101. Gambling with Life
In a small noodle stall in East Market at midnight, sitting in front of a shiny wooden table, Chen Ji lowered his head and shoveled the hot beef noodles into his mouth, saving the only two pieces of beef in the bowl for last.
Sitting across from the wooden table, Jin Zhu sighed, "You and Tianma have two completely different personalities. He always eats the beef in his bowl first, not caring whether the white noodles behind it still taste good. Your personality isn't suitable for the martial arts world, because you don't live a happy life enough."
Chen Ji uttered an "oh" as he finished his noodles. He put the last piece of beef into his mouth and looked at the half-full bowl of beef noodles in front of Jin Zhu. "Didn't Master Jin Zhu say that when he was young, beef noodles were his favorite?"
"But I'm not young anymore," the Golden Pig said with a smile, "After this is done, I'll also invite you to Yingxian Tower for a meal. You can eat whatever you want."
"No, simple food is enough."
Jin Zhu's smile gradually faded. "I've finished my noodles and warmed up. Now tell me, what did you write on that note for Liu Mingxian?"
Chen Ji wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and said, "I asked him to meet me under the Peony Bridge at dawn."
Jin Zhu was puzzled: "Why did you ask him out?"
Chen Ji said calmly: "Ask him if he has any connection with Jing Dynasty spies."
Golden Pig: “…”
Chen Ji laughed heartily, stood up and walked out: "You must be joking. How could I possibly ask someone's identity directly? Let's go, sir. We still have to get to Mudan Bridge before dawn."
Outside the noodle stall, an old man was walking towards us with a shoulder pole on his shoulder. On the pole were two wooden boxes hung one in front and one behind. On the wooden boxes were a pair of thin wooden masks with monkeys, pigs, rabbits and sheep carved on them, which looked very lifelike.
A group of children gathered around the carrying pole, pulling their parents' hands to buy a mask, but were stopped by their parents.
Chen Ji walked up and picked up two masks casually: "Old man, how much are the masks for?"
The old man put down his shoulder pole and replied with a smile, "Twenty cents each."
Chen Ji took two, a rabbit and a sheep, but was held down by the Golden Pig's wrist.
The Golden Pig replaced his own face with an ox's, and Chen Ji's face with a tiger's. "Wearing a rabbit or sheep is unlucky. Wear a tiger for good luck. I wish you a speedy rise to the top and take over Lord Sick Tiger's position."
Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "Master Jinzhu, aren't you afraid that I'll seek revenge on you after I become one of the top three? A few hours ago, you even hung me on the roof."
"When you reach that position, you will naturally understand that interests are eternal," Jin Zhu patted Chen Ji's shoulder and said jokingly, "Master Chen Ji, please spare my life when the time comes. I can be of use to you. Let's go."
Chen Ji turned around and glanced at the Yingxian Tower in the distance, which was still brilliant, then turned and walked into the night.
…
…
It was the hour of Yin, before dawn.
Lights were lit in a courtyard near the Peony Bridge. A servant carrying a lantern hurried through the courtyard's moon gate and came to the door of a bedroom, calling out, "Second Master, Second Master, it's time."
A voice came from the room: "I know."
Deep in the house, two beautiful concubines in satin pajamas lifted the curtains of the step-out bed from the left and right.
Liu Mingxian got out of bed and opened his arms, letting his concubine drape the clothes over him. He calmly asked outside the door, "Have the three guests from Yanshi arrived?"
"Reporting to the Second Master, they have arrived and are waiting by the carriage."
Liu Mingxian was dressed neatly and walked out calmly.
As he crossed the threshold, he said lightly, "Reward."
The servant took out two gold bars from his purse and threw them on the floor in the room. The two beautiful concubines hurriedly knelt in front of the door and watched Liu Mingxian leave.
Arriving at the door, Liu Mingxian bowed to the three Liu family servants and said, "Thank you for your hard work today. Someone will send your rewards to your residence tomorrow."
A skinny old man laughed dryly, a cinnabar-painted mountain flower ghost coin hanging from a red string around his waist. "You're too polite, sir. It's my duty. The elder has instructed me to protect you."
Liu Mingxian smiled and asked, "How is my father these days?"
The old man replied, "The Lord has been in mourning at the ancestral cemetery and has never come out."
Since the founding of the Ning Dynasty, if the parents of court officials died during their tenure, they had to resign and return to their ancestral home to observe mourning for their parents for 27 months.
During this period, one must eat, live and sleep in front of one's parents' graves, and must not drink alcohol, take a bath, shave or change clothes.
Now Liu Gun has resigned from the post of Minister of Personnel and lives in a hut within the Liu family's ancestral mausoleum.
Liu Mingxian said nonchalantly, "Since you three have come to work for me, please settle down in the city. Mr. Feng will be enough to look after my father."
A muscular man on the side whispered, "As you command..."
Liu Mingxian looked at the man in front of him and asked with a smile, "Brother Xu Can, after you two returned from the border army, did you miss the scenery of the border town?"
The man named Xu Can bowed and said, "Life in a border town is very hard. We have to sleep in the open air and be on guard every day. It's not as comfortable as Luocheng. We have to thank the elder for his respect for us brothers and for giving us a meal."
Liu Mingxian smiled and said, "You will understand in the future that following my Liu family will only bring benefits, not disadvantages."
The old man quickly smiled flatteringly: "I understand, I understand."
Liu Mingxian nodded in satisfaction. "This house will belong to the three of you from now on, and the people inside will be given to you as a reward. Those dozen skinny Yangzhou horses were all bought for hundreds of taels of silver."
"Thank you, Second Master!"
The driver lifted the curtain of the carriage and Liu Mingxian bent down to get in.
The three priests did not get on the carriage. The old man followed the carriage in small steps like an old lady with bound feet. Although his steps were small, he was able to keep up with the speed of the carriage.
The Xu Can brothers strode in front of the carriage, like two giant gods leading the way.
When they reached Mudan Bridge, the three of them suddenly stopped.
The old man whispered against the carriage window, "Second Master, we've arrived. The person is not under the bridge, but on it."
Liu Mingxian sat in the car, opened the window with a calm expression
Looking through the gap in the curtain, they saw two people wearing masks in the middle of the bridge, staring coldly at them at the bridge head.
One has an ox on his face, and the other has a tiger on his face.
The Peony Stone Arch Bridge is about thirty meters long, with a total of twenty-four arches, and can accommodate two carriages running side by side.
The old man beside the car winked at the Xu Can brothers. The next moment, Xu Can and Xu Chu jumped onto the stone railings on both sides of the arch bridge and approached the center of the bridge step by step.
The old man stroked the vermilion mountain flower ghost money on his waist and walked slowly in the middle of the bridge. The three of them were in perfect harmony, and they stopped slowly until they were only ten steps away from the ox and the tiger on the bridge.
Liu Mingxian got out of the car, walked behind the old man, and looked at the mask from a distance.
The golden pig behind the ox-faced man narrowed his eyes. He looked at the mountain flower ghost money on the old man's waist, then turned to look at the strange tattoos on the necks of the two burly men, and his whole body tensed.
Jin Zhu glanced at Chen Ji secretly. He didn't know what Chen Ji wrote on the note, but he actually summoned two killers who had disappeared for a long time from the border town.
Could it be that Chen Ji has sold me out and wants to ambush and kill me with the Liu family?
No, Chen Ji's hands were very calm. Hands represent courage, and when hands are calm, the heart is at peace.
Chen Ji was very calm.
But Jinzhu still didn't know why Chen Ji was so calm.
Under the moonlight, neither side spoke, and the atmosphere on the bridge became increasingly solemn.
Slowly, the autumn morning mist rose and the sky in the distance gradually brightened.
Just as Jin Zhu was about to speak to smooth things over, Chen Ji calmly asked, "When your Liu family smuggled firearms from the Craftsmen's Supervisor, you handled the situation poorly. The news leaked, ruining our plans. How should we handle this? The Director has arrived in Kaifeng Prefecture and had planned to meet in Luocheng today. Why are you asking us to explain this to the Director now?"
Golden Pig: Huh?!
Sizhu?
meeting?
The pupils of the Golden Pig behind the wooden ox mask suddenly shrank, and he almost subconsciously wanted to leave Chen Ji here and run away alone.
Only at this moment did he finally understand that Chen Ji was actually going to pretend to be the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department to contact the Liu family.
How can this be considered as handling a case?
This is clearly a gamble with your life!
Jin Zhu was not a fool either. He understood that Chen Ji wanted to bet that after Hongyi Lane was surrounded, the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department would not dare to move around for the time being, and under the city-wide search, they would not dare to contact the Liu family.
Taking advantage of this gap, they can pretend to be the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department, lead the Liu family step by step into the trap, and voluntarily hand over the evidence!
But this matter is like walking on a tightrope. What if the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family are still in contact? What if the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family have some special agreed codes... If there is any mistake, the two of them will have to explain themselves here today.
A madman who takes an unconventional approach!
While Liu Mingxian was thinking, he heard Chen Ji's question and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Master Craftsman? I don't understand what you are talking about."
Chen Ji said calmly: "Don't waste any more time."
Liu Mingxian sneered, "My Liu family is law-abiding. If you asked me to come here today just to say these inexplicable things, I will arrest you two and send you to the Secret Service as thieves of the Jing Dynasty."
Chen Ji calmly asked, "On the day Yunyang and Jiaotu opened the coffin, Lord Liu killed his own grandfather. How can a man who plotted treason and murdered his grandfather be said to obey the law? If we hadn't warned him that day, Lord Liu would probably have been imprisoned."
Jin Zhu was stunned. Chen Ji's eloquence didn't sound like an act at all. If Meng Ji hadn't personally tested Chen Ji, he would have thought he was actually standing next to a Jing Dynasty spy, at least a Si Cao.
He also had doubts in his heart.
Anyone with a discerning eye who has read the files knows that when Yunyang and Jiaotu opened the coffin for the first time, Old Master Liu was indeed not in the coffin. Those two zodiac animals would not joke about this matter.
The second time the coffin was opened, it must have been because someone tipped off Jie Fanwei in advance, which resulted in his search being in vain.
But how could Chen Ji be so sure that it was the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department that reported the incident to the Liu family? Was he just guessing? Or was there really a Jing Dynasty spy standing beside him who knew the inside story?
Jinzhu's suspicion grew stronger and stronger.
Meanwhile, Liu Xianxian's face was as gloomy as water. This was his biggest secret. If the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department hadn't reminded him that day, he would have been charged with treason and deceiving the emperor.
After hearing this, he believed Chen Ji's identity as Jing Chao.
Liu Mingxian said solemnly, "I didn't want Red Clothes Lane to be surrounded. We chased off Cloud Sheep and Bright Rabbit, only to have another Golden Pig show up, ten times more cunning than them. He's incredibly formidable. He guessed early on that we'd tamper with the Craftsman Supervisor, so he followed the scent and went after us."
Chen Ji sneered, "This matter is definitely not something that can be resolved by Lord Liu simply saying 'it's not my wish'. What are your plans now?"
Liu Mingxian said slowly, "Cooperation is definitely for the purpose of getting things done. Since the delivery failed this time, we can just pick a new delivery date. However, the Secret Service is keeping a close eye on it, so we need to wait a little longer."
Chen Ji said solemnly, "The Chief Secretary is in Kaifeng Prefecture right now. He's in danger of exposing his identity at any time. How can he wait for you? If the Liu family isn't sincere, the Chief Secretary will return to the north!"
Liu Mingxian frowned: "When do you want to deliver the goods?"
"Tomorrow, we'll be at this Mudan Bridge again. I want to see the goods. Otherwise, I will leave Kaifeng Prefecture immediately, and all agreements between our Military Intelligence Department and the Liu family will be void."
The bridge became quiet and the morning mist grew thicker, so that even if we were ten steps apart, we could hardly see each other clearly.
After a long moment, Liu Mingxian said calmly, "Okay, then we'll set it for tomorrow."
"Goodbye."
Chen Ji gently tugged at Jin Zhu's sleeve, and the two slowly retreated into the morning mist.
…
…
After an unknown amount of time, the Golden Pig said in a small alley, "Okay, no one is following me."
Chen Ji took off his mask, but was caught off guard by Jin Zhu's sudden grip on his jaw, pushing him against the wall. He said with a forced smile, "Doctor Chen, you're not really a Jing Dynasty spy, are you? How can you be sure that the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department tipped off the Liu family about the coffin opening? Couldn't it be an undercover agent planted by the Liu family themselves?"
"Of course it's a gamble," Chen Ji calmly asked, "Master Jinzhu, if I were a spy from the Jing Dynasty, why would I expose this to you and arouse your suspicion?"
The Golden Pig is silent.
Chen Ji then asked, "If I were a spy from the Jing Dynasty, why would I help you find evidence of the Liu family's crimes?"
The Golden Pig became even more silent.
Chen Ji slowly pried open the loosened fingers of the Golden Pig: "Master Golden Pig, trust the people you employ, and don't employ those you doubt. Since you have chosen me, you should trust my judgment. If you doubt me, that's fine, just investigate."
Jin Zhu sighed inwardly. Everything Chen Ji said made sense. If Chen Ji was really from Jing Chao, he wouldn't have to expose himself tonight.
He thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed and helped Chen Ji smooth his clothes. "It's all a misunderstanding, don't take it to heart. I've been in the Secret Service for a long time, and everyone I see is suspicious. By the way, the reason you didn't tell me your plan tonight was obviously because you were worried that if I knew it, I wouldn't dare to come!"
"Yes."
The Golden Pig smiled and said, "Who are you looking down on? Next time, remember to tell me your plan in advance so that I won't be caught off guard."
"OK."
Jin Zhu thought for a long time and asked, "What is your next plan?"
Chen Ji said, "You don't need me for the next plan. Liu Mingxian wants to deliver the goods tomorrow, so he must have taken the risk of breaking into the Craftsmen's Supervisor today. Lord Jinzhu only needs to arrange for the Craftsmen's Supervisor to set up surveillance and bring the thief to justice. As long as we have solid evidence to arrest Liu Mingxian and put him in the inner prison, it will only be a matter of time before the Liu family is brought down."
The Golden Pig's eyes lit up. "That's right. The Liu family's eldest son, Liu Mingde, is devoted to the pursuit of truth, while the second son, Liu Mingxian, is in charge of all affairs in Yuzhou. If we capture him, we will also capture the Liu family."
Chen Ji bowed to Jin Zhu and said, "Sir, can I go home now?"
"Okay, okay," Jin Zhu smiled and waved his hand. "As expected, you should work with successful people to achieve success. Although this plan is risky, it can be said to be a brilliant move."
Chen Ji turned and left. Jin Zhu watched him walk into the mist, and felt that his calm back was suppressing a terrifying madness.
From last night to this morning, Chen Ji calmly delivered a letter to Liu Mingxian, calmly ate his beef noodles, and calmly played the role of a Jingchao spy.
Jinzhu boasted that he had seen many storms, but he was still frightened at this moment. On the other hand, Chen Ji seemed to be fine.
He cursed in his heart, "Mad man."
…
…
On the bluestone road.
Chen Ji walked slowly on the way back to the clinic, and the clothes on his back were already wet with sweat.
Gambling with your life is like walking on a tightrope; you must be extremely alert at all times.
But he's not completely gambling.
The Secret Service Department didn't know, but he knew that Si Cao Gui had gone south to Yangzhou with Wu Hongbiao, and Si Cao Xin was killed by him personally. No one in the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department could continue to contact the Liu family.
Moreover, the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department had always been handled by Zhou Chengyi and Liu Shiyu, and the two bigwigs had never met.
It was precisely because Chen Ji was indeed a spy for the Jing Dynasty and knew more inside information that he dared to take the gamble.
Will Jinzhu suspect him because of this?
Yes, definitely.
But Chen Ji doesn't care. Toppling the Liu family is not the end. He will fill the last link with his own hands.
In front of Taiping Medical Clinic, Chen Ji looked up at the plaque and suddenly felt relieved.
Going home.
It seemed that as long as he returned here, his restless and frantic heart would finally settle down. However, he hadn't figured out how to explain his broken promise.
Or maybe no explanation is needed?
Chen Ji stepped over the threshold, with a look of confusion behind him.
The prince's voice came from the backyard: "Why hasn't Chen Ji come back yet? In order to avoid treating guests, this kid didn't even come home?"
Liu Quxing said, "Master, Chen Ji didn't come home tonight. When he comes back, you must give him a good beating!"
Chen Ji walked to the backyard and looked at the prince, Bai Li, Liu Quxing, She Dengke and others in surprise: "Why are you all here?"
Bai Li put his hands on his hips and said angrily, "Of course I came to ask you why you broke the appointment!"
Liu Quxing yelled, "How stingy!"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Sorry, I did have something urgent to do yesterday."
"Hahahahaha." The prince suddenly laughed out loud: "Look, this is the first time I've seen Chen Ji with this expression."
Chen Ji looked at everyone with a puzzled expression.
The prince stepped forward and put his arm around his shoulders. "Of course we know you have something important to tell us. We're all waiting here because we're worried. Bai Li said that if you hadn't returned in the morning, he would have asked me to dispatch troops from the Qiansui Army to look for you."
Bai Li asked curiously, "If you encounter any difficult problems, you must tell us so that we can work together to find a solution. Friends, don't hide things from each other."
Chen Ji shook his head: "I'm fine."
Liang Mao'er smiled innocently and said, "I'm glad you're alright. Come on and eat something. I'll go heat it up."
As he spoke, he carried two four-layer red lacquer food boxes into the kitchen and lit a fire to heat up the food.
Liu Quxing's eyes lit up. "Finally, I can try Yingxianlou's 'Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea'. I wanted to try it last night, but Baili wouldn't let me."
Chen Ji was puzzled: "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea?"
Under the apricot tree, Old Man Yao said indifferently, "These little bastards wanted to try Yingxianlou's Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, but they had no money, so they tricked a young man from Jiangnan into treating them. After arriving at Yingxianlou, the young man ordered a table full of dishes, but before he even touched a single bite, he said he had something to do at home and left. He even brought back the entire table with him, along with two jars of Shaoxing Huadiao wine. And then, he waited for you here all night."
Chen Ji: “Ah?”
Old Man Yao smacked his lips. "Stupefied? I guess that young man from Jiangnan is even more stupefied than you. Forget him. I, an old man, never thought that the dignified prince of Prince Jing's mansion would actually cheat on food and drink. It really is true that if you live long enough, you will see everything."
Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
