Book 10 Chapter 8 - Night Talk by the Creek
Just like a goddess from Heaven descending into the world, Shang Xiuxun's sleeves were fluttering in the night breeze as she stood proudly with her hands behind her back. Tranquil and calm, she said, "The dumpling oil rice you made tonight was of an extremely high level of achievement; it was very satisfactory.”
Promptly Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling modestly express their gratitude.
The beauty looked up at the starry sky. Her tone turned cold as she said, "The old fellow is already dead, isn't he?”
Xu Ziling nodded sadly.
Shang Xiuxun did not turn around, she had her back against the two boys, as if she did not want them to see her expression. It was quite a while later when she spoke, "Come with me!”
The two boys were greatly surprised; this woman has always been arrogant, difficult, and was always proud of herself; she took credit alone, and alone she bestowed rewards. This invitation was indeed out of keeping with reason. Without much choice, they followed behind her, with belly full of suspicion.
Shang Xiuxun walked slowly in the wilderness. Under the dim light of the stars and the moon, her beautiful hair looked sparkling and dazzling. Her elegant figure exuded with otherworldly, indescribable, and mysterious beauty.
For a long time Shang Xiuxun did not say anything.
Until they came to an area with large rocks strewn along the creek. She stopped, sighed softly, and said, "Sit down!”
"We can stay standing,” Kou Zhong hastily said.
Shang Xiuxun selected a large rock and sat comfortably before saying again, "Sit down!”
Seeing her sitting down, how could the two boys stay polite? Each of them selected a nice flat and smooth rock and sat down.
They could still hear the voices of Liu Zongdao and the others' conversation in the distance.
Shang Xiuxun said softly, "Do you think I am too harsh? You were asleep and I woke you up to see me.”
Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, "You are our big boss, naturally we have to obey your orders.”
"Pfft!” Shang Xiuxun giggled tenderly. She was deep in thought as if she was entranced for half a day, before smiling and said, "This is precisely why I like to talk to you, these two boys; because you treated me as your boss, not like other people who regard me as supreme Changzhu. The most amazing thing is that I know that in a lot of matters you keep me in the dark and deceive me, yet I have no way of grabbing your Achilles' heel [orig. pain foot].”
The two boys were greatly embarrassed. "In which regards Changzhu thinks we are deceiving you?” Xu Ziling asked.
Shang Xiuxun coquettishly shook her small cicada head; her eyes swept the boys around. Looking up to the sky, she said softly, "I am not too clear myself, but I always feel that you two are not simple at all. Niang used to say that Lu Miaozi was highly intelligent, his natural disposition proud and aloof, had never had any regards toward anybody, hence he had never taught anybody his skill. Ay! A person's character is not going to change, so why did he have such a high regards on you?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong said, "I am afraid we won't know the answer unless he is back from the dead!”
Tranquil and calm, Shang Xiuxun said, "Dead men tell no tales! So what did he leave you with? Just before we left, I took a walk over to that small building of his, and that hateful old guy did not leave anything behind!”
Xu Ziling replied heavily, "Mr. Lu's exquisite gadgets have become funerary objects, everything was buried with him underground.”
Shang Xiuxun's beautiful eyes gazed deeply into his eyes; she asked indifferently, "So he did not leave anything to you?”
Kou Zhong replied, "Only a few written account of what he learned in all his life. Changzhu wants to look over it?”
Shang Xiuxun shook her head and said, "I don't want to touch his stuff.”
The two boys breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, both thought, ‘That would be best.'
"Liar!” Shang Xiuxun suddenly said.
The two boys jumped in fright. They thought that if she wanted to do a body search on them, they would leave immediately.
A hint of smile escaped from the corners of Shang Xiuxun's lips; after staring at the two boys for a few moments, she said calmly, "It does not make any sense. The old guy's inventions are thousand-gold treasures that Jianghu people find it hard to find. Since he had such a high regards on you, how could he be that stingy? However, I won't investigate this matter further; or else that old fellow will laugh at me from the Nine Springs [underworld in Chinese mythology] below.”
The two boys breathed a sigh of relief inwardly again, yet their faces did not show the slightest trace.
Shang Xiuxin sighed grimly before saying, "My heart is a bit of a mess, why don't you two find any interesting things to talk about?”
Unexpectedly the beautiful Ranch Master was talking to them in an imploring tone; the two boys felt quite overwhelmed by this favor.
Xu Ziling suddenly said, "How about I set up a divinatory diagram to see what is happening to make Changzhu have such a troubled heart.”
Kou Zhong inwardly praised Xu Ziling's brilliance.
Shang Xiuxun was greatly astonished, "You know divination method?” she asked.
Xu Ziling confidently replied, "Just learned it from Mr. Lu.”
Afraid that she might refuse, he hurriedly raised his hand according to the method Lu Miaozi taught him, showing a form of [divination] six ‘ren' [not sure what it is, dictionary says ‘ninth of the ten Heavenly Stems'], pinching one finger to another [as in calculating] and then with a serious expression said, "This form of divination is called ‘covering distress'. The reason Changzhu's heart is in turmoil is simply because the situation is unclear, there are snares along the way.”
Shang Xiuxun was stunned, "Seems like you do have a bit of skill; in just a short seven, eight-day period you managed to learn such a difficult and obscure thing?”
Having a sudden inspiration, Kou Zhong caught on, "Xiao Jing is a genius in divination, and I am a genius in the art of war. Hee!”
Shang Xiuxun said in disdain, "You are a genius in thick-skin-ness; have you look in the mirror lately?”
Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, "Don't despise the old fellow's insight; if you don't believe me, go ahead and test me.”
Snorting disdainfully, Shang Xiuxun muttered softly and said, "All right! Sun Zi's [Sun Tzu] Art of War has eight main essentials; recite them for me.”
Remaining calm, Kou Zhong explained, "The book is dead, but the people are alive. So let me analyze the situation Changzhu is facing. Changzhu does not need to have your heart distracted, your thoughts in turmoil just because the situation is unclear.”
Shang Xiuxun stared blankly for half a day; finally she decided to test him for the time being, "Tell me!” she said.
Kou Zhong spoke respectfully, "This time Changzhu is leading your troops toward Jingling, was it because Jingling sent people to ask for your help?”
Shang Xiuxun's phoenix eyes turned cold; slightly angered, she said, "Was it Fu'er who divulged it to you?”
Xu Ziling was displeased; he said, "Disaster is facing us, Changzhu still haggles over every ounce in such thing as house regulation, Ranch's rule, those kind of ‘chicken feather, garlic skin', small matters?”
Shang Xiuxun was taken aback. A strange feeling started to creep up her fragrant heart. The Xu Ziling in her presence did not have the least bit of subordinate-feel at all; unexpectedly she had forgotten to reprimand him.
Calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Kou Zhong started his analysis, "This time Jianghuai Army is moving west, their timing could not have been better, obviously they had already planned it well ahead and now making their move …”
Shang Xiuxun cut him off, "Who told you that Jianghuai Army is threatening Jingling?”
Immensely proud of himself, Kou Zhong said, "If you need somebody to tell you, then you are not a real genius in the art of war. There are a lot of things the eyes don't see, the ears don't hear, but the eyes and ears of the heart can figure out.”
After a short pause, he smiled and said, "All along, Jingling's Duba Village and our Changzhu's Flying Horse Ranch are the big powers surrounding the fatty meat at the side of the mouth. It's just that this meat is difficult to swallow, and it's hard to know where to start! Currently the Four Big Bandits invaded our Ranch, so Du Fuwei seized the opportunity to move his troops to threaten the flank, which is Jingling. If you say that these two things have no relation at all, even if you beat me to death, I will not believe you.”
In Shang Xiuxun's eyes, the two boys seemed to be transformed into two totally different persons, who were speaking frankly and with assurance, so that she could not help being entranced while listening to them, and momentarily forgot that their lowly position within the Ranch did not afford them the qualifications to talk to her like that.
Frowning, she said, "You are rather familiar with the situation in Jianghu, but how did you guess that Du Fuwei is holding back his troops without moving outside Jingling? Why didn't he besiege the city and attack violently?” While speaking the last two sentences, the tone of her voice turned stern, her jade countenance appeared to be skeptical.
Xu Ziling replied nonchalantly, "Besieging the city will be his next move. Du Fuwei ran amuck along the Great River, and he is well versed in the art of war; right now he has the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, why wouldn't he use it? Just think, if the Ranch's main force is already defeated before it reaches Jingling, Changzhu could only retreat and defend the Ranch, and then contacting the towns and villages all round, deploying tight troops formation to resist. If Du Fuwei decided to spread out the battle, it would be more difficult than ascending to the heaven.”
Shang Xiuxun's tender body trembled slightly; she pondered deeply in silence, while her face showed her deep concentration. Evidently she was moved by what Xu Ziling said.
Kou Zhong spoke heavily, "This time Changzhu leads your troops in a journey, there is a possibility that Du Fuwei might ‘pull a snake from its hole' [i.e. exposing a malefactor] …”
Shang Xiuxun stood up suddenly; she said coldly, "You two go back to sleep!”
Finished speaking, she hurried toward Liu Zongdao and the others to discuss the new development.
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