Chapter - 12 (12) (1/2)

At the Upper Study Room Kangxi asked about the assassins' martial art style. Wei Xiaobao had a brainwave, his hands and feet drew a living picture, he demonstrated two moves. Kangxi recognized the Mu Family's martial art style, one was 'Sweeping Away a Thousand Army', the other was 'High mountain flowing water'; he was very happy.

Wei Xiaobao went out the front door and saw four eunuchs standing outside, but he did not recognize a single one.

The leader said, ”Gui Gong-gong, very late at night His Majesty wanted to see you, tsk tsk tsk, the way His Majesty is treating you needs not be mentioned. Where is Deputy Chief Rui? His Majesty also sends for him, so he can have audience together with Gui Gong-gong.”

Wei Xiaobao shivered inwardly, he said, ”Has Deputy Chief Rui returned to the Palace? I have never seen him.”

”Is that so?” the eunuch said, ”Let us go first then.” Finished speaking, he turned around and walked off.

Wei Xiaobao was inwardly bewildered, ”Why did he ask me about Deputy Chief Rui? How did His Majesty know that Deputy Chief Rui came to see me?” He also thought, ”I am a Vice Manager eunuch, my rank is a lot higher than yours, how can you walk in front of me? You are not a young eunuch, could it be that you don't understand the Palace's custom?” He asked, ”Gong-gong, what's your honorable surname? We haven't seen each other often in the past.”

The eunuch replied, ”I am only a low-level eunuch having no fixed duties, naturally Gui Gong-gong does not remember me.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”His Majesty is sending Gong-gong to summon me, that's not the job of a low-level eunuch having no fixed duties.” While talking, he noticed that the eunuch was turning westward, while the Emperor's personal palace was on the northeast side. ”Are you lost?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

”No,” the eunuch replied, ”His Majesty is paying his respect to the Empress Dowager. With the disturbance of the assassins just now, he was afraid it startled the Compassionate One. We are going to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful.”

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard that they were going to see the Empress Dowager, he was shocked and instantly halted his steps. From the three eunuchs walking behind him, two suddenly moved to the side and stood to the left and right of him, so that the four people surrounded him in the middle.

Wei Xiaobao was even more alarmed; he cried inwardly, ”Bad, bad! It's not His Majesty who sent for me, clearly it is the Empress Dowager who wants to get me.” Although he did not know whether these four people knew martial art or not, with one against four he would not be able to achieve a short victory, as soon as the fight started, the Imperial Bodyguards would hear and would rush in, how could he escape? His heart was thumping madly, but with a chuckle he said, ”So we are going to the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful? That's great! Each time the Empress Dowager sees me, she always bestows me, if not money, then candy, cakes and pastries. The Empress Dowager treats her servants very well. She said I am a gluttonous little child, she always bestows me a lot of things to eat.” While speaking, he started walking again toward the winding corridor leading to the Empress Dowager's personal palace. Seeing him heading toward the Palace of Compassionate and Peaceful just like he said, the four eunuchs resumed their former position of one in front and three behind.

”Last time I saw the Empress Dowager, my luck was really good,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Empress Dowager said that by arresting Oboi, my meritorious service was not small, so she bestowed me five thousand taels of gold and twenty thousand taels of silver. My strength is indeed too small, how could I move them all? Empress Dowager said: 'If you can't move them all, move them slowly. Xiao Guizi, what are you going to do with your money?' I said, 'Reporting to Empress Dowager: your servant loves to make friends the most, now that I have gold and silver in my possession, whichever eunuch comes to your servant, your servant will simply give them some. Let everybody become rich and spend the money together!'” His mouth was blabbering nonsense, his brain was racing with thoughts of escape plan.

One of the eunuchs behind him said, ”How could she bestow you that much?”

”Ha, you don't believe me?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Look at me.” From his pocket he fished a large bundle of banknotes; some were five-hundred tael denominations, some were a thousand tael denominations, and some were two-thousand tael denominations.

Under the lantern light, the banknotes looked genuine. The four eunuchs were breathless, they all halted their steps.

Wei Xiaobao pulled four banknotes, and said with a laugh, ”His Majesty and Empress Dowager unceasingly bestow me with money, how can I spend everything by myself? Here I have four banknotes, two-thousand taels and one-thousand taels worth, four brothers may try your luck, each of you draw out one banknote.”

Four eunuchs did not believe him, where in the world would there be anybody who handed several thousand taels of money casually like that? Nobody reached out to draw.

”I have too much money with me,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”And I have nowhere to spend it, sometimes I am not too happy. Right now I am going to see Empress Dowager and His Majesty, I don't know how much more money they are going to bestow me.” While saying that, he held the banknotes high above his head that the banknotes fluttered in the wind, while with the corner of his eyes he looked around at the surrounding terrain.

One of the eunuchs laughed and said, ”Gui Gong-gong, are you really going to give the banknotes to us? You are not joking, are you?”

”Why would I joke?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Which brother in our Catering Department has never received a thousand or eight hundred taels from me? Come, come, come, try your luck. Which brother will draw first?”

Giggling, the eunuch said, ”I'll draw first.”

”Wait a moment,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”All of you, look clearly.” He held the four banknotes under the lantern light. The four eunuchs looked distinctly, the banknotes were really of one-thousand tael and two-thousand tael denominations, they could not restrain their faces from changing. Eunuchs cannot take wife and raise a family, they cannot serve in the army or take official post; therefore, they are twice more fond of gold, silver and other belongings than ordinary people. Although these four men had been serving in the Palace for a long time, they had never seen a one-thousand tael or two-thousand tael banknotes.

Wei Xiaobao raised his hand and let the banknotes fluttered in the wind, he laughed and said, ”Alright, this Dage can draw first!”

The eunuch reached out, but before his finger touched the banknotes, Wei Xiaobao let go, four banknotes were blown by the wind, lightly fluttered in the air, and flew toward the cluster of flowers. ”Aiyo!” Wei Xiaobao cried out, ”Why didn't you grab firmly? Hurry, hurry, whoever grabs the banknote, it will belong to him.” The four eunuchs leaped to run after the banknotes.

”Grab it quick! Don't let it fly away!” Wei Xiaobao called out. He ducked down and quickly slipped into an opening between the fake rocks, which he had already picked beforehand. He knew that the fake rocks in this area of the imperial garden were extremely numerous, with series of winding caves. Once he entered in, he would not be easy to find in a short time.

The four eunuchs ran after the banknotes, two picked one banknote each, one caught two banknotes, but one was left empty-handed. These two immediately broke into an argument. One eunuch said, ”Gui Gong-gong says that whoever grabs the banknote, it will belong to him, so these two banknotes are mine.”

The other one said, ”We have agreed on one banknote per person, quickly give my share of one banknote to me. I'll be happy to take the one-thousand taels note.”

”What one-thousand taels note?” the other eunuch said, ”It's easy for you to say. You won't get even one tael.”

The one who did not get any banknotes grabbed him by the chest, saying, ”Are you or are you not going to give it to me? We'll ask Gui Gong-gong to be the judge.” But when he turned around, Wei Xiaobao had already disappeared. The four eunuchs were shocked; they cried out together and looked for him everywhere. The one who did not get any banknote was unwilling to give up; he grabbed the one who had two banknotes by the front of his jacket and demanded him to give his share.

Wei Xiaobao had already a dozen of zhang away inside the cave, hearing the two people shouting and arguing, he was secretly amused; he thought, ”I am going to hide until daybreak, then I'll slip out of the Palace from the side door, and never to come back.”

He heard one of the eunuchs said, ”Empress Dowager has ordered us that whatever happens we must summon Gui Gong-gong and Deputy Chief Rui immediately. He … he … where can he hide?”

Another eunuch said, ”He is in the Palace, he can't hide too far. Only, we must not say anything about him giving us banknotes. Hao Xiongdi, you'd better give one of your two banknotes to Xiao Lao, otherwise he might reveal it, then we all cannot get the riches, that will be really bad.”

Suddenly Wei Xiaobao heard footsteps, there were people coming from the west. One of them said, ”With the disturbance of the assassins in the Palace tonight, I am afraid everybody will receive disciplinary action tomorrow.” As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard this, he knew they were Palace Imperial Bodyguards.

Another man said, ”I hope Gui Gong-gong will speak several words of praise in front of His Majesty.”

Yet another man commented, ”Although Gui Gong-gong is young, he really treasures friendship with other people; someone like him is truly rare.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted, he slipped out of the cave and said in a low voice, ”Brothers, please be quiet.”

The two leading Imperial Bodyguards raised their lanterns. ”Gui Gong-gong,” they called softly.

Wei Xiaobao saw there were about fifteen, sixteen Imperial Bodyguards, they were precisely the group of men who came to his window a moment ago. He remembered some of their names. ”Zhang Dage, Zhao Dage,” he said, ”The four eunuchs over there are colluding with the assassins, quickly arrest them, your meritorious service won't be small.” He then proceeded by calling several other names, ”He Dage, E Dage, please seal those four people's mute acupoints first, or strike their chin first, don't let them shout loudly and thus disturbing His Majesty.”

Hearing it was only four eunuchs, the Imperial Bodyguards thought nothing of it; they made hand signal and blew out the lanterns. Crouching down low, they slowly crept forward. Out of the four eunuchs, two were busy looking for Wei Xiaobao in the caves, while the other two were still bickering over the banknotes, nobody paid any attention to their surroundings. The Imperial Bodyguards closed in from all directions; with a low whistle everybody come out, three, four men rounded up one eunuch, very soon the four eunuchs were pinned to the ground. These Imperial Bodyguards did not have high level of martial art skill, nobody knew how to seal acupoints; some of them used qin na technique, some used their palms and fists, they all struck and dislodged the four eunuchs' chins. The eunuchs tried to open their mouths, but were unable to make any noise. Not knowing what had happened, they were extremely frightened.

Wei Xiaobao pointed toward a building off to the side. ”Drag them in and interrogate!” he shouted. The Imperial Bodyguards dragged the eunuchs on the ground toward the front hall of the building. Somebody lighted the lantern and raised it high. Wei Xiaobao sat in the middle of the hall, the Imperial Bodyguards dragged the eunuchs and made them kneel down in front of him.

These four eunuchs had received the Empress Dowager's order to arrest Wei Xiaobao, how could they be willing to kneel down in front of him? The Imperial Bodyguards punched and kicked and made them kneel.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Just now the four of you were sneaky, what were you fighting about? Saying one-thousand taels is yours, two-thousand taels is mine? You also said something about the luck of the friends from the outside was not good, that a lot of them were killed by the dogs Imperial Bodyguards. Who are these 'friends from the outside'? Why did you call Imperial Bodyguards the 'dogs Imperial Bodyguards'?”

The Imperial Bodyguards were angry, they kicked these four people's backs. In their belly the four eunuchs cried out, 'Injustice!' but how could they utter anything?

Wei Xiaobao continued, ”I was following behind you, I heard one of you said, 'It was me who lead the way, those two banknotes were given to me, how can I share it with you?'” While saying that, he pointed to the eunuch who caught two banknotes, and then he pointed to the eunuch who did not get anything and said, ”You said, 'We all did this important matter together, beheading or confiscation of property, the criminal charge is the same, why can't you share it with me? That won't do, you must share.'” And then he pointed to another eunuch and said, ”You said, 'Hao Xiongdi, you'd better give one of your two banknotes to Xiao Lao, otherwise he might reveal it, then we all cannot get the riches, that will be really bad.' You did say that, didn't you? What important matter did you do together? Why is there any criminal charge of beheading or confiscation of property? What banknotes have to be shared?”

The Imperial Bodyguards said, ”They guided the assassins into the Palace, naturally the criminal charge is either beheading or confiscation of property. As for the banknotes to be shared, let's just search their bodies.” As soon as they searched, immediately those four banknotes were found. Seeing such a huge amount of money on the banknotes, the Imperial Bodyguards were shouting and yelling. One ordinary eunuch's monthly salary was only four to six taels of silver; suddenly each of them had a huge sum of money in their possession, how could the accusation be false?

The Imperial Bodyguard by the surname Zhao asked the eunuch who had two banknotes, ”Are you surnamed Hao?” The eunuch nodded. The Imperial Bodyguard surnamed Zhao also asked the eunuch who did not have any banknote, ”And you are surnamed Lao?” The eunuch's countenance turned ghastly pale, but he also nodded.

Another Imperial Bodyguard said, ”Alright, the assassins gave you this much money, and you led them in. You call them 'friends from the outside' and call us 'dogs Imperial Bodyguards'. Your granny!” He lifted his foot and kicked as hard as he could, the eunuch surnamed Hao's eyes were bulging, while his mouth repeatedly made a 'heh, heh' noise.

”Don't be rude and hasty,” the Imperial Bodyguard surnamed Zhao said, ”We must interrogate well.” Stooping down, he reached onto the eunuch surnamed Lao's jaw and fixed his chin.

Wei Xiaobao shouted, ”What you did was a big thing, who actually prompted you? How dare you! Quickly confess!”

”Injustice! Injustice!” the eunuch cried out, ”It was the Empress Dowager who ordered us …”

Wei Xiaobao leaped forward and closed his mouth; ”Nonsense!” he shouted, ”You dare to say such thing? If you talk too much, I'll kill you immediately.” With his right hand he drew the dagger, turning over the hilt, he knocked the crown of the eunuch's head twice so that he fainted. Turning his head toward the Imperial Bodyguards, Wei Xiaobao said, ”He said they received the order from the Empress Dowager. This … this … we are facing an imminent catastrophe.”

The Imperial Bodyguards' countenances immediately changed, they said, ”The Empress Dowager ordered them to let the assassins entering the Palace?” They all knew that the Emperor was not the Empress Dowager's son, the Empress Dowager was always astute and firm, could it be that the Emperor had offended the Empress Dowager, and thus ... and thus

there was a constant strife within the Palace gates? It was such a dreadful intrigue, and unexpectedly they were now being implicated, which was really a matter of life and death.

Wei Xiaobao asked another eunuch, ”Was it really the Empress Dowager who sent you to do this thing? This a matter of great responsibility, you must not talk nonsense. Was it really the Empress Dowager?” The eunuch was unable to speak, he could only nod his head repeatedly.

”These several banknotes,” Wei Xiaobao asked again, ”Did the Empress Dowager give you?” Three eunuchs shook their heads together. ”Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You only received order, it was not your own idea at all, was it?” The three eunuchs repeatedly nodded their heads. ”Do you want to live, or do you want to die?” Wei Xiaobao asked. This question was not easy to answer by simply nodding their heads. Of the three eunuchs, one nodded his head, one shook his head, another one nodded first, then shook his head, but thinking it was not the right answer, he nodded his head vigorously again.

”So you want to die?” Wei Xiaobao asked. The three men shook their heads. ”So you want to live?” Wei Xiaobao asked again. The three men quickly nodded their heads.

Wei Xiaobao pulled away the two Imperial Bodyguard leaders, they walked outside the room. Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, ”Zhang Dage, Zhao Dage, I am afraid our livelihood has just been taken away.”

The one surnamed Zhang was Zhang Kangnian, the one surnamed Zhao was Zhao Qixian, they were both Han people, and both were already scared out their wits. ”What ... what should we do?” they both asked.

”I don't have the slightest idea,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Zhang Dage, Zhao Dage, do you have any idea?”

Zhang Kangnian said, ”If this matter is known, I don't know how big the uproar it will create, it would be best if we can cover it up.”

”That's right,” Zhao Qixian said, ”It would be better if we can just let these four eunuchs go, and everybody simply pretend it never happened.”

Zhang Kangnian said, ”But I am afraid the human did not harm the tiger, the tiger has the intention to harm the human.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”It is indeed fabulous if we can let them go, but we must tell them not to report anything to the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, in her anger the Empress Dowager would kill people to close their mouths; these four eunuchs would not live, but most likely the seventeen of us here would also turn into thirty four pieces.”

Zhang and Zhao, two people shivered. Zhang Kangnian raised his right palm and made a hacking motion. Wei Xiaobao looked at Zhao Qixian. Zhao Qixian nodded, he asked, ”What about those four banknotes?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”You may divide these six thousand taels among the brothers. I am scared out of my wits, I only hope that I won't be implicated in this matter, I don't want the money.”

The four eunuchs were delighted, they left the room with the four Imperial Bodyguards following behind them. Suddenly they heard a series of blood-curdling screams from the outside, followed by an Imperial Bodyguard shouted, ”Assassins, assassins!” Another Imperial Bodyguard cried out, ”Aiyo, not good, the assassins killed four eunuchs.”

The four Imperial Bodyguards returned to the room, and reported to Wei Xiaobao, ”Gui Gong-gong, there were assassins outside, they killed four Gong-gong.”

Wei Xiaobao heaved a deep sigh and said, ”It's a pity, it's a pity! The assassins ran away and could not be apprehended?”

An Imperial Bodyguard replied, ”We can't even see the assassins' shadow.”

”Um, there's nothing we can do then,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You'd better report this matter of four Gong-gong assassinations clearly to Dolong Zongguan!”

Suppressing their smile, the Imperial Bodyguards replied together, ”Yes!” Wei Xiaobao could not hold his laugh anymore, he burst into loud laughter. The Imperial Bodyguards also broke into continuous laughter. ”Brothers,” Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, ”Congratulations on your newfound wealth. I will see you tomorrow.”

Wei Xiaobao hurriedly returned to his dwelling. When he reached the front door, a cold voice from the flowering shrub greeted him, ”Xiao Guizi, how are you?” Wei Xiaobao recognized it as the Empress Dowager's voice; he was shocked. Turning around, he started to run, but after only five, six steps, a hand had touched his left shoulder, and his entire body went numb, as if a several-hundred-catty large boulder was pressing down on him that he was unable to take another step. Hastily he stooped down to withdraw the dagger, but his fingers had just touched the hilt when his right arm was hit by a palm. ”Ah!” he could not bear not to scream.

He heard Empress Dowager's chilly voice said, ”Xiao Guizi, you are young, yet have really good ability. Without lifting a finger you managed to kill my four eunuchs and still planted some booty to shift the blame on someone else, you even dare to plant false evidence against me. Humph, humph …”

In his heart Wei Xiaobao groaned bitterly, he was desperate, thinking that the Empress Dowager hated him to the bone, so no matter how he plead with her, it would be useless. He could only gamble with his life, trying desperately to scare her so that he could gain a little time, and thus thought of an idea to escape. ”Empress Dowager,” he said, ”If you kill me now, it would be too late. It's a pity, it's a pity.”

The Empress Dowager coldly said, ”Pity what?”

”You want to kill me to shut my mouth,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”It's a pity you are one step too late. Just now what those Imperial Bodyguards have said, presumably … presumably you have heard everything.”

The Empress Dowager grimly said, ”You said I sent those four useless eunuchs to lead the assassins into the Palace. Humph, why would I do that?”

”How would I know?” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”But most likely His Majesty would know.” In all honesty he already felt that he was ninety percent dead, so he might as well swindle her to the end.

The Empress Dowager was furious; with a cold laugh she said, ”Once I send away my palm, your life will be gone immediately. Unavoidably it will be too easy for you, this little thief.”

”That's right,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”As soon as you exert strength on your palm, you would kill Xiao Guizi. By tomorrow everybody would know, 'How did Xiao Guizi die?' 'Naturally the Empress Dowager killed him.' 'Why did the Empress Dowager kill him?' 'Because Xiao Guizi accidentally expose Empress Dowager's secret.' 'What secret?' 'This matter is complicated and not easy to explain succinctly; come, come, come, you come to my room, I'll tell you everything. But you must never tell it to anybody else, this matter is … is of an utmost importance.'”

The Empress Dowager was so angry that her hand on Wei Xiaobao's shoulder did not stop trembling; after taking a slow breath she said, ”At worst it's only those dozen or so Imperial Bodyguards. After I killed you, I will order Rui Dong to arrest those dozen fellows and put them to death immediately, and then what else should I worry about?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud. The Empress Dowager said, ”Death is imminent, and you can still laughing.” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Empress Dowager, you said you wanted Rui Dong to kill those people? He … he … ha ha …”

”He what?” the Empress Dowager asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”He has already …” Originally he wanted to say, 'he has already been killed by my blade,' but suddenly he was hit upon an inspiration, he laughed 'ha ha' several more times.

The Empress Dowager asked again, ”He has already what?”

”He has already listened to me, he won't obey your orders anymore,” Wei Xiaobao said.

The Empress Dowager laughed coldly and said, ”You are but a little demon yet you think you have that kind of ability, you can tell Deputy Chief Rui not to obey my orders anymore.”

”I am only a little eunuch,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Naturally he is not afraid of me. But the one Deputy Chief Rui is afraid of is another person.”

With a trembling voice the Empress Dowager said, ”He … he is afraid of His Majesty?”

”We all are servants,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Naturally we are afraid of His Majesty; you can't blame him for that, can you?”

”What else did you tell Rui Dong?” the Empress Dowager asked.

”I told him everything,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

”He told him everything,” the Empress Dowager muttered to herself. After a half day of silence, she said, ”He … where is he?”

”He went far away,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Very, very far away, and he won't come back. Empress Dowager, if you want to see him, naturally that's a good thing, very, very good thing; however, I am afraid it won't be that easy.”

The Empress Dowager was startled. ”Has he left the Palace?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao pushed the boat with the current. ”Exactly,” he said, ”He said that he was afraid of His Majesty, but he was also afraid of you. Pressed between the two, he felt it would be hard for him to conduct himself as a human being, he is also afraid he will have his own life to be worried about. Before facing the calamity of losing his life, it would be better for him to take the high road and fly away.”

”To fly high and run far[8],” the Empress Dowager corrected.

”That's it, that's it,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Empress Dowager, how did you know? Have you heard him saying those words? He has flown high and run far!”

”Humph,” the Empress Dowager snorted, ”He doesn't even want to be an officer anymore?” she asked, ”Where is he going?”

”He … he is going …” he had another idea, ”He said he is going to some Tai mountain, some Liu Tai, Qi Tai, or Ba Tai mountain.”

”Wu Tai[9] Mountain!” the Empress Dowager said.

”That's right, that's right! It's Wutai Mountain,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Empress Dowager, you know everything.”

”What else did he say?” the Empress Dowager asked.

”He did not say much,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Just that … just that this matter that I entrusted to him, he will accomplish no matter what, he even put himself under a heavy oath, that even if he is to be chopped to pieces, he would definitely have his son and grandson to do it.”

”What matter you entrusted to him?” the Empress Dowager asked.

”Nothing much,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Deputy Chief Rui actually said that it's not a big deal to him not being an officer, but he is to go on a journey without any traveling allowance, plus it is not a matter that can be accomplished in a year or half a year. Thereupon I gave him banknotes worth twenty thousand taels.”

The Empress Dowager said, ”You suddenly become very wealthy, where did the money come from?”

”Those are gifts from others,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Prince Kang gave me some, Songgotu Daren gave me some, Wu Sangui's son also gave me some.”

”The way you act is forthright, naturally Rui Dong is grateful and he is seeking to repay your kindness,” the Empress Dowager said, ”Actually, what did you want him to do?”

”Your servant does not dare to speak,” Wei Xiaobao said.

”Are you going to speak or not?” the Empress Dowager asked with a stern voice. She increased the pressure of her palm, which was resting on Wei Xiaobao's shoulder. ”Aiyo!” Wei Xiaobao cried out. The Empress Dowager relaxed her grip somewhat. ”Quickly speak!” she shouted.

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, ”Deputy Chief Rui promised me, if your servant is killed inside the Palace, he will immediately report everything clearly to His Majesty. He said he is going to write a memorial to the throne, which he will carry with him. He and your servant have agreed that every two months, your servant … your servant will …”

The Empress Dowager's voice was trembling when she asked, ”What is it?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Every two months, your servant will go to the Heavenly Bridge, looking for someone … a man selling candied fruits[10]. I should ask him, 'Do you have jadeite cornelian candied fruits?' He will reply, 'I do, it's a hundred taels per skewer.' I'll say, 'That expensive? Will you sell it to me for two hundred taels?' He will say, 'No, I will not. You haven't returned to the heaven?' And then I'll say, 'Go tell that old man then!' And then he would report to the Deputy Chief Rui.” In this desperate situation, he did not have time to fabricate a fresh story, so he simply modified the code words taught by Chen Jinnan if he wanted to communicate with Xu Tianchuan.

”Humph,” the Empress Dowager snorted, ”That's the way the network of people and warriors of Jianghu communicate with each other, I believe a little thief like you won't come up with stuff like that yourself. It was that coward Rui Dong who taught you that, wasn't it?”

Wei Xiaobao faked a surprised look. ”Uh!” he exclaimed, ”How did you know it was Deputy Chief Rui who taught me? I get it, when he taught me that, you must be eavesdropping.”

He felt the Empress Dowager's hand on his shoulder was trembling continuously. It was after a long time that she finally asked, ”When the time comes and you do not go to find that candied fruits seller, what will happen then?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Deputy Chief Rui said that he will wait for ten more days. If I still do not show up, then that means your servant's little life has gone. He … he will think of a way to report to His Majesty. By that time your servant is already dead, so there is nothing to be gained actually, but your servant is loyal to His Majesty, I want to warn His Majesty to be really careful, to requite any wrongdoings, to avenge any enmity, and to guard against others' evil scheme, which are actually Deputy Chief Rui and your servant's primary devotion anyway.”

”To requite any wrongdoings, to avenge any enmity,” the Empress Dowager muttered to herself, ”That's very good.”

”These days,” Wei Xiaobao continued, ”When your servant is waiting on His Majesty, I have never revealed anything. As long as your servant is alive and well, I am serving His Majesty by his side, I will forever not let His Majesty know about this matter; why would I want to worry His Majesty?”

The Empress Dowager let out a breath and said, ”You are actually a very good boy.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”His Majesty treats your servant very well, the Empress Dowager also did not treat your servant badly. Your servant is loyal to the Empress Dowager. Who knows? Perhaps when the Empress Dowager is happy, she would reward your servant something; won't everybody be good?”

”Hey, hey, hey,” the Empress Dowager let out a cold laugh, ”You still want me to reward you? Your face indeed has a very thick skin.” Surprisingly, there was a hint of delight in her cold laugh; by the tone of her voice, she also seemed to be greatly relieved.

Hearing the change in her tone, Wei Xiaobao knew the tension was greatly relaxed; he said hurriedly, ”What else does your servant covet? As long as Empress Dowager and His Majesty are safe and sound, everybody's getting along politely and amiably, that will be great fortune for us as servants. Empress Dowager, I wish you, Senior, ten thousand good fortune and peace like gold, your servant will go to the Heavenly Bridge tomorrow, I'll find that man, and will tell him to inform Deputy Chief Rui as soon as possible, telling him to guard his mouth like a closed bottle. Your servant … wants to bring him three thousand taels, I will say that it is a gift from the Empress Dowager.”

”Humph,” the Empress Dowager said, ”This man did not do his job to the best of his ability, he abandoned his duty and fled away. He is lucky that I don't chop off his head, and you want me to reward him?”

”Yes, yes!” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Naturally your servant will have to foot the three thousand taels bill myself, how can the Empress Dowager still reward him some money?”

The Empress Dowager slowly released her grip on Wei Xiaobao's shoulder, and she slowly asked, ”Xiao Guizi, are you really loyal to me?”

Wei Xiaobao kneeled down on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, ”Your servant is loyal to the Empress Dowager, and will enjoy countless benefits, if I am not loyal, let my melon-seed-shape head be removed. Although Xiao Guizi is muddleheaded, this head is still very important to me.”

The Empress Dowager nodded; she said, ”Very good, very good, very good!” As she said one 'very good', her palm struck his back once, repeatedly she struck three times. Immediately Wei Xiaobao felt dizzy, and had a strong urge to vomit, his throat emitted continuous 'eh eh eh' noise. The Empress Dowager said, ”Xiao Guizi that night Hai Dafu, the old thief said that in this world there is a martial art skill called 'Transforming Bones Soft Palm', which if trained to perfection, when it hit a body, it can make the bones in the entire body broken. This martial art skill is very difficult to learn, naturally I can't do it. But since you are a very smart child, very intelligent child, I am thinking that trying three palm strikes on your back will be very interesting.”

The chi and blood in Wei Xiaobao's chest and abdomen bubbled up, finally he could not repress it anymore. 'Wah!' he vomited a big mouthful of blood and water. He thought, ”The old wh0re did not believe me, she is striking me with such a vicious blow.”

”You don't have to be afraid,” the Empress Dowager said, ”I am not going to kill you. If you died, who would go to the Bridge of Heaven to find that candied fruits seller? I only want to injure you a little bit, to show you that the way you handled this matter is not particularly clever.”

”Thank you for the Empress Dowager's kindness,” Wei Xiaobao said. He stood up slowly, but his body swayed and he fell back sitting down, and vomited several mouthfuls of water and blood again. The Empress Dowager laughed aloud, turned around, and disappeared into a flowering shrub.

Wei Xiaobao struggled to stand up, then slowly circled toward the rear window of his room. He leaned against the window frame, gasping for breath for a few moments before finally crawling into the room over the window.

”Gui Dage,” Xiao Junzhu Mu Jianping asked in low voice, ”Is that you?”

Wei Xiaobao was not in a good mood, ”F*ck your mother,” he cursed, ”It's not me.”

Fang Yi interjected, ”Xiao Junzhu asked you nicely, why did you curse her?”

Wei Xiaobao had just crawled over the window opening, he said, ”I …” but before he could finish, 'Bang!' he fell from the window onto the floor, and was unable to get up again.

”Aiyo!” Fang Yi and Mu Jianping cried out together. ”What … what happened?” they asked in alarm, ”Are you injured?”

Wei Xiaobao's fall was really not light, but hearing the deep concern in the voices of these two women, his mood improved considerably. He laughed aloud and gasped several times while thinking, ”I don't know if the Old Wh0re's strike was 'Transforming Bones Soft Palm' or not, maybe she has not trained it proficiently. Laozi is wearing the treasured vest, also my bones are hard; whatever it is she wanted to transform, I don't think she can transform laozi's bones …” He said, ”My Good Meizi and Good Wife are both injured, if I don't receive some injury, how can we be called 'fortune we enjoy together, disaster we face together'?”

”Gui Dage,” Xiao Junzhu asked, ”Where is your injury? Is it painful?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Good Meizi is conscientious, asking me if it is painful. Actually, it was very painful, but hearing your concern, suddenly it is not painful anymore. Tell me, isn't it strange?”

Mu Jianping laughed and said, ”You are cracking jokes again.”

Propping himself on the table and gasping for breath, Wei Xiaobao got up. He thought, ”Right now I still have my old life, but it depends entirely on Deputy Chief Rui's friendship, whether he is willing to support me or not. If the Old Wh0re knew Deputy Chief Rui is dead, Wei Xiaobao's old life will not stay for more than an hour.” From the medicine chest he fetched the triangular greenish-blue with white dot medicine bottle. Hai Laogong's medicine chest was full of medicinal powder and pills, but he only recognized this one bottle of 'Corpse Transforming Powder'. Pulling Rui Dong's corpse from underneath the bed, he took back the banknotes and the precious knick-knacks he stuffed into Rui Dong's pocket earlier.

Mu Jianping said, ”All along when you were away, this dead man was lying under our bed, the two of us were so scared that we might die ourselves.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”If he scared the two of you the death, won't this dead man have two bashful flower obstructing the moon female companions?”

”Pei!” Fang Yi spat, ”Xiao Junzhu, don't talk to him too much.”

”I have a magic trick,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Do you want to see it?”

”I don't want to,” Fang Yi replied.

”If you don't want to look, then close your eyes,” Wei Xiaobao said.

Fang Yi immediately closed her eyes. Following her example, Mu Jianping also closed her eyes, but immediately she opened her eyes again.

Wei Xiaobao took a small silver spoon from the medicine chest, he pulled the wooden cork from the bottle, and took a small amount of the 'Corpse Transforming Powder' with the silver spoon, and poured it on Rui Dong's wound. A moment later, smoke started to rise from the wound, followed by strong odor. A few moments later, the wound emitted yellow liquid, while it rotted bigger and bigger. ”Eek!” Mu Jianping cried out.

Fang Yi's curiosity was piqued, she opened her eyes. As soon as she saw this scene, her eyes opened very wide, she did not want to close them anymore.

As the corpse came in contact with the yellow liquid, it started to rot. The more the yellow liquid was produced, the faster the corpse rotted.

Seeing the frightened expression on these two women, Wei Xiaobao said, ”When one of you is being disobedient to me, I will sprinkle a little bit of this precious powder on your face, then you will immediately rot like this.”

”You ... don't scare people,” Mu Jianping said. With glaring eyes Fang Yi stared at him, but her frightened expression was difficult to conceal. With a grin Wei Xiaobao took a step forward, he shook the medicine bottle twice in front of her face before he put it back into his pocket.

Not too long afterwards, Rui Dong's corpse had rotted into two sections. Wei Xiaobao picked up a chair, and using the legs of the chair he pushed the two sections of the corpse toward the yellow liquid. In less than an hour, everything had turned into yellow liquid. Wei Xiaobao let out a deep breath, thinking, ”Even if the Old Wh0re sends a million troops to Wutai Mountain, they won't find Rui Dong.” He went to the water jar to fetch a bucket of water to wash away the yellow liquid from the corpse. But only after several buckets of water, his body skewed, he fell onto the bed, and in utmost exhaustion he fell asleep immediately.

When he awoke, the sky was already bright. His chest felt nauseous, so he tried to vomit, but nothing came out. He heard Mu Jianping's concerned voice asked, ”Gui Dage, are you feeling better?”

Wei Xiaobao sat up, and only now did he realize that for the rest of the night he had been sleeping, fully clothed, by Fang and Mu, two women's feet. Seeing it was not early morning anymore, he hastily jumped down from the bed and said, ”I have to hurry to see the Emperor, you two just lie down and don't move.” He wanted to crawl out from the window, but the pain on his lower back was so severe that he had no choice but open the front door and locked it behind him.

Wei Xiaobao only waited for less than an hour at the Upper Study Room, Kangxi returned from his morning court. He said with a laugh, ”Xiao Guizi, I heard you killed an assassin last night.”

Wei Xiaobao paid his respect by saying, ”May Your Majesty has good health.”

Kangxi said with a laugh, ”Your luck was good, you get to fight with an assassin. I did not even see the assassin's shadow. How was the martial art skill of the one you killed? What move did you use to kill him?”

Wei Xiaobao did not fight with any assassin at all, the Emperor's martial art skill was not weak, he simply could not speak thoughtlessly. A bright idea suddenly occurred, he recalled the fight between Feng Jizhong and Bai Hanfeng at the Bai family residence on the Willow Tree Lane the other day; he said, ”It was dark, I only entangled him blindly. Suddenly his left leg swept across to the right, his right arm swept across to the left ...” He was narrating and giving demonstration at the same time.

Kangxi clapped his hands, ”Exactly right, exactly right! It's exactly this move!” he said.

Wei Xiaobao was startled; ”Your Majesty,” he asked, ”Do you know this move?”

Kangxi laughed and said, ”Do you know the name of this move?”

Wei Xiaobao knew it was called the 'sweeping away a thousand army', but he said, ”Your servant does not know.”

Kangxi laughed and said, ”Let me tell you, so you'll know: this move is called the 'sweeping away a thousand army'!”

Wei Xiaobao was very amazed, he said, ”This name is very pleasant to the ears!” He was startled not because of the name, but because unexpectedly Kangxi also knew.

Kangxi said, ”When he attacked you using this move, how did you deal with it?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”For a split second I panicked, I was unable to deal with it instantly, suddenly I recalled when you and I were having martial art competition, I remember you used an extremely clever move when you flung me down from the top of your head. I think you said that it was Wu Dang Pai's martial art, 'Immortal Crane Combing its Plume'.”

Kangxi was delighted, he called out, ”You used my martial art to break his move 'sweeping away a thousand army'?”

”Exactly,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”My martial art training is actually not too superior, fortunately the two of us have had martial art competition, we have fought a lot, so I remember more than half of the techniques you used. I remember how you attacked, how you parried ...”

”Right, right,” Kangxi said, ”This is 'Purple Cloud Hand' and 'Snapping Plum Flower Hand'.”

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”Since I am licking his boot, I might as well go all out!” He said, ”I then copied your style, I hastily grabbed his hand, and I did grab it, it's just that my strength was not enough, plus my position was not too accurate, he shook his left hand forcefully and thus managed to free himself.”

”What a pity, what a pity,” Kangxi said, ”Let me teach you: you ought to grab here, in between the Hui Zong and Wai Guan [lit. reservoir assembly and outer pass, respectively] acupoints. No matter what, he wouldn't be able to shake himself free.” While saying that, he grabbed the acupoints on Wei Xiaobao's wrist.

Wei Xiaobao struggled as hard as he could, but as expected, he was unable to struggle free. He said, ”If you taught me earlier, the following dangerous situation would not have happened.”

Kangxi let go of his hand, he asked with a laugh, ”What happened next?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”As soon as he was free, he circled around behind me, and struck my back with both of his palms ...”

”High mountain flowing water!” Kangxi called out.

”So this move is called 'high mountain flowing water'?” Wei Xiaobao asked, ”At that time I was so afraid I might be completely routed by him, in my desperation I used another one of your moves.”

”You are useless!” Kangxi said with a laugh, ”How come when you fight with others you did not use the move your Shifu taught you, but always use my moves instead?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”During training, the moves taught by Shifu are clear and logical, but when one is in a life and death fight, how would one know which move will be effective? On the other hand, those moves of yours just jumped out from the bottom my heart. Your Majesty, at that time the edge of his palms had already hit my back, I was already scared out of my wits, how could I think about which move to use? Borrowing the momentum, I threw myself forward, then I turned around from the right side.”

”Very good!” Kangxi said, ”That is the 'circling wind step'!”

”Is that right?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”As soon as I evaded his attack, I seized the opportunity to draw my dagger and stabbed him backhandedly with the blade, while crying out, 'Xiao Guizi, do you surrender now?'”

Kangxi laughed heartily. ”Why did you call him 'Xiao Guizi'?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Your servant was desperate, I don't know what came into me, unexpectedly it was your technique that I remembered completely. The backhand stab was originally your backhand palm strike, when it hit my back and you called out, 'Xiao Guizi, do you surrender now?'. Without thinking I used that technique, while my mouth also called out. He grunted; without having enough time to call 'surrender', he died right away.”

Kangxi laughed. ”Wonderful, wonderful!” he said, ”My backhand palm strike is called 'lone cloud coming out of mountain peak'. I did not think that you changed it into a sword move and with one strike you succeeded.” After starting martial art training, Kangxi had fought only with Wei Xiaobao, he had never had the satisfaction on being in a seriously desperate fight against an enemy. And now hearing that Wei Xiaobao had killed an enemy with his own hand, with the technique that he learned entirely from him, Kangxi was very happy and excited. He thought that if he personally went into action, he would be ten times more brilliant than Wei Xiaobao. He said, ”Those assassins' guts were not small, but their martial art skill is sloppy and ordinary.”

”Your Majesty,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”The assassins' martial art skill is not that bad, there are several Imperial Bodyguards in our Palace who suffer injury in their hands. On the whole it was Xiao Guizi's good luck that he had once served Your Majesty practicing martial art for so long that I managed to steal your three moves two styles. Otherwise, Your Majesty, today you would have issued an imperial edict, comforting and aiding the bereaved family of loyal subject who died in the line of duty, little eunuch Xiao Guizi, by one thousand taels of fine silver.”

Kangxi laughed, ”How can one thousand taels be enough?” he said, ”At least ten thousand taels.” The two of them burst into loud laughter together.