Chapter 16: The Trade

Anxi Street was quiet, and moonlight sprinkled on the bluestone slab road, like flowing stream water, peaceful and clear.

Chen Ji stood silently in the doorway without a word, and outside, Yun Yang also didn't urge him. The two of them were separated by a door, just standing there quietly like that.

Chen Ji pondered for a long time, then finally took a deep breath. With a creak, he slowly pulled open the door. "Lord Yun Yang, what is the matter?"

Outside the door, Yun Yang wore a set of black clothes, fitted as if they had just been ironed. His hair was neatly gathered with a hairpin on top, resembling the young gentlemen who often appeared in operas.

Separated by the high threshold of Taiping Medical Hall, Yun Yang smiled and asked, "Aren't you going to invite me in to sit?"

Chen Ji shook his head. "There's no place to drink tea inside the medical hall. We might as well chat at the door."

"Huh?" Yun Yang examined Chen Ji with interest. "You don't know that I'm from the Secret Spy Department? Could it be that Imperial Physician Yao didn't tell you?"

"He told me."

Yun Yang restrained his smile and said indifferently, "Then do you know, or not know, that when someone from my Secret Spy Department says they want to go to someone else's home to sit, no one dares to refuse? Aren't you afraid of me?"

After saying that, he stepped one foot over the threshold as if no one else was there. He passed by Chen Ji's side and walked into the medical hall.

"I am afraid," Chen Ji turned around and admitted sincerely. "But I said we should chat at the door because I know you are very urgent and I don't want to waste your time."

"Oh?" Yun Yang, with his hands behind his back, curiously asked while examining the medical hall, "Why am I urgent?"

Chen Ji stood at the door and looked at Yun Yang's back. "You arrested the Liu family people, causing the Liu family old master to be angered into unconsciousness. He doesn't have many days left. The current cabinet elder of the Liu family, the Minister of the Board of Personnel, is rushing back to Luocheng. You must be very urgent, right?"

Yun Yang laughed. "Based on the single piece of information that Imperial Physician Yao was invited by the Liu family to treat their illness, you dare to affirm my current situation? This time, I have come by the order of the Inner Minister. Even if it's the Liu family, what of it? Now I suspect you are a spy for the Jing Dynasty. Come with me to the inner prison."

Chen Ji leaned against the door frame. "Lord Yun Yang, you and I might as well be open and honest. If you really came to arrest me and take me to the inner prison, why bother to come personally? Sending two people over would have been fine."

Yun Yang turned around and stared directly at Chen Ji, observing Chen Ji's firm expression. "Since you are so smart, then you should also know that Imperial Physician Yao is not here tonight. I don't even need a reason to kill you. How dare you play games with me?"

Why was Chen Ji playing games? Just as Yun Yang had said to Zhou Chengyi: when you see the Secret Spy Department, there is no choice.

Either cooperate, or die.

But, he still had another idea.

Yun Yang saw that Chen Ji wasn't speaking, then slowly said, "Since you are a smart person, then you guess why I came. If you guess correctly, it proves you still have value."

Chen Ji said, "Everyone says that the Secret Spy Department executes first and reports later, with special permission from imperial power. But this power also has a premise, which is that you must execute the right person."

Yun Yang raised his eyebrows. "Go on."

Chen Ji frowned and analyzed, "There aren't many things that would make Lord Yun Yang rush to find me in the middle of the night. It's nothing more than you arrested people but didn't find evidence to nail them dead. Now the Liu family old master is on the verge of death. If you can't find evidence to prove your arrest was correct, you will probably be pushed out by the Inner Minister as a scapegoat."

"Very good!" Yun Yang clapped his hands and spoke frankly. "Jiao Tu searched the twenty-two paper shops in Luocheng according to the clues you gave, and finally found two papers that were the same as the one in Zhou Chengyi's mansion. And they are all businesses owned by the Liu family. But, we didn't find any other evidence in the paper shops."

Chen Ji quickly asked, "Have you used vinegar to brush over all the papers?"

"Yes, but no words appeared."

Chen Ji doubted, "Since there is no evidence, why did you dare to arrest people directly?"

Yun Yang brushed his sleeve and coldly laughed, "My Secret Spy Department always believes it's better to kill the wrong person than let a spy go. If you let one spy go, the front line might lose one hundred soldiers, or even more. Three years ago, autumn grain was transported north via the Grand Canal. Just because there was a spy in the army responsible for escorting the grain, they burned two thousand four hundred *shi* of my Ning Dynasty's grain, enough for one thousand front-line soldiers and horses to chew on for a month. Do you think this consequence is serious or not?"

"But you didn't expect the Liu old master to be angered to death. If it weren't for this matter concerning him, arresting a few young descendants would have been just an arrest, right?"

For the first time, Yun Yang's face showed a helpless expression. "Who would have thought this old man's life was as thin as paper? Now Jiao Tu is still wrangling with the Liu family. We have to go and find evidence."

Chen Ji asked, "When do we leave?"

Yun Yang took the lead to step over the threshold and walk out. "Now!"

"Wait a moment."

"Hmm?"

Chen Ji didn't move, but just seriously asked, "What's in it for me?"

...

...

Yun Yang stood still and turned around. He stood under the moonlight of Anxi Street, looking at Chen Ji in the medical hall with a half-smile. "You dare to talk terms with me?"

Chen Ji didn't become humble because of the other's power, but just sincerely said, "Lord Yun Yang, you and Jiao Tu are in a difficult situation now. This originally has nothing to do with me, but I am taking action to help, so I should have some reward. Just treat me as a worker on the canal wharf; I get paid for my work."

Yun Yang laughed. He stepped forward a few steps, flicked his hand, and a silver needle was stabbed into Chen Ji's chest. The silver needle was as thin as a cow's hair; you had to look carefully under the moonlight to see it clearly.

In an instant, Chen Ji's neck veins bulged, and his chest transmitted unbearable pain, almost painful enough to shock him.

Yun Yang's voice gradually became cold. "My Secret Spy Department never bargains with people."

Chen Ji leaned on the medical hall door frame and panted, "There must be exceptions."

Yun Yang retorted, "Based on what do you think this matter must be you?"

Chen Ji suddenly leaned on the door frame and stood straight, looking directly into Yun Yang's eyes. "Yes, it must be me."

The world quieted.

As if a huge air pressure descended on Anxi Street, pressing down all the sounds here.

Chen Ji continued, "If it weren't for the fact that it must be me, Lord Yun Yang wouldn't come to find me, this unknown junior, at this critical moment."

Does the Secret Spy Department have experts in capturing spies? It definitely does.

But Yun Yang also once said that they were temporarily transferred to Luocheng, and from Yun Yang and Jiao Tu's style, they didn't seem like people specialized in capturing spies, but more like... assassins.

That day, when capturing Zhou Chengyi, Yun Yang and Jiao Tu didn't show any anti-espionage ability. Instead, their killing methods were extremely secretive and decisive.

Now, the two have been temporarily given heavy responsibility, yet they have poked a huge hole in things.

They need someone to help clean up... they need a smart person.

Yun Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. "Even if I need your help this time, aren't you afraid that I will find trouble with you afterward? I suggest you consider every sentence you say to me carefully, otherwise, there will be consequences you cannot bear."

Chen Ji said, "Lord Yun Yang presumably still has to deal with many spies afterward. Where there are spies, there are merits. I help you earn merits, so how will you find trouble with me?"

"Huh," Yun Yang's eyes lit up.

Among all that Chen Ji said, only this time really attracted him!

"You think you can help me earn merits?" Yun Yang retorted.

Chen Ji said, "The alum in Zhou Chengyi's mansion was found by me."

"This merit is not great," Yun Yang shook his head.

Chen Ji also shook his head. "No, I said the merit is not Zhou Chengyi, but me... no, it is Lord Yun Yang who uncovered the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department's way of writing secret letters. In the past, the Secret Spy Department, when capturing spies and searching homes, missed this method of screening secret letters and also missed much information. Now, using this method to backtrack, perhaps there will be unexpected gains in their homes."

Yun Yang's eyes became brighter and brighter. "Right! This time I can let the Inner Minister know that I and Jiao Tu..."

He glanced at Chen Ji, and his words suddenly stopped.

Yun Yang weighed for a moment. "What kind of benefit do you want?"

Chen Ji said, "Power. I want an official position in the Secret Spy Department."

Yun Yang said in a bad mood, "Are you taking me for the Inner Minister? The Secret Spy Department is the most powerful *yamen* under the Directorate of Ceremonial, doing the most secret things. To enter, one must be reviewed by the main criminal department for three generations and reported to the Inner Minister. Others cannot decide!"

Chen Ji said, "Then I want money."

He originally didn't plan to really want power, but when a person wants something, they can't expose their intention in advance. First, make a big demand and then talk.

Yun Yang saw that Chen Ji didn't want an official position, so he relaxed. "How much money do you want?"

"Two thousand *taels* of silver."

"What?!"

Chen Ji asked, "Can't you give it?"

Yun Yang scratched his head. "Do you know that my yearly salary is only thirty-six *taels* of silver, and you open your mouth and want two thousand *taels*?! If you continue to be so absurd, see if I stab you and be done with it!"

"Does the Secret Spy Department only rely on salary to live?" Chen Ji didn't believe him.

Yun Yang thought for a moment, put away his mood influenced by 'merits', and said without question, "Every time you earn merits for me, I will give you fifty *taels* of silver."

"Lord Yun Yang is such a big figure, and he only gives fifty *taels* per move?"

"Only fifty *taels*? Fifty *taels* is enough for you to buy twenty maidservants in the West Market! Today is urgent, and I don't know how long Jiao Tu's side can delay. If you continue to delay, I will have to kill you. I'll ask you one last time, fifty *taels*, do you want it or not?"

"I want it!"

Yun Yang turned and walked. "It's still three hours until dawn. You only have three hours."

"Lord Yun Yang, where are you planning to go to find evidence now?"

"Take you to the paper shop. Maybe you can find something there!"

Chen Ji shook his head and refused. "Not going to the paper shop. We'll go to Zhou Chengyi's mansion."

Yun Yang frowned. "You already found the alum in Zhou Chengyi's mansion last time? What else could there be?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Yun Yang instantly reacted. "Wait, you definitely discovered other clues in Zhou Chengyi's mansion last time, but you hid them and didn't tell me and Jiao Tu!"

"I also kept some cards for self-preservation. Please forgive me, Lord Yun Yang," Chen Ji was never a person who would surrender with his hands tied. When killing, even if a knife was stabbed in his waist, he would still bite a piece of flesh from the enemy's neck.

"Hiss!" Yun Yang took a cold breath. "I increasingly feel like you are a Jing Dynasty spy, what should I do?"

"Would a Jing Dynasty spy help you catch spies, my lord?"

Yun Yang put two fingers on his tongue and blew a clear whistle. A steed ran out from the corner of Anxi Street.

He flipped onto the horse and pulled Chen Ji to sit behind him. "Sit tight!"

The horse's hooves, wrapped in cloth, made muffled sounds on the bluestone slab road, galloping and crashing into the thin fog of early morning.

No one noticed that on the street-facing roof eaves, a small black cat was always hiding in the shadows.

When they left, the cat on the gray tiles of the roof lightly jumped and followed, chasing after them.