Chapter 121: Possessing the Flying Bear but Unable to Utilize It

“Why does light transform into fire?”

Shan Zhi trailed behind Ye Chang, nagging continuously. Although Ye Chang had explained many times, he still couldn’t grasp the concept.

“I once fetched ice in winter and accidentally discovered that ice with a convex curved surface can concentrate light into one point, while ice shaped like a triangular prism can disperse light into three beams…”

As Ye Chang spoke, his mind wandered to what might be happening in the palace now.

This was the Tang Dynasty, a period known for its relatively open-minded culture and strong tolerance among people. Therefore, Ye Chang was not worried that revealing such matters would brand him as a sorcerer.

“Send someone to the ice cellar to bring ice,” Emperor Li Longji instructed Gao Lishi within the palace.

By the time Chen Xuanli arrived, the ice had already been brought. First, they used a convex lens, and, as Ye Chang had described, it truly concentrated the sunlight to a single point, and after a short while, fire was successfully ignited.

“So it really is true… this is something foreign to our realm. Summon my son-in-law Zhang Pei… and also whoever is on duty at the Hanlin Academy today,” Li Longji said.

Upon learning that not only the jade water sphere could produce fire, but also the ice convex lens, Li Longji began to believe this was no sorcery but a natural principle, as ordinary as water flowing downhill or trees growing upwards.

Before long, Zhang Pei appeared before him, but the person on duty at the Hanlin Academy had yet to arrive.

“Who is on duty at the Hanlin Academy today?” Li Longji inquired.

“Li Taibai,” Zhang Pei replied.

“Where is he?”

Zhang Pei felt a bit annoyed. He had no idea where Li Taibai, who was supposed to be on duty, had gone. Gao Lishi smirked beside him and said, “Scholar Li likes excitement—perhaps he’s at the city competition, lingering there?”

“That’s where I want to go too,” Li Longji, still quite tolerant towards Li Bai, laughed. “If so, send someone to the city competition to fetch him.”

Zhang Pei quietly listened to Li Longji’s arrangement, but inwardly, he felt a twinge of jealousy towards Li Bai.

“Son-in-law, as head of the Hanlin Academy, have you seen this?”

“Where does this sorcery come from?” Zhang Pei asked upon seeing Chong Niang standing nearby and recalling the events of the city competition earlier that day. He immediately realized it must be a trick by Ye Chang. Moreover, Ye Chang was presenting this “treasure” to the emperor through Chong Niang, clearly hoping to win Li Longji’s favor and secure a position.

With that in mind, Zhang Pei bowed to Li Longji and said, “Your Majesty, this is sorcery; it should not be allowed in the palace. The one who presents this sorcery must be punished.”

Li Longji stroked his beard and smiled, “This hardly counts as sorcery, does it?”

“How can this not be sorcery?” Zhang Pei was stunned by the emperor’s words.

The emperor was extremely wary of anyone using sorcery to deceive and harm others in the palace. Emperor Wu of Han, a man of great ambition, had even killed his own crown prince over witchcraft accusations. In this matter, Li Longji’s temperament resembled that of Emperor Wu.

“Son-in-law, do you not understand the reason behind this?” Li Longji, unwilling to argue, asked again.

Zhang Pei, intent on using this incident to implicate Ye Chang, had no time to ponder deeply and shook his head. “Even if this is not sorcery, it is merely a frivolous trick, not something the emperor or literati should concern themselves with.”

This dampened Li Longji’s enthusiasm. Seeing the pitiful expression on Chong Niang’s face, and recalling how he had just scared the little girl, he laughed and waved his hand. “Son-in-law, you still have much to learn.”

First, a convex lens for igniting fire, then a prism for dispersing light—Yang Yuhuan was particularly interested in the latter. She smiled and said to him, “Sanlang, if during the performances at the Pear Garden, we used this prism to scatter light on stage, wouldn’t it add more color?”

“It would need to move with the music to work well…”

They enthusiastically discussed how to use the prism to decorate the stage. After a while, the clattering sounds of little eunuchs reached them, and two eunuchs soon entered, supporting a man who staggered in.

Even from afar, the strong smell of alcohol was evident.

“Li Qing is truly the Immortal of Wine, unable to part from it for a moment,” Li Longji laughed. “Drunk like this, I wonder if he can even speak.”

“I am not drunk, just a bit weary,” the man pushed away the eunuchs, steadied himself, and bowed. “There were forty-seven kinds of fine wine at today’s city competition. Normally, sampling each would take time and effort, but today they were all gathered together, and I gave in to temptation. I beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness.”

His eyebrows were fine, eyes long, bearing a handsome and elegant demeanor. Though visibly tipsy, he did not fall.

It was Li Taibai.

“Li Qing, if you are not drunk, tell us what happened. I asked Scholar Zhang earlier, but he did not know and thought it was sorcery.”

Li Longji signaled Gao Lishi, who ordered the eunuchs to bring ice again to demonstrate fire ignition with a convex lens and light dispersion with a prism.

Everyone exclaimed in surprise at the scene. Li Bai, with sleepy, intoxicated eyes, smiled silently.

“Li Qing?” Li Longji asked.

“Fire ignition with a convex lens must be the handiwork of the cultivator Ye Chang,” Li Bai said, making everyone smile at first, but his next words were startling: “The army’s sun flint works on the same principle. As recorded in the Book of Rites, ‘The left carries a golden flint,’ which is similar. In the Huainanzi’s ‘Ten Thousand Techniques’ it also states, ‘Cut ice into a circle, hold it facing the sun, place mugwort to catch its shadow, and fire is produced.’”

At this, Li Bai glanced sideways at Zhang Pei and laughed, “Scholar Zhang is versed in literature, but such mundane texts are not his forte.”

Zhang Pei fell silent.

He had regarded this as sorcery, never expecting such historical precedent.

Though learned himself—otherwise he wouldn’t hold his position—he was far inferior to Li Bai in knowledge. Li Bai was widely read and had a strong memory; such references came effortlessly, as if books were always at his side.

However, Li Bai’s good intentions to defend him went unappreciated.

Lowering his eyes, Zhang Pei refused to look at Li Bai again. Li Bai, distracted, did not notice and pointed to the prism, continuing, “The national scholar Kong Yingda’s annotation on the Book of Rites, in the ‘Monthly Ordinances’ commentary, notes that ‘When the sun’s light passes through rain droplets, a rainbow appears.’ Could it be that raindrops are also prism-shaped, thus refracting sunlight into a rainbow?”

He spoke eloquently, weaving literature and history with ease. Afterward, he laughed, “Others think I spend every day drinking at the Hanlin Academy, but they don’t know I read widely. I am no ordinary man; the more I drink, the deeper my wisdom grows. I beg Your Majesty for more wine.”

This was almost his usual state. Whenever he drafted an edict or wrote a fine essay, or after advising Li Longji, he would ask for wine. Li Longji laughed heartily, pleased, though he also sighed somewhat.

It turned out Ye Chang’s “sorcery” was simply knowledge well understood by predecessors, though they had never harnessed it.

“Why did you immediately know it was Ye Chang’s doing?” Li Longji asked, smiling.

“Most people are mediocre, but Ye Shi is clever, able to find these truths in ancient texts. He is also a doer; upon seeing these principles, he must try to apply them,” Li Bai said.

“Do you know Ye Chang personally?”

“We’ve shared a spiritual friendship for a long time, though we have never met.”

Li Longji nodded thoughtfully. Ye Chang’s ingenuity might be quite useful for his Pear Garden performers. Perhaps he should give the young man a chance?

But glancing at Chong Niang’s smiling face nearby, Li Longji changed his mind.

He must not let Ye Chang near Chong Niang. Although she was still young, Ye Chang had been in Chang’an a long time. In two or three years, Chong Niang would begin to mature.

“Since you have known each other for so long, I will have you do something for me,” Li Longji said, looking at Li Bai. “Please go see Ye Chang for me.”

Li Bai’s heart leapt. He had long wished to befriend Ye Chang and had intended to recommend him to Li Longji. Hearing this, he was naturally pleased.

Zhang Pei, however, felt quite differently.

Having Li Bai at the Hanlin Academy already threatened his position. Adding Ye Chang was even more unsettling.

Moreover, his discord with Ye Chang was obvious.

Hearing Li Longji order Li Bai to meet Ye Chang, Zhang Pei felt as sour as old vinegar.

If not for knowing Li Longji’s stubbornness, he would have interrupted the order.

After a brief pause, Li Longji laughed, “No need to announce an imperial edict. Just ask him why, if I sent him back to his hometown, he came to Chang’an again.”

At these words, Li Bai was surprised, while Zhang Pei’s face lit up.

“Your Majesty… Ye Chang is a rare talent, Your Majesty—”

“Just some frivolous tricks. If Your Majesty dismisses him, even Yao and Shun wouldn’t compare,” Zhang Pei seized the moment. “This fellow is used to mystifying people with novelties and deceiving the sovereign. When the time comes, Your Majesty must be cautious.”

He spoke righteously. Although Li Bai was eloquent, Zhang Pei was his superior. With Li Longji’s clear decision, Li Bai, caught off guard, reluctantly suppressed his displeasure and shook his head. “If Your Majesty elevates Ye Chang from obscurity, I will gladly serve. But if Your Majesty dismisses him, Scholar Zhang is at your service.”

He clearly refused to expel Ye Chang. Zhang Pei felt joyful again.

Li Bai’s temperament was hardly that of a minister. Could he pick and choose the emperor’s orders? Although favored now, he would surely fall out of favor, and then his current words and deeds would become liabilities.

“I am willing to obey the decree,” Li Bai said. Since he refused the task, Zhang Pei naturally took it upon himself and bowed to Li Longji.

Nearby, Chong Niang puckered her lips and glared at Zhang Pei with great hostility.

When An Lushan had insulted her and killed her attendant, Li Longji had intended a small punishment, but Zhang Pei’s intervention turned his anger into delight. Now, again, Zhang Pei’s slanders were driving Ye Chang away. Truly, he was a petty man.

No matter what, Chong Niang hated Zhang Pei, even though he was her so-called brother-in-law.

Li Longji saw no use in keeping Zhang Pei around and immediately ordered him to drive Ye Chang away. As Zhang Pei left, he winked at Gao Lishi, who understood and quietly nodded toward Chen Xuanli.

Summoning several soldiers, Zhang Pei was excited. If he could kill Ye Chang on the spot, all the better.

After leaving the palace, he realized he did not know where Ye Chang was. He considered asking Chong Niang but feared Li Longji’s reprimand for acting without protocol. After thinking, he headed straight to Wang Jin’s residence.

Since Wang Jin was opposed to Ye Chang, he likely knew where Ye Chang was.

Meanwhile, Ye Chang hummed an off-key tune as he had already left Chang’an city gates.

The monk, annoyed by the stifling air inside the carriage, sat outside. He complained, “Why rush so much? Didn’t the Hu patron invite us to drink?”

“What’s so tasty about that wine? Besides, if we don’t leave now, we might get caught,” Ye Chang said cheerfully. “The matter is settled. I’ve gained two estates from Princess Yuzhen and thirty thousand strings of cash from Wang Yuanbao. This trip has been fruitful. Let’s leave early to avoid surprises.”

He hadn’t expected Zhang Pei to cause trouble. After staying in Chang’an too long, he simply wanted to return to Xiuwu. His sister was heavily pregnant and due to give birth in a little over a month. Of course, he wanted to be there.

Childbirth in these times was like passing through the gates of the afterlife. Though he had prepared in advance, he still worried about accidents. Being there, using knowledge from his other life, could only help.

The carriage passed Yánxīng Gate out of Chang’an as dusk approached. According to Ye Chang’s plan, they would rest at the inn ahead and then take a boat along the newly dug canal by Wei Jian to return directly to Wuzhi.

When he first came, Jiao Sui and Du Fu were with him, making it lively. Now, Jiao Sui had returned home, Du Fu stayed in Chang’an preparing for the imperial examination, leaving only Ye Chang and Shan Zhi.

Just as the inn came into view, urgent hoofbeats sounded behind them.

Shan Zhi looked back and exclaimed, seeing a dozen or so riders charging forward. They appeared to be retainers of powerful families, but their riding posture and fierce expressions were wild and dangerous.

When they were about a hundred paces away, the group began to spread out.

“Master… something’s wrong. They… they don’t mean well.”

The carriage driver panicked. He just rented the carriage and had seen the arrogance of nobles’ servants near Chang’an. Though Han Chaozong’s governance had improved matters within the city, outside, nobles often bullied commoners.

Ye Chang peeked out of the carriage and looked back.

He didn’t recognize these men, but judging by their cold and fierce looks, they bore hostile intent and murderous aura.

He thought quickly: he had offended many in Chang’an. Could assassins have been sent?

Whether or not, they had to evade. Relying on only the monk, they likely couldn’t survive.

“Go, go quickly,” he urged.

Suddenly, he saw someone in the group nock an arrow.

The carriage driver understood immediately. He rolled off the carriage, unwilling to sacrifice himself for these two guests.

The monk was alert, grabbed the reins, and urged the horses on. Behind them, the buzzing sounds of arrows filled the air, followed by the thudding impact.

Inside the carriage, Ye Chang saw four or five sharp arrows pierce through, narrowly missing him. He crouched low on the floor.

“Damn it, they want our lives… Monk, head for the woods!”

Though entering the woods was inconvenient for the carriage, at least the trees could shield them from arrows. Ye Chang remembered that beyond this forest was the inn; once there, the assassins would likely not dare act so boldly.