Volume 4 Chapter 9 (2/2)
This little lad has lost a lot of weight and he cried bitterly, “Teacher! It’s Zhao Mu that conniving thief who cause Mother to die, I feel such deep hatred in my heart!” Xiang Shaolong became calmer instead and asked, “Tell me what happened that night.” Zhao Pan replied, “I don’t know anything at all. That day his Majesty sent someone to bring over some snacks and I fell into a deep sleep after eating it. When I woke up Mother is already dead and even her body had been moved away. Mother is so pitiful!” and he cried bitterly again.
Lady Ya couldn’t control her sadness and leaned on Xiang Shaolong’s back and sobbed uncontrollably and a cloud of despair surrounded them. Xiang Shaolong reached out to hug Lady Ya and said quietly, “From today onwards, Xiao Pan you will follow your royal Aunt Ya. We must certainly avenge your mother, but we cannot act rashly or else it’ll only give that conniving thief an excuse to deal with us, understand?” Zhao Pan nodded his head vigorously, “Xiao Pan understands totally. All these time I have been practicing my swordplay everyday as you have instructed. I want to kill Zhao Mu personally.”
Xiang Shaolong told Zhao Ya, “Ya’er, take good care of Xiao Pan. For now Zhao Mu will not dare to do anything to you and Qian’er, but it’s still better to be careful. Will you be able to get Qian’er out of the palace to stay with you at your residence outside the palace, and at the same time tell Zhao Da and the rest to increase defenses and not give Zhao Mu any opportunities?” Zhao Ya replied, “Although Imperial brother usually does not bother himself with Princess Qian’s matters, now because of her marriage agreement with the Weis, it might be a bit difficult to get her out of the Palace. But I will think of a way. After I retrieved the ‘Secret Manual’, Imperial Brother has regarded me highly, maybe I can persuade him.” Xiang Shaolong thought of something and after telling Zhao Pan to leave first, he told Zhao Ya that he’s already having a physical relationship with Zhao Qian.
Zhao Ya’s expression changed, “What shall we do? Zhao Mu will certainly coerce Imperial brother to give orders to check if Zhao Qian is still intact. If they find a problem, they’ll definitely not let you off.” Xiang Shaolong replied, “Zhao Mu is extremely distracted right now and may not think of this point for now.” He continued with a furrowed brow, “Just how do you determine if Qian’er is still a virgin?” Zhao Ya replied, “Mainly is to see if her hymen is still intact.”
Xiang Shaolong secretly thought so that’s the case and asked, “Who will do the inspection?” Zhao Ya replied, “It should be the empress who inspects personally, because of Zhao Qian’s royal status, no one else is allowed to touch her body.” Xiang Shaolong thought of the Zhao empress and a thread of hope filled his heart as he said, No matter what, try to get Qian’er away from the dangerous Palace first, then we’ll think of how to deal with Zhao Mu.”
By now Tao Fang has arrived with Wu Tingfang and Ting Fangshi and after the long parting, the reunion is certainly a joyful one. If not for the death of Lady Ni, this would be the happiest moment in his life, but now it’s a different matter altogether. In the secret chamber in the Wu family stronghold, they held the first important meeting since Xiang Shaolong’s return. Besides Master Wu, Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang, there’s also the leader of the family soldiers Wu Zhuo. Now he has become Xiang Shaolong’s closest and most reliable battle mate.
Master Wu first expressed his admiration towards Xiang Shaolong, “Shaolong has outdone himself in Wei and his actions have caused quite a stir. Now everyone regards Shaolong as Zhao’s most promising person. But at the same time it has aroused the jealousy of Zhao Mu’s gang.” Wu Yingyuan said, “Now we have no other choice but to throw in our lot with the Qins. That’s the only chance of surviving, or else we’ll just be sitting and waiting to die.” Everyone’s heart was heavy. Besides Qin and Zhao, of the remaining 5 states, Wei and Qi all hates Xiang Shaolong to the core, Yan has trouble protecting herself and is currently under attack by Lian Po while Han is weak. The remaining state of Chu is too far away and they don’t have many connections with the Wu family as well. Therefore the only way out is to join Qin.
Xiang Shaolong was secretly laughing bitterly to himself. When he came to the warring states period on the time machine, he had intended to ally himself with Emperor Qin who has fallen on bad times here but later troubles kept coming one after another and he did not even have time to take a breather. He did not expect that after all the twists and turns, he’ll ended up back on this old road. Wu Yingyuan continued, “I just made contact last month with the man Tu Xian sent.” Looking at Xiang Shaolong’s lost look, he explained, “Tu Xian is Lu Buwei’s best family warrior, having both brains and bravery with excellent sword skill. He’s on quite good terms with me.”
He continued with a sigh, “According to Tu Xian, although Qin’s King Zhuangxiang* ascended the throne, but because everyone suspects that he killed King Xiaowen with Lu Buwei and King Zhuangxiang has been staying in Zhao for a long period of time, it’s very difficult for Lu Buwei to become the premier for now.” Tao Fang’s expression paled, “If Lu Buwei is thrown out, it’ll be the end for us too.” Master Wu said, “We’re now secretly helping Lu Buwei in various ways. Luckily this person is very experienced and cunning, he’ll not be kicked out so easily. As long as King Zhuangxiang stands on his side, there will be a way.”
*
Wu Yingyuan said, “This is the most important point. The woman King Zhuangxiang loves most is Zhu Ji (Concubine Zhu) and the son he pampers most is Ying Zheng. As long as we can send mother and son back to Xianyang, we’ll be able to capture King Zhuangxiang’s heart tightly. We’re the only ones who can accomplish this matter, although it will be a difficult task.” Tao Fang was afraid that Xiang Shaolong would not understand and explained, “Zhu Ji was originally Lu Buwei’s beloved mistress and in order to make King Zhuangxiang happy, he gave her to him to become his wife.”
Master Wu said, “This woman’s beauty can rival a country and is very good in flirting and handling men. She’s also extremely loyal to Lu Buwei, so if we have her next to King Zhuangxiang, we can guarantee that King Zhuangxiang will not be against Lu Buwei.” Xiang Shaolong can’t help but ask, “So is Ying Zheng the son of Lu Buwei or King Zhuangxiang, how old is he this year.”
Wu Yingyuan was stunned, “I’m afraid the only person who knows is Zhu Ji. Ying Zheng was born before the battle of Chang Ping, so he should be more than 13 years old now, most likely between 15 or 16 years old.” Xiang Shaolong was perplexed, according to history books, Emperor Qin was only 13 when he ascends the throne a few years later. How can it be possible that the history books are so wrong.
Wu Yingyuan said, “I’ve made an agreement with Tu Xian and will try to send Zhu Ji and her son back to Xianyang in the shortest time possible. So the most important task at hand now is not to kill Zhao Mu, but to try and make contact with Zhu Ji and her son to see how we can stealthily take them out of Handan.” Xiang Shaolong asked somberly, “How many useful men do we have on hand right now?”
Wu Zhuo replied, “We have 2 groups of warriors under us, one group are the good fighters we attracted from the various states but these people are not reliable and may very well run away when something happens. The other group are the orphans I adopted for Godfather from various places and the blood relations of the Wu family, which amounts to about 2000 men and they are all trustworthy, willing to even lay their life down for the Wu family.” Xiang Shaolong asked, “If we want to move Zhu Ji and her son away, what would be the biggest obstacle?”
Tao Fang replied, “It’s still that conniving thief Zhao Mu, the biggest problem is that he’s made Ying Zheng so happy that he totally listens to him.” Xiang Shaolong gritted his teeth, “That conniving thief again!”
Master Wu said, “Do not belittle Zhao Mu. Not only has that fellow controlled King Xiaocheng, he’s also joined forces with Guo Zhong, so the largest Warrior Association and Mohist group here will be on his side. Even Lian Po and Li Mu, generals who hold military powers in their hands dare not step too much on his toes. Shaolong now you’re a thorn in his flesh, so you must be careful all the way or else you will die any time.” Xiang Shaolong was stunned, “What is the Warrior Association?”
Tao Fang replied, “It’s a place which specializes in training professional warriors. The Zhao Warrior Association’s leader is Zhao Ba and he’s extremely highly skilled. You have to be careful when you meet him, he is very powerful in Handan!” All of them discussed the finer details a little more before Xiang Shaolong returned to his Hidden Dragon Abode.
Tao Fang accompanied him as he walked, “Our men went to the valley you described at Mulberry Village. The house is still there but they’ve waited until now and there’s still no sight of Mei Canniang. But don’t you worry! I’m trying my best to find her.” Now Xiang Shaolong has another thing to worry about. It’s been more than a year since he came to this era and he’s falling deeper both in terms of relationships and feelings. Sadness and happiness came at him alternatively, making the 21st century moving further away from him.
Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate, between these 2 eras, which seems more like a dream. Or maybe life is just a big dream. Time is just an illusion, and the time machine is something that allows one to experience different illusions. Maybe even Crazy ma, who invented the time machine, has no answers to such confusing questions.
Tao Fang said, “I’ve arranged for that 2 friends of yours to stay at the courtyard next to your Hidden Dragon Abode. Heh! Jing Jun and Teng Yi are the exact opposites, his eyes gleamed when he sees beauties whereas Teng Yi has no interest in them at all, how strange!” Hidden Dragon Abode was just ahead so Xiang Shaolong stopped and summarized to Tao Fang the tragic fate that befell Teng Yi before he parted ways with Tao Fang and went to see Teng and Jing.
Jing Jun was hugging a pretty maid and enjoying himself but when he saw Xiang Shaolong he was startled and jumped up, looking a little lost. Xiang Shaolong laughed, “Enjoy all you want! No need to bother about me!” and he went into the inner hall to look for Teng Yi. Teng Yi was sitting quietly alone on the rug in deep thought, and might be thinking of his dead wife and family again. Xiang Shaolong sat next to him and explained to him the current situation.
Teng Yi replied after listening, “If there are 2000 death warriors, it won’t be a problem to break out of the city, but it’ll be more difficult to deal with pursuing soldiers. If possible, I’d like to personally train these 2000 people.” Xiang Shaolong thought about it for a while before replying, “Let me discuss this with Wu Zhuo.” Teng Yi said, “Just say I’ll be his assistant! When it comes to military and wars, I once spent a lot of effort researching old and new military tactics. When I was a commander in the past, I’ve spent long periods fighting the Qins and Weis, so I have some insight and experience in this.”
Xiang Shaolong knows that this person is not one who boasts so if he can say this out, he must be very confident. He said happily, “Then we should not delay! We’ll go and discuss this with Wu Zhuo immediately.” Teng Yi greatly admires Xiang Shaolong’s way of putting action to words and gladly agreed. Xiang Shaolong brought him to meet Wu Zhuo and the 2 of them hit it off immediately, having discussions about military and battles and both lamenting that they should have got to know each other earlier.
Xiang Shaolong was secretly glad and afraid that Wu Tingfang would blame him for ignoring her, he left the 2 to their talk and left on his own. Lady Ni’s death re-ignited the hatred he felt towards Zhao Mu and at the same time he learnt the importance of striking first. The most important task at hand is to make connection with Ying Zheng and after that it will be the time to escape from Handan. Once he thought of this, he can’t help but start to miss Mei Canniang.
Heaven has already been very cruel to him, and he hopes that nothing unfortunate will happen to her. He should also learn to control himself, unless he really have the ability to protect the women he loves, or else he really shouldn’t involve himself in more relationships. For those who knows Xiang Shaolong very well, they would know that this change in his thoughts can be quite unbelievable.