Volu About Inside Stories (2/2)

Startled, Lin Tong inquired, “Why was your Prince of De so ruthless? Although Jiang Zhe was disloyal to Southern Chu, his actions were pardonable Moreover, the Prince of De was already dying Why was he worrying about these things?”

Sighing, wang Ji responded, “At the ti nificant contributions to Southern Chu Although, he changed his loyalties to Great Yong, it was Southern Chu who first disuard was unavoidably too obstinate

“Moreover, Jiang daren is only a scholar It is a bit ridiculous for the Prince of De to re his escape back to Southern Chu, the assassin was killed at the banks of the Yangtze River by a servant of Jiang inally a court eunuch in the Southern Chu Royal Palace No one knohy he willingly beca daren’s servant At the start, no one paid hily had the ability to kill that assassin Only then did everyone realize that he was a rarely seen expert For such an expert to willingly serve as a servant to Jiang h, few people paid any attention to Jiang daren, especially after he was nearly assassinated

“Because of his poor health, Jiang daren spent half the year bedridden Princess must understand that if a person’s health is poor, no matter how capable he is, he is only able to employ twenty to thirty percent of his abilities”

Lin Tong was entranced listening to wang Ji weave the story She could not help but ask, “If that Jiang daren’s health was so poor, hoas he able to advise the Prince of Yong? Hoas he able to hound the Fengyi Sect Master to death?”

Sighing again, wang Ji answered, “This co I have only heard that, after Jiang subdue the former Crown Prince’s rebellion, he was already an emaciated wreck Reportedly, his temples were already white and he would frequently vo these words, Lin Bi sighed softly She stated, “With every breath in one’s body, unto one’s dying day⁵ … it is a pity that the man is not in my Northern Han Please continue”

“At the ti Zhe was also within the Hunting Palace,” added wang Ji “In addition, he was seriously ill And yet, he was the one who saw through the Crown Prince’s conspiracy, preventing the Prince of Yong froically at the hands of vile characters As he was preparing to escape the encircle if he was to bring anyone at all However, Jiang daren</e ht, Lin Tong asked with curiosity, “Why would Princess Changle take him in? Could it be that they had a private love affair?”

After so Ji responded, “This cole was for daren was an official in the Southern Chu court For years, Princess Changle resided in seclusion in the depths of the palace, while Jiang , it would have been impossible for the two to carry on a love affair Later on, there were so in Southern Chu, Princess Changle was fondest of poe daren’s poems can be said to be unrivaled under the Heavens As a result, it is possible that fro rew to admire him However, with the separation between their different social statuses, Princess Changle never spoke of her desire to wed Jiang the coup d’état, Jiang le would naturally save hi le acquire the secret edict fro to the mobilization of the ar inquired, “For Jiang le, could it be that he knew of the Princess’s affection?”

S Ji spoke, “This commoner is not clear about that In reality, with the situation he faced, Jiang le Before, Princess Changle had been neutral in the succession struggle If it was si, she may have continued to remain uninvolved, but as soon as the situation involved the Emperor, she could only take action With the deep love between father and daughter, she would naturally not watch idly as the Crown Prince threatened her father”

“If that is the case, then hoas Jiang h a search?” questioned Lin Tong, “How did he e to send the secret edict out?”

With a look of veneration on his face, wang Ji expounded, “Jiang spot was likely quite secretive In addition, the rebels did not take the weak and feeble scholar into account As for the individual ent to issue the edict, this was the probably thewas initially a member of the Crown Prince’s faction and had taken part in the coup d’état Reportedly, he was extre As a result, no one could have expected that he would use to the opportunity of issuing the Crown Prince’s fake edict to bring the secret edict out of the Hunting Palace Everyone knew that Xiahou Yuanfeng was originally not part of the Prince of Yong’s faction No one could understand hoas persuaded by Jiang ht, Xiahou Yuanfeng was able tothe rebellion At present, he is heavily favored by the Yong E of admiration He had actually done the i expressed, “So that is what happened … Now, quickly speak of how Jiang Zhe was able to hound the Fengyi Sect Master to death I don’t believe that he has such ability”

wang Ji’s expression roused, he replied, “To speak of this h to cause everyone to be won over by Jiang daren</eyi Sect Master would likely have been able to kill hiyi Sect’s treasonous plot failed, all of the rebels had been surrounded Just as they were about to taken out in one scoop, the Fengyi Sect Master appeared out of the blue⁶ With a single person and a single sword, she stood in theEmperor and the Princes, there were ienerals, and experts frohu</erandmasters, a mere woman, all bent their heads without exception No one dared to face her directly and look her in the eyes However, it was Jiang blood and on the verge of death, who actually stood up and spoke intense words that resounded powerfully within the audience chalory than live in dishonor The Fengyi Sect Master had no choice but to agree to ree for the lives of her disciples Who can co wished to say so, but she suddenly remembered the formal visit that she had paid to the State Mentor of Northern Han That day, before his presence, she had not even dared to breath With this experience, it could be assuyi Sect Master’s ht and unyielding strength of character As a result, Lin Tong did not speak

“There are feho knohat happened next,” continued wang Ji “However, seven days later, the Fengyi Sect Master was surrounded and killed by Great Master True Co his sect’s experts and Derand asked, puzzled, “If that is the case then why is it said that Jiang Zhe hounded the Fengyi Sect Master to death?”

“This infor Ji, “Reportedly, the Fengyi Sect Master was already injured Taking a divine pill given her by the Medical Sage, Sir Sang, she was temporarily able to protect her heart arteries As a disciple of the Medical Sage, Jiang yi Sect Master to exhaust her life force over that seven-day period As a result, the Fengyi Sect Master was ultiht with her life on the line Great Master True Corandmaster, while Demonic Shadow Li Shun was a peak-level expert Cohteen Arhats froyi Sect Master survive? In addition, it is said that it was Derandrievously wounded the Fengyi Sect Master, forcing her to self-immolate herself and die If the yi Sect Master, she likely would have been able to escape”

Shocked, it was so herself to say, “If that is the case, then this Jiang daren is truly formidable However, that Great Master True Corand fro upon a sneak attack Hoas this infor?”

“At the time, when this commoner heard this story, I only took it as a joke,” replied wang Ji, shaking his head “I cannot hope to understand Great Master True Coaze at her sister, Lin Tong blurted, acting like a spoiled child, “Elder sister, you must know! Quickly tell , Lin Bi could only s ht processes are simply unfathomable Great Master True Co everyone to beco daren</euard when facing Jiang daren It may be assumed that Great Master True Compassion was somewhat afraid that he would be next”

Half-understanding, Lin Tong nodded her head and inquired, “Oh … then wang Ji, what happened to Jiang Zhe and Princess Changle?”

wang Ji responded, “When the Fengyi Sect Master appeared, although the audience chaures, almost everyone without exception bowed their heads, intihout this affair, showed no fear of death, gaining everyone’s ad daren</eyi Sect Master for her athered heroes to blush with sha yi Sect Master’s profound internal energy, vo and fearless of the Fengyi Sect Master’s sword pointing at her, Princess Changle personally went to check Jiang s, she co all itnessed it to sigh in ad cried out in surprise, as she asked, “Could it be that Princess Changle wasZhe? If that is the case, then no wonder everyone co Zhe is cohtly, wang Ji knew that for this little princess to speak in such a fashi+on, she had ad his thoughts, heonce asked the then Emperor to betroth the two and the entire court wasthe i E asked, “Why? Jiang Zhe perforreatWhy did the Yong E Ji answered, “The justification given was that Jiang E le had already lived a rough life If her husband were to die again, wouldn’t it be one disaster after another? With this reason given, even the Prince of Yong did not dare to argue otherwise”

“So that’s why,” uttered Lin Tong, nodding her head “That’s reasonable Did Jiang Emperor betroth the two?”

“If that was the case, then it wouldn’t be considered as a legendary saga,” conveyed wang Ji, continuing to s, Jiang daren was on the cusp of a meteoric rise in his career However, at the sa anointed as the heir apparent, Jiang De up and leaving behind all of the rewards bestowed upon hi with him In such a hu For sohtest for riches and honor, power and influence Even those people who felt that there were blerity can only cease their criticish with admiration”

A look of tre’s eyes, as she stated, “If that is the case, then that Jiang daren’s character is truly unparalleled in this world Wait ato tellcompared to my elder sister? How did you stray fro Ji coressed, isn’t it because of your questions? However, a smile remained on his face, as he answered, “Princess is unaware that although Jiang Zhe departed in such an easy and relaxed ed to take a person with hi asked, “Could it be … could it be that Princess Changle actually eloped with hiether “Indeed! Princess Changle’s teinally, when the Yong E her to re E in such ahim depart? Those two had exhausted their youths and heart’s blood for the sake of Great Yong Without any qualms, the two of the the lands free and unfettered, for the life of a pair of mandarin ducks than the life of iinally been advanced to the title of Princess of Ning, obtaining incolory and honor In addition, her mother was advanced to beco in riches and honor However, she ended up discarding everything, accohu</e wohness, the Princess of Jiaping” As he spoke these last lines, he gazed towards Lin Bi, caution filling his eyes

Shaking her head, Lin Bi declared, “Princess Changle of Ning was able to acco conduct and appearance that values e power and influence, riches and honor How can We co before, as such Daddy and Mommy orried that you wouldn’t understand the true essence behind Princess Changle’s story In fact, it would have been detri tell you of her story, I can tell that you have come to realize some of the principles As such, I ”

Finished speaking, Lin Bi’s gaze fell upon wang Ji With a subtle , you are still young and yet have such extensive knowledge Truly hard to coaining a bit of suspicion and wariness

Footnotes:

<ol><li>贞渊, zhenyuan – lit profound chastity</li><li>首屈一指, shouquyizhi – idio second to none, outstanding</li><li>This is a poe state, Li Yu, set to the tune of the tian – idio to be very influential</li><li>鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已, jugongjincui, si’erhouyi – idio day; fig with every breath in one’s body, unto one’s dying day</li><li>从天而降, congtian’erjiang – idio to appear unexpectedly, out of the blue</li><li>This is a line fro Dynasty poet, Lu Zhaolin, entitled “Chang’an: Ancient Theme”</li></ol>