Chapter 533: An Encounter at the Night Market

Throughout the day, Li Qing’an stayed in the military camp outside the city. The heat was unbearable, so the soldiers stopped training and stayed in their tents, only coming out to move around at dawn and dusk. It was only after dark that the heat on the streets gradually dissipated, and more people began to appear. Families went out in groups to stroll on the streets. The once deserted Zhuque Street was now filled with stalls, lanterns, and a variety of goods—fruits and vegetables, daily necessities, small jewelry—everything one could imagine. The long rows of stalls stretched for five li, quickly attracting tens of thousands of people to shop, making Zhuque Street extremely bustling.

It was Li Qing’an who suggested setting up a night market. This idea wasn’t inspired by later times but came from Samarkand, where night markets were established during the evenings, crowded with people, filled with the sounds of vendors calling out their goods, creating a lively atmosphere.

Night markets had existed in Chang’an during Li Yu’s reign for a while but were soon closed. Due to the intense heat, the people of Chang’an couldn’t go out during the day, so Li Qing’an proposed allowing stalls to be set up at night. His suggestion was quickly approved by the government, and Chang’an and Wannian counties designated a five-li section of Zhuque Street for vendors to use.

It was already the fourth day. On the first day, it was quiet, with only a dozen vendors and few customers; both sellers and buyers were unaccustomed to this openness. By the second day, more vendors and customers appeared—over a hundred vendors in total. The citizens of Chang’an also came to see the excitement. By the third day, the government officially announced that, except for the city gates, the gates of each district in Chang’an would remain open all night. This news led to a surge in nighttime foot traffic. People who couldn’t go out during the day took the opportunity to stroll and shop at night. The number of vendors on Zhuque Street exceeded a thousand.

Tonight, Zhuque Street was even more spectacular. Thousands of small shops lined the five-li stretch, each with lanterns that illuminated the entire street like daylight. The streets were packed with people, and every stall was crowded with customers—selling snacks, cheap jewelry, shoes, cloth, fruits, and vegetables—almost everything one could want. The noise was deafening, reminiscent of the grand festivities on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Li Qing’an’s carriage moved slowly through the crowded crowd. Five hundred bodyguards flanked it, carefully observing their surroundings. Many people realized it was Li Qing’an’s convoy and stepped aside to let it pass. Inside the carriage, Li Qing’an sat by the window, watching the bustling night market. He hadn’t expected such a large crowd—heads stretched as far as the eye could see; at least hundreds of thousands of people were in the streets. While some were from Chang’an seeking novelty and coming out to see the spectacle, it also indicated that Chang’an’s economy was poor. In Li Qing’an’s memory, a thriving night market meant people had little money left. Over the past half year, business in the East Market had been particularly sluggish due to many nobles fleeing south. This downturn had affected the West Market as well, and a booming night market would further impact trade between the two markets. However, closing the night markets wouldn’t improve business there; what mattered was increasing people’s wealth. Li Qing’an wasn’t worried about money—large amounts of silver coins and silver pieces would flow into Chang’an from Anxi. But what was truly needed was an abundance of goods. Only then could people’s lives improve and they become richer. Otherwise, spending a silver coin on a bun would be meaningless. Suddenly, from afar, Li Qing’an spotted a familiar figure: a plump woman standing in front of a jewelry stall, choosing ornaments. She wore a flowing white dress with her hair styled in an elegant updo, looking no different from the other people in Chang’an. A maid followed her. Li Qing’an looked around and indeed saw two bodyguards protecting her from a distance. This surprised him greatly. Hadn’t she gone to Luoyang? When had she returned? He immediately ordered, “Stop the carriage!” The carriage came to a halt. Li Qing’an got out and walked over to the jewelry stall. His bodyguards quickly separated the crowd, preventing anyone from approaching the stall. The vendor was a young woman in her thirties with an eight- or nine-year-old daughter. Seeing a group of soldiers rushing toward their stall, the mother and daughter hugged each other in fear. The woman in the white dress was Yang Yuhuan. She had also come out shopping and happened to be seen by Li Qing’an. As soon as she noticed him approaching quickly, her beautiful eyes lit up. Smiling at the terrified mother and daughter, she said, “Don’t be afraid. They’re not here to trouble you. They’re my friends.”

The mother and daughter finally felt relieved, but seeing so many soldiers surrounding their stall, they were still a bit anxious. At that moment, Li Qing’an walked over, approached Yang Yuhuan, and smiled at the woman selling goods, saying, “Sister-in-law, I’d like to buy some jewelry.” His voice was very kind, and only then did the woman notice a young officer standing in front of her stall—though he wasn’t really that young, in his thirties, with a streak of black beard under his chin. She hurriedly said, “Sir, just pick whatever you want!” Seeing that the jewelry was rather crude in craftsmanship, Li Qing’an casually selected a dozen pieces and said to the woman, “Please pack them up for me.” With her hands behind her back, Yang Yuhuan watched Li Qing’an seriously choose the jewelry, and finally couldn’t help but say, “Hey! Look carefully—these are all made of copper. Will Mingyue like them if you take so many home?” Only then did Li Qing’an realize they were copper. He smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. It’s just a token of my heart.” He then picked out a phoenix-shaped jewelry piece and handed it to Yang Yuhuan, saying, “This one is for you.” Seeing that he still thought of her, Yang Yuhuan felt pleased and took it, smiling, “Then thank you very much.” At that moment, the woman handed Li Qing’an a pack of jewelry and said, “Sir, that’ll be one guan and five hundred wen in total.” Li Qing’an then realized he had no money on him. Embarrassed, he glanced at his bodyguards. Yang Yuhuan saw this and covered her mouth, giggling, “Let me pay!” She took out an embroidered money bag from her small bamboo bag, pulled out a silver coin from it, and also took out ten silver coins worth fifty wen each, handing them to the woman and saying, “This is one silver coin and ten silver coins—count them.” The woman tapped the silver coins, blew on the silver coin, and listened to it against her ear, then smiled and said, “No problem. It’s exactly right.” Li Qing’an beside her was stunned. Yang Yuhuan picked up the pack of jewelry and stuffed it into his arms, smiling and saying, “You have to pay me back this money. It took me three days of weaving silk to earn this one silver coin and ten silver coins—I’m poor.” Li Qing’an sighed inwardly and shook his head, saying, “Why go to such trouble?” “What’s there to worry about? I want to. You don’t know how good it feels to earn my own money and support myself. I’ve never felt this comfortable before. This peaceful ordinary life is something I used to dream of.” As she spoke, Yang Yuhuan carefully placed the phoenix-shaped jewelry Li Qing’an had bought on her head and smiled at him, asking, “Look, is it balanced?” “No, it looks great!”

Seeing that Yang Yuhuan’s jewelry was all cheap silver ornaments, Li Qing’an sighed again in his heart—this was once the beloved Yang Guifei!
“Do you still want to go shopping?” Li Qing’an asked again.
“Yes! I just came out and don’t want to go back so early.”
Yang Yuhuan smiled sweetly, “Do you want to go back, or accompany me for a while?”
“I’ll accompany you!”
Li Qing’an turned to his bodyguards and said, “Leave two or three to follow; the rest should stay back and not disturb the people.”
“Understood!” The soldiers stepped back but didn’t go far, instead mingling among the crowd to observe what was happening around them.
Only after they had walked away did the female vendor start packing up her stall. At that moment, two bodyguards stepped forward and handed her a bag of silver coins, saying, “These are fifty silver coins, given to you by our general. Give us ten silver coins from that woman from earlier.”
The vendor was stunned.
…
In the crowd, Li Qing’an and Yang Yuhuan walked side by side. Li Qing’an said gently, “Weren’t you in Luoyang? When did you return?”
Yang Yuhuan smiled faintly and replied, “I’ve been back for almost a month.”
“Then why didn’t you come to see me?”
Yang Yuhuan gave him a glance and said playfully, “Why should I come to see you? Can’t you come to see me?”
“But I didn’t know you had returned.”
“That’s your excuse. You could have found out where I live if you really wanted to. If you had cared, you could have asked your subordinates. But you never asked or came to see me, showing that you really don’t care about me.”
“How could I not care about you!”
Li Qing’an remembered that she had refused to go with him to Anxi last time, and he felt uneasy again. He had been a bit angry with her back then. Although the anger had faded, he had been very busy and hadn’t come to see her for a while.
Yang Yuhuan glanced at him and saw a hint of melancholy in his eyes. She smiled and said softly, “What, are you still angry with me from last time?”
“No. As the governor of Anxi, how could I be angry with you, a mere girl?”
Li Qing’an hesitated, wondering whether to tell her that the Yang family had been completely executed. At that moment, Yang Yuhuan gently took his arm and said softly, “I know what you’re about to say. I’ve already heard it. I knew this outcome would happen ten years ago. I’m not sad. The former Yang Guifei is dead now; I’m just an ordinary woman named Yang Yuhuan.”
Li Qing’an understood that Yang Yuhuan holding his arm didn’t mean anything else but rather a sense of gratitude toward him. There was affection between them, but it had nothing to do with romantic love.

A sense of disappointment arose in his heart too. Did Yang Yuhuan truly see him only as a friend?
Yang Yuhuan took his arm and walked slowly through the crowd. She said to Li Qingan gently, “When I was young, I loved visiting night markets. My third sister loved them too. Back then, the county would hold markets for three days and three nights during temple fairs. Whenever there was a fair, my sister and I would stay at relatives’ homes in the county. We would spend the whole night wandering around without feeling tired at all. Nearly thirty years have passed, and now I finally understand Liu Xiyi’s poem.”
Yang Yuhuan gazed at Li Qingan with a tender look in her eyes and asked softly, “Do you know what it is?”
Li Qingan nodded and said, “Is it ‘The flowers look the same from year to year, but the people change’?”
“Yes! That’s the line.”
Seeing that he understood her feelings, Yang Yuhuan gave him an approving look. They walked on for a while when suddenly Yang Yuhuan pointed at a stall and exclaimed in delight, “Look, a jade flute!”
She pulled Li Qingan and ran toward the stall. It was a small shop tucked in a corner, displaying over twenty flutes, with hardly any business. The owner was an old man in his sixties. Seeing customers, he quickly stood up and smiled, “These are all handmade by me, using jade from the Eastern Sea. If you like them, feel free to buy one.”
Yang Yuhuan immediately took a liking to a jade flute hanging at the top. She took it down and examined it carefully. The flute was exquisitely crafted, with every detail meticulously done. As a music expert, she didn’t need to play it to tell that it was of top quality.
“Uncle, how much is this jade flute?”
“You have good eyes, young lady. I made this flute ten years ago; it’s my finest work. I don’t want to sell it cheaply. One hundred guan!”
“One hundred guan!”
Yang Yuhuan was shocked and quickly said with a smile, “I can’t afford one hundred guan. Uncle, I’ll give it back to you.”
She handed the flute back to the old man, but Li Qingan stopped her and said, “If you like it, keep it. I’ll buy it for you.”
With that, he took out a golden dagger from his waist. Understanding his intention, Yang Yuhuan pulled him away quickly.
A hint of displeasure arose in Li Qingan’s heart again, and he asked indifferently, “Why won’t you accept my gift?”
Realizing he was upset, Yang Yuhuan held his arm tighter and said softly, “It’s not that I don’t want to accept your gift. I like it, but I don’t necessarily have to possess it. Do you understand?”
Li Qingan seemed to sense there was more to her words. After a long pause, he sighed.
“Why sigh?” Yang Yuhuan looked at him with her beautiful eyes filled with affection.

“I was thinking that if anyone else marries you, it would truly be his good fortune.”
“I’m so old—who would want to marry me?”
Seeing a playful look in Yang Yuhuan’s eyes, Li Qing’an couldn’t help but say, “Aren’t An Lushan and the others dreaming of marrying you?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized he’d said the wrong thing. Sure enough, Yang Yuhuan’s expression changed drastically. She broke free from Li Qing’an’s arm and hurried toward a side alley.
Li Qing’an rushed after her, grabbing her arm. “Wait!”
“Let go of me!”
Yang Yuhuan angrily shook him off and stood by the wall, her chest heaving violently with anger. Li Qing’an stepped behind her and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I joked too far.”
“This isn’t about joking!”
Yang Yuhuan turned abruptly, staring into Li Qing’an’s eyes. “Do you also think I should be a plaything for the powerful? That whenever any nobleman takes a fancy to me, I should just go with him? General Li, remember—though I am a frail woman, I will never again become a plaything of any man.”
“I know, I know. That’s why I protect you like this, so no one can bully you.”
Yang Yuhuan gazed into Li Qing’an’s sincere eyes. Her eyes gradually filled with tears. She could hold back any longer and threw herself into his arms, crying bitterly.
“Do you know that night when An Lushan sent people to capture me, I had a dagger in my hand? If I couldn’t escape, I would kill myself.”
Li Qing’an gently held this breathtakingly beautiful woman in his arms, filled with compassion for her. Then, he gently raised her face and tenderly wiped the tears from it.
Yang Yuhuan’s beautiful eyes stared at him blankly. At that moment, she felt immense gratitude and love for this man who had always protected her. She was so dependent on him, as if he were the only man she could trust and rely on in the world. Yet, she felt unworthy of him.
Li Qing’an looked at her slightly trembling red lips and softly whispered his longing, then bent down to kiss them.
……