EDIT: I meant to say: CFT, Akolaw, thank you!
Book 13 Chapter 8 - Wang Bo of Changbai
The three donned on their masks and changed into nondescript Jianghu attire. They sat on a table by the street in a restaurant across the street from Man Qing Lou [see last chapter, ‘lou' here means a building with more than one story], enjoying some dessert after satisfying dinner.
By this time Kou Zhong had already finished narrating everything Wang Shichong said, without leaving anything.
Ba Fenghan was the first to speak, "Turns out the Jade Annulus of He Clan is that strange. But if Ci Hang Jing Zhai and Ning Daoqi could not penetrate its ever-changing secret, I am afraid nobody in the world would be able to.”
Giggling, Kou Zhong said, "I don't care what strange usefulness or miraculous benefit of the jade annulus, the most urgent thing is to destroy the good relationship between Shi Feixuan and that kid Li Shimin. When I raise my thing in the future, I am going to use it as a handsome seal. Thinking about it, it will be grand and immensely enjoyable! So, are the two of you going to help me or not?”
Ba Fenghan said in straight face, "Helping you is not a problem, but after obtaining the treasure, you must give me eight, ten days to study it.”
Laughing aloud, Kou Zhong said, "Of course there is no problem. We are all brothers, we'll enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together.”
Ba Fenghan said with a wry smile, "You know how to beat the snake following the rod. Huh? Why do Ziling have deep frown?”
Xu Ziling sighed and said, "Even with Fenghan Xiong's extensive experience, he does not seem to have heard of Jing Nian Chan Yuan's name. From this, it is obvious that the martial art masters of the Buddhist Hall are genuinely out of the world, who don't pay attention to the affairs of life. Yet we are going to disturb their peace. How could Xiaodi be happy?”
Letting out a cold snort, Ba Fenghan said, "If they really don't pay attention to the affairs of life, they shouldn't have touched the Jade Annulus of He Clan. If they have touched the Jade Annulus of He Clan, then they can't blame us for stealing the treasure.”
After a short pause, he patted Xu Ziling's shoulder and said with a smile, "Ziling, relax! We will find a way to determine whether the Jade Annulus of He Clan is really inside the Temple first, before we make our move either to steal or to rob, so you don't need to feel uneasy!”
Kou Zhong said in astonishment, "I did not expect Ol' Ba to empathize with Ling Shao like this.”
Sneering, Ba Fenghan replied, "I, Ba Fenghan, rarely made friends with others, but for some reason I hit it off with you guys. Since we are friends, we should be more sympathetic to each other. Giving thought to others is the way of friendship.”
Frowning, Kou Zhong said, "It's not that I didn't give thought to Xiao Ling, but the idea you proposed just now is easy to grasp, but difficult to put into practice. Just think! Such a big Buddhist Hall, unless we disturb one of the monks' peace, grabbing him to be questioned via torture, how are we going to know whether the Jade Annulus of He Clan is in the Temple?”
Ba Fenghan was ready with the answer, "To untie the bell, the bell must be tied first [not sure what it means, must be an idiom]. Listen to my reasoning first!”
Astounded, the two boys asked, "What reasoning?”
Ba Fenghan slyly said, "Supposing that guy called Qin Chuan was really Shi Feixuan in disguise, most likely she had just received the Jade Annulus of He Clan from Ning Daoqi's hands, before going to test whether Li Shimin has the qualifications to be the future Son of Heaven. Thereupon Ziling was sensing the treasure in her bosom …”
Kou Zhong was shaken, "I got it!” he said, "Therefore, as long as Ziling went to Jing Nian Chan Si to stroll all the way around, he would know where the Jade Annulus of He Clan is hidden, or perhaps it is practically not in the Temple at all! That is indeed a good idea.”
Ba Fenghan's eyes flickered with cold rays; he spoke in heavy voice, "However, our wishful thinking might completely misfire.”
Xu Ziling nodded and said, "Since Shi Feixuan felt completely at ease handing the Jade Annulus of He Clan to Liao Kong Chanzhu for safekeeping, she must have full confidence that he has the ability to protect the treasure. Just from the fact that what he is training is called ‘silent meditation' or something, and that even Wang Shichong is unable to gauge his depth, we know that his accomplishment must not be a small matter.”
Kou Zhong said, "If the treasure can be stolen easily, Wang Shichong has already made his move early on. Hey! Something is not right here.”
The other two cast him a questioning look.
Kou Zhong appeared to be in deep thought. He said, "When I asked why Wang Shichong himself did not send people to steal the treasure, he revealed a bitter expression, as if he was having a pent-up unspoken grievances. Perhaps he has indeed sent martial art masters to probe the actual situation, but failed miserably; hence he pleaded with us to do it.”
Listening to this, Ba Fenghan and Xu Ziling frowned deeply, because if someone has already beaten the grass to scare the snake, even if Shi Feixuan did not hesitate in leaving the treasure in the Temple, Jing Nian Chan Yuan would definitely be on alert, so that the difficulty in stealing the treasure would increase tremendously.”
Xu Ziling nodded and said, "Your conjecture makes a lot of sense. I don't believe Wang Shichong would be willing to trust you like this in such a short time. Besides, anybody could see that you are a highly ambitious person, so it is unlikely that you would be willing to bend under other people's wild ambition. Therefore, it is possible that this is no more than ‘killing people with borrowed knife' stratagem. The Jade Annulus of He Clan basically is not in the Temple. This is called ‘before the crafty rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is being cooked first'.”
Smiling ruefully, Kou Zhong said, "Xiongdi is making fun of me again!”
Ba Fenghan burst out laughing and said, "I really don't get you two. But Ziling's speculation is very reasonable. This whole thing might be no more than Wang Shichong's scheme to frame you up, and it looks to me that is the case. Hey! Shangguan Long's carriage is here!”
Ba Fenghan stepped into the street in large strides. He was about to cross the busy street with endless stream of horse and carriages when Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong pulled him back from left and right. "Why are you pulling me back?” he was puzzled.
Embarrassed, Kou Zhong said, "I forgot to tell you that the two of us lack pleasure house luck; whenever we went to pleasure house, not once we had good result.”
Laughing involuntarily, Ba Fenghan said, "Turns out there is such thing. So should we just go home and sleep now? Or should I attack Shangguan Long and take him to the street, and then you two finish him off?”
With determination in his voice, Xu Ziling said, "Tonight we are going to fight. But at least you should tell us your battle plan!”
Calmly Ba Fenghan said, "Just dealing with a big bandit from Yin Gui Pai, why must we use any plan? Just use the style of horse thief killing people. We come like a thunderbolt, before it reaches their ears, we charge inside, and after catching one, we'll find a place and let me do the interrogation. I guarantee that he would even spill everything, including his ancient ancestors, out, along with the tray.”
Sneering, Kou Zhong said, "Isn't that a plan? In the Thirty-Six Stratagems, this one is called ‘using speed to defeat the slow', to catch an enemy off guard with a surprise attack [idiom, from Sunzi's "The Art of War”]. But you have to tell us in which courtyard and which wing Shangguan Long's private chamber is, lest we grope the wrong door.”
Smiling wryly, Ba Fenghan said, "Forgive me for unable to comply to your request, because I don't know either. Therefore, be prepared to do a room-to-room search, to disturb him and turn his world upside down, while we are having a good stretch at the same time.”
Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong looked at each other in shock.
Ba Fenghan smiled and said, "I'll do the work, two Laodi [lit. old younger brother] please set your heart at ease. I was just joking with you! Come! Pleasure house is the kind of place where as long as you have gold in your purse you may come in. We'll find four or five nice girls first to chat while taking the time in making our decision!”
Kou Zhong was puzzled, "There are only three of us, why do you want to get four or five, that many girls to accompany us?”
Fixing his gaze at Man Qing Yuan's main gate across the street, Ba Fenghan slyly said, "This is outside the Thirty-Six Stratagems; the thirty-seventh stratagem is called ‘with many monks there is not enough gruel' [fig. demand exceeds supply]. Among a group of women fighting over our attention, it is easier to feed the natural appetite and lust of the gentleman. People like you, who are making your debut, must learn this stratagem.”
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were amused, while thinking that they had so much to learn.