The Hour of the Zi (11 PM - 1 AM).
Huanjing Alley.
In the main hall of the Secret Spy Division headquarters, Chen Ji and Bai Long sat facing each other, a Go board placed between them.
It was still the same old rule from Longwang Village: playing fast chess. Every move could not exceed ten breaths of time.
Holding black and white respectively, the two rapidly placed their pieces.
Bai Long wore his mask. Looking at the situation on the board, he praised as he placed a piece, "You're truly not panicked or flustered at all. Your playing style is also vastly different from last time; you've finally understood the words 'willing to part with'. The strategy of stabilizing an isolated group to swallow the dragon (Dragon Swallower) is ingenious, but it is also the most greedy, and thus not advisable."
Chen Ji didn't speak, focusing intently on the chessboard.
Bai Long said unhurriedly, "It's already the Hour of the Hai (9 PM - 11 PM). Yun Yang and the others still haven't been able to bring the Prince Heir before me. I'm afraid they've botched their assignment again."
Without lifting his head, Chen Ji said, "Since Yun Yang and Jiao Tu always botch their assignments, why doesn't Lord Bai Long just replace them?"
Bai Long was amused. "I naturally have my own reasons. You will understand in the future."
As his voice fell, a night watchman walked past outside the alley, beating his gong. "Close your doors and windows! Guard against thieves and robbers!"
The agreed-upon Hour of the Zi had passed, and the Hour of the Chou (1 AM - 3 AM) arrived. Dawn was breaking.
Chen Ji breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Lord Bai Long, it seems I have won."
Bai Long smiled. "If you won, then you won. However, I am somewhat curious: where exactly did you hide the Prince Heir?"
Remining composed and collected, Chen Ji said, "Lord Bai Long, this humble subordinate has already proven myself sufficiently useful. In the future, this subordinate will naturally exert my utmost effort and plunge into boiling water and raging fire for Your Lordship. I wonder about the Commandery Princess's matter..."
Exactly at this moment, footsteps transmitted from outside the door.
Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, and Jin Zhu were seen walking in together side-by-side, brushing the crushed snow off their bodies. "Lord, Commandery Princess Baili has already been locked up in a secret residence, personally guarded by the Trouble-Resolving Guards."
The moment Jin Zhu entered the door and saw Chen Ji, he froze. "Why are you here?"
Chen Ji pointed at the chessboard. "Accompanying Lord Bai Long in playing chess."
Doubt surfaced on Jin Zhu's face.
Standing up with his hands clasped behind his back, Bai Long asked, "Did you find the Prince Heir?"
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu exchanged a glance, both lowering their heads. "Answering Lord Bai Long, these humble subordinates are incompetent; we did not find the Prince Heir. However, this subordinate is certain that Zhang Zhuo is helping them cover their tracks. I request Lord Bai Long to issue a verbal decree allowing the two of us to arrest Lord Zhang and throw him into the Inner Prison. We will definitely interrogate him and extract the Prince Heir's whereabouts!"
Bai Long burst into loud laughter, pointing at the two of them through the air. "You two committed a mistake, yet you actually want me to shoulder the blame with you? What kind of logic is this? Speak! What other trouble have you stirred up?"
Jiao Tu said in a low voice, "We didn't stir up any trouble."
"Oh?" Bai Long turned his head. "Jin Zhu, you speak."
Jin Zhu didn't stand on ceremony with the two of them. "Yun Yang and Jiao Tu took the Trouble-Resolving Guards and intercepted Zhang Zhuo's grain transport convoy. In the end, they failed to find the Prince Heir, and they also scattered official grain all over the ground."
Jiao Tu weakly argued, "We didn't touch that much grain! I stopped them in time!"
Jin Zhu thought for a moment before saying, "The Trouble-Resolving Guards were fast with their hands; they pierced twenty-seven sacks. The escort of official grain might seem inconspicuous, and a dozen or so sacks of grain aren't worth much money, but it has always been a major military matter. It can be blown out of proportion, or it can be swept under the rug. It entirely depends on whether Zhang Zhuo wants to put you two on the scale and weigh you."
Tilting his head up, Bai Long pondered for a moment. "One sack of official grain is one hundred and twenty catties; one catty is eleven Wen of copper coins. According to the Great Ning laws, anyone who steals or destroys military grain worth over twenty-five strings of cash shall receive one hundred cane strokes, be tattooed with the five characters 'Stole Official Money and Grain', and be exiled three thousand li... You two are going to be exiled."
Chen Ji subconsciously turned his head and cast a glance at Bai Long, truly not expecting the other party to actually be able to recite the Great Ning laws so precisely.
Exactly what kind of person would memorize the laws backwards and forwards? Three kinds of people.
The first kind were those with photographic memories like Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Xia.
The second kind were those who enforced the laws.
The third kind were those preparing to break the laws.
Bai Long should be the third kind.
Facing Yun Yang and Jiao Tu, Bai Long sighed. "I told you long ago to read our dynasty's laws more often. That way, when you do things, you can avoid breaking the law and won't let others seize anything to use against you. How do you think I managed to climb into the Top Three Ranks? It was precisely by relying entirely on not letting anyone seize any weakness or leverage against me."
Feeling completely guilty, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu didn't dare to lift their heads.
Bai Long pondered for a moment. "How about this: I will guarantee that you two won't be exiled. It's just that I will have to take back these Zodiac positions on behalf of Lord Inner Chancellor. This will also give the Xu Family an explanation. From here on out, the two of you are demoted to Pigeon Rank secret agents and will work under Chen Ji."
"What?" Shock surfaced on Yun Yang's face. "On what basis must we work under him?"
Bai Long feigned confusion. "You two are Pigeon Rank secret agents; he is a Gyrfalcon, one rank higher than you. Is it possible you cannot work under him?"
Yun Yang looked completely devastated, as if he had lost his parents. "But... but..."
Bai Long said, "Oh? You refuse to accept it?"
Jiao Tu hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, squeezing the words out through her teeth. "Do you want to die? Hurry up and agree! Agree! Agree..."
With an ashen face, Yun Yang cast a glance at Chen Ji, then clasped his hands and bowed. "Obeying your command."
As his voice fell, Chen Ji spoke up from the side. "Lord Bai Long, this humble subordinate currently lacks seniority, and I'm afraid I do not possess the ability to command others. How about Yun Yang and Jiao Tu just don't work under me?"
It wasn't that Chen Ji didn't want to take this opportunity to humiliate the two of them.
Rather, it was because these two held incredibly deep grudges and were extremely skilled at assassination. He worried that if he pushed these two into a corner, they might jump the wall in desperation like cornered dogs.
Turning his head, Bai Long cast a sideways glance at him. "Every single one of you is daring enough to swallow the heavens, actually daring to talk back to an arrangement I made?"
Chen Ji, Yun Yang, and Jiao Tu simultaneously clasped their hands and lowered their heads. "This humble subordinate would not dare!"
Bai Long patted Chen Ji on the shoulder. "Work hard, and I will naturally go to Lord Inner Chancellor to request merits for you."
Jin Zhu's expression changed. How did Chen Ji change factions and obey Bai Long's orders?
In the next moment, Bai Long waved a hand. "Alright, you can all disperse. Go and thoroughly guard all of Luo City's major thoroughfares and practically conduct door-to-door inspections. Do not allow the Prince Heir to run out."
"Yes." After Jin Zhu and the others saluted, they retreated outside. However, Chen Ji did not budge.
Walking to the threshold, Jin Zhu turned back and waved at Chen Ji. "Let's go."
Chen Ji said softly, "I still need to play chess with Lord Bai Long. Lord Jin Zhu may leave on his own."
Jin Zhu's face darkened. After hesitating for a long moment, he finally couldn't help but say, "You want to change factions? Have you forgotten how I treated you? If Tian Ma and I hadn't saved you, you would have probably become a dead soul beneath their blades long ago!"
Chen Ji remained silent for a long time. "Lord Jin Zhu, I still feel that following Lord Bai Long has more of a future."
Bai Long burst into clear, bright laughter. "Ah, Little Pig, Little Pig, a forcibly twisted melon is not sweet."
Giving three cold sneers, Jin Zhu said, "Good, good, good! Lord Bai Long has magnificent methods. I shall presage Lord Chen's early ascension to a Zodiac position!"
Having said that, he flicked his sleeves and left.
...
...
Bai Long paced forward a few steps. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked at the accumulated snow in the courtyard. "I suppose you've won tonight's game. After thinking it over thoroughly, I still couldn't completely guess where exactly you hid the Prince Heir... Do you truly not intend to reveal the answer to me?"
Chen Ji arrived by his side. "Since Lord Bai Long intends to give the Prince Heir a path to survival, why is there a need to investigate it further?"
Bai Long smiled. "It's not that I intend to give him a path to survival; it's that someone threatened me, saying that if I didn't give you all a path to survival this time, he would kill me. There aren't many people in this Ning Dynasty who can actually kill me, but he just happens to be one of them."
Chen Ji froze slightly.
He subconsciously turned his head and looked at the teacup on the table. Just now, someone had been drinking tea here, tying down Bai Long for two hours.
Chen Ji looked towards the courtyard. When he had first entered the courtyard, there had been a faint smell of traditional medicine in the air. That was clearly the familiar smell of the medical clinic, carrying bitterness within its fragrance.
When Chen Ji turned back, an inexplicable light flashed in his eyes. "Lord, were you talking about Lord Bing Hu?"
Bai Long sneered mockingly. "Speaking too much just makes you look too clever."
Chen Ji suddenly understood why Bai Long had repeatedly expressed goodwill towards him, and why Meng Ji had gone easy on him in the dream. So it turned out that someone had been protecting him from behind the scenes all along...
Master, Bing Hu!
Mountain Lord, tiger!
Chen Ji spoke up, "Lord Bai Long, if I absolutely must rescue the Commandery Princess, what exactly should I do?"
Bai Long sighed deeply. "You've given me an utterly massive, heaven-shaking problem. Ah, Chen Ji, that is the severe crime of treasonous rebellion. Do you actually think His Majesty will let the Prince Jing faction off the hook?"
Chen Ji said softly, "But Prince Jing clearly did not want to rebel. This was a crime forced upon him by others."
Bai Long answered solemnly, "After leaving this door later, you must not spout such unbridled and arrogant words ever again. Sitting in our current positions, we must be clear on our own identities. Before doing anything or saying any words, we must think it through clearly in advance. Do not let anyone else know that you wholeheartedly intend to rescue the Commandery Princess. His Majesty wants to kill her, yet you want to protect her; could it be that you intend to commit treasonous rebellion too?"
Chen Ji remained silent for a long time before asking, "Why must His Majesty absolutely ensure Prince Jing's death?"
Bai Long sighed with emotion. "In the spring of the twenty-third year of Jianing, the Thousand-Year Army returned triumphantly from quelling the rebellion. In his joy, His Majesty rewarded the three armies. However, those soldiers replied that they didn't want the rewards; they only hoped His Majesty would securely pardon the rebels."
Chen Ji froze. "Why is that? Why would the Thousand-Year Army plead for mercy on behalf of the rebels?"
Bai Long gave a self-deprecating sneer. "It was only because the Thousand-Year Army initially thought the rebels were some sort of savage and atrocious bandits. Yet when they arrived at Cangzhou and took a look, they shockingly found out that these people were entirely just tenant farmers who had been driven into a corner and couldn't survive anymore. The Thousand-Year Army had strong soldiers and robust horses, but the people they had to slaughter were just ordinary commoners holding hoes. How could they bear it in their hearts? In that battle... ah, many soldiers of the Thousand-Year Army literally killed people while weeping. So much so that their own hearts died from the killing."
Bai Long continued, "Thirty-seven generals of the Thousand-Year Army knelt outside the Right Que Gate, begging His Majesty to rescind the rewards and spare the rebels from death. In his fury, His Majesty asked Prince Jing what should be done. His Highness said that the rebels indeed did not commit a crime worthy of death."
Chen Ji's expression was complicated. "And then?"
"And then?" Bai Long stretched out a hand to catch the falling snow. "And then His Majesty rescinded the rewards and pardoned the rebels. To cover up this matter, His Majesty didn't just pardon the rebels; instead, he used the excuse of finding an Auspicious Omen to issue a General Amnesty across the world. From then on, His Majesty and Prince Jing no longer shared the same heart."
Chen Ji said in a low voice, "But if the rebels were truly just commoners driven into a corner, then they really..."
Bai Long asked in return, "Chen Ji, the rebels wanted to revolt against the imperial court. If Prince Jing said the rebels were not in the wrong, then who was in the wrong?"
It was His Majesty who was in the wrong.
Prince Jing's fate seemed to have been completely sealed from that very day.
Bai Long abruptly changed the topic. "The Commandery Princess's matter cannot be accomplished right now, but that doesn't mean it cannot be accomplished in the future. For now, I will help you preserve her life by placing her under house arrest in a nunnery to accompany the green lanterns. We can discuss it again when there's a turning point in the situation. How about it?"
Chen Ji suppressed the excitement in his heart. As long as he could preserve her life, there was still hope!
He once again clasped his hands and bowed deeply. "Many thanks, Lord Bai Long!"
Bai Long shook off the snow that had melted into water in his hands. "Don't be in a rush to thank me. When I was young, I also thought I could change anything, but later I realized that there are too many things you must discard on this path. Ah, Chen Ji, once you step onto this path, there is no turning back."
Chen Ji remained bowed with his hands clasped, looking at the tips of his toes.
Someone had to definitely pay the price, right?
He slowly stood up, stating with absolute certainty: "I won't turn back!"
Bai Long cast a sideways glance at him, then turned to look into the night. He sighed emotionally. "Ultimately, Lord Inner Chancellor still cannot cut off that extremely final portion of the world from himself."
Chen Ji was bewildered. "What?"
Bai Long said casually, "It's nothing. Go inside; I still have tasks to assign you."
(End of this chapter)