Chapter 3 Early Frost (Part 2)

  As he watched Jia Chang's carriage disappear into the distance, Lei Wanchun smiled and leapt onto his horse. He finally had a good enough excuse to explain to his friends why he wouldn't be returning home tonight. Let bookworm Zhang Xun and little brat Wang Cong see ghosts for all he cared, along with their smug grins. Tonight, he would relive old times and have a blast being a hero once more, hahaha!

  With three parts of intoxication, he ran through two street mouths again like a whirlwind. On the Zhuque Avenue that runs north and south through Chang'an City, a team of night patrol soldiers who seemed to be more serious blocked him. The leader of the team looked at the silver plate handed over by Lei Wanchun, immediately stunned, took a step back, clasped his fists in salute, then respectfully returned the silver plate, and led the soldiers to rush away hastily.

  The feeling of walking horizontally in front of the officials made Lei Wanchun feel extremely comfortable. He suddenly discovered that the benefits brought by power were no less than those brought by martial arts, and even far surpassed them. In the past, relying on his martial arts skills to roam freely, he always had to worry about being caught by the officials for disturbing the peace at night. Now, with a mysterious silver plaque, he could trample the rules of Chang'an City that prohibited walking outside at night with ease.

  "Hmph, no wonder many people spend their whole lives constantly trying to climb up. Putting away the silver medal, Lei Wanchun secretly muttered a sentence to his good friend in front of him. Zhang Xun had never concealed his personal desire for power, always saying that he must reach a certain position to achieve his ambition of benefiting the world. But tonight, Lei Wanchun discovered that power not only allows one to achieve their ambitions, but also has an even greater benefit: once you reach a certain position, you can ignore many rules in this world, whether they are explicit or implicit, and those hidden under the table. For ordinary people, these rules are restrictive, but for those who have reached a certain height, they are no different from scrap paper."

  He knew he would definitely get drunk tonight. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many messy thoughts in his mind. But this slightly drunken feeling was very comfortable, as if he had control over everything around him, and at the same time, didn't care about anything around him. "The Son of Heaven calls, but I won't board the boat, for I am an immortal in the realm of wine!" When Li Bai got drunk and fell asleep on the streets of Chang'an back then, he probably felt the same way. It's just that his drunkenness didn't last long enough, and after waking up, he still had to enter the palace properly to apologize to His Majesty the Emperor.

  His thoughts after getting drunk were like a runaway wild horse, making him uncontrollably think of many things. He thought about his youth when he had just mastered his skills and vowed to sweep away all the injustices in the world with his three-foot sword. He thought about his fame throughout China, where he was admired by heroes wherever he went. He thought about how he suddenly became tired of his wandering life at sea and decided to wash his hands clean, leaving behind his friends' regret. Then, uncontrollably again, he thought of Yang Yuyao, the woman who could never be his wife in this lifetime, yet left him with unforgettable memories.

  Maybe ten years ago, the two met, and maybe they could have been together. At that time, her eyes didn't have as much sadness as they do now, and his heart didn't have as many worries. What are you thinking about, you fool! He suddenly smiled, reached out to pat his own face. It was still warm, as if he were still sitting by the charcoal brazier, drinking wine and watching her smile.

  Suddenly, I lifted my head and found that tonight's destination, Datongfang, was already within reach. The layout of the city's streets is quite neat, with the imperial palace located in the north, so the east-west direction is centered on it. As a result, the northern part of the city is home to high-ranking officials and nobles. South of the Zhuque Gate and the Spring Ming Street, which runs east-west, are low-ranking officials and ordinary people. The farther south you go, the farther away from the palace, the more ordinary the residents become. The only exception is Qujiangfang in the southeast corner, where many aristocrats have villas due to its proximity to Qujiangchi Lake, making the residents' identities even more noble. As for Lei Wanchun's current location, the southwestern part of the city, including Datong, Guiyi, Xianxing, and Da'an, is a standard lower-class area, with only extremely poor commoners and nouveau riche who cannot afford land in the north living there.

  The mansion of County Lieutenant Xue Rongguang was located at the farthest end of Datongfang, and its size was more than a dozen times that of other mansions in the alley, making it very easy to find. Lei Wanchun first led his horse, pretending to be lost, and walked around the streets in front of and behind Datongfang several times, getting familiar with the location of Xue's mansion. Then he hid his horse under a high wall where people rarely passed by, took off his outer garment, tore off a corner of his robe and wiped his face, grasped the brick seams on the outer wall of Datongfang with both hands, and climbed up along the wall like a monkey, disappearing instantly on the other side of the high wall.

  It's been a long time since he had such intense emotions, and suddenly rekindling the old flame, his body was instantly filled with a familiar feeling. The grand ambitions of his youth suddenly returned to his veins, as if he had become ten years younger in an instant. Perhaps those grand ambitions had always been hidden deep within his blood, only to be deliberately concealed by him. Tonight, triggered by several sudden events, they burst into flames again.

  Lei Wanchun found himself deeply infatuated with this lofty and elevated feeling. Standing atop the high roof, he could see the entire Datongfang in one glance. Although the night was as dark as ink, there were no more secrets at the bottom of his eyes. Including those transactions that could only be conducted in the dark, he saw them all clearly.

  The county lieutenant Xue Rongguang's house was still lit up, which made Lei Wanchun feel very surprised. It was already the second half of the night, and not embracing one of the seven or eight concubines at home to sleep, what was Mr. Xue doing? Soon, his curiosity was satisfied, two fully armed constables yawned as they passed under the eaves, muttering as they walked: "Damn it, is there an end to this? Day and night, discussing and discussing, when can we discuss a result?"

  "Alright, Old Liu, just a couple of words. If Xue Tou hears you, your butt will be in trouble!" Another yamen runner looked around and quietly warned him to stop talking.

  "Are you afraid of him?" The guy known as Old Liu sneered. "Does he think what he's doing is very secretive? If he provokes me, I'll go to the top and expose him. With so many things, just revealing one of them will be enough to get his family arrested..."

  "You're asking for death!" Another bailiff was so frightened that he quickly covered Old Liu's mouth with his hand, "Go die yourself, don't drag me down. How did Little Guo die last month? You've forgotten? The body was left to rot in the sewer, and his wife and children were left to face a lawsuit!"

  Hearing the outcome of his former colleague, Officer Liu suddenly woke up. "I just..." He looked around and whispered, "I just wanted to vent my anger. Old Wang, you mustn't tell anyone about this!"

  "Am I that person?" Another Wang surname officer stared at him and whispered, "But you'd better be careful with this mouth of yours. I'm only advising you because of our many years of friendship - don't go around talking about things you shouldn't be saying. In these extraordinary times, it's best to just keep quiet."

  "That's it, that's it!" The Liu surname runner nodded repeatedly. Carrying a bright lantern, he walked away with a yawn.

  It wasn't until their figures had disappeared around the corner that Lei Wanchun managed to pull himself back up onto the roof tiles. The snow water, which hadn't yet been blown dry by the night wind, had seeped into his clothes, making it feel as if he was hugging a block of ice against his chest. At the same time, his mind became exceptionally clear due to the stimulation of the icy water.

  There are still other secrets hidden in this mansion! In an instant, Lei Wanchun clearly realized that he had stumbled into a larger conspiracy. Xue Rongguang, the county magistrate of Wannian County, built such a grand mansion in the southwest corner of Chang'an City, not to indulge in the luxury of a wealthy family, but for other purposes. In fact, this mansion is also a secret stronghold of the Wannian County government office. If something unexpected happens in Chang'an City one day, the yamen and hangers-on gathered in Xue's mansion can rush out and become a surprise force!

  To the west of the capital, it is actually under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County. Why did Wannian County set up a stronghold outside its own territory and extend its claws into Chang'an County? According to that "Huguan Fu", the magistrates of these two counties are both direct subordinates of Jingzhao Yin Wang Kuo, so it is absolutely not reasonable for them to stab each other in the back!

  Just as he was deep in thought, unable to come up with a solution, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the corridor again. A young servant came running over, carrying a lantern and shouting in a low voice, "Old Liu, Old Wang, where have you two gone? The master has an order for you two to hurry over!"

  "Alas, here we are!" The two bailiffs who had just spoken came running back with their buttocks swaying, and with a face full of apologetic smiles towards the young servant, "Weren't we going to relieve ourselves together? People have three urgent needs..."

  As a servant of the Xue family, Xiao Er's status seemed to be even higher than that of an official in the yamen. He glared at them and shouted, "Tell this to your master! You two are like lazy donkeys on a millstone! If you continue to drag your feet, I'll have your hides!"

  "Alas, alas, how dare we. Sixth Master, you go first!" The two officials dared to be angry but not speak out, cupped their hands and bowed, asking the young servant of the Xue family to walk ahead.

  "Relying on the power of others!" Lei Wanchun cursed silently in his stomach, his body stuck to the wall, and he quietly followed behind the three people in the corridor like a cat. In the dead of night, no one wanted to look up at the house. Even if they did, in this vast and dark night, without using a copper mirror to gather light, it was unlikely that anyone would discover him.

  The secret was right in front of him. He got excited and his whole body trembled, slowly lowering his head, holding his breath.

  Note 1: According to the layout of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, the entire city was divided into more than 100 blocks by streets. Each block can be closed separately, and the doors of the residents' homes all face inward, and when the block door is closed at night, outsiders cannot enter. Similar to modern enclosed residential areas.