Chapter 119 The Conspiracy 3 (1/2)
Chapter 119 The Conspiracy (3)
”It's dark.”
”It's dark.”
Different men, uttering the very same lines, conveyed the very same message even though they spoke with contrasting tones and styles.
Song Jiao was the first to step out the entrance.
Liu Dazheng crouched before a boy. There was a moment of hesitation from him before he quickly broke into a warm smile. ”Wait for my return, Liu Xiaohei,” he said.
”I'm not Liu Xiaohei,” snapped the boy crossly, ”I'm not Liu Xiaohei!”
”But you can't even remember your name when I found you,” Liu Dazheng remarked indifferently, ”I have to call you something.”
”Then anything else but Liu Xiaohei! The name is terrible!” Liu Xiaohei complained and said loudly, ”What terrible taste!”
”Well, your complexion is dark. The name suits you, at least that's what I think. Anyone who hears the name will know it's you. Let's stick with it then. It's easy for you to remember too. You'll never forget your name again,” Liu Dazheng explained and said earnestly, ”Moreover, what are we men talking about taste for?”
Liu Xiaohei fell silent. He gave a moment of thought before he grumbled, ”That may be so... Still, I feel something's not right.”
Li Zhen squatted down in front of Rui Mengmeng and helped her tidy a whisk of hair that hung at her front. Minutes passed in silence and they said nothing. In the end, Li Zhen merely scratched his head, looking at her shyly.
”Go on then. I'll behave myself,” Rui Mengmeng said to him in an assuring tone.
Li Zhen nodded his head gravely.
For that very instant, Li Zhen was like a little boy while she was behaving like an elder.
Li Zhen got to his feet. Li Ye looked at him and remarked, ”You don't have to go.”
”My powers may be undependable. But my place is beside you, Your Highness, especially in such critical times.”
Li Ye placed a hand on his shoulder gratefully. He looked over at Liu Dazheng, who was still in a somber discussion with Liu Xiaohei about his name. ”It's time to go,” said Li Ye.
They began moving, followed by the two children who sent them out of the door before watching them leave. Rui Mengmeng hugged herself, looking composed and unperturbed.
Liu Xiaohei merely sighed heavily. ”Something tells me that Liu Dazheng is out tonight to handle something serious. I just hope he'll be safe.”
Rui Mengmeng shot him a glare. ”A child like you can feel that 'something'?” She muttered as she turned and began walking back indoors.
”What?!” Liu Xiaohei barked indignantly, chasing behind her, ”What makes you think I don't know! Are you jealous?! Hey, stand where you are!”
”Heh heh heh.”
...
Soldiers flooded into the Changle Gate of the Imperial Palace and quickly lined up into two columns just after the gate. The first column snaked up the passage and manned the parapets of the Palace walls while the second column marched deeper into the palace complex.
Li Maozhen and Wang Jian were standing just aside, watching as the two columns of soldiers detaching and moving towards their stations, their expressions blank and unconcerned. When the square was emptied, Li Maozhen bowed to his colleague and said, ”I'm going to the Xuanwu Gate.”
Wang Jian returned the gesture, reminding him, ”Through thick or thin!”
Li Maozhen cast him a glare and muttered, ”If we die, let it be that we perish together!”
Wang Jian hissed and said angrily, ”Touch wood!”
”You were the one sniveling about like a girl!”
”How dare you, Song Wentong?! A girl?!”
They separated and Li Maozhen quickly hurried to the Xuanwu Gate where he ordered his men to follow him up the steps to the gate. He was due to relieve the commander of guards that was due to go off duty.
When everything was complete. He observed the retreat of the guards from the previous shift, taking in their movements as the raspy stomp of their boots slowly drifted farther and farther away. Li Maozhen struggled to maintain his placidness. His heart was thumping fast. Finally, when the din of the marching soldiers was completely gone, he could finally heave an easy breath.
He stood at the top of the gate, looking intently into the darkness of the forest outside with a hand on the hilt of his saber.
Everything was eerily silent that even the birds and bugs were hardly singing their nocturnal tunes. Li Maozhen could vaguely hear his own heart beating. The flames in the pans that illuminated the gate were crackling angrily under the starry sky with cinders trying vainly to claw at Heaven. The uneasy stillness sent a chill up his spine as if the darkness of the night itself was a ravenous beast seeking to engulf everything whole, making him tighten his grip on his weapon.
...
Deep inside the patch of forest, Li Ye was standing under the tree with his back to its trunk. His eyes were shut for a moment of respite and concentration while he kept a tab of the time.
He had waited long for this day. A success in his plans would see Li Yan rising to the throne immediately and he would be able to leave Chang'an City to the vassal state while still maintaining control of the military. This would allow him more freedom and flexibility to prepare against Huang Chao.
The Dragon Qi in him stirred, absorbing all other natural energies that were drawn into him.
Since his defeat of Li Keyong and Wei Baoheng, Li Ye had grown more adept in the methods of enhancing his own powers. He would hope to be bestowed a land when Li Yan became Emperor, a domain of his own where he could tap into the natural energies within the domain to increase his powers. There would be a need for judicial reforms and stimuli to upkeep his domain.
The Dragon Qi in him was the sign of a Hidden Dragon within him. Only from an army, the local officials and the people of his own could generate enough natural auras and lucks that he could tap into to strengthen his Dragon Qi, the mark of his eligibility to attain kingship.