Translator: DragonRider

  It had never crossed Tanqi's mind that she would chance upon Taizhen in the Industriousness and Pragmatism Pavilion.

  Speaking of this woman, she was actually a legend whose story had always been a popular topic of conversation among residents of Chang'an even until this day. Her original name had been Yang Yuhuan. She was a concubine of Prince Shou, Li Mao. It had been during a spring outing of all princes that Tanqi and Yang Yuhuan had got to know each other. On that day, this concubine of Prince Shou accidentally fell off her horse and hurt her ankle. Tanqi, who was good at massage, offered her medical treatment and the two of them hit it off straight away. The concubine of Prince Shou, who did not think little of Tanqi because of her identity as a handmaid, soon became a good friend of hers.

  Unexpectedly, a couple of years later, the Emperor summoned Yang Yuhuan to the imperial palace, told her that he needed someone to pray for divine blessings for his mother, the Empress Dowager Dou, and had her become a Taoist priest, whose monastic name was Taizhen…… Nobody in the imperial palace had ever disclosed any details about this matter to any outsiders, but the whole Chang'an City knew what had really happened. And it had become a wide-spread fantastic story.

  Think about it, she realized that she had not seen Taizhen for years, and this chance encounter with her at this Lantern Festival Spring Banquet had come as a complete surprise. The sight of the graceful Taoist cassock she was wearing brought Tanqi to the realization that though she was serving the Emperor, she had not yet been acknowledged as the Emperor's concubine, which was why she was still dressed as a Taoist and it was not convenient for her to openly showed up at this banquet –Prince Shou was sitting right down there.

  Taizhen was overjoyed to see Tanqi. She had been in the imperial palace for quite a long time and there had been very few occasions when she chanced upon an old friend. As a result, she instantly 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?" It had taken Tanqi quite some efforts to summon up her courage, but now, what she had been poised to do was instantly interrupted, leaving her at a loss how to answer Taizhen's question.

  Taizhen, who mistakenly believed that she was just too excited to speak, drew her aside and cordially started talking about her daily life. Heart torn with anxiety, Tanqi casually responded to Taizhen but her eyes kept flicking in the direction of the other side of the bead curtain, where that Tongtianguan Crown was repeatedly moving to the beautiful melody of the background music of the Dance of Rainbow-colored and Feathered Costumes.

  Seeing the absent-mindedness on the face of Tanqi, Taizhen was rather surprised. She had just looked around and found that the Crown Prince was present, but Li Bi was absent. 'Has Li Bi by any chance sent his family handmaid to the Crown Prince as a gift? But given her dirty clothes, she doesn't seem to be here to attend this banquet.'

  "Younger Sister, why are you dressed like this? Did anything happen?"

  Tanqi's eyes abruptly lit up as she heard this remark.

  She was well aware that Taizhen's becoming a Taoist priest praying for God's blessings had been a sheer cover-up of the Emperor, that he actually favored Taizhen very much. She had also heard that the Emperor, when in the imperial palace, had been calling Taizhen darling treating her as his concubine all along. 'Wouldn't it be much more effective to have her talk to the Emperor than to force my way over to the table?'

  Tanqi's mind raced. Suddenly, she grabbed Taizhen's sleeve and pleaded in a tearful voice, "Elder Sister, you've got to help me!"

  Taizhen hurriedly raised her to her feet and said mildly, "What makes you so alarmed? Tell me what's going on." Though she was only a female Taoist priest, there was faint gracefulness and confidence in her tone.

  Tanqi held her soft, delicate hand and replied timidly, "Someone and I pledged to marry each other without the permission of our parents, but an evildoer framed him out of jealousy. Now he is wanted by all soldiers in the city. I've been on the run all night but nobody was willing to help. At the end of my rope, I risked death coming here to ask the Crown Prince for help, but the Crown Prince also……" Tanqi was unable to finish her sentence, as if about to weep.

  Tanqi knew Taizhen very well. She was an innocent woman who wouldn't be able to understand the destruction of Chang'an or anything like that. She liked only legends likethe Song of Courtship, Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River, Butterfly Lovers,the Night Journey of Hongfu, all of which were love stories. If she was to touch Taizhen and have Taizhen come to her help, she had no choice but to fabricate a love story about her and Zhang Xiaojing.

  As expected, Taizhen was reduced to tears by her story, feeling that this story was so touching and poignant –her pledge to marry without parents' consent, her lover's meeting with misfortune, her efforts to save him at considerable risk to her own life, each of which made Taizhen feel deeply moved. She used to be a concubine of Prince Shou, but now she was serving the Emperor. Having been deprived of choice again and again, she had always been having a faint longing for the experience of the protagonist of a story of this kind.

  Taizhen hugged Tanqi who was limp, and found that there was dirt even on her neck. In the knowledge that she had been having such a hectic night, Taizhen felt a twitch of terrible heartache.

  "Don't worry. I'll talk to His Majesty. What is the name of the man you love?"

  "His name is Zhang Xiaojing." After giving the answer, Tanqi hurriedly shook her head. "A sledge-hammer should not be used on a gnat. Every instant of His Majesty's time should be spent with good cause. How can I bother him with such a petty matter? He might think differently of you because of it, Elder Sister."

  Very touched that Tanqi was still considering her under the circumstances, Taizhen consoled her, "Rest assured. I request His Majesty to reward my family a lot, and he never refused. It'll be very easy to have him grant an imperial pardon."

  Tanqi said in a muted voice, "Requesting an imperial pardon from His Majesty will get a lot of officials of the Imperial Court involved. I cannot implicate you, Elder Sister. If you really want to help, please just remind His Majesty to ask his men about Kailu Hodo. That'll do."

  "What's that?" Taizhen was completely confused.

  Tanqi replied with a wry smile, "That is the matter my lover is involved in. Some evildoers have been keeping the truth back from His Majesty. So once this matter is brought to His Majesty's notice, my lover's trouble will come to an end."

  Taizhen thought for a few moments and felt that this was even easier than a request for reward, and it wouldn't arouse anybody's suspicions, so she gave her an approving nod. Tanqi attempted to kneel down to express her gratitude but Taizhen stopped her when her knees were halfway to the ground and raised her up. "Except for a couple of sisters of mine, you are the only friend I have outside the imperial palace. There's no need for this."

  Seeing the sparkling tears in Tanqi's eyes, Taizhen felt a sudden sense of achievement. By merely a few moments' talk with the Emperor, she would be able to help two lovers get the happiness they deserved, which, to some extent, would also help herself fulfill a long-cherished wish. She said to Tanqi a few more words of consolation and then opened the bead curtain and walked up to the Emperor.

  Tanqi stood where she was, troubled and uneasy.

  Tanqi had already done some careful thinking about this matter and come to the realization that neither the necessity of getting Zhang Xiaojing out of trouble nor that of returning Jing'an Department to the East Palace would be enough to convince the Emperor, because both of them were petty matters in the eyes of the Emperor. It would take a sharp poison needle, one that inflicted instant pain on contact, to alarm the Emperor.

  And this poison needle was nothing else but Kailu Hodo, the Kailu Hodo that was threatening to destroy Chang'an.

  Currently, the Crown Prince intended to stand by, and Prime Minister Li intended to fight for what he wanted. Both sides had, intentionally or unintentionally, ignored the threat of Kailu Hodo. What Tanqi could do was overturn the table and make some noises. Once the Emperor took a personal interest in it, everything would go public.

  Tanqi had no idea whether she would be able to save Zhang Xiaojing by messing up the situation in this way, but she was certain that the situation wouldn't go worse. However, she was also aware that, by making this move, she would offend both the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Li, that she probably would have to face a very miserable fate.

  But at this time, she was too nervous to give these matters some extra thought. She just stared absorbedly at the other side of the bead curtain. Taizhen's yellow hat slowly approached the Emperor's Tongtianguan Crown and suddenly tilted, as if Taizhen twisted her head aside to speak. Before long, Tanqi saw two young eunuchs hastily trotted through the bead curtain and then trotted out heading for those guests. The Crown Prince and Prime Minister Li left their tables and walked up to the Emperor's table. The Yuanyouguan Hat (a hat in the shape of a mountain, worn only by a duke or a prince under an emperor or empress in feudal China) and the black gauze cap lowered down at the same time, which looked like the two men were bowing to the Emperor, but they kept their head down for quite some time, and only the Tongtianguan Crown (a hat in the shape of a mountain, worn by an emperor only in feudal China) occasionally moved, which suggested that the Emperor was probably criticizing them.

  The music was still ongoing and the atmosphere was still uproarious. Tanqi was unable to distinguish the contents of the conversation between the three men at the Emperor's table. She could only lean against the wall like a gambler who had bet all they had waiting for the banker to reveal the dice.

  Finally, The Yuanyouguan Hat and the black gauze cap rose at the same time, and one of them gave a violent shake, as if the man wearing it was shocked. Tanqi, who was unaware of the result, swallowed hard and quietly returned to the back of the Crown Prince's table without waiting for Taizhen to walk out.

  Li Heng walked back to his table, a sullen look on his face. As he clapped eyes on Tanqi, the light suddenly dawned on him. "Was it you who told that woman named Taizhen?"

  "Yes," Tanqi answered with straightened back.

  "You……" Li Heng pointed at her, his fingers quivering, too angry to finish his sentence. "You ungrateful cheap handmaid! To save a convict condemned to death, you betrayed all of us!"

  A moment ago, when his father asked them about Kailu Hodo, neither of them were able to conceal the truth. Prime Minister Li took advantage of the opportunity and accused Li Bi of entrusting the task to the wrong man, claiming that it had been Li Bi's appointing a traitor, a convict condemned to death, that had caused the disastrous defeat of Jing'an Department. Li Heng had no alternative but to steel himself to argue with him. Prime Minister Li censured Jing'an Department for being powerless against the attack, while he criticized the Censor Department for power grab. Prime Minister Li alleged that Zhang Xiaojing was in collusion with the Termite, while he used Zhang Xiaojing's valiant deeds in the West Market to contradict the slander.

  The two men had been dragged into a war neither of them were prepared for by a petty handmaid, and the arguments of both of them were ungrounded. Eventually, the Emperor went impatient and reprimanded, "A formidable enemy is eyeing us with hostility. Yet you two are still in the mood for squabble?!" He was totally unconcerned with Zhang Xiaojing, but Kailu Hodo was threatening to destroy the whole Chang'an. Li Heng and Li Linfu had no choice but to kowtow and apologize to the Emperor, stating categorically that they were willing to make peace and join hands with each other to ensure the safety of Chang'an.

  Tanqi was unaware of the details, but the words "to save a convict condemned to death" brought her to the realization that Jing'an Department would probably suspend their intensive hunt for Zhang Xiaojing. She couldn't be bothered to explain to Li Heng to resolve the misunderstanding, leaning against the wall, eyes closed in exhaustion. After a few moments, she heard footsteps approaching and then felt some men ferociously grab her arms dragging her towards the outside.

  'This is all I can do. You are on your own, wastrel……' she thought.

  When soldiers flooded into the front yard of Chao Fen, Es was the first one to react. Without saying anything, he immediately leaped onto a thatch-roofed work shed, grabbed the thatch and scattered it at those Lubi Army soldiers, blocking their view.

  "Commandant Zhang, go!"

  In the knowledge that he couldn't afford any delays, Zhang Xiaojing knitted his brows, turned around and ran in the opposite direction, but soon he saw that a dozen archers were standing on the rooftop of the house in the front loading their bows. If he tried to climb over the wall, he would become a live target of feather-ended arrows immediately.

  He hurriedly raised his head and warned Es to get down. Es, who was busy scattering thatch on the roof of the shed, failed to hear him. Suddenly, a couple of arrows whizzed over in the dark and with that Es abruptly froze and fell to the ground.

  "Es?!"

  Zhang Xiaojing was taken aback and quickly ran towards him with an attempt to offer help, but a team of Lubi Army soldiers had already come at him blocking his path. Soon, Yuan Zai, among a group of guards, also walked into the yard. He flicked a glance at Es lying on the ground and then complacently yelled at Zhang Xiaojing, "We work for Jing'an Department! You've already been surrounded and there's nowhere you could flee to. Why don't you just put your hands over your head and surrender?"

  In order to make his words more convincing, Yuan Zai took a saber himself and jabbed Es, who had been seriously injured, in the thigh making him let out a cry of anguish.

  Strangely enough, this time Zhang Xiaojing's face remained impassive.

  Yuan Zai was a little surprised by his composure, but after his eyes swept around, his uncertainty dissolved. The front door was the only entrance to this yard, and a great many soldiers holding sabers were cautiously closing in on the targets. And there were also archers and crossbowmen on the perimeter controlling all commanding elevations. It was like an escape-proof net and these members of Termites would never make it out of here, no matter how hard they try.

  But then Wen Ran's abducting him not long ago came to mind and, to be on the safe side, he took a few steps backwards hiding himself among the soldiers.

  "Light the lanterns!" Yuan Zai felt that this pleasant moment deserved to be accompanied by some more light.

  Immediately, a couple of solders hung some lanterns onto the corridor posts, making the small yard brighter. Yuan Zai suddenly tilted his head and clicked his tongue. He finally distinguished the features of the man standing ahead, who seemed to be one-eyed, his left eye socket empty.

  "Zhang Xiaojing?" Yuan Zai was pleasantly surprised. He had thought that the targets were two moles planted by the Termite. Unexpectedly, one of them was the most wanted criminal. It seemed that he was the one who had been destined to perform the most meritorious services on this day.

  Yuan Zai slightly moved forward and reprimanded in a severe tone, "Zhang Xiaojing! You are guilty of the most heinous crimes. Not even by dying a hundred deaths can you expiate so great a record of evil deeds! Today you are faced with me, a government official. Why don't you just admit your sins and kill yourself?" Seeing Zhang Xiaojing remaining silent, he yelled again, "Yao Runeng, Xu Bin, Wen Ran and all your other underlings have been apprehended awaiting execution. Soon you shall join them and be beheaded with them!"

  Yuan Zai had no intention whatsoever to have Zhang Xiaojing surrender. Since there was no better way to shift the blame for the abduction of Wang Yunxiu and the attack on Jing'an Department than to have a dead man take it. As a result, he was trying to provoke Zhang Xiaojing. Once Zhang Xiaojing fought back, he would immediately give the order to kill him where he stood.