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Xu Ziling sat down on the edge of the bed, he replied, “I just happen to see her leaping over the wall and leaving, as fast as a ghost. Her Tianmo Gong is getting more and more formidable. But she ran in the direction of the south of the city instead of going back to the palace.”

Frowning in deep thought, Kou Zhong said, “Where is Wan Dajie going? Who else in Chang’an City can make her pay a visit in the depth of the night?”

Changing the subject, Xu Ziling said, “There is an 80-90% chance that Yun Shuai is hiding in the Bosi Si [Persian temple].”

Putting aside Wanwan’s matter, Kou Zhong wondered, “If you had seen him, you would have 100% confidence that that he is hiding there, so why only 80 or 90% of certainty?”

Xu Ziling explained, “I did not dare to beat the grass to scare the snake; I only hid nearby to try my luck, but I saw Xue Wanche furtively entered the temple. If he did not go there to see Yun Shuai, whom did he see?”

Kou Zhong spoke in displeasure, “I thought you were just going to see Feng Deyi.”

Xu Ziling said, “Feng Deyi was not at home; since I had nothing else to do, I went to the Bosi Si to pay a visit, not to deliberately abandon you. Shaoshuai, please understand clearly.”

Kou Zhong blurted out laughing and said, “The kid is teasing me!” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

But then he spoke in astonishment, “How come this late at night Feng Gong is still not home? It must be that Li Yuan summoned him into the palace and he could not get away. Ay! First, it was Wanwan, and now you are making so much trouble so that my sleepiness disappeared completely. This time of the night, what would be the best place to go?”

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “Let’s go to see Shi Zhixuan.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “It seems that it’s not the time yet, what can we say to him? Lao Shi is so astute that he makes people’s heart trembling. I am most afraid that the more we speak, the more we make mistakes.”

Xu Ziling said, “Tomorrow, Li Shimin’s letter will be delivered to Li Yuan. Although Feixuan said that Wang Tong could make Li Yuan keep this matter confidential for the time being, but the authority to make the decision is in Li Yuan’s hands. At least he will let a group of trusted aides, cabinet ministers, and Jiancheng, Yuanji, and so on – know about this. Up to this moment, An Long has not had any fall out with Shi Zhixuan. If An Long, because he does not dare to conceal anything – tell this matter to Shi Zhixuan, we could immediately declare that this matter is over.”

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “You are right, the problem is what can we say to Shi Zhixuan?”

Xu Ziling said, “Tell him that we need to temporarily establish friendly relations with Li Yuan, in order to borrow their power to repel the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall. This is not a lie, so he won’t not believe it. As for Zhao Deyan’s assassination, naturally it will still proceed according to plan.”

Kou Zhong caught on, he said, “Who would have thought that later on Li Yuan sees through our crafty scheme, unexpectedly he invites us, two big kids to Chang’an to show to the public, so that we don’t know what to do, right? Ha! You, this kid, you are more adept in lying and deceiving people than me.”

The two boys crouched on the high elevation of the roof of the neighboring house overlooking Shi Zhixuan’s secret nest; their scalp went numb, they saw a shadow, like a light smoke, flashing out of the secret nest, and disappeared into the dark. It then vanished in the twinkling of an eye.

Kou Zhong drew out a mouthful of cold air, he said, “Isn’t that Wan Dajie?”

Xu Ziling also felt his entire spine was soaked in chills, he cried out in low voice, “My Niang! What is going on here? How did Wanwan and Shi Zhixuan get together?”

Kou Zhong felt as if his whole body entered an icehouse, he said, “Perhaps they are fellow sufferers empathize with each other? Ay! Whatever is the reason, if the two of them work together to play a conspiracy to harm us, we will definitely suffer a calamity. You think Wanwan divulged all our secrets to Shi Zhixuan?” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling replied, “I’m not Wanwan, how can I answer your question?”

Kou Zhong said, “Can’t be! I dare say Wanwan will not harm us. Because her remaining feelings for you, Ling Shao

, is still unfulfilled.”

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, “Fancy that you still have the mood to crack jokes.”

Kou Zhong recovered his calm, he laughed and said, “I’m serious, do you still want to go in and meet Lao Shi?”

Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “We need to see him now more than any time, to see his reaction. But let’s wait for half a sichen before coming in, so that he won’t suspect that we have run into Wanwan.”

Kou Zhong nodded in agreement, he said, “I have a strange feeling. Just now Wanwan came to see us, the main reason was to make sure that we stay at home, and then she went to see Shi Zhixuan, to avoid we accidentally see through her tracks; who would have thought that the ghosts sending, the gods pushing, she still could not escape our eyes and ears.”

Xu Ziling fell silent, he no longer said anything.

Inside the pitch-black hall, Shi Zhixuan stood facing the window, he seemed to be melting into the darkness.

The two boys came behind him; exceptionally serene, Shi Zhixuan said, “What’s so urgent?”

Kou Zhong took a deep breath, he said, “Turns out Xie Wang do not need any sleep. What kind of gongfa is this?”

Shi Zhixuan spoke indifferently, “I was just thinking, why are you so nervous? Is it because you want to kill me?”

Inwardly, the two boys shivered greatly; just a slight difference in their mood, unexpectedly they could not conceal it from him.

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Xie Wang‘s discerning eyes did not err, but there is a bit of misunderstanding. The reason why we are nervous is because we have something to hide, but now because the matter has developed to the point where we cannot conceal it anymore, we have no choice but to tell Xie Wang the truth.”

Shi Zhixuan slowly turned around, his gaze swept across Kou Zhong first, before finally landed on Xu Ziling; unusually tranquil, he said, “Ol’ Shi is listening.”

Kou Zhong spoke apologetically, “We are coming to Chang’an this time is not to assassinate Li Shimin, but to deal with Xiang Gui, father and son.”

Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyebrows knitted, he said, “Xiang Gui, father and son unexpectedly can make you set aside important things, troubling your army, moving your crowd, against the danger, coming from afar, do you think I am willing to believe it?”

The two boys secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Shi Zhixuan’s expression, Wanwan should not have leaked their secret. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Xu Ziling said, “This is our only chance to deal with Xiang Gui. If we captured Luoyang, Xiang Gui father and son certainly heard the news and escaped far away, looking for a secret and safe place to hide.”

Shi Zhixuan’s gaze shifted toward his face, he smiled and said, “Since that is the case, you can continue concealing it from me. Why did you choose to tell me the truth tonight?”

Xu Ziling said, “Because we have a private agreement with Li Shimin, one day Xieli’s threat is not removed, we definitely will not attack Luoyang.”

Shi Zhixuan was slightly taken aback, the murderous intent in his pair of eyes flaring greatly, his gaze swept across the two boys back and forth, he spoke in heavy voice, “What are you talking about?”

By this time Kou Zhong was even more sure that Wanwan did not betray them; he sighed and said, “Xie Wang may not give thought to the Central Earth’s overall situation, but we cannot be that cold-blooded. Central Earth people closing the door and fighting for life, fighting to the death among the members of the same family is one thing, but when encountering foreign invasion, we pull out Li Yuan’s hind legs and let the outside tribes succeed, that we are not able to do. Therefore, we have this private agreement with Li Shimin, asking XieWang to empathize with our secret trouble.”

The ominous glint in Shi Zhixuan’s pair of eyes was restrained, he spoke indifferently, “Dealing with Xiang Gui is perhaps one of the reasons you came to Chang’an, the other target is me, Shi Zhixuan, right?”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “If we had that plan, we would have made our move against Xie Wang early on.”

Shi Zhixuan revealed a hint of profound mystery, but also brimming with grim – smile, he spoke softly, “Zhao Deyan is still on his way here, why are you so eager to expose this matter?”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “This is called paper can’t wrap fire [idiom: the truth will out]. Li Shimin must report this matter to Li Yuan, and we succeeded in finding Xiang Gui, but Xiang Yushan’s whereabouts is still unknown, so we decided to leave Chang’an temporarily. We are on our way and coming here to say goodbye to you, Xie Wang.”

Shi Zhixuan suddenly turned his imposing body around, with his hands behind his back, he stared out the window, and shouted in heavy voice, “Get out, get out of here now! Before I am unable to bear dealing with you ruthlessly, get out as far away as possible!”

Returning to the Situ Mansion, the two boys’ mood was still very nasty.

Sitting down in the inner hall, Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “I am a bit regretting not turning my face and fighting with Lao Shi just now. If I did, now I don’t need to feel so helpless just waiting to be slaughtered! Heaven knows what he would do if he exposed us before Li Yuan receives the letter; it will destroy everything.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Xu Ziling said, “He did not make his move just now, so he can’t possibly do anything that will harm others without benefiting himself. I remember he said that he would never kill people out of anger; it does not seem to be a casual remark. Ay! I hope he can still keep his reason.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “We let him to have the hope of assassinating Zhao Deyan in order to unify the demonic way first, but just now his hope evaporated. Lao Shi is not a lay practitioners of Buddhism at all, how could he be willing to easily let us off? It was just because upon self-introspection, he knew that he cannot put us in order, hence he let us go; nothing more than that! I am not as optimistic as you.”

Xu Ziling said, “You forgot Wanwan! The reason Wanwan went to Shi Zhixuan was because we had told Shi Zhixuan that Wanwan was also in Chang’an, therefore, Shi Zhixuan contacted Wanwan using the secret method of the demonic school and let her know his hiding place, thereupon Wan Dajie dropped by to pay Lao Shi a visit. The alliance between Lao Shi and Wan Dajie represents the two most outstanding figures of the two generations of the demonic school joining hands to work together, which is akin to the unification of the demonic way, not to mention Wanwan still has the secret plan of revitalizing the demonic school. She was unwilling to tell us because she was afraid we might thwart and destroy it. In this regard, she had no scruples toward Shi Zhixuan.”

Kou Zhong’s hope grew, he said, “That’s true! Your analysis makes a lot of sense. Wanwan does not want to mess up our affairs, it is because our operation is beneficial without any harm to her, Lao Shi has no reason to ruin Wan Dajie’s good deeds either.”

Xu Ziling said, “Go into the room and rest! Tomorrow, we will see whether the sky will collapse, let Laotianye decide it himself!”

The next day, after the two boys returning from the Imperial Palace, they stayed in the Situ Mansion, painstakingly waiting for the news, like prisoners waiting to be sentenced.

Wealthy businessmen, high officials and noble persons were still visiting Furong Ye in an endless stream. Lei Jiuzhi, Song Shidao, Zha Jie, and the others were busy endlessly. Tongtong acted as a maidservant, she went round and round [idiom: frantically busy] in the main hall, leaving Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai, three men in the inner hall, looking at the sky, telling their fortune using divinatory trigrams [see Footnote, Chapter title].

Kou Zhong said, “Turns out melting snow is so messy; there are mud and dirty water everywhere. Ay! Spring is here!”

Hou Xibai said, “Nothing to regret; at least until this moment, Shi Shi still has not lodged an accusation on us.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Kou Zhong laughed at Xu Ziling and said, “It could be said that we left out this kid last night; people say that even a cruel tiger would not eat its own cub, Hou kid is his beloved disciple, he could be considered half a son, and then there is you, the other half son. Added together, you just become a complete son, right? Ha!”

Xu Ziling spoke in displeasure, “Fancy that you are still in the mood to crack jokes, I hope later on you will still be able to laugh that happily.”

Kou Zhong leaned the back into his chair; stretching out his limbs, he said, “This is called finding joy in sorrows. Ah … you think Chi kid was trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it, what would he do next?”

Hou Xibai said, “What else can he do? He has no choice but to stall for time in order to raise money. After the head office is officially opened, he will carry out the conspiracy to take control of the bank.”

Kou Zhong said, “His only way is to snatch our capital with which we open the bank. He originally wanted to start with us, two rotten gambling addicts, but now this road is blocked. Ha! How could Chi kid beat me?”

Xu Ziling reminded him, “Be careful! He might set his hand on Chen Fu. Under Yin Zuwen’s Seven Needles to Control the Mind, no one can keep a secret.”

Kou Zhong spoke unhurriedly, “In that case, we might as well either don’t do it, or don’t rest [idiom: in for a penny, in for a pound]. Today, we openly transport the gold here, see if Chi kid still has any magic weapon [in religious context, a talisman or a Buddhist article]? If you want to do it, just do it, we are bored senseless anyway; we might as well immediately report to Furong Ye to let him preside over it personally.”

By dusk, finally everybody received the news from Shen Luoyan. After receiving Li Shimin’s secret letter late afternoon, Li Yuan immediately arranged a meeting with Wang Tong and Ouyang Xiyi, they talked behind closed doors for a whole sichen. After Wang Tong and Ouyang Xiyi left, Li Yuan immediately summoned Jiancheng, Yuanji and Pei Ji, Feng Deyi, Li Shentong, and the other aristocracy and nobility, trusted aides and cabinet ministers for an emergency meeting. Until this moment, there was no result.

The person sending the secret letter for Li Shimin this time was Chai Shao. His nobility as the future emperor’s son-in-law, also because of Li Xiuning’s relationship, he was favored by Li Yuan. With him bearing this heavy responsibility, it could be said that there was never a second person in consideration.

According to the strategy drawn up by Xu Ziling and Li Shimin earlier, in the secret letter, Li Shimin told it as it is, the only thing left out was the crucial aspect of him going to Lingnan to see Song Que.

In the process, Shi Feixuan acted as the lobbyist, she convinced Xu Ziling to attach most importance to the overall situation, and then with Xu Ziling threading the needle, he arranged for Li Shimin and Kou Zhong to have a secret meeting at the canal, which resulted in the agreement that due to the outer tribes’ allied armies pressing down on the border, they would cease the weapons of war. foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Due to the urgency of the situation, Li Shimin, in his capacity as the front-line commander-in-chief, had no choice but to negotiate with Kou Zhong first, and then submitted a report to Li Yuan to let him make the final decision. The whole matter was reasonable and fair, and because before going into battle Li Shimin already expressed his intentions in this regard, it was even more impossible to fault.

From their interest’s point of view, such an agreement would have a hundred benefits without a single harm to Li Tang. The only problem was that it would greatly increase Li Shimin’s reputation, make it hard to suppress. At least they would be unable to suddenly place Li Shimin into idle, or as soon as he returned to the capital to have him move into the Hong Yi Palace, to strip his military power, and then to use him to make Kou Zhong implement the commitment per their agreement.

Under such circumstances, the strong opposition from the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine parties could easily be foreseen; it was up to Li Yuan whether he could hold his ground.

On Jiancheng, Yuanji aspect, the only ground of opposition with enough persuasive power was that the suggestion to cease the troops movement was Kou Zhong’s ruse, which would cause the relationship between the House of Tang and the East Tujue to deteriorate, and then Kou Zhong would break the agreement by sending his troops to attack Luoyang.

Xu Ziling’s brilliant scheme was precisely to be aimed against this, regardless of whether Kou Zhong was sincere or insincere, as long as he was willing to show up in Chang’an to shake hands and had pleasant talk with Li Yuan, the incident itself would have incomparably shocking effect, enough to make Xieli think thrice before going down south; moreover, it could also sway the hearts of the brothers and comrade-in-arms within the allied armies who had been through trials and tribulations, life or death situation together with Kou Zhong, such as Tuli, Pusa, Gunatai brothers, and the others, three main forces’ men and horses.

Nobody dared to act blindly without thinking, hence they were forced to be cooped up inside the Situ’s Mansion, painstakingly waiting for the news, until the zero chen hour [7-9 am], when Shen Luoyan unhurriedly arrived. After sitting properly in the inner hall, this beauty laughed and said, “The matter is half succeeded, only waiting for Huangshang to officially give instructions to Qin Wang.”

Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Hou Xibai, and Lei Jiuzhi, for men you looked at me, I gazed at you, they did not understand what she called ‘the matter was half succeeded’; however, overall, they knew that it was not bad news at all.

Shen Luoyan smiled and said, “During the meeting, the contention was intense. Jiancheng, Yuanji and Pei Ji took turns questioning the relationship between Qin Wang and you, they did not trust your sincerity even more. Fortunately, Li Shentong strongly supported you, he pointed out that it is because you are both friends and enemies with Qin Wang that they are under the pressure of the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall, because taking advantage of someone else’s precarious position is a common practice on the battlefield, not an exception at all. Li Shentong asked Jiancheng and Yuanji in return, whether they could give any example where Kou Zhong or Xu Ziling broke their faith and relinquish their promise, which made Jiancheng and the others dumbstruck and unable to reply. Hee …! I never thought that you, two kids have such a good reputation, so good that even those who hate you to the bones have nothing to say.”

Lei Jiuzhi said, “Since Li Shentong’s words were so powerful, plus the facts are there, why did Li Yuan not immediately make a decision?” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Shen Luoyan said, “Naturally it would not be so easy for Jiancheng and the others to give up; they shot back by mocking him that because Kou Zhong, for righteousness’ sake, showed Li Shentong kindness, hence Li Shentong speaks good words for you guys. It made Li Shentong suddenly so furious that he nearly turned back.”

Kou Zhong asked, “Li Yuan did not propose to invite us to Chang’an to confirm our sincerity?”

Shen Luoyan shook her head and said, “It was Feng Deyi who proposed it. Jiancheng and the others still thought that Feng Daren was deliberately making things difficult for Li Shimin. Let’s not talk about they think you would not dare to use yourselves to challenge danger, what’s more, in their hearts, even if you dare to come to Chang’an, they could still borrow the Tujue people’s power, one move, two gains – to get rid of Qin Wang and you guys at the same time; what could they have against it? The argument reached this point and then stopped.”

Frowning, Hou Xibai said, “In that case, this matter should have been decided at that point; how come it was only half-succeeded?”

Shen Luoyan said, “Because tonight, Li Yuan is holding a state banquet as a farewell dinner for Fu Qian Wangzi [Prince], hence the meeting ended, saying that they will make the decision tomorrow morning.”

These words evoked the load on Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling’s mind, because if Li Yuan refused Fu Qian’s invitation for them, the two boys, to go to Tuyuhun in ball-skill exchange, they would not know how to get away.

Xu Ziling wondered, “Why did Li Yuan hesitate and could not make decision on inviting us to come? First, there were Wang Tong and Yi Lao, two outsiders raising this matter, and then there’s the more neutral Feng Gong also proposing it. There is no reason that he cannot decide immediately.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Li Yuan did not make a decision, it made the whole thing be shrouded in clouds; there was a good chance that he might ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful.

Shen Luoyan sighed and said, “This is called a gain and a loss. It was the implication of the big firearms explosion in the East Palace that makes Li Yuan understand clearly that Jiancheng has the heart to kill Qin Wang, which makes things become even more complicated.”

Lei Jiuzhi snorted coldly, he said, “Maybe Li Yuan himself has the heart to kill Li Shimin.”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “When the anger is on the head, murderous intent being set in movement is hard to avoid, but when he calms down afterwards, he would remember the flesh and blood sentiment. In my opinion, although Li Yuan is convinced that Qin Wang harmed Zhang Jieyu in the dark, he still does not have the determination to put Qin Wang to the death, he would only seize his military power and exile him to the border and barren land as punishment; but this should happen after Xieli withdraw his troops.” foxswuxia.wordpress.com

Kou Zhong let out a long, long breath and said, “If Ziling is correct, I dare say that in the end, Li Yuan will be willing to nod, and Jiancheng and the others would still think that they have an opportunity that they can exploit to instigate the imperial concubines to be their lobbyists. As for what the outcome will be, without asking, we ought to know the answer.”

Shen Luoyan laughed and said, “Nujia has to go! Tonight, you must be obedient, do not run around everywhere and all over the place. Tomorrow will be the auspicious day where the spring sun will bathe all things.”

[1] Chapter title: orig. looking at the Heaven to tell someone’s fortune using divinatory trigrams (Ba Gua).