Since the Wei and Zhou Dynasties, the shadows of the Göktürks had
always plagued the Northern Dynasty. Through the generations of
Emperors, they had always been considerate in order to sustain the
peace of the Northern Dynasty. Yet, wolves would always be wolves,
they would not stop hunting just because someone had temporarily
satiated their hunger and forget their wild nature. Once the feeding
stopped, their natural personality would resurface once more, rolling
back their snouts and leaping into the hunt once more.
When the former Northern Zhou reigned, Princess Qianjin had
married the Khan Ishbara to sustain peace between the Central
Plains and the Göktürk, and both sides were at peace. But ever
since Yang Jian became Emperor of Zhou, Princess Qianjin
despised him for the treason he caused — the murder of her entire
family and her parents — so she convinced her husband to go
against the Central Plains. The Khan Ishbara was also no coward,
so he promised his wife and commanded his soldiers to assault Sui.
Since two years ago, the war had lasted over a year. Khan Ishbara
united all the Khans of various tribes near his kingdom and raised an
army of one hundred thousand people, splitting ways as they
marched onto the long city. From Mayi, Khan Ishbara ventured into
the South. The Sui soldiers fought fiercely, and both won and lost
wars. However, as Emperor Yang Jian wanted to preserve his
strength in keeping Goguryeo and the Southern Chen from
attacking, he was unable to spare all his soldiers to battle with the
Göktürks. So he had no choice but to come into good terms with Princess Qianjin while sustaining his relationship with the Southern
Chen Imperial Court, he intended to use the strife between all tribes
in Göktürk to spilt them apart.
It was because of this situation, Cui Buqu was sent to the outskirts of
the city.
By the orders of the Emperor, General Zhangsun Cheng and Yuan
Hui from the Court of the Imperial Stud was sent out to the Yellow
Dragon Ally and the Yiwu Ally to discuss terms with Khan Ishbara as
well as Khan Bagha and Khan Tardu. On the other hand, Cui Buqu
was responsible for receiving the Khan Apa's ambassador to
convince him not to ally with Khan Ishbara to achieve their goals of
separating the tribes of Göktürk.
However, Khan Ishbara's forces were too powerful. Even if Khan
Apa agreed to ally with the Sui Empire, they were not brave enough
to flaunt it, so they decided to hold a secret meeting in the City of Six
Crafts.
More than a month ago, not long after Cui Buqu arrived in the City if
Six Crafts, Khan Apa had already sent out an ambassador; however,
before the ambassador had reached the city, he ate something
spoiled, vomited and died. Qiao Xian and Zhangsun Bodhi, who had
followed Cui Buqu to the City of Six Crafts, went to investigate as
they felt that the ambassador's death was suspicious, but managed
to find no leads. But due to this, it made people feel more wary.
Time were wasted for news to travel back and forth, until a little while
ago, when Khan Apa had sent out another ambassador, taking
precautions to be all the more secretive. Only after the ambassador
reached Qiemo, did they inform the Zuoyue Bureau's scout.
According to the information, they would arrive within three to five
days.
At first, Cui Buqu was originally bound to his duty and would not
have crossed paths with the Jiejian Bureau. However, because of
the murder of the Khotan ambassador and the loss of the Jade
happened while he was coincidentally in the City of Six Crafts, if he
did nothing about it, it would not have been the style of Cui Buqu.
So he scouted for information on Feng Xiao's side, discovered the
lead of the plum blossoms and sent news back to Qiao Xian and
Zhangsun to investigate, he wanted to get to the jade first and claim
the glory of solving the case. Feng Xiao, on the other hand, could not
guess that while Cui Buqu had been by his side all along, the Five
Tastes restaurant had been the stronghold the Zuoyue Bureau had
set up in the City of Six Crafts.
Cui Buqu had intentionally misled Feng Xiao, allowing Zhangsun to
set up a pit for Wen Liang while being captured by Feng Xiao at the
same time, convincing him that Wen Liang was a pivotal figure in the
case.
Out of the of working together, Cui Buqu had only vaguely told him
some truths, meticulously picking out the contents of what he wanted
to say, merely telling him what he thought he needed to know.
Feng Xiao listened and heaved a long sigh, "Master Daoist Cui, you
are obviously beside me, and you have not left for a second, but the
fact that you can plot such a huge scheme to mislead me is truly
commendable!"
Although they were sitting in a very tight, dark, and smelly place, Cui
Buqu's mood was not bad at all; a wicked smile even curled up his
lips.
"Did you not also guess that Wen Liang was only a smokescreen?"
Feng Xiao sighed again. "If I am not wrong, Fo Er's target was not
supposed to be me, but you."
Since the Khan Apa held the intention to side with the Sui Empire,
even if they were not allies, they would still become partners. All
across Göktürk, the other countries would become aware and
spread the news all around. It was impossible for Khan Ishbara to
not hear of these rumours. Fo Er, the number one fighter under the
banner of Khan Ishbara, this time, his mission regarding the Central
Plains was evident.
He was completely uninterested in the jade but put all his strength
into killing Feng Xiao. There could only be one explanation — his
misunderstanding that Feng Xiao was the ambassador sent by the
Sui Empire to Khan Apa. His given mission was to prevent the
meeting, and inorder to do that, clearly, he had to kill Feng Xiao.
Once Feng Xiao was dead, it would startle both the Sui Empire and
other tribes of Göktürk, warning them of the abilities of Khan Ishbara
and not to act hastily.
However, he had never guessed that the ambassador sent to meet
with Khan Apa's ambassador was not Feng Xiao, but Cui Buqu.
Second Commander Feng of the Jiejian Bureau was bombastic in
his actions, so he was mistaken for the target instead.
Cui Buqu, "Since we are both subjects of the Crown, what is the
difference of targeting you or me? If we truly want to discuss it,
Second Commander Feng you drugged me with Naihexiang and
caused me endless suffering; so, how would this strike be
calculated?"
Feng Xiao gave an innocent wave of hand, "If you told me your
identity early on, would you have gone through such suffering?"
Cui Buqu, "If I had told you earlier, you would have been even more
suspicious of me and thwart me in every way, how then could I get
the important leads from you?"
They both glared at each other.
After a while, Feng Xiao finally said, "How would you like to work
together?"
Cui Buqu, "These few days, Khan Apa's ambassador would arrive in
the City of Six Crafts. You will help me stall Fo Er and other
assassins that might come and not let them disrupt this meeting."
Feng Xiao, "Done. Now, about the lead you were saying?"
Cui Buqu went through with him once of Qiao Xian and the others
and their discovery of Lady Qin, "Qin Miaoyu is most likely a
Goguryeon, and the jade is with her."
Feng Xiao, "How did you find out?"
Cui Buqu, "If she was skilled in martial arts from the beginning, she
would have already escaped when she murdered the Khotan
ambassador, there is no need to hide within the city. Both my
subordinates fought her together, and yet she still managed to
escape. This could only mean that her martial arts enhanced greatly
within a short amount of time, and she wanted to give it a shot."
Feng Xiao, "The Jade of Heaven's Lake."
Cui Buqu nodded, "Only the jade possesses the legend of being able
to greatly amplify a person's martial arts within ten days. Now, since
she carries a wound, it would be impossible for her to exit the city
during the night. Once you return, gather your people and search the
entire city. It should not be difficult to find her."
Feng Xiao pondered over it for a moment, "Considering the level of
her skills a few days ago; she would not be able to assassinate
Yuchi Jinwu and his company."
Cui Buqu, "However, she took the jade and ran away alone. This
proves that her accomplice might also be looking for her. The jade
that the Linlang Guild sold, is very likely put out by her accomplice,
but not to bait us, the bait is for Qin Miaoyu."
Feng Xiao added, "Since Qin Miaoyu has already discovered that the
jade can exceedingly increase a person's martial arts level, she
knows that the one she has with her is the real one, and will not take
the bait.
With one sentence following after the next, they managed to
complete the whole story rapidly.
Not only did they have to find Qin Miaoyu, but also had to search for
her accomplice so as to conclude the case altogether.
Feng Xiao, "How about that Gao Ning? What is his background?"
Cui Buqu, "That man might have no connections to the case,
perhaps someone did trust Qin Miaoyu and her accomplice fully, so
they sent a third person. If you are suspicious, it does no harm to
investigate him."
"En." Feng Xiao changed the subject, "Ah, QuQu, since you were
under orders to receive the Khan's ambassador, surely your place in
the Zuoyue Bureau is not low? Since you already know my identity,
shouldn't you also be truthful to me? After all, we are familiars."
Who is familiar with you? Cui Buqu couldn't help giving a cold snort
inwardly, admiring Feng-er's face to his fullest.
However, he looked calm and peaceful on the surface, as if he was
pondering deeply, "Since we are here now, I will tell you. In reality,
my real surname is not Cui, and my real name is not Buqu."
"Oh?" Feng Xiao's interest rose expectantly.
Cui Buqu, "My surname is Zhangsun, name Bodhi, I am a Vice
Commander of the Zuoyue Bureau."
In a certain place in the city, Zhangsun Bodhi could not stop himself
from sneezing.