Chapter 81
Book 8 Chapter 4: Isolated Without Support
Ji Yanran, accompanied by Xiang Shaolong and Teng Yi on her right and left, galloped out of the school.
As Xiang Shaolong remembered Zhao Ba’s invitation for them to become the honored guest instructors, he couldn’t help be reminded that Lian Jin must have received the same treatment when he was alive, therefore he had the opportunity to become closer to Zhao Zhi thus evoking their short affair.
Maybe Zhao Zhi is fickle in love, for her first lover was killed and she instead fell in love with him, the person who killed her lover, but because of her relations.h.i.+p with Jing Jun, he didn’t dare to accept her love. However, if she threw herself into Li Yuan’s embrace out of anger because of this, it could really make one feel resentful.
Li Yuan will definitely not appreciate or care for the fairer s.e.x for he is too selfish.
Returning to the busy town centre, Teng Yi said, "I want to go to the Hidden Army Valley to see them, I may not be able to return by tonight."
Xiang Shaolong nodded in agreement, replied offhandedly, "Have you sent someone to see ‘Father’?"
‘Father’ was Lu Buwei’s codename.
Teng Yi replied, "Sent the day before!" After requesting leave of Ji Yanran, he rode towards the city gate direction. They have been granted the Pa.s.s Doc.u.ment so they could leave the city at anytime without any problem.
Ji Yanran begged, "I want you to stroll around town with me, will you agree?"
Xiang Shaolong joyfully agreed and they rode back to his residence first, before going out to leisurely stroll around town.
After walking for only a while and Ji Yanran couldn’t take it anymore because every on the street were staring at them in surprise, making her feel uncomfortable, so she had no choice but to drag Xiang Shaolong and slipped back into the borrowed residence she’s currently residing in.
The owner, a great Confucian Scholar in Handan, Liu Huasheng was playing chess with Zou Yan and when the two of them returned, they were delighted.
Liu Huasheng and Zou Yan were old friends who had known each other for thirty more years and they treated Ji Yanran like their own daughter and everyone was talking joyfully.
So far, Zou Yan hadn’t gotten a chance yet to speak of old times with Xiang Shaolong. He urged Ji Yanran to take his place playing chess, while he and Xiang Shaolong walked together into the quiet and secluded back garden, and sighed, "Since the Prince of Ping moved to the east, it’s been more than 500 years where there’s no true leader. There had been continuous wars, and who else but the common people suffered, luckily, we now have you as the new Saint to become our hope of ever stopping these wars."
Xiang Shaolong wouldn’t dare to underestimate this wise ‘Five Elements’ School founder, because truly without him Xiang Shaolong, Emperor Qin who united the six countries wouldn’t exist. But he still didn’t know how to answer his question, the only way left was just to stay quiet.
Zou Yan was intoxicated inside his own vision of vast and broad history and softly said, "I know Shaolong is someone who pursues peace, but true peace can only be achieved through war, there’s no other way beside this. Otherwise with these seven states continuously fighting, sooner or later, we’ll be attacked from the tribes in the northwest who are watching intently for the right opportunity to invade the mainland like locusts coming to destroy our civilization."
Xiang Shaolong was suddenly startled, Zou Yan’s words were like a blow to his head, getting him to think of problems he didn’t think of before. All along, he had deliberately avoided having a hand in any wars; however, he never thought that it’d be better to suffer momentarily than to suffer long-term pain, employing war as a way to bring peace. This was mainly because of his foreigner mentality.
But this problem is in fact his problem now as he had become a member of this era so naturally he have to accept the responsibility that comes with staying in this time period.
Even if Qin didn’t dispatch soldiers to go on an expedition, the other six states also won’t let Qin off, this is basically a time period where the strongest rules.
Instead of allowing the flames of war to reign free indefinitely to the point of flas.h.i.+ng an open invitation for the outside tribes to invade, it’d be better to use the Qins’ might to unite the whole country earlier. If he leads the army, at the very least, he can reduce the senseless ma.s.sacre to the bare minimum thus reducing the burden of war on the people.
Once he reached this conclusion, his heart stirred to pa.s.sion.
Zou Yan measured him with rapt attention for a while before grinning, "The universe undergoes thousands of changes constantly, but is always connected to the activities of the five elements – gold, wood, water, fire and earth. The heaven is five elements, people are also five elements. Even though from outward appearance the usage is always full of changes, on the inside the essence stays the same. If heaven and people are always interconnected, every time there’s a rising energy, when both of them are taking turns, an auspicious omen can be seen. Wherever auspicious omen is, that is where the master of the new time period is. For example, the time of King Zhouwen, there was a red crow holding a red book in its beak which flew down to the sacrificial altar, signifying the time for them to develop the unification plan."
Xiang Shaolong couldn’t help himself asking, "So where is the auspicious omen now?"
Zou Yan joyfully replied, "Did you remember that I once mentioned to you the appearance of a new star? Half a year ago, Shaolong left Zhao and went towards Qin, that star immediately vanished. Just when I was confused, I saw on the sky where the position of Qin is, a bigger and brighter new star appeared, glowing in the night sky. Now I am positive that the one who will unify the whole country must be a Qin and will have a direct relation to you."
Xiang Shaolong was stunned speechless, with this he can no longer underestimate the authority of this ancient astrologer.
Zou Yan extended his hand and placed it on his shoulder, saying sincerely, "For the sake of the well being of the people in the whole world, Shaolong, you must accelerate the Qins unification plan or else the fate of the new star might suddenly become gloomier. Do not worry about how others will see you, as long as you grab tightly to your ideals and do your best, you wouldn’t disappoint the expectations placed on you by Heaven. The unification plan must start with you and this is something I am very sure of."
Xiang Shaolong’s heart was stirred, only now did he understand how open Zou Yan’s heart is, filled with pa.s.sion and love for the universe and mankind.
His opinion is aimed at the current actual situation, unlike Confucius and Mencius who could only talk about virtue and morality, while hard reality pointed out that near expiring State of Lu can only perish.
During this warring period, the only way to fight violence was with violence.
Zou Yan continued, "Yanran always had this idea, she wish she can support a brilliant leader to unify the whole country and stop the war."
Xiang Shaolong bitterly smiled in his heart, the path to attaining this goal is very long and arduous, but without Great Qin, it would not be possible for the following period of the two Han Dynasties to have peace, even more so for China to exists in the 21st century. When he thought of this, he abruptly resolved to cast aside his own moral principles and see if he can help Xiao Pan a little.
At the same time, he secretly sighed. For someone like him who views all wars are evil, it wasn’t easy for him to suddenly change his ideology.
Right at this moment, Ji Yanran and Liu Huasheng came out side by side.
Zou Yan laughed, "How did it go?"
Ji Yanran blushed, "Scholar Liu saw that I am not in the mood for war so he let me off this time!"
Everyone laughed.
That Liu Huasheng didn’t know Xiang Shaolong background and only regarded him as horse fanatic Dong Kuang. After some small talk, he and Zou Yan went back inside to continue contending for supremacy on the chessboard while Ji Yanran happily led Xiang Shaolong towards small building she’s temporary residing in.
Two beautiful servant-girls opened the gate and welcomed them in. Xiang Shaolong recognized them and suddenly felt a surge of familiarity.
Ji Yanran took him upstairs to her room. After waving away her maid, she sat on his lap and gave him a scorching kiss.
Both of them felt like they were transported to another world.
Yanran pretended to be solemn and asked, "Brother Dong! May I dare to ask when will you officially take Yanran as your wife?"
Xiang Shaolong grinned, "Since Miss Ji is asking this question, hmm, let me inspect you first to see if you are good stuff!"
He extended his hand and start stroking her bosom.
Ji Yanran melted into his embrace, but still stubbornly asked, "I am being serious now. When I can’t see you, that longing feeling is truly tormenting for me."
Xiang Shaolong felt deeply touched by her love for him, sighed, "If everyone knows that I have won you over and even sleeping together with you, it’ll be difficult for me to move around. By that time, everyone will pay attention to us even you surely will lose your position and status as a detached girl free from all manly and womanly l.u.s.t. This will be detrimental towards my operation here in Handan."
These few days, Ji Yanran has fallen head over heels in love and has forgotten everything else. Now that Xiang Shaolong has reminded her, she pondered and nodded, "Yanran’s too reckless, forgetting that you are in a dangerous situation, I understand now!"
After a short discussion, the two of them reluctantly parted.
Xiang Shaolong leisurely walked back to his residence instead of riding.
Wu Guo interrupted him at the entrance, "Lady Ya and Miss Zhi are both waiting for you. I brought both of them separately to the east and west room respectively."
Xiang Shaolong felt a headache coming as soon as he heard this. His hasn’t even gotten any headway for his proper work, instead he got himself entangled with relations.h.i.+p problems and he couldn’t help but feel discouraged by this. After considering for a minute, he decided to see Zhao Zhi first.
When he entered the west room, Zhao Zhi was well-behaved and quietly sitting in the corner staring blankly. She looked down as she heard the footsteps, not sure if it means that she’s still annoyed at him, or because she felt ashamed that he saw her allowing Li Yuan to be frivolous with her.
Xiang Shaolong sat down beside her, "Miss Zhi, don’t you have to accompany Li Yuan?"
Zhao Zhi paled and bit her lips, not answering the question at all as she replied, "Teacher asked me to invite you to our school."
Xiang Shaolong understood that she is just using this as an excuse to come see him, otherwise why would Zhao Ba task a beautiful girl like her to come alone to invite him for it just doesn’t conform with the etiquette. He sighed, "How are you these last two days? Now, my heart is very troubled."
Zhao Zhi still looked down, whispered like a fly, "What are you troubled about? You have just flaunted your abilities today and also won the talented Lady Ji’s favor. I thought you won’t be home so early."
Xiang Shaolong suddenly understood her intention for coming here looking for him. She wanted to show him that she didn’t give in to Li Yuan. Coming from such a proud and arrogant beautiful girl, this is already a large concession. It can also be seen that this girl had fallen hard for him to the point of losing her self-control.
Zhao Zhi slowly lifted her head, sadly watching him, "You can do whatever you like to me, hit me, scold me, because it’s Zhao Zhi’s fault."
Xiang Shaolong was secretly lamenting, when a beautiful girl is willing to allow him to punish her, it’s an equivalent to allowing her husband free reign to handle her. If he still rejected her, there’s no other way for her to redeem her pride besides suicide. He couldn’t help getting a headache and stood up.
Zhao Zhi watched him in trepidation.
Xiang Shaolong said, "Miss Zhi, just sit here first, I will be back with you right away."
He hurried over to the east room.
Zhao Ya was leaning on the window blankly watching the garden outside. Under the evening sun, the flowers and trees gave out a thick autumn feeling.
Hearing his footsteps, Zhao Ya trembled slightly, turned around and smiled, "Talented Lady Ji did not invite you to spend the night?"
Xiang Shaolong snorted, "Did you think her a wanton girl? I didn’t even have the chance to touch her little finger."
Zhao Ya knew that he taking the opportunity to blow this up and being sarcastic that she’s making herself easy for Li Yuan. She looked down in shame and sighed, "I come here now to apologize to you. Will Mister accept my apology?"
Xiang Shaolong was secretly lamenting, he really shouldn’t have fought today. During