A Step into the Past

Book 7 Chap 5 – Mad with Envy and Hatred

Either deliberately or coincidentally, Xiang Shaolong’s seat was placed next to Zhao Ya, and on the other side of Zhao Ya was Han Chuang, Guo Xiu’er, Li Yuan, Guo Zhong while on Xiang Shaolong’s right there were Zhao Ba, Le Cheng and Zhao Mu. Zhao Zhi’s seat has been taken away.

Now everyone knows that the real main lead is Li Yuan, who is seated between Guo Zhong and his daughter. This person is a good talker and in no time at all, Guo Xiu’er was constantly covering her mouth and laughing lightly very amicably. It seems that as soon as Li Yuan is willing to nod his head, Guo Xiu’er will belong to him.

Han Chuang is obviously very interested in this outstanding and pretty young girl but because he has to regard the State of Han’s foreign relations, he dare not pit himself against Li Yuan. He concentrated on having a private conversation with Zhao Ya whereas Zhao Ya was deliberating ignoring the horse fanatic as she talked to Han Chuang in an intimate manner, constantly letting out tinkling laughs, which brought much gaiety to the feast.

In order to create more opportunities between Li Yuan and his beloved daughter, Guo Zhong, after making small talk with everyone at the table, turned to face Zhao Mu and Le Cheng who were seated on his left and engaged them in small talk, the topic of conversation always about the officials and wealthy in Handan.

Zhao ba and Guo Zhong were personal friends so he joined this circle of conversation as well. Although Xiang Shaolong pretended to be interested and listening intently, it was obvious that Guo Zhong was disregarding him.

Xiang Shaolong knows very well that Guo Zhong has changed so quickly because Li Yuan has influenced him and from this he can see that this great merchant is feeling pessimistic about the situation in Zhao and is already having thoughts of leaving.

This thinking naturally cannot be hidden from the King of Zhao and Guo Kai, that’s why the latter had reminded him to be careful of Guo Zhong.

With the Wu family gone, the State of Zhao seems to be coming to the end of her days and weakening immediately.

What is Zhao Ya’s future plan?

At this time the maids came forward to pour wine for everyone.

Li Yuan turned away from Guo Xiu’er to look at Xiang Shaolong and said, “Brother Dong has traveled such a long and arduous journey to come here and I wonder for what reason?”

Everyone could hear that his tone was filled with antagonism so they all stopped talking to see how Xiang Shaolong would respond.

For the first time Guo Xiu’er raised her pretty face and eyed this burly and boorish looking man who is even bigger sized than Li Yuan.

Xiang Shaolong was calm and composed as he narrowed his eyes to look at him, replying offhandedly in his hoarse voice, “What Brother Li loves is beauties, what I love is handsome horses. Brother Li will go wherever the beauty goes while I will go to wherever there are fertile land and water. If Brother Li were to think about your own attitude, you will understand my attitude even more.” His reply was just appropriate.

Guo Xiu’er thought that the beauty Xiang Shaolong is talking about refers to her and was so shy that she lowered her pretty face.

The others all did not expect that this boor’s argument would be so formidable and were all secretly surprised and at the same time feel a little embarrassed for Li Yuan.

Only Zhao Mu was secretly happy, for he cannot offend Li Yuan so it’s most appropriate that Xiang Shaolong does it for him.

Li Yuan’s expression changed slightly as a murderous look flashed past his eyes and he said coldly, “Is Brother Dong implying that the water and land in Chu cannot be compared to here?” He had just spoken the words when he realized that he has been caught off balance, for everyone at the table are Zhaos with the exception of Han Chuang, so how can he say such words.

Indeed Le Cheng, Zhao Ba and Zhao Mu, who has long since regarded himself as a Zhao all furrowed their brows.

Xiang Shaolong saw that just a few words could force Li Yuan to stumble and was secretly overjoyed and continued nonchalantly as if he could not see Li Yuan’s anger, saying “Brother Li thinks too far ahead, I’m just making an example. Actually all land has their advantages and disadvantages. The weather down south is temperate and easy to rear horses but the horses reared there may look handsome but are not strong and stout enough and cannot tolerate harsh winds, rain and snow; it’s difficult to rear horses in the north but the horses reared there can take hardships and there are less chances of horse plague happening there. That’s why the horses of the Xiong Nus are the most famous, precisely because of the cold and hard climate that resulted in the rich quantity of excellent horses.”

Everyone was impressed and did not expect Xiang Shaolong to have such insight. He also managed to insinuate with sarcasm that Chu, which is in the south, are engrossed in merrymaking and doesn’t strive for improvement at all whereas the states in the north, including the formidable Qin, may be engaged in wars year after year but this has made them groom many a talent and their reputation is higher than the once powerful Chus.

This is indeed a fact. Ever since the tiny Yue successfully attacked Chu, their pride has taken a beating. Adding on to this is their constant failures in their strategies that made their situation go on a downturn.

The first time the 6 states joined forces to attack Qin, it is King Huai of Chu who takes the lead but in practice only Han and Zhao are taking part in the war. The 2 states were greatly defeated by the Qins at Xiuyu, which was within the Han borders while Qi turned around and attacked Zhao and Wei, creating internal strife. Hence Qin took the opportunity to eliminate Ba and Shu, thus increasing their territory twofold, making it close to the size of Wujun and Qianzhong in Chu. Thus the nightmare of the Chus began, letting them taste the bitter outcome of being just ‘onlookers’.

All along, the Qins are most worried about Qi and Chu joining forces, therefore the Qins ceded some territory to cajole King Huai of Chu to break his friendship with the Qis. However, they went back on their words once they got what they wanted, greatly defeating the Chu army at Danyang, where 80,000 people were killed and took over Hanzhong in Chu. They then proceeded to take over Zhaoling, making them totally lose control over the northwest areas of Yingdu.

This is not the only insensible act committed by King Huai of Chu. Just as he has agreed to work with Qi again, he was again enticed by the Qins and once again changed his mind suddenly, even to the extent of having a marriage agreement with the Qins.

Qi, Wei and Han were furious and sent their troops to attack Chu for going back on the treaty and King Huai was so astounded that he ordered the Crown Price to go to Qin to ask for Qin reinforcements. The 3 states then had no choice but to retreat. Later the Qins found an excuse to attack Chu and using coercion and persuasion, managed to trick this brainless King into Qin and imprisoned him. He failed in escaping and ended up dying of illness in Qin.

When his son King Qingxiang of Chu ascended the throne, he tried to seek revenge and after being threatened by the Qins, he was immediately scared shitless. Not only did he beg for reconciliation, he even asked for a marriage agreement with the Qins. Like his father, he added another muddied event in their history.

Therefore Xiang Shaolongs words hinted at how the Chus have destroyed their own country because of the people and not because of wars. The most impressive part was that he was insinuating that although Li Yuan looks able, he is in fact a useless man and cannot survive any setback.

Zhao Ya and Guo Xiu’er, eyed both of them with their sharp woman’s intuition and they could feel that Li Yuan is like the good looking horses of the south whereas this Dong Kuang is an excellent horse from the north that can withstand hardship. The impression of Li Yuan dropped by a few notches in their hearts.

Guo Zhong looked at Xiang Shaolong in surprise as he reconsidered if it is really most appropriate to hide from Qin in Chu.

Xiang Shaolong argued from an irrefutable point, proving the Chu’s fatal weaknesses are indecisiveness, irresoluteness and fear of hardship, each point of his argument drawing blood.

Li Yuan’s face alternated between turning red and pale but he was speechless.

What can he say when on the surface, the other party is talking about horses?

Guo Zhong chortled as he tried to smooth things over and said, “Mister Dong’s words are always about horses, a horse fanatic indeed. Come! Let’s drink a toast.”

Everyone raised their cup with the exception of Li Yuan, who was stony faced and did not follow suit, giving others the impression that he was being petty.

After Zhao Ba finished his drink, he raised his cup again, which has just been filled by the maid. He raised his cup towards Li Yuan and Han Chuang and said, “To the cooperation between Han, Chu and Zhao, let us drink a toast!”

Li Yuan seems to have thought of something and his expression returned to normal, looking calm and suave as he raised his cup and drank with a smile. Only then did the tense atmosphere relax a little.

Han Chuang said, “I heard that the King of Qi placed much importance in this meeting in Handan and the Premier Tian Dan is rushing here personally. He’ll be here within these 2 days.”

Zhao Mu and Le Cheng already knew about this long ago but for the rest it’s the first time they’ve heard of it and they were all excited.

Tian Dan can be considered the real ruler of Qi, without the title and his reputation is comparable to Prince Xinling of Wei.

8 years after the death of King Huai of Chu, the State of Chu was getting weaker while the State of Qi is shining bright, stable enough to fight Qin as an equal. Right at this time, the Qis fell into the Qin’s trap and accepted King Zhaoxiang of Qin’s suggestion to regard the King of Qin as the Emperor of the West while the Qis will be the Emperor of the East. Meaning that Qin and Qi will split the world equally.

Although 2 days after declaring himself Emperor, the King of Qi was persuaded by his officials to rescind the title of Emperor, but it did nothing to quell his ambition. He subsequently invaded towards the north and south, first destroying Song, then swallowing up a few small states, taking over lots of land but the country’s resources were greatly depleted as well due to the invasions, giving Qin, Chu, the 3 states as well as Yan the opportunity to invade Qi. The Yan general Yue Yi invaded Linzi* and within 5 years took over 70 odd cities, leaving only Ju and Jimo.

*Linzi – Capital of Qi

Tian Dan is a person who rose up in fame during such difficult times. He was a distant relative of the King of Qi and was initially a minor official in the Palace. Before the Yan army invaded the city, he told his clansmen to saw off the ends of the carriage axles so that when escaping, the carriages will not break down due to the constant knocking against each other and thus successfully escaped. Just this trick of his has revealed his potential of being wise and calm in the face of adversity.

When the Yans attacked Jimo, everyone supported him to be the Commander and right at that time King Zhao of Yan had just passed away and the new King of Yan fell into Tian Dan’s scheme, replacing Yue Yi with a useless general. Once this person came, Tian Dan easily swept the Yans out of their borders, and his most famous maneuver was using the Fiery Cow Formation to greatly defeat the Yan army.

Although Tian Dan’s fame spread because of this, the State of Qi fell into difficulties, barely surviving until now.

Xiang Shaolong wanted to continue listening when Zhao Ya who was next to him took over the wine bottle from the serving maid and topped up Xiang Shaolong’s empty cup with the fragrant wine, her eyes bright as she said softly with a smile, “Mister Dong! If there is anywhere Zhao Ya has offended you, please accept this cup of wine as apology!”

Han Chuang was still talking and did not take notice. Only Li Yuan’s eyes flashed a strange glint as he started thinking.

Xiang Shaolong was secretly furious. This woman is really fickle. She was just being all over Han Chuang earlier and now that she was moved by his words, she’s trying to get into his good books. However, he has not reached the stage where he would be so ill mannered as embarrass her publicly so he raised his cup and said without feelings, “Lady thinks too much, how could you have offended me! Let me drink a toast to Lady!”

Zhao Ya’s pretty eyes looked at him deeply as she raised her cup to drink.

Only now did Han Chuang notice that the secret undercurrent between the 2 of them and a look of unhappiness flashed past his face. If they are in Han, with his position, he’ll definitely teach Xiang Shaolong a good lesson but now he can only seethe in his heart.

Li Yuan chortled and said, “Lady! I have yet to offer you a toast today.” He raised his cup and offered her a toast from afar.

Although Zhao Ya’s good impression of him has been slightly reduced, she still has a slight liking for him. This person’s attitude was cold to her last night and yet now he is making the first move to flirt with her and she can’t help but feel pleasantly alarmed as she raised her cup in bewilderment and drank.

Xiang Shaolong knows that Li Yuan is making use of Zhao Ya to give him a blow but he still felt fury rising from his heart, hating Li Yuan and at the same time angry with Zhao Ya for her lack of self respect. Of course on the surface he did not reveal any of his feelings at all.

Li Yuan is not willing to let the matter pass so he continued his flirtation with Zhao Ya, “Lady is such a good drinker. Why don’t we find a night and I’ll drink with Lady, let’s see who will get drunk first.”

Once he said that, among the 9 of them seated at the table, 4 of them had an uneasy expression on their faces.

The ones who look most affected was Guo Zhong and Guo Xiu’er, for they both felt that he is not showing them respect by publicly flirting with this beauty who is famed for her wantonness.

Han Chuang transferred his jealousy towards Xiang Shaolong to this newly appeared love rival.

Zhao Mu’s expression was also very unnatural, staring at Zhao Ya angrily, wanting her to say something to reject him.

Zhao Ya did not expect the other party to be so bold as to openly invite her for a night of tryst during the feast. Reject? But she can’t bear to. Accept? This man who seems even more charismatic than Li Yuan would look down on her. Her intelligent eyes rolled and she replied, “Since Mister Li is in such high spirits, Zhao Ya will find a day to throw a feast at my residence. Mister must not say that you are not free when the time comes!”

Her pretty eyes then surveyed everyone else as she continued with laughter, “All of you will come and bear witness as to which of us will become drunk first.”

Li Yuan was slightly taken aback, for he did not expect this s.lut to actually reject his advances and can’t help but seriously take a look at her for the first time.

Ever since his heart and mind has been taken over by Ji Yanran, he rarely pays any attention to other women. Now that he’s looking in detail, he realizes that Zhao Ya is like a fresh flower that has bloomed, with indescribable charm and style and extremely alluring. Such mature beauty is of another description altogether. And on the surface she may look like a flirt and extremely radiant but there’s an underlying grace and elegance that no one will dare to belittle. He can’t help but feel tempted and only now did he understand why Han Chuang would be so enamored with her.

Li Yuan smiled suavely, “Once the date is set, please send someone to inform me.”

Right at this time Zhao Ba interrupted them and everyone started talking about other topics.

Zhao Ya leaned towards Xiang Shaolong and asked quietly, “Satisfied?”

Xiang Shaolong was secretly feeling smug, knowing that this wanton woman has once again surrendered to his alternate identity but before he had a chance to talk, Guo Xiu’er stood up and said with a wooden expression, “Sorry! Xiu’er feels a little unwell and would like to go back to my room to rest.”

A look of unhappiness showed on Li Yuan’s face but he did not say anything.

Everyone knows that this rich young missy is throwing her tantrum at Li Yuan.

Guo Zhong said helplessly, “Help Miss back to her room!”

Immediately the maid came forward to escort this pretty girl out of the hall.

The atmosphere is once again awkward. Without Guo Xiu’er, the feast has lost some of the festivity. Luckily, there is still Zhao Ya to hold the fort.

Zhao Ba had a drink too much and his suddenly felt like talking. He made Xiang Shaolong talk with him about what he feels about swordplay, saying “People learning swordplay nowadays, many of them are anxious for quick results, having only the style but lacking the coordination stability and foundation. They don’t even place much importance in training the strength around their waist. They are strong with their arms but weak in their wrists, not knowing that the combination of waist, arms, wrists and foundation are essential in exhibiting the essence of swordplay. Knowing how to make use of strength is the most important requirement.”

Li Yuan was proud and obviously holds no regard for this highly respected swordsman of Zhao as he said nonchalantly, “I think it’s useless to have only brute strength, otherwise Xiao Weimou won’t be killed by Xiang Shaolong!”

The name ‘Xiang Shaolong’ is now a taboo topic for everyone in the city and with the exception of Han Chuang, everyone else was taken aback.

Xiang Shaolong was secretly alarmed to hear his name being mentioned. He glanced quickly towards Zhao Ya only to see her expression darken as she fell into a daze.

Han Chuang said arrogantly, “A pity he escaped to Qin, otherwise I definitely want to try how formidable his swordplay can be.”

Zhao Mu replied through gritted teeth, “Won’t you have the chance once we attack Xianyang in future?”

Zhao Ba was unhappy with Li Yuan’s interruption but he could not win the argument so he said solemnly, “Mister Li is famous in Chu for your swordsmanship. I wonder if you can find a day to come to my school so that it can be an eye-opener for me.”

Li Yuan’s eyes flashed as he nodded his head, “Every time I go someplace, I like to find the most famous swordsman of that place to exchange pointers. Headmaster Zhao’s suggestion is precisely what I would have wanted.”

This time even Le Cheng was annoyed by this person’s arrogance and said to Zhao ba with a laugh, “Mister Li is so valiant. Headmaster, please set a date and time so that we can admire Mister Li’s excellent swordplay.”

Zhao ba was obviously secretly livid as he said, “I am getting a little impatient, why not do it tomorrow! We shall see what time is most convenient for Mister Li.”

Li Yuan replied smugly, “Not tomorrow, for I’ve made a date with Miss Ji Yanran to tour Handan. Why don’t we change it to noon the day after!”

Everyone was taken aback and all of them looked both envious and jealous.

Xiang Shaolong’s heart sank and turned cold. Why did Ji Yanran agree to accept this person’s invitation? He must get an explanation from her.

Zhao Ya’s expression was wooden. Naturally she would not feel good to have her thunder stolen by Ji Yanran.

The atmosphere of the feast is now broken beyond repair and Zhao Ba was the first to give an excuse to leave, followed by Zhao Ya.

Han Chuang stood up and said, “Let me accompany Lady Ya back!”

Zhao Ya was troubled and creased her brows as she replied with a shake of her head, “I appreciate Marquis Pingshan’s kind intentions, but Zhao Ya’s head is feeling a little heavy and would like to have some peace alone.”

A look of unhappiness flashed past Han Chuang’s face as he said icily, “Whatever Lady wishes then!”

Zhao Mu stood up and said, “Let’s leave together! I’m in the mood for talk, so who is willing to share my carriage.” He gave Xiang Shaolong a look.

Xiang Shaolong hurriedly nodded his head and said, “I’m the only person who came alone, let me accompany Marquis then!”

Zhao Ya looked at Xiang Shaolong with puzzlement, feeling dubious about their relationship.

Everyone bid their farewells and left the Guo residence separately.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Mu said, “I did not expect Mister to have such a sharp tongue, even the glib tongued Li Yuan couldn’t fend you off. I wonder if you’re confident of winning the sword in his hand. From what I know this person is truly skilled.”

Xiang Shaolong furrowed his brows, “Confidence is besides the point. It’s just that only wooden swords are used to exchange pointers in the dueling ring, not as if there’s a fight for life and death at all…”

Zhao Mu interrupted him, “I just want to put him down a peg or two, not kill him. That fellow is too detestable, if I capture him, I’ll definitely f*ck him until he feels that death would be a better choice.”

Goose pimples rose immediately on Xiang Shaolong’s skin as he gave a cold shiver.