The Longest Day in Chang'an

Chapter 29: Wei Zheng (14:00-14:59) Part 3

Translator: DragonRider

It was January, after all, and though the stove fires were burning in the four corners of the hall, his hands still felt kind of cold. Xu Bin, his hands thrust in his sleeves, walked through rows of desk-bound scribes as rustling of scrolls and clicking of calculating sticks poured into his ears. Looking at these tired junior officials, Xu Bin involuntarily thrust out his chest as a few feelings welled up in his mind.

Xu Bin’s memory was famous all over Chang’an. He could overturn a near-final chessboard, and then set all pieces back in their starting positions one by one. Unfortunately, he didn’t make progress in official career and had always been a junior official without rank. Recruitment of Jing’an Department this time took a ray of hope for him to turn around. At present, his title was the pre-principal of Jing’an Department. If he could make great contributions and get rid of the “pre”, he would be a serious official, the lower subordinate eighth rank!

So, the tougher the situation, the easier it was to gain achievement!

With a thrill stirring in his heart, he grabbed a handful of calculating sticks, and Li Bi’s almost peremptory order suddenly popped into his mind, “Check out everything that can be lit!” Xu Bin pondered and suddenly his eyes lit up, as if getting some inspirations.

Xu Bin stopped and wanted to ask several scribes to review the files. The word rose to his lips, but he bit it back. Everyone was so busy that it was a bit risky to invest their effort into a whim.

Couldn’t say it out, he had to do it himself. Xu Bin sighed as he grabbed a messenger nearby, told him a series of numbers and asked him to take out the corresponding files, and then he went back to his seat, sleeves half rolled, picking up a fine brush dipped in red ink.

“I can’t fight in battles like Zhang Xiaojing, file is battlefield for me to gain feats,” as Xu Bin thought of this, his eager eyes could not help looking at Sicheng Li, who was not far away.

However, Li Bi didn’t notice Xu Bin’s actions, nor did he care even if he saw. In his eyes, it seemed that as long as he gazed at the sand table of Chang’an more time, he would find out how the Turkish wolf guards brought the fuels into Chang’an without anybody knowing.

The water clock was leisurely dripping in the corner of the hall. It was less than six hours from the Lantern Show, but there had been no substantial progress.

Zhang Xiaojing took office at a time of crisis and, as was expected, miraculously dug out a clue, but soon the advantage was missing. Both investigations having been disrupted annoyed Li Bi. He had always believed in Taoism and paid attention to peace and “Do Noting”, but since he took over the position, his mood had been ups and downs, contrary to the Taoist doctrines.

“The secular affairs will really ruin a people’s Taoist cultivation.” Li Bi thought, frustrated, but could do nothing.

It was then that a messenger rushed into the hall and his footsteps on the green flagstone pavement slightly slowed everyone’s movements. Another message came in, and the good or bad of which would determine the atmosphere of the entire Jing’an Department.

The messenger didn’t break the news aloud. Instead, he went directly to Sicheng Li and handed him a letter. It showed that the news was confidential and couldn’t be transmitted through the watchtower, but must be delivered in the form of a confidential letter. Tan Qi, closest to him, watched him nervously from the corner of her eyes. She saw the master breaking the seal, his face suddenly changed. His face turned red, then grew pale, and then he was covered in a layer of gray gloom, even had a small gesture of clenching fists.

How dire the message was? Tan Qi was a little worried, but kind of curious.

Li Bi was holding a secret letter from Cui Qi, and it read: Via checking, the wolf guards had grabbed daughter of Wang Zhongsi, and disappeared.

Those wolf guards escaping Jiuguan Drum from Xiuzheng Fang kidnapped daughter of Jiedu Wang?

Wang Zhongsi was not an ordinary official in court, but the General of the Left Jinwu Guards, military governor of Lingzhou and the Shuofang Jiedushi. He was the most prestigious general in Da Tang who won the trust of Emperor.

Da Tang’s using military force against Turkic Khan was mainly conducted by Wang zhongsi, who, with his prestige, led tribes on the prairie to siege the Turk. At this critical point, if the Turks publicly took away his family in Chang’an, besides the court being completely disgraced, it was likely to affect the war in the north of the Gobi. In that case, the Emperor would get enraged and the court shocked. Even if he was highly regarded by the Emperor, he might not be able to save his neck, and Crown Prince Li Heng would be involved.

A thought here, Li Bi felt a chill up his spine.

It seemed that they must revise strategy against Turkic wolf guards. Storming them was inadvisable even if finding their hiding place, which would might endanger the life of Wang’s daughter. Jing’an Department was greatly constrained, now the added limit made it worse. But Li Bi had no choice.

It was only then that Li Bi understood why Li Heng appointed He Zhizhang the Chief of Jing’an Department. The kidnapping of Wang’s daughter was not a secret for much longer, and soon there would be pressure from all sides. Only an old hand like He Zhizhang could skillfully deduce court trend and make preparations in advance.

He might have a way in catching criminal, but was very immature when it came to dealing with those sinister political opponents.

Li Bi thought, “Must I bring Supervisor He, who is ill with anger, back again?”

“Bring me some ices.” Li Bi roared his command, waving the unpleasant idea out of his mind.

Tan Qi was frozen still, and it was not until Li Bi gave order again that she returned to her mind and felt somewhat embarrassed. Who would keep such thing at home in January? After looking all around, Tan Qi asked people to fetch a bucket of water mixed with ice from the backyard canal. Ice being filtered, she soaked a handkerchief in the bucket and handed it over.

Li Bi picked up the handkerchief rudely and, without wringing it out, threw it over his face along with ice water. He clenched his teeth as penetrating chill pricked his face like thousands of needles. However, his cluttered head cleared again.

In this time, it was all the more important to stay calm.

Li Bi reviewed the secret letter and compared it with the news from the watchtower. He found that the wolf guards who kidnapped Wang’s daughter was hiding in a place provided by Long Bo, who had stolen the Fang map. That was to say, the two crimes were all the work of the same crew.

Burning of Chang’an and kidnapping of Wang’s daughter were completely different things. The former was the madness of destruction, and the latter was a rational threat. There was great deviation in the direction of applied force between the two. A good Archer wouldn’t aim at two rabbits at the same time; a qualified planner, in general, should not simultaneously carry out two interfering goals.

Li Bi, who had pulled himself together, sniffed an incongruous hint of smell.

Maybe it was an opportunity. The more goals, the harder the task was. As long as to keep pressure on the Turkic wolf guards, it might force them to make more mistakes and reveal more flaws.

Li Bi dabbed his face again with the icy handkerchief, and casted his eyes on the sand table, looking for the unique grey piece. There was only one person who could help him right now.

“Where is Zhang Xioajing? What is he doing?” Li Bi asked aloud.

Zhang Xiaojing was walking a dog in Qixia Gate.

It was a long-nosed hound from the Hedong area, with pointed ears and narrow face, gray fur dotted with white spots, and a large black nose that sniffed rhythmically. It had lanky limbs, which were powerful when running, so Zhang Xiaojing must hold on to the rope to barely keep up with its speed.

It really caused a lot of twists and turns in borrowing this dog.

The kennel of Xuanhui House was located in Tongji Fang, the southernmost of East City, and was responsible to keep pet dogs and hound for the Imperial palace. When Cui Qi went to borrow a dog, steward supervisor of the dog house refused. They belonged to the Imperial Household Department, and didn’t care about the office of the outer court. Cui Qi was a little afraid to offend the eunuchs of the Imperial palace, but Zhang Xiaojing said coldly that working for Jing’an Department mustn’t have any scruples; he had to bite the bullet.

Cui Qi had resorted to the carrot and stick approach to the steward supervisor, but he didn’t bend the rules. Finally, Zhang Xiaojing stood up impatiently and pointed at the head of the steward supervisor with a crossbow, directly taking a hound away. Cui Qi just forced a smile at this simple and brute operating style. The supervisor had threatened to report the two of them for looting property of the Imperial palace, and the entire Jing’an Department would in big trouble after the Lantern Festival.

But, after all, if the current crisis was not resolved in time, they wouldn’t even make it through today. For quenching the present thirst, even if it was the poisoned wine, he was willing to hold his nose to drink it.

The hound was quickly brought to Qixia Gate, which was the last place where the Turks passed. Zhang Xiaojing let the hound smell the scent Wen Ran left behind, and whistled. Sniffing on the ground, its ears abruptly went up, and it turned and ran toward the west.

Zhang Xiaojing led the leash and followed it, Cui Qi, Yao Ru’neng and Lubi soldiers also followed up, forming a wonderful queue on the street. Pedestrians looked on and thought that it was another gimmick for the Lantern Festival invented by a liquor store.

The hound ran at top speed and stopped at every crossing, smelling where they should head for. As time went on, the hound began to hesitate more often. Until afternoon, more people were gathering to watch the lanterns, and the odors became more miscellaneous. The barbeque inside the Fang wall, the horse dung on the road, large crowds, the stinky camels and the aroma of wine floating out of the wine shop all greatly distracted the hound.

Each time the hound hesitated, Zhang Xiaojing would pull out a sachet, which was specially taken from the Wen’s incense and could strengthen its sensitivity to the aroma. But soon it was not working, and her remaining scent was so faint that it was difficult for a hound to identify. The fragile clue was quietly missing.

Zhang Xiaojing tried to drive the hound forward, hoping to get as close as possible before the scent disappeared. The hound managed to run a little further, and finally stopped at a crossroads. It perked up its head and sniffed, purring, then went restlessly around in circles, pawing the ground with his forepaws, refused to move on.

Zhang Xiaojing sighed, knowing that it had reached its limit.

At this time, Cui Qi and Yao Ru’neng also came. They were all disappointed to see the hound acting like this. Cui Qi angrily kicked the hound, the dog whined in pain. Cui Qi was about to kick it one more time and was stopped by Zhang Xiaojing.

“Get out of my way. I’ll give the lazy bastard a good beating,” Cui Qi spluttered. Kneeling down, Zhang Xiaojing put his hands around the neck of the hound, trying to calm it down, “Dog is honest, never lazy or slippery, nor will it lie and claim credit. It has done well, why be hard on it?” He touched the hound’s head, with a note of sympathy in his voice.

“Is there anything to eat here?” Zhang Xiaojing asked Yao Ru’neng, who quickly took a piece of dried pork slice out of his belt. Zhang Xiaojing tore the pork slice in strips and fed the dog.

Yao Ru’neng watched, wondering, “The man treats dog as a confidant, but with a strong sense of alienation when dealing with other people. It seems to him that humans are far less trustworthy than dogs.”

Li Bi had given Yao Ru’neng the work of monitoring whether Zhang Xiaojing had signs of defection. For now, Yao Ru’neng became curious about him-What had he been through? What made him look like this?

Cui Qi was not interested in these things, but only one, “Commandant Zhang, what are we gonna do next?” Zhang Xiaojing didn’t answer, but looked around, positioning where they were.

The hound had just run all the way west from the Qixia Gate across the Rosefinch Royal Road, brought them into the jurisdiction of Chang’an County, West City, and finally stopped in the crossroads of “Guangxing” and “Anle”.

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