Nirvana In Fire

“Someone who is hurt?” Yan Yujin turned his head to look around. “What kind of person?”

“You really didn’t see someone?”

“I was in the carriage.” Yan Yujin asked the carriage driver, “Did you see anyone?” The driver shook his head.

Xia Qiu frowned, perplexed. Could it be that he had given chase in the wrong direction? Otherwise the fugitive should definitely have run into the Yan family carriage, unless…..

“Xiao Jin, where are you headed?”

“I am going home! My father likes to eat Man Ting Restaurant’s fermented soy bean pork shoulders. As his son, it is my duty to get up early to buy it, else if I go too late, there will be no more.” Yan Yujin grumbled. “Really! Since my father likes Daoism so much, why doesn’t he become a vegetarian like them?”

“Did you manage to buy any?”

“I bought 3!” Yan Yujin pulled a box out of the carriage. “Would Xia Qiu gege like to have one?”

Xia Qiu was also very fond of food, and with one sniff he could tell that this was definitely from Man Ting Restaurant, which sells 100 fermented soy bean pork shoulders a day. He smiled slightly and shook his head: “I still have matters to attend to. You filial son should quickly head home.”

“Wait wait!” Yan Yujin stepped forward, grabbed hold of the departing Xia Qiu, winked at him, and asked: “What kind of person is Qiu xiong chasing? Did he commit a crime? What happened?”

“Really!” Xia Qiu tapped hard on Yujin’s head with his fingers. “Why are you so curious? From young till now, there isn’t anything that doesn’t interest you! If you don’t go back soon your pork shoulders will be cold, and your father might spank you!”

“Hehe,” Yan Yujin laughed openly, “My father has never hit me since I was a kid, even more so now. Only Xia Dong jiejie hits me. Has she not returned yet?”

“No. I don’t know what she is investigating outside the city.” At the thought of his twin sister, Xia Qiu felt troubled. And now, not only was he unable to capture the commander of the rescue team, he also had many matters waiting for his attention so he cannot afford to delay. Clasping his hands at Yujin, he excused himself and turned to leave.

Yan Yujin watched till Xia Qiu disappeared into the distance, then instructed the driver to leave, before boarding the carriage and drawing the curtain behind him.

This was a four-wheeled carriage with an extraordinarily wide body, and piled in it were many bouquets of plum blossoms . Seeing Yujin enter the carriage, a man crouching hidden amidst the plum blossoms moved a bouquet away and half standing, cupped his hands in obeisance saying, “Thank you Young Master Yan for saving me.”

“You’re welcome. I wasn’t doing anything risky. Just now, if I had been found out by Qiu xiong, I would just say that you had threatened me, and he wouldn’t do anything to me,” Yan Yujin shrugged his shoulders casually. Moreover, your leader has done a big favour for my father, so this is just a small gesture in return.”

The stowaway was a little shocked and quickly asked: “Young Master Yan, is there some misunderstanding? I don’t understand what you mean…..”

“Senior Steward Li does not need to hide,” the Imperial Uncle’s son smiled faintly, “Although you have changed your appearance, I still recognize the tattoo on your wrist….Oh by the way, is your injury serious? Fortunately I bought enough plum blossoms to fill half a carriage, or I’m afraid we would not be able to conceal all this blood from Qiu xiong.”

“It’s alright, it’s just a flesh wound.” Li Gang composed himself and said “Young Master Yan, please find a secluded place in the neighbourhood and let me alight.”

“Alright.” Yan Yujin gave him a thoughtful look and asked in a casual tone. “Isn’t Su xiong ill? How is he still able to plan an armed conflict with Xuanjing Bureau?”

Li Gang bowed his head, and was silent for a while before speaking directly: “If I say that our Chief does not know anything about today’s matter, would Young Master Yan believe it?”

Yan Yujin thought for a while then said frankly: “I wouldn’t believe it.”

“But he really doesn’t know.” Li Gang raised his head, his eyes bright. “Today, young master saved my life. I will return the favour another day. But today’s matter really has nothing to do with our Chief, and beg for your understanding.”

Yan Yujin looked at Li Gang for a long while then laughed out loud. “Why are you so nervous? I won’t use this matter of your rescue to request for a return favour from your Chief. I’m not even asking you for repayment. In fact, regardless of whether this matter between you and the Xuanjing Bureau is due to disputes in the Jianghu world or in the government, it has nothing to do with me. If you feel that I have asked too many questions, then there is no need to answer them. Rest assured that even though I am very curious, if others are not willing to reply, I won’t force them.”

Li Gang knows that although this Imperial Uncle’s son appears to be a dandy, he was in actual fact quite sincere and broad-minded, and so he didn’t go into details, but clasped his hands to thank him.

The carriage detoured and stopped at a dark alley close to the Su Residence. Yan Yujin alighted first, looking around him to make sure all was safe, then gestured to Li Gang to alight. Li Gang quickly jumped out of the carriage and disappeared down the alley.

This prisoner rescue mission was a complete failure. Not only did they fail to rescue the prisoner, they also suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Xuanjing Bureau were not large in number, and without the permission and cooperation of the Capital Patrol, they could not launch a city-wide manhunt. Those who managed to flee the scene were lucky to still be alive.

For the time being, Li Gang was unable to verify their total losses, but upon return to the Su Residence, the expression on Zhen Ping’s face told him that the circumstances were not good.

“Has Fei Liu come back?” This was Li Gang’s first question upon seeing Zhen Ping.

“He has been back for quite a while already.” Zhen Ping helped Li Gang into the house, lowered him onto a seat, and ordered for water and medicine.

“Did he tell Chief anything?”

“Chief is still sleeping. But Fei Liu looked very unhappy, and even though I tried very hard to coax him, I was unsuccessful.”

Li Gang closed his eyes heavily. This time, in order to persuade Fei Liu to go along with them, he had told him there would be a martial arts expert who would be able to challenge him and that made Fei Liu very happy. But even though Xia Qiu proved to be a worthy opponent, Fei Liu was forced to abandon the fight mid-way. It would be difficult to predict if Fei Liu would complain to Mei Changsu that Uncle Li Gang had cheated him.

“What do we do now?” Zhen Ping stood to his side, asking him as if asking himself. “We tried attacking the convoy three times but were unable to save him, and now that he has been detained in the Xuanjing Bureau Prison, it will be even harder to save him….I’m afraid for when we will have to report the reality of the situation to Chief….”

“What did Physician Yan say?”

“He told us to wait another two days….” Zhen Ping said. Hearing a sound coming from the courtyard, he quickly stood up. “Mrs Wei is here.”

Before he could resume speaking, the door was pushed open, and an exquisitely beautiful figure floated in, wearing a long dress and elegant in countenance. Indeed, it was the Xunyang physician, former Lang Ya beauty, Yun Piaoliao.

As soon as she entered, she asked urgently: “I heard that Li dage is back?” Before she could complete her question, she noticed Li Gang’s injuries. Her face turned white, and holding back her tears, she inquired softly: “Li dage, are you wounded? Is it serious?”

Seeing Yun Piaoliao’s anxiousness, yet still restraining herself to ask about the condition of his injury first, Li Gang was touched, and quickly said: “I am alright, but I am so sorry Mrs Wei, General Wei Zheng…..we failed to rescue him…..”

Actually, the moment she saw Li Gang’s situation, Yun Piaoliao immediately anticipated there would be no result, but hearing him say it so plainly, she felt her heart twist. After a long while, when she had forced her state of mind to calm down, she asked in a trembling voice: “Did you manage to see him? He….he is ok?”

“Don’t worry Mrs Wei, his life will remain untouched for the moment.” Li Gang sighed. “It’s just that the moment he entered the city, he would be detained in Xuanjing Bureau’s prison, and because he is a convicted Chiyan traitor, if any word of it gets to the Emperor, he could be executed anytime without a trial. We don’t have much time.”

Yun Piaoliao felt her legs weaken, and dropped onto a chair, murmuring: “Apart from the use of force, is there really no other alternative? If it’s about financial resources, Yao Wang Gu* of Western Yue is ranked 7th in the Lang Ya list of great wealth. After all, Wei Zheng has been Yao Wang Gu Chief Su’s adopted son for 8 years and in these past years, he had increasingly left Wei Zheng in charge of matters. He will surely be willing to expand all his financial resources to rescue Wei Zheng. In addition to that, our Xunyang Yun clan together with your Jiangzhuo Alliance….couldn’t we buy Wei Zheng’s life if we joined forces?”

“If General Wei Zheng was captured by anyone else, it may be possible to bribe them, but Xuanjing Bureau’s Xia Jiang….is not an easy person to deal with. No matter how deep Yao Wang Gu or Yun clan’s financial resources are, they are only rich commoners, even if extremely wealthy. But even those are empty words. On this earth, who would be able to withstand the power of the court, to resist the might of the imperial power? Wasn’t it the Li Nanhua family, ranked 3rd in the Lang Ya list of great wealth, who came into conflict with Prince Yu over a piece of land because of their over-confidence in their financial standing, and are now in decline after being dragged into a lawsuit and lost?”

Zhen Ping, the most level-headed amongst all present, calmly analyzed.

“Now, it’s not just the matter of Wei Zheng’s life. We haven’t determined how big Xuanjing Bureau’s appetite is. In capturing General Wei Zheng, Xia Jiang can now make use of this opportunity to accuse Yao Wang Gu and the Yun Clan of harbouring a rebel, but hesitates for fear a big dispute. Moreover, when they escorted General Wei to the city, their route carefully avoided the 14 prefectures of the Jiangzuo Alliance. This put a lot of limitations to our rescue operations. It seems that Xia Jiang suspects that there are connections between the surviving Chiyan (Crimson Flame Army) subordinates and Jiangzuo Alliance.”

“This may not necessarily be true.” Li Gang shook his head. “General Wei Zheng has never been directly affiliated with Jiangzuo Alliance. Actually, Xia Jiang captured General Wei in order to deal with Prince Jing. Many people are now aware that our Chief is serving Prince Jing, so it should be expected that Xia Jiang would treat Jiangzuo Alliance as the enemy, not because he suspects General Wei to have anything to do with our Chief.”

Zhen Ping thought for a while, and agreed. “That’s right. Our Jiangzuo Alliance has hidden our true nature for more than ten years, discovering it will not so easy. Fortunately, we knew that there was a possibility of failure this time, so we deployed our peripheral force in Jinling. With their limited knowledge, even if they were arrested, they would not be able to implicate us. But….this situation is not within our control. Chief’s illness is so serious. Are we really going to report this to him?”

Li Gang stamped his foot and said, “If at this time Master Lin had come to Jinling to oversee things for a few days, then we wouldn’t need worry our Chief at this critical moment, but unfortunately he is having fun in Da Chu. Water in a distant place is of little use in putting out a fire right here*.”

*Idiom / figure of speech

Zhen Ping also said helplessly: “What can we do? Master Lin isn’t formerly from Chiyan like us. He joined the Jiangzuo Alliance just for fun, doing things when he pleases, and when he doesn’t, nobody has the right to tell him off. I think only our Chief can understand him.”

Li Gang was just about to continue the conversation when he noticed Yun Piaoliao crying silently. Understanding the anxiety in her heart, he leaned over to console her, saying: “Mrs Wei, please don’t be sad. We haven’t reached the end of the line yet. Our Chief will definitely find a way.”

Yun Piaoliao immediately shook her head, saying: “I have gone to feel Chief Mei’s pulse. We cannot disturb him now or cause him any alarm. Even though there are many things I still do not know, I do know how important Chief Mei is to Wei Zheng. Besides, apart from being Mrs Wei, I am also a physician. There is no physician who would alarm and worry such a critically ill patient and tax his mind and body….”

Hearing her words, Li Gang and Zhen Ping were saddened.

Since Lin Shu was 16 years old and could have his own “Chiyu Battalion”*, Wei Zheng was one of his deputy generals, and the only one lucky enough to escape the fires of death.

*Crimson Feather Battalion

Everyone knew how much of an impact his arrest would have on Mei Changsu and the severity of its consequences.

However, Wei Zheng’s capture happened so unexpectedly, and Xuanjing Bureau took less than half a month to transport him into the city. After receiving news from Yao Wang Gu, Jiangzuo Alliance hurriedly organized two attempts to rescue him enroute but because time was too short, they were ill-prepared and failed. Today, before the convoy entered the city, they threw caution to the wind and made a final attempt at rescue, even bringing along Fei Liu, but Xuanjing Bureau was already well-prepared for this and they had to return empty-handed.

Just as the three of them reached wit’s end, the spies Zhen Ping sent out upon Fei Liu’s return rushed in to report the current situation in the city.

Yun Piaoliao saw that they had important matters to discuss, and excusing herself, removed herself to the back courtyard.

Li Gang and Zhen Ping had no intention of hiding anything from her but as they didn’t want to add to her worries, they did not urge her to stay, and proceeded to lead the two spies into the inner room and questioned them quietly.

These two spies were personally trained by Zhen Ping, so they were extremely intelligent and highly dependable. The information they obtained was clear and to the point.

According to their report, out of the approximately hundred men, in addition to the 30 or so who died on the spot, 8 were arrested. The rest may have fled away to the mountains and forests outside the city, or were currently being concealed, so there was no need to worry about their being arrested.

Xia Qiu was also probably not very interested in these low-ranking people and did not give chase, but instead quickly brought order to the situation and delivered Wei Zheng and the rest back with him into Xuanjing Bureau.

“Is anyone collecting the bodies?” Li Gang asked with tears in his eyes and pain twisting in his heart.

“Yes. After all, it happened at the city gates of the capital, so the government office has dealt with them quickly. We sent someone to follow them and buried our brothers in a grave. Steward Li, please don’t worry. We will make sure that they rest in peace.”

Zhen Ping patted Li Gang’s shoulder and said: “Regarding the matter of compensation for their families, you don’t have to worry. I will take care of it. Pull yourself together. Now that Mr Shisan is forced to hide himself and Miaoyin Hall has also closed its doors, the consolidation of our city’s covert operations and information channels is dependent on both of us. Even if General Wei’s capture did not happen, it is still an eventful time for us.”

Li Gang took a deep breath and said: “Speaking of Miaoyin Hall, I still can’t believe that Tong Lu would betray us….”

Zhen Ping’s expression turned cold and said: “Whether he truly betrayed us or someone has threatened him, we are as yet unable to conclude. Fortunately, Mr Shisan reacted quickly. The moment he discovered that Tong Lu went missing, he immediately disbanded his operations and sent everyone separately into hiding, leaving the authorities with an empty Miaoyin Hall. The only drawback is that many of our brothers and sisters cannot be mobilized for the time being.”

Li Gang nodded his head and paced the room. What worried him most now was not Tong Lu’s disappearance. The young man had no knowledge of the deadliest secrets at the heart of Jiangzuo Alliance. Even if he were to betray them, he could only reveal Mr Shisan’s location and the information he had passed to Mei Changsu previously.

Now that Mr Shisan has managed to disengage successfully, any information Tong Lu carried would be outdated. Mei Changsu’s silent support of Prince Jing was no longer a secret so when all was said and done, any damage due to Tong Lu would be limited. The biggest problem now was how to save Wei Zheng whose identity had been exposed and who had fallen into the hands of Xuanjing Bureau.

“Brother Li,” Zhen Ping seemed to sense what Li Gang was thinking. He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Although Chief has retreated to recuperate, and we can manage most of the affairs based on our judgment, the situation is now critical. Can we really go on like this without informing Chief?”

Li Gang stayed silent for a long while, his eyebrows knitted. Just as he raised his head to speak, the inner room door suddenly opened from the outside, and Fei Liu appeared at the doorway saying with a clear voice: “Calling you all.”

Notes:

*I initially thought Yao Wang Gu was a person, but rewatching NIF, I realize it refers to Yao Wang Valley and its people, so presumably it’s a territory whose people is led by Valley Chief Su.