Chapter 2: The First Snow (Part 1)

  The rooster crows three times, and Chang'an City, which has been asleep for a night, gradually wakes up from its dream.

  Zhang Xun, Lei Wanchun and Wang Xun walked together on Zhuque Street, each with two large black eye circles. Yesterday, they inquired about news from the two maidservants, Yue Lian and Qi Mo, at Pingkang Li, and chatted until late at night before ending their conversation. After the hour of hai, the city of Chang'an began to prohibit walking, so the three men had no way to return home and could only temporarily stay in a guest house at Pingkang Li. However, after the closure of the gate, the inside of Pingkang Li was not prohibited from lighting fires. Therefore, the sound of silk, bamboo, and pipes accompanied by the laughter of wine guests and song girls came one after another from outside, piercing people's ears. It wasn't until the hour of mao that the noise finally subsided, the gambling houses and brothels in Pingkang Li began to close, and the outside sky had already started to brighten up.

  It's just one night that they couldn't sleep well, but Wang Youping was used to socializing with friends and often stayed up late. Zhang Jun and Lei Wanchun were also accustomed to working overtime and staying up all night for official business. What a pity is that they didn't get much useful information from the mouths of Yuexiang and Qimeng. The two young girls who had never experienced any big storms were scared silly, one of them cried and complained about Yuwen Zhi's brother Yuwen De being too selfish, relying on Yuwen Zhi to support the whole family, and doing nothing but making empty promises; when trouble arose, the first thing they thought of was to drive Yuwen Zhi out of the house and draw a clear line. The other one, slightly more clever, swore that her husband had never done anything evil or unjust, and all the charges were malicious slander from others.

  "It doesn't matter what you or I say, we have to listen to the verdict of the County Magistrate!" Wang Xuan's face turned stern and he let out a loud roar, only then did the two little maidservants stop their chatter. However, the subsequent words were still useless, they were just more detailed than what Ma Fang had recounted that day. As for Yuwen Zhi, apart from Wang Xuan and others, who else had she been in close contact with recently, or if she knew any big shots outside, she shook her head to all these key questions.

  "As for the financial aspect, has your family's young master had any large income recently or suddenly incurred a huge expense? Think carefully and tell us. After all, we need to know who he owes money to in order to figure out a way to save him." At this critical moment, Zhang Zhou still thought it through carefully, lowering his voice and asking with a smile.

  "You're talking about spending money? Oh!" It wasn't a waste of effort for the group to spend several hours, as Moon Lian finally remembered something. With red eyes, she looked at Wang Xuan and then said in a low voice: "The young master did indeed move a large sum of money recently. He said it was invested with someone named Jia Laoda, but he didn't say what business it was for, nor did we see any contract or evidence!"

  "Alright", Wang Xuan heard and immediately rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you say such an important thing earlier!"

  "I, the young master of my family, am not allowed to talk to anyone!" Yuè Liàn lowered her head like a frightened little bird, not daring to face Wang Suō's anger.

  Yuwen young master's original words were not to tell anyone, and he especially emphasized that Wang Xun, Ma Fang, Qin Shi brothers and others must not know. Now that Yuwen young master has gotten into trouble, it is precisely Wang Xun, Ma Fang and others who are going all out to help him. This sequence of events, how can it not make people feel embarrassed?

  Fortunately, Wang Xun didn't take it too seriously and asked a few more questions. After checking the time, he found that it was already late at night, so he pulled Zhang Zhou and Lei Wanchun to find a room to rest. When they arrived at a quiet place, Wang Xun told them that Jia Laoda was actually the most favored fighting cock of the emperor's inner historian. Zhang Zhou and Lei Wanchun were both stunned instantly. Earlier, everyone still had some luck, hoping that Yuwen Zidao was just a small soldier who shook his flag and shouted, and the gods would slightly lift their hands and let him go like a fart. Now, however, he has already reached into the inner palace, how can this position be ordinary in this turmoil?

  Thinking of annoying things, the three people didn't sleep well all night. Especially Wang Xun, who kept dreaming that Yuwen's head was hung on the city gate, crying and looking at himself pitifully. The civilians passing under the city gate were clapping their hands in celebration, saying that this was the end of those who relied on power to bully people and did evil deeds. Someone even recited a poem under Yuwen's skull, praising the wisdom of the Tang Dynasty emperor, the virtue of the prime minister, and the iron fist that eliminated the tyrant of Chang'an.

  "It wasn't us who did those things!" Wang Chun roared at the ignorant crowd. His voice woke him up, and as he thought about the scene in his dream, he felt even more wronged in his heart. The young master of the Yuwen family was indeed a bit out of line in his actions, but having grown up together since childhood, Wang Chun knew clearly that he was like himself - always committing small evils, never big ones. If it really happened as it did in the dream, with him muddle-headed and losing his mind, who knows if his spirit would not be at peace, crying out his grievances every day at the gate of Chang'an City.

  After finishing breakfast, the three of them rode their horses to the county government office in Wan Nian County. They planned to take advantage of the opportunity to visit the prisoner and hear his statement from Yuwen Zhi himself. Thinking that they still had an appointment with Li Bai and others at noon, Zhang Jun suggested that Lei Wanchun go out and cancel the dinner party. At this time, Wang Xun had a few thoughts in his mind, shook his head, smiled and stopped him, "Forget it, let's just go. We made an appointment, otherwise it would seem that we are not sincere. Besides, last time was clearly Yuwen Zidao intentionally provoking us first. We fought vaguely, and I haven't apologized to those few people in person yet!"

  "Is Li Taibai such a narrow-minded person?" Although they had only met once, Lei Wanchun took the initiative to speak up for Li Bai. "A friend is in trouble and you have no heart to socialize, I'm sure he will understand if he knows about it."

  "Go ahead! Anyway, the time is arranged. Zhang Zhou changed his mind again, nodded and smiled to support Wang Xun's opinion. "After this incident, maybe Taibai brother can also hear some news there. Although he has no real power in his hands now, the people he usually interacts with are quite different from you and me!"

  Now the Great Tang is at peace, and for nearly thirty years there has been no war in the capital and its surroundings. As a result, from the imperial court to the common people, everyone enjoys playing with poetry, music, and dance. Li Bai was a famous poet who would compose poems after drinking heavily. Therefore, from princes and nobles to ordinary people on the streets, everyone considered it an honor to be able to drink with Li Bai. If they could witness "the banished immortal" composing poems on the spot during a banquet, they would have enough bragging rights for several months afterwards.

  There's only Yuwen Zida, this muddle-headed guy, who upon seeing Li Bai doesn't think of befriending him, but instead tries to beat him up. If Li Bai didn't mind what he did that day and was willing to help investigate the news, it would definitely be more timely than Wang Zhong's aimless searching around. Thinking about this, Lei Wanchun also stopped insisting on canceling the wine banquet at noon, nodded his head, and said in a low voice: "Forget it, I hope Taibai won't stoop to Yuwen Xiazi's level. To be honest, letting that kid take a loss isn't a bad thing. Otherwise, even if he manages to get out of this safely, who knows, next time he might get caught up in an even bigger storm!"

  "That's natural!" Wang Xuan sighed and nodded. "Zi Da and I have always been a bit too arrogant!"

  "Alright, alright!" Lei Wanchun saw Wang Zhong take the initiative to admit his mistake and quickly smiled to ease the tension. "Among the noble sons in Chang'an City, I've rarely seen anyone like you who is willing to listen to reason and take responsibility. The others are either arrogant, thinking they're the greatest next to the emperor, or timid, as if the sky will fall at any moment. In short, it's a case of 'one generation not as good as the previous one'!"

  Wang Xuan smiled and didn't bother to take this quick-witted guy seriously. The troubles of a noble son are not something that someone like Lei Wanchun, who is carefree and unencumbered, can understand. Not to mention other things, just the glory of their ancestors alone is an unbearable burden on their shoulders. If it weren't for the urgent need to revive the family's fortunes, Yuwen Zhi probably wouldn't be so desperate as to go around recklessly embracing rough legs everywhere. And if someone like himself didn't bother to participate in anything, they would be thought of as "lacking ambition and wasting such a good family background!"

  Just as they were chatting, Lei Wanchun spoke up in a low voice, "Speaking of gathering information, I just thought of a lead. Madame Guo has invited me to dinner at her residence tomorrow night, supposedly to thank me for saving her life by the side of Qujiang Pond that day. I'll bring up Zidu's matter with her, and I reckon she has more channels for news than Li Bai does!"

  "Lei Dage, that woman..." Wang Xun suddenly became wide awake, straightened his back on the horse, and stared at Lei Wanchun with rounded eyes. He wanted to remind him that Guo Guofu was famous for her beauty in Chang'an, and there were countless guests under her skirt. But considering the other's face, he swallowed the words back.

  "Lao Lei, be careful yourself!" Zhang Zhou had just returned to the capital, but he also vaguely heard some rumors about Madame Guo from other channels. After thinking for a moment, he reminded in a low voice.

  "I think that woman is not bad!" Lei Wanchun smiled, a thread of indignation rising on his face. "We startled her carriage, and she didn't even pursue the matter, but instead still remembered to offer us a helping hand. Just based on this one point, she's better than many men in the capital!"

  "Lao Lei, a great man should establish his reputation in the world. You should cherish your name like a feather!" Seeing that Lei Wanchun didn't take his advice to heart, Zhang Xun had no choice but to put on a stern face and speak bluntly.

  "Rumors spread like wildfire, and people believe whatever they hear. This is not the behavior of a true man!" Although his opponent was his close friend and superior, Lei Wanchun refused to back down when it came to matters of principle. "She invited me to dinner, I went and drank wine openly and honestly, why should I hide? If I avoided her because of some rumors, wouldn't that be cowardly? Besides, aren't the so-called 'bad women' in this world all created by men? When they're face-to-face, they can't get enough of each other, turning everything upside down to satisfy their own depraved desires. But as soon as they turn around and pull up their pants, they start cursing the woman for being promiscuous and not following traditional feminine virtues. Is this really fair?"