The Deer and The Cauldron

[pannonian]

If you look towards the top, below the Forum/What's New? tabs, you'll see a number of options. The one you want is Forum Actions. A suboption of that is General Settings, which is the one you want. When you go into General Settings, look down the page until you get to Miscellaneous Options. Message Editor Interface is the option you want, and you need to set it to Enhanced Interface - Full WYSIWYG Editing. Then go to the bottom and Save Changes.

[crazee]

I'm speechless..at a time like that the stupid zheng is still so arrogant and definitely stupid to the ninth degree.
Now who stab CJN ???

It's sad that somehow or rather the factions can never be united....I suppose that's why in real life, many oppositions fail to topple Governments.

Thanks Foxs....

[Osmosis]

I'm speechless..at a time like that the stupid zheng is still so arrogant and definitely stupid to the ninth degree.
Now who stab CJN ???

It's sad that somehow or rather the factions can never be united....I suppose that's why in real life, many oppositions fail to topple Governments.

Thanks Foxs....

Its the stupid + coward zheng who backstab CJN..

[foxs]

Eagle, I don't think being of 'older generation' has anything to do with it. I am also of older generation. But thanks anyway. Anh, the hurricane path does not seem to include Florida, I hope all of you down there are safe. Pannonian, from home (I use Chrome, running on Mac) I only see one option, 'Mark as read'. I will try looking at my office computer (Internet Explorer on Windows 7) tomorrow. Thanks for the info. I knew it was something to do with the setup of my browser, but maybe Eagle was right, being of 'older generation', I am not very familiar with settings like this. Ali, Crazee, CJN was not a bad character, but I agree with you, his blind loyalty is aggravating; although I think he did not deserve to be killed cowardly like that. ZKS (the character, not the real historical figure) is indeed despicable. Osmosis, welcome to the forum.

---

It was actually Zheng Keshuang who carried out his evil scheme behind Chen Jinnan’s back. Based on Chen Jinnan’s martial art skill, even ten Zheng Keshuang would not be able to kill him; however, he saw that Shi Lang was contemplating the idea of surrendering, but Zheng Keshuang cursed him that he left, Chen Jinnan knew that this person was a rare talent, he was hoping to pull him back, and had never expected that Zheng Keshuang, who was standing behind him, would unexpectedly carry out his evil scheme.

After Zheng Chenggong captured Taiwan, he sent his son Zheng Jing to defend Jinmen, Xiamen[4]. Zheng Jing was very adept in military matters, but his conduct was not careful, he slept with a wet nurse and gave birth to a son. When Zheng Chenggong found out about it, he was exceptionally furious; he wanted to send someone with his arrow banner of command to go to Xiamen to kill Zheng Jing. The various generals under his command thought that it was a reckless order, hence they were unwilling to receive the order, together they submit a report, saying that the day to pay a debt of gratitude would come, they must wait indefinitely, and so on.

Seeing his generals refused to follow his order, Zheng Chenggong was even more furious; not long afterwards he fell ill and died at the age of 39. Taiwan’s high-ranking military officers threw their full support to Zheng Chenggong’s younger brother Zheng Xi and made him their master. From Jinmen and Xiamen Zheng Jing returned to Taiwan and defeated the Taiwan’s defenders, hence he inherited the title Yan Ping Wang.

Zheng Chenggong’s wife, Madame Dong saw that disaster had struck and that there would be changes in the family, their Wangye had died an untimely death, it was all because of the wet nurse giving birth to a son; for this reason she detested the wet nurse’s son, Zheng Kesang, and did everything in her power to support her grandson from Zheng Jing’s first wife, Zheng Keshuang to be the heir apparent. Zheng Jing, however, refused to obey his mother.

Chen Jinnan had always been loyal and devoted to Zheng Jing. He gave his daughter to Zheng Kesang as his wife. Madame Dong and Feng Xifan conspired in secret; they knew that if they wanted to support Zheng Keshuang, they must kill Chen Jinnan first so that he would not be a stumbling block to their plan. Several times did they try to harm him, but each time he managed to escape. Unexpectedly this time he rescued Zheng Keshuang’s life, but had fallen into this person’s evil scheme instead.

The stab from behind happened so suddenly, nobody had ever expected it. Feng Xifan was about to run after Shi Lang when he saw that Wei Xiaobao was thrusting his dagger toward Zheng Keshuang. Feng Xifan raised his sword to block. ‘Swish!’ the sword in his hand broke into two sections; but the internal energy behind the sword thrust was profound, Wei Xiaobao’s dagger was also jolted and flew from his hand. Feng Xifan’s leg followed, he kicked Wei Xiaobao and sent him tumbling down on the ground. He was about to pursue and attack, Shuang’er rushed in front of Wei Xiaobao to block. Feng Jizhong and two Tian Di Hui brothers also rushed forward to attack Feng Xifan from left and right.

Wei Xiaobao crawled up, picked up his dagger and howled in grief, “This vile creature killed Zongduozhu, everybody must fight him to the death!” while charging toward Zheng Keshuang.

Zheng Keshuang leaned sideways to evade, while thrusting his sword straight toward the back of Wei Xiaobao’s head. His martial art skill was far superior to Wei Xiaobao’s, this sword move was quite ingenious, it was obvious that Wei Xiaobao would have difficult time evading it. Suddenly a saber from the side parried the sword thrust; it was Ah Ke. She called out, “Don’t harm my Shidi!” And then two Tian Di Hui brothers launched a converging attack toward Zheng Keshuang.

Feng Xifan strenuously fought Feng Jizhong, Shuang’er and two Tian Di Hui brothers, four people, he was unable to gain the upper hand. ‘Slap!’ he sent out a palm strike toward a Tian Di Hui brother, who spurted out a mouthful of blood and fell dead. Suddenly he heard Zheng Keshuang’s ‘Wah, wah!’ loud cry; Feng Xifan abandoned his opponents and rushed toward Zheng Keshuang. With another palm strike he killed another Tian Di Hui brother.

He knew that now that Chen Jinnan was dead, these people would follow Wei Xiaobao’s command, hence he must deal with the little demon first. Stretching out his hand, his palm shot down onto the top of Wei Xiaobao’s head.

“Xianggong, run!” Shuang’er called out, while leaping toward Feng Xifan’s back.

“You must be careful too!” Wei Xiaobao called back and ran away.

Feng Xifan thought, “If I run after this little demon, Gongzi will have nobody to protect him.” Reaching out with his left arm, he grabbed Zheng Keshuang and ran after Wei Xiaobao. Although he was carrying a grown man, he was still a bit faster than Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao turned his head around to look and jumped in fright. He reached out to press the ‘Han Sha She Ying’ mechanism, but because of this, his footsteps was somewhat delayed, Feng Xifan came very fast, his right palm already arrived. It was a ‘thousand pounds hang by a threat’ situation, if Wei Xiaobao waited to release the secret projectile, most likely his brain would be busted by Feng Xifan’s palm. Without any choice he leaned sideways to evade, and then using the ‘Shen Xing Bai Bian’ he ran away. Carried by his own momentum Feng Xifan ran several more steps before hastily halted his steps and turned around to chase him. Wei Xiaobao called out, “My Shifu’s ghost is coming! He is touching your head!” Because he spoke, his feet slowed down, Feng Xifan was one step closer.

Behind, Shuang’er and Feng Jizhong also urgently gave chase; they were hoping they could cut Feng Xifan off. Wei Xiaobao fled to the east and rushed to the west in erratic pattern, while Feng Xifan was carrying Zheng Keshuang, hence his movement was not as nimble, for the time being he was unable to catch him. Shuang’er and Feng Jizhong were still several zhang behind.

After running around for a while, Wei Xiaobao gradually felt he was out of breath. In a moment of desperation, he forced himself to run toward the cliff. Feng Xifan was greatly delighted, thinking that this time you are running to a dead-end yourself. He saw that other than a narrow pathway, all around the cliff was empty space, there was no way out; hence he relaxed his speed instead.

Running along the narrow mountain path, Wei Xiaobao did not use the ‘Shen Xing Bai Bian’ skill. He had just set his foot on the top of the cliff, Feng Xifan had also arrived. Wei Xiaobao shouted at the top of his voice, “First wife, middle wife, young wife, everybody quickly come out and help me, if you are not coming out, everybody will become widows.”

Actually, while he was running to the cliff, the five women on the cliff had already seen him. Su Quan saw Feng Xifan was carrying someone in his left arm, yet he was still able to run and leap like flying; indeed his martial art skill was very strong, perhaps just a notch inferior to Cult Leader Hong. Early on she already had a blade in her hand as she crouched by the side of the cliff. As soon as Feng Xifan caught up, ‘Shua!’ her saber swiftly sliced across his waist.

When Feng Xifan heard Wei Xiaobao shouting and calling earlier, he still thought that Wei Xiaobao was making a fuss to disturb his attention, he had never expected that someone was really hiding in this place. He saw this saber move was exquisite and unusual, it was indeed a superb move; he was slightly startled and took a step back. With a loud shout his left foot slightly swayed, his right foot suddenly flew out and kicked Su Quan’s wrist.

“Ah!” Su Quan cried out, the willow-leaf saber left her hand and flew to the air. Wei Xiaobao seized this split-second opportunity to turn his body to face Feng Xifan, his right hand activate the ‘Han Sha She Ying’ mechanism, with a series of ‘chi, chi, chi’ noise a cluster of fine, thin steel needles shot out, all landed on Feng Xifan and Zheng Keshuang’s bodies.

Feng Xifan screamed loudly, his grip loosened, Zheng Keshuang fell to the ground. The two of them rolled from the cliff along the narrow path down the mountain. Shuang’er and Feng Jizhong were rushing halfway up the mountain, seeing these two people rolling down fast, they leaped sideways to avoid collision.

Zheng and Feng, two people rolled down to the foot of the cliff. As soon as the poison on the needles flared out, the two of them screamed and squealed like a pig being slaughtered, while still rolling down continuously. Fortunately after He Tishou entered Huashan Pai, she obeyed her master’s instruction; henceforth she discarded any sinister and acute poison she had been using. The poison on these ‘Han Sha She Ying’ steel needles only had anesthetic effect, not life threatening poison at all. Otherwise, based on her status as the Cult Leader of the Five-Poison Cult, the poison on her concealed weapons would immediately seal the throat upon contact with blood, the person hit would immediately die a violent death; before Feng and Zheng, two people reached the foot of the cliff, they would have taken their last breath. Even so, as the steel needles hit their bodies, they still felt unbearably numb and itchy; it was as if several hundred scorpions and centipedes were crawling and biting all over their bodies at once. Although Feng Xifan was strong and healthy, he still could not bear not to scream unceasingly.

Wei Xiaobao, Shuang’er, Feng Jizhong, Su Quan, Fang Yi, Mu Jianping, the Princess, Zeng Rou, Ah Ke rushed over one after another; seeing Feng and Zheng, two people’s condition, they were all aghast. Wei Xiaobao calmed himself down a little, and then still panting for breath, he rushed toward Chen Jinnan. He saw that Zheng Keshuang’s sword bored through Chen Jinnan’s chest; it was still stuck on his body, but he had not breathed his last. Wei Xiaobao could not help bursting into tears as he picked up Chen Jinnan’s body.

Chen Jinnan’s power was very profound, his internal breathing had not yet dispersed. “Xiaobao,” he said in a low voice, “Everybody will eventually die. I … I have lived my entire life for my country, for my people, I have a clear conscience against the heaven and the earth. You … you … you don’t have to be grieved.”

“Shifu, Shifu!” Wei Xiaobao could only cry out. Actually, the days he spent with Chen Jinnan were very few; each time they met he was always afraid Shifu would check the progress of his martial art training, and thus he was always anxious and was always thinking about how to fob his master and offer lame excuses to cover up his unwillingness to make progress; but at least he was very grateful for his Shifu’s kind intention.

This moment as he saw that Shifu was about to die, all the unspoken teachings Shifu usually taught him, the way Shifu treated him with the kindness and love of a father, choked his heart, making him wishing that he could die in place of Shifu. “Shifu,” he said, “I really was not being good to you; you … you taught me martial art, I … I did not learn it at all.”

Chen Jinnan smiled and said, “As long as you are being a good person, Shifu is very happy. Whether you learn martial art or not, that … that is not important at all.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “I will definitely listen to you, I will be a good person, not … not a bad person.”

Chen Jinnan smiled, “Good child,” he said, “You have always been good.”

Gnashing his teeth, Wei Xiaobao said, “That evil thief Zheng Keshuang harmed you, (boo hoo, boo hoo), Shifu, if I can get hold of him, I will definitely chop him into mincemeat to avenge you, (boo hoo, boo hoo …)” He wailed and talked at the same time, with tears raining down his face.

Chen Jinnan’s body shook. “No, no!” he hastily said, “I am Zheng Wangye’s subordinate. Guoxing Ye’s kindness to me was as heavy as the mountain. No matter what we must not murder Guoxing Ye’s flesh and blood … I would rather him being ruthless, but I must not be faithless. Xiaobao, I am going to die, you must not damage my loyal and righteous reputation. You … you must by all means listen to me …” His face was originally smiling, but right now he looked extremely anxious. “Xiaobao,” he continued, “Promise me, you must let him return to Taiwan; otherwise, otherwise, I won’t die with closed eyes.”

Wei Xiaobao had no choice; he was obliged to say, “Since Shifu spares this evil thief, I will … I will obey your instruction.”

Immediately Chen Jinnan was relieved; he heaved a deep sigh and then said slowly, “Xiaobao, Tian Di Hui’s … great undertaking of fighting the Qing restoring the Ming, you must do it well. Our Han people work as one, in the end we will be able to restore our rivers and mountains; too bad … too bad I won’t … won’t live to see it …” his voice was getting lower and lower, finally he was unable to inhale, and thus he died.

Wei Xiaobao embraced his body and wailed, “Shifu, Shifu!” He cried himself hoarse, yet Chen Jinnan did not stir at all.

All along Su Quan and the others had been standing by his side. Seeing Chen Jinnan died and Wei Xiaobao was unable to control his grief, they were all grief-stricken as well. Su Quan gently stroked his shoulder and said tenderly, “Xiaobao, your Shifu has passed away.”

Sobbing, Wei Xiaobao said, “Shifu is dead, he is dead!” He had never had any father, in the deepest part of his heart, he had always considered Shifu as his father to make up his deficiency, only outwardly he did not realize it. Now that Shifu was dead, the pain in his heart was like a flood breaking down the dike; it was hard to suppress. He finally came to the realization that he was after all a wild child without any father.

Su Quan wanted to steer him away from his sorrow, “How are we going to deal with the murderer of your Shifu?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao sprang up and cursed, “Hot piece mama, little b@stard. My Shifu was your Zheng Family’s subordinate, but I, Wei Xiaobao, have never eaten even a mouthful of your Zheng Family’s rice, or spent a wen of your Zheng Family’s money. Your granny stinky thief, you still owe me ten thousand taels that you have not paid back. Shifu wanted me to spare your life, fine, I’ll spare your life. But I want you to pay me back the ten thousand taels right now. You still don’t want to pay it back? Then I’ll simply cut your body, one cut for each tael of silver.” While his mouth was hurling curses continously, he pulled his dagger and walked over toward Zheng Keshuang, whom he then kicked randomly.

---

[4] Jinmen – Kinmen or Quemoy Islands off Fujian coast; Xiamen or Amoy, sub provincial city in Fujian.

[Eagle]

Foxs,
As mentioned, at home I use Firefox. I have an add-on to Firefox called NoScript, it prevents scripts from running. When the scripts are not running I don't see the attributes like HTML, or the icons are not available, etc. Not sure how Chrome works, have not tried it yet.

Chen Jinnan was murdered by this treacherous Zheng Keshuang. I hope Wei Xiaobao would not let the guy leave in one piece I am also surprised that Ah Ke saved Xiaobao from Zheng Keshuang's sword, does it means she at last was able to open her eyes and see what this guy really is?

[crazee]

Eh? it seems all these heroes are crazier than me. What type of loyalty that allows the killing of oneself ? Ant at a time like this when it a matter of life and death, personal greed is still paramount.

Now how....is ZKS going to be an eunuch ?
I supose most of the readers will support this...

Thanks Foxs ... a bit sad this episode....death after death

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs
It has been windy for four days but we have no damage from the hurricane.

[smurf120]

Usually I have begrudgingly accept or admire stubborn beliefs but Chen's blind loyalty actually undermines his whole campaign against the Qing. Shi Lang was actually pausing and considering and the idiot decides to stab CJN!

If JY really wants to clarify or rewrite a part, I think he should expand of Ah Ke's decision to defend WXB - perhaps it is because she knows he does not know a stance of martial arts but still held up his dagger to charge down. Also I think it is significant that she refers to him as "my shidi" instead of something like "filthy creton/rat bastard".

[crazee]

If JY really wants to clarify or rewrite a part, I think he should expand of Ah Ke's decision to defend WXB - perhaps it is because she knows he does not know a stance of martial arts but still held up his dagger to charge down. Also I think it is significant that she refers to him as "my shidi" instead of something like "filthy creton/rat bastard".

Yeah....why is it that she suddenly had a change of heart ? Is it beacause the stupid Zheng is a low down coward and that XB inspite of his almost zero fighting skills still acts with courage ???

Well I suppose JY is just amplifying the complexity of women..... well I never understand them anyway.... heh heh heh

[crazee]

UAlso I think it is significant that she refers to him as "my shidi" instead of something like "filthy creton/rat bastard".

Actually I think it'll be hilarious if she say something like "don't harm my errr ....the filthy creton/rat bastard" ......

[athlonkmf]

Have patience. Her change will be explained in the next section. And it suddenly becomes really clear

Though I wouldn't say that WXB is courageous. JY even emphasized this. He just considered the fact and knew he's completely safe against those soldiers with all his skills&gadget&personal bodyguard. I just find it rather odd that his other "wives" suddenly hid behind some bushes instead of protecting their husband...

With SY by his side, WXB is already protected. But if Madame Hong and Fang yi helps out...

[smurf120]

Have patience. Her change will be explained in the next section. And it suddenly becomes really clear

Though I wouldn't say that WXB is courageous. JY even emphasized this. He just considered the fact and knew he's completely safe against those soldiers with all his skills&gadget&personal bodyguard. I just find it rather odd that his other "wives" suddenly hid behind some bushes instead of protecting their husband...

With SY by his side, WXB is already protected. But if Madame Hong and Fang yi helps out...

I wouldn't say that WXB is courageous either but from Ah Ke (and others) perspective they do not know that WXB has an arsenal to protect himself. Reasoned that Madame Hong and Princess stayed behind due to pregnancy.

I remember some of the adaptations had Ah Ke take a harder stance and say "don't kill him, I want him to die by my hand" - which changes the emotion of this scene quite a bit.

[foxs]

Pannonian, the forum setting on my computer is already that. I think it has something to do with my internet explorer setting. Eagle, thanks for your concern anyway. Crazee, that was the reason I cannot stand 'heroes' like that. Anh, glad you are OK. My thought is with those of you in the northeast. I know we have some readers in New York area (I remember Sky, Bchin, don't remember anybody else). I hope you all are all right. Smurf, Athlon, I don't understand Ah Ke's change of heart either. Is it that easy for a girl to change her mind simply because she was pregnant? Again, IMHO, it's one convenience after another, too easy. Perhaps Jin Yong simply wanted to wrap up everything quick. Shorter update, end of Chapter 44. Now we really have only six more to go.

---

The number of poisonous needles that hit Zheng Keshuang was comparatively less than those that hit Feng Xifan; by this time the pain was somewhat lessened. Hearing that Chen Jinnan wanted to spare his life, he was delighted beyond belief. But now that the debtor demanded payent, while he did not carry any money with him, he could only plead, “When I … I will return to Taiwan, I will definitely add ten times; no, I’ll add a hundred times to the principal.”

Wei Xiaobao kicked him on the head and cursed, “You have a heart of wolf and lungs of dog, a stinky thief who forget favors and violate justice; you speak like fart. You cannot avoid these ten thousand cuts.” Lifting up his dagger, he ran it over Zheng Keshuang’s face twice.

Zheng Keshuang was so scared that his soul flew to the outer sky; he cast a glance toward Ah Ke, hoping that she would say something to help him. But suddenly he remembered, “Not right, not right! The one this little thief loves the most is precisely Ah Ke, if right now she speak on my behalf, this little thief will hate me even more. It seems like these ten thousand cuts will be unavoidable.” He said, “One million taels of silver, I will definitely pay you back. Wei Xiangzhu, Wei Xianggong, if you don’t believe …”

Wei Xiaobao kicked him again, “Of course I don’t believe! My Shifu believed you, you killed him!” The grief and indignation in his heart was unbearable, he stretched out his dagger to stab Zheng Keshuang’s face.

Zheng Keshuang cried out, “If you don’t believe me, then I’ll have Ah Ke to vouch for me.”

“Vouching for you is useless,” Wei Xiaobao said, “She will vouch for you, later on you still won’t pay me back.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “I have a guarantee.”

“Alright,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Leave you dog head as the guarantee; you pay me back a million taels, I will return your dog head to you.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “I’ll leave Ah Ke as the guarantee for you!”

In that instant Wei Xiaobao felt the sky spun the earth went around, his hand loosened, the dagger fell to the ground, ‘chi!’ it went deep into the mud, only a few cun away from Zheng Keshuang’s head. “Aiyo!” Zheng Keshuang cried out; hastily he pulled his head away and said, “I pawn Ah Ke to you, believe me, I will send one million taels to you, and then you can return Ah Ke to me.”

“It can be discussed,” Wei Xiaobao said.

“Cannot, cannot!” Ah Ke cried out, “I am not yours, how can you pawn me?” Speaking to here, she broke into crying.

Zheng Keshuang anxiously said, “Right now I am facing imminent catastrophe, Ah Ke does not care about me at all, this woman is completely lacking any sense of justice, I don’t want her anymore. If Wei Xiangzhu agrees to take her, I will sell her to you for one million taels of silver. The two of us don’t owe the other anything; you don’t need to cut me ten thousand times anymore.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In her heart she is always thinking about you, even if you sell her off to me it’s still useless.”

Zheng Keshuang said, “In her belly she already has your child, how could she think about me?”

Wei Xiaobao was pleasantly surprised; his voice quivered, “You … what did you say?”

Zheng Keshuang said, “That day at the Lovely Spring Courtyard in Yangzhou, you and she shared the bed, she has a baby …”

Ah Ke cried out loudly; she suddenly jumped up and rushed to the ocean while covering her face. Shuang’er caught up with her in several steps and pulled her arm to take her back. Ah Ke cried and said, “You … you promised not to tell, why … why did you say that? You speak like releasing … releasing …” Although she was ashamed and angry, she still thought the word ‘fart’ was indecent, hence she could not say it out loud.

Seeing the indeterminate changes on Wei Xiaobao’s countenance, Zheng Keshuang was afraid he might change his mind; he hastily said, “Wei Xiangzhu, this child is definitely yours. Ah Ke and I keep our purity, she said that only after bowing to the Heaven and the Earth with me will we become husband and wife. You … you must not be suspicious.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “This seems too good for Laozi, why didn’t you do it?”

Zheng Keshuang said, “Ever since she has your child inside her belly, she often thought about you; when she talked to me, she would mention you all day long. Listening to her I was bored to death, what do you want me to do with her?”

Ah Ke stomped her feet repeatedly, her face alternated between red and white; she said angrily, “You told him … you told him everything.” By saying that, she indirectly admitted that he was telling the truth.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Alright!” he said, “In that case get your Ma’s stinky duck egg out of here!”

Zheng Keshuang was also greatly delighted. “Thank you very much, thank you very much!” he hastily said, “I wish the two of you a hundred years of harmony; the congratulatory gift, Xiongdi … Xiongdi will deliver later.” While saying that he slowly crawled up.

“Pei!” Wei Xiaobao spat a mouthful of saliva to the ground; he cursed, “In all my life I don’t want to see you, stinky thief, anymore.” He thought, “I promised Shifu I will spare his life today. Someday there’s no harm in me sending other people to kill him to avenge Shifu. As long as the one I send is not from Tian Di Hui, other people cannot blame it on Shifu.”

All along the three Zheng Mansion bodyguards had been standing far away to the side, it was not until they saw that Wei Xiaobao spared their master’s life that they came over to help Zheng Keshuang up, as well as Feng Xifan, who was lying on the ground. Zheng Keshuang looked up to the sea, he hesitated. Shi Lang’s battleship had already sailed far away. There were two more boats moored at the beach; his own boat was shot by the Qing troops’ cannon, the mast was broken and the sail destroyed, they could not sail on it. The other boat could be considered in good condition, but obviously it was the boat Wei Xiaobao and the others were going to use; they definitely would not let him use it.

“Feng Shifu,” he said in a low voice, “We don’t have any boat; what can we do?”

“Let’s get on the skiff first and talk later,” Feng Xifan replied. The group of people slowly walked toward the beach.

Suddenly from behind them someone shouted in stern voice, “Hold on! Wei Xiangzhu spared your lives, but I won’t spare it.”

Zheng Keshuang was shocked; he saw a man with steel saber in his hand rushed over. It was none other than Tian Di Hui’s martial art expert Feng Jizhong. Zheng Keshuang said in a trembling voice, “You … you are Tian Di Hui Xiongdi, Tian Di Hui has always been under Taiwan’s Yan Ping Mansion’s command, you … you …”

“I, I, what?” Feng Jizhong sternly said, “Stop right there!”

Zheng Keshuang was scared; he had no choice but to reply, “Yes.”

Feng Jizhong returned to Wei Xiaobao and said, “Wei Xiangzhu, this man murdered Zongduozhu, he is the archenemy with whom our tens of thousands Tian Di Hui Xiongdi cannot live under the same sky; we simply cannot spare him. Zongduozhu had received Guoxing Ye’s great kindness; hence he was unwilling to kill his offspring. Wei Xiangzhu has agreed to fulfill his last wish, hence you cannot do it. But subordinate has never seen Guoxing Ye; Zongduozhu’s last wish was not addressed to me either. Today subordinate wants to put this evil thief to the sword to avenge Zongduozhu.”

With his right hand’s open palm behind his ear Wei Xiaobao cocked his head sideways as if he was trying to hear, “What did you say?” he asked, “My ears are suddenly blocked, I can’t hear anything. Feng Dage, whatever it is that you want to do, you might as well do it, there’s no need to wait for my order. There’s something wrong with my ears. Ay, must be that fellow Shi Lang’s cannon has deafened me.” It could not be any clearer than that; if Feng Jizhong wanted to kill Zheng Keshuang, he could make his move immediately, Wei Xiaobao simply would not stop him.

Seeing the hesitation on Feng Jizhong’s face, Wei Xiaobao added, “When Shifu was at the death’s door, he only ordered me not to kill Zheng Keshuang; he did not say that I should protect him for the rest of my life. As long as I do not personally make the move, it’s none of my business. There are millions and millions of people under the heavens, each one could kill him, who would be able to control it?”

Feng Jizhong tugged Wei Xiaobao’s sleeve, “Wei Xiangzhu let’s go over there to talk.”

The two of them walked a dozen or so zhang away, Feng Jizhong halted his steps and said, “Wei Xiangzhu, His Majesty has always been very fond of you; is that right?”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly taken aback. “That’s right,” he said, “So?”

Feng Jizhong said, “His Majesty wanted you to kill Zongduozhu, you are unwilling, hence you flee to this place; it goes to show that you take yi qi very seriously. The heroes and warriors of Jianghu, everybody is full of admiration.”

Wei Xiaobao shook his head and ruefully said, “But in the end Shifu is still dead.”

“Zongduozhu was killed by that fellow Zheng Keshuang,” Feng Jizhong said, “But the mission His Majesty assigned to Wei Xiangzhu can be considered accomplished …”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly astonished. “You … why did you say … say such thing?” he asked.

Feng Jizhong said, “In His Majesty’s heart, there are three people he is most afraid of. If these three are not eliminated, His Majesty’s dragon courtyard will never be stable. The first person is Wu Sangui; that goes without saying. The second person is precisely Zongduozhu; Tian Di Hui Xiongdi cover the whole world, the aspiration to fight the Qing and restore the Ming has never slacked off, giving His Majesty a lot of headache. Now that Zongduozhu is dead, one big load on His Majesty’s mind has been removed …”

Listening to this point, suddenly Wei Xiaobao felt as if a bright light had just flashed in his mind. “It’s you, it’s you. Turns out it is you!” he said.

[crazee]

Really a lowdown useless fellow -this ZKS. If China were to be ruled by him...wow, I'll bet I can be a better emperor than him....Anyway, so Ah Ke realised that XB is not that bad......I suppose she finally realised that all XB did to her was to in his own weird way show his love for her....

Thanks Foxs....4 Chapters will end in a flash.....

Now, finally it dawns on XB that the problem of a mole in Tian Di Hui is revealed

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs

[smurf120]

ZKS "selling" Ah Ke back to WXB seems much more despicable in word form than when the scene is acted out. I guess it is really hard to portray indignation being sold as an object when she never belonged to him in the first place.

The Feng Jizhong reveal was a bit strangely timed.

[eccentric]

I've just joined this forum after I accidentally found the translation of one of my favorite TV Show.
Thanks a zillion, foxs..
Your time efforts and efforts to translate the story are extremely awesome and truly admirable.
I also notice how consistent you are, haven't found any typo so far, which means you are very conscientious close to perfection.
Two thumbs up.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks much for all the updates foxs! Also, thanks for thinking of us here in NYC. Luckily, we weren't affected as much as the others. Guess it's a good thing I'm still in Spain. Just hoping my flight can get into the city tomorrow.

I think JY kinda rushed this chapter a bit as well. So much happened! And even in death, CJN is still a loyal idiot. And then there is Ah Ke and her sudden changed of heart. I guess JY just didnt want to write about romance but wanted his main character to get all the girls. All is good.

[foxs]

Crazee, six. The last chapter is Chapter 50. And then I still owe Chapter 1. Anh, you are welcome. Smurf, unfortunately, that is always the case with any adaptation. Eccentric, thanks Glad you like it. Welcome to the Forum. Sky, I did not know you are traveling again. Last time you went to China. New chapter ...

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Chapter 45 – Remaining bamboo piece used as a pole, can be used to check out the net of hearts in a deep pool.
(Translated by Foxs)

Kangxi seemed to know everything about the inside information of Wei Xiaobao’s conduct and deeds in Tian Di Hui; he was even able to recite fluently the code word and secret exchange within the organization. Yet Kangxi was completely oblivious of the fact that Wei Xiaobao had stolen the Forty-two Chapter Sutra or that he was the White Dragon Envoy of the Divine Dragon Cult. Wei Xiaobao thought it over carefully, he was convinced that the spy must be of Tian Di Hui; not only that, this person must be very close to him. But all Green Wood Hall friends had red-bellied devotion and profound yi qi; it was unthinkable that one of them could become a spy and sell out their friends. For this reason, although all along there was a very heavy suspicion in his heart, he did not have the least bit of clue; he only thought that this matter was very strange and was very difficult to solve.

This moment, as Feng Jizhong said those things, Wei Xiaobao suddenly realized, “I really deserve to die,” he thought, “Why have I never thought about this person? That day the young Emperor wanted me to bombard the Bojue [Earl] Mansion; all Tian Di Hui people were there, only he alone was not there. It should have been very clear to me, those who were in the Bojue Mansion could not be the spy; otherwise, when the cannon were fired, who would be able to escape with their live? Only because he had had the information in advance that he went away first. Ay, I am indeed a silly big melon; if he did not say anything, I would still be kept inside a drum.”

Feng Jizhong was a quiet and uncommunicative person, he appeared to be an extremely honest man; although his martial art skill was high, he always carried the mannerism of a ‘stupid head wooden brain’ country bumpkin. Occasionally when Wei Xiaobao was thinking about who the spy might be, he was always thinking about a person with ‘quick mouth and teeth’, perhaps an unscrupulous businessman like Qian Laoben; or perhaps someone who was light on his feet, shrewd and street-smart Xu Tianchuan; or perhaps a thorough, competent and experienced Gao Yanchao; or perhaps a hot-tempered, wine lover Priest Xuanzhen. Even the experienced and knowledgeable, outspoken and straightforward, honest and frank Fan Gang, as well as the aging Li Lishi, whose health had been deteriorating for the past few years, and sharp and cynical Qi Qingbiao, were all suspects in his mind. Only toward this did-not-look-like-a-spy Feng Jizhong he did not have the least bit of suspicion.

Suddenly he thought of something else, “That time Shuang’er was also not in the Bojue Mansion; could it be that she … she is also a spy, she is also going against me?” Thinking about this, he could not help but was heartbroken. But the he immediately understood, “Feng Jizhong must have intentionally taken Shuang’er out. He knew this girl is my lifeblood; if she was blasted to death, and later on this matter is exposed, I would have hated him for the rest of my life. He is no more than the spy sent by His Majesty to report some information in secret; as soon as Tian Di Hui is wiped out, His Majesty would not have any use of him. If in His Majesty’s presence I gave him some trouble, he would not be able to withstand it; hence he really did not dare to offend me.”

This thought was complicated and not easy to express succinctly, but in Wei Xiaobao’s mind it was a brain-wave that happened in a flash and he understood immediately. “Feng Dage,” he said, “Thank you for taking Shuang’er out of Bojue Mansion so that the cannon blast would not kill him.”

“Ah!” Feng Jizhong exclaimed; his countenance changed instantly, and he backed off two steps with his hand on the hilt of his saber. “You … you …” he said.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “You and I have a tacit mutual understanding; His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago.”

Feng Jizhong knew the Emperor doted on him very much, he must be telling the truth. “Why didn’t you obey the imperial edict then?” he asked. As soon as he asked that question, it was the same as if he openly admitted everything.

Wei Xiaobao smiled and said, “Feng Dage, why are you asking a question that you already know the answer? This is called ‘loyalty cannot satisfy both sides’. The way His Majesty treated me is without question really overflowing with imperial kindness; but Shifu’s treatment toward me was not bad either. Right now Shifu is already dead, what other apprehensions do I have left? It’s just that I do not know whether His Majesty would pardon my capital offence.”

Feng Jizhong said, “Now is a good chance to atone for your offense by meritorious acts. Just now I said that His Majesty is determined to get rid of three thorns in his side; other than Wu Sangui and Chen Jinnan, the third person is precisely Zheng Jing who occupies Taiwan illegally. We capture Zheng Jing’s son, and take him to Beijing; who knows? Maybe we can force Zheng Jing to surrender. If His Majesty is happy, even if Wei Dutong committed gargantuan offense, His Majesty may pardon everything.” Since he no longer concealed his real identity in front of Wei Xiaobao, the way he was addressing Wei Xiaobao had also changed; now he called him ‘Wei Dutong’. Even toward the Zongduozhu he now referred him by his given name.

In his heart Wei Xiaobao was very angry, “This traitor does not have any yi qi, unexpectedly he calls my Shifu by name.” But thinking about the possibility of reconciliation with Kangxi, he was quite happy. It did not matter to him whether he could be government official or not, but thinking about the time he could spend chatting with the young Emperor was enough to give him unending delight.

Feng Jizhong continued, “Wei Dutong, when we return to Beijing, we must keep everything in secret. If those Tian Di Hui people knew that Chen Jinnan is dead, most likely they would push you to become the Zongduozhu. Your yi qi is profound, you are willing to discard glory, splendor, wealth and rank; you did not want to be Bojue, you did not want to be Dutong, all because you wanted to save Tian Di Hui friends’ lives. This very moment this fact has been spread throughout the world. Right now Jianghu is bubbling and gurgling, everybody is talking about this matter; which one does not admire Wei Dutong’s heroic spirit?”

Wei Xiaobao was very proud of himself; he asked, “Did everybody really say that? You are not lying to me?”

“No, no …” Feng Jizhong replied, “Lowly officer definitely does not dare to lie to Dutong Daren.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, “Now he calls himself ‘lowly officer’; I wonder what is his official rank?” Although curious, he did not dare to ask, because if he did, he would expose the horse’s feet immediately; ‘His Majesty has already told me everything since long ago’ would then be a lie. But then he had a second thought, “There’s no harm in asking which rank he had been promoted to.” Thereupon he smiled and asked, “You have rendered such a great merit, His Majesty must have promoted your rank; right now which official position are you holding?”

Feng Jizhong said, “By His Majesty’s grace, he bestowed lowly officer the position Dusi.” [都司 – Vice Brigade Commander.]

Wei Xiaobao thought, “Turns out ‘sesame seed mung bean’ lowly military official position; with Laozi the difference is damn seventeen twenty-eight levels.”

In the Qing Dynasty’s bureaucratic system, Bojue was beyond ‘pin’ rank high-level officers. As the ‘Dutong’ (commander) of the Valiant Cavalry Brigade, Wei Xiaobao was a ‘one-pin’ rank officer. Han people’s Green Standard Army[1] military official’s highest rank Tidu [local commander, provincial governor] was also ‘one-pin’. Zongbing [regional commander] was ‘regular two-pin’, below this were Fujiang [deputy general], Canjiang [Administrator], Youji [Brigade Commander], and then Dusi [Vice Brigade Commander]. But looking at Feng Jizhong’s appearance, although his face still showed an extremely honest expression, there was a very proud look in his eyes. Thereupon Wei Xiaobao raised his cupped fist and said with a laugh, “Congratulations, congratulations! This is His Majesty’s personal promotion, you are definitely standing out from the masses.”

Feng Jizhong returned the propriety and said, “Later on I will rely on Daren to cultivate me.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “We are on the same side, why did you say such thing? In term of working for His Majesty, your skill greatly surpasses mine.”

“How can lowly officer be compared to even a ten-thousandth of Daren?” Feng Jizhong replied, “Reporting to Daren, His Majesty has instructed lowly officer that if I see Daren, no matter what I must bring Daren back to Beijing, I must not disobey the imperial edict. Listening to His Majesty’s tone, lowly officer knew that His Majesty cares about Daren greatly; I can say that he miss you very much. This great merit of bringing Taiwan rebel’s son back to Beijing will make His Majesty happy; he will definitely raise Daren’s official position.”

“Um,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In that case you should be promoted to Youji.”

Feng Jizhong said, “Lowly officer only wish to do my best for His Majesty. When His Majesty sees Daren, he will be happy, as his servants we will also greatly rejoice. Whether we are promoted or not, it’s entirely by His Majesty’s grace.”

Wei Xiaobao mused, “I have always thought you were an honest person, turns out you really know how to talk in official jargon.”

Feng Jizhong continued, “If Daren assumed the Zongduozhu position of Tian Di Hui, you can gather the eighteen provinces Halls’ Xiangzhu and every place’s leaders together; we’ll say it’s the memorial ceremony for Chen Jinnan. At that time we’ll catch everything in one net, so that these conspirators against the law, the rebel thieves who commit heresy, will be unable to escape. This great merit will be ten times greater than when we bombarded the Bojue Mansion the other day. Daren, just think, if that day you obeyed the Emperor’s decree and killed Chen Jinnan, Li Lishi and those people, Tian Di Hui has rebel thieves in each province, one Zongduozhu is killed, another Zongduozhu will rise; we can’t wipe them out. Only by Daren yourself become the Zongduozhu will we be able to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, and then the big worry weighing His Majesty’s heart will disappear forever.”

Hearing this, cold sweats began to form on Wei Xiaobao’s back; he thought, “This evil scheme is really difficult to deal with, I don’t think even you can come up with this plan, I am 90% sure that this is the young Emperor’s stratagem. If I return to Beijing, most likely the young Emperor will pardon my great offense, but he will definitely want me to eradicate Tian Di Hui. This is a clever way with which he is dealing with me, I won’t be able to escape from his clutch anymore.”

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he was; he thought, “The young Emperor wants me to surrender, he wants to beat my buttocks, those are not a big deal; but he wants me to be Tian Di Hui Zongduozhu and kill all the brothers’ heads; this I must not do, not in a million years. If I did it, all the heroes throughout the world will f*ck my eighteen generation ancestors; when I die, I won’t be able to see Shifu. All the big girls, little girls in here will also look down on me from the bottom of their hearts. Even if other people don’t care, even if Wei Xiaobao’s conscience is not much, in the end I still have a little bit.”

He cast a glance toward Feng Jizhong, while his mouth uttered, ‘Oh, oh,’ repeatedly; he thought, “If I don’t answer, he might become hostile to me immediately. If it comes to using force, a number of us might not necessarily lose to him, but this servant’s martial art skill is exceptionally strong, if one or two of my big girls, little girls are killed by him, it will be desperately serious. There’s no harm in me playing ‘Han Sha She Ying’ again.” He said hesitantly, “I will be very happy to go see His Majesty, it’s just that … it’s just that to kill that many Tian Di Hui brothers, it’s inevitably going to violate yi qi too much. We must discuss it carefully before we trespass our friends.”

“Daren is right,” Feng Jizhong said, “But there is a common saying, ‘Those who measure small things are not people of noble character; a great man has to be ruthless’ [orig. no poison, no great man].”

“Right, right!” Wei Xiaobao said, “A great man has to be ruthless … hey, aiyo, how can that fellow Zheng Keshuang escape?”

Feng Jizhong was startled; he turned around to look. Wei Xiaobao aimed his chest to him, he was about to reach down to activate the mechanism to release the poisonous needle when suddenly Shuang’er rushed over and called out, “Xianggong, what is it?”

Turned out all along she was watching these two men talking endlessly, and was very concerned; thereupon she slowly crept near. When she suddenly heard Wei Xiaobao cried out ‘aiyo’, immediately she leaped forward. If Wei Xiaobao released the ‘Han Sha She Ying’, Feng Jizhong would be hit for certain, but Shuang’er would also be affected. Although this moment his hand had already reached the mechanism, he did not dare to press the mechanism.

When Feng Jizhong turned his head around, he saw Zheng Keshuang and Feng Xifan were still standing on the beach, they had not moved at all. Immediately he knew something was not right; he ducked down and reached backward to grab Shuang’er and pulled her in front of his body as a shield. Based on Shuang’er’s martial art skill, Feng Jizhong should not necessarily be able to succeed in one grab; it’s just that he moved so suddenly, and Shuang’er did not guard against him at all, so that the main artery on her wrist was caught, her upper body went numb, she was unable to move a single step. In a deep voice Feng Jizhong said, “Wei Daren, please raise your hand.”

The golden opportunity to launch a sneak attack had gone, Shuang’er fell under the opponent’s control, Wei Xiaobao was put under disadvantageous position; he giggled and said, “Feng Dage, what kind of joke are you playing?”

Feng Jizhong said, “Wei Daren’s no-shadow no-trace secret projectile is indeed too formidable, lowly officer is very afraid of it; please raise your hands, otherwise, lowly officer will have no choice but to offend you.” While saying that, he pushed Shuang’er forward, while he himself hid behind her, so that Wei Xiaobao would not be able to release the secret projectile.

From the other side Su Quan, Fang Yi, Ah Ke, Zeng Rou and the others saw the unforeseen event, one after another they rushed over. Feng Jizhong thought, “This kid loves this girl the most, he won’t dare to make his move; but those other women might not cherish her life as much, the one they cherish is this kid.” With his left hand he pulled the steel saber hanging on his waist; stretching out his hand, he placed the edge of the blade on Wei Xiaobao’s throat. “Nobody come near!” he shouted.

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[1] Green standard army – standing infantry during Qing Dynasty; originally formed from Ming and other Chinese army units.

[tweety365]

It's been such a long time since my last comment... apologies, foxs! It's busy season for us at work and I just recently got caught up to the current chapter. Thanks so much for keeping up with the translation and we're so close to the ending too.

I also notice that the ending is fast approaching, the events seem a bit rushed. I find the situation with Ah Ke rather sad. She hates WXB so much, but was raped and now pregnant, she has little choice except to follow him. The story is based in ancient China, so after all is said and done, women are still inferior to men and have few rights. JY made her change in attitude too convenient so he didn't have to deal with the issue of rape.

I'm glad to know that WXB loves Shuang'er the most. She is my favorite of all his wives and deserves his love the most. Can't wait to read the ending.