The Longest Day in Chang'an

Chapter 86: Haizheng (22:00-22:59) Part 5

Translator: DragonRider

Currently, in the complex of Jinzhao Office, the main hall and the vault were the only places that were restricted. All other facilities were open to staff members of the new Jing’an Department. Various scribes were bustling around and they might not have been acquainted with their colleagues yet, so they certainly couldn’t recognize any outsiders. The two of them progressed without any trouble and soon approached the consultation hall.

But when they were walking in that direction, two personal guards with cold, ferocious faces blocked their path and roughly asked them where they were going. Es hurriedly explained that he was taking a patient to get medical treatment. One of the personal guards impassively pointed in the direction of the designated hall and told him that he was not allowed to approach this place. Es pretended to be confused, said that an official had just told him to come here, and then tried to keep walking forward. Seeing Es refused to leave, the personal guard snapped, “This is the office of Jing’an Department. Intruders are to be killed on sight!”

It turned out that after Ji Wen moved Jing’an Department into Jinzhao Office, the first thing he had intended to do was find a comfortable room to be his exclusive office. When he had been working for the Censor Department, he had been merely a Palace Privy Censor and had to share an office with more than half a dozen colleagues, which had always been a vexation for him. But of all the chambers in the complex of Jinzhao Office, the main hall lacked fresh air and light, and the storage room was too small. After comparing them for quite some time, he had found that the consultation hall, both spacious and decent, was the best choice.

His vanity had been fed, but Zhang Xiaojing and Es encountered enormous trouble due to this decision of his.

The two of them retreated to a corner. Es informed Zhang Xiaojing, “Just now I performed careful observation and my eyes beheld some rockeries in the courtyard next door. If we climb onto the eave and then walk on the rooftop to the consultation hall, we might be able to infiltrate into it.”

But Zhang Xiaojing shook his head. This was Jinzhao Office. Unlike other departments, there were no doubt archers and crossbowmen hiding on the rooftops of these houses. If Es tried to perform grotto-running at this place, he would probably be hit by numerous arrows and bolts.

At this time, someone walked past, unintentionally glimpsed at them and uttered a sudden “Eek?”. With that, he fixed Zhang Xiaojing’s face with a long stare. In the inkling that things were about to go awry, Es hurriedly stepped forward to block the man’s view, but that man had already blurted, “Zhang–Zhang Xiaojing?”

Zhang Xiaojing pounced on that man like a hungry tiger, held his mouth and forcibly pushed him into the corner. The man struggled violently in horror. Zhang Xiaojing threatened him in a low, ferocious voice. “One more movement and you’ll die where you stand!”

“Mm...It’s me...”

Zhang Xiaojing knitted his eyebrows and soon recognized the man. Surprisingly, it was Staff Officer Zhao of the Praetorian Guards Department. Four hours ago, Tanqi and Yao Runeng abducted Staff Officer Zhao and rescued Zhang Xiaojing from the Praetorian Guards Department. Before leaving, Staff Officer Zhao had requested them to knock him out to evade responsibility for his actions. Unexpectedly, they met again so soon.

“Why are you here?”

Staff Officer Zhao sighed, “After the Termite attacked Jing’an Department, there are less than one fifth of the staff members left. Sicheng Ji is drafting officials from various other agencies. I was seconded here to help.”

Staff Officer Zhao was indeed responsible for Zhang Xiaojing’s escape. Though Gan Shoucheng had not laid blame on him, Staff Officer Zhao knew very well that the higher authorities were definitely not happy about it, so he had volunteered to come to Jing’an Department to offer help. Firstly, he could make amends for his previous faults by some good services. Secondly, he might be able to escape potential punishment. It had never crossed his mind that he would encounter this dangerous man again.

“You are wanted by the whole city. Why did you come back?” Staff Officer Zhao gazed at Zhang Xiaojing, a faint pain in the back of his head. Not in the mood for explaining to him, Zhang Xiaojing asked him, “I need to get into the consultation hall. Any suggestions?”

“That’s almost impossible! Sicheng Ji is working in the consultation hall. That place is heavily guarded. It won’t be easy for you to assassinate him.”

“Who said I want to assassinate him?!” Zhang Xiaojing growled at him in a low voice.

Staff Officer Zhao widened his eyes in astonishment. “You don’t? He’s issued an order for your arrest and you have no intention of killing him? It’s not like you to let this go!” Zhang Xiaojing grabbed the front of his overgarment. “Listen, I’m not going to the consultation hall to kill anybody or steal. It’s just something insignificant that I want. Since you are now an authorized official in Jing’an Department, you might as well give me a hand.”

The last remark sent a cold shiver of fear through Staff Officer Zhao and drained all the color from his face. “No, no, I can’t do this. I have but one head.” Zhang Xiaojing observed in a flinty tone of voice, “It’s true that you have only one head. Either I take it from you right now or Ji Wen takes it from you a while later.” In terrible horror, Staff Officer Zhao, waving his fat hands, repeatedly stressed he was not a good actor and might botch things up.

While he was speaking, his eyes suddenly lit up and he came up with an excellent excuse. “Since you have nothing on me, if I leave here, I will definitely report to my superior, which will get you into trouble. How about this? Like what you did the last time we met, you give me a blow on the head, and then I’ll be in my coma and you’ll get to do what you’ve got to do –a win-win situation.”

Though preoccupied, Zhang Xiaojing still couldn’t help but give a chuckle. ‘This guy’s surprisingly straightforward.’ At this time, Es whispered something into his ears. Zhang Xiaojing inclined his head in agreement and told Staff Officer Zhao, “Let’s do it this way –you don’t have to steal for us. All you have to do is make whatever excuse you can make and distract Ji Wen for the duration of a burning joss stick.”

“I’ll definitely yell and alert the guards the moment I step into the consultation hall, which will put you in a very unfavorable situation, Commandant,” replied Staff Officer Zhao with an apologetic smile on his face. He would rather be knocked out again than go into the consultation hall. Zhang Xiaojing pointed at Es and asked, “Do you have any idea who he is?”

Staff Officer Zhao had some time ago noticed that there was a Persian man standing beside Zhang Xiaojing, who was handsome and had limpid sparkling eyes. Zhang Xiaojing informed him, “This is a warlock I hired from Persia. He specializes in extracting people’s souls with his eyes. If you dare to alert the guards, he will take your soul with that magic pendant around his neck in less than three days, and you’ll never be able to reincarnate.”

Zhang Xiaojing was not making this up. There had always been rumors among Chang’an citizens that in the Western Regions lived many wizards and witches, who frequently enter the central mainland to make trouble. Every year, a couple of people would be arrested for spreading hearsay of this kind. Zhang Xiaojing, who had handled numerous cases, could easily give an example.

The corners of Es’ mouth involuntarily twitched briefly. He was such a handsome man, yet Zhang Xiaojing had described him as a wizard using dark magic and Gu(A poison made with poisonous insect, worm or beetle), but he couldn’t defend himself, so he gave a smile and looked at Staff Officer Zhao with his sparkling eyes. Remarkably, Staff Officer Zhao did have a hallucination of something messing with his soul.

As expected, Staff Officer Zhao was scared into cooperating. In concern, he exhorted again, “If you are to take action, please be sure to double-check the death of the target. Otherwise I’ll be incriminated.”

“I never said a single fucking word about killing him!” Zhang Xiaojing was only too anxious to give him a kick.

After a short while, Staff Officer Zhao, in jitteriness, walked into the consultation hall. Ji Wen was writing a letter to Prime Minister Li about his meritorious service. He erased a sentence and had just come up with an excellent one when suddenly footsteps came as an interruption. He raised his head and saw Staff Officer Zhao standing respectfully in front of him.

He was somewhat displeased, but Staff Officer Zhao was only one grade and two levels lower than him in rank and was also drafted from the Praetorian Guards Department, so he couldn’t just ignore him. “What’s up, Staff Officer?”

Staff Officer Zhao replied, “I’m here to report to you a matter concerning Zhang Xiaojing.” Ji Wen’s eyes lit up as he heard this name. Instantly, he put down his writing brush and said, “Go on.” Staff Officer Zhao looked left and right and, with an awkward expression on his face, observed, “This matter involves General Gan and should be kept secret, so I can only report it to you in private.”

On hearing that Gan Shoucheng was involved in the matter, Ji Wen instantly became interested. He gestured Staff Officer Zhao to step forward and then craned close to him. Staff Officer Zhao perked up and started telling Ji Wen about Jing’an Department’s illegal action of rescuing a prisoner from the Praetorian Guards Department.

Staff Officer Zhao, who had experienced this matter himself, deliberately dramatized some details. Ji Wen was fascinated by the story, all his intention concentrated on the narration.

At the same time, a rope was slowly dropped down from the crossbeam, approaching the ground inch by inch. While speaking, Staff Officer Zhao, out of the corner of his eye, saw a figure sliding down along the rope, which abruptly sent his heart fluttering.

That figure was nobody else but Es. He had scouted out this place and found that this consultation hall was a half-hall. It shared the main crossbeam with the document chamber next door which was used for storing files and documents, and which nobody would come to. As a result, Es had sneaked into the chamber, climbed onto the main crossbeam and then quietly infiltrated into the consultation hall.

Thus, as long as Staff Officer Zhao kept Ji Wen busy, Es would be able to do whatever he wanted to.

This was the most thrilling and most exciting grotto-running experience that Es had ever had in his life. He softly landed on the ground, less than seven paces away from Ji Wen, cautiously keeping his breathing shallow. If Ji Wen by any chance slightly raised his head, he would instantly catch sight of the uninvited visitor in this hall.

Es looked around. Apart from a writing desk, a sedjadeh and some bookshelves, there were also a pile of brocade-covered wooden chests at a corner, which were behind a screen. This new superior probably had felt that those chests made this room seem untidy, but he didn’t know where he should transfer them to, so he had had all of them stacked up behind a screen. Es tiptoed behind the screen, opened one of those chests and, unsurprisingly, inside it were a pile of sundry items, which should had been collected from Changming Fang, but there were no pieces of bamboo in it, so he opened a second one.

Outside, Staff Officer Zhao, who saw that Es was still searching, had no choice but to try his best to buy him some time. For several times, Ji Wen had wanted to turn his head back. Every time Staff Officer Zhao saw the sign of his turning back, he would immediately raise his voice and fabricate a suspenseful plot so as to draw Ji Wen’s attention back onto his story. Privately, he was deeply distressed. As a legend fan, he had never expected that some day he would have to make up one himself.

Behind the screen, Es, who worked very quick, had opened the third chest. After moving aside a pile of small pieces of wood, broken sticks and so on, he found at the bottom a crash bag the opening of which was tightly tied. He undid the knot and saw that it was full of pieces of bamboo. Overjoyed, Es reached out the other hand and scooped up the bag but forgot to prop the lid of the chest, which abruptly dropped down. Es hurriedly stretched out his hand and managed to support it in time but still made a faint sound.

It was not loud but sounded rather distinct in the quiet house. Ji Wen jerked his head around and cocked a suspicious eyebrow in that direction. Es hastily moved his upper body against the screen and held his breath. Ji Wen raised his hand signaling Staff Officer Zhao to wait a moment, then took a couple of steps towards the screen. This house was very spacious. The only area out of his sight was the one behind the screen, so he believed that there was an eighty-percent chance that the sound had emanated from that spot.

Es was only a screen’s thickness away from Ji Wen, sweat softly oozing from the end of his nose. He was considering whether he should overpower Ji Wen and then get out of this place by taking Ji Wen hostage. In the inkling that an unfavorable turn of events was imminent, Staff Officer Zhao suddenly held his head and painfully crouched down, groaning out loud, “That damn Zhang Xiaojing knocked me out and the pain is still killing me! It’s so unbearable! My goodness!”

Ji Wen turned around, walked up to him and consoled him in a mild tone of voice. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Es performed his grotto-running skills outdoing himself by a considerable margin, grabbed that rope and climbed onto the main crossbeam in one breath and withdrew the rope. At this time, a rat happened to run past. Es casually seized it and dropped it down. The rat landed onto the ground and blacked out for only an instant before quickly springing to its feet and rushing towards the outside.

As chance would have it, Ji Wen twisted his head aside at this moment and saw the rat sprinting past, which dissolved the suspicion on his face. He believed that the sound had been made by the rat.

Es, carrying the bag, retreated to the document chamber and then rendezvoused with Zhang Xiaojing outside. At this time, Staff Officer Zhao, sweating buckets, also walked out. It turned out that Ji Wen, after hearing the story, had found that Staff Officer Zhao had merely been spilling out his troubles and hadn’t provided any useful information, so he had reprimanded him and driven him away.