The Legend of the Condor Heroes

"Interesting!" Zhou Botong called out loudly; he took a step to enter in.

The palace guards stationed in front of the gate had noticed these three people, one old and two young, with a mule cart making noise in front of the imperial palace gate; four guards with axes in their hands had already stepped forward with a menacing look on their faces.

Zhou Botong loved to make disturbance very much; seeing the guards with their distinctive armor, tall and powerfully built, he was itchy to have an interesting fight.

"Quickly go!" Huang Rong called out.

Zhou Botong stared at her. "What are you afraid of? Do you think these babies can eat the Old Urchin?" he asked.

Huang Rong quickly said, "Brother Jing, let's go and play someplace else. The Old Urchin is not obedient, we'll just ignore him." She lashed her whip and the cart sped along to the west. Guo Jing followed behind. Zhou Botong was afraid he would be left behind while they were going someplace more interesting; he ignored the guards and ran to catch up. The guards thought they were simple villagers looking around the city; they laughed out loud but did not pursue.

Huang Rong drove the cart to a desolate place. Seeing nobody chased them, they stopped at last.

"Why didn't we break into the palace? Can those wine bags and rice sacks stop us?" Zhou Botong asked.

"Certainly breaking in is not difficult, but let me ask you: are we here to fight or to go to the kitchen and steal some food?" Huang Rong said, "If you break in, the palace will be chaotic; do you think the chef will nicely make some 'yuan yang wu zhen kuai' for Shifu to eat?"

"Fighting and capturing people is the guards' business, it has nothing to do with the chef," Zhou Botong reasoned. Actually what he said did make some sense so that Huang Rong momentarily was at a loss; but she did not want to yield to him, so she argued, "The imperial chef can both prepare food and capture people."

Zhou Botong stared but did not know how to respond. Half a day later he conceded, "Fine, just consider I was wrong."

"What do you mean 'consider'? You were wrong from the start," Huang Rong said.

"Fine, fine," Zhou Botong said, "Don't consider anything, don't consider anything." Turning his head to Guo Jing he said, "Brother, all women in the world are very ferocious; that's why the Old Urchin said don't take a wife."

Huang Rong laughed, "Brother Jing is a good man, others won't be ferocious toward him."

"Are you saying I am not a good man?" Zhou Botong asked.

Huang Rong smiled, "Are you? You don't want to take a wife, but other people don't like the way you handle anything, only creating trouble and disturbance. Tell me, why don't you want to take a wife?"

Zhou Botong leaned his head sideways to think, unable to answer. His face turned red, and then white; seemed like his mind was heavy with anxieties. Huang Rong very seldom saw him this serious; she was astonished.

"Let's find an inn to stay; we'll come back to the palace tonight," Guo Jing said.

"That's right!" Huang Rong agreed, "Shifu, as soon as we find an inn, I am going to prepare a couple of simple dish to be your appetizers; we will have a feast later on tonight."

Hong Qigong was delighted, he cheered repeatedly.

Four people stayed at the Jin Hua hotel on the street west of the imperial palace. True to her words, Huang Rong prepared three dishes and a soup for Hong Qigong to eat. The aroma spread around the inn that the guests inquired with the innkeeper which famous chef cooked this kind of fine cuisine.

Zhou Botong was still mad at Huang Rong's words that he could not find a wife; he sulked and did not want to eat. Three people knew his childish behavior; they only laughed and did not give him any attention.

After eating Hong Qigong laid down to rest. Guo Jing asked Zhou Botong to go out and play, but in his anger he ignored Guo Jing. Huang Rong chuckled, "Then you'd better look after my Shifu nicely; when I return, I will buy some fun things for you to play with."

"You are not lying?" Zhou Botong delightfully asked.

Huang Rong smiled, "'yi yan ji chu, si ma nan zhui' [lit. when a word already leaves, it is difficult for four horses to chase]."

During the spring when Huang Rong left home to go north, she visited Hangzhou for one day; but this city was too close to the Peach Blossom Island. She was afraid her father might find her here, hence she did not dare to stay too long, and so her visit was a quick one. This time the day was long and nothing burdened her mind. Hand in hand with Guo Jing they went to the West Lake (xi hu).

She noticed Guo Jing's countenance was dark, she knew he worried about their master's injury. "Shifu said there is one person in this world who can heal his injury," Huang Rong said, "Only he did not allow me to ask. From the way he talked, it must be that Emperor Duan; but we don't know where he is. We must find a way to ask him to treat and heal Shifu."

"That's great," Guo Jing happily said, "Rong'er, do you think we can ask him?"

Huang Rong replied, "I am still thinking of how we can ask. During our meal today I tried to fish out some information from Shifu's mouth. He was just about to say; too bad he realized it and stopped talking immediately. Eventually I must find this information from him." Guo Jing knew her ability very well, he was greatly relieved.

While talking they arrived at the Broken Bridge by the lakeside. That 'duan qiao can xue' [the broken bridge where people can see the remnant of the snow] was one of the West Lake's famous scenery; only it was summer so what they saw was the lotus under the bridge. Huang Rong saw a neat little wine shop by the lakeside. "Let's drink a cup of wine while enjoying the lotus," she said.

"Very good," Guo Jing agreed. Two people went in and sat down. The shopkeeper delivered some wine and dishes of meat which tasted very good. Two people drank wine while enjoying the scenery; they were in a good mood.

Huang Rong saw a screen by the eastern window, covered with jade-green muslin. Obviously the shop owner regarded the screen as a very precious object. Her curiosity was piqued; she went over to take a closer look. Turned out underneath the muslin there was a poem inscribed on the screen; it was the 'feng ru song' [wind entering the pine], which read:

'Spring time is always spent wasting money, drinking daily by the lakeside. Riding a buckskin horse along the road toward the West Lake, proudly passing in front of a tavern. Singing and dancing amidst the sweet fragrance of red apricots, swinging in the shadow of green willows. Warm wind embraced ten 'li's of beautiful women and sky, crushed flowers adorned the side of their temples. Picturesque boats carrying incense going back and forth are like smoke covering the water. Comeback tomorrow carrying the remnant of drunkenness, coming to seek the fancy golden inlaid on the pathway.'

Huang Rong said, "This poem is a good one".

Guo Jing asked her to explain the meaning of the poem. The more he listened, the more upset he became, said, "This is the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, these government officials spend their days drinking wine and enjoying flowers, don't they care nor even pay attention to the affair of the country?"