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

Chapter 46: Shen Zheng (16:00-16:59) Part 5

Translator: DragonRider

Staff Officer Zhao had heard of that disorder happened in West Market and also knew that a man was escorted back in custody. What he hadn’t expected was that even the Right Prime Minister was involved in this issue.

“He…is an important criminal of the Imperial Court… ” Staff Officer Zhao couldn’t understand the complex situation behind this, but he did know that this person mattered a lot. Tanqi said, “This person’s name is Zhang Xiaojing. My master and the Praetorian Guards Department planted him. Otherwise, why there was no name in the notification letter to the Jing’an Department?”

Her voice was unhurried, but was tinged with reservedness and arrogance that members of noble status possessed.

Staff Officer Zhao thought for a while after hearing this. Then he gently smacked his right fist into the palm of his left hand, as if light suddenly dawned on him, “So… this is what it’s about!” Tanqi and Yao Runeng were greatly relieved and said to themselves at the same time, ‘We did it.’

Li Linfu secretly ordered the Praetorian Guards Department to arrest Zhang Xiaojing, so there were only words like “…arrest related suspects for intensive investigation” but no names. Li Linfu did this so that he could covertly transfer the prisoner. If the Jing’an Department demand the release of the prisoner, the Praetorian Guards Department could give them another prisoner and tell them, “We only arrested related suspects, but we never said that we arrested the one you’re looking for.”

Li Bi was very good at playing this kind of word game as well as turning it into his advantage. Since they could only transfer the prisoner covertly, Li Bi decided to make the first move, rescuing the prisoner by having his subordinates impersonate the opponent’s men.

That jade plate was actually a gift given to Li Bi by Li Heng. Plum blossom connoted their family name “Li”. As luck would have it, these three people had the same family name “Li”, which made this jade plate perfect to be passed off as a token from Li Linfu, deceiving everybody.

As a result, the moment Tanqi showed the jade plate and the pseudonym “Ju Pingkang”, Staff Officer Zhao was immediately prejudiced by his first impression, believing that the visitor was sent by Prime Minister Li. After the visitor stated the details of that document sent to the Jing’an Department, Staff Officer Zhao was more convinced and instantly “understood”, ‘Oh, so Prime Minister Li has been cooperating with our department. His subordinates are here to transfer the prisoner.’

It seemed as if the string of hints tricked the listener by luck, but actually the officials of the Jing’an Department racked their brains to perfect the details.

Seeing that the time was ripe, Tanqi urged him, “The lantern show is about to start. Please bring us to the prisoner as soon as possible, Staff Officer Zhao.” Staff Officer Zhao was extremely excited on the thought of having Prime Minister Li as a potential backer, so he hurriedly agreed.

Staff Officer Zhao led the two towards the depths of the department. There were a lot of side corridors, inner chambers and warehouses connected to each other like a maze. Without an insider leading the way, one would surely get lost. They took a turn and saw a team of soldiers walking towards them head-on. Staff Officer Zhao suddenly stopped and gave a light “Eek” sound. Tanqi and Yao Runeng’s hearts missed a beat at the same time, believing that something was wrong. Yao Runeng stretched his hand towards his waist where an iron ruler was hidden.

Unexpectedly, Staff Officer Zhao said obsequiously, “The path ahead is dark and the ceiling is low. Your Excellency’s curtain-hat might be an inconvenience. Please be careful.” Tanqi was relieved. It was indeed very inconvenient to walk in such a narrow passage behind a veil. She moved the thin veil aside, revealing an exceedingly beautiful face.

Staff Officer Zhao was amazed by her beauty but didn’t dare to stare at her, so he hurriedly turned around. Rumor said that Prime Minister Li had a lust for women and numerous concubines. Even a handmaid of his was so pretty. Having an impression that this visitor was Prime Minister Li’s envoy, he involuntarily connected all details to it, becoming more and more convinced.

Staff Officer Zhao told them that the Praetorian Guards Department had no special prison. Behind a big iron gate was a warehouse serving the purpose of storing things. Currently, some soldiers were guarding it. Clearly, this warehouse was temporarily used as a cell for detaining important prisoners.

Staff Officer Zhao walked over first and whispered something into a guard’s ear, occasionally turning his head back to look in their direction.

Yao Runeng noticed that Tanqi’s cuffs were quivering. Coming into a prion to rescue a prisoner was too difficult a task for a young woman. After all, this was an emergency plan formulated in a haste, in which there were still many uncertainties, so they needed a little luck.

“It’s no big deal. Even if we got seen through, we can just fight our way in and get Commandant Zhang out of here,” looking ahead with an iron ruler in his hand, Yao Runeng said in a tone tinged with ferocity similar to that of Zhang Xiaojing.

To dissolve her nervousness, Tanqi said in a muted voice, “Why do you care so much about that playboy?”

Tanqi didn’t like Zhang Xiaojing. She came here purely because of her master, so she couldn’t quite understand why Yao Runeng volunteered to perform this dangerous task. Yao Runeng answered, “He’s a hero. He doesn’t deserve this. This thing we’re doing is illegal, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“Was he really doing those things for residents of this city? He didn’t plan to flee?” Tanqi curiously asked a rhetorical question.

As if humiliated, Yao Runeng knitted his eyebrows, “If Commandant Zhang intends to flee, nobody in this city can stop him.”

Tanqi sighed, “Master is also reckless. He dared to entrust this man with such an important task when he first met him. I really can’t understand. He is just a murderer who killed his superior. Why do you both trust him so much?” Yao Runeng had always been curious about the crime Zhang Xiaojing was convicted of. Hearing this, he hurriedly asked, “You know why he was sent to jail?”

“Master once briefly talked about this, saying that he killed his superior.”

Yao Runeng was startled. Zhang Xiaojing’s superior was a Vice County Magistrate, an official of the second level of the eighth grade. Zhang Xiaojing killed someone whose rank was higher than his. No wonder he was convicted of a capital offence. Yao Runeng continued to ask why he killed his superior. Tanqi shook her head and said she didn’t know, which greatly surprised Yao Runeng. As far as he had observed, Zhang Xiaojing was a secretive man who shouldn’t have done something that impulsive. At the very least, even if Zhang Xiaojing really had an intention of killing the Vice County Magistrate, with his skills, how could anybody have caught him?

“No. It can’t be that simple. There must be something behind it,” Yao Runeng shook his head.

“Humph. He’s merely an idle playboy. What else could possibly be behind it?” Tanqi had never forgotten the bold gaze he had given her.

Right on cue, Staff Officer Zhao returned. The two hurriedly adjusted their facial expression. Staff Officer Zhao looked resigned, “I’m afraid we got a problem.” Tanqi knitted her pretty eyebrows, “What’s going on?”

Staff Officer Zhao said, “If he were a common prisoner, I can give the order myself. But this prisoner’s arrest was ordered by General Gan himself, and the document bore the official seal. By rules, we need his signature… Your noble master must have told you this, right?” upon these words, faint suspicion glinted in his eyes.

Under normal circumstances, before sending an envoy here to transfer the prisoner, Prime Minister Li should have informed General Gan and had him prepare a document or token. But these two visitors only had a plum-blossom-shaped jade plate, so Staff Officer Zhao became fairly suspicious.

Tanqi had extremely quick reflexes. She raised her chin and put on an unhappy face, “This involves secrets of the Imperial Court, so Master intends to keep it confidential. But you want it to be recorded in an official document. Are you trying to make this known to everybody?”

Hearing this serious accusation against him, Staff Officer Zhao felt a cold shiver of fear run through him, “I don’t dare. I don’t dare. But these Praetorian Guards are enforcing military laws. I don’t have the authority to transfer the prisoner.” Seeing that Tanqi was unhappy, he briefly rolled his eyes sideways and then said, “General is now on an inspection tour around the city. How about I have a henchman take the token from your noble master to the general. In less than an hour, he will surely take the signed document back.”

Staff Officer Zhao said this to both ease the tension and to sound the two visitors out. A true envoy of Prime Minister Li wouldn’t be afraid to confront the general.

Of course Tanqi didn’t dare to face the general, so she hurriedly raised her voice, “My master is in an urgent need of this person. It can’t be delayed for a single moment. If master’s big plan fails because of this, are you willing to accept responsibility?” She deliberately ignored the Praetorian Guards Department and just kept putting pressure on this Staff Officer Zhao.

Staff Officer Zhao was sweating buckets but still unwilling to compromise.

The conversation reached a impasse. Tanqi began to feel anxious. She had been acting arrogantly all the time for fear of Staff Officer Zhao seeing through them. Seeing that things were rapidly going in an unfavorable direction, Tanqi stealthily pinched her hand with her nails, which caused a sharp pain that calmed her down. Then she said, “How about this? You take us in and let us talk to him. My master wants to ask him a few questions.”

This was a solution that satisfied both sides. It was not against the military order, and the envoy could also get part of what she wanted. Staff Officer Zhao had no authority to take the prisoner out, but he could take others inside. Relieved, he talked with the guard for a brief while and then the door of the warehouse was opened.

Before going inside, Tanqi gave a little cough. Yao Runeng glimpsed at her and saw that she raised her right hand, took out a square handkerchief out the armlet around her left arm and wiped her lips. His movement briefly froze when he saw this common movement, and with that the look in his eyes became fierce.

This motion indicated that Plan B was also no longer an option, so they had to adopt Plan C, which was not formulated by Li Bi or Yao Runeng but by Tanqi herself.

The tree people followed the guards into the warehouse where they were greeted by a smell of moldy straw. It was dark and they could barely see anything. On the ground were a large pile of bamboo mats and parts of armor. In the corner were a couple of shabby cases. Along the foot of the wall were seven or eight wooden racks on which people could be tied.

A person was tightly bound on one of those wooden racks by several crossed livid iron chains. It was Zhang Xiaojing.

Praetorian GuardsZhang Xiaojing looked the same as what he looked like when he crawled out of the canal, his chignon dripping wet and awry, and there were still water and burns on his clothes. It seemed that those Praetorian Guards hadn’t tortured him yet after taking him here. Hearing the footsteps, he raised his head. A piercing look appeared in his only eye when he saw that it was Tanqi and Yao Runeng who came.

“Er, this is the prisoner,” said Staff Officer Zhao.

Tanqi said, “I want to ask him a few questions on behalf of my master. Would you mind?” Staff Officer Zhao took the hint and immediately ordered the guards to leave. Originally he himself also intended to leave, but Tanqi said to him, “Staff Officer Zhao is one of us. You may stay.” Secretly pleased to hear this, he bolted the door from the inside.

The room instantly became darker when the door was shut. This place was originally a warehouse with only one small air vent, and there was no peephole in the door, so even those guards couldn’t look inside after the door was closed.

Staff Officer Zhao felt that it was too dark, so he bent over and fumbled for the candlestick. Yao Runeng walked up to him and offered to light the candle. Staff Officer Zhao didn’t suspect anything and just handed the candlestick to him. Unexpectedly, instead of a piece of steel for flint, Yao Runeng fished out an iron ruler and took a wild swing at the back of his head.

Staff Officer Zhao let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground prostrate. Yao Runeng caught the falling candlestick without making any noise.

Yao Runeng stuffed anesthetic pill into Staff Officer Zhao’s mouth, pressed his ear on the door and cautiously listened. After quite a while, he made a gesture indicating that guards were not alerted.

Tanqi quickly walked up to Zhang Xiaojing and said in a low voice, “Master sent me here to rescue you.”