Early in the morning, Chen Ji woke up all alone.
The bedroom was completely empty and deserted. Without Liang Gou'er's alcoholic stench and without She Dengke's snoring, the room's warmth had also been taken away altogether.
He draped his clothes over his shoulders and went out the door. Taking a glance at the courtyard wall where a ladder was propped up, he bent down, picked up his Carrying Pole, and walked onto Anxi Street.
The water vat in the courtyard was already full, but Chen Ji still went to fetch water on his shoulder pole just like on ordinary days, as if by using this stubborn method, he could pause time and keep it staying in the past.
There were no pedestrians on Anxi Street, so he stood alone by the edge of the well, slowly turning the windlass handle above the wellhead. As he turned it, he gradually spaced out and fell into a daze.
It wasn't until an apprentice from a steamed bun shop came to fetch water that he finally snapped back to his senses. Drawing the water, he shouldered his carrying pole and headed toward the Zhixing Academy.
Dong, dong, dong.
Chen Ji knocked on the tightly shut wooden doors of the Zhixing Academy.
After a brief moment, Wang Daosheng pushed the doors open, asking in bewilderment, "Why have you come?"
Chen Ji gave a smile and turned his body sideways to walk into the courtyard. "I am your personal Disciple. Living so close by, it's only right and proper that I help you fetch water and chop firewood."
Following behind him into the courtyard, Wang Daosheng scrutinized him carefully and suddenly said, "You have a perplexity in your heart and wish to ask me a question, don't you?"
Chen Ji's footsteps paused, not expecting Mister Wang to see through him with a single glance.
He set down his carrying pole and poured the water from the wooden buckets into the vat. "Mister, when the Liu Family rebelled, did they come looking for you?"
Standing to the side, Wang Daosheng answered, "They did. Elder Liu promised me high official rank and generous remuneration, hoping I would strategize and plan for their military campaign, but I refused."
Chen Ji asked, "Did the Liu Family not make things difficult for you?"
Wang Daosheng shook his head. "The Liu Family did not make things difficult for me. In their eyes, I am simply a stinking and hard rock; there was no need to waste their time."
Chen Ji was amused. "Why describe yourself like that?"
Wang Daosheng said casually, "That's how others describe me."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Are you not angry?"
Wang Daosheng thought for a moment and said frankly, "I do get angry."
Chen Ji asked, "Mister also gets angry because of others' opinions?"
Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "There are also many principles that I haven't fully figured out either, ah."
Chen Ji gave an affirming 'Oh', then bent down, lifted the other wooden bucket, and poured the water.
Wang Daosheng said calmly, "Coming to the Zhixing Academy, you probably aren't here to ask these things."
In the Zhixing Academy, only the splashing sounds of water remained as it surged up and down within the vat.
After a very long time, Chen Ji finally spoke the truth. "Mister, right now there is a certain person. As long as she remains alive, she constitutes an absolutely massive hidden danger to myself and to many others. Currently, the absolute simplest choice would be to kill her with a single strike of my saber. As long as it's done covertly enough, outside of Heaven knowing, Earth knowing, and myself knowing, absolutely no one else would know."
Wang Daosheng said relaxedly, "That's excellent, ah. What are you hesitating for?"
Having finished pouring the water, Chen Ji looked at him while holding the empty wooden bucket. "But if this saber strike falls, there are some people I will never be able to face again. Therefore, I want to ask Mister: should I kill this person or not?"
Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "Just act according to your own conscience and it will be fine."
Lowering his head, Chen Ji muttered to himself, "Conscience?"
Thinking for a moment, Wang Daosheng said, "If you lost a bag of money on the road, would you feel awful?"
Chen Ji nodded his head. "I suppose I would feel a bit awful; after all, I lost my wealth and goods."
Wang Daosheng asked again, "Then if you saw a beggar on the road who was about to freeze to death, and you merely needed to give him five copper coins to save him, yet you did not save him. The next day, you heard that he truly froze to death. Would you feel somewhat awful?"
Chen Ji nodded his head again. "I suppose I would also feel a bit awful."
Wang Daosheng asked, "Why would you feel awful? You clearly didn't lose any wealth or goods, ah."
Chen Ji remained silent and didn't speak.
Wang Daosheng tapped his chest over his heart. "You feel awful because a piece of your heart has been lost."
"Hmm?"
Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "Actually, this analogy is not entirely accurate. It's just that the vast majority of people in this world can only see the gains and losses of external possessions, yet they fail to see the gains and losses of their own original heart. Before you came to ask me, you already had the answer in your heart. Simply acting according to your original heart will be enough."
"Thank you, Mister."
Wang Daosheng gazed out the door toward Anxi Street. "Over ten years ago, I also experienced a sense of conflict just like yours. At that time, a Chiliarch Station attached to a border Regional Military Commission mutinied due to the Imperial Court's injustice. I had twenty thousand elite troops in my hands; in an instant, I could have executed every single soldier within the Chiliarch Station. But were those soldiers truly at fault, or was the Imperial Court at fault? That was over a thousand border defense soldiers; over a thousand lives."
Chen Ji looked at Wang Daosheng. "How did Mister choose?"
Wang Daosheng smiled. "I didn't lead any troops. I went alone and persuaded them to surrender."
Chen Ji was bewildered. "And just like that, the mutiny was suppressed?"
Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "It was suppressed."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Are the soldiers in the Chiliarch Station still alive?"
Wang Daosheng answered, "They are still alive. One of them has already become the Deputy Regional Commander of Guyuan, defending my Ning Dynasty's borders for nine years; he is exactly one of the generals that the Jing Dynasty's Heaven-Bestowed Army finds the most headache-inducing to deal with. At the time, I gifted him the sword I carried by my side; I suppose that can be considered making the best use of everything."
Chen Ji asked softly, "Did Mister never consider that you might not return back then? What if you were truly killed by those Chiliarch Station soldiers? Would you have regretted not executing them?"
Answering a question that wasn't asked, Wang Daosheng said, "Chen Ji, it is Easy to Defeat the Bandits in the Mountains, Hard to Defeat the Bandits in One's Heart."
...
Shouldering his carrying pole, Chen Ji walked toward the medical clinic. A horse carriage was already parked in front of the doors. The carriage driver was squatting in front of the doors, gnawing on a hard, dry coarse grain flatbread; this was the horse carriage he had booked yesterday.
Seeing him approach, the carriage driver hurriedly shoved the remaining half of the flatbread into the bosom of his robes and said with a smile, "Official Lord, you still need to fetch your own water, ah?"
Chen Ji took a glance at the color of the sky. "You arrived quite early; it hasn't even reached our agreed-upon Hour of the Dragon (7–9 AM) yet."
The carriage driver laughed cheerfully. "The early bird catches the worm. For a lowly person like me making such a hard living, it's only natural to arrive early. This prevents a situation where the Official Lord temporarily moves his itinerary forward but has no carriage to use."
Chen Ji said, "Wait a moment, I will go drop off my things."
He entered the medical clinic, set down his carrying pole, then fetched the Zhengxin Studio Traditional Snacks and the jug of Nu'er Hong wine he had bought yesterday before finally boarding the carriage.
The horse carriage swayed and rocked as it headed out of the city. Sitting in the front, the carriage driver turned his head and asked, "Official Lord, you're certain you can exit the city, right? Yesterday, there was a guest who hired me to exit the city, but we ended up being blocked and turned back by the soldiers at the city gates."
Chen Ji gave a smile. "Rest assured, I won't let you make a wasted trip."
Two hours later, the horse carriage arrived at the south city gates. Three layers of Wooden Barriers stood erected within the gate tunnel, and dozens of soldiers clad in armor blocked their path. "Who is inside the carriage?"
Lifting the carriage curtain, Chen Ji stepped down and pulled out a Secret Spy Division Waist Plaque from his sleeve. "The Secret Spy Division."
A deputy general slowly walked up to him, sizing him up and down for a moment. "So it is a Lord from the Secret Spy Division. Where are you heading?"
Putting away his Waist Plaque, Chen Ji replied, "Heading to the Liu Family's main residence on official business."
The deputy general didn't ask too many questions. He simply cupped his hands together and gave a salute. "According to the rules, this final commander must search the Lord's carriage."
Chen Ji asked with surprise, "My carriage needs to be searched as well? With this Waist Plaque, my Secret Spy Division can even enter and exit the Forbidden City. Why are Luo City's south gates more precious than the Forbidden City?"
The deputy general hurriedly explained, "These aren't rules established by this final commander; this final commander has no authority to decide. My Ten-Thousand-Year Army has received orders: all carriages entering or exiting must be inspected thoroughly without a single omission. Those who violate the order will face Property Confiscation, execution by beheading, and the extermination of three generations of their family."
Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. It was actually the Ten-Thousand-Year Army taking over the city defense; they arrived so quickly!
He smiled. "The General may search as he pleases."
Chen Ji stepped to the side, allowing the soldiers to lift the carriage curtain. However, it was completely empty inside; one could see the back in a single glance.
The deputy general cupped his hands at Chen Ji. "Lord, I have offended you. Let him pass!"
Watching the soldiers lift the wooden barrier to the side of the road, Chen Ji lifted the carriage curtain, sat back inside, and let out a long sigh.
He had hired this horse carriage specifically to test whether he could enter and exit using his Waist Plaque. Now, entering and exiting the city was unhindered, but attempting to send Consort Yun away relying solely on the Waist Plaque was undoubtedly a madman's dream.
Chen Ji slowly sank into deep thought, only stopping when the horse carriage halted once more and the driver called out from outside, "Lord, we have arrived."
"Wait for me in front of the doors; you still need to carry me back to the city afterward." Carrying the Traditional Snacks and the jug of wine, he stepped off the carriage. Picking up the Beast-Head Door Knocker on the Liu Family's vermilion gates, he knocked it down.
The vermilion doors were slowly pulled open from the inside. Through the crack in the doors, Jin Zhu's eyes lit up. "Why are you here?"
As Chen Ji walked inside, he asked in bewilderment, "Lord Jin Zhu, why are you the one guarding the main gates?"
Jin Zhu's pale, chubby face was full of gloomy unluckiness. "His mother's, that grandson Bai Long is making things difficult for me. I was originally sleeping completely perfectly, but instead he forcibly plucked me up and dragged me here to guard the Liu Family."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Can't you have Lord Tian Ma help speak on your behalf?"
Jin Zhu said in a thoroughly foul mood, "Tian Ma has already left Luo City; the Inner Chancellor has other matters for him to handle. For now, within Luo City, Bai Long is the highest-ranking official in our Secret Spy Division. Forget it; once the matters here are concluded, I'll walk the other way when I see him!"
Having said that, he muttered softly, "Strange, why is this grandson always targeting me? Could he have overheard me badmouthing him behind his back?"
Chen Ji's expression turned peculiar. "Lord, it's better if you speak a bit less."
At this moment, Jin Zhu lowered his head and looked at the Traditional Snacks and wine jug in his hands, asking curiously, "For me?"
Chen Ji smiled and handed him the wine jug. "This is for you; the Traditional Snacks are not."
Jin Zhu smacked his lips several times. "Alright then, I knew you kid wouldn't make a special trip just to see me."
He called Xi Feng over. "Take your men and guard the door well; I'm escorting Chen Ji inside."
Jin Zhu led Chen Ji through the long alleys paved with grey bricks. The white funeral banners beneath the Eaves had already been torn down, and the corpses on the ground had all been cleared away. All that remained was the bloody mud between the cracks in the bricks, having dried and turned a deep purplish-black.
Arriving at the gates of a small courtyard, Jin Zhu waved his hand at the secret spies guarding the doors. "You guys go rest off to the side for a bit."
The secret spies guarding the doors cupped their hands and excused themselves. Chen Ji was just reaching out to push the doors open when Jin Zhu grabbed his wrist, saying with a solemn expression, "I know you and Prince Jing's Estate have interacted closely, and I also know of your relationship with the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess... but the situation has changed now."
Chen Ji remained completely unfazed. "How has it changed?"
Jin Zhu lowered his voice. "Do you know what Bai Long is currently doing? He is searching for evidence to nail down Prince Jing's crime of rebellion! This must definitely be the Lord Inner Chancellor secretly giving instructions, wanting to kill three birds with one stone."
"Three birds?" Chen Ji was bewildered. "Besides the Liu Family and Prince Jing, who else is there?"
Jin Zhu said, "Consort Yun. Consort Yun's background is also not simple. The Luotian Sect behind her has secretly controlled the canal transport of the two rivers and one major waterway for so many years; they have long been a thorn in the side and a spike in the flesh of His Majesty and the Inner Chancellor. Bai Long capturing Consort Yun isn't merely to convict Prince Jing; he also wants to use her crimes to eradicate the Luotian Sect."
Chen Ji fell silent.
This Inner Chancellor was greedy enough, actually wanting to swallow so much all at once.
Jin Zhu warned him in a heavy voice, "As long as it's something the Inner Chancellor wants to accomplish, there is nothing he cannot achieve. Today, Prince Jing is still Prince Jing, and the Commandery Princess is still the Commandery Princess, but there's no guarantee they won't become prisoners on the next day. You absolutely must not continue to have any interactions with them. I have already made my words extremely clear. Think it through yourself: do you still want to go inside and see them?"
Chen Ji said softly, "Lord Jin Zhu, thank you for your kind intentions and warning. But since the Traditional Snacks have already been bought, they must be delivered inside after all; otherwise, they'll go to waste."
Jin Zhu carefully observed Chen Ji's expression before finally letting out a sigh. "The temperament of youth completely lacks a sense of proportion! Today, I will secretly bend the rules and let you go inside to speak a bit more with the Commandery Princess and Prince Heir. In the future, do not come to the Liu Family's main residence ever again; focus on your cultivation at the medical clinic with a peaceful mind. With your cultivation speed, becoming a Zodiac is only a matter of time."
Having said that, he pushed open the courtyard doors and stepped aside.
Turning his head, Chen Ji unexpectedly saw Bai Li standing in front of the door. He didn't know when she had arrived, but she was staring fixedly at him.
He was about to walk inside, but Bai Li blocked the path, refusing to move an inch, merely saying coldly, "Go back."
Chen Ji gave a smile and casually casually pushed her arm aside, intending to walk inside anyway. "Commandery Princess, I have a matter to ask His Highness the Prince. These are Zhengxin Studio Traditional Snacks. You and the Prince Heir..."
However, Bai Li snatched the Traditional Snacks from his hand with a single motion and threw them out the doors. The hemp rope wrapping the Traditional Snacks snapped, scattering crumbs all over the ground.
Bai Li said in a cold voice, "Chen Ji, you are merely a greedy little apprentice obsessed with wealth. If I hadn't seen how impoverished, shabby, and pitiful you were, I wouldn't have kindly paid your travel expenses, nor would I have bothered to get to know you. What status do you hold? What status do I hold? Why would I possibly need you to deliver Traditional Snacks to me? Get out!"
As she spoke, Bai Li fiercely slammed the courtyard doors shut and dropped the door latch into place.
Inside the doors, Bai Li leaned her back against the door panels, pursing her lips and lowering her eyelids. Outside the doors, Chen Ji stared down at the Traditional Snacks on the ground, remaining speechless for a very long time.
Separated by a single door, yet it felt like being separated by ten thousand miles.
It was as if they had never properly gotten to know each other. When that young man led the horse for that young girl and walked through the Thread of Sky Pass at the Luhun Villa, it had only been an empty, fleeting joy after all.
Right at this moment, pinching a sheet of letter paper, Xi Feng came running over with rapid steps. "Lord, Bai Long sent someone to meticulously deliver a hand-written order! He claims they captured Consort Yun's personal senior maid, Xi Tang, in Luo City's Eastern Market and learned of Consort Yun's approximate hiding location. He ordered us to gather our men and horses and enter the city to search for her!"
Snatching the letter paper, Jin Zhu took one look and immediately stepped outward. "Quick, quick, quick! Do not let Yun Yang and Jiao Tu snatch the merit!"
Chen Ji followed behind them, walking outward. Upon reaching the corner, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and he turned his head to look back at the door at the end of the small path that had already been shut.
Turning his head, Jin Zhu urged, "What are you doing? Let's go!"
"Coming."
(End of this chapter)