The Longest Day in Chang'an

Chapter 77: Haichu (21:00-21:59) Part 3

Translator: DragonRider

First, their Hu-styled (Hu refers to Northern barbarian tribes in ancient China) carriage progressed along a road in southern city where the traffic was relatively light, then it turned north-west and soon arrived at Guangde Fang.

The main hall of Jing’an Department was still ablaze, but all those who could be saved had been saved, and all places that should be isolated had been isolated. Currently, all people could do was wait for the fire to burn out. Maybe it would be out in Sangeng(23:00-01:00), or maybe they would have to wait until daybreak. Nobody knew it for sure. Jing’an Department had been temporarily moved to Jinzhao Office, and a batch of new officials had been seconded from various agencies to this department. All was chaos and confusion. Nobody knew when the department would truly restore its functions and set out to hunt the Termite.

At this moment, Ji Wen standing in front of the main hall was staring at a long line of depressed officials walking past, every one of whom had a prominent nose and hollow eyes. People could tell with half an eye that they were of Hu blood.

The leader of those attackers seemed to be a native of Hu with Qiuci accent. As a result, Ji Wen ordered that all surviving officials of Hu blood be dismissed from their posts and evicted, that they were not allowed to continue their work in Jing’an Department.

One third of the surviving staff members of Jing’an Department were of Hu blood, so the issue of this order was synonymous with reducing their valuable experienced personnel by thirty to forty percent. A couple of curators were strongly against this, but Ji Wen asserted eloquently, “Those of different blood undoubtedly harbor evil intentions. Are you trying to protect barbarians?”

On hearing this, all of them instantly quieted down. Ji Wen was very satisfied with their being as silent as cicadas in late autumn, since this meant that he had taken absolute control of Jing’an Department. He felt that this feeling was so good.

As a result, staff members of Hu blood, beneath the resigned gaze of their colleagues, had no choice but to leave this place to which they had pledged their allegiance. They couldn’t even go back home, since they had to undergo close scrutiny, which was what people of Censor Department were best at.

As regards that so-called “Kailu Hodo” or “Kaitu Lodo” those curators had been talking about all along, Ji Wen didn’t really care. Even if something happened, his predecessor would be the one to blame, so why should he be concerned about it? Currently, what he needed to do was concentrate all resources on “hunting the Termite” – no, on “hunting the ringleader of Termite, Zhang Xiaojing”.

This was the quickest way to render meritorious service. It was easier to catch one person than catch a group of people. Besides, he could humiliate those on the Crown Prince’s side if he succeeded.

Ji Wen signed another order to urge other agencies to go into overdrive to track the target down. Suddenly, the sound of a small twinkling bell was heard. He put down his writing brush, raised his head and saw Yuan Zai get off a luxurious carriage in which there was also a girl. He couldn’t help knitting his eyebrows.

When Yuan Zai walked inside the hall, Ji Wen complained unhappily, “Gongfu, we have so many issues to deal with here. Where have you been?” But Yuan Zai cupped his hands before his chest and said with an delighted look on his face, “Congratulations, Sicheng Ji. You rendered outstanding service on the occasion when the department has just been rebuilt.”

“Um?” Ji Wen was confused. ‘Did I accomplish anything?’

Yuan Zai pointed at the Hu-styled carriage and said in undertones, “The female in the carriage is Wang Zhongsi’s daughter, Wang Yunxiu.” Ji Wen asked suspiciously, “Are you sure that’s her?” He had heard that people of Jing’an Department had once made a peccadillo and rescued an insignificant woman.”

Yuan Zai said, “I’m a-hundred-percent sure. I’ve already sent someone to bring an old biddy from the Wang Family here to identify her.”

Both surprised and delighted, Ji Wen said to Yuan Zai, “How did you find her?” Yuan Zai answered with a smile, “Thanks to Sicheng Ji’s wise directions and far-sighted plan, we managed to find this lady in a intercepted carriage. I brought her here immediately, and all abductors has been killed on site.”

These remarks made Ji Wen feel extremely comfortable as if he had just drunk a bowl of delicious warm soup. Both Yuan Zai’s words and the undertone contained in them suggested that he was giving up to him an opportunity to render outstanding service.

To be honest, Ji Wen’s taking over Jing’an Department counted as snatching power from somebody’s hands, so he had been fairly perturbed all along. But now, soon after taking office, he cracked a criminal case that his predecessor failed to solve, rescuing the daughter of an important official of the Imperial Court, which would be more than enough to make all doubters shut their mouths.

Ji Wen’s waist became even straighter, his mustache quivering with joy. He patted Yuan Zai’s shoulder and didn’t know what to say. Yuan Zai lowered his voice and said, “There’s another petty issue. The method I adopted to find Wang Yunxiu... heh, heh... was not very decent. If anyone of the Wang Family asks about it, there has to be an plausible explanation. I’d appreciate it if Sicheng could do me a favor.”

On hearing this, Ji Wen waved his hand indifferently, “No problem. Just write a pleading and I’ll sigh it and stamp it.” He didn’t ask him what kind of method it was, since it was not the method but the outcome that mattered.

Yuan Zai cupped his hands and bowed deeply to express his gratitude, greatly relieved.

He walked out of the main hall and politely asked Wang Yunxiu to get off the carriage. While guiding her, he suddenly spotted Feng Dalun in the crowd. The look in his eyes changed and with that he told Wang Yunxiu to go inside first and went up to him. The two didn’t start talking right away but walked into a back alley, one in the front and the other in the rear.

Feng Dalun urgently asked, “They bought it?” Yuan Zai smugly raised his chin, “Luckily, I didn’t fail you.” Feng Dalun’s shoulders relaxed, as if relieved from a heavy burden.

He had been under huge pressure like he was carrying a weighty rock ever since he was told that he mistakenly abducted Wang Zhongsi’s daughter. Fortunately, Yuan Zai came up with an incredible idea.

Yuan Zai bade Feng Dalun to send those hooligans, who abducted Wang Yunxiu, to transfer her with a carriage. Yuan Zai also asked him to tell him the route in advance. Then he dispatched a group of Lubi soldiers to carry out a raid on the carriage halfway and kill all abductors. Thus, all hooligans whose faces had been seen by Wang Yunxiu were killed.

A more amazing part was that, since there was no witness, he could conveniently frame Zhang Xiaojing for this abduction. Zhang Xiaojing had already been convicted of collusion with foreign enemies and attack on Jing’an Department anyway, so he probably wouldn’t mind being framed for another crime.

Thus, he not only helped Feng Dalun get out of the dilemma but also threw Zhang Xiaojing into deeper trouble, killing two birds with one stone.

There was only one flaw in the whole plan. Wang Yunxiu had once seen Yuan Zai in that woodshed. If the mastermind was Zhang Xiaojing, then why Yuan Zai was there?

Ji Wen might not be able to spot this flaw, and Wang Yunxiu certainly wouldn’t think of this, but as more details were disclosed, sooner or later someone observant and conscientious would raise this question. Yuan Zai refused to run the risk of letting a petty detail ruin his whole plan, which was why he had just specially asked Ji Wen to help him handle this.

The story he fabricated was like this: people of the Censor Department had been suspecting Zhang Xiaojing for a long time. Ji Wen, a Palace Privy Censor, delegated Yuan Zai to conduct an intensive investigation into the organization named Termite, who discovered Zhang Xiaojing’s den. Yuan Zai risked fighting his way inside, accidentally discovered Wang Yunxiu and timely rescued her.

Censor Ji would be very glad to acknowledge this, because it would be a proof of his foresight.

After hearing the account of the whole thing, Feng Dalun was overwhelmed by amazement and admiration. ‘Who is this consultant of Dali Temple exactly? With some minor adjustments of the plan, he miraculously turned a couple of tricky matters to their mutual advantage, which was very favorable for their future promotion. And every side was happy, feeling that they had profited from this. How high a position would a man with such finesse climb to in the officialdom circle in the future?

‘I’ve got to establish a good relationship with him,’ Feng Dalun thought and hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed as deeply as he could. Yuan Zai stretched out his hands to raise him. Taking advantage of the occasion, Feng Dalun stuffed a couple of little gold ingots into Yuan Zai’s sleeve.

Yuan Zai didn’t decline. With a twitch of his sleeve, he directly accepted them. Feng Dalun thought for a while and then asked, “Has Zhang Xiaojing’s matter been properly handled?”

Zhang Xiaojing had given him such a deep impression that as long as Zhang Xiaojing still alive, he could never find piece of mind. But Yuan Zai said indifferently, “Rest assured. Censor Ji has already issued an order for arrest. He’s now wanted by soldiers citywide. By no means could he escape.”

“Please don’t underestimate him, Consultant... That person never ceases to amaze people.”

Yuan Zai flicked a contemptuous look at Feng Dalun. On this night, he was going to accomplish the last part of his perfect plan, the success of which would count as a miraculous feat in the history of his political career, yet this guy was still so obsessed about a petty matter the outcome of which was almost certain.

“Curator Feng, please report to Prince Yong. His Highness may rest assured. In less than three Hours, this loose end will be handled. If you’ll excuse me, there’s still something I have to deal with.”

Yuan Zai left Feng Dalun on the spot, turned around and returned to Jinzhao Office. He had to be with Wang Yunxiu, who was the greatest trophy he got this night.

Zhang Xiaojing gradually came around. He found that he was lying on a layer of soft, brocade-covered, cotton-padded mattress, covered by a blanket, and somebody had helped him change into a suit of clean round-collared soft coat. His wounds had been carefully cleaned, properly treated with medicinal oil, and the pains had been greatly relieved.

It was totally dark, but he could feel that his body was quivering. The sound of collision between hubs, stamp of hoofs as well as a hubbub of voices were coming from outside.

It seemed that he was in an ox-drawn carriage.

With difficulty, Zhang Xiaojing turned his neck, trying to figure out what was going on. At this moment, a regretful voice came from the dark in the rear of the carriage, but he couldn’t see the man.

“General Zhang, this is the second time that we’ve met during this today.”

Now Zhang Xiaojing knew why he couldn’t get a clear view of the man. “Elder Ge?”

The man sitting on the opposite side was exactly Elder Ge, who used to be a former Zanzibar slave and was currently the leader of Pingkangli. Elder Ge chuckled, “I don’t count as an influential figure in Chang’an, but nothing in Pingkang Fang escapes my notice – you’ve really made an enemy of a lot of people.”

“Where... are they?”

Elder Ge said, “Those patrol soldiers were easy to deal with. Handling Shouzhuo mercenaries was a little trickier. These north-westerners are stubborn and aggressive. It took me some time.”

Zhang Xiaojing knew that by “took me some time”, Elder Ge probably meant “took some of them’s lives”. He was just about to speak when Elder Ge stopped him. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do this out of kindness. I just don’t like those people’s smug attitude.”

Elder Ge was the leader of a local gang, and Shouzhuo mercenaries were outsiders. Both the two forces were in Pingkang Fang, so they naturally took a dislike to each other.

Zhang Xiaojing managed to raised his upper body, panting for breath. Elder Ge said, “There’s a bowl of lotus seed and jujube soup, which is very helpful in restoring your Qi.” Zhang Xiaojing picked it up and took a sip. Surprisingly, the soup was still hot. He slowly turned the bowl while drinking it. As the hot soup went into his stomach, a certain amount of his lost vigor seemed to be restored.

Elder Ge said, “General Zhang’s reputation is indeed well-earned. Even the case you got involved in is earthshaking. Do you know you’re wanted by the whole city? There are people hunting you everywhere.”

“So Elder Ge is taking me to the authority in exchange for reward?” He put the bowl down.

Elder Ge burst into laugh. “The bounty they put on you is not even enough for me to buy tongue-scratching combs. Rest assured. This carriage is taking you out of the city – you can’t stay in Chang’an any longer. Just leave while you still can.”

Zhang Xiaojing was confused. There had been more days when they were enemies than ones when they were partners. And there had been several occasions when one of them nearly killed the other. Just a couple of Hours ago, he forced Zhang Xiaojing into killing an undercover agent merely in exchange for an opportunity to interrogate someone.

But on this occasion, he first saved him, then treated him, and now even considerately arranged a carriage to help him get out of the city. Why did this mercenary old fox suddenly become so kind-hearted?

As expected, Elder Ge’s sinister voice soon came. “Don’t thank me so soon. I’m not a good Samaritan. This arrangement is not free.”