Vol 22 Chapter 9 (1/2)
Book 22 Chapter 09 - Hard To Distinguish Between Leader And Follower
Slapping Xiang Shaolong’s fake potbelly, Li Yuan chortled: “If not for your equally shocked expression when you laid your eyes on me, as I first laid my eyes on you, I may be tricked by this fake potbelly Your looks have indeed changed a lot”
Xiang Shaolong confessed: “Of course I would be shocked; because there is a chance that you will betray me”
Li Yuan was offended: “I, Li Yuan, will never be such a despicable fellow If ere fairly engaged in war, I would not be the least upset if I lose or die But how can I sabotage you when you are obviously at a disadvantage?”
Xiang Shaolong sighed, recalling Lord Longyang’s betrayal But for so to brand this friend as a despicable cad
Li Yuan was taken aback: “Looking at your expression, it seems you were once betrayed by an old friend”
Glancing at the wide roads of the Qi Capital outside the carriage , Xiang Shaolong’s heart is in turmoil and he did not knohat to say
In the past, his trust in Li Yuan is way lower than his trust in Lord Longyang
But Li Yuan can maintain this camaraderie is partly because Li Yuan is from the State of Chu He does not feel the pressure of a direct Qin invasion unlike the three States of Zhao, Han and Wei
Li Yuan stretched out his hand, hugging Xiang Shaolong’s shoulder and revealed: “I rateful to you for setting him free at the risk of your own life He told me he had wanted to help you when you were on the run but his hands are tied and cannot defy his King I believe he is bluffing This fellow indulges in wine, 5ex, nant lifestyle He could be saying one thing and yet doing another”
Seeing Xiang Shaolong’s disillusioned appearance, he went on: “Shaolong is exceedingly gifted Even when you lose the battle, you lost beautifully and evaded the extensive manhunt by the States of Zhao, Wei and Han Presently, everyone thinks that you are back at Zhongine that you haveFei and have made your way to Lin Zi?”
Picking hi questioned: “Why did you make time to come all the way here?”
Li Yuan chuckled: “You should be able to guess what is going on! Qi did not participate in the two allied attacks and even create trouble for us As a result, the Five States are now collaborating to support Second Prince Tian Jian to beco this opportunity to topple First Prince Tian Sheng and Tian Dan’s syndicate I visited Zongsun Long precisely for this purpose”
Xiang Shaolong reasoned: “Based on your theory, Lu Buwei must have come here to support Tian Dan”
His eyes flashi+ng with extreme coldness, Li Yuan coldly snorted: “Lu Buwei still thinks he is living in his past glorious days HeEverybody knows that theHa! Are you aware that you can soon travel wherever you ithout concealing your true identity?”
Xiang Shaolong was astonished: “What do you mean?”
Li Yuan exhaled a breath of air: “The five states alliance has lost heavily to Shaolong’s ar Thus, we are forced to seek truce and every State is secretly sendingnot be a target of an invasion Regarding thishand”
Xiang Shaolong declared: “Even without you bringing it up, I will still do , even if they threaten to killarmy”
Li Yuan praised: “Shaolong is Shaolong indeed Otherwise, there is no way Han Chuang can be freed!”
Xiang Shaolong bitterly sned, there are still many people after my life”
Li Yuan guffawed: “When the treaty is finalized, you can openly reveal your identity, telling everyone where you are I guarantee no one will dare to touch you Everyone knows you are Yingzheng’sfor his country to be invaded”
Pausing for a while, he added: “During the period when nobody knows if you are dead or alive, Yingzheng blew his top and gave the order to launch a full scale invasion against Zhao While Li Mu is busy engaging Zhong Tian attacked Zhao relentlessly, taking no prisoners, inflicting heavy daards to this attack, Wei and Han chose not to offer any assistance (Eretting their earlier support of Po Hu, which has indirectly resulted in their predicament”
Xiang Shaolong felt bad about causing sohe can do
Li Yuan suddenly cheered: “Fro’s point of view, should we cause Lu Buwei to never set foot again in Xianyang? The people of Qihile one of his companions”
Xiang Shaolong is greatly nizes the fact that Lu Buill surely survive In a deep voice, he advocated: “Lu Buwei’s days are numbered We need not bother ourselves with him Moreover, no one ant Lu Buwei to die within his territory We should focus our energies on toppling Tian Dan”
When he heard Tian Dan’s na mad He furiously swore: “Tian Dan once collaborated with Lord Chunshen to harm me, I will definitely make him pay for what he did to me”
Lowering his voice, he s of his Crown Prince title is because his beloved concubine Lady Ning accused Tian Sheng of harboring uess who is Lady Ning? She is Lady Qingxiu’s sister”
Xiang Shaolong finally saw the big picture and deduced it to be a sche such a piece of critical infor Shaolong
Li Yuan continued: “I don’t think you have forgotten who is Lady Qingxiu right? Sheand she specially made a trip here as well She hasat the villa beside yours”
Xiang Shaolong obviously will not forget this lady who has zero interest in allhimself He did not foresee that all his acquaintances are unexpectedly gathered together in Lin Zi
Li Yuan joked: “Shaolong should have tried Feng Fei by now!”
Xiang Shaolong waved hi between the two of us But I will require Brother Li’s assistance on thisulterior ainst her”
Li Yuan is elated: “That is easy Once we returned to Chu, ill be invulnerable”
Xiang Shaolong seriously advised: “Brother Li must not belittle our enemies Lu Buwei and Tian Dan are not easy to deal with For all you know, they will co to instantly beco of Qi”
His expression turning soleh credit to my enemies”
Seeing that Tingsong Villa is within reach, Xiang Shaolong recoe here I want to keep a low profile”
Li Yuan unwillingly pleaded: “Can we fix another appointment where we can catch up? I would like to kno you happen to end up here and even becaer in the process”
Xiang Shaolong ain!”
After both ot off the carriage
When Xiang Shaolong stepped into Tingsong Villa, the family warriors on sentry duty came to attention in a respectful manner Their attitude towards him is completely different from before
Xiang Shaolong clearly knew the reason for the change One of them reported: “Lei Yun’er and the others have just been sent here and they are only slightly bruised Master Shen is really great torelease them obediently”
Xiang Shaolong questioned: “Is Mistress (Feng Fei) back?”
Another family warrior bowed: “She has been back for half an hour She had given instructions for you to see her immediately upon your return”
Xiang Shaolong took the chance to ask: “Did Mister Tan come back as well?”
The famei Villa I think he will probably come over tomorrow”
Xiang Shaolong is aware that Xiao Yuetan is gathering intelligence Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he head alone towards the inner courtyard in search of Feng Fei
He barely crossed over the door ledge to the inner courtyard where Feng Fei is staying when Little Ping’er caht, she welcomed: “You are finally back”
Xiang Shaolong wished he could give her a loving pat Hefor your concern”
Little Ping’er purposely put on a sole: “I a your return”
Xiang Shaolong really wanted to embrace her into his bosom and comfort her with sords but he is unable to love another neoman He maintained his silence and climbed up the stairs to the upper floor as she had directed
Feng Fei had removed all her make-up, accessories, and is dressed in si at a corner of the shtly when she saw hi forcefully kissing her the night before She was elated: “You are back! I am so worried for you! Come and have a sit!”
Xiang Shaolong subserviently sat down on the floor opposite her, joking: “I am certain Mistress has mesmerized the entire Court officials of Qi”
Feng Fei viciously shot hi him a hint of excitement The pretty lass was curious: “What trickery did you e to release our men?”
Xiang Shaolong casually state: “Of course by using the gift of the gab (literal translation = skillful tongue), is Mistress satisfied with my answer?”
He was just spouting nonsense but his words have an entirely differentFei Her face flushed with criarding what happened last night How dare you… I…”
Only now did Xiang Shaolong realized he had used an inappropriate description He aardly defended: “That is not what I meant… Hey…”
Feng Fei became so shy she did not knohere to hide her face Even the roots of her ear lobes are thoroughly red She appears to be at a loss and it was a very enticing look
Xiang Shaolong did not kno to handle such a situation
The lure of Feng Fei now is co If not for the fact that she has soround any longer