20. House search and seizure
"Found evidence?!"
"Where's the evidence?!"
Everyone looked at Chen Ji, and the scrutiny and questioning in their eyes came at the same time.
He stood at the door of the main house, refusing to retreat or give in, repeating with absolute certainty, "I found the evidence."
Lin Chaoqing's sharp gaze passed Jiaotu and looked at Chen Ji, whose face was still covered: "Who is this?"
Yun Yang took a step forward, blocking half of Chen Ji's body. "This is the Harrier Falcon from my Secret Service."
"So it's Harrier Falcon. He's not yet a full-time secret agent. Perhaps he needs to conceal his face because of his special status," Lin Chaoqing asked gravely. "But could you, Harrier Falcon, please explain this to me? What evidence is in the book? If you're lying, I'm afraid you'll have to accompany me to the inner prison."
Chen Ji pulled up the gray cloth covering his face and looked at Yun Yang: "Can you speak?"
"explain."
Chen Ji nodded and said, "Lord Yunyang, please take out those two books and give them to Commander Lin to have a look."
Yun Yang took out the two books from his arms and handed them to Lin Chaoqing.
Lin Chaoqing flipped through the book and glanced at it for a few seconds before saying calmly, "How can there be any information in an ordinary book?"
Chen Ji calmly explained, "If you don't have a good understanding of the Four Books, it's really hard to spot the problem. But the method used to conceal intelligence in this book is actually very simple. You just need to compare it with the original version."
"Original version?" Yun Yang took back the two books from Lin Chaoqing's hands. He opened one and Jiao Tu opened the other. The two of them read in the moonlight.
Chen Ji said: "The original sentence in the book reads 'gained from the heart but not lost', with the 'lost' as in loss. But when Zhou Chengyi copied it, he deliberately wrote it as 'gained from the heart but not affairs', replacing the 'lost' with the 'thing' as in event."
"Looking back to the third page, where the original sentence should have had the word '誠', Zhou Chengyi changed it to '成', meaning success."
These words are scattered in various corners of the book, several pages apart. If someone doesn't check them word by word with the original version, it is really difficult to tell the difference.
Originally, Chen Ji thought that Zhou Chengyi might use the method of hiding characters, the method of verifying characters, the method of fanqie, and the method of analyzing characters, all of which were actually used by some people in historical records.
However, after analyzing it, he found that the other party used a simpler method.
Lin Chaoqing took the two books and compared them. It was just as Chen Ji said. His brows relaxed slightly. "What is the complete message conveyed by this book?"
Chen Ji said, "Because of the time constraints, I haven't been able to fully compare the entire book. Currently, I only have one message: 'The matter is accomplished, the Director will meet you.'"
"Master!" Yun Yang's eyes suddenly flashed with brilliance. "Are you sure it was Master he mentioned in the message? I thought it would be a big deal if it was just Secretary Cao, but I didn't expect it to be the Master of the Military Intelligence Department coming to Luocheng in person!"
Jiaotu said solemnly, "We must have someone relay this news back to the capital as soon as possible. For the head of the Military Intelligence Department to personally travel south, it must be something truly significant... What on earth did this Liu family member have to do to earn such trust from the Military Intelligence Department?!"
The solemn atmosphere in the mansion suddenly relaxed, and Chen Ji even felt that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Chaoqing sheathed his knife, and Jiaotu wiped his forehead with his thumb. The cut healed instantly and disappeared without a trace.
Lin Chaoqing looked at Chen Ji and said calmly: "Young man, you are just a hawk in the Secret Service, and you don't even have a rank.
If not, how about coming to my main criminal department?"
Yunyang: "Hmm?"
Jiaotu: "Hmm?"
Lin Chaoqing continued, "I know that you were the one who found all these clues and evidence tonight. It would be impossible for Yunyang and Jiaotu to do that. With your abilities, I guarantee you will rise to higher positions after you join my Criminal Division."
"Lin Chaoqing, do you still have any sense of shame for poaching people in front of me?" Yun Yang shouted angrily.
"In your Secret Service Department, he is just a tool to help you gain credit. But in my Criminal Department, he can serve the emperor and the country," Lin Chaoqing sneered.
"He's from my Secret Service!"
"He's not a member of your Secret Service yet. If he agrees, I can write a memorial tonight to commend him," Lin Chaoqing said. "How about it? Can you two do this?"
Yunyang and Jiaotu looked at each other, hesitating whether to give up the credit they had obtained.
Lin Chaoqing sneered: "Why not let him choose for himself."
Everyone looked at Chen Ji, but saw the young man standing in their sight, his expression hidden under the gray cloth covering his face.
After a long silence, Chen Ji said, "Thank you for your kindness, Commander. I would rather work under Master Yunyang and Master Jiaotu."
Lin Chaoqing said, "Well, everyone has their own aspirations. But if one day you regret it, you can always come to the Luocheng Lord Criminal Court to find me. I should be here for the next two months."
"Thank you, Commander Lin."
As they were talking, they heard a noisy sound coming from outside the mansion. It turned out to be hundreds of people from the Liu family rushing over and surrounding Liu Shiyu's mansion from front to back!
Someone outside shouted, "Master Yunyang, your plan to escape is brilliant, but my Liu family is no idler. If you don't give me an explanation, I will avenge my old master today. Even if the imperial court wants to chop off my head or exile me to Lingnan, I, Liu Mingxian, will have no complaints!"
As soon as they finished speaking, they heard the sound of someone placing dry firewood and pouring oil outside, and the pungent smell of oil hit them in the face!
Everyone in the mansion looked at each other in confusion.
This time, it was Lin Chaoqing who took the initiative and said, "Li Dabing, Li Dapao, you two take your men out to hold the Liu family back. No one is allowed to set fire to the house, or else they will be killed without mercy!"
After saying that, he looked at Chen Ji: "Where is the evidence to convict the Liu family members? How can we be sure that Zhou Chengyi's message was passed on to the Liu family members?"
Tonight's incident started because a member of the Liu family died in the inner prison. Although the Secret Service found important intelligence, this book only shows that the head of the Military Intelligence Department is about to go south, but how can it be proved that Zhou Chengyi wants to pass this information to the Liu family members?
If they cannot prove it, the Liu family will not give up.
Chen Ji held up the book in his hand and asked, "Everyone, how many chapters are there in the 'Four Books and Commentaries'?"
Lin Chaoqing responded calmly, "There are thirty-nine chapters in total, each one printed separately, for a total of thirty-nine volumes."
Chen Ji asked again, "Then which chapter is "Governing the Country Part Two"?"
Lin Chaoqing replied: "The eighth chapter..."
Chen Ji nodded and said, "No one would start copying from the eighth chapter. They must have copied from the first, second, and so on to the eighth chapter. I didn't find any handwritten copies of the first seven chapters at Zhou Chengyi's home, so he must have given them away. In other words, Zhou Chengyi must have passed on the information seven times under the pretext of borrowing books and copying them."
”
Lin Chaoqing suddenly realized: "As long as we find the seven copies of Zhou Chengyi's handwriting, we can prove who received this information!"
"That's right," Chen Ji held up the book in his hand. "This is the seventh chapter of the Four Books, 'On Learning First,' which I just found in Liu Shiyu's house. Judging from the handwriting, it must be Zhou Chengyi's. This alone can convict Liu Shiyu."
His words were powerful, like thunder that pierced through the layers of fog in the night and pointed out the truth to everyone.
Everyone went into the house and searched the bookshelves, while Chen Ji was searching other places in the house. When he opened a cabinet in the inner room, he was suddenly stunned.
As soon as he opened the cabinet, the ice flow that had been dormant in his body for a long time began to surge again.
There were several wooden boxes in the cabinet. Chen Ji opened them calmly and saw two white jade bracelets in the first box, some account books in the second box, and in the third box... there was a ginseng!
He looked behind him, took out the box and placed it on the table, wanting to touch the ginseng with his hands.
Before he even touched him, he heard Lin Chaoqing's words drifting over: "Young man, you are not allowed to touch any of the criminal's property in the house. I am in charge of the Criminal Department and guard the Secret Service Department. My most important responsibility is to prevent the secret agents from embezzling the property. Put those things back. From now on, the Internal Minister will send people to confiscate the property and record it in the register."
Chen Ji: “…”
He had thought that the Secret Service, which was responsible for confiscating property and silencing witnesses, could easily collect valuables... No wonder Yun Yang looked so painful when he was bargaining with him. It turned out that he was being watched by the Chief Criminal Department every day!
Chen Ji stood at the table, tapping the box with his fingers. After thinking for a moment, he finally put the box back. He returned to the bookshelf, picked out a book, flipped through it casually, and then stuffed the book back.
At this time, everyone had found the first seven chapters of the Four Books and Commentaries, and confirmed that they were all written by Zhou Chengyi!
Yun Yang let out a long sigh, "We won! The Liu family case is finally closed. Regardless of whether Old Master Liu died of anger or illness, our Secret Service handled the case impartially. This is a great achievement!"
Lin Chaoqing said nonchalantly, "I hope you won't be so lucky next time. You were lucky this time. If you meet the Hu, Xu, or Chen families next time... there may not be anyone to protect you."
Yun Yang sneered: "Thank you Commander Lin for the reminder."
He smoothed his hair, straightened his wrinkled clothes, and finally picked up the pile of books he had sorted out: "Let's go, take the evidence and shut the Liu family up!"
"Wait," Lin Chaoqing said coldly, "No one can leave here with any valuables. Check."
Yunyang and Jiaotu turned up their sleeves and patted their clothes up and down, saying impatiently, "It's just a few copper coins. We didn't bring anything with us. We know the rules!"
Lin Chaoqing looked at Chen Ji again. Chen Ji helplessly turned up his sleeves and patted his clothes as usual: "I didn't bring anything with me either."
"very good."
Everyone walked out together. When they reached the door, they saw a black kitten standing up from the beam in the room and stretching.
Wuyun jumped lightly from the beam and took out the ginseng that Chen Ji had just put back into the cabinet. It then climbed up to the bookshelf with the ginseng in its mouth and bit the book that Chen Ji had just read in its mouth.
The dark, furry cloud looked around, and after making sure that no one was paying attention, it climbed back up onto the beam and slipped into the darkness through a crack.
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