Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

Qiao Xian hurried back to the manor and discovered that Fo Er was not here at all, and immediately acknowledged that she was tricked by Feng Xiao.

When she thought of how Cui Buqu was still at Feng Xiao's side, she hurriedly ran back, but who knew that she met up with Cui Buqu as he returned, following behind him, was even a man from the Jiejian Bureau and another person.

"This is Fo Er's disciple. He was captured by Feng Xiao. Keep him so that when Fo Er appears, we can use him to our advantage." Cui Buqu said.

He spoke about a living person as if he was a tool, yet Qiao Xian looked as if this was completely normal and obeyed, allowing others to lead Fo Er's disciple away.

Originally, Song Ji was prepared to be interrogated and had planned to remain silent to the death, but he had not expect the other party to not even ask him a single thing, instead, he was being brought away. This instead made him panicked and yelled in his not fluent Chinese, "Where you want to bring me go? My teacher will never let you off!"

Just as Cui Buqu wanted to step into the manor, he stopped and turned around, approaching him.

"You have a way to contact your tutor, do you not?"

Song Ji shut his mouth, his face riddled with displeasure.

Cui Buqu turned towards Qiao Xian, "Tell him about the torturing methods of the Zuoyue Bureau."

"Yes, sir." Qiao Xian replied emotionlessly, "Bosha Touyue, using layers of cloth soaked in water and put it onto your face, forbidding you to breathe and suffocate until death. Other than that, we also remove your kneecaps and tendons in your hand, strip you naked and throw you into a body of water, allowing a few hungry snakes to feast on your flesh. You can watch with your own two eyes how your hands and legs were slowly being beaten until they ate all your flesh and snap your throat. This is called the Bainiao Chaofeng. There are also Jixiang Ruyi and Bamian Linglong. Which one do you fancy? I can explain them to you one by one."

Song Ji's expression was quickly turning deathly while, feeling his entire body shivering.

His spoken Chinese is not excellent, but he had no problem understanding the language. At this moment, Song Ji felt that people from the Central Plains were indeed scary, they could even give such beautiful names to a torture sentence that was cruel unlike any other. Whatever Jixiang Ruyi and Bamian Linglong was, he only needed to hear their names and immediately knew that they were filled with horrors and terrors that he could not even begin to imagine.

"What you all want!" His tone gave away his fear.

Qiao Xian, "Contact your tutor, ask him for help, so that he comes."

Song Ji stubbornly said, "You sure want to kill him. I won't let you do it!"

Cui Buqu, "We are not going to kill him, but since you refused to say, we can also use other ways to let him know that you are here."

He told Qiao Xian, "Hang him on the bamboo tower."

Near that manor, there was a bamboo tower that was a lot taller than the residences around it, on top one can see almost half of the entire City of Six Crafts. If Song Ji was hung on top of it, it was guaranteed that Fo Er would receive the news very soon.

Qiao Xian obeyed and allowed people to take Song Ji away, but she asked Cui Buqu, "Fo Er is still the number one fighter of Göktürk..."

Even if she allied with Zhangsun Bodhi, they might not be able to take him down.

Cui Buqu looked at her, "It is fine. When the time comes, someone will help you both."

Qiao Xian, "Feng Xiao?"

Cui Buqu suddenly asked, "From where you learned the names of so many torture methods?"

The Zuoyue Bureau is a place of investigation, not a place that executes interrogation or sentences. Never mind whatever was Bamian Linglong or Jixiang Ruyi, even if it was the Ministry of Justice, they might not have even heard of such a thing.

Qiao Xian felt shy all of a sudden, "Just now I was just simply saying nonsense, just to scare him."

Cui Buqu coughed twice and said in admiration, "Very good. This is knowing how to speak depending on the person that is faced before you. This indeed brings the same air similar to myself. I originally thought that you were too stubborn and did not know how to change, and that you could only cheat honest people like Pei Jingzhe, but if you met someone like Feng Xiao, you would definitely be taken advantage of."

Qiao Xian remained silent, "Do you feel stuffy on your chest again? I happened to invite the physician here, he is already in the hall, you can go over so he can check up on you."

Cui Buqu was originally heading towards the hall, but as he heard that the doctor was there, he quickly turned his footsteps towards another direction. Qiao Xian even heard him speaking to himself, "I just remembered that I touched a corpse and has yet to wash my hands, I should go wash them now."

Qiao Xian: ....

She walked forward and grabbed Cui Buqu, pulling him towards the hall.

"I will order servants to send you water and soap. First you were poisoned with the Naihexiang, before the poisoned was expelled you spent a night in the wilds. You really need to let the doctor check up on you!"

On normal days, Qiao Xian would obey Cui Buqu unconditionally. It was only on this specific matter she was incredibly insistent.

Because in the past, she had witnessed Cui Buqu sick on his bed that he was unable to get up before, even to the extent that he vomited blood. After that, across the Zuoyue Bureau, everyone swore that if they were present, they would never allow that to happen to Cui Buqu again.

Cui Buqu is not a man with a very good temper, at this moment it was rare that he did not lecture his subordinates with a cold glare, he even kept his mouth silent and allowed Qiao Xian to drag him to the hall.

But Qiao Xian could not help saying, "That thing from last year...I do not want to see it again."

Cui Buqu remained silent for a while, and said, "You won't."

Last year, Cui Buqu suddenly fell deathly ill and practically lost his life, scaring every single member in the Zuoyue Bureau to death. One of the Vice Commanders, Song Liangchen, even strictly forbade Cui Buqu to get down from the bed, arranging doctors to take turns guarding in front of his bed so that Cui Buqu could not get himself sick.

Who knew that Cui Buqu is someone who is naturally unrestrained. Once his illness improved, he would immediately get up and jump around, couldn't help but want to just leap from Beijing to the end of the world. So once the task to negotiate with Khan Apa's ambassador was given to them, the Zuoyue Bureau were filled with black faces, all but Cui Buqu being the only one who was happy and excited. He immediately begin plotting a huge scheme that lasted two months, not only did he placed Feng Xiao as one of his chess pieces, but he also made himself his own chess piece.

As she thought of these, Qiao Xian couldn't help but sighed, her grip on Cui Buqu was even stronger.

"If the doctor gave you medicine, you are not allowed throw it away."

Cui Buqu twitched his lips, "I really am fine."

Qiao Xian, "Then you run one round around that cherry blossom tree, if you can do it without coughing, then you don't need to take your medicine."

Cui Buqu's face immediately blackened, "Ridiculous. What is my identity, to allow you to order around like that!"

They glared at each other, Qiao Xian refusing to take a step back.

Cui Buqu: ...

"Whatever. I'll just take the medicine!" He couldn't help rolling this eyes.

The tips of Qiao Xian's liped arched.

The female servants of this manor were just seasonal workers with clean backgrounds. They were not members of the Zuoyue Bureau and did not understand Cui Buqu and Qiao Xian's conversation. As they saw this, they only thought that Qiao Xian felt something towards Cui Buqu—a young woman's crush—but they were not aware of what Cui Buqu truly meant to Qian Xian.

To her, he was like a teacher, a father, a friend, and a brother.

Many years ago, she wasn't like this. At that time she was in the most despairing moments of her life, she had been through countless sleepless nights, lying on the snow pitifully. She thought that it was fine if she had just died like that, the world would not change with or without her. It was Cui Buqu who had passed by and took her home.

Qiao Xian knew that at that time, she was just someone troublesome that Cui Buqu has taken back, so he had never put it to heart, but without Cui Buqu, there was no her.

After being with him for a while, she discovered that Cui Buqu didn't only has a weak body, but he was weak to the point that if the wind had been stronger, he would immediately fall ill and could not get up from his bed for around three to two days. He would fall ill easily even if he was moving more than usual, had it not been for the fact that they were able to find a doctor each time, the grasses of his tomb would have already grown taller than the height of humans.

But a Cui Buqu like this, who had a photographic memory is truly a treasure to the Jianghu province, as if he did not even need to leave his house and he was able to know everything that happened under the skies.

She even remembered that Cui Buqu once told her: If even you feel that your existence does not matter, then no one would take you seriously. I am different from you. I am me, even if I met with a serious illness and passed away just like that, all my limbs are paralyzed, no one can ever replace me as Cui Buqu.

That type of Cui Buqu, even though he would lose his life at any time of his life, he would have lived a life that people who has met him would never be able to forget him.

No doubt, within the Zuoyue Bureau, the one in charge is not Zhangsun Bodhi who had the best martial arts, and it was not the best defender and planner like Song Liangchen, it was definitely not Qiao Xian, but it was Cui Buqu. Zhangsun's fighting ability might be able to protect a lot of people, but Cui Buqu was the one who stabilized the peace within their hearts.

In this world, there are a lot of problems that could be solved with fighting, but there are also a lot of problems that could not be solved with fighting, yet when they all fall into Cui Buqu's hands, these troubles will all be solved.

Although it seemed like Qiao Xian and the rest were protecting Cui Buqu, in reality, Cui Buqu was the one protecting them.

As long as there is Cui Buqu, the Zuoyue Bureau would be as stable as a sitting boulder, allowing everyone to be at peace.

However, although Cui Buqu's heart is as determined as iron, in his life there is one thing he hated the most.

That is to drink his medicine.

Even if he drank frequently and was already used to the bitter taste, no one in this world would love the taste of medicine. Cui Buqu would have drank a few bowls every three to five days. Compared to pinching his nose and drinking these bitter medicine that would make one feel like vomiting, he would rather let Feng Xiao drug him with a few more doses of the Naihexiang, then using pure determination to withstand them.

Qian Xian, of course, would not let him off that easily. So when Khan Apa's ambassador first saw the Imperial Court's ambassador that was going to negotiate with her, she realized that he was not in a very good mood.

From the past to present, when both countries negotiate, their ambassadors were always males, and these seemed to have become the common rule.

In the Kingdom of Göktürk, the wife of the Khan is called the Kedun, although they have power over the Khan's army, the Kingdom of Göktürk is not a nation that took women seriously, so this time the fact that the Khan sent out a female to negotiate, the first reaction of the Zuoyue Bureau was to be suspicious of the woman's identity.

This female ambassador brought forth two guards and they had lived here for two days now, they were never impatient and wanted to step out and explore, and they had never voluntarily offered to see Cui Buqu, merely waiting quietly and patiently for Cui Buqu to call for them. This patience alone, was already dissimilar from the norm.

The other wore a dark red and carried an intense fashion of a Göktürk, even her braid were exotic and different. Her face looked slightly yellow and the tails of her eyes looked contradicting, it was a different sort of exotic beauty.

This beauty was not the sort of tender beauty admired by the people of the Central Plains, not like the eyebrows that looked like distant mountains and eyes that looked like spring water. It was the sort that weathered through winds and heavy rain, difficult for one to forget.

But Cui Buqu had just drank a large bowl of medicine, so he was in no mood to admire the beauty of the female ambassador. Both parties sat down and went right into the topic, "You are the ambassador sent by Khan Apa?"

He was never too welcoming to others, but this sort of speech made him look as if he looked down on a woman's identity.

"I am. My Chinese name is Jin Lian, May I also inquire the name of your Lordship?"

"Cui Buqu." Cui Buqu raised an eyebrow. "Your name, is from the meaning of 'golden lotus from the meadows'?"

Jin Lian looked surprised that he knew the meaning of her name, "That is correct. My Göktürk name means 'Golden Lotus' so my Chinese name is Jin Lian."

Cui Buqu, "Who are you to Khan Apa, why did he sent you to represent him? How can I believe that everything you said would be accepted by the Khan himself?"

Jin Lian answered in displeasure, "I am the Kedun of the Khan."

She paused for a moment, and added, "The small Kedun."

Cui Buqu had inquired and understood Khan Apa in prior, so he knew that Khan Apa has two Keduns, the small Kedun is the similar as having a secondary wife. Because the big Kedun was quite elderly, the one who usually takes care of matters with him is this small Kedun. This time, Jin Lian coming forth, from another perspective, had proved the sincerity of Khan Apa's desire to negotiate with them.

Of course, if Jin Lian would come here on her own, she also brought similar courage and persuasion.

It was difficult for her to not feel disappointed that the Imperial Court of the Central Plains had sent a sickly man as an ambassador.

Seeing the look of displeasure on her face, Qiao Xian couldn't help saying, "Our Lord is the Commander of the Zuoyue Bureau, his rank is equivalent to that of the Six Ministries. If you have not heard of the Zuoyue Bureau, you might have heard of the Douguan, it is also the present Minister of Justice."

In this year, the Douguan was just renamed to be the Ministry of Justice, it was not long enough for the news to reach the Kingdom of Göktürk yet, but Jin Lian knew what a Douguan is. For Cui Buqu to be levelled with the Six Ministries, it can be seen that his rank as an officer is quite high.

As she listened, Jin Lian finally put down the displeasure in her heart, "So, this is Lord Cui, I apologize for my ignorance."

Cui Buqu nodded his head slightly, unwilling to go around in circles, "For the small Kedun to come forth, I suppose Khan Apa has an important message for you to pass?"

Jin Lian was also not someone who liked to go around in circles, so she continued his sentences very fast, "That is correct. As of now, Khan Ishbara's ambitious heart is growing, he wants to overturn the entire world and sow distress. I am here for the sake of peace for both our countries. I've yet to know how your Emperor thinks of this?"

The way she spoke was obvious that Khan Ishbara's power grew as they spoke, earning the displeasure of Khan Apa who was oppressed. At the convincing of Jin Lian, he acknowledged that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so only did he sent Jin Lian to negotiate an alliance with the Sui Empire.

Cui Buqu, "Our Emperor naturally also wants eternal peace for the people. Even if Khan Ishbara wants to disrupt the peace of the Sui Empire, we can only return a tooth for tooth. If Khan Apa wishes to work together, it is not impossible for us to give you a piece of land from Khan Ishbara once it is done. You only need to offer horses, tributes, and provisions to Daxing City on an annual basis."

Jin Lian did not even think twice before rejecting it, "We are not vassals of the Sui Empire!"

Cui Buqu smiled a smile that didn't look like a smile, "Small Kedun, would you not consider it?"

Jin Lian said with a little bit of resent, "We thought that you were sincere, but it's unexpected that people of the Central Plains would take every advantage they can. We are obviously the ones helping you to fight against Khan Ishbara, but it seemed as though we need to pledge submission to you people!"

Cui Buqu looked as if he had all the time in the world, "Because our people have already spilt their paths. The difference is that the other has went to negotiate with Khan Tardu, according to what I know, they were already on bad terms with Khan Ishbara, so they would most likely accept it. At that time, if they have really accepted it, yet Khan Apa is the only one who rejected, the one in charge is you, and does that not make you an enemy to your own people?"

Jin Lian's expression changed.

Cui Buqu, instead, laughed, "Small Kedun, since you came to the Central Plains, if your duty was fulfilled beautifully, and you've taken the heavy risk, of course you can raise higher within the ranks. But if you failed, what awaits you can only be losing the Khan's love and and trust, at that time, can your dream still be achieved?"

Jin Lian stared at this man before her.

At first she did not take this pale looking man seriously, compared to men of the Kingdom of Göktürk, he did not look tall or mighty, she had even been displeased that the Sui Emperor sent such a pale looking sickly man to represent his country.

But now, his gaze were like arrows piercing her heart, hiding secrets behind them, now she held no doubt about him.

Jin Lian's back begin to be rippled with cold sweat.

"I don't know what are you talking about." She calmed herself down.

"That is fine." Cui Buqu looked at her pitifully, "After tonight, perhaps you no longer have the chance to say it."

"What does that mean?" Jin Lian suddenly grew alert, "You want to kill me?"

She could not think of a reason why Cui Buqu would do that.

Cui Buqu shook his head, "Not me, but someone else."

Who?

As if to satisfy Jin Lian's confusion, the roof above them crumbled. Jin Lian only felt something heavy fell onto her head, so she didn't think twice before leaping aside. In the next moment, the place she was sitting on and the table in front of her crumbled into dust.

The two female servants that followed her shouted loudly, before rushing forward to fight with the infiltrator.

When Jin Lian saw the enemy that came for her, the colour on her face became very ugly.

Cui Buqu held his sleeve together as if he didn't care that the infiltrator did not only want to kill Jin Lian, but also himself. He even told Jin Lian excitedly, "Once we speak of Caocao, then Caocao himself arrived. The number one fighter of Göktürk, Fo Er, I am confident he is no stranger to you. Tonight really is a night when all the most interesting people gather, it's only short of a cup of good wine!"

Bosha Touyue: It literally translates to "Thin Cloth Revealing Moon". An ancient Chinese sentence where the convicted is tied onto a wooden bed and thin wet cloth were placed one by one on their faces until they eventually suffocates to death. I tried looking up online but I couldn't find anything about it, perhaps I will bring this topic up again when I found something.

Bainiao Chaofeng: It's translated into 'Song of the Pheonix' and in reality, it's just a children's song sang among the common people.

Jixiang Ruyi: It's a greeting used between Chinese people that wishes one to be blessed with immeasurable good fortunes.

Bamian Linglong: It is used to describe a person who is witty, smart, intelligent, and knows his worth. Used to describe a capable talented person when doing this job.

Jin Lian: In Chinese, 'Jin' is gold, and 'Lian' is lotus. So her name is essentially Golden Lotus.

Douguan: The Minster of Justice used to be called Douguan (which kind of means officer). This occurred during the Tang Dynasty.