The Longest Day in Chang'an

Chapter 92. Zichu (23:00-23:59) Part 5

Translator: DragonRider

There was no name of designated addressee on the envelope of this letter. Inside it was a copy of a document that was in circulation among all Fangs and streets in the city. The messenger had delivered it here because he had happened to see that there were a lot of soldiers of Lubi Army outside this residence. The contents of the document were rather simple: all units shall suspend the hunt for Zhang Xiaojing and devote all manpower to the search for members of the Termite. Apart from the signature of Li Linfu, there was also that of Li Heng at the end of the document.

'Since when did these two forces joined hands?' Yuan Zai wondered.

He didn't really care whether or not Zhang Xiaojing had really been in league with the Termite. However, all the preparations he had made were based on the theory that Zhang Xiaojing was a mole planted by the Termite. Once this foundation was shaken, his whole plan might fall apart.

The current situation was not too bad, since the order for arrest had merely been suspended, not revoked, but he had an inkling that the wheel of his luck seemed to have taken an unfavorable turn of the direction it was going in. This feeling deeply concerned him.

At this time, the door of the yard was opened with a bang and Zhang Xiaojing came into their sight once again. Soldiers nearby and Yuan Zai swallowed hard at the same time and their bodies involuntarily went slightly more tense.

Zhang Xiaojing didn't have a knife in his hands this time. Faced with so many enemies, having neither fear nor any intentions of dodging potential attacks whatsoever, he just calmly walked forward. Yuan Zai knew that this nightmare would be over if he gave the order to shoot right away.

However, the two signatures on the document were still bothering him.

'Why did Li Linfu and the Crown Prince cooperate with each other? Does the suspension of the order for arrest mean that people of the East Palace have determined to provide shelter for Zhang Xiaojing? And what is the attitude of the Phoenix Pavilion? It seems that they've compromised, though grudgingly.' Suspicious by nature, he was very sensitive to faint traces of any form concerning politics. After quite some careful thinking, Yuan Zai came to the sudden realization that he must not kill Zhang Xiaojing!

'This is a trap! It is expressly stated in the document that all units are to devote all manpower to the hunt for members of the Termite. By killing Zhang Xiaojing right here, I will be disobeying an order issued by superiors. If by any chance members of the Termite commit any crimes causing severe damage, this might be used as an excellent pretext by others to make me a scapegoat. They will say, 'It's definitely your fault that those criminals succeeded in doing that, because you defied the order!''

This was not some kind of ungrounded conjecture. Yuan Zai believed that he would definitely do this if he were in the shoes of any of his superiors. The very thought of this brought another layer of cold sweat to the broad brow of Yuan Zai. 'Things had been going too smoothly tonight and I almost made a careless mistake,' he thought.

‘What about capturing him?’

Soon Yuan Zai dismissed this thought from his mind. He could tell from the determined expression on Zhang Xiaojing's face that it was unmistakably impossible to catch him alive. This man had made up his mind to either get out of this place or die trying, and there was not a third option. After weighing up the pros and cons again and again, Yuan Zai found that letting Zhang Xiaojing go was the least risky course of action.

'After all, this is an order from my superiors and I'm just following it.'

Zhang Xiaojing kept walking forward without a single sideways glance. The soldiers raised their bows and crossbows, their wrists trembling. They were waiting for their superior's instruction. However, after quite a while, there was still no order, which made them feel under even heavier pressure.

Zhang Xiaojing walked another ten steps closer to them and they could even see distinctly his only eye and scar-ridden face, but there was still no reaction from Yuan Zai. Soldiers of Lubi Army stood still, since their formation would fall into disorder if they moved. Finally, after Zhang Xiaojing took another five steps forward, Yuan Zai gave the order through gritted teeth. "Unload your weapons and make way!"

The soldiers were just about to pull the triggers when this instruction brought a shudder to their fingers. 'What? Unload our weapons? Did I mishear?'

Yuan Zai yelled once again, "Make way! Make way! Step aside! Now!" Soldiers of Lubi Army were indeed well-trained. Though confused, they still rigorously obeyed the order.

They lowered their crossbows in unison, moved to the sides and made way. Zhang Xiaojing was briefly stunned. He had readied himself for another bloody fight, but surprisingly, the enemies made way for him of their own accord. 'What's going on?' he wondered.

Zhang Xiaojing was perplexed but didn't halt until he walked to the front of Yuan Zai. In extreme nervousness, Yuan Zai felt that he was being eyed by a venomous snake. He drew back a few steps so that the soldiers might be able to hold this criminal back for a while if he suddenly launched an attack.

"I'll get even with you later for what you did to my friends. Now give me a fast horse," remarked Zhang Xiaojing flintily.

Yuan Zai was somewhat annoyed. 'You should be grateful to be allowed to walk away in one piece after taking the lives of so many of my men. Yet you have the nerve to ask me for a horse?' However, when his eyes met Zhang Xiaojing's, he involuntarily shortened his neck in fear and completely lost the courage to defend himself.

Soon a soldier led a fast horse to the scene. Zhang Xiaojing mounted it, lowered his head and informed Yuan Zai, "If any of you still have a bit of your senses left, you should go to the square in front of the Xingqing Palace as soon as possible. All members of the Termite are right there."

After saying this, he turned around the horse and galloped away.

Currently, roads between the Zhiye Fang and the Xingqing Palace were the most congested ones in Chang'an, since the Wuben Fang, the Pingkang Fang, the Chongren Fang and the East Market, all of which were between the two places, were all places where the most lantern show audiences congregated. This year, the imposing Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion standing in front of the Xingqing Palace was even more obtrusive than the Wild Goose Tower, stirring up people's curiosity to such a pitch that they couldn't stop their feet from moving towards the square. Seen from the sky, the square in front of the Xingqing Palace was like a giant pool drawing streams of people into it from all over the city, which was a scene similar to that of numerous rivers flowing into the ocean.

In order to ease the traffic congestion, all Fangs opened their gates to allow sightseers to go through along the main streets, but even so, the traffic was still rather heavy.

After Zi Hour, in particular, the bustle and noise in the streets, instead of decreasing, rose to a new height. Strains of music accompanied by drumbeats and the babble of voices could be heard without end. The smells of candles and cosmetics pervaded every inch of space. All streets were full of residents wearing silks and satin and shiny jewelries. These ubiquitous stimulants were like a gigantic invisible hand of Lantern Festival, which was devouring lantern show audiences incorporating them into the festive atmosphere. These excited and fascinated people, as if under some kind of spell, were blindly following those ahead of them, dancing to the music. Even a bright-colored silk ribbon thrown across the street would send a ripple of exclamation through the crowds.

Zhang Xiaojing's horsemanship was excellent, and the horse was pretty good, too. However, neither of the two could be of any use on an occasion of this kind. Even taking a detour from the south side was not an option, because all residents in this city were moving towards the square, leaving no roads whatsoever uncongested. Zhang Xiaojing forced a few steps forward but soon came to realize that it might take him over two hours to get to the destination if the traffic situation stayed this way.

For Zhang Xiaojing –no, for Chang'an, two hours was way too extravagant.

Zhang Xiaojing simply jumped off the horse and looked around with his only eye, trying to find out if there was another way to get through quickly. Unfortunately, fortune disappointed him. The main road connecting this place and the Xingqing Palace was so crowded with people that even a mouse might not be able to get through, not to mention a horse. Then he shifted his gaze onto the nearby fang-wall, which was about 2-foot thick and barely allowed one man to walk on the top. However, currently, even the top of the fang-wall was full of people, who were either standing or sitting looking like a row of ridge statues of different heights.

Zhang Xiaojing's only eye swept around several times but he still couldn't figure out a way to quickly get through. If he went there by foot, it would still take him at least an hour. At this time, a resounding and silvery female voice came from the distance. Surprisingly, like the sharp sound of a whip, it instantly drowned out all noises. No sooner had the female voice died down than waves of applause and cheers given by thousands of audiences rippled outwards; even flames of the candles placed on those wheel-like lantern holders on the sides of the street quivered.

Zhang Xiaojing raised his head and looked in the direction of the source of the voice. It turned out that two groups of entertainers on carriages participating the Ba-lantern competition were competing on the street. One of those carriages had been remolded into the shape of a tiger, and even the wheel-horses were decorated with brocade that looked like tiger fur. In the middle of the carriage was a big hump shaped like a tiger's arched back, on which three tough hombres were standing, each holding a set of military-style cymbals and drums. People could tell with half an eye that it was a dance named "The Victory of the Emperor Taizong" (a famous court dance in Tang Dynasty) which they were imitating. However, the three of them appeared dejected and despondent. Clearly, they had suffered a defeat.

The winner was standing on a high carriage on the opposite side, the rear of which was decorated with a giant fan made by sticking together over a thousand colorful feathers with glue. It had been meant to look like the tail of a phoenix and make the carriage a scene of birds paying homage to the phoenix. In the middle of the carriage was an erect long pole wrapped up in colorful silk, on the top of which there was a narrow platform. A female singer in a rainbow-colored costume was standing on it. It had been from her lips that the bright-toned melodious soprano making the welkin ring had emanated just now.

Numerous audiences nearby chorused aloud, "Xu Hezi! Xu Hezi!" This was the name of the female singer. Her performance was greeted with prolonged cheers. During a Ba-lantern competition, the one who won the loudest and longest cheer from audiences would be deemed the victor. The song of this entertainer named Xu Hezi had brought hundreds of thousands of audiences into chants of her name. Clearly, the defeat of her opponents was overwhelming.

Xu Hezi, who had just won this competition, pointed her round silk fan, which had the pattern of a goldspink on it, at the Xingqing Palace, suggesting that she was going to be the winner of the final competition this night. This declaration of victory made in advance sent audiences even more excited. With a complacent look on her face, Xu Hezi got off the platform and entered the carriage to have some rest. She wouldn't climb up to the platform again until her carriage encountered another competitor on the street.

The horse-drawn carriage started driving forward at a gentle pace. Around this carriage with a phoenix-tail-like decoration at the rear were a great number of fans moving with it, chanting the name of the female entertainer, who had fierce determination to help their goddess get the title of the number-one entertainer of the Lantern Festival with their cheers.

Of all the followers, the most fanatical one was a young man who, judging by his clothes, was a childe from a noble family. At this time, scarf awry, the front of his garment open, a fascinated look on his face, he was walking forward with his hand on the wall of the carriage and was just about to throw his sachet into the carriage when suddenly he saw a one-eyed man force his way up to him. The childe was just about to reprimand the one-eyed man when the man jabbed the childe hard in the stomach with his elbow. The childe immediately lay prostrate onto the ground in pain.

The man unfastened a knife from the childe's belt, stamped on his back, took a flying leap and landed onto the carriage with a phoenix-tail-like decoration at the rear.

The carriage was a customized one with no gap in any of the four sides, so the entertainer sitting inside didn't have to worry that any crazy fans would climb in. However, this one-eyed man ignored the carriage, went to the front of it in a few strides and pressed the blade of the knife against the driver's neck.

"Keep driving forward. Don't stop unless I tell you to," Zhang Xiaojing instructed in a low voice.

Frightened, the driver stuttered, "This is the Ba-lantern carriage of the Lady Xu. What if someone mounts a challenge?" According to the rule of the competition, when two competitors encountered on a street, they had to compete. The winner should move forward and the loser should take another path.

Zhang Xiaojing pressed the blade of the knife slightly harder and repeated, "Keep driving forward. Don't stop unless I tell you to."

The carriage driver was unaware of why this man wanted him to do this, but the life-threatening blade against his neck was very real. Having no alternative, he flapped the reins and had the wheel-horses speed up. With that, fans around the carriage picked up their pace, chanting the name "Xu Hezi". Residents on the streets hearing this made way on their own account.

This doing of Zhang Xiaojing's seemed one of madness, but he didn't really have any chance. The road was too congested. Carriages of entertainers were the only vehicles that could get to the square smoothly. Residents wanted to watch these entertainers compete, so nobody would block their path. Crazy fans would even clear the road for the carriages of their idol.

He had no choice but to hijack Xu Hezi's carriage surrounded by so many people.