Chapter - 28 (28) (1/2)

Over the top passion takes a lot of twists and turns, but exquisite to those who painstakingly open their hearts.

That night Wei Xiaobao slept until midnight, when suddenly he heard a light knock on his window. Still in daze, he sat up, and heard someone outside the window said in a low voice, ”Wei En Gong [benefactor], it's me.”

He focused his attention and recognized the voice as Wu Lishen's. Quickly he walked toward the window and said in a low voice, ”Is it Wu Er Shu [second uncle]?”

”I do not dare to accept the honor, it's me,” Wu Lishen said.

Wei Xiaobao quietly opened the window. Wu Lishen leaped inside and embraced him. He seemed to be very happy. ”En Gong,” he said is a low voice, ”I think about you every day; I did not expect to see you in here.” Turning around, he closed the window, and then pulled Wei Xiaobao to sit side by side on the kang. He said, ”During the great assembly at Hejian Prefecture, I inquired about you from your precious Society's friends, but they were not willing to tell me.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”It's not that they considered you as an outsider, and intentionally did not want to tell you. Actually, I attended the 'turtle-slaying assembly' in disguise; the Society brothers did not know.”

Wu Lishen felt relieved. ”So that's how it is,” he said, ”Today we bumped into the Tatar soldiers, we also received En Gong's help in getting out of difficult situation. Otherwise, I am afraid our Xiao Gongye would suffer mishap. Xiao Gongye wanted me to pay his utmost respect to En Gong, he is deeply grateful.”

”We all are good friends, there is no need to be polite,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Wu Er Shu, you keep calling me En Gong this and En Gong that, it sounds really awkward. If you consider me a friend, henceforth the use of this word to address me must be avoided.”

”Very well,” Wu Lishen replied, ”I won't call you En Gong, but you must not call me Er Shu either. From now on we call each other 'Xiongdi' [brother]. I am several years older, so I will call you Xiongdi.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Wonderful. That martial nephew of yours, Liu Yizhou, shouldn't he call me Shishu then?”

Wu Lishen felt slightly embarrassed; he said, ”That fellow has no future prospect; let us not mind him. Xiongdi, what are you up to?”

”This matter is complicated and not easy to express succinctly,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Er Ge [second brother], your Xiongdi has decided on marriage.”

”Congratulations, congratulations,” Wu Lishen said, ”I wonder which family's young lady?” Immediately he recalled, ”Could it be Fang Yi? Has he found Miss Fang and Xiao Junzhu?” His whole face was beaming with delight.

”My wife is surnamed Chen,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”But there is one problem, for which I am quite ashamed.”

”Why?” Wu Lishen asked.

”My wife has another good friend surnamed Zheng,” Wei Xiaobao replied, ”This fellow's moral quality is not upright and honest. He is fooling around with my wife, that is a small matter; he actually informed the Tatar soldiers about you. Those soldiers who were giving Xiao Gongye a hard time today, it was actually his idea.”

Wu Lishen was furious. ”This fellow really is bored to be alive,” he said, ”But I wonder why did he do that?”

”Do you know who this fellow is?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”He is none other than Taiwan's Yan Ping Jun Wang's second son. He said that Yan Ping Jun Wang is in command over a large army, while your Mu Palace is in decline; without power and without potential, what else can you do?”

Wu Lishen angrily said, ”Our Mu Palace is also an outstanding founding minister of the Great Ming who subdued Yunnan; how can it be compared to their Zheng Family who rise to power just recently?”

”Isn't that so?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Yet this fellow said: whoever kills Wu Sangui will gain an enormous face in front of the world's heroes; in Yunnan, you are the local bullies, compared to their Zheng Family in Taiwan, it will be a hundred times more convenient for you to kill Wu Sangui. He confides with me, saying that he wanted to eliminate Mu Family people first. I told him that our Tian Di Hui has already made a bet with Mu Palace to see who will get rid of Wu Sangui first. We are heroes and warriors; if we win, we must win brilliantly, if we lose, we must lose gracefully; how could we secretly plot against the competitor? This fellow refused to accept, hence he resorted to different ruse. Fortunately Tatar soldiers did not recognize Xiao Gongye, hence I was able to trick them into thinking that they had the wrong person and thus you were able to get away.”

”So that's how it is! So that's how it is!” Wu Lishen repeatedly said, ”Damn it, this fellow is not human.”

”Er Ge,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”We must teach this fellow a lesson. But looking at Yan Ping Jun Wang's face, we must not kill him. It would be best if you could beat him a bit, and then Xiongdi will boldly come out to help him, and fight with you a little bit. You deliberately yield to me several stances, then you pretend to retreat in defeat. I wonder if you'd willing to do that.”

”Xiongdi is venting our anger, why would I be unwilling?” Wu Lishen said, ”It would be best since we won't damage the relationship with Taiwan's Zheng Family and won't provoke any dispute.”

”He is the one with wounds on his head and face, the fellow who is with Xiongdi,” Wei Xiaobao said.

”Yes,” Wu Lishen said, ”Who does he think his Zheng Family is? Although nowadays our Mu Palace has fallen into dire straits, we are not one to be bullied.”

”Isn't that so?” Wei Xiaobao said.

Following which he asked about 'seeing the ghost' at the Zhuang Family's big house. Although he had seen Xu Tianchuan during the day, at that time it was inconvenient to ask, hence his mind had been preoccupied with this matter.

Wu Lishen revealed an ashamed look on his face; continuously shaking his head, he said, ”Xiongdi, today you are calling me 'Er Ge'; honestly, your big brother is quite ashamed. That day we were subdued by those fellows who 'dress up as god, play the devil' using some demonic method; who would have thought that those fellows were lured out of the room and were taken captive? Several women had just come out to set us free when a bunch of crafty fellows rushed into the room and rescued Zhang Laosan and his men.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded; he said in his heart, ”They must be Shen Long Jiao people, the Third Young Mistress of the Zhuang Family and the others were not able to resist them.”

Wu Lishen shook his head and said, ”At that time Xu Laoye [old master] and I had just had our acupoints unsealed, our hands and feet could not move freely yet. In the darkness we fought randomly; we were separated from each other. It was not until the next morning did we finally get together, except you, Xiongdi, Xiao Junzhu and Miss Fang, three people; we could not find you no matter what. We went back to that haunted house to look for you, but there was only an old woman there. I don't know whether she was really deaf or pretending to be deaf, after interrogating her for half a day, we could not find the least bit of useful information. Xu Laoyezi and I were unwilling to give up, we searched openly and investigated in secret, and done so for over half a month straight, ay, yet we did not find the least bit of clue. Good Xiongdi, seeing you today, I am very happy. Where did Xiao Junzhu and Miss Fang go? Do you have any news? Our Xiao Wangye is worried about his sister, he is always anxious.”

Wei Xiaobao gave him a vague answer, ”I am also concerned over those two ladies. Miss Fang is smart and quick-witted, but Xiao Junzhu is a bit naïve. The sooner she can meet her brother the better.” While in his heart he mused, ”Turns out you did not get captured by Shen Long Jiao, and did not get forced to take the poison and compelled to be spies; that's very good.” He knew Wu Lishen was upright and frank, he could not lie; if this story was told by Liu Yizhou, it would not necessarily be credible.

Wu Lishen said, ”Xiongdi, take a good care of yourself, your Gege is leaving.” While saying that, he stood up, seemingly very reluctant to leave. Pulling Wei Xiaobao's hand, he said, ”Xiongdi, there is no lack of good ladies in the world, if that lady of yours does not treat you well, you should not take it to heart too much.”

Wei Xiaobao heaved a deep sigh; gloomily he remained silent. This time his sigh was a genuine sigh. Wu Lishen pushed open the window and leaped out.

The next day Wei Xiaobao followed Jiu Nan and Ah Ke going out of the city gate and continued their journey north. Zheng Keshuang, accompanied by his entourage, was traveling with them. ”Zheng Gongzi,” Jiu Nan asked him, ”Where are you heading?”

”I want to go back to Taiwan,” Zheng Keshuang replied, ”But I want to walk Shitai off for a while before taking my leave.”

After traveling for twenty some li, suddenly they heard the sound of galloping horses, a group of people were hurrying along toward them. As these people were drawing near, they could see that it was a group of peasants, with hoes, iron rakes and so on in their hands. The one in the front called out, ”It's that fellow; it's him!” As soon as Wei Xiaobao saw the man, he recognized him as Wu Lishen.

The people surrounded the large carriage, blocking their way. Wu Lishen pointed to Zheng Keshuang and cursed, ”Thief boy, what a fine thing indeed you did last night at the Zhang Family Village! The cat has stolen the food, now you want to quietly slip away?”

”What Zhang Family Village, Li Family Village?” Zheng Keshuang angrily said, ”You don't have eyes and talk rubbish.”

”Good!” Wu Lishen roared, ”Turns out the Li Family girl was also deceived by you; you admit it. Damn it, thief boy! In one night you swindled two maidens; you are really brazen and shameless.”

The attendants shouted together, ”This is our Gongzi Ye, you have the wrong person, such a crazy and unfounded ravings!”

Wu Lishen pulled a peasant girl out; pointing to Zheng Keshuang he asked, ”Is it him? Look carefully.”

Wei Xiaobao saw the peasant girl had thick eyebrows and big eyes, high cheekbones and buckteeth, she wore green fancy-patterned clothing and had a piece of printed cloth wrapped around her head; presumably this girl was hired by Wu Lishen, he was secretly amused.

With a deep and gruff voice the peasant girl said, ”It's him, it's him, I am a hundred percent sure. Last night he went to my room and embraced me, boo hoo … this … this dead stinky person, aiyo, boo hoo … ahh … mother …” While saying that, she was bawling.

Another peasant shouted, ”You bullied my meizi [younger sister], laozi should be your brother-in-law. Damn it, laozi should fight you to the death.” He was Wu Lishen's disciple, Ao Biao.

Wei Xiaobao examined carefully the Mu Palace people, he had seen about five or six people, but Liu Yizhou was not among them. Presumably Wu Lishen had carefully selected these people in advance to make sure that there was no one harboring any hostility with him, so that their scheme would not be exposed.

Seeing the peasant girl was so ugly, Ah Ke did not believe that Zheng Keshuang would have illicit relationship with her, it's just that the girl had personally confirmed that it was him. These peasants had neither enmity nor hatred toward Zheng Keshuang, hence it was unlikely that they would deliberately accused him falsely. She could not help being skeptical.

Wei Xiaobao knitted his brows as he said, ”Zheng Gongzi is a bit too loose; going to a brothel and playing with prostitutes is one thing, but why did he go … go … go … ay, this peasant girl is so ugly. Shijie, I think they must have the wrong person.”

”Right,” Ah Ke said, ”It must be a case of mistaken identity.”

Wu Lishen told the peasant girl, ”Say it quickly, say it quickly, are you afraid of being disgraced? He … what did this thief boy give you?”

The peasant girl took out a big yuanbao worth a hundred taels from her pocket; she said, ”He gave me this; he told me to obey him. He said that he came from Taiwan, his father is some Wangye, he has gold mountain, silver mountain in his house, and … and …”

”Ah!” Ah Ke shrieked. She thought that this peasant girl was ignorant and unlearned, it was impossible for her to fabricate that fact, naturally it must be Zheng Keshuang himself who told her that. She could not help but feeling angry and hurt.

The Zheng Mansion's attendants also thought that it was the truth, since they believed that a peasant girl like her would not have such a big yuanbao; they shouted, ”Get out of the way, get out of the way! You already have the yuanbao, what are you fussing about? Don't stand in your masters' way.”

”Can't do!” Ao Biao shouted, ”You have raped my meizi, how can she marry someone else in the future? You have to take her as your wife. Quickly go back with me, bow to the Heaven and the Earth with her, and then take her back with you to Taiwan to pay her respect to your father and mother. My meizi is a good family's daughter, not some servile s1ut; do you think she would take your money to prostitute herself to you? What did he say this hundred-tael for?” The last question was directed to the peasant girl.

The peasant girl said, ”He said … he said that it is some betrothal gift, he also said that he would send a matchmaker to take me as his wife, and bring me back to his palace to be some first-rate madam.”

Zheng Keshuang was extremely angry; he thought that he came to the Central Plains this time he had always met with unfavorable situations, even this uncouth peasants also trying to give him trouble without any rhyme or reason. Raising his horsewhip, 'crack!' he lashed it down on Ao Biao's head.

”Aiyo!” Ao Biao screamed. He raised both hands to protect his head, and then fell down his horse and curled up on the ground, twitched several times, and then lay down motionless.

”Murder, murder!” the crowd of peasants cried out.

The peasant girl jumped down from her horse to embrace Ao Biao, while screaming and wailing. Her voice was really rough and husky, she sounded like a pig being slaughtered.

Zheng Keshuang was shocked; thinking that right now they were on foreign land, plus he was someone wanted by the Qing government. If he was involved in legal case involving homicide, he would be in a very big trouble. Instantly he shouted, ”Everybody, run!” Raising the horse's reins, he was thinking of making a dash out of the encirclement.

Suddenly a peasant leaped up high to the air and pounced down on him. Zheng Keshuang sent a left backhand punch toward the man's chest. The man caught his wrist and twisted it. 'Crack!' his elbow was dislocated. The man landed on the saddle behind him, his right hand reached down from his flank and up to his neck. It was precisely a move from qinna technique called the 'slanting stage backward scale (of fish)'. The man's movement was clean and agile; his mouth was yelling and calling loudly, ”Ah San, Ah Gou, [lit. 'the third' and 'the dog'] quickly come and help me, I … I … I am hurt from his strike. Aiyo hey, this fellow is killing me! He is killing me!”

Zheng Keshuang's body was numb and aching; he was already immobilized completely. The Zheng Mansion attendants pulled out their weapons and charged forward. This time, although Mu Palace people were not too many, each one's skill was not weak. They lifted up their hoes and iron rakes, and engaged the opponents in a tangled battle, preventing the already injured attendants from coming to Zheng Keshuang's rescue.

The peasant grabbed Zheng Keshuang and rolled underneath the horse, while raising a clamor, ”Ah Hua, quickly catch your husband, don't let him run away.”

”He won't run away,” the peasant girl shouted back, while leaping up and firmly holding Zheng Keshuang in her arms.

It was only then did Wei Xiaobao realize that this peasant girl was actually a man disguised as a woman; no wonder she was that unbearably ugly. Obviously he was a Mu Palace person. The way 'she' captured Zheng Keshuang was also a qinna technique.

Ah Ke anxiously called out, ”Shifu, Shifu, they captured Zheng Gongzi, what should we do?”

Jiu Nan shook her head and said, ”This Zheng Gongzi's behaviors is dishonorable, receiving a bit of lesson will not be useless to him. These peasants won't possibly harm his life.” She was reclining on the large carriage to recuperate, hence she only heard the commotion outside without actually seeing the way the Mu Palace people were making their moves; otherwise, with her keen vision, as soon as she saw these people's agility, she would have seen through their scheme.

Ah Ke said, ”These peasant seem to know martial art.”

”Martial art they don't have,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”But their brute force is definitely not small.”

Ao Biao crawled up from the ground; he called out, ”Damn it, you nearly killed your laozi.” [Reminder: 'laozi' literally means 'old man', as in 'father'; also to refer to self (arrogantly or jocularly).] A peasant laughed and said, ”You are his Dajiuzi, how could you be laozi?”

”Alright,” Ao Biao said, ”Grab this fellow. Since Dajiuzi is not dead, he does not need to pay with his own life. My Ah Hua meizi will have someone to depend on all her life. Take him to bow to the Heaven and the Earth.”

The peasants cheered and yelled, ”We are going to drink wine of happiness, we are going to drink wine of happiness!”

They led the attendants' horses away, and with Zheng Keshuang in the middle, they rode back to the direction they came from. Shouting and yelling, the Zheng Mansion attendants tried to run after them, but those people disappeared behind a cloud of dust, how could they pursue on foot?

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Zheng Gongzi will live with the bride's family in here, that's wonderful. Turns out this place is called Gao Lao Zhuang.”

Ah Ke was shocked and angered at the same time; she was already at a loss of what to do. Hearing him saying that, she thoughtlessly asked, ”This place is called Gao Lao Zhuang?”

Ah Ke angrily said, ”You are the Zhu Bajie!” Leaning on a tree by the road, she cried.

”Shijie,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Zheng Gongzi is getting married, that is a happy occasion; why are you crying instead?”

Ah Ke was going to scold him, but then she changed her mind, thinking that this little demon head had an extensive remarkable ability. Only by asking for his help would she be able to rescue Zheng Gongzi back. She said with a cry, ”Shidi, please think of a way to rescue him from danger.”

Wei Xiaobao opened his eyes wide; pretending to be utterly astonished, he said, ”Did you say 'rescue him from danger'? He did not commit any murder, they won't make him pay with his own life.”

”Didn't you hear?” Ah Ke said, ”Those people are going to force him to bow to the Heaven and Earth with that peasant girl.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Bowing to the Heaven and Earth is very good.” Lowering his voice, he said quietly, ”I want to bow to the Heaven and the Earth with you, it's too bad that you are not willing.”

Ah Ke shot him a malicious look and said, ”Others are dying of anxiety, you are still talking that kind of senseless talk. Just see if I am going to ignore you in the future or not?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Shifu says that Zheng Gongzi's moral conduct is not good, let him suffer a bit of hardship, it will be greatly beneficial to him. Much less bowing to the Heaven and the Earth and get married is not a hardship at all. Most probably Zheng Gongzi is very happy. Otherwise, why would he look for that miss last night, and dilly-dally with her, and do some dubious thing?”

Ah Ke stomped her right foot and angrily said, ”You are the one who dilly-dally with women and do dubious thing.”

Along the way that day Ah Ke was deliberately trying to delay their journey. When they stopped for a meal, she slashed her saber on the mule's hind leg, thereupon the mule was limping and afterwards it walked really slow so that they only travelled for a bit more than ten li when they had to stop in a small town to lodge for the night. Wei Xiaobao knew that that night she would definitely want to rush over to save Zheng Keshuang. After dinner, and after everybody in the inn went to bed, he went to the stable and slept on the pile of straw.

Sure enough, before the first watch of the night

[62] he heard intermittent footsteps, a dark shadow entered the stable and pulled a horse out. Wei Xiaobao called in a low voice, ”Someone's stealing horse!”

The shadow was precisely Ah Ke; she was startled and turned around to run, but then she recognized Wei Xiaobao's voice. ”Xiaobao,” she called, ”Is that you?”

”Naturally it's me,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

”What are you doing here?” Ah Ke asked.

Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Mountain people have divine foresight and marvelous calculation; foreseeing that some people would turn into a horse thief tonight, I am guarding here to catch the thief.”

Ah Ke spat. And then with an imploring tone she said, ”Xiaobao, come with me to … to save him back.”

Hearing her beseeching him with a gentle voice, Wei Xiaobao could not stop the bones in his body from turning soft. He said with a laugh, ”If I can save him, what will be my reward?”

”Whatever you want …” Ah Ke was going to say 'whatever you want, it's up to you', but immediately recalled, ”This little demon head always wanted me to marry him, I can't leave it up to him.” Therefore, before she finished, she changed her statement, ”You … you are always thinking of a way to bully me; you have never been willing to help me sincerely.” Speaking to here, she started to sob and cry. It was not a fake cry, however, she was actually thinking about Zheng Keshuang's frivolous character, but also the fact that he was falling into a dangerous situation; she was wondering if he had bowed to the Heaven and the Earth to get married or not.

As soon as she cried, Wei Xiaobao's heart softened. He sighed and said, ”Alright, alright! I am going to go with you.”

Ah Ke was delighted. Sobbing and sniffling, she said, ”Thank … thank you.”

”You don't need to thank me,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”It's just that we don't know where Gao Lao Zhuang is.”

Ah Ke was startled, but then she understood that by saying 'Gao Lao Zhuang', he was scolding Zheng Keshuang in a roundabout way. ”We will have to inquire along the way,” she said in a low voice.

The two of them opened the inn's back door, led the horse out, and rode together along the road they travelled during the day. Wei Xiaobao asked, ”Actually, what's so good about Zheng Gongzi that you like him like this?”

”Who says I like him?” Ah Ke said, ”It's just that … it's just that we know each other; he meets calamity, naturally I must go to rescue him.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”If some people caught me and forced me to bow to the Heaven and the Earth and get married, will you come to rescue me or not?”

”Pfft!” Ah Ke stifled her laughter and said, ”Are you good looking? Who would want to catch you and force you to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”You think I am not that pleasing to the eye, but there might be a young lady out there who thinks that I am outstandingly handsome, outstandingly smart?”

Ah Ke laughed and said, ”In that case, I should thank the Heaven and the Earth for sparing me from your ghost always entangling me.”

”Fine,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Since you don't have any conscience like this, if some people caught you and force you to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married, I am not going to rescue you.”

Ah Ke was slightly startled; she thought that if she really encountered such matter, she would definitely want him to rescue her. ”You will definitely come to rescue me,” she grimly said.

”Why?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Ah Ke said, ”Others bully me, you won't watch with folded arms. Who told you to be my Shidi?” As soon as these words entered his ears, Wei Xiaobao felt sweet comfort in his heart.

While talking, they had reached the place where they met Mu Palace heroes during the day. They saw more than a dozen people were sitting on the ground by the road, with lanterns in their hands; they were none other than Zheng Mansion attendants. Ah Ke reined the horse and asked, ”Where is Zheng Gongzi?”

The attendants stood up. With a sullen look on his face, someone said, ”In the ancestral hall over there.” While saying that, he pointed to the northwest.

”Ancestral hall?” Ah Ke asked, ”What is he doing?”

The attendant replied, ”Those peasants invited Gongzi, and insisted that he bow to the Heaven and the Earth. Gongzi is unwilling, and thus they punched and kicked, very vicious!”

Ah Ke was angry. ”You all are … humph … you all are martial art masters,” she said, ”How come even several peasants like that you are not able to defeat?”

The attendants were very ashamed; they hung their heads low. A man said, ”Those peasants know martial art.”

Ah Ke angrily said, ”Other people know martial art, and you simply ignore your master? We are going to rescue him, lead us the way.”

An elderly attendant said, ”Those peasants said that if we dare to raise a ruckus, they would slaughter every one of us.”

”They want to slaughter let them slaughter,” Ah Ke said, ”What are you afraid of? Jun Wang ordered you to protect Gongzi, yet you are greedy for life, afraid of death like this?”

”Yes, yes,” the attendant said, ”It would be best if Miss does not ride the horse, so that we won't alert them.”

”Humph,” Ah Ke snorted. Together with Wei Xiaobao they jumped down the horse and tied the horse on a roadside tree. The attendants set down their lanterns, and led the two people toward the northwest.

They walked for about a li, passing through a wood, a stretch of graveyard, and arrived at a seven, eight-room big house. Sounds of gongs and drums can be heard inside the building. Ah Ke's heart was anxious, ”Has he really bowed to the Heaven and the Earth?” she mused.

Pulling Wei Xiaobao's sleeve, she quickened her steps, circled around the side of the building, and saw a door half opened. Peeking inside, she saw complete darkness with nobody inside. The two of them sneaked in, following the sound of gongs and drums toward the main hall. They squatted down underneath a window and peeked inside from a crack on the window; and were able to see everything in the main hall. Ah Ke was immediately greatly worried, while Wei Xiaobao was extremely delighted.

They saw Zheng Keshuang's head was adorned with several stems of red flower, standing opposite a woman whose head was draped in red silk. The hall was bright with a lot of candles. Several peasants were beating gongs and drums while continuously cheering and jeering.

Wu Lishen called out, ”Bow again, bow again!”

”I have bowed to the Heaven and the Earth,” Zheng Keshuang said, ”What else should I bow to?” Hearing this, Ah Ke was so mad that she nearly fainted.

Shaking his head, Wu Lishen said, ”We have a custom here, the groom has to bow to the bride one hundred times. You have only bowed for thirty times, there are still seventy times left.”

Ao Biao raised his leg and kicked Zheng Keshuang's buttocks. Zheng Keshuang was unable to stand, he fell kneeling down. Ao Biao pressed his head down and shouted, ”You are the groom today, what's the big deal of bowing several more times?”

Wei Xiaobao knew that they were stalling, waiting for his arrival. In all his life he could not necessarily see this kind of good and rare drama several times, thereupon he thought that there was no harm in watching it a bit longer; hence he took his time in coming out to save him. Ah Ke, on the other hand, could not bear it any longer. 'Bang!' she kicked the window, and leaped inside with a saber in her hand. ”Release him quickly,” she shouted, ”Otherwise your Miss will kill each and every one of you!”

Wu Lishen laughed and said, ”Miss, are you here to drink the wine of happiness? Why are you using saber and spear?”

Ah Ke took a step forward, brandishing her saber to chop at Ao Biao. In her anxiety and anger, her saber was moving very swiftly and fiercely. Ao Biao hastily leaped away. He picked a long wooden bench behind him to block the saber. Although Ah Ke did not have internal strength, her moves were quite refined and amazing. Ao Biao's wooden bench was an awkward weapon, unexpectedly he was forced to draw back again and again.

Wu Lishen laughed and said, ”Hey, not bad at all.” And he stretched out his hand to meet the saber. His martial art skill was considerably higher than Ao Biao's, just with two bare palms he was able to weave in and out between the saber blade.

Zheng Keshuang leaped up with the intention to help, but his back was punched twice, 'bang, bang!' and he fell to the ground.

Ah Ke successively launched seven, eight moved. Seeing that she could not resist the enemy, she called out, ”Shidi, Shidi, come here, quick!”

But she heard Wei Xiaobao was shouting outside the window, ”How fierce! Laozi will fight you to the death.” She heard the sound of punching and kicking on the window, apparently Wei Xiaobao was fighting fiercely with someone else.

Hearing Wei Xiaobao's arrival, Wu Lishen busily signaled with his eyes, and then shouted, ”Who's there?” Two of his disciples immediately stepped forward with unsheathed weapons to meet Ah Ke's willow-leaf saber.

Wu Lishen rushed outside the hall, but saw that Wei Xiaobao was alone, kicking the window, making a lot of noise; obviously he was not fighting with anybody else. Wu Lishen nearly burst out laughing; he called out, ”Everybody stops! You, little kid, what are you doing here?”

Wei Xiaobao loudly replied, ”My Shijie asked me to save people; quickly let him go! Aiyo! Not good, these peasants have superb martial art skill.” While making a big fuss, he ran outside the door. Wu Lishen laughed and ran after him.

When they were outside, Wei Xiaobao stopped and said with a laugh, ”Er Ge, thank you very much! The way you manage this matter is very interesting.”

Wu Lishen laughed and said, ”Is that Miss Xiongdi's beloved? Her martial art is really good, her appearance also … also … hey, hey, not bad.” He was straightforward and frank; Ah Ke's physical appearance was extremely beautiful, he did not think much of it, but her moves were refined and amazing, he was quite admiring her.

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, ”It's a pity that she wholeheartedly wanted to marry that stinky fellow, and is unwilling to marry me. You can force that stinky fellow to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to marry that peasant girl; if only you could force her to marry me …” Suddenly he had an idea. ”Er Ge,” he said, ”I am asking you to help me to the end. Pretend that you capture me, and seize that Miss also, and then force us to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married. What do you think?”

Wu Lishen burst out laughing; he could not help but shaking his head, and hastily said, ”Very good, very good. Xiongdi, I hope you don't mind, shaking my head has become a second nature to me; it's just that … it's just that …” Speaking to this point, he slightly hesitated.

”It's just that what?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

Wu Lishen said, ”We are men of chivalrous and righteous way, it is all right to play a joke, Xiongdi, please don't be oversensitive, your Gege is speaking frankly: you should absolutely have to guard against any voracious desire to satiate lascivious heart.”

”Naturally,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”She is my Shijie; after we bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married, she will be my official wife. Er Ge, you are the matchmaker; after bowing to the Heaven and the Earth, we will be officially married, won't we? It's not 'picking flowers' [i.e. enter houses at night to rape women] or visiting prostitute, so you cannot say 'lascivious heart', can you?”

”Yes, yes,” Wu Lishen said, ”Xiongdi, please promise me, you must do not any … any bad things that are not according to chivalrous and righteous way.”

”Please set your hundred and twenty hearts at ease,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”A real man make a promise, some horses cannot chase it.”

Wu Lishen was greatly delighted; he laughed and said, ”I already knew that you are a well-known hero and warrior. This Miss can marry you, it is indeed her good fortune.”

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, ”You are the matchmaker, we must offer you the first cup of the wine of happiness.”

”Wonderful!” Wu Lishen said with a laugh, ”Xiongdi, let's do it.”

Wei Xiaobao put his hands behind his back and said with a laugh, ”No need to be polite.”

Wu Lishen grabbed his wrists with his left hand; raising his voice, he said, ”I want to see where are you going to run to?” And then he pushed Wei Xiaobao into the main hall.

They saw Ah Ke's saber had been knocked down, while three weapons were pointing to her front and back. Although Ao Biao and the others wanted to completely subdue her, they knew that she was Wei Xiaobao's beloved, hence they did not dare to be rude to her at all.

Wu Lishen took off his belt to tie Wei Xiaobao's hands, and then he pushed him to sit on a chair. Next, he also bound Ah Ke's hands. Wei Xiaobao did not stop cursing.

”Little demon,” Wu Lishen shouted, ”You curse one more time, I am going to dig your eyeballs out.”

Wei Xiaobao replied, ”I'll curse whenever I want to curse, stinky thief!”

”Shidi,” Ah Ke said in a low voice, ”Stop cursing so you won't suffer the present trouble.” Only then did Wei Xiaobao hold his tongue.

Wu Lishen said, ”This Miss actually has more sense, her appearance is also not bad. Very good, very good. I have another brother who is not married yet, I'd better take her as my 'difu' [younger brother's wife] today.”

Ah Ke was greatly shocked. ”That won't do, that won't do!” she hastily said.

”Why not?” Wu Lishen said, ”Big Miss of a good family will always be married, my Xiongdi is a hero and a warrior, he will not bring disgrace to you, why are you unwilling? You really fail to appreciate other people's kindness! Play the music!”

Ao Biao and and the others picked up the gongs and drums and started beating them. 'Dong! Dong! Dang! Dang!' It was very lively.

Of all the frightening experiences Ah Ke went through in her entire life, nothing was scarier than this. She thought that these peasants were rough, uncouth and dirty, his younger brother must be of the same quality; if she lost her chastity to this kind of coarse peasant, even if she killed herself right now, it was already too late. She clenched her jaw and bit her lips, she was so scared that she was unable to utter anything.

Wu Lishen laughed and said, ”Very good, you agree.” He waved his right hand, and everybody stopped beating the gongs and the drums.

”Not yet, I haven't agreed yet,” Ah Ke called out, ”Just kill me quickly!”

”Alright,” Wu Lishen said, ”I will kill you. I will kill even your Shidi.” While saying that, he took the steel saber from Ao Biao's hand and raised it high in the air.

Ah Ke cried and said, ”Quickly kill me, if you don't, you are not a real man. You … you kill my Shidi quickly, kill … kill him first.”

Wu Lishen cast a sidelong glance toward Wei Xiaobao; he thought, ”This Miss is so without feeling and without sense of justice toward you, why would you want to marry her?”

In his heart, Wei Xiaobao was also cursing, ”Stinky little girl, why would you want to kill me first?”

Wu Lishen angrily said, ”I simply won't kill your Shidi. Ah Gou, take this stinky fellow and chop his head outside!” While saying that, he pointed to Zheng Keshuang.

Ao Biao replied, ”Yes.” And dragged Zheng Keshuang away.

”No,” Ah Ke cried out in alarm, ”Don't harm him … he can't be killed. His father … his father …”

”Never mind!” Wu Lishen said, ”Are you going to be my Dixi [yet another word for 'younger brother's wife'] or not?”

Ah Ke cried and said, ”No, no, you … just kill me.”

Wu Lishen tossed away his steel saber and picked up a horsewhip. ”I won't kill you,” he shouted, ”I'll lash you a hundred whip first.” In that moment the anger in his heart was unbearable. 'Crack!' he cracked the whip in the air, ready to lash it down onto her body.

”Hold on!” Wei Xiaobao shouted.

Wu Lishen halted the whip in the air and did not lash it down. ”What?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”We are heroes and warriors; we pay particular attention to yi qi. Shijie and I are like hands and feet born on the same parents, this a hundred-lash whip, just strike it on me.”

Seeing Wu Lishen's ferocious and tyrannical look as he raised his whip, Ah Ke was already scared and panicked. As soon as she heard Wei Xiaobao, her heart was delighted. ”Shidi,” she said, ”You are a really good person.”

Wei Xiaobao said to Wu Lishen, ”Hey, Laoxiong, whatever it is, let me take it. This is called 'being a real man, I am not afraid of calamity, I'll step forward bravely'. You must not force her to marry your Xiongdi, if you have any Jiejie or Meimei [older and younger sister, respectively] who is not married yet, just let me bow to the Heaven and the Earth with her to marry her. This Zheng Gongzi has already married one, I will marry another one, successively we marry two of you; it's not bad, is it? If you have another one, just let her marry me. Laozi is a junk copper, rusty iron; my brain is already rotten …”

He spoke to that point, Wu Lishen and the others burst out in laughter. Ah Ke also could not help feeling funny, but she only chuckled a moment, and immediately remembered the wrong she was suffering; her tears flowed down again.

Wu Lishen laughed and said, ”You, this little kid, is very interesting; you are a real man. I was actually thinking of letting you go, and was saying all those things to scare you, but laozi is too worthless. This matter of bowing to the Heaven and the Earth must be done; you tell me, who is going to bow to the Heaven and the Earth? Will it be you, or she?”

Ah Ke was anxious to get away. ”It's he, it's he!” she hastily said.

Wu Lishen fixed his gaze at her; raising his voice, he said, ”You say he is to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married?”

Ah Ke felt slightly ashamed; she hung her head and said, ”Yes.”

”Alright!” Wu Lishen said. Pointing to Wei Xiaobao he said in a loud voice, ”Today I insist that you bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married.”

Wei Xiaobao turned his gaze toward Ah Ke and said, ”I … I …”

Ah Ke said in a low voice, ”Shidi, you help me out of great catastrophe today, I will never forget it. Please agree!”

Wei Xiaobao looked distressed. ”You want me to bow to the Heaven and the Earth and get married? Ay, you know, this is a very difficult matter.”

”I know,” Ah Ke said in a low voice, ”If you did not help me out of this great difficulty today, I would have no choice but to crash my head and die. I … I have no choice but to ask for your help. They … they are extremely vicious.”

”Shijie,” Wei Xiaobao said in a loud voice, ”Today you opened your mouth to ask me for help. I, Wei Xiaobao, have no choice but to face the difficulty, to agree on your behalf. It is you who wanted me to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married; it was not me who wanted to do it, am I right?”

”Yes,” Ah Ke replied, ”It was me who asked you. You are the hero, a real man who steps forward bravely, who relieve other people's distress, also … also someone who listen to my words the most.”

Wei Xiaobao heaved a deep sigh and said, ”Shijie, my feelings to you, you have always understood. No matter what it is that you want me to do, I will readily agree, I won't frown. Since you ask me to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married, naturally I will comply.”

”I know you treat me very well,” Ah Ke said, ”Later on … later on I will also treat you well.”

”So be it,” Wu Lishen said, ”Xiao Xiongdi, I do not have any meizi for you to marry. My daughter is only three; she can't marry you. Hey, if any of you have Jiejie or Meimei, quickly call her out to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married with this young hero.”

Ao Biao said with a laugh, ”I don't have any.”

Another man said, ”This young hero's righteousness reaches the clouds and the sky; if I can be his in-law, it will be my greatest good luck. Too bad I only have brothers and no sisters.”

Another man said, ”My Jiejie has already married and gave birth to eight kids. Young hero, if you are willing to wait, wait for my jiefu [older sister's husband] to die, then I will tell Jiejie to marry you.”

”He can't wait,” Wu Lishen said, ”Who has someone who is readily available?”

Everybody shook his head and said, ”I don't.” Everybody appeared to have missed a good opportunity and had deep regret.

Wei Xiaobao happily said, ”Gentlemen friends, it is not me who is unwilling, but you do not have any sisters, so please let us go.”

Wu Lishen shook his head and said, ”No we won't. A real man said a word, a team of horses cannot chase it. Today you must bow to the Heaven and the Earth. Otherwise, we will offend Sha Shen [don't know what it is, literally means demon deity] Taisui [God of the year], and then everybody here will die a violent death; won't this joke be started again? Alright, you bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married with her.” While saying that, he pointed to Ah Ke.

Ah Ke and Wei Xiaobao shouted together, ”No, not good!”

Wu Lishen angrily said, ”What do you mean not good? Little Miss, do you want to bow to the Heaven and the Earth with my Xiongdi, or do you want to bow to the Heaven and the Earth with this young hero? You decide.”

Ah Ke's entire pretty face bloated with deep red; she shook her head and said, ”I don't want both!”

Wu Lishen angrily said, ”Until now you still use all sorts of excuses. The time has arrived, if we miss this good hour, the demons will descend, no one here will stay alive. Hey, Ah San, Ah Gou, these two little fellows are not willing to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married, cut their noses!”

Ao Biao and one of his younger martial brothers complied together; with raised steel saber, they rubbed the flat of the blade on Ah Ke's nose several times. Ah Ke was not afraid of death, but thinking that if her nose was cut, she would be extremely ugly; she was scared to death that her face turned completely without any color.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Don't cut my Shijie's nose, cut mine instead.”

Wu Lishen said, ”We need to cut two noses as a sacrifice to the Sha Shen, you only have one. Hey, the one surnamed Zheng, how about we cut your nose as a substitute for this Miss' nose?”

Ah Ke looked at Zheng Keshuang with begging-for-pity look. Zheng Keshuang looked the other way, he did not dare to meet her eyes, yet he shook his head.

Wu Lishen said, ”This fellow is unwilling, yet your Shidi is. Hey, your Shidi treats you a lot better than he does. If you don't marry this kind of person, whom are you going to marry? Bow to the Heaven and the Earth, play music!”

Amidst the sound of gongs and drums, Ao Biao took the head covering from the fake bride and put it on Ah Ke's head; he also untied her. As soon as she was free, Ah Ke sent out a punch. 'Wham!' it hit the pit of Ao Biao's stomach. Luckily she did not have any internal energy, so that although he was hit, it was not too painful. Ao Biao raised his steel saber and put it across the back of her neck.

Wu Lishen started the ritual, ”The bride and groom bow to the Heaven!”

Ah Ke felt the coldness of the blade on the skin of her neck, as well as a slight pain; she had no choice but to stand alongside Wei Xiaobao and kowtow toward the outside.

Wu Lishen continued, ”The bride and groom bow to the Earth.” Ao Biao pushed her body around to kowtow toward the inside.

At the 'bride and groom bow to each other', the two of them kneeled toward each other and kowtowed several times.

Wu Lishen laughed aloud and said, ”The new husband and wife thank the matchmaker.”

Ah Ke was extremely angry; suddenly her leg flew up and kicked Wu Lishen's lower abdomen. This kick was indeed not light. 'Ah!' Wu Lishen cried out and retreated several steps back, while repeatedly coughing. He then laughed and said, ”The bride is so vicious, even the matchmaker is being kicked!”

Right this moment, there were repeated whistles outside the ancestral hall, followed by sounds of footsteps from east, south, west and north; at least there were forty, fifty people. Wu Lishen's smiling expression immediately vanished. ”Blow out the candles,” he hissed. Immediately the ancestral hall was pitch-black.

Wei Xiaobao rushed toward Ah Ke and pulled her hand, ”There are enemies outside,” he said in a low voice.

Ah Ke was really angry and upset; she sobbed and said, ”I … I have bowed to the Heaven and the Earth with you.”

”To me, it was something that I always seek but fail to get,” Wei Xiaobao said in a low voice, ”It's just that the bowing to the Heaven and the Earth was rather too sloppy.”

Ah Ke angrily said, ”It does not count. You think it was for real?”

”Why would it be a fake?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”This is called 'the (grain of) rice has become (steamed) rice', 'the wood has become a dog' [mu yi cheng gou].”

With a whimper Ah Ke said, ”What 'the wood has become a dog'? It's 'the wood has become a boat' [mu yi cheng zhou].”

”Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Niangzi [wife] is well-educated, later on you need to teach me a lot to be a Xianggong [lord/master/young gentleman, but can also mean 'husband' (wife's term of address)].”

Hearing him unexpectedly thickening his face by using the term 'niangzi' and 'xianggong' to call each other, Ah Ke was growing more anxious and broke into crying.

They heard the shout outside was deafening, dozens of people were shouting together. It sounded like the roar of a beast, or the bellow of an ox; it was so jumbled and indistinct that they did not know what they were shouting. Ah Ke was terrified, against her will she leaned close to Wei Xiaobao. Wei Xiaobao reached out and wrapped his arm around her; he said in a low voice, ”Don't be afraid, looks like a bunch of lamas are attacking.”

”What should we do?” Ah Ke asked.

Wei Xiaobao pulled her arm, he took her quietly sitting behind the image of the deity. Suddenly there was a flash of light, several dozen people rushed into the ancestral hall, each one of them had a torch and a weapon in his hands. As soon as Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke saw these people, they were shocked. These people's faces were painted with green fancy patterns, they wore bird's feather on their heads, and their upper bodies were naked. Their waists were wrapped in a piece of animal skin, their torso and their arms were also painted in elaborate patterns. Turned out these people were of ethnic groups from outside China.

Ah Ke thought that these barbarians did not look like human, but they did not look like ghosts either; each one of them had a sinister expression on his face. She was even more terrified, and shrank herself inside Wei Xiaobao's embrace while trembling incessantly.

The barbarians uttered wild 'wah, wah!' noise; one of them, who was among the first to enter, shouted, ”Han people, no good, kill them all! Barbarians, good, must kill people! Guhuatulu, ahbasili!” The barbarians shouted loudly, they were talking in barbarian language.

Wu Lishen was a Yunnan native, he understood barbarian language, but he did not understand even half a word of these barbarians' talk. He said in barbarian language, ”We are good Han people, we must not kill.”

The barbarian leader still said, ”Han people, no good, must kill all. Guhuatulu, ahbasili!”

All the barbarians shouted together, ”Guhuatulu, ahbasili!” They raised their big sabers and steel forks, and charged forward. Wu Lishen and his company did not have any choice but to raise their weapons and meet the enemy.

As soon as these people met, Wu Lishen and the others were greatly amazed. Turned out these barbarians' martial art skill was quite refined and established; their weapon technique was conforming to the martial art study, their attack and defense was carefully measured, they did not randomly chop or wildly attack at all.

Several moves later, even Wei Xiaobao and Ah Ke were able to see this fact. While engaging in a fierce fight, Wu Lishen shouted, ”Everybody, be careful, these barbarians have learned our Han people's martial art, we must not consider them lightly.”

The barbarian leader called out, ”Han people's killing technique, barbarians know them all, not afraid of Han people. Guhuatulu, ahbasili!”

The barbarians were many, their martial art skill was also very good. Each one of Mu Palace people had to face three, sometimes four, enemies. In a very short period of time they were already in a very dangerous position. Wu Lishen brandished his saber in a fierce combat against the leader, yet unexpectedly it did not look like he was having the slightest bit of advantage. The longer they fought, the more he was alarmed. Suddenly he heard 'Ah, Ah', twice; two of disciples were injured and fell down. Shortly afterwards, Ao Biao's leg was stabbed by a hunting fork and he also fell down. Three barbarians pounced on him and captured him.

A moment later, about a dozen or so Mu Palace people had been knocked down. Zheng Keshuang's had already been injured early on; he only offered a little bit of resistance and was quickly subdued. All the barbarians carried ox tendon, with which they bound their captives.

The barbarian leader hopped up and down while loudly blabbering in barbarian tongue. Wu Lishen groaned inwardly; he was thinking of escaping, but was concerned about Wei Xiaobao and his disciples' safety. Thereupon he did everything he could to fight fiercely, hoping to subdue the leader and thus forcing them to let his people go. Suddenly the leader hacked his saber directly toward Wu Lishen's head, Wu Lishen raised his saber to block. 'Dang!' his arm went slightly numb. Suddenly he felt a stick sweeping toward his back, hastily he leaped up to evade. The leader's saber flipped over, and then landed on his neck. The leader shouted, ”Han people, lose. Barbarian, not lose.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”This barbarian is so stupid, he does not know the word 'win', only knew the word 'not lose'.”

Wu Lishen shook his head and heaved a deep sigh; he tossed his saber and immediately had his hands bound.

With torches raised high, the barbarians looked everywhere. Wei Xiaobao knew that they could not hide anymore. Pulling Ah Ke's hand, he rushed outside while calling out, ”Barbarians, good people. The two of us are barbarians. Guhuatulu, ahbasili!”

The leader reached out to grab Ah Ke's neck. Three barbarians pounced forward and grabbed Wei Xiaobao. Wei Xiaobao only shouted half of ”Guhua …” before his mouth was covered.

When the leader saw him, his expression changed. Stretching out his arm, he grabbed Wei Xiaobao in his arms while shouting, ”Xihuahbu, qiliwendeng.” And then he carried Wei Xiaobao out of the ancestral hall.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly shocked; turning his head toward Ah Ke, he called out, ”Niangzi, this barbarian is going to kill me. You must live as a widow for me, you can't remarry that …” Before he finished, they were already outside the main gate.

The barbarian leader ran more than ten zhang, before he released Wei Xiaobao and set him on the ground. He said, ”Gui Gonggong, how come you are here?” He sounded genuinely surprised, but was also delighted.

Wei Xiaobao was startled and happy at the same time. ”You … you are a barbarian, and you knew me?”

The man laughed and said, ”Xiaoren is Yang Yizhi, the Yang Yizhi from Ping Xi Wang Mansion. Gui Gonggong did not recognize me. Ha ha …”

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud. He was about to speak, Yang Yizhi pulled his hand and said, ”Let's go farther away to talk, don't let the others hear us.”

The two of them went more than twenty zhang away before stopping. Yang Yizhi said, ”Unexpectedly I can see Gui Gonggong in here, truly I am delighted.”

”How did Yang Dage come here?” Wei Xiaobao asked, ”And you dress up as Guhuatulu, ahbasili?”

Yang Yizhi laughed and said, ”There were a bunch of people having an assembly at Hejian Prefecture, planning to bring harm to our Wangye; Wangye obtained some information about it and sent Xiaoren here to investigate.”

Wei Xiaobao was secretly alarmed; his brain turning very fast, trying to find an idea. He said, ”Last time those Mu Palace fellows entered the Palace to assassinate the Emperor, framing Ping Xi Wang …”

Yang Yizhi hastily said, ”And we owe it to Gonggong's esteemed, as high as the cloud and the sky's friendship, by presenting a memorial to the Emperor and clear this matter up, washing away the injustice our Ping Xi Wang received. Our Wangye is endlessly grateful, he often mentioned that he wanted to personally express his gratitude to Gonggong.”

”I do not dare to accept the gratitude,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Wangye regards me highly like this, while I am by the Emperor's side, if I can do such a trivial matter for Wangye, naturally I will. This time His Majesty knew that there are some rebellious thieves who were having an assembly at the Hejian Prefecture, with the intention of bringing harm to Ping Xi Wang. I volunteered to come over here to investigate.”

Yang Yizhi was greatly delighted. ”Turns out His Majesty already knew about it,” he said, ”There is no way the rebellious thieves' evil schemes will succeed. That's wonderful. Xiaoren received Wangye's order to infiltrate those damn dog-heads' congress. I heard them electing various provinces' meng zhu, intending to harm our Wangye. I won't conceal it from Gui Gonggong: in our hearts we are deeply concerned. It is easy to dodge the spear in the open, it is hard to avoid a stab in the dark. If the rebellious thieves dare to come to Yunnan to fight, it's not that Xiaoren is boasting, but if a thousand of them came, we'll capture a thousand, if ten thousand of them came, we'll kill all ten thousand. What we are afraid of is that like last time the Mu Palace's dog thieves committing outrages, yet they shifted the blame to our Wangye, and thus later on have brought us infinite trouble.”

Striking his own chest, Wei Xiaobao boldly said, ”Yang Dage, please report to Wangye, there is nothing to be worried about. When I return to the Capital, about that dog-heads' congress, I will report everything by fives and tens, by fifteens and twenties [i.e. systematically and in full detail], nothing will be left out in my memorial to the Emperor. Opposing Ping Xi Wang is the same as opposing His Majesty. The more they hate Ping Xi Wang, the more it shows that Wangye is loyal and devoted to His Majesty. If His Majesty is happy, not only Ping Xi Wangye, even Yang Dage will be heavily rewarded, you will be promoted and gain wealth; it's a cinch.”

Yang Yizhi happily said, ”We are heavily reliant of Gui Gonggong's vigorous intercession. Xiaoren does not expect promotion and wealth. Wangye has shown great kindness to my late father, he has saved Xiaoren's entire family's lives. Just before his death, my late father left me his last words, instructing Xiaoren to pledge my life to protect Wangye completely. Gonggong, you came here, are you investigating Mu Family dog thieves' plot?”

Wei Xiaobao slapped his thigh. ”Yang Dage,” he said, ”Not only your martial art skill is superb, your foresight is also divine. My admiration, my admiration. My Shijie and I are in disguise, we want to find out what trick they are playing, but we were discovered. I talked some nonsense, surprisingly they believe it, and forced my Shijie and I to bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married. Ha ha … this is called 'profiting from a disaster'.”

Yang Yizhi thought, ”You are a eunuch, how can you marry? Ah right, you and that young Miss pretended to be a pair of lovers and they believed it.” He said, ”That Shaking-Head Lion's martial art is not bad, nevertheless, he is bold but not very astute.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”You dress as barbarians, is it for the purpose of capturing them?”

Wei Xiaobao gave him a thumb up; he praised, ”Yang Dage's stratagem is indeed very brilliant. You are dressing up as barbarians, guhuatulu, ahbasili; even if you massacre the whole lot of Mu Palace people, other people only know that it was the barbarian revolting, nobody would suspect Ping Xi Wang at all.”

Yang Yizhi laughed. ”Exactly,” he said, ”It's just that by dressing like this, crazy and bizarre, we only make Gonggong laugh.”

”What do you mean 'laugh'?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”In my heart I envy you very much. I really want to shed these clothes, paint my face with green fancy patterns, and shouting and jumping around with you.”

Yang Yizhi laughed and said, ”If Gonggong wishes, we can dress up together.”

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, ”This time I can't; if my wife saw me dressing outlandishly like that, she will throw a fit.”

”Gonggong really getting married and have a wife now?” Yang Yizhi asked, ”I thought you were forced by those dog thieves to pretend?”

This matter was not easy to explain clearly in just a few words, thereupon Wei Xiaobao changed the subject by saying, ”Yang Dage, you and I hit it off very well with one another. If you consider me worthy, let the two of us tie the knot to become sworn brothers. There's no need to use 'Gonggong' or 'Xiaoren' anymore, it sounds so awkward.”

Yang Yizhi was greatly delighted. First, Ping Xi Wang was in need of his help; hereafter, there would be many important matters in need of his aid in front of the Emperor. Second, this little Gonggong was generous, outspoken and straightforward, a really good friend. That day at the Prince Kang's mansion, he was very polite to him. Thereupon he said, ”That is exactly what I have been wishing for; but I am afraid I am not able to climb that high.”

”What do you mean climbing high or climbing low?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Speaking of high and low, are you the taller one, or I am the taller one?”

Yang Yizhi burst out laughing. Thereupon the two of them kneeled down on the spot, using dirt as the incense, they kowtowed eight times and made a statement to be brothers.

”Xiongdi,” Yang Yizhi said, ”From now on the two of us are as close as flesh and bones, a lot more than ordinary brothers. However, in front of other people, your Gege will still call you 'Gonggong', to avoid raising other people's suspicion.”

”Naturally,” Wei Xiaobao replied. ”Dage, what are you going to do with those Mu Family people?”

Yang Yizhi said, ”I am going to take them to Yunnan and slowly torture them. After obtaining their confession that they framed our Wangye, we are going to take them to the Capital to let the Emperor know that Ping Xi Wang has whole-hearted loyalty, and make it clear that by protecting Ping Xi Wang, Xiongdi did not make the slightest mistake.”

Wei Xiaobao nodded. ”Very good, very good!” he said. ”Dage, do you think that Shaking-head Tiger would confess?”

”It's Shaking-head Lion Wu Lishen,” Yang Yizhi corrected, ”This man has quite a reputation in Jianghu; I heard his manner is very unyielding, he won't confess. I respect him as a real man, I won't make things too difficult for him. But the rest of those people, inevitably there will be some who can't endure the torture; they might confess.”

”Not bad,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”This plan is not bad.”

Yang Yizhi could detect from his tone that he was speaking thoughtlessly and did not really mean it; thereupon he said, ”Xiongdi, you and I are not outsiders. If you think something is inappropriate, please speak bluntly.”

”There is nothing inappropriate about it,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I heard there is another rebellious thief within the Mu Family called Mu Jiansheng, there is also a certain Stiff-backed Black Dragon called Liu somebody.”

”Iron Back Blue Dragon Liu Dahong,” Yang Yizhi said, ”He is Mu Jiansheng's Shifu.”

”Right,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Dage, your memory is very good. His Majesty instructed me to find these two people's trail. Have you caught them?”

Yang Yizhi said, ”Mu Jiansheng also went to Hejian Prefecture. Along the way we scooped up information about him, but as soon as we entered Xian County, he slipped away, we do not know where he hides.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”It is somewhat embarrassing; just now I talked nonsense, and was able to deceive that Shaking-head Lion and turned him into Nodding-Head Lion, who agreed to take me to see their Xiao Gongye. I actually wanted to verify their plot in framing Ping Xi Wang, and then return to the Capital and present a report to the Emperor. Since Dage has already had assurance, you might be able to torture their conspiracy out. In the end it's the same thing, Xiongdi actually does not need to take a risk.”

Yang Yizhi deliberately considered, ”I torture several insignificant people, they may not necessarily know the real inside information. Even if they did, Mu Family dog thieves' bones are very hard, they may not necessarily be willing to speak. Besides, Wangye personally offers an explanation is absolutely inferior to the report from someone whom the Emperor personally sent to investigate, which will emerge powerful. If we simply pretend we did not know anything and let Gui Xiongdi go submit the report to the Emperor, it will be much better.” Thereupon he pulled Wei Xiaobao's hand and said, ”Xiongdi, your plan is a lot more brilliant, I'll listen to you in everything. But how are we going to release those Mu Family dog thieves without raising their suspicions?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”For that, I will need you to think of something.”

Yang Yizhi thought for a moment, and then said, ”Let's do it this way: You run away back to the ancestral hall, pretending that you are summoning up courage and determination to save your Shijie, I will pursue you, and then the two of us will speak gibberish, pretending to speak in the barbarian tongue. After talking for a while, you convince me, and I will respectfully leave. This way we won't reveal the least bit of trace.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed, ”Wonderful!” he said, ”I, Gui Gonggong is fluent in barbarian tongue. There is an opera about that, Emperor Ming of Tang

[63] had a subordinate scholar named Li somebody, when he was drunk, he produced an essay, scaring a bunch of barbarians that they pissed in their pants in terror.”

Yang Yizhi laughed and said, ”That was Li Taibai's drunken manuscript scared barbarian book.”

Wei Xiaobao clapped his hands and said, ”Right, right! Gui Gonggong awakes and speaks scary barbarian language is just as amazing as that. Dage, we must play a convincing act; you may punch and kick me, and I won't be injured. Ah, right, I am wearing a treasured vest that saber and spear won't penetrate. There is no harm in you chopping me several times; as long as you don't use any internal energy, so you won't shake and injure my five viscera and six bowels, I will be perfectly all right.”

Yang Yizhi said, ”Xiongdi has that kind of treasured clothes, that's very good.”

Wei Xiaobao bragged, ”His Majesty sent me on a mission to investigate the rebellious thieves' treacherous plan, he was afraid they might find out and have me killed; thereupon he took off from his own body this treasured vest, which was a tribute from the western red-haired country, and bestowed it to me. Dage, you do not need to worry that you might injure me, why don't you chop me several times to test it?”

Yang Yizhi pulled his saber out and lightly slashed Wei Xiaobao's left shoulder. Sure enough, the saber cut open the outer garment, but as the blade came in contact with the inner garment, it could not go deeper. He increased the strength of his hand slightly, lightly chopping Wei Xiaobao's left shoulder again, still he was not able to create any damage. ”Good treasured clothes, good treasured clothes!” he praised.

”Dage,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”There is a fellow surnamed Zheng inside; he is that young gentleman who wears gorgeous embroidered pillowcase. This fellow is always messing around my Shijie. Looking at him, Xiongdi is very angry. It would be best if you could take him away.”