The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time - Chapter 79

The hunt finished in an instant. Yuan Zai was satisfied to see that Cen Can and Wen Ran were escorted out of the hut, each with two soldiers gripping their arms. He walked over and curiously scrutinized this young woman.

She had a small and exquisite face, but her eyes were big. Her lips lightly curved upwards, making her seem stubborn. ‘She’s indeed a beauty – no wonder Prince Yong’s got his eye on her. But she looks very haggard. She probably has suffered a lot during the past half a day.’

In fact, this girl counted as his benefactor. If it weren’t for that Feng Dalun abducted Wen Ran, how would the series of subsequent events have happened? And how would Yuan Zai have got such a meteoric rise?

Yuan Zai suddenly felt an impulse to play a prank. He walked up to Wen Ran and said, “Lady Wen, I was requested by someone to take you home.”

Wen Ran raised his head, hope gleaming in her eyes. “Was it my benefactor?”

Yuan Zai burst into laugh. “Absolutely. He’s already dead. Before he died, he entrusted you to Prince Yong.”

He observed her with an amused look. Wen Ran’s ruddy face visibly paled and then went ashen. As if her bones had suddenly been pulled out of her, soldiers lost their grip on her arms and she limply slumped down to the ground.

“So this is the reaction someone would have when they lose all hope.” Amazed, Yuan Zai clicked his tongue. While he was still thinking about this, Wen Ran suddenly stood up and rushed to butt him like an angry little deer. Blindsided, Yuan Zai tilted backwards and fell into the Free Life Pond with a splash, followed by Wen Ran.

It was early spring. Water in the Free Life Pond was not deep. There was only a thin layer of ice on the surface which was smashed by the two people. At first, Yuan Zai was flustered and kept swinging his arms and kicking his legs, but soon his feet touched the bottom of the pond and he was slightly relieved. But right at this moment, Wen Ran quickly approached him, conveniently grabbed a piece of pointed ice and held it to his throat.

The scene was instantly thrown into total confusion. Soldiers hurriedly tried to get down to save him, but when they saw the threat Wen Ran posed to him, none of them dared to approach.

This time it was Yuan Zai whose face paled. The sharp, icy piece of ice against his skin gave him an exceptionally distinct feeling that death was so close to him. His lips involuntarily started trembling. ‘How could this happen? How could this happen? Everything’s been so perfect during this day. How could I die became of a minor mistake?’

Standing in waist-deep icy water, Wen Ran snapped to soldiers around, “Back off! All of you!” Yuan Zai also hurriedly yelled, “Hurry. Do as she said.”

Soldiers had no choice but to draw back. Then Wen Ran, with the ice against Yuan Zai’s throat, walked out of the Free Life Pond and ordered them to release Cen Can. Yuan Zai urged the soldiers and they obeyed.

Cen Can walked over, took a deep look at Yuan Zai and shook his head. “You could have won if you hadn’t dallied with people’s heart.” Yuan Zai kept silent.

Wen Ran coerced Yuan Zai into walking towards the outside of Cibei Temple step by step. Those soldiers followed them closely but didn’t know what to do. Yuan Zai said, “Our men are out there everywhere. You won’t make it out of here. If you drop the knife, I can help clear you and your benefactor of false charges.”

“Shut up!”

Wen Ran ignored him. Suddenly, she turned her head back and said to Cen Can, “Please leave, Master Cen. You have nothing to do with these things after all.” Cen Can was stunned. “You want me to leave you here alone? I can’t do that.”

“You’ve already done enough for us, master. Some day you’ll become an official. Don’t let yourself be incriminated by me.” Wen Ran held the ice tightly, the look on her face rueful but firm.

Cen Can intended to insist on staying, but he suddenly noticed that water was quietly dripping down the ice in Wen Ran’s hand. He abruptly realized that it wouldn’t be long before the ice melted spontaneously, and then neither of them would be able to escape.

Cen Can gritted his teeth. “Is there anything I can do for you? I promise I’ll do it, whatever the cost.” Wen Ran gave a wry smile and said, “Help me put away the signboard of Wen’s Incense Store and burn it along with the wish-tablet I set up for my benefactor. That’ll be enough. I only hope that what Buddhist monks said was true, that there’s indeed a heaven where kind people will go to after they die.”

All sorts of feelings welled up in Cen Can’s heart as he heard this. A string of brilliant lines of verses containing intense indignation and sorrow were at the tip of his tongue, but he was unable to make a single remark. He solemnly folded his hands in front, turned around and left.

Those soldiers wanted to stop him, but since Yuan Zai was still under her control, none of them dared to move. After Cen Can’s figure disappeared at the front gate of Cibei Temple, Wen Ran heaved a deep sigh, tossed aside the ice knife the most part of which had melted, and limply sat onto the ground.

Yuan Zai, who narrowly escaped death, rapidly ran over ten steps away from her, and then bade soldiers to grip Wen Ran. It was not until this moment that he found that his back was soaked with cold sweat. When wind blew by, his whole back was icy.

Yuan Zai angrily raised the front part of his robe to wipe off the water on his face, a ferocious look in his eyes.

For a man like Yuan Zai, the feeling of imminent death was extremely miserable. That Cen Can was insignificant, but this Wen Ran nearly irreversibly stained this perfect night. By no means would he let her get away with this.

They escorted Wen Ran out of Cibei Temple, heading for Jinzhao Office. This time, with four soldiers gripping her arms and another four ready to whip out their sabers at any moment, Wen Ran had no chance to escape at all. Yuan Zai kept a distance away from her in order not to repeat a disastrous blunder.

Soon this procession, all members of which were acting as if they were confronted by a formidable enemy, arrived at the gateway of Jinzhao Office, from which a high, magnificent horse-drawn carriage happened to be about to depart. When the carriage was passing by the procession, someone suddenly craned out of the window, her face a mixture of surprise and delight.

“Consultant Yuan.”

Yuan Zai saw that the person was Wang Yunxiu. It turned out that the carriage of the Wang Family had arrived and was now taking her home. He gave a smile and was just about to speak when Wang Yunxiu yelled in a pleasantly surprised tone of voice, “Wen Ran? You also survived?”

Wen Ran, who was under escort, abruptly raised her head and finally burst into tears.

“Sister Wang!”

Yuan Zai’s smiling face instantly froze.

Standing in front of Xingqing Palace, beneath display of fireworks, Tanqi looked in the direction of the end of the street with a calm look on her face.

This was the most uproarious place in Chang’an. This was not only the place where the largest, most gorgeous cluster of lantern holders and the most talented entertainers were, but also the place where the Emperor, at Sigeng(01:00), would walk to the top floor of the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion to share his happiness and enjoy this festival with all residents. There was less than two Hours to go. Residents were gathering around from all sides, crowding the place to such an extent that not a drop of water could have trickled through.

But all this hustle and bustle didn’t concern her.

In the distance, six cavalrymen in gold armor appeared at the end of the street, followed by eight attendants holding crimson-painted, moon-shaped fans and long fans made of peacock tail feathers. With that, a luxurious four-windowed carriage drawn by four purplish red horses progressed over, escorted by a dozen guards in brocade clothes.

This guard of honor had already been simplified to the greatest possible extent, but facing this boundless sea of people, it still appeared bloated. The procession had no choice but to slow down to the lowest speed and tried to force their way through crowds of residents, heading for Xingqing Palace.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tanqi rushed into the guard of honor at an extremely fast speed. Heedless of those guards around her who whipped out their sabers, she grabbed the cross board at the rear of the four-windowed carriage, yelling at the top of her voice, “Your Highness! Jing’an Department is at stake!”

There was a deserted temple called Guan Zhong Temple. Nobody knew when it was built or when it was abandoned. It was said that Guan Zhong was the first one to run a brothel, so it was not surprising that a temple named after him stood here. A bookstore of Shouzhuo Mercenary was right next door to this abandoned temple.

Over twenty Shouzhuo mercenaries were standing beside a broken censer in front of the temple, each having a fierce look on his face and a weapon in his hand. Their captain was in the middle of them. They just quietly stood in the dark without any lighting. Before long, squeaks of rolling carriage wheels moving on the unsurfaced road emanated from the path in the distance. Many Shouzhuo mercenaries subconsciously raised their weapons, but the captain remained still, the look on his face unchanged.

An ox-drawn carriage slowly progressed to the front of the temple. The driver reined in the ox and parked the carriage. Elder Ge and Zhang Xiaojing got off the carriage. The former seemed senile and weak, and the latter was still recovering from injury, the two of whom showed a stark contrast with the group of murderous men on the other side.

The captain flicked a look at the position behind the carriage and found that there seemed to be no other men. He asked, “Elder Ge, what can I do for you?”

Elder Ge shook his head and said, “I have nothing to say to you. It is this man who wants to talk to you.” Then he stepped aside and with that Zhang Xiaojing jumped off the carriage from the rear. His face was still pale and he was faintly unsteady due to serious injury.

There was a commotion on the other side the moment he showed himself. A lot of Shouzhuo mercenaries wielded their weapons and could barely forbear to launch an attack immediately. The captain yelled ordering them to quiet down, then glared in the direction of the man on the other side.

“Yama Zhang? How dare you come here?”

The captain knew his nickname. Clearly he had done some research into his background. With a fearless look, Zhang Xiaojing took a step forward and said, “It is somebody else who killed the Fire-master.” The captain smiled wryly, not believing him at all. Zhang Xiaojing said, “If you don’t believe me, ask those who were in the blacksmith’s next door whether another person had gone inside before me and never come out.”

Having seen that he said this so assertively, the captain summoned a couple of his men and asked them about it in a low voice. Then he raised his head and said, “What you said is true, but it can’t prove that you’re not the one who killed him.”

“I don’t have no motive for kill the Fire-master. I’m a commandant of Jing’an Department, and I came here to figure out one thing: who hired Shouzhuo Mercenary to kill an elder in Persian Temple?”

The captain smiled sarcastically, “A commandant of Jing’an Department? Wanted posters of you are everywhere in the whole city. Even if Shouzhuo Mercenary stands by, you still have nowhere to go.”

“That doesn’t concern you. Who hired Shouzhuo Mercenary to killed an elder in Persian Temple?

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because this matter is related to the safety of the whole Chang’an City! Elder Puzhe of Persian Temple is suspected of a horrible conspiracy to destroy Chang’an. Your refusal to be cooperative is synonymous with holding a candle to the devil and making an enemy of the Imperial Court.” Zhang Xiaojing squinted his only eye, and his tone of voice became threatening.

“You’re an escaped criminal. Who gave you the right to exaggerate things just to scare people?!”