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Book 51 Chapter 4 – The Secrets of the Fragrant Heart

Translator: Foxs\' Wuxia

Shi Qingxuan stood up charmingly, she smiled and said, “Come with me?”

Without waiting for Xu Ziling’s answer, she simply – her jade feet bare, the sleeves of her clothes fluttering in the breeze – stepped on the rocks, some protruded out of the water, some immersed in the water, winding toward the source of the spring in the depths of the forest behind the little stone house.

Xu Ziling reluctantly left his seat and ran after her, he followed her along the stream, bending to the left and winding to the right, entering deep into the dense part of the forest. He suspected that it was the end of the stream, but suddenly the forest was wide open, a brimming-with-vitality small waterfall gushed down from an aperture midway up the mountain, it poured along the verdant, glistening wet ravine wall, and when it reached the bottom of the cliff, it formed a small deep pool. Separated by the dense forest, from the other side no one could see the place of charm and beauty here, neither could they hear the waterfall playing a movement of the natural symphony.

Shi Qingxuan was standing on top of the only big rock in front of the waterfall. Turning her pretty face around, she blissfully said, “Come here quickly!”

How could Xu Ziling dare to disobey the order? He jumped to her fragrant body’s side.

The waterfall was like a hanging down curtain, causing the water to splash everywhere, raising water droplets to fill the air, which, under the light of the stars, looked like tens of thousands silver beads, brimming with vitality.

Hearing the sound of water, which was like heavenly music, all around the insects were chirping the sound of nature. Smelling the touching scent emitted by Shi Qingxuan’s fragrant body, seeing the stars filling the sky, feeling the mountain breeze gently brushing his face, suddenly Xu Ziling completely forgot his own troubles, forgot all the disputes in the secular world outside; overwhelmed by the light and airy feeling, he no longer knew where he was.

Shi Qingxuan turned her pretty face to look at him, she laughed charmingly and said, “The guest coming from afar, isn’t it fun here? Other than Niang, Ziling is the first person Qingxuan ever took here.”

If he was just a cun or so closer, Xu Ziling would be able to make shoulder-to-shoulder close contact with her, but this cun or so distance seemed to be like an uncrossable chasm. His heart grew hot, he nodded his head and said, “There has never been a moment in my life that I forget worry and without anxiety like right now, where past and future do not exist. The moment before my eyes will never die forever. The life of happiness that I pursue should be like this, but even this idea gives me pain. Does Qingxuan understand what I am saying?”

Shi Qingxuan spoke softly, “Understand a little! Listening to the tone of Ziling’s voice, there must be something outside the valley that you cannot give up, am I right?”

Xu Ziling sighed and said, “I want to speak out honestly about the load on my mind, I just hope Qingxuan will not blame me.”

Shi Qingxuan’s tender body slightly trembling, she said, “How can I blame Xu Ziling? I am only afraid that I won’t be able to endure. Qingxuan is used to live a solitary life, and never wanted to change; do you also understand?”

An emotional stirring burst inside Xu Ziling’s heart, he moved closer to her, involuntarily he leaned onto her fragrant shoulder, feeling the pulsing of blood under her skin. As if he was no longer able to control the tide in his heart from running over the dike, he met the bewildering net of her gaze, and spoke heavily, “Since that is the case, why did you tell me the location of the small valley? Ever since that day, You Lin Xiao Gu has become the most mysterious, the most beautiful place in my heart. Although I am rolling about and mingling among the red dust [the world of mortals (Buddhism)] outside the valley, but there has never been a moment where I did not remember the small valley. And today I am finally here! I even share the secret of the small valley with Qingxuan. Isn’t Qingxuan partly to blame?”

Shi Qingxuan was slightly startled, and then her pair of eyes revealing a smiling expression, she cast him a sidelong glance and said, “All right! We will speak forthrightly. You only share a part of the secret of the small valley; where is the other part?” While speaking, she stretched out her jade hand, the slender finger was pointing toward the intertwining old trees above the waterfall.

She did not move her tender body to avoid his touch, which made his heart blazing hot, triggering a warm feeling to flow all over his body, melting and swaying him that he lost track of where he was; becoming as light as a feather. Ascending to heaven would not be more than this. He felt that his courage could not help but was increasing steeply.

It’s not that he had never had intimate contact with other women, for example, Shen Luoyan or Shang Xiuxun, but since he had never thought that this day would come, the light touch made his heart move, his spirit tremble even more.

Following her finger, he looked up and cheerfully said, “Is Qingxuan ready to share it with me?”

Under his scorching and pressing eyes, Shi Qingxuan rolled her ten-thousand-kind-of-deep-emotion eyes at him first, before hanging down her head, revealing the swan-like graceful snow-white neck, as she spoke softly, “Didn’t you want to speak out the load on your mind? How about you tell me first?”

Xu Ziling blurted out, “You are not afraid you won’t be able to endure?”

Shi Qingxuan’s countenance returned to tranquil, her gaze was fixed on the waterfall; tranquil, calm, and at ease, she said, “You want me to bear the responsibility! Qingxuan has no choice but to bear the responsibility for you, Xu Ziling to see.”

Xu Ziling spoke slowly, word-by-word, “Not only I want to share the secret of the small valley, but I also want to share the mysterious secret in Qingxuan Xiaojie’s heart, to understand how Qingxuan Xiaojie can play the flute with such a touching-the-lungs sound?”

Shi Qingxuan feebly leaned on him, she sighed lightly and said, “It seems like that is not what you were trying to say, is it?”

Xu Ziling calmly said, “Definitely not what I was going to say. However, it’s not important at all. Right now, I am confused and am out of my wits, I only know how to raise the thing I wanted to say to you the most. I suddenly felt that no matter what I say to you, Qingxuan can’t possibly really blame me.”

‘Pfft!’ Shi Qingxuan giggled tenderly; she straightened her tender body, rolled her eyes at him, and said, “Tell me! Quick! See how much I will be able to endure.”

Xu Ziling shifted his body, so that he was now face-to-face with her; he spoke with deep emotion, “I want to speak frankly, face-to-face with Qingxuan.”

Shi Qingxuan did not follow his words, her flowery jade countenance revealed a distressed expression, she spoke softly, “Oh, Xu Ziling! Can you not force me too much?”

Xu Ziling felt that he was striving to fight for his own happiness, everything was true and came from his real heart. He was unable to restrain his emotions, everything resembled nature itself [i.e., of the highest quality]; from nothing at all, he now had such an intense feeling, he absolutely did not want to miss this opportunity to obtain happiness. He spoke slowly, but with determination, “Because if I don’t say it, I might lose the chance to say it, forever. I wonder if Qingxuan is thinking of moving away from the deep valley?”

Shi Qingxuan’s tender body was severely shaken, the color of blood withdrew entirely from her pink face, finally she turned her tender body around to face him. The tone of her voice surprisingly calm, she said, “How did you guess?”

Xu Ziling reached out to grab both sides of her fragrant shoulders, he looked deeply into her clear, bright and beautiful eyes, and said, “That is some kind of intuition that I cannot explain, because Qingxuan is afraid to see me again, you are afraid to see Shi Zhixuan even more.”

Shi Qingxuan shivered all over, as if she was totally oblivious that Xu Ziling was grabbing her pair of fragrant shoulders, she just wanted to avoid his blazing gaze. As if she was muttering to herself, she said, “Shi Zhixuan? Xu Ziling?”

Tender love, which he was unable to restrain and press down, welled up in Xu Ziling’s heart, he could not bear to force her. Putting his face only a few cun away from hers, he spoke gently, “Don’t think of him, just think about what happen between us. Why do you want to avoid me?”

Shi Qingxuan took a deep breath, she recovered a bit of her tranquil expression. Raising her pretty face to look at him, she said, “Just consider me begging you, all right? Please don’t ask. Oh! You are grabbing me that I am in so much pain!”

A stab of pain attacked Xu Ziling’s heart.

How could he have the heart to grab her too hard that he hurt her? Shi Qingxuan’s ‘You are grabbing me that I am in so much pain’ was really a play on words; it carried a bit of pleading, asking him to let her go, to let her continue to live an unmarried life. Naturally these words were very emotional, hence it appeared that she was powerless to resist his advance.

Actually, from the beginning, Shi Qingxuan had never concealed her favorable impression and friendly regard toward Xu Ziling. This has shaped the contradiction and struggle in her heart, which manifested itself in her seemingly neither close nor distant attitude toward Xu Ziling. Her situation was rather delicate; one day she did not move away from the You Lin Xiao Gu where she was born, one day she was unable to sever the all kinds of hopelessly muddled gratitude and grudges with the secular world. When she told Xu Ziling the location of the small valley, she already had the intention to leave the small valley, while also to shift his heart someplace else. Only by doing this would she be able to truly shun the world and to live in seclusion.

However, she still had unfinished cherish desire, which was the ‘Bu Si Yin Juan’ and Yue Shan’s regret, which were hidden away inside the valley. Both these things, directly or indirectly, Xu Ziling had to accomplish for her. However, Nature [as the mother of all things] played with people, Xu Ziling actually increased the barrier that prevented her from shunning the world, hence her request ‘not to force her too much’.

Xu Ziling finally came to the valley, plus Da Ming Zun Jiao invaded her territory, so that she made a painful determination to leave this place, which made her unable to forget the sad past. The flute melody just now was her artistic conception, from weeping with grief, gradually rising to quick and skillful elegance, which represented her wish to be freed from pain.

Now was his last chance to fight for her. If he lightly missed it, it would turn into lifelong regret.

Not only Xu Ziling did not let go, he was grabbing even more tightly. Looking deep into the pupil of her eyes, he firmly shook his head and said, “Xu Ziling will not let go, unless Shi Qingxuan tell him where she is going to hide.”

Shi Qingxuan revealed a both-mentally-and-physically-exhausted look, her tender body was lacking in strength, if Xu Ziling loosened his grip, she would surely fall into the water.

Under the rich-with-many-postures movement of natural symphony of the waterfall and the stream, Shi Qingxuan spoke in distress, “You are not afraid I might randomly lie to you?”

Xu Ziling was overcome with love and pity, he nearly could not control himself from violating her sacred fragrant lips. He spoke tenderly, “You can’t possibly lie to me, can you?”

Shi Qingxuan weakly hung down her grand head, in a slightly small voice she said, “You already know that place. Ay! You, this destined love [in opera], you hurt me really bad!”

A burst of hot blood was rushing straight to his forehead, making his entire body feel numb, a nameless ecstasy bubbling up his heart and mind, stirring up his heart to jump wildly incessantly.

Shi Qingxuan was talking about the broken-down stone house near the Demonic Emperor Temple [or ancestral shrine]. When Xu Ziling met Shi Qingxuan for the first time in the past, as they left the bat cave, she took him to that place, she let him see the touching beautiful scenery of her dressing up and grooming herself on the other side of a screen. That should be the secret place to live in seclusion, which only the two of them knew.

Shi Qingxuan moved away from You Lin Xiao Gu to that place, not only it was not the end of Xu Ziling’s feeling, it also contained a sounding-out implication.

Only if Xu Ziling did not spare any effort to go to the ends of the earth to look for her would he not miss this place, where they met by chance.

Shi Qingxuan weakly pressed her pair of jade palms on his broad chest, Xu Ziling realized suddenly that he was pulling her into his bosom, and that Shi Qingxuan was trying to resist.

He lowered his head to look, Shi Qingxuan was raising her charming face, her pretty eyebrows were lightly knitted, but her expression was as calm as still water, as she spoke lightly, “What I said is perhaps true, but it is perhaps false. At the source of the waterfall, behind the dense trees, there is a natural cave, which leads to another secret place in the mountain; that is the real place where Qingxuan lives. It was because he fancied this valley within the valley that Lu Dashi built a house and established his residence. He originally intended to use it as the place where he spent his last years and shunned the world, but later on he found out that Niang was pregnant with me, so he bestowed the small valley to Niang. This valley within the valley has another way out of the mountain. Now Qingxuan is going to leave from there. Ziling, please don’t talk, obediently close your eyes for me, Qingxuan does not know what the future will bring, but I will never forget this moment.”

Xu Ziling knew that if he still wanted to force her, she would definitely look down upon him, so much so that he might incite her disgust. He was, after all, an easy-going, free and unfettered person, this time he was ‘contending strongly’, it was an exception within exception. Smiling calmly, he released both hands, and closed his eyes.

Shi Qingxuan leaned close to his lips, as light as the dragonfly touches the water, she lightly kissed him, before floating away.

While marching his main forces toward the East [China] Sea, Kou Zhong secretly transported Yang Gongqing and his troops over that very night via the waterway. After busily working for more than ten days, Yang Gongqing settled his troops in a secret camp, which had been built in advance near Liangdu, and then he and Ma Chang came to Liangdu to see Kou Zhong, while bringing the bad news of Zhengzhou’s fall.

In the inner hall, Ma Chang said, “Wang Shichong’s troops are defeated like a landslide, one city after another surrenders to Li Shiji. Guanzhou’s Guo Qing’s surrender already alarmed the heart of the people in various cities on the east front of Hulao. Wang Xuanying, that brat, unexpectedly retreated without a fight, showing clearly that he is scared of battle, and so he gave Li Shiji the opportunity to move his troops to advance to Rongyang. How could Wei Lu, the defending general of Rongyang, be willing to pointlessly sacrifice his life for Wang Shichong? Who could blame him for his surrender?”

Inwardly, Kou Zhong smiled bitterly. Wang Shichong and Wang Xuanying, two father and son’s guts ought to be coming from the same mold. At Cijian, before the victory or defeat was decided, the former already retreated. Dog father, dog son. Wang Xuanying was even one step further from his Dad; he retreated without even fighting, which was akin to handing the cities one after another over to Li Shiji.

Yang Gongqing said, “As chance has it, Wang Shichong sent Zhang Zhi to Rongyang with the intention of transferring their troops to reinforce Hulao, but he was captured alive by Wei Lu and was handed over to Li Shiji; he even offered advice to Li Shiji, telling him that Zhang Zhi was the person that Wang Shichong appointed to pass on his handwritten decree, so he is very familiar with Wang Shichong. As long as they could persuade Zhang Zhi to forge Wang Shichong’s handwritten decree and deliver it to Zhengzhou, ordering the Zhengzhou’s defending generals Wang Yaohan and Zhang Cibao to renounce Zhengzhou and return to Hulao, then they could prepare an ambush along the way; they could annihilate the enemy in one move.”

Ma Chang joined in, “As expected, Zhang Zhi gave in. Receiving the letter, Wang Yaohan did not suspect anything, but he did think that they would definitely be intercepted by Li Shiji; furthermore, he thought that Hulao is difficult to protect, thereupon he made up his mind to surrender. But first, he beheaded Zhang Cibao, who was loyal and devoted to Wang Shichong, and then he opened the gate to surrender to the Tang. Now, all military strategic towns east of Hulao are lost, Hulao has become a lone city, Wang Xuanying surely will not last too long.”

Knitting his brows, Yang Gongqing said, “Hulao’s fall is near at hand, Li Shimin will directly attack Luoyang, how is Shaoshuai going to deal with it?”

His expression grave, Ma Chang said, “The situation is very disadvantageous to us. Before the Tang Army moved to the east, no one thought that unexpectedly Li Shimin could completely isolate Luoyang within such a short period of time of only two months.”

Kou Zhong took them to the conference room. Inside, right in the middle of the room, there was a solid, large rectangular wooden table. On the table was a half-complete three-dimensional model made of clay, with the Grand Canal flowing in the middle. By the canal’s side, there were big and small blocks representing cities or county towns; mountains, rivers, forests, and plains were obvious at a glance.

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “I stole the idea from Dou Jiande; he came from an artisan family, his craftsmanship is outstanding, naturally I do not have such a skill like his. I did the exploration, Chen Laomou did the drafting, and then the craftsmen were in charge of manufacturing the model.”

Amazed, Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang you looked at me I gazed at you, they never thought Kou Zhong had this cautious and prudent side.

Standing in front of the three-dimensional topographic map, Kou Zhong expressed his analysis, “From Tongji Canal going directly to River Huai, if our fleet set off from Liangdu, going downstream along the Tongji Canal, and we are using the Flywheel Boats, in one night we could enter the Huai River. If we then follow the River Huai to the east, we could take the Canal to go down south to Jiangdu. Under the circumstances, Li Zitong’s two key defensive cities are Zhongli and Gaoyou. Li Zitong is well aware of this kind of situation, hence he would especially station massive military force and set up navy base on these two cities, to guard against our surprise attack to Jiangdu. If after entering the Huai [River] we go to the west to attack Zhongli, the enemies in Gaoyou will immediately come to help; if we go to the east to attack Gaoyou, the situation would be worse, because Zhongli and Jiangdu could launch pincer attack from the north and the south. Therefore, Zhongli, Gaoyou and Jiangdu form a firm, unbreakable iron triangle.”

Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang nodded in agreement, because Zhongli was located west of the confluence of Tongji Canal and the Huai River, like a guard dog watching the canal leading to Gaoyou and Jiangdu. Therefore, ignoring Zhongli and going straight to attack Gaoyou is no different from committing suicide. Plus Gaoyou is located on the road one must follow to reach Jiangdu, hence Zhongli and Gaoyou can correspond to each other, forming the most strategic defense northside of Jiangdu.

Ma Chang asked, “What if we enter Yangtze River from the sea and launch surprise attack to Jiangdu?”

“That is not feasible even more,” Kou Zhong replied, “Jiangdu is located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. The opposite bank is the other military strategic town Yanling. The two cities, big and small, are as close as lips and teeth; no matter how successful our surprise attack is, the Li Army at Yanling would cross the river to help, then we would face the enemies in front and behind us, our share would be just to take a beating. By the time the manpower from Zhongli and Gaoyou arrive swiftly to help via the waterway, I am afraid none of us would have the opportunity to escape back to the sea.”

Feeling a headache, Yang Gongqing said, “According to the current situation, we must take Zhongli first, and then make our plan to go to Gaoyou, only then would we have the chance to threaten Jiangdu’s Li Zitong. What is the military power in Zhongli?”

Kou Zhong spoke indifferently, “The defenders plus the navy are around thirty to forty thousand men, the commander-in-chief is Zuo Xiaoyou, the chief big general under Li Zitong’s command. From this, we can see how important Zhongli is for Li Zitong.”

Ma Chang was speechless, “Do we have the capability to attack Zhongli?” he asked.

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Hence the reason we must employ a stratagem. If we can trick Li Zitong into thinking that we are going to run away to Hainan Island from the sea, and then dispatch the troops separately from the canal and the sea to attack from two sides, we will have the chance to enter by exploiting a weak spot, and go down to Zhongli first.”

And then he laid out his plan, while also told the two that the Hainan Island has already fallen into Song Que’s hands.

Yang Gongqing sighed and said, “Speaking about the strange usage of soldiers, no one in the world can surpass Shaoshuai; if I were Li Zitong, there’s a good chance that I would fall into the trap.”

“What is Li Zitong’s reaction so far?” Ma Chang asked.

Kou Zhong replied cheerfully, “According to the report sent by our spies, Li Zitong is transferring his navy from Gaoyou to Zhongli, in addition to concentrating his navy fleet in Jiangdu, and acquiring civilian boats for his use. The best part is that he did not know you guys have come in secret; moreover, they are not aware of the existence of the twenty-eight flywheel boats. Now I am coming and going extremely carefully; when I leave the Shao Shuai mansion, I always wear a mask, with heart and soul waiting for Li Zitong to attack. I can guarantee that when Zuo Xiaoyou’s Zhongli army comes, they won’t be able to leave. By the time Li Zitong’s other branch of army is still on the ocean, facing the wind and the waves, we will move our troops to Gaoyou. Only after we steady our troops disposition that we go to take Jiangdu. At that time, Li Shimin, who is still painstakingly attacking Luoyang, can only watch helplessly. Since Jiangdu is mine, Kou Zhong’s, Shen Faxing can only pick one of two choices: be destroyed, or surrender. Ha!”

Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang both felt that the possibility was there, their spirit was greatly aroused.

This moment, his expression grave, Xu Xingzhi came to report that Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong came to ask for an audience.

Astonished, Kou Zhong wondered aloud, “How did they know I am still in Liangdu?”

Xu Xingzhi shook his head and said, “In my opinion, they are purely giving it a try. Do you want me to turn them down, telling them that Shaoshuai has already left for Donghai?”

Full of confidence, Kou Zhong said, “They are friends that I have known since childhood, there shouldn’t be any problem. I’ll see them in the inner hall.”

Xu Xingzhi wanted to say something but then hesitated; in the end he accepted the order and left.

Kou Zhong said to Yang and Ma, two men, “I’ll see what they want first, I’ll discuss the details on how to proceed with two gentlemen when I come back.”

Stepping out of the door of the conference room, Kou Zhong recalled Xu Xingzhi’s expression just now; it was obvious that he was against Kou Zhong seeing Gui and Xing, two men, for fear that they might reveal the military secret that he was still in Liangdu.

Would Gui Xiliang and Xing Rong betray him?

Kou Zhong laughed involuntarily. He shook his head to get rid of this ridiculous idea. Forget about the friendly relations between them, merely from the vital interest of Li Zitong supporting Shao Lingzhou, the two men ought to stand on his side.