Kowloon, agree. Ysabel, Anh, you are welcome. Sky, agree, but am not surprised. Hungry, RE: Xiaohu, actually, I don't have any problem. For some reason Zhai Jiao gave him a very deep impression. It makes our thread livelier. So, Xiaohu, please don't stop. DongBin, we are still less than 1/3 of the story. Akolaw, thanks for sharing, but I do wish that you refrain from revealing what would happen in the future.

The two boys crawl up the bank under a bridge on the Yi River at the south side of the city; they could only look at each other with bitter smile.

Kou Zhong sighed and said, "The enemy is really crafty. That fake Xu Xingzhi made me feel like a rotten pig head; with his disheveled hair, his body trussed up like that [orig. upper body bound with arms tied behind the back and rope looped around the neck], made me temporarily unable to identify him, otherwise we would not be underwater with the enemy taking advantage of us."

Pulling himself to the foot of the bridge, Xu Ziling spoke in heavy voice, "The one disguising himself as Xu Xingzhi must be Zhangsun Wuji. As soon as he made his move, I recognized his shenfa and his body shape."

Muttering to himself irresolutely, Kou Zhong said, "In my opinion, Xu Xingzhi must be either harmed by them, or he already knew what happened and escaped first. Otherwise, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong can't possibly let his son risk the danger of being killed. Because the plan is not without flaws. If at that time I was cruel enough and was willing to receive a bit of injury, there was still enough time to take w.a.n.g Xuanying's little life."

Xu Ziling nodded in agreement and said, "That's what I thought too. Should we try to leave town after daybreak then?"

Gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth, Kou Zhong said, "I can't swallow this hatred. But with mult.i.tude of enemies and few friends, using brute force will only lead us to our own disgrace. Do you have any good ideas?"

"For a n.o.bleman to take revenge, ten years is not too long," Xu Ziling said, "We really have to temporarily endure this hatred. Don't forget that there is still Zhu Yuyan glaring like a tiger watching its prey on the side. She may be more frightening than w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong and Li s.h.i.+min combined."

Kou Zhong dejectedly said, "Must we simply slip away like this?"

Xu Ziling said, "One day we didn't day, w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong would not have a day of peaceful sleep. Let's find out clearly about Mr. Xu, and then we'll talk!"

Thinking out loud, Kou Zhong said, "If Xu Xingzhi already knew the scheme and slipped away, he ought to try to find us. We'd better go back across the weir to find out."

Xu Ziling said, "Didn't you say you were going to get in touch with Song Jingang's men to have them making arrangement for us to go to Jiangdu?"

Kou Zhong replied, "Right now, other than you, I trust no one else. What if it is another trap waiting for us to fall into? Now I want to change plans: we'll go on our own to Jiangdu, see Li Zitong, and then we'll change according to the situation, to see the opportunity and act accordingly."

Xu Ziling rose up to his full height and said, "While it is not dawn yet, we'd better steal two sets of clean clothes, so that when we escape later, we could do so in awe-inspiring style."

Kou Zhong laughed and said, "Let Xiaodi show the way! Me and the boss of Luoyang's biggest silk and satin dealer are old friends!"

※ ※ ※

Thick clouds hanging overhead. It seemed like heavy rain may come down any moment.

Xu Ziling was squatting by a steamed bun street vendor in the market, eating his breakfast. Thinking about Sister-in-law Zhen, whose whereabouts was unknown, although all around him people were coming and going, the clamor shook the heavens, he was overwhelmed with feeling of loneliness.

Life changes constantly, n.o.body is able to control it.

A few days ago they were the honored guests whom w.a.n.g s.h.i.+chong relied on to help him, but now they have become his personal enemies.

Li s.h.i.+min was originally a good friend, but presently they became archenemy like water and fire do not mix together.

This moment Kou Zhong came; he laughed and said, "Scarface Xiong, how are you? How's the steamed buns here compared to Yangzhou's?"

Xu Ziling stuffed a meat and vegetable bun into his mouth and replied with a sigh, "When you don't have money to buy steamed buns, that kind of buns is the most delicious. Did you find Song Jingang's men?"

Kou Zhong also stuffed a meat and vegetable bun into his mouth before mumbling his answer, "Change of plan. I already persuaded Song Jingang's men to loan us a small cargo boat for us, including all the necessary pa.s.ses to get out of town plus four boatmen. Sailing on a boat is better than walking on foot, right?"

Xu Ziling shrugged his shoulders and said, "Whatever you say!"

In deadly earnest, Kou Zhong said, "Are you serious?"

Knitting his brows, Xu Ziling said, "What kind of ghost idea are you thinking this time?"

Kou Zhong reached out to hold Xu Ziling shoulder; he said, "We are leaving tomorrow morning."

Smiling ruefully, Xu Ziling said, "You just wouldn't give up."

Making a show of being very much in earnest, Kou Zhong said, "This time I really didn't want to show of my bravado, but there has been new development."

Skeptical, Xu Ziling asked, "What new development?"

Kou Zhong said, "I was walking along the Luo River just now, and saw a wars.h.i.+p sailing toward the Imperial City. I dare to bet that it came from Yans.h.i.+, because when we came back here by another s.h.i.+p, that s.h.i.+p was still anch.o.r.ed on the dock outside Yans.h.i.+.

"Isn't that a normal thing?" Xu Ziling asked.

Proud of himself, Kou Zhong said, "This s.h.i.+p is definitely not normal. Not only the s.h.i.+p itself is heavily-guarded, before and after it were convoy of more than a dozen speedboats; in addition, there was also a team of cavalry speeding along the bank. Tell me, why would there be so much fuss? Naturally they were afraid someone might hijack the s.h.i.+p. And naturally the ones they are afraid of are us, two heroes of Yangzhou's Twin Dragons."

Xu Ziling was shaken, "Xu Xingzhi indeed escaped to Yans.h.i.+ to look for us, but they recaptured him and brought him back."

Kou Zhong resolutely said, "I don't care if there is magnificent army with thousands of men and horses in the Imperial Palace, tonight we are going into the Palace to save him."

Xu Ziling shook his head and said, "No need to wait for tonight! We are going into the Palace to save him now. Didn't you say there are still a lot of Yang Dong's men in the Palace? As long as we can slip into the Palace, we can act as circ.u.mstances dictate, trying to get him out of there."

Grabbing his head, Kou Zhong said, "In broad daylight, two heroes climbing over the wall jumping over the rampart, isn't that a bit too conspicuous? From the city gate onward, I am afraid some people might not welcome us with open arms."

Xu Ziling looked up at the sky and said, "This time it really is planning is with man, accomplis.h.i.+ng with heaven [(idiom) 'Man proposes but G.o.d disposes']. As long as it does rain, we will have a chance to enter the Palace and rescue him. But now we must make some preparations, and then we'll see whether Laotianye is willing to help us."

※ ※ ※

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were hiding under a small bridge on the northern side of the city where Daoguang Lane converged with the city ca.n.a.l, overlooking the Imperial City's eastern wall in the distance.

The clouds in the sky were getting thicker and darker, however, although it brought hope to them, the rain never really came.

It was only half a sichen to midday.

Thinking out loud, Xu Ziling said, "In his book about the waterways, Lu Miaozi said that all large-scale constructions of Imperial Palace cla.s.s must have a system of water ways underneath it; other than to drain sewage, it is also used to supply water to the courtyard and gardens, for the laundry, irrigation, and so on. I wonder if this city ca.n.a.l is connected to the water ways under the Imperial Palace? If that so, we are going to rely on the most favorable method."

His brows knitted tightly, Kou Zhong looked up to the sky; he nodded and said, "Lu Miaozi is definitely not wrong, but if we can think about it, other people also can. That day when I had discussion with Yang Gongqing and the others on how to force our entrance into the Imperial Palace, Yang Gongqing pointed out that all pa.s.sages to the main ca.n.a.l are equipped with heavy steel gates; unless you turn into a small fish or shrimp, you may forget about pa.s.sing through. Ay! We'd better pray that Laotianye would send us heavy rain."

Suddenly there was a rumble of hoof beats, more than a thousand-men cavalry were coming near, and they were galloping toward the bridge.

Kou Zhong craned his neck to take a look, and then shrank back under the bridge and said in a low voice, "It's the patrolling imperial guards. Do you want to borrow two sets of uniforms for our use?"

Xu Ziling was displeased, "That will only beat the gra.s.s to scare the snake," he said, "If by wearing military uniform we can enter the Palace, then anybody would be able to come and go freely."

Dejected, Kou Zhong remained silent.

The hoof beats thundered over the bridge, but suddenly they stopped.

The two boys' scalp went numb; they thought that they have been discovered.

One of the imperial guard above sighed and said, "We are really out of luck today, being sent out on duty. It would be much better if we could stay inside the Palace!"

Another man laughed and said, "Who do you think you are? So what if you stayed in the Palace? Are you saying you have the qualification to hear Shang Xiufang singing?"

The other men burst out in mocking laughter.

The hoof beats started again, gradually going away.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling looked at each other's eyes, two pairs of tiger-eyes lit up at the same time.

Kou Zhong stood up abruptly and said, "As a rule, Shang Xiufang only willing to attend any banquet in the afternoon, I'll say we need to borrow two sets of military uniforms!"