Chapter 138
Book 13 Chapter 05 – A Well-Devised Plan
Back at the Cavalry Command Centre, the sweet memory of Qin Qing is still lingering in Xiang Shaolong’s mind.
And he was annoyed.
Hasn’t he sworn not to be involved in relations.h.i.+ps anymore?
Due to Shan Rou’s news, he was in a terrible mood and did not sleep at all last night. Coupled with his unclear mind from all the wine he drank, he became irrational and unconsciously flirted with Qin Qing.
Humans are unpredictable. Even he cannot explain his own actions.
If Qin Qing is her usual impenetrable self and censured him soundly, it may not be so bad. However, this chaste and pure beauty is warming up to him.
Her retorts are filled with secret delight and her rejections filled with secret acceptance.
The unique relations.h.i.+p between them is the most tempting factor.
Lost in his daydreaming, he b.u.mped into Jing Jun at the main gate. Jing Jun secretly whispered: "Third Brother! We caught a big fish last night!"
Xiang Shaolong was puzzled: "What big fish?"
Jing Jun proudly declared: "Have you heard of this man named Lu Bang?"
Xiang Shaolong sobered up and inquired in a low voice: "Is he one of Lu Buwei’s men?"
Jing Jun explained: "Not only is he one of the traitors from Lu, he is the son of Lu Xiong. Somehow, this fella was attracted to someone’s wife and tried to hara.s.s her. Coincidently, Xu Xian was pa.s.sing by and saved her. The couple has left the City quickly to avoid them but this kid still harbours ill intention and did not give up. He led several family warriors out of the city in pursuit. They caught up with them, beat the husband up and were about to [email protected]/* */ the wife when I caught up to them. They have all been arrested. Ha! Is this fish big enough?"
Xiang Shaolong was curious: "How did you know they were up to no good?"
Jing Jun was on cloud nine about his accomplishment. He laughed: "It is all thanks to Tao Fang’s intelligence unit. The moment they knew about this, they told me about it. I am familiar with Lu Bang’s character. If he is onto something, he will go all out to achieve it. I therefore a.s.signed someone to trail him and caught him red-handed. This is going to be exciting. Qin has strict laws regarding 5ex criminals. If we send him to the law bureau, he will be heavily punished. It would be great if he is castrated. Lu Xiong would be devastated and we would have taken some revenge for Princess Qian."
Xiang Shaolong pondered on this for a while and questioned: "Where is Lu Bang being held and do people from the Premier Residence know about this?"
Jing Jun led him past the main hall and towards the back hall. He happily reported: "Last night, I secretly brought everyone back here, including the young couple. Lu Xiong and his men are now in prison. Ai! There is a problem here. That kid is denying everything and the couple are terrified to know that their attackers are from Premier Residence. They did not want to provide evidence of their crime and kept pleading me to release them, saying that they will never come back to Xianyang City in the future."
Xiang Shaolong was agonized. Without witnesses, Lu Bang can instead accuse him power abuse and he will be in trouble. He asked: "Where is Second Brother?"
Jing Jun sighed: "Since morning, he has been in a horrible mood. He slapped Lu Bang heavily after the interrogation barely began. Now, he is interrogating the young couple. I am really afraid he will resort to violence."
Xiang Shaolong understood Teng Yi’s character well. He panicked: "Let’s check on him first!"
They increased their pace towards the inner hall where the couple is being held.
Before they stepped over the door ledge, Teng Yi’s loud scolding can be heard. The men guarding the doors have a helpless look on their faces, signalling that the interrogation has been unfruitful.
Xiang Shaolong entered the inner hall and was startled at the sight of the young couple in front of Teng Yi. The young couple exclaimed: "Benefactor!"
Xiang Shaolong was amazed at the coincidence. It is the young couple he helped when he was on his way to meet with Tu Xian. He saved them in the market when they were chased by thugs and even gave them a large sum of money.
Teng Yi was stunned: "You know Official Xiang?"
Xiang Shaolong sincerely pleaded: "Let’s talk about that later! Mister and Madam have been a.s.saulted by evil doers and why don’t you testify against them? We must not let them remain free and cause more trouble to other people."
This man named Zhou and his wife exchange a glance and resolutely promised: "We will do as Benefactor advised without the slightest hesitation."
Teng Yi cheered: "Both of you need not worry. I will get someone to bring you safely far away from here."
Xiang Shaolong simply added: "By tomorrow morning, both of you will be far away from danger."
By now, he has a good plan to deal with Lu Xiong.
Lu Xiong is one of the culprits behind Zhao Qian’s death. He will surely take advantage of this golden opportunity to take revenge.
After Xiao Pan finish hearing his story, he frowned: "The only criminal is Lu Bang. Moreover, he did not violate the woman yet. At the most, we can give him a severe beating."
Li Si smiled: "I think Commander Xiang has thought of a special plan already!"
Xiang Shaolong smiled: "Nothing can hide from Official Li’s eyes. I planned to leak the news to Lu Xiong, deceiving him that his son has [email protected]/* */ and killed a woman. If he panics and barges into the Cavalry Command Centre to save his son, I have a way to trick him."
Xiao Pan thought it over and slowly asked: "What kind of a man is this Lu Xiong?"
Xiang Shaolong and Li Si exchanged a glance of amazement.
The Crown Prince Zheng is becoming more formidable and is developing his own thinking style and observations.
Xiang Shaolong leisurely explained: "This is a man who takes shortcuts to success and is an idi0t who good at claiming credit for himself. Since he came to Qin, he has been the second most important man among Lu Buwei’s clansmen. He is so arrogant that it is rumoured that he does not pay respects to Guan Zhongxie despite being the a.s.sistant Imperial Infantry Commander."
Xiao Pan was stunned: "Why is Subject Xiang so familiar with Premier Residence’s developments?"
Xiang Shaolong will naturally protect his spy Tu Xian and casually mentioned: "Lu Buwei can bribe my warrior and I can do the same."
Xiao Pan contemplated for a while and gingerly state; "If Lu Xiong is as what you had described, we can make use of him."
He turned to Li Si and instructed: "Subject Li please summon Lu Buwei, Lu Gong, Xu Xian, w.a.n.g Ling, Meng Ao, Cai Ze, w.a.n.g Wan and various officials for a meeting. I want to deprive Lu Xiong of any mental support and make him even more reckless."
Li Si was pleased and left to execute his order.
Xiao Pan waited until only Xiang Shaolong and himself was left in the study before he happily cheered: "It will be even better if this matter is blown out of proportion. I can use this chance to show my authority and put down Lu Buwei. This traitor has been even more overbearing now that he has the support of Empress. He even proposed to Empress to promote himself to be the Regent of Qin. What a shameless cad!"
Xiang Shaolong frowned: "What did Empress say?"
Xiao Pan furiously disclosed: "Empress has been bewitched by Lao Ai. Except for matters regarding Master, she approves all his other requests. She has spoken to me twice regarding this matter already. Ai! I have been unable to sleep for the past two nights because of this as well."
Xiang Shaolong recalled that in the movie, people addressed Lu Buwei as Premier Mentor. ‘Mentor’ refers to a kind of officials that is found in the state of Qi which can also mean ‘Father.’ This will give Lu Buwei some sort of promotion and hint at his fatherly status. He could not help laughing: "Let’s make him a Premier Mentor instead and create more trouble for him."
Xiao Pan was elated and asked for the details.
Xiang Shaolong added: "This must be done after the blood test or it will have the opposite effect."
He explained the meaning