Chapter - 46 (46) (1/2)

Remaining bamboo piece used as a pole, can be used to check out the net of hearts in a deep pool.

This moment, as Feng Jizhong said those things, Wei Xiaobao suddenly realized, ”I really deserve to die,” he thought, ”Why have I never thought about this person? That day the young Emperor wanted me to bombard the Bojue [Earl] Mansion; all Tian Di Hui people were there, only he alone was not there. It should have been very clear to me, those who were in the Bojue Mansion could not be the spy; otherwise, when the cannon were fired, who would be able to escape with their live? Only because he had had the information in advance that he went away first. Ay, I am indeed a silly big melon; if he did not say anything, I would still be kept inside a drum.”

Feng Jizhong was a quiet and uncommunicative person, he appeared to be an extremely honest man; although his martial art skill was high, he always carried the mannerism of a 'stupid head wooden brain' country bumpkin. Occasionally when Wei Xiaobao was thinking about who the spy might be, he was always thinking about a person with 'quick mouth and teeth', perhaps an unscrupulous businessman like Qian Laoben; or perhaps someone who was light on his feet, shrewd and street-smart Xu Tianchuan; or perhaps a thorough, competent and experienced Gao Yanchao; or perhaps a hot-tempered, wine lover Priest Xuanzhen. Even the experienced and knowledgeable, outspoken and straightforward, honest and frank Fan Gang, as well as the aging Li Lishi, whose health had been deteriorating for the past few years, and sharp and cynical Qi Qingbiao, were all suspects in his mind. Only toward this did-not-look-like-a-spy Feng Jizhong he did not have the least bit of suspicion.

Suddenly he thought of something else, ”That time Shuang'er was also not in the Bojue Mansion; could it be that she … she is also a spy, she is also going against me?” Thinking about this, he could not help but was heartbroken. But then he immediately understood, ”Feng Jizhong must have intentionally taken Shuang'er out. He knew this girl is my lifeblood; if she was blasted to death, and later on this matter is exposed, I would have hated him for the rest of my life. He is no more than the spy sent by His Majesty to report some information in secret; as soon as Tian Di Hui is wiped out, His Majesty would not have any use of him. If in His Majesty's presence I gave him some trouble, he would not be able to withstand it; hence he really did not dare to offend me.”

This thought was complicated and not easy to express succinctly, but in Wei Xiaobao's mind it was a brain-wave that happened in a flash and he understood immediately. ”Feng Dage,” he said, ”Thank you for taking Shuang'er out of Bojue Mansion so that the cannon blast would not kill him.”

”Ah!” Feng Jizhong exclaimed; his countenance changed instantly, and he backed off two steps with his hand on the hilt of his saber. ”You … you …” he said.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”You and I have a tacit mutual understanding; His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago.”

Feng Jizhong knew the Emperor doted on him very much, he must be telling the truth. ”Why didn't you obey the imperial edict then?” he asked. As soon as he asked that question, it was the same as if he openly admitted everything.

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, ”Feng Dage, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer? This is called 'loyalty cannot satisfy both sides'. The way His Majesty treated me is without question really overflowing with imperial kindness; but Shifu's treatment toward me was not bad either. Right now Shifu is already dead, what other apprehensions do I have left? It's just that I do not know whether His Majesty would pardon my capital offence.”

Feng Jizhong said, ”Now is a good chance to atone for your offense by meritorious acts. Just now I said that His Majesty is determined to get rid of three thorns in his side; other than Wu Sangui and Chen Jinnan, the third person is precisely Zheng Jing who occupies Taiwan illegally. We capture Zheng Jing's son, and take him to Beijing; who knows? Maybe we can force Zheng Jing to surrender. If His Majesty is happy, even if Wei Dutong committed gargantuan offense, His Majesty may pardon everything.” Since he no longer concealed his real identity in front of Wei Xiaobao, the way he was addressing Wei Xiaobao had also changed; now he called him 'Wei Dutong'. Even toward the Zongduozhu he now referred him by his given name.

In his heart Wei Xiaobao was very angry, ”This traitor does not have any yi qi, unexpectedly he calls my Shifu by name.” But thinking about the possibility of reconciliation with Kangxi, he was quite happy. It did not matter to him whether he could be government official or not, but thinking about the time he could spend chatting with the young Emperor was enough to give him unending delight.

Feng Jizhong continued, ”Wei Dutong, when we return to Beijing, we must keep everything in secret. If those Tian Di Hui people knew that Chen Jinnan is dead, most likely they would push you to become the Zongduozhu. Your yi qi is profound, you are willing to discard glory, splendor, wealth and rank; you did not want to be Bojue, you did not want to be Dutong, all because you wanted to save Tian Di Hui friends' lives. This very moment this fact has been spread throughout the world. Right now Jianghu is bubbling and gurgling, everybody is talking about this matter; which one does not admire Wei Dutong's heroic spirit?”

Wei Xiaobao was very proud of himself; he asked, ”Did everybody really say that? You are not lying to me?”

”No, no …” Feng Jizhong replied, ”Lowly officer definitely does not dare to lie to Dutong Daren.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”Now he calls himself 'lowly officer'; I wonder what is his official rank?” Although curious, he did not dare to ask, because if he did, he would expose the horse's feet immediately; 'His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago' would then be a lie. But then he had a second thought, ”There's no harm in asking which rank he had been promoted to.” Thereupon he smiled and asked, ”You have rendered such a great merit, His Majesty must have promoted your rank; right now which official position are you holding?”

Feng Jizhong said, ”By His Majesty's grace, he bestowed lowly officer the position Dusi.” [都司 – Vice Brigade Commander.]Wei Xiaobao thought, ”Turns out 'sesame seed mung bean' lowly military official position; with Laozi the difference is damn seventeen twenty-eight levels.”

In the Qing Dynasty's bureaucratic system, Bojue was beyond 'pin' rank high-level officers. As the 'Dutong' (commander) of the Valiant Cavalry Brigade, Wei Xiaobao was a 'one-pin' rank officer. Han people's Green Standard Army

[18] military official's highest rank Tidu [local commander, provincial governor] was also 'one-pin'. Zongbing [regional commander] was 'regular two-pin', below this were Fujiang [deputy general], Canjiang [Administrator], Youji [Brigade Commander], and then Dusi [Vice Brigade Commander]. But looking at Feng Jizhong's appearance, although his face still showed an extremely honest expression, there was a very proud look in his eyes. Thereupon Wei Xiaobao raised his cupped fist and said with a laugh, ”Congratulations, congratulations! This is His Majesty's personal promotion, you are definitely standing out from the masses.”

Feng Jizhong returned the propriety and said, ”Later on I will rely on Daren to cultivate me.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”We are on the same side, why did you say such thing? In term of working for His Majesty, your skill greatly surpasses mine.”

”How can lowly officer be compared to even a ten-thousandth of Daren?” Feng Jizhong replied, ”Reporting to Daren, His Majesty has instructed lowly officer that if I see Daren, no matter what I must bring Daren back to Beijing, I must not disobey the imperial edict. Listening to His Majesty's tone, lowly officer knew that His Majesty cares about Daren greatly; I can say that he miss you very much. This great merit of bringing Taiwan rebel's son back to Beijing will make His Majesty happy; he will definitely raise Daren's official position.”

”Um,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”In that case you should be promoted to Youji.”

Feng Jizhong said, ”Lowly officer only wish to do my best for His Majesty. When His Majesty sees Daren, he will be happy, as his servants we will also greatly rejoice. Whether we are promoted or not, it's entirely by His Majesty's grace.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, ”I have always thought you were an honest person, turns out you really know how to talk in official jargon.”

Feng Jizhong continued, ”If Daren assumed the Zongduozhu position of Tian Di Hui, you can gather the eighteen provinces Halls' Xiangzhu and every place's leaders together; we'll say it's the memorial ceremony for Chen Jinnan. At that time we'll catch everything in one net, so that these conspirators against the law, the rebel thieves who commit heresy, will be unable to escape. This great merit will be ten times greater than when we bombarded the Bojue Mansion the other day. Daren, just think, if that day you obeyed the Emperor's decree and killed Chen Jinnan, Li Lishi and those people, Tian Di Hui has rebel thieves in each province, one Zongduozhu is killed, another Zongduozhu will rise; we can't wipe them out. Only by Daren yourself become the Zongduozhu will we be able to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, and then the big worry weighing His Majesty's heart will disappear forever.”

Hearing this, cold sweats began to form on Wei Xiaobao's back; he thought, ”This evil scheme is really difficult to deal with, I don't think even you can come up with this plan, I am 90% sure that this is the young Emperor's stratagem. If I return to Beijing, most likely the young Emperor will pardon my great offense, but he will definitely want me to eradicate Tian Di Hui. This is a clever way with which he is dealing with me, I won't be able to escape from his clutch anymore.”

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was; he thought, ”The young Emperor wants me to surrender, he wants to beat my buttocks, those are not a big deal; but he wants me to be Tian Di Hui Zongduozhu and kill all the brothers' heads; this I must not do, not in a million years. If I did it, all the heroes throughout the world will f*ck my eighteen generation ancestors; when I die, I won't be able to see Shifu. All the big girls, little girls in here will also look down on me from the bottom of their hearts. Even if other people don't care, even if Wei Xiaobao's conscience is not much, in the end I still have a little bit.”

He cast a glance toward Feng Jizhong, while his mouth uttered, 'Oh, oh,' repeatedly; he thought, ”If I don't answer, he might become hostile to me immediately. If it comes to using force, a number of us might not necessarily lose to him, but this servant's martial art skill is exceptionally strong, if one or two of my big girls, little girls are killed by him, it will be desperately serious. There's no harm in me playing 'Han Sha She Ying' again.” He said hesitantly, ”I will be very happy to go see His Majesty, it's just that … it's just that to kill that many Tian Di Hui brothers, it's inevitably going to violate yi qi too much. We must discuss it carefully before we trespass our friends.”

”Daren is right,” Feng Jizhong said, ”But there is a common saying, 'Those who measure small things are not people of noble character; a great man has to be ruthless' [orig. no poison, no great man].”

”Right, right!” Wei Xiaobao said, ”A great man has to be ruthless … hey, aiyo, how can that fellow Zheng Keshuang escape?”

Feng Jizhong was startled; he turned around to look. Wei Xiaobao aimed his chest to him, he was about to reach down to activate the mechanism to release the poisonous needle when suddenly Shuang'er rushed over and called out, ”Xianggong, what is it?”

Turned out all along she was watching these two men talking endlessly, and was very concerned; thereupon she slowly crept near. When she suddenly heard Wei Xiaobao cried out 'aiyo', immediately she leaped forward. If Wei Xiaobao released the 'Han Sha She Ying', Feng Jizhong would be hit for certain, but Shuang'er would also be affected. Although this moment his hand had already reached the mechanism, he did not dare to press the mechanism.

When Feng Jizhong turned his head around, he saw Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan were still standing on the beach, they had not moved at all. Immediately he knew something was not right; he ducked down and reached backward to grab Shuang'er and pulled her in front of his body as a shield. Based on Shuang'er's martial art skill, Feng Jizhong should not necessarily be able to succeed in one grab; it's just that he moved so suddenly, and Shuang'er did not guard against him at all, so that the main artery on her wrist was caught, her upper body went numb, she was unable to move a single step. In a deep voice Feng Jizhong said, ”Wei Daren, please raise your hand.”

The golden opportunity to launch a sneak attack had gone, Shuang'er fell under the opponent's control, Wei Xiaobao was put under disadvantageous position; he giggled and said, ”Feng Dage, what kind of joke are you playing?”

Feng Jizhong said, ”Wei Daren's no-shadow no-trace secret projectile is indeed too formidable, lowly officer is very afraid of it; please raise your hands, otherwise, lowly officer will have no choice but to offend you.” While saying that, he pushed Shuang'er forward, while he himself hid behind her, so that Wei Xiaobao would not be able to release the secret projectile.

From the other side Su Quan, Fang Yi, Ah Ke, Zeng Rou and the others saw the unforeseen event, one after another they rushed over. Feng Jizhong thought, ”This kid loves this girl the most, he won't dare to make his move; but those other women might not cherish her life as much, the one they cherish is this kid.” With his left hand he pulled the steel saber hanging on his waist; stretching out his hand, he placed the edge of the blade on Wei Xiaobao's throat. ”Nobody come near!” he shouted.

Seeing Wei Xiaobao in danger, Su Quan and the others came to a halt. They were all anxious, but were also baffled; this Feng Jizhong was obviously Wei Xiaobao's friend, they had just fought the enemy side-by-side, how could in an instant, as soon as they had disagreement, he immediately made his move? They supposed it must be because Wei Xiaobao wanted to release Zheng Keshuang, while Feng Jizhong wanted to kill him to avenge Chen Jinnan.

Wei Xiaobao tipped his head backward slightly, the tip of Feng Jizhong's saber followed forward. ”Wei Daren,” he shouted, ”Please don't move. Steel saber don't have eyes; don't blame me if I offend you. Please raise your hands.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice, he slowly raised both hands while saying with a laugh, ”Feng Dage, you want to rise to high-ranking official position, you want to get rich, you should be a bit more polite to me.”

”While it's true that to be promoted and gain wealth is important, the first step is till protecting my own life,” Feng Jizhong replied. Suddenly his body slightly leaned sideways, he rushed behind Wei Xiaobao, reached out to draw the dagger in Wei Xiaobao's boot, and pointed it to his back. ”Wei Daren,” he said, ”Your dagger is very sharp, lowly officer has seen you using it several times.”

Wei Xiaobao could only smile wryly. He felt slight pain on his back, and knew that the tip of the dagger had pierced his outer clothing. Although he was wearing his treasured protective vest, it would not stop the treasured dagger.

Feng Jizhong shouted, ”Everybody turn around and throw your weapon down.” Seeing this turn of events, Su Quan and the others did not have any choice but to follow his order; they turned around and tossed their weapons to the ground.

Feng Jizhong saw there were still six Tian Di Hui brothers standing on the side; he shouted to them, ”Come here, I have something to say.” The six people did not know what was going on, they came over.

Feng Jizhong raised his right elbow, 'slam' the point of his elbow struck the 'da zhui' [big spine] acupoint on Wei Xiaobao's back; the steel saber in his left hand swept, accompanied by a series of 'cha, cha, ah, ah, aiyo' sound, all six Tian Di Hui brothers were hit by the saber. In an instant he had hacked these six people to their deaths, each saber chop hit a vital point on a man's body. His saber was swift, his attacks were fierce; it was indeed rarely seen.

Hearing the miserable scream, Su Quan and the others turned around and saw the bodies of those six people scattered around on the ground; from the wound on either their heads, necks, chests, backs, waists, or flanks, blood was gushing out. None of the women did not cry out in fear, none of their faces did not change.

Turned out that as Feng Jizhong saw that his face was exposed, he immediately made his move; he was alone, hence he had to strike first by killing these six Tian Di Hui brothers; first, to intimidate with his power so that Wei Xiaobao and the women would not dare to rebel; second, so that he had six less enemies. This way, although his opponents were numerous, they were no more than one youngster and seven women.

He swung the saber in his left hand, turned around and pressed it against Wei Xiaobao's neck. ”Wei Daren,” he said, ”Let's go down to the boat.”

He was thinking to take only Wei Xiaobao and Zheng Keshuang, two people, under arrest and presented them to the Emperor, and thus rendering a great service. These seven women would be left on the island, so that they would not add trouble to him on the boat. By being lenient and not kill these seven women, he was actually preparing a room for action for himself, to avoid incurring Wei Xiaobao's hatred too much. How the Emperor would deal with this youngster later would be beyond anybody's guess.

”Humph,” Feng Jizhong only snorted without paying her any attention. He had come with Wei Xiaobao escorting her to Yunnan to get married, so he knew she was the Princess, hence he did not dare to argue with his superior.

Seeing he did not take notice of her, the Princess was even more angry; in this earth, other than the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, plus Wei Xiaobao and Su Quan, four people, she had no regard of anybody else. Stooping down to pick a saber on the ground, she leaped forward to hack down on Feng Jizhong's head.

Feng Jizhong leaned sideways to evade. 'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!' the Princess hacked three times in a row, Feng Jizhong dodged left and right. If it were another woman, he would have used his leg to kick her down. But the one holding the saber was the Emperor's imperial younger sister, the golden branch, jade leaves Princess. The desire in his heart was only to render merit and get promoted, to repay the kindness of the imperial family; how could he dare to offend the Princess? Thereupon right now he could only dodge.

”Stinky servant,” the Princess cursed, ”Stand still, don't move! I want to chop your head. Why do you keep your stinking head running around in circles so that I cannot chop it down? I will tell Huangdi Gege, to have him make mincemeat of you!”

Feng Jizhong was stunned; he thought that this woman was capable of doing what she was capable to say, she and the Emperor were brother and sister, while he himself was just a sesame seed mung bean little military official, how could he fight the Princess? But if he obeyed her command by keeping his stinking head steady and unmoving to let Her Highness the Princess' ten thousand gold body's precious hand's saber chop it, he seemed to have difficulty in obeying it.

While her mouth was busy hurling curses, the Princess' saber hacked to the left and chopped to the right continuously. Feng Jizhong slightly sidestepped and leaned his body sideways, he lightly and easily evaded the attack; although the saber always flashed by a few cun away from his body, it was never able to chop him. The Princess became impatient; sweeping the saber horizontally, she hacked across his waist.

”Careful!” Feng Jizhong shouted, and leaped up. It was obvious that the Princess would not be able to stop the momentum of the saber, it would chop Wei Xiaobao's shoulder. While his body was still midair, Feng Jizhong's left foot kicked on Wei Xiaobao's body, throwing him down to the ground, while at the same time he borrowed the momentum to leap several more zhang away.

Shuang'er pounced forward, grabbed Wei Xiaobao, and flew several steps away. Feng Jizhong was greatly alarmed; he rushed over with a saber in his hand. Shuang'er's martial art was superb, but after all, her strength was still lacking. She was half a head shorter than Wei Xiaobao, carrying him in her arms like that she was only able to run several zhang when Feng Jizhong had already come near.

The acupoint on Wei Xiaobao's back was sealed, his four limbs did not obey his command; he could only said, ”Put me down, let me release the secret projectile.” But Feng Jizhong came really fast; Shuang'er wanted to let Wei Xiaobao down so that he could release the 'Han Sha She Ying' secret projectile, but it was already too late. In desperation she threw him away.

Feng Jizhong was greatly delighted; he rushed forward and stretched out his hand to catch Wei Xiaobao. Suddenly he heard a light 'click' behind him, like the sound of fire-knife struck against a flint stone, followed by a loud 'Bang!' His body was flying midair, suddenly it dropped down to the ground. He twisted several times, and then stopped moving altogether.

Wei Xiaobao's body landed on the sandy beach, he did not suffer any injury; he struggled for some time to crawl up, but was unable to do so. He saw a wisp of smoke in front of Shuang'er, her hand was holding a short gun; it was precisely the gift she received from Wu Liuqi the day they swore to become brother and sister. It was a refined firearm made in the Luocha Country; it was formidable beyond compare. Although Feng Jizhong possessed an extraordinary martial art skill, his flesh and blood body was simply unable to withstand it.

Shuang'er herself was so scared that she could only stared blankly. When the gun went off, it shook her hand and arm that she felt numb and painful. Her hand trembled, the gun fell to the ground.

For fear that Feng Jizhong had not died yet, Wei Xiaobao scrambled several steps forward, press the mechanism on his waist, and a cluster of steel needles shot out; all of the needles hit Feng Jizhong's body. But Feng Jizhong did not budge at all; as soon as the gun went off, he was already dead.

The women cheered in chorus and swarmed forward. Seven women plus one Wei Xiaobao, it was literally 'seven openings eight mouths' [chaos (idiom)]; a hundred-percent 'you speak, I talk', everybody wanted to know what was going on. Wei Xiaobao briefly explained to them.

Shuang'er had been in contact with Feng Jizhong for quite a long time, on the journey he always displayed his honest, generous and simple character, treating her with respect and consideration. He was indeed a model of a man, who always did his duty without offending anybody; who would have thought that he was extremely shrewd? The more she thought about it, the more scared she was.

She turned around to pick up the gun from the ground. Suddenly it dawned on her the profound meaning behind Wu Liuqi's desire to swear brotherhood with her that day: this extraordinary Wulin talent was hoping that in the future Wei Xiaobao would take her as his wife, but she was only a servant girl, in term of status, they did not match. After becoming the sworn sister of Tian Di Hui's Red Banner Xiangzhu, she would be fit to marry the Tian Di Hui's Green Wood Hall Xiangzhu. Remembering her sworn brother's good intention, also that he died in injustice, she could not stop tears from flowing down her face.

Wei Xiaobao turned around and saw Zheng Keshuang and the other four people were walking toward the beach to board the skiff. He thought, ”He has killed Shifu; if I let him leave safe and sound, it would be too easy for him.” Therefore, with a dagger in his hand, he ran after them and called out, ”Hold on!”

Zheng Keshuang stopped and turned his head around; his countenance turned ash-grey. ”Wei … Wei Xiangzhu, you promised to let me … let us go,” he said.

With a cold laugh Wei Xiaobao said, ”I promised not to kill you. I have not promised not to chop your leg.”

Feng Xifan was furious; he was about to lash it out, but as soon as he raised his hand, his whole body felt limp and painful, he was unable to exert even half a part of strength.

By this time Zheng Keshuang was already scared out of his wits, his knees went weak, and he dropped on the ground. ”Wei … Wei Xiangzhu,” he said, ”If you chop my leg, I … I will definitely not able to live.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, ”Whether you live or not, it's not my concern. You owe me one million taels of silver, you said you want to use Ah Ke as the guarantee. But she and I have bowed to the Heaven and the Earth, she is my lawfully-wedded wife; in her belly she has my child, and she voluntarily wanted to come with me. How can you use my wife as your guarantee? How could there be such logic in the world?”

By this time Su Quan, Fang Yi, Zeng Rou, the Princess, and the others were already standing by Wei Xiaobao's side. ”It's preposterous!” they said in chorus.

Zheng Keshuang's mind was already in chaos, but he had a nagging feeling that something was just not right. ”What … what should I do then?” he asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, ”I'll chop your arm and your thigh first as the guarantee. When you pay me the one million taels of silver in the future, I will return your cutoff arm and leg to you.”

Zheng Keshuang said, ”Just now you said that I could sell Ah Ke off to you, the ten thousand taels … ten thousand taels of silver I owed you is already written off at one stroke.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head vehemently. ”Can't do,” he said, ”Just now my head was muddled, and I fell into your big trick. Ah Ke is my wife, how can you sell my wife back to me? Alright, I will sell your mother back to you, she is worth one million taels of silver. I will also sell your father back to you, worth another million taels of silver. And then your paternal granny, worth one million taels of silver, plus your maternal granny, also at one million taels of silver …”

Zheng Keshuang said, ”My maternal grandmother has already passed away.”

”I can still sell dead people,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”I will sell your maternal grandmother's corpse to you; dead people only worth 80%, make it eight hundred thousand taels. The coffin is included, there's no additional charge for it.”

The more he talked the more preposterous he was; Zheng Keshuang thought that he even wanted to sell dead people. If he had to buy his great-grandfather, his great-great-grandfather, his great-grandmother, his great-great-grandmother, even if the dead people were valued at 80%, or even 70, or 60%, he would not be able to tolerate it; but he did not dare to say that he was unwilling to buy. Without any choice he could only plead, ”I … I really cannot afford it.”

”Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, ”Since you can't afford it, I'll spare you. But those you already bought you cannot return. You owe me three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver. How are you going to pay?”

The Princess laughed and said, ”That's right, three million eight hundred thousand taels. Quickly pay up.”

Scowling miserably, Zheng Keshuang said, ”I don't even have one thousand taels with me, where can I get three million eight hundred thousand taels?”

”Never mind!” Wei Xiaobao said, ”You don't have any money, I'll let you return the merchandise. Quickly give me back your father, mother, (paternal) granny, and dead (maternal) granny. Not a hair less.”

Zheng Keshuang knew that if this unreasonable argument continued, in the end there would still be no solution. He looked at Ah Ke, hoping that she would say something on his behalf, but against expectation she stood some distance away, turning her back on him, determined not to get involved. He was very anxious, looking at Wei Xiaobao, he seemed to be determined to chop his hand his foot; Zheng Keshuang did not have any choice but to repeatedly kowtow and said, ”Wei Xiangzhu, I … I killed Chen Junshi, it was really a crime deserving ten thousand deaths. I beseech your magnanimity to spare Xiaoren's life. Even if I owe you, Senior, three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver, I … I will definitely try to pay you back.”

Seeing that he managed to torment Zheng Keshuang so that he was in such a sorry state, Wei Xiaobao's hatred was somewhat diminished; he said, ”In that case you must write an I.O.U.”

Zheng Keshuang was greatly delighted. ”Yes, yes,” he busily said. Turning to his bodyguard he said, ”Get some pen and paper.” But in that uninhabited island, where could they find any pen and paper?

The bodyguard was quite quick-witted; he tore a piece of his own long gown at once, and said, ”There are many dead bodies over there, we can write using their blood as the ink.” Finished speaking he wanted to drag Feng Jizhong's body immediately. Wei Xiaobao reached out with his left hand to grab Zheng Keshuang's right wrist. White light flashed, he sliced his dagger to cut one section of Zheng Keshuang's right hand index finger.

Zheng Keshuang screamed loudly. Wei Xiaobao said, ”Use the blood from your finger to write.”

Zheng Keshuang was in so much pain that his whole body trembled; momentarily he was at a loss of what to do. Wei Xiaobao said, ”Just write slowly, if your blood dry out, I'll just cut your second finger.”

”Yes, yes!” Zheng Keshuang busily said. How could he dare to write slowly? Clenching his teeth he wrote with his cut finger on the piece of cloth, ”I owe three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver exactly. Signed, Zheng Keshuang.” After writing these thirteen characters, the pain was unbearable that he nearly passed out.

With a cold laugh Wei Xiaobao said, ”Shame on you as a magnificent Prince's Mansion's Gongzi, you did not work hard on your penmanship; the I.O.U you wrote, these several characters are trembling scrawls, all are faulty strokes, not a single one shows good penmanship.” Taking the piece of cloth from Zheng Keshuang, he handed it over to Shuang'er, saying, ”Take this, see if the amount is correct. This man is treacherous and sly, don't let him write several taels less.”

Shuang'er said, ”Three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver, no less.” While saying that, she put the I.O.U. written in blood into her pocket.

Wei Xiaobao laughed aloud; he kicked Zheng Keshuang's chin and shouted, ”Get your dead (maternal) granny out of here!”

Zheng Keshuang tumbled down and rolled away. His bodyguards rushed over to help him up and wrap his cut finger. Two bodyguards separately helped Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan to board the skiff, and rowed it out to the sea.

Wei Xiaobao's laughter continued; suddenly he remembered his Shifu's tragic death, and could not help bursting into tears.

After the skiff was rowed several dozen zhang away from the beach, panic started to settle into Zheng Keshuang's heart; he said, ”Let us seize the big boat and get away with it, I don't think those goddamn male and female dogs will be able to pursue.” But as they sailed toward the big boat, they found out that the boat was without the rudder and without any sailing equipment.

Feng Xifan hatefully said, ”Those goddamn male and female dogs have already taken care of it.”

They look at the vast and obscure ocean, at the billowing waves, while the skiff was without provision and water; how could they make a distant sea voyage? Zheng Keshuang said, ”Let us beseech that little thief again, ask him to lend us their boat. At most I will have to write another three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver I.O.U.”

Feng Xifan said, ”It's their only boat, how can they lend it to us? I'd rather be buried inside the fish's belly that begging that little thief.”

Hearing his tone was resolute and decisive, Zheng Keshuang did not dare to disobey; he had no choice but to heave a sigh and instructed his three bodyguards to row the skiff into the ocean.

Wei Xiaobao and the others watched as Zheng Keshuang and the others rowed their skiff toward the big boat, and after finding out that the big boat was not sailable, they finally rowed the skiff away; Wei Xiaobao and the others could not help finding it hilarious.

Su Quan saw Wei Xiaobao was crying and laughing, apparently he still could not get over his grief over his Shifu's death; she wanted to say something to please him, thereupon she said, ”This Zheng Family's Er Gongzi is devious to the extreme, obviously he wanted to steal our big boat. Xiaobao, in my opinion, he won't pay you the three million eight hundred thousand taels of silver he owes.”

”I was thinking the same thing,” Wei Xiaobao replied.

Su Quan laughed and said, ”Whatever you do, usually you are very astute, but just now that fellow sold you your own wife for ten thousand taels to pay his debt. You did not think about it and simply agreed. You must love Ah Ke Meizi so much that you turned silly. At that time, if he wanted you to find ten thousand taels to pay him, I think you might readily agree.”

Wei Xiaobao used his sleeve to wipe the tears from his eyes; and then he laughed and said, ”I don't care if he said 'three sevens are twenty-one' [i.e. the facts of the matter], I would have agreed first and talked later; I will slowly settle the account with him.”

Fang Yi asked, ”And then what happened? Why did you suddenly remember that you have suffered a big loss?”

Wei Xiaobao scratched his head. ”After we killed Feng Jizhong, I did not have anything to worry about, suddenly my brain became very clear,” he said.

Actually, he had never had any suspicion against Feng Jizhong; it's just that in the deepest part of his heart he had a nagging feeling that he had a great root of trouble nearby, but as for what kind of trouble, he himself was unclear, only he felt fear without any reason. When Feng Jizhong was killed, immediately he felt as if a heavy load had just been released, and he felt entirely free from worry. He thought, ”Perhaps early on I was already afraid of this thief, only I did not realize it.”

They had just undergone a series of strange dangers, until now, where the powerful enemies were either dead or had run away. Now the island was back to peace and quiet. Everybody felt exhausted, both mentally and physically. Wei Xiaobao felt as if his legs weighed a thousand catties, he was unable to stand and hence he lay down on the sandy beach to rest. Su Quan rubbed his back to unseal the acupoint sealed by Feng Jizhong earlier.

The water reflected the setting sun, swayed by the waves the surface of the sea looked like tens of thousands golden snakes crawling and leaping one over another; the scenery was singularly beautiful beyond compare. One by one the women sat down. Shortly afterwards, Wei Xiaobao was the first to snore, and not to long after that, one by one the women also fell asleep.

More than two hours later, Fang Yi was the first to wake up. She went to the thatched hut that was used by Wei Xiaobao as his command tent in the past to prepare some food, and then she called everybody else to eat. In the main hall they lighted two pine torches so that the room was bright. The eight of them sat in a circle. After dinner, Fang Yi and Shuang'er cleaned up the bowls and the chopsticks.

Wei Xiaobao swept his gaze on Su Quan, Fang Yi, the Princess, Zeng Rou, Mu Jianping, Shuang'er and Ah Ke, seven women's faces one by one. Some were tender and beautiful, some were gentle and soft, some were lively, some were extremely beautiful, each one had her own strength; he could not help but was greatly delighted. This moment he 'leaned on red and cuddled on green-jade', his heart felt so peaceful. Compared to the 'heaven and earth in confusion' time at the Lovely Spring Courtyard when he was under the large blanket with seven women, he felt a lot more safe, peaceful, and happy. He laughed and said, ”That day I called this small island 'Tong Chi Island' [eat 'em all, gambling], turns out I already have foresight, knowing that seven Jiejie Meimei would be willing to be my wives; it was indeed a mystery of the underworld, the Will of Heaven, that even if we ran, we cannot escape. From this day onward, the eight of us will live on this Tong Chi Island, our long-life the same as the heaven's, enjoy immortal good fortune forever.”

”Xiaobao,” Su Quan said, ”These eight characters [shou yu tian qi, xian fu yong xiang] are ominous, later on you must not say it.”

Wei Xiaobao immediately realized his mistake, he knew she did not want to hear anything related to the Cult Leader Hong. ”Right, right!” hastily he said, ”I was talking rubbish.”

Su Quan said, ”When Shi Lang and Zheng Keshuang are home, most likely they will bring troops back here to take revenge, we must not live on this island for too long.”

Everybody agreed. Fang Yi said, ”Quan Jiejie, where do you think we should go?”

Su Quan cast a glance toward Wei Xiaobao and said with a laugh, ”Why don't we hear Zhi Zunbao's [most honorable/senior treasure] idea?”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”You call me Zhi Zunbao?”

Su Quan replied with a laugh, ”If not Zhi Zunbao, how can you sweep 'em all [tong chi]?”

Wei Xiaobao roared in laughter. ”I do have a 'bao' [treasure] in my name,” he said, ”Actually it was a tiny pair of treasure. Pair of fives or two wooden bench tiles, now those are the real Zhi Zunbao.”

Seeing the seven women's eyes were fixed at him, he pondered a while and then said, ”The Central Plains is definitely out of question. Shen Long Island is too close to this place, it's not a good place either. We must go someplace comfortable but no people around.”

The problem was that desolate places with no people around are not comfortable, comfortable places surely have a lot of people in it. Besides, 'comfort' in Wei Xiaobao's eyes means gambling, opera, storytelling, many different kinds of sights, singing, good dishes, light refreshments, and good-looking young women; not a single one of these was not 'the more the merrier'. Other than good-looking young women, which, by the way, he already had quite a few by his side, those things could be found only if not in Beijing, then in Yangzhou or other first-class flourishing city in the world; exactly the places where it would be difficult for them to live in happiness.

As he was thinking about these romantic and bustling places, his filial piety heart was suddenly moved. ”We gather together in here, it can be considered very exciting,” he said, ”But I wonder how is my mother doing, all alone and helpless on her own.”

These women had never heard him mentioning his mother, they all thought that he had a filial heart, which was hard to come by. ”Where is your mother right now?” they all asked. Some of them even thought, ”Your mother is my mother-in-law, we ought to try to be together with her, to care for her, the Senior.”

Wei Xiaobao sighed and said, ”My mother is at the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou.”

When the women heard the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou, five characters, other than the Princess, the other six immediately felt as if flying red clouds suddenly hit their faces. Some of them turned their heads away, some lowered their heads down.

”Ah, Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou,” the Princess said, ”You have mentioned it before, that is the most fun place in the world; you promised to take me there to play.”

Fang Yi smiled and said, ”He was swindling you, don't believe him. That is the most indecent place on earth.”

”Why is it indecent?” the Princess asked, ”Have you played there? Why all of you have such a strange expression on your faces?”

Fang Yi stifled her laugh and was unable to reply. The Princess wrapped her arm around Mu Jianping's shoulder. ”Good Meizi,” she said, ”Tell me, what is it?”

Mu Jianping blushed deep red; she said, ”That is … that is a brothel.”

The Princess still did not understand, ”What is his Mama doing in a brothel?” she asked, ”I heard that is the place where men come to have fun.”

Fang Yi laughed and said, ”He always loves to talk rubbish, if you believe just half a sentence of what he said, it will be enough to give you headache.”

That day in the Lovely Spring Courtyard, Wei Xiaobao slept under the same blanket with seven women; other than the Princess and the old wh0re Mao Dongzhu, the remaining six women at this moment were sitting in front of him. In term of viciousness and roughness, the Princess was not inferior to Mao Dongzhu, but she was not as sinister, ruthless and dangerous as her mother, plus she was a lot younger and prettier than her mother. Wei Xiaobao was secretly congratulating himself, this time the switch was perfectly reasonable; if right now the one accompanied him was not the Princess but her mother, he would not have any idea of what to do. Perhaps after getting hold of her, he would become like the Old Emperor, he would want to leave home to become a monk on Mount Wutai. But if he absolutely must become a monk, he surely would want to have these seven wives coming with him.

Looking at the blushing six women, he presumed they were thinking of the situation that night. He mused, ”That night in the dark, I was just fooling around randomly, I don't know which one I slept with. Ah Ke and Quan Jiejie have my child inside their tummies; that's two. I remember one more, but I don't know which one. I have to find out slowly.” Smiling happily he said, ”Even if we have to live on this Tong Chi Island forever, we won't be lonely. Quan Jiejie, Princess, Ah Ke, the three of you have my child in your tummy; I wonder if someone else also has my child inside your tummy.”

As soon as they heard that, Fang Yi and the others, four women's faces turned even redder. Mu Jianping hastily said, ”I don't have it, I don't have it.”

Seeing Wei Xiaobao was looking at her, Zeng Rou shot him a malicious look, ”Not me!”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Good Shuang'er, it must be that we are highly successful.”

Shuang'er sprang up and hid in the corner of the room. ”No, no!” she said.

Wei Xiaobao turned to Fang Yi, ”Yi Jiejie,” he said, ”What about you? When you were at the Lovely Spring Courtyard, you stuffed a pillow on your belly, pretending to be pregnant; you must have foresight.”

”Pft!” Fang Yi stifled her laugh, but then could not help laughing. ”Pei!” she spat, ”Dead eunuch, you and I have not … how can I have …”

”Oh yeah,” Mu Jianping said, ”Shijie, Zeng Jiejie, Shuang'er Meizi and me, four people have not bowed to the Heaven and the Earth with you to get married, how can we have a baby? Xiaobao, you deserve to die; you bowed to the Heaven and the Earth with Quan Jiejie, the Princess and Ah Ke Jiejie, yet you did not tell me, you did not invite me to drink the wedding wine.” In her mind, it was the tying of the knot in the ritual of bowing to the Heaven and the Earth that enable people to have children.

Listening to her naiveté, everybody laughed. While still laughing, Fang Yi wrapped her arm around her waist and said, ”Xiao Shimei, in that case, tonight you and he should bow to the Heaven and the Earth to be husband and wife.”

”No way,” Mu Jianping replied, ”There is no marriage sedan on this barren island. I have seen that the brides are always wearing crimson wedding gown, and phoenix crown with red clouds cape; we don't have any of those.”

Su Quan laughed and said, ”It won't be a big deal if you are willing to put up with it a bit. We can pick some flowers and braid it into a flower garland, and consider it phoenix crown.”

He heard Mu Jianping said, ”If we have to bow to the Heaven and the Earth in here, Fang Shijie must bow first.”

Mu Jianping said, ”We are the people of a perished nation, why do you even mention Junzhu or not Junzhu?”

Fang Yi smiled and said, ”In that case, Shuang'er Meizi should bow to the Heaven and the Earth with him first; you have been with him the longest, you have been through life and death together, a friend in times of tribulations, you stand out from the masses.”

Shuang'er blushed. ”If you say more, I am going to leave,” she said, while walking toward the door; but Fang Yi laughed and hugged her.

Su Quan turned to Wei Xiaobao and said with a laugh, ”Xiaobao, you decide.”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”Bowing to the Heaven and the Earth can be discussed slowly. Tomorrow we must bury Shifu first.”

When the women heard that, they were immediately filled with respect; nobody expected this man's reverence toward his master was this heavy that he could utter such righteous phrases. Who would have thought that what he said next exposed his true nature: ”The seven of you are all my dear good wives, there is no distinction between early or late, older or younger. Later on, every night all of you will throw dice to decide winning or losing. Whoever wins, that one will accompany me.” While saying that, he took the two dice from his pocket, blew it, and rolled it on the table.

”Pei!” the Princess spat, ”Do you think you are that sweet-smelling? Whoever loses is the one who should accompany you.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”Right, right! Just like playing finger-guessing game, whoever loses must drink a cup of wine as a forfeit. Alright, who will roll first?”

That night in the thatched hut on the inhabited island thoughts of love and warmth abound; there is no need to describe in details the throwing of dice, who won or who lost. From that day on, the throwing of dice among the women of the Wei family became usual practice. Originally Wei Xiaobao loved to throw dice with people to gamble, using gold, silver, money and valuables as the stake. The excitement of winning or losing always brought him abundant delight, but this time he decided on a method that from now on the women would have him as the stake, he would be compelled to stay out of the game. Although there was tenderness and happiness in his heart, the excitement of gambling was gone. Thus it was clear that 'the flowers do not always bloom, the moon has its full and crescent phases, the affairs of the world cannot be expected to always follow the people's expectation'.

The next day the eight of them slept until the sun was on top of the three poles before they got up. Wei Xiaobao led the seven women to bury Chen Jinnan's remains. Seeing the yellow sandy soil covering his Shifu's body, Wei Xiaobao could not help bursting in tears again. The women kneeled down together and did obeisance in front of the grave.

The Princess really did not want to do it, she thought I am the Princess of the magnificent Great Qing, how can I kowtow to you, a rebel thief? But it was clear to her that although she was a 'golden branch, jade leaves', perhaps in Wei Xiaobao's eyes her rank was the lowest instead; in term of closeness, she was not as devoted as Shuang'er, in term of beauty she was not as pretty as Ah Ke, in term of martial art she could not beat Su Quan, in term of capability she was not as smart Fang Yi, in term of naivete and purity she was not as innocent as Mu Jianping, in term of gentleness she was not as refined as Zeng Rou. One day her shortcomings would catch up, she was nothing more than a harsh and unreasonable, rough and mean woman. If she did not pay her respect, perhaps henceforth Wei Xiaobao would view her in a new light, and might cheat on the dice; every night when they tossed the dice, he would cause her to achieve great victory. Therefore, feeling aggrieved as she was, she also kneeled down, while saying in her heart, ”Rebel thief, oh rebel thief, I, Her Highness the Princess, bow to you, which you have never had the good fortune of receiving, until you go to the underworld, I am afraid you will suffer for your actions.”

When they finished paying their respect, they all stood up and turned around. ”Aiyo!” Fang Yi suddenly cried out, ”Where's the boat? Where did it go?”

Hearing her terrified cry, everybody turned their eyes toward the sea, and saw that the boat moored on the beach had vanished without a trace; none was not shocked. They looked to the distant and only saw the boundless bluish green sea all the way to the horizon where it met the blue sky, with several dozen white birds swooping up and down on the surface of the water. Su Quan ran up the overhanging cliff to survey the island all around, north, south, east and west, she did not see even the shadow of the boat. Fang Yi rushed to the cave to look at the rudder, sail, and other sailing gear, as expected, those things had gone missing.

They all got back together and looked at each other in dismay; no one could stop fear from creeping into their hearts. Last night the eight of them were having too much fun and did not sleep until very late at night; they completely forgot to set up night guard duty, unexpectedly the boatmen stole the sailing gears and took the boat away. From now on they were trapped on an isolated island and would not be able to escape anymore. Wei Xiaobao thought about the possibility of Shi Lang and Zheng Keshuang returning with troops to take revenge, how could the eight of them fight the enemy? Even if Su Quan, the Princess and Ah Ke gave birth to three children without delay, their number would be no more than eleven.

Su Quan comforted the rest, ”Things have come to this, worrying is useless. Let us slowly think of a plan.”

Back to the thatched hut, everybody hurled curses toward the boatmen with different mouths, same voice; but after swearing and cursing for a couple of hours, they could not come up with any fresh cursing words anymore. Su Quan said to Wei Xiaobao, ”Right now we must guard against the Qing troops coming here in large number. Xiaobao, what do you think?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”If the Qing troops are coming, their number will not be a few for sure, we won't be able to fight them. All we can do is hide, hoping that if they can't find us in a short while, they would think that we have already sailed away.”

Su Quan nodded. ”That's true,” she said, ”The Qing Troops will never have guessed that our boat was stolen.”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted. ”If I were Shi Lang,” he said, ”I won't come again. He would presume that without a doubt we would immediately anoint oil on the soles of our feet; it would be foolish for us to stay here. Why would we want to wait for him to come back and arrest us?”

The Princess said, ”If he reported to Huangdi Gege, Huangdi Gege might send people to look for us. Even if we already left, they would search carefully for clues to see where we went.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head, ”Shi Lang will not report to the Emperor,” he said.

With eyes open wide the Princess asked, ”Why not?”

Wei Xiaobao replied, ”If he did, naturally His Majesty would ask why he did not arrest and take us away. And then he would be forced to admit that he had been defeated in battle; wouldn't he be inviting trouble for himself then?”

Su Quan laughed and said, ”Very true, very true. Xiaobao's skill as government official is superior. Conceal from superior do not conceal from subordinate; that is government official's most important trick.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, ”If Quan Jiejie became government official, I guarantee you will be promoted to a high-ranking position and gain great wealth.”

Su Quan smiled. She thought, ”The trick that those people in the Shen Long Jiao used in doing their job, isn't that more or less the same as the one used by the government official?”

Wei Xiaobao said, ”As soon as Shi Lang speaks up, His Majesty will blame him as useless; that's still all right, but His Majesty will definitely send him up with the troops to arrest us. Shi Lang thought we have already run away, where would he find us? Won't that mean he is just inviting trouble for himself? It would be better for him to just shut up and gain wealth.” When the women heard that, they agreed that it made a lot of sense, their anxiety diminished a bit.

”What about that kid Zheng Keshuang?” the Princess asked, ”From the tone of his voice, don't you think he is unwilling to swallow his defeat just like that?” While saying that, she cast a quick glance toward Ah Ke. Everybody understood her meaning; she was saying, ”A woman as delicate as a flower, as refined as a precious jade like Ah Ke, how could he give her up and not bring troops to seize her back?”