Book 60: Chapter 4: One Night of Affection

Hue E Lou consisted of the three-story building as the main structure, and the north courtyard and the south courtyard as the auxiliary wings, built along the Long Chi [dragon pond/lake] and linked together using corridors, a combination of tall and short buildings merged together into one ent.i.ty.

The north courtyard’s Shang Hu Ting’s [admiring-the-lake pavilion] north side was facing the lake, the blue-green water color was reflected inside the hall, as if it was a huge boat floating on the Long Chi, which produced another kind of beautiful interest.

Kou Zhong stepped into the hall. The wearing-a-white-silk-garment, pointy-bluish-green-knotted-twisted-skirt, cinnabar-rust-colored-short-cape-draped-over-it, long-hairpin-skillfully-clasping-her-temples, multi-colored-sunset-cloud-on-her-feet Shang Xiufang was standing silently in front of the window, as if her heart and spirit were completely focused on the Long Chi outside. In this quaintly furnished hall, the light from the lake and the color of water outside the window were reflected inside, it painted a dragon and dot in the eyes [idiom: adding the vital finishing touch] to match this beautiful-figure-and-posture-could-not-be-improved-anymore, exquisite-in-both-look-and-art talented woman. It was precisely a touching scene; even with Hou Xibai’s miraculous hands, perhaps it would still be difficult to fully extract its essence and charm.

Immediately Kou Zhong’s breathing became heavy, Shang Xiufang gracefully turned her tender body to let Kou Zhong observe her national grace, divine fragrance [idiom: an outstanding beauty] flowery jade countenance. Her cherry lips opened, as if she had exhausted all her strength, only then did she lightly spit out, “Ah! Kou Zhong!” three words.

This moment, Kou Zhong had forgotten the humiliation of Shang Xiufang refusing to see him earlier, he quickened his steps to come to her, and forced himself to stand still when he was about a chi away from her. Shaken, he said, “Xiufang!”

Shang Xiufang let out a silver-bell like laughter, which entered Kou Zhong’s eardrums like the sound of nature. Her demeanor returned to calmness, no longer with stirring-up emotion that was unconsciously revealed at the first sight. A pair of slender hands pressed on his chest, she spoke softly, “Shaoshuai, please don’t blame Xiufang, just now I was rushing to Yu He An to pay a visit to Qingxuan Dajia. I was afraid that if I saw you, I would trouble Qingxuan Dajia to wait; therefore, I decided to see you afterwards, so that Xiufang could be without worry in laying out the pain of parting with Shaoshuai freely.”

Actually, Kou Zhong had already thrown his resentment outside the clouds of the Ninth Heaven, not to mention that she had such a good reason. Pleasantly surprised, he said, “Unexpectedly Shi Meiren is here! Does anyone else know about this?”

Shang Xiufang gently withdrew her jade hand, her beautiful eyes were shrouded with a pained and bewildered expression, she spoke softly, “Qingxuan Dajia is willing to move her phoenix-self to come to Chang’an, it is a big matter that caused a sensation in the whole city, Li Yuan even went to Yu He An to see her, would you say other people did not know?”

Kou Zhong struggled hard to resist the urge to gather her into his arms; furthermore, he understood clearly that the resentful look in Shang Xiufang’s beautiful eyes was caused by his lack of action to pursue intimacy. Inwardly, his liver and intestines were about to split; he was about to speak, Shang Xiufang suddenly stretched out a couple of fingers and pressed them on his lips. Lightly shaking her head lightly, she spoke softly, “No need to talk!”

Putting away the soul-s.n.a.t.c.hing jade fingers that could make Kou Zhong’s soul melting, she slowly turned her tender body around, and regained her previous immortal appearance, wonderful demeanor of admiring the lake [shang hu, see above] with complete attention. She spoke indifferently, “Long Chi brought back Xiufang’s memories of Longquan. Just now, what I was thinking was what manly turning-the-earth-and-sky-upside-down big event is Kou Zhong going to do?”

Kou Zhong said, “Xiufang! I …”

Cutting him off, Shang Xiufang said, “Don’t tell me, I don’t want to listen even more. Affairs between one country and another, how could Xiufang mind? Naturally Shaoshuai will act after careful planning, and that you have a comprehensive plan, thank you!”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said. “Thank me? What good thing is there to thank me for?”

Shang Xiufang nodded and said, “What Xiufang wants to thank you has nothing to do at all with your great undertaking of a thousand years, rather, I want to thank you for myself. If it was not for the predestined affinity of meeting Shaoshuai, what ups and downs, gains and losses in life can we talk about? The first time Xiufang saw Shaoshaui, I knew that the sin [in Buddhism] of the previous life has come to look for me, Shang Xiufang. Since I obtained self-realization, Xiufang have made up my mind to dedicate myself to song and music, because as far as I’m concerned, that is the most spiritual thing that I can seek in the human world, everything else I don’t care about. Who would have thought that unexpectedly I spun a coc.o.o.n around myself? Because of the lack of a touching experience, Xiufang’s music art could not ascend to the realm of my dreams, and Shaoshuai finally filled this flaw of mind; don’t you think I should thank you?”

Watching her shoulders lightly shook as she spoke, listening to her voice br.i.m.m.i.n.g with musical beauty, laying all her cards on the table in an honest manner, Kou Zhong’s heart tightened, his face turned blue; severely shaken, he said, “Xiufang …”

Shang Xiufang cut him off again, “I am not finished yet. After Xiufang realized that Shaoshuai has broken into my heart, I fought hard to resist, yet it was beyond my power, it was precisely the kind of liver-and-intestines-about-to-break pain, which turned into the motive power on the musical art. Today I came with a specific purpose in mind to express the intense grief in my heart! After parting in Longquan, I am sure that we have been destined for this, and have experienced the most heartbroken period in our lives. Fortunately, my folk musical art has made little achievements because of this. Shaoshuai need not worry about Shang Xiufang anymore, because Xiufang has already seen through it!”

Out of his control, Kou Zhong’s pair of hands reached out to grab both sides of her fragrant shoulders, he spoke dejectedly, “By telling me that, you make me more unbearably guilty, why do you have to say such thing to me?”

Xu Ziling and Ba Fenghan were still sitting on the stone steps, while the Flying Clouds Guards were returning to their respective jobs, the park was extremely quiet.

Ba Fenghan said, “Stretching the muscles and bones, the entire person feels completely new. I can’t settle down, I’m destined to wander for life.”

Xu Ziling spoke in low voice, “I wonder if Fenghan is expressing your inner thought?”

Ba Fenghan said, “Kou Zhong knows well how to pretend to be in contact with G.o.ds and ghosts [idiom: engage in hocus-pocus], yet he still can’t hide from your accurate discerning eye, much less me? Honestly, after leaving Ling Yan Ge, Junyu’s words keep ringing in my heart, it made me ask myself, why was it not Ba Fenghan but Song Shidao? That feeling is absolutely hard to take.”

Xu Ziling said, “Does this mean that Yu Yi [Aunt Yu] has a seat in your heart?”

Ba Fenghan said, “There shouldn’t be any doubt about that, otherwise I am speaking against my own convictions. This incident is a warning to me, if I can’t restrain this emotion, I will lose confidence in the battle against Bi Xuan.”

Xu Ziling said, “It’s not that you are not used to it! Who can take care of themselves without worry? As long as when facing a big enemy you throw out everything, put all your minds in it, you will succeed.”

Ba Fenghan shook his head and said, “My situation is different from yours, I am closer to Kou Zhong. Clearly human emotion is like a wild horse getting away from its enclosure. When you can’t control it, you will become its slave, it will no longer be under your control. Toward Junyu I am full of contradictions, but I also have a feeling that I don’t understand! The most painful is still about Badai’er, when I get close to any other woman, deep in my heart I always feel sorry for her. If this emotion continues, I cannot maintain my optimum condition to meet Bi Xuan head on, I will undoubtedly be defeated in this battle.”

Xu Ziling was puzzled, he asked, “When I first met you, LaoGe in the past, you, LaoGe seemed to be extremely distinguished and accomplished [or very romantic], from time to time there were beautiful women by your side. Why is it that now you act like an ascetic monk that must abstain from feeling and suppress desire?”

Smiling wryly, Ba Fenghan replied, “I admit that charming women have very strong attractive power on me. I also love chance encounter with fun, to balance the monotonous spiritual life; however, things go far and wide without leaving a trace in my heart. And then Badai’er came to Luoyang to look for me to give me bad luck, it was like a bucket of cold water being dumped on my head, awakening me from this kind of way of thinking and way of life, making me realize that I was leaving feelings everywhere just to forget Badai’er. Since then, I have changed; I put my mind completely to the decisive battle against Bi Xuan.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “In that case, from beginning to end, the woman you love the most is still Badai’er.”

Ba Fenghan spoke heavily, “I don’t know! I really don’t know.”

Shang Xiufang turned her tender body around, so that Kou Zhong’s two hands left her pair of fragrant shoulders; her expression tranquil, she said, “Isn’t this the best solution? Music art is the most important thing in Xiufang’s life, and Shaoshuai is the most touching experience in Xiufang’s life, it gives me the carved-in-the-bones-and-engraved-in-the-heart feeling, enriching Xiufang’s creativity to create art. I don’t know if it was due to Niang’s influence, since I was young, Xiufang does not have the slightest bit of interest in bearing and raising children, in a.s.sisting my husband and educating the children [idiom: the traditional roles of a good wife]. But I must also tell you frankly that before Longquan, I was thinking about changing for you. However, this is a thing of the past, in the trip to Gaoli, Xiufang derived not-a-shallow benefit, it was like I was finally freed from the bitter longing that robbed the circle of life and found my true direction and final destination.”

Kou Zhong felt the tearing anguish spread from his breast to his whole body, he shook uncontrollably and spoke in hoa.r.s.e voice, “Xiufang! I beg you, please stop saying that, do you know my situation?”

In an unusually desolate tone of voice, Shang Xiufang spoke serenely, “You mean your marriage contract with the Song Family’s Er Xiaojie [second miss; sometimes it was ‘second’, sometimes ‘third’]? Xiufang already knew about it a long time ago. Do you want to know why although Xiufang clearly know that it might hurt you, I still have to pour out what’s on my mind?”

Kou Zhong shook his head with blank expression on his face.

Shang Xiufang revealed a hint of bleak, wounded smile, she spoke softly, “The reason is very simple, because I hate you. When the love is so deep, the hatred will be similarly deep.”

Kou Zhong was like being struck by thunder; he suddenly took two steps back, the color of blood was drained completely from his face, he looked at the beauty before him in disbelief.

Shang Xiufang recovered her tranquility, she spoke calmly, “However, this matter is not without any remedy. As long as you agree one thing to Xiufang, Xiufang will no longer have any resentment towards Shaoshuai.”

Kou Zhong was like a shipwreck survivor having his boat capsized in the angry sea suddenly saw a sh.o.r.eland, he asked, “What is it? As long as it is within my, Kou Zhong’s power to do so, I will certainly do it for Xiufang.”

Like a little bird, Shang Xiufang threw herself into his bosom, she hugged him tight with all her strength. The incomparably-touching jade body trembled lightly in his bosom, crying tenderly, she said, “You definitely can do it! What I want is one night of affection from Shaoshuai, but you don’t need to marry me.”

Kou Zhong’s brains exploded with severe shock, he forgot the terrifying danger at every step in the City of Chang’an, his heart and spirit were completely on the beauty in his arms. Furthermore, he knew that his feeling was like a violent tide bursting against the dike, no human power could stop and hold it back.

With stupefied expression, Kou Zhong came to Ba Fenghan’s other side, which was also his previous place. He sat down and said, “Qingxuan is here! Ziling has not immediately gone to Yu He An to see her?”

Xu Ziling was shaken, he wanted to spring up and leave immediately, but he felt a bit embarra.s.sed. Suppressing the sudden blaze in his heart, he asked, “What did Xiufang Dajia say?”

Ba Fenghan forcefully slapped his shoulder, he laughed and said, “This aspect, Xiaodi can tell you later. Ziling’s only key task right now is to bring the Shi Cainu [talented girl] whose name spread all over the world to let us have a glimpse of her graceful bearing. Other things, no need for you to mind.”

Kou Zhong forced himself to squeeze a little smile, he said, “Ziling, go quickly, or else we will join hands to beat you up.”

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “You two are called the wind comes, raise the full sail and move the rudder! I am going!”

After Xu Ziling left, Ba Fenghan asked suspiciously, “Your face is very unsightly, what exactly happened?”

Kou Zhong spoke dejectedly, “I am in so much pain that I want to kill myself, to end this cruel life.”

Stunned, Ba Fenghan said, “Your situation is more serious than mine, unexpectedly you have reached the point of wanting to live and wanting to die? We barely arrived in Chang’an, immediately we are troubled by all kinds of demonic heart, how are we going to deal with the hard battles in the future? What exactly did Shang Xiufang say to you?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “It’s all my fault. Before, every time I saw her, I couldn’t restrain the love for her in my heart, hence the reason I’m in the love-and-hatred-intertwining plight of today! Right now I feel an extreme twinge of guilt, the pain is so dreadful, and I feel I let her down so much, and I let down Yuzhi and Chuchu even more.”

Expressing his feeling, Ba Fenghan said, “No matter how strong a man is, he will be emotionally weak to the point of unable to withstand a single blow. You don’t have to abuse yourself with self-blame, that will be harmful and without benefit to the current situation. Did she have a falling out with you?”

Kou Zhong shook his head and said, “On the contrary, she proposed a remedy, which is to ask me to put my heart and soul into a touching night with her, so that the bitter love between me and her will have a beautiful and tragic end!”

“What?” Ba Fenghan blurted out.

Kou Zhong said, “Her proposal made me feel even more guilty and sorrowful. Frankly speaking, being able to have a physical relationship with her, this kind of unique, extraordinarily beautiful woman is something that any man dreams of and seek, but she wronged herself so much, how could I have that desire? How could I explain to Yuzhi?”

Knitting his brows, Ba Fenghan said, “If you don’t tell Song Family’s Xiaojie, it would be like this thing has never happened.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “The problem is that I can’t pa.s.s my own barrier; the more annoying thing is that how can I, toward such a good and honest woman – eat until I am full and then spread far and wide? Ay! His granny’s bear, tell me, what should I do?”

Ba Fenghan responded with a wry smile, saying, “For most men, that is not an unsolvable problem. Just get three wives and four concubines, and enjoy the happy fate of the man from Qi [idiom: (ironically) the joy of having several partners]; won’t your problem be solved? Ay! Of course I understand your situation. Have you set the fine time, lucky day [idiom: good opportunity]?”

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong replied, “She said she would notify me later.”

This moment w.a.n.g Xuanshu came to the two men, he approached Kou Zhong and spoke in low voice, “Shuni is asking to see Shaoshuai.”

Xu Ziling pressed down his hat to his eyebrows. Leaving Xing Qing Palace, he joined the stream of people on the street. Because Xing Qing Palace was close to the East Market, there was heavy traffic of vehicle and horses and pedestrians, so that it was very lively. He clearly felt the joyful atmosphere on the street. Evidently Kou Zhong’s arrival brought them new hope for peaceful reunification.

When pa.s.sing by the entrance of the eastern wall on the north end of the East Market, the flow of people was particularly heavy. If it were different time, he would carefully sense the feeling of being in some city center. At this moment, however, what he thought of was Shi Feixuan and Shi Qingxuan, both women stayed at Yu He An, whom should he call on first? Speaking about fairness, he should call on them at the same time. One thing goes wrong, two women might see him at the same place at the same time, wouldn’t it be embarra.s.sing? Somehow, he had this weird idea, which has turned into a difficult problem before his eyes, but in his heart, he sensed an incomparable feeling of being at a loss and deeply worried because of it.

Suddenly the alarm went off in his heart.

As if waking up from a muddled dream, he suddenly realized that he had fallen into a heavy siege. Furthermore, he knew that because of the distraction of the two women, he was unable to maintain the Moon in the Well realm, otherwise he should have realized that the sentry was staring intently at him.

Five men, whose appearance suggested that they were Tujue – were pressing down on him from the front and rear, two directions, and the right side, entering the strategic position to attack. The surrounding pedestrians were completely oblivious that the dangerous street a.s.sa.s.sination had already reached the could-happen-at-any-moment stage.

The only gap was the wide carriageway on the left, where the stream of vehicles and horses was unending; as long as he evaded into the carriageway in time, the siege would fall apart on its own.

At this moment, a carriage moving close to the pedestrian path arrived quickly, a flash of white light shot swiftly through the window curtain towards his left shoulder, as fast as a lightning strike. In term of timing, the coordination was impossible to fault, wonderful to the extreme point.

With his skill, even if the secret projectile attacked at such a close distance, he still had a hundred percent confidence that he could evade. However, if he let the secret projectile to fly into the stream of people on the street, it was almost certain that someone would be mistakenly hit as the secondary vehicle; upon self-introspection, he could not do that.

The five a.s.sa.s.sins began to accelerate, they pressed down to besiege him.

The strong horse reared and neighed, since the driver forcefully pulled the rein, forcing the horse to stop. The carriage blocked his only way out, becoming another threat.

Xu Ziling’s left hand swiftly stretched out, without missing a hairsbreadth, he pinched the white light between his thumb and index finger. A slight numbness sensation immediately spread out from his fingertips along the blood vessels. Turned out it was a two-cun-long steel needle.

Even with Xu Ziling’s Long-Life Qi that was not afraid of poisons, he still felt it. From this, it was clear how overbearing and formidable the poison, which could quickly invade the body via the skin – on the needle was. The opponent could launch the steel needle with this kind of force and accuracy, even if it was launched with the help of some mechanical force, based on the timing itself, it was undoubtedly the work of a first-cla.s.s martial art master.

A thought flashed through like lightning strike, spark of fire – in Xu Ziling’s heart. The person that came to mind was Xiang Yushan, because the situation before him was a repeat of the attack on the streets of Longquan that day, only someone like Xiang Yushan, who had deep understanding of Xu Ziling’s conduct – could make such an ingenious deployment, making it difficult for him to escape from the siege and would be a.s.sa.s.sinated. The enemy knew clearly that he would receive the news that Shi Qingxuan was at Yu He An from Shang Xiufang, hence they were able to set up an ambush at this time and place to put him to death. If Xu Ziling was murdered as soon as he entered Chang’an, the alliance between Kou Zhong and Li Yuan would immediately fizzle out. It was an extremely vicious plot.

Five a.s.sa.s.sins were pressing in to within five steps from him at the same time. Five pair of hands suddenly revealed ten daggers, their tips were gleaming blue, having been dipped into poison. They slammed right toward Xu Ziling. This was the most swift and fierce and horrible tactic used in the crowd, it blocked all his escape routes. If he leaped up, the five a.s.sa.s.sins would throw their daggers in time, surely he would not be able to evade them.

In that instant, from the speed and momentum of the a.s.sa.s.sins’ approach, Xu Ziling judged that the enemies were close to Ren Jun’s level, plus their skill was on par with each other, and they were well-trained in working together. Even in a fair decisive battle, to put them in order would take a lot of effort, not to mention currently the opponent had the upper hand. The most worrisome was the big enemy hiding inside the carriage. This person was so brilliant that he could not generate any reaction at all. Merely from this fact, it could be seen that the opponent was a martial art master of the same level as himself.

The Long-Life Qi pierced through his entire body at the speed of lightning, his heart and spirit entered the Moon in the Well realm, disengaging himself from the surrounding, both nothingness and existence, none was overlooked the slightest bit. Right this moment, he finally grasped the position and movement of the enemy inside the carriage. The influence of the poison dissipated, his left hand regained its flexibility. The steel needle pinched between his fingers seemed to turn into a spirited object, without showing any movement, it took off from his finger, in spiraling manner it was transformed into hundreds of white light, returning to the enemy inside the carriage. If the steel needle, imbued by his stream of power, shot into any part of the body, it could be guaranteed that it would penetrate the flesh and pierce the bones, and would come out from the opposite side.

Xu Ziling also spun like a top, and crashed into the carriage.

In terms of strategy, Xu Ziling’s brilliance, although inferior to Kou Zhong, the difference was hardly any.

In this critical situation where life and death were hanging on a hair, he grasped the enemy’s escaping-one. The enemy’s most mysterious move was the hidden martial art master inside the carriage, and the deadly move was also the attack coming from inside the carriage. The role of the five a.s.sa.s.sins on the street was only to restrain him.

Although Xiang Yushan’s scheme was exhaustive, he never expected that Xu Ziling was not afraid of poison at all; merely the miscalculation in this aspect was enough to make Xu Ziling escape great catastrophe.

Gust of wind rang out suddenly, the driver of the carriage raised his horsewhip, he lashed it backhandedly to strike Xu Ziling’s head and face.

The five a.s.sa.s.sins hurriedly changed to meet a contingency. Although they could not launch an attack at Xu Ziling at the same time, they dashed on bravely with no thought of personal safety [idiom] to swarm forward. One after another the ten daggers wanted to make its acquaintance with Xu Ziling.

The pedestrians on the street finally noticed something unusual was happening, they instinctively scattered and ran away in all direction. Once the movement started, nothing stayed motionless. The situation was extremely chaotic.

‘Ding!’

The steel needle shot through the curtain into the carriage was struck down by the opponent. A long spear pierced through the body of the carriage, it swiftly stabbed Xu Ziling in spiraling motion.

One after another the six daggers stabbed Xu Ziling from a very close distance, but all the men holding the dagger felt like they were stabbing empty air. Not only it was extremely uncomfortable, they were also jolted by the vortex of qi protecting Xu Ziling’s body that they leaned unsteadily from side to side, momentarily suffering utter defeat, difficult to launch any threatening attack.

Xu Ziling stretched out his left hand to flick the tip of the whip, while fast as lightning, his other hand hit the spearhead; and then he soared into the air, traversed the horse lane, and landed on the pedestrian path on other side, safe and sound. As if nothing had happened, without even showing the least bit of interest to cast a backward glance, he calmly walked away.