Глава 2, ч.2

The two of them stared blankly at the old man, and then they noticed that the back of his clothes was bulging, apparently he carried his purse hidden on his lower back. Kou Zhong whispered in Xu Ziling’s ear, “Whether we’ll meet with the lady luck or not, we only need to see whether this fellow looks impressive but is worthless or not.” Xu Ziling anxiously said, “I really need to pay Zhen Sao back.” As the two of them hurried run after the old man, suddenly they saw a platoon of soldiers coming from the opposite direction. They were greatly shocked and quickly turned around and entered a small alley, and from there they run across toward another alley, which lead to another street big enough for sedan chair, which ran parallel to the southern wall of the city. The two of them plopped down to sit by the wall. After sighing for their bad luck, Kou Zhong came up with another idea, “Maybe we’d better try entering the imperial examination. Although the material we know coming from eavesdropping Bai Lao Fuzi’s [see Chapter 1] lecture, at least it’s better than those good-for-nothing people in class who pay a lot of money to listen to stories. If our names make the list, not only we won’t need travel expenses anymore, we don’t need to take the risk of a long and difficult trek; we’ll be high-ranking officials.” With eyes blazing with fire Xu Ziling said, “Joining the militia is your idea, and now you want to enter imperial examination. You think it is as easy as taking a peek at those young ladies from the Spring Breeze Courtyard [i.e. brothel]?

After all ...” Kou Zhong suddenly elbowed his ribs and winked. Xu Ziling looked up toward the street, and saw the old scholar was actually also running away in panic just like them. Even when he looked toward them, he did not seem to see them but just hurrying along toward the big street. The two of them were ecstatic at this unexpected turn of events, they sprang up and ran after him. Time for the operation. The old scholar was such in a hurry that he did not even notice the clothes on his back was cut. Just now he wanted to leave the city via the South Gate, but was scared by the tight border security that he drew back. He knew it was not suitable for him to go out, yet he was afraid to return home; calling on a friend, he was even more afraid he would implicate other people. While he was hesitating, a shadow flashed, someone was barring his way. While the old scholar was shaking in shock, more men appeared from left and right and seized him that he was not unable to move a single step. The one blocking his way was Yuwen Huaji and one of his men. With a smile on his face this martial art expert from the Yuwen Clan walked over toward the old scholar. After seizing him up from top to bottom several times, he said in a bored tone, “Isn’t this gentleman Jiangdu’s rising poetry and literature scholar Tian Wen Laoshi [teacher]?

I heard Laoshi is a good friend of Shi Long Shifu [simply a respectful form of address for older men]. Just now we took the liberty of paying an official call on Tian Laoshi’s respected residence. Unexpectedly, without suspecting anything, we managed to dredge up Shi Shifu’s body from the bottom of the well. And now Tian Laoshi seems to be in a hurry to leave; I wonder what was the reason?

” Tianwen’s countenance was changed greatly; he could not find anything to say. By this time the people passing through the street knew that something was not right, but seeing that among the men surrounding Tian Wen was their own captain of the local garrison, who would dare to be implicated by interfering?

Meanwhile, the two men grabbing Tian Wen from both sides did not stay idle either; their hands were busy searching Tian Wen’s whole body, but they were unable to find the book that was supposedly in his possession. Zhang Shihe personally did the search. Before long he discovered that the back of Tian Wen’s clothes had been cut with a sharp weapon. "Not good!" his countenance changed, "The book is gone!" Yuwen Huaji’s eyes flashed with cold rays as he called out in deep voice, "Chen Shoubei!" [Translator’s note: Shoubei practically means ’on garrison duty’. I am not sure his actual military rank, although earlier I said ’captain’.] Chen Shoubei, who normally tyranize people, quickly stepped forward. As his eyes met Yuwen Huaji’s, his knees buckled and he dropped down kneeling on the ground, "Lowly officer’s here!" window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "62910880adf4e30027560830", id: "pf-1556-1"}) Yuwen Huaji coldly said, "Seal the city gates immediately. While you are at it, catch all thieves and local ruffians in the city for me. If we can’t find the thing that His Holiness wants, they can forget about keeping their lives." Chapter 2, Part 2 Anh, Grundle, Zlack, you are most welcome. Thanks for stopping by. SzFong, thanks for the info. I wouldn’t know because I never watch any adaptation. CFT, how come you guys are so knowledgeable?

It’s one of the reasons I keep translating, because even if I don’t know much, you guys will step in and make necessary correction. Thanks. Here is the end of Chapter 2. If I can maintain my pace, we’ll have Book 1 finished before Christmas. Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong were sitting side-by-side in a secluded alley by the East Gate, staring blankly at the book in front of them. Deeply disappointed, Xu Ziling said, "Next time we want to steal, we must never target those that look like a school teacher. This weird book with undecipherable handwriting is more difficult to understand than the Heavenly Book [mythical book of heavens]. Aren’t you the Zhong Shaoye [young master] who often brags about your great erudition and scholarship?

Tell me, what is this written on the top?

" Kou Zhong proudly said, "How can I be like you, a mere kid without learning or skills?

This book must be a secret martial art manual from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era [the earliest system of Chinese historiography]. We can train it, we will be unequalled under the heavens that even Shi Shifu will have to step down gracefully. Just look at these diagrams of human body, this is the secret to circulate qi along the channels. Ha! This time we come across a treasure. Look! Did you notice the marvelous quality of the paper?

" Xu Ziling could not stop laughing. "Don’t blow your horn too loud. Just read a couple of characters let me hear it. I want to see how good your education is." Kou Zhong has always been proud of his age and experience; his eyes were gleaming as he said, "If somebody could write it, then there must be somebody else who could understand it. Let us find an old scholar with the most learning, we’ll ask him to interpret these strange characters for us. Besides, we, the two dragons of Yangzhou, have specific responsibility to train martial art. This is called dividing up the work in collaboration, each on in his proper place. Do you understand?

" With disappointment in his voice Xu Ziling said, "Do you think you are the Zongguan [see chapter 1] of Yangzhou?

Who would listen to us and do our bidding?

Right now we, the two snakes of Yangzhou, have a more pressing problem at hand: food. Looks like we will have to take the money we save for traveling expense and exchange it for a couple of steamed buns to feed our tummy. I’ll say it is a bit more practical." Kou Zhong laughed aloud. He stood up, hid the book in his clothes again, stretched, and said, “Let me, Zhong Shaoye, take care of lunch. Come! Let’s go home first to get some money, and then we go to the docks outside the city to do some damn business that requires no capital. Afterwards we run away as far as we can; otherwise, if that stinky Laoda discovered that we have some treasured book in our bosom, we will be in very big trouble.” Recalling the fierce beating he received the previous day, Xu Ziling broke out in sweats. He sprang up and sneakily followed Kou Zhong back to the abandoned courtyard, their ‘home’. Yuwen Huaji was sitting in the main hall of the Zongguan Mansion, drinking tea; serving him was Yangzhou Zongguan, Yuchi Sheng. Not only these two men were well-acquainted with each other, the relationship between them was more than casual. Before Yang Jian established the Great Sui Dynasty, he was a high-ranking minister of the Northern Zhou Dynasty [557-581]. Later on, after Emperor Xuan of Zhou [?