Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: Imprisonment

Page 1 of 3

Xiaoxiao answered without the slightest concealment. “It is nothing more than an attempt to assassinate Wei Tianpeng, is it not? Am I mistaken?”

Seeing that Xiaoxiao had already seen through his purpose, Bai Chou simply pulled off the black cloth covering his face and gave a dry laugh. “I must praise Miss Xiaoxiao’s intelligence once again. How did you discover my intentions? And are you planning to have someone notify the Black Tiger Gang tomorrow?”

Xiaoxiao paused, then said in a distant voice, “Heh. I advise you to abandon that notion. Starting tomorrow, experts from the Black Tiger Gang will arrive ahead of time to provide security. When Wei Tianpeng comes here tomorrow night, two supreme experts will personally guard the outside. I may know nothing of martial arts, but judging from the two moves you made when you came upstairs, you would be cut in half before you even reached this place, let alone assassinated Wei Tianpeng.”

Bai Chou could not make sense of it. “Everyone outside says that you are Wei Tianpeng’s paramour. Why would you tell me all this?”

“Paramour? Heh. What a tremendous irony.” Xiaoxiao spoke each word slowly. Then she rolled up the sleeve of her left arm.

The exposed skin was covered in horrifying scars. Many of the wounds had already scabbed over and healed into raised, swollen ridges that looked like long, thick maggots. There was scarcely half an inch of unblemished skin to be found.

While Bai Chou was still reeling from the shock, Xiaoxiao pulled down her collar as well. More than a dozen needle-like wounds were scattered densely across her collarbone, beneath them the red scars left by burns.

After arranging her collar, Xiaoxiao said hoarsely, “Do you still believe that I am Wei Tianpeng’s paramour?”

Bai Chou stared blankly at Xiaoxiao before him, unable to imagine the inhuman torture and abuse she had endured. He drew a deep breath. “Miss, was this done by Wei Tianpeng?”

Xiaoxiao nodded. She seemed to have grown indifferent to the wounds, or perhaps she had long since despaired of her present circumstances. With a bleak smile, she said, “If you believe that our aims are the same, then tell me first why you want to kill Wei Tianpeng. Perhaps I can help you.”

Bai Chou replied frankly, “Because of a promise. Only by killing Wei Tianpeng can a good friend of mine and I become disciples of a great master.”

Xiaoxiao looked suddenly bereft. “I see. So that is how it is.”

Noticing the disappointment in her expression, Bai Chou asked in confusion, “Why do you seem disappointed?”

Page 2 of 3

Xiaoxiao gazed at Bai Chou for a long while before saying, “It is nothing. Perhaps I truly should not have hoped for anything. Tell me, how do you intend to assassinate Wei Tianpeng?”

Bai Chou answered apologetically, “Miss Xiaoxiao, I have already told you my reason. Although I sympathize with what you have suffered, unless you explain the story you have been hiding, how can I trust you without reservation and tell you my plan?”

Xiaoxiao nodded and sighed. “Xiaoxiao is merely the stage name they gave me. My true name is Zhang Wanyu.”

It turned out that Zhang Wanyu was the daughter of Zhang Jiuling, a renowned chancellor of the Tang Kingdom.

Since ascending the throne, Tang King Li Shimin had brought imperial authority ever more firmly under his control, while the economy flourished and the realm remained stable. Yet as time passed, he grew increasingly unable to tolerate Chancellor Zhang Jiuling’s repeated remonstrances whenever they conflicted with his own will.

At first, it was merely an ordinary disagreement between ruler and minister.

But Li Linfu exploited public opinion to magnify the differences between Zhang Jiuling and the Tang King. He went out of his way to echo the king’s views and seized every opportunity to drive a wedge between them, gradually weakening the Tang King’s trust in Zhang Jiuling.

In the end, during the affair of the Yellow Emperor’s Treasure, Zhang Jiuling openly challenged the Tang King and refused to provide information concerning the Yellow Emperor’s Secret Key. The king consequently exterminated his entire family.

From then on, Li Linfu replaced Zhang Jiuling as chancellor. Step by step, he took control of the Tang Kingdom’s political affairs, gathering both military and civil authority into his own hands.

But Li Linfu was not content to remain merely the man beneath one person. He harbored ambitions vast enough to touch the heavens, and therefore refused to give up on the Yellow Emperor’s Treasure.

Li Linfu knew that Zhang Jiuling loved most dearly his daughter Zhang Wanyu, a brilliant young woman renowned for her extraordinary skill on the qin. If anyone among the surviving members of the family knew anything about the Yellow Emperor’s Secret Key, it could only be Zhang Wanyu.

Thus, he secretly instructed Wei Tianpeng to rescue Zhang Wanyu and imprison her in Spring Full Tower in Qizhou. She was given the alias Xiaoxiao, and Li Linfu intended to extract the whereabouts of the Yellow Emperor’s Secret Key from her through prolonged torture.

Page 3 of 3

Bai Chou naturally knew of Zhang Jiuling, a celebrated chancellor whose writing was refined and elevated, whose character was marked by courage and foresight, and who had remained devoted to his duties, daring to remonstrate with the ruler. His poem “Gazing at the Moon and Thinking of One Far Away,” especially the line “The bright moon rises above the sea; at this moment, we share the same sky,” was a verse celebrated through the ages.

So Xiaoxiao, this woman who had fallen into the dust and degradation of the pleasure quarters, was actually Zhang Jiuling’s daughter. Bai Chou felt even greater sympathy and pity for her. He was filled with disgust at Li Linfu’s treachery and Wei Tianpeng’s brutality, and spoke gently.

“I noticed a fleeting look of disappointment on your face earlier. I imagine you took me for one of the former disciples or retainers of the Zhang family.”

Zhang Wanyu sighed, then seemed to let go of her hopes. “When a tree falls, the monkeys scatter. It is only human nature. Some of the people my father once advanced are still important ministers at court. Yet in nearly two years, apart from members of the Black Tiger Gang, not a single person has come here. Perhaps I was merely indulging in an impossible fantasy.”

There was one thing Bai Chou still did not understand. After pondering for a moment, he asked, “Forgive my bluntness, Miss, but if I were in your place, then even if I could not kill Li Linfu, I would choose to die together with Wei Tianpeng. You noticed me the moment I arrived outside this building. With senses so keen, I assume your martial arts must be formidable. Yet why did you say that you knew nothing of martial arts, and…”

Before Bai Chou could finish, Zhang Wanyu interrupted him mournfully. “And why did I not kill Wei Tianpeng while he was committing those vile acts? Or rather, why do I continue clinging to life in this world?”

Bai Chou felt that his question had been thoughtless, even somewhat self-righteous. After all, he was not Xiaoxiao and had never endured what she had endured. He lowered his head, which amounted to an unspoken admission.

“As for how I knew you were outside, I already told you. I have studied the qin since childhood, so my hearing is naturally keener than an ordinary person’s. But I truly know no martial arts. There are two reasons I continue to drag myself through this world like a dog. First, I want to witness the downfall of Li Linfu and Wei Tianpeng with my own eyes. Second, I do not want the secret of the Yellow Emperor’s Secret Key, which our family has guarded for generations, to vanish with me.”

Bai Chou gazed at Zhang Wanyu with pity and understanding. “I am sorry. I wronged you.”

“There is no question of wronging me or not,” Zhang Wanyu said with a deep breath. “Apart from you and Wei Tianpeng, I have barely spoken to anyone in the past two years. I do not know why, but today I found myself saying so much. I have told you my story. Do you have any other questions? Can you tell me your plan now?”

Bai Chou now completely believed Zhang Wanyu. There was only one matter that still aroused his curiosity.

“You have mentioned the Yellow Emperor’s Treasure several times. Can you tell me about it?”