Chapter 15

 

It rained yesterday evening, bringing a bit of chill at night, but as the east became brighter and the sun rose, the spring breeze warmed up again, and the road became lively. As far as the eye can see was no longer the bleak scenery of the mountains and hills before. Willows and flowers were blooming on both sides of the official road, and various wine banners were fluttering in the wind. Further away, one could vaguely see some ridges and eaves dotted in the mountains and forests. Those were villas and gardens built by high official and nobles outside the city. From time to time, there were convoys covered with red and purple. It seemed they were all people who came out to see the flowers and appreciate the spring. Their accompanying servants rode on horses, all dressed in bright clothes and looked majestic. The wind fluttered the brocade curtains around the carriage, accompanied by pleasant tinkling sounds of the jade phoenix tied to the horse’s neck. The ladies’ laughter and joyful conversation in the carriage flew up, mixed with the yellow dust raised by the wheels on the road, and rushed towards the pedestrians on the side of the road like a wave, and in the blink of an eye, left the pedestrians far behind.

Xuyu was lucky today. When she was tired of walking in the afternoon, she caught a mule cart that was carrying spring water to the West Market. The water was taken from Xi Mountain, a hundred miles west of the city. The plains there were high and the valleys were deep. The water was sweet and clear, which was incomparable to the water from the wells and canals in the city. Because the palace and the mansions of nobles needed it all year round, this business was born. Many families near Xi Mountain made a living from it. In order to ensure the freshness of the spring water, they often went into the mountains to fetch water in the middle of the night, and delivered it to the West Market in time the next day to sell it to merchants who specialized in collecting water there.

The owner of the water cart was an old man living in the Xi Mountain. He had gray hair and beard, dark hands, patched clothes, and straw sandals. He looked like a rural laborer who could be found everywhere in the countryside. Seeing a person carrying a travel bag, dusty clothes, and boots stained with a bit of mud, he knew this person had come from a long way, probably a scholar traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations. When he heard that she was willing to give him a fare, he waved his hand and said, “Young master, if you’re not offended by my mule cart, it would be an honor for this old man.”

Xuyu thanked him and found an empty spot to sit down.

The cart was loaded with a dozen round wooden barrels sealed with green bamboo strips, which looked like wine barrels. It was not light, so the speed was not fast, but it was still faster than walking. Originally, she was worried that she might not arrive before dark today, but now she didn’t have to worry.

She leaned against the wall of the barrel and dozed off. After travelling for ten miles, she heard a noisy sound. She opened her eyes and saw an official posthouse on the roadside ahead. Next to the official posthouse, there were many inns and taverns of different sizes for ordinary travelers to stay. Travelers came in and out, and carriages and horses came and went, just like a lively small market. On the hitching post outside the official posthouse, there were a row of ten tall horses. The most conspicuous one among them had a lacquered saddle with precious patterns painted on it. The horse’s bridle was decorated with gold, and even the saddle pad under the saddle used as a mud barrier was wrapped with expensive Shu brocade. Through the open door, she could see the figures of post servant running back and forth and serving in a hurry. It must be that a high-ranking official or noble passed by here and stopped inside to rest.

The horse team tied outside the posthouse took up almost half of the road. The old man was afraid of bumping into them, so he drove the mule carefully around them.

“That place is Lingao Posthouse. Young master, you may not know this, but there are two most famous official posthouses in Chang’an, one in the east and one in the west. Changle Posthouse outside Tonghua Gate in the east, and Lingao Posthouse in the west. Whether you are going to Shuofang and Ganliang in the north or Jiannan Shu Road in the south, you must pass through either one of them. Officials, scholars, and those receiving or sending off guests, hosting banquets, and so on, all come here. It’s busy all year round. Once we pass Lingao Posthouse, another ten or twenty miles ahead, we’ll arrive in Chang’an!”

The old man enthusiastically explained stories to Xuyu. Before they knew it, they had travelled another mile or two. Suddenly, they found that the road ahead seemed to be blocked. Carriages and horses were lined up in a vertical line. At first, they could continue to move forward slowly, but soon, they stopped completely.

As the name of Lingaooverlooking bank of water Posthouse suggested, there were abundant water systems nearby and the roadbed was soft. Last night, due to the rain, an intersection ahead collapsed. The road that was originally wide enough for two carriages to pass through suddenly narrowed, and could only passable for one carriage. This was another fork in the road, and all the carriages and horses coming from several directions gathered together. In addition to ordinary travelers, most of them were like the old man, who was delivering goods to the city. As the sun was setting, everyone was in a hurry to get on the road. However, some people wanted to grab the road because they were in large numbers. How could others give in? They could not stop arguing, and some came up to persuade them, and some complained. They were crowded together, and in the end, no one could get through, and the road was completely blocked.

The old man was forced to stop the cart and waited for a while. Seeing that there was no sign of the traffic ahead being cleared, and it looked like a fight was about to break out, he looked up at the sky and couldn’t help but become anxious.

Normally, he would have arrived at the West Market by this time, but today he was delayed and only got here now. If he was delayed any longer, even if he could arrive before the market closed in the evening, the water shop would definitely take the opportunity to lower the price, and this cart of clear spring water that he had worked so hard to get from the mountains would have to be sold at a low price.

That was still fine, but if it were any later, he would not have enough time to leave the city before the city gates were closed and the Jinwu Guards imposed a curfew. He probably would have to find a place to spend the night in the city, and would not be able to go back today.

The old man was anxious for himself, and also afraid for delaying the journey for the young man who was hitchhiking. When he turned around and wanted to say a few words of comfort, he found another group of people coming on the road behind him.

This group was completely different from the ordinary people travelling on the road. Dozens of attendants were lined up in a row, all riding strong horses, galloping like the wind. They looked like the group of people who rested at the official posthouse just now.

Everyone was also startled by the noise coming from behind and turned their heads to look.

“Make way!”

One of the attendants shouted loudly, and everyone came to their senses.

Everyone who made a living in the city could see it clearly. Under the emperor’s feet, outside Kaiyuan Gate, those who dare to act so arrogantly on the road were either nobles of imperial descent or high-ranking officials. Ordinary people like them wouldn’t dare to block the way.

Before the echo of the shouting had faded, the people who had been arguing with each other immediately gave way. Some drove the horses, some pulled the mules, and soon they separated into different paths.

The old man hurriedly whipped the mule to the side of the road. The water cart was large and heavy, and the steering was not smooth, so it was naturally slower than the others. In the end, it was the only one left on the road. Xuyu hurriedly came down to help, and together with the old man, they pulled the mule hard, and finally led the cart to the side before the horse team arrived.

But before they had even come to a complete stop, the leading horse in the team had already galloped up to them without stopping. Before Xuyu could even see the other horse’s appearance clearly, the man on the horse had already ridden past her like the wind.

Not only that, Xuyu felt that the other party seemed to be targeting her on purpose.

The path was clearly wide enough for a single rider to pass, but the man seemed to deliberately pass close to her, with the horse’s hind hooves raised high, splashing mud and dust all over her face, even the horse’s hooves almost scraped her. Fortunately, she was always alert and dodged quickly, so she was not scratched, but her feet were not stable, and she fell to the ground.

After this horse passed, other horses followed one after another, and the road was filled with so much dust that it was almost impossible to open one’s eyes.

Xuyu managed to dodge, but the mule was frightened and started to run away in a panic.

The old man was only trying to avoid the collision and had no time to park the cart. The outer wheel was only a few inches away from the ditch under the roadbed. This caused the cart body to twist, then the whole wheel fell off, and the cart body also tilted.

With a “crack”, the axle broke and the fallen wheel got stuck in the ditch on the side of the road. The cart body shook a few times and tilted over. All the barrels in the cart rolled down and broke one after another, spilling clear water on the ground. One of the barrels rolled quickly towards Xuyu.

The barrel was half a person’s height and was filled with water. If it crushed people, it would be no joke. Everyone around screamed in surprise. Xuyu turned around and saw that it was too late to get up. She rolled on the ground despite the embarrassment and avoided being crushed.

The old man rushed over to block the barrel, then turned around and asked Xuyu in a panic if she was hurt.

When she fell just now, she scraped the skin on her hands and feet, but other than that she was fine. She was just a little frightened. Seeing this, she got up from the ground, shook her head and said it was fine.

“This is too much! This is deliberately targeting people! What kind of people are they? Is there still law?”

A big man who was familiar with the old man came to help, grabbed the still struggling mule, and said angrily.

This man was called Gu Twelve. He had been hanging around in Chang’an since he was little. When he was a teenager, he encountered the chaos of the city being broken. It was said that he once joined the official army to fight the rebels. Later, he came back and was hired by people in the East and West Markets, usually did some escorting work. He was good at fighting and had a sense of justice, also brave and fearless. In the streets around the two markets, everyone knew that he had joined the army and killed people. Ordinary rogues dare not mess with him. Just now, he didn’t allowed people to cut in line, that was why the quarrel started.

Xu Yu didn’t want to cause any trouble, so she said quickly, “I’m fine, it was my fault that I didn’t stand firmly.”

Gu Twelve spat at the team of people ahead that had left, and called for people to help the old man lift the mule cart up, only to find that the axle was also broken.

The old man looked at the mess on the ground with a gloomy expression. Gu Twelve couldn’t help but scold again, but the old man hurriedly pleaded: “It’s just a few buckets of water, don’t make trouble!”

People around were talking about it.

“Who is it?”

“It seems to be someone from the County Prince Mansion.”

“Which County Prince Mansion?”

“County Prince Xiping Mansion, whose surname is Yuwen! I was just resting in the teahouse next to the official posthouse, and I heard the postmaster inside shouting that the one who came seemed to be a shizi, and he should also be coming to the capital to celebrate His Majesty’s birthday…”

“This is too overbearing!”

“Yeah yeah!”

Xuyu’s bag also feel out with just now, and her paintbrushes and other things were scattered all over the ground. While she was tidying up, she suddenly heard the words “County Prince Xiping Mansion”. She turned her head to look and saw that the people who had just passed by had stopped, then the person who almost hit her turned back.

At this moment, she could finally see clearly that this was a very young man, about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a purple jacket and jade belt, with a handsome face. He was holding a golden whip in his hand, sitting high on horseback. In a blink of an eye, he drove the horse back to her, his eyes swept across her scattered paintbrushes, and as if on purpose, paused in front of her flat chest. The corners of his lips twitched slightly, and then he revealed a hint of vague, malicious sneer.

The people around who were talking just now didn’t notice, but when they saw him come back, they shut up immediately and the surroundings became quiet.

Xuyu also understood at this time.

This shizi of County Prince Xiping Mansion in front of her must have seen her early and recognized her, so he drove his horse to ram her on purpose.

As for the reason, it’s a long story. It was an old grudge that she had accidentally created with the other person when she was passing through Shichuan with Grandpa.

It had been a long time since the incident, and Grandpa had intervened at the time, so it was considered satisfactorily resolved. But the other person must have been dissatisfied, and they happened to meet by chance on the road today, so he took the opportunity to take revenge.

Her only confusion was that she was still young at the time, about sixteen or seventeen, and a few years had passed, her appearance also had changed. She didn’t know why the other person was so hateful that he could still recognized her while travelling on the road today.

It was too late to avoid him now. Under the emperor’s feet, no matter how domineering he was, he would not embarrass her openly.

An older man who looked like a steward hurriedly rode back and whispered something to the shizi’s ear. He frowned and glanced coldly at the water cart, but did not stop him. The steward then dismounted and walked to the old man, asking about the loss. He then introduced himself as a steward of the County Prince Mansion. Shizi came to the capital this time because of urgent official business. He was in a hurry and accidentally startled people. He felt very sorry and sent himself here to check on them.

Everyone looked over.

Shizi’s gaze was already cast towards the distance beside the road, his expression indifferent.

The old man was very surprised, but before he could react, the steward called out “Xiao Liu” and a servant who looked like a stable boy came up with money. The steward said it was five strings of coins as compensation.

The old man finally came to his senses and hurriedly waved his hands to refuse.

The steward said: “This is the order from Shizi, just accept it.”

The old man still didn’t dare to accept.

Five strings of coins were not light in weight, so the servant named Xiao Liu carried it over and put it in the cart with a “clatter”, attracting everyone’s attention.

It was indeed a lot of money. Not to mention this cart of water and the cart, it was enough to buy a big young mule at the mule and horse market in Anshan Lane. The eyes of the people around him suddenly changed when they looked at the old man, from sympathy to envy, and they almost wished they could suffer this pain instead of him.

“Besides this old man, did anyone else suffer property damage? If so, we will compensate them as well.” The steward asked loudly again.

There was complete silence all around.

The steward’s words were just a show. He looked around, saw that the work was done, then returned to the shizi’s side.

Xuyu was close by and heard him urging in a low voice, “Shizi, it’s time to get going!”

Shizi glanced at Xuyu with a serious look, shook the reins, and rode away alone.

The steward led his men to chase after him. The group of people and horses went away again, and the road was once again covered with dust.

After the group of people from County  Prince Mansion had left, the onlookers began to move, discussing the accident while busying themselves on their own. The old man’s cart could not be moved, so he had to go back to the official posthouse to find someone to repair the cart. He felt very sorry and apologized to Xuyu repeatedly, saying that he could not send her, delayed her for so long, and almost caused her to get into trouble, so he wanted to give her some money.

How could Xuyu accept it? She urged him to fix the cart quickly, lest he be unable to return home before dark. The old man bowed repeatedly, and asked Gu Twelve to help watch over the mule and money by the roadside while he went back to the official posthouse to call for help.

Xuyu also continued to walk forward. Not long after she walked out, she suddenly heard Gu Twelve shouting behind her: “It’s still more than ten miles from here to the city gate. Walk faster! If you can’t find a place to stay after entering the city, you can go to Yongping Lane to find Aunt Gao’s inn! Just head south after the West Market, it’s only three or four lanes away. Even if you arrive late, it doesn’t matter. Enter through the northwest gate, and mention my name, Gu Twelve, to the gatekeeper. Give him two coins, and he’ll let you in! Don’t stay out on the streets after dark; watch out for the martial patrols!”

Martial patrol was the guards under Jinwu Guard. There were Martial patrol post at the gates and the corners between lanes of Chang’an. Larger posts have twenty to thirty guards, while smaller ones have five or six. During the day, they were responsible for keeping watch, and at night, they patrol and maintain order along with mounted troops. Gu Twelve, being a helpful person, was concerned that she, someone who’s new to the area, might not know the rules and get into trouble. Thus, he specifically warned her.

Xuyu thanked him loudly, raised her head to look at the sun that was even more slanting to the west, and knowing that not much time was left before dark. She did not dare to delay any longer, quickened her pace, and without stopping, she finally arrived near Kaiyuan Gate before sunset.

The late spring breeze was blowing through the vast mountains and forests in the distance, passing through the green countryside full of wild flowers, and blowing to the purple road under her feet, which was covered with layers of horse hoof and wheel tracks over the years. The wind blew the few strands of hair hanging by her ears and also took away the slight sweat on her forehead caused by the hurried walk.

Most of the setting sun had already fallen below the horizon behind her. The city stood in front of her, bathed in the last dark golden glow of the day, silently staring at her.

She unconsciously paused.

Several Hu people drove a camel caravan loaded with pepper and civet spices and passed by her from behind, making the evening breeze filled with fragrance. Suddenly, there was a rumbling drum sound like thunder coming from behind the tower in front.

There was a big drum on the Chengtian Gate in Chang’an. At dusk, the first evening drum was beaten on the Chengtian Gate, and the six streets followed suit with eight hundred beats. Before dark, the Jinwu Guards would close the inner and outer city gates in all directions one by one, and the curfew began.

The crows on the city wall were startled by the sudden drumbeats and started to make noises non-stop. The camel bells outside the city also suddenly became more urgent. Passers-by, carriages, and horses on the roads in all directions sped up, rushing to the city gate that was still welcoming them.

Breathing in the familiar scent of the wind that seemed to come from the deepest part of her memory, and listening to the heart-pounding sounds of the evening drum, Xuyu suddenly felt a moment of trance.

She dispelled the subtle and indescribable emotions surging in her chest, quickened her pace, caught up with the camel caravan in front, and finally, at sunset on the last day of Fourth Month in the seventeenth year of Qiande, she stepped into the city gate of the capital.

Previous     TOC     Next