Chapter 21 – Fierce fight in Xiangyang, Part 10
When it came to using their minds, Yang Guo found himself losing out to Huang Rong every time. So he decided to use his against the honest and sincere Guo Jing instead. He’ll make his move against him in the camp and then come back to save Xiao Longnu afterwards. He made his mind up and left the city with Guo Jing.
Guo Jing rode the precious red horse and Yang Guo rode his skinny yellow horse. The two horses were fast and they arrived at the camp within one hour.
Khubilai was startled and delighted that Guo Jing had actually decided to come here and he quickly invited him into his tent.
Guo Jing entered the tent and saw a middle-aged Prince sitting in the middle of the tent. He had a square face and large ears with deep-set eyes; Guo Jing was stunned when he saw this and thought, “This person looks so much like his father Tuo Lei.” He was very close to Tuo Lei [Tolui] when he was younger but now he had passed away; his eyes turned red at this thought and he almost cried.
Khubilai left his seat to greet him and bowed down to him, saying, “When my father was alive, he always praised the heroic and righteous Uncle Guo. I have always admired Uncle Guo. To have the opportunity to meet you is the fulfillment of my lifelong dream.”
Guo Jing bowed to him and said, “Tuo Lei and I were like brothers; when I was younger, my mother and I lived in Genghis Khan’s territory and it was your father who looked after us. It is very sad that he died suddenly at such a young age.”
Khubilai heard that his words were sincere and they moved him. He then introduced Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi and the others to him and then invited him to his place.
Yang Guo stood behind Guo Jing and pretended that he didn’t know any of them. Fawang and the others did not know why he came but when they saw him ignoring them, they ignored him.
However, Ma Guangzuo called out, “Brother Ya…” Before he finished saying ‘brother Yang’, Yin Kexi had pinched his leg tightly. Ma Guangzuo called out, “What are you doing?”
Yin Kexi turned his head around and ignored him. Ma Guangzuo didn’t know who did this and kept on shouting out insults. He forgot about greeting Yang Guo.
Yang Guo sat down and drank some Mongolian milk wine. Yang Guo saw that the Wu brothers were not present and was about to ask their whereabouts when Khubilai ordered his attendants; “Invite the Masters Wu in.” The attendant did as he was told and pushed Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen into the tent.
Their hands and legs were tied tightly with cowhide. The restraints between their legs were just a foot long so the two couldn’t take their normal strides. They could only struggle slowly forwards. Their faces were filled with embarrassment when they saw their Master. They called out, “Master!” and then lowered their heads in silence.
Guo Jing had been extremely angry with them for taking such a risk without telling anyone and causing this mess, but when he saw the two, his feelings changed. Their clothes were torn and blood stained and they were tied up so pathetically, his anger turned to pity. He thought that although the two were reckless, their hearts were in the right place by trying to help the nation, so he said warmly, “A martial artist will endure countless sufferings and countless defeats, what you’ve suffered is nothing.”
Khubilai pretended to scold his attendants and said, “I ordered you to look after these two Masters Wu with great care, why have you treated them like this? Quickly untie them.” The attendants followed his orders. However, the cowhide was soaked in water after being tied and had shrunk tightly into the skin, the attendants couldn’t untie it.
Guo Jing left his seat and took the ends of Wu Dunru’s restraints. He pulled outwards lightly and the restraints snapped. He then did the same with Wu Xiuwen’s restraints. Guo Jing’s movements looked plain, ordinary and seemed to lack sufficient force, but by succeeding, he showed he possessed great internal energy. Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi, Nimoxing and the others looked at each startled, and all secretly praised his martial arts.
Khubilai said, “Bring some wine quickly so you can apologize to the two Masters Wu.”
Guo Jing thought, “Today’s not going to be plain sailing; something’s going to happen soon. If the Wus don’t leave now, I’m going to be distracted.” He then made a bow to everyone in the tent and said clearly, “Thank you your Highness for teaching my disciples a lesson for their insolence.” He then turned to the Wu brothers and said, “Go back and tell your Master wife that I’m going to stay here for a while and talk with an old friend’s son, I’ll be back soon.”
Wu Xiuwen said, “Master, you…” Last night they failed in their assassination attempt and were captured by Xiaoxiang Zi. He knew that the camp was filled with great fighters and he couldn’t stop himself from worrying about Guo Jing.
Guo Jing waved his hand and said, “Leave now! Go and tell General Lu to guard the city tightly and no matter what happens, do not open the city gates in case of an attack by the enemy.” Guo Jing said this with a mighty aura and was telling Khubilai that even if something happens to him, Xiangyang will not surrender.
When the Wu brothers saw that Guo Jing had come personally to save them, they were touched but also ashamed of themselves. They didn’t say anything else and made their goodbyes with Guo Jing before returning to the city.
Khubilai laughed, “Uncle Guo must not have known about your disciples coming here to assassinate me.”
Guo Jing nodded and said, “I did not know about this. My disciples don’t know how tall the sky is and how deep the earth is, they were extremely impudent.”
Khubilai said, “Yes, Uncle Guo and my family have deep ties with each other, the thought of assassinating me would never cross Uncle Guo’s mind.”
Guo Jing said with a serious expression, “You’re wrong here. The matters of the people are more important than my own. Years ago when Tuo Lei led an army here to attack Xiangyang, I once thought about trying to kill him to force the army to retreat. But at that exact time, Genghis Khan fell ill and the army retreated and so our brotherhood was preserved. There’s a saying, ‘place righteousness above family loyalty’, since a family can be gotten rid of, why not friends?”
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