Chapter 167
Book 15 Chapter 09 - Setting Sail On The River Huai
All their original plans have turned out to be based on wishful thinking and have been messed up.
The wolves never came that night. After some discussion, Ji Yanran also figured that Madam Zhuang should not be lying. This was because Tian Dan's performance during the hunt really was abnormal. Besides, with Tian Dan's farsighted thinking, he would not have surrendered the initiative so pa.s.sively that he required Lu Buwei's protection.
In the grand scheme of things, Tian Dan would not have believed that Lu Buwei could kill Xiang Shaolong, although Lu Buwei was almost successful.
That is why Dan Chu's returning troops would have made the necessary arrangements to support him, even counter-attacking by laying traps for any tailing enemies. It was nonetheless unlikely that they knew of the existence of Xu Yiluan's troops in waiting in ambush.
Finally, Xiang Shaolong decided to dispatch two guardians, the recently recovered Wu Da and Dan Quan (from Pu Bu and Liu Chao's unit), to use fast horses to intercept Teng Yi. They were to advise Teng Yi to change his whole battle plan into delaying Tian Dan's troops but not attacking.
This will delay Tian Dan's return to Qi, giving them more opportunities to kill him.
As the Liu s.h.i.+ brothers and Dan Chu are not at Tian Dan's side, Tian Dan's defensive web is now at its weakest.
Early the next morning, before they de-camped, Madam Zhuang led her two sisters over to discuss the details of Shouchun City.
They had all removed their veils. You Cui and You Ning turned out to be outstandingly beautiful sisters, but they were still half a step below the uniquely charming Madam Zhuang.
Madam Zhuang smiled and said: "They are indeed my younger sisters, just that they are not my blood sisters but belong to the Zhuang family."
She then warmly greeted Ji Yanran the two women and expressed her admiration before turning back to the main topic, mentioning: "Li Yuan has no lack of underlings who recognize Mister Xiang. The Talented Lady Ji is an even more reknown personality in Shouchun. Therefore we need to rely on some disguises to fool the Chu people."
Xiang Shaolong caressed his cheek and jaw, saying: "I can grow a full beard and restrict my movements to the night. That way I can avoid the eyes and ears of people."
Madam Zhuang said: "Avoiding people is not difficult. The problem is that if we cannot move about freely, it will be even harder to find an opportunity to kill Tian Dan. Fortunately these two sisters of mine are most familiar with the techniques to change appearances. They can play some tricks with Mister Xiang's face. Unless you come face to face with familiar people, you should be able to deceive anyone."
Ji Yanran said: "What ident.i.ty should he use when meeting people?"
Madam Zhuang said: "You can act as my brother Wan Ruiguang. Because he was seriously injured during the mutiny, he escaped out of Chu's borders, but never recovered and pa.s.sed away three months ago. There should not be anyone in Shouchun who recognizes him."
While she spoke normally, everyone could detect an unappeasable hatred and enmity in her voice.
Zhao Zhi sorrowfully pointed out: "As Madam returns to Yunnan to deal with the enemy, how confident is she?"
Madam Zhuang replied nonchalantly: "Originally I did not have half a hope. But since I had my back to the wall, I had no choice but to take advantage of Chu's period of weakness and return with my son to fight a life and death battle with the thief; but now that I have Xiang Shaolong, I have every confidence of success."
Xiang Shaolong forced a smile and said: "Madam thinks too highly of me."
Madam Zhuang smiled and said: "You'd better start addressing me as your elder sister from now on and I will address you as Ruiguang. It is still another month's journey from here to Shouchun. I will describe Ruiguang's bitter life story to you in detail. Thankfully Ruiguang is famous in the Northwest as a heroic general. He's always had a formidable reputation. It is most appropriate for you to pa.s.s off as him. Because we are originally from Yunnan, we do not speak with the Chu accent. As long as you study diligently, we should be able to fool the Chu people."
Xiang Shaolong mused that the last time he disguised himself as Dong Horse Fanatic, while this time he is playing the heroic general Wan Ruiguang. It would be so thrilling if he could fool Tian Dan again.
Ji Yanran, being the most attentive to detail, asked: "What ident.i.ty is Madam Zhuang using to enter the Chu capital this time?"
Madam Zhuang said: "I have a good friend in Lord Chunshen's house by the name of Weng. In those days, as King Xiaolie feared our Yunnan's growth to become the hegemon of the Southest, he forced Li Ling to conspire with the Ye Lang people to overthrow the Zhuang family. In one night, close to ten thousands of the Zhuang clan was murdered. Lord Chunshen tried to prevent this, but could not prevail over King Xiaolie. If he had not sent people to a.s.sist us, we could have forgotten about escaping from Chu's borders. That is why on this trip we should first visit Lord Chunshen's home."
Xiang Shaolong and Yanran exchanged a glance and let go of their worries.
Now that King Xiaolie is dead, Chu is going to become a battleground between Lord Chunshen and Li Yuan. To someone like Madam Zhuang who is close to Lord Chunshen, killing Li Yuan's a.s.sociate Tian Dan is naturally no big deal.
Xiang Shaolong's spirit rose, saying: "Good! Let us leave!"
Zhao Zhi was displeased, saying: "Madam has yet to say how Sister Yanran and I should disguise ourselves!"
Xiang Shaolong laughed: "Of course it is to be me, Wan Ruiguang's lovely wives. Covering your faces with thicker veils will solve all the problems."
All along, before a strong Qin arose, amongst all the states, Chu was in the South with no enemies nearby. That is why regardless of the physical security or the economy, they have had safety and stability where the other states hadn't.
In addition, the soil in the South was fertile. Surrounding Lake Dongting were endless tracts of fertile land waiting to be developed by the Chu people. This caused the Chu people to be rich and worry free.
At their peak, Chu possessed all the territories from Yuan and Xiang rivers in the South to Ying and Si in the North, and from Ba and Shu in the West to the Tan city and the river Huai in the East. Treating Ying and Ru as ditches and Jiang and Han as ponds; as flat as Zhenglin, as continuous as Fangcheng. By the time the Warring States Period began, they had almost unified the entire South, becoming the largest and most powerful state.
Besides swallowing numerous smaller countries, they had also expanded into large tracts of land belonging to the non-Han barbarians in the East, South and Southwest, subjecting these lands and peoples to Chu's culture and civilization.
Just as Ji Yanran had a.n.a.lyzed nonetheless, to govern so many ethnic groups and such a vast expanse of land required a powerful and competent government.
It was a pity that after King Zidao and King Xuan, Chu had never had a competent ruler again. In addition, with King Huai dying dest.i.tute in Qin, the central authorities lost their power while the regional powers rose up.
King Xiaolie's subsequent instigation of the mutiny in Yunnan reduced central control even further. In the end, he did not manage to change anything, merely changing the name of the Yunnan king from Zhuang to Li, thats all.
Now that King Xiaolie has pa.s.sed away, internal strife has appeared once again. And due to the freak combination of factors, Xiang Shaolong is compelled to join this "game".
While the news of Chu's chaos may be unexpected, it was actually inevitable. If not for the fact that Qin had just lost two kings in quick succession, and that Xiao Pan was still immature, and for the Qin military's free-for-all fight with Lu Buwei, and even more for