since then. Even when Shaoshuai came to Chang’an, he still would not be able to preside over the overall situation in Liangdu. This does not make any sense; I wonder if two gentlemen could give advice.”

Xu Ziling sighed inwardly, this is called paper cannot wrap fire, the enemy finally became suspicious of this. It should be noted that Kou Zhong’s safety in Chang’an was half-dependent on Song Que. If they knew that Song Que and Ning Daoqi’s duel resulted in both sides suffer, and that it might take about a year or a half for any hope of recovery, it would naturally be greatly detrimental to their situation.

He spoke indifferently, “Song Fazhu’s conduct has always been hard to fathom, we as the younger generation dare not speculate.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Mei Xun laughed and said, “Indeed it is not beyond Mei Xun’s expectation, not only did Xu Xiong not have a reasonable answer, you also speak evasively. Xiaodi understands.”

Laughing aloud, he rose to his full height, and said, “There is a rumor in Jianghu that Song Que and Yue Shan fought a decisive battle, the latter was defeated and died, but Song Que was also seriously injured by Yue Shan’s counterattack, so he had to close the door to recuperate. When I first heard it, I thought it was a busybody starting rumors and creating trouble, but at present it does not seem to be without any reason. Ha! Xiaodi is done talking. Please send Xiaodi’s regards to Shaoshuai.”

Laughing heartily, he returned to Dugu Ce, Wang Bodang and Zhuge Dewei’s table.

Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai looked at each other with wry smile. This is called before the first wave subsides, a new wave rises.

The carriage drove towards the imperial palace.

Kou Zhong and Ke Dazhi sat side by side in the carriage, neither was able to find anything to say.

Turning right into Guang Ming Avenue, looking eastward, Kou Zhong finally opened his mouth, he said, “How could Ke Xiong allow Liexia, this kind of despicable person to stir the wind and disturb the rain?”

His expression wooden, Ke Dazhi said, “The person in charge now is Zhao Deyan, or maybe Tonyukuk, Shengzhe can’t possibly pay attention to these trivial matters. When it’s my, Ke Dazhi’s turn to express my opinion, if you want to blame anybody, you can only blame yourself, for insisting on coming to Chang’an to meddle in this chaos.”

Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong said, “How about scolding me a bit less? How could you not help me to deal with Liexia, that little thief that was raised by a female dog [this is literal, I’m sure you guys can figure out the equivalent]?”

Ke Dazhi said, “Can’t you just ignore him? Even if you give him the sky to be his guts he wouldn’t dare to provoke you, Shaoshuai Kou Zhong openly!”

Kou Zhong said, “If he is willing to come and say hello to my saber, it would be something that I seek but fail to get, why would I beg you to help me? The last thing he should do is to entangle Sha Zhijing; dealing with her, you should be better than me.”

Stunned, Ke Dazhi said, “What?”

Kou Zhong repeated what he said, “Don’t you say this kid is repulsive?”

Ke Dazhi’s countenance sank straight down, he no longer spoke.

The carriage drove into the Vermillion Bird Gate.