Legend of Great Tang’s Twin Dragons

‘Knock! Knock!’

“Who is it?”

Xu Ziling went to Li Jing’s official residence at night, entering the house from the back wall. Such a huge general mansion, it was surprisingly cold and cheerless, in most part, the courtyard did not have any lantern lights, only the main building showed some lights; the scenery entering his eyes made him feel greatly strange.

Relying on his architectural knowledge, he figured out where the master building where the hosts live their everyday life. He tapped lightly on the windowsill, trying to alarm Li Jing.

Xu Ziling spoke in low voice, “Sorry to alarm Dasao [big/older sister-in-law]! It’s Xu Ziling!”

With a gust of wind, Hong Funu appeared in the corridor, her pretty eyebrows deeply knitted, she said, “It’s you again! You must be here for Li Jing, what do you want?”

She was wearing tight warrior outfit, apparently she has not asleep yet.

Hearing the unfriendly tone of her voice, Xu Ziling braced himself and said, “I’m so sorry! I disturbed Dasao’s rest, I have an important matter to see Li Dage. Is he not back yet?”

Hong Funu revealed a complicated expression, containing a bit bitterness, she also appeared to be exasperated; apologizing in a low voice, she said, “I should be the one apologizing to you, I’m in a very bad mood. Ay! Come in!”

Shaken, Xu Ziling asked, “Is Li Dage all right?”

Hong Funu shook her head, indicating that it was not that, she appeared to be struggling to suppress the impatience in her heart. Turning around to lead the way, she said, “It’s not convenient to talk here, come with me!”

With her showing the way, Xu Ziling entered the study room and sat down in the pitch-black room. Hong Funu recovered her calm, but her manner cold, she said, “What’s so important that Ziling is looking for Li Jing?”

Xu Ziling was concerned about Li Jing, he couldn’t help asking, “Why is Dasao in a bad mood? Why didn’t Li Dage stay at home to accompany Saozi [sister-in-law]?”

Hong Funu replied, “Your Dage went to see Qin Wang outside the city. As for why I am in a bad mood, ay! How should I tell you? Because of Li Jing’s relationship with you, not only the people of Chang’an give us supercilious look, but also our colleagues at the Qin Wangfu [prince’s mansion] alienated us, Qin Wang deliberately refused to let him participate in the battle of Luoyang. On the surface, it was for his sake, but in the end, he did not trust him and let him go idle. Li Jing didn’t blame you at all, but I feel indignant on his behalf!”

A burst of remorse welled up in Xu Ziling’s heart, he could imagine Li Jing, husband and wife’s difficult situation.

Hong Funu continued, “What did Ziling come to Chang’an for? Don’t you know that everyone in Chang’an wants to kill you and Kou Zhong?”

Xu Ziling said softly, “I’m sorry!”

Hong Funu sighed and said, “What’s the use of you keep saying sorry? I really don’t know what to do with the two of you? If you are big traitor, greatly evil men, things would have been much simpler, but you clearly are not only that kind of people, you are chivalrous people; last time you even did a great favor for Qin Wangfu, you helped Shen Luoyan avoiding great catastrophe. However, you also made us offend Huangshang [the emperor] and Taizi [the crown prince], the Dugu Family hates us, husband and wife to the bone even more. I once suggested that Li Jing simply leave Chang’an and hide in the mountains and forests, but he refused, saying that leaving Qin Wang at this moment was unrighteous, ignoring invasions of the different tribes outside the Great Wall, and even more heartless. But what else can we do now?”

Hearing that, Xu Ziling was dumbstruck and unable to reply, the feeling in his heart was unbearable.

Hong Funu’s heart must be brimming with grievance due to the injustice they received, but she exhausted her strength to keep the tone of her voice tranquil, she said, “On one hand, we are worried about your situation in Luoyang, but on the other hand, we are afraid that Qin Wang will make mistake, our mind is very conflicted. Nowadays the situation is clear, but there is another worry. Ay! Ziling, tell us how to deal with it.”

Xu Ziling blurted out, “I am coming to Chang’an today, not only to help Qin Wang to cross over the crisis, but also to help him ascend to the throne, to unify the world, and to repel foreign enemies.”

Severely shaken, Hong Funu said, “Is Ziling trying to comfort me?”

Xu Ziling asserted, “I’m serious!”

Sitting across the small table from him, Hong Funu looked him up and down for half a day, finally she spoke in heavy voice, “How about Kou Zhong?”

Xu Ziling said, “I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to him about it yet.”

Hong Funu said, “Can Ziling speak more clearly?”

Xu Ziling said, “I came to look for Li Dage, it is because I want to see Qin Wang in secret through him. As long as I can persuade him to fight for the throne, Kou Zhong’s aspect, leave it to me.”

Hong Funu spoke heavily, “Do you know that this is akin to asking Qin Wang to betray the Li Family, to betray his father and brothers?”

Xu Ziling replied, “He has no other choice. Jiancheng, Yuanji, respectively, colluded with the Tujue and the demonic school, they are harboring malicious thought towards him. On the way, I ran into Liang Shidu’s son purchasing a large number of firearms from the Haisha Bang, I also saw Li Jiancheng’s subordinates Er Wenhuan and Qiao Gongshan appearing not far from there. If I am guessing correctly, this batch of firearms will be used to attack Heavenly Policy Mansion.”

Hong Funu’s countenance changed, she said, “Unexpectedly there is such thing?”

Xu Ziling said, “I will try my best to convince Li Shimin that if he is still persevere with being loyal to the Li family and is unwilling to turn his back on his father and brothers, I will have no choice but to go back and help Kou Zhong with all my strength take the world and resist foreign enemies.”

Hong Funu said, “Kou Zhong might be willing listen to you, this good brother’s words, but what about Song Que? I am afraid that no one in the world can influence the great aspiration in Song Que’s mind.”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “I can only do it one step at a time [orig. see a step, walk a step] and exhaust my strength to do it.”

Evidently Hong Funu’s view on him was changing greatly, she spoke in low voice, “Qin Wang should go ashore and enter the city tomorrow morning, can Ziling come to the study room at noon? We will try to arrange a secret meeting between Ziling and Qin Wang.”

With his back to him, Song Que sat at the head of the log raft. For the entire two sichen, he did not move even half of his finger, or spoke half a word.

The clear light of the bright moon illuminated the pure white snowy forest and the plains on both banks of the river, while Kou Zhong silently operated the scull at the tail of the raft; he felt like if he had sunken into a dream.

Song Que broke the oppressive silence by letting out a long breath and said, “Ning Daoqi really did not disappoint Ol’ Song. Kou Zhong, you were able to personally watch this battle, the benefits to you is hard to estimate.”

Kou Zhong wanted to say something but hesitated, in the end he only said, “I certainly derived not a shallow benefit, my horizon is greatly opened.”

Song Que spoke indifferently, “You must be really dying to ask me whether I actually I win or lose?”

Kou Zhong nodded and said, “I really can’t figure it out.”

Song Que spoke serenely, “That will be a mystery that Ning Daoqi and I are not able to solve either.”

Stunned, Kou Zhong said, “In that case, since victory or defeat has not been decided, why was Fazhu willing to give up the ninth saber strike?”

Song Que replied indifferently, “I don’t want to conceal it from you, the reason lies in Qinghui.”

Kou Zhong was at a loss, he asked, “Unexpectedly it was because of Qinghui Zhaizhu, I thought that when fighting, you, the Senior already threw her completely out of your mind?”

Song Que said, “Do you know that Ning Daoqi had a chance to die in such a way that I also perished?”

Kou Zhong replied, “That was the moment when Fazhu successfully pulled the treasured saber from his two hands, right?”

Song Que said, “That was created by me, but I’m sure Ning Daoqi did not know at all that I could infuse the true qi concentrated inside the saber back into myself, I had a very high chance to strike him hard, hence it would look like a mutual-destruction move. However, I actually had a way to save my life, while he would undoubtedly die.”

Unable to make any sense of the matter, Kou Zhong said, “What does this have to do with Qinghui Zhaizhu?”

Song Que replied, “At the risk of his own life, Ning Daoqi settled himself in the disadvantageous position, he gave up such a good opportunity to kill me, Song Que, of course it has a lot to do with her. Were it not for Qinghui and Ning Daoqi already agreed not to kill me, Song Que, based on Ning Daoqi’s character, such a great benevolent and very brave person, who does not consider himself worthy in his eyes, how could he miss such a great opportunity?”

Kou Zhong was shaken, he said, “Fazhu was willing to take this enormous risk, it was just to test Qinghui Zhaizhu’s feelings for you?”

“Why not?” Song Que replied.

Kou Zhong was dumbstruck and unable to reply.

Song Que went on, “The eighth saber strike gave me serious internal injury, I must rush back to Lingnan immediately, close the door, and treat the injury in secret. When you get back to Pengliang, you must do your utmost to pacify the south within these remaining two months, and then when the spring is warm, the flowers blooming, deploy your army north, capture Luoyang, and then take Chang’an, to complete the great undertaking of unifying the world, don’t make Song Que lose hope.”

Severely shaken, Kou Zhong said, “Unexpectedly Fazhu’s injury is so serious.”

Song Que sighed and said, “I am badly injured, how much better is Ning Daoqi than me? At least I have 50% confidence that my ninth saber strike could put him in order. But Ning Daoqi would rather fall into the disadvantageous position and let go of the opportunity to kill me, how could I shamelessly take advantage of his precarious situation?”

Infinite admiration and veneration welled up in Kou Zhong’s heart; in the end, although Song Que refused to change his beliefs, but toward Fan Qinghui, he still failed to forget his love.

Song Que spoke gently, “I still have a word of advice for you.”

Kou Zhong reached out to move the scull, he spoke respectfully, “This kid respectfully listens to the clear teaching.”

Unhurried and calm, Song Que spoke slowly, “In anything, oftentimes the course of events is more touching than the outcome, you must not let down the favor that life is giving you.”

Returning to Feng Ya Ge, Xu Ziling saw Yin Xianhe sitting silently in the room with blank expression on his face. He blurted out asking, “Why don’t you take the opportunity to rest?”

In pain, Yin Xianhe responded with a question, “You think I can fall asleep?”

Xu Ziling sat down next to him and comforted him, “When Ji Qian comes back, everything will be clear, Qingqing Furen threading the needle for us, we can save the effort of trying to persuade her.”

Changing the subject, Yin Xianhe said, “Why did Chi Shengchun want to buy Shang Lin Yuan? Can’t he open another one himself? He wants people he has people, he wants money he has money.”

Xu Ziling said, “His purpose is to show confidence, to display strength. Even more so, he wants to show off to Da Xian Hu Fo, father and daughter. Such a business of Shang Lin Yuan’s size, which is considered second to none in Chang’an, if you don’t have money, you can’t buy it, plus you still have to consider the human resources side as well, if their skill is a bit inferior, you won’t succeed. Li Jiancheng’s party must be taking advantage of the fortunate timing when Li Shimin is on military expedition, plus with Li Yuan’s tacit approval, they quickly expand their power and clear away dissidents. If my guess is right, the gangs and societies or any rich merchant and cabinet minister who supported Li Shimin in the past, if they don’t remain neutral or switch their allegiance to Li Jiancheng’s camp – will definitely suffer attack and persecution.”

Yin Xianhe’s enmity against Chi Shengchun was as deep as the sea, hearing that, his murderous intent was flaring greatly, he snorted coldly and said, “We kill one, there will be one less of them, how can we allow Chi Shengchun to go on the rampage relying on evil?”

“Great plans can be ruined by just a touch of impatience,” Xu Ziling said, “We want to pull the Xiang family up by the roots, killing Chi Shengchun will only beat the grass to scare the snake. Looking at the current situation, it is very likely that Xiang Gui is going move his entire clan to Chang’an, because other than Chang’an, there is no place for them to seek shelter.”

Yin Xianhe was about to speak when they heard footsteps.

Xu Ziling recognized the footsteps as belonging to their host; he stood up and said, “Ji Qian is here!”

Yin Xianhe rushed to open the door.

‘Creak!’

The door was wide open, accompanied by Qingqing, Ji Qian stood prettily outside the door, her black, spirited big eyes looked at Yin Xianhe, sizing him up. She was still in full costume, dazzlingly beautiful. Even with Yin Xianhe’s indifferent attitude toward the affection between men and women, momentarily he stared at her in awe.

Appearing to be introducing her benefactor, Qingqing laughed tenderly and said, “Good girl! This is the Die Gongzi that Niang mentioned!”

Standing on the side, Xu Ziling did not know whether to laugh or to cry, Qingqing’s habit was difficult to change, she was still young and beautiful, but the tone of her voice was like an old Baopo [matron, female brothel keeper] who was happily mingling among the flowers.

As expected, Ji Qian’s attitude was completely different. ‘Pfft!’ she giggled and scolded, “Die Gongzi? Gongzi does not look like a butterfly at all [reminder: ‘Die’ (dee-eh) means butterfly]. When a butterfly sees a flower, he would want to gather nectar, the brighter the flower, the more he would be unwilling to let go, but Gongzi is definitely not that kind of person. Qian’er only need to take one glance and I know it!”

Toward the sprig-of-flower-trembling-randomly, able-to-bewitch-men-to-death Ji Qian, Yin Xianhe was at a loss to know what to do; for the first time, it had never happened before, his originally always-without-any-expression slender eyelids turned red.

Knowing that he couldn’t handle her, Xu Ziling moved to her side, saluted and said, “Xu Ziling pays his respect to Qian Dajia [great expert]. Any previous offense, I am asking Dajia’s forgiveness.”

Ji Qian gave him a stern look, feigning anger coquettishly, she said, “Turns out it’s really you, this kid, forget it! Ji Qian is Ji Qian, not any Dajia, the only Dajia is Shang Cainu [talented girl]. If you are tactful, you will teach those few cheap tricks to swindle people of yours to me. This Miss [Guniang] is willing to learn, it is indeed your honor. Where is Kou Zhong? Isn’t he with you?”

Finished speaking, she threw flirtatious glances toward Yin Xianhe, who was unable to take his eyes off her, staring straight at her; she said, “Silly kid! What are you looking at? You want to transform into a butterfly?”

Yin Xianhe’s old face turned even redder, and Xu Ziling was helpless as well. It was Qingqing’s turn to help them out of the siege and said, “Good girl! Don’t fool around! Ziling and Die Gongzi came looking for you for proper business.”

Ji Qian replied, “I am just happy to see old friend, they are going to stick out their heads for Qian’er.”

And then she pushed Qingqing away and said, “Quickly go back to deal with those loathsome people, leave the matter in here to me.”

After Qingqing, like scattering wind, swaying willow – left, without any scruples at all Ji Qian stepped into the room, she blurted out, “I’m so exhausted, let’s sit down first and then we talk.”

Seeing that there were only two chairs in the room, without any trace of politeness, she just plopped her butts on the edge of the bed, and called out tenderly, “You still have not sat down nicely for me, do you want me to beat you? Hee …! It’s nice to see you, two brazen kids, unexpectedly you dare to sneak into Chang’an; aren’t you afraid your head will roll? But I am most fond of men with big guts, this is more like men!”

Secretly Xu Ziling felt something was not right, he was more familiar with Ji Qian’s conduct and style than Yin Xianhe; just now she dismissed Qingqing, it already put him on guard, now she deliberately praised their guts, there must be some other intention.

Ji Qian’s lustrous-and-black-like-two-precious-stones pupils were spinning around and around at lightning speed, turning left and right – inside her eye sockets; squinting at Xu Ziling, she said, “Listening to Niang, you came to me to ask me something, this is not a problem, we all are sons and daughters of Jianghu; since we are friends and not enemies, naturally we must talk about Jianghu yi qi [spirit of loyalty]. However, Jianghu has Jianghu’s rules, the so-called proper behavior is based on reciprocity. You do something for me, I, Ji Qian, will definitely reciprocate. Relying on your startling-and-intimidating-the-world martial arts, doing this for me is just the exertion of lifting your hand, as easy as blowing off dust.”

Yin Xianhe spoke heavily, “Ji Xiaojie, please bestow your instruction!”

With a happy expression, Ji Qian turned her gaze toward Yin Xianhe. Apparently she discovered that Yin Xianhe was far more ‘honest and gullible’ compared to Xu Ziling. Casting coquettish glances at him, she said, “Kill Chi Shengchun for me, and then whatever you want me, Ji Qian to do, I, Ji Qian will surely listen to you obediently.”

Revealing a difficult expression, Yin Xianhe looked at Xu Ziling. Xu Ziling looked at Ji Qian and spoke indifferently, “Chi Shengchun is already in our list of those who must be killed, but presently it is not suitable for immediate execution. This time we are coming to Chang’an, it is in the hope that Xiaojie will honestly tell us about Yin Xiaoji.”

Yin Xianhe’s breathing immediately became rugged, his mind was tense.

Ji Qian furrowed her pretty eyebrows, a bit impatient, she said, “Killing someone is your simple home-style meal [idiom: common occurrence], why do you have to drag three and drag four? I, Ji Qian am always clear between gratitude and grudges, any gratitude will definitely be repaid. You don’t want to do it for me, don’t even think of asking even half a word from my mouth.”

Shaking his head, Xu Ziling said, “No! You will tell us!”

Revealing a touching displeasure expression, Ji Qian cast him a sidelong glance and said, “This is not the first day that you, Xu Daxia came to know me, Ji Qian, how can you be so sure? I loathe men who believe themselves infallible the most, I see that you will not dare carry out torture to extort confession, what are you going to do to me?

Yin Xianhe wanted to speak, but Xu Ziling signaled him to stop, he spoke softly, “Precisely because I know Xiaojie, I understand who Ji Qian is, hence I have the confidence that you will be willing to speak, you won’t bear not to speak.”

Astonished, Ji Qian said, “I can’t bear it? What a joke. You think this is the first day I am mingling in Jianghu?”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “Because Die Gongzi’s original name is Yin Xianhe, he is Yin Xiaoji’s Dage, since she was captured and taken away by the Xiang family’s thugs, in the last ten years or so he has disregarded hardship, danger and difficulties to search for her to all corners of the world. Can you bear not to tell him right away?”

Ji Qian’s tender body shook violently, her eyes turned to Yin Xianhe, she spoke in disbelief, “It’s impossible. Xiaoji’s Dage was beaten to death by those big thugs with the heart of wolf and lungs of dog.”

It was Yin Xianhe’s turn to have his whole body severely shaken, beyond his control, hot tears gushing out violently, flowing all over his thin eyelids. He threw himself towards Ji Qian, went down on both knees, kneeling down, disregarding everything to cling tight to Ji Qian’s slender jade legs, sobbing, he said, “I am begging you, please tell me where Xiaoji is. I am really her Dage, I was not beaten to death.”

Xu Ziling’s heart ached, he almost shed tears.

Ji Qian’s tender body trembled again, lowering her eyes to meet Yin Xianhe’s teary eyes, not only was she not upset that Yin Xianhe hugged her legs, but her two eyes turned red, the tears inside her eye sockets rolled out, she stretched out her hand to stroke his slender face, she replied, “You are really not dead?”

Sobbing hard, Yin Xianhe could not talk, he only nodded slightly. Just by seeing his emotional state as his true feeling was revealed, anybody would know that he was not lying at all.

Ji Qian cried out in low voice, “Heavens! You really are not dead!” Two lines of clear tears rolled down her fragrant cheeks, she was no longer Chang’an’s famous courtesan who did not stop claiming to have come to mingle in Jianghu before.

Xu Ziling said, “Xiaoji has a finger-sized light red birthmark on her left arm, also, she has a pair of bright big eyes and long legs. Able to tell these characteristics, Xiaojie should know that we are not deceiving you or lying to you.”

Ji Qian took out her silk scarf, she gently wiped Yin Xianhe’s tears, and spoke softly as if she was comforting a child, “Don’t cry! I know where Xiaoji is.”