The Longest Day in Chang'an Episode 16 Recap
> The Longest Day in Chang'an Recap
Three carriages carrying stone grease fuel, driven by Ma Ge Er and his companions, rushed through the bustling West Market, where large crowds had gathered around a performance stage to watch Xu Hezi. The carriages were obstructed by the public, angered by Ma Ge Er's hurry to pass. His men, part of the Wolven Squad, began to slaughter the citizens, throwing the area into chaos. Zhang Xiaojing, riding a horse, pursued the carriages.
Seeing the pursuit, Ma Ge Er ordered his men to splash stone grease onto the street and ignite it, creating a blazing fire to block Zhang Xiaojing's path. As the flames spread and people cried out in pain, Zhang Xiaojing found a fire-resistant cloth and bravely rushed through the wall of fire. The Wolven Squad, in their haste, seized Xu Ge, who was performing on the stage, as a hostage.
Xu Hezi, witnessing her brother's capture, pleaded with the officers to save him. The Wolven Squad threatened to kill Xu Ge if any Tang soldiers dared to pursue them, leaving Zhang Xiaojing to watch as Ma Ge Er and his men drove away. A messenger reported the situation to Li Bi at the Peacekeeper Corps, detailing how the Wolven Squad was slaughtering people at the Yanfu and Huaizhen intersection, causing chaos.
The messenger also stated that there was no trace of Commander Zhang, and Captain Cui's Royal Escort, with only about twenty men left, would not arrive in time from Changming Street. Li Bi immediately ordered the Royal Escort guarding the Peacekeeper Corps to deploy, instructing them to follow Commander Zhang's commands upon arrival. A watchtower guard, after witnessing the Wolven Squad's escape, immediately dispatched Messenger Lu San to report to the Peacekeeper Corps.
There, officials, worried for their families, knelt before Li Bi, begging him to replace Zhang Xiaojing. Li Bi ignored their pleas. The Royal Escort guarding the Peacekeeper Corps had already gathered but did not know whose orders to follow. Xu Bin passionately defended Zhang Xiaojing, stating that if he intended to flee, he would not have entered a death cell in the first place.
Li Bi, showing his unwavering trust in Zhang Xiaojing, immediately ordered the watchtowers not to shoot at the Wolven Squad to avoid detonating the Crouching Fire. Instead, they were to constantly monitor the Wolven Squad's movements and use smoke signals to guide Commander Zhang. Zhang Xiaojing, meanwhile, swiftly pursued the carriages across rooftops.
Zhang Xiaojing leapt onto one of the carriages, quickly rescuing Xu Ge before engaging in a fierce fight with the Wolven Squad member, Rui Ge, whom he eventually threw off. Ma Ge Er, seeing Zhang Xiaojing's effectiveness, called out to his other companions, including Beta, to flee immediately, declaring that Zhang Xiaojing had "awakened the Flaming Demon." A messenger promptly reported that Commander Zhang had successfully taken down a carriage.
Li Bi, visibly relieved, reiterated his unwavering trust in Zhang Xiaojing to his fellow officers. He reminded them that without Zhang Xiaojing's actions, they would face blame for dereliction of duty, and many lives in Chang'an would have been lost. He then knelt and pleaded with everyone to continue diligently checking the amount of stone grease that had entered the city. Zhang Xiaojing successfully controlled one carriage and drove it quickly.
Seeing a lost boy in front, Zhang Xiaojing, unable to brake, made the carriage wheels tilt up to avoid hitting him. In the ensuing chaos, stone grease spilled onto the ground and ignited from an unextinguished flame, causing an instant large fire. Zhang Xiaojing immediately led nearby citizens to safety, and the boy's father thanked him. Zhang Xiaojing urged everyone to evacuate to safety in the south.
Meanwhile, Xu Hezi, having been saved earlier with her brother Xu Ge, asked for the name of the officer who had saved them, as she wished to pray for his good fortune. She was told his name was Zhang Xiaojing. Simultaneously, Ji Wen reported to Lin Jiulang, informing him that the Peacekeeper Corps had lost control of Zhang Xiaojing. Ji Wen suggested that if Zhang Xiaojing caused any harm, the Peacekeeper Corps would be charged with dereliction of duty.
Lin Jiulang, asserting that old rules were dependable, ordered the Right Cavalry to hold the royal city's defense line at all costs, preferring to observe Li Bi and Zhang Xiaojing's actions from a distance. Ma Ge Er, along with his companion Beta, continued to rush through the city towards the Imperial Palace. Watchtower reports indicated they were only two streets away from Hanguang Gate.
Li Bi immediately ordered the Wuhou to use smoke signals to guide Zhang Xiaojing and the official army. Ma Ge Er and Beta split up, and Zhang Xiaojing pursued Beta's carriage, climbing aboard and throwing Beta off. After receiving news of this second carriage being secured, Li Bi ordered all Royal Escort units to meet him at the Tongyi and Zhiye intersection.
Carrying two Heng swords, Li Bi then left the Peacekeeper Corps, personally supervising the placement of anti-cavalry obstacles to slow down the remaining carriage. However, Zhao Canjun, an advisor stationed in Taiping Fang, adamantly refused to open his barricade for Li Bi, stating his sole duty was to protect the royal city. Li Bi, determined to prevent Ma Ge Er from breaching the royal city's defenses, rode his horse and quickly caught up to Zhang Xiaojing.
He decided to act as bait, openly taunting Ma Ge Er by claiming to be Li Bi, Chief of the Peacekeeper Corps, and boasting that he had killed all of Ma Ge Er's Wolven Squad members and hung their hair in Chang'an for public ridicule. Enraged, Ma Ge Er threw stone grease and ignited the stone grease on his own carriage. Zhang Xiaojing told Li Bi to retreat. Together, they cornered and lured Ma Ge Er onto a side street.
Back at the Peacekeeper Corps, Messenger Lu San arrived anxiously. With Li Bi absent, the other officials were hesitant to make decisions. Lu San implored them to support Li Bi, criticizing their fear of taking responsibility and reminding them of Li Bi's unwavering dedication. As Lu San spoke, Zhang Xiaojing caught up to Ma Ge Er's final carriage, leaping onto it. The two fought fiercely.
Ma Ge Er used a rope to strangle Zhang Xiaojing, intending to die together, but Zhang Xiaojing struggled free and threw him off the carriage. As he fell, Ma Ge Er declared his intention to "meet the Flaming Demon together" and called Zhang Xiaojing the "God of War." The remaining carriage, now controlled by Zhang Xiaojing, sped towards Guangde Street.
Lu San, observing this, frantically warned everyone in the Peacekeeper Corps to flee, fearing Zhang Xiaojing would bring the ignited Crouching Fire to their location. Xu Bin calmly intervened, assuring everyone that Zhang Xiaojing would not approach the Peacekeeper Corps. He explained that the carriage was five feet and three inches wide, while the Dragon Threshold on Guangde Street, a critical barrier, was only four feet and eight inches wide, making it impossible for the carriage to pass.
Xu Bin confidently predicted Zhang Xiaojing would steer towards the wider Western District instead. As predicted, Zhang Xiaojing drove the carriage through the expansive West Market. The city guards swiftly removed a Dragon Threshold barrier to allow him passage, and the citizens voluntarily cleared his path. Zhang Xiaojing finally plunged the carriage into the river, causing the Crouching Fire to detonate harmlessly in the water, erupting in a massive, fiery explosion.
Immediately after the explosion, Lu San publicly accused Xu Bin of lying all day to protect his friend, Zhang Xiaojing, and questioned his intentions. Xu Bin vehemently denied lying, defending Zhang Xiaojing's loyalty to the Peacekeeper Corps and the people. When an official challenged Xu Bin's database as "fake," Xu Bin insisted it was true. A loud sound from the Western District interrupted their argument, and Xu Bin promptly dispatched Lu San to ascertain the casualties and locate Zhang Xiaojing.
Separately, Yuan Zai had brought Wang Yunxiu to his house in Huaiyuan Street, assuring her it was a safe haven. He presented her with dresses and hair ornaments, which she later learned from a maid he had acquired by selling his ancestral zither. Wang Yunxiu felt grateful for his generosity. At the riverbank, Tan Qi and Li Bi anxiously awaited news, as marines tirelessly searched the water for Zhang Xiaojing.
Li Bi, upon assessing the damage from the explosion, ordered all available marines in the Western District to continue the search, insisting on finding Zhang Xiaojing, whether alive or dead. Meanwhile, Xu Bin, examining the remnants of the destroyed carriages, identified an engraving from Su's Transport, a company from Yanzhou. He requested the entry records for Su's Transport for that day.
An official quickly found the records, confirming three carriages had entered the city, each carrying five barrels of stone grease—a total of fifteen barrels. The official concluded that Chang'an was now safe, as all the stone grease had been destroyed. However, Xu Bin immediately recognized a discrepancy: the ink used on the invoice was Huizhou Yellow-Pine Ink, a high-quality and expensive type typically used by the Peacekeeper Corps, not by city gate guards who used cheaper, unscented ink.
He deduced that the invoice was forged, suspecting an insider within the Peacekeeper Corps. He then noticed Messenger Lu San attempting to slip away with a piece of paper, prompting Xu Bin to question him. Lu San, when pressed about an idiom he used, offered a vague explanation, then suggested he could show Xu Bin the paper if they went somewhere private. Yao Runeng, while investigating, stumbled upon Wen Ran.
Wen Ran, identifying herself as Wen Wuji's daughter, eagerly questioned Yao Runeng about Zhang Xiaojing's condition. Yao Runeng, after establishing his identity as a Peacekeeper Corps official and learning that the Wolven Squad had been involved in her situation, promised to take her to Zhang Xiaojing. Lu San led Xu Bin to a secluded spot. There, he revealed the paper, confirming that the city actually contained three hundred barrels of Crouching Fire, not fifteen.
Lu San then brutally strangled Xu Bin to death, stating that Xu Bin shouldn't have known this information and expressing a chilling apology to Xu Bin's wife for the excellent shoes she had made him, before hiding Xu Bin's body under a corridor.
