Chapter 23

 

He closed his eyes and lay quietly on the bed, as if in a deep sleep. It was unknown how long it had passed, but when the first faint and unclear rumbling sound came from the dark blue night sky far outside the wall, he suddenly opened his eyes and rolled off the bed instantly.

When the gate of the lane opened, he was the first to spur his horse out and head west.

He entered the West Market. It was still dim outside and the doors of the shops lining the streets were all tightly shut, including the water shop. The streets were empty, with not a soul in sight, except for a mule cart transporting goods in the early morning that came across the nearby bridge. Its wooden wheels creaked as they rolled over the stone slabs of the bridge, and after crossing, the cart slowly passed by him.

He was awake until dawn last night, never realized that waiting could feel so long. If it weren’t for the inconvenience, he would have wanted to break into the West Market and knock on the door of the water shop to ask for information. But at this moment, he became patient.

He had always been a patient man.

He stood on the bank beside the bridge, facing the river with dark green waves, and waited until the dawn. When the sun rose higher, and the number of carriages and horses increased behind him, finally, the doors of the shops opened one by one.

The owner of the water shop had just removed the door board when he looked up and saw a young Jinwu military officer standing outside the door. He was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had done something wrong. When he heard the other party speak, it turned out to be just inquiring about people, so he hurriedly said, “The old man has been delivering water every three or two days for several years, but he has not been seen for many days recently. He came again yesterday with his grandson, saying that he had an accident and rested at home for a few days. As for the person who talked to him outside the door yesterday, I really don’t know and didn’t pay attention. The next time he comes back should be in two or three days. If General has something, just tell me, and I will pass on General’s message when he comes.”

Pei Xiaoyuan asked where the old man lived. The owner of the water shop didn’t know the exact location, but he knew that his surname was Wang and he lived in the West Mountain area. His grandson was named Chou’er, and the two had only had each other. There were many people in that area who made a living by fetching water. If he asked around, he should be able to find him.

Pei Xiaoyuan led a few people out of Kaiyuan Gate and headed for West Mountain that day. That place was more than a hundred miles away from Chang’an, and a fast horse could reach it in an hour, so the journey was not very far. What really took time was finding the person.

The foothills of that area stretched out for long, the villages were scattered, and the roads between the hilltops were even more tortuous. Looking from one place to another, it seemed not far away, but in fact it might take half a day to get there. It was not until dark that Pei Xiaoyuan received news from his men. He found out that there was a family living next to a valley more than ten miles away. It was a pair of grandfather and grandson, and it sounded a bit like the description of the owner of the water shop.

That night, by the time Pei Xiaoyuan found the mountain dwelling, it was already midnight.

The people who lived here were the old man who delivered water and his grandson, Chou’er. After dinner, they turned off the lights and went to bed early. In the middle of the night, they heard someone knocking on the wooden door and the black dog barking wildly in the yard, which woke up the grandfather and grandson. Chou’er got up and saw through the crack in the door that there were shadows of people outside the fence and the light of the fire stick flickering. He was very scared, and the old man was also uneasy. He asked his grandson to hide in the house while he plucked up his courage and went out. He opened the wooden door and found that there were several people who looked like official military officers. The leader was very young and quite friendly. He said that they came to inquire about someone and told him not to be afraid.

The old man was relieved, bowed, and nodded when he heard the other party ask him if he had taken his grandson to deliver water to the West Market yesterday. The man then signaled his followers to wait outside the door and walked in.

The old man knew that he must have something else to ask, so he hurriedly let him in.

There was a dim oil lamp burning in the room. The old man wanted to wipe the seat for him, but was stopped by him.

“No need to be polite, sir. My surname is Pei. I heard that you met someone outside the water shop yesterday and talked to him. What’s his name? Where does he live?”

Pei Xiaoyuan asked, and seeing the old man’s hesitation, he continued, “I’m looking for my lost brother. I learned that she also came to Chang’an, but I don’t know where she is. Someone saw that the person you talked to outside the water shop yesterday looked like her, so I came to find out the news. Don’t worry, she’s my own person, and I will never harm her.” (t/n: interestingly in here the writer wrote she instead of he, you know in Chinese, the writing of she and he are different but they sound the same)

Because the other party was an official and came to investigate late at night, the old man did have some concerns. After listening, he nodded quickly.

“So that’s how it is! But I don’t know the young man’s name, let alone where he stays. I just happened to know him on the road before, and then I met him again in the West Market yesterday, so I greeted him and chatted for a while. I’m really sorry that General made this trip for nothing.” The old man showed a guilty look on his face.

Although he was a little disappointed, Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t expect to get her exact news from this water delivery man. What he wanted to know most was whether Qingtou had made a mistake or whether that person was really her.

As long as she was in Chang’an, it would not be difficult for him to find her no matter where she ended up.

He described her appearance to the old man: “The eyebrows are straight and delicate, like ink; her eyes are like water droplets, with slightly upturned corners; her earlobes are round and full, shaped like ingots; she has a faint, small scar on her forehead above her eyebrows, and she’s about this tall—”

He pointed to the area just below his ear.

The old man thought for a while and said, “Except for scar on the forehead, which I didn’t notice, the young man looks just like what you described, General! Not only handsome but also looks like someone blessed with good fortune!”

The scar on her forehead was minor, so the old man probably didn’t notice it.

It seemed to be her. He felt a surge of excitement in his heart, but he still didn’t dare to confirm it immediately.

“How did you meet her?”

The old man recounted the story of how the young man rode on his cart into the city and encountered an accident when they met the shizi of County Prince Xiping who was trying to clear the road.

“…I went home to rest for a few days, and yesterday I went to deliver water again. I didn’t expect it to see him again. I stopped him and chatted a few words. Then the young man left, and I came back.”

At the end of Fourth Month, she entered Chang’an by herself through the Kaiyuan Gate, travelling so far away.

Whether it was the time or the direction of the trip, it all matched hers, even the appearance matched!

Pei Xiaoyuan finally breathed a sigh of relief at this point and couldn’t help but clench his palms slightly.

Seeing that he was silent, the old man showed a look of chagrin on his face: “It’s all my fault. I don’t even know his surname, and I didn’t think of asking him where he lives. If I had known earlier, I would have asked him yesterday!”

Pei Xiaoyuan said it was fine.

He had achieved the purpose of this trip. He knew it was wrong to disturb people in the middle of the night. He suppressed the emotions that were surging in his heart at the moment and was about to leave when he suddenly heard the old man say, “Oh, I remember it! That day I went back to Lingao Posthouse to find someone to repair my cart. I heard Gu Twelve say a few words to him. It seems to be telling him where to stay after entering the city. It was windy on the road at that time, so I didn’t hear it clearly. General, go back to the city and ask Gu Twelve in the West Market. You should be able to find out.”

Pei Xiaoyuan asked who Gu Twelve was. The old man explained, then Pei Xiaoyuan cupped his hands to thank him. The old man hurriedly returned the salute, and said he dared not. At this time, Pei Xiaoyuan saw a child sticking his head out from behind the door of the inner room, secretly looking at him with curious eyes, smiled, went up to touch his head, and left.

From the time he got the news about her till now, he hadn’t slept for two consecutive nights. But in the second half of the night, on the way back to the city, Pei Xiaoyuan didn’t feel sleepy at all.

He was very excited about this successful search.

When he returned to the office, it was already daybreak. Because he had some official business to attend to this morning and needed to meet Han Kerang, he could not spare the time, so he sent a subordinate named Liu Bo to the West Market to visit Gu Twelve on his behalf.

If the old man had heard correctly, this matter would have had a conclusion today.

He really never dreamed that Heavens would arrange it this way. In the past few months, when he was tossing and turning, restless day and night, just to find her, she was actually walking on the road south to the capital.

But it didn’t matter, he had no regrets about the hard work he had put in vain because he was misled by her letter. He felt very happy when he thought that he would soon know where she was.

After finding the person, the first thing he would do was to explain to her the possible misunderstanding that happened in the corridor that early morning, and then pick her up. After that…

He hadn’t thought about what would happen next, but it wouldn’t be too late to think about it after he saw the person.

In short, he was in an extremely cheerful mood throughout the morning, until Liu Bo came back at noon and brought him a piece of news.

There was indeed a man named Gu Twelve in the West Market, but he ran away.

The story goes like this. After Liu Bo arrived, he asked a team leader of martial patrol post in the West Market, and learned that Gu Twelve was a scoundrel. Relying on his fists being harder than the average person’s, he often caused trouble. In the past, he had been taken to court several times for assaulting people. Each time, he would tear off his clothes and point to his scars, claiming that he sustained them from fighting against rebels in earlier years. The county magistrate would give him a light sentence, and when he was released, he would threaten those who had reported him. In the end, everyone feared and avoided him. Nowadays, he gathered some other idle hooligans, and despite not doing any honest work, many local residents have been swayed by him, and he’s become something of a local tyrant in the West Market.

When Liu Bo was making inquiries, someone must have tipped off Gu Twelve, who probably had a guilty conscience. By the time Liu Bo arrived, he found the door wide open, but the man had already fled. Someone reported seeing him escape straight out of the city, disappearing without a trace. Liu Bo, left with no other option, returned to report the situation.

This unexpected turn of events caught Pei Xiaoyuan off guard, leaving him momentarily stunned.

The first time his boss asked him do something, he messed it up.

Liu Bo was quite frightened. Seeing that his superior was silent for a long time, he suggested checking the inn register around Kaiyuan Gate and the West Market starting from the end of Fourth Month.

There were reasons and grounds for defining this range.

There were inns of different levels in the neighborhoods near Kaiyuan Gate and West Market. Normally, anyone entering through Kaiyuan Gate could find a suitable temporary place to stay, so they wouldn’t have to go out of their way to find another place.

Most importantly, according to the old man’s narration, Pei Xiaoyuan concluded that she entered the city around the time of dusk. Since the time was short, it was very unlikely that she would travel long to stay somewhere else.

As long as she stayed in that area and the inn had registered it in the book, even if she only stayed for one night and moved out immediately the next day, there would be a record.

This was all they could do at this moment.

Liu Bo took the order and led his men to investigate the area building by building. After several days of effort, he still did not find a person named Ye Xuyu.

“Afraid this subordinate may not do the job properly. Even though this subordinate has personally checked all 256 inn and 121 rental houses in the relevant lanes, but still found no records. This subordinate is sure that there are no omissions. Or… how about looking in the East Market area?”

Liu Bo failed to accomplish anything, so he came up with another idea.

This possibility also existed.

Kaiyuan Gate was the gate that received the most outside travelers every day in Chang’an. In order to attract customers, inns located in some side alleys in the east of the city would often send people to guard the guests when the evening drum was about to sound. Newly arrived travelers, unfamiliar with the area and in a rush to find shelter before being locked out of the lanes, often end up hurriedly getting into that carriage and being taken to these inns.

Pei Xiaoyuan put the matter aside at this time, and as soon as he had time, he went to check the possible places in the East City where she might have stayed. However, there was still no trace of her whereabouts.

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