Chapter 71: Xuzheng (20:00-20:59) Part 3
Translator: DragonRider
A carriage was lying on its side on the street, half-wrecked.
It had crashed into a giant lantern holder and overturned. Originally, there had been a lot of teenage girls singing and dancing beside the lantern wheel, but this carriage suddenly went out of control, hurled over and knocked these poor girls down to the ground, screeches and pained groans filling the air, garlands and capes everywhere. The whole scene was a ss.
Nearby audience of the lantern show gathered around in sympathy, believing that a driver who drank too much during the lantern show was the cause of this accident.
A soldier crawled out of the carriage in an undignified manner and then dragged the assassin nad Seventeen Liu out of it, but the latter had been killed, a bloody slit in his throat.
Just now, when the ox-drawn carriage was passing the intersection between Xuanyang Fang and Changxing Fang, a black figure suddenly leaped over the top of the carriage at an extrely fast speed. First he killed the driver, overturned the carriage and then took advantage of the chaos and ran into the carriage. This guy’s sabermanship was amazingly accurate. The mont he ran into the carriage, he slit Seventeen Liu’s throat with his short saber in a precise way. The guard hadn’t even unsheathed his saber yet when the black figure got out, swiftly jumped off the carriage, leaped onto the lantern holder, climbed over the Fang wall and disappeared.
“No. I saw two black figures. One in the front and the other in the rear.” This was the last thought of the soldier before he passed out.
Yuan Zai headed for the drugstore near Cibei Temple which had both raw dicinal materials and ready-made drugs for sale. He was very happy, and even his pace beca leisurely.
He had no reason not to be happy. Everything was going in the direction he was most satisfied with – no, it was even more satisfying than what he had expected.
Originally, he was rely requested to issue a transfer writ. After discovering that Feng Dalun mistakenly abducted Wang Yunxiu, Yuan Zai, on his own account, forwarded a second proposal with which he could kill two birds with one stone. Then he directly went to Censor Departnt where Ji Wen, an acquaintance of his, happened to be on duty. They had just finished exchanging usual pleasantries when Ji Wen suddenly received a secret letter from Pri Minister Li telling him to go and seize the post of Sicheng of Jing’an Departnt imdiately.
Uncertain about it, Ji Wen consulted Yuan Zai. On hearing it, Yuan Zai, who was always discontented with his lot, started pondering and soon spotted a golden opportunity in this situation. For the third ti, he altered his plan.
And then, in the na of “providing assistance”, he ca to Cibei Temple accompanying Ji Wen and announced that Zhang Xiaojing was the chief plotter who was responsible for the attack on Jing’an Departnt as well as the abduction of Wang Yunxiu.
This was such a simple decision and it was also such a brilliant arrangent. Prince Yong would be very grateful to him, because all soldiers in the city would never stop hunting down Zhang Xiaojing unless he was dead. Feng Dalun would also be very grateful to him, because sobody else took the bla for abducting Wang Yunxiu; Wang Zhongsi and Wang Yunxiu would be very grateful to him as well, because Yuan Zai was the one who “rescued” her all by himself. Ji Wen and his backer Li Linfu would also pay special regard to him, because he helped Ji Wen take over Jing’an Departnt quickly, which was a huge humiliation for the Crown Prince.
At first, it was just a petty transaction concerning a transfer writ, but after putting so efforts into it, Yuan Zai managed to evolve it into a big plan involving multiple sides each of which owed him a favor. If it weren’t for that most part of this plan had to stay secret, Yuan Zai would have started writing an article in honor of the wisdom he’d displayed during the process.
Just now, Yuan Zai read a report and found that Wen Ran had been found. It abruptly occurred to him that Feng Dalun had once disclosed Prince Yong seed to be pretty interested in Wen Ran. If he handed her to Prince Yong, that would be another big favor!
As a result, after repeatedly weighing up the pros and cons, Yuan Zai decided to go and catch Wen Ran himself in honor of this historic occasion in his life. But he didn’t underestimate the opponent. Before approaching the drugstore, he ordered mbers of the Indecent to set up blockades around the store first. Yuan Zai always preferred to make a watertight plan before taking action, and he always took precautions against all peccadillos, no matter how minor they were.
Yuan Zai even secretly assigned soone to spy on Yao Runeng, who would imdiately co to report him once Yao Runeng talked to anybody in whispers or stealthily sent anybody a note. The arrangents were absolutely watertight!
Everything was ready. Yuan Zai slowly walked to the gateway of the drugstore selling both raw dicinal materials and ready-made drugs. He sympathetically stared at these poor people who were unaware of what was going to happen, raised his right hand and was about to heavily swing it down, finishing the last stroke of this masterpiece with a highly symbolic gesture.
But his arm abruptly stopped halfway through the gesticulation.
With a loud boom, a horse broke the door of a room and dashed out of the drugstore. Its montum was so fierce that several mbers of the Indecent standing nearby were sent flying. Not daring to approach, the others standing around the drugstore yelled. The horse didn’t leave right away but turned around several tis in front of the drugstore. It was not until this mont that mbers of the In Indecent saw that there were a male and a female sitting prostrate on the horse.
Yuan Zai, who retained his composure in the face of this ergency, yelled on the spot, “Hold your ground!”
He saw that this horse rely made a terrifying boom when it broke out of the room, that even the rider himself wasn’t sure where he should go. As long as they blockaded the roads, the two people wouldn’t make it out of this place. mbers of the Indecent also collected themselves, whipped out their iron rulers and gained ground on the horse from three directions, so that no matter how ferocious that mount was, at least one team of attackers would be able to launch an attack on its side which was the most vulnerable part.
The rider also realized this crisis. He looked around, flapped the reins and galloped in the only direction where no enemies was in the way.
With a wry smile on his face, Yuan Zai watched the cornered target making a final desperate attempt to flee.
The rider was riding towards the only gap of the encirclent ring, which happened to be beside the front gate of Jing’an Departnt. At this mont, the main hall was still afla and the fire showed no signs of abating.
This was the very reason why Yuan Zai didn’t set up blockades at this place, since anybody fled in this direction would be stopped by fire. It was a dead end.
But the smile on Yuan Zai’s face suddenly froze.
The front gate of Jing’an Departnt was very narrow and a horse could not get through, but in order to prevent the fire from spreading, firefighters had demolished nearby walls and and made an isolation strip. That rider rode his mount and easily leaped over those broken walls. Soon, the horse and the two people disappeared into fierce flas.
What were they doing? They were at the end of their ropes and wanted to commit suicide?
No!
Yuan Zai’s mind worked extrely fast for a while and then he yelled at mbers of the Indecent, “Hurry! Go to the Fang wall between Jinzhao Office and the back garden!”
Having done so research into the layout of Jing’an Departnt, Yuan Zai knew that there were wide gaps between buildings inside the compound. If one was determined and fast enough, he or she could narrowly make it to the back garden or the side gate of Jinzhao Office through the path between the main hall and two side-halls all three of which were ablaze.
Up until this mont, Yuan Zai was still not anxious. ‘Going into Jing’an Departnt was a smart move. But what next?’
Both the back garden and Jinzhao Office still had walls erect, which ant the rider had to abandon the horse and climb over the wall. How far away could a man and a woman possibly walk while so many people were hunting them?
Under rigorous orders from their superior, mbers of the Indecent split into several teams. One team went into Jinzhao Office to block the side-gate; another team detoured to the area outside the Fang wall of the back garden. They even controlled the water channel. There was also a team of them who wore fireproof capes and ventured into the scene of the fire.
Soon, two teams sent reports back saying that they didn’t see the targets. After a while, the third team awkwardly ca back from the scene of the fire. They had only seen the horse abandoned in the courtyard. The two targets were nowhere to be found.
Yuan Zai was infuriated. Where could they possibly have gone? Surely they didn’t fly into the sky?! He pressed his palm down and ordered mbers of the Indecent to carefully search the departnt again. He was determined to find Wen Ran, since he wanted this amazing night to be flawless. A mber of the Indecent awkwardly said that there might be casualties if they risked going in there again. Watching that man, Yuan Zai said, “If you don’t go inside, there will be casualties right now.”
Ashen-faced, the man had no choice but to summon his n to enter the scene of the fire for a second ti. Unexpectedly, at this mont, Yuan Zai said, “Wait.”
He raised his head and saw that there was a towering building behind the main hall. A possibility suddenly struck him.
The big watchtower!
The big watchtower was right inside the back garden. If they abandoned the horse to flee, their only choice was to climb up the ladder to the top floor of the tower, hide there and climb down after they left. ‘Yes, isn’t that bastard nad Yao Runeng repairing the big watchtower?’
The look on Yuan Zai’s face went cold as he thought of this. ‘How dare this petty official of Jing’an Departnt use this kind of small trick on ?’ He ordered all mbers of the Indecent to fall in, planning to lead the team himself to go after this easy prey.
You could go up there, but it wouldn’t be easy go down!
In order to repair the big watchtower, rescuers had managed to make a relatively safe path leading to the tower. Repairers didn’t have to venture through the three halls afla. They had torn a hole in the wall of Jinzhao Office, through which they could enter the prison of Jing’an Departnt. After that they could cross the little garden in front of the prison, climb over the wall and enter the back garden.
This was the very path along which Yuan Zai led his n into the back garden. He took the lead and quickly climbed up to the top floor along a wooden ladder in one breath.
The top floor of the big watchtower was very spacious. It was a broad platform asuring about forty ters by forty ters, with a layer of thick felt blanket on the floor, railings all around and a wing-like pavilion roof supported by pillars in the middle to provide shelter from wind and rain.
At this mont, eight bodies of scouts were lying on the floor this way and that. Signal equipnts such as lizard-skin drums, five-color flags and purple lanterns were here and there. There were also articles of daily use like a wok, water sacks, a stove, capes tossed all around. Crouched, Yao Runeng and two servants were examining the tower. Apart from them, there was nobody else.
Yao Runeng was greatly surprised by Yuan Zai who suddenly climbed up with an air of ferocity about him. Yuan Zai looked around and found that nobody could have been hiding here, so he yelled at Yao Runeng, “Where are you hiding Wen Ran? Who was that man?”
Yao Runeng answered with an innocent look, “I imdiately ca here to repair the big watchtower after you gave the order. Isn’t this what you requested to do? How could I have found the ti to hide anybody?”
Yuan Zai leaned forward until his broad forehead almost touched Yao Runeng’s face. “If you didn’t send a secret ssage to them, how co they suddenly fled the drugstore?” He turned his head aside and yelled at a servant, “You! Did you see them?”
This servant was the spy planted by him. Upon seeing that his superior got angry, the man answered in jitters, “Consultant, I’ve been staying with Yao Runeng all along. He... He indeed never sent any ssages to anybody.”
“Impossible! You just failed to see it. Tell who he talked to and what he did. I want every detail!” Yuan Zai rubbed his fingers irritably. Scarcely could he believe that he had let Wen Ran flee in front of his very eyes. The servant had a good mory. First Yao Runeng had talked to a couple of curators about the materials and people he needed to repair the tower. He had also requisitioned a large number of lanterns overhanging the front gate of Cibei Temple. Then he had had so firefighters clear a passage, then taken the batch of materials to the top floor of the big watchtower to assess the damage.
The servant vividly rembered every detail of who Yao Runeng had talked to and what he had done, and there was no questionable point at all. Unconvinced, Yuan Zai asked him where those lanterns were. The servant pointed in the direction of the lanterns hanging from the outer edge of the pavilion roof of the big watchtower. They had done this to remind people on nearby watchtowers that this tower malfunctioned and was currently under repair.
Yuan Zai rested his hands on the edge of the railings, craned his neck and stretched out his hand to touch those lanterns. There were several occasions when he nearly fell off the tower. But to his disappointnt, apart from decorative patterns of “卍”, there was no other words on those lanterns. Yuan Zai retracted his upper body and looked down at Jing’an Departnt down below, which was pitch-dark.
This ti he really couldn’t figure out where could Wen Ran and that mysterious man have been hiding.
“Get this thing working as soon as possible or else severe punishnt will be ted out on you!”
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