Discussing The Correct Posture To Enjoy Dog Food-Chapter 52 - Honey Tangerine Flavored Shadow Guard Gong (10): Hitting faces with a ‘papapa’, my posture is ready
Chapter 52 - Honey Tangerine Flavored Shadow Guard Gong (10): Hitting faces with a ‘papapa’, my posture is ready
Translator: Bluemoon, KunLin
Editors: Vez, Blarghette
Ever since Gou Liang revealed the correct way of using sea fish in food, the old man no longer mentioned wanting to forcefully occupy the vat of fish. Instead, he regularly and ‘coincidentally’ appeared in front of Gou Liang three times a day, reminding him to pay ‘filial piety’.
The ship slowly sailed south, and time seemed to pass as rapidly as receding seawater.
22nd day of the 8th month.
Capital, the Imperial Palace.
The lamps in the Imperial Palace were already lit. The Emperor looked at the memorial from General Zhen Guo—— today was the seventh day after Zhang Tian’s death, in his memorial, General Zhen Guo wept bitterly and implored the Emperor to give justice to the Zhang Clan. Reading it felt inauspicious. As the Emperor wrinkled his brows, his personal eunuch did not dare to disturb him, instead he waited until the Emperor put down the memorial before reminding him that it was time for the evening meal.
The Emperor did not let him bring in the meal, instead he asked, “Is Liu-won’t-speak still outside the palace hall?”
The head eunuch hurriedly replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, Official JianZheng is still kneeling outside the palace hall……He has already knelt for one day and one night, and the food that this old slave delivered was not touched, nor has he drunk a drop of water. Your Majesty do you think…….a person should be dispatched to send Official JianZheng out of the palace?”
Liu JianZheng was a bit older than Emperor Wu, if it continued like this, then perhaps it would cause a death.
The Emperor’s face instantly became gloomy.
When Zhong Yue said that Yan Fief would have an earthquake, he was already extremely unhappy.
The earth dragon turning over was extremely inauspicious, often signifying that the monarch was muddle-headed and tyrannical. If the disaster was severe, the Son of Heaven would have to offer sacrifices to the Heavens and admit his sins, and send out an imperial report admitting his sins in order to calm the people.
The Emperor believed himself to be diligent in politics and caring to the people. He was unwilling to accept the title of ‘incapable ruler’—how could he bear this kind of inauspicious omen?
However, he did not dare to take the prediction from Tianji Zhong Clan lightly. He immediately sent the Crown Prince with the QinTian supervisor as deputy to Yan Fief with the army seal, deploying the army to evacuate the common people of XingTang province as soon as possible.
But just as the imperial edict was issued, QinTian Supervisor JianZheng reported to the Emperor that the earthquake in the Yan Fief wouldn’t pass as easily as Zhong Yue had predicted. He spoke bluntly, “This subject obtained heavenly warning, I’m afraid that this time Yan Fief’s calamity will stretch for thousands of miles, from XingTang onwards, the five regions of Yan Fief will be affected. Moreover, the remaining power of the earth dragon would still be strong and there would be trembles for days after.”
Throughout the records of history, in the four hundred years since founding the Empire, there had never been an earthquake of this magnitude. Even in the hundreds of years prior to the Empire’s formation, such a thing had never occurred.
In the ears of Emperor Wu, the QinTian Supervisor’s words were no less than saying that he was inferior to even the last Emperor of the previous dynasty, who was a brutal and muddle-headed dog ruler. How could he stand to hear this? It was already a great grace that he did not immediately have Liu Jianzheng dragged out and beheaded.
But Liu JianZheng stubbornly persisted in his views. After his repeated admonishment proved to be fruitless, he knelt outside the imperial study with a manner of if the Emperor did not agree, then he would also not give up.
In his heart, the Emperor was unwilling to see the old Official, let alone believe the words he said.
His dislike towards Liu JianZheng was a problem deep rooted. Just the fact that the other had studied under State Teacher Zhong was enough to make him irritated whenever he saw him.
And after the previous Crown Prince’s background was exposed, the Emperor was more or less aware of the hidden secrets behind Zhong Clan’s matter of that year. He understood in his heart that it was he who was deceived by villains and pushed the utterly loyal people of the Zhong Clan onto the road to death. With this understanding, the Emperor was even less willing to see this proud disciple of the previous State Teacher —— every time he saw him, it reminded the Emperor of being deceived and of his oversights in the handling of the Zhong Clan’s case. It was truly not a pleasant matter.
Besides, it was not that he looked down on Liu Jianzheng, but that his alarmist words were completely unconvincing.
Everyone knew the origin of the lines of State Teachers. The first State Teacher was an outcast from the Tianji Mountain Zhong Clan. No matter how outstanding he was, could the family teachings he passed down be better than the direct descendant of Tianji Mountain? What’s more, Liu Jianzheng was merely a disciple who didn’t even share the same surname!
These are things that even Zhong Yue was unable to divine, yet Liu JianZheng, a person with paltry skills, had so much to say in comparison. This was clearly him harbouring evil intentions to find trouble with him!
The Emperor even suspected whether Liu Jianzheng knew about the hidden secrets behind Zhong Clan’s extermination that year and was deliberately acting like this, but he dispelled this thought when he saw that the other was truly using his life to insist on his words being heard.
But even then, the Emperor had no intention of accepting the advice.
He drank a mouthful of tea, just as he was ordering his personal eunuch to have people take the irksome Liu Jianzheng out of the palace, a man hurriedly entered the study and reported, “Reporting to Your Majesty, an urgent message came —— His Highness the Crown Prince was met with assassins in Xindu and was seriously injured. He is requesting to return to the capital!”
“What?!”
The Emperor was shocked, “How is the Crown Prince’s injury?”
The messenger replied, “The YuLin Army used their lives to protect the carriage so His Highness wasn’t injured anywhere vital, but his leg was broken and needs recuperation.”
The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though he did not like his second son, Li Yan was still his own child. Besides, his love towards King An was also limited. He still had no intentions of passing over the reins of the country to either son&#k2014; he did not want to admit his age and let go of power. He only wanted to test the temperament of the two, he didn’t actually want any of them to lose their life.
The Emperor instructed people to welcome His Highness, the Crown Prince back to the capital and also sent a letter to King An in the middle of the night, instructing him to go to Yan Fief and take charge of the disaster relief.
At the same time, in Xindu city.
Li Yan, who was faking a serious injury, still had some hesitations, “Chong Hui, is this journey truly treacherous?”
When the group of them were travelling through Xindu, Zhong Yue suddenly divined that this journey of Li Yan had a great omen of danger and was unwilling for him to risk danger. Therefore, they self-directed and self-acted out a scene of encountering an assasination attempt.
Although he had only been confined inside the East Palace for a few short days, Li Yan’s patience was already greatly worn. His tone right now carried a strong sense of annoyance —— if he was still the prince who was suppressed by the Crown Prince, he wouldn’t have been as irritable as he was now. However, falling after surmounting a great height was what truly tormented people.
In his heart, he wasn’t really willing to give up this chance to make a comeback, the disaster relief was a mutually beneficial political achievement, he was unresigned to offer it up to King An.
Zhong Yue was not actually confident of this divination.
Divining the earthquake a few days ago had taken a great toll on his body. Even though it was not obvious on the surface, in the short term he would be unable to practice the divination technique.
Only the more they approached the Yan Fief, the more uneasy Zhong Yue’s heart was.
The Zhong Clan people’s intuition often involved omens of life or death. He calculated with his fingers and found that the source of this uneasiness came from Li Yan—if they proceeded any further, perhaps Li Yan’s life would be in danger.
This conclusion made Zhong Yue decisively suspend his plan to go with Li Yan to provide disaster relief in Yan Fiefi.
Zhong Yue had not revealed the true condition of his body to Li Yan. At this time, he still had a haughty expression on his face as he spoke with complete confidence, “When have I ever miscalculated? Dear Yan, nothing is more important than your life, what’s more, after the earthquake, Yan Fief would definitely be in complete chaos. At that time if you wanted to make a move against King An, wouldn’t it be easy?
Only then was Li Yan relieved.
After all, Zhong Yue did have some real skills.
This journey of Li Yan’s, if he really reached Yan Fief, there would certainly be a life threatening disaster. Furthermore it was not a natural disaster but a man-made one.
Gou Liang had originally intended to use this chance to get some interest from Li Yan and brush the original owner’s soul force points. He had even planned to have Quan shadows castrate him…unfortunately he could only give up for now. But it didn’t matter, King An was about to receive orders to leave the capital. After this, he had his own method to make Li Yan and Zhong Yue regret their past actions.
The day of disaster that Gou Liang had divined was approaching steadily.
Because there was a four to five days distance to the next stoppoint, in order to receive messages more conveniently, the ship had already stayed at the Dong Lai dock for two months without advancing.
The 23rd, night.
Tonight the moon let off faint lights while the sea of stars shone radiantly. The mystery concealed in the stars was currently revolving. Gou Liang raised his head and looked at the heavens. If the details foretold by the heavens were not so frightening, perhaps he would also be absorbed by this beautiful scenery.
Zhong Quan stepped forward and covered his knees with a tiger skin blanket. He felt his hands and was shocked by how cold they were. He said hurriedly in a soft voice, “Master, enter the house and rest.”
Gou Liang shook his head and suddenly said, “The person I am waiting for is about to come.”
Zhong Quan didn’t understand, but soon enough the sound of bugle horn that was meant to warn and signal for help broke through the night, giving him an answer.
A government ship was quickly approaching the dock. On the ship were sounds of weapons clashing. Soon after, the person in charge of keeping vigil through the night came down from above deck and asked, “Master, the government ship in front has been met with a robbery, but for some reason none of the dock guards are acting. Should we intervene?”
“No need to rush.”
Gou Liang smiled, “After a quarter of an hour, Zhong Quan, you’ll personally bring people over to provide rescue. You must help me preserve a person’s life.”
He whispered a few more detailed instructions in Zhong Quan’s ear, and the latter nodded in understanding. “This subordinate obeys and will not let down Master’s trust.”
The fleeing government ship’s travelling speed became increasingly slow, and the sound of the horn stopped —— like most people on the ship, the person blowing it fell into the seawater, most likely dead or injured.
There were only around ten people on the ship, still desperately trying to resist the bandits. The person protected behind the human wall became increasingly pale as the human wall became thinner and thinner.
“Brother, don’t go!”
Wang Li’s obstruction made Wang Haiyi hesitate for a split second but the glare from the sword flashing before him gave him no other choice than to raise his sword in self-defence. Li Xi picked up two swords from the ground, and passed one to Wang Li for self-protection before seriously looking at the approaching bandits. The heavy sword caused Wang Li’s hands to tremble, her whole body shivering.
More and more people died. As fresh blood spattered on her face, the scalding sensation from it made her go numb. She could no longer differentiate between the sound of the wind and the dying cries of her guards.
Li Xi beside her was also engaged in battle, however, his strength was negligible and the swings of his sword were messy. It didn’t take long for him to be overwhelmed by his opponent, suffering an injury.
Would they all die here tonight…
Just as Wang Li had sunken into despair, a group of people dropped down from the sky—
She watched as a handsome and tall man landed near her. Wherever he pointed his sword, bandits would be cut down. Only when she was taken into the arms of her blood-soaked elder brother did she realize that at some point, the sea bandits had already retreated.
“Wang HaiYi of YongNing Manor, thank Sir’s life saving grace!”
After wrapping his wounds, Wang HaiYi came forward to express his thanks to Gou Liang.
“TangHua Lang, no need to be so courteous, it was a coincidence we were nearby. Since we saw the situation, how could we just sit by idly and watch?”
Gou Liang raised his hand and invited them to sit.
Wang HaiYi was somewhat surprised: “Sir recognizes me?”
Gou Liang only smiled and didn’t reply.
Wang HaiYi was the current third place, originally he should’ve been enrolled into the Imperial Hanlin Academy along with the first place. However, his family helped him get a cushy official post stationed outside of the Yangzhou prefecture. This way, as long as he didn’t make any mistakes, after three to five years, Wang HaiYi could return to the capital and his career would be sure to rise. Who knew his departure would be unfavorable, they were actually attacked by sea bandits on their way and nearly lost their life.
Alas, on the entire government ship, other than the Wang siblings and their servant Li Xi, no one else had survived. It could be seen how ruthless the sea bandits were.
He was also confused as to why none of the GuanDu guards had come to help even after he had blown the bugle horn. Even now those guards had yet to react. Fortunately Gou Liang had lent a hand, otherwise tonight their bodies would be resting at the bottom of the sea.
Wang HaiYi gave a simple summarization of his experience before saying: “This is my younger sister. Li’er, quickly thank our benefactor! A life saving grace must be repaid with a gushing spring, you must remember this.”
Wang Li was his blood-related sister. She had a recalcitrant personality and normally liked to act wilful. This time she had cross-dressed as a man and secretly followed him here. By the time he had discovered her, the government ship had already set sail, so he could only let her do as she pleased. She was the only daughter of the family, if she had been lost here, Wang HaiYi would truly be unable to face his parents, thus his gratitude towards Gou Liang genuinely came from the bottom of his heart.
Wang Li quickly stepped forward. After bowing, she lifted her head and glanced at Zhong Quan who was standing behind Gou Liang before lowering her head again with reddened cheeks, saying in a soft and pleasant manner: “Many thanks to benefactor.”
The smile in Gou Liang’s eyes froze.
As for Li Xi, Wang HaiYi introduced him as such: “He is a long time friend of mine, surnamed Yu, given name Xiu, and is a person from the capital. This time he is heading down south with me to seek marriage. Due to his muteness, he cannot personally give thanks to Sir, hopefully Sir will not take offense.”
Gou Liang looked at Li Xi. The latter rose and bowed three times respectfully.
Gou Liang calmly accepted his greeting.
After sending them away, Zhong Quan finally asked in a low voice: “Master, what are your plans for the next step?”
Wang HaiYi was inexperienced in the world. He thought Li Xi survived because he was lucky and not because he had real strength. As for why the GuanDu guards remained unresponsive to their signal for help, it was precisely because of the ‘little mute’ by his side.
He was the person that Gou Liang had been waiting for—the young master of the Marquis house, Li Xi, the grandson of the Crown Prince who was usurped by Emperor Wu.
His father was the prince who had nearly strangled the fake Crown Prince to death because of Gao Family’s instigation all those years ago.
Originally, Emperor Wu felt goodwill towards this nephew and was exceedingly considerate and generous towards him but these feelings completely disappeared after the attempted extermination of the Zhong Clan. After he came of age, although Emperor Wu still conferred him with the title King Lin Jun, that was all.
The Lin Manor couldn’t enter court and was impoverished to the point where its income couldn’t cover its expenditure. Among the imperial clan it had no sense of existence. King Lin lived out the rest of his life like this and had already departed from the world, leaving behind only a little prince who was given the title of Marquis according to tradition.
And this person was Li Xi.
Don’t look at how he was barely thirteen years of age, he had both intelligence and ambitions far surpassing the normal person. His trip down south this time was to subdue the forces left behind by his grandfather, who was once the Crown Prince and had only been one step away from sitting on the throne.
Emperor Wu had always wanted to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots. Li Xi had become a ‘mute’ after a bout of illness when he was young, but the Emperor still never dismissed the idea of cleaning up this branch. Only, it was unfortunate that Li Xi had never acted out of line, resulting in him having no opportunity to act.
This time he finally found the chance to make a move— although Li Xi moved discreetly, he could not escape the Emperor’s eyes.
Gou Liang rubbed his lips and laughed: “Just watch for the time being. If, like I want, he returns the throne to its rightful owner, isn’t that a good thing?”
And it turned out, Li Xi was much smarter than Gou Liang initially gave him credit for. Early in the morning the next day, he came to find him.
Li Xi gave a respectful bow before opening his mouth: “Many thanks for benefactor’s life saving grace last night. Please accept this bow.”
Gou Liang waved and said when smiling faintly: “I seem to remember, last night TangHua Lang said you were a mute, how did it heal miraculously overnight?”
Li Xi let out a bitter laugh and said: “Sir Zhong, we’re all smart people here let’s not beat around the bush.”
Gou Liang was truly a bit astonished now, “You recognize me?”
Li Xi replied: “Since last night Xi already had some suspicion at heart. Only today when Xi saw the name of the Lin Family from Yangzhou Prefecture did Xi dare to identify Sir.”
“Oh, why is that so?” Gou Liang looked at him, full of interest.
“Sir, don’t you think you and I look several points similar in our appearances? Xi’s grandmother was the granddaughter of the State Teacher Daren and carried the Zhong Clan’s blood. After Xi was born, my grandmother once said Xi looked quite similar to Sir when Sir was young. Also, it is because Yangzhou Prefecture’s Lin Family had always provided assistance to the Marquis Manor in secret that Xi was able to grow up without trouble and the need to worry about gold and silver.”
Li Xi said: “Xi won’t keep it from Sir, Xi’s trip this time to Yangzhou Prefecture, other than to retain grandfather’s estate, there is also the intention to ask the Lin Family for help.”
“Who doesn’t know that the capital Zhong Clan had already been wiped out ten years ago. Just based on this point, how can you determine that I am Zhong Gu?” Gou Liang smiled oddly as he looked at him, “It should be, when I was still staying in the Prince’s Manor, you, or should I say your grandmother, had already guessed who I was, am I right?”
Li Xi hurriedly said: “Xi hopes Sir won’t blame us. When Sir was met with trouble, the Marquis Manor had the heart to help but lacked in people and strength. Grandmother was also sick at that time…thankfully Sir was fortunate.”
Gou Liang said: “The intention is enough. But your visit to me today, is it just to recognize a kin and tell a few stories?”
Li Xi blushed with shame, “Sir, please forgive me. Xi’s movement this time has been exposed. Soon there might be people after Xi’s life so Xi has come to seek asylum with Sir.”
“Just this?”
Gou Liang asked.
Li Xi paused, unsure if the other’s words had any deeper meanings. After some hesitations, he still said respectfully: “It is already a great favor for Sir to ensure Xi’s life. Xi cannot express his gratefulness and dares not to ask for anything more.”
Gou Liang smiled, “I’ll help you on account of who your grandmother is, take it as compensation for when she’d asked for Zhong Clan’s help in the past but the Zhong Clan was helpless. In the future, she and the Zhong Clan will owe each other nothing, is that clear?”
There was a change of expression on Li Xi’s face, but he still responded with an acknowledgement.
The hour was approaching noon and the weather was unstable.
Today the wind and sea were more violent than usual. As the ship rocked turbulently on the waves, faraway at Yan Fief in XiangTang Province, the ground split and the mountains shook, a disaster quickly emerging!
The Imperial Palace.
Emperor Wu, who was looking through memorials, suddenly swayed unsteadily, causing his brush to scrawl an eye-catching red streak across the memorial. He stood up abruptly. His personal eunuch was startled and rushed over to support him:
“Y-your Majesty…”
Emperor Wu grabbed him: “What hour is it now?”
“It is currently weishi.” The eunuch said with a pale face: “The period where the earth dragon will turn its body, two quarters of an hour had already passed from the time the QinTian Supervisor had predicted.”
The time Zhong Yue had divined was precisely weishi, but the earthquake happening in the distant Yan Fief, even the capital could feel its powerful tremors, so how could it have only just started now? Instead the timing coincidentally matched the ‘alarmist words’ of the QinTian supervisor!
A layer of cold sweat formed on Emperor Wu’s forehead. He cried out: “Quick, bring Liu-won’t-speak into the palace for Zhen! Wait, also pass down orders, have officials of grade two and above enter the palace fast, there mustn’t be any mishaps”
The East Palace.
Li Yan and Zhong Yue’s faces were colorful beyond expression.
“T-this, what is happening?!”
Li Yan yelled loudly.
Zhong Yue’s face was deathly pale, he couldn’t believe that the divination he obtained through offering his heart blood was inferior to the prediction of the QinTian supervisor. He took off the trigram hanging by his waist and forcefully began a divination, but blood overflowed from his lips.
“Zhong Yue, you—Chong Hui?!”
Red blood sprayed from Zhong Yue’s mouth, a few drops landing on Li Yan’s face. The latter hurriedly caught Zhong Yue who had lost consciousness, his expression stuck between anger and shock.
