The man in grey looked ordinary, but his bones and joints looked thick and solid, his complexion carried a strange red-purple aura, his eyes looked lively but also looked dull at the same time. He was indeed a profound mystery.
The two boys remembered seeing him in the mansion from a distance, and the other people were very respectful toward him, but they did not know his status.
With his pipe he pointed to the two stone blocks across the stone table from where he sat, and said, "Please have a seat.”
The two boys had no choice but to sit facing him.
The man in grey smiled and said, "I am Tu Shufang, the Longtou Mansion's zongguan [chief manager]; my specific responsibility is the security of the mansion. I wonder where are two Xiao Xiongdi going?”
Shrugging his shoulders, Kou Zhong said, "Just want to slip away to the street to roam around! Ever since we arrived at Xingyang, we haven't had a chance to look around, it's too bad.”
Tu Shufang nodded, "That is only natural,” he said, "But Miss commanded that if two Xiao Xiongdi did not have any urgent matter to attend to, it would be best if you don't leave Longtou Mansion, everything can be discussed when Longtou Laoda is back.”
Xu Ziling's temper flared, "Won't that mean we are prisoners here?”
Tu Shufang sighed, "We don't have any choice in this matter either,” he said, and then continued, "May I ask what animosity two gentlemen have against Shen Luoyan?”
The two boys were shaken; they inwardly blamed themselves for being muddleheaded and have not given any thought that Shen Luoyan would surely keep her tiger-eyes on them, and that Longtou Mansion was actually the only safe place for them.
Kou Zhong did not answer, but asked a question instead, "Did Miss ever tell Zongguan why we came here?”
Tu Shufang's eyes were gleaming with lively ray, showing his consummate profound internal energy. He fixed his gaze on Kou Zhong for half a day before speaking in heavy tone, "When Miss told the Ol' Tu to inquire two Xiao Xiongdi's affair, she only said I must protect you with all my strength. Naturally Ol' Tu must follow the order.”
Xu Ziling spoke in low voice, "How long has Zongguan been with Da Longtou?”
Tu Shufang also replied in low voice, "Two gentlemen please feel free to speak up, since whenever Da Longtou has something in his mind, he won't conceal it from me either.”
Kou Zhong was not convinced yet. He asked, "What had happened to Miss recently, is Zongguan clear about that?”
Tu Shufang's countenance showed a trace of fear. It was quite a while later that he finally said, "Naturally I am clear, but I wonder which matter the two gentlemen were referring to?”
Xu Ziling said, "Naturally it is concerning Miss traveling outside. Miss told us not to tell anyone, will Zongguan have the guts to hear it?”
Tu Shufang threw his head back and let out a long laughter, his bearing looked heroic and imposing; he said nonchalantly, "You have guts to speak up, I will have the guts to listen.”
Seeing he did not have the slave mentality, the two boys' impression on him improved by leaps and bounds, so why would they take Zhai Jiao's warning to heart? Thereupon they told him first about their encounter with Susu, and then they narrated in detail what had happened in the abandoned village.
When they finished, Tu Shufang's countenance turned extremely unsightly.
It was quite a while before Tu Shufang's countenance returned to normal. He asked in amazement, "In that case, two Xiao Xiongdi must have possessed divine skill; otherwise, how could you hide on the beam, and could evade those people's eyes and ears? On the surface, although two gentlemen have lofty physiques, your waist and steps steady, and you are calm and composed, your eyes do not reveal inner gleam; could it be that you have reached the ‘unpolished gem returns to the truth' boundary instead?”
Kou Zhong knew that although he spoke politely, the bottom line was that he doubted the authenticity of their tale. He calmly replied, "That is because our internal energy departs from the usual path, it differs greatly from martial art skill in general. If you don't believe me there is no harm in testing us.”
Tu Shufang held out his hand and said with a smile, "In that case let's just shake hands!”
Kou Zhong gulped. Although he agreed to also reach out and shake his hand, he still said, "You must not apply a heavy hand!”
Tu Shufang smiled mischievously and said, "Of course!” while applying his strength at the same time.
At first Kou Zhong felt that the opponent's hand suddenly turned into an iron hoop, which was continuously tightening up; when his finger bones were about to crack, the true qi inside his body automatically flowed through his wrist. Although he still felt severe pain, he was able to endure it.
Tu Shufang was shocked. "Xiao Xiongdi's internal strength is indeed unusually strange; it seems to exist but not there either. It is deep and unmeasurable.”
For the first time the two boys received an assessment from a martial art master; they were greatly delighted.
Tu Shufang consecutively sent his strength to break the opponent's true qi, but each time it was neutralized by Kou Zhong. Finally he let go and said, "Ol' Tu believes.”
But then he frowned and asked, "Based on your skill, why are you willing to stay in the kitchen and receive such maltreatment?”
Xu Ziling said with a bitter laugh, "What can we do? It's Miss' order.”
Tu Shufang pondered for half a day, and then he shook his head and said, "But Da Longtou did not look the least bit like he suffered internal injury. What actually happened here?”
Kou Zhong said, "Did Miss really get abducted and taken away, later on Zu Junyan pretended to rescue her and bring her back?”
"That is correct,” Tu Shufang replied, "But in the Mansion, other than the Ol' Tu, nobody else knew about it. This is no small matter, presently I can only be regarded as not knowing. Everything has to wait for Da Longtou's return and then let him decide.”
Seeing him this sensible, Xu Ziling let out a breath of relief, "So we can go out and roam around?” he asked.
Tu Shufang shook his head, "You can't go out even more,” he said, "Right now Shen Luoyan stationed her men outside; the Mansion is under close surveillance. I dare not report this matter to Miss, afraid that she might create a disturbance; that's why I hope Da Longtou would come back soon.”
Recalling Shen Luoyan's ruthlessness, how could the two boys still dare to swagger out to buy the tools they were going to use to flee?
"Where is Da Longtou?” Kou Zhong casually asked.
Seeing that the two boys bared their soul to him, plus they were still naïve, candid and lovely, Tu Shufang felt some indescribable feeling welling up in his heart. He replied, "Da Longtou and Duke Mi are going on an all-out effort to attack Xingluo Storehouse. If we win this battle, the muddleheaded ruler's days are numbered.”
Kou Zhong scratched his head and asked, "What kind of storehouse is Xingluo Storehouse anyway? Why is it so important?”
Tu Shufang patiently explained, "Xingluo Storehouse is located east of Luoyang, at the mouth of River Luo west of Xingyang, which is the confluence of the Canal and the Yellow River. The storehouse city wall encompasses twenty-something li, incorporating three thousand big cellars, each cellar contains eight thousand dan [dry measure of grain, approx. 100 liters/28 bushels]. If we can obtain such storehouse, our Wagang Army need not worry that we won't have enough army provisions for the next ten years.”
Xu Ziling was puzzled. "Is the Sui Dynasty that stupid?” he asked, "Why would they set up such a clear target for others to attack?”
Tu Shufang let out a hollow laugh; he said, "When they set up the storehouse, how could they know that such a day would come? In those days, the primary objective of setting up such storehouse was to collect rice grain taxation to supply the imperial court. You should know that when Emperor Wen established Chang'an [modern day Xi'an], oftentimes the Guanzhong Plain [Shaanxi, valley of River Wei] did not produce enough crops to supply the demand of the Capital. Transporting the grains from the east one must take the dangerous and difficult path of Sanmenxia [lit. three-gate gorge], plus it was time-consuming and effort-heavy. After this big granary was built, the Capital was able to maintain the stability of grain supply.”
Kou Zhong was distressed. "In that case,” he said, "Nobody knows when Da Longtou will be coming back; won't that mean that we will still have to continue chopping firewood, fetching water, washing the dishes and mopping the floor every day?”
Tu Shufang laughed. "That's easy,” he said, "Let me talk it over with Miss.”
For lack of better option, the two boys helplessly agreed. Besides, on further thought they still had Susu to accompany them, plus they could take this opportunity to secretly train their martial art. After all, this Big Boss Mansion could still be considered as a cozy refuge.
Thinking to this point, they were even more relieved.
‘Beating the snake following the stick' [see Book 3, Chapter 3], Kou Zhong said, "Apart from our internal energy, which appears a bit decent, our punching and kicking skill is only so-so. I wonder if Zongguan would mind giving us a bit of pointers.”
Tu Shufang gladly said, "Because of your honest humility, you can consider this time you found the right person. Considering I have heard the news that you upheld justice in faraway places, also you have saved Susu, I cannot be stingy. Let me pass on to you the skill that I am most proud of, the ‘Twelve-hand Qinna [grab and capture, grappling technique] Meridian-severing Technique'. Let's see if it will be useful for you.”
In great delight the two boys immediately bowed with cupped fist to express their gratitude.
This moment, even if someone chased them away with a stick, they would definitely refuse to leave.