Chapter 19
Book 2 Chap 6 – The death of the King of Qin
When Xiang Shaolong was in the carriage going back to the Wu residence, he was still reliving his experience earlier.
Either deliberately or not, separated by a screen, they were having a compet.i.tion on s.e.xual stamina with the pair of Yue beauties. In the end Xiang Shaolong deliberately lost to him and ended his act earlier. As expected when he carried the limp elder sister Tian Zhen out, Zhao Mu and Tian Feng were almost half-dead, so naturally he could not ask him for Wu Tingfang now.
By now Xiang Shaolong is aware that although Zhao Mu’s swordsmans.h.i.+p is excellent, but his stamina cannot be compared to a warrior like him. He hurriedly bid his farewell.
Tian Zhen can’t bear to let him go, and the look in her eyes shows that she wants to swallow him whole.
Zhao Mu is smart, naturally he knows that Xiang Shaolong gave in to him deliberately. He was secretly complimenting Xiang Shaolong for his consideration and knowing what to do, so he ordered his men to send him back to the Wu residence in his carriage to show how much he admires him.
The grand looking carriage drove out of the Marquis residence, traveling lonsomely in the quiet and dark streets.
4 warriors walked in front holding lanterns to lead the way for the horse carriage, another 4 warriors walked behind the carriage for protection.
Xiang Shaolong was troubled, thinking of endless people and things. Now he is totally immersed in this era, if there is a choice, he would not want to go back to his own era.
Just as he was day dreaming, he was suddenly jolted awake but the hurried sounds of hooves beat.
Xiang Shaolong became alert and looked towards the back of the carriage.
The 4 warriors were just turning their heads to look back.
The darkened street, a lone steed was running near, and by the time they could take a good look, they saw that it’s a warrior dressed in black, with a black cloth covering the head and face as well, in his hand a long sword, galloping towards them with murderous intent. One look and he knows that it’s nothing good.
The 4 warriors roared in unison and drew their swords, pulling their horses back to receive the enemy.
The a.s.sa.s.sin increased his speed and came towards them like a hurricane. He lifted his hand and took out something black from the saddlebag of the horse and flew towards the sky. When he leapt over their heads, it became a huge net with sharp hooks, covering the head and faces of the 4 warriors.
The 4 warriors may be highly skilled, but their opponent came prepared, and he uses ingenious methods so that they are caught unawares and in a short moment the 4 of them were trapped.
As they yelled in surprise, they struggled to get out from the net but the sharp hooks in the net tore into their skins. Amidst their screams, the 4 of them tumbled down their horses in a heap.
When the a.s.sa.s.sin came to the side of the carriage, there was a flash from his blade and the bamboo window shattered, scaring Xiang Shaolong into scrambling to a corner. Right at this time that person throw a long thing into the carriage and when it landed on the floor of the carriage, it moved and wriggled towards Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Shaolong took a clearer look and secretly exclaimed. He turned a somersault and fell onto the streets outside through the window. It turned out that thing thrown towards him is a poisonous snake with its head raised. If he did not have extremely quick reflexes, he’ll definitely be bitten by that poisonous snake.
While Xiang Shaolong was still rolling on the ground, that a.s.sa.s.sin slashed at the fallen warriors and shot 4 arrows at the other 4 warriors rus.h.i.+ng towards him. In their rush, the 4 warriors did not see what was happening and were hit by the arrows and fell.
The a.s.sa.s.sin turned his horse back and ran towards Xiang Shaolong who was still on the ground.
This is the first time Xiang Shaolong encountered someone so formidable, and just as he was about to spring up, that a.s.sa.s.sin shot an arrow at him, fierce and accurate.
Xiang Shaolong has no choice but to tumble away, and avoided his opponent’s 3 concessive arrows before he had a chance to jump up.
Maybe the a.s.sa.s.sin used up his arrows, so he switched to a long sword and attacked.
Xiang Shaolong did not have a chance to draw his sword and had to tumble away to avoid him again. But this time he tumbled towards the back of his opponent’s horse. His opponent only managed to turn the horse around after he jumped up again and drew the Flying Rainbow sword Zhao Mu gave him.
The two of them met directly face to face.
The a.s.sa.s.sin was stunned and shouted, "You’re not Zhao Mu?"
Xiang Shaolong heard the high-pitched voice, it’s actually a lady, and was startled.
The masked lady shouted and dashed forward on her horse, and when she was about 5 steps away, the glare from her sword blossomed like a flower, attacking towards him like a storm.
Xiang Shaolong saw that the person she wanted to kill is his own enemy Zhao Mu, so he was not willing to hurt her. But he saw that her swordplay is extremely exquisite, and his hands began to itch and he executed the Mozi swordplay, trying to flick his opponent’s swrod with a diagonal slash. He was about to strike his opponent’s sword but unexpectedly the tip of the sword touched empty air, it turned out his aim was out and his opponent’s sword has already taken the opportunity to invade directly.
Xiang Shaolong did not expect her to be so formidable and he had to move diagonally down suddenly to avoid her.
The girl did not return for him but rode away in her horse, cursing icily, "Working for the devil." The sound of hooves beat grow further and further, into the darkened streets.
The 8 warriors were all dead, obviously the arrows and hooks were dipped in extremely poisonous substances, and even strong men like them could not hold on for long.
The streets were soon filled with Zhao soldiers looking for the whereabouts of the a.s.sa.s.sin.
Zhao Mu’s expression was serious as he said, "The poisonous snake that person threw into the carriage is called ‘Golden Throat Seal’, its movements are swift as lightning, and extremely venomous. Once bitten the throat will become constricted immediately. Shaolong is really lucky that you were able to jump out the carriage in time."
Xiang Shaolong heaved a sigh of cold air. He was relying on his reflexes from his many years of training. The poisonous snake was going to bite his leg and he was able to retract his legs in time and somersaulted out the window, which was indeed a very dangerous situation.
Zhao Mu patted his shoulder and said, "Luckily you helped me block off this bad luck. If it was me, she might have gotten what she wanted." He added with a cold snort, "I’ll like to see where she can run to."
Right at this time a rider rushed over and after getting off his horse, he came to Zhao Mu and spoke a few words in his ears.
Zhao Mu was ecstatic on hearing the news and told Xiang Shaolong, "I have something important to speak to his Majesty about immediately, I will discuss with you about the a.s.sa.s.sin later." He went up his horse and left, with a hundred odd warriors hurrying after him.
Xiang Shaolong was secretly alarmed, what news did Zhao Mu receive that made him so excited?
But since it’s no use pondering over it, Xiang Shaolong went up the horse and returned to the Wu residence with the accompaniment of 12 guards.
He had just stepped past the main door when the guard stationed at the door took him to the study room immediately. Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang were both there, their expressions grave. Obviously something serious has happened.
After Xiang Shaolong sat down, Master Wu said, "The King of Qin is dead!"
Xiang Shaolong looked at him blankly, thinking that the King of Qin is not your father, so what if he’s dead.
Tao Fang knows that he does not understand the critical point in this matter and said, "The successor is King Xiaowen and during the bereavement period, the state of Qin will not engage their army for some time. Therefore all the other states will make use of this time to engage the plans they set aside earlier due to their fear of Qin attacking, and this includes expanding and conquering other smaller states."
Xiang Shaolong finally understood and said, "So we have to be worried that the King of Zhao will step up on his efforts to deal with us."
Wu Yingyuan sighed, "This is not our biggest worry. But because I’m always in contact with Qin’s Lu Buwei. This person is wealthy and scheming, and was our greatest back up, but the newly crowned King Xiaowen may seem respectful to him for saving his son, he’s still wary of him as he’s a Han. Ever since Lu Buwei went to Qin, he’s only a very wealthy guest and has no power at all, and everyone knows Xiaowen was behind all these. Now that he has ascended the throne, Lu Buwei may lose his standing and this will break off all our relations with Qin.
Xiang Shaolong thought of something and asked quietly, "Is Lu Buwei trying to get Ying Zheng back to Xianyang through us?"
The 3 of them looked immediately stunned and stared at him speechlessly, as if it’s the first time they knew him.
After the 3 of them exchanged looks, Master Wu’s fat body trembled for a moment before he took a deep breath and said, "Shaolong is indeed more astute that others, and your words strike close to the heart. But you must not leak any of this out, or else not a single piece of tile will be left intact in the Wu family’s castle."
Xiang Shaolong laughed to himself, "I even know that Ying Zheng is actually the son of Lu Buwei borne by Zhao Ji, and Lu Buwei gave Zhao Ji to the King of Qin and she was already pregnant at that time. So the King is only Ying Zheng’s father in name. But some historians later pointed out that Emperor Qin was cruel towards Lu Buwei, so it doesn’t really seem like Lu Buwei is his birth father. Such a messy affair, no one is really clear about it.
Anyway it’s a fact that Lu Buwei wants to get Yingzheng back to Xianyang. Wu Yingyuan said, "Amongst the 4 great princes, Prince Pingyuan of Zhao has pa.s.sed away, Huang Xie, who is Prince Chunshen of Chu is useless, and we can ignore him. Prince Mengchang of Qi is always sickly which leaves us with Wei’s Prince Xinling, Wuji. This person is well versed in the art of war and has numerous capable men under him. He took care of Zhao because Prince Pingyuan’s wife is his sister but now that Prince Pingyuan is dead, I’m afraid change is inevitable."
Master Wu nodded his head and said, "The death of the king of Qin, has really further complicated matters which are already