Chapter 10

Zhao Sanfu left the hall and followed a middle-aged man.

The man was named Xin Quan, one of the twelve chief administrators of the Mirror Platform.

Xin Quan smiled very kindly, but the other administrators nearby deliberately kept their distance from him, as if he were a fierce ghost.

"They all fear me." Xin Quan smiled very kindly.

Zhao Sanfu, his subordinate, grinned and said, "Chief, they say that when you were in the northern border, you fought with the spies of Northern Liao for years. Once, when you were surrounded and starving, you ate human flesh. Is that true?"

Xin Quan still smiled warmly, the fine lines on his face creasing as he looked at Zhao Sanfu.

This was a huge piece of gossip, never confirmed by anyone. Zhao Sanfu's heart beat faster, feeling that he was about to shine today.

Xin Quan looked at him for a long time, then patted his shoulder, "Young people should be curious, but curiosity can sometimes kill you."

Zhao Sanfu relaxed, thinking it might be better not to know. Otherwise, facing a superior who had eaten human flesh would make him feel very uncomfortable.

Xin Quan moved forward, and Zhao Sanfu followed him.

"You shouldn't have sought an audience with the Inspector Wang today." Xin Quan nodded and smiled at the person coming from ahead, who also smiled back but subtly moved to the right. Xin Quan, as if he hadn't noticed, continued to smile, "Back then, you were a scout in the army, quite famous..."

"Not just quite famous, but very famous!" Zhao Sanfu said, dissatisfied. "Chief, back then I killed countless Northern Liao scouts in the north, known as the best scout of the Tang Dynasty. I was about to be promoted, but you tricked me into coming to the Mirror Platform. If not for that, I might have become a general by now."

Xin Quan smiled, "The Tang Dynasty and Northern Liao have now laid down their arms. The scout battles were just a warm-up. I dealt with Northern Liao spies and knew they were preparing to kill a few outstanding Tang scouts to establish their authority. Besides..."

Xin Quan looked at him with surprise, "Back then, when I stayed in the camp, I heard you say in your drunkenness that you wished for the Tang Dynasty to flourish for ten thousand years, and you were willing to die for it. Such a passionate young man, I had to bring you back to Chang'an, or you would have died in the northern border."

But you shouldn't have tricked me!

At that time, Xin Quan spoke convincingly about the Mirror Platform needing people like him to serve the country, so he came happily. However, after a few years, he was still just a subordinate. He was supposed to serve the country, but in recent years, he had mostly been watching the nobles in Chang'an, like a watchdog. This made Zhao Sanfu very dissatisfied and full of complaints.

Xin Quan suddenly put on a stern face, "Overstepping is not a good thing. In the future, don't act on your own. If you have something to report, talk to me first. Remember that. Also, since Inspector Wang has asked you to watch that young man, you must do it well. Watch closely and firmly, but don't use crude methods. It should be like this spring rain, gentle and silent."

Their relationship was not ordinary; otherwise, Zhao Sanfu would have been hated to death by Xin Quan for overstepping today. However, Xin Quan never sought power and preferred to do as little as possible, which suited Zhao Sanfu, who was strongly motivated by fame and profit.

Xin Quan pointed to the sky, and Zhao Sanfu looked up, only to realize that it had started raining.

The spring rain was like silk, like oil, and fell on people without them noticing. The young green plants in the corner swayed in the rain, full of vitality.

Xin Quan squatted outside the duty room, tending a small stove with a pot of soup boiling on it. He smiled happily, and Zhao Sanfu couldn't help but shiver, thinking that the rumor might be true.

Zhao Sanfu went to find Yang Xuan while pondering how to approach the young man.

After a long time, he raised an eyebrow, "To make the Tang Dynasty flourish for ten thousand years, one must become a high official. The Mirror Platform is a place that devours people without leaving bones. If I want to be promoted, I must kill!"

"The young man looks a bit stupid and should be easy to kill. But... can I kill him? If he is a heinous criminal, then killing him is fine..."

Yang Xuan, who had been killed several times in Zhao Sanfu's imagination, followed the address given by Yang Lue.

The streets of Chang'an were incredibly wide, with a constant flow of carriages and pedestrians, everything orderly. Yang Xuan, carrying a large bundle, looked around, looking like a country bumpkin.

"Didn't they say there were坊 walls?"

Yang Xuan saw a gap in the wall by the street, revealing the buildings inside. The largest building was magnificent, with two gatekeepers standing outside, smiling at him.

Someone from the village had once gone to the prefecture office and came back boasting that Chang'an was full of坊 walls, with ten thousand households in each坊, and lights had to be turned off at night, or they would be killed.

This was what Yang Xuan hated most about Chang'an, but where were the坊 walls?

The common people freely entered and exited through the large gaps, and the patrolling soldiers ignored them.

"Young man, come have some tea!"

A woman called out, and Yang Xuan looked up to see a window on the second floor of a wooden building, with over ten women, whose appearance made his heart race, waving at him. The third woman from the right was calling him.

Is this a teahouse? But aren't businesses not allowed in the坊s of Chang'an?

Yang Xuan pointed to his nose, his face as red as a monkey's bottom, "Y-You're calling me?"

What does this woman want from me? To have tea? Yang Xuan had had tea before, at a village celebration where a large bucket of tea was prepared, and he got a cup. He tasted it carefully and found it really hard to drink, but he had to praise it like the other villagers. Later, Yang Ding bought some cheap tea, but he never got to drink it.

The woman covered her mouth and giggled, and her companions laughed heartily, "Oh! You're a greenhorn! Just arrived in Chang'an. Young man, come, it's free."

Yang Xuan thought of a profession. The men in the village often gathered at the village entrance to chat. Besides so-called national affairs, they talked about women. They mentioned the courtesans in the county, saying how beautiful they were but too expensive to visit.

Yang Xuan lowered his head and walked away, and the women laughed even more boldly.

An old man stood downstairs and shouted, "Flirting with young men in broad daylight, shameless!"

"Hey!"

A courtesan leaned out from upstairs, "How about I flirt with you?"

The old man said sternly, "I am a man of principle, you should not..."

The courtesan waved, "Half price, and I'm good at it."

The old man frowned, "Nonsense, oh! I'm thirsty, I'll go get a cup of hot tea."

Yang Xuan stood across the street, and the young man sadly realized that Wang Xian'er was right; Chang'an was full of cunning people. For example, this old man, who had just scolded the courtesan as if he were above such things, now went in to patronize her.

What is this called? Hypocrisy?

Yang Xuan shook his head, and his mood improved.

He found a woman and bowed, "Excuse me, madam, where is Yongning坊?"

The woman turned and pointed, "Go two坊s ahead, and the third one on the right is Yongning坊."

"Thank you."

Yang Xuan ran excitedly, and when he saw Yongning坊, he carefully avoided the broken坊 wall and dog holes, choosing the main gate. At the main gate, several large men, looking fierce, asked, "Where are you from?"

Yang Xuan enthusiastically replied, "Yuanzhou."

Not far away, Zhao Sanfu rubbed his chin and said to his subordinate, "These ruffians are preparing to extort this young man. They've been watching him since he arrived. Tsk tsk! Should I play the hero... spit! I mean, the hero saving the young man."

He squinted, thinking about the recent tense atmosphere at the Mirror Platform. After the emperor ordered the Mirror Platform to notify the Five Clans, the atmosphere in Chang'an changed. The Five Clans' gates were crowded with carriages and officials seeking an audience, and the Mirror Platform's records were numb from the constant activity.

Zhao Sanfu felt that this was a sign of something big about to happen. He was a beneficiary of peaceful times and hated turmoil. Anyone who stirred up trouble in Chang'an and the Tang Dynasty was his enemy. He sighed, "Why can't people just live in peace? Why must they stir up trouble?"

His subordinate, of course, knew what he meant, his face pale, "Zhao Sanfu, that's an imperial order. We are the emperor's watchdogs, we can't say such things."

The Mirror Platform had over a hundred skilled agents, known as 'stakeholders.'

Zhao Sanfu frowned, "Who came up with the term 'stakeholder'? I'm not a tree stake, damn it. The originator of this term, may he have no descendants."

He felt very satisfied with his literary allusion but noticed that his subordinate's face was as pale as a courtesan's bottom, reminding him of a poem where the poet compared the moon to a courtesan's bottom, quite fittingly. "What's the rush? Is it the prime minister?"

The prime minister wouldn't dare interfere with the emperor's watchdogs. His subordinate's eyelids twitched, "It's... it's Inspector Wang."

Bad luck!

Zhao Sanfu's eyes darted around, "What did you hear just now?"

His subordinate was taken aback and honestly said, "I heard..."

"You heard nothing." Zhao Sanfu waved his hand firmly. Then he became excited, "These ruffians are indeed taking action! My chance has come. Remember, act like a bystander and create a scene for me. I'm going."

On the other side, several ruffians surrounded Yang Xuan, pushing and shoving him. The passersby shook their heads and avoided them.

Yang Xuan blocked their pushes and asked, "What are you doing?"

He had just arrived in Chang'an and had no enemies, so why were they attacking him? He considered resisting but thought that if they were officials, resisting would be like rebelling, so he gave up that idea.

The ruffians' pushing was almost like beating.

The leader sneered,