The Longest Day in Chang’an
The Sonoma Sage tries to explain his favorite Chinese TV series
(Photo: the main characters: Zhang Xiao Jing, Xu Bin, Tan Qi, and Li Bi)
The Longest Day in Chang’an is an extraordinary work of art. Sets, actors, plot - all superb. However, the series contains events, and characters which are extremely hard to understand, even for experts in Chinese history.
First, some important themes.
One of the main themes is control over information and how it can be abused by the people within the system. In the Sage’s opinion, all of the elements of the Longest Day which show watch towers and messages being passed via codes using black and white dots and drums and the database maintained by the Office of Public Safety - all of this a direct commentary on China today. There is no evidence that such a system ever existed anywhere in the world before the year 1930, much less in Tang Dynasty China in the year 749. No, these eye-in-the-sky watchtowers and detailed records of everything happening in the city have nothing to do with the past and everything to do with modern China - a nation filled with video cameras on every street corner, with the 50 cent army who monitor WeChat 24 hours a day, and with their all digital and all tracked economy.
In the Longest Day, these systems of control are shown as tools of abuse and the cause of many of the problems our main characters are trying to fix. From the Sage’s perspective, the modern Chinese state is quite terrifying. In China as of 2022, every move you make is tracked, everything you write online is checked, everything you buy is known. The Chinese social credit system has been implemented, and it’s effects are: the state can make your life miserable by the simplest change to their internal database. Your life can go from Green to Red in second. The Longest Day dramatizes the inherent problems with such a system using the Tang Dynasty setting as a way to talk about the modern world and the Chinese censors allowed it.
It is important for the viewer to understand that the Longest Day is divided in three major sections. The first part section (episodes 1 to 15) describes Li Bi and ZXJ’s effort to stop the Wolf Gang from blowing up some part of the city. The second section (episodes 16 to 32) deals with Li Bi and his efforts to unravel the much larger conspiracy which reaches nearly the top of the Tang government. The third part (episodes 33 to 48) focuses on the Tang Huangdi Xuanzong, who is one of the most famous people in Chinese history.
Once the Huangdi (Emperor) enters the story, all the other characters are reduced in importance and their scope of action is greatly limited. Up until episode 32, the Huangdi was entirely off stage, a mysterious entity, inscrutable and unknowable - like God. This allowed our characters to do almost anything and almost anything could happen to them. Once the Huangdi steps onto the stage, accompanied by his famous consort Yang Yuhuan (AKA: Yang Guifei) the audience knows that nothing more will happen. Nothing can truly threaten the Haungdi because we know he has to live, so that the later events of the An Lushan rebellion can play out.
Note: Chinese dramas are not allowed to take liberties with Chinese history. The number of historical errors in Chinese dramas is tiny and they have to be justifiable.
In the Sage’s opinion, bringing Huangdi Xuanzong into the story was a mistake and while parts of the later episodes are enjoyable, the last 16 episodes are not nearly as interesting as the first 32.
Who are the Bad Guys?
There are two main bad guys in the series. One is obvious from the very beginning - the Right Chancellor, Li Linfu. The other is hidden from the viewer until the final episode - he is the master of the database: Xu Bin. When the Sage first viewed the Longest Day he felt the ending was absurd and contrived as he had not the slightest inkling that Xu Bin was the mastermind behind all the problems. However, on a second viewing, the Sage admits that hints were there, and he failed to pick them up. No doubt many Chinese viewers figured out Xu Bin’s true nature earlier but the Sage suspects that non-Chinese viewers will miss this, and it is very important. You can’t understand what the writer - Ma Boyong - is trying to say unless you know that Xu Bin is a monster.
As to the Right Chancellor? Li Linfu is a minor historical figure who is forgotten by all, excepting the specialists in Tang history. Li Linfu was a long serving high minister in the Tang government at a time when the Tang were at the peak of their artistic and political power. Li Linfu died two years before the terrible revolt by An Lushan, so why would he matter? The answer is: he was one of the main causes of An Lushan’s rebellion, and after he died many of his contemporaries blamed him for destabilizing the Tang Dynasty. In a real sense, Li Linfu poisoned the Tang political system but he died before the poison became apparent.
Xu Bin - the evil genius and master of the database - is entirely the creation of the author. Xu Bin and another evil character, Yuan Zai (a low ranking member of the Ministry of Justice who is completely obsessed with gaining status) share an interesting feature in common: they are both men who entered the Tang government without political connections. Normally, the Chinese regard such men as superior to the men who gained entry merely because of their noble birth. The men who passed the exam were officials who demonstrated merit and intelligence. Yet in the Longest Day, the two men who gained government positions by merit are really bad people. The few good people, Li Bi and the Crown Prince Li (future Huangdi Suzong of Tang) are both men who gained power by birth.
The Sage supposes that the author could be making a more subtle point: that the men who gained government positions by merit in the Tang were frustrated by their inability to move up the ranks and that caused them to become moral monsters. Since we only see them do evil acts, you really have to know your Chinese history to appreciate this level of analysis.
Who are the Good People?
(up until episode 32) is a remarkable character. He is an ideal Daoist master: wise, penetrating, and focused on a goal. It is very rare to see a Daoist master presented in a favorable light in a Chinese drama. As a rule, Confucian scholar-officials disliked all other intellectuals. Daoists are generally portrayed as con-men who delight in stealing gold from credulous wealthy merchants, or as sexual predators, or as idiots who prattle on about inner alchemy and creating so-called pills of immortality - all while spending their time and money ingesting toxic substances. Daoists in the Qing period were little more than faith healers who provided medical care to the poor of Chinese society. Such medical care consisted of smoke, fancy constumes, and cheap amulets which did nothing more than excite the placebo effect in their intended subjects (which, to be honest, is a real effect, though not actually medicine). The Sage asserts that Daoism has been a joke to the vast majority of Chinese people for more than 400 years.
But this drama is not set in the Qing period, it is the Tang, and in this age, Daoists scholars were on nearly equal footing with the Confucian scholars. Li Bi (considered one of the great advisors in Tang history) is frustratingly passive in the series and yet, his judgements are correct. On first viewing, the Sage thought Li Bi seemed far too passive and often wrong. The second time, Li Bi’s behavior makes more sense as he is navigating in a very complex situation and he is surrounded by traitors - it’s no wonder he has problems!
Zhang Xiao Jing - The Hero
The other main character in the series is an invented commoner named Zhang Xiao Jing (ZXJ). ZXJ always does the moral thing, and he is a one man army - able to defeat any number of enemies in hand-to-hand combat, often without even drawing his sword. Even though ZXJ has been sentenced to death in a completely unjust manner, even though he has been confined to cage no bigger than a coffin outdoors, for the last six months, even though he has no hope of solving the case because it involves the most powerful man in the government (meaning the Right Chancellor, Li Linfu) - nevertheless, he tries his best, resisting all appeals from beautiful women to leave the city with them and head west. ZXJ is utterly moral, utterly uncorrupt, and no setbacks can turn him aside, even though he is almost certainly doomed to ignominious failure. ZXJ’s heroic character is required in Chinese dramas because the Chinese have believed - for 800 years - that the arts control the culture of the nation. The Sage agrees with the Chinese on this matter. National culture is heavily influenced by dramas and stories.
The backstory for ZXJ is that he was a soldier. His unit was reduced from 250 men to just eight after they came under sustained attack from Northern barbarians and no reinforcements were sent to help them because of some idiotic reason - saving face? -by the general in command of the Tang army. ZXJ then returns to the capital city of Chang’an with one other man, his blood-brother from the unit. However, for strange reasons that involve one of the Royal Princes, ZXJ’s blood-brother is murdered six months before the start of the TV series. ZXJ takes revenge, killing many of the men who killed his friend but he is imprisoned and sentenced to death for this alleged crime. While he is waiting to be executed, his blood-brother’s daughter, a young woman ZXJ swore to protect, gets involved in the criminal conspiracy which ZXJ is sent to investigate. ZXJ realizes that she is involved very early on in the series and he tries to figure out a way to save her while still solving the conspiracy.
The Sage believes the author went beyond reason with ZXJ’s back story. ZXJ has nothing to look forward to. He has no possessions, and no family in Chang’an. All his friends are dead and the girl he was supposed to protect turned into a major criminal and will certainly be executed for her involvement in the conspiracy (Note: this was all Xu Bin’s doing as we learn at the end!). Time and again, people point out that ZXJ is behaving irrationally and all he says is I am protecting Chang’an. The audience is being hit over the head with the idea that irrational sacrifice is required to preserve the state government. The Sage believes the author should have given ZXJ some self-interested reason to keep working on the case. Of course, at the end, ZXJ succeeds because he saved the Huangdi so ZXJ is in fact forgiven. In fact, once the Huangdi appears on stage, this was the obvious ending.
The Crown Prince
Some explanation is required for Americans & Europeans. The Haungdi (Emperor) of China, by long established convention, had many wives, each ranked from most important to least important. Most Huangdi had many children, as this was part of his ceremonial duties. Further: in almost every Chinese Dynasty the Huangdi had total choice as to who he thought should succeed him on the throne. Being the Crown Prince was a position which could be revoked at any time. Historically, the Huangdi Xuanzong had previously executed several of his sons and demoted others, removing them from the royal family.
By convention, the Crown Prince was not supposed to have special friends who might threaten the power and authority of his father, and yet the Crown Prince was supposed to be ready to take over the government immediately on his father’s death. In addition, for every prince, there was a group of men in the government who thought they would gain rank if their man took the throne, so the Crown Prince had many enemies.
The net result was: the Crown Prince occupied one of the most difficult and dangerous positions in China. His every move was scrutinized, each of his friends was spied upon. A major mistake could easily cost him his life. The struggle between him and the Right Chancellor was deadly serious. All this is hard for someone raised with a knowledge of European history to understand. In Europe, the Crown Prince was the eldest son of the King and he would become the next king almost no matter what he did or who his friends were. Not in China!
The Episodes
The first episodes are well written and engaging.
The question of whether Xu Bin is evil is subtly introduced early in the story. Basically, ever time we see Xu Bin doing something, imagine the worst possible interpretation of events and you will be right most of the time.
The flashback scenes of Tang soldiers defending their fort are not especially interesting as we know the main character (ZXJ) lived and almost everyone else died. The good part was the soldiers insistence that they must be able to “die without regrets”. This is a core element to the Chinese conception about what it means to live and die. The Sage is grateful to the series for making this clear. Flashbacks are in Ep. 7, 8, 9…
The behavior of Wen Ran, the daughter of ZXJ’s best friend, is crazy. To the Sage’s mind, both she and the General’s daughter are introduced so suddenly that neither make any sense. Only watching this a second time can one understand that Wen Ran is both closely connected to ZXJ and she is a prime mover in the conspiracy - which means she is dead from the start, it’s only a question of when she will be killed. In the Sage’s opinion, her abrupt introduction in episode 5 was an error in the writing.
As for the General’s daughter, Wang Yun Xiu, the Sage can now appreciate how she is a well drawn character. In Chinese society - for more than 1,000 years - people associated with the military are treated as hot-tempered, easily manipulated idiots. Chinese soldiers and officers are treated a bit like guard dogs. You loose the soldiers and off they go, killing until they are told to stop. The General’s daughter is like this, but being a woman, she is weak and she blusters. She thinks she can lead soldiers but she cannot. The slimy 8th Rank judicial official, Yuan Zai, believes he can manipulate her, and he does.
The episodes with Ge Lao - a leader of the criminal underworld in Chang’an - are excellent. Ge Lao is well acted by Djimon Hounsou. Djimon can’t speak Chinese so his voice was provided the great actor Chen Jian Bin. Ge Lao shows up in episodes 6 & 7 and again in episode 20.
The Su delivery team should have been much more dangerous than they are depicted. They would have to fight off bandits in the Tang, just like in the Qing. We know from stories that travel in China was not safe. Criminal gangs operated along the roads of Tang Dynasty China. Leaving the Su Delivery men unarmed was an error by the writer.
The Sage does not know who the people dressed in Red are. Most likely they are Zoroastrians who have fled from Persia due to the Islamic conquest. They might be Nestorian Christians but the fire worship makes that unlikely. Least likely is that they are Manichaeans. They only show up in the first five episodes, but they are a fascinating group, and it shows how the Tang were much more closely connected to Central Asia and Persia than any of the later Chinese Dynasties (excluding the Yuan who were a Mongols state, and not Chinese at all).
Episode 9 with the song by the Singer (starts at 18:38 - lasts for 5 minutes) is one of the greatest scenes ever filmed. The Longest Day elevates into the status of great art thanks to that scene. The Sage believes that depictions of great art being performed in the distant past are rare in American or European dramas.
Episode 9 continues with the attack on the Wolf Gang by the Blaze gang, followed by the attack by Captain Cui’s men - this is the best episode in the whole series. However, the Sage doesn’t see the connection between the song lyrics & the performance and the fighting. No doubt the director sees the connection, but the Sage does not.
Old Man He Zhi Zheng seems like an stand-in for Li Bai, if Li Bai had stayed in the government, and lived longer. Interesting character. He has the title of Director of the Palace Library, according to MyDramaList. Perhaps a better title is Tutor of the Royal Children?
Episode 10 - the whole episode revolves around the signal “Da Ji” - Great Success. This episode shows how you cannot make any mistakes as a Chinese military commander. The Sage is indebted to this episode for driving home the idea that even the smallest mistake is unforgivable in Chinese culture. Since perfection is possible, perfections is expected.
Episode 11 - We finally have a reason to like the Crown Prince. We also meet General & Chief Eunuch Guo Li Shi. He explains something of how the Huangdi thinks. Then we see the use of a trained scent hound. We learn that Wen Ren was having sex with Long Bo, shortly after our hero was put in prison & sentenced to death. Then we see Prince Yong playing polo, he seems like a decent guy, though we know he was the prime sponsor of the Blaze Gang. Lastly we have a partial explanation for why the Wolf Gang are so angry with the Tang. They came under attack from the Tazi and the Tang didn’t send help, so most their people were killed.
Who are the Tazi? The Tazi are almost certainly Moslems who were raiding Central Asia in the 740s. The Tazi don’t appear in the Longest Day but their attacks on the local population in the west is a major factor in the decision by the Wolf Gang to attack Chang’an.
Episode 12 - Xu Bin is arrested - Li Bi is correct here, Xu Bin did destroy one of the old books. Also Li Bi correctly suspects the Yao Ru Neng (AKA Red Yao), who is a spy for the Right Chancellor. We get a nice bit of character exposition from Captain Cui. Then our hero, ZXJ, is misled by a smooth talking beggar, and led on a wild goose chase. We meet for the 1st time the scheming 8th Rank Official, Yuan Zai. He such a jerk. Finally Wen Ran is forced to commit suicide by jumping into a well by the evil female killer. This scene is poorly done as Wen Ran doesn’t seem very worried about being killed (in fact, she doesn’t die at this time).
Episode 13 - Again Li Bi misses nothing. Xu Bin did arrange everything. It’s all there, the Sage missed the clues. We have a good scene with Rank-8 and the leader of the Blaze gang, then we see him beginning his scheme with the General’s daughter. Rank 8 is quite clever, though completely amoral. There are two good fights here. 1) Our hero vs. the Merc Woman - though ZXJ should have killed her right there. 2) At the end against the leader of the Wolf Gang, who dies like a hero.
The year is 748, so the Tazi must be the Moslems from Persia. The battle of Talas is just a few years from now (751), so I can understand why the men from west of Kashgar are pissed off at the lack of support from the Tang army. Again, the historical detail here is incredible. The Wolf Game are Zoroastrians or Manichaeans, and the Moslems are destroying them - without mercy.
At the end, Captain Cui screws up - again - and all his men are killed in the explosion from the trap.
Episode 14: not much happens here. Xu Bin admits he was lying about his relationship to our hero. Captain Cui gets another nice speech about how he only sort-of follows the rules.
Episode 15 - The big theme here is: the database. How accurate is it? How honest? What does it say about us, the people who made it? Of course you have to think this is a subtle question of what is going on in China today, with the constant monitoring and tracking of the whole Chinese population. Great speech by the Right Chancellor, Li Linfu, who says “What can we really know about a person? Not through poems, not through what other people say about him, but only through Guanxi - how other people value him or hate him.” This is the author speaking about the people in his story. Great speech. Really gets to the heart of how the Chinese think about human relations.
Next we see Xu Bin’s paper-from-bamboo factory & Xu Bin gives an impassioned, and very convincing speech about how accurate data is vital to the Tang government, for taxes & revenues. He is correct - though he is lying about his goals. Question: can you actually make good paper from bamboo? - yes one can but nobody did this until 1700.
This is a great episode though nothing happens.
A major theme to this whole series is the failure of the people in power. The people with power not doing their real jobs, not living up to their obligations, cloaking self-interest behind a mask of supposed service to the state. How many people here actually have sincere hearts? Very, very few. And one of the few who does (the bad Long Bo) is a monster.
Episode 16 is the end of Act 1
It is mostly just a big wagon race with our hero doing almost everything on his own with only a little help from Li Bi. The one interesting element is Xi Bin being “killed off” by one of the soldiers. This makes no sense - it looks like a strange failure in plotting by the writer as though there was a totally different path they were going to go down but then abandoned.
Red Yao rescues Wen Ren. She seems completely unharmed by being thrown down a well. This was a mistake, she needed to stay dead. She is a bad person and a bad character. The female mercenary should have killed her.
The Sage must confess that even though the wagon chase was ridiculous and impossible on many fronts, it was a memorable spectacle. So, the Sage must say: it was worth it. Previous episode was all talk, this episode is all action.
Episode 17 - this is a textbook examples of how to utterly confuse your audience.
It starts with Xu Bin talking to Li Bi, yet Xu Bin is dead. Yes? No? (This was a flashback to sometime earlier that day!)
Then, our hero is being washed and going to be sent back to jail. When did they get him out of the water? Hello?
Then we have General Guo Li Shi telling everyone the Huangdi has ordered the investigation closed. Why?
Finally we learn some of what happened was done under the seal of Old Man He, which is highly suspicious.
None of this make sense. It’s as though there was a new writer put in at this point and a brand new plot was imagined for the 2nd act. Now Old Man He is somehow involved in this conspiracy to blow up Chang’an. But why?
Captain Cui collects our hero & takes him to the Right Cavalry fort. Later Cui watches as our hero is beaten while Captain Xie Xing of the Right Cavalry mocks Captain Cui.
Finally, Li Bi locks up 8th Rank official & the General’s daughter, then he sends Tan Qi and Red Yao to collect our hero, ZXY.
Insane episode. What were they thinking?
Episode 18 - Li Bi visits Old Man He, finds he is acting suspiciously, then is attacked by He’s adopted son, He Fuh, who is a murderer and tells the audience that he has been planning his revenge for 10 years. Li Bi escapes.
This “Old Man He was actually working with Long Bo to destroy the city” seems ridiculous. If He wanted to, He could have stopped the investigation at the start. The idea that his adopted son has a blood vendetta, is absurd. It would be known. I still think the script writer had a major revision after episode 16 and scrambled wildly to drag out the series.
Meanwhile: Tan Qi dresses up like a high class courtesan and drags Red Yao along as they try to free our hero ZXY from the Right Cavalry prison. It is an amusing 10 minutes though it seems totally out of character for Tan Qi to play-act her way. Still, I remembered the scene so it worked at an absurd level.
Episode 19 - The escape attempt fails but Li Bi sends a message to General Gau Li Shi who decides to intervene and he convinces the General Gan of the Right Cavalry, to release all three - ZXY, Tan Qi, Red Yao - to him.
Episode 20 - Starts with the Right Chancellor saying “I was wrong, this is a big mess. We have to help Li Bi, secretly.” Li Bi sends ZXY & Tan Qi to the Roman Church to find the son of the Alpha, who might be the mastermind of the plot. The visit to the Roman Church is quite interesting- Eastern Orthodox. Also, it has a Prince of Persia working there. Meanwhile Long Bo sends 2 previously unseen assassins to kill the son of the Alpha - but why? Seems to come out of nowhere, a mere plot device.
Episode 21 - Not very interesting.
Episode 22 - Old Man He’s son shows up at the estate where Long Bo has his base and reveals this used to be his house and his plan is to kill the Right Councilor, just as Li Lanfu suspects. But Long Bo wants to get his assassin back from the Records Office. He’s son can’t control anyone.
Episode 23 - Long Bo’s men attack the Records office. He orders his men to kill all the scholar officials. Only Captain Cui is willing to fight them. Red Yeo stands around and does nothing until the very end, when he kills 1 of Long Bo’s men. Captian Cui dies heroically. Li Bi stands around being useless - he doesn’t even pick up a stick to defend himself or his men. This was a memorable and dramatic episode.
Episode 24 - Xu Bin has apparently set fire to the records of the Office. ZXY & Tan Qi and the Prince of Persia goes to a new location and finds another of the eight survivors. After a long and sad conversation, he kills “his” men and agrees to help our hero but then he is stabbed in the back by one of the supposedly dead warriors. Meanwhile, the Right Chancellor takes over the Records Office & sends his guy to take charge. He, working with the sly Rank 8 & the generals daughter both claim ZXY is responsible for the attack on the office - which is a total lie. All the surviving members of the Office ask Red Yao to write a letter accusing the new leader of the office of malfeasance. He refuses and sides with the Right Chancellor’s man, because he is working for the Right Chancellor! Li Bi is now with Long Bo, as his prisoner.
Episode 25 - not much happens here. Only thing was Long Bo decides to blind old man He’s son. Red Yao thinks Xu Bin is dead. Seems like the end of part 2 with nothing resolved.
Episode 26 - Old man He’s son is put on a cart with a barrel of explosives. The Right Chancellor has predicted this and is sending a double down the street. The barrel does NOT blow up - as Long Bo ordered - and He’s son is captured. Meanwhile everyone is trying to kill ZXY and wherever he goes, not matter what he wears, the men on the watch towers spot him. Li Bi is not murdered but instead it let go by Long Bo. Li Bi now guesses that Old Man He plotted all this. Li Bi is also being chased by the Right Cavalry, his badge of office is useless. Essentially nothing is going right for everyone we care about. What a mess. Why the writers choose to make this episode so black?
Episode 27 - Red Yao finally does something heroic, he takes control of the tower & sends the message for everyone to stand down. He is then arrested. ZXY takes heart from this message and kills the soldiers who are chasing him. Rank8 has a touching though entirely insincere conversation with the Generals daughter and swears he will become famous and she will become his wife. At this time, she claims her father is the brother of the Crown Prince - but this can’t be true as that would make her a member of the Royal family. Lastly we have a really great scene between Li Bi and a prostitute (have we seen her before?) Li Bi is treating trying to cure her. She says “Don’t be so kind to me. I don’t want to know what it feels like to be taken care of… because if I know… then I will be reluctant to die.” - heartbreaking, really. This is 10 minutes of great writing.
Episode 28 - Our hero, ZXY, goes back to the ruler of the criminals, Ge Lo, looking for the known of who hired “the privates” (ex military, very powerful). After an attempt to kill Ge Lo, our hero gets a ring which will allow him (supposedly) to get the information he needs. Meanwhile the Right Chancellor is trying to get Old Man He’s son to implicate his father. General Gao Li Shi is trying to track down Old Man He, without success. Finally he gets the Left Chancellor to visit him and he tells him that Old Man He said the Right Chancellor would be dead before the big banquet this evening. This is the first time we have seen the Left Chancellor, who is not an impressive character. Li Bi does nothing, other than get chased around.
Episode 29 - this has a good face off between the General Gau and General Gan of the Right Cavalry, which is resolved (sort of) when the Hanlin Academy shows up and threatens to write things down. This is the only time the Hanlin academy shows up in any drama that the Sage is aware of. Oddly, old man He goes with the Right Cavalry to see this son. Meanwhile our hero, ZXY, has the ring from Gao Lo and even so, the leader of “the Privates” does not tell him the truth. So all the previous episode was a waste. Who are ‘the privates’? A mercenary assassin squad? Very mysterious.
Note 1: the Hanlin Academy is quite a mysterious organization, even to the Chinese. The Hanlin Academy seems to have Xuanzong Huandi Tang and it lasted (with a 100 year break during Mongol rule) all the way to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It was never very large, with 7-10 scholars, and about 10 men who were experts on performing correct rituals and another group of five or six men who were experts in astronomy and earthquakes (they basically performed divination). The scholars of the Hanlin Academy were the best scholars in China - they knew everything and they could write memos which were like the edicts of the Huangdi because they often wrote the edicts of the Huangdi! So, when the Hanlin Academy face down the elite warriors of the Right Cavalry, this tells you a lot about the growing power of scholars in Chinese society.
Note 2: the “privates” are never explained. However, as the Sage has written (see the essay: Did Chinese Ninjas Exist?), there is good reason to believe there were professional assassins who operated at the dark edges of Chinese Imperial governments, just like the Ninjas did in Japan. The “privates” apparently originated somewhere in the west (Persia? Kashgar? Kyrgyzstan?). They have a code of silence about what jobs they do and who they do them form.
Episode 30 - Things look bleak for Li Bi. Red Yao is revealed as a traitor and the Right Chancellor is revealed to also have the seals the head of the censorate (which the Sage believes didn’t exist at this time) and one of the chief judges. Consequently, Li Linfu can issue any ruling and have it approved. He Fu kills himself and Tan Qi is arrested and being theatened with death. There seems to be no way out for Li Bi.
Episode 31 - Li Bi agrees to work for the Right Chancellor and he signs an indictment of the Crown Prince. Li Bi then manages to escape while “the privates” (meaning the assassins) die fighting with a squad of the Right Cavalry (makes little sense, are the Right Cavalry better than the Assassins?). The General’s daughter kills one. 8th Rank guy is shaken by fighting. He reports his failure to the Right Chancellor and is kicked out the house. Li Bi is able to find soldiers of General Gao Li Shi’s Dragon Army and we next see Li Bi with Gao & the head of the Hanlin Academy. They are going to write a memo. Meanwhile our hero, ZXJ, goes to Xu Bin’s paper factory & finds Xu alive & well. Xu Bin blames the whole plot on the Right Chancellor (which is a lie). Meanwhile everyone says that Tan Qi is going to be killed. She thinks so also. This was a messy episode, too much going on. Still, Li Bi escaped the trap.
Episode 32 - Li Bi convinces General Guo to get Old Man He out of the Right Chancellor’s estate. However Guo Li Shi won’t help Tan Qi. Li Bi then tells the Crown Prince and tells him the Right Chancellor has all three seals and the head of the Hanlin Academy will impeach the Chancellor. Li Bi asks the Prince for aid with Tan Qi but the Prince appears to refuse. Guo Li Shi shows up at the Right Chancellor’s house with a “robe for the Right Chancellor to wear” from the Huangdi. It is a peasant costume, which is deeply humiliating for him, perhaps indicating he will be soon removed from office. Old man He follows Guo Li Shi out of the residence. ZXJ leaves Xu Bin with a map to a hidden passage from the top Courtesan’s house to the Right Chancellor’s estate. However, the girl deceives our hero and he gets nowhere. (Is the map from Xu Bin a fake? This seems likely, as Xu Bin is evil.) Finally Red Yao seems to choke Tan Qi dead. Then when she is about to be buried, he kills the two guards digging her grave. Rank 8 guy sees it and brings seven new guards. Red Yao fights them but is badly injured. Tan Qi is buried alive but is apparently rescued by Li Bi in the last moment… How? Note: this scene is contradicted by a scene in Episode 33. What a mess!
Episode 33 - The start of the 3rd section. Nothing happens. Everyone except ZXJ is going to have dinner with Huangdi Xuanzong.
There is a new tourist attraction in Xian, a block in the city which looks like part of the set from the TV series. The Sage is uncertain when he will return to Xian but he would visit this without hesitation.