Chapter - 11 (11) (2/2)

Wei Xiaobao raised the candlestick on the table and said, ”First we must find where her injury is.”

”Don't look at me! Don't look at me!” the woman shouted.

Wei Xiaobao shot back, ”Don't shout loudly! Do you want people to catch you and take you as wife?” Picking the nearby candlestick, he saw half of the woman's face was covered in blood, she was approximately seventeen, eighteen years of age, she had an oval face, and looked very beautiful; he could not help but praise, ”Turns out this stinky Xiao Niang Pi is a beautiful girl.”

Xiao Junzhu said, ”Don't curse my Shijie, she … she is indeed a beautiful girl.”

”Very well!” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Now I want to take her as my wife even more.”

The woman was startled, she struggled, wanted to slap him, but she only managed to lift her body a little, then she cried, ”Ah!” and fell down on the bed.

Naturally Wei Xiaobao had heard a lot about the matters of men and women in the brothel, but knowing and doing are not the same. He said 'take her as wife', but he was still young, and the thought of actually doing it had never crossed his heart; it's just that he was a natural prankster. When he saw how the woman became very anxious as soon as he mentioned he was going to take her as his wife, he could not help feeling very smug. He laughed and said, ”Don't be impatient, we have not performed the wedding ceremony yet, how can we be man and wife? You think this place is the Lovely Spring Courtyard? As soon as you talk about being man and wife you want to do it immediately. Aiyo! Your wound is bleeding, you are spoiling my bed!” He saw blood continuously seeped out her clothes; her injury was indeed not light.

Suddenly he heard footsteps, a group of people came hurrying, someone called out, ”Gui Gong-gong, Gui Gong-gong, are you alright?” After the Imperial Bodyguards repelled the assassins, they sent people to protect the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and comparatively high-ranking imperial concubines, then they also protect department heads and eunuchs with authority. Wei Xiaobao was the Emperor's favorite, so they sent a dozen or so Imperial Bodyguards to curry his favor.

Wei Xiaobao said in low voice to Xiao Junzhu, ”Hide in the bed.” He pulled the quilt to cover the two women, pulled the mosquito net down, and called out, ”Come here quick! There is an assassin here!”

The woman was shocked, but she was seriously injured, how could she struggle? Xiao Junzhu anxiously said, ”Don't shout, don't call people to arrest my Shijie.”

”She does not want to be my wife,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Why should I be polite to her?”

While they were still talking, the dozen or so Imperial Bodyguards had already arrived in front of the window. ”Aiyo!” one of them cried out, ”There is an assassin here.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”That fellow wanted to climb into my room, Laozi finished him off with several stabs of my blade.”

The Imperial Bodyguards raised their torches and saw several cuts on the dead man's back; there were blood on his clothes, on the window sill, and on the ground. ”Gui Gong-gong must be startled.” Another man said, ”What do you mean Gui Gong-gong was startled? Gui Gong-gong's martial art skill is superb, he is able to kill the assassin in just one move. If there were more coming, he would simply kill them all the same.” The rest of the Imperial Bodyguards immediately followed by fawning him; they praised Wei Xiaobao greatly, saying that he had rendered a great merit tonight.

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, ”The merit is nothing, coping with one or two assassins did not need too much effort. Arresting the Manchu's Number One Warrior Oboi is a bit harder to do.” The crowd of Imperial Bodyguards naturally seized this opportunity to flood him with flattery.

One of the Imperial Bodyguards said, ”Shi Laoliu and Xiong Lao'er [Ol' Six and Ol' Second, respectively] died in the line of duty, those assassins were truly very fierce. If it were not Gui Gong-gong, how would he deal with it?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”It's more important for you all to protect His Majesty, in here I am alright.”

Another man said, ”Dolong Zongguan is leading more than two hundred brothers to personally guard outside His Majesty's private chamber. The assassins have either escaped or killed, the Palace is quiet now.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Tomorrow I will ask His Majesty to grant some comfort and aid to the families of those Imperial Bodyguards who died in the line of duty. Everybody has been working hard, His Majesty will definitely grant generous reward.” Everybody was delighted, they all bowed and expressed their gratitude. Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, ”As long as I don't have to spend my own money, why not become the mediator between them and the Emperor?” He said, ”I do not remember very clearly everybody's surname and given name; would you all report to me? If His Majesty asks who has exerted himself using extreme force of will, and has rendered great service tonight, Xiongdi will mention your names.”

The Imperial Bodyguards were even more delighted, they hurriedly reported their name and surname. Wei Xiaobao had an extremely good memory, he was able to repeat the full names of those dozen or so Imperial Bodyguards without any mistake. He said, ”You all should patrol everywhere, perhaps there are assassins still hiding in some dark and remote places. If you catch one alive, if it's a man, beat him severely, if it's a woman, strip her naked and take her as wife.” The Imperial Bodyguards laughed heartily and repeatedly said, ”Yes, yes!”

”Would you take away the corpse?” Wei Xiaobao asked. The Imperial Bodyguards compiled; they snatched the corpse and left after paying their respect once more.

Wei Xiaobao closed the window, turned around and lifted up the quilt. Xiao Junzhu laughed and said, ”You are so bad, you scared us in a big way ... Aiyo ...!” She saw blood all over the bedding, her martial sister's countenance was deathly pale, her breathing was very weak.

”Where is her injury?” Wei Xiaobao asked, ”Quickly stop her bleeding.”

The woman said, ”You ... go away, Xiao Junzhu, my ... injury is on the pit of my stomach.”

Seeing the blood flowing from her wound was indeed a lot, Wei Xiaobao was afraid she might die from her heavy injury; he did not dare to tease her. Turning his head away, he said, ”What's so good about bleeding wound anyway? Do you think it's a peep show or something fun to watch? Xiao Junzhu, do you have the medicine?”

”I don't,” Xiao Junzhu replied.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Stinky mother, do you have any medicine with you?”

”I don't!” the woman snapped, ”You ... you are the stinky mother.”

He heard light ripping noise, Xiao Junzhu was undoing the woman's clothes. ”Aiyo!” suddenly she cried out in fear, ”What ... what should I do?” Wei Xiaobao turned his head around, he saw a cut about two cun long below the woman's right breast, from which the blood was flowing continuously. Xiao Junzhu was at a loss of what to do; she cried and said, ”You ... you ... quickly help my Shijie ...”

The woman was frightened and ashamed; with a trembling voice she said, ”Don't ... don't let him see.”

”Pei,” Wei Xiaobao spat, ”You think I've never seen one?” Seeing her blood was flowing endlessly, he was unable to restrain being panicked. He looked around the room, trying to find some cotton cloth to stop the blood stream from her wound. He spotted the medicine bowl and saw that he still had more than half bowl of his concoction of 'mashed lotus seed, bean paste, honey, candy and pearls'. ”My miracle medicine can also stop bleeding,” he said happily. Fetching a handful, he applied it on her wound.

This mixture of honey paste was very viscous, as soon as it was applied to the wound, the blood flow stopped. Wei Xiaobao spread the entire bowl of honey paste onto the wound, his fingers were also covered in honey paste. Seeing her nipples shivered, this little urchin restrained his mischievous thought with great difficulty; casually he smeared the paste on her breast.

The woman was ashamed and enraged at the same time, she called out, ”Xiao ... Xiao Junzhu, quickly ... quickly kill him for me.”

Xiao Junzhu explained, ”Shijie, he is treating your wound!” The woman was so furious she almost fainted. Unfortunately she could not move.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Quickly seal her acupoints, don't let her speak or move randomly; otherwise she might bleed again and her life will be in danger.”

”Yes!” Xiao Junzhu complied; she sealed several acupoints on the woman's lower abdomen, flanks, and legs. ”Shijie,” she said, ”Don't move randomly!” By now the pain on her own broken leg was almost unbearable; tears started to gush out of her eyes.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”You should also lie down and not moving.” He remembered his childhood in Yangzhou, when he had a fight with the little hoodlums and someone broke an arm or leg, the doctor would use splint to set the bone, and applied herbal medicine on it. Immediately he drew his dagger and cut two legs of a bench and clamped them on either side of her broken leg, and used a piece or cord to firmly tie them together. ”Where can I find the medicine for her injury?” he mused.

After pondering for a while, he had an idea; to Xiao Junzhu he said, ”The two of you must lie down on the bed, do not make any noise whatsoever.” Releasing the mosquito net, he blew out the candle and pulled the latch to go out.

Xiao Junzhu was startled. ”You ... where are you going?” she asked.

”To find medicine for your leg,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

”Please hurry and come back soon,” Xiao Junzhu said.

”Yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied. Hearing the tone of Xiao Junzhu's voice, which unexpectedly she regarded him as someone she could depend on, Wei Xiaobao could not help but feeling very proud of himself. He had already turned around to close the door when he thought something was not right; he pushed the door and went in again, bolted it from the inside, and then he jumped out the window and closed it behind him. In this way, other than Empress Dowager and the Emperor, no one in the Palace would dare to enter his room without permission.

He only walked a dozen of steps when he felt a dull pain on the edge of his lower back; he thought, ”That Old Whore Empress Dowager dealt me a vicious blow. If I continue living in the Palace, sooner or later laozi's old life will be difficult to protect; I'd better slip away as soon as possible.”

He walked toward the torch light, which turned out to be several Imperial Bodyguards on patrol duty. As soon as they saw him, they rushed forward to greet him. Wei Xiaobao asked, ”How many Imperial Bodyguard brothers in the Palace are injured?'

”Reporting to Gong-gong,” a man replied, ”There are seven, eight men heavily injured, about fourteen, fifteen men lightly wounded.”

”Where do they have their injury treated?” Wei Xiaobao asked, ”Take me there to look.”

The Imperial Bodyguards all said, ”Gong-gong is concerned over Imperial Bodyguards brothers, not a single one among us does not feel grateful.” And thus two of the Imperial Bodyguards led the way, taking Wei Xiaobao to the building where the Imperial Bodyguards stay when they were not on patrol duty.

Twenty something Imperial Bodyguards lay down in the hall, four imperial physicians were busy attending to their injuries.

Wei Xiaobao stepped forward to express his sympathy, continuously praised everybody, saying that in order to protect His Majesty, they all dashed on bravely with no thought of personal safety, valiantly fought and kill the enemy. He also inquire the injured names one by one. Immediately the Imperial Bodyguards' spirit was aroused, as if their wounds did not feel too painful anymore. Wei Xiaobao asked, ”To which group do those rebel thieves belong to? Are they that servant Oboi's follower?”

An Imperial Bodyguard replied, ”They seem to be Han people. But I don't know if we manage to seize a living witness?”

Wei Xiaobao inquired the details of the fighting between the Imperial Bodyguards and the assassins, while his eyes carefully watched the imperial physicians applying the medicine. Among the wounded Imperial Bodyguards, some received external cuts from sabers and spears, some received internal injury from fists and palms, some had their bones dislocated or broken. Wei Xiaobao said, ”I'd better have some of those medicines by my side; if the Imperial Bodyguard brothers in the Palace are wounded while there's not enough time to summon the imperial physicians, I can give everybody good treatment first. Humph, those assassins are extremely vicious and wicked with enormous guts; since we cannot catch everybody in one net today, it's difficult to say that they won't come back.”

Several Imperial Bodyguards said, ”Gui Gong-gong shows great empathy to Imperial Bodyguard brothers, indeed it is a thorough thought.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”A moment ago I was besieged by three assassins, I killed one, the other two fellows ran away. But my waist was also severely hit by the assassin's palm, at this time it is still sore.” While in his heart he said, ”The Old Whore came to assassinate laozi, isn't she an assassin? This time laozi did not lie.”

As soon as the four imperial physicians heard this, they left the Imperial Bodyguards immediately to attend to him. They untied his gown to examine him, and saw a large purplish black bruise on his lower back; busily they prepared the medicine for him, to be applied externally and taken orally.

Wei Xiaobao asked the imperial physicians to wrap each kind of medicine into a large package, which he then tucked into his bosom, while also asking for directions on the usage of the medicine. He also took two pieces of splint to be applied to the injury. And then again he praised and expressed sympathy to everybody before leaving.

His experience was limited, his words were a mess, and extremely inappropriate; during praising and expressing his sympathy, he used a lot of marketplace obscenities. Although the Imperial Bodyguards mostly came from imperial clan and noble families, but most of them were uncouth military people, who did not care much about 'his granny' or 'eighteen-generation ancestor'. Since they were injured by the assassins, they came to the realization that their skill was still inferior to the intruders. When they saw that His Majesty's favorite eunuch was also injured in the fight against the assassins, they were even more depressed. But then suddenly they received praises from Gui Gong-gong, which was equal to receiving His Majesty's imperial decree commending their effort. Even if he rained curses on them, they would have accepted it gladly, much less praises scattered with random words? Their hearts were in full bloom, while wishing that the wound in their bodies was several cun longer.

Returning to his own room, Wei Xiaobao inclined his head and listened attentively outside the window first; after making sure that the room was quiet, he said in a low voice, ”Xiao Junzhu, it's me, I'm back.” He was afraid that if he rashly climbed over the window, the woman would chop him with a saber or stab him with a sword, then he may have to use the several packages of medicine in his pocket first.

Xiao Junzhu happily said, ”Um, I have been waiting for you for a long time.” Wei Xiaobao crawled into the room, closed the window, lighted the candle, and raised the mosquito net. He saw the two maidens were lying side by side on the bed. When the woman's gaze met with his, she closed her eyes immediately. But Xiao Junzhu was looking at him with her bright and clear eyes, her gaze revealed gratitude.

”Xiao Junzhu,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Let me apply to medicine on you.”

”No,” Xiao Junzhu replied, ”Treat my Shijie first. Please give the medicine to me, I will apply it on her.”

”What do you mean 'you' and 'I'?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”That's not how we call each other.”

Xiao Junzhu laughed vaguely, ”What's your real name?” she asked, ”I heard they call you Gui Gong-gong.”

”They call me Gui Gong-gong, but what should you call me?” Wei Xiaobao said.

Xiao Junzhu closed her eyes slightly and said in a low voice, ”In my heart ... in my heart I call you Good ... Good Gege, but if I keep calling you that with my mouth, this can't be ... can't be ... good.”

”Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Let's make a rule; when there are people around, I call you Xiao Junzhu, you call me Gui Dage. When nobody's around, I call you 'Good Meizi', you call me 'Good Gege'.”

Before Xiao Junzhu replied, the woman opened her eyes and said, ”Xiao Junzhu, that's so sickeningly disgusting, he is taking advantage of you, don't listen to him.”

”Humph,” Wei Xiaobao snorted, ”Nobody asked you to call me, why do you have to meddle into other people's business? You want to call me Good Gege, I don't want to hear it.”

”What do you want her to call you, then?” Xiao Junzhu asked.

”I only want her to call me 'Good Husband', 'Dear Husband',” Wei Xiaobao said.

The woman blushed, a look of disdain appeared on her face; she said, ”You want to be someone's husband? You need to be reincarnated.”

”Alright, alright,” Xiao Junzhu said, ”You two are not nemesis from the previous incarnation, why do you bicker as soon as you meet? Gui Dage, please give me the medicine.”

”I'll apply the medicine on you first,” Wei Xiaobao said. Lifting up the quilt, he rolled Xiao Junzhu's pants up and disassembled the bench legs he used as splint earlier, and then he spread the medicine on the broken calf bone before tying it firmly with the new splint. Xiao Junzhu expressed her gratitude repeatedly, she sounded very sincere.

”What is my wife's name?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Xiao Junzhu was startled. ”Your wife?” she asked. Seeing Wei Xiaobao pouted toward the woman, she smiled and said, ”You love to crack jokes; my Shijie is surnamed Fang, her given name ...”

”Don't tell him!” the woman anxiously said.

Hearing that her surname was Fang, Wei Xiaobao immediately recalled the Mu Palace's Four Great Generals, Liu Bai Fang Su; thereupon he said, ”Her surname is Fang, of course I know. That 'Divine Physician Hermit' Su Gang and the 'Twin Tree of the Bai Clan' Bai Hansong and Bai Hanfeng are all my relatives.”

Hearing him mentioning the names of Su Gang and the Bai Brothers, both Xiao Junzhu and the woman was greatly amazed. ”How ... how are they related to you?” Xiao Junzhu asked.

”Liu Bai Fang Su, four great generals,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Naturally we are related.”

Xiao Junzhu was even more surprised, ”It's really hard to believe,” she said.

”Xiao Junzhu,” the woman said, ”Don't believe his nonsense. This boy is very bad, he is not my relative. Having a relative like him will only bring bad luck.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed heartily; he gave the medicine to Xiao Junzhu, and then leaned close to her ears and whispered, ”Good Meizi, whisper her name to me.”

However, the two young girls were lying next to each other, although Wei Xiaobao was whispering, the woman heard it clearly. ”Don't tell him,” she said anxiously.

The woman was unable to move, she was very angry to be sniffed by this mischievous kid's nostrils; fortunately he was a young boy, and listening to the Imperial Bodyguards a moment ago, she knew that he was a court eunuch, so he must be only fooling around by saying those naughty things, he would not possibly molest her for real, so there was no real reason for her to be frightened. However, seeing him pursing his lips to really kiss her, she busily said, ”Alright, alright, tell my name to this little demon!”

Xiao Junzhu laughed, and then said, ”My Shijie is surnamed Fang, her given name is a single character, 'Yi' [harmony/joy], the 'yi' (怡 ) character with 'xin' ( 心 ) radical on the left and 'tai' (台 ) on the right.”

Wei Xiaobao simply did not know how to write the character 'yi', he just nodded his head and said, ”Um, this name is not so bad, but cannot be considered very good either. Xiao Junzhu, what is your name?”

”I am called Mu Jianping [or Mu Jianbing],” Xiao Junzhu replied, ”Ping from 'ping feng' (standing screen) and not from 'fu ping' (duckweed).”

Wei Xiaobao did not know the difference between those two 'ping' characters; he said, ”This name is comparatively better, but still not a first-class name.”

”Your name must be first class,” Fang Yi said, ”I wonder how good is your respected surname and great given name?”

Wei Xiaobao was startled, he mused, ”I can't tell them my real name, while there is nothing special about the name Xiao Guizi.” Thereupon he said, ”My surname is Wu [I/my (old)], since I am an eunuch in the Palace, everybody call me Wu Laogong[4].”

Fang Yi sneered and said, ”Wu Laogong, Wu Laogong, this name is actually very …” Speaking to this point, she suddenly realized that she had fallen into his trick. ”Pei!” she spat, ”Talk nonsense!”

Xiao Junzhu Mu Jianping said, ”You lie again, I heard they called you Gui Gong-gong, you are not surnamed Wu.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Men call me Gui Gong-gong, women call me Wu Laogong.”

Fang Yi said, ”I know your real name.”

Wei Xiaobao was slightly startled. ”How do you know?” he asked.

”I know your surname is Hu ( 胡 ),” Fang Yi said, ”And your given name is Shuo ( 说 ) character written eight different ways ( 八道 )[5].”

Wei Xiaobao burst out in laughter; hearing Fang Yi, his breathing was back to normal. He said, ”Good Meizi, apply the medicine on her, don't let her die of pain. I, Wu Laogong, only have one wife, if this wife died, the second wife cannot live up to the first.”

Mu Jianping said, ”Shijie said you talk rubbish (see footnote 5), sure enough, she is right.” Releasing the mosquito net, she raised the quilt to apply medicine on Fang Yi. ”Gui Dage,” she asked, ”What should I do with the blood-stopping medicine you applied earlier?”

”Has the blood stopped flowing?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

”It has,” Mu Jianping replied. Actually, honey is very effective to stop bleeding, it has high viscosity, and will adhere well to the wound, hence unexpectedly her bleeding stopped. As for the lotus seed paste, bean paste and the other ingredients, although they were not medicine, but when applied to the wound, they could also stop the bleeding.

Wei Xiaobao was delighted; he said, ”The effectiveness of my miracle medicine surpasses Bodhisattva's magic potion, do you believe it now? With those many pearls in it, when applied to her chest, after the wound is healed, her breast will be exceedingly good-looking, will have the 'bashful flower obstructing the moon' appearance. Too bad only my son will be able to see it.”

”Pfft,” Mu Jianping stifled her laugh. ”Your talk is really amusing,” she said, ”Why is it only your son can …”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”When she nurses my son, naturally my son will be able to see.”

”Pei!” Fang Yi spat. Mu Jianping just stared with her big round eyes; she did not understand why her Shijie would nurse his son.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Gently wipe the blood stopping miracle medicine clean, then apply the cut wound medicine.”

”Yes,” Mu Jianping complied.

Right this moment, suddenly they heard someone outside the door calling out with a loud and clear voice, ”Gui Gong-gong, are you asleep?”

”I am,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Who is it? Whatever it is, let's talk about it tomorrow!”

The man outside said, ”Subordinate Officer Rui Dong.”

Wei Xiaobao was shocked, ”Ah!” he exclaimed, ”It's Deputy Chief Rui, I wonder … I wonder what's the matter?”

Rui Dong was the Deputy Chief of the Imperial Bodyguards. When he was chatting with the Imperial Bodyguards, he learned that everybody admired this Deputy Chief Rui's profound martial art skill, which was second only to Dolong, the Chief of the Imperial Bodyguards; he was an extraordinary character among the Imperial Bodyguards. For the last few years he was frequently outside the Palace on official business, so Wei Xiaobao had never seen him.

Rui Dong said, ”Subordinate Officer has an urgent business I need to discuss with Gui Gong-gong. My apology for disturbing Gui Gong-gong's peaceful slumber.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”What is he up to, coming here in the middle of the night? I'm sure he knew I am concealing an assassin in my room, so he came to search; what should I do? If I don't open the door, he may break it down. These two young girls are injured, it's too late to run away now. I will have to act according to the circumstance, I'll trick him to go away.”

Rui Dong continued, ”This matter is of great responsibility, otherwise I would not dare to disturb Gong-gong's dream.”

”Alright, I'll open the door,” Wei Xiaobao said. Turning toward the bed, he said in a low voice, ”You must not make any noise.” He walked to the outer room, closed the door behind him, and braced himself to open the front door. He saw a tall and powerfully built man standing outside the door, the top of his own head was still shorter than the back of the man's neck.

Rui Dong cupped his fist and said, ”Gong-gong, please forgive my disturbance.”

”You are too kind! You are too kind!” Wei Xiaobao replied. He looked up to examine Rui Dong's countenance, but saw neither smiling expression nor angry look, so he really could not read his intention. ”What is the urgent matter, Deputy Chief Rui?” he asked; but he did not invite Rui Dong in.

”Just now I received the Empress Dowager's imperial order,” Rui Dong replied, ”She said that assassins were breaking into the Palace tonight, committing treason and heresy. She ordered me to inquire clearly from Gui Gong-gong.”

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard 'Empress Dowager's imperial order', four words, he knew the turn of events was not too encouraging. ”That's right!” he said, ”I was just about to inquire clearly from you. A moment ago I paid my respect to His Majesty, His Majesty said, 'This servant Rui Dong is very brazen, as soon as he returned to the Palace, humph, humph …'”

Rui Dong was greatly shocked. ”What else did His Majesty say?” he asked.

Actually, Wei Xiaobao was talking nonsense to him to stall for time, while he thought about a way to escape. Seeing those few words had enticed him to take the bait, he said, ”His Majesty instructed me to conduct investigation among the Imperial Bodyguards as soon as it is daybreak. He wanted to know who has prompted this servant Rui Dong to lure the assassins to enter the Palace? What is the plot behind it? Who else is involved in this conspiracy?”

Rui Dong was even more shocked; with a trembling voice he said, ”His … His Majesty said … said that I lured the assassins to enter the Palace? Which crafty villain has told His Majesty that nonsense? This … isn't this an enormous injustice?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”His Majesty instructed me to do the investigation quietly, he said, 'If that servant Rui Dong heard the rumor, he is bound to come and kill you; you must be very careful.' I said, 'His Majesty, please be rest assured, even if that servant Rui Dong has courage as big as the sky, he will not dare to commit murder inside the Palace.' His Majesty said, 'Humph, that is not necessarily true. If this servant unexpectedly dared to lure the assassins into the Palace to harm me, what other business he did not dare to do?'”

Rui Dong anxiously said, ”You … you talk nonsense! I did not lure the assassins to enter the Palace, His Majesty … His Majesty will not recklessly accuse a good man. Tonight I have personally killed three assassins; a lot of Imperial Bodyguards brothers witnessed it. His Majesty can summon them to be questioned.” While speaking, the blue veins on his forehead suddenly appeared, his hands were clenched into fists.

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”I must scare him out of his wits first, so that he will be at a loss of what to do, then come daybreak, Laozi will flee from the Palace. But what should I do with that Xiao Junzhu and Fang Yi? Humph, like a clay Bodhisattva fording a river, laozi can't guarantee my own safety; if I can escape alive, then we'll talk. I don't care if she is Xiao Junzhu or Lao Junzhu, Fang Yi or Yuan Yi[6]. Laozi won't become fake eunuch anymore, won't become the Xiangzhu of the Green Wood Hall. I am taking that four hundred fifty thousand taels back to Yangzhou, to open Lovely Summer Courtyard, Lovely Autumn Courtyard and Lovely Winter Courtyard.” He said, ”So it wasn't you who lured the assassins into the Palace?”

”Of course not,” Rui Dong said, ”The Empress Dowager said that it was you who led them into the Palace. Empress Dowager ordered me not to listen to your graceful words, flowery speech, to execute you with a palm strike.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”I am afraid the two of us have been framed by some crafty villains. Deputy Chief Rui, don't you worry, I am going to explain everything to His Majesty. As long as you really did not lure the assassin, although His Majesty is young, he is very wise, plus he trusts me completely, so this matter can be brought to light.”

”Alright,” Rui Dong said, ”Thank you very much! Now come with me to see the Empress Dowager.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”In the dead of the night, why would I see the Empress Dowager? It will be better to see His Majesty as soon as possible. I am afraid people are coming to arrest you on imperial orders by now. Deputy Chief Rui, let me tell you this: when the Imperial Bodyguards come to arrest you, you must not resist at all; if you do, it won't be easy to wash away the criminal charge against you.”

The muscle on Rui Dong's face trembled continuously; he angrily said, ”Empress Dowager said that you like talking nonsense the most, and she was right. I did not commit any crime, why would I want to resist arrest? Come with me to see the Empress Dowager!”

Wei Xiaobao leaned over and said in a low voice, ”Look, those who want to arrest you are coming!” Rui Dong's countenance changed; he turned his head around to look. Wei Xiaobao turned around and bolted into the room.

When Rui Dong saw there was nobody behind him, he knew he was being swindled. Quickly he ran after him into the room; he leaped and stretched out his hand to grab Wei Xiaobao's back.

Actually, Wei Xiaobao's threat had frightened Rui Dong very much. If Wei Xiaobao insisted on seeing the Emperor, most likely Rui Dong would not dare to stop him with force. However, Wei Xiaobao had hidden two women in his room, one of them was definitely an assassin who entered the Palace to create trouble. Since the plot had already fallen through and stood exposed, plus the Empress Dowager had personally come to take his life, how could he dare to explain everything to the Emperor? As soon as Rui Dong fell into his trick by turning his head, Wei Xiaobao dashed into the room, hoping that he could escape via the window. He was thinking that the imperial garden was full of fake rocks and flowering shrubs, hiding in the dark of the night, perhaps he would not be too easy to be found. Unexpectedly Rui Dong was very quick; Wei Xiaobao had just reached the door, Rui Dong had caught up with him.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao was inside the room, he jumped toward the window sill, and was about to jump out, Rui Dong sent out a palm strike toward Wei Xiaobao's back with a strong gust of wind. Wei Xiaobao's legs buckled and turned soft, and he fell down. Rui Dong reached out with his left hand to grab Wei Xiaobao's waist. Wei Xiaobao unleashed the full potential of qinna technique he knew, parrying Rui Dong's hand with both hands; but he was small, and his strength was feeble, his body swayed and 'splash!' he fell into a large water tub. The water tub was originally used by Hai Laogong to treat his injury. After Hai Laogong's death, Wei Xiaobao had not ordered his men to take it out.

Rui Dong laughed aloud and reached down into the tub, but he only grabbed empty space, because Wei Xiaobao had quickly curled his body up. Yet because the water tub was not too big, by the next grab Rui Dong managed to seize the back of Wei Xiaobao's collar, and raised him up, still dripping wet.

Wei Xiaobao opened his mouth and spurted water into Rui Dong's eyes, while throwing himself forward to embrace Rui Dong's chest, and snaked his left arm behind Rui Dong's neck. Rui Dong let out a loud shout and shook his body several times, his hand holding the back of Wei Xiaobao's collar gradually loosened. His face was full of water, but his eyes were open very wide, with a mixture of startled, frightened, and perplexed expression on his face. His throat made a gurgling noise, as if he wanted to speak but could not speak. There was a light stabbing noise, the tip of a dagger appeared on his chest and sliced down to his lower abdomen, cutting up a long gash along his torso.

With eyes wide open Rui Dong looked at the dagger, he did not know where the dagger had come from. From his chest down to his abdomen blood was gushing out wildly, suddenly he fell backward. Until his death he still did not know how Wei Xiaobao had killed him.

”Hey!” Wei Xiaobao exclaimed; he pulled the dagger with his left hand, while bringing out his right hand from his own long gown. What happened was that when he fell into the water tub, while curling up his body, he extracted the dagger and hid it inside his long gown facing outward. He spurted the water onto Rui Dong's face that he could not open his eyes, and then Wei Xiaobao threw himself forward. As he embraced Rui Dong, the sharp dagger that can cut iron like slicing mud pierced Rui Dong's chest. If they were in a real fight, ten Wei Xiaobaos were not Rui Dong's match, but in the flurry of hasty and strange turn of events, this awe-inspiring, illustrious Deputy Chief Rui had fallen into Wei Xiaobao's plot.

How Wei Xiaobao and Rui Dong, two people, dashed into the room, how Wei Xiaobao fell into the water tub, Fang Yi and Mu Jianping were able to see everything clearly from behind the mosquito net; but as Rui Dong grabbed Wei Xiaobao out of the tub and was killed immediately, Fang and Mu, two women were unable to make head or tail of what trick Wei Xiaobao had used.

Wei Xiaobao wanted to toot his own horn, he said, ”I … I … this … this …” only to head his own voice sounded hoarse, unexpectedly he was unable to speak, but his narrow escape from the death just now had scared him out of his wits.

”Thank Heaven and thank the Earth,” Mu Jianping said, ”Unexpectedly you … have killed this Tatar.”

”This Rui Dong's nickname is 'Unequalled Iron Palm',” Fang Yi said, ”Tonight he had killed three or our Mu Palace's brothers. You have avenged us, very good, very good!”

Wei Xiaobao calmed down and said, ”He was the 'Unequalled Iron Palm', but he could not match me, Wei … Gui Gong-gong, Wu Laogong. I am a first-class martial art expert, naturally it's not the same.” Stretching out his hand, he groped Rui Dong's pocket, and took out a booklet full of small characters, and several other documents.

He thought, ”A moment ago the Empress Dowager personally came to kill me, she must be afraid I would find her secret and reveal it out. Afterwards she also sent this Rui Dong to kill me, on a random accusation that I led the assassins into the Palace. She has been waiting for a while now, if she did not see Rui Dong return, she would send another man over. I might as well strike first and gain the upper hand by immediately going to His Majesty to lodge a complaint. Come daybreak, laozi will flee the Palace and won't comeback.”

He said to Fang Yi, ”I must go out and start a rumor that this Rui Dong has colluded with your Mu Palace people. Good wi … good wi … Miss Fang (he was going to call her 'good wife', but realizing the urgency of the situation, he knew he must not fool around and thus fail the important matter, therefore, he corrected himself by calling her 'Miss Fang'), what was your real intention in entering the Palace tonight? Did you intend to assassinate the Emperor? I urge you not to assassinate the young emperor; that old wh0re the Empress Dowager is not a good thing, it would be much better if you assassinate her.”

”Since you are one of us, it's not a big deal to tell you the truth,” Fang Yi said, ”We disguised ourselves as the subordinated of Wu Yingxiong, Wu Sangui's son, coming to the Palace to assassinate the Tatar Emperor. If everything went well, of course it would be great, but if not, we hope in his anger the Emperor would kill Wu Sangui.”

”Phew!” Wei Xiaobao let out a breath and said, ”Brilliant scheme! Brilliant scheme! But how are you going to implicate Wu Sangui?”

Fang Yi said, ”On our undergarments we deliberately leave some marking, the seal of troops under Ping Xi Wang's command, also our weapons and secret projectiles are engraved with Ping Xi Wang's Palace inscription. We have several old weapons bearing the inscription 'Regional Commander Office of Shanhai Pass[7] of The Great Ming'.”

”What for?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Fang Yi explained, ”Before that servant Wu Sangui surrendered to the Tatars, he was the Regional Commander of our Great Ming's Shanhai Pass.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded. ”This scheme is very formidable,” he said.

Fang Yi continued, ”We entered the Palace this time, in all likelihood there would be people die for our country, in that case the marking on their clothes will be discovered by the Tatars. Supposing that we were caught, at first we won't confess, then after the Tatars beat us until we are hovering between life and death, only then will we confess that we have received Ping Xi Wang's order to come and assassinate the Emperor. As soon as we entered the Palace, we abandoned engraved weapons everywhere, so that if by chance we all are lucky enough to retreat completely, we have already left some incriminating evidence.” She was talking with excitement, her breathing gradually quickened, a blush appeared on her cheeks.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”So you came to the Palace not to rescue Xiao Junzhu at all?”

”Of course not,” Fang Yi replied, ”We are not immortals, how could we know Xiao Junzhu was unexpectedly in the Palace?”

Wei Xiaobao nodded. ”Do you have any engraved weapon with you?” he asked.

”I do!” Fang Yi replied. From the quilt she produced a sword, but her arm was lacking strength that she was unable to raise the sword up.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Luckily I did not sleep by your side, otherwise you would have killed me with the sword.” Fang Yi blushed, she glowered at him.

Wei Xiaobao took the sword and concealed it in Rui Dong's dead body's waist. ”I am going to lodge a complaint that this Rui Dong was in cahoots with the assassins; isn't it enough evidence?” he said.

Fang Yi shook her head and said, ”Look at the sword, what characters are engraved there?”

Wei Xiaobao asked her back, ”What characters are engraved there?” In any case, even if he looked at the engraving he would not recognize any character, so he would rather not look.

Fang Yi said, ”Those are the eight characters 'Regional Commander Office of Shanhai Pass of The Great Ming'; this Rui Dong was a Manchu, he could not be an officer under the Regional Commander of Shanhai Pass of The Great Ming.”

”Um,” Wei Xiaobao retrieved the sword and put it back on the bed, saying, ”What kind of booty should I hide on his body then?” And then he got an idea, ”Got it!” he said. He took the two strings of pearls he received as gift from Wu Yingxiong earlier, and the pair of emerald chicken, and also the bundle of gold banknotes, and stuffed everything into Rui Dong's pocket. He knew the gold banknotes were issued by a Beijing bank, Wu Yingxiong must have sent his men to buy them. They only need to investigate the bank, and then the origin of the banknotes would be found out. This way of framing somebody was truly flawless; he said in his heart, ”Heir Apparent Wu, oh Heir Apparent Wu, it's very important for laozi to save my own life, I have no choice but to offend you.”

Picking up Rui Dong's body, he was thinking of moving the body into the garden outside, but he only took a single step when suddenly he heard footsteps outside the room. He lay the body back down gently, and heard someone called, ”His Majesty's order: Xiao Guizi to wait upon His Majesty immediately.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted; he thought, ”I was worried that I could not see His Majesty tonight, and then everything will go wrong again. Presently His Majesty is summoning me, nothing's better than that. I can't move Rui Dong's body now.” He replied, ”Yes, let your servant change clothes, and then I'll go immediately.”

He gently shoved Rui Dong's body underneath the bed, and then made some hand signals to Xiao Junzhu and Fang Yi, telling them to stay under the quilt and not make any movement. Then he hurriedly took off his wet clothes and changed into another set of clothing. Although the black silk padded vest was also wet, he did not remove it.