Book 3 Chapter 5 - One Business Deal
One after another Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling appeared out of the water, breathing the late night fresh and clean air of River Si.
Without even exerting any strength, the hollow of their palms automatically produced suction force, attaching their bodies onto the wall of the ship; they did not even understand how it worked.
Immensely proud of himself, Kou Zhong whispered in Xu Ziling's ear, "This time we dealt a big blow to that Shen woman [reminder, the term ‘woman' here is derogatory] that she fell flat on his granny's face. Ha! It's actually Shen woman's granny.” [Translator's note: ‘his granny' was a cuss word, equivalent to ‘ it'.]
"Don't be complacent too soon,” Xu Ziling said, "There's still half a day before we can be considered winning this bet. Excessive complacency may cause hundreds of foolish negligence, don't ruin the enterprise for the sake of one basketful.”
Kou Zhong nodded, "We'll act properly. Ay! We are so stupid, when we made the bet, she only spoke about what we'd do if she won, but not if we won. Otherwise, stroking her body a couple times won't be too bad.”
Xu Ziling chuckled softly and said, "Less wishful thinking! This woman is full of thorns from top to bottom; she must not be touched. Ay! I am worried that Qin Laoge cannot deal with her!”
"That would be better,” Kou Zhong replied, "Otherwise, I am afraid he would be beheaded by that muddle-headed ruler. Hey! These three ships seem to be prominent; will you be interested in borrowing a couple of clothes and perhaps some food and money? It is better than looking like beggars wearing worn-out clothes with nothing in our hands.”
"Be careful!” Xu Ziling said in low voice, "The people who can use such three big ships must be either large and influential family of high standing, or high ranking official and nobility, or perhaps big shots gangster boss. If we are not careful, we would just offer our little lives to the Heaven.”
Kou Zhong frowned, "So are we going or not?” he asked.
Xu Ziling chuckled softly, "If we are not afraid of the Ol' Die, why should we fear anybody? Follow me, the future Wulin expert!” Finished speaking, he crawled up along the wall.
By this time the two boys already had considerable experience in hiding and concealing their track, in breathing with their mouth and nose shut, in exercising restraint to their bodily functions, so that when being cautious, they were completely noiseless and undetectable.
There were wind lanterns on the deck, as well as hanging from the masts of the big ship, but on the side facing them, from twenty-something cabin windows on three levels, only about half were illuminated.
Xu Ziling selected a dark window on the second level from which he wanted to crawl into the ship. But as they passed an illuminated window, they heard a female voice coming from the inside. The two boys succumbed to their curiosity and stopped to listen.
The female voice suddenly sounded very close to the boys' ears, "Er Ge [second (older) brother], it would be best if you stop persuading Die; he has always been loyal and devoted to the imperial court. Duan Shu [paternal (younger) uncle] has advised him for a long time, but did he even listen to half a word he said?”
The two boys jumped in fright; they had just realized that the dainty woman was moving to the window, hence they did not dare to make the slightest move.
A distressed-sounding young male voice responded, "What Die reluctant to part the most is our relationship with the Dugu Clan; but he did not know that Dugu Feng is a wily old fox, who regards us as the thorn in his eyes. Right now the world is in chaos, tens of thousands people are angry, while the Tujue [Turkic] people are glaring at us like a tiger watching his prey, and Sui imperial court is no longer viable. And we get hold of Taiyuan, our troops are sufficient, our provisions abundant, enough to last us ten or eight years. Right now Yingyang Pai's Liu Wuzhuo and Liang Shidu are aligning themselves with the Tujue, raising their troops to fight the Sui, taking over Loulan and Dingxiang, one after another. If they break through Yan Men [lit. wild goose gate], our Taiyuan will bear the brunt. If Die keeps wavering, ultimately we will be implicated by that muddle-headed ruler; the boat capsize, the people perish.”
Listening to this, the two boys outside the window sucked in a mouthful of cold air; who exactly were these man and woman inside? Whose children were they? Unexpectedly they were directly related to the Dugu Clan and Emperor Yang of Sui. Terrified, they did not dare to budge even more.
The man's voice was full of authority and power; needless to say, he must be a top quality martial art expert.
The woman spoke in soft voice, "Have you talked it over with Dage [big/first (older) brother]?”
"I don't know how many times,” the man replied, "He can't think of any idea either. Xiuning should know how horrible Die's stubbornness is.”
That Xiuning said, "We'd better confide with Madame Dong Ming; father always listen to everything she said. Ay! If only Niang came back to life; Die would definitely listen to her.”
The two boys outside were so terrified that their hands slipped and they almost fell into the river. Finally they were able to guess that the ship they were climbing actually belonged to the Li Clan; how could they dare to continue eavesdropping? Hastily and quietly they continued pulling themselves up.
Right this moment the conversation inside the cabin suddenly stopped. But the two boys did not pay attention anymore.
They opened the window, and after ascertaining there was nobody inside, they crawled in, and only then did they dare to breathe a sigh of relief.
The two boys swept the room with their gaze, and noticed that it was a fairly large room, the furnishing was gorgeous. Other than bed, chairs and other furniture, there was also a large wooden chest; inside there should be clothes and that sort of thing.
Kou Zhong whispered in Xu Ziling's ear, "We ought to steal with principle; each person should only get a set of clothes, and if we find money, we should also take only enough to cover our meals for several days and one visit to the pleasure house.”
At this point a man's head appeared on the window, but when he heard Kou Zhong, the head suddenly disappeared again.
Xu Ziling spoke in a low voice, "I have never imagined that we would steal Li Yuan's belongings. Didn't that Dugu fellow want to harm Li Yuan? We'd better harm him instead. Let's leave a brief note warning the Li Clan people, just consider it payment for the stuff we steal.” [Reminder: Li Yuan was the personal name of first Tang emperor Gauzu (566-635), reigned 618-626.]
Kou Zhong chuckled quietly and said, "Since when did you become this conscientious? Ha! Perhaps in all the world, we are the only one who have the ability to cause Li Yuan to revolt. But I don't know whether this guy is a good guy or a bad guy …”
"Don't talk nonsense,” Xu Ziling scolded him, "If somebody's coming we will be in trouble. Quickly steal!”
The two boys walked over to the chest and were about to lift the lid, suddenly there was a ‘shush!' from the window, as if it was warning the two boys not to make any noise.
Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were scared out of their wits. They froze and turned their heads toward the window.
A dark shadow noiselessly came in through the window and stood in front of the two boys.
The two boys calmed their nerves and looked closely. Turned out it was a tall young man that looked only a few years older than they were, with a rectangular face and big ears, with formidable physique and eyes that shone like glossy lacquer, and elegant bearing. Right now he was standing proudly yet self-composed, a demeanor that could stop deep pool and overcome high mountain peak; that could turn other people's heart upside down.
While Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were as dumb as a wooden chicken, the young man spoke in low voice, "Zaixia [I, humble] Shimin, the third son of Li Yuan, the caretaker of Taiyuan. Two Xiongtai [brother, of the same age] look just, honest and amazing, I wonder what are your respected surname and great given names?”
The two boys exchanged a glance; their heart has calmed down, but at the same time they felt at a loss. This man has caught the two little thieves red-handed, yet he was still this refined and courteous, as if the two of them were ‘noble guests' whose appearance was simply unexpected.
The two boys stood up. Kou Zhong cupped his fist to show his respect, and said with a giggle, "This name ‘Shimin' is very good. Ha! Saving the world, coming to the relief of the people [jiu shi ji min, same ‘shi' and ‘min' characters]; perhaps in the future you will become the emperor.”
Li Shimin smiled indifferently and said, "Xiongtai needs not praise Zaixia; but this name indeed has a little bit of background. Why don't you two gentlemen have a seat so that we can talk?” [Another reminder (because I think I already had the footnote somewhere): Li Shimin, personal name of second Tang emperor Taizong (599-649), reigned 626-649.]
This moment Li Xiuning's voice came from below, "Er Ge! What happened?”
Li Shimin leaned over the window and called out, "I'll tell you later!”
Turning around, he asked the two boys to have a seat; his manner was sincere and courteous. Deep in their heart the two boys knew his intention, but they also knew that they could not charge through him toward the window. Therefore, bracing themselves, they sat down in two armchairs leaning against the wall. Because their body was still dripping wet, it was quite uncomfortable.
Li Shimin calmly smiled and sat down on a chair next to the window; he said, "When Ziaxia was four, a man who was good in physiognomy came to our home; by reading my facial features, he predicted that ‘by age twenty, you will relieve the world [shi] and pacify the people [min]'. That time Niang doted on me very much, hence she changed my name to ‘Shimin'.” While speaking, he casually picked up the flint to light up the oil lamp on a small table by his side.
Xu Ziling noticed that when he mentioned his mother, his eyes revealed a fondness of a child's deep admiration toward his mother; he could not help thinking about Fu Junchuo. Sighing, he said, "You must miss your Niang very much.”
Li Shimin nodded slightly; turning his attention to the water droplets on the floor dripping from the two boys' body, he said with a deep voice, "What is the relationship between the two gentlemen and Shan Mei Xianzi Madame Dong Ming of Ryukyu? Why did when you heard her name your hearts jump a few times? Otherwise, Zaixia would still be in the dark as to the two gentlemen have sneaked into our ship.”
It was only then did the two boys realize what went wrong. They were also astonished at Li Shimin's thorough thought process; that just from this point he was able to deduce that the two of them were somehow related to Madame Dong Ming.
Kou Zhong giggled and replied, "Naturally we are related! But we'd better make a business deal; supposing we can make your respected Ol' Die to raise arms and rebel, you will give us, two brothers, two sets of clothes and … hey! And two, no! Thirty taels of silver. Ha! What do you say?”
This time it was Li Shimin who was dumbstruck. "Thirty taels of silver?” he asked in incredulity.
Xu Zilings heart skipped a beat, he hastily tried to remedy the situation by saying, "If thirty taels of silver is too much, twenty-five is alright.”