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Xing Chang Long’s big boss was Bu Wannian, who lived outside the Pass [GuanWai]. The shop in Chang’an was run by his second son, Bu Jie, belonging to the Guanzhong Jian Pai [Sword Sect]. In the past, when Xu Ziling first sneaked into Guanzhong, it was through their connection.

Before Kou Zhong went to see Chang He, he requested to have a secret meeting with Li Shimin here via their secret method to contact each other.

The door of the warehouse opened a little, revealing Pang Yu’s handsome face. His expression grave, he said, “Qin Wang is waiting respectfully for Shaoshuai’s great self.”

Kou Zhong patted him on the shoulder like an old friend, he laughed in a relaxed manner and said, “No need to be nervous, until this moment, at whose hand will the deer die [fig. who will emerge victorious] is still unknown.”

Half a day later, he met Li Shimin in a corner where there was a pile of goods.

Li Shimin’s expression calm and collected, he waved Pang Yu and Duan Zhixuan to retreat, he said, “Shimin was about to look for Shaoshuai.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Is it because Lingzun issued a decree that hereafter you, three brothers must go through Xuanwu Gate when entering and leaving Taiji Palace?”

Stunned, Li Shimin said, “The secret edict was issued at wu hour [11am – 1pm, noon], the news unexpectedly reached Shaoshuai’s ears so quickly?”

Kou Zhong said, “I just heard it from Chang He. The cabinet ministers in Chang’an are all talking spiritedly about this, not understanding why Huangshang made such a move, only that it is not a good thing at all.”

The refined light in Li Shimin’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he said excitedly, “Chang He?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “Precisely one of the four chief commanding officers of Xuanwu Gate Chang He, he is now on our side, and has sworn to serve Qin Wang to the death.”

Greatly delighted, Li Shimin said, “This news is the second sweet rain we encountered in a long drought, even though it’s only been two days since we returned to Chang’an.”

Kou Zhong asked cheerfully, “Is there any other good news?”

Li Shimin said, “Liu Hongji came to talk to me before noon, asking directly whether Shaoshuai supports me, Li Shimin, with all your strength. Among Fuhuang’s trusted aides high-ranking military officers, he always has a better relationship with me, his conduct is just, so I did not conceal it from him.”

Kou Zhong said, “My supporting you is now known to the whole city. What he wanted to ask is probably if there is any unusual change, the world is unified, whether it would be you or me to be the emperor.”

Li Shimin nodded and said, “Shaoshuai’s view is very accurate. At this tense juncture of success or failure, exist or perish, I must win him over to our side, so I told him forthrightly that the movement is a virtuous cause for the rise and fall of the country, he immediately vowed loyalty and devotion to me.”

Pleased beyond his expectation, Kou Zhong said, “That is indeed a huge good news.”

Emotionally moved, Li Shimin said, “Liu Hongji is willing to surrender and pay allegiance to me, it all thanks to what Shaoshuai said to him on the way to Hong Yi Palace last night, which deeply moved him. He told me that Shaoshuai is an outsider and you have enough strength to compete with our House of Tang, under the circumstances where the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall are pressing on our territory, not only you did not take advantage of my danger, you even give up the great undertaking to obtain the throne, and make every effort to avoid disasters in the Central Earth. Such a big benevolent and righteous behavior further highlights the fact that Jiancheng, Yuanji, and Fuhuang are only seeking personal gain. This has made him feel honor does not allow one to glance back [idiom: pursue justice with no second thoughts], and thus he is standing on our side.”

Kou Zhong said modestly, “This is just one of the triggering factors. Qin Wang, you are benevolent and righteous and love the people. On the battlefield, disregarding life and death, time and again you established wonderful meritorious deeds for the Great Tang, and have become the golden-leafed signboard on that side. Now, that is the capital with which you attract distinguished guests.”

Laughing involuntarily, Li Shimin said, “I didn’t expect Shaoshuai‘s words to be so comfortable to hear.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “My ability to pat the horse’s butt [flatter] is not inferior to my saber technique.”

The two men looked at each other and laughed.

Li Shimin spoke with serious expression, “Having Chang He and Liu Hongji joining our camp will greatly increase our chances of victory. There is still a crucial piece of information, but even I am unable to determine whether it is good or bad.”

Frowning, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly there is such thing!”

Li Shimin spoke in heavy voice, “Bi Xuan’s diplomatic group left the city before noon, heading to the north. Reportedly the officers and soldiers guarding the palace gate and the city gate were all unaware of it, momentarily they were at a loss to know what to do, without any better option, they had to let them pass with their eyes opened wide.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “Could it be that because Lingzun interrupted his martial art competition against me, from shame he turned to anger, hence Bi Xuan led the crowd to storm off in a huff?”

“What martial art competition?” Li Shimin asked.

After explaining clearly, Kou Zhong said, “If Bi Xuan really broke off relations with Lingzun, fell out with him and leave, it means that Lingzun indeed has the intention to form an alliance, the situation is not as nasty as we imagined.”

Li Shimin muttered to himself irresolutely for half a day, he said, “Your assumption is reasonable, however, precisely because it is reasonable and fair, in the end I feel something is not right a little bit.”

Kou Zhong said, “This is your territory, so you should be able to know for sure whether Bi Xuan is really returning to the northern border.”

Shaking his head, Li Shimin said, “They were riding fast Tujue horses. After leaving the city, they rode at full speed to the river and forest area on the northern side. Things happened so suddenly that I did not have time to send people to investigate, so I really am unable to ascertain their whereabouts.”

“Did Ke Dazhi leave with the group?” Kou Zhong asked.

“Right now I still don’t know yet,” Li Shimin replied.

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “This move by Bi Xuan is very beautiful, I feel that I am caught in a passive, disadvantageous position again, psychologically, it makes it difficult for us to act immediately. This was my original intention in coming to see you.”

The refined light in Li Shimin’s pair of eyes rolling around, he spoke slowly, “Bi Xuan’s departure will cause great panic in Chang’an, because it means that the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall are about to invade the south. We have no other choice, we must act as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late for regrets.”

Kou Zhong cheerfully said, “You, LaoGe finally regard Chang’an as a battlefield, hence you can reproduce the sassy and graceful bearing of success-becomes-the-king, defeated-becomes-the-bandit, and able to make prompt decisions. You know the situation of Chang’an better than me, when are we going to start?”

Li Shimin said, “Since we can’t rely on the Duke Yang’s Treasure-house, you guys have no choice but to use Huang He Bang as a cover to enter the city. When Shaoshuai’s side is ready, we can start the uprising at any time. As long as we act quickly, we could use ten-thousand-jun-thunderbolt-momentum to control the imperial palace in one move, and then rely on the Xuanwu Gate to block Tang Jian’s troops outside the Xuanwu Gate.”

Kou Zhong said, “What is day-to-day the military strength of the imperial guards defending the imperial palace?”

Li Shimin said, “The military strength is about 10,000 men, and then there’s Taizi’s Changlin Army with 3,000 men. If we don’t take into account the city defender army outside the palace and Tang Jian’s West Inner Park Army, the enemy we have to deal with is still more than double ours. Therefore, we must decide the plan first and move later, use the fast to control the slow. During the uprising, we must occupy all military strongholds inside the palace, and the most crucial place to fight is the Xuanwu Gate, as long as we can win control over the Xuanwu Gate, at least we will have fifty-percent chance of success.”

Kou Zhong said, “Fortunately, we have Chang He on our side, which greatly increases our chance of success.”

Li Shimin sighed, “I said just now that after good preparation, we can start the uprising at any time. Unfortunately, I can’t set the date and time. Because if I join hands with you and take initiative to rebel and stain the palace with blood, it will be really difficult to justify, therefore, we must wait for an opportunity.”

Knitting his brows, Kou Zhong asked, “What opportunity?”

Li Shimin replied, “The moment Taizi and Qi Wang want to put me to death, our chance will come!”

Kou Zhong said, “What if they want to kill us?”

Li Shimin said, “Huang Xiong [emperor brother] has tried many times, but he still cannot do anything to you, hence there is no need to give up the easy and take the difficult. After eliminating me, the proposal of forming an alliance is no longer feasible. Fuhuang will have no other choice, he must do everything he can to keep you in Chang’an. Therefore, if Taizi can succeed, it will be one move, two gains. Otherwise, in the future when the allied armies come to the south, Taizi, Qi Wang lose consecutive battles, under pressing situation, there will be a good chance that I will regain control of the military, and that is something that Taizi, Qi Wang and Fuhuang do not wish to see the most.”

Kou Zhong spoke in distress, “I have no choice but to admit that you have seen the situation thoroughly, Lingzun’s action of being generous with that but unkind to this has made the whole city’s military and civilians sympathize deeply with you. If you come back and counterattack to save your life, no one can speak half a word of idle talk about you. The question is how do we know when Taizi is going to conspire? Wouldn’t it mean that the initiative is completely in enemy’s hands?”

Li Shimin said, “This is precisely the most accurate portrayal of us right now. We must wait for dawn, our head resting on spear, quietly wait with stored-up momentum, waiting for the fortunate timing to approach. Besides, we are not completely passive. We could, via Wei Zheng, Chang He, Feng Deyi, Liu Hongji, and the others, several key figures – monitor and clearly grasp the other side’s movements. The situation is delicate now, no one knows when Shaoshuai will lose patience and storm off in a huff, hence the other side must employ a blitzkrieg strategy to break the stalemate as quickly as possible, if I am not guessing incorrectly, we shouldn’t have to wait long.”

Kou Zhong said, “Very well! Let’s work separately, contact Wei Zheng and the others, and Lingshu [your esteemed uncle] Huai’an Wang will be in charge. We must, by all means, be one step ahead of the enemy and come out on top in this gambling-with-our-life game.”

Li Shimin said, “Our situation is absolutely not as pessimistic as it appears on the surface. Suppose that from now on, my activities are narrowed down to only entering and exiting the Taiji Palace for the morning imperial court, the place where the other side can set up an ambush is already ready to appear at the call [idiom: on the verge of coming out into the open].”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “The Xuanwu Gate!”

Li Shimin said, “If Bi Xuan’s departure is a pretense to obtain Fuhuang’s nod of approval, it would show that Fuhuang is completely standing on Taizi’s side, and had accepted the conditions set by Xieli to offer him Shaoshuai’s head. And his order to me, Taizi and Qi Wang, three men to go through the Xuanwu Gate to enter and exit the Taiji Palace from now on, it is precisely targeted to us. Fuhuang’s change ought to be triggered by the rumor that Song Que was seriously injured in a duel with Yue Shan, so that he no longer has any scruples, thinking that after eliminating Shaoshuai, the world will be easily obtained.”

Kou Zhong asked, “Where did the rumor come from?”

Li Shimin replied, “This rumor spread widely from Lin Shihong’s side, and Lin Shihong is fighting back the Song army with all his strength, further convincing Fuhuang so that he believes firmly without any doubt.”

Cursing under his breath, ‘His granny’s!’ Kou Zhong knitted his brows and said, “If that is the case, the first person Lingzun wants to kill is me, Kou Zhong, hoping to use this as a pretext to curry favor with the Tujue, to resolve the threat of the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall. And then he will go all-out to wipe out the thunder of dragons-without-a-head Shao Shuai Army. After all, you are his son, you would think a bit of flesh and blood relations, no matter what.”

Smiling wryly, Li Shimin said, “Yang Guang’s precedent in killing his [older] brother and murdering his own father make Fuhuang cannot forget. Therefore, once he identified me as another Yang Guang, the father-son relationship turned into suspicion and jealousy which are difficult to eliminate instead. When Shaoshuai first entered Chang’an, you acted as if you don’t have any connection with me, but you suddenly went to Hong Yi Palace in person, showing clearly that you would advance and retreat together with me. This has strengthened Fuhuang’s suspicion that we formed an alliance and plotted a rebellion in secret. If I surrender to you, Fuhuang would lose all the land outside the Pass [Guanwai], and his world will be in jeopardy. Under such circumstances, if you were him, what would you choose?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “If I were him, I would create a chance to kill you and me at the same time. Once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved. At that time, the vilest situation will be the Tujue breaking their word and go down south, and he no longer had to worry about Guandong’s [lit. east of the Pass, also referring to Northeast China] bind.”

Li Shimin said, “After getting rid of the two of us, Fuhuang will seal off Chang’an, and eliminate all those who are related to us, so that the news will not be leaked, and then he will send Yuanji out of the Pass to take Luoyang and stabilize the situation inside and outside the Pass. If the Tujue keeps their word, the world will be the object in Fuhuang’s pocket. This way of thinking is giving me a lot of pains, but since Fuhuang expelled me to the Hong Yi Palace, I no longer have any delusion about him.”

Kou Zhong thought hard, he said, “How can he create an opportunity to put you and me in order at the same time?” And then, shaken, he looked at Li Shimin.

Li Shimin also looked at him. They looked at each other and nodded, knowing what was in the other’s heart.

The sound of hoofbeats was heard.

Xu Ziling laughed and said to Hou Xibai, “Bi Xuan’s reply arrives!”

Hou Xibai sighed and said, “Ay! It’s really worrying.”

A Flying Cloud Guard galloped over, he flipped over and dismounted, and offered a long arrow in both hands, a letter, which original seal has not been touched, was tied to the arrow.

Xu Ziling took the flying arrow letter, although he did not understand the Tujue characters on it, he was certain it was the challenge letter that was sent by Ba Feng Han via the arrow to Bi Xuan. Immediately he was at a loss, “Who sent it?” he asked.

The subordinate replied, “It was delivered by a quite pretty Tujue Guniang, she said to hand it over to Ba Ye’s hands immediately. She even said that before the arrow arrived, Bi Xuan Shengzhe has already led his group to leave the city and returning to the north. Finished speaking, she left in a hurry.”

Hearing that, Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai looked at each other, they felt something was quite wrong.

After the subordinate left, the two men entered the room to hand over the letter into Ba Fenghan’s hands.

Ba Fenghan held the arrow with both hands, he was staring blankly for half a day; smiling wryly, he said, “What exactly is going on?”

Xu Ziling said, “Perhaps because Li Yuan interfered in Bi Xuan dealing with Kou Zhong, Bi Xuan fell out with him and walked away, but Badai’er chose to stay.”

Shaking his head, Ba Fenghan said, “If Bi Xuan wants to kill Kou Zhong wholeheartedly, no one can flagrantly interfere, Kou Zhong would also have no choice but to brace himself and face the attack and meet it to the end; there must be something in this matter that we haven’t figured out yet.”

Finished speaking, he rose up to his full height and draped his outer robe over his shoulders.

“Where are you going?” Hou Xibai asked.

Ba Fenghan was about to step out of the room, hearing the question, he halted his steps and spoke indifferently, “I want to stroll around outside the palace wherever my feet are taking me, in order to relieve the glum in my heart.” Just like that, he walked away.

Hou Xibai said worriedly, “He won’t be in any trouble, right? The Chang’an City now always gives people a sense of danger is lurking at every step.”

Xu Ziling said solemnly, “If I do not guess incorrectly, he should be going to look for Badai’er, since the decisive battle with Bi Xuan is temporarily set aside, he can’t help his feeling for Badai’er from becoming active. After all, Badai’er is still the woman he loves dearly the most, even Yu Yi cannot replace her. This morning Yu Yi missed her appointment, it has dealt a heavy blow to his self-esteem. I hope he can overcome the barrier of hatred between peoples and tribes, and have a good ending with Badai’er!”

Hou Xibai exhaled slowly, he said, “Xiaodi also feels depressed, is there any good place to divert myself from melancholy?”

Xu Ziling laughed and said, “You stay here obediently for me, when Kou Zhong returns, we will talk about everything. The darkest moment is before dawn, the most suffocating moment is just before the storm. Tell me, when you returned to Bashu, what did you do?”

Smiling bitterly, Hou Xibai said, “Do you think I’m a kid? Unexpectedly you don’t know what to say and have to find something to say to coax me to stay. How about this, give me something to do, or I’ll go to Shang Lin Yuan to kill time, I will come back tonight to accompany you to see Shigong.”

Xu Ziling was helpless against him, muttering to himself irresolutely, he said, “All right! You take the horse-drawn carriage to Shang Lin Yuan for a visit, try to bring Ma Chang back in secret. We must make all kinds of plans to meet a contingency, so that during the uprising, we won’t be at a loss to know what to do.”

With a smile on his face, Hou Xibai accepted the order and left.

Kou Zhong returned to Xing Qing Palace with a troubled mind. When the palace gate was in sight, a person flashed out of the side street and said, “Shaoshuai, please come with nujia.”

Composing himself, Kou Zhong looked up, surprisingly, it was Jin Huanzhen. Laughing coldly, he said, “You still have the face to come and see me?”

Smiling bitterly, Jin Huanzhen said, “Whatever Shaoshuai likes to scold nujia, it’s all right, but nujia swears that there isn’t any evil intention. I just hope that we, husband and wife can somewhat exhaust our strength to repay Shaoshuai and Xu Gongzi’s big kindness for saving our lives.”

Kou Zhong thought to himself, you think I am scared of you? I want to see what trick you can come up with; he spoke heavily, “Lead the way! If something happens, don’t blame my hand for not being lenient.”

Jin Huanzhen laughed in distress and led him into a side lane.

Xu Ziling sat alone in Ba Fenghan’s room, thoughts were surging in his mind.

After arriving in Chang’an this time, all kinds of things happened one after another, which made them feel it was more than they could attend. Bi Xuan suddenly led his group to leave, it made the situation more complicated and unclear very quickly, good and bad were difficult to foresee.

Was what Dong Shuni told him true, or was she misunderstanding Li Yuan? For them, any wrong judgment might bring about unexpected disasters.

The people of the demonic school have always been good at playing tricks of conspiracy. If they could not figure out their arrangement, there was a very big chance that it could be a factor in their defeat.

Thinking to this point, the alarm went off in his heart.

Xu Ziling looked at the door of the room, a figure flashed, the out-of-the-world beautiful and alluring Wanwan appeared before his eyes, she smiled and said, “Can I come in to relieve Ziling’s boredom?”

Inside a courtyard house located at Shengye [lit. victorious undertaking] Alley, Kou Zhong saw Zhou Laotan, husband and wife, the three people sat down in the reception hall.

After ascertaining that it was not an ambush, Kou Zhong spoke with solemn expression, “I may be able not to bother about your biting the hand that feeds you in Longquan, but please don’t play tricks with me, because I will no longer believe what you say. If you understand this, no need to waste my precious time.”

Contrary to Kou Zhong’s expectations, the two husband and wife looked at each other, and then stood up at the same time without saying a word, knelt down side by side facing the south, and spoke in unison, “The holy school disciples Zhou Laotan and Jin Huanzhen swear by the various divine ancestors of the holy school, if there is one word of deceive to Kou Zhong, let death be better from life to us, life be not better than death, and we will pass into oblivion forever.”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong was rooted on the spot; he watched the two people sat down on the other side of the table again, scratched his head, and said, “Why are you suddenly being this kind to me?”

The bitter lines densely covering Zhou Laotan’s face deepened, so that in contrast, Jin Huanzhen’s skin appeared even more radiant and her flesh smooth. He spoke with serious expression, “Although Shaoshuai has a very bad impression of us, we, husband and wife are people who, kindness we must repay, hatred we must avenge. If Shaoshuai still refuses to believe me, there is nothing we can do.”

Jin Huanzhen said, “Laotan and I have decided to leave this trouble spot and go back to our native place in the countryside to live in seclusion, so that we can spend the rest of our lives in peace. Since our wish for the Holy Emperor’s Relics evaporated, we have always had this idea, only we were without the freedom to act independently. Now the opportunity has finally come, plus we want to spend some effort to give Shaoshuai a helping hand.

Kou Zhong said, “Speak! As long as you have this heart, I will surely help you accomplish your cherished desire.”