16. Trading
Anxi Street is quiet, and the moonlight shines on the bluestone road, like a flowing stream, peaceful and clear.
Chen Ji stood silently inside the door, and Yun Yang outside did not urge him. The two of them just stood there quietly, separated by a door.
Chen Ji pondered for a long time, finally took a deep breath, and slowly opened the door with a creak: "Master Yunyang, what is it?"
Outside the door, Yun Yang was dressed in black, and the clothes fit him perfectly as if they had just been ironed. His hair was neatly tied on top of his head with a hairpin, just like the young man who often appeared in operas.
The two of them stood across the high threshold of the Taiping Clinic. Yun Yang smiled and asked, "Would you like me to come in and sit down?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "There's no place to drink tea in the clinic, why don't we chat at the door."
"Huh?" Yun Yang looked at Chen Ji with interest. "Don't you know I'm from the Secret Service? Didn't Imperial Doctor Yao tell you?"
"Yes."
Yun Yang suppressed his smile and said calmly, "Then you know that when I, the Secret Service, said we wanted to visit other people's homes, no one dared to refuse. Aren't you afraid of me?"
After saying that, he stepped over the threshold, walked past Chen Ji as if no one was around, and headed into the clinic.
"I'm afraid," Chen Ji turned around and admitted sincerely, "but I said we should talk at the door because I knew you were in a hurry and I didn't want to waste your time."
"Oh?" Yun Yang asked curiously, his hands behind his back, as he looked around the clinic, "Why am I so anxious?"
Chen Ji stood at the door, looking at Yun Yang's back. "You arrested the Liu family, causing the old man to faint. He doesn't have much time left. The Liu family's cabinet elders and the Minister of Personnel are rushing back to Luocheng. You must be very worried."
Yun Yang laughed. "Just based on the information that Imperial Physician Yao was invited by the Liu family to treat a patient, you dare to be so sure of my current situation? I came here on the orders of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Even if it's the Liu family, what does it matter? Now I suspect you are a spy of the Jing Dynasty. Come with me to the inner prison."
Chen Ji leaned against the door frame and said, "Lord Yunyang, let's be frank. If you really want to arrest me and put me in the inner prison, why come here in person? Just send two people."
Yun Yang turned and looked straight at Chen Ji, observing his determined expression. "Since you're so smart, you should know that Doctor Yao isn't here tonight. I don't even need a reason to kill you. How dare you confront me?"
The reason why Chen Ji revealed his cards... is just as Yun Yang said to Zhou Chengyi: When you see the Secret Service, you have no choice.
Either cooperate or die.
But he had other ideas.
Seeing that Chen Ji was silent, Yun Yang said slowly, "Since you are a smart person, then guess why I came here. If you guess correctly, it proves that you are still valuable."
Chen Ji said, "Everyone says that the Secret Service executes first and reports later, and that this power is granted by the emperor. However, this power also has a prerequisite, and that is that you have to execute the right person."
Yunyang raised an eyebrow: "Go on."
Chen Ji frowned and analyzed, "There aren't many things that would make Lord Yunyang come to me in the middle of the night. It's simply that you arrested someone but didn't find the evidence to convict them. Now that the old man of the Liu family is dying, if you can't find evidence to prove that your arrest was correct, I'm afraid the Minister of Internal Affairs will push you out as a scapegoat."
"Excellent!" Yun Yang clapped his hands and spoke frankly, "Jiao Tu followed the clues you gave us and searched twenty-two rice paper shops in Luocheng. We eventually found two that sold the same rice paper as the one in Zhou Chengyi's mansion, and both were also owned by the Liu family. However, we couldn't find any other evidence in the shops."
Chen Ji quickly asked, "Did you brush all the rice paper with vinegar?"
“Yes, but no words appeared.”
Chen Ji was puzzled: "Since there is no evidence, why do you dare to arrest people directly?"
Yun Yang flicked his sleeves and sneered, "My Secret Service always kills Jing Dynasty spies if we make the mistake. If we let one spy go, a hundred soldiers, or even more, could die on the front lines. Three years ago, autumn grain was being transported north via the Grand Canal. Because there was a spy in the army escorting the grain, they burned 2,400 dan of Ning Dynasty grain, enough to feed a thousand frontline soldiers and horses for a month. Do you think the consequences were serious?"
"But you didn't expect that Old Master Liu would be so angry that he would die. If he hadn't done that, the young men would have just arrested him, right?"
For the first time, Yunyang's face showed a helpless expression. "Who would have thought that this old man's life was as fragile as paper? Now Jiaotu is still fighting with the Liu family. We have to go find evidence."
Chen Ji asked, "When do we set off?"
Yunyang was the first to cross the threshold and walk out: "Now!"
"Wait a mininute."
"Um?"
Chen Ji didn't move, but asked seriously: "What's in it for me?"
…
…
Yun Yang stopped and turned around. Standing in the moonlight on Anxi Street, he looked at Chen Ji in the clinic with a half-smile: "You dare to negotiate with me?"
Chen Ji did not become humbled by the other party's power. He simply said sincerely, "Lord Yunyang, you and Jiaotu are now in trouble. This has nothing to do with me, but I helped you and I deserve some compensation. Just think of me as a worker at the canal dock, and I will do my work for you."
Yun Yang smiled. He took a few steps forward and flicked his hand to insert a silver needle into Chen Ji's chest. The silver needle was as thin as an ox hair and could only be seen clearly under the moonlight.
In an instant, the veins on Chen Ji's neck throbbed and he felt unbearable pain in his chest, almost to the point of shock.
Yun Yang's voice grew colder. "My Secret Service never bargains with anyone."
Chen Ji leaned against the door frame of the clinic and panted, "There are always exceptions."
Yun Yang asked back, "Why do you think you have to be the only one to do this?"
Chen Ji suddenly stood up straight, holding onto the door frame, and looked directly into Yun Yang's eyes: "Yes, it has to be me."
The world is silent.
It was as if a huge air pressure descended on Anxi Street, suppressing all the sounds here.
Chen Ji continued, "If it wasn't for me, Lord Yunyang wouldn't have come looking for a nobody like me at this critical moment."
Are there any experts in the Secret Service who are good at catching spies? Of course there are.
But Yunyang also said that they were temporarily transferred to Luocheng, and judging from the style of Yunyang and Jiaotu, they did not seem to be people who specialized in catching spies, but more like... killers.
On the day of arresting Zhou Chengyi, Yunyang and Jiaotu did not show any counter-espionage capabilities. Instead, their methods of killing were extremely secretive and decisive.
Now, the two of them were temporarily entrusted with an important task, but they caused a huge mess.
They needed someone to clean up after this... someone smart.
Yun Yang narrowed his eyes slightly. "Even if I need your help this time, aren't you afraid that I'll cause you trouble later? I suggest you carefully consider everything you say to me, otherwise there will be consequences you can't afford."
Chen Ji said, "Lord Yunyang will probably have to deal with a lot of spies in the future. Where there are spies, there are merits. I helped you earn merits, so why would you bother me?"
"Huh," Yunyang's eyes lit up.
Among all the words Chen Ji said, only this one really attracted him!
"Do you think you can help me gain credit?" Yun Yang asked back.
Chen Ji said: "I found the alum in Zhou Chengyi's house."
"This credit
Not big,” Yunyang shook his head.
Chen Ji also shook his head. "No, the credit I'm talking about isn't Zhou Chengyi's, but mine... No, it's you, Lord Yunyang, who uncovered the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Bureau's method of writing secret letters. In the past, when the Secret Intelligence Bureau was arresting spies and searching homes, they missed this method of screening secret letters, and thus missed a lot of information. Now, if we use this method to investigate again, we might find a surprise in their home."
The light in Yunyang's eyes grew brighter and brighter: "Yes! This time, let the inner minister know that Jiaotu and I..."
He glanced at Chen Ji and stopped talking abruptly.
Yun Yang weighed the pros and cons for a moment: "What kind of benefit do you want?"
Chen Ji said, "Quan, I want a position in the Secret Service."
Yun Yang said angrily, "Do you think I'm the Minister of Internal Affairs? The Secret Service is the most powerful department under the Imperial Household Department, and it handles the most secretive matters. If you want to get in, you have to be examined by the Chief Criminal Department for three generations and reported to the Minister of Internal Affairs. No one else has the final say!"
Chen Ji said: "Then it will cost money."
He hadn't originally intended to really ask for power, but when a person wants something, he shouldn't reveal his intentions in advance and ask for a huge amount first.
Yun Yang was relieved to see that Chen Ji didn't want an official position. "How much money do you want?"
"Two thousand taels of silver."
"What?!"
Chen Ji asked, "Can't you give it to me?"
Yun Yang scratched his head. "Do you know that my annual salary is only thirty-six taels of silver, and yet you ask for two thousand taels?! If you keep going this far, I'll stab you!"
"Does the Secret Service rely solely on salaries to survive?" Chen Ji didn't believe it.
Yun Yang thought for a moment, then put aside his mentality of being influenced by "merit" and said without question: "Every time you earn merit for me, I will give you fifty taels of silver."
"Lord Yunyang is such a big shot, and he only offered fifty taels?"
"Only fifty taels? Fifty taels is enough for you to go to the West Market and buy twenty maids! Time is tight today, and I don't know how much longer Jiaotu can delay. If you delay any further, I will kill you. I'll ask you one last time: fifty taels, do you want it?"
"want!"
Yun Yang turned and left: "There are still three hours until dawn, and you only have three hours too."
"Where is Lord Yunyang going to find evidence now?"
"I'll take you to the rice paper shop. Maybe you can find something there!"
Chen Ji shook his head and refused: "Let's not go to the rice paper shop, let's go to Zhou Chengyi's house."
Yun Yang frowned: "Didn't you find the alum last time? What else is there?"
Chen Ji remained silent.
Yun Yang reacted instantly: "Wait, you must have found other clues last time at Zhou Chengyi's house, but you didn't tell me and Jiaotu!"
"I just want to keep some cards to myself. Please forgive me, Lord Yunyang." Chen Ji has never been a man who would surrender. When killing someone, even if there is a knife on his waist, he will bite off a piece of flesh from the enemy's neck.
"Hiss!" Yunyang gasped. "I'm starting to think you're more and more like a Jing Dynasty spy. What should I do?"
"Will the Jingchao spies help you catch the spies, sir?"
Yunyang pressed two fingers on his tongue and blew a clear whistle, and a horse galloped out from the corner of Anxi Street.
He jumped onto the horse and pulled Chen Ji to sit behind him: "Hold on tight!"
The horse's hooves wrapped in sackcloth made a dull sound on the bluestone road, and it galloped into the early morning mist.
No one noticed that a small black cat was always hiding in the shadows on the eaves of the roof facing the street.
As they left, the cat jumped lightly on the gray tiles on the eaves and followed them.
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