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Kou Zhong said, “I am thinking about Shi Zhixuan’s Bu Si Yin Fa; quite likely our Long-Life Qi is his bane. As long as after the saber qi enters his meridians it is still under our control, his remaining choice is to going all out and stake it all.”

The most formidable aspect of the Bu Si Yin Fa was ‘transforming death into life’; if it could not be accomplished, the formidable power would be greatly reduced.

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Too bad we practically are unable to find this opportunity. His Bu Si Huan, you have seen it yourself! It makes people want to attack but cannot attack, want to defend but cannot defend.”

Kou Zhong said, “Therefore, we must have Wan Beauty to use the Tianmo field to control his Bu Si Huan, while we use the joining qi technique to break his Bu Si Yin. Tonight or tomorrow night?”

Xu Ziling said, “This matter should not be delayed. Tonight it is!”

Kou Zhong said, “If we fail to kill Shi Zhixuan, what will the consequences be?”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “I don’t dare to think, but that possibility exists, Laotianye can’t possibly let everything happen entirely like people’s expectations.”

Kou Zhong said, “We only have one shot in our Zhu Shi Daji [Operation Punishing the Shi]. If he slips away, our coming days will be very difficult to pass.”

Xu Ziling said, “We should not think too much in this kind of matter, we could only accomplish it with sheer determination, without worrying about success or failure, submitting to the will of heaven. But Ren Jun, Lei Dage and Song ErGe must withdraw today, you and I will have to pretend we are coming with them, and then sneak back into the city via the secret path.”

“What about Xiao Hou?” Kou Zhong asked, “If Shi Zhixuan did not die, perhaps he would kill his own disciple to vent his anger.”

Xu Ziling said, “We will do everything we can to persuade him to leave, but I am afraid he won’t be willing to listen to us. I have another strange thought, which is Shi Zhixuan might not want to destroy this disciple, unless he already determined that Yang Xuyan has no disloyalty. Shi Zhixuan is absolutely not the kind of person who let emotions affect his decisions. He might think about the serious problem of having no qualified successors to carry on his undertaking. On the contrary, I am worried about Chen Fu.”

Kou Zhong said, “In this aspect, I might understand Shi Zhixuan better than you do. Supposing Shi Zhixuan waited for us to leave Chang’an before notifying Yin Zuwen that Situ Furong is a man that we sent to impersonate, what would Yin Zuwen think of him? Even if Yin Zuwen did not suspect that Shi Zhixuan is concealing this matter, in Shi Zhixuan’s eyes, Chen Fu is merely an insignificant pawn, practically he does not worth Shi Zhixuan to care about him.”

Xu Ziling nodded in agreement. Kou Zhong’s analysis was extremely refined.

“How’s the situation on Meiren’er Changzhu?” Kou Zhong asked.

Xu Ziling gave him a quick summary, and then spoke dejectedly, “Shall we pass on what Meiren’er Changzhu said to ErGe?”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “It’s not worth you are frustrating over it, the most important thing is that Meiren’er Changzhu’s fragrant heart is ultimately still leaning toward our Song Er Ye. His Niang’s! If you could help me to get Jiangdu, I have the confidence that Li Shimin will be driven back into Guanzhong.”

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, “You, this kid, are like this for a time, and like that another time. Previously I said I would help you, you did not seem to be too willing, but now you are afraid that I won’t help.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “That was exactly why I was thinking hard just now. Human is always greedy for life, afraid of death! How can I, Kou Zhong, be an exception? Only with you, Ling Shao and Fenghan willing to fight side by side with me that I have the confidence to create a miracle. Tonight, whether we can kill Shi Zhixuan or not, you and I will proceed separately. Xiaodi will immediately rush back to Pengliang, to train my Shao Shuai Army in the battle tactics that I learned outside the Great Wall. And then, when you come back from delivering the Xiao to Bashu, we will immediately deploy the troops to Jiangdu. With the addition of Yang Gongqing and Old Ba, we can squeeze Li Zitong’s eggs out. Ha! Suddenly I am brimming with fighting spirit and confidence. My dominance will reach the vast, boundless ocean. If I could seize the opportunity by having Hainan under my banner, the coastal area will have to take order only from me, Kou Zhong.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “You, this kid, finally recover your confidence!”

Kou Zhong said, “Currently Li Yuan’s power is greatly increasing, while Li Yuanji has the demonic school’s support behind him, and Li Jiancheng has a close relationship with the Tujue. Although Li Shimin considers himself unexcelled on the battlefield in the world, but returning to Chang’an, his share will only be to wait to be slaughtered. Now it becomes Xiaodi instead of our revered Shi Xianzi who give thought to the common people under the heavens. I am precisely thinking about this point, hence I am having high fighting spirit. This is also the reason why Ling Shao is willing to be drawn into the great vortex of the contention for hegemony over the world, am I right?”

Xu Ziling was about to respond when they heard footsteps. Hastily, being a quick-witted, he spoke in rough voice, “His granny’s! I don’t know what bird trick that casino dealer was using, it was clearly small, but suddenly it became big, and thus I had to lose a hundred taels of silver.”

Chi Shengchun’s laughter came, “Listening to two gentlemen Dage talking about your gambling experience, my hands are itching,” he said.

With Lei Jiuzhi showing the way, Chi Shengchun strode into the hall. Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, while cursing inwardly, stood up to greet him.

Lei Jiuzhi intentionally gave Chi Shengchun the opportunity to talk, he said, “I still have some errands to do, two gentlemen please take care of Chi Laoban on my behalf.” Finished speaking, he left the inner hall.

The three men moved to the table in the middle of the hall and sat down. Acting like an old friend, Chi Shengchun lowered his voice and spoke conspiratorially, “With two gentlemen, certainly I have familiarity at first sight, hence I have no scruple. Hearing that you owe some gambling debt, I was wondering if you could let Xiaodi spend a little effort in this regard?”

Pretending to be grateful, Kou Zhong said, “Chi Laoban is indeed a true friend, but …”

Chi Shengchun tactfully cut him off and said, “A friend will also have understanding of wealth. Come! Here are a hundred taels of gold, I definitely am not going to take it away.” While saying that, he took out a purse from his bosom, heavy with gold, and put it on the table.

The two boys’ four eyes immediately lit up.

Chi Shengchun smiled and said, “Just a small token of appreciation, not a tribute, furthermore, you must never, ever think that I, Chi Shengchun, am harboring evil intentions, two gentlemen must not try to payback even more. You two can randomly find anybody in Chang’an and ask what kind of person am I, Chi Shengchun?” Finished speaking, he rose up to his full height, acting like he was leaving.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling hastily stood up as well, the former rushed to say, “Ay! Chi Laoban is so generous, we …”

Chi Shengchun laughed and said, “We are both friends and brothers, what’s a mere hundred taels of gold between us? Polite words are not needed, if you say it, it would appear that there is no friendly relation between us.”

And then he sighed and said, “It’s a pity that you guys are leaving today, otherwise I would surely invite you to the Six-Happiness to gamble to our heart’s delight.”

Kou Zhong was amused inwardly, but outwardly he spoke respectfully, “We are only going away temporarily, later on we will come back to develop the Flying Money business.”

Beating the snake following the stick, Chi Shengchun said with a frown, “Didn’t Da Laoban come to Chang’an to hide from Song Que? Leaving like this, won’t he be afraid of the threat to his life?”

As early as when Chi Shengchun stepped into the hall, Xu Ziling already thought about what to say, because even though ‘Situ Furong’ did not need to tell the reason, they could not go with the tide by not telling it.

Lowering his voice, he said, “We only tell Chi Ye, one person. This time the reason why we are leaving in a hurry is precisely to see someone from the Song Family. Ay! In the south, the Song Clan’s power is so great, if we want to expand our business in the south, we have no choice but to look up at Song Que’s face. Fortunately Da Laoban asked a middleman to mediate the dispute. Under generous gift, this matter seems to go smoothly. This is a secret, Chi Laoban must never tell anybody else, otherwise Yuanyong and I won’t be able to guarantee our rice bowl, Longtou

Chi Shengchun revealed a relieved expression. Kou Zhong cried, ‘Wonderful!’ inwardly, because that was really the best reason to leave Chang’an immediately; it was called whoever hang the bell on the tiger’s neck must untie it [idiom].

About half a sichen before noon, Xiao Yu personally sent Song Shidao back. While Ren Jun and Lei Jiuzhi entertained Xiao Yu in the main hall, Song Shidao slipped into the inner hall to speak with the two boys.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were waiting for him anxiously, they hurriedly asked him what happened.

Taking the cup of hot tea that Kou Zhong offered him, Song Shidao said with a laugh, “I received an imperial edict not to reveal what I saw even for half a bit.”

Kou Zhong spoke in delight, “It is indeed the ‘Han Lin Qing Yuan Tu’. How did Li Yuan explain his action in stealing it?”

Song Shidao laughed and said, “Fancy that he could come up with it. He said that the authentic painting has always been in his collection. It was not until Chi Shengchun had his painting stolen that he knew there are reproductions circulating outside, which made him doubt whether the ‘Han Lin Qing Yuan Tu’ in his hands is the genuine or the fake, hence the reason he looked for me to verify its authenticity. Due to this matter implicates a lot of things, he ordered me not to disclose it to anybody, including, of course, our Furong Ye.”

“Pouring out lies,” Kou Zhong spoke disdainfully, “No wonder he could promise to set up Li Shimin as the crown prince, but turn his head and overthrow his promise. His Niang’s! If he did not know the real painting was in Chi Shengchun’s hand, how could he sent Liu Wenjing over to force Chi Shengchun to present the painting?”

“Where exactly in the Palace did Li Yuan see ErGe?” Xu Ziling asked.

Song Shidao replied, “It was in his personal office palace hall at the rear palace. You’d better forget about stealing the painting. Currently the Great Tang Palace obviously elevates their alertness. When Li Yuan was seeing me, standing on the side was the chief of the eunuchs Wei Gonggong; he is not simple at all, his martial art skill is definitely not inferior to Li Yuan. It could only be described as deep and immeasurable.”

“I wonder if Xiao Yu has a lot of time in his hands?” Kou Zhong said, “Why didn’t he leave immediately after dropping you off?”

Song Shidao sighed and said, “That is another headache; if you want to blame someone, just blame Lei LaoGe. After Li Yuan was sure that the treasured painting was not stolen by Cao San, the dragon was not turned into a phoenix, his mood was greatly improved. He does not have much interest in our Furong Ye, but he asked me about your ball skill; furthermore, he sent Xiao Yu to come and take you guys into the palace for a performance. There is not much time, I must explain the technique and rules of polo to you immediately, lest you make a fool of yourselves in public.”

Hearing that, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling you looked at me I gazed at you, they cried, ‘Not good!’ inwardly.

Song Shidao said, “Based on your skill and horsemanship, you should be able to master it very quickly. The problem is how to convince people that you are not Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, but the Taihang Shuang Jie, who are just skilled in playing balls. It will be up to you to get out of this pinch.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling smiled bitterly without saying anything. They did not even know the size and shape of the stick they were going to play with. Probably they had even less confidence to get through this hurdle than to fight Shi Zhixuan.

Kou Zhong said, “When we get back from the palace, we must immediately leave town.”

Stunned, Song Shidao said, “Do we have to leave in such a hurry?”

Knowing that he hated to part with Shang Xiuxun, Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. Why did Song Shidao’s path to love have to be like calligraphic flourish with many twists like this? Based on his family background and personal talent, there ought to be so many women in the world that he could just bend down and pick them up, yet the fact was just the opposite.

He spoke softly, “ErGe need not say goodbye to Shang Changzhu; I just went to see her. Furthermore, I advised her to look at the development of the situation in this half a year, a year first, before deciding which way she, as well as the Flying Horse Ranch, will take.”

Song Shidao spoke indifferently, “She does not blame you guys anymore? How did she answer you?”

Xu Ziling replied, “She looked a bit like she is worn out of worldly affairs; she even spoke a strange sentence, which is even if she has to marry a pig, has to marry a dog, she would never marry Li Jiancheng. Actually, I was advising her to make more observations, and was not referring to that matter at all, I was asking her not to be drawn into the internal strife within the Li Clan.”

Slapping his thigh, Kou Zhong said, “Most likely she really admires Song ErGe wholeheartedly! Feeling a sense of loss and sadness because the situation does not allow her to take her relationship with ErGe one step further. By saying that she won’t marry Li Jiancheng, she is stating her heart clearly. For example, if she cannot marry ErGe, she would rather not marry throughout her life. After all, it’s better than marrying someone that she does not like.”

Xu Ziling nearly wanted to punch Kou Zhong on the face. His intentions were good, but his remarks were too exaggerated and went too far. The fact was that Shang Xiuxun’s remark was probably directed to him, Xu Ziling. Shang Xiuxun definitely had favorable impression toward Song Shidao, but until this moment she still considered him as an intimate friend rather than a sweetheart, otherwise she would not push away Song Shidao by saying that she ‘respect him deeply’.”

Song Shidao revealed a hint of bitter and astringent expression, he sighed lightly and said, “If these were days of peace and prosperity, how much better would it be?”

But then he made an effort to rouse his spirit and said, “Listen carefully, any game has its unique spirit behind it. Playing polo is like determining victory on the battlefield, it involves the team’s strength, not about showing off an individual’s courage.”

The two boys knew that the playing polo lesson has begun, this was the current top priority for them, if they failed to show their skill as top polo players, they certainly would not be able to leave the Tang palace alive, thereupon they quickly concentrated their attention to listen respectfully.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s Taihang Shuang Jie followed Xiao Yu into the palace. After passing through the Vermilion Bird Gate, Xiao Yu handed them over to a lower ranking officer to receive them, while he himself proceeded to the Taiji Palace to see Li Yuan.

The two boys knew that with Taihang Shuang Jie’s status, they did not have enough qualifications to enter the Taiji Palace. The petty official who received them was called Liao Nan, quite a slick and sly fellow, who immediately talked them over and took them to the large dining hall of the Sifang Lou [lit. four-sided multi-story building] for lunch.

Revisiting old haunts, Kou Zhong recalled the days when he used to dress up as the Divine Doctor Mo Yixin in the past, he could not help sighing with sorrow! Musing inwardly that no wonder so many people strived to swim upstream, never satisfied with the pursuit of power, their target was precisely to be well-regarded by the hundred crowds. Now, although it was as bustling with noise and excitement as before, no one had any interest in casting even half a glance toward them.

After a few idle remarks, Liao Nan finally fished for more in-depth information, asking their Taihang Shuang Jie about the game of polo. The two boys responded carefully, they did not dare to be careless. Finally Liao Nan lowered his voice to ask, “Please forgive me for being blunt, I hear that when two gentlemen first arrived in Chang’an, you nearly fought with Guanzhong Jian Pai people on the street, what exactly was that about?”

The two boys understood that this Liao Nan must be part of the Great Tang Palace’s Imperial Guard system with specific responsibility of intelligence gathering, hence he must investigate clearly anybody who was going to come close to Li Yuan, in order not to let anything took a wrong turn.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” Kou Zhong calmly replied. And then he weaved a story while beating around the bush.

Liao Nan said, “Two gentlemen, please wait here for a moment, I will be right back.”

Looking at his back, Kou Zhong said with a wry smile, “I hope he did not hear any flaw! If what he heard from Guanzhong Jian Pai is an entirely different story, I would be surprised if he did not get suspicious by now.”

Xu Ziling’s eyes were cast toward the public square crossing transversally, their table was by the north window, so that they could take in the whole beautiful scenery of the public square and the imperial palace at once. A group of about a hundred imperial guards was fixing up the arena for the polo match; there were spectator’s grandstands built on both sides, east and west of the field.

Hearing Kou Zhong’s remark, he laughed and said, “Your tale is so brilliant, every sentence is an empty move, you said it, but it was like you didn’t say it, how could he grasp your sore feet?”

Kou Zhong’s gaze crossed over the public square, he fixed his eyes on the Taiji Palace rising above various palace halls, the most magnificent sight in the imperial palace complex. Laughing in spite of himself, he said, “If you think about it, it’s kind of funny. Dressing up as Taihang Shuang Jie, have you ever thought of sitting here, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Tang Palace? And a bit later we are going down the arena to play polo. His Niang’s!”

And then he turned his gaze toward Xu Ziling and lowered his voice, “I don’t know if you have thought about one particular problem?”

Xu Ziling pulled back his gaze from looking outside. Noticing Kou Zhong’s heavy expression, he asked in surprise, “What problem?”

Leaning forward a bit more, Kou Zhong said, “If we succeed in slaughtering Shi Zhixuan tonight, even without taking the condition of the father-daughter relationship between them into consideration, you will avenge the deep enmity of her Niang, but in the end you still kill her Die.”

In daze, Xu Ziling looked back at him for quite half a day, he smiled ruefully and said, “When the common people of the world is at stake, what’s personal gains and losses? Besides, my heart has already died toward Shi Qingxuan! Ay, you, this muddled egg, why did you talk about such thing in time like this? Don’t we still have other options? Look at people like Yin Zuwen, Chi Shengchun, Yang Xuyan; if they succeed, what will the world look like?”

Deeply concerned, Kou Zhong said, “I was just thinking about you …”

“Say no more,” Xu Ziling cut him off, “As early as we were in Longquan, I already made a firm resolution to wipe out Shi Zhixuan, this scourge to the world. If I am guessing correctly, Yang Yong and Yang Jian’s death more or less had something to do with Shi Zhixuan, otherwise Yang Guang would not put him in an important position, and Yang Xuyan would not gnash his teeth in disdain toward Shi Zhixuan.”

Kou Zhong nodded in agreement, he said, “Although we are unclear of the situation surrounding Yang Yong being deposed and Yang Jian’s so-called death of illness in the past, but I am sure that Shi Zhixuan cannot escape the connection. Although in minor details, Li Yuan’s father and son relationship now has some differences, in the big picture they are quite identical. It’s all about demonic school people playing ghost in bringing disharmony between father and son, pitting brothers against each other. Luckily there’s still us, the Yangzhou Shuang Long [twin dragons] here.”

Blurted out laughing, Xu Ziling said, “Go to hell with your Yangzhou Shuang Long; let’s play a good game of polo first and talk about it later!”

With complete confidence, Kou Zhong said, “We learned our horsemanship from Old Ba; merely man-and-horse-as-one, this one move is enough to open wide Li Yuan’s horizon while he still won’t know the reason why. Although Song ErGe said that polo originated from Tubo and was imported here via Persia, it was actually the Tujue who developed and promoted it. We are going to play polo using Tujue people’s horsemanship and our own skill. Even though this is the first time on the court, we can still show off the air of a master, there is nothing to worry about. Just consider hitting the ball into the goal like shooting secret projectiles, won’t that be the same?”

Xu Ziling’s gaze moved toward the public square crossing transversally, a group of imperial guards drove a herd of approximately thirty highly-spirited healthy horses into the public square. The most conspicuous thing about these horses was that they were decorated gorgeously, in all kinds of color; obviously these were the horses that were going to be used in the polo match.

On either side of the field, a wall made of wooden planks, supported by wooden frame – was erected. On the lower part, there was a small hole, about one chi square, which was equipped with a net. Victory or defeat would be decided by the number of times the ball passed through the hole and entered the net.

The arena was marked by red chalk drawn in the center of the traversing public square, forming a rectangle, with another line at the half-way point and right in the middle. The length of the field was approximately two thousand paces, its width was about a thousand paces. They could imagine the fierce situation as the two teams urging their horses to play ball in the arena. Someone was erecting eighteen red flags on the periphery of the field, but because Song Shidao did not mention it, Kou Zhong did not know what the flags were for.

“Look!” Kou Zhong said, “The cheerleaders are coming! People of nobility’s games are really not simple.”

A group of several dozen people forming a band, carrying big and small, different sizes of drums and cymbals and various types of musical instrument, was coming out the main gate of the Taiji Palace, the Cheng Tian Gate, and prepared themselves at the north side of the arena.

This moment Liao Nan came back in a hurry, and spoke to the two boys, “I have troubled two gentlemen to wait for a long time, I am really sorry. Please follow me to the arena.”

The two boys were secretly happy, knowing that at least they have passed this hurdle of having their identity checked out.