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In term of size, Longquan was only a quarter of Chang’an, but it was also divided into the Outer City, the Inner City, and the Palace City, three layers. There were ten gates on four sides; south and north had three gates each, each and west had two gates. The main street in the middle divided the city into two halves, left and right; naturally it was also called the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, which lead directly to the main south gate of the Inner and Outer Cities.

In addition, there are four other main streets, crisscrossing each other and with other secondary streets. Just like Chang’an, the residential houses were divided into large and small street blocks.

The inner city was located right in the middle of the northern part of the city, surrounded by nine neighborhoods, with the Palace City located in the inner layer. The east side of the city was where the Forbidden Garden was located; inside there were pond, small bridge, fake mountain, gazebo and pavilion, the scenery was very beautiful.

Although in term of scale the city defense of Longquan was far inferior to Chang’an, the city wall was also five zhang tall, built of basalt rocks; extremely sturdy, equipped with magnificent arrow towers, designed to deal with the cavalry-based enemies of various ethnic groups in the prairie. The defense was very solid.

The Palace City had five-layered palace hall. The main palace was also known as Taiji. The palace halls were connected by meandering corridors. This was where Bai Ziting governed his kingdom.

Outside the southern gate, there was a stone lighthouse, consisting of twelve sections passing through carved basalt rocks structures; quaint and heavy. Each night, a special officer would light the torch at the top of the tower, the light shone high, it became the symbol and trademark of Longquan.

As for Longquan City’s inhabitants, from their attire, customs, script, culture, and political system, everything was a carbon copy of Chang’an, so that when one was in the middle of it, one would think that he was back in Chang’an of the Central Earth’s Guanzhong.

Since seven days later was the grand ceremony of founding the country, diplomatic envoys from all over the place have come to offer their congratulations; even various Mohe tribes in support of Bai Ziting also came in unending stream. Therefore, it was a magnificent and unprecedented event. The Vermillion Bird Boulevard was even more lively than Chang’an. The city defenses were greatly strengthened, and team after team of Bohai troops donning body armor and helmet continuously patrolled around to prevent anybody from disturbing the peace.

Under care of Bielegunatai’s clansman called Shuwen, the three, disguised as horse dealer from Shiwei, paid the taxes to enter the city, and stayed in a courtyard house at the western part of the city. Since there was a hot spring pond in the middle of the courtyard, naturally the three need not be polite; after settling down the horse and sent Shuwen out to scout for some news, they stripped stark naked and dipped themselves into the hot spring.

Hot steam was rising into the star-studded sky, Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Unexpectedly there is such a place outside the Great Wall; later on I must sample the Xiangshui rice.” [Note: xiangshui lit. means echo/sound/noise water.]

And then, he curiously asked, “Rice is rice; why is it called Xiangshui? Could it be that when it falls into the water [shui], it would ring [xiang]?”

Blurted out laughing, Ba Fenghan said, “It is called Xiangshui, because under the paddy field is stone slab of concentrated basalt rock, above the slab is fertile soil full of composting plants. The spring water flowing through gaps within the slab make noises, the water temperature is higher, the irrigation is natural, it makes the best location to plant rice, hence the rice quality is special, and it is called Xiangshui. Shaoshuai understands?”

Kou Zhong revealed an ‘Ah, so that’s what it is’ expression, and then he said with a laugh, “Would you say Bai Ziting is going to dress exactly the same as Li Yuan? Don’t you think it’s funny?”

Ba Fenghan replied, “It’s not Li Yuan that Bai Ziting wanted to copy, but the Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian, who once unified the Central Plains. It is said that he had spent quite a long time in Chang’an several years before Yang Jian’s death. At that time he was still young, and he had received in no small measure the influence of the atmosphere of the Great Sui at its peak. It should be noted that the Great Sui in that era was in a period of prosperity that was rarely seen in your Central Earth, the excellent cultural tradition since the Han and Wei dynasties, also the result of the fusion of the Wei, Jin, and North-South dynasties [which is also a generic term for historic period 220-589 between Han and Sui], becoming the economic and cultural center of the Central Plains and abroad. Imagine that after more than three hundred years of division in the Northern and Southern dynasties, where everybody set up independent regime, it returned to unity. But this unified country is no longer like the Qin and Han kingdoms, rather, it is a new country after the integration and invasion of various ethnic groups. Unless it’s someone like Song Que in the remote area of the south who still adheres to Han unification, anybody would be more or less affected.”

Xu Ziling said, “Fenghan Xiong has very deep understanding of our Central Earth. I have a question in my heart, which I really wish I could ask for your guidance, but I hope you won’t be offended.”

Kou Zhong spoke with a sneer, “Can you not be that polite and so serious? We are all brothers, what can’t possibly be talked about?”

Ba Fenghan said, “I can guess what it is that Ziling wanted to ask; you want to ask that as a Tujue, how come I do not show great concern about the Tujue nation, right?”

Xu Ziling nodded and said, “Fenghan Xiong’s guess is really accurate.”

Ba Fenghan’s pair of eyes flickering brightly, he said, “Since ancient times, the people of the prairie lacks your Central Earth’s cultural cohesive and unifying force. Even though there appear to be overlords with enough military power to conquer a large area of territory, in the end it always tend to split. This is the inevitable outcome of the prairie civilization, which inhabited vast, but sparsely populated land, and following water and grass to make a living. Even if they could invade the Central Plains, ultimately they have no capabilities to govern such a vast and geographically complex territory, in the end they can only be assimilated. Many, many years ago I have already seen this point; therefore, I have never had the desire to take spring and autumn great undertaking, and wish only to pursue my personal freedom, to explore the extreme pinnacle of the martial art way. Practically the concept of nation has never entered my mind.”

Obtaining sudden understanding, Kou Zhong said, “In that case, Bai Ziting must be a man with the most far-reaching vision in the prairie. The establishment of Longquan is precisely to create some kind of cohesive force; he unifies Mohe first, and then unifies the grassland. And studying Central Earth culture is to pave the way to invading and governing the Central Earth in the future. This fellow is more formidable than I thought.”

Ba Fenghan said, “The path Bai Ziting is taking is already correct, but the time is not yet ripe, because the Tujue is still in its peak; on one side of my bed, how could I allow others to sleep soundly [idiom: how could I let someone come to my turf and boss me around (Courtesy of Akolaw)]?”

Xu Ziling remembered being in such flourishing, bustling with noise and excitement, exotic city, which was about to receive washing ceremony by the fire of war, yet he knew that he could not change anything. He could not stop sad feeling from welling up in his heart.

Kou Zhong excitedly said, “Let’s take advantage of this time to discuss this matter well; later on naturally we must visit the fake Vermillion Bird Boulevard to enjoy the festivity. But what are we going to do tomorrow? Shall we deliver the Five-Colored Stone to Bai Ziting? Along the way, we can see if that Mad Monk Funantuo really has three heads and six arms, his eloquence unimpeded.”

Xu Ziling said, “The Five-Colored Stone’s matter should not be taken lightly; otherwise, there is no need for us to disguise ourselves as Shiwei horse dealer. I think we ought to inquire first whether Yuekepeng and the others have arrived safely, and then coordinate with them the grand plan of assassinating the Mad Monk.”

Ba Fenghan said, “If Funantuo died by violence, Bai Ziting’s grand plan of founding a country will surely be done for.”

Xu Ziling secretly thought that this was precisely where he could exert his strength for the innocent people of the Little Chang’an. Currently Tuli was too busy to do anything else, if Bai Ziting failed to found the country, how could he have the time to mind anything that was happening on this side? But if Bai Ziting succeeded in founding the country, coupled with the pressure from Bi Xuan, he might really make peace with Xieli. In which case, not only Bai Ziting would face imminent catastrophe, the Central Earth would no longer have good days ahead.

Kou Zhong said, “In that case, we’ll see what we are going to do tomorrow. I hope that when Shuwen is back, he’d have all the information ready, so that we know what to do to make Bai Ziting’s sky and earth turning upside down, and retrieve the eighty-thousand sheets of sheepskin that he cheated from Da Xiaojie.”

This moment Shuwen came back; he went over to the poolside and gave report to them. This Shiwei man was a real horse dealer; about forty-something years old. He did not have the valiant air of Bielegunatai or the other Mongolian men, rather, he appeared like a gentle scholar. He wore Han attire, and spoke proficient Han language. He has mingled in the northeast for many years, and knew everything inside the city like the back of his hand.

Shuwen cheerfully said, “I found the whereabouts of the Jushi Kingdom’s delegation! They entered the city only two sichen earlier than the three Daye. They are staying at the foreign guesthouse at the Vermillion Bird Boulevard, near the Inner City.”

Knowing that Yuekepeng and the others were safe and sound, the three immediately felt a big rock was unloaded from their mind, and felt incomparably relaxed.

Shuwen went on, “There is no news of Meiyan Furen; her whereabouts has always been a secret, plus she possesses great magical power, even if she is inside the city, nobody will know.”

“How about Shen Mohuan?” Ba Fenghan asked.

Flame of hatred was flashing in Shuwen’s pair of eyes, he said hatefully, “There’s still no information. As long as they really dare to come, we will definitely make it difficult for them to leave alive. In recent years, this pair of dog man and woman, under Xieli’s support, constantly robbed the livestock of our various tribes of Shiwei; they raped, kidnapped, plundered, not stopping at anything at all. Fortunately three Daye are undertaking the task to help for righteousness’ sake. This time we certainly must not let them off.”

Xu Ziling said, “Is there any distinctive feature in their appearance?”

Shuwen dejectedly replied, “Among the people that I know, no one has ever seen their true identity.”

Ba Fenghan sighed and said, “They are another bunch of wolf-bandits.”

Relying on their strength, it would not be difficult to kill Shen Mohuan; the real difficulty was how to recognize him.

“Any news about Ma Ji?” Kou Zhong asked.

Shuwen replied, “Ma Ji lives in a group of tents by Jingpo Lake south of the city. He has a large number of warriors with him, he even obtains Bai Ziting’s courtesy treatments. If three Daye want to deal with him, you must be a bit more careful.”

“Is there any movement from Tuli?” Xu Ziling asked.

Shuwen had a ready answer, “In the past few days, the city is abuzz with the rumor that Tuli, Abaojia and Tiefuyou are forming an alliance; soldiers might be at the city walls at any moment. But most people don’t think that Tuli would really dare to invade our territory, because after Xieli’s defeat at the Rushing Wolf Plains, he is trying hard to retrieve lost ground, Tuli ought to be too busy to spare time for a separate task.”

He then said, “As for the caravans that came from the Central Plains, there are three altogether, but their inside story is unknown. They are all arranged to stay at the foreign guesthouse.”

His eyes revealing excited look, he continued, “Xiufang Dajia [Great Expert] is going to arrive in two days, because this morning Bai Ziting sent out the Ceremony Minister leading the troops to welcome her. Obviously he received the news of Xiufang Dajia’s phoenix-self.”

Dejectedly Kou Zhong slinked back into the hot spring water, with overflowing-the-heaven-gigantic-waves surging inside his heart, his feeling filled with sadness. Shang Xiufang was the person he wanted to see the most, yet also the person he did not want to see the most. That kind of contradiction tore his heart into two dripping-with-blood halves.

Astonished, Shuwen looked at the top of Kou Zhong’s head inside the water of the pool.

“Don’t mind him,” Xu Ziling said, “Where can we eat the most authentic Xiangshui rice around here?”

Shuwen replied, “I already reserved a table at the most famous Dao Xiang Guan [lit. rice fragrant restaurant] on the Vermillion Bird Boulevard to wash the three Daye’s dust.”

Ba Fenghan said, “Shuwen Xiong must not hang out with us, because we made a lot of enemies, someone may fight with all his might at any moment.”

Awkwardly Shuwen said, “This …”

“We are all brothers,” Xu Ziling cut him off, “There is no need to be polite, our proper business is more important.”

Shuwen had no choice but to agree.

Kou Zhong’s head came out from the hot spring pool, he blurted out, “Dao Xiang Guan, such a good name; hearing it my tummy is already rumbling. Let’s smell the rice fragrant first before thinking about other things!”

Just like that, he climbed out the edge of the pool.

There was no empty table at Dao Xiang Guan, nearly fifty tables on both floors were full of guests. The din shook the heavens, gathered here were heroic warriors, scholars, and beautiful women of all ethnic groups, brimming with exotic atmosphere, striking the table and singing loudly, playing finger-guessing game and drinking wine, there was so much Central Earth air, yet it was completely different as well.

The three sat on a table on the second floor, facing the street. Looking out the window, men and horses went back and forth along the Vermillion Bird Boulevard. In such a bustling city looking for Shen Mohuan and Mu Ling, whom they did not even know what they looked like – would certainly be more difficult than ascending the heaven.

They ordered the dishes. The most important menu was naturally a bucket of Xiangshui rice.

Kou Zhong leisurely said, “Sitting here is like sitting in Chang’an. If the Central Earth is captured by foreign tribes, perhaps the situation in the real Chang’an would be like right now.”

They were still dressed as Shiwei people; their long hair draped across their shoulders, their faces darkened, moustache and beard across their whole face, they wore leather clothing, bare arms, their chest exposed, and Mengwu tribe’s cavalry sword hanging on their waist. In the Central Earth, this kind of attire was bound to attract attention; but here it was like the blend between water and milk, well fitting with each other with no gap in between.

Ba Fenghan said, “After eating our fill, we will go see Yuekepeng first; I want to personally thank him.”

The waiters delivered the Xiang rice and wine, Kou Zhong eagerly poured three cups full of wine. Offering a toast, he laughed and said, “The cups, bowls, dishes and chopsticks being used here must be brought from the Central Earth. Ganbei!”

With overflowing emotion the three clinked their cups and drank. As expected, the wine entering their mouth was clear, rich, fragrant, mellow; sweet but not inundating the mouth, so that they did not stop exclaiming in admiration.

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Old Ba was right, the prairie is indeed a place with many postures, many colors; they have everything you want. Oh, crap! Forgot to ask Shuwen what the most famous pleasure house in Longquan is; how could we not gain first-hand experience on that?”

Blurted out laughing, Ba Fenghan said, “What you want to have first-hand experience is not the pleasure house beyond the Great Wall, rather, it is the military tactics of each tribe. This is part of your cultivation of the art of war, so that when you get back to the Central Plains, who can be your opponent?”

Smiling bitterly, Kou Zhong said, “It is only now that I understand why the Tujue’s Wolf Army, one person could block ten. That kind of bravery and equestrianism, we, Han people, cannot learn even in one hundred generations. Our weapon is the high number of people, but yours is the elite troops. But if we fight on an open field, even if we have overwhelming military strength, we will certainly lose.”

Scoffing, Ba Fenghan said, “We are all brothers, yet you still want to deceive me. In my opinion, you have already had enough grasp of our weak point; more importantly, you, Kou Shaoshuai have already established your prestige in the prairie. One day the Central Earth will become your seat, I guarantee that no foreign tribes will dare to invade the Central Plains.”

Kou Zhong protested, “I am not as formidable as you make me; besides, whether I can unify the Central Plains or not, it is still a vast, with no clear boundary, unfathomable matter. Ha! Here’s another cup!”

Xu Ziling suddenly spoke in low voice, “Look who’s here!”

Kou Zhong looked at the top of the stairs, his tiger-body shook; stunned, he said, “My Niang! Unexpectedly they really come here.”

Two Han men, one old, one young, were standing there with distressed look, since there was no seat for them. Clearly they were Ri Sheng Hang’s Er Laoban [second boss] Luo Yi and Cun Yi Gong’s boss’ son Ou Liangcai of Pingyao [see Book 37 Chapter 11], but they did not see any Da Dao She people.

Unruffled by sentiment, Kou Zhong rose up to his full height and called out, “Over here! There are seats!”

Stunned, the two looked over, but they did not recognize Kou Zhong; they only saw this Shiwei man was outspoken, his attitude warm and friendly, thereupon they walked over to them.

The three rose up to salute. Kou Zhong leaned over and said, “Luo Laoban and Ou Gongzi, do you recognize us?”

Luo Yi and Ou Liangzi looked closely at them, their countenance changed simultaneously.

Xu Ziling sincerely said, “That was just a misunderstanding. We definitely don’t have any ill intention.”

Luo Yi sat down dejectedly, he said, “Ill intention or no ill intention, what’s the difference? Not only we lost the goods, we put ourselves in debt; what are we afraid of?”

With bitter expression, Ou Liangcai followed him sitting down, heaved a sigh, and acted like it was the path exhausted, the end of the road for him.

Naturally the three were able to guess what had happened. After sitting down, Kou Zhong spoke with a frown, “Didn’t you go through Shanhai Pass? I already had someone over there to warn you, you must not fall into that crook Guan Ping’s evil schemes.”

Stunned, Luo Yi said, “Crook Guan Ping?”

Ou Liangcai spoke heavily, “Who are two gentlemen, actually?”

Ba Fenghan replied on their behalf, “They are, one is Kou Zhong, the other Xu Ziling; two gentlemen have heard their names, I suppose?”

Immediately Luo Yi and Ou Liangcai were severely shaken. In the Central Earth, even ordinary people would know who Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were, much less businessmen like them who walked in Jianghu.

Ba Fenghan continued, “I am Ba Fenghan. These two brothers of mine indeed have good intention toward two gentlemen; as long as you told us what happened, we will surely demand justice for you.”

Luo Yi heaved a deep sigh; nodding his head, he said, “On the road, we intermittently received the news about three gentlemen greatly defeated the Golden Wolf Army at the Helian Fort and Rushing Wolf Plains, which gave us a great face; various tribes’ impression on us, Han people is greatly improving, only we never thought that it was you.”

Ou Liangcai suspiciously sized up the three, and then said, “You! Hey! Why …”

Xu Ziling said, “We have too many enemies, hence we dressed up as Shiwei men. Did you get out of the border via Shanhai Pass or not?”

Ou Liangcai nodded and said, “Of course we go through Shanhai Pass; we even had Sai Mo Bang’s Da Longtou’s reception, only there was no one warning us.”

Hearing that, the three looked at each other in dismay. Wasn’t the Sai Mo Bang’s Big Boss Jing Kang? Could it be that he was the bad egg?

Luo Yi sighed and said, “Under Da Dao She’s escort, we had pleasant journey all the way to the Xiao Hua [lit. little flower] River south of Longquan. While we were heaving a sigh of relief, suddenly our camp was heavily surrounded by several hundred horse-thieves. The head of the thieves even invited Da Dao She’s Er Dangjia Feng Ba to have a one-on-one duel with him. In less than twenty moves Feng Ba was injured and defeated, we had no choice but to offer our money and goods.”

Ou Liangcai spoke with bitter smile, “Misfortune does not come singly [idiom]. We reported this matter to the Foreign Trade Ministry here, hoping that they could dispatch troops to recover our goods; who would have thought that not only they ignored us, they forced us to pay double deposit and had several of our principals detained in here. It’s too unreasonable!”

‘Bang!’

Kou Zhong slapped the table, causing the people at several tables nearly to look at them in shock, he spoke in fury, “Practically it was Bai Ziting who sent his men to rob you, how could he pay attention to you?”

Luo Yi and Ou Liangcai’s eyes met each other.

Xu Ziling said, “Fortunately they were still exacting deposit, otherwise your life would be difficult to protect.”

Ba Fenghan patiently explained the matter to the two men. “Where is Guan Ping now?” he asked.

“He is still with us,” Luo Yi replied, “Humph! And I thought he was a victim as well.”

“What is his relationship with Yu Sheng Chang’s Li Gong?” Xu Ziling asked.

Frowning, Ou Liangcai replied, “He is the newly hired employee at Yu Sheng Chang, with specific responsibility of developing business outside the Great Wall; he is the man whom the Li Family doted on and trust the most. Turns out he is a swindler. Were it not for him campaigning vigorously for this matter, we would not have made such a large business deal with Bai Ziting so easily.”

This moment the food arrived at the table.

Kou Zhong asked for two more sets of bowl and chopsticks from the waiter, and then he said with a laugh, “Two gentlemen need not be troubled, leave this matter to us, three brothers. After eating our fill, we will find Guan Ping first to settle the account, and then we’ll look for Bai Ziting to give him bad luck.”