A new day began. Today was the grand occasion that Yun Ye had spent an entire year orchestrating. Thick nanmu logs requiring two arms to encircle were transported into Xinghua Ward. Bag after bag of exquisitely packaged rice was carried into Xinghua Ward. Countless beautiful singing girls and handsome performers were transported by carriage into Xinghua Ward. When several fragrant carriages slowly entered Xinghua Ward, the watching crowds immediately erupted in excitement.
“Look, the one holding the pipa is Lady Guan. She’s just wearing a veil so you can’t see her face clearly. I heard she so enchanted Young Master Ma that he sold his ancestral property wanting to buy out her contract, only to end up losing both people and money!”
“The one holding the sword case is a swordsman from the Gongshu family. Ah, their Third Miss has personally come! That fool Marquis Yun must have paid a huge sum.”
“Who’s that blind man? Why is a blind man coming to join the excitement?”
A hoodlum had just finished this sentence when the back of his head was heavily slapped by a scholar: “What blind man? I think you’re the blind one! That’s Qin Weng, Chang’an’s foremost master of the zither!”
After speaking, he stroked his beard reminiscently and said: “A few years ago, an old friend passed the imperial examinations and was sent to serve as an official in a distant place. We sent him off at Yan Lai Tower. Amidst the red lanterns and green wine, I heard zither music and thought it celestial. After sobering from wine, I thought I’d been in a dream!”
“Yaoniang’s chest, Fox Girl’s legs, Miss Zhang’s bottom—how many did the old gentleman sample?” The hoodlum, not willing to be outdone after being hit, hearing the scholar had been to Yan Lai Tower, immediately mocked him. The scholar grew angry, immediately triggering a scene of chaos.
Xinghua Ward couldn’t be entered. The ward walls, much higher than other families’, were covered with iron spikes. At the main gate, several fully armored guards silently watched the crowd without speaking. Everyone pressed and jostled against each other but didn’t dare step forward.
A plump steward came out smiling, clasping his hands in greeting: “Distinguished neighbors, today is the auspicious day of Xinghua Ward’s reopening. The master has ordered me to bring some small gifts to thank all the distinguished neighbors. Please form orderly lines, and the household servants will distribute them to everyone one by one.”
Hearing of this good fortune, the crowd immediately transformed from impenetrably packed to four thin, orderly lines. Servants in blue clothes and small caps carried out several large bamboo baskets, each containing many small hemp cloth bags—no one knew what was inside.
The hoodlum, strong and vigorous, squeezed into first place, extending his hand waiting to receive a gift. The servant smiled innocently and placed a bag in his hand, indicating he could leave. Exiting the line, unable to wait, he opened the bag and discovered several things wrapped in small lotus leaf pieces. Opening one, he found inside a piece of dried meat. Smelling it, it was very sweet and fragrant. Tossing it in his mouth, he discovered it really was air-dried meat particles—sweet-tasting, savory, with a hint of saltiness. Chewing vigorously several times, he discovered that with each chew the fragrance intensified. Before he knew it, the meat in his hand was finished.
Looking at the still-long line, he felt somewhat dejected. Why hadn’t he saved even a little of such delicious food for his little sister? He regretted it deeply afterward. He pricked up his ears wanting to hear what others would say.
“This is wind-dried beef! Good stuff—a pound costs one hundred wen!” Hearing others say this, the hoodlum regretted it even more. He slapped his own mouth several times hard. Thinking of his little sister’s disappointed forced smile when she couldn’t eat the beef, his heart ached. He couldn’t line up again—the hoodlum couldn’t afford to lose that much face. Hanging his head, he prepared to go home, no longer even in the mood to look at beautiful women.
Suddenly someone patted his shoulder. Looking back, it was that plump steward, who stuffed two small bags into his hand saying: “Take these home for your younger brothers and sisters to taste. This is a specialty from the grasslands—we don’t have it in Chang’an. Slaughtering cattle results in rod beatings. Today there are many people, so I can’t give you too much—just taste it.” After speaking, he patted the hoodlum’s shoulder again, then hurried back to distribute gifts to others.
This rolling stone who hadn’t shed tears even when beaten with thirty rods by the authorities only felt his nose turn sour, and tears flowed out by themselves. Afraid of being seen and losing face, he lowered his head and quickly ran toward home.
Several cattle’s worth was distributed like this. He Shao didn’t feel the slightest heartache. Smiling broadly, watching the crowd gradually disperse, he knew that the famous snack of wind-dried beef was about to become popular in Chang’an.
The Imperial Guards arrived. First they surrounded everyone into small groups like wolves entering a sheep flock, then recorded names, addresses, guarantors and so forth one by one. Gongshu Third Miss, who had seen grand occasions, suddenly awakened—could it be that His Majesty would come today? Her mood changed from displeased to excited. She turned back to the musician saying: “For today’s sword dance, don’t use Green Waist, use Rapid Rain. Whether the Gongshu family’s reputation can spread depends on tonight.”
Lady Guan beside her looked at Gongshu Third Miss with disbelief. They were peers—Gongshu Third Miss just nodded to her, meaning she should just know herself. Lady Guan immediately sat cross-legged and began carefully adjusting her pipa right backstage. She even changed a string. The false fingernails wrapped on her hands were also removed one by one. Looking at her slender fingers and nails painted with henna, tonight she wouldn’t rely on external aids.
Toward evening, servants carried over a large basket of food—each person got a small lunch box and a bamboo tube. The lunch boxes were made of thin beaten copper, with lotus flower patterns on top. At a glance you could tell they came from a master craftsman—every lotus flower was identical, every lunch box was identical.
From glamorous courtesans to the lowest maids, from whirling dance masters to laborers carrying boxes, everyone got one portion with absolutely no differential treatment. A burly foreigner grabbed the servant’s hand saying: “You’re giving me just this? The same as the laborers eat?”
The servant smiled and flicked off the foreigner’s hand saying: “These are our household’s rules. Today everyone eats this. If it’s not enough, say the word and I’ll go pack you some more. Want to eat something else? No way. My lord marquis eats this same thing—want me to bring the marquis’s meal tray over for you to look at?”
After speaking, still wearing a smile, he completely ignored that foreigner. He opened the lunch box for a little maid who didn’t know how to eat these things, twisted open the bamboo tube, told her inside was fermented rice wine, and taught her how to use a spoon, without the slightest impatience.
The food was delicious—relatively speaking. Even Gongshu Third Miss ate the large chunks of red-braised meat with full praise. The Imperial Guards hadn’t expected they’d have a share too. For safety, the Imperial Guard commander specifically instructed them to eat in three shifts. After finishing one box of food and one bamboo tube of fermented rice wine, dinner ended. Servants brought reclining chairs for those performing tonight so they could rest for half an hour. Men and women were specifically separated to avoid inconvenience. This was the only special treatment that Gongshu Third Miss and the others enjoyed.
Chang’an City had no curfew tonight—this was something Yun Ye had strived hard to obtain. When the sun slowly set behind the western mountains, carriages departed in an endless stream from various wards and markets, converging on Xinghua Ward.
Since many people brought female family members, all along the way there were chattering female voices and continuous laughter, with subtle fragrance floating in the air. Chang’an City’s night was destined to be recorded in the annals of history. This was the first time since the founding of Great Tang that curfew was cancelled on a night that wasn’t New Year’s Day. All of Chang’an seemed to suddenly come alive. Various peddlers carried poles, balanced baskets on their heads, and carried baskets on their arms, hawking their wares to passersby. Bearded foreigners draped carpets on themselves, showing off to passing distinguished guests how exquisite their carpets were.
Standing at the Taiji Palace gate, Li Er bent forward gazing at Chang’an. He discovered that Chang’an, previously lifeless and filled with a killing atmosphere, had become lively. The streets were packed with travelers, as if a river of lanterns was flowing toward Xinghua Ward.
This bastard had created quite a spectacle. It seemed tonight would definitely be a spectacular night. Emperors are often lonely—how could Li Er be an exception? Watching song and dance in the imperial palace alone was extremely boring. Only before others was he the lofty emperor. Now with a good show being staged, how could he contain himself?
Zhangsun draped a cloak over him. Autumn evenings already had threads of coolness. Looking at Zhangsun who was similarly wearing a cloak, Li Er grasped her left hand saying: “You accepted Yun Ye’s invitation. Now I will accompany you to the appointment and see what kind of commotion that troublemaker can stir up tonight.”
Zhangsun smiled gently. Using her right hand to remove a yellow leaf brought by the evening breeze from Li Er’s shoulder, she said: “This subject’s wife sincerely wishes him great fortune tonight, rolling in wealth, all wishes fulfilled, swindling everyone under heaven.”
Hearing this, Li Er laughed heartily, pulling Zhangsun in great strides out of Taiji Palace. He really wanted to see as soon as possible how those fat-headed fellows would suffer losses they couldn’t speak of.
Wei Zheng arrived early at Xinghua Ward with his wife and son. He wanted to see how Yun Ye would complete this magic trick. Even now his mind was still muddled—he clearly knew Yun Ye would have methods, but he just couldn’t guess what techniques they’d be. However, his wife tonight had brought the entire family’s savings. She had long had her eye on a small building in Xinghua Ward. The Wei family was too impoverished. Next year they needed to arrange marriage for their eldest son Guiyu. His second son Zhongyu and third son Shuyu were both more talented than the eldest, so Wei Zheng was unwilling to have the eldest inherit his title and could only compensate him more in terms of money.
Standing in the shadows watching Yun Ye smilingly welcome distinguished guests, naturally stewards behind him led the guests one by one to their boxes. When he saw a large group of people in exotic dress appear at Xinghua Ward and Yun Ye’s smile became even more brilliant, pulling the lead tall foreigner and beginning to babble hello-hello nonsense—seeing this, Wei Zheng’s heart settled down.
From the level of Yun Ye’s smile one could roughly distinguish how he planned to treat tonight’s distinguished guests. When the Crown Prince, Prince Wei, and Prince Shu brought a group of younger siblings, his face was full of disgust—clearly these people wouldn’t bring him any wealth and instead came to consume wealth. Facing the four families of Cheng, Niu, Qin, and Yuchi, his welcome was from the heart, his smile natural. When Li Jing came, he smiled cunningly. When Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui came, he respectively whispered in their ears for a while—apparently revealing the truth. As for the remaining officials, he smiled very heartily, very dashingly, full of sincerity. Finally, those foreign merchants—he looked at them like seeing his own father, respectful and enthusiastic, giving the feeling of a hospitable host. As for the merchants entering and exiting from below the stairs, his eyes held no smile, only coldness and cruelty.
So Wei Zheng had reason to believe that tonight the unluckiest would be the foreign merchants, followed by the merchants, and finally the officials. He just didn’t know how he would treat Li Jing—this was a difficult problem. However, Li Jing had always been outstanding in intelligence and strategy. The two would definitely have quite a battle. Thinking of this, Wei Zheng’s whole body heated up. He very much looked forward to the auction starting soon.