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Leshou was located between two rivers, Tuoshui and Zhangshui [both ‘shui’ means ‘water/river’], a famous mountain city in the northern territory, controlling the vast area between the two rivers, up to the transportation hub at the upper reaches of Yongji Canal. In term of geographical location, it was quite significant; it had tight grip over the land route and official road leading to Yuyang and Shanhai Pass.

The city walls were connected all around, strong and majestic, constructed of bricks that were sealed tightly, reinforced by arrow-towers and barricaded entrances. A stream flowed into the city, becoming a river channel inside, and a moat protecting the city outside. The ups and downs of surrounding mountain range made its imposing manner incomparable to the ordinary open cities built in the plains. Although in term of scale it was only half the size of Luoyang, Chang’an, that kind of metropolis, it had its own vast, expanded grandeur, which left deep impression in people’s heart.

Surrounded by irregular mountains, sandwiched by the mountains and the rivers, rugged, dangerous and difficult, it was indeed a city with natural defenses on all four sides. The marketplace in the city was even more prosperous, with row after row of houses and multi-story buildings facing each other.

When the two boys reached Leshou, it happened to be the second day of the second month of the lunar year, the cold was over, after the snow was melting, the trees outside the city were blanketed in green, creating the beautiful scenery of the spring returning to the mother earth.

Along with the rising momentum of the Kingdom of Xia, the business in Leshou flourished, so that it became the political, economic and cultural center of the northern territory. Dou Jiande also built satellite cities and forts between the two rivers and one canal, which were connected to Leshou by roads, forming a transportation network linking up the rivers and canal, and thus enhancing the city’s strategic and economic importance.

The city’s most important thoroughfares were the main streets connecting the four city gates, the north-south, and the east-west, with the Xia Palace’s inner city as the core. The other secondary streets were laid out crisscrossing this cross-shaped main streets.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling hid inside the goods brought in by a group of peasants to avoid paying tax as they sneaked into the city. And then, following Liu Heita’s directions, they went to a huge residential building at the north side of the city. They saw the gate was tightly guarded, with Jianghu characters going in and out from time to time. The front courtyard beyond the gate was bustling with noise and excitement; obviously Zhai Jiao was doing very well in Leshou.

Their hearts were filled with excitement, the two boys came to the outer courtyard gate. One of the men guarding the doors saw them and in his great delight was going to call them, but Kou Zhong, realizing that the other party knew them, quickly signaled him not to call their names. “This time we are coming incognito,” he explained, “Is Da Xiaojie in?”

After leaving his order to the other gatekeepers, the man immediately took them into the courtyard. While walking, he said, “Da Xiaojie is unable to move freely, let Xiaoren take two Ye’er straight into the inner hall to see her. Ay! It’s really good that two Daye are coming at this time. All of us, brothers admire two Daye very much.”

Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong were shocked. The former asked in concern, “Why is Da Xiaojie unable to move freely? What happened?”

The man completely regarded them as one of their own; lowering his voice, he spoke sorrowfully, “Da Xiaojie suffers leg injury at the frontier fortress due to ambush, we also lost a large number of brothers; therefore, the mood is extremely somber. Ay! Fortunately two Daye’s good selves arrive, you could retrieve justice for us.”

Murderous aura in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes flaring greatly, he spoke fiercely, “Who has such guts? How about Tu Ye?”

The man replied sadly, “In order to rescue Da Xiaojie, Tu Ye received an even more serious injury. Other things, let Da Xiaojie tell two Daye personally.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling shivered greatly. It should be noted that Tu Shufang was the chief martial art master among Zhai Rang’s troops in the past, his martial art skill outstanding. The two boys’ sealing acupoint and cutting off meridian technique was taught by him, which has given the two boys endless benefit. If even he ended up seriously injured, then the enemy’s strength must not be taken lightly.

Moreover, Zhai Jiao’s subordinates were entirely elite troops and personal bodyguards of the former Wagang Army, which must not be compared to ordinary flock of crows of the gangs and societies. Such tragic loss, one could well imagine how formidable the enemy was.

A bit of embarrassed, Kou Zhong suddenly asked, “Is Chuchu Guniang all right?”

It was only then that Xu Ziling remembered Zhai Jiao’s beautiful personal maid, Chuchu. The happy scene of them playing snowball fight with Chuchu and the other young maids in the Da Longtou Mansion at Yingyang that day immediately reemerged in his mind.

The man replied, “Luckily Chu Dajie was looking after Lingzhong Shaoye that day, hence she did not come.”

By this time the three reached the stone steps in front of the inner hall. Zhai Jiao’s angry voice came from the inside, “Useless bunch! Such a trivial matter, yet you manage to turn it into total mess. Get lost for me!”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were able to hear that whether her middle qi or her fire qi [internal heat (in traditional Chinese medicine)], both were still very vigorous, hence they were relieved instead. The joy of meeting again after a long period of separation welling up in their heart, they quickly sped up to climb the long steps toward the main door.

Five men happened to stepped out of the door; hanging their head dispiritedly they ran into the three head-on. Seeing Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, three out of five men recognized them, none did not reveal pleasantly surprised expression. One of them even shouted excitedly, “Da Xiaojie! Kou Ye and Xu Ye are here!”

Zhai Jiao’s voice roared, “What do you mean Kou Ye, Xu Ye? You mean those two kids are coming?”

Seeing how Zhai Jiao treated these two martial art masters whose name shook the world without any trace of politeness like this, the men were both embarrassed and excited at the same time.

The two could no longer restrain their concern and longing; they rushed into the hall together, the group of men anxiously followed. Everybody was talking, the atmosphere was warm.

Zhai Jiao was half-lying on the couch, her right foot was wrapped like a pig’s hoof, the smell of medicine and wine permeated the air in the hall, and there was some kind of paleness that came from blood loss on Zhai Jiao’s face; however, she could still be considered energetic. There were four men standing behind her; she did not lose her lofty style at all.

Seeing that it was indeed the two boys, she shouted loudly, “You, two fellows, roll over here. You came to see me only today? Do you believe me if I say I am going to break your dog legs?”

Kou Zhong dropped down and raised his cupped fist, he said deferentially, “Da Xiaojie scolds us well; we, these two fellows, are coming late, we are asking for Da Xiaojie’s forgiveness.”

Xu Ziling rushed forward and said, “Da Xiaojie’s leg injury …”

Staring wide-eyed, Zhai Jiao cut him off, “Don’t worry! How could I, Zhai Jiao, die that easily?”

“How’s Tu Gong’s injury?” Kou Zhong asked.

“Of course he is not going to die,” Zhai Jiao replied, “You, two kids, arrived just in time. I want you to kill three men for me.”

And then her gaze swept the men standing behind the two boys, smiling obsequiously; she angrily said, “You guys standing there smiling ingratiatingly; are you asking for a beating? Get lost for me! Do you think that since they have come, you guys can eat for free? There’s no such convenience. Get lost!”

Everybody went out of the hall in a flurry.

Zhai Jiao also shouted at the four guards behind her, “You guys get lost as well. With these two Xiongdi here, who’d dare to assassinate me?”

When only the three of them remained in the inner hall, Zhao Jiao bestowed the two boys favor by letting them to sit at her left and right.

“Which three men Da Xiaojie wants us to kill for you?” Kou Zhong asked.

Zhai Jiao muttered to herself irresolutely for half a day. Her tone turned gentle, she said, “I hear you lost the Duke Yang’s Treasure; how could you be so useless like that?”

Kou Zhong did not dare to deceive her, he explained everything in low voice.

It was obvious that Zhai Jiao was happy for them; nodded, she said, “That will do! Xiao Zhong, it’s most important that you strive and work hard, don’t let Old Sui’s corrupt official obtain the world.”

In front of Zhai Jiao, the two boys’ allotted share was just nodding their heads. Because of her relationship with Susu and Little Lingzhong, they had long regarded Zhai Jiao as their close relative.

Suddenly Zhai Jiao’s two eyes turned slightly red; gnashing her teeth in anger, she fiercely said, “My loss this time is really disastrous; I lost fifteen brothers who had followed me for many years, I also lost a batch of goods, and I still had to pay for the damage.”

This time, even Xu Ziling was enraged; he spoke heavily, “Who actually did it? We will certainly get justice for Da Xiaojie.”

Zhai Jiao lost her temper again; she said angrily, “What justice can be talked about on earth? Whoever has harder fist will have the right to run amuck and do evil. The first one to be killed is the ‘Ba Wang’ Du Xing. I even want you to pull Bei Ba Bang by the root; otherwise, how could I vent this anger?”

And then she uttered a string of cuss words so vulgar that when hearing it, even the two boys were blushing.

From Zhai Jiao’s mouth, they started to verify that a man named Du Xing did indeed exist, not just some crazy nonsense that Guan Ping invented.

“Did Du Xing’s men ambush Da Xiaojie?” Kou Zhong asked.

Zhai Jiao crossly said, “The prairie was so dark, how do I know who ambushed us? But if not Du Xing, then it must be the chief of Qidan’s horse thieves Hu Yanjin, or Han Chao’an who came from Gaoli; it must be one of these three. I want you to take the heads of these three villains who collude together and bring them to me.”

Although he knew that it would not be easy to do, Kou Zhong still patted his chest and said, “Just leave this matter to us, your two Xiongdi. That batch of goods that Da Xiaojie lost, we will definitely force them to vomit it out.”

Without any trace of politeness, Zhai Jiao said, “Then you need to leave quicker. I bought that batch of highest quality sheepskin from Huihe [pre-Tang name of ethnic group corresponding to modern Uighur]; I would have made at least a few thousand taels of gold profit. But now, not only I don’t have the goods to deliver, I still have to pay for the loss. It infuriates me to the death!”

Xu Ziling said, “We will immediately set out tomorrow morning. Tonight we still have time to give it thorough consideration. We want to see Tu Gong and Little Lingzhong first.”

Zhai Jiao nodded and said, “I need to make arrangement for your trip to the north as well; let’s talk more during dinner.”

Tu Shufang suffered many injuries on his body, but the one nearly taking his life was a palm strike on his shoulder blade, which inflicted serious damage to his five viscera and six bowels, confining him to a bed rest.

This moment, seeing the two boys gracing him with their presence has comforted his old heart and relieved him of the load on his mind. He was very clear of Zhai Jiao’s temperament; were it not for her leg injury preventing her from walking, she would have led her men back to the frontier fortress to look for the enemy to settle the account early on.

Things have priorities. Although Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling was eager to see Little Lingzhong, their precious darling, they still need to heal Tu Shufang’s injury first. Kou Zhong promptly took out the ‘Divine Needles’, and then assisted by Xu Ziling, used more than half a sichen to treat the meridians related to Tu Shufang’s injury, to open the blocked qi passages. Their Secret to Long Life’s true qi was indeed no small matter, the effect was almost immediate, the achievement was significant, Tu Shufang immediately saw big improvement.

Asking the two boys to help him sit at the bedhead, he said, “The attack this time, our loss is indeed disastrous; it inflicted heavy damage to our primordial qi. Furthermore, the effect on our business is far-reaching; the worst is that we cannot let people know. But ultimately paper cannot contain fire. By the time we really cannot cover it anymore, our Yi Sheng Long’s reputation, which we have worked so hard to build, will receive a big blow.”

Consoling him, Kou Zhong said, “Tu Gong, don’t worry. We will try to get that batch of sheepskin back, no matter what. Ay! I hope those thieves have not sold the goods yet.”

Tu Shufang asked in surprise, “Did Da Xiaojie not tell you about the price that Du Xing opened to us? He wanted us to pay five thousand taels of gold to redeem the eighty thousand sheets of sheepskin. Honestly, even if everything goes smoothly without a hitch, at most we can only make about thousand taels of gold. Now, if we also have to pay the ransom, before and after, we will have to pay nearly ten thousand taels of gold for nothing. This is really a burden that we cannot afford to carry.”

That amount was equivalent to about one-tenth of the gold in the Duke Yang’s Treasure; it was indeed a very large amount of money.

Xu Ziling angrily said, “This is indeed bullying too much.”

Kou Zhong said, “Since the sheepskin is in Du Xing’s hands, naturally it was he who sent people to rob us. And now he still want to extort ransom; isn’t there Heaven’s law anymore?”

Tu Shufang said, “Whether it was Du Xing who robbed us, it is still difficult to ascertain. On the surface, the relationship between Du Xing and our Yi Sheng Long has always been not bad, plus every time we were robbed or lost some goods, Du Xing had always acted as an intermediary and the role of the elderly, from which he drew commission. But five thousand taels is certainly a lion’s share; because of this, these past two days Da Xiaojie could not sleep out of anger.”

“Does Du Xing know Da Xiaojie’s relationship with us?” Kou Zhong asked.

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Tu Shufang replied, “It’s hard to say.”

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling exchanged some glances. They had a nagging feeling that this matter was not as simple as they thought. It was extremely possible that it was part of an operation with the two boys as the target.

“Is it true that Du Xing has the Tujue supporting him behind his back?” Xu Ziling asked.

Tu Shufang nodded, “Tujue and Qidan are both supporting Du Xing behind his back,” he replied, “However, Du Xing’s relationship with Qidan’s Hu Yanjin is comparatively closer. In Shanhai Pass region, Qidan’s power, due to its concentration, is stronger than the Tujue, especially because of endless internal strife between Tuli and Xieli. Thereupon Qidan people are relying on their power to go on the rampage; anybody who wants to do business beyond the Great Wall must give them face.”

Remembering Prince Ku Ge, whom Kou Zhong had beaten until he abandoned his armor and flung his troops and escaped back to Qidan in a sorry state, Kou Zhong felt great uneasiness in his heart. It was extremely possible that it was indeed he who implicated Zhai Jiao. Therefore, in trying to get justice for Zhai Jiao, he must not be shirked without dishonor even more.

Xu Ziling spoke with heavy voice, “This may be Xiang Yushan’s operation to deal with us. Also, he is the only one who understands clearly our relationship with Da Xiaojie.”

Shaken, Tu Shufang said, “Xiang Yushan! I have not thought that he is the one playing ghost here. He … does he really have that much influence?”

Kou Zhong briefly explained about Xiang Yushan becoming Zhao Deyan’s disciple, as well as the gratitude and grudges between them and the Tujue and Qidan people.

Tu Shufang said, “It seems that your conjecture is not without any reason. Recalling the situation that time, the enemy did have the intention to capture Da Xiaojie alive, fortunately a group of brothers and I risked our life to rescue her back, and escaped to the wilderness under cover of darkness. Now they demand for ransom, it is indeed one scheme failed the other scheme is in place. We absolutely cannot pay; without any better option, we have to ask for your help.”

Gnashing his teeth in anger, Kou Zhong said, “Good kid, I don’t come to deal with you, yet you come to scheme against me. If I, Kou Zhong, cannot kill you, I swear that I am not a human.”

Tu Shufang said, “Since we are fully aware that this is a trap, you must not step in.”

Xu Ziling smiled and said, “Just the opposite is true. Now, even if in front of us is a mountain of sabers or a cauldron of oil, we must break through forcefully.”

Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Tu Gong, don’t worry, in deploying troops and carrying out tactics, we definitely will not flaunt ignorant people’s bravado. Besides, Tuli and us are comrade-in-arms who treat one another with absolute sincerity, who had gone through life and death together.”

Delighted, Tu Shufang said, “If Tuli is willing to stand on your side, naturally it will be another matter altogether.”

The two secretly thought that even if they did not have Tuli, this external help, this matter still must not be ignored.

Tu Shufang started to show sign of fatigue. The two boys did not dare to disturb his rest, plus they wanted to go see Little Lingzhong, hence they said their goodbye and left.

The person receiving Zhai Jiao’s order to wait upon them was a teenager called Ren Jun. He appeared to be quite sharp; he was Zhai Jiao’s trusted aide, her trusted lieutenant. Seeing the two boys coming out, he immediately said, “Let Xiaode [I (when talking to a superior) take Kou Ye and Xu Ye to see Lingzhong Shaoye immediately.”

Kou Zhong reached out to put his hand on his shoulder, “Have you ever heard the name Meiyan Furen?” he asked.

Overwhelmed by favor from superior, Ren Jun nodded his head vigorously and said, “Of course I have. In the northern territory, it could be said that the fame of her beauty reaches far and wide, attracting a large number of men to crowd around her skirt. But those who had really seen her are not many, because her track is swiftly moving, she does not have a fixed residence.”

The three were walking through a vast garden toward the rear courtyard.

“Is she a Han?” Xu Ziling asked.

Ren Jun replied, “I hear she belongs to Yiwu tribe, her martial art skill is extremely brilliant. I hope two Ye’er do not have any enmity against her?”

Halting his steps, Kou Zhong said, “Not right now, but later? It’s hard to say. I need Xiao Jun to do something for us.”

Ren Jun gladly said, “Kou Ye, please tell me.”

“Are you familiar with Pingyao’s situation?” Xu Ziling asked.

Ren Jun replied, “Anybody who’s doing business or in commercial trade knows Pingyao, the most populous and affluent city in Taiyuan. Pingyao people are daring and brave enough to take risks, their business are very big.”

Kou Zhong said, “Pingyao’s three major businesses, of which one is Yu Sheng Chang, is the boss’ surname Guan?”

Ren Jun replied, “Yu Sheng Chang’s boss’ surname should be Li; my understanding is that he still has family relation with Li Yuan.”

Kou Zhong turned to Xu Ziling and said with wry smile, “Indeed as we expected; we have fallen into that fellow’s evil schemes.”

Xu Ziling calmly said, “The future is long [idiom], since we are going to Shanhai Pass anyway, we will see what magic weapon that fellow Guan Ping has.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “No longer refuse to travel together with Xiaodi now?”

Laughing involuntarily, Xu Ziling said, “Since when did Kou Zhong turn to be this narrow-minded, haggling over every ounce?”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “You don’t know how unbearable it is to be harmed by your own brother; if there is any opportunity, naturally I must avenge the wrong I suffered.”

Standing in the middle, hearing that, Ren Jun was baffled; but he could still feel the deep brotherhood love between the two.

Kou Zhong energetically patted Ren Jun’s shoulder. Pointing to the building surrounded by the forest ahead, he asked, “Is Xiao Lingzhong in there?”

Ren Jun nodded.

“You don’t nee to take us inside,” Kou Zhong said, “I want you to investigate one thing. Da Dao She, under the leadership of their Er Dangjia Feng Ba, is escorting a batch of Pingyao businesses’ goods via Leshou. Xiao Jun is to check when they are due to arrive here, and which businesses in Leshou are the recipient of the goods. The more detailed the information the better. We are going to wait for your good news in here.”

Being able to exert himself to handle things for the two, Ren Jun felt great honor; accepting the order, he left.

Kou Zhong reached out to put his hand on Xu Ziling’s shoulder, he smiled and said, “This is destiny. Even if you did not want me to go with you to see the scenery outside the Pass, you simply can’t refuse.”

Smiling bitterly, Xu Ziling said, “I accept misfortunes as decreed by fate!”

The two looked at each other and laughed. They raised their feet to step forward together.