Chapter 215
Book 19 Chapter 9 – I Concede
Even after his return to the Wu Residence, Xiang Shaolong will still randomly think about this strange lady s.h.i.+ Sufang.
Teng Yi, Jing Jun, Wu Guo and Zhao Da were in discussion with Ji Yanran. Everyone looked somber.
On seeing that her husband is so obedient that he actually came back before the first watch, Ji Yanran smiled and said, "We were just discussing how we can find the a.s.sa.s.sination organization that was sent to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lord Zhengchu. It’s really too dangerous if we allow them to strike."
Teng Yi furrowed his brows, "The problem is, we cannot publicize this matter. We can only do it secretly, the less people to know about it, the better. Otherwise, Guoxin’s ident.i.ty will be exposed."
Jing Jun gave a cold snort, "I don’t trust Guoxin at all."
Ji Yanran pursed her lips into a smile and said, "We won’t trust Guoxin easily as well but we have to give him a chance to prove his own words!"
Xiang Shaolong sat down next to Jing Jun and said with a laugh, "This is called abandoning the dark for the light, turning over a new leaf, correcting a mistake. Xiaojun, you have to remember that forgiveness requires even more courage and love than hatred."
Naturally all of them have never heard such a phrase or such logic and they were all stunned.
Ji Yanran asked happily, "My lord husband seems to be in a good mood tonight. Is it because you’ve gotten s.h.i.+ Sufang’s favor again?"
Xiang Shaolong thought of s.h.i.+ Sufang. He sighed, "s.h.i.+ Sufang can only be described as being a rare lady. I think she has absolutely no interest in relations.h.i.+ps between men and women at all. What she likes is Zhuang Zhou, she’s disdainful about her own singing skills. She has an intense and unique way of looking at things. Lao Ai ended up like a mouse pulling a turtle*, not knowing where to begin and getting snubbed whereas I kept a respectful distance. End of report, is the talented lady satisfied?"
*Mouse pulling a turtle – A Chinese idiom, meaning an impossible task
As soon as he said the phrase ‘mouse pulling a turtle’, Ji Yanran laughed so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath. Jing Jun and the rest were all smiling but by now, they are all used to Xiang Shaolong’s endless new and interesting phrases.
Wu Guo sighed, "Who can be more eloquent than Master Xiang? Luckily I have been Master Xiang’s follower for a long time and picked up some of his speech. That’s how I managed to woo Xiao Weiwei successfully, and did not disappoint Master Jing."
Only now did Xiang Shaolong realize that Jing Jun had been supporting Wu Guo’s pursue of Zhou Wei. He turned towards Zhao Da and asked, "Are you and your brothers doing well in Xianyang?"
Zhao Da revealed a look of grat.i.tude as he nodded his head, "We’ve never had such glorious days before. As soon as we reveal Master Xiang’s name, even those from Zhongfu Residence have to give us some measure of respect. Madam Fang also allowed us to choose the pretty girls to start our families. Hai, Lady left us too soon" Once he spoke of Zhao Ya, his eyes reddened.
Teng Yi was afraid of bringing up Xiang Shaolong’s sad past again and changed the topic, "We’ve decided to transfer a batch of men back to Xianyang, to be in charge of searching for this group of extremely dangerous warriors. We’ve also informed Lord Changwen, asking him to report this matter immediately to the Crown Prince. It’s the Spring Festival the day after tomorrow, I’m afraid our enemies will make use of the Spring Festival Ceremony to strike when the Crown Prince leaves the Palace. According to custom, the route to River Wei has already been decided and it cannot be changed. If the a.s.sa.s.sins hide themselves amongst the welcoming crowd along the paths, it’ll be very difficult to spot them."
Xiang Shaolong suddenly shuddered as he remembered how many times he had protected politically important persons in the 21st century. He can be considered an expert in anti-terrorism so won’t he be able to put to useful practice what he has learnt for this situation? Everyone saw his strange expression and were all looking at him, stunned, under the impression that he had thought of something shocking.
Xiang Shaolong waved his hand offhandedly as he said with excitement, "I’ll be in charge of security for the Spring Festival this time. After the morning court session tomorrow, Xiaojun will come with me to survey the route to the Spring Festival Ceremony. Let us have a face to face combat with these elite a.s.sa.s.sins who are from the various countries, each using our own methods and see who is better."
Everyone looked at him in astonishment as Xiang Shaolong smiled and said, "The most vicious part of Pu Hu’s plan, is that if something happens to the Crown Prince while on his way to the Spring Festival Ceremony, Lord Changwen and I will be punishable by death. He’s killing multiple birds with one stone. From what I see, Pu Hu’s intellect is definitely on par with Lu Buwei, just that he’s a little down on luck. Just like my duel with Guan Zhongxie the last time, he placed his bet on the wrong person!" He stood up and stretched lazily before adding, "This time they’re still down on their luck, because they are facing me, Xiang Shaolong."
The next morning, Xiang Shaolong woke up as usual before the c.o.c.k crows to practice his swordplay before leaving for the Palace. As he was especially early, he made use of the little extra time to look for Xiao Pan.
Xiao Pan may be the most hardworking prince in the history of the Qin family as he listened to Li Si’s reports while having breakfast so that he can handle the court discussion later.
On seeing that Xiang Shaolong has arrived, Xiao Pan hurriedly dispensed with ceremony and asked him to take the lower seat as he said with a serious expression, "Pu Hu and Du Bi are indeed audacious, how dare they have ulterior motives towards me. Guoxing was able to redeem his mistake, General please see how he should be rewarded!"
Xiang Shaolong exchanged a look with Li Si, then said with a laugh, "Your subordinate advices Crown Prince to address me as Grand Tutor. If you address me as General, it feels as if I’ll be leading an army into battle any time."
In the whole of Qin, Xiang Shaolong is the only person who could speak to Xiao Pan like that.
Xiao Pan chortled, "As soon as I see Grand Tutor, all my worries are gone." He turned towards Li Si and said, "Li Si, can you let Grand Tutor have a look at the new coin we’ll be launching for Black Dragon!"
Li Si happily placed the new coin on Xiang Shaolong’s table.
Xiang Shaolong picked it up for a look. It’s a round coin with a round hole in the middle, and written on it the words half tael, with an abstract looking dragon shape. It’s really a vast difference from the image of money he had in mind.
Li Si returned to his table and said with a sigh, "Learned Lady Ji indeed lives up to her reputation, with her proposal to change the political system. Not only is it practical and feasible, the political and economical reforms are also taken into consideration. The timeline for implementation is also indicated and the stages of implementation are just right such that the people won’t feel forced into it. Please tell Learned Lady that Li Si is in total awe."
Xiao Pan obviously thinks very highly of Li Si as he said with a laugh, "Official Li is too humble. Official Li has given a lot of examples in the whole proposal, and has contributed as much