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Lei Jiuzhi said, “Xiao Jun is putting on disguise; after some deliberations, we made a bit of change to our original plan, but it’s even more perfect, actually.”

Perhaps Xu Ziling still had some doubts about Lei Jiuzhi, but he had full confidence in Song Shidao; he cheerfully said, “Xiaodi is listening with respectful attention.”

Song Shidao laughed calmly and said, “Actually, we only made two changes. The first is in response to the changes in the situation. Turns out Situ Furong is even more a coward than we thought. After receiving our warning letter, he and Shen Wenjiang, two men left Pingyao on that very same night to avoid disaster, leaving the business in care of his younger brother. Therefore, we cannot have a large group of maids and servants to follow us along.”

Xu Ziling asked in surprise, “Is there such a coincidence? Why didn’t he take other people, but only this Shen Wenjiang to flee together? The two have such a close relationship?”

Lei Jiuzhi laughed and said, “You can call this being smart the whole lifetime, being stupid for a short while. Naturally it was Song ErYe mentioning something in the letter, so that we won’t have to worry that Shen Wenjiang would not dare not to follow his Laoban [boss] to flee to the other end of the world.”

Xu Ziling obtained a sudden understanding; he said, “Certainly Song ErGe has thought of everything.”

Song Shidao laughed and spoke to Lei Jiuzhi, “I am not Song ErYe, but Shen Xiansheng [mister]. When will Su Guanjia [housekeeper/butler] start to change your tune [to change the way one addresses somebody (as when one marries and starts to call one’s husband’s parents Papa and Mama)]?”

Lei Jiuzhi brought his palm to his own mouth; pretending to be in fear and trepidation, he said, “Xiaoren knows his guilt! Xiaoren knows his guilt! Shen Ye Daren, please be magnanimous, please don’t argue with Xiaoren.”

He spoke in Pingyao’s local accent with exaggerated intonation, provoking the whole room in a roar of laughter.

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “If Shi Zhixuan, Wanwan, or any martial art master their caliber were here, our heart’s blood would entirely go down the drain.”

Song Shidao nodded and said, “Ziling is right. Su Guanjia, you ought to be a bit more careful, otherwise, if Wenjiang speak something in front of Furong Ye, you, Su Guanjia, would have to immediately pack and quit [to be sacked] and return to your home village to till the fields.”

The three roared in laughter again.

Xu Ziling leaned back against the chair, a burst of sadness welled up in his heart. If Kou Zhong were here, it would be much better. They all could laugh together to their heart’s contend, to talk about their grand plan to deal with the crafty scoundrel.

A voice, old and decrepit, came from the back door, saying, “What offending-superiors mistake did Su Guanjia commit? Huh? Unexpectedly it’s Xu Ye!”

Xu Ziling took a glance, immediately he cried, ‘Wonderful!’ inwardly. Walking into the room was Xiao Jun, disguised as Situ Furong, honoring them with his good-self’s presence, enough to resemble the build and appearance of the original Situ Furong he saw in the painting.

Lei Jiuzhi sprang up and grabbed Ren Jun’s shoulders, reaching out, he pinched his cheek and said, “This mask, although cannot be compared to Lu Shi’s miraculous hands’ skillful-snatching-the-heaven work, but at least it seventy-, eighty-percent close. I guarantee that when Situ Furong saw him, he would think that he was looking in the mirror.”

Xu Ziling could not help smiling. He said with a laugh, “You should have said that even Lu Dashi would think that this mask was made by him.”

Lei Jiuzhi cheerfully released his pinch on Xiao Jun’s face, he laughed and said, “Good kid! When did you learn how to pat the horse’s butt?”

Song Shidao said, “And this is our second change. Because to have you, Xu Ziling, disguising yourself as Situ Furong and sit in here all day long is really too much of a waste, hence in normal times we have Xiao Jun taking your place, until when you have to show your talent on the table. Based on your skill, imitating Xiao Jun’s voice should be easy.”

Ren Jun spoke with straight face, in Pingyao accent, “Opening a pawnshop is not just a business, it is also the door to knowledge. To make money, one must speak about reputation first. Whether I, Situ Furong earn one penny more or one penny less, it is definitely not a problem, the most important thing is that when gentlemen and friends hear the four letters of my name, Situ Furong, you will have confidence.”

The tone of his voice, the inflection, the staccato, everything had certain characteristic that once people hear it, it would be difficult to forget. Precisely because of this distinctive feature and other differences that it was easy to grasp and imitate.

Lei Jiuzhi said, “This the way that Ou Liangcai taught us. Situ Furong really speaks with this kind of intonation. According to Ou Liangcai, Xiao Jun already mastered it to 70, 80% similarity.”

Xu Ziling’s confidence greatly increased, he said, “Sit down and let’s talk!”

After all four have been seated, Song Shidao said, “We already paid a visit to the authorities; we also asked them to look after our desire not to publicize our arrival. Tomorrow Chen Fu is going to send several maids and servants to wait upon Furong Ye, as for protector of the courtyard, bodyguards and the like, Chen Fu is going to secretly recruit some for us. If Chi Shengchun really has wolf-heart toward us, he should seize this opportunity to have his men infiltrate our place, and then we could beat them at their own game.”

Ren Jun said, “I am most afraid that Chi Shengchun does not even know that our good-selves have arrived.”

Xu Ziling pondered quietly for half a day. Turning to Lei Jiuzhi, he asked, “Has Lei Dage passed on a unique skill or two to Xiao Jun?”

Before Lei Jiuzhi could answer, Ren Jun already stretched out his hand and spread out his palm, three dice appeared in the hollow of his palm as if by magic. He laughed and said, “Now, even in my sleep I dream about gambling; but in my dream I always lose more than I win.”

Xu Ziling spoke cheerfully, “That will save a lot of work. How old is the real Situ Furong, and what about his wife and children?”

Lei Jiuzhi replied, “The real Situ Furong should not be more than forty years old. He does not seem to be lecherous, up until now he is still unmarried, hence a lot of people speculated that he has other passion, that he is having an affair with Song ErYe.”

Laughing involuntarily, Song Shidao said, “Lei LaoGe is joking with me again; he is having an affair with Shen Wenjiang, not with some ErYe or SanYe.”

Turning to look at Ren Jun, Xu Ziling asked, “Is Xiao Jun scared?”

Ren Jun shook his head firmly and said, “With Lei Ye and ErYe by my side giving directions, not only I am not afraid, I feel excited.”

Lei Jiuzhi spoke seriously, “Xiao Jun is very quick to learn, his talent is very high, Ziling need not worry whether he is up to the task or not.”

“That will work!” Xu Ziling said, “My only worry is that Xiao Jun’s eyes might leak the secret, because those with a bit of eyesight will be able to see that he is an expert.”

Song Shidao said, “Dare to open a pawnshop, how could his background be that simple? Situ Furong came from the dark road, himself is a longtou dage [big brother the boss] of a famous underworld gang in Pingyao. I, Shen Wenjiang, am also from a family influential for generations’ background with martial art training from childhood. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any problem in this aspect.”

Lei Jiuzhi said, “The Su Guanjia I am impersonating is a real person, he is another trusted aide of Situ Furong’s, he has quite a reputation among Pingyao Wulin. Situ Furong and Shen Wenjiang escaped from Pingyao, he went down south and disappeared without a trace. He should be under Situ Furong’s order to investigate the situation in Song ErYe’s home.”

Xu Ziling deeply felt the benefit of group planning and group efforts, which made his life a lot easier. He said, “I want you to have a good rest today. Wait until I finish making arrangement, tomorrow we can launch our grand plan of luring the Xiang.”

Song Shidao asked in surprise, “What arrangement Ziling need to make?”

Rising to his full height, Xu Ziling said with a laugh, “First of all, I need to make arrangement with a remarkably beautiful woman. A snake has a snake’s way, a rat also has a rat’s way to fall for Xiao Jun, this Situ Furong, who is definitely not a pleasant man, to make him change his passion so that he will like women. My Niang! What’s going on here?”

※ ※ ※

Finally the battle came to a temporary end.

While the Tang Army attacked repeatedly, Li Shimin beat the gong to recall the troops; the Great Tang Army, which took control of the initiative, retreated to their camp in an orderly manner.

The crucial point in this battle lay in Kou Zhong desperately resisted Li Shimin’s ‘spearhead celestial soldiers’ [orig. chisel through, see my note in Book 39, Chapter 12], so that the Tang Army was unable to break through the Zheng Army’s defense line. The casualties both sides suffered were quite heavy, the dead and injured reached several thousands men, it was indeed a desperate battle.

Kou Zhong suffered countless wounds, his combat robe was stained with his own blood, as well as the enemy’s, so that it looked terrifyingly mottled.

After going through the using-battle-to-raise-battle cultivation outside the Great Wall, he had fully mastered the way to preserve his life in the bloody battle involving magnificent army with thousands of men and horses. But injuries were inevitable. No matter how superior your martial art skill is, no matter how exceptional your saber technique, in the tangled battle where no one could dodge, where men were crowding each other, enduring saber and coming in contact with sword is something that cannot be avoided. But how to minimize the damage from the enemy, this was the out of the ordinary skill that Kou Zhong developed from countless military campaign.

When the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, Yang Gongqing and he spurred their horses around the city walls and the camp, to a small hill on the other side of Cijian. From here, using fast horse along the official road, if one was hurrying toward the east, one could reach Luoyang in about two days.

Kou Zhong said, “Later on I am going to speak to Wang Shichong, we must set up a camp here to ensure a smooth flow of food and supplies. Otherwise, if Li Shimin sent a small troops of men and horses to attack and rob the caravan delivering provisions, we would be struggling to cope with the situation.”

Yang Gongqing said, “In that case, we might as well build a stone fort, which could correspond well with Cijian over a distance. The tools and craftsmen can be transferred from Luoyang. This way, even if Cijian is lost, Li Shimin cannot press on straight to Luoyang. Moreover, if we have no alternative but to retreat back to Luoyang, we need not be afraid that Li Shimin would cut our tail in pursue and attack.”

Kou Zhong spoke in astonishment, “We have just fought a beautiful big battle today, which make Li Shimin not daring to despise us, Yang Gong still have no confidence whether we can defend Cijian steadily?”

Yang Gongqing sighed and said, “Of course I have full confidence in Shaoshuai, but toward Wang Shichong, it’s a different matter altogether! Who knows what stupid idea he will come up with tomorrow?”

Kou Zhong felt that he very much had similar sentiment; he said, “To build a suitable stone fort like that, how much time will we need?”

Yang Gongqing said, “In order to resist the Tang Army’s attack on Luoyang, we already stockpiled large quantities of rocks already cut to square in the city, to mend the damaged city wall when necessary. If some of those stones are brought in and built into a fort, plus we have enough manpower, within about ten days we will be able to build a stone fort with defensive capability, plus it can accommodate several hundred garrison soldiers.”

Kou Zhong was astonished, “A stone fort can be built that quickly, it is really unimaginable. In that case, why not build two stone forts on both side of the road? Their defensive power will be doubled.”

“Good idea!” Yang Gongqing cheerfully said, “But it would be best if the proposal does not come from us. Let me speak privately with Ba Yegang. He has been with Wang Shichong for close to ten years, he is a high-ranking military officer with different surname that Wang Shichong trusts the most, it will be easier for his proposal to enter Wang Shichong’s ears.”

Thinking deeply, Kou Zhong said, “Ba Yegang and Wang Shichong are both barbarians, they might even have blood relationship, or perhaps both are connected to Da Ming Zun Jiao; he must be an ideal candidate to speak with Wang Shichong. Yang Gong’s thought is really thorough!”

“Thorough?” Yang Gongqing said with a wry smile, “Ay, exhausting is more like it. On the battlefield, if you have an idea and something goes wrong, even deities and immortals won’t be able to save you.”

Kou Zhong said, “After fighting today’s battle, my view on the whole situation has changed from pessimistic to optimistic. Now everybody should know that I am helping Wang Shichong to repel Li Shimin in good faith. Now if I can persuade Wang Shichong to accept Dou Jiande’s offer, while to the other side thoroughly lay out the pros and cons, to ask him to send troops to help, Li Shimin would have no room to advance or to retreat, and would be trapped in inferior, passive position.”

Muttering to himself irresolutely for half a day, Yang Gongqing spoke heavily, “What kind of person Dou Jiande actually is?”

Kou Zhong was slightly startled; it was quite a while later before he answered, “Honestly, until this moment I still cannot figure out what kind of person he is. He speaks properly, he only says what he ought to say, smooth and evasive enough not to be offensive. But his weakness, which is also very likely his strength, is his overly self-confidence. For example, after capturing Liyang, he was thinking of deploying his troops to cross the river and attack Hulao. It goes to show that not only he does not consider Wang Shichong worthy in his eyes, he also underestimates Li Shimin’s threat.”

Yang Gongqing said, “It’s no wonder that Wang Shichong is afraid of him. Dou Jiande captured Liyang, it poses great threat to Wang Shichong. Under current circumstances, definitely there is no possibility for the two to join forces against the Tang.”

This moment, Ma Chang and more than a dozen of his men were rushing over horseback, saying, “Shengshang requests the pleasure of seeing Shaoshuai!”

Kou Zhong and Yang Gongqing exchanged a doubtful look, they both could not guess why Wang Shichong wanted to see Kou Zhong this urgently.

※ ※ ※

Xu Ziling put on the ‘Yong Qin’ mask plus the beard from Hou Xibai’s collection. As he entered the outer main hall of the Ming Tang Wo, it was nearly the first watch of the night [7-9pm]. The brightly lit main hall was swelling with the crowd, the noise of the people surrounding the gambling tables was ear splitting.

Xu Ziling exchanged his money for a small number of gambling chips, and then he strolled leisurely among the gambling tables, but his mind was occupied by Hu Xiaoxian. If he left a secret mark in the corner of the gambling hall, tomorrow he would get in touch with Hu Xiaoxian. His only worry was that because he had to rush to Cijian, he already missed the deadline of making contact that he agreed with her, hence he was unsure whether there was any change in the plan.

Finally he made up his mind. While no one noticed, he left the secret mark using the method that only he and Hu Xiaoxian understood, indicating the time and place of meeting.

Afterwards, he casually played a couple of hands in one of the gambling tables, and lost nearly half of his chips. As he was about to leave, a fragrant whiff assaulted his nostrils, Ji Qian was brushing past him, saying, “I am going to wait for you in that Sichuan cuisine restaurant.”

※ ※ ※

Wang Shichong was sitting on the ‘Dragon Seat’ located at the southern end of the Zongguan Mansion’s main hall. Various great generals, Duan Da, Shan Xiongxin, Xing Yuanzhen, Zhang Zhi, Chen Zhilue, Guo Shancai, Ba Yegang, and the others separately sat on either side. The atmosphere was solemn.

Seeing Kou Zhong walked in, all the generals greeted him with a smile, their manner respectful. It was a sign that Kou Zhong has established a certain position in their hearts and has earned their respect.

Wang Shichong had the letter in his hand handed over to a personal guard standing behind his chair and spoke indifferently, “Give it to Shaoshuai to look over.”

Kou Zhong was greatly confused and was stunned.

Wang Shichong snorted coldly and said, “This is the letter that Li Shimin had his man shot into our camp. The letter is addressed to Zhen, but the words are directed at you.”

Kou Zhong took the letter, unfolded it, and read it one time through. Other than Wang Shichong, obviously everybody else did not know the contents of the flying arrow letter, they all revealed a curious expression.

Based on Li Shimin’s style of work, the content of this letter could not possibly be just some senseless words.

Finished reading, Kou Zhong folded the letter. Laughing involuntarily, he said, “Good Li Shimin. In just a few simple words, he can make Shengshang’s heart uncomfortable, while putting me in a no room to advance or to retreat position.”

Great General Chen Zhilue could not help asking, “What kind of tricks did Li Shimin actually play in the letter?”

Wang Shichong angrily said, “How could Zhen be uncomfortable over this? Shaoshuai can decide for yourself what to do.”

Everybody was even more unable to make any sense of the matter; yet everybody knew that when Wang Shichong said that he was not concerned, the truth was the opposite, otherwise he would not speak those angry words.

Kou Zhong sat down on the last chair of the row of chairs on the right side. Putting the letter on the small table, he patted the armrest and laughed aloud and said, “In the letter, Li Shimin is inviting me to meet with him in his camp at the third watch of the night [11pm-1am, or midnight]. Shall I go or not?”

The various generals suddenly understood.

Li Shimin’s move was very formidable. The letter was sent to Wang Shichong, but the content was directed at Kou Zhong. He was referring to the biggest contradiction between Wang Shichong and Kou Zhong. Moreover, it showed clearly that he did not respect Wang Shichong at all; it stated explicitly that in Li Shimin’s heart, only Kou Zhong was worthy to be his opponent, Wang Shichong practically was not worthy in his eyes.

Zhang Zhi cleared his throat and said, “Shangsheng must be careful, this is likely to be the trap that Li Shimin lay out to deal with Shaoshuai.”

Kou Zhong praised him inwardly. Zhang Zhi’s remark was extremely fitting, he was handing over the authority back into Wang Shichong’s hands.

Yu [sic. it was Xing above] Yuanzhen sighed and said, “This letter is an extremely brilliant scheme to drive a wedge between allies. Shengshang must not fall into Li Shimin’s trap.”

Just by listening to two great generals under Wang Shichong’s command striving to say good things on his behalf, Kou Zhong knew that the numerous generals already grew a feeling that they were relying heavily upon him, Kou Zhong. The problem was that Wang Shichong was petty-minded, intellectually he might understand that his various generals were right, but emotionally it was still difficult to accept.

His brows furrowed, Shan Xiongxin said, “What does Li Shimin want to discuss with Shaoshuai? If Shaoshuai were someone who could be easily swayed, today he would not be here to go through fire and water with us to fight the Tang Army together.”

In his heart, Kou Zhong was greatly comforted, yet he also knew that the more the various generals speak good words on his behalf, the more they might attract Wang Shichong’s jealousy. However, he clearly could not take it another way.

Indeed Wang Shichong’s expression still did not look good; he spoke coldly, “In that case, all gentlemen Qingjia [from the dictionary: (from the Tang Dynasty onwards) term used by the emperor for his subjects] think that Shaoshuai should not go to the meeting, is that right?”

Ba Yegang, who, all along, has not uttered a single word, said, “In my opinion, based on Li Shimin’s style of work, this meeting should not be a Hongmen Banquet at all. Moreover, even if it is indeed a trap, based on Shaoshuai’s skill, if he wanted to break the siege, who would be able to stop him? Perhaps after the battle today, Li Shimin’s sounding out the difficulties and retreating to avoid defeat can also be a possibility.”

Letting out a cold snort, Wang Shichong said, “If he is sounding out the difficulties and retreating to avoid defeat, he ought to come and put forward his proposal directly to me.”

Guo Shancai said, “I also think of another possibility, which is Li Shimin wants to find out Shaoshuai’s intention, and then decide whether he should withdraw his troops.”

For Wang Shichong’s various generals, whether it was the old troops under his command who had been with him for many years, or like Duan Da, Shan Xiongxin, Yu Yuanzhen, and the other high-ranking military officers who surrendered from Li Mi’s camp, everybody knew that Kou Zhong was the minister who rendered great merit in defeating Li Mi. Today’s battle was entirely due to him supporting the general situation. Therefore, everybody felt that Guo Shancai’s analysis was as it should be by rights. Only Wang Shichong, the more he heard it, the more he felt it was not to his liking.

Wang Shichong could see that almost everybody nodded their head in agreement with Guo Shancai’s opinion; his countenance sank, he spoke to Kou Zhong, “Shaoshuai understands your own relationship with Li Shimin better than anybody else. In the end, Shaoshuai’s status here is a guest-subject [orig. qing, see above], you are not directly under Zhen’s command. Therefore, this matter should be decided by Shaoshuai yourself.”

Kou Zhong sighed inwardly, but on the surface he remained calm and composed. He spoke indifferently, “Thank you very much Shengshang! Since Li Shimin dares to invite me, I, Kou Zhong, also dare to go see him. Whatever it is that he says to me, I will pass on without missing a word to Shengshang. Shengshang, please trust me. My only goal now is to defend Cijian steadily, other things I have no time to pay attention to, but I also have no time to think about.”

He was saying all good things to Wang Shichong to give him enough face. If Wang Shichong still could not figure it out and still could not see it through, then he was digging his own grave. In which case, what could he, Kou Zhong do?