A Step into the Past

Book 13 Chapter 05 – A Well-Devised Plan

Back at the Cavalry Command Centre, the sweet memory of Qin Qing is still lingering in Xiang Shaolong’s mind.

And he was annoyed.

Hasn’t he sworn not to be involved in relationships anymore?

Due to Shan Rou’s news, he was in a terrible mood and did not sleep at all last night. Coupled with his unclear mind from all the wine he drank, he became irrational and unconsciously flirted with Qin Qing.

Humans are unpredictable. Even he cannot explain his own actions.

If Qin Qing is her usual impenetrable self and censured him soundly, it may not be so bad. However, this chaste and pure beauty is warming up to him.

Her retorts are filled with secret delight and her rejections filled with secret acceptance.

The unique relationship between them is the most tempting factor.

Lost in his daydreaming, he bumped into Jing Jun at the main gate. Jing Jun secretly whispered: “Third Brother! We caught a big fish last night!”

Xiang Shaolong was puzzled: “What big fish?”

Jing Jun proudly declared: “Have you heard of this man named Lu Bang?”

Xiang Shaolong sobered up and inquired in a low voice: “Is he one of Lu Buwei’s men?”

Jing Jun explained: “Not only is he one of the traitors from Lu, he is the son of Lu Xiong. Somehow, this fella was attracted to someone’s wife and tried to harass her. Coincidently, Xu Xian was passing by and saved her. The couple has left the City quickly to avoid them but this kid still harbours ill intention and did not give up. He led several family warriors out of the city in pursuit. They caught up with them, beat the husband up and were about to the wife when I caught up to them. They have all been arrested. Ha! Is this fish big enough?”

Xiang Shaolong was curious: “How did you know they were up to no good?”

Jing Jun was on cloud nine about his accomplishment. He laughed: “It is all thanks to Tao Fang’s intelligence unit. The moment they knew about this, they told me about it. I am familiar with Lu Bang’s character. If he is onto something, he will go all out to achieve it. I therefore assigned someone to trail him and caught him red-handed. This is going to be exciting. Qin has strict laws regarding 5ex criminals. If we send him to the law bureau, he will be heavily punished. It would be great if he is castrated. Lu Xiong would be devastated and we would have taken some revenge for Princess Qian.”

Xiang Shaolong pondered on this for a while and questioned: “Where is Lu Bang being held and do people from the Premier Residence know about this?”

Jing Jun led him past the main hall and towards the back hall. He happily reported: “Last night, I secretly brought everyone back here, including the young couple. Lu Xiong and his men are now in prison. Ai! There is a problem here. That kid is denying everything and the couple are terrified to know that their attackers are from Premier Residence. They did not want to provide evidence of their crime and kept pleading me to release them, saying that they will never come back to Xianyang City in the future.”

Xiang Shaolong was agonized. Without witnesses, Lu Bang can instead accuse him power abuse and he will be in trouble. He asked: “Where is Second Brother?”

Jing Jun sighed: “Since morning, he has been in a horrible mood. He slapped Lu Bang heavily after the interrogation barely began. Now, he is interrogating the young couple. I am really afraid he will resort to violence.”

Xiang Shaolong understood Teng Yi’s character well. He panicked: “Let’s check on him first!”

They increased their pace towards the inner hall where the couple is being held.

Before they stepped over the door ledge, Teng Yi’s loud scolding can be heard. The men guarding the doors have a helpless look on their faces, signalling that the interrogation has been unfruitful.

Xiang Shaolong entered the inner hall and was startled at the sight of the young couple in front of Teng Yi. The young couple exclaimed: “Benefactor!”

Xiang Shaolong was amazed at the coincidence. It is the young couple he helped when he was on his way to meet with Tu Xian. He saved them in the market when they were chased by thugs and even gave them a large sum of money.

Teng Yi was stunned: “You know Official Xiang?”

Xiang Shaolong sincerely pleaded: “Let’s talk about that later! Mister and Madam have been assaulted by evil doers and why don’t you testify against them? We must not let them remain free and cause more trouble to other people.”

This man named Zhou and his wife exchange a glance and resolutely promised: “We will do as Benefactor advised without the slightest hesitation.”

Teng Yi cheered: “Both of you need not worry. I will get someone to bring you safely far away from here.”

Xiang Shaolong simply added: “By tomorrow morning, both of you will be far away from danger.”

By now, he has a good plan to deal with Lu Xiong.

Lu Xiong is one of the culprits behind Zhao Qian’s death. He will surely take advantage of this golden opportunity to take revenge.

After Xiao Pan finish hearing his story, he frowned: “The only criminal is Lu Bang. Moreover, he did not violate the woman yet. At the most, we can give him a severe beating.”

Li Si smiled: “I think Commander Xiang has thought of a special plan already!”

Xiang Shaolong smiled: “Nothing can hide from Official Li’s eyes. I planned to leak the news to Lu Xiong, deceiving him that his son has and killed a woman. If he panics and barges into the Cavalry Command Centre to save his son, I have a way to trick him.”

Xiao Pan thought it over and slowly asked: “What kind of a man is this Lu Xiong?”

Xiang Shaolong and Li Si exchanged a glance of amazement.

The Crown Prince Zheng is becoming more formidable and is developing his own thinking style and observations.

Xiang Shaolong leisurely explained: “This is a man who takes shortcuts to success and is an idi0t who good at claiming credit for himself. Since he came to Qin, he has been the second most important man among Lu Buwei’s clansmen. He is so arrogant that it is rumoured that he does not pay respects to Guan Zhongxie despite being the assistant Imperial Infantry Commander.”

Xiao Pan was stunned: “Why is Subject Xiang so familiar with Premier Residence’s developments?”

Xiang Shaolong will naturally protect his spy Tu Xian and casually mentioned: “Lu Buwei can bribe my warrior and I can do the same.”

Xiao Pan contemplated for a while and gingerly state; “If Lu Xiong is as what you had described, we can make use of him.”

He turned to Li Si and instructed: “Subject Li please summon Lu Buwei, Lu Gong, Xu Xian, Wang Ling, Meng Ao, Cai Ze, Wang Wan and various officials for a meeting. I want to deprive Lu Xiong of any mental support and make him even more reckless.”

Li Si was pleased and left to execute his order.

Xiao Pan waited until only Xiang Shaolong and himself was left in the study before he happily cheered: “It will be even better if this matter is blown out of proportion. I can use this chance to show my authority and put down Lu Buwei. This traitor has been even more overbearing now that he has the support of Empress. He even proposed to Empress to promote himself to be the Regent of Qin. What a shameless cad!”

Xiang Shaolong frowned: “What did Empress say?”

Xiao Pan furiously disclosed: “Empress has been bewitched by Lao Ai. Except for matters regarding Master, she approves all his other requests. She has spoken to me twice regarding this matter already. Ai! I have been unable to sleep for the past two nights because of this as well.”

Xiang Shaolong recalled that in the movie, people addressed Lu Buwei as Premier Mentor. ‘Mentor’ refers to a kind of officials that is found in the state of Qi which can also mean ‘Father.’ This will give Lu Buwei some sort of promotion and hint at his fatherly status. He could not help laughing: “Let’s make him a Premier Mentor instead and create more trouble for him.”

Xiao Pan was elated and asked for the details.

Xiang Shaolong added: “This must be done after the blood test or it will have the opposite effect.”

He explained the meaning of Premier Mentor and its double meaning as well.

Xiao Pan frowned: “Isn’t that asking me to acknowledge a traitor as my father?”

Xiang Shaolong casually mentioned: “This is just a name without real authority and we have two advantages from this promotion. First, we assured this traitor of his position and he will not make any more ridiculous requests. Secondly, we can increase the dissatisfaction of Lu Gong and the military. With evidence that you are not his son, they will assume that he gave himself that title and will give him more trouble.”

Xiao Pan was shocked: “How can Master leisurely think of such a unique position?”

Xiang Shaolong was slightly awkward: “I am not sure too. The name just came up me all of a sudden.”

Xiao Pan stared at him for a while and gently remarked: “Let me think about this further. Master! It is not that I do not trust you but this is an important issue and I want to hear Li Si’s opinion.”

Xiang Shaolong was pleased: “I am more than happy to know that Crown Prince is taking up the responsibility of his own decision making. Seeing you grow up to be a great man is my greatest reward.”

He stood up and bade farewell: “By now, Lu Xiong should have received my news. I should head back to handle him.”

Xiao Pan stood up and stammered: “Can Master pay a visit to Empress? Only you can make Mother break out of Lao Ai’s control.”

Xiang Shaolong bitterly laughed: “I’ll see what I can do!”

Stepping out of the study, he was detained by Lord Changwen. Lord Changwen apologised: “Shaolong, please forgive me for divulging your whereabouts. My sister is waiting for you outside the palace. Hei! You should know that she is up to no good.”

Xiang Shaolong is in a rush to return to the Cavalry Commander Centre to implement his trap to trick Lu Xiong. He was astounded: “Then I had better leave by another exit.”

It is Lord Changwen’s turn to be astounded. He begged: “You must never do that or they will know that I tipped you off. Please go and humour them a bit! Take it that you are doing it on account of our friendship. I will buy you drinks tonight as a form of gratitude.”

Xiang Shaolong sighed: “I have only heard of fathers doting their children but never heard of brothers doting their sister.”

Lord Changwen smiled bitterly and replied in a low voice: “I can see that my sister has a favourable impression of Shaolong. Of course she does! She may not admit it but I can tell it from her joyful expression last night. I have very sharp eyes! Ha! She is a good catch!”

Xiang Shaolong shook his head and smiled weakly: “It’s not funny. Let’s see what she is up to.”

They continued chatting as they walked towards the palace gates. When they went through the corridor and was about to reach the palace gates, Lord Changwen slipped away.

Xiang Shaolong hardened his resolve and stride towards the Eighteen Guardians who were waiting for him. From afar, he caught sight of Ying Ying and Lu Dan’er the two stubborn Qin girls. They were trying out his horse Jifeng. Wu Shu and the other Guardians could only stare at them helplessly.

Ying Ying noticed him coming and whipped the horse, riding towards him, chirping: “Good day General Xiang. We are not convinced by your prowess and are coming to challenge you again.”

Admiring her stubborn, cute and youthful demeanour, Xiang Shaolong wished he could leap up the horse, embrace her slender waist, lean against the back of her body and ride one big round around the city. Unfortunately, it can only be a fantasy. He bitterly smiled: “When can this come to a conclusion?”

Jifeng stopped beside him and stretched its long neck, nuzzling him.

Xiang Shaolong lovingly hugged Jifeng and led the horse with Ying Ying on it back to Lu Dan’er and the Guardians. He bitterly laughed: “I surrender. Can Miss have mercy on me and let me go?”

Ying Ying was displeased: “How can you go back on your word? Aren’t you a mighty hero? I don’t care; you are coming with us to compete on horse riding followed by other contests.”

Lu Dan’er welcomed with a smile: “When have you become another coward!”

Xiang Shaolong almost exploded. He had a brainwave and suggested: “Fine. I will compete with you but first of all, let me return to the Command Centre and run an errand. After that, I will play with you girls.”

Ying Ying agilely jumped off the horse and exclaimed: “Who is playing with you? I just saw that you may have some small abilities and wanted to see for myself how good you really are.”

Lu Dan’er added: “Men are all like that. When you treat them well, they think they are very important. Hei! !”

Xiang Shaolong acted like he did not care and declared: “If you don’t allow me to return to the Command Centre, I will not compete with you. If you don’t treasure it, too bad!”

Both girls were surprised: “Treasure?”

Roaring with laughter, Xiang Shaolong leapt up his horse and bellowed: “Whatever! Brothers, let’s head back to the Centre.”

His legs dug lightly into Jifeng and he galloped towards the main gate.

When Xiang Shaolong and the two stubborn girls jumped down the horse, they can all sense that something is going on in the Command Centre.

The area outside the main hall was crowded with Cavalry soldiers and everyone has an angry look on their faces. Sounds of scolding can be heard coming from inside the hall.

Xiang Shaolong was secretly glad and led the girls into the hall. The soldiers saw that Xiang Shaolong has returned and made way for him. Someone whispered: “Commander, someone from the Imperial Infantry is causing trouble here.”

‘Imperial Commander is here!’ was announced. Accompanied by the two girls, Xiang Shaolong was feeling excited as he stepped into the hall.

The hall was split into two groups.

On one side were Teng Yi, Jing Jun and ten over cavalry leaders. On the other side were Lu Xiong and twenty odd Infantry escort soldiers.

Xiang Shaolong winked and the Eighteen Guardians fanned out and surrounded Lu Xiong’s group.

Lu Xiong did not even turn around and coldly laughed: “The man who can speak is finally back.”

These words matched Lu Xiong’s attitude and mindset. He did not regard General Xiang Shaolong who is ranked two ranks higher than him. In fact, he did not even regard him at all.

Ying Ying is naturally familiar with the Qin military. She leaned towards Xiang Shaolong’s ear and whispered: “Aren’t the Infantry under your control?”

With her scent and breath on his ear, Xiang Shaolong was feeling ticklish and yet comfortable at the same time. He softly replied: “The two of you stay here obediently. Do not let them know that you are here. I will need you to be my witnesses.”

The girls are delighted and did not take offence at his commanding tone. They squeezed into the crowd.

Once they are in place, Xiang Shaolong sauntered up and stopped between Teng Yi and Jing Jun. Facing Lu Xiong whose face is as dark as charcoal, he feigned surprise: “Official Lu mentioned ‘the man who can speak’, may I know who he is?”

Teng Yi and Jing Jun wanted to aggravate him and purposely laughed in response. The other cavalry soldiers followed their example and laughed as well.

His eyes flashing with murder and anger, Lu Xiong hissed: “Of course I am referring to Commander Xiang. Aren’t you a man who can speak?”

Xiang Shaolong’s eyes focused and him and harshly roared: “How dare you!”

The entire hall became completely silent and the atmosphere became very tense.

Lu Xiong can never imagine Xiang Shaolong to be rude to him as he is an important figure of the Premier Residence. His face changing colour, he realised that he had said something wrong and undeserving of his military rank. He was lost for words.

Xiang Shaolong simply threatened: “Lu Xiong, you saw me and did not salute me. This is disrespectful. You even pass rude comments and disregard military subordination. Are you aware of your wrongdoing?”

The arrogant Lu Xiong has his own methods. He coldly laughed: “If Commander felt that I have committed a wrongdoing, he may feel free to complain to Premier Lu.”

Every cavalry soldier began to protest.

Jing Jun cheekily asked: “If you are send to war, will you only report to Premier Lu and nobody else? Is he the only person who can command you? Are you going to send someone to Xianyang City to ask him regarding every single thing?”

The Cavalry soldiers burst out laughing again. Even Ying Ying and Lu Dan’er were giggling too.

Lu Xiong was made into a joke and could not take it lying down. He barked: “Jing Jun, who the he11 do you think you are, how dare you...”

Teng Yi interrupted: “If he is nobody, you are even worse off. Both of you are assistant generals but Jing Jun is still half a rank higher than you.”

Hearing his words, the hall broke out into laughter again. The two girls even clapped loudly in approval, and nobody is afraid of Lu Xiong anymore.

Lu Xiong and his men have an ugly expression on their faces.

Xiang Shaolong will not allow him to recompose himself. “Lu Xiong, you are too much! Kneel down!” He barked.

Everyone present quietened down and waited for their reaction.

Lu Xiong was shocked and he took a step back. He challenged: “Xiang Shaolong, you better not force me.”

Teng Yi knew that the time is right. He ordered: “Men. Apprehend this criminal!”

The Cavalry soldiers had expected this. Over ten men stepped forward.

Originally, all Lu Xiong wanted is to save his own son. Under the ridicule of Xiang Shaolong and his men, he fell into their trap. Moreover, he has been arrogant because he enjoyed the backing of Lu Buwei. With his status, he will not allow himself to be arrested like a common criminal. Jiang! He drew out his sword and like a fool, he wildly challenged: “Who dares to arrest me?”

His men originated from the Lu Family Warriors and are arrogant men who enjoyed Lu Buwei’s backing. Unafraid of a simple Cavalry Commander, they drew and brandished their weapons, surrounding and protecting Lu Xiong.

Xiang Shaolong, Teng Yi and Jing Jun exchanged looks. First, they called back their cavalry soldiers who are waiting to attack. Xiang Shaolong then shook his head and sighed: “If Assistant Commander Lu is not going to drop your weapons and kneel down, acknowledging your mistakes, I will not be merciful.”

Lu Xiong grinned: “What can you do to me?”

Xiang Shaolong smiled and gestured with his hand.

The Eighteen Guardians agilely armed themselves with their crossbows that were slanged on their backs. They loaded their crossbows and assumed fighting positions. They aimed their crossbows at the enemies and forced Lu Xiong and his men to a corner.

When they could no longer retreat, Lu Xiong sobered up and stopped his men from withdrawing. He cried: “Xiang Shaolong! What do you mean by this?”

Jing Jun laughed: “The meaning of your swords is the same meaning as our crossbows. What meaning can there be?”

As the atmosphere is very tense, no one dared to make any noise. Only Ying Ying and Lu Dan’er cannot be bothered and giggled at Jing Jun’s joke.

Lu Xiong spotted them and questioned in a deep voice: “Who are the two girls?”

A Cavalry Captain shouted: “You did not even know the famous Miss Ying Ying and Miss Lu Dan’er. What kind of Assistant Commander are you?”

Lu Xiong was flabbergasted and felt that he is at a serious disadvantage.

If there were only Cavalry soldiers around, he can deny everything regardless of his mistakes. With these outsiders, he is really in trouble.

Xiang Shaolong saw his expression changing and knew that he is thinking of backing down. He will not give him any chance to apologise and roared: “If you are not throwing down your weapons and kneeling down, you will regret it!”

He insisted on Lu Xiong kneeling down to make things difficult for him.

Lu Xiong was hesitating for a while. Before he had a chance to reply, Xiang Shaolong ordered: “Shoot their legs!”

The mechanism sounded and eighteen arrows shot out.

With this kind of distance and environment, there is no place to hide. Eighteen of Lu Xiong’s followers fell down, all with an arrow wound on their thighs.

The crossbows were reloaded immediately.

Lu Xiong may not be injured but his fighting will is gone. Afraid that Xiang Shaolong may really kill him, he angrily threw down his long sword and cursed: “You are good! I want to see how you are going to account for this to Premier Lu.”

The remaining seven of his uninjured followers threw down their swords and surrendered.

Ying Ying and Lu Dan’er did not anticipate that Xiang Shaolong will really attack them and were dazed.

Xiang Shaolong gestured again. The cavalry soldiers crowded forward, tying Lu Xiong and his men up. Lu Xiong and his men were then forced to kneel down.

Within Xianyang City, the Cavalry are considered a prestigious force and will not tolerate these insults. They are impressed and happy with Xiang Shaolong’s brave actions.

Ignoring the injured men, Xiang Shaolong faced Lu Xiong and plainly asked: “Assistant Commander Lu, why are you doing all these? Your son only injured a few men and you resort to violence?”

Lu Xiong raised his head in surprise: “What?”

Xiang Shaolong gently reminded: “Didn’t you hear what I said? Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. We shall see Premier Lu now and see which one of us is disrespectful and insubordinate.”

Lu Xiong’s face was drained of colour. In the moment, he knew that he had been too reckless and was tricked by Xiang Shaolong’s well-devised plan.