Chapter Thirty: The Libertine!

On the nineteenth day of the sixth month came the anniversary of the Bodhisattva of Mercy attaining enlightenment.

By custom, people were to visit temples on this day to burn incense and pray for blessings, for the merit accrued would be especially great.

At daybreak, Li Zhao rose early. After bathing and changing his clothes, he set out for the temple to seek blessings, accompanied by Aunt Qing, White Bun, and White Sun Rat. And there was one more person with them: Wang Changshou.

By now, Young Master Changshou had become Li Zhao's little shadow, reporting punctually every day to undergo all manner of strict, military-style training, come heat or cold, rain or shine.

The results were striking. In just over ten days, Wang Changshou had shed much of his idle and spoiled young-master demeanor. He had also learned to wash clothes, fold bedding, tidy his quarters... and was soon to begin learning how to cook.

Enough said. Back to the story.

Once everything was prepared, the group set out and headed straight for the Great Ci'en Temple.

In the twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, the Crown Prince Li Zhi, praying for the blessed repose of his mother, Empress Wende, née Changsun, ordered a temple to be rebuilt on the former site of the Pure Awareness Temple in Jinchang Ward of Chang'an, and named it the Great Ci'en Temple.

After its completion, the temple stood resplendent in gold and jade, with incense offerings flourishing. It became the favored place for the people of Chang'an to burn incense, worship Buddha, and pray for peace.

The group did not take a carriage to the Great Ci'en Temple, but chose to walk instead: first, because the distance was too short; second, because the roads were too poor.

Since the Kaiyuan era, the population of Chang'an had continued to rise, reaching as many as a million people. With merchants and travelers coming and going from all directions, the city had become the most prosperous capital under heaven, but it had also given rise to severe traffic congestion.

This was especially true of Vermilion Bird Avenue, the East Market, the West Market, the Great Ci'en Temple... places where traffic and crowds swarmed day after day. And since there were no traffic laws in this era, the streets were in utter disorder, with congestion, blockages, and collisions occurring all too often.

Thus, at times, walking was actually more convenient than riding.

...

"The people up front, hurry on! The road behind is completely blocked!"

"Can't move! The road ahead is blocked too!"

"Oh no, who's stepped on my shoe and kicked it off?"

Soon enough, they reached the vicinity of Jinchang Ward. Just as expected, the streets were packed with traffic and people, and a serious jam had formed. Now and then someone would have a boot trodden off, or be shoved and cry out in pain.

There was nothing for it but to wait patiently at the back of the crowd.

Clop—clop-clop!

While they were waiting, the heavy beat of hoofbeats sounded, and a troop of riders appeared on the street.

At their head was a young nobleman in brocade robes, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was fairly handsome, though with darkened brows and slightly blue eyes, the look of a man ruined by wine and women. Beneath him rode a fine bay with iron hooves, its whole coat red save for its black feet, and a rather powerful build.

More than a dozen riders followed behind him, all clearly his servants by their dress and bearing.

"Hah! Make way. If you get trampled, that's your own fault!"

...

"Oh no, the horsemen are charging through! Everyone, get out of the way!"

"Look, it's that notorious libertine!"

Crash!

With the street so thick with people, the proper thing would have been to rein in and proceed slowly. Yet the young nobleman lashed his whip and forced his horse ahead, while the dozen servants behind him shouted and clamored, their arrogance soaring to the skies.

The crowd immediately burst into chaos, scattering to the sides of the road. In an instant, there were people knocked down, stepped on, and shoved over in heaps, yet no one dared step forward to stop them, nor even to rebuke them aloud. It seemed they all feared this brocade-robed nobleman greatly.

Among them was a ragged middle-aged couple pulling a two-wheeled plank cart piled high with fresh spinach, shepherd's purse, cucumbers, radishes, and more. They looked like vegetable farmers coming into the city to sell their produce, and they had brought along a boy of four or five, with a round little face and an adorable, sturdy air.

The panicked crowd overturned the cart. The vegetables rolled everywhere at once, trampled into a sorry mess. While the farmers pleaded with the people around them to watch their feet, they hurried to gather up the vegetables, neglecting the fact that their child was still standing in the middle of the street, and that the brocade-robed nobleman was already riding straight toward him.

A galloping horse carried a force of a thousand pounds. If it struck the little boy, he might survive by some miracle, but he would certainly be crippled for life.

Clop—clop-clop!

"Huzi, get out of the way! Hurry, get out of the way!"

The vegetable farmers realized something was wrong. By the time they tried to save him, it was already too late. Their shrill, heart-rending cries split the air, while the little boy was so terrified that he stood frozen, not knowing to dodge at all.

Whoosh... swish!

At the critical instant, Li Zhao, not far away, burst forward like lightning. He leaped up, snatched the little boy into his arms, and rolled aside in one fluid motion, just barely avoiding the horse's hooves.

Saving a life should have been a wonderful deed. Unexpectedly, the brocade-robed nobleman did not thank him; instead, he lashed out viciously with his whip.

Whoosh—crack!

Li Zhao could not dodge in time, and fearing the boy might be hurt, he used his own body to shield him. The whip swept across his right shoulder, sending a searing pain through him.

"Boy, try meddling again next time, and watch your head. Hah hah!"

After beating him, the brocade-robed nobleman laughed wildly a few times, then took his servants and galloped off. Soon they had forced a path through and vanished from sight.

After that, the vegetable farmers came running over in utter dismay, and the whole family dropped to their knees before Li Zhao, bowing and kowtowing repeatedly.

"There is no need for such formality. From now on, you must take good care of the child. Know that no amount of wealth can compare to a loved one's life."

"Yes, yes, sir, we will remember your words. Might we ask your name, so that we may repay this kindness in the future?"

"No need. Take this as compensation, and hurry home with your child."

"Thank you, Young Master! Thank you, Young Master... your great kindness, we shall never forget for as long as we live!"

Li Zhao reached out to help them up. Looking at the vegetables crushed all over the ground, he took out a broken silver ingot worth a little over three taels and pressed it into the hands of the farmers without allowing refusal. The couple bowed again and again before finally getting up, tidying their cart, and taking the child home.

Even after they had gone some distance, they kept looking back and bowing repeatedly in Li Zhao's direction.

At the same time, Aunt Qing, White Bun, and the others came over as well, checking Li Zhao over from head to toe. Only after confirming that he had no serious injuries did they relax.

"Who was that just now? How could he ride so wildly in the middle of the street and almost injure someone? Does he not fear the authorities?"

"Of course he doesn't fear them. That was the infamous Flamboyant Young Master, a tyrant of Chang'an!"

The one who answered was Wang Changshou. As a native of Chang'an, he was very familiar with the local affairs.

"Flamboyant Young Master? What's his background?"

"A considerable one. Boss, do you know the Prince of Ning, the thousand-year duke?"

"Of course I do."

Li Zhao nodded. Throughout all Chang'an, so long as one had normal intelligence and ears, there was probably no one who did not know the Prince of Ning.

The Tang Emperor Ruizong had six sons: the eldest, Li Chengqi; the second, Li Chengyi; the third, Li Longji; the fourth, Li Longfan; the fifth, Li Longye; and the sixth, Li Longti. Apart from the sixth, who died young, the other five all grew to adulthood, and the brothers got along harmoniously.

According to the rules of succession, Li Chengqi, as the legitimate eldest son, ought to have been made Crown Prince and inherited the throne.

But Li Chengqi was a sensible man. He knew full well that his abilities were limited and that he could not shoulder the burdens of state and war, much less lead the Tang Empire to prosperity. So he submitted a memorial of his own accord, resigning and yielding the position of Crown Prince to his capable and energetic younger brother, Li Longji.

In other words, the present emperor had actually been given the throne by his elder brother, Li Chengqi.

One should repay even the gift of a drop of water with a gushing spring; how then should one repay the gift of a throne bestowed freely?

Thus, after Li Longji became emperor, he was deeply grateful to his elder brother Li Chengqi, ennobling him as the Prince of Ning, granting him the rank of Director of the Left and Right Offices of State, and bestowing a fief of thirty thousand households. This was far more than that granted to other imperial princes. More than that, whatever rare treasures and exotic tributes the provincial circuits, prefectures, counties, and foreign states offered the palace, so long as the imperial palace possessed one copy, the Prince of Ning's manor must have one as well.

Li Longji publicly declared: "All rare treasures under heaven are shared between myself and my elder brother. Anyone who dares show disrespect to the Prince of Ning shall be judged as though guilty of deceiving the throne; their entire household shall be executed and their clan utterly annihilated!"

Such favor and indulgence are indeed rare in all history.

The question was, what did this Flamboyant Young Master have to do with the Prince of Ning?

"Boss, you may not know this. The Prince of Ning's first wife, Lady Yuan, died young without issue. He later took a second wife, Lady Wei, who bore him a son, Li Lin, and that son was made the Prince of Ning's heir, whom he dotes on greatly.

"This Flamboyant Young Master, Wei Renzha, is Lady Wei's only full brother. His parents died when he was young, so Lady Wei brought him into the Prince of Ning's manor and raised him there, spoiling him beyond reason. Whatever he wanted, he got. If he asked for the stars, they would not dare give him the moon. In the end, he became a complete wastrel.

"After growing up, Wei Renzha became utterly useless and outrageously arrogant. He often rode wildly through the streets, and many passersby were injured or crippled by him. But with the Prince of Ning's manor backing him, no one dared do anything to him.

"That fellow is also exceedingly lustful. Even after taking more than twenty concubines, he was still not satisfied. He frequently spent his nights amid blossoms and willows, haunting brothels and pleasure houses, and even abducted respectable women by force. For that reason, people called him the Flamboyant Young Master!"

...

"Wei Renzha... Wei Renzha... That name sounds familiar."

Li Zhao remembered. Three years ago, his capable assistant Jiang Hao had once seen a noble young master in the street forcibly seizing a woman, and had stepped forward to stop him. As a result, the other man took private revenge: not only did Jiang Hao lose his post, he was also beaten with eighty strokes of the cane and nearly died on the spot.

And that noble young master was precisely the Flamboyant Young Master, Wei Renzha.

Once he understood that, Li Zhao said nothing. He merely touched his shoulder. This whip strike would be repaid tenfold, sooner or later.