Book 34 - Chapter 10 – As the Water Recedes, The Rocks Appear (1/2)
The snow stopped
The moment Shen Luoyan steered the s arrived at the Fei Yun [lit flying cloud] Bridge, which was s south, over two river bends, was precisely the Yue Ma Bridge
Xu Ziling had a déjà vu of that day in Luoyang; he felt as if everything before his eyes had happened before, but everything also felt strangely unfamiliar
Shen Luoyan lifted the oar to let the current brought the boat to gently bue pier She curled up her knees and wrapped her lily-white hands around them, and then she lowered her forehead and propped her head between her knees Her bright and beautiful, yet carrying a bit of vicissitudes – eyes, under the newbeam, which had just reappeared fro with full interest, but she did not say anything
Being at the receiving end of her stare, Xu Ziling felt aard, but at the bottom of his heart he still admitted that Shen Luoyan’s posture and appearance were extreht Shen Junshi+ were asking me to come here, I wonder what instruction you would like to bestow?”
Shen Luoyan gently shrugged her shoulders, “Nothing,” she replied, “I just wanted to see you! How old are you this year? I shouldn’t be too uess is probably two or three years older This year you ought to be twenty-two or twenty-three, only after your birthday will you be considered one year older”
Set that she is now anothereach other should not be a probleht, on a se, it could provoke other people’ssoftly, Shen Luoyan said, “Are you saying that it should be no problem to reserve a table at the Fu Ju Lou, to see you under ten thousand of staring eyes?”
Xu Ziling was at a loss for words
Shen Luoyan stopped her s her voice, she said, “What I am about to tell you is very i shi+vered greatly in his heart He slightly nodded
Shen Luoyan spoke heavily, “Last night, very late at night, Qin wang summoned shi+ji When he ca’an on the second day of Lunar New Year The original plan was that we are going to co on Mount Zhongnan”
Without needing her to continue, Xu Ziling could guess what happened
Because Li shi+ji was the co officer of the remnant of Li Mi’s troops, it could be said that he was the only high-rankingwiththe entire army division, he could easilythe treasure away
Under the multitude-of-ene weighted down by the wealth, goods and treasure, even if he and Kou Zhong were ’ shi+ Zhixuan, they would be helpless to do anything, and would only become fish and meat to the opposite side
The most brilliant part of this plan was that it would absolutely not alert either Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji’s side
Shen Luoyan said, “At first I thought Qin wang was preparing to attack Luoyang, but unexpectedly shi+ji did not want to divulge anything about the inside story of this mission to me at all, so that I am more sure than ever that the person he wanted to deal with is you”
Xu Ziling did not knohat to feel Just now Li shi+’ and ‘Di’ [elder and younger brother, respectively], yet beneath the surface he was ement to deal with them However, it was also difficult to blame hi Chang’an, he did not break their agree did not feel too co casually asked, “Why didn’t you tell Kou Zhong directly this ht shade, Shen Luoyan replied, “Because I wanted Xu Ziling to know that for his safety, Shen Luoyan is willing to betray her husband”
“What?” Xu Ziling blurted out
Shen Luoyan sat her tender body up straight, while covering heryou! Don’t take it too seriously No one dares to say that you and Kou Zhong are fools, but I am very clear that you two are extreot yourselves into the tip of the horn of a bull I wonder if you have ever given any thought on the transportation issue, about how you are going to take the treasure out?”
With that pointer, Xu Ziling understood ihtly shook
Since arriving in Chang’an, all along they were in distress on how to find the treasure’s location, but they had neither the time nor thethe treasure was equally i the treasure If there was no detailed plan, they ht fall into a no-room-to-advance-or-to-retreat, at-a-loss-to-knohat-to-do situation
Gao Zhandao and the others ht have a plan, but it was no e quantity of weapons and treasure out of Chang’an via the ay, yet there was no ingenious plan Under the current situation, where there was an enemy soldier on every tree or bush, where every sound of the as a reflection of the crane, their plan absolutely would not work Based on Li shi+min’s shrewdness, surely they would find out Gao Zhandao and the others’ relationshi+p with the two boys
Shen Luoyan said, “The way of thee real in place of euys are weak; you must not have direct confrontation with the ene troops to ence and wisdoht to knohat to do?”
Xu Ziling sincerely said, “Thank you very much for the directions!”
Shen Luoyan went on, “ThisYu found an excuse to come to pay a New Year call to us, he and shi+ji talked in the study room behind closed door for the entire sichen, you knohat kind of role Pang Yu is playing within the Heavenly Policy Mansion? It’s precisely what I have been doing for Mi Gong [Duke Mi] in the past”
Xu Ziling recalled that at the Heavenly Policy Mansion earlier, Pang Yu was the only one he did not see; turned out he was in charge of intelligence, investigation, infiltration, and other similarwith Li shi+ji, plus this place was his territory, and on top of that, Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong’s identity had been exposed, with clear distinction which one in the open and which one in the dark, his and Kou Zhong’s transporting-treasure troops ed by Li shi+ji He started to understand the gravity of this rave expression, Shen Luoyan spoke in low voice, “I’ve heard rurapevine; do you want to hear it?”
S said, “With soonethe treasure, are you going to split way and scattering the goods [ie goods sent under the protection of an arhtened; he could no longer act indifferent toward Shen Luoyan’s so-called ru his head, he asked, “What exactly is theDaoqi has answered shi+ Feixuan’s request; after you guys split up, he is to force Kou Zhong, using all possible means, to withdraw fro safely return to Pengliang, even if he did not have the treasure, the world’s situation would have to be rewritten In Li shi+ can terrify hi’s hands and feet turned icy-cold, secretly ainst hi to deal as Kou Zhong, but to hi, personally Nowas his brother, as closer than his own flesh and blood
Although Shen Luoyan could not see his face, she could guess that behind the htly
Xu Ziling spoke heavily, “Would Ning Daoqi act hed faintly; she said, “In order to let Li shi+ the world, if necessary, the Buddhist and Taoist, two schools, under the leadershi+p of Ci Hang Jingzhai and Ning Daoqi, would definitely carry out extree, who has the ability to capture hi Daoqi’s identity and status, he would disdain any cooperation with anybody else to deal with Kou Zhong In that kind of situation, the danger that Kou Zhong is facing could be easily izhu would not have to borrowwould rein the horse at the edge of the precipice [idioive up his idea of striving over the world, because it seems that this idea has becoer in thewill never forget Shen Junshi+’s strong affection and profound thought Tonight you caht provoke your revered-husband’s suspicion?”
Shen Luoyan hung her cicada head down; she spoke softly, “Dealing with such a trivial matter, I, Shen Luoyan, still have a bit of trick Are you leaving? Please take a good care of yourself!”
After saying goodbye, Xu Ziling left the boat and landed on the shore
All of a sudden, his heart was filled with grievance, resentnation; he made a firm resolution that if they obtained the treasure, he sioods and wealth back to Pengliang before he could part co
This was not only because Kou Zhong was his brother, even er out of sy and hu arrived at the Yue Ma Bridge, Kou Zhong was already there, searching the Yue Ma Bridge thoroughly one ti on his eyesight and sense of touch and intuition, which were a hundred times sharper than ordinary person, he nearly dare to be certain that this e did not have anyritual of the big snow, the city of Chang’an was once again covered in thick snow Although each and every family was still decorated with lanterns and colored banners, but this deep in the night, plus after the ht, this world-famous city has returned from brilliance to tranquility
Occasionally there was still the sound of firecrackers co from the depths of the lanes and alleys, but it was a far cry frorand occasion of the Lunar New Year’s Eve the previous night All around was silent with nobody in sight The bitterly cold weather cooof off inside their war in the shadow under the bridge, Kou Zhong shook his head and said with a bitter s to return to the village to open a food stall Kou Zhong no longer has any share in striving over the world”
This was originally the word that Xu Ziling wanted to hear the ’s ownwelled up in his heart, like the feeling of losing all his ga ht on thetook a deep breath and said, “Let’s get to the side and talk”
“Let’s go!” Kou Zhong replied
Xu Ziling followed Kou Zhong leaving the bottoe They leaped onto the Fu Ju Lou’s set-up-on-high roof This was the highest point in the area surrounding the Yue Ma Bridge Unless so up like them, nobody would be able to see the sat on the roof ridge, staring fiercely at theAn Grand Canal, connecting the two sides, down below, at an angle froht in his pair of eyes was flashi+ng brightly, obviously he was extre said, “This is perhaps a sign that your life should not end; finding the treasureaway in cala asked, “What do youdecided not to say what Shen Luoyan told hi the purpose of the Duke Yang’s Treasure was to provide Yang Su with large quantities of goods and weapons in time of need, to be used to save his life in rebellion, then froht to be easy and convenient to transport the weapons out of this treasure-trove to ground level”
Kou Zhong nodded and said, “You are right! If they needed three days and three nights to bring the stuffs fro Su would have been slaughtered by Yang Jian early on”