Chapter - 10 (10) (2/2)

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”When they get angry, they would stare at each other, then they would take their caps off. You count the hair on my head, I count the hair on your head; the one has less hair must have higher skill, the one with more hair will be forced to concede.” Everybody roared in laughter; they all said that Wei Xiaobao's idea was very amusing. Wei Xiaobao continued, ”Presumably all Jin Ding School's shifu carry an abacus, otherwise it would be rather inconvenient to count the hair on their heads.” Everybody burst out in laughter again.

A government minister was drinking a cup of wine, the wine had not entered his throat, when he heard Wei Xiaobao, the wine in his mouth spurt out; because he was afraid to spurt on the table and thus looked lacking in manners, he lowered his head and let the wine spurt onto the front of his own clothes, while coughing incessantly.

”Kang Wangye,” Dolong said, ”Since that servant Oboi's clique disturbed your mansion the last time, I heard that these past several months you have gathered not a few of martial art masters.”

Prince Kang slowly stroke his beard with his right hand, his face showed that he was very pleased with himself. He slowly said, ”Indeed martial art masters with prestige and real skill are not easy to find. Those willing to be hired by government authorities are mostly second or third class personnel.” Pausing for a moment he continued, ”On the whole Xiao Wang ['little king' – referring to self] eagerly seek people of talent; in addition to offering a large sum of money, I have to help them handle several matters, only then did I manage to invite several real top martial art masters. It's just that they have to be well-served daily, so it takes a lot of effort. Ha ha, ha ha!”

Dolong said, ”Wangye's secret in engaging very able persons, may you teach me?”

Prince Kang smiled and said, ”Dolong Zongguan is himself a martial art master, why do you need to hire martial art masters?”

”Thank you Wangye for your compliment,” Dolong said, ”I remember that year when we had a competition among our Manchu military commanders at the presence of senior ranking officers, presided personally by the Prince Regent, Wangye and Xiao Jiang ['little general' – referring to self] had obtained the Regent's commendation. I heard this time the surviving members of Oboi's clique came to stir up trouble, Wangye did not stop shooting arrows and personally killed over twenty members of the rebel party.”

Prince Kang smiled, but did not say anything. That day he did shoot some arrows and killed two Tian Di Hui members, 'over twenty' was obviously an exaggeration by a factor of ten.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”I saw this matter with my own eyes. That time my ears only heard the random whishing sound of the arrows, while in front of me people shouting, 'Aiyo, aiyo!' and behind me people shouting, 'Good shot, good shot!'”

A civil minister did not understand the meaning behind Wei Xiaobao's words, he asked, ”Gui Gong-gong, what do you mean by in front people shouting, 'Aiyo!' and behind people shouting, 'Good shot!'?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Kang Wangye's archery skill is 'one hundred shots, one hundred hits'. In front, the people hit by the arrows shouted, 'Aiyo!', behind were our own men, praising, 'Good shot!'. But there were several times more 'Good shot!' than the 'Aiyo!' does Daren know the reason?”

The minister twisted his beard with his finger, he said, ”Presumably the number of people on our side was several times greater than that of the rebel party.”

”This time Daren has guessed incorrectly,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”At that time the rebel party was carrying out a large-scale assault, Kang Wangye was using the few to defeat the many; there were more people on the enemy's side. But some members of the rebel party were shot by Kang Wangye on the throat, so when the cry 'Aiyo!' reached the throat, it could not come out. Also, Kang Wangye shot arrows like a deity, among the rebel party, there were many who admired him from the bottom of their hearts, so they could not refrain from shouting, 'Good shot!' They knew they should not shout, but they just couldn't bear not to.”

The minister repeatedly nodded his head. ”So that's how it is,” he said.

Wu Yingxiong raised his cup and said, ”Kang Wangye's divine archery, junior extremely admires it. I toast Wangye for a cup.” Everybody raised their cups and drank to toast him.

Prince Kang was delighted, he thought, ”This kid Xiao Guizi knows the facts and can find appropriate response to delicate situation, no wonder His Majesty likes him.”

”Wangye,” Dolong said, ”You have hired that many Wulin masters in your Palace, how about inviting them out to let everybody look at them?”

Prince Kang had been wanting to show off, so he instructed his chamberlain, ”Prepare two more banquet tables over here, invite Shenzhao Shangren

[119] and the others to come out and join the banquet.”

Not too long afterwards, more than twenty people came out from the rear hall, led by a man wearing large red kasaya, a fat and tall Buddhist monk. Prince Kang stood up; he laughed and said, ”Friends, let us drink a cup!” Seeing Prince Kang stood up, all the guests around the table also stood up to welcome the newcomers.

The one called Shenzhao Shangren clasped his palms together and said with a laugh, ”We don't dare, we don't dare! All Daren, please sit down.” His voice was like resounding bell. Just by this demonstration of chi, it was obvious that his internal energy cultivation was very profound. As for the rest of the men, some were tall, some were short, some were handsome, some were ugly. They sat around the two banquet tables.

Apart from possessing a good martial art skill, Dolong was also an impatient man; without waiting for the men to finish their first round of drink, he said, ”Wangye, Xiao Jiang can see that each of these Wulin masters of your Palace has majestic appearance, they look formidable, their martial art skill must be extremely high; is it possible to ask these friends to display their skill? Ping Xi Wang's Heir Apparent and Gui Gong-gong are guests of honor whose presence is hard to come by, I presume they would also like to see the skill of Prince Kang Mansion's people.”

Wei Xiaobao was the first to echo his words. Wu Yingxiong clapped his hands and cheered. The rest of the guests also said, ”Absolutely, absolutely!”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Friends, all these honored guests want to see your skill, I wonder if you'd like to spar with each other.”

From the martial art masters' banquet table on the left a middle-aged man suddenly stood up; with a loud and clear voice he said, ”I only know that Kang Wangye loves talented people, that's why I came here to hire myself to him; who would have thought that he only regards us as the Jianghu people who sell our skill? If all Daren want to see juggling monkey or tight-rope walker, why don't you go to the Bridge of Heaven? I am taking my leave!” While saying that, he raised his left hand and smashed it down on the back of his chair. 'Crash!' the back of the chair broke. He walked out toward the door in big strides. Everybody's face changed.

A thin and small old man, who was sitting on the same table as the man, suddenly flashed by and cut off in front of him. ”Lang Shifu,” the old man said, ”What you say is too preposterous. Wangye courteously and respectfully asking us to offer our skill, if Lang Shifu is willing to display your skill, no doubt it it is very good; but if you are unwilling, Wangye can't possibly force you. In the Palace you make a racket, destroying the Palace's property, even if in his magnanimity Wangye did not hold you responsible, but for the rest of us, brothers, where should we put our face?”

The man surnamed Lang laughed coldly and said, ”Everybody has his own ambitions. Tao Shifu loves to show your skill in the Prince's mansion, feel free to play as much as you want. Xiongdi cannot accompany you too much.” While saying that he took another step forward.

The old man surnamed Tao said, ”If you really want to go, you need to kowtow and say goodbye to Wangye. If Wangye give you a nod, then you can leave.”

The man surnamed Lang said with a cold laugh, ”I didn't sell my body as a slave in the Prince's mansion, my two feet grew on my own body, I can go whenever I want to go, why do you care?” Finished speaking, he walked forward.

Unexpectedly, the old man surnamed Tao did not move; seeing the one surnamed Lang was about to bump into him, he reached out to grab his left arm, while saying, ”Who knows? Perhaps I will be forced to care.”

The one surnamed Lang bent his left arm downward, then suddenly jerked it upward, striking toward the old man surnamed Tao's waist. The one surnamed Tao's right leg flew up to kick the pit of his stomach. The one surnamed Lang's right hand swiftly moved toward the back of old man Tao's right leg, which by this time was high in the air. Seizing this opportunity, he pushed out, sending the old man surnamed Tao falling backward with his face up. Luckily he was quite nimble, propping himself with his right hand, he leaped back up. Although he did not fall flat on his back, he had already made a fool of himself, his old face turned entirely red. ”Hey, hey,” the man surnamed Lang laughed coldly, and bolted toward the door.

Suddenly a thin man appeared on the door of the hall, which was originally empty. The thin man cupped his fist and said, ”Lang Xiong, please return.”

The one surnamed Lang was moving so fast that he could not control his own momentum and crashed into the man's body. The thin man did not evade, the two of them crashed into each other. The one surnamed Lang staggered three steps backwards. He took two steps sideways to the left, but suddenly turned to the right as he dashed toward the long window on the right. As he reached the threshold, the thin man had already blocked in front of him. The one surnamed Lang knew how formidable the thin man was when he collided against him, so he did not dare to have another collision. Hastily he held his steps; his chest was no more than two cun away from the thin man's chest, the tip of his nose had already touched the thin man's nose. The thin man did not move at all, he did not even blink. The one surnamed Lang swiftly dodged to the left, but as soon as he regained his footing, the thin man was blocking in front of him.

The one surnamed Lang was furious, 'whoosh!' he sent a punch toward the thin man's face. The two of them stood very close to each other, plus the punch was sent with tremendous strength. The thin man did not lean sideways, he simply lowered his head. But he raised his right palm in front of his face. 'Slap!' the punch hit the center of his palm. He bent his palm slightly, the one surnamed Lang was pushed that he had to take several steps backward. The people in the hall cheered; they all praised, ”Good skill!”

The one surnamed Lang looked awkward; he was unable to leave, but to go forward and fight, he realized his martial art skill was far too inferior to the opponent. Momentarily he was at a loss of what to do.

The thin man cupped his fist and said, ”Lang Xiong please sit down. Wangye instructed us to spar with each other; didn't the two of us just have a spar with each other?” Finished speaking, he immediately walked back and sat on his original seat, on the banquet table to the right. Everybody applauded again. The one surnamed Lang, with ashamed look across his face, sat down with his head hung low.

When the man surnamed Lang made a disturbance, Prince Kang had lost a considerable face; luckily this thin man returned the honor to him by compelling the one surnamed Lang to return to the martial art masters' banquet table. Prince Kang instructed his chamberlain, ”Go get fifty-tael silver yuanbao and bring them here.”

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, ”This Shifu has an amazing martial art skill; such vicious ... vicious ... vicious tiger blocking the way [book note: the saying he wanted to say was 'vicious dog blocking the way']. That fellow was unable to get away no matter what. I wonder what is his name?”

Prince Kang stroke his sideburns, he could not remember this thin man's name, or when did this man come to the Prince's mansion; his mind was completely blank on this matter, so he laughed and said, ”Xiao Wang's memory is not good, I can't remember it for the time being.”

Presently the chamberlain reappeared, carrying a large wooden tray, the tray was draped in red silk, with twenty pieces of fifty-tael big yuanbao on it. The silver was gleaming, dazzling the eyes; the tray was then set up by the Prince's side. Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Gentlemen, masters of martial arts have displayed your skill, you deserve some rewards. This friend, please step forward to take one yuanbao.”

The thin man came forward, and after paying his respect, he received a silver ingot from Prince Kang's hand. Wei Xiaobao asked, ”Friend, what is your honorable name? And what is your great given name?”

The thin man replied, ”Xiao Ren Qi Yuankai, thank you Daren, for inquiring.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Your martial art skill is very high.”

Qi Yuankai said, ”Enough to be laughed by Daren.”

”The martial art masters in Kang Wangyeí's mansion definitely carries unsurpassed artistry,” Dolong said, ”We really wish to experience the skill of martial art masters under Ping Xi Wang. Xiao Wangye, how about selecting somebody to exchange blows with this Qi Shifu?” Seeing Wu Yingxiong was hesitating without replying, he added, ”Naturally we will stop at touching, we must not harm our friendship; who win who lose is irrelevant.”

Prince Kang was a man who loved excitement; he said, ”Dolong Zongguan has a lofty idea, let the martial art masters of both sides exchange some pointers; the winner will enjoy two big silver yuanbao, the loser will also enjoy one. Put the yuanbao on the table.”

The nineteen yuanbao were placed in front of the banquet table; the candle cast its light upon the ingots, the silver was gleaming against the red lining, it looked even more dazzling.

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”My humble palace will have this Qi Yuankai Shifu, I wonder which Shifu will Ping Xi Wang Palace have?”

Everybody was in high spirits, they looked at the sixteen attendants under Wu Yingxiong. They knew that although it was a one on one martial art competition between the martial art masters, in actuality it was a gamble, the two palaces of Prince Kang and Ping Xi Wang contending with each other. Just now the thin man, Qi Yuankai, had displayed his martial art skill, and indeed he was formidable, perhaps none of Yunnan's warriors would be able to match him.

Wu Yingxiong hesitated, he did not answer. One of the sixteen men under his leadership stepped forward, bowed to Prince Kang and said, ”Reporting to Wangye: all of us Xiaoren have very low martial art skill, in no way we can match the Shifu of Wangye's Palace. We accompany the heir apparent to Beijing, simply to attend to our heir apparent daily need. Ping Xi Wang has ordered us never to offend the attendants of all Wangye and ministers. This is our Ping Xi Wang's order, Xiaoren definitely do not dare to disobey.”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Ping Xi Wang is very prudent! But today we only practice martial art, not fighting to cause any trouble. If your Wangye ever ask, just tell him that I want you to do it.”

The man bowed again and said, ”Please forgive us, Wangye, we do not dare to follow your order.”

Prince Kang was secretly angry, ”You only regard Ping Xi Wang in your heart and do not consider me, Prince Kang. Perhaps even if His Majesty issues an imperial decree, you will not follow either.” He said, ”Could it be that if others punch you, you won't hit back at all?”

The man said, ”Back in Yunnan, Xiaoren always hear that all civil and military officials, as well as soldiers and common people under the Son of Heaven are all reasonable people. We are only rural folks from faraway border area, as we come to the Capital, in everything we must yield and not offend anybody. Presumably without any rhyme or reason other people will not hit us.” This man was tall and sturdy, his face carried a highly-capable look, his words was sharp; with those several sentences he was saying that if Prince Kang insisted the martial art masters under his command to provoke a fight, then Prince Kang was not a reasonable person.

Prince Kang was even more enraged, he turned his head and said, ”Shenzhao Shangren, Qi Shifu, these friends from Yunnan are simply unwilling to do us the honor; there is nothing that we can do.”

Shenzhao Shangren laughed aloud; he stood up and said, ”Wangye, these friends form Yunnan are simply afraid of losing, they are afraid of losing their face. I wonder if other people really hit their vital points, they won't hit back or ward off the attack?” Finished speaking, his body flashed, he had already standing by the man's side. He laughed and said, ”Pinseng

[120] only has mediocre palm strength, but compared to that friend surnamed Lang who wanted to leave but fail to leave, maybe just a little bit stronger. Wangye, Pinseng is about to break a piece of brick in your hall, won't Wangye be offended?”

Prince Kang knew that among his martial art masters, Shenzhao's martial art skill was the strongest, both his internal and external strength had reached perfection; hearing him said so, it was obvious that he was going to give demonstration of his skill, Prince Kang happily said, ”Shangren may do as you wish; even if you break a hundred bricks, it is a trivial matter.”

Shenzhao squatted; his left palm lightly slapped the floor. When he lifted his hand, a large greenish black brick was stuck onto his palm. This greenish black brick was about one chi five cun square [about 17 inches]; although it was not very heavy, it was firmly embedded on the floor. To be able to suck the greenish brick from the floor and stick it flat on the palm without dropping it, his palm power must be very profound. ”Good!” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed loudly. Everybody else applauded.

Shenzhao showed a faint smile. Raising his left palm, he released the sucking force, immediately the greenish black brick fell down. When the brick was about level with his chest, both of his arms moved from outside to inside, his palms slapped together on the edge of the brick, 'crash!' the big greenish black brick was smashed to smithereens; it rained down on the floor. The people cheered loudly again. Only about four, five cun of the greenish black brick's edge received the palm strike, but the palm power dissipated everywhere and unexpectedly able to crush the brick, with the biggest fragment was no more than one or two cun square; his inner power was indeed not a small matter.

Shenzhao walked toward Wu Yinxiong's attendant, putting his palms together he said, ”What is your respected surname and great given name, Sire?”

Shenzhao laughed and said, ”So savage people from a remote area do not have name and surname?”

The man raised his eyebrows, an angry look flashed past his face, but immediately he said nonchalantly, ”Even if coarse people of the mountains and plains have names, it's no more than A Mao or A Gou [lit. 'a cat' or 'a dog];' it's quite useless for Dashi to find out.”

Shenzhao laughed and said, ”Sire has a good self-control skill. Today Prince Kang is having a feast, he is surrounded by distinguished friends, it's a rare grand meeting within the Beijing city walls. Wangye has ordered us to show off our shortcomings, to bring laughter to Wangye, Heir Apparent, as well as other honored guests. Sire is determined not to grant any instruction, by doing so has swept away Wangye and numerous Daren's keen interest; aren't you placing too much value on your status?”

The man replied, ”Zaixia only learned a few years of countryside peasants' skill, how can I be a match for Shenzhao Shangren of Iron Buddhist Temple of Cangzhou? If Dashi insists on competing, just consider Zaixia has lost, Dashi may just receive the two yuanbao reward.” While saying that, he turned around to return to his place.

”Hold on!” Shenzhao shouted, ”Pinseng has decided to try Sire's skill. With double fists' Bells and Drums sounding simultaneously, I am going to strike the Taiyang acupoints on both sides of Sire's head, please hit back!”

The man shook his head. Shenzhao let out a loud shout, the sleeves of his large red kasaya suddenly swelled as he created enough strong gust of wind, his arms swept from the outside and bent swiftly to the inside, his fists, each one as big as the mouth of a bowl, were striking toward the man's Taiyang acupoints on both sides of his head.

Just a moment ago everybody saw how he broke the greenish black brick with his palm strength; they could not help but gasping in horror, they thought since it was too late for the man to evade, if he did not parry, wouldn't his skull be like that greenish black brick, smashed into smithereens? Who would have thought that the man did not move at all? He did not even lift his hand, neither did he lift his foot, nor move his head, nor blink his eyes; he stayed unmoving like a clay figurine or a wooden statue.

When Shenzhao Shangren made his move, he only wanted to force him to retaliate; he did not have any desire to take his life. As his fists were about to land on the man's Taiyang acupoints, he saw the man was standing with blank expression on his face; his heart was alarmed, ”My two fists carry about a thousand catties of force. Ping Xi Wang Heir Apparent is Prince Kang's honored guest, if I recklessly killed his attendant, it would be greatly inappropriate.” Therefore, when his fists made contact with the man's skin, he hastily forced his own fists upwards. 'Whoosh!' the fists flitted pass by the man's temples, while the sleeves of his monk robe brushed against his face. The man smiled slightly and said, ”Dashi has an excellent boxing technique!”

The people in the hall all stared blankly at the scene. They thought that this man's mental strength was indeed extraordinary. If Shenzhao's fists did not change direction midway but struck the man's Taiyang acupoints instead, how could he still live at this moment? This man regarded his own life as a child's play, he was simply insane.

When Shenzhao abruptly redirected his fists, he had shaken his own arms that now his arms were sore; he could not help but staring at the man for half a day, wondering whether this man was actually a madman or an idiot. If Shenzhao went back to his seat, unavoidably he would not be able to lift his head high again. He said, ”Since Sire is determined not to give me face, Pinseng has no choice but to offend you. The next punch is the Black Tiger Snatching the Heart, I am going to strike the pit of Sire's stomach.”

The moves Bells and Drums Sounding Simultaneously and Black Tiger Snatching the Heart were both very rudimentary fist techniques, those who learned martial art for several months would have practiced these moves. Before launching the attack he shouted the name first, it was to show that he intended to score victory by relying on his strength; but by using the shallowest technique, he was also showing contempt toward the opponent.

The man showed a faint smile without answering at all. Shenzhao was inwardly very angry; he mused, ”This punch of mine is going to inflict internal injury on you; you won't die immediately on the spot, but you'll die three, four days later, so I can't be considered sweeping away Ping Xi Wang's face.” Striking a horse stand, he let out a loud shout while sending his right punch with a strong gust of wind. 'Smack!' the punch hit the pit of the man's stomach.

The man's body swayed, he took a step back as he laughed and said, ”Dashi has won. I was forced to take a step back.”

Although Shenzhao did not put forth his entire strength in this punch, the power behind it was very severe; unexpectedly it was as if the man did not feel anything, he spoke those words lightly, without any difficulty at all. Obviously, he did not sustain any injury. The civil officials among the guests did not understand this reasoning, but those who practiced martial art all knew that the man had intentionally yielded to Shenzhao. Wei Xiaobao was neither a civil nor military; he was in between 'appeared to understand but does not really understand'.

Shenzhao was proud to have quite a prestige in Wulin, how could he accept a victory like this? A faint layer of dark color rose up on his face; he said, ”In that case, eat my fist again.” 'Whoosh!' he sent another punch, still striking toward the pit of that man's stomach. This time he was using 70% of his strength. Even if the man were hit and spurted blood from his mouth, it was he who asked for trouble, Shenzhao did not have any choice.

When Shenzhao's punch reached the front piece of the man's jacket, the man's chest suddenly shrank, his body floated backward for about half a zhang, as if he was he was jolted by the power of the punch, while actually he was evading the punch. His attacked hit an empty space, Shenzhao's anger grew. He rushed forward two steps, and with a loud shout his right leg flew up ferociously to kick the man's lower abdomen. ”Aiyo!” the man cried out, it seemed like the kick was going to hit him.

As if by prior agreement all the people stood up, only to see the man's body was bent backward; it was like his two feet were being nailed to the ground, his body was bent at the knee, he fell backward with face up, hence most of his body was like a wooden log hanging horizontally in the air, only about a chi away from the floor. Shenzhao's kick hit an empty air, about several cun above the man's legs.

Shenzhao was in quandary, he had to either give up, or go through to the end; in Mandarin Duck Chain Kicks style, using the Black Dragon Sweeps the Earth his left leg swept across toward the man's shinbone. Without changing his posture - he was still in the Iron Panel Bridge position, his feet kicked the ground, his whole body flew up one chi. Shenzhao's leg swept pass the sole of his feet. The man fell back down steadily, he still had not stood straight.

The people in the hall broke into a thunderous applause. With this turn of events, Shenzhao realized that his martial art skill was still inferior to that man's by a considerable margin. If the opponent had hit him back, he would have been beaten silly. Without any choice he put his palms together and said, ”Good skill! My utmost admiration!”

The man straightened up, he bowed to return the propriety and said, ”Dashi's fists and kicks carried tremendous strength, Zaixia did not dare to fend off, and was forced to evade.”

Prince Kang said, ”Both gentlemen have an extremely high martial art skill. His Highness Heir Apparent's attendant is very polite, he was determined not to fight back; hence the martial art competition cannot be continued. Come, both of you take two yuanbao each.”

The man bowed and said, ”I don't get a reward I don't deserve.”

Seeing the man was unwilling to take the yuanbao, Shenzhao felt it was inappropriate for him to step forward to claim his reward. Prince Kang turned to his chamberlain and said, ”Send the reward to both gentlemen.” The man thanked the Prince and accepted the money, Shenzhao also embarrassedly received his.

Prince Kang was fully aware that although the martial art contest a moment ago was not official, actually his side had already lost. He bestowed two big silver yuanbao to Shenzhao was only to cover up Shenzhao embarrassment, and also he stated that neither one win nor lose to conceal his own shortcomings. In his heart was still unwilling to concede, and the fight had not satisfied his craving; he thought, ”Admittedly, this tall guy's martial art skill is not bad, but I am sure the rest of Wu Yingxiong's attendants are not as good as he is. The martial art masters under my command have astonishing skill, just look at that Qi Yuankai, perhaps his martial art level is almost the same as that Shenzhao monk.” Originally he addressed Shenzhao as 'Shangren', after the display of his martial art just now, in his eyes, he had already discounted Shenzhao from 'Shangren' to 'heshang' [Buddhist monk]. In loud and clear voice he said, ”The contest just now cannot be continued, unavoidably it was a little … a little disappointing in something otherwise perfect. Qi Shifu, please invite fifteen martial art masters, everybody take a weapon, sixteen against sixteen, have a spar with sixteen attendants Ping Xi Wang Heir Apparent brought with him. Xiao Wangye, please tell them to show their weapons!”

Wu Yingxiong said, ”We come to Wangye's palace as guests, how can we dare to bring our weapons?”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Heir Apparent is too polite. Your honored father and Xiao Wang were military commanders, throughout our lives we eke out a living amidst the sabers, spears, swords and halberds, we need not observed this old-womanish taboo. Come, get the eighteen weapons, some of each, and bring them here, let the martial art masters of Ping Xi Wang choose.” Prince Kang was a combat general, he fought from outside the Great Wall into the Central Plains; in his mansion there were all kinds of weapons. As soon as he shouted the order, his attendants immediately brought a big pile of weapons, long and short, out, and put them all in front of the sixteen Heir Apparent's escorts.

Qi Yuankai chose fourteen martial art masters, but he asked Shenzhao to be their leader. Shenzhao wanted to win back his face, so he uttered some polite words, but he did not decline. He thought, ”In any case I need to chop and injure some southern barbarians to vent the resentment in my heart.” The fact that Ping Xi Wang was their honored guest and that he must give careful consideration to his face, and so on and so forth, had long ago vanished from his thought.

Shenzhao, Qi Yuankai, and the others got their weapons and followed the attendants returning to the hall. Shenzhao had a pair of blue steel Jie Dao [Buddhist's saber] in his hands. He went over to Prince Kang's banquet table and put his palms together in salute. Prince Kang and the others slightly leaned their bodies forward and nodded to return the courtesy.

Wei Xiaobao was very proud of himself, ”Damn it,” he thought, ”These people are all exceptionally skillful in martial arts, they all are big names in Jianghu, yet they still come to laozi to salute. Laozi only sitting haughtily, nodding my head to settle the matter; compared to them, my prestige is ten times more impressive.”

Shenzhao turned around and loudly said, ”Friends from Yunnan, go get your weapons!”

The tall man who had received his five moves earlier said, ”We have received Ping Xi Wang's order, we must not fight with anybody inside the city of Beijing.”

Shenzhao said, ”When other people's saber is blowing to your head, will you still not fight back? Other people want to chop your head, you will simply stretch out your neck? Or will you shrink your head into your neck?”

As soon as he said those words, all Ping Xi Wang's Palace escorts showed an angry look. Saying that they shrink their heads into their necks was just the same as cursing them as turtles. But the tall leader still spoke indifferently, ”Ping Xi Wang's military order is like a mountain. If we disobey the military order, when we return to Yunnan, it will be the same, we'll have our heads chopped off.”

”Fine,” Shenzhao said, ”We'll see.” He beckoned the other fifteen masters of martial art to gather in a corner of the hall and conversed in low voice. Shenzhao quietly said, ”We'll move our weapons towards their vital points, let's see if they will still not fight back?”

Qi Yuankai said, ”It will be inappropriate if we injure them. We will simply force them to fight back.”

Another man said, ”We must be a little more careful.”

Shenzhao shouted, ”Alright, let's fight!” Letting out a long whistle, he brandished his Jie Dao. White rays flashing, as he was the first to charge toward the sixteen Ping Xi Wang's escorts. The other fifteen men, some using swords, some sticking out their short spears, some brandishing their steel whip, some raising their copper hammer, sixteen different weapons charged together.

Unexpectedly, the sixteen escorts only stood motionless, with arms hanging down and palms kept close to their thighs, their eyes looked straight forward, as if they did not see the attack of those sixteen masters of martial art of Prince Kang's mansion.

Seeing their opponents were motionless, those sixteen masters of martial art showed off their skill in front of Prince Kang and the guests. Each of them displayed their most ingenious moves of their respective weapons, hacking diagonally, thrusting straight, cutting down, striking horizontally; the blades reflecting the candlelight as the sixteen weapons danced with loud gusts of wind, forming a canopy of light, surrounding the sixteen escorts in the middle.

The civil officials repeatedly said, ”Careful, careful!” The military officers noticed that every weapon was threatening the opponent's vital points, oftentimes it was only several cun away from its target. They only needed to exert a fraction more of their strength, then they would have taken the opponent's life. The officers were all apprehensive.

The sixteen escorts fixed their gaze forward, they gave no thought to their own life or death; if the opponents really wanted to take their lives, they would have given their lives without a fight.

Shenzhao and the others moved their weapons faster and faster, occasionally the weapons would collide with each other, sparks flew everywhere, clanking sounds were heard, the situation grew more and more dangerous. Although they did not want to intentionally hurt Ping Xi Wang's subordinates, but as the swords, sabers, whips and hammers collided with each other, not only the weapons carried great forces with them, they were also so close to each other, so it was just a matter of time before the weapons would bounce and injure someone.

Sure enough, 'smack!' an iron mace collided with another man's copper hammer, and ricocheted toward a Ping Xi Wang escort's shoulder. Following closely, someone's saber hacked slantingly down, it flitted across, just a few cun away from the right side of an escort's face, someone by his side happened to cut down with a sword; the saber and sword collided, the saber bounced slightly and cut the escort's face. Instantly blood flowed from a long cut of his face. The injury of these two escorts was not light, still they did not utter a single groan, still they stood motionless.

Prince Kang realized that if this thing continued, there would be more wounded people, but he was also somewhat disappointed that the martial art contest could not continue. He shouted, ”Good martial arts! Good martial arts! Everybody hold your hands!”

Shenzhao let out a loud shout, his pair of Jie Dao swept horizontally across, knocking the hat off of an escort's head. The rest of his men followed suit, one after another sabers, spears, swords and halberds knocked the escorts' hats off. The sixteen martial art masters laughed aloud, pulled back their weapons, and then leaped back off.

Wei Xiaobao saw that among the escorts there were seven men who were bald, their shiny heads gleaming under the light; he could not help clapping his hands and laughed heartily, ”Dolong Zongguan,” he said, ”Your guess is really accurate, they are really a bunch of bald …” before he finished, he took a glance and saw the sixteen escorts of Ping Xi Wang Palace were still standing motionless, but their faces showed an extreme anger, their eyes looked like they were spouting fire.

Since he was little Wei Xiaobao had mingled with people of the marketplace, naturally he was very familiar with the way of hoodlums, he felt that the action of Shenzhao and the others were very inappropriate, they did not leave even half a face to the others. Although the rogues and hoodlums of the marketplace stole, robbed, swindled, and did all kinds of shameless deeds, but when they were fighting, they always left 30% of leeway; north and south of the great river, everywhere was the same. When a patron of the brothel was infatuated with a girl and splurged ten of thousand taels on her, the old procuress would give him back several tens of taels as travel expenses, so that he would not wander destitute in a foreign land, or perhaps in desperation would hang himself or throw himself in the river. It was not because those hoodlums had a really good conscience, but rather to avoid the matter being escalated and might bring trouble in the future.

When gambling, Wei Xiaobao often used tricks to clean up his opponent's money, but suppose he won one tael, he would in the end let him win back one or two coins, if he won one hundred wen, he would in the end let him win back ten or twenty wen. In one hand, so that next time he would still do business with him, on the other hand, it was to avoid the other party get suspicious, or to avoid the other party became angry out of shame, and drew out his fists to beat him.

Looking at Ping Xi Wang Palace escorts' expression, Wei Xiaobao felt very apologetic in his heart, so he promptly left his seat and went over to them. He stooped down in front of the tall man to pick up his hat and said, ”Lao Xiong is really amazing.” With both hands he put the hat back on him.

The man bowed and said, ”Thank you very much!”

Immediately afterwards Wei Xiaobao picked all fifteen hats one by one, he said with a laugh, ”By doing this, aren't they offending friends?” He was not sure which hat belonged to whom, so he held the hats in his hands and let each one of them picked and put it on themselves.

These escorts saw that Wei Xiaobao was sitting by their Palace's Heir Apparent, he was the honored guest whom Prince Kang invited this time, the Gui Gong-gong who arrested Oboi; seeing that he personally picked up the hats, they all cupped their fists and repeatedly said, ”We don't dare, Xiaoren do not deserve it!”

At first Wei Xiaobao did not have the least bit of favorable impression toward these Ping Xi Wang Palace's people, he was hoping Wu Sangui's subordinates would fall flat on their faces, but after being forced repeatedly by Shenzhao and the others, yet all along these people were tolerating them; thus they had aroused Wei Xiaobao's spirit in wiping out the bullies and help the down-trodden. Seeing their appreciation seemed to be very sincere, he was even happier. Turning his head to Prince Kang he said, ”Wangye, I wonder if I can borrow several taels from you.”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Gui Xiongdi can use anything freely. Will fifty thousand taels enough?”

Wei Xiaobao replied with a laugh, ”Why would I need that much?” Toward a chamberlain of the Prince's mansion he said, ”Quickly go buy sixteen best hats, the faster the better!” The chamberlain complied and left.

Wu Yingxiong cupped his fist and said, ”Gui Gong-gong love the house and its crow, zaixia is deeply grateful.”

Wei Xiaobao cupped his fist to return the politeness, while saying in his heart, ”What love the house and its crow? If there is any crow, wouldn't it be you, this little turtle?”

When Prince Kang saw Shenzhao and the others knocked down the Ping Xi Wang Palace escorts' hats, he had already felt that it was a bit too much, he was afraid Wu Yingxiong might be offended, but to open his mouth to apologize, he also felt that it was inappropriate. Therefore, Wei Xiaobao's action closely resembled his own heart's desire. He said, ”Attendants, reward Heir Apparent Wu's subordinates fifty taels each.” He then thought, ”If I only rewarded the other side, wouldn't I make my own martial art master subordinates lose face?” So he added, ”Our own Palace's sixteen martial art masters will also receive fifty taels reward each!” The hall was abuzz with joyful noise.

Songgotu rose up and poured drink for everybody on the banquet table, he said, ”Xiao Wangye, your esteemed father employs the troops like a deity; today I have seen it, sure enough, the name is not in vain. Your esteemed father's military order is stern; making everybody always ready to give their lives, no wonder he triumphs in every battle and wins every fight. Come, come, come, let us all toast Ping Xi Wang a cup!”

Wu Yingxiong hurriedly stood up; raising his cup he said, ”Junior solemnly drinks the toast on my father's behalf; thank you gentlemen, for your generous kindness.” Everybody raised their cups and drank. Wu Yingxiong added, ”In guarding the southern border, bringing peace and order to the frontier, my father depends on the Holy One's great fortune and the appropriate arrangement of princes and dukes, as well as the senior ministers of the imperial court, who give directions to do things right. My father only serves to display utter loyalty to His Imperial Majesty; he receives instructions from princes and dukes, as well as the senior ministers of the imperial court, and does not dare to be idle. We do not dare to claim any merit.” After a few more rounds of wine, the Prince's mansion's chamberlain returned with sixteen hats, which he held with both hands and presented them in front of Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao turned to Prince Kang and said with a laugh, ”Wangye, your Palace's Shifu have accidentally knocked off other people's hats; you ought to compensate them with new hats.”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”I should, I should. Gui Xiongdi is very thoughtful.” He ordered his chamberlains to present the hats to Wu Yingxiong's escorts.

The escorts received the hats and bowed, they said, ”Thank you Wangye, thank you Gui Gong-gong!” They folded the hats and put them inside their pockets, while still wearing the old hat on their heads. Prince Kang and Songgotu looked at each other, they were aware that these people did not put on the new hats out of respect to Wu Yingxiong.

After another round of drink, the theatrical troupe in the Prince's mansion came out to present their skill. Prince Kang asked Wu Yingxiong to select a play. Wu Yingxiong chose 'Man Chuang Hu' [bed full of tablets, 'hu' is tablet held at an audience], a lively story about Guo Ziyi celebrating his birthday, his seven sons and eight son-in-laws came to congratulate him. Guo Ziyi was a man of riches and honor, also a long-lived scholar, he came to a good end by his scholarly achievement in imperial exams, who was extremely revered by the ruler and his ministers. Wu Yingxiong chose this story to congratulate Prince Kang, but also to compare his own father, Wu Sangui, to the character of the story; it was quite a fitting play.

After he chose a play, Prince Kang gave the playlist to Wei Xiaobao. ”Gui Xiongdi,” he said, ”You also choose a story.”

Wei Xiaobao did not recognize any character on the playlist; he laughed and said, ”I can't choose. Wangye, please select a story for me, a martial art play with fighting and sturdy stick.”

Prince Kang laughed and said, ”Gui Xiongdi loves to watch military vigor. Um, we'll choose the play about a young hero defeating a grownup, just like Xiao Xiongdi arresting Oboi. Right, we'll select 'Bai Shui Tan' [beach of clear water], the young hero was an eleven years old youth, he fought and completely routed the Green Faced Tiger.”

When 'Man Chuang Hu' and 'Bai Shui Tan' were over, the third play was 'You Yuan Jing Meng' [roaming the garden after awakened from a dream], where two female impersonators singing 'Ah, Ah' endlessly. Wei Xiaobao did not understand what they were saying, he got impatient so he stood up and left the banquet table. He saw in the side hall there were several tables where people were gambling, some played cards, some other played dice. The banker on the dice table was a military officer, a subordinate of Prince Kang. In front of him there was a big pile of his winning money. Seeing Wei Xiaobao walked near, he said with a laugh, ”Gui Gong-gong, would you like to try your hand?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed, ”Alright!” he said. He glanced over and saw the tall man, Wu Yingxiong's subordinate, was standing on the side. Wei Xiaobao had a rather favorable impression of this man, so he beckoned him to come.

The man rushed forward a step and said, ”What instruction does Gui Gong-gong have?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”There is no father and son on the gambling table, you do not need to be polite. Lao Ge [old older brother], what's your honorable surname? With what great name must I address you?”

A moment ago, Shenzhao asked him and he was unwilling to answer, but Wei Xiaobao had given them a lot of face in front of the guests, plus he was asking politely, so he said, ”Xiaoren is surnamed Yang, I am called Yang Yizhi.”

Wei Xiaobao did not know the meaning of his name, 'Yizhi', but he blurted out what was in his mind, ”Good name, good name! The Yang family has the largest number of heroes, Yang Lao Ling Gong, Yang Liulang [lit. 'Old Honorable Commander Yang' and 'Sixth son (or youth) Yang', respectively], Yang Zongbao, Yang Wenguang, Yang family warriors are all heroes. Yang Dage, let us two boys become partner in gambling!”

Hearing Wei Xiaobao praising Yang family ancestors, Yang Yizhi was very happy; he smiled and said, ”Xiaoren does not know much how to gamble.”

”What are you afraid of?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I'll teach you! Get those two big yuanbao out.”

Yang Yizhi took the two big yuanbao Prince Kang bestowed to him earlier out. From his pocket Wei Xiaobao fished out a banknote; he placed it on the table and said with a laugh, ”This Yang Xiong and I are partners, we bet one hundred taels!”

The banker laughed and said, ”Good, the more the better!” They were gambling with two dice, one throw to determine the winner. The banker threw first and got 'zhang hu pai' [sorry, I can't find any reference on this], Wei Xiaobao tossed the dice and got seven dots, thus his hundred taels was lost.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”We'll bet another hundred taels!” This time he won.

After throwing for sixteen, seventeen times, come and go, they neither won nor lost. Wei Xiaobao was getting impatient, ”It's not a big deal if I lose several hundred taels, but if I implicate this surnamed Yang that he loses those two yuanbao, I am letting him down.” His next throw produced six dots, he was ninety percent sure he would lose; who would have thought that the banker tossed five dots? Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud; hereafter he repeatedly won several times. One hundred taels became two hundred; two hundred taels became four hundred. In three throws of the dice, he won four hundred taels.

The military officer who was the banker laughed and said, ”Gui Gong-gong has good gambling luck.”

Wei Xiaobao replied with a laugh, ”You say I have good gambling luck? Let's try again, then!” He pushed the entire four hundred taels to the table and threw the dice; he got four and six, the banker threw and got a long three, so he lost. Wei Xiaobao turned his head and said, ”Yang Dage, shall we continue betting or not?”

”I rely on Gui Gong-gong's idea,” Yang Yizhi replied.

Wei Xiaobao added the original four hundred taels he had to compensate for the four hundred taels he just lost, he put eight hundred taels altogether and said with a laugh, ”I want some refreshing gambling experience.” He shouted, ”Compensate my loss!”

The dice were tossed; they rolled around chaotically, after a moment, one rolled and became six dots, but the other one was still rolling continuously. Wei Xiaobao had secretly exerted his strength, he wanted the dice to show double-six, which was called 'the Heaven'. But the dice were not his, his throwing skill had not been brought to the point of perfection. The second die finally stopped, it showed two dots, for the total of eight dots, so most likely he would lose. Wei Xiaobao rained curses, ”Straight your mother's stinky dice, why don't you help me?”

The banker laughed heartily, ”Gui Gong-gong,” he said, ”I am afraid this time I am going to eat yours.” He tossed the dice. One showed a five-dot, the other was still rolling continuously.

Wei Xiaobao shouted, ”Two, two, two!” If the die showed a one, it would become one five, a three dots would become eight, eight would defeat the eight, the banker won. If four dots, the total would be nine, if five dots, it would become a plum blossom, if six dots, it would become an 'ox head'. All these combinations would beat his eight; only if it showed two dots would the banker lose. Wei Xiaobao did not stop yelling; but as luck would have it, the die rolled several more times, then stopped inside the bowl, it really showed two dots.[121]Wei Xiaobao was delighted; he laughed and said, ”General, your gambling luck today is not too good.”

The officer laughed and said, ”Banker's bad luck, banker's bad luck. It was because Gui Gong-gong giving the order. Whatever your heart wishes, your hands accomplish; naturally I can't beat you in gambling.” He paid Wei Xiaobao three banknotes, two hundred taels each, plus two yuanbao, worth one hundred taels each.

Wei Xiaobao rubbed the sweat on his palms, he laughed and said, ”I receive the benefit of the light!” To Yang Yizhi he said, ”Yang Dage, we lack the prospect of picking up green fruits; let's stop gambling.” While squeezing eight hundred taels to Yang Yizhi's hand.

For no rhyme or reason Yang Yizhi received a sudden wealth, his heart was overjoyed; ”Gui Gong-gong,” he said, ”What is that general's name?”

Wei Xiaobao was startled; he replied in low voice, ”I haven't asked.” Turning his head over toward the officer, he asked, ”Great General, your honorable surname and your great given name?”

The military officer beamed from ear to ear, he stood up and respectfully replied, ”Reporting to Gui Gong-gong: Xiao Jiang Jiang Baizheng, Regional Commander of the Office of Record, I have always been serving under Prince Kang's banner.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”General Jiang, fighting wars you are ever-victorious, but in gambling you are not too successful.”

Jiang Baizheng laughed and said, ”When gambling with others, more or less Xiao Jiang can also be considered ever-victorious. It's just that there will be a stronger hand among the strong, plus today I met Gong-gong, Jiang Baizheng has turned into Jiang Baibai[122].”

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud and walked away. Suddenly he thought, ”Why did that surnamed Yang want me to ask the banker's name?” While he was pondering, from a distant he watched that fellow Jiang Baizheng's technique in throwing the dice. He saw how he lifted the dice, shifted his wrist, bending his finger, and threw the dice; it was an extremely skilled technique, truly he was a first-class gambling expert in Jianghu. When gambling with him a while ago, Wei Xiaobao did not pay any attention. Suddenly it dawned on him, ”Turns out this fellow was deliberately losing to me, no wonder I had won five times in a row, where have I had such a gambling luck? Damn it, laozi has a lot of money, I don't care about winning or losing, otherwise once I was at the table, I would have seen it. That Yunnan fellow surnamed Yang also understands the trick, he is not a 'cattle' either, he is a 'sheep killer'.”

He thought further, ”Why would a total stranger Regional Commander of the Office of Record wanted to lose money intentionally to me? Naturally it was because I have a face in front of the Emperor, everybody hopes I would say good words on their behalf. Or even if I don't speak good words, at least I won't pound on their eggs. F*ck your granny, he spent one thousand four hundred taels just to win laozi's favor; it's very cheap!”

Now that he knew people would deliberately lose to him, that victory was easy, he did not want to gamble anymore. Returning to the banquet hall, he ate some dishes and watched the opera. By this time they were playing 'Si Fan' [considering the mundane/material world], where a Buddhist nun was acting and singing, while the people on the side constantly cheering and applauding. Wei Xiaobao did not understand what kind of trick she was playing, he felt extremely bored, so he stood up.

Prince Kang laughed, ”Xiao Xiongdi, what do you want to play?” he asked, ”No need to be polite, do not hesitate to give your instruction.”

Wei Xiaobao replied, ”I am going to find something fun to do myself, please do not be polite.” He saw at the corridor people were shouting noisily, the gambling was very lively, his heart was itching a little bit, but he thought, ”What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over; I am not going to gamble today.”

From the last time he visited to Prince Kang's mansion, he still vaguely remembered the layout of the Palace, so he walked toward the rear hall.

Everywhere in the Palace lanterns and candles were brilliantly lit. When the people of the Prince's mansion saw him, they would stand up respectfully with hands hanging on their side. Wei Xiaobao strolled leisurely; suddenly he had an urge to urinate, yet he did not wish to ask anybody where the lavatory was. He saw there was a small garden on his left, so he shoved the long window open and walked into a dark corner. He pulled his pants down and was about to urinate when suddenly from the other side of the flower bushes he heard some people spoke in low voices.

Someone said, ”Give me the money first, then I'll take you in.”

Another man said, ”Take me in first, after I find that thing, naturally your money won't decrease the least bit.”

The former man said, ”Money first, goods later. If after getting the goods you don't give me the money, where can I go to find you?”

The other man said, ”Alright, here is a thousand taels, I give you a 10% prepayment.”

Wei Xiaobao's heart was moved, ”One thousand taels is only 10%? What kind of important goods is that?” Instantly he endured the urge to urinate and bent his ear to listen.

He heard the first person said, ”Fifty percent prepayment, otherwise this deal is off. This is a 'removing-head' important matter, you think it is amusing?”

The other man hesitated slightly, then he said, ”Fine, here are banknotes worth five thousand taels, you may take it first.”

”Thank you very much,” the first person said. There was rustling noise as the banknotes were being counted, and then he said, ”Follow me!”

Wei Xiaobao's curiosity was piqued, he mused, ”Whatever 'removing-head' important matter it is, I cannot not follow them to take a look.” He heard the footsteps of those two men were heading west, so he slipped out of the flowering bush to follow them from a distance. He saw the back of those two men as they walked evasively among the flowering shrubs and trees; they stopped after every few zhang and looked around to see if anybody saw them. Wei Xiaobao thought, ”They are so sneaky, whatever it is they are doing, it must not be a good thing. Prince Kang has treated me really well, I'll show him my, Gui Gong-gong's way of doing things by catching two incorrigible thieves for him tonight.” First, he felt the dagger, which could cut iron like mud, hidden in his boot; second, he felt the vest he was wearing, the treasured vest which even sabers and spears could not penetrate, and then his courage was boosted somewhat.

He saw the two men walked through the garden and entered an exquisite looking cottage. Wei Xiaobao walked on tiptoe to come near; he saw lantern light penetrated the flower-carved window lattice. Walking around toward the rear window, he moistened his finger with his saliva to wet the window paper, and then peeked inside with one eye through the hole. He saw the room was a shrine to worship Buddha, with an image of Tathagata Buddha sitting on the offering table, and an oil lantern in front of the image. A man dressed in servant attire said in low voice, ”I spent more than a year just to find the location of this thing, your ten thousand taels is not an easy money.”

The other man, whose back was facing Wei Xiaobao, asked, ”Where is it?”

”Give it to me first!” the servant said.

The other man turned around and said, ”Give you what?” This man had a thin face, he was none other than Qi Yuankai, who a moment ago blocked that martial art master surnamed Lang from leaving the main hall.

The servant said with a laugh, ”Qi Shifu is asking something that you already know the answer, naturally I am talking about the five thousand taels.”

”You are really formidable,” Qi Yuankai said. He pulled a bundle of banknotes from his pocket. The servant examined the banknotes one by one under the lamp light.

Wei Xiaobao was very scared; he knew that Qi Yuankai's martial art skill was very high, plus whatever they were doing must be a shady business with a very heavy responsibility, if his presence was detected, they might kill him immediately to close his mouth. In his fright, his pee flowed out. He thought he might as well let the nature take its course, by letting the pee flowed along his thigh to the ground without making the least bit of noise.

After counting the banknotes, the servant laughed and said, ”Correct.” Lowering his voice, he whispered on Qi Yuankai's ear. Qi Yuankai nodded repeatedly, but Wei Xiaobao was unable to hear even a single sentence.

He saw Qi Yuankai suddenly leaped up vertically onto the sacrificial table. Turning his head around to look, he then reached out to feel around the Buddha image's left ear. He moved his finger for a while, and then pulled out a tiny object. He jumped back down and raised his hand to look at the object under the candlelight; it was a key, glittering yellow under the light, presumably it was cast from gold. The key was about the length of a small finger, it couldn't be more than a liang [50 grams] of gold.

Qi Yuankai was beaming from ear to ear. Then he looked down to count the bricks, about a dozen or more bricks horizontally, and a dozen or more bricks vertically. He stooped down to pull a dagger from his boot, and then used the dagger to pry open a square brick; he cheered in a low voice.

The servant said, ”Genuine goods at fair prices, I did not swindle you!”

Qi Yuankai did not reply, he gently inserted the golden key downward; presumably there was a keyhole underneath the square brick. 'Click!' the lock opened. Qi Yuankai looked stunned, he said, ”How come it won't open? Perhaps it is the wrong key.”

The servant said, ”Why can't you open it? Wangye personally unlocked it, I saw it clearly from outside the window.” While saying that, he bent down and got hold of something and pulled it out.

Suddenly there was a swishing noise, a crossbow mechanism shot up from below, and hit the servant at the pit of his stomach. ”Ah!” the servant cried out pitifully and fell backward, the iron lid he was holding in his hand flew up. Qi Yuankai leaned sideways and reached out to catch the iron lid so that it would not fall to the ground and create a lot of noise. Squatting behind the servant, he pressed down the servant's mouth using his right hand to guard against him crying out and alarm other people, while with his left hand he grabbed the servant's left wrist and used the servant's hand to grope around the hole.

Wei Xiaobao was stunned to see this; he thought, ”Turns out there is another mechanism in the hole. This man surnamed Qi is really formidable.”

This time the crossbow mechanism no longer shoot any arrows. Qi Yuankai used his own hand to fish out something, it was a bundle wrapped in cloth. With his right hand he flung the servant to the floor; he rose up, lifted his right foot up and stepped on the servant's mouth to prevent him from making any noise. And then he leaned forward to put the bundle on the sacrificial table and opened it.

Qi Yuankai quickly re-wrapped the scripture in its original cloth wrapper; lifting up his left foot, he stepped forcefully on the arrow's tail. With a light 'Puff!' the crossbow's arrow went deep into the servant's chest. The servant was already seriously injured, naturally this arrow killed him instantly. Since Qi Yuankai's right foot was stepping on his mouth, only a muffled 'humph' was heard; his body convulsed a little bit, then he stopped moving altogether.

Wei Xiaobao was so terrified that his heart was thumping hard. Actually he had finished urinating, but this time he could not help but peeing again in his pants.

He saw Qi Yuankai bending down to take the banknotes from the servant's pocket, which he then put into his own pocket. With a cold laugh he said, ”Now you can get rich!” After hesitating for a moment, he placed the golden key in the servant's dead body's right palm, and curled the dead body's fingers to hold the key; only then did he rush out in quick steps.

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”He is about to run away, must I raise the alarm now?”

Suddenly a shadow flashed, Qi Yuankai was already on the roof. Wei Xiaobao shrank his body as small as possible, he did not dare to make the slightest move; he only heard the sound of roof tiles being moved around. A moment later, Qi Yuankai leaped down and haughtily walked away.

”Right,” Wei Xiaobao thought, ”He is hiding the sutra under the tile, he will be back later to pick it up. Humph, it won't be that easy.”

He waited for a while, until Qi Yuankai had left far away. He did not have the ability to leap up to the roof, but he could climb up the pillar of the corridor. Pulling himself up the eaves, he managed to flip his body onto the roof. Remembering where the tile noise came from, he overturned about a dozen roof tiles before under the hazy darkness of the night he saw the corner of the cloth-wrapper.

The hall was exactly the same as it had been when he left; those who were gambling were still gambling, those who were listening to the song were still listening to the song, the female impersonator who played the Buddhist nun was still coyly singing endlessly. Wei Xiaobao asked Songgotu, ”This woman putting on an act like that, what trick is she playing?”

Songgotu replied with a laugh, ”This little nun is thinking about a man in the monastery, she wants to run away, going down the mountain to marry; just look at her face, it is overflowing with the thoughts of love, she is throwing coquettish glances one by one ...” Suddenly he remembered that Wei Xiaobao was an eunuch, he must not talk about the matter between men and women too much, or else he would upset him; thereupon he said, ”This play is not too interesting, Gui Gong-gong (although the two of them were sworn brothers, in front of other people they must not address each other as brother), let me select another play for you. Um, how about 'Ya Guan Lou' [elegant and tasteful upstairs room], Li Cunxiao beats the tiger; a young hero, it was not a small matter. Afterwards we can watch the 'Zong Kui Jia Mei' [Zhong Kui[123] marries off his younger sister]. Zhong Kui's subordinates, the five little demons, doing acrobatic and fighting, it is very lively.”

Wei Xiaobao clapped his hands and cheered. ”But I have to return to the Palace,” he said, ”I am afraid I don't have time.”

Casting a sidelong glance, he saw Qi Yuankai was in the middle of playing the finger-guessing game with another martial art master, 'The Brightest and the Best of Five Confucianism Classics', 'Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea', shouting and yelling noisily. After playing for a while, he asked in loud voice, ”Shenzao Shangren, where is that fellow surnamed Lang?”

The martial art masters around the banquet table said, ”We haven't seen him for quite a while, perhaps he has slipped out.”

With a cold laugh Shenzao said, ”That man does not know how to appreciate favors, I suppose he doesn't have any face to stay in the Palace much longer.”

Qi Yuankai said, ”Most likely he slipped away; this person is sneaky, it's good if he did not steal anything before he left.”

A martial art master said, ”That would be very difficult to say.”

Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, ”The way this man surnamed Qi handling matters is very thorough; he made that man surnamed Lang lose face in a big way first, and thus he had no choice but had to sneak out quietly. When the people in the Palace discover a dead body and a missing object, naturally the suspicion will fall onto that man surnamed Lang. Very good, I must learn this clever trick; before doing anything, I must find a good scapegoat first.”

Seeing it was getting late, the Chief of Imperial Bodyguards Dolong got up to take his leave, saying that he was on duty in the Palace. Wei Xiaobao followed by also taking his leave. Prince Kang did not dare to detain them; chuckling, he sent them off the door. Wu Yingxiong, Songgotu, and the others also sent them off to the main gate. Wei Xiaobao had just climbed into a sedan chair when Yang Yizhi stepped forward and presented a bundle with both hands, saying, ”Our Heir Apparent presents this little gift to Gui Gong-gong, hoping Gong-gong will not dislike this meager present.”

”Thank you very much,” Wei Xiaobao replied with a laugh, he received the gift with both hands, and then still laughing he said, ”Yang Dage, I feel like meeting an old friend when we met for the first time. I consider you as a good friend, if I give you some money, I would be disrespectful to you. When I have free time some other day, I'll invite you for some drink.”

Yang Yizhi was delighted; he said with a laugh, ”Gong-gong has already given me seven hundred taels, isn't that enough?”

Wei Xiaobao guffawed and said, ”That was somebody else who foot the bill, it doesn't count.”

Not too far after the sedan chair left the alley, Wei Xiaobao was getting impatient; he ordered the porters to halt the sedan chair and raised the lantern on the outside of the chair, and then he unwrapped the bundle to look at the gift. It consisted of three brocade boxes, in one box was a pair of emerald chicken, a rooster and a hen, the craftsmanship was very exquisite. In the second case were two strings of pearls together, each string had a hundred pearls. Although the size of the pearls was not as big as the ones he ground and applied to Xiao Junzhu's face, it was very rare to find two hundred perfectly round and flawless pearls at the same size. He was delighted, ”I lied to Xiao Junzhu, telling her I was going to buy some pearls; Wu Yingxiong has just helped me cover up my lie.” Inside the third brocade box were gold banknotes, each sheet was ten liang of gold, altogether there were forty sheets, worth four hundred liang of gold.

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”Next time I see Wu Yingxiong, that little traitor, I would coldly and indifferently thank him, so that I would appear dissatisfied with his below average gift; he would definitely try to make up for it. This is the ingenious method Suo Dage taught me. If this little traitor pretends not to understand, laozi would simply look him in the eye, 'Hey, Xiao Wangye, you gave me a pair of tiny green chicken, what's so amusing about them? They don't look like real chicken.' The little traitor would ask me, 'Gui Gong-gong, what do you mean they don't look like real chicken?' Laozi would simply say, 'Where in the world can you find rooster and hen that small? Even sparrows are a lot bigger than those chickens. Besides, green parrot, green peacocks, I have seen a lot, but green chicken? I have never seen any. I wonder if you have green chicken in Yunnan.' The little traitor could only laugh bitterly. Laozi would also say, 'Even if there is green chicken, shouldn't the rooster's cockscomb be red? Anyhow, the hen cannot lay eggs, what kind of treasure is that?' Ha ha, ha ha …!”

Returning to the Palace, Wei Xiaobao hurriedly went back to his own room. He unlatched the bolt, lighted the candle, opened the bed curtain, and said with a laugh, ”Are you tired of waiting?” He saw Xiao Junzhu was still lying motionless on the bed; her eyes were opened wide, with several pieces of cake were still piled up on her mouth, unexpectedly she did not eat even a single piece. He took out the two strings of pearls and said with a laugh, ”Look, I buy you these two strings of pearls. I am going to grind it and applied it onto your face. If you don't become the most beautiful young woman under the heavens, my surname is not … is not Gui! Are you hungry? Why don't you eat the cake? Let me help you up so you can eat.” Reaching out, he propped her and sat her up; suddenly his flank went numb, followed by a burst of pain on the pit of his stomach.

”Ah!” Wei Xiaobao cried out in alarm, his knees turned soft and he fell sitting down on the floor; his entire body was numb and he was unable to move at all.