Chapter 93: Fire in the Eastern Market

Li Qing’an did not stay long. After drinking a few cups of water and wine, he left the Prime Minister’s residence. The moonlight that night was clear—a bright, slender crescent casting a silvery glow that flowed quietly over the streets of Chang’an. The sound of horse hooves echoed as he walked along the silent streets.

Her delicate figure, like a rare orchid in a secluded valley, lingered in Li Qing’an’s mind. He could not forget her lonely silhouette as she left, nor her helplessness and sorrow of relying on others…

Li Qing’an exhaled a long plume of white vapor. He gazed up at the full moon in the night sky, as if it were her beautiful face.

…

It was long past the time when the market gates should have been closed. It was New Year’s Eve, and countless families were staying up to welcome the dawn. Exceptionally, the gates of Chang’an were not closed that night. From time to time, carriages sped past the streets, and barks of dogs could be heard in the darkness.

Suddenly, several dark figures rushed out from the darkness ahead, heading straight toward the Eastern Market. Li Qing’an instinctively pulled on the reins and stared at them curiously. His vision was extraordinary—he could faintly see that these people seemed to be wearing the gray uniforms of officials.

“Could they be catching thieves?”

A doubt arose in Li Qing’an’s mind. He continued on his way. As he neared the eastern gate of Chongren Subdistrict, suddenly, thick smoke billowed up from the direction of the Eastern Market, standing out sharply against the starless night sky.

“Ah! There’s a fire!” several gatekeepers cried out at once.

Li Qing’an spurred his horse and rushed toward the Eastern Market. He was truly puzzled—first the strange behavior of the officials, then the fire. Was there any connection between the two?

He was now very close to the Eastern Market, only about two li away. Before reaching it, he heard the loud ringing of bronze bells. Someone shouted, “There’s a fire! There’s a fire! The market office is on fire! Hurry and put out the fire!”

The streets were filled with people rushing to see the spectacle—men, women, old, and young, all with excited expressions on their faces.

By the time Li Qing’an arrived at the Eastern Market, it was already crowded with people. People from several nearby subdistricts had come to watch. The entrance to the Eastern Market had been blocked by officials, preventing anyone from entering. But from the entrance, one could faintly see what was inside—the market office was engulfed in thick smoke. Although the fire was large, it had been brought under control. Figures were running around, with numerous officials and soldiers from the Jinwu Guard carrying water to extinguish the fire. Among them were also soldiers from the patrol camps. The newly arrived deputy head of the market office was anxiously pacing, but one person remained calm, directing the officials and soldiers in their firefighting efforts.

That person was Yang Zhao, the magistrate of Wannian County.

His image was extremely heroic, dressed in his official robes neatly, pointing here and there with great authority. One could faintly hear him shouting, “Save people first! Under no circumstances must the shops be destroyed by the fire!”
Dozens of merchants beside him knelt down and kowtowed before him, overflowing with gratitude.
At that moment, a court official rushed out on horseback and shouted to the onlookers, “County Magistrate Yang is bravely fighting the fire. The fire has been brought under control, and no one has been hurt!”
Cheers erupted among the crowd, with many clapping enthusiastically. Then, Li Qing’an suddenly saw Li Fei Shouyu, who was there with a dozen cavalrymen maintaining order.
Li Qing’an spurred his horse forward and called out softly from a distance, “Shouyu!”
Li Fei Shouyu turned around and, seeing Li Qing’an, hurried over and said, “General! You’ve also come?”
“I just happened to be passing by.”
Li Qing’an waved his hand and asked softly, “I want to ask you—how exactly did the fire start?”
Li Fei Shouyu glanced around and, seeing people nearby, quickly pulled Li Qing’an to a dark spot and whispered, “It’s really strange. One of our men was in the area and noticed something odd.”
“What was it?”
“About half an hour ago, that man saw a sky lantern flying low in the air, not above the city walls of the East Market. It must have come from nearby. Once the lantern entered the government office, it caught fire. Strangely enough, fires also broke out in two other places at the same time, just like what happened at the Imperial Secretariat. Even more bizarre is that as soon as the fire started, before even an alarm could be raised, Yang Zhao led a large group of court officials there. Hmph! This is too obvious.”
Li Qing’an nodded. “I understand. You must tell that man to absolutely not spread this news.”
With that, Li Qing’an spurred his horse and headed toward the Prime Minister’s residence in Pingkang Fang.
……
Word of the fire in the East Market reached Li Linfu, who had already left his residence by carriage. Just then, Li Qing’an arrived on horseback.
“Prime Minister, please wait!”
The guards recognized Li Qing’an, and the carriage stopped. Li Linfu pulled back a corner of the curtain and smiled, “Seventh Brother, why have you come back?”
“Prime Minister, I just came from the East Market.”
“Oh! How is the fire there?”
Li Qing’an smiled faintly and said, “Under the heroic leadership of County Magistrate Yang of Chang’an, the fire in the East Market has been brought under control.”
“Yang Zhao?” Li Linfu smiled subtly. “It seems this county magistrate is quite dedicated to his duties!”
“Of course. It takes the person who started the problem to solve it. If he doesn’t go to put out the fire, who else can?”

Even though Li Linfu remained calm, Li Qing’an’s words still made his expression change drastically. His face shifted several times before he whispered to Li Qing’an, “Come to my carriage and talk.”

Li Qing’an got into the carriage, which slowly headed toward the Eastern Market. Inside the carriage, Li Linfu sighed and said, “As you said last time, the emperor’s top priority isn’t promoting Yang Shenjin but rather finding an excuse to promote Yang Zhao. This New Year’s Eve fire came at just the right time. No matter what caused it, Yang Zhao saved the Eastern Market, and that merit is enough to restore him to his former position.”

After pondering for a moment, Li Qing’an said, “Prime Minister, Yang Zhao is currently only a county magistrate of the fifth rank. Even if the emperor wants to promote him, it still requires your recommendation. If you determine that this fire in the Eastern Market was his fault rather than a merit, how can the emperor promote him?”

“Qilang, you’re oversimplifying things. Indeed! I have the authority to intervene in the appointment and dismissal of officials below the third rank. If I firmly oppose it, the emperor can do nothing. But the question is, can you really resist the person he insists on promoting? To put it bluntly, he may not have the power to directly appoint or dismiss officials below the third rank, but he does have the power to dismiss you directly.”

In truth, Li Linfu knew well that one of the key reasons he had remained prime minister for so long was that he had largely failed to truly play the role of a prime minister. He had never used his power to resist imperial authority like Zhang Jiuling had—not once. He always acted according to Li Longji’s wishes, even completing tasks before Li Longji even expressed them. It was precisely because of his obedience that he had been able to hold the position of prime minister for so many years.

Li Qing’an smiled and said, “I’ve overstepped my bounds. Please forgive me, Prime Minister!”

“No!” Li Linfu waved his hand and smiled. “I’m glad you came to inform me voluntarily. What you’ve said is also very weighty, and I’ve adopted most of it. From now on, continue to speak up boldly like today.”

Li Qing’an quickly bowed and said, “If the Prime Minister gives an order, I will surely obey. I have another humble opinion—would the Prime Minister be willing to hear it?”

“Speak!”

Li Qing’an pondered for a moment before saying, “The current situation is very chaotic. There’s the Wang Zhongsì case, the possibility of Yang Zhao being promoted, two new candidates for minister, and even Gao Weng advocating for the crown prince. All these complicated matters are intertwined. But in reality, these are just surface issues. I believe there’s only one real core issue: the emperor intends to use Yang Zhao to replace the prime minister. However, the time isn’t right yet. In terms of both strength and connections, Yang Zhao is far from a match for the prime minister. That’s why the emperor uses Yang Shenjin and even those two new ministers as shields for Yang Zhao.”

Li Linfu nodded slightly. It was remarkable that Li Qing’an could see this—quite impressive! He stroked his beard and smiled, “Then tell me, how should I deal with these matters right now?”

“It’s simple. Since Yang Zhao must be promoted, the prime minister should do him a favor by first recommending him as Deputy Minister of Revenue and Chief Censor. The emperor wants the Three Departments to review the Wang Zhongsì case after the New Year, right? Then the prime minister should assign Yang Zhao, as Chief Censor, to oversee the case.”

Li Linfu remained silent for a while. Suddenly, he asked, “Qilang, what if I had you guys inspect the camp and take responsibility for this fire?”

Li Qing’an was stunned. After a long pause, he bowed and said, “I have no opinions. I’ll follow the prime minister’s arrangements.”

Li Linfu smiled and then fell silent. He closed his eyes slightly. The carriage continued moving forward, and the dim light filtering through the cracks in the curtains illuminated his large nose. No expression could be read on his face. Li Qing’an also remained silent. What Li Linfu meant was essentially that he wanted Li Qing’an to take responsibility. But why? Why would Li Linfu want him to take responsibility?

Not far from the Eastern Market, Li Linfu finally opened his eyes. He patted Li Qing’an’s shoulder and smiled slightly, “Go! Play ball well for Gao Weng.”

At that moment, Li Qing’an suddenly noticed how aged Li Linfu looked, with an indescribable weariness.

……

The fire in the Eastern Market was still burning fiercely, but it had nothing to do with Li Qing’an anymore. Li Linfu’s final decision was undoubtedly a loud alarm that woke Li Qing’an up. He realized that Li Linfu wanted him to take responsibility not just as a way to curry favor with Yang Zhao, but because Li Linfu already regarded Yang Zhao as his top political rival and had made him a key pawn in dealing with Yang Zhao. That must be it. Li Linfu saw that he had the ability to compete with Yang Zhao, so before taking action, he wanted to distance himself from him first.

The problem was, what would he think? Li Linfu didn’t care at all about his thoughts. He saw himself merely as a pawn—a crucial pawn with which to play ingenious moves. Perhaps this was politics: full of twists and turns, cold and heartless, with only interests and exploitation between people. Perhaps Yang Zhao would become the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, perhaps Li Linfu would enjoy another five years of glory, perhaps the An Lushan Rebellion would severely damage the Tang Dynasty, or perhaps the Tang would lose Anxi and Longyou. But all of this were just possibilities. And now that Li Qing’an had traveled back to the Tang Dynasty, would it still follow its original path? Since everyone was playing a game of chess, then Li Qing’an would also play a big game to see who would end up as the pawn. Li Qing’an exhaled deeply toward the moon. At this moment, the moon no longer resembled a graceful dancer but had turned into Li Linfu’s huge nose. He quickly organized his thoughts. The positions of Minister of Works and Minister of Rites were vacant, and Yang Shenjin’s entry into the cabinet was a certainty. This fire would also be an opportunity for Yang Zhao to turn things around. If he wasn’t mistaken, Li Longji would surely take advantage of this change in the ministers’ positions to weaken Li Linfu’s power. But would Li Linfu just wait passively for his death? Definitely not. He would surely take action, and that action was likely to be his own move. What move to make? Li Qing’an couldn’t think of it yet, but he knew what he should do now: wait quietly for Li Linfu’s arrangements. Li Qing’an returned to Chongren Fang. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he laughed loudly, “Is anyone home? Your eldest brother is back!” The door creaked open, and three young women rushed out, excitedly surrounding him. “We thought your brother would be back very late, but here you are already.” Li Qing’an put his arms around his sisters’ shoulders and smiled. “What? Did you not want me to come back?” Ru Hua pulled his arm and cooed, “Of course not! We’ve been waiting for you to come back for dinner. We’re almost starving!” Li Qing’an was stunned. He looked at Ru Shi. “You… haven’t had dinner yet?” Ru Shi nodded shyly and said in a low voice, “We wanted to eat first, but we were worried you might not have eaten enough, so we decided to wait for you to come back and eat together.” “Ah! You three little girls…” Li Qing’an was both touched and worried. He patted their heads affectionately and said, “This is the last time. From now on, you’re not allowed to wait for me like this. Do you hear me?” “Eldest brother, we understand.” “Good! That’s what I wanted to hear!”

Li Qing’an patted his stomach and laughed, “But then again, I’m indeed not full. Let’s add more wine and resume the feast—let the celebration begin now!”
The three women cheered. Xiao Lian quickly said to Ruhua, “Sis Ruhua, let’s go get the hot dishes!”
“I’ll go warm the wine!” Rushi hurried into the room.
Li Qing’an followed her in, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and kissed her on her fair neck.
“Rushi!”
Rushi’s face turned red as she shyly lowered her head. “Big brother…”
Li Qing’an loved her gentle nature the most. He turned her around, pulled her into his arms, lifted her chin, and gazed intently at her delicate face. Rushi’s eyes were flustered as she dared not meet his gaze.
Li Qing’an smiled and pressed a deep kiss on her tender lips. Rushi shuddered.
……
“Stay with me tonight!” Li Qing’an murmured, stroking her delicate body.
“Mm,” Rushi nodded shyly. At that moment, Ruhua’s laughter came from the courtyard. “Sis, stop being so affectionate and come quickly to warm the wine!”
Rushi’s face turned red as she snapped, “That damn girl!”
“I know, I’m pouring the wine now!”
She wrapped her arms around Li Qing’an’s neck, kissed him, and pleaded softly in his ear, “Big brother, how about tonight? Okay?”
“Isn’t it already night?”
Li Qing’an laughed and stroked her delicate legs once more before reluctantly letting her go. Rushi quickly adjusted her dress, gave Li Qing’an a charming smile, and stepped out swiftly with the wine jug.
Li Qing’an stretched lazily. He walked to the door and called out loudly, “Prepare more wine! We’ll drink until we’re drunk tonight!”
By now, even if Yang Zhao burned down the palace, it no longer concerned him.