The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Wei Chu (13:00-14:59) Part 1

Translator: DragonRider

Winding channels, dense tall buildings, surrounding flowers, willow trees casting their shadows all around, and paths going through the garden made the Qujiang Pond a nice place to go all year round.

-No matter for visitors or fugitives. Wei Chu, Jan.14, the third year of Tianbao period (744 DC).

Xiuzheng Fang, Wannian County, Chang’an.

Xiuzheng Fang located in the southeast corner of Wannian County, far away from the imperial palace, two markets and busy places like Yanshou Fang and Pingkang Fang, but adjoined Qujiang Pond and Lotus Garden, convenient to go for tourism and sightseeing. Most of dignitaries in the capital city bought houses here rather than settled in.

It was a good idea for Long Bo and the Turks to stay here. Few people lived here at this time of the year, and many of the houses were empty, perfect for hiding.

Time was short. Zhang Xiaojing and Yao Ru’neng galloped at full speed from Pingkang Fang all the way to Xiuzheng Fang.

Compared to the dense building in the north Fangs, the layout of the mansion in Xiuzheng Fang was sparser, seven to eight houses on each street. Every house covered a much larger area, the gates were tall and wide, and the walls on both sides were more than 30 steps long, covered with green fish-scale tiles on the top, and green plants like Ming Fern and wisteria thinly spread all behind the walls. Seen from a distance, several high-rise pavilions in the courtyard came into view.

According to the confession of Tong’er, Long Bo always took her to the third house on a side street in the southwest corner of Xiuzheng Fang. The house was slightly shabby among neighbors: the exterior walls had peeled off; the ruined rooftop tiles looked like a row of bad teeth; the rusted knocker and missing plaque on the gate suggested that the house was ownerless so far.

By reviewing the deed to the house, Jing’an Department learned that the owner was a wealthy merchant surnamed Jin from Yangzhou. However, he hadn’t appeared for many years, and whether he was dead or simply forgot the house was unknown. The house had been deserted, without even a cleaning servant. It was really a great shelter for the Turks.

Zhang Xiaojing believed there couldn’t be just one Safe House for the Turks in Chang’an; otherwise they couldn’t take big actions. Conversely, if he could find the house, he might track the Turks down.

Seeing from the outside, the empty house was nothing unusual. However, Zhang Xiaojing knew that even the poorest house in Xiuzhang Fang had five or six layers of courtyards, only by sneaking in it could he know what was going on inside. He checked the crossbow and arrows, tightened his trouser legs and cuffs, and then pulled the scabbard off his sabre before he said to Yao Ru’neng, “For the condition inside is unclear, I’ll check it out first, you stay here to keep in touch with the Watchtower.”

“Only you?” Yao Ru’neng was surprised.

Zhang Xiaojing quietly said, “I dare not to show you my back now.”

Yao Ru’neng twitched his lip corner, lowered his head, and stepped back silently. The relationship between them had become a little bizarre after their argument in Pingkang Fang.

Yao Ru’neng had reported Zhang Xiaojing’s vile deeds to Jing’an Department through the Watchtower. Unexpectedly, Jing’an Dep. replied him with a reprimand that how an undercover could compare with the safety of Chang’an, and warned him not to interfere with Commandant Zhang’s work, nor should he use the Watchtower to deliver such pointless messages.

Yao Ru’neng persisted that Zhang Xiaojing had his own planning, and the superiors were nothing but blind. “Now he insists on getting in alone, is he attempting escape? If he had planned to escape, he should have gone when he knocked me out, why did he wait until now?”

He stood still, upset, knowing not whether he should follow up to watch Zhang, or obey the order to wait here for messages. Before Yao Ru’neng made a decision, Zhang Xiaojing stood ten steps away the wall with sabre in his mouth, ran over quickly to jump grabbing the edge, then leapt over the wall skillfully.

If the Turks were hidden here, they would tamper with the gate and the side doors, so slipping over the wall was the best choice.

Once he landed, he squatted in the bushes, looking around, and then cautiously went inside. There was nothing new about the layout of this house. Behind the screen was the main house with flat eave, collecting the east and west side-rooms through cloister. The winding cloister formed a garth, unfortunately, flower shelves in the garth had been dusty for a long time, and the flowerpots were abandoned. Since January was not the flowering period, the peony-bushes in the corner stretched bare branches, with no one to trim.

The cloister led round to the back of the main hall, deep into a group of pines. And between the pines, there seemed to be a two-story wooden pavilion.

Zhang Xiaojing hid under the barrier of the cloister and peered out for about half an hour, but was a bit disappointed with the quiet court. He merely guessed it was a safe house of the Turks; once he was wrong, no more clues were left, and he had to start all over again.

Having decided to go deep, Zhang Xiaojing inched forward on the cloister. Suddenly, Zhang Xiaojing sniffed out subtle perfumes: obviously a woman had passed by not long before. It couldn’t be Tong’er, for she had been put in prison, so who would it be? Kneeling down, Zhang Xiaojing rubbed his finger on the wood floor of the cloister, and stained his finger belly with some bluish white powder. That was not dust, but stone chips.

There was no similar material in the house, so it must be brought in along with someone’s shoes.

Someone, no doubt, must have been here. Since it was not in the front hall, was it hiding in the back two-story wooden pavilion?

Zhang Xiaojing was about to stand up, and suddenly felt wind blowing overhead. He quickly rolled forward on the spot, avoiding the sharp knife and withdrawing his elbow to fire an arrow. Poof! There came a sound of arrow shooting through the flesh. Zhang Xiaojing kicked his left leg to counterattack, but the man had fallen slanted to the ground. He squeezed the man’s jaw with his pincer-like right hand, not allowing him to make a sound, and then he quickly dropped the crossbow from his left hand, pulled out the baffle knife and stabbed it into the man’s lower abdomen three times, never forgetting to twist the knife.

The man collapsed dead. Only by now did Zhang Xiaojing have time to observe his look: he was a Turk, but wore a numbered vest of Jiangzuo Office (an official’s title). The corridor had mullioned windows on one side, blocking half of the view. The Turk was probably peeing in the bushes behind the window, so Zhang Xiaojing did not see him.

It was a narrow escape that if Zhang Xiaojing slowed one second, his head would be split up by the Turk. If the Turk did not take advantage of sneak attack, but first sounded warning to his peers, Zhang Xiaojing would get caught in the siege.

For the fact that only one person patrolled at the front hall rather than one guard in the light, another in the dark, they shouldn’t have too many people. Zhang Xiaojing was all but certain that the enemy was in the two-story pavilion behind.

“Get your wolf tails finally.” Zhang Xiaojing was delighted.

He could retreat now and asked Yao Ru’neng to inform Jing’an Dep, the Lubi Army led by Cui Qi would arrive here within two quarters. Somehow Zhang Xiaojing was a bit concerned about the fragrance, so he decided to move forward.

The two-story pavilion behind the middle hall named “Mind Training”, which might be a viewing building from outside – The ground floor, a large open room for banquets, led to the first floor by bamboo stairs. The first floor was divided into several rooms for resting and private talk. On the top of the building was a gazebo overlooking Qu River.

These guys were very cautious, Zhang Xiaojing observed for a while, no shadow at the window. For the complicated internal structure and narrow space, it was dangerous to rush into the pavilion without preparation, so he decided to temporarily retreat. Just as he was leaving quietly, a woman screamed in one of the rooms on the first floor.

Hearing the familiar voice, Zhang Xiaojing’s silkworm-brows knotted together. After some hesitation Zhang Xiaojing leveled his crossbow and felt his way under the window toward the main entrance. Arriving at the gate, he stood back against the wall, aimed sideways at the entrance, picked up a marble from the yard and threw it at the opposite direction.

As expected, the man in the main hall heard the sound and opened door to look out. Zhang Xiaojing slammed the door into back of the man’s head, and then he had his arm tight around the man’s neck. With neck getting stuck, the guy struggled hard and his right leg kicked over a flower shelf next to him. A fine-grained earthen pot fell to the ground and crashed into pieces, alarming the whole courtyard.

Zhang Xiaojing broke the man’s neck with a twist, and his attempt to sneak in was also ruined. Rapid footsteps came from the second floor, and dust quickly fell out of the ceiling, together with loud Turkic shouts. As it was, Zhang Xiaojing had no time to regret, he picked up crossbow, and headed up the bamboo stairs. The first one coming down fell to his arrows and rolled down.

Seizing the chance, Zhang Xiaojing rushed onto the first floor in one breath, and sneaked into the back of a screen of Qi and Chu embroidery facing the stairs. The opposite Turks were also holding crossbows, blindly shooting the screen into a sieve. Zhang Xiaojing did not fight back, and when one person raised the knife forward, he quickly fired an arrow and hit the enemy right in his knee.

Other people dragged their crying partner away and momentarily afraid to approach. So both sides occupied, respectively, the ends of the corridor as cover, shooting each other. Soon the flying arrows inside were raging like storm.

Since crossbow was banned in Chang’an, the Turks’ crossbows were self-assembled, the speed and accuracy of which were not comparable to that in army. Zhang Xiaojing, by himself, incredibly suppressed the attack of the opposite three people and three crossbows.

The problem was, Zhang Xiaojing’s arrows were running out. While there were at least four Turks withdrawing on the second floor, Zhang Xiaojing estimated, a bit anxious.

“This is Jing’an Department! You are surrounded!” Zhang Xiaojing put the last arrow in the groove, shouting loudly in Turki.

The shooting ceased in the corridor, and then came a floorboards creak like dragging something. A voice opposite shouted, “Put your weapon down, or Wang Zhongsi’s daughter will die!”

Wang Zhongsi? Zhang Xiaojing froze when hearing the name. He was the core figure in the troops Tang sending to fight the Turk. Did the Turks kidnap his daughter?

He popped half his head out of the corner and saw a burly Turkic wolf guard standing in the middle of the corridor, pulling a tied woman to cover him, with one hand clutching her neck, another hand holding a blade against her throat. Unfortunately, their faces were blurred in the backlighting.

“Drop down your weapons before I count to three, or she’ll be killed.” Mag’er held the knife against the woman’s soft neck. The woman’s hair was scattered and her mouth was stuffed with rags, whining.

The voice! A trace of alarm flashed in his single eye. It sounded more like Wen Ran’s rather than daughter of Wang Zhongsi. Shouldn’t she have received his note and left Chang’an, why did she involve in the affairs of Turks, and was mistaken for the daughter of Wang Zhongsi?

This was the third time Mag’er made threat, and he was taking it seriously. Zhang Xiaojing clicked his tongue out of helplessness, threw the crossbow on the ground, and kicked it to Mag’er. It was none of his business if the woman was daughter of Wang Zhongsi, but the Turk was holding Wen Ran, he couldn’t ignore it. These Turks really hit the mark by a fluke.

“And your knife!” Mag’er held Wen Ran tightly by her neck.

Zhang Xiaojing had to drop his baffle knife, coming out with his hands up.

Two Turks ran over and wrestled him to the ground. Unable to resist with his hands tied, Zhang Xiaojing tried to look up at the girl. However, Mag’er had pushed her back to the room.

Zhang Xiaojing was still struggling, but a big hand grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the floor. The blow was so severe that he saw stars, and his nose was bleeding, then a second and third blow, soon a pool of terrible blood appeared on the luxurious cypress floor.