Volume 12 Chapter 3 (2/2)
He was only concerned about Lu Buwei and whispered to King Zhuangxiang. He forgot that on the other side of the bed, there were Zhu Ji, Lady Xiuli and a bunch of palace maids. Sooner or later, Lu Buwei may know about this as well.
Thanks to Qin Qing’s reminder, he can try to salvage this via Li Si.
Qin Qing saw that his face is changing colour. When she was about to question further, Ji Yanran came in.
Xiang Shaolong hurriedly stood up and sighed: “Grand Tutor Qin’s life has always been peaceful and does not meddle in worldly affairs. I do not wish to see Grand Tutor embroiled in complicated affair.”
Leading Ji Yanran, he bade farewell and left.
Staring at Xiang Shaolong, Qin Qing’s eyes revealed mixed feelings. Except arranging to meet up with Ji Yanran in the future, she did not say anything more to Xiang Shaolong. However, Xiang Shaolong could feel that she is beginning to understand him better.
When they met up with Teng Yi, Ji Yanran has been updated about everything that has happened.
The traitor Wu Jie is riding a horse but his legs are tied to the harness. Unless one looks carefully, he looks like any other horseman.
Everyone rode out of the city towards the farms.
Entering a dense forest, they stopped.
Jing Jun tied Wu Jie to a tree and instructed the Eighteen Guardians to keep watch.
Teng Yi’s expression grows serious and detailed: “The people ambushing us are led by Lu Buwei’s top guy Guan Zhongxie. Although with only a hundred and fifty warriors, they are the best fighters from Premier Residence. Master Tu did not even know about this at all. It appears to me that the balance of power is slowly shifting to Mo Ao and Guan Zhongxie.”
Xiang Shaolong enquired: “Where are they planning to ambush us?”
Teng Yi pointed to a nearby valley named Plum Valley and state: “Of course they chose a place that is hard for us to escape. Based on our present strength, fighting them is like throwing an egg against a stone. A bigger issue is that Wu Jie has revealed our secrets to Lu Buwei.”
Xiang Shaolong sighed secretly. So Lu Buwei has identified Wu Tingwei as their weakest link a long time ago. Since they have no idea about his treachery, they are always one step slower than him.
Ji Yanran simply countered: “We need not panic yet. I am sure Brother-in-law and Wu Jie have limited knowledge about our real strength.”
Xiang Shaolong agreed that it was a close shave. While raising this army of five thousand elite warriors, he included the classification of secrets as well from his 21st century military training. Except for them, the core leaders of the elite army, their subordinates only react to orders. Any one of them alone will not have complete information about army strength, fighting prowess, armour and weapons. They will know things on a need to know basis. To further limit information outflow, they are strictly prohibited from discussing their training. As a result, Wu Jie’s knowledge is limited.
Teng Yi nodded: “It is fortunate that we have precautions in place. But Lu Buwei will be extra wary of us. Hng! What shall we do now?”
Ji Yanran implored: “Where is Brother-in-law now?”
Teng Yi replied: “Of course he is back at the farm waiting for good news and to avoid suspicions at the same time. Guan Zhongxie will naturally kill Wu Jie. Dead men tell no tales.”
Ji Yanran proposed: “That’s great. We will return to the farm now and force Brother-in-law and Wu Jie to verify each other’s words. We must find out if there are any other traitors in the family. After we have solved our internal problem, we will fight to the end with Lu Buwei. Worse come to worse, we simply die! We must take revenge for Princess Qian and those who died for us.”
Xiang Shaolong was agonized. Lu Buwei will enjoy at least another eight years of power and he does not know his own ending as it is not stated in history. The weather for the future looks gloomy indeed.
He nodded: “We will let Guan Zhongxie live a while longer. Let’s return to the farms!”
Silent all these while, Jing Jun signalled and summoned the Eighteen Guardians. Together with Wu Jie, they took a left detour back towards the farms.
As the travelling distance is much longer, they are still twenty miles from the farms at nightfall.
As everyone was preparing to pitch their tents, Xiang Shaolong sounded: “Wait! Master Tu mentioned that Guan Zhongxie is both clever and highly-skilled. We took so much time to leave the city and will raise his suspicions. He will send spies and they will soon find out that we have changed our travelling path. It is better to play safe. Even if we have overestimated him, it is still better than to lose our lives.”
Jing Jun jumped up excitedly: “If he attacks us during the night, I will let them taste their own medicine.”
Xiang Shaolong smiled: “My sentiments exactly.”
The campsite was situated beside a small river.
Five tents are surrounding a weak fire and there are straw men asleep in the tents and standing guard. It looks just as real unless one looks closely.
Hiding in a dense forest uphill, their bows and arrows are prepared to give any invaders a surprise.
However, there is no activity even till late into the night.
Last night, they did not sleep at all and travelled the entire day. Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi could not hold back and started yawning.
Ji Yanran suggested: “Why don’t we take turns to sleep or we will all die of tiredness.”
When Xiang Shaolong woke up, he found Ji Yanran still in deep slumber in his arms. The sun is shining strongly and the birds are chirping, heralding Spring.
He could feel tranquillity in his soul as he scrutinized the well-proportioned Ji Yanran sleeping.
Now that he is far away from Xianyang City, he is enjoying the fresh air and the love of this beauty whose body is being illuminated by the sun. All of a sudden, his tense emotions and burdened mind feels like they have been relieved and freed.
Like a Buddha who has gained enlightenment, he realised one thing. The reason why he is on the losing end is because Lu Buwei has been planning against him right from the start and he is burdened by his knowledge that Lu Buwei will remain unchallenged for eight years.
If he continues to remain passive, he will be at the losing end.
He may not be able to kill Lu Buwei in the coming eight years, but history has proven that he will be defeated by Xiao Pan, Li Si, Wang Jian, etc.
In other words, there is no way these people will come to harm.
Since this is the case, why doesn’t he borrow their strength and fight till the end with Lu Buwei. King Zhuangxiang’s death has proven that no one can change history.
Even if he died, Xiao Pan will avenge him when he is crowned King on his twenty first birthday.
Thinking about this, he completely relaxed.
Teng Yi’s voice rang out behind him: “Third Brother is awake!”
Xiang Shaolong tried to move Ji Yanran.
The beauty hummed and woke up. Shyly, she crawled up from Xiang Shaolong bosom and sat to the side. Still dazed from her sleep, she asked: “Guan Zhongxie is not here yet?”
Her lazy yet enchanting posture caused both men to stare blankly at her.
Ji Yanran shot them a dirty look and yelped: “I am going to wash up by the river!”
She was about to take a step when Xiang Shaolong stopped her, warning: “The smart Guan Zhongxie may have seen through our trap. Moreover, the campsite is near the river and it is easy to flee. If I am him, I will move my ambush further down the road or I will wait at the campsite until daybreak. If Yanran goes like this, you will fall into their trap.”
Teng Yi came to his side and scrutinized him. Fascinated, he exclaimed: “Third Brother seems like a brand new man. Since the last mission, I have never seen you so full of confidence, fighting spirit and alertness.”
Ji Yanran happily added: “Second Brother is right. This is the hero Yanran loves.”
Xiang Shaolong knew what they meant. Since untying the dead knot in his heart, he has regained his ambition and heroic air. Summoning Jing Jun and the Eighteen Guardians, he told them his theory.
Jing Jun nodded: “This is easy. We, the Jing village hunters, spend long hours in the wild tracking animals. As long as Guan Zhongxie has his men come near the campsite, even if they just rode one round, we will be able to detect their existence.”
Under his command, the six hunters from the Eighteen Guardians left with him.
Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi further interrogated Wu Jie about Wu Tingwei and discovered that Lao Ai was involved as they suspected.
After they prepared breakfast, the two men went to another side of the slope and admired the beautiful scenery. As they ate their food, Teng Yi sighed: “It is not as bad as we thought. From Wu Jie’s confession. Only Wu Tingwei has betrayed us.”
Ji Yanran sighed: “He is Tingfang’s elder brother. What can we do to him?”
Xiang Shaolong coldly snorted: “There is no more relationships to talk about. If we don’t kill him, we will send him outside the central plains and let Big Brother imprison him there. He will never step into Qin for eternity.”
Teng Yi was pleased: “Second Brother has regained the composure you had as Dong Horse Fanatic in Handan City.”
Jing Jun was seen hurrying back. Full of respect, he reported: “Third Brother has excellent foresight. Two miles away from the camp, we discovered horse dropping and signs of grass that has been eaten by horses. Following the trail, we detected that the enemy has relocated the ambush further up north.”
Teng Yi was astonished: “He knows the place well. That is a path we must use to get home. Unless we turn back and use another route, we will have to climb over the mountains.”
Xiang Shaolong stared at the river below and concluded: “He will leave some men to continue spying on us. In this wilderness, he can do whatever he wants. The men he left behind should already be more than enough to eliminate us.”
Ji Yanran mused: “This Guan Zhongxie is so clever. He will leave some men behind as hubby had guessed. Thus, even if we slip away, they can still pursue us.”
Jing Jun showed the fearless side of him and cursed: “If they have split into two groups to attack us simultaneously from the front and the back, we can use this against them and attack them separately.”
Teng Yi dismissed: “You are young and reckless, only knowing how to fight. If the enemy surrounds us, how can we escape?”
Jing Jun was dumbfounded.
Xiang Shaolong lied down and stared at the tree branches and clouds above him. He leisurely mentioned: “Let’s have a good sleep first. When the enemy is confused over whether we have left last night or this morning, it will be time to go home.”
Everyone gazed at him with surprise, wondering how he plans to get out of this tight situation.