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Yang Kang explained, “What he sang was a poem written by Cao Zijian of the Three Kingdoms period. Cao Zijian composed two stanzas of lamentations because of his daughter’s death. In the poem he said how some people live until the hair on their heads had turned completely white, while some children died prematurely. He questioned why God was so unfair? He hated the fact that Heaven was so high and without stairs so that he could not ascend to God’s throne to cry out his complaints. He finally said that his grief was so deep that the day he would follow her to the grave would not be far away.”
The warriors immediately heaped him with praise, and said, “The Young Prince is truly a scholar and highly educated. We are rough men; how would we know?”
Huang Yaoshi’s heart was filled with grief and indignation. He pointed his finger to the sky and scolded the heaven, cursed ghosts and blamed divine beings for treating him unjustly, for all his sorrows and unfair fate. He commanded his boat towards the mainland. Once he was ashore his anger flamed again. He looked up to the sky and shouted, “Who killed my Rong’er? Who killed my Rong’er?”
Suddenly a thought came into his mind, “It’s that boy surnamed Guo. That’s right, it was him. If not for him, why would Rong’er go aboard that boat? But that boy died alongside Rong’er; who should I unleash my anger on?”
As soon as he had this thought, he remembered Guo Jing’s masters, the Six Freaks of Jiangnan.
“Those six are the guiltiest of killing my Rong’er! If they hadn’t taught that Guo kid, how would he have met Rong’er? I won’t be appeased until I cut off their arms and legs one by one.”
As his anger increased, his sorrow decreased somewhat. He arrived at a small town and stopped for some food, while still thinking deeply about how he would pursue the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. “The Six Freaks’ martial arts skills are not high, but their reputations are not low. Perhaps they have something that sets them above everybody else, or perhaps they only use deceit. If I pay a visit to their residence and inquire, chances are I am not going to find them. I must go in the middle of the night and break into their houses. Then I will wipe them and their families clean, young and old alike.” Then he took big strides walking north towards Jiaxing.
End of Chapter 22.
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Chapter 23 – Big Trouble in the Imperial Palace
Translated by Daniel Shultz, Bluebook & Frans Soetomo
While they talked they arrived at the Broken Bridge by the West Lake. Because it was summer what they saw was lotus under the bridge. Huang Rong saw a neat little wine shop by the lakeside. “Let’s drink a cup of wine and enjoy the lotus,” she said.
“Very good,” Guo Jing agreed.
Hong Qigong, Zhou Botong, Huang Rong and Guo Jing took a small boat to the west. Guo Jing rowed at the stern, while Huang Rong continuously pestered Zhou Botong with questions about riding sharks on the sea. Zhou Botong devised ways of catching sharks to amuse Huang Rong.
Guo Jing, observing his master’s pale complexion, asked “Master, what are you thinking about?”
Hong Qigong did not reply as he hoarsely took small breaths again and again. The strike he received from Ouyang Feng had penetrated to the bone. Although the acupoint had already been unsealed, the internal injury had actually worsened. Huang Rong fed him nine ‘Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills’. Although the pain lessened somewhat, his breathing was just as bad as before. The Old Urchin, with complete disregard for the suffering of others, continued to make a ruckus and shouted that they must catch a shark. Huang Rong knew his behavior was inappropriate and tried signaling him with her eyes to be quite and not disturb Hong Qigong.
Zhou Botong, not understanding in the least, simply continued to cause a disturbance. Huang Rong frowned and said, “You want to catch sharks, but you don’t have any bait to attract them, so what are you going on about?”
The Old Urchin never acted like a respected senior. When juniors drink and swear in front of him, he’s never offended in the least. He suddenly said, “Got it! Brother Guo, I’ll hold your hands while you dip the lower half of your body into the sea.”
Guo Jing respected his sworn brother and even though he did not know his intentions, he quickly agreed. Huang Rong, just as quickly, called out, “Jing ge ge! Don’t listen to him! He wants to use you as bait to catch sharks.”
Zhou Botong clapped his hands and shouted happily, “Exactly! When a shark comes, I’ll immediately whack it and pull it up! Or you could hold my hands and I’ll attract the sharks.”
Huang Rong replied, “You two are causing so much trouble on this small boat and if it capsizes, we’ll have you to blame!”
Zhou Botong replied, “If the boat capsizes, that will be great! Then we can all play in the sea!”
Huang Rong replied, “And what about our Master? Do you want him to live or not?”
Zhou Botong held his head, at a loss for words. After a short time, he said that it was strange that Hong Qigong should be injured by Ouyang Feng’s attack. Huang Rong shouted, “If you talk nonsense again, the three of us will not speak to you for three days and three nights!” Zhou Botong stuck out his tongue but did not dare to say another word. He grabbed an oar to help Guo Jing with the rowing.
Although land appeared to be close by, it was already dusk by the time they finally disembarked.
That night the four of them slept on the sandy beach. The next morning, Hong Qigong’s illness had worsened considerably and Guo Jing began to cry.
Hong Qigong said with a smile, “Even if I were to live for another hundred years, I’d still have to die in the end. Good child, I only have one wish left. Using this old beggar’s last breath, I would ask that the three of you do something for me.”
Huang Rong replied tearfully, “Master, please tell us.”
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Zhou Botong interrupted, “That ‘Old Poison’ is a disgrace. Because of him old Senior is at the point of death. Before he died, my martial brother had to fake his death because of Old Poison. One person had to die twice…isn’t he satisfied? Old Beggar, you go right ahead and die and don’t worry about a thing. I will go and kill him to get revenge for you.”
Hong Qigong replied with a smile, “Avenging a grievance cannot be considered a final wish. What I want is to eat a bowl of minced ‘Five-Treasures Mandarin Duck’ from the Imperial Palace kitchen.”
Which of the three would have thought that his final wish was for food? Huang Rong replied,
“Master, that’s easy. Since we’re not far from Lin’an so I’ll go steal several large pots from the Imperial Palace so that you can eat to your heart’s content.”
Zhou Botong interrupted again, “I also want to eat.”
Huang Rong gave him a displeased look and replied, “Do you also understand how to differentiate between good and bad food?”
Hong Qigong said, “The minced ‘Five-Treasures Mandarin Duck’ is hard to come by. Back in the day I hid in the Imperial Palace for three months and only managed to try a tiny bit. Just recalling the flavor is enough to make one drool.”
Zhou Botong said, “I have an idea, We’ll grab the old emperor’s chef and make him prepare it.”
Huang Rong replied, “Old Urchin, that’s not a bad idea.” Hearing Huang Rong supporting him, Zhou Botong was very pleased with himself.
Hong Qigong, shaking his head in disapproval, replied, “Not a chance. To make flavorful minced
‘Five-Treasures Mandarin Duck’, the kitchen implements, charcoal fire, and dishes must form a complete set. If even one is missing, the taste will be off. We still need to go to the Imperial Palace.” Seeing that the three still had some misgivings, he said “It will be quite superb and if we go, you will all gain valuable experience.”
Guo Jing immediately placed Hong Qigong on his back and set off to the north. Upon reaching a small town, Huang Rong sold some of her jewelry for cash and purchased a small mule cart to allow Hong Qigong to relax and recover from his injury. Eventually they passed the Qiangtang River and arrived at the outskirts of Lin’an Prefecture where they watched a vast misty sunset and heard the intermittent cawing of a crow. By nightfall they still had not reached the city and were forced to seek lodgings for the night. Looking around, they saw only a small village of several households near the riverbank.
Huang Rong spoke out, “This village looks good. We can rest here.”
Zhou Botong replied sullenly, “What’s so good about it?”
Huang Rong replied, “Take a look…doesn’t this scenery sort of look like a painting?”
Zhou Botong replied, “How does it resemble a painting then?” Huang Rong stared blankly, having difficulty coming up with a response. Zhou Botong said, “That painting must be very ugly. Unless it is similar to the ‘Old Urchin’s’ paintings, I’m afraid it must be inferior.”
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Huang Rong said with a smile, “Heaven has the ability to create a landscape, just like the ‘Old Urchin’s’ random scribbling of a painting.”