The Longest Day in Chang'an

Translator: DragonRider

The outer skin of the lantern pavilion was fluttering in the night breeze. Zhang Xiaojing, looking north through a gap, found that the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion was a very short distance away. He'd known that these two buildings were not far away from each other, but it'd never crossed his mind they were so close that they could be connected with a well rope a dozen feet in length.

From this distance, with his only eye, Zhang Xiaojing could distinctly see various details of the banquet ongoing in the opposite building: hats invitees were wearing, golden herb-crusted roast lamb on dinner tables, wine cups going gaily around, as well as numerous iridescent dresses moving about. There were also some guests standing by the balustrade, who had succumbed to the influence of many cups and were now talking gesticulating in the direction of this lantern pavilion.

"Everybody is waiting for the Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion to start shining, which would be a wonderful view of unprecedented splendor. I bet ten Guan (a Guan is a a string of 1,000 cash) that they have come up with a lot of verses, waiting to hum them when these lanterns are lit."

Xiao Gui scoffed at those people and then kept walking forward. Zhang Xiaojing withdrew his gaze and suddenly found that Li Bi didn't look very well. His arms were securely tied and gripped by two strong men who were by his sides, which made it very difficult for him to keep his balance while walking on these unsteady planks, and he could fall off at any moment.

Zhang Xiaojing reached out his hand with the intention to offer help, but Xiao Gui consoled him, "Don't worry. He'll be fine. Getting Sicheng Li to this height took a lot of doing, and I didn't do it merely to push him down and hear the sound of him landing on the ground." After saying this, Xiao Gui lifted his right hand high and suddenly dropped it, mimicking, "Whoosh–bang!"

The group kept progressing. After dozens of feet upward, they finally reached the pivotal area of the lantern pavilion – the Tianshu Floor.

This story was a roomy, circular chamber. The floor was actually a gigantic horizontally-placed wooden wheel. The wheel face was almost the size of a drill ground. At the center of the wheel was an erect long thick spindle, which was attached to many other units and was built by combining lumber and bamboo components. Relatively wide gaps were inlaid with iron hinges and brass rings.

Many members of the Termite disguised as craftsmen were occupied replacing Kylin Arms, hacking away with knives and axes here and there on this giant wheel. Everyone of them had a small oil lamp by his side. Seen from a distance, they were like sparkling diamonds mounted in this giant wheel.

Zhang Xiaojing couldn't quite understand how this was going to work, but Li Bi, as he raised his head and saw that there were five lantern chambers with protruding contours around the wheel, instantly came to comprehend.

This Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion, in terms of basic structure, was the same as the prototype Xiao Gui had shown him: a pivotal wheel at the center surrounded by a circle of independent units; as the pivotal wheel turned, these units would cyclically revolve around it in mid-air. What was different was that on the prototype were twelve compartments sealed with paper, while around the Taishang-xuanyuan Grand Lantern Pavilion were twenty-four big lantern chambers with no wall on any of the four sides. All chambers had their respective themed scenery inside, and there were also branch spindles connecting them with the pivotal wheel, which provided driving force for lantern figures in the chambers so that they could perform designed movements automatically.

It could be imagined how shocking and grand a view it would be when all lanterns in this pavilion were lit and these twenty-four lantern chambers moved up and down in mid-air as the giant wheel in this sky-high pavilion slowly rotated. Fun-loving Chang'an citizens might get so excited as to go crazy when they saw all this.

A stooping old man was crouching still before the pivotal spindle, occasionally stroking it, as if he were fondling his dying child. f𝒓𝑒e𝙬𝒆𝚋𝘯૦𝘷𝐞𝑙.c𝑜𝐦

Xiao Gui walked up and patted him on the shoulder. "How's the preparation work, Master Mao?"

Mao Shun didn't even raise his head. "Once the shaft bearing and the waterwheels down there are fitted together, this pivotal spindle will start turning having the twenty-four lantern chambers rotate cyclically." He was in a foul mood – anybody knowing their masterwork was going to be destroyed wouldn't be in a good mood.

Zhang Xiaojing was startled. "This man is Mao Shun? He's also a member of the Termite?"

Xiao Gui replied, "Of course we thirst for talents, but clearly Master Mao values his family more." Zhang Xiaojing lapsed into silence, realizing that the Termite probably had kidnapped Mao Shun's family members and coerced him into cooperating with them.

No wonder members of the Termite had gained entry into this pavilion so smoothly. With Mao Shun vouching for them, their way in definitely had been utterly unobstructed.

"Exactly what are you planning to do?" Zhang Xiaojing finally couldn't help but query.

Xiao Gui seemed to have been waiting for him to ask this question for quite some time. Anybody who had taken great pains making arrangements for something awesome would want to flaunt it in front of others. He pointed at that huge pivotal spindle and started explaining in high spirits.

It turned out that this gigantic pivotal spindle, which was of utmost importance, had been filled with mountain tallow. Members of the Termite had also placed a great number of bamboo tubes containing mountain tallow in the twenty-four lantern chambers around the spindle. Once the lantern pavilion started operating, these lantern chambers would be ignited one after another. People enjoying the view would no doubt mistakenly believe that it was one of the desired effects, and nobody would suspect anything. When all twenty-four lantern chambers were aflame, the heat would spread to the pivotal spindle in which real, preheated Fierceflame bombs were hidden. Once they detonated, the enormous force of the explosion would definitely reduce the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion, which was merely a short distance away, to ashes.

After hearing his explanation, Zhang Xiaojing was speechless with shock for quite a while. 'So this is Kailu Hodo's true colors. It never hid itself and just boldly stood in Chang'an like this.

How imaginative and bigoted does a man have to be to accomplish this?'

Xiao Gui was very satisfied with Zhang Xiaojing's reaction. He raised his head and remarked in a sentimental tone, "I'm putting so much effort into this because I want an emperor to be destroyed by his favorite thing at the moment when he feels the happiest and the smuggest. This is how we'll get the most meaningful revenge."

Zhang Xiaojing looked at this old comrade-in-arms and wanted to say something but eventually shut his mouth quietly.

"Oh, incidentally, before that, there's yet another thing I'll have to trouble you with, Sicheng Li. Wait a moment, Big Head." Xiao Gui told Zhang Xiaojing to stay at the pivotal spindle and do some chatting with Master Mao. Then he drew Li Bi away.

Xiao Gui, taking Li Bi with him, left the Tianshu Floor and walked to a lantern chamber outside the main structure of the lantern pavilion. These lantern chambers were separate from each other and had no walls, so that people could see the lantern figures inside from all directions. There was a narrow passageway connecting each of them and the main body of the lantern pavilion.

The theme of the lantern chamber that Xiao Gui and Li Bi had just arrived at was "shadbush", which was about showing love and respect as good brothers should. Inside the chamber were a couple of lantern figures of paragons, including Zhao Xiao, Zhao Li. Xiao Gui kept pushing Li Bi deeper into the lantern chamber until he was on the edge of it and could barely keep his footing.

Li Bi lowered his head and looked down but couldn't at all see the ground clearly, which suggested that he was at a height of at least dozens of feet. Since his hands were tied, he was having great trouble maintaining balance with merely his legs. 𝘧r𝘦𝗲w𝘦𝚋𝐧o𝘷𝘦𝙡.co𝑚

"Sicheng Li, sorry to have put you through all this." Xiao Gui's lips curved in an inscrutable smile. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Li Bi closed his eyes, believing that the man was going to inflict some kind of torture on him. He waited for quite a while but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and found that lanterns in the two chambers on the left and right sides of this one had been lit.

The theme of the scenery in one of the two chambers was about Confucius querying Lao-tzu, which embodied the emperor's achievements of ruling a country with ethics and rites; the theme of the scenery in the other one was about Li Wei recovering the Yinshan Mountains, which manifested the emperor's strategy of repulsing invasion. The lighted lanterns in these two lantern chambers shed a soft glow on the one in between, the theme of which was "shadbush". Guests on the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion, seeing lanterns in these two lantern chambers were lit ahead of schedule, mistakenly believed that the show had started. All of them yelled at their friends inside calling them to the balustrade to enjoy the view.

After this situation lasted about twenty Tanzhi (A unit of time used in ancient China; 7.4 seconds), Xiao Gui gave another finger snap and with that all lighted lanterns in the two chambers went out. A sigh of disappointment rippled through the crowd of guests in the distance as they realized that it was merely a test.

"All right. Your job is done, Sicheng Li." Xiao Gui drew him back from the edge of the lantern chamber. Li Bi, unaware of what this was about, kept silent.

After the two of them returned to the pivotal spindle, Xiao Gui summoned a guard and instructed him to take Li Bi downstairs to the underground waterpower chamber. Then he affectionately put his arm around Zhang Xiaojing's shoulders and brought him to the other side of the pivotal spindle. From start to finish, Li Bi and Zhang Xiaojing hadn't even had a chance to make eye contact.

Li Bi, hands tied at the back, was escorted away from the pivotal spindle by that guard. The two of them spiraled along those wooden planks inside the lantern pavilion all the way down to the Taoist temple and then the underground chamber beneath it. The six giant waterwheels were still turning in the dark with the sound of water gurgling. Before long, they would be linked to the mechanisms designed by Master Mao and bring to life the whole lantern pavilion.

"This is such a marvelous creation." Observing those giant wheels, Li Bi couldn't help but heave a sigh with awe. Compared with the fancy extravagant aboveground lantern pavilion, this part hidden deep underground, he believed, was where the real ingenuity of the designer was manifested.

The guard flicked him a sympathetic glance. 'This bureaucrat is still in the mood for sightseeing? It seems that he's unaware of his fate.' He whipped out his saber from his waist and said, "Sicheng Li, Commander Long has a message for you: have a safe journey to the heaven after dismemberment."

Li Bi didn't move, and he couldn't even he wanted to, for his hands were firmly tied at the back, but the look on his face was indifferent, as if he had anticipated this some time ago.

The guard said with an evil grin, "It was a smoothie just like you who took my wife from me. Today you'll have to scapegoat for that bastard's deed. I'll try to make your death as slow as possible." He slowly stretched his blade towards Li Bi's chest, planning to cut a strip of meat from it first.

All of a sudden, Li Bi moved. He abruptly shook his arms and with that the rope loosened and dropped to the ground. This young, frail-looking civil official, tightly holding a small iron file in his hand, heavily stabbed it into the guard's temple. The guard, who had been attacked without warning, subconsciously aimed a kick at Li Bi sending him flying to a corner of wall.

This counter-attack given by someone on the verge of death was very powerful. All Li Bi's internal organs felt as though they'd been displaced, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He panted for quite a while before struggling to his feet. That guard had breathed his last, lying on the ground. The iron file was stuck in his left temple, revealing only a short length of its handle – that stab had sent it so deep into his head.

With a clank, a brass plate fell to the ground from Li Bi's belt. This was the waist-seal Zhang Xiaojing had returned to Li Bi in the ceremonial chamber a while ago. That small iron file had been fixed to the back side of the waist-seal and stuffed into his belt. Apart from the two of them, nobody had noticed it.

Li Bi leaned against the cob wall and kneaded his sore wrists, a multitude of feelings surging up. Unexpectedly, those words of Zhang Xiaojing's reappeared in his mind.

"You are not suitable for the position of Sicheng of the Jing'an Department. You should have chosen to practice Taoism: kowtowing to the Three Pure Ones (the three highest Gods in the Taoist pantheon) or the eleven deities from time to time, researching the Eight Diagrams, practicing divination, touring the Five Mountains (Taishan Mountain in Shandong, Hengshan Mountain in Hunan, Huashan Mountain in Shanxi, Hengshan Mountain in Shanxi and Songshan Mountain in Henan) – any of these is better than working for the Jing'an Department. But if you want to take your revenge on me, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the bottom floor of the hell to find me."

Zhang Xiaojing was never a believer in Taoism, so the moment he'd started making these remarks, Li Bi, who was sharp-minded, had come to realize that there were undertones contained in his words. With his wisdom, after merely a few moments' pondering, he'd perceived that those numbers were the key.

Three, eleven, eight, four, five and eighteen.

This was a message encoded with Tang Rhymes, which was very familiar to all staff members of the Jing'an Department. Three represented falling tone (one of the four tones in classical Chinese pronunciation); eleven referred to the eleventh row, the eighth word of which was "retreat"; four represented entering tone; five referred to the fifth paragraph, the eighteenth word of which was "don't".

The decoded version of the message consisted of two words.

This was Yao Runeng's will, Tanqi's will and Zhang Xiaojing's unswerving will as well.

Don't retreat.