Chapter - 32 (32) (2/2)

”I will do everything possible,” the old monk replied in an awe-inspiring voice.

Chen Yuanyuan straightened up and wiped her tears. ”What shall I do?” she asked, ”Tell me, what shall I do?”

The old monk frowned. ”In short,” he said, ”We must not let her acknowledge the traitor as her father.”

”Yes, yes,” Chen Yuanyuan said, ”I was wrong. Because I wanted to save the child, I was not thinking about you. I … I have offended you.”

”I understand,” the old monk said, ”I don't blame you at all. But she must not admit him as her father. She must not, absolutely not.” His voice was not loud, but there was strong imposing aura in it that if there were 'thousand troops ten thousand horses' in front of him, they would bow their heads and obey his commands.

Suddenly they heard the sound of thumping boots outside the door, someone let out a long laugh and said in a loud and clear voice, ”An old friend has graced Kunming with his presence, Xiao Wang's face is a lot brighter!” It was none other than Wu Sangui's voice.

Immediately Wei Xiaobao and Chen Yuanyuan's countenance changed. The old monk acted as if he did not hear anything, only his eyes suddenly brightened.

'Swish, swish!' out of the blue white light flashed, two swords slashed, the curtain hanging on the door was cut. Wu Sangui appeared at the doorway with a smile on his face. Followed by 'Crash, bang!' plaster, dust, and fragments of wood flew everywhere, the four walls, along with the windows on them, were demolished by men wielding iron sledge-hammers. On each hole several guards appeared, some with strung bows and arrow, some with raised lances in their hands. The tip of the arrows and lances was aimed inside. Wu Sangui only needed to issue an order, the arrows and lances would immediately fly into the bodies of the three people inside, turning them into hedgehogs.

”Yuanyuan, come out!” Wu Sangui shouted.

Chen Yuanyuan hesitated. She took a step forward, stopped, and shook her head. ”I won't come out,” she said. Turning her head around, she gently pushed Wei Xiaobao's shoulder and said, ”Xiaobao, this matter has nothing to do with you, you go out.”

Wei Xiaobao knew she sincerely wanted to protect him, and was deeply moved. ”Laozi won't go out,” he said loudly, ”Hot piece mama, Wu Sangui, if you have guts, go ahead and kill laozi as well.”

The old monk shook his head and said, ”The two of you go out. The old monk should have died more than twenty years ago.”

Chen Yuanyuan walked over to him, pulled his hand and said, ”No, I will die together with you.”

Wei Xiaobao loudly said, ”Ah Yi have yi qi, do you think Wei Xiaobao is greedy for life, afraid of death? Ah Yi, I will also die together with you.”

Wu Sangui raised his right hand and angrily shouted, ”Wei Xiaobao, you conspire with big rebel against the law. I will kill you and present a memorial to the Emperor, explaining everything, my merit will not be small.” Turning to Chen Yuanyuan, he said, ”Yuanyuan, why are you so muddleheaded? Still not coming out?”

Chen Yuanyuan shook her head. Wei Xiaobao said, ”What do you mean conspiring with big rebel against the law? You are falsely accusing good people.”

In his extreme rage, Wu Sangui laughed instead. ”Little baby,” he said, ”I'll say you still don't know who this old monk is. He has kept you hoodwinked inside a drum. By the time you reach the gate of hell, you still don't know for whom you have delivered your life.”

The old monk sternly said, ”Laofu [old man, referring to self] has never changed either my surname or my given name. The Emperor of Heaven has bestowed me the surname Li and given name Zicheng.”

Wei Xiaobao was shocked. ”You … you are Li Chuang, Li Zicheng?” he stammered.

”That's right,” the old monk said, ”Xiao Xiongdi, you go out! A real man is fully responsible for what he's done. The Ol' Li has undergone hundreds of battles, I have lived for more than seventy years; I don't want a little Tatar official like you to accompany me delivering our lives.”

Suddenly white shadow flashed; someone leaped down from the roof, pouncing toward the top of Wu Sangui's head. Wu Sangui let out an angry roar; the four guards behind him moved their swords together toward the white shadow.

The shadow flicked his sleeve, a gust of strong wind swept away, jolting the four guards backwards; followed by a palm strike toward Wu Sangui's back. Wu Sangui could not hold his stand; he was thrown into the room. Just like Wu Sangui's shadow the person also leaped in, his palm hacked down and struck Wu Sangui's shoulder. Wu Sangui grunted and fell sitting down on the floor. The person then put his palm on the 'tian ling' [sky spirit] acupoint on the top of Wu Sangui's head, and barked his order to the guards surrounding them, ”Quickly release the arrows!”

This turn of events happened so quickly that the guards were taken by surprise. Seeing their Wangye had fallen into the enemy's hand, who dared to make any move?

”Shifu! Shifu!” Wei Xiaobao called out happily. The person who jumped down from the roof and subdued Wu Sangui was precisely Jiu Nan.

When Wei Xiaobao went to the Three-Sage Nunnery, she followed him in secret, and all along she had been hiding on the roof. When Ping Xi Wang's Mansion guards arrived by the thousands and surrounded the Three-Sage Nunnery, Gao Yanchao and the others, who were guarding outside the nunnery, did not dare to move rashly. Jiu Nan's qinggong had reached the pinnacle, she curled up underside the eaves, unexpectedly the guards did not detect her presence.

Jiu Nan stared at Li Zicheng. ”Are you really Li Zicheng?” she asked in a majestic voice.

”That's right,” Li Zicheng replied.

”I heard you were killed on Mount Jiugong, turns out you are still alive today?” Jiu Nan asked.

Li Zicheng nodded. Jiu Nan asked, ”Was Ah Ke born to you and her?”

Li Zicheng sighed. He cast a glance toward Chen Yuanyuan, and then nodded.

”I should have known,” Wu Sangui angrily said, ”Only a traitor and rebel like you can sire that …”

Jiu Nan kicked his back; she cursed, ”Both of you are traitors and bandits, 'half-jin eight-liang' [half-pound eight-ounce]; I don't know which one is a bit more wicked.”

Li Zicheng raised his monk staff and stamped in on the ground, 'Bang! The green brick immediately shattered into several pieces. ”Lowly Nun!” he shouted, ”Who do you think you are, dare to speak nonsense like that?”

Seeing his Shifu had arrived, Wei Xiaobao's courage was greatly boosted; although Li Zicheng was intimidating, he did not fear him the least bit. ”You dare to offend my Shifu, are you bored of your life?” he shouted back, ”You are a traitor and rebel; my Shifu, the Senior has never said anything incorrect …”

Suddenly he heard 'whoosh, whoosh' noise; three lances flew in from outside the window, swiftly shooting toward Jiu Nan. Jiu Nan slightly turned her head to evade, the sleeve of her left arm swept, it coiled around two lances, which she then threw back out the window, while with her right hand she caught the third lance. 'Ah, ah' two blood-curdling screech were heard outside the window, two guards were hit by the lances on the pit of their stomach, and died instantly. Jiu Nan placed the tip of the third lance right in the middle of Wu Sangui's back.

Wu Sangui called out, ”Don't act rashly, everybody withdraw ten steps.” The guards chorused their compliance, and withdrew several steps.

With a cold laugh Jiu Nan said, ”What a coincidence. In this tiny meditation room today we have the number one big rebel without any equal since time immemorial, and the number one big traitor without any equal since time immemorial.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”And we have the number one beauty without any equal since time immemorial, and the number one martial art master without any equal since time immemorial.”

Jiu Nan could not stop her grave and stern face from revealing a slight smiling expression. She said, ”Number one martial art master? How could I dare? But you are the number one little smart-aleck without any equal since time immemorial.”

Wei Xiaobao burst out in laughter, Chen Yuanyuan also chuckled; but Wu Sangui and Li Zicheng pulled their faces, their minds racing, trying to find a way to escape. All their lives these two men were used to lead large armies, they were ambitious and ruthless characters who were used to fighting in one place after another all over the world, God knows the number of dangers, difficulties and bad risks they had encountered in all their lives; however, in the situation they were currently facing, unexpectedly they were at their wits' end. They racked their brains thinking about dozens different scenarios, yet they felt none would be effective.

With stern voice Li Zicheng shouted to Jiu Nan, ”What do you want?”

Jiu Nan laughed coldly and said, ”What do I want? Naturally I want to kill you with my own hands.”

”This Shitai,” Chen Yuanyuan said, ”You my daughter, Ah Ke's Shifu, aren't you?”

With a cold laugh Jiu Nan replied, ”I took your daughter away, I taught her martial art not because of kindness, I want her to assassinate the big traitor with her own hands.” While saying that, she added the strength of her right hand a little bit, the lance sank down, the tip of the lance penetrated about half a cun into Wu Sangui's flesh. ”Ah!” he could not bear not to cry out in pain.

”This Shifu,” Chen Yuanyuan said, ”He … he is a total stranger to you, Senior; he has neither grievance nor enmity with you.”

Jiu Nan tossed her head backward and laughed aloud. ”He … he has neither grievance nor enmity with me?” she said, ”Xiaobao, tell her who I am; also make the big traitor and the big rebel, two people, to understand clearly.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”My Shifu, the Senior, is the Princess born to the Emperor Chong Zhen of the Great Ming, Princess Changping!”

”Ah!” Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng and Chen Yuanyuan exclaimed together; they were all stunned.

Li Zicheng laughed aloud. ”Very good, very good,” he said, ”I have caused your father's death in the past, today I can die in your hand, it is a hundred times better than dying under this big traitor's hands.” While saying that, he took two steps forward, and drove his monk staff to the ground. The tail of the staff went about a chi into the floor. With both hands he pulled his clothes, 'rip!' the front part of his robe was torn, exposing his hairy chest. ”Princess,” he said with a laugh, ”Make your move. The Ol' Li didn't die under the traitor's hands, didn't die under the Tatars' hands, but I am losing my life under the Great Ming Princess' hand; that is very good!”

In all her life, Jiu Nan hated Li Zicheng to the bones, but she always thought that he had already died on Mount Jiugong of Hubei (province), hence it would be difficult for her to avenge this great enmity with her own hand. Today she found out that he was still alive, it was an unexpected delight. However, presently she saw his heroic and open-minded spirit, how in the face of death he maintained his calm and did not show the slightest bit of fear; she could not help but admiring him in her heart. She coldly said, ”Sire is indeed a real man. I am going to kill your enemy first today, before taking your life. I'll let you see it with your own eyes your enemy lose his head, so that you can die happily.”

Li Zicheng was greatly delighted; he cupped his fist and said, ”Many thanks Princess, zaixia cannot thank you enough. In all my life my greatest hope is that I will see with my own eyes this big traitor die a violent death.”

Seeing Wu Sangui was groaning under the lance, without any strength to resist, Jiu Nan was unwilling to kill him with the spear just like that; she said to Li Zicheng, ”You might as well fulfilling the desire of your heart; come and kill him!”

Li Zicheng was delighted. ”Thank you very much!” he said. Looking down toward Wu Sangui he said, ”Traitor, in the battle of Shanhai Pass, your braided troops helped you, hence I was unfortunate and my troops lost. Right now you are captured by the Princess, if I kill you just like that, it will be too easy for you; even if you are dead, you won't be convinced.” Looking up, he said to Jiu Nan, ”Your Highness the Princess, please release him, let me stake my life to see who would live and who would die.”

Jiu Nan lifted up the lance and said, ”I want to see who would kill whom first.”

Still crouching on the floor, Wu Sangui groaned several times. Suddenly he sprang up, seized the monk staff, and ferociously swept it across Jiu Nan's waist.

”Reckless thing!” Jiu Nan scolded. The lance in her hand turned around, pressing the monk staff down. She exerted her internal energy, Wu Sangui felt his arm numb and aching, the monk staff fell to the ground. The tip of the lance swiftly moved toward his throat. Although Wu Sangui was a brave soldier, in front of martial art expert with profound internal energy like Jiu Nan, he was as helpless as a baby that he was unable to withstand a single move. His face turned ash-grey as he repeatedly withdrew, but the tip of the lance was always pointing at his throat.

Li Zicheng stooped down to pick up the monk staff. Jiu Nan turned the lance around and handed it over to Wu Sangui, saying, ”The two of you fight fair and square.”

”Alright!” Wu Sangui shouted. His lance went straight toward Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng waved his monk staff to parry, followed by a counterattack with the staff. Thereupon these two men were engaged in a fierce battle in this tiny meditation room.

Jiu Nan pulled Wei Xiaobao away and told him to stand behind her, to guard against the staff and the lance from injuring him.

Chen Yuanyuan withdrew to the corner of the room; her countenance was deathly pale, she closed her eyes tight, yet the scene from her past flashed in her mind, ”When I was in the Ming Dynasty Palace, when Chong Zhen came to visit at night fall, he highly praised my beautiful appearance. The next day the Emperor did not attend the morning court, he stayed in the bedroom in my company, he told me to sing songs for him, he told me to put on rouge and powder, he even picked up eyebrow brush and drew my eyebrows for me. He promised me that he would make me an imperial consort, and then in the future he would make me the Empress. He said that from now on, he would not cast another glance toward all the imperial concubines and consorts in the Palace.

The Emperor was very young; when he was laughing joyously and freely, he could suddenly anxiously stop in daze. He was the Emperor, but in my heart, he was no different than those young masters of nobility or rich families who visit the prostitutes at the courtyard. In three days, day and night he did not leave me even for a single step. Early morning the fourth day, I woke up before he did; I saw a bloodless face on the pillow next to me, his cheeks were hollow, his eyebrows knitted closely. He was anxious even in his sleep. I thought, 'Is this the Emperor? If he is the Emperor, why is he unhappy like this?'

That day, he went to the morning court. When he returned in the afternoon, his countenance was even paler, his eyebrows wrinkled even tighter. He suddenly threw a fit at me, he accused me of interfering with the national affairs. He said that he was a brilliant ruler, hence he must not lose himself in female charms and turn into a muddleheaded ruler. He wanted to strive harder; therefore, he immediately ordered Empress Zhou to send me out of the Palace. He said that I was a witch who harmed the country, and that while I was in the Palace for three days, the rebel thief Li Zicheng had already broken through three cities.

I was not grieved; men are just like that, whenever something unpleasant happens, they always blame the women. The Emperor was worrying all day, his heart was scared; he was afraid of this man named Li Zicheng. At that time I thought, 'Li Zicheng is such an amazing man, he can make the Emperor afraid; I wonder what kind of man is he?'”

Chen Yuanyuan opened her eyes; she saw Li Zicheng was brandishing his monk staff, striking Wu Sangui again and again. Wu Sangui was dodging and evading, fast and nimble, all along the monk staff failed to hit him. Chen Yuanyuan thought, ”His movement is still very fast. These last several years, he still train martial art every day, because … because he wants to be the Emperor, he wants to lead his troops to attack Beijing.”

She remembered that when she left the Palace, she returned to the Zhou Guo Zhang [lit. the Emperor's father-in-law] Mansion. One day, the Guo Zhang Mansion held a big feast, inviting many guests. She was ordered to come out to sing and dance, to entertain the guests. It was that night that Wu Sangui saw her. To this day, she could still remember it clearly, under the candlelight, she saw his eyes were burning with desire as he stared at her across the banquet table. In all her life she had seen this kind of stare too many times. Following the stare, the man, who was like a beast, may pounce on her, he may embrace her tightly, and may tear away her clothes. It's just that at that time it was a public place with a big crowd …

Suddenly she thought, ”When that baby high-ranking official saw me a moment ago, his eyes also revealed that kind of look. It's so funny. Such a young baby also shows a burning desire toward me. Ay! All men are like that, old men are like that, little boys are also like that.”

She looked up and cast a glance toward Wei Xiaobao. She saw his face was full of excitement as he watched the fight between Li and Wu, two people. By this time Wu Sangui had begun to counterattack, the lance in his hand continuously attacked the enemy.

”He asked Zhou Guo Zhang for me,” she continued her reminiscing, ”In just a few days, the Emperor sent him to guard the Shanhai Pass, to defend the border against Manchurian troops' invasion. But Li Zicheng broke through Beijing first, Emperor Chong Zhen hung himself on the Coal Hill. Li Zicheng's troops captured me, and presented me to him. This straightforward man, is he the one the Emperor Chong Zhen dreaded even in his sleep? He had broken into Beijing, but he was very busy. The Ming Dynasty's officials were murdered by him by the dozens. His troops raped and pillaged Beijing, they arrested countless people, tortured them and demanded ransom for them; countless innocent common people were also massacred by them. But every night when he came to accompany me, he was always very happy, his laughter was very loud. His snoring was also very loud, he often woke me up in the middle of the night with the noise of his snoring. The hair on his arms, his legs, and his chest was very long, very thick. I have never seen a man like him.

Actually, Wu Sangui had already surrendered to him. But as soon as he heard that he had snatched me, he borrowed Manchurian troops, leading them to breach the Pass. Ay, this is the 'One wave of headgear-lifting anger propelled him, all for the sake of the fair-faced one' part. Li Zicheng led his army out to meet him, he fought Wu Sangui on a slab of stone. Manchu's elite troops suddenly appeared, Li Zicheng's army was utterly defeated. They said that on the slab-of-stone battlefield there was blood everywhere; along several dozen li road, there were dead bodies everywhere. They said that these people died because of me; it was me who caused these several tens of thousands people's death. Have I really heaped such a heinous sin upon myself?

After his defeat, Li Zicheng returned to Beijing and ascended the throne as the Emperor, he called himself the Emperor of the Great Shun Country. He took me fleeing to the west, Wu Sangui was hot on our trail. Although Li Zicheng was defeated, his laughter was still very much straightforward. The soldiers and officers under his command numbered less and less as the days gone by, his situation was more and more unfavorable, but he did not seem to care. He said that he started with nothing, at worst he would end up with nothing; what's so strange about that? He said that there were three things he was most proud of in all his life: first, he had hounded the Ming Dynasty Emperor to his death, second, he had been an emperor, and third, he had slept with the number one beauty in the world. This man's talk was very vulgar; he said that among those three accomplishments, he was most proud of the third.

Wu Sangui also wholeheartedly wants to be the Emperor; he has never said it, but I know. It's just that in his heart he is afraid, he always hesitates; he thought about making his move, but did not dare to do so. As long as he did not die today, there will come a day that he may become the Emperor. It's all right if he became the Emperor here in Kunming, it's all right if he became the Emperor only for a day.

Emperor Yong Li fled to Myanmar, Wu Sangui pursued him and killed him. People say that three Emperors have died in my hands: Chong Zhen, Yong Li, and this Emperor Li Zicheng of the Great Shun Country. How did I become responsible of Emperor Chong Zhen's account? I wonder if Wu Sangui is going to die today. If he became the Emperor in the future, will they say that I killed another Emperor? The Great Ming's rivers and mountains, several hundred thousand soldiers, several millions common people, plus four Emperors; it was I, Chen Yuanyuan, who killed them all. Yet I have not committed even a single bad deed, I have not even uttered any harmful word to anybody.”

Her ears kept hearing the 'bing, bing, bang, bang' of the weapons colliding with each other; when she looked up, she saw Li Zicheng and Wu Sangui were jumping high and crouching low, their fight was very fierce. Although these two men were already old, their movements were still very agile. In all her life, she was most afraid of watching men killing each other, and right now that loathing feeling was evident on her face. She also recalled what happened in the past, ”After the crushing defeat, the troops and soldiers under Li Zicheng's command scattered everywhere. Even in the night, he was no longer with me. Wu Sangui's subordinates found me, and hastily presented me to their commander-in-chief. Naturally he was overjoyed. He said that people cursed him as the big traitor, but for my sake, bearing this bad reputation was worth it. I really appreciate his affection. I don't care if he is the big traitor or a big loyal minister, because he was being true to me; for my sake, he would do anything. Other than him, nobody has ever treated me this way.

At that time I thought that from now on I would live a peaceful and happy life. I don't care about first-pin rank Madame, or second-pin rank Madame; I only hoped that I would not have to run around in circles from one man's hand to the other. But … but … after living in Kunming for several years, he was bestowed the title Qin Wang [Prince], and a Qin Wang must have a fujin [Manchurian word for 'wife']. His first wife has passed away early on. His younger brother Wu Sanmei came to me and told me that because of this fujin matter, Wangye was in great distress. By right, he should have taken me as his fujin, but everybody in the world knew my family background. If he reported my name so that the Emperor could confer an honorary title by imperial edict, unavoidably he would profane the imperial court. Naturally I understood that as a Qin Wang, he resented my background as a lowly woman, a prostitute; that I was not fit to receive honorary title by the Emperor. I did not want to make things difficult for him; without waiting for Wu Sanmei to finish, I told him that it was an easy matter, I told him to ask Wangye to pick a wise and virtuous woman from a famous family as his fujin, to avoid smearing his reputation. He came to apologize to me, telling me that he had indeed been unfair to me. Humph, becoming fujin or not, what's the big deal? It's just that eventually I understood that his affection to me had also reached its end. I moved out from the Mansion, because Wangye wanted to officially marry, he had to establish his fujin.

Right around that time, Li Zicheng suddenly appeared in front of me. He has become a Buddhist monk. I was scared out of my wits. I thought he had already died, and I was grieving for him for several days; who would have thought that he is still alive? Li Zicheng said that he wore Buddhist monk attire simply to deceive people's ears and eyes, while it also give him the excuse of not shaving his head and wearing the Tatars' attire. He told me that for the last several years he had been thinking about me daily; he had been living in Kunming for more than three years, and had always been looking for an opportunity to see me, until that day. Ay, could it be that his affection to me was a lot deeper than Wu Sangui's?

Every night he came to accompany me, until finally I got pregnant with this little baby girl. I could not see him anymore, I must return to the Mansion immediately. I told Wangye that I missed him very much, and I wanted him to accompany me. Wangye has never had heartfelt fondness toward his fujin anyway, he happily took me back. Afterwards the baby girl was born. I wonder if he ever had any suspicion.

When the baby girl was a little over two years old, she suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night. Although I hate to part with her, I thought it was Li Zicheng who sent someone to kidnap her. She is his child, if he wanted her, then that's good. He was alone, he must be distressingly lonely, if there was a child by his side, he would not feel so much alone and forsaken. Who would have thought … ay, who would have thought that that was not the case …”

Suddenly a drop of liquid fell on the back of her hand; when she looked down, it was a drop of blood. She was shocked and quickly looked up to the two men who were still fighting. She saw there was blood all over Wu Sangui's face, but he was still brandishing his lance in a hard fighting. The drop of blood naturally was splashed from his face.

Outside the room, the officers and men were shouting and cheering loudly, some were hurling threats toward Li Zicheng and Jiu Nan, but nobody dared to join the fight for fear that they would hurt their Wangye.

Wu Sangui was panting continuously; there was fear in his eyes. Suddenly the tip of the lance changed direction and went straight toward Chen Yuanyuan's chest.

”Ah!” Chen Yuanyuan cried out in alarm. ”He wants to kill me!” This thought flashed in her mind.

'Dang!' the lance was parried by Li Zicheng. It was as if Wu Sangui had gone mad; he thrust his lance repeatedly, each one was directed to Chen Yuanyuan. Li Zicheng bellowed in rage, while desperately blocking and parrying; he was no longer able to attack Wu Sangui.

Wei Xiaobao was hiding behind his Shifu's back, he was greatly astonished, ”Why would the big traitor not attack the monk, but attacking his wife instead?” Bu he immediately understood, ”Ah, right; he must be angry that his wife has sneakily met the monk, hence he wants to kill her to vent his anger.”

But Jiu Nan had been able to see Wu Sangui's real intention, ”This evil man is extremely treacherous. He cannot beat Li Zicheng, hence he resorted to this evil scheme.”

Sure enough, because Li Zicheng wanted to save Chen Yuanyuan, he was flustered and his mind was thrown into disorder, several gaps appeared in the movement of his staff. Wu Sangui's lance changed direction again, 'stab', he suddenly hit Li Zicheng's shoulder. Li Zicheng lost the strength of his right hand, his monk staff fell. Wu Sangui seized this opportunity to pounce, he pointed the lance toward the pit of Li Zicheng's stomach. Laughing maliciously, he said, ”Rebel, aren't you going to kneel down and surrender?”

”Yes, yes,” Li Zicheng replied. Slowly he bent his knees.

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”I always thought that Li Zicheng was such an amazing man, but actually he is greedy for life …” He had just had that thought, suddenly Li Zicheng rolled away to evade the tip of the lance, grabbed his monk staff from the floor, and swept it horizontally toward Wu Sangui's calves. Li Zicheng then sprang up, the monk staff struck down on Wu Sangui's shoulder, and in the third strike the staff shot down onto the top of Wu Sangui's head.

Wei Xiaobao did not know that when the circumstance was unfavorable, surrendering in order to take a breather and then seizing the opportunity to gain an upper hand, was exactly the tactic Li Zicheng was very good at in all his life. When he was leading the rebel troops in the past, on the seventh month of his seventh year Chong Zhen surrounded him and trapped him in the bottom of Juxiang Gorge at Xing'an county of Shaanxi Province, the imperial army laid a siege all around, there was no way out, the troops had no food, the horses had no straw; at a glance it looked like a total annihilation. Li Zicheng surrendered, and was taken into the imperial army. As soon as he was out of the plank road, he rose into rebellion again immediately. When he bent his knees to feign surrender to Wu Sangui just now, it was no more than executing his old trick once again.

Jiu Nan thought, ”These two men are equally ruthless and crafty, no wonder the Great Ming's rivers and mountains were lost in these two men's hands.”

They all saw that if Li Zicheng's third strike hit, Wu Sangui's brains would burst out. Chen Yuanyuan suddenly jumped and threw herself on top of Wu Sangui's body, ”Kill me first!” she called out.

Li Zicheng was shocked, the momentum of his staff strike was swift and fierce, his right shoulder was injured, he had no strength in his right hand to hold the staff. Immediately his left hand pushed to the right, 'Bang!' the iron monk staff struck the wall. ”Yuanyuan,” he angrily shouted, ”What are you doing?”

”He and I were husband and wife for more than twenty years,” Chen Yuanyuan replied, ”In those years he … he was sincerely treating me very well. I cannot let him die because of me.”

”Get out of the way!” Li Zicheng shouted, ”He and I have enmity as deep as the ocean. I must kill him.”

”Then kill me too,” Chen Yuanyuan replied.

Li Zicheng sighed. He said, ”Turns out … turns out your heart is still leaning toward him.”

Chen Yuanyuan did not answer, but in her heart she thought, ”If he wants to kill you, I will also die with you.”

From outside the room, the officers and soldiers saw Wu Sangui fell, they also cried out loudly while surging forward. A general shouted loudly, ”Quickly release Wangye, or all of you will die.” It was precisely Wu Sangui's son-in-law Xia Guoxiang. He continued shouting, ”Your companions are all here, if you harm a strand of Wangye's hair, their heads will fall to the ground immediately.”

Wei Xiaobao looked outside, and saw Mu Jiansheng, Liu Dahong and the other Mu Palace people, and Xu Tianchuan, Gao Yanchao, Priest Xuanzhen and the other Tian Di Hui people, Zhao Qixian, Zhang Kangnian, and the other Imperial Bodyguards, Valiant Cavalry Canling [Regimental Commander] and Zuoling [Company Commander]; all of them with hands tied, each of them had a Ping Xi Wang military officer behind his back, with unsheathed saber placed on their neck.

Wei Xiaobao thought, ”Even if Shifu could take me out of Kunming, all these friends will inevitably die. We want to kill Wu Sangui, but there is no hurry to do it at this time.” Thereupon he pulled his dagger and put it on Wu Sangui's back; he said, ”Wangye, all of us die together, there is no sense in it; it would be better for us to do a business transaction.”

”Humph,” Wu Sangui grunted, ”What business transaction?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”You promise to let everybody go, my Shifu will spare your life.”

Li Zicheng said, ”This traitor is a lowly person, a repeat offender; what he says cannot be trusted.”

Looking at the people with their hands bound outside, Jiu Nan also felt that she could not kill Wu Sangui today; she said, ”You give an order to let everybody go, I will also let you go.”

”What about Ah Ke?” Wei Xiaobao said in a loud voice, ”That female assassin?”

Xia Guoxiang shouted, ”Bring the assassin here.”

Two Mansion guards pushed a young woman, which was none other than Ah Ke. Her hands were also tied behind her back, and a glittering saber was also placed on her neck.

Chen Yuanyuan said, ”Xiaobao, you … you are always thinking of saving my child's life.”

Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, ”That's strange, you did not ask your husband, did not ask your lover, but came to ask me. Could it be that Ah Ke was born for me and you?” But as soon as he saw Ah Ke's lovely yet pitiful look, he had made up his mind, even if he did not want his own life, he simply must save her life; on top of that, he now saw Chen Yuanyuan's lovely yet pitiful look as she beseeched him, he did not need to think twice.

”The two of you,” he pointed to Li Zicheng, ”If you give me your word to allow Ah Ke to be my wife, how could I not save my own wife's life?”

Jiu Nan glowered at him. ”In time like this you still talk this kind of frivolous talk!” she shouted.

Although Chen Yuanyuan knew Wei Xiaobao only for a short time, yet her knowledge of his temperament and intention had already far surpassed Jiu Nan's; she knew that if this little smart-aleck did not take advantage of other people's misfortune, to fish in troubled water, he would not be a high-ranking official in such a young age. Thereupon she said, ”Fine, I give you my word.”

Wei Xiaobao turned his head toward Li Zicheng and asked, ”And you?”

There was an angry look on Li Zicheng's face, he was about to curse, but then he saw the earnest pleading expression on Chen Yuanyuan's face, hence he struggled to suppress his anger. ”Humph,” he snorted, ”Whatever she said, let it be that way.”

Wei Xiaobao giggled and turned toward Wu Sangui, ”Wangye, you and I are 'river water does not interfere with well water', why not get the best of both worlds? You can be the Ping Xi Wang, let me be the Wei Jueye?”

”Very well,” Wu Sangui said, ”What did I do to make life difficult for Wei Jueye?”

”Then issue an order to free all of my friends,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I will also ask my Shifu to release you. This is just like playing Pai Jiu [pai gow], in the front we have ten, at the back we have supreme, nobody loses nobody wins, nobody kills nobody pays. You are not thinking of making a big kill on the three directions, I will not shovel your bank. Not losing in gambling is better than everybody's head falls down on the ground.”

”So be it,” Wu Sangui replied, while slowly standing up.

”Please ask Shizi to come here, and the Princess as well,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I will also have to toil Wangye to personally escort us out of the City of Kunming, and I ask that Shizi will accompany the Princess to go back to Beijing and bow to the heaven and the earth and get married there. Wangye, although we have had the agreement, I still cannot set my heart at ease, I need to have Shizi as my guarantee. If you suddenly change your mind and dispatch your troops to give us a chase, we will have no choice but to split Shizi with a saber. Wu Yingxiong, Wei Xiaobao, plus Princess Jianning, everybody will happily go together to see Yan Wang. Our journey to the underworld will be exciting and fun.”

Wu Sangui thought that this kid was indeed very shrewd; he would not easily let me go based on my words alone. Since he was presently in a dangerous territory, the sooner he escaped the better; therefore, after making a prompt decision he said, ”Fair enough, we will do as you said.” Raising his voice, he called out, ”Xia Zongbing, quickly send someone to fetch the Princess and Shizi and bring them here.”

Xia Guoxiang said, ”I heard and obey. When Shizi heard the news, he promptly led the troops here.”

”Good filial son,” Wei Xiaobao praised, ”What a little darling meek, garlic chives sautéed in leek!”

Not too long afterwards, Wu Yingxiong did indeed arrive leading his troops. His injury had not healed, he arrived outside the building, riding on a soft sedan chair carried by eight of his personal attendants.

Wu Sangui said, ”Shizi has arrived, everybody can go.” He also issued an order, ”Untie our friends' hands.” To Wei Xiaobao he said, ”You and Shitai follow me closely, let me take you out. If laofu go back on my word, naturally you could stab me on my back. Shitai's martial art skill is superior, even I cannot escape her Tathagata Buddha's palm.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed. ”Wonderful,” he said, ”Wangye is indeed frank and straightforward; when you lose, you lose, when you win, you win, you wanted to oppose the Ming, you opposed the Ming, you wanted to surrender to Qing, you surrender to Qing. Indeed there is not the least bit of wishy-washiness in you.”

Wu Sangui's face turned ashen. Pointing to Li Zicheng he said, ”This rebel, I wonder if he is also Wei Jueye's friend?”

Wei Xiaobao cast a glance toward Jiu Nan. Before he could respond, Li Zicheng announced in a loud voice, ”I am not this Tatars' little dog official's friend.”

”Good,” Jiu Nan praised him, ”You, this rebel, actually have hard bones! Wu Sangui, let him go with us.”

Chen Yuanyuan looked at Jiu Nan, her eyes revealed her gratitude, but they also carried a pleading look. ”Shitai …” she said. But Jiu Nan turned her head away, she was unwilling to meet her eyes.

Wu Sangui was only concerned over his own survival, he did not care whether he could kill Li Zicheng or not. Walking toward the opening, he called out, ”Shizi is going to escort the Princess back to the Capital to have an audience with His Holiness, to respectfully escort the holy self of Her Highness the Princess.”

The sergeant under Ping Xi Wang's command blew the bugle, the troops lined up in formation to send them off. Wei Xiaobao and Wu Sangui walked out of the room side-by-side, with Jiu Nan following closely behind them.

Wei Xiaobao walked toward the sedan chair and said, ”Whether the goods is genuine or fake, one examination will confirm it.” He raised the sedan chair curtain and looked in. He saw Wu Yingxiong's face was completely without color. Leaning inside, he said with a laugh, ”Shizi, how are you?”

Wu Yingxiong called out, ”Father, you … are you all right?”

Of course he was calling out to Wu Sangui, but Wei Xiaobao replied, ”Very good, I am all right.”

When they were outside the Three-Sage Nunnery, he looked around; east, south, west and north, everywhere was tightly packed with troops and horses, their number could not be counted. ”Wangye,” Wei Xiaobao praised, ”Your troops and horses are indeed not a few. If you are going to attack Beijing, I think you already have enough.”

With a calm face Wu Sangui said, ”Wei Jueye, when you see His Majesty, if you talk nonsense, I will certainly also present a memorial to the Emperor, reporting that you are colluding with the rebel thieves Mu Family of Yunnan and Li Zicheng.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Uh, that's strange. Li Zicheng only loves to collude with the number one beauty in the world, how could he collude with me, the number one smart-aleck in the world?” Wu Sangui was furious; he clenched his fist and wanted to punch the bridge of Wei Xiaobao's nose very much.

”Wangye must not be angry,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You, Senior, must calm down. Being an official for a thousand li is only for the sake of wealth. If I talk rubbish to His Majesty, whatever reward His Majesty bestows to me, it will fall short of what you, Senior, send as a gift year after year, what you spend in soldier's pay and provision year after year. The two of us brothers are striking a business deal, when I return to Beijing, I will only praise you as a loyal and devoted minister, matchless under the heavens. I will do my best to protect Shizi, at New Year and other holidays, you will send a little bit of gold and silver as a gift to Xiao Jiang; what do you say?” While saying that, he walked alongside Wu Sangui.

”Wealth is merely worldly possessions,” Wu Sangui said, ”If Wei Jueye really want to use some, I can't see any reason why you cannot. However, if you really want to make things difficult for me, although laofu lives in Yunnan, with a massive military force at hand, I am not afraid of you.”

”Naturally,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”With a lance at hand, Wangye's bravery is unstoppable, you killed the rebellious thieves around the world that they piss in their pants in terror. Xiao Jiang is taking my leave today, the spending money Wangye promised earlier, please bestow it now.”

Listening to him chattering and unceasingly asking for bribe, Jiu Nan was getting more and more annoyed. ”Xiaobao,” she shouted, ”How could you talk so shamelessly like that?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Shifu, you did not know, but the number of people under me is quite a lot. When I return to the Capital, the civil and military officials of the imperial court, the imperial concubines and court eunuchs in the Palace, all of them must be given a present. If the gift is unsatisfactory, everybody may put the blame on Wangye.”

”Humph,” Jiu Nan snorted, but she no longer say anything.

Actually, as the guest Wei Xiaobao demanded bribe, his main reason was to escape with their lives. He repeatedly talked about bribe with Wu Sangui, his intention was to occupy Wu Sangui's mind, so that he would not change his mind or have the thought of killing them; besides, after giving the bribe, he could not possibly make things difficult for Wei Xiaobao. It was a standard practice of officialdom. By saying all those things, Wei Xiaobao was trying to make Wu Sangui feel relieved. Naturally Jiu Nan did not understand this reasoning.

As expected, Wu Sangui was really thinking, ”He wants the money, this matter is easier to manage.” Turning toward Xia Guoxiang, he said, ”Xia Zongbing, quickly get 500,000 taels of silver for Wei Jueye to give to the officers and men of the Imperial Bodyguards; also, prepare a generous gift for Wei Jueye, so that when he return to the Capital, he can distribute it for our behalf.” Xia Guoxiang complied, and turned toward his trusted aide to prepare everything.

Wu Sangui and Wei Xiaobao mounted their horses and rode side-by-side. Jiu Nan also mounted a horse and followed closely behind them. Knowing that this nun's martial art skill had reached perfection, Wu Sangui abandoned all hopes of running away from her; he also thought, ”Things ended this way, it is actually very satisfactory. Otherwise, even if I could kill this nun and this little smart aleck, kill Li Zicheng and all those rebellious thieves, injuring an Imperial Envoy carried a maximum penalty; I would be forced to deploy my troops immediately. This moment the help from the outside has not been properly decided; acting with confusion will only result in endangering this matter. Humph, when Beijing is broken later, will I have to be afraid that this little smart aleck would fly to the sky?” Therefore, he did not want to go back on the deal right away; along with Jiu Nan and Wei Xiaobao he went to Anfu Garden to fetch the Princess, and then escorted them out of the City of Kunming.

Although the soldiers had their suspicion, seeing their Wangye came out unscathed, they did not have any choice but to obey the orders and did nothing else.

Wei Xiaobao inspected the troops and horses under his command, undoubtedly Ah Ke stayed by his side, the others included Tian Di Hui and Mu Palace people, as well as Imperial Bodyguards, officers and men, nobody was lacking. He turned toward Wu Sangui and said with a laugh, ”Wangye sends us off a long way out of town, you are extremely courteous. This time we received Wangye's generous treatment, next time Wangye come to Beijing, let Xiao Jiang invite you.”

Wu Sangui laughed aloud and said, ”I will definitely disturb Wei Jueye.”

The two men cupped their fists farewell. Wu Sangui walked toward the Princess' sedan chair to pay his respect and bid her farewell, and then he stuck his head in Wu Yingxiong's sedan chair and whispered something for a while, before leading his troops back to the city.

Although Wu Sangui's troops did not show any sign that they intend to attack, Wei Xiaobao did not feel at ease; he said, ”This fellow's words cannot be trusted, let us leave quickly, the farther we are from Kunming the better.” Thereupon the group left immediately.

After traveling for more than ten li and did not see any troop chasing them, they stopped for a while to take a rest.

”Princess,” Li Zicheng said to Jiu Nan, ”I have received your kindness in saving me so that I did not die under the big traitor's men's hands, I really am deeply grateful. Now please make your move.” While saying that, he took the saber he was wearing, reversed the hilt, and handed it over to her.

”Hey,” Jiu Nan mumbled, with an awkward expression on her face; she thought, ”He is the big enemy who killed my father, how can I not avenge this enmity? But he has his hands tied waiting for the butcher, I can't kill him just like that.” Turning her head toward Ah Ke, she cast her a glance, and muttered, ”Turns out she … she is your daughter …”

”He is not my father,” Ah Ke said loudly.

”Nonsense,” Jiu Nan angrily said, ”Your Mama admitted it herself, how can it be wrong?”

”Naturally he is your father,” Wei Xiaobao busily said, ”He and your Mama have betrothed you to me to be my wife; this is called 'a father and mother's order …'”

Ah Ke's heart was filled with resentment and indignation, yet she could not vent it out anywhere; suddenly she sprang up and punched Wei Xiaobao's face. He was caught off-guard, the punch hit the bridge of his nose; immediately blood flowed in abundance.

”Aiyo,” Wei Xiaobao cried out, ”You are murdering your own husband.”

Jiu Nan angrily said, ”The two of you stop speaking unreasonable words! Stop making a mess!”

Ah Ke retreated several steps back, her small face was completely red; she pointed her finger to Li Zicheng and angrily said, ”You are not my father! That woman is not my mother.” Pointing Jiu Nan she said, ”You … you are not my Shifu. You … you are all bad people, you bullied me. I … I hate you …” She covered her face and cried loudly.

Jiu Nan sighed. ”You are right,” she said, ”I am not your Shifu, I snatched you away from Wu Sangui, not with good intention. You … you can go on your own. But your birth parents, you cannot not acknowledging them.”

Ah Ke stomped her foot and said, ”I don't want to acknowledge them, I don't want to acknowledge them. I don't have any father, I don't have any mother, and I don't have any Shifu.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”But you have me, your husband!”

Ah Ke's anger shot to the roof, she picked up a stone and hurled it to him. Wei Xiaobao dodged sideways. Ah Ke turned around and ran along a small path toward the west.

”Hey, hey,” Wei Xiaobao called out, ”Where are you going?”

Ah Ke halted her steps, turned around and hatefully said, ”There will come a day that you will die in my hands.”

Wei Xiaobao did not dare to pursue anymore; he looked on helplessly as she ran away. Gloomy mood filled Jiu Nan's heart, she waved her hand toward Li Zicheng without saying anything and rode off.

”Yuefu [father-in-law] Daren,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”My Shifu won't kill you, you'd better go quickly.”

In his heart Li Zicheng also felt inexplicably unhappy; he turned toward Wei Xiaobao and glowered at him. Being stared at like that, the hair on Wei Xiaobao's body stood up; he was scared and withdrew two steps back. ”Pei,” Li Zicheng spat on the ground, turned around and strode toward a small path.

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, thinking, ”Even her own father and mother Ah Ke does not want to acknowledge, naturally she won't acknowledge me, her husband, even more.” When he turned around, he saw Xu Tianchuan and Gao Yanchao standing behind him with weapons in their hands. The two men were afraid Li Zicheng would suddenly assault and harm their Wei Xiangzhu.

”This man turned the sky and the earth upside down in the past, and ruined out Great Ming's rivers and mountains,” Xu Tianchuan said, ”Until he is old he still carries the lofty quality of a hero like that.”

Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue. ”He is very fierce,” he said; and then he asked, ”Did you bring that Hantiemo?”

”He is a very important character,” Xu Tianchuan replied, ”We did not dare to leave him.”

”Very good,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Gentlemen must be very careful in taking care of him, don't let him escape along the way.”

The party continued their journey northward. Wei Xiaobao went over to Mu Jiansheng, Liu Dahong and the others to exchange some pleasantries. In their hearts Mu Jiansheng and the others were also very unhappy; they all thought, ”All our lives were saved by him, from this day onward, how can our Mu Palace strive for superiority against their Tian Di Hui?”

”Wei Xiangzhu,” Liu Dahong said, ”About toppling Wu Sangui or what have you, we cannot compete against Tian Di Hui anymore. Please report to Chen Zongduozhu on our behalf, tell him that henceforth the Mu Palace concede defeat to Tian Di Hui. Wei Xiangzhu's kindness in saving our lives, I am afraid in our whole life we will never be able to repay.”

”How could Liu Laoyezi [old master] say such thing?” Wei Xiaobao said, ”All of us were in mortal danger and we escaped alive; we all managed to snatch our lives back.”

”That little thief Liu Yizhou,” Liu Dahong hatefully said, ”There will come a day when I will make mincemeat of him.”

”Was it him who disclose your secret?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

”If not him then who else?” Liu Dahong replied, ”This kid … this kid …” Speaking to this point, his anger shot up to the heavens.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Did he remain at Wu Sangui's place?”

”Most probably,” Mu Jiansheng said, ”That day Liu Shifu sent him out to scout the enemy; he was captured by Wu Sangui's men. That very same night, a large number of troops and horses surrounded our residence. The place we stayed was extremely secret, if that man did not tell, there is no way Wu Sangui would ever find us.” Speaking to that point, he heaved a deep sigh before continuing, ”It's a pity that Ao Dage has sacrificed his life for his country.” Cupping his fist toward Wei Xiaobao, he said, ”Wei Xiangzhu, if Tian Di Hui has anything in the future, the one surnamed Mu will obey the order. The green mountain will not change, the crystal-clear water will always flow, let us part here.”

”This place is still the big traitor's territory,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Let us be together, there is strength in number. When we leave Yunnan, we will go our separate ways.”

Mu Jiansheng shook his head and said, ”Thank you for Wei Xiangzhu's good intention, if we ever fall head first into the big traitor's hands again, we will not have any face to live among the people.” Thinking, ”Mu Palace is at home in Yunnan, if we still rely on Tatar officers and soldiers for protection, what else can we say?” Therefore, leading the Mu Palace people, he bade his farewell and left.

Mu Jianping walked at the very last of the line; after only a few steps, she turned around and said, ”I am leaving, you … you take care of yourself.”

”Yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You must do the same.” Lowering his voice, he said, ”You stay with your Gege, don't come back to Shen Long [Divine Dragon] Island. I will think about you every day.”

Mu Jianping nodded; she said in small voice, ”I will too …”

Wei Xiaobao pulled the horse he was riding and turned the reins over to her hand, saying, ”I give this horse to you.”

Mu Jianping's eyes turned red; receiving the reins, she straddled the horseback and rode away to catch up with Mu Jiansheng and the others.