Yang dage is really really a hero that lives up to his family name of defending the country, but unfortunately he also follows the family tradition of untimely deaths.
The political intrigue and scheming actually made the reading part of the translation very interesting and exciting. I think the tv adaptations always gloss over these parts because very wordy and hard for the audience to understand background reference without knowing history/locales.
I don't mind getting a better fictional political history lesson and less Ah Ke chasing.
Last edited by smurf120; 01-17-12 at 06:43 PM.
While I agree that the Ah Ke chasing part was dragging on for quite a while, I think that part highlighted WXB's character at its best: i.e. acting on purely 100% selfish impulses. When WXB did stuff for country, for yiqi or for his friends' (read: others') sake, he's drifting nearer and nearer to the stereotypical Jinyong selfless/goody-goody protagonist. The WXB I know and love is the WXB that would scheme for totally selfish reasons and improvise shamelessly just to save his own *** out of perilous situations, and the genius is that his selfish acts "unwittingly/incidentally" would bring good to his friends (the "unwitting/incidental" part is important - it's not so much "on purpose" or "by design").
WXB's machinations to win over Ah Ke reminds me of a Western non-wuxia character named Nick Twisp in C.D. Payne's work "Youth in Revolt" (it was made into a movie recently but I doubt it's nearly as good as the book); another anti-hero character acting for purely selfish reasons... like a much much hornier version of WXB.
Athlon, thanks, I fixed it. Tweety, thanks for the report, I know nothing about the adaptation. Crazee, it’s a good thing, right? People going home for the holiday. Are you going somewhere? I thought you live in Malaysia, but work in Singapore, or is it the other way around? Sorry … can’t remember. Ace, please see the second paragraph down from the number . Owlhoot, in a way he did. He acknowledge WXB, and wrote something. Sky, Gubrak, you are welcome. Smurf, no Ah Ke sympathizer here? Poor girl … Muliono, good point.
Happy Chinese New Year everybody. I will try to post another update this weekend.
Priest Xuanzhen said, “This is precisely the wound from the devils of the Luocha Country’s firearms.”
Wei Xiaobao asked, “So Daozhang [(Taoist) priest] has fought with the Luocha people?”
With a grieved expression Priest Xuanzhen said, “My father, (older and younger) uncles, nine brothers in all, have died under the Luocha people’s hands. Pindao left home precisely because of this.” Thereupon he briefly narrated his story.
Originally from generation to generation his family engaged in furs business. They ran a furs business in Zhangjiakou [prefecture, in Hebei province]; they owned a hundred-year old shop there. One particular year his father’s elder brother and his father took their brothers, sons and nephew to go beyond the Great Wall to purchase silver fox, sable and other precious furs. Along the way they came across a band of Luocha people, who coveted their gold, silver and goods, and wanted to rob them. There were actually three escort masters under their employment who went along to protect them. But the Luocha people’s firearms were very fierce; as soon as they opened fire, the three escort masters died instantly. His father and uncles also died under their firearms, sabers and horses. Xuanzhen’s shoulder was cut by a saber, the pit of his stomach was fried by the gunpowder; he fainted in a pool of blood. The Luocha people thought he was dead. They plundered their gold, silver and goods, and left.
After Xuanzhen regained his consciousness, he struggled for many months in the forest of the mountain before his wounds were healed. Because of this calamity, his family property was completely gone, their furs business went bankrupt. In his discouragement he left his home to become a Taoist priest. When the country changed its master, he joined Tian Di Hui. But when he recalled how swift and fierce Luocha people’s firearm was, although it had been more than twenty years ago, he still often got nightmares in the middle of the night, he would shout loudly and woke up with a start.
Li Lishi said, “The fiercest weapon those Luocha people have is the firearm. As long as we can think of a way to break it, we don’t have to be afraid of them.”
Priest Xuanzhen shook his head and said, “When it went off, it is indeed like thunder and lightning. Even if your martial art is higher, you won’t be able to dodge it, you won’t be able to block it.”
Xu Tianchuan said, “Luocha people want to join hands with Wu Sangui to snatch away the Tatars’ realm, we can simply watch with folded arms, let them fight each other until the sky and the earth turn upside down. We can benefit as the third party and seize the opportunity to restore the Great Ming’s rivers and mountains.”
Priest Xuanzhen said, “I am afraid we will only beat the tiger from the front door only to have a wolf come from the back door. Luocha people are ten times more vicious than the Manchurian Tatars; after defeating the Manchurian Qing, they won’t stop at Shanhai Pass, they would definitely enter the Pass to occupy our land under the heavens.”
“Shall we help the Manchu Tatars instead?” Xu Tianchuan asked. The warriors made comments one after another.
Naturally Wei Xiaobao was determined to help Kangxi, but he did not dare to speak it out. “There is no hurry to make the decision right now,” he said, “We have snatched Yang Dage away, we have captured Hantiemo and Lu Yifeng; very soon Wu Sangui will find out about it, and then what are we going to do?”
Everybody pondered silently, and then some said that they had better fight with him immediately, some said they had better escape that very same night. Wei Xiaobao said, “This old turtle has many troops and horses under his command; if we have to fight, we cannot beat him. Yunnan and Guizhou are so big, we won’t necessarily be able to escape his clutch in ten days or half a month. Um, let’s do it this way: I am asking gentlemen to take that dog official Lu Yifeng, along with Yang Dage’s body, back to the big prison Hei Kanzi.”
The warriors were startled. “Send them back?” they asked.
“Exactly,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “We only need to scare that dog thief Lu Yifeng, I’ll say most likely he will not dare to announce it publicly. If he reports it to his superior, he himself will not escape the responsibility. Yang Dage is dead anyway, there is no point in keeping his corpse.”
Although the warriors had rich experience in the Jianghu, their knowledge of government officials’ character was far inferior to Wei Xiaobao’s. They all thought that his risky move this time was too dangerous; breaking into jail, freeing a prisoner and kidnaping an official was quite a major event, how could Lu Yifeng not report it to his superior? Li Lishi hesitantly said, “I think this dog official Lu Yifeng is too much of a coward; I am afraid … I am afraid in this important matter he won’t dare not to report it.”
Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “I am not afraid that he is a coward, but I am afraid he is too stupid and useless, cannot do his job as a government official. In the officialdom, there is a principle ‘conceal from superior, do not conceal from subordinate’; an enormous matter will disappear when you cover it up. Nobody wants to deliberately put a black pot over his own head. Just bring that dog official over, let me remind him some.”
Gao Yanchao turned around and left, returning with Lu Yifeng in his arms, and tossed him to the floor. He had been beaten and was scared, his face had already turned ghastly pale.
“Lu Laoge [old older brother],” Wei Xiaobao began, “You must be exhausted.”
“I … I don’t dare,” Lu Yifeng replied.
“Lu Laoge is a real friend,” Wei Xiaobao said, “All Ping Xi Wang’s classified information, you have narrated it to us in full detail without concealing anything. Very well, a friend is a friend, we are going to let you go. Laoge has leaked Ping Xi Wang’s classified information, we will not tell anybody about it. Real men of the Jianghu will say one as one, two as two. If you, Laoge, like to publicize it yourself, to openly set yourself against Ping Xi Wang, it’s your own business. Ha ha, ha ha …”
Lu Yifeng shook all over; he said, “Even if Xiao … Xiaoren has gar … gargantuan nerve, I won’t … won’t dare.”
“Very good,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Brothers, please escort Lu Daren back to yamen. You might as well bring that prisoner’s body back with you, so that when there is any inquiry, Lu Daren will not have a hard time explaining.” The warriors complied together. Lu Yifeng was pleasantly surprised, but also confused; with the warriors holding his arms, he was ushered out.
For the next several days, the Tian Di Hui warriors were waiting in trepidation; they were afraid Lu Yifeng would report to Wu Sangui, and then a large group of troops and horses under Ping Xi Wang’s command would storm into Anfu Garden to massacre them all; yet unexpectedly nothing astir. It was unclear whether that old traitor Wu Sangui was very crafty, that he waited until the time is ripe before making any movement, or contrary to what they expected, Wei Xiangzhu’s premonition was correct, that Lu Yifeng indeed did not dare to report.
The warriors were restless; day after day they talked about it over and over. Finally Wei Xiaobao said, “Let’s do it this way, I am going to pay Wu Sangui a visit, to see what he has to say.”
Xu Tianchuan said, “I am afraid he will detain Wei Xiangzhu and won’t let you go back; that would be terrible.”
Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “All of us are in his grasp anyway, if the old turtle wanted to catch me, even if I don’t go to see him, I won’t be able to escape.”
He selected several officers and soldiers from the Valiant Cavalry Brigade and several Imperial Bodyguards and went to the Ping Xi Wang Mansion. Wu Sangui personally came out to welcome him. With smiles all over his face he took Wei Xiaobao’s hand; together they entered the Mansion. “To what do I owe Wei Jueye’s visit this time?” he asked, “You only need to pass it on to my son, and then won’t everything be done for you? Why would you have to toil your honorable self?”
“Aiyo,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Wangye is too polite. Xiao Jiangguan’s [lit. little/lowly military officer, referring to self] official duty is low, compared to the Prince Consort’s it is too far below. What Wangye said, Xiao Jiang is too undeserving.”
Wu Sangui laughed and said, “Wei Jueye is the beloved general serving by His Majesty’s side that he most doted on, your future is full of promise, indeed your prospect is immeasurable. It won’t be the least bit surprising if in the future you will come to this Mansion and be the Wangye.”
Wei Xiaobao’s heart skipped a beat; he could not stop his countenance from changing. Halting his steps, he said, “What Wangye said is not right.”
Wu Sangui laughed. “What do you mean not right?” he asked, “Wei Jueye is only fifteen or sixteen years old, already you are the Commander of the Valiant Cavalry Brigade, Deputy Chief of the Imperial Bodyguards, Imperial Envoy, and was granted the title of Viscount. From Zijue [viscount] to Bojue [earl/count], Houjue [marquis], Gongjue [duke], Wangjue [king/prince] and then Qin Wang [prince], it won’t take more than a dozen, perhaps twenty, years. Ha ha, ha ha …”
Wei Xiaobao shook his head, “Wangye,” he said, “Xiao Jiang left the Capital this time, His Majesty instructed, ‘Tell Wu Sangui to serve well. In the future this Ping Xi Qin Wang title will belong to my meifu [husband of younger sister] Wu Yingxiong; after Wu Yingxiong died, the Qin Wang title will belong to my waisheng [sister’s son or wife’s sibling’s son], when my waisheng dies, it will belong to my waisheng’s son. In short, let Ping Xi Qin Wang title belongs to the Wu family forever.’ Wangye, when he said that, His Majesty was extremely sincere.”
Wu Sangui was very happy in his heart. “Did His Majesty really say that?” he asked.
“Why would I lie to you?” Wei Xiaobao said, “But His Majesty also said that there is no hurry for me to tell you this, he wanted me to investigate carefully; if Wangye is indeed a very loyal minister, then I should tell you that. Otherwise, hey, hey, won’t that mean you are saying that the Lord of Ten-thousand Years’ words does not count? That once he gave his words, dead horses cannot chase?”
“Humph,” Wu Sangui said, “Since today Wei Jueye have just told me that, you have decided that I am a loyal minister?”
“Are you not?” Wei Xiaobao said, “If Wangye is not a loyal minister, nobody in this world is. If someday Wei Xiaobao can really have a golden mouth like Wangye, to be granted the title Zheng Dong Wang, Sao Bei Wang, Ding Nan Wang, or whatever, but can stay here in Ping Xi Wang Mansion in Yunnan, ha ha … I will be the guest for the rest of my life; I don’t want to act as the host forever.”
The two of them were talking and walking inside. Wu Sangui was very happy to listen to Wei Xiaobao; pulling Wei Xiaobao’s hand, he said, “Come, come, let us sit in my private study room.” Walking through two garden courtyards, they arrived at Wu Sangui’s private study.
Although this room was called a study room, the walls were full of sabers, spears, swords and halberds, there was not a single bookshelf or a book. There was a large round-backed wooden armchair in the middle of the room, draped in tiger skin. Ordinary tiger will have black stripes on yellow background, but this tiger skin had black stripes on white background; it was really unusual.
“Aiyo, Wangye,” Wei Xiaobao said, “This white tiger skin must be very rare. Xiao Jiang has never seen anything like this in the Palace. Today my horizon has been broadened.”
Wu Sangui was very proud of himself; he said, “When I was guarding the Shanhai Pass in the past, I went hunting in the vicinity of Ningyuan, and caught it. This kind of white tiger is called ‘Zouyu’ [mythical animal]; it is indeed very rare, to get this tiger means great luck, great profit.”
Wei Xiaobao said, “Every day Wangye is sitting on this white tiger skin, you will gain promotion and wealth forever without an end. Tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s really amazing.”
He saw next to the tiger skin chair there were a couple of marble screen, about five or six chi tall. The picture of mountain, water [together means ‘landscape], wood and rock on the screen seemed to be alive. On one of the screen, there was a picture of mountain peak, on the mountain peak there seemed to be a black-naped oriole. By the water there was a tiger, the posture looked beautiful and alive. Wei Xiaobao praised, “These two screens must be very valuable too. I have never seen something like this in the Palace. They say that Laotianye [God/Heaven] was gifted this kind of painting, to whomever’s hands it falls, it will be an omen.”
Wu Sangui smiled, “What about these two screens? I wonder what omen they might have?” he asked.
Wei Xiaobao said, “In Xiao Jiang’s opinion, this aloof and remote little black-naped oriole can only chirp ‘jijizhazha’, quite useless. Underneath is actually a big tiger, majestic, very formidable. This big tiger is naturally Wangye.”
Wu Sangui was very happy; immediately he thought, “He said that the little black-naped oriole is standing aloft, can only chirp ‘jijizhazha’, and is quite useless; isn’t he referring to the young Emperor? By saying those things, is he testing me?” Thereupon he asked, “This little black-naped oriole, I wonder what it is referring to.”
Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “What does Wangye think?”
Wu Sangui shook his head, “I don’t know,” he said, “Would Wei Jueye give me your advice?”
 Lit. Impoverished (Taoist) priest, referring to self.
 The original refers to a move in (a game of) chess.
 Yamen is government office in feudal China.
 The character ‘qin’亲 means ‘relatives’. I think it is a prince related by blood to the royal family. Prince Kang was a Qin Wang. I don’t know why Wu Sangui was also a Qin Wang.
 King who attacked the East, King who swept the North, and King who stabilized the South, respectively. Reminder: Wu Sangui’s title Ping Xi Wang means King who pacified the West.
Thanks foxs and have a happy new year. The year of the dragon is here!
It's relatively cheaper to live in Malaysia as compared to Singapore so I enjoy the exchange rate difference and the lower cost of houses in Malaysia. Multiplied by 4.... I have 2 kids and a wife ( no cannot be compared with Xiao Bao. .) I enjoy quite a substantial savings....only draw back is getting to work before dawn and getting back after twilight........
Yes, the Holiday crowd is good but time consuming....and it started already...sigh... My family and I will be going back to my in-law's place for CNY...about 6 hrs drive along the Malaysian Highway. ( hopefully it'll not be a crawl...if so It's going to take us forever....to reach our destination in the middle of Malaysia. Based on these couple of days...it's going to be a hot hot CNY and it's going to be a torture.....heh heh heh. ( lucky my wife don't read english )
Well, hopefully the internet there works...or I'll be bored stiff heh heh heh.
Well Gang... Kong Xi Fa Chai....Happy Chinese New Year ..... Happy Lunar New Year ....
Back to the story....
Did not know that the russians were that powerful in those days....
I love the way XB analysed the situation....Lu Yifeng not daring to report back...
Ah Ke... ... I suppose too much of her can be boring.....and the worse part is that inspite of the attention given to her she actually go for the good for nothing guy.....well I suppose guys like me never understand woman inspite of supervising so many of them at one time.....sigh...women, so simple and yet complex.....
Thanks Foxes...there must be a ton of snow over where you are now and it is cold...brrrrr. Crazee, women are never simple...haha. Happy New Lunar New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year Foxs! Here in Chicago we are set to get 24 hour snowfall tomorrow (or something like that)...Brrrrrrr...its already freezing, I can barely stand outside waiting for the bus.
I actually love ice cream in the winter especially warm flavors like candied orange, curry, rum, sweet potato, and apple pie. I wonder if anybody made wine poached asian pear flavored ice cream before?
Yah...it was like 8 F yesterday.
Looks like I need to go US to taste these goodies.
I remembered tasting candied haw in Shenhen.. after seeing and reading about candied haw..it a was mixed feeling..to say it delicious...err it's OK, to say it's lousy...no it's not. It's just like we do not expected it to be iced.
will be making my way joining the thousands to my wife's hometown.
Foxs and gang.....happy lunar new year ... happy chinese new year
Sky, Gubrak, Crazee, Nexus, Smurf, and the rest of the gang: Happy New Year. May this new year brings us all hope and blessing. Nexus, we had quite a bit of snow this week, actually, starting last Saturday for us, and continued until Thursday. How about BC? Smurf, I know that feeling, the coldest temperature I personally experience was -15oF (-26oC). Well, all I can say is: stay warm. I have been to Chicago during the winter, years ago. Crazee, have a safe trip. If you don't have access to the internet: welcome back! (I did not realize you are expecting heat wave this time of the year, isn't it rainy season in south east Asia?)
Wei Xiaobao smiled. He pointed to the other screen and said, “Here we have mountains and we have water, of course it is referring to ‘ten thousand li of rivers and mountains’. Ha ha, good omen, good omen!”
Wu Sangui’s heart jumped; he was about to ask, but in the end he did not dare. In that moment he felt his lips were dry, his tongue parched.
With the corner of his eyes Wei Xiaobao suddenly caught a glimpse of a sutra laying on the desk, it was precisely the ‘Forty-two-chapter sutra’ with which he was very familiar. It’s just that the sutra had blue silk cover. Immediately his heart jumped. “The eighth copy,” he said in his heart, “Indeed it is in the old turtle’s place. Wonderful, wonderful!”
Immediately he turned his eyes away from the sutra, and looked at the sabers and spears on the wall. He laughed and said, “Wangye, you are indeed a great hero, a great warrior, even your study is full of weapons. Frankly speaking, Xiao Jiang cannot tell the good from the bad, when I heard the word ‘study room’, my head was getting big; who would have thought that your study room is this magnificent? Indeed, my utmost admiration.”
Wu Sangui laughed heartily; he said, “Each one of these weapons has its origin. Xiao Wang [little/lowly king, referring to self] hang them here just for old time’s sake.”
“So that’s how it is,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In those years Wangye swept the east and shook the west, struggled in the south and fought in the north, establishing enormous heroic deeds [orig. to ride a laboring horse to great deeds]. These weapons must be the ones Wangye had used?”
Wu Sangui smiled. “Exactly,” he said, “In defending the border, throughout my life I have fought several hundred battles, big and small; from the cradle to the grave, this Wang [king] title came from struggling with everything I have.” The implication was that I was not like you, the little baby who was lucky to obtain the Emperor’s favor and was promoted to Viscount.
Wei Xiaobao nodded in agreement; he said, “When Wangye defended Shanhai Pass, I wonder which weapon did you use? Which great merit did you render?”
Wu Sangui’s countenance changed quickly. When he defended Shanhai Pass, the battle was against the Manchurians, which means the more he killed Manchurians, bigger his merit was. By asking this question, Wei Xiaobao was obviously mocking him as a traitor (to Han people). In that moment his hands trembled slightly, he nearly was not able to suppress his anger.
Wei Xiaobao continued, “I heard that the Emperor Yongli of the Ming Dynasty was pursued by Wangye from Yunnan all the way to Burma, until finally he was caught and hung by Wangye with a bowstring …” While saying that, he pointed to a long bow on the wall, and asked, “I wonder if that was the bow?”
When Wu Sangui killed Emperor Yongli of Ming, he had made up his mind to show his loyalty and devotion to the Qing Dynasty, that he would not be double-minded; however, deep down in his heart he was actually quite ashamed. Nobody in his mansion had ever dared to mention this matter; unexpectedly Wei Xiaobao brought it up on his face, and thus unmasking his scar. In that instant the fury in his breast was difficult to endure; he said sternly, “Today Wei Jueye has repeatedly mocked me, I don’t know what is your intention?”
Wei Xiaobao said in consternation, “I did not! How can Xiao Jiang dare to mock Wangye? Back in Beijing, Xiao Jiang heard everybody in the Palace said that Wangye even hang the Ming Emperor, showing your utmost loyalty toward our Great Qing. I heard that when Wangye hang Emperor Yongli, you acted personally, the bowstring tightened around his neck, ‘zhi, zhi, zhi’, Emperor Yongli groaned ‘ai, ai, ai’, and Wangye laughed heartily. Very good, very good, that was very loyal!”
Wu Sangui sprang up, clenched his fists, but then he had a second thought, “How can a little kid like this have this kind of guts, have the impertinence to provoke me like this? Must be that little muddle-headed lord incited him, ordering him to test me; or perhaps my other opponents in the Imperial Court intentionally prompted him to speak provoking words, trying to control me.” Being a wily old fox, immediately he suppressed his angry look and chuckled. “Those ‘defending our border and rendering great merits’ and so on are not worth mentioning,” he said, “Actually, only being loyal and devoted to His Majesty can be considered a little bit of my strong point. Xiao Xiongdi, you want to be Zheng Dong Wang, Sao Bei Wang, you must learn how to be loyal and devoted to His Majesty like your Lao Gege here.”
“Yes, yes!” Wei Xiaobao said, “Absolutely, I cannot afford not to learn it! It’s a pity Xiao Jiang was born several decades too late, the Ming Dynasty Emperors have all been killed by Wangye, so that Xiao Jiang has nowhere to put my hands into.”
Wu Sangui cursed in his heart, “There will come a day when you will fall into my hand, and then I will make a mincemeat of you!” He laughed and said, “If Wei Jueye wants to set up a merit, why worry you won’t get any opportunity?”
Wei Xiaobao laughed, “It would be good if someone revolts,” he said.
Wu Sangui’s heart turned cold. “Why?” he asked.
Wei Xiaobao said, “If someone revolts, His Majesty will send me to battle, Xiao Jiang will do what Wangye has done, I will fight with everything I have and kill the enemy, catch the rebels, and may break open the border region.”
“Wei Xiongdi,” Wu Sangui grimly said, “This kind of talk is irresponsible and must not be mentioned. With the current Holy Son of Heaven on the throne, the whole world’s heart is converted, every person gives his allegiance, who might want to revolt?”
Wei Xiaobao said, “So according to Wangye, nobody will revolt?”
Wu Sangui was taken aback; he said, “If we say nobody will revolt, naturally it may not be necessarily true. The former Ming Dynasty rebels, or followers of renegades everywhere, those who wish to create disorder, I am afraid there are some.”
“If someone revolts,” Wei Xiaobao continued, “Will it mean that the Holy Son of Heaven is not on the throne anymore?”
Wu Sangui struggled hard to suppress his anger. “Hey, hey, hey,” he let out some dry laughed, and then said, “Xiao Xiongdi’s talk is very interesting.”
Actually, after seeing the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’ on the desk, Wei Xiaobao was constantly trying to infuriate Wu Sangui, hoping that in his anger, he might brush off his sleeve and storm out of the room, so that Wei Xiaobao might have a chance to steal the sutra. Unexpectedly Wu Sangui was extremely shrewd, although his anger flared several times, he was able to control his temper and thus he did not fall into Wei Xiaobao’s trick.
Seeing Wu Sangui could not be provoked, Wei Xiaobao knew he would not have the opportunity to reach out and snatch the sutra away; immediately he changed his tactic, he said several things that Wu Sangui would love to hear. But while his mouth was busy licking Wu Sangui’s behind, his mind was racing, trying to find a way to get hold of the sutra. He thought, “Supposing I faked an Imperial Edict, saying that His Majesty wanted to have this sutra, I have no doubt that the old turtle would not dare not to offer it. Much less His Majesty did indeed want to have the sutra, and did tell me to take the opportunity while I am in Yunnan to look for it. If I said that I want the old turtle to hand me the sutra, I am not faking an Imperial Decree. However, I am afraid that while the old turtle would readily agree, he would rig up a scam in secret, perhaps he would be like Prince Kang, who forged a ‘western shellfish goods’ [there’s this phrase again: 西贝货儿 see chapter 29] to the Emperor, then I could not get the pieces of skin inside.”
As soon as he thought about forging the sutra, he had an idea. Suddenly he lowered his voice as he said, “Wangye, His Majesty has a secret edict for you.”
Wu Sangui was startled; he stood up instantly and said, “Minister Wu Sangui respectfully hear and obey the Imperial Decree.”
Wei Xiaobao pulled his hand and said, “No rush, no rush, let me tell you the background information first.”
“Yes, yes,” Wu Sangui said, but he did not sit down.
Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty understands very well that you are a loyal minister of the Great Qing, yet he repeatedly instructed me to ascertain whether you are loyal or a traitor, does Wangye know why?”
Wu Sangui scratched his head and said, “I don’t know.”
Wei Xiaobao said, “Actually, His Majesty has an important matter he wants you to do, but somehow he does not feel reassured yet whether you would or would not strive to do your best. He is sending Princess Jianning down to marry your Heir Apparent, actually his intention was to … to … that …”
“He wants to encourage me?” Wu Sangui asked.
“Right,” Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty said his intention was to encourage you. My literary knowledge is too lacking, I could not remember that word.”
Wu Sangui said, “Whatever mission His Majesty has for me, laochen [the old minister, referring to self] will do my utmost, I will toil as his dog or his horse. I am just wondering what mission might His Majesty has for laochen to do.”
“This mission concerns a matter of utmost importance,” Wei Xiaobao said, “By this time tomorrow, I am asking Wangye to wait for me in the Mansion, Xiao Jiang will come back to pass on His Majesty’s secret order.”
“Yes, yes,” Wu Sangui said, “His Majesty has a decree, laochen will go to Anfu Garden to receive it.”
With a low voice Wei Xiaobao said, “Too many eyes and ears in Anfu Garden, this place is more dependable.”
Finished speaking he took his leave. Wu Sangui wondered what trick he was playing, he respectfully walked Wei Xiaobao out.
The next day Wei Xiaobao returned about the same time, the two of them went into the study room.
“Wangye,” Wei Xiaobao began, “What I am about to tell you is a matter of utmost importance, you must never divulge it in any way, even when you present a memorial to the Emperor, you must not mention it a character or half a word.”
“Yes, yes,” Wu Sangui complied, “Naturally I will not dare to divulge the secret.”
Wei Xiaobao lowered his voice, “His Majesty obtained a secret report, Shang Kexi and Geng Jingzhong is about to rebel!”
As soon as Wu Sangui heard it, his countenance changed greatly. Ping Nan Wang [king who pacified the south] Shang Kexi was guarding Guangdong, Jing Nan Wang [peaceful south king] Geng Jingzhong was guarding Fujian; together with Wu Sangui, they were known as the three border defenses. These three defenses shared glory and disgrace, their rise and demise were interrelated. Wu Sangui’s rebellion plot actually involved joint large-scale military movement with Shang and Geng, two defenses. When he heard that the Emperor was aware that Shang and Geng, two people were about to revolt, naturally Wu Sangui was thrown into extreme panic. “Is … is that true?” he asked in a trembling voice.
The previous day he concocted a story that he had a secret order from the Emperor to scare Wu Sangui so that he would lose his head out of fear, and thus Wei Xiaobao would have an opportunity to steal the sutra. However, he was, after all, only a young kid whose knowledge of military or country affair was limited. He thought that if he babbled nonsense, first, Wu Sangui might not necessarily believe him, second, when the lie was exposed, perhaps the repercussion would be so significant that Kangxi might blame him; therefore, he decided to return to Anfu Garden and discuss it over with Tian Di Hui warriors first before returning on the next day to pass on the imperial edict. Qi Biaoqing suggested that they framed Shang and Geng, two defenses, saying that they plotted a rebellion, to frightened Wu Sangui in a big way, since in effect they were exposing his own rebellion plot. Sure enough, as Wei Xiaobao brought it up, Wu Sangui was so scared that he was at a loss of what to do.
“Actually,” Wei Xiaobao continued, “His Majesty kept hearing that the three defenses were planning a rebellion, but it sounded like a fabricated fact, just like the later generation of Mu Family trying to frame you; His Majesty never believed such thing.”
“Yes, yes,” Wu Sangui said, “His Majesty is an enlightened sage, His Majesty is an enlightened sage.”
“But this time, about the Shang and Geng, two defenses’ conspiracy, His Majesty has finally acquired reliable evidence,” Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty said: right now the two defenses’ rebellion plot is not out in the open yet, we must not beat the grass to scare the snake; however, he wants the Wu defense to deploy massive military force to be stationed at the Guangdong, Guangxi borders. As soon as those two defenses rise up, the Wu defense is to immediately dispatch the troops to Guangdong and Fujian, to arrest those two traitors and send them off to Beijing. That will be an enormous meritorious service.”
Wu Sangui bowed and said, “I solemnly receive the Imperial Edict. If Shang and Geng, two defenses are acting against the law, laochen will immediately deploy troops to capture those two people and present them to Beijing.”
Wei Xiaobao said, “His Majesty said: Shang Kexi is a muddle-head, Geng Jingzhong is a useless fellow, they are definitely not Wu defense’s match. As long as Wu defense agrees to deploy troops, the Imperial Court will not need to send a single soldier, this matter will be solved just by stretching a hand and grab it.”
Wu Sangui smiled and said, “Please tell the Lord of Ten-thousand Years to set his heart at peace. Laochen drills the troops in here, I do not dare to be negligence the least bit, especially to serve the Emperor on a special mission. All the soldiers and generals under laochen’s banner, each one is comparable to three bannermen soldiers, and they all pledge their lives in loyalty and devotion to His Majesty.”
“I am going to report what Wangye is saying today back to the Emperor,” Wei Xiaobao said, “When His Majesty hears it, he will be very happy.”
Wu Sangui was secretly delighted, “This way I can move an army and send a general, even if the little muddleheaded lord knew about it, he won’t be suspicious.”
Last edited by foxs; 01-21-12 at 12:33 PM.
LOL, I love this scene. WXB is hilarious, able to mock WSG repeatedly, yet the old fox can't do anything to him.
Thank you, foxs. And Happy Chinese New Year!
Thanks Foxs! so happy to read the update.
I can't wait to see what happens when WXB has all 8 sutras
thanx a lot fox...happy new year to you and your family.
Check out WXFS translated comic of Tian Long Ba Bu
Last updated: 02/04/2008