Chapter 70
Book 7 Chap 3 – The Night is Painfully Short
The horse carriage trotted past the quiet streets of Handan, illuminated by the lanterns in the dark night.
As the carriage b.u.mped around, Xiang Shaolong’s thoughts were b.u.mpy as well.
Right until this point in time, he has yet to think of any good way to capture Zhao Mu alive and cut down Le Cheng’s head before escaping from Handan safely.
There was just an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt on Zhao Mu tonight so he’ll definitely be extra careful in future and security will definitely be tightened. Under such circ.u.mstances, it won’t be easy to kill him, much less capture him alive.
Now that the envoys from the 6 states are arriving one by one, the Zhaos, in order to keep this a secret and to prevent Qin spies from infiltrating the city, have now stepped up the defenses of the city by ten, or even a hundred times. Even sending someone to slip out of the city is a dangerous mission because they are now keeping detailed records of the people coming to and from the city.
Besides, his time here is limited. If the Zhaos realize that his promise of a large batch of warhorses arriving in Handan is not materializing, his situation would be far from optimistic.
Luckily a few hundred warhorses will be arriving in a few days’ time and hopefully that will ease some of the wait for the Zhaos.
Being with Zhao Mu is an extremely dangerous affair; just one word spoken wrongly and he can be defeated or humiliated.
As for his personal relations.h.i.+ps, everything is in a bigger mess.
Firstly no one can guarantee that Ji Yanran’s heart will remain unchanged. With the lesson from Zhao Ya, his confidence in himself with regards to such matters is no longer the same as before.
As for his entangled relations.h.i.+p with Zhao Ya, he is even more bothered about it. Sometimes he finds her pitiful but most of the time he finds her hateful.
Hai! Forget it!
Just forget about her.
She is indeed a flirtatious woman, falling for every person she sees.
If that Li Yuan were to hook his finger at her, she would throw herself into his arms too.
Once he thought about this, the fire of revenge burned in him again, making him even more confused.
Zhao Zhi has obviously seen through something. A person’s heart is unfathomable and if she wants to betray them, their outcome will be tragic. To be able to die in battle would be a good ending, for what they fear most is to be captured alive, for that will be a fate worse than death.
He finally returned to his residence that used to be the Hostage Residence.
Xiang Shaolong left the carriage and walked into the house.
Teng Yi, Wu Zhuo and Jing Jun were all waiting for his return and followed him straight into the house with high walls, which was used to put the fake Ying Zheng in house arrest.
The 3 of them saw that he didn’t look happy but none dared to ask any questions, only following him into the secret room then used for discussion.
After the 4 of them were seated, Xiang Shaolong turned his icy face towards Jing Jun and said, "Xiao Jun! What exactly have you revealed to Zhao Ya? Do not try to hide anything."
Teng Yi and Wu Zhuo’s expressions both changed.
In this dangerous place where enemies are everywhere, they are like walking on thin ice, one wrong step and their lives would immediately be in danger, not to mention if their background has been leaked.
Jing Jun was startled and lowered his head, asking in fear, "Third Brother has seen Zhao Zhi?"
Xiang Shaolong did not reveal that Zhao Zhi did not expose him directly in case Jing Jun tried to deny anything, but just nodded his head.
Teng Yi banged the table and cursed, "You’re an ignorant fool who knows not the consequences. Do you want everyone to perish because of your stupidity. We have already warned you long ago."
Jing Jun smiled wryly, "That warning came too late, I’ve already told her long ago that we will be returning in the near future."
Wu Zhuo asked lividly, "Don’t you know that Zhao Zhi is a Zhao? If her love for her country is more than her love for you, what would be the consequences."
Jing Jun replied dejectedly, "She doesn’t love me at all, she only loves Third Brother."
All three were stunned.
Teng Yi furrowed his brows, "Don’t sprout nonsense in order to wriggle yourself out of this."
Jing Jun said miserably, "She only regards me as a mischievous little brother. She’s willing to talk to me only because she wants to know more about Third Brother."
Xiang Shaolong asked, "What did she write in her last letter to you?"
Jing Jun replied haltingly in shame, "She asked when we’ll be coming to Handan and if we to be received. Ai! It’s not that I have not thought of the problem that she’s a Zhao, it’s just that she told me she has a deep enmity with Zhao Mu, that’s why I believe she will not betray us."
Xiang Shaolong was stunned. On the surface Zhao Zhi and Zhao Mu seemed to interact harmoniously, even training his courtesans for him. He can’t tell anything out of the ordinary at all.
Why would she have a deep enmity?
Wu Zhuo asked, "What enmity does she has with Zhao Mu?"
Jing Jun shook his head, at a loss, "She refused to tell."
Teng Yi hesitated, "Maybe it has something to do with a woman’s chast.i.ty."
Wu Zhuo asked, "Who else is there in Zhao Zhi’s family?"
Xiang Shaolong and Wu Zhuo both revealed a look of attentiveness. This question is the key to everything. If Zhao Zhi has a large family in Zhao, why would she sacrifice her whole clan because of a man. At least she cannot leave behind her birth father. But if she wants her father to leave together with her, she will never get his approval.
Jing Jun replied, "She seems to live with only her Father, I… I don’t know anything at all."
Teng Yi was flabbergasted and sighed, "You’re really messing things up." Jing Jun joined because of him, so it makes him feel he needs to be responsible for everything that Jing Jun does.
Wu Zhuo asked, "Didn’t you send her a reply? What did you write in the letter?"
Amongst all three, Wu Zhuo is the calmest now and all his questions are pin pointed on the most crucial aspects.
Jing Jun is after all still a child so he sobbed out his reply, "I told her we will appear in Handan in disguise, and will find a chance to make contact with her after we arrive."
Xiang Shaolong can’t bear to see him thus so he patted his shoulder in consolation, "The situation is not that bad. Although she seems to have recognized me, firstly she’s still not too sure, and secondly she did not call my bluff. There’s still a chance to turn the situation around. But I really do not understand, since you know that she only regards you as a younger brother, why do you still want to become entangled with her?"
Jing Jun choked, "I don’t understand too. But if she becomes your woman, Xiao Jun would never have an ounce of unhappiness."
Teng Yi said calmly, "We must not let our fate be under the control of a woman’s hand. Xiao Jun, show me the way, I will kill her personally to prevent any unforeseen problems."
Jing Jun’s body trembled violently, his eyes wide opened in shock.
Wu Zhuo nodded his head, "This seems like the only solution."
Among the four, two has already agreed to silence her. Jing Jun was so startled that he forgot to cry but only looked pleadingly at Xiang Shaolong.
Xiang Shaolong thought secretly to himself that if they want to keep this a secret, they’ll have to kill Tian Zhen as well and how can he bring himself to do it? He said calmly, "By doing this we will see the harm first before we see the benefits. Zhao Zhi spoke to me many times tonight and was taking