The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time - Chapter 66

A good idea suddenly popped into Gan Shoucheng’s head. He summoned a cavalryman, wrote a letter on the spot and bade him to send it to the Secretariat immediately. The meaning of the letter was very simple: Jing’an Department was attacked and the chief of the department was killed. The security of capital city is at stake. Please select another official suitable for this job to reorganize this department.

He knew that Li Linfu had been coveting for a chance to take control of Jing’an Department for a long time. This letter would give Prime Minister Li a great excuse to do so, which would be a huge favor to him.

And this action was absolutely righteous on the surface. Out of safety concerns, General of the Praetorian Guards Department proposed that the Chief of Secretariat would appoint a new superior to take over Jin’an Department. This was a very reasonable deed done for the greater good, and nobody would say that he acted beyond his authority or interfered in affairs of another department.

He not only did the Prime Minister a favor, earned the reputation of seeing the big picture, but also promoted the restoration of Jing’an Department, which could be deemed “killing three birds with one stone.”

As for the chaotic situation on the scene, he had to let it last a while longer. With a regretful look on his face, Gan Shoucheng glanced at the main hall of Jing’an Department, which looked like a giant burning torch, turned his horse around and left in a hurry. He had to returned to the Praetorian Guards Department to check the security again.

Black smoke and flames continued dancing under the night sky. Other blocks of in Chang’an were still shrouded in music, lantern light and festivity, and people crowding the streets had no idea what was happening in this place, and neither did they know what all this meant.

When she heard the news that Jing’an Department had been attacked, Tanqi was transfixed with shock.

She felt that this was undoubtedly a rumor. ‘How was it possible? That’s Jing’an Department!’ Forgetting her manners expected from the traditions, she grabbed the armor of that soldier and, in a voice as loud as roar, asked him what had really happened.

But the soldier, who hadn’t had a chance to get close to the main hall, didn’t know any details. He just made a few inquiries and was told that Jing’an Department seemed to have been attacked and set aflame. Then he hurried back to report.

“What about my master? Where’s Sicheng Li?”

“I–I don’t know,” the soldier answered in hesitation.

Tanqi inhaled deeply, pushed the soldier aside, ran to her mount, hastily mounted it without even stepping on the mounting-stone (A cubic stone for people to tread on to get on a horse), flapped the reins and was about to leave. At this moment, a man suddenly materialized before the horse and grasped the bridle in a firm grip.

“Where are you going?” Zhang Xiaojing yelled with a sullen look on his face.

“To Guangde Fang! Didn’t you hear that Jing’an Department was attacked?” Tanqi’s voice was brittle and also a little teared up.

Zhang Xiaojing’s face was sepulchral, “It’s totally pointless going back.” Tanqi yelled, “You have no authority over me! Step aside!” She shook the reins again, trying to have the horse force him aside. Zhang Xiaojing threw his chest out and blocked her path solidly, “We have more important things to do.”

Tanqi was infuriated. She never expected that this man was so ungrateful and heartless. “You’re a convict condemned to death, and Jing’an Department has nothing to do with you! But I cannot stand by when my master’s life is at stake!” She spurred the horse and tried to leap over.

Zhang Xiaojing didn’t let her go. With a ferocious look in his one eye, he hit the horse’s ears with his fists. In sharp pain, the horse was panicked and started kicking back. Tanqi lost her balance and fell off the horse.

Feeling dizzy with her eyesight dimmed, Tanqi lay prostrate on the ground, unable to pick herself up. Zhang Xiaojing stepped up to her but didn’t stretch out his hand to support her, coldly staring down at her. “Sicheng Li is in Jing’an Department. If even he himself cannot handle it, what do you think you can do even if you make it back?”

Tanqi propped up her upper body and turned her face aside. ‘He is just a headsman who cruelly tortures prisoners. How could he possibly understand feelings of human?’ As if he could tell what she was thinking, Zhang Xiaojing said mercilessly, “Yes. You’re very concerned. You’re very angry. You’re very humane. But all these goddamn emotions are useless in this situation! Read my lips – fucking useless.”

On hearing the unexpected four-letter word, Tanqi blushed scarlet. She was just about to answer back when Zhang Xiaojing widened his only eye and stopped her in an even louder voice, “You think this is some kind of flower-plucking game played by ladies of rich families? That you can leave whenever you want? You’re wrong! This is a war! And there’s no place for personal feelings in a war! Everybody must follow orders in unquestioning obedience!”

Having never seen this man acting so ferociously, Tanqi didn’t dare to raise her head after hearing his rebuke.

“I also have close friends in the department. You think I’m not worried? You think I don’t want to go back there immediately? But our task is not to protect Jing’an Department! It’s to find out the whereabouts of Kailu Hodo and keep this Chang’an City safe! As long as this job is unfinished, we have to continue executing the task.”

“Let’s… Let’s go back first to take a look before going to the Shouzhuo Mercenary-” Tanqi still tried to insist.

“We don’t have time for that! You have to make a choice between the two places. Once you make the choice, you’ll have to pay the price for it.” Zhang Xiaojing darted a dark glance at her, turned around, walked a few steps forward and said coldly.

“Your master agreed to let you follow me because he believed that you could do something more valuable than serving people.”

After saying this, he left Tanqi, who burst into tears, and walked to the gate of the Persian Temple. That Shouzhuo mercenary escorted by two soldiers was standing right on the side, haggard and uneasy, worried about what would happen to him next.

There was no hour-copper nearby, so they didn’t know the exact time, but it was probably nearly half past the You Hour. The lantern show outside was reaching a climax with increasingly stronger waves of clamor, lantern light getting brighter and brighter. Subduing his anxiety, Zhang Xiaojing said briefly, “Let’s take this man and move.”

Soldiers stuffed the assassin into a carriage and a couple of soldiers also got in. He drew the curtain from outside so that nobody could see the inside of the carriage.

Zhang Xiaojing led his mount over, got on it and was just about to leave the temple when suddenly somebody grabbed the bridle. Alarmed, the horse neighed and raised its forelegs high. Zhang Xiaojing clamped his legs over the sides of the horse with his abdomen tucked in, firmly holding on to the horseback, and managed to stop himself from falling off.

He turned his head aside and saw that Tanqi was standing in front of the horse. There were still traces of tears beside the corners of her eyes, and her pretty face appeared a little haggard but also firmer and more persistent. She released her grip on the bridle, raised her chin and said, “Now we’re even. Let’s go.”

Before Zhang Xiaojing could make a response, she got on the horse, tied her long hair up at the back and coiled it on top of her head, so that her hair wouldn’t go awry when she was moving quick. Since Tanqi had a long neck, the bun on top of her head gave her an air of martial bearing, competence and sophistication.

Without making any comments, Zhang Xiaojing waved his hand and gave the order to departure.

The team quickly left the Persian Temple, forced their way through the crowds who were enjoying the lantern show on the street, and progressed towards Pingkang Fang as fast as they could. After traveling for a while, the team suddenly split into two groups at an intersection, each heading in a different direction. Soon another rider also arrived at the intersection from behind, who, after wavering for quite a while, chose the right side, spurred his mount and pursued the group.

He galloped to the gate of Yining Fang in one breath only to find that the group ahead suddenly disappeared. He was just about to crane his neck to look for them when a couple of horsemen suddenly came up to him from two sides and ringed him. Zhang Xiaojing walked out of the dark and fixed that man with a gaze. He was even more surprised than the man who was blindsided. “Deacon Es?”

“Commandant Zhang, you look pretty good.” Es threw his chest out and crossed himself. A short while ago Zhang Xiaojing rained down curses on his head, but now he didn’t seem embarrassed at all. Instead, he acted as if he was having a reunion with an old friend.

The moment they left the Persian Temple, Zhang Xiaojing discovered that someone was stalking them. They set a trap, believing that they could capture a member of Shouzhuo Mercenary. However, they saw that the stalker was that narcissistic, naive deacon of the Persian Temple.

“Why are you following us?”

Trying hard to keep his balance on the mule, Es said, “The stinging rebuke Commandant gave me a while ago was amazingly enlightening. I did some introspection and realized that monks of our temple have indeed been unduly concentrative on learning scriptures and neglectful of reviewing our deeds. As a result, I decided to come here to share in Commandant’s burden. If I by any chance prove to be of a little help, that could count as our temple repaying the Imperial Court for the help and encouragement it gave us.”

Zhang Xiaojing understood his remarks. The Turk named Yousha and two assassins of Shouzhuo Mercenary had been hiding in the Persian Temple, and all monks in the temple would probably be held accountable if this thing was disclosed. In order to keep Nestorianism’s foothold in Chang’an, Es had no choice but to come here to help in a thick-skinned manner, hoping that he could at least atone for the crime by meritorious actions.

Zhang Xiaojing squinted his only eye on the horse but said nothing. Waiting in jitters, Es swallowed hard with a roll of his Adam’s apple, unaware of whether his words would work on this ferocious man.

After quite a while, Zhang Xiaojing was still silent. Es cupped his hands before his chest and said in a tone of voice tinged with entreaty, “It hasn’t been easy for Nestorian monks to preach Nestorianism in central mainland. Please have mercy on us, Commandant. I’m willing to be your squire –besides, Commandant does need an assistant who has nimble skills, great discernment as well as wisdom to help you with the investigation, right?”

“…” This time even Zhang Xiaojing became truly speechless.

Tanqi tried very hard to keep herself from kicking this narcissist off his mule. Es also realized that his words were a little inappropriate, so he corrected himself.

“With my identity as a Persian prince, I will surely be helpful when you negotiate with Hu people.”

Most Hu people professed one of the Three Foreign Religions, of which Nestorianism was a major religion, so Es was not bragging when he said this. As for the “Persian prince” part, they believed that he was just blowing his own horn. Finally, Zhang Xiaojing was convinced. “Suit yourself. But I can’t guarantee your safety.”

Overjoyed, Es whipped the mule and followed the team closely. He had left the temple in such a haste that he hadn’t even had enough time to find himself a horse, so he rode a mule here. Fortunately, the streets were all crowded with people, so the mule and those horses progressed almost at the same speed. Es didn’t dare get too close to Zhang Xiaojing, so he tried to cotton up to Tanqi, but Tanqi was too worried about her master to talk with him. Es had no choice but to stay in the rear.

Intermittently, they finally made it through the crowds who were enjoying the lantern show, and reached Guanglu Fang. The Rosefinch Street was right in front of them, and they would enter the jurisdiction of Wannian County once they crossed it. But the carriage was stranded here.

At this moment, the broad Rosefinch Street was heavily congested with residents jostling one another, which looked like a sea of people. Even wind could not get through.

All of them were waiting to see Ba-lantern.

Ba-lantern was not a lantern but groups of entertainers singing and dancing on specially designed big carts. These Ba-lantern carts were selected and sent into the capital city by local provincial governments to add glamor to the Lantern Festival. When the lantern show started, they entered the city from the east, the west and the south, proceeding slowly along streets, displaying their respective skills, and then at Sigeng (01:00), otherwise known as Chou Zheng, gathered in front of the Xingqing Palace. The entertainer who performed the most best and received the most ovation was hailed “the Red Crown of Lantern”.

In the palace, the Emperor would grant the Red Crown of Lantern permission to go up to the top floor of the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion where the two of them would light the lantern in the biggest lantern pavilion together, bringing festivity to its climax –this was the origin of Ba-lantern.

Apart from enjoying the beauty of lanterns, another entertainment for Chang’an citizens was to chase these Ba-lantern carts. Wherever the carts went, people followed. Some outstanding performers had regular audience who followed them during the festival every year.

At this moment, in the middle of the Rosefinch Street, two extremely popular fleets of Ba-lantern carts were competing against each other. On one side was a female dancer in red clothes, and on the other side was a half-naked tough hombre playing four Jie-drums (Drums of a barbarian people in ancient China).