Chapter Thirty-Five Conspiracy

  Here is the translation:

  As for Leng Jiangbo and Xiong Erpao of Jiangyue Mountain Villa, they were invited by Wan Houliang, the owner of Yingtian Teahouse, to drink at Cuihualou that night. Leng Jiangbo was drinking with great relish, cup after cup, each one drained dry. He had his left arm around Cuihua Lou's girl Xiao Zhen and his right arm around Xiao Xue. The two girls were flirting and scolding him, taking turns pouring wine into Leng Jiangbo's mouth. Leng Jiangbo was not refusing anyone... he was already seven or eight parts drunk. At this time, Wan Houliang emerged from the side, waved his hand, and signaled for the two girls to retreat. The two girls put down their cups and left with a hint of knowing what to do.

  Wan Houliang sat down beside Leng Jiangbo and said, "Boss, don't be infatuated with beauty and forget about old friends. Just because you're drinking with a pretty girl, you've forgotten about your old buddy! Come on, let's drink." As he spoke, he refilled Leng Jiangbo's cup again.

  Leng Jiangbo said with a thick, drunken tone: "Drink......" Before he could finish his sentence, he downed the drink in one gulp. Xiong Erpao and Wan Houliang took small sips and then refilled his cup. Wan Houliang said to Leng Jiangbo: "Lately, the master's luck hasn't been good, has it?"

  "Can... can't it be? Still... still damn it's not... not smooth!" Leng Jiangbo was completely drunk, his words were already incoherent.

  "In terms of ability, you are much stronger than your senior Zhou Shiming, but it's just that you're not as wealthy as others?" Wan Houliang said casually while pouring himself a drink.

  "If I get his secret, I'll become a billionaire... you two will have to kneel down and talk to me later..." Leng Jiangbo was drunk with intoxication.

  "The key is that the master of the house cannot get it."

  "Who says I can't get it? You know, the Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, including our great Ming Dynasty, where are these imperial tombs?" asked Leng Jiangbo intermittently.

  They both shook their heads.

  "Do you know how to dig up these graves...? How to break the mechanism inside the grave?" Leng Jiang asked a string of questions in a stuttering and intermittent tone.

  Wan Houliang and Xiong Erpao looked at each other, shook their heads, and said they didn't know. They asked: "Does the master of the house know?"

  Dà dāng jiā Lěng Jiāngbō also shook his head "I... don't know either."

  The two of them let out a sigh of relief, "Wasn't what you said just now pointless?"

  "But does anyone know...know?"

  "Who?" Wan Houliang asked.

  "My senior brother, Zhou, Zhou, Zhou Shiming." Leng Jiangbo continued to ramble on: "My master had a book, after his death he gave it to... to my senior brother. My senior brother supplemented it and added all sorts of nonsense like emperor's tombs and mechanisms. The book also has various diagrams of the emperor's tombs. This is how my senior brother got rich. But this kid quit many years ago and focused on running his dog fart shop. He refused to hand over the secret manual. Hmph, he can fool others but not me Leng Jiangbo? Don't think I don't know."

  "So where is this book now?" Wan Houliang asked.

  "Of course, it's at his place, my senior brother's. I originally thought it was buried with our master, so I sent someone to dig up the master's grave, but it turned out to be a fake one and we couldn't open the real one either. Later... thinking about it, the secret manual wouldn't possibly be... there? He had written that book with great difficulty, would he not pass it down to his son? This old man is so biased, refusing to give it to me..." He said, then fell drunk on the table.

  Two people took a look, Leng Jiangbo knew that maybe it was just this much, and there was no use in keeping this person around. Wan Houliang glanced at Xiong Erpao and said to him: "It's up to you now, the time for you to take charge has arrived, seize the opportunity!"

  Xiong Erpao understood the meaning of Wan Houliang's words, and with a tremble, he pulled out his knife and stabbed Leng Jiangbo three times in the back. Leng Jiangbo fell to the ground in a pool of blood, never having imagined that he would die at the hands of the person he trusted most. Xiong Erpao put him in a sack, hastily mounted his horse, and carried Leng Jiangbo's body to bury it in the wilderness.

  Two men brought their hands down to Leng Jiangbo's Jiangyue Manor, gathering everyone. Xiong Erpao sat in the chair where Leng Jiangbo originally sat, and Wan Houliang sat below him on the right. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Xiong Erpao burst into tears, crying so painfully... After he finished crying, he said to his subordinates: "The master was captured by the government and buried alive, losing his life, and died a terrible death! Before he died, he entrusted me, Xiong Erpao, to take care of my brothers, let me take his place, and avenge him. I, Xiong Erpao, guarantee that from now on, I will not disappoint the master's expectations, and I will surely revive the prestige of our Jiangyue Manor."

  He immediately announced an appointment: "Next, I appoint Wan Houliang as the second master of our Jiangyue Mountain Villa, and concurrently as military advisor. The second master not only has excellent martial arts skills but also has a lot of wisdom and strategy... With him joining our Jiangyue Mountain Villa, we will definitely achieve great things in the future..." After finishing speaking, seeing that everyone was silent, he said: "Everyone, applaud."

  Everyone then slapped their palms together...

  Wan Houliang returned to the tea shop and went into a secret room with Song Zhihao, where they took out a bottle of clear wine and sat cross-legged at the table.

  "Cheers to our preliminary victory tonight, Mr. Matsushita!" said Man Hiroshi, raising his glass to Song Zihao. "We've been in the Ming dynasty for so many years, fighting in so many places, and only recently discovered that this small county town is the perfect place for us to make a name for ourselves. The Emperor's mission will soon be accomplished. As long as we get our hands on that secret manual, the underground treasures of the Ming dynasty will all fall into the hands of the Great Japanese Empire." He burst out laughing and downed his drink in one gulp.

  Song Zhuangju also raised his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp, he echoed: "Still, Master Xiao Ze is wise, everything is under your control."

  "Of course, this is just the beginning of our victory. Now we will gradually take control of Jiangyue Manor, and at that time, our strength will be greatly increased, and our plan will be implemented more quickly and smoothly. Hmph, Xiong Erpao, that stupid pig, won't be long before I replace him as the master of Jiangyue Manor! Hahaha..."

  They were originally Japanese, with their original names being Ozawa Ichiro and Matsushita Koji. Wan Houliang was Ozawa Ichiro's alias when he came to the Ming Dynasty, and Matsushita Koji also used the alias Song Zhihao. The Yitian Teahouse was just a cover for them. They were originally Japanese pirates who roamed the southeastern coast. Because the pirates had been swept away by Qi Jiguang and other Ming generals many years ago, they had nowhere to hide and scattered like birds and beasts. Some couldn't return to Japan; some wandered around; while they received an edict from the Emperor, secretly hiding in the interior, with the goal of stealing and smuggling precious cultural relics from the Ming Dynasty back to Japan.

  Kazuyoshi, no, it was Ichiro Ozawa who reminded Hiroji Matsushita to be careful not to reveal his identity, or else he would invite disaster. The two men drank and plotted their next move...

  In the Zhou's residence, Xiao Qing hid in the woodshed to change her bandage on her left arm. The fifth madam opened the door and walked in, startling Xiao Qing who jumped in fright, but upon seeing it was the fifth madam, she calmed down.

  The five madams came into the house, handed over the gauze and medicine they had bought from Lang Zhong to Xiao Qing, and asked with concern: "Does it still hurt?" Xiao Qing replied: "This little injury is nothing. Fortunately, the arrowhead was not poisonous. If it were really poisonous, I would have seen King Yan by now."

  "You're so reckless," the fifth lady scolded, "You do things so carelessly, how can you be so inconsiderate? If I hadn't rescued you, you would have been done for long ago. From now on, remember that without my permission, you absolutely cannot take private actions."

  "Got it," Xiaoyin replied. The fifth lady helped Xiaoyin put on her clothes and took her out of the woodshed.