Book 3 Chapter 5 – One Business Deal

One after another Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling appeared out of the water, breathing the late night fresh and clean air of River Si.

Without even exerting any strength, the hollow of their palms automatically produced suction force, attaching their bodies onto the wall of the ship; they did not even understand how it worked.

Immensely proud of himself, Kou Zhong whispered in Xu Ziling’s ear, “This time we dealt a big blow to that Shen woman [reminder, the term ‘woman’ here is derogatory] that she fell flat on his granny’s face. Ha! It’s actually Shen woman’s granny.” [Translator’s note: ‘his granny’ was a cuss word, equivalent to ‘

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it’.]

“Don’t be complacent too soon,” Xu Ziling said, “There’s still half a day before we can be considered winning this bet. Excessive complacency may cause hundreds of foolish negligence, don’t ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful.”

Kou Zhong nodded, “We’ll act properly. Ay! We are so stupid, when we made the bet, she only spoke about what we’d do if she won, but not if we won. Otherwise, stroking her body a couple times won’t be too bad.”

Xu Ziling chuckled softly and said, “Less wishful thinking! This woman is full of thorns from top to bottom; she must not be touched. Ay! I am worried that Qin Laoge cannot deal with her!”

“That would be better,” Kou Zhong replied, “Otherwise, I am afraid he would be beheaded by that muddle-headed ruler. Hey! These three ships seem to be prominent; will you be interested in borrowing a couple of clothes and perhaps some food and money? It is better than looking like beggars wearing worn-out clothes with nothing in our hands.”

“Be careful!” Xu Ziling said in low voice, “The people who can use such three big ships must be either large and influential family of high standing, or high ranking official and nobility, or perhaps big shots gangster boss. If we are not careful, we would just offer our little lives to the Heaven.”

Kou Zhong frowned, “So are we going or not?” he asked.

Xu Ziling chuckled softly, “If we are not afraid of the Ol’ Die, why should we fear anybody? Follow me, the future Wulin expert!” Finished speaking, he crawled up along the wall.

By this time the two boys already had considerable experience in hiding and concealing their track, in breathing with their mouth and nose shut, in exercising restraint to their bodily functions, so that when being cautious, they were completely noiseless and undetectable.

There were wind lanterns on the deck, as well as hanging from the masts of the big ship, but on the side facing them, from twenty-something cabin windows on three levels, only about half were illuminated.

Xu Ziling selected a dark window on the second level from which he wanted to crawl into the ship. But as they passed an illuminated window, they heard a female voice coming from the inside. The two boys succumbed to their curiosity and stopped to listen.

The female voice suddenly sounded very close to the boys’ ears, “Er Ge [second (older) brother], it would be best if you stop persuading Die; he has always been loyal and devoted to the imperial court. Duan Shu [paternal (younger) uncle] has advised him for a long time, but did he even listen to half a word he said?”

The two boys jumped in fright; they had just realized that the dainty woman was moving to the window, hence they did not dare to make the slightest move.

A distressed-sounding young male voice responded, “What Die reluctant to part the most is our relationship with the Dugu Clan; but he did not know that Dugu Feng is a wily old fox, who regards us as the thorn in his eyes. Right now the world is in chaos, tens of thousands people are angry, while the Tujue [Turkic] people are glaring at us like a tiger watching his prey, and Sui imperial court is no longer viable. And we get hold of Taiyuan, our troops are sufficient, our provisions abundant, enough to last us ten or eight years. Right now Yingyang Pai’s Liu Wuzhuo and Liang Shidu are aligning themselves with the Tujue, raising their troops to fight the Sui, taking over Loulan and Dingxiang, one after another. If they break through Yan Men [lit. wild goose gate], our Taiyuan will bear the brunt. If Die keeps wavering, ultimately we will be implicated by that muddle-headed ruler; the boat capsize, the people perish.”