Book 61 Chapter 3 – Waiting for Dawn

The moment he said the words, ‘I don’t want to die in Chang’an’, ten thousand fathoms heroic feeling, no-one-can-change-or-alter staunch fighting spirit welled up in Kou Zhong’s heart. All kinds of setbacks and frustrations after he entered Chang’an were swept clean.

This sentence, every word came from the heart, if he was not strong enough, with the fearless spirit of abandoning the saber and forgetting the saber, striving unremittingly in the inferior situation, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Only those ruthless enough would be able to survive. This was Ba Fenghan’s famous saying. At this time and place, it could not be doubted even more.

Following behind them, Xu Ziling, Ba Fenghan, and Hou Xibai were silent, they did not say anything, but they were of one heart, knowing that Kou Zhong was displaying his intimidating charm to this important general in Chang’an.

Liu Hongji stared blankly at the sitting-on-the-horse-back Kou Zhong, he was caught off guard and was left speechless.

Kou Zhong grinned; recovering his calm, he said, “Please forgive me, Kou Zhong for talking intimately while being comparatively strangers [idiom]. If we don’t deal with it properly, the Central Earth will face imminent catastrophe, this is the autumn of the critical situation of whether we are going to exist or perish. For me, Kou Zhong, whether I can ascend to the imperial throne or not, it really is of no importance. The most important thing is that ordinary people who have suffered so much can pa.s.s their days in peaceful reunification. In Guanzhong, the one that I admire is only Li Shimin, one person. Therefore, I definitely will not allow him to be fish and meat [fig. victim of oppression]. I will have to trouble Da Jiangjun to report to the Tang master, when we get to the Hong Yi Palace we will not leave again until your Huangshang removes all the punishments that he wants to impose on Qin w.a.n.g.”

Liu Hongji’s countenance changed, “Shaoshuai!” he exclaimed.

The divine light in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, the tone of his voice was calm but resolute, he spoke indifferently, “I have made up my mind. Without Li Shimin, there will be no pain-in-the-b.u.t.t alliance. No one knows how terrifying the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall better than me. Confronting such an elite squad, while day and night I must guard against shameless people pulling my hind legs from behind in secret, letting anybody doing this kind of folly, definitely it’s not my, Kou Zhong’s share. Why don’t I return to Liangdu? I’ll just sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and then watch for the convenience to clear up the mess. It will be better than being killed by a rat, just like Qin w.a.n.g, no matter what.”

Liu Hongji hung his head low, he was urging his horse and pondering at the same time. He suddenly said, “Shaoshuai‘s remarks are thought-provoking, but please forgive Hongji for not reporting to Huangshang as things really are. I will only say that Shaoshuai is staying in Hong Yi Palace to ease Qin w.a.n.g’s anxiety. Ay! How could this matter deteriorate to such a plight?”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Turns out Da Jiangjun is a man with character; I am not alone!”

Clamping the horse’s belly, his mount accelerated.

As if he wanted to vent all his grievances, Liu Hongji whistled, immediately he accelerated with all his strength. The horses’ hooves kicked up the dust to the sky, they swept toward the Hong Yi Palace like a whirlwind in the moonlit night.

Hong Yi Palace was a palace city built on top of a small hill. In term of scale, it was comparable to the Xing Qing Palace, only the outer wall was even stronger. Arrow towers were set up at five-zhang interval. The main gate was facing Chang’an. There was a slanting road straight toward the palace complex on top of the hill. The grandeur was boundless.

Xu Ziling thought to himself that this place was far from Chang’an City, far from the power center of the Palace City of Chang’an. Speaking about local situation it was really not bad, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the fresh and clean breath of the open country, with enough defensive power. Based on Jiancheng, Yuanji’s military strength alone, to deal with the holding-fast-to-this-city Li Shimin – was definitely beyond their power. From this point of view, Li Yuan should still have no intention of putting Li Shimin to death.

It was deep into the night, the city wall of the Hong Yi Palace’s outer gate was still brightly lit, human shadows were flickering. Suddenly, a drum sounded. The outer gate of the palace city opened wide, several dozens of riders rushed out. The leaders were surprisingly Qin Shubao and Cheng Yaojin, they met Kou Zhong and the others.

Cheng Yaojin shouted from a distance, “Turns out it’s Shaoshuai honoring us by your presence, laozi thought it was some Niang’s Changlin Army, I was about to serve them with boiling oil and strong arrows. His granny’s! Who dares to come to provoke my Qin w.a.n.g, I, Cheng Yaojin will be the first to stake everything against him, even Tianw.a.n.g Laozi [old man king of heaven] I won’t give him any face.”

Qin Shubao and a group of elite Dark Armored troops, none did not look indignant. It was conceivable that if the visitors were from Changlin Army, or even Li Yuan’s imperial guards, Li Shimin’s elite troops and fierce generals would definitely risk their life to protect their master, fighting all the way until the last soldier, the last p.a.w.n, absolutely would not back down.

Kou Zhong mused inwardly that if these words were pa.s.sed on into Li Yuan’s ears word for word, his old friend Cheng Yaojin had already committed a capital crime. Looking at Liu Hongji, he saw that he only revealed a pained, helpless expression, obviously he felt sympathy for Li Shimin’s situation.

It should be noted that Li Shimin’s image of integrity and benevolence was deeply rooted in the hearts of the army and the people of the Great Tang, time and again he rendered great merit, and then on the first day of his return to Chang’an, immediately the firearm explosion in Yeting Palace occurred. The timing coincidence was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a tooth for a tooth flavor, making people suspicious. Only Li Yuan did not see it this way, he was even more generous to that and unkind to this, naturally it aroused public anger among the personal soldiers and trusted lieutenants on Li Shimin’s side.

At this moment, Kou Zhong suddenly felt that Li Shimin’s expulsion was not as unfavorable as he had imagined.

The two sides’ men and horses met on the official road outside the gate.

Seeing Liu Hongji, with lack of regard, Qin Shubao greeted him and said, “Hand Shaoshuai over to us, Liu Tongjun [lit. unified army], please return to the city.”

Liu Hongji shook his head with a wry smile, he saluted Kou Zhong and said, “When I have the opportunity, Hongji would like to listen to Shaoshuai’s teaching again.”

Apologizing, he led his men turning back to where they came from.

“Where is Qin w.a.n.g?” Kou Zhong asked.

Qin Shubao sighed and said, “I’ve never seen Qin w.a.n.g so dispirited and frustrated. He still locks himself in his study and refuses to see anyone. You guys might be an exception.”

Cheng Yaojin’s anger rose up to heaven, he said, “In my opinion, the best way at the moment is to get out of Guanzhong; Luoyang is still in our hands anyway, with your support, we will see whose fist is hard enough.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “In itself, letting emotions affect one’s decisions is not a way, it’s not the best way even more. Cheng LaoGe, you still have this temperament.”

Turning to Xu Ziling, three men, he said, “I want to see Qin w.a.n.g alone, to have a few heartfelt words.”

Outside the door, Li Jing reported, “Shaoshuai is asking an audience!”

It was quite half a day later that the tightly closed door opened, revealing Li Shimin’s pale and stupefied face, his eyes fell on Kou Zhong by Li Jing’s side, he signaled Li Jing to leave first, and then silently returned inside the study room.

Kou Zhong understood his mood, he followed closely behind him and closed the door in pa.s.sing.

Li Shimin’s voice entered his ears, saying, “Where’s Ziling?”

Kou Zhong turned around, he stood leaning against the door, looking at Li Shimin standing woodenly inside the study room with his back toward him, he replied, “He’s outside, because I want to talk to Qin w.a.n.g alone.”

Li Shimin turned around, his heart weary, his strength tired, he said, “Sit down and talk.”

Kou Zhong sat down on the side.

Li Shimin was still standing woodenly in the middle of the study room, he looked up and heaved a sigh, saying, “Maybe because all my life everything has been going too smoothly! I particularly am unable to stand setbacks and blows, now I feel like I’ve lost everything!”

Shrugging his shoulders in a relaxed manner, Kou Zhong said, “You haven’t lost everything, you only lost your last delusion and your hope for Lingzun [esteemed father]. From this perspective, it should be a good thing. Because you no longer need us to encourage you, you should know that you can only continue persevering and fighting.”

Li Shimin sat down dejectedly across the small table beside him, silently without saying anything.

Kou Zhong spoke indifferently, “Do you still remember what I said?”

Frowning, Li Shimin said, “You mean …”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Ha! Unexpectedly you treat my gems of wisdom as the wind past your ear? That day when you were indecisive over our proposal to launch mutiny, didn’t I say that when you returned to Chang’an, the situation would force you that you would have no choice or leeway? It’s just that even I did not think that everything would happen on the first day. Your w.a.n.gxiong, w.a.n.gdi [king older and younger brother, respectively] made it clear that they wanted to kill you to the last one, hence their plan is meticulous. Lingzun also wanted to kill you, and kill you quickly, only all along he had no excuse, but now the opportunity has come! Hence the reason you are depressed here, full of remorse.”

Li Shimin shook his head and said, “I am not full of remorse, only feel this is all hard to accept.”

Kou Zhong said, “If it was me or Ziling, definitely there won’t be any problem to accept or not to accept. The reality is indeed cruel, only those who are cruel enough can survive.”

Smiling ruefully, Li Shimin said, “Have you scolded me enough?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “More or less!”

Li Shimin looked at him, he spoke heavily, “You guys are coming to see me at this time without avoiding arousing suspicion at all, are you not afraid people will be suspicious?”

Kou Zhong said, “This is called changing according to the situation, also changing strategy. To be honest with you, LaoGe, you are being expelled to this place, we don’t have an easy time either. Fortunately, we have figured out everything by now, we might as well make it clear to Lingzun that the reason we are willing to form an alliance with him is entirely due to giving considerations to Feixuan and you. If he dares to blame you, we will pull the team and leave. His granny’s! What does Lingzun think I, Kou Zhong am? Provoking me to anger, I guarantee that he will have to pack his bag and leave before he finishes eating.”

Li Shimin pondered blankly for a moment, and then spoke heavily, “My heart is very troubled, what new plan do you have?”

Kou Zhong revealed a smile br.i.m.m.i.n.g with confidence, he said, “Jiangcheng, Yuanji’s poisonous move this time is counter-intuitive, anybody with a discerning eye can see that you were framed by them. And Lingzun‘s unfair way in handling this matter has caused public outrage even more, only they dare to be angry but don’t dare to speak up. Take Liu Hongji, who just brought me here, for example, he is one of those. From this, it can be inferred that there are many people with this mentality. Therefore, I might as well take a his Niang’s gamble, and show the entire Chang’an with actions that our contract of alliance is tied to you, LaoGe. This is called being put to death and coming back alive.”

The divine light in Li Shimin’s pair of eyes gradually recovered, he said, “If Fuhuang has no way of coming down the stage, he is hardening his heart, we definitely will not be lucky.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Without Kou Zhong, there is still Song Que, but the Great Tang Dynasty will definitely be all split up and in pieces. Outside the Pa.s.s, your men who are loyal to you will seek refuge to Liangdu like a swarm of bees; Bashu, no need to be mentioned. Under such circ.u.mstances, without Li Shimin, can the Great Tang withstand both the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall whose troop arrangement flourishing, and the Shao Shuai powerful army vowing for revenge – at the same time?”

Li Shimin’s pair of eyes flashing brightly, he regained his vitality. After staring at Kou Zhong for quite half a day, he said, “Won’t Fuhuang be even more afraid of me scheming to seize the crown prince position?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “Well said! In fact, after this incident, you and Lingzun will no longer have any room to save the situation, it will only depend on who will be brought down first, the situation will quickly become subtle. We are definitely at the inferior disadvantageous position. Later on, I will report the latest situation, good news or bad news, one by one to you, LaoGe. Now I just want to ask you one thing, can you view Chang’an as a battlefield now?”

Stunned, Li Shimin said, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “If you are willing to view Chang’an as a battlefield, you will be able to take the battlefield rule of being called a king if successful, being called a bandit if defeated at face value, do you understand?”

Li Shimin stared at him blankly first, after quite a while, a smile leaked out of the corners of his mouth, which gradually grew bigger and bigger. He nodded while blurted out laughing, and said, “Right! You scold me right! The reason why I am distressed and heartbroken, losing my fighting spirit due to Fuhuang treating me heartlessly, is all because I did not view Chang’an as a battlefield. How could you be depressed and lacking in vitality because the enemy thwarted you on the battlefield? War is unscrupulous, the important thing is the final victory. Shimin received benefit from the advice!”

When Kou Zhong left, he knew clearly that Li Shimin’s heart toward Li Yuan has finally died.

Kou Zhong came to Xu Ziling’s side, they stood side by side on the platform, leaning against the railing, looking into the distance at the magnificent City of Chang’an.

Xu Ziling cast him a glance, he spoke indifferently, “Was Qin w.a.n.g willing to listen to your advice?”

Kou Zhong spoke in a low voice, “I heaped him a torrent of abuse [lit. pouring dog’s blood on someone]. His granny’s, it wasn’t until tonight that he was willing to throw out his delusion about Li Yuan, to conduct himself with his feet firmly planted on the ground, to give thought about his wife and children and subordinates. Where are Lao Ba and Xiao Hou?”

Xu Ziling replied, “They are striving to get some sleep, because they are afraid that there would be hard fighting tomorrow.”

Knitting his brows, Kou Zhong said, “It looks like you have not closed your eyes either, why don’t you go to bed?”

Xu Ziling said, “I’m waiting for you, ay! I roped you into this kind of nine deaths and still alive [idiom: narrow escape] inferior situation, my heart is very uneasy.”

Kou Zhong laughed aloud, he put his arms around his shoulders and said, “One lifetime, two brothers, what are you talking about? To tell you the truth, we definitely will not lose, I even think that the situation is getting more and more favorable, it’s getting clearer and clearer. We have no other choice, Li Yuan has no other choice either. In the end, he will have to back down. His Niang’s! Right now, the person I want to kill first is that Xiang kid.”

Xu Ziling said, “When I was looking at Chang’an just now, I suddenly remembered something, which is we must be careful that the other side will use poison. When I was ambushed outside the East Market Gate of Chang’an City yesterday, the poison on the steel needle being shot at me was very potent, I nearly could not withstand it. Evidently, the opponent has an expert in using poison, and there is a great chance that this person is Liexia, that little thief.”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “In addition to the ‘Yu Jin Wan Fa Gen Yuan Zhi Jing’, Da Ming Zun Jiao might also have the ‘Du Jing’ [Poison Sutra], therefore, everyone is good at using poison. Lie kid’s heart is so poisonous, naturally the poison he is using is superior to other people’s.”

Xu Ziling said, “I rarely think of killing people, but Liexia is an exception. I can let anyone get away, but I can’t let him get away.”

Kou Zhong understood his feeling. Liexia killed Song JinGang, it made Xu Ziling unable to let go, and planted a deep hatred that could not be resolved. He said, “Don’t think about these unpleasant things, use your brains instead to think about our bright future. We are here, but Xuanshu and the thirty Flying Clouds Guards are in Li Yuan’s hands, so that the situation become deadlocked where n.o.body can do anything to anybody else. When was I coming here just now, I was walking and thinking at the same time, if Li Yuan let us stay here doing nothing, what are we going to do?”

Xu Ziling said, “Don’t tell me you have no idea?”

Kou Zhong grinned and said, “A stupid, I have one, we will stay for his Niang’s a day, and then in the evening we sneak back into the city from the treasure house, have Xuanshu and Lei JiuGe [ninth older brother] and the others leave via the secret road, while me and you, Lao Ba, Hou kid, four men, with heads and faces covered, sneak into the palace via the secret pa.s.sage to slaughter Xiang kid, to display his granny’s severity immediately on taking office [initial show of strength]. Ha! Delighted enough?”

Xu Ziling said, “Wouldn’t it mean we have to break off relations with Li Yuan? Shimin Xiong’s wife, children, and relatives all remain in Yeting Palace, they will definitely suffer a calamity.”

Kou Zhong said, “That’s why I said that this is a stupid way to only show off the courage of an ignorant man. The more brilliant plan is to temporarily let the Xiang kid off, and let our group slip away and be done with it.”

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, “That will only bring bad thing, because for Li Shimin, not only we refrain from shooting at the rat for fear of breaking the vases, we also lose the opportunity to beat back the Tujue. The happiest person will be Xieli, because the only one way remaining for us is to kill our way out of Guanzhong.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Thinking about killing Xiang kid, my hands itch; were it not for it’s going to be dawn soon, I’d immediately rush back to Chang’an with you to deal with him.”

Xu Ziling said, “Great plans can be ruined by just a touch of impatience [idiom], in my opinion, Li Yuan is facing the double pressure from the Buddhist and Taoist, two schools, and you, Shaoshuai, so he has to put up with this bird’s temper momentarily; he can’t possibly be ignorant and stubborn enough to let us stay here doing nothing for a whole day.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “I also hope that your premonition is accurate; in that case, should we go back to sleep now?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “I want to stay here to watch the sunrise, you go to sleep first!”

Kou Zhong let go of his hand, he carefully examined Xu Ziling’s expression.

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, “What’s so good to see?”

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, “Really strange! Looks like Shi Xianzi’s departure did not have much effect on you. Your look right now is so sweet that it looks like it could drip honey. What happened? Quickly confess!”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “You, this kid, always want to know other people’s private matter. All right, let me tell you, Qingxuan has agreed to give herself to marry me, Xu Ziling down as my wife.” [I know it’s too wordy, not that I like it, but it’s the author’s original style; he did use three terms, which basically mean the same thing – in one sentence: weishen – (of a woman) to give her body, xiajia – (of a woman) to marry a man of lower social status, weiqi – to become a wife.]

Kou Zhong cheered, he leaped midair and somersaulted three times, and landed back by Xu Ziling’s side, laughed heartily, and said, “This is the only good news after coming back to Chang’an this time. I understand! Feixuan wanted to help you guys accomplish your aim, while at the same time helping herself to accomplish her goal to go back to Jingzhai without any worries!”

Xu Ziling was not sure whether Shi Feixuan was no longer without any worries, but at least he would never be able to forget his spiritual love with her.

However, things have developed to this stage, what he could do was not to fail to live up to her kind intention, to love Shi Qingxuan with his heart and soul, so that Shi Qingxuan could obtain the greatest happiness that a girl could have.

After his excitement abated, Kou Zhong dejectedly said, “My sleepiness is suddenly all gone. Can I stay here and wait for the dawn with you? I hope tomorrow we will have a bit better luck.”

Xu Ziling cast his gaze over at the City of Chang’an in the distance, and finally landed on the eastern horizon behind it, he said, “No need to wait, the sky is getting brighter! Ay! Are you thinking of Shang Xiufang?”

Kou Zhong said, “How can I hide my thoughts from you? In this regard, you have more skill than me, I wonder if you could give me one or two pointers?”

Xu Ziling spoke indifferently, “Before Yuzhi arrives, you must never, ever, pa.s.s through the spring night with Shang Xiufang. After Yuzhi arrives, offer the whole thing, including the tray, tell Zhizhi everything.”

“What?” Kou Zhong blurted out, “I have just repaired broken relationship with Zhizhi and hurt her again just like that? I don’t think I have the heart to bear it.”

Xu Ziling said, “She might understand. As long as you obtain her approval, promise her that it will only be one night of romance, not to be repeated, won’t you be able to settle your romantic debts with clear conscience? Ay! If you knew this earlier, why did you have to do it in the first place? I warned you early on. But I really cannot blame you, the matter between men and women is really beyond any man can control.”

Kou Zhong stared blankly to the east, he was speechless.

Xu Ziling reached out to put his hands on his broad shoulders, he smiled and said, “The sky is really bright now! Things that we can’t be figured out, let Laotianye set it up. I hope our luck will not end here, other than that, what else can we do?”

Following the sky, Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes lit up, he nodded fiercely and said, “That’s right! I want to be an honest and good boy for Zhizhi, I leave it all to her will to deal with. It’s dawn! Go to sleep!”