Book 6 Chapter 5 – The Muddleheaded Ruler’s End of the Road

Yu Shiji intercepted them in front of Yangsheng Hall, Yang Guang’s personal chamber. With bitter and paled face he said, “We cannot have an audience now, His Highness is sleeping.”

Fei Yun anxiously said, “Saving people is as urgent as fighting fire; can’t we have Madame Gui’er [lit. imperial concubine] think of a way to wake him up?”

Yu Shiji sighed and said, “I have talked to Madame Gui’er earlier, she said His Highness did not sleep at all last night, he went up the dragon bed to rest only a moment ago. Just who do you think will have the guts to disturb him?”

Dugu Sheng also panicked, “What should we do then?”

After exchanging a glance with Xu Ziling, Kou Zhong calmly said, “Yu Daren, is it possible to ask Madame Gui’er, why did he stay up all night?

Yu Shiji understood his meaning; he went into the palace hall again.

Dugu Sheng helplessly said, “It looks like we’ll have to ask two Xiao Xiongdi to be a bit more patient and wait!”

Xu Ziling said, “Just don’t watch over us like prisoners.”

Fei Yun also beseeched them, “Of course not,” he hastily said, “As long as two gentlemen do not leave the Palace gate, you can do whatever you like to do.”

Dugu Sheng still did not feel reassured, he beckoned a young man from among his subordinates and introduced him to them, “This is Laofu’s [paternal] nephew, Dugu Xiong, let him accompany you strolling around!”

Xu Ziling remembered something; he said, “We have a friend who was enlisted to be a cook in the Palace, we want to ask a favor on his behalf, to have him return to his hometown and reunite with his family.”

Fei Yun’s mind was already someplace else; a bit impatient, he said, “Such a trivial matter, Xiao Xiong [little Xiong] can do it for you.” Finished speaking, he and Dugu Sheng went their separate ways.

This Dugu Xiong was approximately two, three years older that the two boys, his appearance looked quite good, his brows and eyes astute. “Shall we go to the kitchen first, then?” he inquired, “With Yu Daren in charge, nothing is impossible.”

“In that case, Dugu Xiong [this time it is ‘brother’ Dugu] please lead the way,” Kou Zhong said.

Dugu Xiong led the way. Whenever they encountered palace maids and beautiful servant girls, no one did not stare at Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, two boys. With a hint of envy Dugu Xiong laughed and said, “Looks like Kou Dage and Xu Dage are extremely popular with the ladies.”

Very proud of himself, Kou Zhong laughed and said, “How long have Dugu Xiong entered the service as His Highness personal bodyguard?”

“Not even two months,” Dugu Xiong replied.

Xu and Kou, two boys’ hearts were shaken, thinking that in order to overthrow the Yuwen Clan, the Dugu Clan had the martial art masters in their whole nest to come out and have them transferred to Jiangdu. Maybe after rooting out Yuwen Clan’s influence, their next target would be Yang Guang.

After exchanging some greetings with a group of patrolling guards, Dugu Xiong said in a low voice, “I heard two gentlemen have defeated Yuwen Wudi, is there really such thing?”

Kou Zhong said in his heart, ‘Not only Yuwen Wudi was beaten and fled, even your family’s Dugu Ba was injured by Xiao Ling, yet you, this kid, still dare to be skeptical.’ However, his mouth said, “It’s just exaggerated rumor! The fact was that we were just lucky to escape alive.”

“That was quite remarkable,” Dugu Xiong said.

Xu Ziling seldom saw Kou Zhong made modest remarks; inwardly he praised him for being more mature that before.

Passing the imperial garden at the southeast corner of the Chambers of Imperial Concubines, the aroma of meat and vegetable dishes and cooked rice assaulted the three men’s nostrils.

Dugu Xiong said, “Please wait here for a moment, let Xiaodi get Lu Gonggong [term of respect to address a eunuch], the kitchen manager, so that gentlemen can ask him directly. As long as he knows that gentlemen are Yu Daren’s men, I guarantee he will do his best to help.”

After Dugu Xiong left, Kou Zhong said, “Chen Laomou [see Book 2, Chapter 10, ‘Grandpa Chen’] said: any imperial palace must have underground secret tunnel. We’d better try to find one, so that in time of emergency we can slip away a bit quicker.”

Recalling the dreadful situation when Li Mi attacked the Big Boss Mansion, Xu Ziling shivered inwardly. “How are we going to do that?” he asked.

Kou Zhong pondered, “Do you remember? Chen Laomou said that all tunnels must have ventilation. Inside the building, the outlets will be easy to conceal, but in open space, in the garden for instance, it will be easy to find. Ha! Of course Yang Guang built the tunnel for his own use. Therefore, as long as we are looking around that imperial garden just now, we’ll definitely find some tiny traces [orig. spider’s thread and horse track]. And then when something bad happens, we’ll flee from that tunnel!”

Xu Ziling smiled wryly and said, “Your speculation, I agree one thousand percent. But since Xiao Fei might be the enemy’s spy, chances are Yuwen Huagu also knew about this secret tunnel. If we rush in and Yuwen Huagu waited at the exit and smoked us, we will be choked to death.”

Kou Zhong slapped his forehead. Dejectedly he looked at the magnificent scenery around the palace halls. Lowering his voice, he said, “You are right, flying to the heavens we don’t have the skill, fleeing to the earth we might meet dead end, the only way is to do it like the last time, find a place where we could hide for

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several days. This place is at least ten times bigger than the Big Boss Mansion; it should be easier to find a hiding place. But we must be careful lest Yuwen Huagu set the Palace on fire to vent his anger.”

Xu Ziling laughed and said, “If the sky is falling, we’ll spread it out as our bedding. When the time of soldiers mutiny and troops rebel really comes, Yuwen Huagu will definitely deal with Yang Guang first, we will then take the opportunity to kill our way out of the siege. Don’t forget that we are now martial art masters.”

Kou Zhong roared in laughter, “I almost forget!” he said.

A smile escaped from the corner of Xu Ziling’s mouth, the scene from their childhood years seemed to reappear. In those days they were both open and candid, sometimes they would argue about a small thing over many days, but they would also burst in laughter for no apparent reason at all.

Kou Zhong said in low voice, “They are here.”

Xu Ziling had already heard the footsteps. Dugu Xiong’s footsteps were steady and even; not only his foundation solid, the path he took in training martial art was also of the profound, powerful and bold style.

That Lu Gonggong’s footsteps, on the other hand, were floaty, plus his left leg was a bit longer than his right, so one was heavy the other light, his center of gravity was a bit off.

Thinking to this point, even Xu Ziling himself was wondering why he could conjure up conjecture that many things purely based on one’s footsteps. If his skill improved some more, perhaps he could grasp even more things.

A person can always put an act, but the sound of his footsteps oftentimes can reveal the actual facts.

From a distance Kou Zhong already saluted and said, “Wishing Lu Gonggong good fortune, Xiaozi [I, the little one] Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, came with a specific purpose in mind to wish Lu Gonggong good health.”

Lu Gonggong, whose head looked like a snake’s head and whose eyes looked like rat’s eyes, smiled creepily and said, “We are all brothers, there is no need to stand on ceremonies, simply tell me what you need.”