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

Chapter 57: You Chu (17:00-17:59) Part 7
Translator: DragonRider
All four streets near Guangde Fang were ablaze, lit up by dazzling lantern. Those giant lantern holders were emitting thousands of glaring golden beams, lighting up half of the sky.

For visitors, this was a rare spectacle, but for people on watchtowers built by Jing’an Department in various neighborhoods, those distracting lanterns were the worst headache. Countless candles and perpetual loud noises made both drumbeats and torches ineffective in sending messages.

As a result, staff members on watchtowers had no choice but to wrap their lanterns up with two layers of purple paper, so the light became distinguishable from lanterns on those giant lantern holders. If immortals were looking down on Chang’an City from heaven, they would see the city was shrouded in a sea of flickering golden light, and they had to look very carefully to discover those faint purple spots, just like sesame seeds sparingly scattered on a Biluo pie by a stingy cake shop owner.

At this moment, the purple lantern on a watchtower near Guangde Fang suddenly went out, but compared to the colorful lanterns as bright as the sun and moon, this small change was so insignificant that nobody would have noticed it.

Soon the lantern on the second watchtower went out.

And then the third, the fourth, the fifth… In dozens of tanzhi (Tanzhi, or finger-flick, is a unit of time used in ancient China. A Tanzhi equals around 7.4 seconds), purple lanterns on watchtowers around Guangde Fang all faded, as if a dark rope was gradually hitched around the neck of Guangde Fang.

After locking Wen Ran up in a rear hall cell, Yao Runeng walked to the courtyard and exhaled deeply. Wen Ran had been unwilling to go back to a dark room and kept asking Yao Runeng what was going on. He had tried very hard and finally managed to calm her down.

This common girl had been through so many tortures this day. He pitied her very much. Just now, Sicheng Li had ordered Yao Runeng to lock her up like a prisoner, which made him feel ashamed .

He bade the prison guard put a candlestick and a copper basin with clean water in the cell –Wen Ran’s hair and face were very dirty, so she could wash up in her cell.

‘With this, at least I can face Commandant Zhang with a clean conscience when he comes back,’ Yao Runeng thought.

This woman said Zhang Xiaojing saved her family. Yao Runeng wondered what had happened between the two. He became very curious about Zhang Xiaojing’s life and eager to know this person better. Wen Ran was probably a great source of information.

Yao Runeng let Wen Ran to take her time. He himself went to the courtyard to breathe some fresh air and collect his thoughts before going back to interrogate Wen Ran –’Um, question her, not interrogate her,’ he corrected himself.

The prison behind Jing’an Department was connected to the Left Wing, with a small courtyard between them. The previous owner had built a rockery covered with Chinese wistaria, creating a quiet mountainous scene. Yao Runeng wandered in this small courtyard, contemplating with his head down. Suddenly he noticed a flickering figure behind the rockery. Yao Runeng squinted his eyes, laid his hand warily onto the iron ruler fastened to his belt and asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me. Cui Qi.”

The figure walked out. Yao Runeng widened his eyes in surprise.

“Oh? Isn’t this General Cui of Praetorian Guards?” Yao Runeng emphasized the word “General” in sarcasm. He thought he would never have to see this face again. What do you know? This guy still had the nerves to come back to Jing’an Department.

Cui Qi said with a dark face, “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Yao Runeng continued mocking him. “You want to arrest me? It’s a pity General Gan’s injunction is against Commandant Zhang. He never mentioned a nobody like me.”

Cui Qi clenched his teeth and said in a deep voice, “It’s not about this. I’m telling you, Jing’an Department might be in danger!”

Yao Runeng could barely contain his laughter, thinking this guy’s remarks were funnier than those of comedians performing Canjun plays. Jing’an Department was in charge of defense and security of the capital city. It was in danger? Its job was to identify danger!

“No. Listen to me. I don’t have any proofs for the moment, but I have a strong feeling that something is not right.”

Cui Qi’s tone was a little anxious. He used to be a solder in Longshan, so he had a well-developed instinct for danger. A while ago, he suddenly began to feel restless. Footsteps of people in the hall, the flowing of wind, the noises outside, the frequency of messages being sent –he kept having this feeling that something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what or where it was.

“Of course you expect something bad to happen to Jing’an Department.” Yao Runeng curled his lip.

“You bastard! Why are you talking like this?” Infuriated, Cui Qi slapped the rockery with his palm. “Yes! I’m a traitor! I cater to those in power! But what can I possibly gain by telling such lies?”

Yao Runeng watched his face and grew serious. This person might be a despicable coward, but he was not a good actor. He really looked anxious.

“If you’re so kind, why don’t you tell Sicheng Li or Curator Xu yourself?” Yao Runeng asked suspiciously.

“They’ll never believe a traitor’s words,” Cui Qi answered with a bitter smile, “but if you warn them, that would be different. Listen. I’m not doing this for Jing’an Department. I’m doing this for myself. If anything happens to Jing’an Department, I’ll be held accountable as well.”

He was telling the truth. If he had the choice, he would have run away already. But because of the order issued by Gan Shoucheng, he had to stay here.

Yao Runeng said, “Then first you’ll have to tell me what it’s about. I can’t tell them it’s just your feelings. How is Jing’an Department supposed to defend itself?”

Cui Qi said urgently, “Dispatch a few teams of Lubi soldiers here first. It’s always safe!”

The moment he finished the last word, the two of them heard urgent footsteps. They looked towards the source of the sounds and found that the footsteps were coming from the back garden, which was further away.

Xu Bin ran back to Jing’an Department from Jinzhao Office in one breath and then ran from Jing’an Department to the area behind the courtyard, which was a large garden. It was open and spacious, with only some storage rooms, toilets, wooden shelves, and so on. Jing’an Department’s watchtower was also in the middle of this garden, surrounded by gables.

Theoretically this was a dead end with no exit, but Xu Bin suddenly recalled that there was actually another passage in this garden.

The canal.

Why was Guangde Fang’s location so important? Because all three canals in western Chang’an -the Guangtong Canal, Qingming Canal and Yong’an Canal happened to meet at this place before flowing into the imperial city.

As the confluence of three canals, the main channel in Guangde Fang was broad and deep. This back garden of Jing’an Department had two water gates, one in the east wall and the other one in the west wall. Water of the main channel flowed into the garden through the east water gate and then, along a curved man-made channel in the middle which ran around Li Bi’s storage room, flowed into the west water gate into the main channel. As a result, the garden had running water, and as long as one of the three canals flowed, there would be always running water in this garden, which created fantastic fengshui.

The moment Xu Bin saw the roll of paper in Clerk Pang’s hand, he realized that the mole didn’t have to go through either of the two gates at all. All he had to do was come to this back garden pretending to go to the washroom, toss an oil-soaked paper into the channel, and have someone pick it up with a bamboo strainer outside the west wall. The current would pass the intelligence reports in a reliable, quick and extremely safe way.

This tactic sounded very simple when it was figured out, but it was more practical than Clerk Pang’s method.

Xu Bin deliberately sent words out that Wang Yunxiu was Wen Ran, which, for the other mole, was a message that must be passed on immediately. In another word, if he hurried here, Xu Bin might be able to catch this person beside the channel. If not, at least he could catch the one responsible for picking up intelligence reports beside the west wall, and block this transmission channel.

He was followed by five Indecent members. Xu Bin bade two strongest one to get into the garden by climbing over the wall on the other side as soon as possible and guard the position. He and the other three formed a fan when approaching the channel.

Xu Bin hadn’t done such vigorous exercise for a long time, gasping, his lungs in burning pain, but he dared not stop. After hearing the apprehension of Clerk Pang, the mole might go underground, so this was the only chance to catch that person.

They ran into the back garden and progressed quickly along the gravel path. Soon they saw the dim outline of the storage room in the dark. There were no lamps here, so they were unable to get a clearer view. They could only hear the gurgles of water in the channel.

Eek? Why are the lamps here all dark?

The big watchtower of Jing’an Department was right beside this garden. It received messages sent from everywhere, and thus was double the size of a common watchtower, allowing eight staff members to stand on it. After dark, there were supposed to be sixteen purple lanterns on it.

Xu Bin raised his head and found that it was pitch-dark on the big watchtower. There wasn’t a single lantern.

‘This is bad!’

An extremely ominous premonition clutched Xu Bin’s heart like a venomous snake springing from the dark.

Two screams rose from the other side of the wall, which came from the two Indecent members. Xu Bin’s face drastically changed. He craned his neck but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Then he lost his footing and fell onto the ground.

At the same time, a shadow stood up in the channel. Startled, all members of the Indecent whipped out their rulers from their waists. One after another, a dozen shadows rose from the water and climbed up like evil spirits.

They wore black diving suits and held short crossbows, standing in a row in horrible silence. The railings at the bottom of the west wall not far away had been dismantled. These people probably swam through that entrance. A black figure standing at the foot of the west wall was calmly looking in this direction, playing with a straight-handled horse-teeth file in his hand.

Intimidated, the other three Indecent members stopped and tried to double back. A couple of short crossbows fired at the same time and instantly killed two of them. The last one tried to alarm others but a bolt flew into his head in a flash.

A black figure craned out of the edge of the big watchtower, confirmed the kill and then gestured a sginal.

The black figures took off their diving suits, reloaded their crossbows, split into several squads and quickly headed for the main hall of Jing’an Department…