Book 61 Chapter 3 Waiting for Dawn

The moment he said the words, I dont want to die in Changan, ten thousand fathoms heroic feeling, no-one-can-change-or-alter staunch fighting spirit welled up in Kou Zhongs heart. All kinds of setbacks and frustrations after he entered Changan 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 Fenghans 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 Changan.

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 dont 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 s.h.i.+min, 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 Hongjis countenance changed,

Shaoshuai

! he exclaimed.

The divine light in Kou Zhongs 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 s.h.i.+min, 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 its not my, Kou Zhongs share. Why dont I return to Liangdu? Ill 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 horses 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 Changan. 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 Changan City, far from the power center of the Palace City of Changan. 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, Yuanjis military strength alone, to deal with the holding-fast-to-this-city Li s.h.i.+min was definitely beyond their power. From this point of view, Li Yuan should still have no intention of putting Li s.h.i.+min to death.

It was deep into the night, the city wall of the

Hong Yi

Palaces 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 its

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 grannys! 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 wont 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 Yuans imperial guards, Li s.h.i.+mins 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 Yuans 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 s.h.i.+mins situation.

It should be noted that Li s.h.i.+mins 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 Changan, 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 s.h.i.+mins side.

At this moment, Kou Zhong suddenly felt that Li s.h.i.+mins 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, Ive 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 Yaojins 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 ones decisions is not a way, its 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 s.h.i.+mins pale and stupefied face, his eyes fell on Kou Zhong by Li Jings 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 s.h.i.+mins voice entered his ears, saying, Wheres Ziling?

Kou Zhong turned around, he stood leaning against the door, looking at Li s.h.i.+min standing woodenly inside the study room with his back toward him, he replied, Hes outside, because I want to talk to Qin

w.a.n.g

alone.

Li s.h.i.+min turned around, his heart weary, his strength tired, he said, Sit down and talk.

Kou Zhong sat down on the side.

Li s.h.i.+min 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 Ive lost everything!

Shrugging his shoulders in a relaxed manner, Kou Zhong said, You havent 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 s.h.i.+min 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 s.h.i.+min 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, didnt I say that when you returned to Changan, the situation would force you that you would have no choice or leeway? Its 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 s.h.i.+min 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 wont 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 s.h.i.+min said, Have you scolded me enough?

Kou Zhong sighed and said, More or less!

Li s.h.i.+min 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 dont 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 grannys! 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 s.h.i.+min 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, Yuanjis 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 dont 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 Changan 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 s.h.i.+mins 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 s.h.i.+min, can the Great Tang withstand both the allied armies from beyond the Great Wall whose troop arrangement flouris.h.i.+ng, and the Shao Shuai powerful army vowing for revenge at the same time?

Li s.h.i.+mins pair of eyes flas.h.i.+ng brightly, he regained his vitality. After staring at Kou Zhong for quite half a day, he said, Wont

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 Changan as a battlefield now?

Stunned, Li s.h.i.+min said, I dont understand what you mean.

Kou Zhong sighed and said, If you are willing to view Changan 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 s.h.i.+min 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 Changan 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. s.h.i.+min received benefit from the advice!

When Kou Zhong left, he knew clearly that Li s.h.i.+mins heart toward Li Yuan has finally died.

Kou Zhong came to Xu Zilings side, they stood side by side on the platform, leaning against the railing, looking into the distance at the magnificent City of Changan.

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 dogs blood on someone]. His grannys, it wasnt 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 dont you go to bed?

Xu Ziling said, Im 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, its 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 Changan 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 Changan 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 kids heart is so poisonous, naturally the poison he is using is superior to other peoples.

Xu Ziling said, I rarely think of killing people, but Liexia is an exception. I can let anyone get away, but I cant 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, Dont 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 Yuans 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, Dont 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 grannys severity immediately on taking office [initial show of strength]. Ha! Delighted enough?

Xu Ziling said, Wouldnt it mean we have to break off relations with Li Yuan? s.h.i.+min

Xiong

s wife, children, and relatives all remain in

Yeting

Palace, they will definitely suffer a calamity.

Kou Zhong said, Thats 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 s.h.i.+min, 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 its going to be dawn soon, Id immediately rush back to Changan 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 birds temper momentarily; he cant 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 Zilings expression.

Frowning, Xu Ziling said, Whats so good to see?

Scratching his head, Kou Zhong said, Really strange! Looks like s.h.i.+

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 peoples 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 its too wordy, not that I like it, but its the authors 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 Zilings side, laughed heartily, and said, This is the only good news after coming back to Changan 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 s.h.i.+ 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 s.h.i.+ Qingxuan with his heart and soul, so that s.h.i.+ 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 Changan 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 relations.h.i.+p with Zhizhi and hurt her again just like that? I dont 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, wont 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 cant 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 Zhongs pair of eyes lit up, he nodded fiercely and said, Thats right! I want to be an honest and good boy for Zhizhi, I leave it all to her will to deal with. Its dawn! Go to sleep!