The Longest Day in Chang'an

Translator: DragonRider

Taizhen rejoiced to see Tanqi. She had been living in the palace for quite a long time and a chance encounter with an old friend had always been something of a rarity for her. She held Tanqi's hand and said, "It's been such a long time since the last time we've met each other. How have you been doing?"

Zichu, 15th of the first lunar month, Tianbao Year 3, Tang Dynasty.

Guangde Fang, Chang'an County, Chang'an City.

Yuan Zai returned to the front gate of the Jinzhao Office, looking slightly frustrated.

He had gone to so much trouble to catch Wen Ran, but it had never crossed his mind that Wang Yunxiu would run into her. What was further beyond his expectation was that the two of them were old friends, pretty close ones actually.

Those Wolf Guards, who had meant to abduct Wang Yunxiu, had mistakenly abducted Wen Ran, while members of the Fires Gang, who had intended to abduct Wen Ran, had mistakenly abducted Wang Yunxiu. These two coincidental mistakes had inflicted panic and fright of different forms on these two girls.

Yuan Zai was fully aware of the context of this matter, which was why it was giving him bad headaches. If he was to forcibly take Wen Ran away, he would definitely have to give Wang Yunxiu a plausible explanation, but if he explained it to her, his story of Zhang Xiaojing abducting Wang Yunxiu wouldn't hold water.

It was a noteworthy fact that though Wen Ran was a common girl, the abduction of her, if exposed, would implicate a lot of people, from members of the Fires Gang to Prince Yong.

Wen Ran was only a bonus, but Wang Yunxiu was a deciding factor in how much he would gain from this situation. As a result, he couldn't afford to let his plan aimed at the latter go awry. After weighing up the pros and cons for quite a while, Yuan Zai had no alternative but to release Wen Ran for the moment and let Wang Yunxiu take her to the residence of Wang Family.

To make sure that no more accidents would happen, Yuan Zai also got into the horse-drawn carriage of Wang Yunxiu. Wen Ran was very scared, but Wang Yunxiu was quite happy. Since Yuan Zai had granted her request almost immediately, she believed it an indication that her opinion meant a lot to him.

It was not until Yuan Zai saw them to the front gate of the residence of Wang Family that he took his leave and went on his way back. He felt it regrettable that this night, which he had wanted to be perfect, still witnessed a minor setback.

"Now, there is but one loose end –Zhang Xiaojing."

Pondering, he got off the horse-drawn carriage. He was just mulling over what kind of tactics he should adopt to catch this ruffian whose ferocity had never been matched since the very start of Chang'an City, when two men walked out of the front gate of Jinzhao Office right in front of him, one of whom looked somewhat strange. Yuan Zai, who had always been a careful observer, squinted his eyes and found that it was a Persian who, surprisingly, was wearing a blue physician's overgarment.

By convention, physicians working in hospitals in Chang'an had always been Tang people. There had been very few physicians of Hu origin, and they only worked in private clinics. Under no circumstances would any of them be wearing a blue overgarment specific to hospitals. Besides, Sicheng Ji had already banned people of Hu origin from entering the department. How did he come to still be here?

"Is he by any chance...an assailant infiltrated into Jinzhao Office?"

Thinking of this, Yuan Zai was instantly on the alert and continued looking at that man. The longer he observed, the more suspicious he got. 'Why isn't there a physician's bag on his belt? Why is he wearing a pair of cattail boots instead of leather boots that a physician normally wears? The most suspicious part was the position of the stains on the blue overgarment. When a physician treats a patient who suffered trauma, he often has to bend down, so the upper front of his overgarment is the most stain-prone, but the upper front of this man's overgarment is clean, and the stains are below his chest, which is almost impossible –unless this overgarment was originally not his but that of someone shorter.'

Then Yuan Zai shifted his gaze to the man beside the Persian. He looked like a patient, and there was nothing special about his clothing. It was just that his face was covered in soot, too dirty for anybody to have a clear view of his features, but his pace terrified Yuan Zai –almost every pace of his was of the same distance as that of the last, and he was uncommonly sure-footed.

There was but one kind of men who walked in this way –soldiers.

It occurred to Yuan Zai that more than one people had said those attackers of Jing'an Department's main hall seemed to be from military background. 'Were these two men among them?' he wondered.

He didn't alarm them, since they were but two men, and it wouldn't make much difference even if he managed to catch them. He believed that it would be far wiser for him to have someone follow these two men and see if they would lead him to any targets of greater value. Yuan Zai was delighted. 'I've been having unbelievably good luck tonight. Am I by any chance going to find the den of Termite and catch them all in passing?'

Yuan Zai secretly summoned a member of the Indecent and whispered something into his ears, making arrangements.

Zhang Xiaojing and Es walked straight out of Jinzhao Office without any trouble, which they felt was a cause to rejoice.

After leaving that place, Es asked Zhang Xiaojing what they should do next. Zhang Xiaojing shook the bag full of piece of bamboo and replied that they were to pay a visit to a hotshot who was going to help them appraise these pieces of bamboo. On hearing this, Es, unconvinced, raised his chin and asked, "Who could possibly be more discerning than I am?"

Zhang Xiaojing raised his head, looked at the black smoke rising from the main hall and sighed, "In the main hall of Jing'an Department, there used to be a sand table, a miniature of Chief Zhang City, which was precise in proportion in almost every detail, as if made by God himself. It is the craftsman who had made that sand table that I'm going to visit."

Tanqi had once told Zhang Xiaojing that back at the time when Li Bi was making preparations for establishing Jing'an Department, he wanted to build a big sand table which was supposed to be a miniature of Chang'an City. It was an extremely difficult task, which deterred many renowned artisans, but at last, a craftsman named finished the masterpiece.

What was interesting was that Chao Fen was not from central mainland. He came originally from Chuyun, Japan. As a member of a team headed by a Japanese envoy, he came to Chang'an to learn Tang techniques. With his extraordinary talent, he learned very quick and attained perfection in craft. His master was Chao Heng, the Deputy Commander of Imperial Guards, whose name was known far and wide, and who was a Japanese as well.

Chao Fen lived in Zhiye Fang, which was not far away from this place. If anybody in Chang'an was capable of finding any clues from these pieces of bamboos, it would be nobody else but Chao Fen.

The two of them left Guangde Fang and joined the sea of people once again. Before long, they reached Zhiye Fang. Next to the west side of the Rosefinch Street, it was an area of high commercial value, with numerous mansions and stores. At the doorway of these houses were row upon row of lantern holders, which made this place extremely uproarious.

For some reason, the design of festive lanterns in this area was more ingenious than that of those in other areas. For instance, the scales of those dragon lanterns would slightly open when wind blew by, as if the dragon came to life. Some lanterns were in the shape of the god of longevity holding a peach of longevity, and the leaves below the peach would flap in the breeze, which were very lifelike. Compared with the design of common festive lanterns, these changes, though not really considerable, were a clear indication of craftsmen's ingenuity, like the finishing touch that brought a work of art to life.

As a result, there were also significantly more residents enjoying the beauty of lanterns in this place. Es observed in concern, "Judging by the craftsmanship of these festive lanterns, I think all of them were made by that skilled artisan. How is it possible that he is staying at home on this occasion? He must be on one of the streets enjoying his work –all his geese are swans."

Zhang Xiaojing, who had some time ago given up making efforts to correct his usage of idioms, replied with a frown, "We do what we've got to do, and let God decide what shall come out of it."

The two of them elbowed their way through the crowd and entered Zhiye Fang. There were also many smaller festive lanterns hanging on the two sides of the street in this Fang, which were very cute. Since Chao Fen was a celebrity of some kind in this Fang, it took them only a couple of inquiries to find out about where he lived.

It was an ordinary dwelling located at the northeastern corner of the Tenth Street, the front door of which was rather plain. If it weren't for the lantern with the words "Chao's Residence" on it, nobody would believe that this was the abode of the ingenious artisan who had made the sand table of Chang'an.

Zhang Xiaojing walked up, held a knocker on the door and knocked. Soon an apprentice-like man opened the door and said that his master shifu was inside. The two of them went into the house and were involuntarily stunned.

There were bamboo, wood, rock and dirt of different shapes and sizes all over the front yard, leaving them barely any room to stand. Apart from those, there were also large piles of bronze wine cups, wooden figurines, iron pots and porcelain pillows, all of which were half-finished. Beside the front yard stood a kiln built with yellow bricks, inside which there was fiercely burning fire. A stocky man was staring fixedly at the opening of the kiln, his bronze rippling muscles covered in sweat reflecting the light of the flames.

Es was greatly surprised. 'Today is the Lantern Festival. Instead of going outside to have some fun, this guy is staying in his yard laboring around a kiln. What a weirdo.'

Zhang Xiaojing took a step forward and gave a cough, but the shortie didn't even twist his head around, as if not having heard him. The apprentice on the side explained in an undertone, "Once my master shifu stares at the kiln, his eyes will be fixed on it for days. He won't rest or sleep, and neither will he talk to anybody..."

Zhang Xiaojing, who didn't have any time to waste, took another step forward. "I'm Zhang Xiaojing, a commandant working for Jing'an Department. I came here tonight because I need your help to appraise something."

On hearing the name "Jing'an Department", Chao Fen finally twisted his head around and asked in an apathetic tone of voice, "What do you want me to appraise?"

"Some pieces of bamboo." Zhang Xiaojing raised his bag and gave it a shake in front of his eyes.

"I'm not interested. Please leave." Chao Fen gave a rather explicit refusal. The apprentice explained in a muted voice, "My master shifu has always been like this. Recently, he has been quite obsessed with pottery and can't be bothered to even look at anything other than porcelain."

Zhang Xiaojing said, "This matter concerns the safety of the whole Chang'an and it's of utmost urgency. Please take a look at these things. This is not a request. It's an order!"

Surprisingly, after being told that this matter concerned the safety of Chang'an, Chao Fen still stood indifferent, his eyes fixed on the opening of the kiln, as if what was inside was more important than the whole world.

If it were in normal times, Zhang Xiaojing would definitely compliment him on his devotion to his job, but given how short time was, he couldn't let this guy act so wilfully. Zhang Xiaojing reached out his hand to grab him, but unexpectedly, Chao Fen gave a backhand swing of his hand and forcibly slapped Zhang Xiaojing's palm aside. Zhang Xiaojing, who had always been confident about his strength, failed to last a single round with Chao Fen.

Having been dedicated to craft in Chang'an for so many years, Chao Fen had amazingly strong arms. 𝙛r𝚎𝐞𝑤𝚎𝗯𝗻𝗼𝐯e𝚕.𝒄𝐨𝓂

Seeing this, Es also went anxious. "Jing'an Department was attacked by formidable enemies. More than half of the staff members were either killed or injured. Sicheng was abducted. The main hall was burnt. This is our only clue..."

On hearing this, Chao Fen abruptly turned his thick neck and goggled in this direction with his ferocious eyes. "Say it again!"

"Jing'an Department was attacked by formidable enemies, with more than half of the staff members either killed or injured, Sicheng abducted..."

"The next sentence!"

"The main hall was burnt."

Chao Fen abruptly gripped Es with his hands. Es, feeling as if he was being held by a vise, couldn't even move a single inch. Chao Fen demanded in a deep voice, "What happened to my sand table after the main hall was burnt?"

"It was also burnt to ashes, of course."

Zhang Xiaojing answered the question. He had found the Achilles heel of this man. Chao Fen was a craftaholic who cared about nothing but things he had made. To have this man change his mind, he must hit a raw nerve.

As expected, on hearing that the sand table had been destroyed, Chao Fen knitted his thick eyebrows tightly together, as if it was even more regrettable than the news of Chang'an facing a crisis. Suddenly, he let out a growl, released his vise-like grip on Es and gave the wooden plank beside him a hard jab with his elbow. Shockingly, the high-quality cedarwood plank snapped in half.

"I lent that to Jing'an Department! I was planning to take it back to Japan and build another Chang'an! It was destroyed just like this?! Who?! Who did that?!"

Zhang Xiaojing took advantage of this opportunity and responded, "These pieces of bamboo are an important clue to the whereabouts of the culprit."

Chao Fen stretched out his big hand covered in callus, his eyes blood-red with rage. "Give them to me!"

Es handed the bag to him. Chao Fen emptied those pieces of bamboo out of the bad and started checking them one by one. The apprentice hurriedly clipped the tip of the wick, making the candle burn brighter. Though short and thick, Chao Fen's fingers were very nimble. Those small pieces of bamboo were being moved constantly between his fingers, but not a single piece dropped to the ground. Chao Fen took a piece of thin, transparent, polished jade, squinted one of his eyes and looked through the jade to observe.

"These pieces were cut off by different craftsmen. There were twelve of them, each with different strength, which is why the hacks on these pieces of bamboo are of different depths."