Translator: DragonRider

“Sir, Supervisor He is back . ” His vital capacity was so large that he did call powerfully .

Li Bi frowned, “Why does he come back so soon? That's unusual . ” He made an eye contact with Tan Qi, who, upon getting the hint, pushed Zhang Xiaojing's gray pottery figurine out of the sand table with moon stick .

Messenger also handed over several new files which must first be reviewed and signed for by Li Bi . He read and signed, and suddenly frowned, taking a paper out . He handed it to a servant next to him and whispered a few words .

No sooner had Li Bi given order than old He entered the hall and asked,

“Changyuan, how dare you appoint a condemned prisoner?”

***

Wen Ran beat the incense residue out of hands, adjusted her father's memorial tablet and murmured, “Today is Lantern Festival . Do I really have to leave?”

There was no one in the room . She was just talking to herself .

Someone just sent a message, in which contained a unique code; she knew it was from benefactor .

The message told her to leave Chang'an as soon as possible, yet didn't give any explanation . This was somewhat a dilemma to Wen Ran . Since her father died, she resolutely took over this incense shop and hung in there herself . With kind of stubbornness and persistence, her business was getting along very well . Moreover, great demand for incense on Lantern Festival meant a good time to make money . “If I leave now, I'm gonna earn less . ”

But it was the order from benefactor that Wen Ran couldn't ignore . Without him, Wen's family would have broken up last year . Her father had repeatedly warned her to obey benefactor in every way .

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With a soft sigh, she packed her gear and looked up at the densely order plates on the wall . Each plate represented an important order . She couldn't read much or keep accounts, so this was her only way to record business . She saw one of the wooden plates with the word “w.a.n.g” written on it, beside which were a dozen pink dots .

This order, twelve packs of super G.o.ds-calling rue incenses, placed by daughter of Jiedus.h.i.+ w.a.n.g from Anren Fang was due today .

Wen Ran's pale and delicate eyebrows were knitted together . The order meant a lot to Wen's Incense . “The lady loves my mixed incense so much that she always wants some new ones . If she is satisfied, I will become well known in the circle of aristocratic women . ”

Anren Fang was three avenues northeast of Dunyi Fang; that was not too far . Wen Ran thought, “I must deliver this order anyway before I get out of Chang'an . ”

With that decided, she turned to bring rue incenses, put them on a bamboo rack and carried out on her back . She had planned to rent a mule, but all the cattle in the nearby courier station were fully booked for festival, even high price didn't work . That left her no choice but to manually carry the rack .

The street was full of traffic . She pushed her way through the crowd and finally arrived at Chongye Fang, weary and exhausted . There was a Xuandu Temple and most dignitaries wors.h.i.+pped there; various cattle and carriages stopping by the Fang gate blocked the street . Civilians had to pause and wait patiently .

Wen Ran quietly stood in the crowd, unaware that, on the second floor of a tavern at the corner of the opposite Huaizhen Fang, a couple of evil eyes peered over the wide street and swept her several times .

A middle-aged man in light cyan official robe turned his gaze and slowly raised a cup . He had narrow eyes and Roman nose . And a move of his lips would pull the nose and eyelids, as if a snake was swimming under the skin .

“Do you see that woman?” He coldly asked as he took a sip .

Next to him stood a couple of young men dressed in brocaded robes, who all nodded repeatedly upon hearing the question .

The middle-aged man said with hatred, “Her case with her father last year stirred the city into a tempest, and did a county chief in . It's Providence that I b.u.mp into her today . If I don't revenge, others will treat me, Feng Dalun, like a doormat . ”

“You must take 'good' care of her later . ”

The youths in brocaded robe all laughed, eyes sparkling with evil and lascivious desire .

Feng Dalun put down his cup, “Do whatever you want . Yama Zhang is in the jail waiting to die, no one will protect her this time . ” Every time the name was mentioned, there was a flicker of fear and hate in his eyes . Even he couldn't figure out which feeling was stronger . To dispel this unpleasant feeling, he waved his hand,

“Why are you still standing still? Act now!”

The youths crossed their hands and stamped down the stairs .

Wen Ran finally got out of the crowded Chongye Fang and walked along the street for a while . Unconsciously, she found herself surrounded by several young loafers . These youths dressed frivolously, and a few dark tattoos could be seen under the neck from the front opening of their robes .

The young loafers just hung around from the beginning, and then quietly closed in one by one, crowding out other pedestrians . Slowly, they occupied all directions around Wen Ran . These people, loosely separated from each other, formed an impregnable human wall into which she was confined .

Wen Ran sensed that there was something wrong, trying to rus.h.i.+ng out . The young loafers jokingly stopped her and pushed her back with their shoulders and arms . In her anger she grasped one man's arm and pulled it hard . Instead of tearing the 'wall' apart, she pulled his robe down and saw two dark arms .

The youth's arms were tattooed with two lines of cyan words: Live without fear of the Jingzhao Office; Die without fear of the King of h.e.l.l .

It…It was the sign of the Fires (a gang)! The gang, a bully in Wannian County, kept hundreds of loafers . From picking quarrels and provoking troubles to robbing and killing, they ran amuck everywhere willfully .

“Is . . . Is this the danger mentioned in benefactor's message?” Wen Ran thought . But why the Fires gang came to bother her? Wen Ran had no idea .

As if falling into a torrent, Wen Ran was wrapped by a man wall, being forced all the way north to a remote area . She obstinately clenched her teeth, her eyes constantly looking out from the gaps of the 'wall' . Suddenly her face brightened: there was a scout booth in the front corner of Fang and several scouts were sitting there, holding forks in their hands . She sped up, knocked off a young loafer and cried to scouts for help .

The scouts heard the cry and picked up their forks, but their faces changed at the first sight of a dozen of loafers with arm tattoos following the girl . The leading youth composedly came up and bowed, “I'm disciplining my wife . Sorry to make myself a joke . ” Then, he took off a string of coins from waist and handed it over .

Although knowing he was lying, the scouts, unwilling to cause more trouble, took the money and retreated . The youths playfully dragged desperate Wen Ran back to the man wall . At the front crossing, there was an arched carriage waiting over there, its two windows covered with black cloth . The young loafers pushed her into the carriage, and then two men jumped into and locked the door from the inside .

The carriage started slowly . Wen Ran was very scared in the dark, yet unable to get out . A while later, from outside the carriage suddenly came a grand bell . The special bell, broad with a little clear unvoiced sound, was easy to be recognized as the violet gold Fo'en Bell in the Jidu Nunnery . Empress Wu Zetian had practiced Dharma here; the bell was cast in violet gold, so the sound was quite different from that of other temple bells .

Suddenly, she calmed down .

It was not because the powers of the Buddha, but she suddenly realized that she was not completely desperate .

Jidu Nunnery was located in Anye Fang, where Wen Ran often came to send incense and was familiar with the paths around . As soon as she heard the bell, she immediately figured out where she was-probably on the west side of Anye Fang, close to An'ren Fang where she had planned to go while there was only Rosefinch Street in between .

Rosefinch Street was a north-south road in central Chang'an, about one hundred steps wide, leading straight to imperial palace . “If I have the opportunity to run on the Royal Road, I may be able to escape . ”

Thinking of that, Wen Ran sat straight against the wall of the carriage, and her hands, in the dark, felt a loose nail in the floor crack .

It was in her nature to never give up easily .

*

With a cry of repression to the extreme, Cao Poyan jerked forward, his eyes red . The stick in his mouth was almost bitten off .

The bamboo craftsman extracted a section of dark and b.l.o.o.d.y arrow shaft with a sharp knife . He put down the knife, and then completed the st.i.tching, dressing and wrapping expertly .

“The headless arrow won't endanger your life, but your elbow can't move for months . ” The craftsman said as he washed the blood off his hands in the basin . Cao Poyan nodded weakly, sweat pouring down his forehead .

Meanwhile, there came the sound of footsteps outside, and a sullen man came in . He had a typical Turkic appearance: chapped horse face and bushy white brows . He was wearing a floor length, plain silk robe with a bailing bucket-like hood which was not the style of Tang or Hu clothes .

“General Yousha . ” Cao Poyan and the bamboo craftsman bowed together to pay respect .

Yousha was not a name, but an official t.i.tle in Turk . Royal members were a.s.signed to take over different territories, those who controlled the east were called Zuosha, and the west Yousha; they had enormous powers . If the Tang court knew that such a big shot actually hid in Chang'an, it would certainly cause a great storm .

Yousha glanced at Cao Poyan's wound on his elbow, “I've just got the news . The fifteen warriors came with you were already dead . ” Cao Poyan flopped down on his knees and ashamedly held the knife nearby against his heart, “It's all my faults, and I would die for my sin . ”

Wolf guards were the most loyal bodyguards of Khan . They were ordered to sneak into Chang'an and had never intended to return to the gra.s.slands alive . However, they should have sacrificed their life in exchange of hundreds of times that of the Tang people to serve Khan . Dying in a broken warehouse was indeed a great waste .

Yousha sneered, “What right do you have to decide your life? It belongs to Khan . ” He took the sharp knife from Cao Poyan's hand, cut off a strand of hair from the latter's head, and wrapped it around his wrist . It meant taking the spirit of the guilty on the gra.s.slands . From that moment on, Cao Poyan was completely dead, leaving only a sh.e.l.l that had to obey any command .

“From this moment on, you are not allowed to die until complete all my orders . ”