Chapter 257: News of the Crossbows!
Translator: Novel Saga Editor: Novel Saga
“Correct! Master’s words make sense. In fact, they don’t even deserve it!” Song Shang was listening on side with deep emotions in his heart. He licked his lips, and then brought himself to speak up, “Master, when will you tech me how to ferment this wine?”
“Shortly, when the time is right; however, I must give you a few words of warning, Song Shang! No one apart from our people is to drink the wine we will ferment; because the wine which we will ferment from now on will be even more delicious. Do you understand?” Jun Mo Xie broke into a smile.
“I understand! How can such ordinary people deserve to taste the wine which we — master and student — ferment! How can those people ever taste the Immortal Wine? This ‘never-before seen’ product is beyond this world of mortals. It exceeds both the earthly and the immortal objects; so how can we sully it?” Song Shang was angry inside his heart, and his disdain was evident in his tone; his words even shook-up his master.
The Young Master Jun was in a daze. [How am I getting confused by whatever this guy is saying?]
“Ahem! Yes you hurry-up and go down! We have to start purchasing these herbal medicines immediately!” Jun Mo Xie waved his hand.
Jun Wu Yi frowned after the two of them left, “Mo Xie, the news of this event is too massive. I’m afraid that…”
“I’m still convinced that there will be no harm because of this!” Jun Mo Xie chuckled gently, “Third Uncle, you said that you would immediately return home after seeing Dugu Wudi off… yet you are still here. Has something interesting come up?”
“You little devil. Indeed… nothing can ever be hidden from you!” Jun Wu Yi smiled helplessly as he said, “There has been news from Jiangnan — the south of the river…”(1)
“Oh?” Jun Mo Xie’s eyes glittered.
“The Zhao Trading Company has completed the manufacture of the Xuan Beast tendon crossbows. They will soon be transporting them into the city.” Jun Wu Yi sounded very serious as he said this slowly, “Also, several unknown experts have propped up from nowhere. They seem to be restlessly. It seems that the Second Prince is getting ready to make his move.”
“Ahem. This wasn’t very difficult to guess. The more noise they make, the deeper we should conceal ourselves since that would allow us fish-out more profits from secrecy. We must especially get our hands on those Xuan Beast tendon crossbows. The cargo of those Xuan Beast tendon crossbows from the Zhao Trading Company shall be akin to a gift for us. He He He… ” Jun Mo Xie’s eyes narrowed.
“We cannot let our guard down! There has been a lot of instability of late, and the situation is only getting worse. I believe the Second Prince won’t handle this matter casually. Besides, he might employ an elite force of guards from outside to protect his cargo. Moreover, the Second Prince is extremely rich and might also engage experts to escort the cargo. Also, there might be a person from a top guild of Jiangnan, and he might be in charge of escorting the goods. Finally, there is a high possibility of the Blood Sword Hall escorting those crossbows in secret.”
Jun Wu Yi frowned deeply, “We have determined their strength from the shadows and it is quite considerable. And I believe that there are other powers involved here; powers which we do not know of. And they may be adding to this already very powerful set-up. We need to utilise a lot of strength if we aim to fight for the crossbows. How much expenditure will we have to incur to do that? Moreover, we also need to be subtle, and shouldn’t leave any traces behind…”
Jun Wu Yi let out a deep sight, “I fear that it is as difficult as scaling the heavens!”
“As difficult as scaling the heavens… it will be as easy as turning a hand!” Jun Mo Xie raised his eyebrows. His expression seemed to exude a somewhat demonic radiance. His elegant face seemed to have become cold, sly and devilish. “The matter definitely depends on the individuals involved. If we ourselves will have misgivings that the task is almost impossible and not act because of it… then it truly will become something which is more difficult than scaling the heavens. However, we will always come up with various means to take on the task as long as we decide to act. In fact, I would even venture to believe that half of our battle will be won by the time we decide to take action.”
“Yes, that’s right!” Jun Wu Yi approved.
“Third Uncle, how much time do they still need in order to reach the Capital?” Jun Mo Xie pondered, “In other words, how much time do we have to make our preparations? I need to know the detailed and definite point of time.”
“They should take two days on the southern river, and then they will have to disembark and come ashore. From there they will have to travel for three days in order to reach the city’s vicinity.” Jun Wu Yi muttered the accurate time frame in reply. “I estimate that there are experts escorting the cargo, and I don’t expect them to have many ordinary merchants along. Hence, their journey will be much quicker than an average person’s. However, taking everything into consideration I feel that they would at least take five days to reach here.”
“In other words, we have five days, or more, to make our arrangements!” Jun Mo Xie nodded.
“More. The Second Prince would first have to go to the river, and only then can they begin their journey from there onwards. This means that their party would take at least ten days or more to truly reach the Capital.” Jun Wu Yi pronounced in a definitive tone.
“Ten days? ...That will be enough!” Jun Mo Xie smiled. …it was unclear what thought made him pleased enough to smile like that.
“Third Uncle, I reiterate my need for accurate information. Who has the Zhao Trading Company sent? And what is his strength? What is the strength of the person the Jiangnan’s top guild has sent to help escort? And what type of troops did the Second Prince dispatch, and their strength… We have no information about the Blood Sword Hall. So we will let them off for now and act according to the situation later.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Jun Wu Yi’s expression was tranquil as always. He grasped his wheelchair firmly, “I am only interested to know — what kind of strength do we need to put forth?”
“The Jun Family’s master should not move. Furthermore, we can employ the three hundred bodyguards and the three Sky Xuan experts!” Jun Mo Xie grinned, “Third Uncle, you, Hai Chen Feng and Song Shang are the backbone of our family!”
“I fear that the mere power of us-three won’t be nearly enough. Will it be possible to make the Solitary Falcon…?” Jun Wu Yi didn’t finish. However, the meaning of his words was quite obvious.
“That will absolutely not do!” Jun Mo Xie vetoed that idea resolutely. “Solitary Falcon’s power is too great and might expose our identity. Not to mention with his temperament — he will absolutely refuse any such sneaky assignments; especially when we initiate the conflict since it contradicts our initial agreement with him. This can hinder our future plans since he may disobey before the great plan comes into play.”
“I fear that exposition as well. Hai Chen Feng’s features are also very distinct. So it would be very difficult… to hide his identity!” Jun Wu Yi said.
“It won’t do us any harm. I can try to get rid of that light blue color when the time comes.” Jun Mo Xie was very confident of the outcome. He started to slowly pace to-and-fro. He then came to the front and looked down from his vantage point. Then, he said lightly, “This matter will involve an unprecedented arduous struggle and hard fighting. However, we must deal with this matter ourselves and face it without relying on any outside power. We can only depend on our own strength.
“And eventually, our Jun Family will depend on only ourselves no matter what the matter; only then will we slowly rise! But our rise will be abrupt, and no man or power will be able stop it!” Jun Mo Xie’s sound was low. But he said this in a resolute and vicious manner.
Princess Ling Meng was slowly pulling Dugu Xiao Yi out of the hall. They were going towards a teahouse diagonally opposite to the hall. A tall and sturdy man-like figure of a woman stood-up there. The silhouette moved towards them with long strides.
It was Sun Xiao Mei, Tang Yuan’s fiancée. She had arrived a while ago, but hadn’t entered the hall.
“You don’t look very good.” Sun Xiao Mei looked at Princess Ling Meng. She asked with deep concern, “What happened?”
Sun Xiao Mei’s was born with the appearance of a heroic man; she even had the temperament of one. However, she was an extremely kind-hearted and intelligent person. Moreover, she was like an elder sister to Princess Ling Meng and Dugu Xiao Yi. However, these little sisters didn’t wish to burden their ‘caring’ elder sister with their worries.
“I don’t wish to conceal anything from elder sister. However, something did happen, but I am too embarrassed to mention it. In fact …I do not wish to mention it.” Princess Ling Meng seemed sad. She rubbed her forehead tiredly.
Sun Xiao Mei was quick-witted. She quickly understood from the Princess’ speech that the matter must be relating to the Imperial Family. She couldn’t ask for further details about it since she was not related to it.
Princess Ling Meng was also smart. She saw that Sun Xiao Mei had stopped speaking, and quickly realised that her elder sister had understood everything. She could sense that her elder sister had started to feel awkward. Hence, the Princess hastily said, “It was a pity that elder sister wasn’t inside. Otherwise, she could’ve helped me examine that man and his actions. It was a really strange occurrence.”
“What man? What strange occurrence are you talking about?” Sun Xiao Mei couldn’t help her interest pique when she heard this.
“Li You Ran, the eldest son of the Li Family’s third generation.” She had sensed that there was something odd about Li You Ran’s bearing. Stemming from her intuition as a woman, Princess Ling Meng had a sharp feeling that something was not right.
“Li You Ran, that man…” Sun Xiao Mei muttered to herself for a while. She was apparently finding it difficult to word her thoughts, “…He is just like Jun Mo Xie. You won’t be able to read him properly if you don’t observe him carefully, and you won’t be able to understand him…”
“Jun Mo Xie?!” Princess Ling Meng exclaimed. “Jun Mo Xie and Li You Ran? How can you confuse these two people? Why are you mentioning two completely different people together?”
“There is maybe no evidence to suffice that these two men can be discussed together, but it’s not that simple…” Sun Xiao Mei chuckled and went quiet. She gave no further explanation. However, she said in a low voice as they walked inside; almost as if she was mumbling to herself, “But I feel that Jun Mo Xie is more dangerous!”
“Elder sister Xiao Mei, I don’t understand. But we are sisters… and I’ve discovered that you look at the special qualities of people.” Dugu Xiao Yi hadn’t heard the words Sun Xiao Mei had mumbled to herself. “You had said that Jun Mo Xie had an air of arrogance the Last time we met. I still don’t see any arrogance in him. He just acts a little bit like a rogue; nothing more… And that doesn’t mean that it is very bad… In any case he was really graceful today! I regret that you weren’t with elder sister Ling Meng and me to witness him handle the situation in such a graceful manner, he he…”
“I feel vexed by the way your brother Mo Xie handles things!” Princess Ling Meng retorted in annoyance, “Xiao Yi, you must consider this matter very seriously… and countless times so that you don’t live with regrets for the rest of your life! Listen to what your elder sister says!”
Dugu Xiao Yi was somehow not convinced. She snorted as she mumbled to herself, “Brother Mo Xie is no good? And your brothers are awfully great… are they?”
Princess Ling Meng was dumbstruck. It was true that Jun Mo Xie was a dandy and a bully. And he even rampaged about without any fear. However, even then… he still hadn’t behaved as shamelessly as her brothers.
They were vile of character. They were really vile of character!
Notes:
Jiangnan is Pinyin for the southern part of the China which falls below the Yangtze river.