Chapter 183
Book 17 Chapter 01 - Hatred Caused By Love
In their half a year apart, Xiao Pan has matured further, becoming even more adept at hiding his feelings.
Leaving the commander-in-chief's residence, Xiang Shaolong followed Xiao Pan back to the palace. Teng Yi, Ji Yanran and the rest returned to the Wu residence. Lu Gong's funeral arrangements would be arranged by the ceremonial official appointed by Xiao Pan.
They entered the study. When Xiao Pan and Xiang Shaolong had been left alone, Xiao Pan slapped the table and said in fury: "Ten thousand deaths is not enough to atone for this traitor's guilt."
Xiang Shaolong sat down forlornly beneath him and said somberly: "Why was Xu Xian sent to Shouchun?"
Xiao Pan appeared fearful of being blamed and explained: "Lu Buwei had exhorted me to ally with Chu and Qi to attack the three Jin states. He persisted in asking for Xu Xian to travel to Chu to repair relations and even wanted me to take a Chu princess as my wife. Empress Dowager could have been confused by Lao Ai as she strongly supported Lu Buwei together with w.a.n.g Wan, Cai Ze and the others. I was not able to resist them and had no choice but to agree. At that time I thought that Lu Buwei only wanted to keep Xu Xian away from Xianyang for a period of time to deter Lu Gong from hara.s.sing him. Who would know that the Chu people would be so reckless, actually daring to a.s.sa.s.sinate the envoy who was representing me.
For the first time, Xiang Shaolong felt hatred for Zhu Ji. He was pained to silence.
Lu Gong, Xu Xian and w.a.n.g Chi had always been the three pillars of the military. Now only w.a.n.g Chi remained. Worse, this person was close to Lu Buwei. The status quo he had painstakingly created had been destroyed overnight.
Presently, amongst the military and the government heavyweights, he could barely count on one person w.a.n.g Ling to be on their side. The rest like Meng Ao were part of Lu Buwei's inner circle. Du Bi too had ulterior motives. This was the most precarious situation he had encountered since coming to Qin.
Xiao Pan sighed and said: "The biggest headache now is the vacant Left Premier's post left behind by Xu Xian. Lu Buwei has recommended w.a.n.g Wan, and Empress Dowager is leaning towards this proposition. It is very difficult for me to object. In terms of experience and seniority, no one besides Cai Ze is more qualified than he is to become the Left Premier."
Xiang Shaolong replied: "This matter is critical. No matter what we do, we must not let the Left Premier position fall into the hands of Lu Buwei's men, else the Qin court will be safely in Lu Buwei's pocket within three years."
He turned towards Xiao Pan and queried: "Does Crown Prince have a candidate in mind?"
Xiao Pan replied: "If it was up to be, I would go against convention and promote Li Si. He is ten times as talented as w.a.n.g Wan."
Xiang Shaolong shook his head and said: "Going by ability, there is no problem with Li Si, but he is not a native of Qin. Even if no one objects, you should not promote an outsider thus before you have stabilized your own position. This will only put you at odds with the Qin community."
Xiao Pan was silent for a while before nodding his head, saying: "Master is right. We should not do so at present. Ai! Its good that you are back! Finally there is someone to help me think through plans."
Xiang Shaolong gazed at Xiao Pan for a while before saying: "You have already done very well to drag things up to this point."
He stood up and started pacing, but his mind remained a blank. He mumbled: "The candidate must first be a Qin native, and then must be someone we trust absolutely. The next criterion must be that he is young and have high ideals, so as not to be easily bribed by Lu Buwei. At the same time, he must clearly understand our relations.h.i.+p with Lu Buwei and must also have the support of the military. Where can we find this person?"
Xiao Pan sighed and said: "This person is you my Master. But I already know that you will refuse."
Xiang Shaolong jumped once and said: "I know! This person is Lord Changping!"
Xiao Pan was startled for a while before cupping his head and saying: "Isn't he a little soft?"
Xiang Shaolong replied: "Of course he's a little soft. But this tactic is called 'feigning one thing and doing another'*. The feint is Lord Changping. The real person in the shadows is Li Si. Lord Changping is a n.o.ble kinsman of the King. Even w.a.n.g Wan will find it difficult not to give in to him!"
* The actual phrase used here is 'Openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the river Wei at Chencang'. Its a reference to a stratagem used by Liu Bang in 206BC against Xiangyu of Chu (reference from MDBG.net). Its meaning is close to what is written above 'feigning one thing and doing another'.
Xiao Pan asked in bafflement: "I understand what 'repairing the plank road' means, but what the heck is Chencang?"
Xiang Shaolong secretly berated himself for slipping once again. This is because this incident would only happen during Chu and Han's conflict many years later. Xiao Pan had naturally never heard of it. He could only invent some nonsense, saying: "That refers to an obsolete and unused warehouse that n.o.body notices**. In short, Li Si is the true Premier while Lord Changping is the figurehead."
** Chéncāng 陈仓 is the ancient name of Bǎojī city 宝鸡市 (reference from MDBG.net). XSL is a.s.sociating the word chén 陈 with 陈旧 chénjiù meaning 'obsolete', and the word cāng 仓 with 仓库 cāngkù meaning 'warehouse'. Hence XSL's rubbish explanation above. This is also how I try to decipher more obscure Chinese idioms and phrases. Please do not ever try to learn Chinese from my translations. And never ever use what you see here when doing business in China. You have been warned =)
Xiao Pan was still hesitant and pointed out in doubt: "Lord Changping's treasured sister is very close to Guan Zhongxie. If Yingying is married to Guan Zhongxie, won't that present some problems?"
Xiang Shaolong replied: "This might have been a problem previously, but now as long as the Changping brothers know that Xu Xian was murdered by Lu Buwei, it would be useless for him even if Guan Zhongxie marries their mother."
Xiao Pan laughed bitterly from his belly and said: "Master should not provoke me, this is not the time to be laughing."
As Xiang Shaolong thought about Xu Xian and Lu Gong, his enthusiasm diminished and he said solemnly: "This is but the first step. The second step is to recall w.a.n.g Jian and use him to counter w.a.n.g Chi, Meng Ao and Du Bi. I am sure that he will become the cornerstone of our Great Qin's military someday. Throwing in Huan Qi and w.a.n.g Ling, they will be even more formidable than Xu Xian and Lu Gong."
Xiao Pan stood up abruptly and replied: "How do we get past the Empress Dowager? She is sure to reject this because of Lord Changping's lack of experience."
Xiang Shaolong thought for an instant before saying confidently: "Allow me to persuade her personally."
Xiao Pan shook his head and cautioned: "Empress Dowager is no longer the Queen mother of last time. After Lao Ai obtained her favor, Empress Dowager has become even more infatuated with him. She also feels that I am becoming less obedient to her. I believe that Master's influence over her is no longer what it used to be. Also, Lu Buwei has been courting Lao Ai, else mother would not be supporting him."
Xiang Shaolong smiled and said: "Then I should speak to Lao Ai! I cannot believe that he would be willing to allow Lu Buwei to become more powerful. Now that I am back, he is no longer alone. He should now have the guts to betray Lu Buwei."
Xiao Pan nodded and said: "Lets do as Master says. If all our methods fail, we can just summon Lu Buwei and Guan Zhongxie into the palace and have Master kill them with the sword once and for all. After that we can trump up some charge and pick up the pieces."
Xiang Shaolong was shocked and replied: "What kind of plan is this? The bulk of the military strength is now with Meng Ao. If we do this, the outcome would be unpredictable. Moreover the palace is steeped with Lu Buwei's spies. If anything goes wrong, we will be the ones to lose out."
Xiao Pan sighed and was speechless.
Xiang Shaolong remembered Prince Dan and asked about his situation.
Xiao Pan nonchalantly replied: "Lu Buwei has invited him to his new official residence and detained him there. It is unknown whether he is alive or dead. His subordinates have been placed under house arrest in the guesthouse. They are not allowed to step out of the gates. Guan Zhongxie's men are guarding the place. I did not feel that this was a big deal and I had too many things to worry about, hence I did not get involved."
Xiang