Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 23 Departure, Bringing Auspiciousness
After the angel from Chang'an left, Li Xian began packing his luggage and valuables.

The purpose of this trip to Chang'an is to bring auspicious omens, not to actually return to Chang'an, so it is inconvenient for his wife and children to come along.

But Liu Jianjun can come along.

The imperial edict stated that for this mission to transport auspicious omens, one yellow calf cart could be provided, with no more than twenty attendants. Liu Jianjun was allowed to occupy one of the attendant slots.

This time, the main route back to the capital relied on the Micang Road, passing through Qingshui Station, heading north from Hanzhong, along the Baoshui and Xieshui River valleys, through Fengzhou to Qizhou, and then westward along the Wei River to Chang'an.

The journey took about ten days.

After everything was prepared, Li Xian set off with Liu Jianjun. The two first went to the Huacheng County Government Office and asked the magistrate to provide them with a yellow oxcart, nineteen yamen runners, several horses, and a cartload of grain.

Then, they embarked on the official road to Chang'an.

Along the way, Li Xian was very excited, chattering to Liu Jianjun: "Liu Jianjun, our trip to the capital originally required us to submit our household registration, resume, age, and physical characteristics to the Imperial Household Department, and then obtain a transfer permit from the gatekeeper before we could meet the Emperor. But the Emperor has shown us mercy and has granted us special permission to wait for him directly in the West Inner Garden of Danfeng Gate..."

Before Li Xian could finish speaking, Liu Jianjun interrupted him: "To put it bluntly, isn't it just the same old identity verification process? Do you think the Emperor wouldn't recognize you as his son?"

Li Xian gave an awkward laugh.

That's the gist of it, but Liu Jianjun put it too bluntly.

“Hey, my son, only an imperial edict can be written by an emperor, right?” Liu Jianjun suddenly asked.

Li Xian nodded in puzzlement: "Of course, otherwise why would it be called an imperial edict?"

Liu Jianjun nodded thoughtfully: "So, according to what you said, the sage seems to be looking forward to your return?"

Li Xian looked at Liu Jianjun with a puzzled expression.

"Don't look at me. I've already seen your imperial edict. If the emperor didn't want you to go back, why would he say something like 'no obstruction by the prefectures and counties along the way'? To put it bluntly, he's just making things convenient for you!"

As he said this, Liu Jianjun tried very hard to straighten the horse's head. He clearly had no experience riding horses, and his movements were extremely clumsy.

Li Xian hurriedly looked around and found that the yamen runners were just obediently hurrying on their way. He then glared at Liu Jianjun and said, "How can you examine the imperial edict without permission?"

He didn't even know when Liu Jianjun had secretly read the imperial edict.

Seeing that Liu Jianjun still looked indifferent, Li Xian sighed and said, "Father Emperor was unwilling to demote me, but the evidence of my rebellion is irrefutable, and the officials in the court are outraged. If Father Emperor does not punish me, it will be difficult to quell the public anger."

What Li Xian didn't say was that the first person to call for his punishment was his own mother.

He knew his mother disliked him, but he couldn't understand why she was so eager to demote him to a commoner. In fact, if his father hadn't intervened, his mother's initial intention was to execute him.

I am her own flesh and blood!

“Since your grandfather was unwilling to demote you in the first place, this matter is easy to handle. When you go back, you can complain to your grandfather that Bazhou is simply not a place for humans to live. Maybe your grandfather will soften his heart and not let you go back!”

"It's not that simple," Li Xian chuckled.

"If you ask me, this really is the simplest method!" Liu Jianjun muttered. "Do you think your grandfather doesn't know that this so-called auspicious omen is just a facade?"
"To put it bluntly, this auspicious omen is just to give you a chance to go to the capital and meet the emperor. It's to get past the governor of Bazhou and to shut up the officials in the court. Your grandfather doesn't care whether you present the auspicious omen or not; he just wants to hear what you have to say!"

Li Xian fell silent.

The official road in Bazhou was not easy to travel. Although it was called an official road, the weeds grew up to the horses' bellies. Li Xian was good at riding since childhood, but Liu Jianjun's horse was unruly. It would tilt its head to reach the weeds by the roadside after taking a few steps, so Liu Jianjun had to tug on the reins every now and then.

"Just tug on the bit gently. The horses at the post station are all trained; they understand what you mean," Li Xian chuckled, offering a helpful suggestion. Liu Jianjun tried tugging on the bit, and his horse indeed became much more obedient.

Having settled his horse, Liu Jianjun spoke again: "Xianzi, don't you think this trip has gone a little too smoothly for us?"

"What do you mean?" Li Xian asked, puzzled.

"It's one thing for an imperial edict to arrive so easily, but when you go to the county government office, the magistrate will give you whatever you ask for – men or horses. Isn't that strange?"

"What's so strange about that? I have an imperial edict; how dare the magistrate disobey?"

"He wouldn't dare disobey, but what if he obstructs you through the normal procedures? Dispatching horses and yamen runners requires procedures, right? It needs the prefect's office to sign and stamp it... If he drags it out for ten days or half a month, he'll ruin your winter melon, what can you do then?"
"By the way... speaking of this, from the time the imperial edict was issued until we started transporting auspicious omens, did you see the governor of Bazhou show up?"

"The fact that the Prefect of Bazhou was willing to help us deliver the news of the auspicious omen to Chang'an shows that he is willing to help us. So why was he excluded from this whole matter?"

Liu Jianjun's questions came one after another, like a string of pearls.

Li Xian chuckled and said, "Do you think that when an imperial edict is issued, even the governor's office will be alarmed?"

"Our identities are those of ordinary people from Huacheng County. The imperial edict only needs to be delivered to the local county magistrate; there's no need to trouble the governor of the entire prefecture."

"As for the cooperation of the magistrate of Huacheng County, the local people discovered the auspicious omen, which is a great achievement for him. How could he not care? Besides, the magistrate of Huacheng County knows my identity and is unwilling to offend me. Now that I have the opportunity to return to Chang'an to meet the emperor, why would he make things difficult for me?"

Liu Jianjun seemed to have been persuaded by his own words, and sighed, "I hope so."

……

The journey to deliver the auspicious omen went smoothly, and the procession quickly arrived in Hanzhong, half of the time having passed.

As dusk approached, it was clear that the escort team was unlikely to reach the next post station by then, so Li Xian ordered everyone to rest at the post station.

This post station is called Baocheng Post Station. It is the largest post station in Shannan West Road and a place where all the official roads in the southwest converge. People traveling on the official roads can rest or change routes here.

Liu Jianjun has a wonderful adjective: transit station.

After checking one last time to make sure the winter melon was intact, Li Xian went to the post station to rest.

There weren't many rooms at the inn, so Li Xian and Liu Jianjun squeezed into one guest room. Before going to sleep, Li Xian noticed that Liu Jianjun had carefully placed a purse under his pillow and chuckled, "Did Hu Ya give you this purse? Why have you been carrying it with you the whole time these past few days?"

Liu Jianjun glared at Li Xian with annoyance, then turned over and went to sleep.

Li Xian chuckled, ignored Liu Jianjun, and lay down with his back to Liu Jianjun.

Night had fallen, but Li Xian couldn't sleep.

They had already arrived in Hanzhong, and from there to Chang'an, the road would be wide open. Although he hadn't figured out how to tell his father yet, the thought of seeing his father filled Li Xian with excitement.

Just as Li Xian was drifting off to sleep, he heard shouts outside: "Fire! Fire!"

Li Xian was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly sat up.

"Fire?!"

……

(End of this chapter)