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Hou Xibai sat down next to him. Scrutinizing his countenance, he asked in surprise, “But why is your expression so unsightly? It appears that you have a heavy load on your mind?”

Xu Ziling did not want to worry him about Li Xiuning, he said, “Nothing, just thinking that in the future Qin Wang and Kou Zhong will be poised for battle on the battleground. I … ay! Is Shen Luoyan still in Chang’an?”

“Ha!” Hou Xibai laughed and said, “Are you talking about that romantic beauty? Not only she is in Chang’an, she has had a drink with me, alone, once.”

And then lowering his voice, he said, “The Li Family has not completely trusted her Fu Jun [husband lord] Li Shiji, afraid that he still thinks fondly of Li Mi, his old master, therefore, they did not allow Shen beauty to come with her fuxu [(literary) husband] going into battle.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “Romantic?” [Note: fengliu can be translated as distinguished and accomplished/outstanding or romantic/dissolute/loose, hence the connotation could either be good or bad.]

Hou Xibai hastily explained, “Ziling, please don’t misunderstand, although I, Passionate Prince, am passionate [or affectionate/emotional/sentimental], but I would never touch and provoke other people’s tender wife. Romantic was only referring to her touching elegant bearing and relaxed, leisurely manner, which makes her the best among women, a beauty with unique style. We are all old friends, I am not afraid to let you know that for the past few years, my attitude toward beautiful women has changed a lot.”

Xu Ziling asked in surprise, “Unexpectedly you have no interest toward pretty females?”

Wagging his hand, Hou Xibai said, “Of course it’s not like that, but it’s unlike in the past, where I always wanted to be intimate with fragrant pond [not sure, perhaps an idiom]; rather, I now only want to repeatedly look at them with pleasure. Only this way I can retain the most touching mysterious feeling between men and women.”

And then taking out the Fan of Beauty, ‘Swoosh!’ he opened it in his hand; leisurely and naturally he shook his head and swayed his noggin as he recited, “Throwing oneself in somebody’s arms, although touching, how could it compare with desiring to resist yet still meeting? And desiring to resist yet still meeting cannot compare with hoping yet unable to obtain. Unable to obtain and loving without any future is the most touching.”

Xu Ziling could not help being reminded of her longing toward Shi Feixuan; he deeply felt that Hou Xibai’s words were really not without any basis.

Hou Xibai started his lecture, “This is the logic that I learned from all kinds of different types of women; by the time you become her man, her attitude might change a lot. For example, becoming totally submissive, or perhaps will haggle over every ounce. Also, as a result losing contact with people whom you know before you obtained her, like martial art masters exchanging blows, the delight of you come and I go; furthermore, losing the other side is a mysterious feeling that cannot be disrespected and violated upon. Ha! You don’t seem to have any interest in listening?” Translated by foxs

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Xibai Xiong’s words are highly interesting, it’s just that my mood is the problem!”

Hou Xibai did not take offense at all; he changed the topic, “I have my people investigating Yin Xianhe’s track for you; I can give you a definite answer tomorrow. Tonight, we’d better go to Shang Lin Yuan to visit Ji Qian, to verify whether she is Yin Xianhe’s little sister, while we wash the dust off your, Xu Gongzi’s feet along the way.”

Xu Ziling jumped in fright; frowning, he asked, “What identity I am going to use to see her?” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Hou Xibai smiled and said, “Just use your Mo Wei’s identity and appearance! A few days after you guys unearthed the Duke Yang’s Treasure, an unprecedented chaos appeared in Chang’an, Qin Wang cleverly ‘arranged’ for you to leave, therefore, your identity has not been uncovered yet. Only now you are back!”

Xu Ziling spoke in displeasure, “How can that work? Mo Wei has had martial art contest against Ke Dazhi in the Lunar New Year’s Eve banquet at the imperial court, ten thousand eyes witnessed it, and then he suddenly disappeared? Anybody would be able to guess that Mo Wei is either Kou Zhong or me, Xu Ziling.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Hou Xibai said, “So what if they knew? Provoking Mo Wei is tantamount to provoking Qin Wang. The current situation is delicate, Qin Wang has just beaten back Liu Wuzhou and Tujue’s coalition forces, tomorrow he is going to lead the troops to Luoyang. For the time being, nobody, Li Yuan included, dares to provoke him, hence the smartest people will pretend that they don’t know who you, Mo Wei, really are. Li Jiancheng is implicated in the Yang WenGan’s rebellion incident, Li Yuanji met with the disgrace of his troops being defeated. The two men are fellow sufferers empathizing with each other, they have no choice but to momentarily lay down the flag and still the drums, not daring to raise any problem.”

Xu Ziling still shook his head and said, “Mo Wei disguise is still very inappropriate. I am most afraid that we might beat the grass to scare the snake, by letting Chi Shengchun to be on guard, and then our work will be in vain.”

Hou Xibai was puzzled, he asked, “Our side is solid, plus we have people from Qin Wang Mansion supporting us, we might as well prepare an ambush and capture him alive, torture him severely to extort his confession, we’ll take a good care of him, why be afraid that Chi Shengchun won’t tell us the truth?”

Xu Ziling replied, “Lei Dage has the deepest understanding of the way the Xiang Family do their business; according to him, the Xiang Family has a set of communication method, just like a chain, if we take off one of the link, the chain will be broken. This is exactly to guard against one of the family or clan member being extorted to confession. Therefore, unless there is no strategy left to try, it’s not advisable to use such a stupid method.”

Suddenly he reached inside his bosom and took the Gong Chenchun/Mo Wei mask and put it on. Translated by foxs

Hou Xibai asked in astonishment, “Didn’t you say you don’t want to dress up as Mo Wei?”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “I am thinking of a way that will satisfy rival demands. Did Lei Dage leave some leftover disguise material here?”

Hou Xibai had a flash of understanding; slapping this thigh, he said, “Wonderful! You will let Ji Qian know who you are, but others won’t be able to recognize you without paying attention. Please wait a moment.”

When Hou Xibai came back, he brought a pair of fake beard, which he stuck onto Xu Ziling’s face, and he said with a laugh, “This is my own treasure, to ensure that no one can see through.”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “Do you know that just now Wan Mei’er [beauty] came to have a heart-to-heart chat with you?”

“Wanwan?” Hou Xibai blurted out.

Xu Ziling recounted his meeting with Wanwan and said, “I have a question that I want to ask you, but if it is not convenient for Xibai Xiong to answer, I will not blame you.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Hou Xibai asked in surprise, “What could be so serious that you have to warn me in advance?”

Xu Ziling said, “Does Xiao Xian belong to demonic school?”

Hou Xibai shook his head and said, “I really don’t know. Why do you have such suspicion?”

Xu Ziling said, “Because of the relationship between Xiang Yushan and Zhao Deyan. You came from demonic school background, you should know more clearly about demonic school matters than I do.”

Hou Xibai thought deeply for half a day; he spoke with grave expression, “Your suspicion is not without any reason. Compared to ordinary gangs and sects, our recruitment of disciples is a hundred, a thousand times more stringent, so much so that some even do not hesitate to kill their close relatives to sever relationship with six close relatives [namely: father, mother, older brothers, younger brothers, wife, male children]. Xiaodi could very well be one of those victims. However, Xiao Xian is a descendant of the demise Liang dynasty, he himself should not be a demonic school disciple, but Xiang Gui is very difficult to say, otherwise Xiang Yushan would not suddenly become Zhao Deyan’s disciple. However, Xiang Gui’s sons as a group could not possibly be demonic school’s direct disciples.”

He also said, “If the Xiang Family belonged to the demonic school, or perhaps one of those left-way side branches, the highest possibility is Mi Qing Dao [lit. extinguishing emotion/love way], because this sect specializes in the way of ­yin and yang cultivation to bewitch women. If we investigate Chi Shengchun’s lifestyle, perhaps we could uncover the spider’s thread and horse track.”

Xu Ziling’s spirit greatly aroused, he said, “Xibai Xiong’s suggestion is very useful.” Standing up, he said, “I want to go to the Six-Happiness to stroll around, to see if perhaps I am lucky to come across Ji Qian, which is a bit more proper than looking for her in the pleasure house, plus you won’t be implicated in this.”

Because his mind was in chaos, unexpectedly he did not remember that the Dulin [gambling forest] master that Ji Qian wanted to take as her master was ‘Yong Qin’ rather than ‘Gong Chenchun’. Translated by foxs

When Kou Zhong was walking out of the Dudu Fu, Dou Jiande, who had just entered the city, was talking to Liu Heita, both were still on horseback. He had no choice but to brace himself and walked over toward them. He thought that if Old Dou firmly refused to let the people go, what should he do?

Seeing him showing up, Dou and Liu, two men stopped talking, their gaze fell on his face. The Dou soldiers surrounding the Dudu Fu were more than ten thousand men, yet everybody was holding his breath and calming his qi, waiting in strict formation, like a stretched-taut bowstring. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

The fires throughout the city had ben extinguished, only the remaining steam lightly rising in spirals into the sky, a reminder of the intense fighting of the city under siege that had just occurred.

Kou Zhong went in front of Dou Jiande’s horse. Rousing his spirit, he said, “Dou Ye, I wonder if you’ll give me permission to speak?”

Dou Jiande laughed aloud and said, “Of course!” He flew off his horse. Liu Heita and the men on his left and right understood and moved away, to give the two men some privacy.

Kou Zhong walked over to Dou Jiande’s side and said with a bitter smile, “I have a presumptuous request, hoping for ten thousand times that Dou Ye would accept.”

Dou Jiande smiled and said, “I did not expect Xiao Zhong to be such a romantic and passionate man. I heard from Heita that Li Xiuning is your first love sweetheart; it really never occurred to me.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “What first love sweetheart? It’s just an incurable disease of unrequited love, which came from my wishful thinking. For this reason I hardened my heart toward anybody within the Li Family, she is the only exception.”

Dou Jiande calmly said, “We are of the same side, why can’t I be happy seeing you speaking so sincerely? This time we captured Liyang, Xiao Zhong’s meritorious service is at the top of the list; are you asking me to let Li Xiuning, Li Shentong, and the others go?”

Stunned, Kou Zhong asked, “There is no problem?”

Dou Jiande reached out to put his arm around Kou Zhong’s shoulder, and then he pulled him walking along the main street leading toward the east gate. Seeing one after another his men stepping aside to make way, he laughed involuntarily and said, “I, Dou Jiande, was born in a village in Wucheng [county in Dezhou], Shandong; I followed Gao Shida of Qinghe in the uprising of Gaoji Lake. Because Gao Ye thought highly of me, he handed over the command of the militia to me. With seven thousand militia with mix-and-match equipment, I defeated the Sui general Guo Xuan’s more than ten thousand elite troops, hence establishing my, Dou Jiande’s fame for fighting prowess. Afterwards, Gao Ye was killed by Sui dynasty’s famous general Yang Yichen, I was forced to run away in panic with only a hundred or so men. Hereafter I worked hard to run the army, and today, not only I subdued Xu Yuanlang and destroyed Yuwen Huaji, I even captured Liyang, what am I relying on? It’s the two characters ‘ren yi’ [benevolence and righteousness]. To the surrendered Sui dynasty’s generals, those who are willing to stay, all are treated sincerely and put in important position; those who are not willing to stay, they are given freedom to come and go freely. Each time we besiege a city and seize a territory, what we obtain is divided equally among the officers and soldiers under my command, while I myself only have green tea [fig. only tea without food] and tasteless rice, with the lowest soldiers I am going through the good times and hardships, experiencing life and death together. Before capturing Liyang, didn’t I tell you to treat the surrendering people well? Could it be that now I immediately break my word? People who cannot be trusted won’t stand, much less this is Shaoshuai’s cherished desire.”

And then he turned around and shouted to his men, “Bring Li Shentong here, and be polite to him.” Translated by foxs

His men accepted the order and left.

Kou Zhong’s heart was welling up with gratitude. Compared with Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande was a real talent. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Dou Jiande stopped, he took his arm off Kou Zhong’s shoulders, his pair of eyes flashing with power, he spoke heavily, “This time, although our casualties are heavy, we ought to still have enough power to go west to attack Hulao, to give Wang Shichong a shock. Will Xiao Zhong be willing to help me?”

This time Kou Zhong was really shocked. “What?” he blurted out, “We absolutely must not do this. Hulao is a military strategic town east of Luoyang, Wang Shichong will definitely defend it, if we fail to capture Hulao within a few days, we will be attacked from two sides by both the Hulao’s defenders and Wang Shichong. This is not the problem, but the biggest problem is that Li Shimin might take advantage of the void and enter in. Once he seizes Liyang back, we will have no way to retreat. Dou Ye, please think thrice.”

Dou Jiande laughed aloud and said, “As long as you are willing to help me, using the ten-thousand-jun­-thunderbolt momentum, we could launch surprise attack to Hulao. If not successful, we could return to Liyang before the Wang Army arrive; if successful, under threat from the Li Clan’s main forces, Wang Shichong’s only way out is to accept being a subject to me.”

This was the first time that Kou Zhong discovered Dou Jiande’s weak point, which was because he had never met formidable opponent like Li Shimin, plus recently he achieved victory several times in succession, he grew arrogant and willful. He sighed and said, “To attack and capture Hulao, we must take the three cities in its vicinity, namely Guanzhou, Bianzhou, and Xingyang. Such a complex military operation, it’s impossible to accomplish before Wang Shichong’s main forces arrive, it will only be in vain.” Translated by foxs

In the past, his battle against Li Mi made him research the terrain all around Luoyang, so that he knew it like the back of his hand, hence he was able to put forward strong facts, in order to persuade Dou Jiande to dispel his intention of attacking Hulao.

Dou Jiande muttered to himself irresolutely without speaking.

Kou Zhong roused his glib tongue [orig. a tongue like a reed] to continue, “Li Shiji successfully escaped to Weihui; although momentarily he is powerless to counterattack, he is definitely glaring like a tiger watching its prey, waiting for an opportunity to move. This time more than half of Dou Ye’s siege equipment are either broken or damaged, it is not possible to attack Hulao Liyang-style. Presently the top priority is to consolidate the results of the war, to build up the military power; then advancing we can attack, retreating we can defend, in call cases Dou Ye will be able to do as you wish.”

Finally Dou Jiande was persuaded. Nodding his head, he said, “Your comment is not without any reason.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Kou Zhong spoke with serious expression, “I still have a proposal, only I’m afraid Dou Ye won’t want to listen to it.”

His eyes flashing, Dou Jiande looked him up and down; shaking his head, he said, “As long as it comes from you, Kou Zhong, who’d dare to lightly ignore it?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Because I know Dou Ye despise Wang Shichong’s conducts; however, under current circumstances, the best strategy is to join hands with Wang Shichong to beat back Li Shimin’s main forces. Dou Ye could seize the opportunity to wrest control of all the cities that the Tang Army possess outside the Pass, and then you could behead Wang Shichong. At that time, the world will become the object in Dou Ye’s bag.”

Dou Jiande spoke heavily, “I don’t like Wang Shichong, how could he show respect for me? Those descendants of emperor’s relatives of the old Sui has never been in agreement with us, militia who started out from the villages, it is very difficult for us to cooperate in sincerity.”

Lowering his voice, Kou Zhong said, “That is precisely the problem spot; if Wang Shichong feels that he would be defeated without any chance of victory, would you say he might acknowledge allegiance to the Li Family, or surrender to you, Dou Ye?”

Emotionally moved, Dou Jiande said, “That is certainly the problem.”

Kou Zhong said, “Therefore, Dou Ye should write a letter, let me personally deliver it to Wang Shichong, to pacify his heart, so that he feels confident to withstand the Li Clan’s main forces attacking to the east; then Dou Ye would be able to strive for valuable time, to calmly reorganize your troops, to split the mountain and watch the tigers fight first, and then sit to collect the fisherman’s benefit.”

Finally Dou Jiande was moved; laughing aloud, he said, “My mind is blinded by the victory, fortunately you reminded me. So be it!” Translated by foxs

Xu Ziling, mingling among the crowd in the ordinary-people-becoming-the-master [not sure] main hall of the Six-Happiness Casino, played a couple of small hands as if he was just enjoying the excitement. He was quite hesitant whether he ought to try to go into the comparatively higher level gambling hall to look for Ji Qian.

Whenever he went to the casino in the past, he always had Lei Jiuzhi giving him directions. Just like Lu Miaozi, this man was erudite and multi-talented, his interests were wide-ranged, and every single one was carefully researched, plus he was familiar with the customs of the gambling industry. Now he was alone, plus he must not attract any attention. After calculating the gains and losses, he decided to stop at this point and leave the not-one-drop-can-trickle-through crowded gambling hall.

He had just returned to the street when he saw at the Ming Tang Wo across the street the back figure of a woman, graceful with many postures, was disappearing into the main hall. Her build seemed to be similar to Ji Qian’s. A familiar, happy feeling welled up in his heart; therefore, he strolled normally across the vehicles and horses lane and entered the Ming Tang Wo.

In the outside hall, the number of people, as well as the level of excitement, was in no way inferior to the Six-Happiness Casino, but the woman, whom he suspected to be Ji Qian, was nowhere to be seen. Xu Ziling groaned inwardly, because he encountered the same problem as in the Six-Happiness Casino, i.e. whether he should exchange a bronze medal to enter the VIP hall, or he should just wait outside the main gate. If he opted for the latter, he did not know how long he would have to wait. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

While hesitating, a group of people was entering the gambling hall. Xu Ziling retreated to one side to observe; seven, eight big men, whom in just one glance he knew that they were martial art masters and experts, like a crowd of stars around the moon, were escorting a middle-aged man in gorgeous dress, acting high and mighty, stepping into the hall.

The man was of medium build, in a calm and relaxed manner holding a tobacco pipe in his hand, with his attendants eagerly attentive to serve him, he calmly walked while swallowing clouds and blowing out fog at the same time; his bearing was leisurely, but was extremely lordly. However, his pale countenance gave up a bit of indication that he indulged excessively in wine and women. At first glance there did not seem to be anything special in his appearance; if his gorgeous dress and his entourage were removed and he sneaked into the gambling hall to mingle among any crowd of gamblers, it could be guaranteed that he would not attract any attention. But Xu Ziling’s eyesight was brilliant; from examining his spirit and watching his attitude, he was certain that this man was not an ordinary idle person, that he could be described using four characters shen bu ke ce [deep, unfathomable].

Chang’an was the cultural gathering place of the Guanzhong plain, there has always been crouching tiger, hidden dragon; seeing such person was not extraordinary at all. Xu Ziling was preoccupied, he had no time to pay attention, but as he was about to go to the exchange booth to get some gambling chips, to follow the procedure to enter the VIP hall, suddenly a voice came into his ear, “What auspicious day is today? Both casinos are like mountain of people, sea of people?”

In his heart, Xu Ziling was shocked; he recognized this voice as belonging to the person who used the Seven Needles to Control the Mind against Lei Jiuzhi, which he heard outside the city of Chang’an from his hiding place. Translated by foxs

He quickly looked back, and caught in time that the speaker was the gorgeously dressed middle-aged man, who was talking to his attendants on the left and right. Although at the outer hall the noise shook the heavens, yet not a single word could escape his spirited ears.

The man was indeed a martial art master; as soon as Xu Ziling turned his head to look at him, he immediately reacted, his burning gaze was shooting toward Xu Ziling.

Xu Ziling cried ‘Bad!’ inwardly. Fortunately he was quick witted; without stopping, his gaze swept past the gorgeously dressed middle-aged man, while he also raised his hand as if he was greeting someone on the other side of the hall, and then he strode across in front of the gorgeously dressed man, pretending to be looking for an acquaintance at the other side. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Brushing past Xu Ziling, a casino executive-level figure came over to meet the gorgeously dressed man, he saluted the gorgeously dressed man and said, “Yin Guo Gong [grand duke], we are honored by your presence; this is our Ming Tang Wo’s glory. Da Xian [great immortal] is in the Tian Huang Tang [emperor of heaven hall; see Book 31 Chapter 6], please let Xiaoren show the way.”

By this time Xu Ziling was squeezing his way among the crowd, a huge overflowing-the-heaven billow was surging in his heart; he knew who this person was. He was Yin Zuwen, the father of Li Yuan’s beloved concubine Yin De Fei [reminder: fei means imperial concubine]. Relying on his power, this person was running amuck in Chang’an. Xu Ziling had heard that one time Yin Zuwen had his men break the King of Qin, Li Shimin’s Heavenly Policy chief imperial strategic adviser Du Ruhui’s finger, and afterwards he even accused Du Ruhui falsely, saying that Du Ruhui started it, so that Li Yuan was angry and blamed Li Shimin, scolding him for indulging his subordinates to bully his beloved concubine’s family. As a result, his relationship with Li Shimin became even more distant.

At that time Xu Ziling heard about it, but did not think about it too much; but now, naturally he knew that this thing was not as simple as that. At least he was sure that other than Yang Xuyan, the demonic school’s influence has penetrated deeply into the Li Clan’s royal family, the consequences were difficult to fathom.

Xu Ziling passed through the crowd of people. Thinking that looking for Ji Qian was not an urgent matter, he wanted to see Li Jing first, to inform him about Yin Zuwen’s secret.

Hurriedly heading toward the main gate, he had not even crossed over the threshold when a burst of fragrant breeze assaulted his face. Xu Ziling looked up, and knew that things had turned bad; however, unable to evade, he had no choice but to hang his head low while walking briskly, hoping that the other side might be careless enough not to pay him any attention, or perhaps his fake beard provided enough cover so that she would not recognize him as ‘Gong Chenchun’.

The incoming person was precisely Hu Xiaoxian. Translated by foxs

While the two were brushing past each other, Xu Ziling’s sleeve tightened, she caught and pulled it head-on, and then her silver-bell-like voice rang by his ear, “Why dress up like a god and disguise as a ghost? If you are tactful, you will come with me at once.”

Xu Ziling finally regretted not accepting Hou Xibai’s proposal. Even going to Shang Ling Yuan to drown his sorrows would be better than having Hu Xiaoxuan uncovering his ‘identity’.