Chapter 113: When One Plan Fails, Another Arises

Chang'an awakened to the sound of the morning bells.

The so-called "morning bells and evening drums" were not, as some mistakenly believed, merely the ringing of bells and drums in temples and monasteries, but the curfew signal of Chang'an City. When the morning bells rang to announce the time, people would begin to rise and go about their activities. In the evening, when the sun dipped below the horizon, the drums atop the Bell and Drum Tower would strike six hundred beats in three segments. Upon hearing these drums, those still lingering in the markets and wards knew they had to return home as quickly as possible. While there was no actual curfew within the residential wards themselves, the streets outside them were strictly off-limits. Without a special reason, anyone caught would invariably be punished with twenty strokes of the rod.

"Has Xiaqing not returned yet?"

Wang Wei paced back and forth in the main hall, his hands clasped behind his back, his heart heavy with anxiety. Wang Jin had left the city yesterday afternoon, claiming he was going to see some excitement, but he had yet to return.

Because of Princess Yuzhen, Wang Wei understood Ye Chang far better than Wang Jin did. He knew this young man was by no means as carefree and indifferent as he appeared on the surface. If any harm were to befall his brother... what would he do!

Wang Wei felt both annoyance and a faint sense of hatred—hating Ye Chang, hating Wang Jin, and even hating himself. He had never been a decisive man, which was why he could not restrain Wang Jin; yet he was also a man of deep sentiment, which made the bond with his brother all the more profound.

"He’s back! He’s back! Young Master Xiaqing is back!"

Just as Wang Wei was burning with anxiety, he heard a servant shout.

Wang Jin walked in, his eyes bloodshot and his gaze unfocused. He muttered to himself, "This makes no sense. Why didn't any warriors come..."

"Xiaqing, are you alright?" Wang Wei rushed over, wrapped his arms around his brother, and inspected him carefully. Seeing no signs of injury, he finally let out a sigh of relief. He was a grown man, yet he still acted like a child.

After pondering for half the night, Wang Wei felt it necessary to have a serious talk with his brother. Seeing he was unharmed, he began, "Xiaqing, you wanted to make a name for yourself through the ball market, and now that you have it in your grasp, why must you continue to entangle yourself with Ye Shiyi? Is that Ye Shiyi the kind of person who is easily dealt with?"

Thinking of how he had rushed back from the Southern Mountains for the sake of his brother's affairs, Wang Wei felt even more distressed. Why wouldn't his brother listen to reason?

"Brother, why do you say that? How could I be entangling myself with Ye Shiyi... Ah, I haven't slept all night, I'm exhausted. Brother, please let me rest for a while..."

Wang Jin, his face weary, brushed off Wang Wei with a casual response and collapsed into bed as soon as he returned to his room. He slept for the better part of the day, and upon waking, feeling famished, he ordered his servants to prepare food. The servant who received the order did not leave immediately, but instead said with a sycophantic smile, "Just a moment ago, a steward from the Wang household came to ask if you had risen yet."

"Tell him to wait. I am hungry," Wang Jin replied with some displeasure.

After washing up and eating—a process that took nearly half an hour—Wang Jin finally allowed the steward from Wang Yuanbao’s household to enter.

"What is it?" he asked the steward haughtily.

"I have come for two matters. First, I am ordered to ask Young Master Xiaqing how the matter of driving away Ye Shiyi is progressing..."

That single sentence from Wang Yuanbao's steward made Wang Jin grit his teeth. Even now, he still could not understand why, despite Twenty-Nine Lady going to have a private meeting with Ye Chang, Ye Chang remained unscathed. However, he would never discuss things he couldn't comprehend with others; let alone a mere steward, he wouldn't even mention it to Wang Yuanbao himself.

"It will be soon, it will be soon. The outcome will be clear shortly," Wang Jin replied vaguely. "And the second matter? Don't stutter—if you delay important business, you won't be able to bear the consequences!"

The steward cursed inwardly; if it weren't for this fellow sleeping the day away, time wouldn't have been wasted. But he replied respectfully, "The scheme Ye Shiyi devised for Hu Yuanxiang yesterday is already known. My master asks Young Master Xiaqing what we should do about it."

"You need to ask me about such a trivial matter? Naturally, we improve upon his foundation and then outdo him in every way!" Wang Jin said impatiently.

The steward looked at Wang Jin, his mouth twitching slightly. Such a simple answer?

"Well? Why haven't you gone back to report to your master?" Seeing the steward had not moved, Wang Jin barked.

Although Wang Jin was a devout believer in the Buddha's teaching that all living beings were equal, in reality, some beings in his eyes were more equal than others. At his shout, the steward, who had intended to ask if there were any other instructions, turned and left without even bidding farewell.

Wang Yuanbao held a significant position in the capital. Although he was only a wealthy merchant, the dignitaries and scholars he associated with meant that even his stewards could not be treated like the servants of ordinary households. Wang Jin’s dismissive behavior left the steward deeply dissatisfied.

Consequently, upon returning to the Wang estate, the steward could not help but embellish his account, describing Wang Jin’s behavior in the most unflattering light. What was originally just sleeping through the day became a story of Wang Jin indulging in debauchery all day and night, exhausted and intentionally negligent. In short, a minor incident was magnified tenfold, and a portrait of an arrogant and rude Wang Jin was painted before Wang Yuanbao.

"Wang Xiaqing has such a great reputation; is he truly so wretched?" Wang Yuanbao was skeptical.

"Master, one can know a person's face but not their heart. In my humble opinion, it is hard to say how much true ability this Wang Xiaqing has, but his ambition is immense. I suggest we must be on our guard against him."

"Do not speak of this again," Wang Yuanbao said with a wave of his hand and a smile.

The steward had been with him for many years and was a trusted confidant. He knew that although his master said this, he had taken the warning to heart. He said nothing more and waited for further orders.

Wang Yuanbao stood up and paced around. "That scheme Ye Shiyi gave to Hu Yuanxiang is indeed clever. With our capabilities, I fear it is difficult to surpass. Wang Xiaqing is right—since we cannot surpass it, we shall simply copy it. At the very least, we can force a draw at the colorful pavilion. As for what follows, we shall see how the other two items go!"

Though he praised Ye Chang's design, he still felt he could fight to a stalemate with Hu Yuanxiang, and perhaps even hold a slight advantage.

After dismissing the Wang household's steward, Wang Jin continued to think about how to drive Ye Chang away. The steward was easy to fool, but Wang Yuanbao would be harder to handle. Therefore, he had to drive Ye Chang away before the sixth day of the sixth lunar month!

Taking the imperial route seemed impossible. Wang Jin muttered an irreverent thought about the Emperor—perhaps he had been rolling in Yang Yuhuan's bed for too long to care about outside affairs. But that was fine; Ye Chang had offended many people in Chang'an. If the Emperor wouldn't step in, there were still Imperial Sons-in-law who would!

Princess Yuzhen had exposed the conflict between Ye Chang and Zhang Ji. Wang Jin’s mind raced. He first wrote a letter, but then thought this matter should not be made public, so he summoned his personal servant—the same one who had delivered the message to Twenty-Nine Lady the day before.

"The residence of Princess Ningqin?" Hearing he had to go there to deliver a message, the servant was reluctant, but he dared not disobey and headed toward the Princess’s mansion in the north of the city.

The mansion was close to the Imperial Palace. The servant peered at the gate, seeing the haughty expressions of the guards, and felt a sense of dread. This wasn't the Taoist temple from yesterday where he could earn a tip; even if he used his master's name, he feared he wouldn't even get through the gate. He might even get slapped for his trouble.

Thinking of this, the servant’s eyes darted around. His master had only told him to deliver the message, not *how* to deliver it. He spotted a street urchin, gave him a copper coin, and told the boy to relay the message to the Princess’s mansion. He didn't dare stay long; from a distance, he watched the boy deliver the message, and without waiting for a reply, he turned and fled.

The gatekeepers of the Princess’s mansion paid no attention to the words of a street urchin. Moreover, they had heard rumors of the conflict between Zhang Ji and Ye Chang, so they dared not report the matter. If mentioning Ye Chang displeased their scholar, they would be shooting themselves in the foot.

Wang Jin waited another day, but there was no movement from Zhang Ji. This sent him into a rage. He summoned the servant, clarified what had happened, and had him beaten. It was too late to send another message now, so he went to find his brother.

"Feeling troubled lately and want to go out for a change of scenery?" Upon hearing this, Wang Wei nodded repeatedly. "Good, good, that's exactly what you should do. Your little spat with Ye Shiyi is nothing to keep on your mind."

"Brother, why don't you invite the Imperial Son-in-law, Zhang Ji, to go with us? I hear he has been associating quite closely with that Li Taibai lately. Why don't you invite him along?"

Wang Wei's expression darkened. Wang Wei did not like Li Bai, and Li Bai did not like Wang Wei. Both were renowned poets who enjoyed social circles and had written many poems for friends. They knew each other, but not a single poem had been exchanged between them. More importantly, both were now in Chang'an, competing for the support and recommendation of dignitaries like Princess Yuzhen and Zhang Ji. As both were literary giants, before Li Bai arrived in Chang'an, Wang Wei was considered the finest pen in the city; but after Li Bai was admitted to the Hanlin Academy, that title had shifted to him.

"You're right. I shall go and invite Scholar Zhang Si."

Wang Wei pondered for a moment, then wrote a letter and had his servant deliver it along with his calling card to the residence of Princess Ningqin.

Zhang Ji and his brother, Zhang Jun, were at Zhang Ji’s residence.

"Is this another gift from the Sage?" Zhang Jun asked, gesturing toward a jade ruyi.

"This is a gift from a father-in-law to a son-in-law, not from the Emperor to a scholar," Zhang Ji joked.

"The precious trinkets An Lushan gave you while he was in the capital a few days ago were no less than what the Emperor would bestow," Zhang Jun noted.

"That was a gift of 'comfort' for Twenty-Nine Lady. I dared not keep it all for myself."

When An Lushan passed through Xiuwu County on his way to the capital, the arrogant attendants of the Twenty-Nine Noble Lady, Chongniang, who was offering sacrifices to the immortals there, offended An Lushan and were killed by him. The incident caused a stir in the capital, but it was suppressed—partly due to An Lushan's claim that he "only knew the Emperor, not the Noble Lady," and partly due to the influence of men like Zhang Ji. An Lushan had spent heavily on these dignitaries, sending pearls and treasures from the north like flowing water to buy their praise. With Li Linfu, the Emperor's most trusted advisor, keeping silent, the matter was buried. However, An Lushan was a savvy man, and he had entrusted Zhang Ji to deliver the "comfort gift" to Twenty-Nine Lady—except that most of the gifts did not appear on the official list. Zhang Ji understood the meaning and gratefully accepted the unlisted treasures.

"A servant sent by Wang Wei is outside with a letter," the steward announced.

"Wang Wei?" Zhang Ji frowned slightly. "He sent a letter?"

"You and Wang Mojie have quite a close relationship, it seems..." Zhang Jun said with a meaningful tone.

Zhang Ji was currently a Secretariat Drafter, presiding over the Hanlin Academy, with Li Bai under his jurisdiction. Wang Wei, as a Left Remonstrance Official in the Chancellery, theoretically had little to do with Zhang Ji, yet they had always maintained a good relationship.

"One must give Princess Yuzhen face... besides, Wang Shisan’s 'Song of Peach Blossom Spring' was sung all over Chang'an long ago; his poetic fame has been established for years."

As he spoke, Zhang Ji opened the letter. Seeing the contents, he couldn't help but smile.

"What is it?"

"The Emperor has been favoring Li Taibai’s writing lately, and the name of the 'Exiled Immortal' is on everyone's lips in Chang'an. Wang Wei is feeling unsettled. He says he saw some remarkable scenery below the Wangchun Tower recently and wants to invite me to go and take another look... Heh, but he didn't mention inviting Li Taibai."

Hearing this, Zhang Jun laughed. The rivalry between literary men was much like the jealousy of women; no matter how refined a person was, once they fell into such a situation, all decorum would be swept away.

"Why not take Li Taibai along that day and let Wang Mojie feel a bit of pressure?" Zhang Jun suggested with a malicious grin.

"I’ve thought about it, but..."

Zhang Ji wanted to bring Li Bai along to witness the clash between the two greatest poetic talents of the age, but upon reflection, he didn't believe Wang Wei could suppress Li Bai. If Wang Wei couldn't, Li Bai’s reputation would only grow stronger. Although Zhang Ji and Li Bai had started on good terms and still maintained a facade of close friendship, Zhang Ji was jealous of him in his heart. His father, Zhang Yue, was known for his "great literary talent," and Zhang Ji himself was a skilled writer, which was why he was a Hanlin scholar. But after Li Bai joined the Hanlin Academy, there had been instances where, even when it was Zhang Ji’s turn on duty, the Emperor would specifically name Li Bai to draft official documents. This had bred deep-seated envy in Zhang Ji.

"Better not take him. I’d hate for a dispute to ruin the outing," Zhang Ji said after some thought.

Having made up his mind, he wrote a reply and had it sent back. Meanwhile, Wang Jin, who had been waiting like an ant on a hot pan, possessed a much sharper wit than his brother. Upon receiving the confirmation, he couldn't help but clap his hands. "It’s done!"

"What is done?" Wang Wei looked at him suspiciously.

Wang Jin smiled. "Naturally, the outing is arranged! Escaping the heat outside the Chunming Gate is one of the great pleasures of Chang'an!"

Wang Wei stared at him for a long time, opening his mouth, but no words came out. He himself was a devout Buddhist, and though he held an official post, he lived a semi-official, semi-reclusive life, often residing outside the city or staying at Wang Jin’s residence. The two brothers were close in age, and his younger brother had always been the more assertive and decisive one. Wang Wei knew that even if he pressed him, he wouldn't get any answers.

*I’ll just have to be careful during the outing tomorrow...* he thought, trying to reassure himself.