Chapter 188: The Hidden Dragon Appears
Yan Zhuang examined a jade pendant carefully. It had fallen from that young man and was brought to Li Qing’an’s desk by the soldiers. It was a full-moon shaped pendant, about the size of a pear, with a smooth texture. Entirely green and flawless, what was even more astonishing was that when held up to the light, a clear white dragon with outstretched claws, ready to fly, could be seen within it. It shared a similar elegance to Li Qing’an’s gemstone. This dragon was naturally formed by the patterns within the jade, appearing vivid and exquisitely detailed.
Yan Zhuang’s expression gradually turned serious. He put down the pendant and asked Li Qing’an, “What do you think of this jade pendant?”
“Only an extraordinary person should wear such a jade.”
Li Qing’an took the pendant and examined it again before smiling. “Normally, the white impurities within this jade would greatly reduce its value. Yet these white impurities happen to form a dragon pattern, which elevates its value beyond what the jade itself is worth. This adds a layer of mystery to it. I believe the origin of this jade pendant is far from simple.”
Yan Zhuang lowered his head in thought, silent for a long time. Finally, hesitantly, he said, “I once read an oracular book that said, ‘Fighting among brothers will lead to the jade dragon falling in Suiye.’ There are rumors that after the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the eighteen generals loyal to Prince Jiancheng ignored the safety of his five sons and fought to protect Consort Chang as she fled, because she was carrying Jiancheng’s child. According to these rumors, the eighteen generals fled to Suiye. Of course, these are just folk tales; the court has never acknowledged them. Yet since the Han and Tang dynasties rose in Suiye and aspired to rule the world, I had vaguely thought of these rumors but never dared to be certain. And this dragon-patterned jade pendant seems to confirm the prophecy of ‘the jade dragon falling in Suiye’…”
At this point, Yan Zhuang suddenly stopped speaking. Li Qing’an, who had been listening intently, asked when he saw no further words, “What then? Why stop?”
Yan Zhuang stared at Li Qing’an for a long time before slowly saying, “If the folk rumors are true, and the descendants of Jiancheng fled to Suiye, if the Han and Tang Society truly is a secret organization supporting Jiancheng, and if the young man captured is indeed one of Jiancheng’s descendants, what would you do?”
For an ordinary person, the usual course of action would be to suppress the Han and Tang Society and bring the descendants of Prince Jiancheng to Chang’an to claim credit. But if that were the case, Yan Zhuang wouldn’t have asked himself such a question.
“Yes! If that’s really the case, what should I do?”
Li Qing’an looked at Yan Zhuang in confusion. In Yan Zhuang’s small eyes, he saw a strangely bright glow—a hint from Yan Zhuang, as well as an expectation. Li Qing’an seemed to understand something; without elaborating, he smiled and said, “These are just our guesses. As for the truth, we’ll have to wait until we interrogate him.”
He immediately turned to order his bodyguards, “Take that young man to my basement.”
……
When Beiting City was built, dozens of basements of various sizes were constructed. Some served as prisons, while most were used as warehouses for storing important documents or valuable items. Li Qing’an’s headquarters also had two basements—one for archives and documents, and the other for the gold, silver, and money minted in Beiting. The entrances to these basements were located one in the staff room and the other in Li Qing’an’s study.
Half an hour later, sixteen bodyguards brought the blindfolded young man to Li Qing’an’s study and led him straight down to the basement. As the iron door of the basement slammed shut, the cloth covering the young man’s eyes was removed. Before him was a dim world—rough rock walls, tiny lamps, and a suffocating atmosphere due to poor air circulation. The entire basement exuded a chilling vibe, as if one had entered a world isolated from the outside world.
Fear appeared in the young man’s eyes. When he was captured, he had felt anger and unease. After two hours, that unease gradually turned into fear as he thought of death.
The soldiers grabbed his arms and pulled him down more than a dozen steps. In the center of the stone chamber stood a huge iron cage. Before he could react, he was pushed forcefully into it. With a clang, the cage door closed. The young man’s legs trembled violently before he slowly collapsed to the ground.
Footsteps echoed as Li Qing’an approached slowly from the next room, accompanied by four bodyguards. Twenty of his most trusted men were present for the interrogation. This matter was too important for him to afford any negligence. Li Qing’an stood beside the cage and examined the young man. He was in his early twenties, with fair, smooth skin and delicate hands—something extremely rare in Beiting. It was clear he had lived a pampered life. Li Qing’an’s gaze seemed to possess a special penetrating power. From the young man’s fearful and naive eyes, Li Qing’an could see through his inner terror.
“Dare you! Do you intend to rebel?”
Li Qing’an suddenly let out a furious shout. The young man trembled in fear, sitting down on the ground, his lips shaking as he was unable to utter a word. A bodyguard brought over a folding chair; Li Qing’an sat down, took a sip of tea, and asked, “Name?”
“Li… Dong,” the man replied in a low voice, not daring to meet Li Qing’an’s sharp gaze. Li Qing’an nodded—this name seemed to be true. He asked again, “Where are you from? Why are you here at Lingxi Tea House?”
“I’m from Suiye… I came to buy tea,” he said.
Li Qing’an laughed. Those two women were Manager Song’s concubines. How could Manager Song use his own concubines to serve guests? No wonder Lingxi Tea House did well in business—such a brilliant answer.
His laughter suddenly ceased. He stared at the man coldly, leaned in, and said word by word, “You are a descendant of Li Jiancheng!”
The young man shuddered. How could they know? Had Manager Song betrayed him?
“I’m not!” His voice was extremely weak; he could barely hold on any longer.
Li Qing’an waved his hand. A few bodyguards dragged in a bound Turk from the next room—a condemned prisoner taken from prison. They pulled him in front of the young man. Through the bars, the soldiers pressed the Turk’s face to the ground, then suddenly drew their swords. With a flash of light, there was a scream as the man’s head was severed right in front of the young man. Blood sprayed everywhere. The soldiers waved the head in front of the young man. Looking at the grotesque face and the headless body still bleeding beside him, the young man was terrified beyond measure. He screamed and fainted.
“Useless. Wake him up!”
A bucket of water was poured over the young man with a splash. The soldiers quickly carried away the dead body and turned up the light a bit. After a while, the young man slowly opened his eyes. The dead body beside him was gone, the light was brighter, and the officer interrogating him had a gentler expression.
“I am Li Qing’an, the military governor of Beiting. Your life and death are in my hands. If you confess honestly, I won’t torture you. I’ll treat you with the respect due to a nobleman. Once Li Huichun pays the ransom, I’ll let you go. That’s simple. Speak! If you do, you won’t die.”
Li Deng was a flower grown in a greenhouse, raised in comfort from a young age, cherished by his elders, and never suffering the slightest hardship, which shaped his extravagant and unrestrained personality. This was his first time traveling far away, to visit the Tang Dynasty, only to run into Li Qingan’s capture. Inexperienced and naive, he couldn’t withstand Li Qingan’s threats and inducements and eventually confessed everything.
“I live in Suiye. Since I was young, they’ve told me that I’m the fourth-generation descendant of Prince Yin, and that I’m meant to carry on my great-grandfather’s legacy. The jade pendant you took is his relic.”
Li Qingan smiled with narrowed eyes. As Yan Zhuang had predicted, it was indeed a descendant of Li Jiancheng. He asked further, “Who are they? Is it the Han-Tang Society?”
“They are descendants of my great-grandfather’s generals, namely Li Huichun and the others. The Han-Tang Society is just a facade; its real name is the Hidden Dragon Society. That shopkeeper Song is also part of the Hidden Dragon Society. There are only twenty-two of them in total.”
Li Qingan was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected to get such complete confessions so easily. He glanced at the young man again. Was this really a descendant of Li Jiancheng? He sighed inwardly and asked, “Are you the only descendant of Prince Yin?”
“There are also some sisters. I’m the only son. My father was an only child too; he passed away last year.”
At this, Li Deng clasped his hands and pleaded, “General Li, I’ve told you everything I know. Please let me go!”
“Hehe! Don’t worry. I’m someone who keeps his word.”
Li Qingan ordered his guards, “Lock him up alone, guard him tightly, and no one is allowed to visit him.”
……
Suiye, the brightest jewel in the River Region, once the farthest western city of the Tang Dynasty, had its charm gradually obscured by sandstorms. Since the Western Turks requested to settle in Suiye in the seventh year of the Kaiyuan era, the Tang Dynasty lost control over it. Thirty years passed in the blink of an eye. Its subsequent rulers, the Turkic people, went from being powerful to eventually splitting and declining. They could no longer protect the fertile lands of Suiye Valley.
With the Tang Dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphate as the two dominant forces, both set their sights on Suiye Valley. Smaller powers such as the Sogdians, Göktürks, even the Tibetans and Tocharians all coveted it. A storm over Suiye Valley was quietly brewing on this land.
Suiye City is currently occupied by the Huang clan of the Tuyuhesh people. The city is ethnically diverse, with people of Han, Turkic, Tuyuhesh, Sogdian, Gelaoglu, and other backgrounds living there. The Han people mainly reside in an area to the west of the city, and most of them have returned to the Tang Dynasty over the past few decades. Li Bai is one of the Han people who returned from Suiye. Thousands of Han people still live in the city, mostly engaged in trade. Most of them belong to the Hantanghui, with the core members of the Yinlonghui active in Suiye.
In a large mansion west of Suiye City, the Yinlonghui was holding an emergency meeting. News of the upheaval in Beiting and the capture of Prince Dang there reached Suiye via homing pigeons two days later, throwing the Yinlonghui into chaos. In a room with closed doors and windows, a dozen people were arguing fiercely.
“Why did the prince sneak off to Beiting? Who should take responsibility for this?”
An irritable old man in his sixties with a red face kept slamming his walking stick on the table. “He is the only descendant left of Prince Yin. If anything happens to him, how can we face our ancestors?”
“Luo Weng, Dang has been spoiled by us since childhood. He’s been locked up in a mansion, untouched by the outside world. If we don’t let him go out and gain experience, how can he carry on Prince Yin’s legacy? It was everyone’s agreement to let him see the world. Now, how can we blame anyone?”
“But he’s been captured now. If he accidentally reveals the secrets of the Yinlonghui, could all the efforts of our generations over the past hundred years be ruined by him?”
The room fell silent. Then, Li Huichun, who had remained quiet until then, spoke in a hoarse voice, “This isn’t the time to assign blame. We should discuss how to rescue the prince. Chang Jin, you have a good relationship with Li Qingan. Tell us, why would Li Qingan suddenly arrest people from the Hantanghui?”
Chang Jin sighed heavily. He knew why Li Qingan had turned against them. In fact, he had raised objections when they decided to expand in Beiting. The Hantanghui’s ambitions were too great—aiming to recruit ten thousand members in just one year, whereas it had taken decades for the Hantanghui to reach even ten thousand members in the Tang Dynasty.
“We moved too fast. The Hantanghui’s reckless expansion angered him. We shouldn’t have reached into the military too early. If you had listened to my advice back then, we wouldn’t be facing such serious consequences now. All our efforts in Beiting are ruined.”
“Then what do you suggest we do? Just watch helplessly as the prince dies?”
“No! Of course not.”
Chang Jin shook his head and said, “Now we have two options. The first option is that, assuming Li Qingan only knows about the Han-Tang Society and not the Hidden Dragon Society, we pay a heavy price to rescue the members of the Han-Tang Society, including the young master, and assure him that the Han-Tang Society will not expand in Beiting.”
“What if he already knows about the Hidden Dragon Society?”
“Then we have only one choice: agree to all his conditions, even bringing him into the Hidden Dragon Society.”
Chang Jin’s last words caused a stir, with over a dozen people arguing fiercely—some in favor and some firmly opposed. Those in favor valued Li Qingan’s power, while the opponents wanted to protect the purity of the Hidden Dragon Society.
“Quiet! Quiet!”
Li Huichun banged the table hard, but to no avail. The two groups continued arguing fiercely. Just then, the door was knocked, and a servant shouted from outside, “There’s an urgent message from Beiting!”
The room fell silent instantly. Li Huichun opened the door to take the message. After reading it, his expression changed drastically as he stood there frozen, the letter falling to the ground. Chang Jin picked up the letter and was also stunned—it was written by Li Qingan, containing just one sentence:
“Young Master Tang is in my hands. Come to Beiting for a face-to-face talk.”
Everyone looked at each other, none expecting things to turn out this way. After a long pause, Li Huichun sighed deeply. “We should have realized that with the young master in his hands, it’s impossible to keep our secrets.”
He turned to the others and said, “This concerns the young master’s life and death, as well as the fate of our Hidden Dragon Society. I must go and negotiate with Li Qingan in person. Now, please follow me to the shrine of the Hidden Prince to draw lots and seek guidance from him and our ancestors.”
They went to the Hidden Dragon Shrine, which was publicly known as the Han-Tang Shrine. Inside, the shrine of Prince Li Jiancheng and their ancestors was kept, guarded by their descendants. No one outside the Hidden Dragon Society was allowed to enter.
The shrine of Prince Li Jiancheng was located in the center, with no words on the plaque. Li Huichun lit three sticks of incense and led everyone to kneel in front of Jiancheng’s shrine, praying silently.
He took a box of lot sticks and shook it in front of the shrine. With a snap, a stick jumped out of the box. Li Huichun quickly picked it up, and everyone gathered around. On the stick was written: “Suiye returns to Tang; the Hidden Dragon ascends to heaven.”
Ten days later, the turmoil surrounding the raid on the Han-Tang Society gradually subsided in Beiting. Most of those arrested were released, and the seized shops reopened one after another. Only the Lingxi Tea House remained shut. Since the Lingxi Tea House monopolized the tea trade in the Western Regions, a tea shortage arose in Beiting. Tea was an essential item for life there, and this shortage plunged Beiting into a dire situation.
Just then, a new tea house opened in Jinman County called Chang’an Tea House. It supplied large quantities of tea cakes at a price 10% lower than that of the Lingxi Tea House. Its staff were all women, beautiful in appearance and enthusiastic in service. Soon, merchants from all over Beiting flocked there, and the tea shortage was immediately resolved. The business foundation built by the Lingxi Tea House over more than a decade was thus easily lost.
That afternoon, a group arrived in Jinman County. Leading them was Li Huichun, the owner of the Lingxi Tea House, along with key members of the Yinlong Society such as Chang Jin, Luo Pinfang, and Song Quanyi.
As they passed by the Lingxi Tea House, Li Huichun stared at it blankly for a long time. The door was still sealed with government seals, and several soldiers were stationed there.
Li Huichun sighed. After all, it was his own business. He had planned to expand it greatly in Beiting, but never expected it to be shut down.
His eldest son comforted him, “Father, we’ve only lost Beiting. Hexi, Anxi, and Lingxi are still under our control. It’s not a big problem.”
Li Huichun gave a bitter smile. “I heard the imperial court plans to establish a tea-horse market with the Uyghurs at Jinshan. That’s why I decided to expand my shops in Beiting. But now that the tea house is sealed, it means I’ve lost the Uyghur business—huge losses!”
Luo Pinfang, an old man with a red face behind him, was dissatisfied seeing him so focused only on his own business. He said, “Brother Li, do you think the tea house is more important than saving our young master?”
Li Huichun quickly turned around and bowed. “I was just momentarily overwhelmed. How could I put things in the wrong order? Let’s head to Beiting City now.”
They turned their horses and headed north. When they reached the city gate, they encountered a caravan of hundreds of camels, each loaded with large chests. They were all Sogdian merchants, and the caravan blocked the gate completely. Li Huichun and the others quickly stepped aside.
“Master Li!” someone in the caravan called out to him. Li Huichun looked in that direction and saw his old friend, Sardar, a merchant from the Shi State.
Just as he was about to step forward to greet them, Chang Jin pulled him back and gave a nod behind Sarda. Li Hui Chun was stunned—behind Sarda was Prince Yuanen of the Stone Kingdom, and beside the prince was a woman wearing a veil. Through the thin veil, her bright eyes could be faintly seen.