Sorry. It was my turn to update.
Chapter 25: Evil People, Dark Scheme
While the youngsters were busily planning for their destinations, another plan was being conceived in a large manor. After scolding and punishing his failed henchmen, Chen Zheng Ren put away his thick cane and gathered them around him for further instructions.
“Just in case that Fu Ba Kong Qi does not come back with Princess Zhao Ning after some certain idiotic individuals have failed”, “and he glared his fiery eyes at his men again, who quickly knelt down in unison and kept their foreheads on the floor, “… we must find another way to threaten the government. The Song government may seem corrupt and weak, but its foundation still remains with the core kept steady by a few old ministers that has served for two or more reigns. For the Mongols to successfully conquer the Central Plains, these elderly ministers must be eliminated.”
Then one of the kneeling men interrupted, “But Master, due to the festivities of the Empress Dowager’s birthday, all ministers will summoned and kept in the Imperial Palace for ten days to come. And straight afterwards is the Emperor’s birthday of which the festivities lasted for more than three months in the previous years. Then it will be the Empress’s. Who knows how long they will be in there for? The security of Imperial Palace is dense and heavy, and the guest house which is only courtyards away from the Emperor’s chambers is flooded with Imperial guard with outstanding abilities. How can we attempt to assassinate the ministers successfully without getting through the guards?”
Chen Zheng Ren’s eyes fueled with anger and he slapped the man so hard that the man lost his balance and crashed into a wooden table, breaking it. “You fool, how can you uplift the opposition and demean yourself, and thus affect the confidence of our side. Are you saying that I am inferior to the guards of the Imperial Palace?”
The man quickly got back on his knees and exclaimed lowly, “Sorry Master, it is my fault. You are better than all of the guards put together and we will succeed in this plan!”
“Hypocritical fool!” muttered Chen Zheng Ren. He had hated nothing more than people who bootlicked him and people who underestimate him. In normal situations, this man would never live to see the sunlight again but this plan was urgent, so he temporarily ignored this man, who he had plans for later on.
Straightening his face again, he resumed his seriousness and asked his men, “Tell me, who are the most threatening to the Mongolian Army?”
The men quickly replied, “The Song generals and army of course.”
Chen Zheng Ren nodded in satisfaction and asked, “And who do the generals obey?”
“The ministers of course.”
“And who do the ministers obey?”
“The Emperor of course.
And finally, he asked, “And whom does the Emperor obey?”
There was a quick silence, then a mixture of answers consisting of “The Empress Dowager” and “ the ministers”.
Chen Zheng Ren shook his head at the confused men and replied, “His weaknesses.” And just when he was about to elaborate on his plan, the door burst open and seven men rushed in.
“Father!” cried Chen Sheng Tian painfully as he ran to his father and started retelling what had happened with constant stammers and stuttering. Fu Ba Kong Qi just stood silently in the corner, immersed in his own thoughts.
Chen Zheng Ren sat his son on a chair and exclaimed with a sigh, “Just as I had predicted, you would fail! But it doesn’t matter, I have another plan up my sleeve.” And he signaled to his attendant who immediately slipped out of the room.
Turning to his men again, he continued, “The Emperor is but an old fool (apologies to the Emperor being referred to) who indulges in nothing else but wine and women. And those weaknesses will be our main targets in our plan to root up these old ministers.” Then calling in a louder voice, he said, “Let her enter!” The doors opened and a beautiful young woman stepped in.
She was about twenty years old, with a slim and slender body. Her eyes were slightly tilted into vixen-like eyes and her lips were a healthy rosy pink, subtly gaining your focus. The men seemed surprised at her presence. What use would she be to their plan? But Chen Sheng Tian immediately forgot his pain at the sight of her. Only two men were unaffected by her arrival.
Chen Zheng Ren introduced, “I am sure you have all heard of the Mongolian professional mercenary, Qing Ru Yan (Light as a Swallow). With the help and honour of the Fourteenth Prince, we have recruited her as our main basis of this plan. As I had said before, the Emperor’s weaknesses are wine and women. We can’t do anything about the wine, but we can about the women. The Empress Dowager dislikes the newly designated Empress and many conflicts have occurred due to this, with one having the Emperor lose his temper at her. She feels her position is unstable and has planned to elect alternate young women to appease the Emperor instead of the Empress.”
Directing his hand at Qing Ru Yan, “She will be passed off as the youngest daughter of Minister Yi, who is currently enjoying himself with the rewards from us; and entered into the election. With her beauty, she will be surely elected as a consort. Once she gets control of the Emperor, we can eradicate those old ministers with any risks or danger.”
On hearing that his father was about to give this mysterious and alluring beauty to the ugly and old Emperor (sorry again), Chen Sheng Tian jumped out of his chair and protested, “Why waste such a beauty on that old fool, Father?” and turning to Qing Ru Yan with a perverted smile, he continued, “She will be better off with me!”
Qing Ru Yan narrowed her eyes and shot out a whip from her sleeve. Chen Sheng Tian ducked at the weapon but she was faster and emitted another whip, heading straight between his legs.
“Ru Yan. Stop!” called Fu Ba Kong Qi and she obediently retracted the whip, but a hand had grasped it already, and pulled it tight towards him instead.
Chen Zheng Ren had acted the same time as Fu Ba Kong Qi had spoken and had grabbed hold of the whip before it could hit his son anywhere. Chen Sheng Tian flopped back on his chair in fright as his forehead became decorated with beads of sweat.
Chen Zheng Ren said apologetically, “Sorry, My son has disgraced himself terribly, but that is no reason for you to rid my bloodline.” Qing Ru Yan pulled the whip quickly again and it slid out of Chen Zheng Ren’s palm, leaving a red cut behind.
Chen Zheng Ren looked first at his bloody hand, then at the challenging eyes of Qing Ru Yan, and in a fit of anger, swept a lamp off a nearby table and whilst she was defending it, he struck his palms at her and she flew backwards towards the closed doors and would have gone straight had not a strong arm reached out to block her path and stopped her backward motion with a palm of his hand rested on her back.
“Chen Zheng Ren,” came the voice, “I haven’t yet questioned you for not asking my opinion before you engage my disciple in your plans, and now you want to kill her without my permission?” It was Fu Ba Kong Qi. “You think the life of us Mongolians are that worthless to be in your hands?”
Seeing that Qing Ru Yan was under the protection of Fu Ba Kong Qi, he dared not try and offend the Mongolian Khan’s close bodyguard as well as half the Prince’s mentor. But still in an arrogant tone, he exclaimed, “I did not mean to offend your race but until the Prince gets here, I am STILL the person in charge here. With you being near the Khan for so long, I am sure that you know it is an offense to rebut a superior!”
Fu Ba Kong Qi said nothing and pushed Qing Ru Yan to the side, and emerged with triple twirl closely followed by a thrush of both his palms. Chen Zheng Ren slid low quickly to avoid the blow while he hooked his opponent’s foot forwards, causing him to slid forwards out of balance. But Fu Ba Kong Qi reacted quickly and rotated his foot out of the hook and pushing hard on the ground, he swung backwards and swiped his other leg at Chen Zheng Ren, who had leant backwards just in time to avoid the powerful swipe.
Fu Ba Kong Qi lost no time in forwarding another stance, the exact same one he had started off with. Chen Zheng Ren recognized the move and as fast as he could, he concentrated all of his energy into his outstretched palms and met them upon sudden impact.
The audience looked at the blow in a fascinated manner, pupils enlarged and muscles being to tense. One was a mighty Mongolian warrior experienced in many battles, and the other, a powerful martial-arts expert of the Central Plains who had combated all kinds of people. Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but who would win eventually? This would be decided by whoever first slides out of the link, the one who would be named inferior to the other for the rest of his life.
The two men locked in position were busily competing their inner strength when suddenly a shadow appeared on the paper windows. It was projected from the other side of the doors. It was the shadow of a man, who was shortly joined by another.
A loud and clear voice called out, ‘What on earth do you think you are doing, causing internal conflicts within our allies? Stop it immediately!” The doors were pushed open and a man dressed in Mongolian costume stood at the door, and next to him, was one of the guard who had stood by the gates of the manor.
Chen Zheng Ren and Fu Ba Kong Qi looked at each other and without a word, they knew exactly what the other meant and slowly absorbed their energy back into their meridian. Immediately, they bowed to the new arrival and greeted, Welcome, my lord!”
The man nodded and stepped into the room with steady steps. Chen Zheng Ren turned to Fu Ba Kong Qi and exclaimed, “I have long heard of the powerful stance, Rising Dragon Refusing Defeat, from the Mighty Dragon Arrogant Phoenix Palms. But my Mountain Shattering Palms is not weak either. Too bad I did not have the chance to see the corresponding stance Falling Phoenix Forever Confident from one of your acquaintances. With those palms stances coming from both of you, I am sure that there will be a brilliant duel!”
Fu Ba Kong Qi returned to his trance again, muttered agreement in a low voice, “Falling Phoenix Forever Confident, yes it is a pity that the dragon is without his phoenix!” But no one else had heard it.
Chen Zheng Ren then the other Mongolian man politely, “General Tie Yu, what news do you have for us? And where is the Prince, my household would gladly honour his arrival?”
The general announced, “The Prince has been engaged in other matters. He will be very late and may even not come at all. His orders are for the plan to go ahead with BOTH Imperial Guard Kong Qi AND Hero Chen, in charge of the operation.”
After a while, the general left and the men moved to their rooms fro the night. As Fu Ba Kong Qi and Qing Ru Yan walked along the courtyard, he asked her, “Ru Yan, are you sure you want to go ahead with this plan?”
She smiled and replied, “Of course, Mentor. Once I accomplish this task, I will be rewarded lots of money and my freedom from the court. And then, I will be free to roam the lands, searching for Big Bucket Head. He said his mother was taking him to the Central Plains, and told me to look for him then. I couldn’t go before because I belonged to the court and even Mentor you couldn’t find him. But after this, I will be able to. As long as I can find him again, I will do anything!”
Fu Ba Kong Qi stared at her for a moment, then asked sternly, “What if I say I have found him already?” There was a brief silence afterwards.
“Mentor, are you sure? You are not lying to me, are you?” she cried concernedly, grabbing hold of her mentor’s sleeve.
Fu Ba Kong Qi took a deep breath and looking in the distance, he replied, “I am not sure, but when I am, I will tell you.”
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