The Longest Day in Chang’an: A Race Against Time - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: You Chu (17:00-17:59) P2
Translator: DragonRider
A night breeze brew into the room through the cracks in the roof made of thatch and with that the flame of the torch which burnt pine oil started flickering, making the shadows of the two people seem extremely eerie. Zhang Xiaojing maintained that posture for over ten Tanzhi (1. Tanzhi is a unit of time used in ancient China. A Tanzhi equals around 7.4 seconds) before slowly laying the body flat on the ground, a delighted look on his face.

Because of the injunction granted by Gan Shoucheng, Zhang Xiaojing couldn’t return to the hall of the Jing’an Department, so he had to go to the thatch-roofed hut. Fortunately, a couple of diligent petty officials sent by Xu Bin had already installed two wooden ladders on the wall between the thatch-roofed hut and the hall, which made it much more convenient for him to travel between the two places. This time he had really become the kind of wastrel who climbed walls, just like Tanqi had repeatedly mentioned.

“Cross and lotus flower?”

After hearing Zhang Xiaojing’s report, Li Bi furrowed his forehead, trying hard to figure out what this thing was and what relations there might be between it and Yousha hiding in Chang’an. But he felt that it was nearly impossible to find any clues in a short time, so he waved his hand and sent this message to the hall of the Jing’an Department, having those old civil officials to deal with it.

With the collective efforts of all staff members, Li Bi believed that it wouldn’t take long to find out the answer.

Zhang Xiaojing added, “By the way, I might have known where Wang Yunxiu is.” Li Bi’s eyebrows lifted. The safety of Wang Zhongsi’s daughter was the second priority, but there had been no clues to her whereabouts all along. Zhang Xiaojing actually had managed to get some information about this issue during the interrogation?

“Cao Poyan also told you this?”

“No. He died right after saying the words ‘cross and lotus flower’,” Zhang Xiaojing explained, “but when I was laying his body flat onto the ground, I smelled a fragrance. It was Jiangshen rue fragrance, which is an incense Lady Wang uses very often.”

Li Bi grunted “Um” and asked him to keep talking. Zhang Xiaojing said, “When Turkish Wolf Guards were transferring from Xiuzheng Fang to Changming Fang, they took a woman with them. Cao Poyan had been waiting in Changming Fang all along, but he had the smell of Jiangshen rue fragrance about him, which suggested that Changming Fang was the last known place that Wang Yunxiu had been. We must go and check as soon as possible.”

After analyzing the situation, he involuntarily clamped his lips together.

On this matter, Zhang Xiaojing was a little selfish. He didn’t care what might happen to Wang Yunxiu. All he wanted to do was rescue Wen Ran. He knew that only by misleading the Jing’an Department into believing that Wang Yunxiu was the one abducted by those Turks would these people put efforts into investigating it.

This lie wouldn’t have any negative influence on the major direction of the investigation, but Zhang Xiaojing wasn’t sure whether Li Bi would see through it. This guy had very sharp eyes and it wouldn’t be easy to trick him.

“How do you know Wang Yunxiu uses this kind of incense very often?” Li Bi asked rhetorically in suspicion. As expected, he identified the key immediately. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaojing had fabricated an explanation. “One of my friends runs an incense store, and he’s been supplying the Wang Family with this kind of incense all along.”

Li Bi shook the report in his hand and said, “But the Lubi Army has already conducted an intensive search in Changming Fang and didn’t find anything.”

“I can take a scout dog and search it again,” Zhang Xiaojing insisted. Surprisingly, there was a faint note of entreaty in his voice. Greatly surprised, Li Bi couldn’t help but flick another glance at him. Since when did this guy care about Wang Yunxiu so much?

After contemplating for a while, he granted his consent to this request. After all, this was Wang Zhongsi’s daughter. Even if it was a mere pose meant for the Wang Family, they also had to carry out another search. But Li Bi didn’t allow Zhang Xiaojing to do it himself, because he wanted his most capable subordinate to be on the most important matter. Currently, the first priority of the Jing’an Department was not Wang Yunxiu but Dignitary Yousha.

On seeing this, Yao Runeng hurriedly volunteered. He had once seen Zhang Xiaojing walk a dog before, so he counted as fairly experienced. Li Bi nodded his consent. Before his departure, Zhang Xiaojing grabbed Yao Runeng’s arm and reminded him how to make full use of the scout dog’s keen sense of smell. He explained the secret of it in such a detailed manner that even Yao Runeng sensed that something was not right, wondering whether there had been any romantic relationship between this Wang Yunxiu and Zhang Xiaojing when he was the General of the Indecent.

After Yao Runeng left, there were only Li Bi, Zhang Xiaojing and Tanqi in the thatch-roofed hut. At this moment, Xu Bin was still in the Jing’an Department supervising all staff members working on that clue, and so far there hadn’t been any outcome. The three people stood there looking at each other, having no idea what to do during this rare spare time.

Li Bi waved the horsetail whisk and said, “Let’s review Turkish Wolf Guards’ routes… ” But Zhang Xiaojing grabbed the fringe of the horsetail whisk, a serious look on his face. “When was the last time you slept, Sicheng Li?”

“Two days ago. I’ve been refraining from eating grains for many years, so I’m fine.”

Li Bi tried to withdraw the horsetail whisk, but unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaojing’s grip was very firm, and the brisk didn’t move a little bit. Feeling that it was somewhat ungraceful to keep pulling like that, he coldly snorted and let go. Zhang Xiaojing snatched the horsetail whisk, tossed it aside and said, “Sicheng Li, I suggest you take a nap. If you keep working so hard, sooner or later you’ll break down.”

Tanqi cast a grateful glimpse at Zhang Xiaojing, took a few steps forward and conveniently tried to support her master, but Li Bi waved his hand and said self-deprecatingly, “No. I cannot sleep at all. These days, every time I close my eyes, I begin to worry that something big might happen and I won’t be able to deal with it in time if I fall asleep.” Zhang Xiaojing severely criticized him. “How can you be an ascetic if you’re so mindful of gains and losses?”

Li Bi let out a deep sigh. “Being an ascetic means being lonely all one’s life, and it requires one to be absolutely unconcerned about everything. But there are hundreds of thousands of residents’ lives in my hands. How can I possibly ignore them? Both the heaven and the underworld are merciless, and they treat all living things and unliving things alike, but I cannot do that.”

“Then why be an ascetic? Isn’t it better to be a Prime Minister?” Zhang Xiaojing asked rhetorically.

Li Bi curled his lip and flicked a look at him, as if saying “What does an uneducated person like you know?” Unwilling to have any further discussion on this topic, he asked, “How did you hurt your hand?”

Zhang Xiaojing had been through a lot during the past few hours – being tortured by Mage’er, a life-or-death fight with Cao Poyan, dropping into the icy canal, nearly being burnt to death by fire, and the torture inflicted on him by the Praetorian Guards Department. He was covered in countless bruises and cuts, but the most obvious injury was a severed left finger. Li Bi could tell at first sight that this severed finger was different from other wounds, that there must be some particular reason.

Having nothing to hide, Zhang Xiaojing gave him a sketchy account of the matter about Elder Ge. Li Bi had heard Yao Runeng’s report on this. It was just that he didn’t know many details. It was not until now that he was informed of what had actually happened in that shack in Pingkang Fang.

Tanqi’s face changed several times in a row. She had never known that this unruly and intractable man who never did things by the rules was actually a man of his word. Li Bi made no response, his hands clasped together. In his sight, betraying an undercover agent was an infringement of the regulation, but Zhang Xiaojing did it for the greater good, and he didn’t really have a choice. He and Zhang Xiaojing were actually the same kind of people. He would also have chosen to kill an innocent to stop the ship from capsizing.

But Zhang Xiaojing’s cutting off his own finger to make atonement greatly surprised Li Bi.

“False sentimentality,” Li Bi callously commented with two words. “If some day I’m in that situation, just do it cleanly and directly. There’s no need to hesitate or feel guilty. It’s for the greater good. How’s that a guilt?”

Zhang Xiaojing shut his mouth and squinted his eyes. Clearly he was unwilling to continue talking about this.

Both of the two were secretive, and neither of them intended to share their previous life experience, so the atmosphere of conversation just dissolved like this. There was an awkward silence in the thatch-roofed hut. The stared at each other for quite a while, both faintly regretting not having chosen to talk about work.

These two people might be the best partners, but by no means would they become friends.

Tanqi looked at her master and then moved her eyes to the wastrel, sensing intense embarrassment. She moved her beautiful eyes aside, turned around and walked out. After a while, she brought a tray of deep-fried dough made by monks of Cibei Temple, under which there were also a couple of pancakes. The deep-fried dough was fried with vegetable oil and thus very filling. The two people hadn’t had anything since noon, and when this thing would be over was still unknown, so they had to take advantage of this interval to fill their bellies.

Food partially dissolved the awkwardness in the room. Li Bi and Zhang Xiaojing each dragged a cattail hassock to the staircase outside the thatch-roofed hut. Tanqi placed the tray between them.

Feeling that eating while crouching was somewhat undignified, Li Bi adjusted his clothes, knelt down and sat on the back of his shanks in a fastidious manner, while Zhang Xiaojing sat down, leaned his upper body against a wooden column beside the hut and bluffly straightened his legs. They stretched out their hands to take deep-fried dough from the tray and eat it along to cool well water, looking in the direction of the outside.

The Cibei Temple was located in a low-lying area, so they were unable to see any lanterns from the hut. But half of the sky was lit by red glow, indicating that the whole Chang’an was in a joyous revel, which made this place seem even more desolate and cheerless.

These two lonely guardians just stayed in the dark, ate cold food and drank cold water, silently watching the festive and beautiful scene in the distance.

The rest time was not very long. They had only had half of the deep-fried dough in the tray when Xu Bin delivered a message here saying that they had already figured out what the words “cross and lotus flower” referred to – Persian Nestorianism.

Nestorianism, Manicheism and Zoroastrianism were collectively known as the Three Foreign Religions. In fact, Nestorianism was from the Grand Qin(An ancient Asian country), and it had spread to central mainland in Zhenguan period of Tang Dynasty. In official documents, it was called Persian Temple. The number of its believers was slightly smaller than that of Zoroastrianism, most of whom were in the western part of the city, so even Zhang Xiaojing didn’t know what the words “cross and lotus flower” represented.

As luck would have it, one of the staff of the Jing’an Department was a disciple of Nestorianism. On hearing the words “cross and lotus flower”, he immediately pointed out that the most obtrusive symbol in Nestorian temples presented a cross placed on a lotus flower.

Nestorianism focused on light. A lotus flower symbolized spiritual purity. A cross represented redemption. This doctrine actually counted as a pretty unique one.

Since Cao Poyan’s last words were “cross and lotus flower”, obviously, this Dignitary Yousha was hiding in the Nestorian temple. Previously, Long Bo had hid himself in a Zoroastrian Temple. Turks seemed to like using innocent disciples to cover their whereabouts.

But neither Zhang Xiaojing and Li Bi showed any delight. There were over ten big Nestorian temples and more than a thousand Nestorian monks in Chang’an. Searching for Yousha with just these words was synonymous with trying to find one person in the ocean.

“Shall we check the certificates of Nestorian monks like we did when investigating Zoroastrianism?” asked Zhang Xiaojing.

Li Bi shook his head. Back then when they were investigating Zoroastrian Temples, the range was only one fang. Currently, they didn’t have enough time to check certificates of all Nestorian disciples in Chang’an.

Tanqi standing on the side let out a light cough. Before Li Bi could say anything, Zhang Xiaojing raised his head and said with a smile, “You seem to have an idea, lady?” Originally, Tanqi had planned to imply her master, but unexpectedly, this wastrel brought it to light. She couldn’t help but shoot him an annoyed, embarrassed look.

But Li Bi was too concerned to care about these details. “Don’t worry, Tanqi. There are no outsiders here. Just call a spade a spade.”

Emboldened, Tanqi said, “I just recalled something. Back then when people were making preparations for the establishment of the Jing’an Department, the siting was changed several times, and eventually they chose Guangde Fang. The Jingzhao Office is also in this fang, which provides easy access to official documents. It is bordered by the West Market on the west, so its staff members can easily keep foreign merchants under surveillance. It is also bordered by the imperial city on the north, which facilitates communications with the royal palace. The Rosefinch Street is right on its east side, which makes it very convenient to dispatch troops. Only by staying in this area can master have a global perspective on the big picture and establish an efficient chain of command… so I think, maybe Yousha sees things the same way?”

She put it in a mild and roundabout way, but Li Bi’s eyes lit up. He stood up from the cattail hassock, wiped off the oil on his hand with a pancake and said, “Get the map!”

There was no sand table here, but the contract painter of the Jing’an Department rushed out a map made of bamboo-paper. Though the lines and words were a little slapdash, all necessary marks were on it. Tanqi immediately turned around, found the map and unfolded it on the ground. Li Bi and Zhang Xiaojing stooped down to research the matter.

Tanqi did have a sharp mind. She instantly found a perfect breakthrough point: that Dignitary Yousha came to Chang’an not to take a vacation but to direct operations. On the one hand, he had to keep Wolf Guards under control. On the other hand, he had to be able to contact that mysterious force, who bribed him, any time, which was extremely demanding in terms of communication. But he didn’t have a watchtower network, which meant he must choose to stay in a place with very convenient transport.

Zhang Xiaojing took a small writing brush and drew a black line on the map, which extended from the Goldlight Gate to the West Market and then to Changming Fang before going back to Guangde Fang. The line branched off halfway in a dotted line which led to Xiuzheng Fang in the east. Wolf Guards’ routes in Chang’an soon became explicit. Li Bi, who was standing beside him, also picked up a small writing brush, but he dipped its head into cinnabar and what he marked on the map were locations of all Nestorian temples between in the two fangs near the black line.

In Chang’an, all religions were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Religions. Xu Bin was a conscientious man. When he delivered the message to the thatch-roofed hut, he specially had someone get the Nestorian temple directory from the Department of Religions, so that they could refer to it when necessary.

The two people kept drawing black lines and red dots on the map which soon became a mess. In outsiders’ eyes, those might seem like children’s graffiti, but in their eyes, those lines and dots were like a net that was being hauling in. The enemy’s position was becoming more and more distinct as possible hideouts were excluded one after another.

Eventually, their focus converged on a position on the map. They raised their heads at the same time, looked at each other and smiled.