Chapter 77: Haichu (21:00-21:59) Part 3
Translator: DragonRider
First, their Hu-styled (Hu refers to Northern barbarian tribes in ancient China) carriage progressed along a road in southern city where the traffic was relatively light, then it turned north-west and soon arrived at Guangde Fang.
The main hall of Jing’an Departnt was still ablaze, but all those who could be saved had been saved, and all places that should be isolated had been isolated. Currently, all people could do was wait for the fire to burn out. Maybe it would be out in Sangeng(23:00-01:00), or maybe they would have to wait until daybreak. Nobody knew it for sure. Jing’an Departnt had been temporarily moved to Jinzhao Office, and a batch of new officials had been seconded from various agencies to this departnt. All was chaos and confusion. Nobody knew when the departnt would truly restore its functions and set out to hunt the Termite.
At this mont, Ji Wen standing in front of the main hall was staring at a long line of depressed officials walking past, every one of whom had a prominent nose and hollow eyes. People could tell with half an eye that they were of Hu blood.
The leader of those attackers seed to be a native of Hu with Qiuci accent. As a result, Ji Wen ordered that all surviving officials of Hu blood be dismissed from their posts and evicted, that they were not allowed to continue their work in Jing’an Departnt.
One third of the surviving staff mbers of Jing’an Departnt were of Hu blood, so the issue of this order was synonymous with reducing their valuable experienced personnel by thirty to forty percent. A couple of curators were strongly against this, but Ji Wen asserted eloquently, “Those of different blood undoubtedly harbor evil intentions. Are you trying to protect barbarians?”
On hearing this, all of them instantly quieted down. Ji Wen was very satisfied with their being as silent as cicadas in late autumn, since this ant that he had taken absolute control of Jing’an Departnt. He felt that this feeling was so good.
As a result, staff mbers of Hu blood, beneath the resigned gaze of their colleagues, had no choice but to leave this place to which they had pledged their allegiance. They couldn’t even go back ho, since they had to undergo close scrutiny, which was what people of Censor Departnt were best at.
As regards that so-called “Kailu Hodo” or “Kaitu Lodo” those curators had been talking about all along, Ji Wen didn’t really care. Even if sothing happened, his predecessor would be the one to bla, so why should he be concerned about it? Currently, what he needed to do was concentrate all resources on “hunting the Termite” – no, on “hunting the ringleader of Termite, Zhang Xiaojing”.
This was the quickest way to render ritorious service. It was easier to catch one person than catch a group of people. Besides, he could humiliate those on the Crown Prince’s side if he succeeded.
Ji Wen signed another order to urge other agencies to go into overdrive to track the target down. Suddenly, the sound of a small twinkling bell was heard. He put down his writing brush, raised his head and saw Yuan Zai get off a luxurious carriage in which there was also a girl. He couldn’t help knitting his eyebrows.
When Yuan Zai walked inside the hall, Ji Wen complained unhappily, “Gongfu, we have so many issues to deal with here. Where have you been?” But Yuan Zai cupped his hands before his chest and said with an delighted look on his face, “Congratulations, Sicheng Ji. You rendered outstanding service on the occasion when the departnt has just been rebuilt.”
“Um?” Ji Wen was confused. ‘Did I accomplish anything?’
Yuan Zai pointed at the Hu-styled carriage and said in undertones, “The female in the carriage is Wang Zhongsi’s daughter, Wang Yunxiu.” Ji Wen asked suspiciously, “Are you sure that’s her?” He had heard that people of Jing’an Departnt had once made a peccadillo and rescued an insignificant woman.”
Yuan Zai said, “I’m a-hundred-percent sure. I’ve already sent soone to bring an old biddy from the Wang Family here to identify her.”
Both surprised and delighted, Ji Wen said to Yuan Zai, “How did you find her?” Yuan Zai answered with a smile, “Thanks to Sicheng Ji’s wise directions and far-sighted plan, we managed to find this lady in a intercepted carriage. I brought her here imdiately, and all abductors has been killed on site.”
These remarks made Ji Wen feel extrely comfortable as if he had just drunk a bowl of delicious warm soup. Both Yuan Zai’s words and the undertone contained in them suggested that he was giving up to him an opportunity to render outstanding service.
To be honest, Ji Wen’s taking over Jing’an Departnt counted as snatching power from sobody’s hands, so he had been fairly perturbed all along. But now, soon after taking office, he cracked a criminal case that his predecessor failed to solve, rescuing the daughter of an important official of the Imperial Court, which would be more than enough to make all doubters shut their mouths.
Ji Wen’s waist beca even straighter, his mustache quivering with joy. He patted Yuan Zai’s shoulder and didn’t know what to say. Yuan Zai lowered his voice and said, “There’s another petty issue. The thod I adopted to find Wang Yunxiu... heh, heh... was not very decent. If anyone of the Wang Family asks about it, there has to be an plausible explanation. I’d appreciate it if Sicheng could do a favor.”
On hearing this, Ji Wen waved his hand indifferently, “No problem. Just write a pleading and I’ll sigh it and stamp it.” He didn’t ask him what kind of thod it was, since it was not the thod but the outco that mattered.
Yuan Zai cupped his hands and bowed deeply to express his gratitude, greatly relieved.
He walked out of the main hall and politely asked Wang Yunxiu to get off the carriage. While guiding her, he suddenly spotted Feng Dalun in the crowd. The look in his eyes changed and with that he told Wang Yunxiu to go inside first and went up to him. The two didn’t start talking right away but walked into a back alley, one in the front and the other in the rear.
Feng Dalun urgently asked, “They bought it?” Yuan Zai smugly raised his chin, “Luckily, I didn’t fail you.” Feng Dalun’s shoulders relaxed, as if relieved from a heavy burden.
He had been under huge pressure like he was carrying a weighty rock ever since he was told that he mistakenly abducted Wang Zhongsi’s daughter. Fortunately, Yuan Zai ca up with an incredible idea.
Yuan Zai bade Feng Dalun to send those hooligans, who abducted Wang Yunxiu, to transfer her with a carriage. Yuan Zai also asked him to tell him the route in advance. Then he dispatched a group of Lubi soldiers to carry out a raid on the carriage halfway and kill all abductors. Thus, all hooligans whose faces had been seen by Wang Yunxiu were killed.
A more amazing part was that, since there was no witness, he could conveniently fra Zhang Xiaojing for this abduction. Zhang Xiaojing had already been convicted of collusion with foreign enemies and attack on Jing’an Departnt anyway, so he probably wouldn’t mind being frad for another cri.
Thus, he not only helped Feng Dalun get out of the dilemma but also threw Zhang Xiaojing into deeper trouble, killing two birds with one stone.
There was only one flaw in the whole plan. Wang Yunxiu had once seen Yuan Zai in that woodshed. If the mastermind was Zhang Xiaojing, then why Yuan Zai was there?
Ji Wen might not be able to spot this flaw, and Wang Yunxiu certainly wouldn’t think of this, but as more details were disclosed, sooner or later soone observant and conscientious would raise this question. Yuan Zai refused to run the risk of letting a petty detail ruin his whole plan, which was why he had just specially asked Ji Wen to help him handle this.
The story he fabricated was like this: people of the Censor Departnt had been suspecting Zhang Xiaojing for a long ti. Ji Wen, a Palace Privy Censor, delegated Yuan Zai to conduct an intensive investigation into the organization nad Termite, who discovered Zhang Xiaojing’s den. Yuan Zai risked fighting his way inside, accidentally discovered Wang Yunxiu and tily rescued her.
Censor Ji would be very glad to acknowledge this, because it would be a proof of his foresight.
After hearing the account of the whole thing, Feng Dalun was overwheld by amazent and admiration. ‘Who is this consultant of Dali Temple exactly? With so minor adjustnts of the plan, he miraculously turned a couple of tricky matters to their mutual advantage, which was very favorable for their future promotion. And every side was happy, feeling that they had profited from this. How high a position would a man with such finesse climb to in the officialdom circle in the future?
‘I’ve got to establish a good relationship with him,’ Feng Dalun thought and hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed as deeply as he could. Yuan Zai stretched out his hands to raise him. Taking advantage of the occasion, Feng Dalun stuffed a couple of little gold ingots into Yuan Zai’s sleeve.
Yuan Zai didn’t decline. With a twitch of his sleeve, he directly accepted them. Feng Dalun thought for a while and then asked, “Has Zhang Xiaojing’s matter been properly handled?”
Zhang Xiaojing had given him such a deep impression that as long as Zhang Xiaojing still alive, he could never find piece of mind. But Yuan Zai said indifferently, “Rest assured. Censor Ji has already issued an order for arrest. He’s now wanted by soldiers citywide. By no ans could he escape.”
“Please don’t underestimate him, Consultant... That person never ceases to amaze people.”
Yuan Zai flicked a contemptuous look at Feng Dalun. On this night, he was going to accomplish the last part of his perfect plan, the success of which would count as a miraculous feat in the history of his political career, yet this guy was still so obsessed about a petty matter the outco of which was almost certain.
“Curator Feng, please report to Prince Yong. His Highness may rest assured. In less than three Hours, this loose end will be handled. If you’ll excuse , there’s still sothing I have to deal with.”
Yuan Zai left Feng Dalun on the spot, turned around and returned to Jinzhao Office. He had to be with Wang Yunxiu, who was the greatest trophy he got this night.
Zhang Xiaojing gradually ca around. He found that he was lying on a layer of soft, brocade-covered, cotton-padded mattress, covered by a blanket, and sobody had helped him change into a suit of clean round-collared soft coat. His wounds had been carefully cleaned, properly treated with dicinal oil, and the pains had been greatly relieved.
It was totally dark, but he could feel that his body was quivering. The sound of collision between hubs, stamp of hoofs as well as a hubbub of voices were coming from outside.
It seed that he was in an ox-drawn carriage.
With difficulty, Zhang Xiaojing turned his neck, trying to figure out what was going on. At this mont, a regretful voice ca from the dark in the rear of the carriage, but he couldn’t see the man.
“General Zhang, this is the second ti that we’ve t during this today.”
Now Zhang Xiaojing knew why he couldn’t get a clear view of the man. “Elder Ge?”
The man sitting on the opposite side was exactly Elder Ge, who used to be a forr Zanzibar slave and was currently the leader of Pingkangli. Elder Ge chuckled, “I don’t count as an influential figure in Chang’an, but nothing in Pingkang Fang escapes my notice – you’ve really made an enemy of a lot of people.”
“Where... are they?”
Elder Ge said, “Those patrol soldiers were easy to deal with. Handling Shouzhuo rcenaries was a little trickier. These north-westerners are stubborn and aggressive. It took so ti.”
Zhang Xiaojing knew that by “took so ti”, Elder Ge probably ant “took so of them’s lives”. He was just about to speak when Elder Ge stopped him. “You don’t have to thank . I didn’t do this out of kindness. I just don’t like those people’s smug attitude.”
Elder Ge was the leader of a local gang, and Shouzhuo rcenaries were outsiders. Both the two forces were in Pingkang Fang, so they naturally took a dislike to each other.
Zhang Xiaojing managed to raised his upper body, panting for breath. Elder Ge said, “There’s a bowl of lotus seed and jujube soup, which is very helpful in restoring your Qi.” Zhang Xiaojing picked it up and took a sip. Surprisingly, the soup was still hot. He slowly turned the bowl while drinking it. As the hot soup went into his stomach, a certain amount of his lost vigor seed to be restored.
Elder Ge said, “General Zhang’s reputation is indeed well-earned. Even the case you got involved in is earthshaking. Do you know you’re wanted by the whole city? There are people hunting you everywhere.”
“So Elder Ge is taking to the authority in exchange for reward?” He put the bowl down.
Elder Ge burst into laugh. “The bounty they put on you is not even enough for to buy tongue-scratching combs. Rest assured. This carriage is taking you out of the city – you can’t stay in Chang’an any longer. Just leave while you still can.”
Zhang Xiaojing was confused. There had been more days when they were enemies than ones when they were partners. And there had been several occasions when one of them nearly killed the other. Just a couple of Hours ago, he forced Zhang Xiaojing into killing an undercover agent rely in exchange for an opportunity to interrogate soone.
But on this occasion, he first saved him, then treated him, and now even considerately arranged a carriage to help him get out of the city. Why did this rcenary old fox suddenly beco so kind-hearted?
As expected, Elder Ge’s sinister voice soon ca. “Don’t thank so soon. I’m not a good Samaritan. This arrangent is not free.”
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