Chapter 177: A Door's Distance

Early in the morning, Chen Ji woke up feeling isolated and alone.

Inside the empty and desolate bedroom, there was no longer the smell of Liang Gou'er’s wine or She Dengke’s snoring. The warmth seemed to have been taken away with them.

He got dressed and went outside, glancing at the ladder leaning against the courtyard wall. Then he bent down to pick up his carrying pole and walked into An Xi Street.

The water vat in the courtyard was full, but Chen Ji still went to fetch water as he always did, as if by this stubborn act he could stop time before the disaster of war struck.

There were no pedestrians on An Xi Street, so he stood alone by the well, slowly turning the winch above the well opening. As he turned and turned, he started to lose himself in thought.

It wasn't until the helper from the steamed bun shop came to fetch water that he snapped back to reality. He drew the water, hoisted the carrying pole, and headed towards Zhi Xing Academy.

*Knock, knock, knock.* Chen Ji knocked on the tightly shut wooden door of Zhi Xing Academy.

After a moment, Wang Daosheng opened the door and asked doubtfully, "Why are you here?"

Chen Ji smiled, angled his body, and walked into the courtyard. "I am your direct disciple and live so close. Naturally, I should help you fetch water and chop wood."

Wang Daosheng followed him into the courtyard, looking at him carefully. Suddenly he said, "You have confusion in your heart, questions you want to ask me, right?"

Chen Ji paused his steps. He hadn't expected Mister Wang to see right through him at a glance.

He put down the carrying pole and poured the water from the wooden buckets into the vat. "Mister, when the Liu family was plotting rebellion, did they come to find you?"

Wang Daosheng stood to the side and replied, "Yes, they did. Liu Gelao promised high office and generous pay, hoping I could strategize for him, but I refused."

Chen Ji asked, "The Liu family didn't make things difficult for you?"

Wang Daosheng shook his head. "The Liu family didn't make things difficult for me. In their eyes, I am just a stinking, stubborn stone, not worth wasting their time on."

Chen Ji laughed. "Why do you describe yourself like that?" Wang Daosheng said casually, "Others describe me like that." Chen Ji asked curiously, "Aren't you angry?"

Wang Daosheng thought for a moment and said frankly, "Yes, I get angry."

Chen Ji asked, "Mister also gets angry because of others' opinions?"

Wang Daosheng laughed. "I still have many principles I haven't thought through completely, you see."

Chen Ji uttered an "Oh," then bent down again to lift the other wooden bucket to pour water. Wang Daosheng said calmly, "You didn't come to Zhi Xing Academy just to ask these things."

In Zhi Xing Academy, only the sound of water gurgling remained, swelling in the vat.

After a long time, Chen Ji finally spoke the truth. "Mister, there is someone now, and as long as she is alive, she is a huge hidden danger to me and many other people. The simplest choice now is to kill her with one swift blow. As long as it's done secretly enough, except for heaven, earth, and myself, no one else will know."

Wang Daosheng said lightly, "That's very good, then. What are you hesitating about?" Chen Ji finished pouring the water, carried the empty wooden buckets, and looked at him. "But if I strike that blow, there are some people I can no longer face. So I want to ask you, Mister, should I or should I not kill this person?"

Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "Just follow your own conscience."

Chen Ji lowered his head and murmured to himself, "Conscience?"

Wang Daosheng thought for a moment and said, "If you lose a bag of money on the road, will you feel uncomfortable?"

Chen Ji nodded. "A little, after all, it's a loss." Wang Daosheng then asked, "Then if you see a beggar on the road who is about to freeze to death, and you only need to give him five coins to save him, but you don't. The next day you hear he really froze to death, will you feel a little uncomfortable?"

Chen Ji nodded again. "Yes, a little."

Wang Daosheng asked, "Why do you feel uncomfortable? You clearly didn't lose any property."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Wang Daosheng pointed to his heart. "You feel uncomfortable because you lost a part of your heart."

"Hmm?"

Wang Daosheng said with a smile, "Actually, this metaphor isn't accurate. It's just that most people can only see the gains and losses of external things, but they can't see the gains and losses of their own original heart. You came to ask me, but you already had the answer in your heart. Just follow your original heart and do what feels right."

"Thank you, Mister."

Chen Ji carried the carrying pole towards the medical hall. A horse carriage was already stopped in front of the door. The coachman was squatting in front of the door, gnawing on a hard, dry multi-grain cake. This was the carriage he had arranged yesterday.

The coachman saw him coming and quickly put the remaining half of the cake into his pocket. He said with a smile, "Official sir, you still have to fetch water yourself?" Chen Ji glanced at the sky. "You came quite early, it's not yet the agreed-upon chenshi."

The coachman laughed happily. "The early bird catches the worm. This little one struggles to make a living like this, so I naturally have to come early so the official sir doesn't advance the schedule and have no carriage to use."

Chen Ji said, "Wait a moment, I'll put these things down." He went into the medical hall, put down the carrying pole, then took out the Zheng Xin Zhai pastries he had bought yesterday and an jar of Daughter Red. Then he got into the carriage.

The carriage rattled out of the city. The coachman sat in front, turned back, and asked, "Official sir, are you sure we can go out of the city? Yesterday I also had a guest who hired me to go out of the city, but we were blocked by soldiers at the city gate. I don't know what's happened these days. The boats at the dock aren't allowed to leave, and the city gates aren't allowing people to exit. Guests coming from the south and going to the north are anxious and frustrated."

Chen Ji laughed. "Don't worry, I won't let you come all this way for nothing."

Half an hour later, the carriage arrived at the south city gate. Three layers of defensive barriers stood in the archway of the city gate, and dozens of armored soldiers blocked the road. "Who is in the carriage?"

Chen Ji lifted the carriage curtain and got off. From his sleeve, he took out the Secret Spy Department waist token. "Secret Spy Department."

A deputy general slowly walked up to him, sizing him up. "So it's an adult from the Secret Spy Department. Where are you heading?"

Chen Ji put away his waist token. "To the Liu family's grand residence on official business."

The deputy general didn't ask any more questions, just cupped his hands in salute. "According to regulations, the last general must search the adult's carriage."

Chen Ji asked in surprise, "My carriage needs to be searched too? My Secret Spy Department can even enter the Forbidden City with a waist token. Is Luoyang's south city gate more important than the Forbidden City?"

The deputy general quickly explained, "This is not a rule set by the last general; the last general cannot decide. My general has ordered that all vehicles entering or exiting must be thoroughly checked. No mistakes are allowed. Violators will be exterminated, and their three clans implicated."

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. "What if I insist you don't search?" The deputy general was startled at first, then slowly retreated backward.

He took a long halberd from one of the soldiers' hands and said solemnly, "Adult, please don't make things difficult for the last general. The last general is just following orders."

As he spoke, dozens of soldiers in front of the gate slowly surrounded them. The coachman was so scared his legs were trembling.

Chen Ji smiled. "General, don't get worked up. It's fine if you search."

He stepped to the side, allowing the soldiers to lift the carriage curtain. But the inside was empty, visible from end to end. The deputy general then squatted down to check the bottom of the carriage, relaxing only after confirming there were no abnormalities.

The deputy general cupped his hands to Chen Ji. "Adult, forgive the offense."

Chen Ji's face darkened, and he responded in kind. "This is the first time my Secret Spy Department carriage has been searched, General. We will meet again."

The deputy general didn't speak, just turned back and waved to the soldiers. "Let them pass!" Watching the soldiers move the wooden barriers to the side of the road, Chen Ji lifted the carriage curtain and sat inside, letting out a long sigh.

He had hired this carriage specifically to see if he could enter and exit using his waist token. Now, entering and exiting was unimpeded, but relying solely on the waist token to send Yun Fei away was undoubtedly a foolish dream.

If that was the case, he might as well let Yun Fei hide in the city first and wait for a better opportunity.

Chen Ji slowly fell into thought until the carriage stopped again. The coachman called out from outside, "Adult, we've arrived."

"Wait for me at the door. I still need you to take me back to the city afterward," he said, carrying the pastries and the jar of wine. He got off the carriage, picked up the beast-head knocker on the vermilion lacquer gate of the Liu family's grand residence, and knocked.

The vermilion lacquer gate was slowly pulled open from the inside. In the gap of the door, Jin Zhu's eyes lit up. "How did you come?"

Chen Ji walked inside, saying doubtfully, "Jin Zhu adult, why are you guarding the gate?"

Jin Zhu's pale, plump face was full of misfortune. "Damn it, Bai Long that grandson is making things difficult for me. I was sleeping peacefully, but he insisted that the Liu family's grand residence was very important and needed an expert to guard the gate. He dragged me here."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Couldn't Tian Ma adult help you say a word?"

Jin Zhu said in a bad mood, "Tian Ma has already left Luoyang. The Inner Minister has other things for him to do. Now, in Luoyang, Bai Long is our highest-ranking Secret Spy official. Forget it, when this matter is over, I'll avoid him! If provoked, can't I just hide?"

After saying that, he muttered to himself, "Strange, why is this grandson always targeting me? Could it be he heard me saying bad things about him behind his back?"

Chen Ji's expression was strange. "Adult, it's better if you talk less." At this moment, Jin Zhu lowered his head to look at the pastries and the jar of wine in his hand, and asked curiously, "For me?"

Chen Ji smiled and handed him the jar of wine. "This one is for you, the pastries are not."

Jin Zhu smacked his lips. "Alright, I knew you wouldn't come specifically to see me."

"Go."

He called out to Xi Feng, "You bring people to guard the gate well, I'll see Chen Ji in." Jin Zhu led Chen Ji down a long alley of green bricks. The white mourning banners under the roof eaves had already been taken down, and the corpses on the ground had been cleaned up, leaving only the dried blood and mud in the brick seams, which had turned a deep purple-black.

Coming to the front of a small courtyard door, Jin Zhu waved to the Secret Spies guarding the door. "You all go rest for a while."

The guarding Secret Spies cupped their hands and withdrew. Just as Chen Ji was about to reach out and push the door, Jin Zhu grabbed his wrist and said solemnly, "I know you have deep interactions with the Jing Wang Fu, and I also know you and the heir, and the princess... but the situation has changed now."

Chen Ji said without changing his expression, "How has it changed?"

Jin Zhu lowered his voice. "Do you know what Bai Long is doing now? He is searching for evidence to accuse Jing Wang of rebellion! This must be something the Inner Minister adult has secretly instructed, wanting to kill three birds with one stone."

"Who?"

"Three birds?" Chen Ji doubted. "Besides the Liu family and Jing Wang, there's also..." Jin Zhu said, "Bai Long wants to capture Yun Fei and put the crime of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country on the Jing Wang Fu's head. That Yun Fei's background is also not simple. Behind her, the Luotianzong has secretly controlled the river transport for so many years, and they are already a thorn in His Majesty and the Inner Minister's side. Bai Long capturing Yun Fei is not only to solidify Jing Wang's crime, but also to use her crime as an excuse to eradicate Luotianzong."

Chen Ji was silent. West.

This Inner Minister is greedy enough to want to swallow so many things in one go. Jin Zhu solemnly reminded him, "As long as it's something the Inner Minister wants to do, there's nothing that cannot be done. Today Jing Wang is still Jing Wang, and the princess is still the princess. Tomorrow they may become prisoners. You absolutely must not have any further interactions with them, or you'll ruin your own future. I have made things clear. You yourself think carefully, whether you still want to go in and see them?"

Chen Ji said lightly, "Jin Zhu adult, thank you for your kind reminder, but since I've already bought the pastries, I must deliver them, otherwise they'll be wasted."

Jin Zhu carefully observed Chen Ji's expression, and finally sighed. "Young people don't know how important things are! Today I will quietly open the net and let you go in and say a few words to the princess and the heir. Afterward, don't come to the Liu family's grand residence again. Cultivate peacefully in the medical hall. With your cultivation speed, you will become a Zodiac sooner or later."

After saying that, he pushed open the courtyard door and stepped aside.

Chen Ji turned his head and suddenly saw Bai Li, who he didn't know when she had come to stand at the door, staring fixedly at him.

He wanted to walk inside, but Bai Li blocked his path and didn't move, only saying coldly, "Go back."

Chen Ji smiled, casually pushed her arm away, and tried to walk inside. "Princess, I have something to ask Wang Ye. These are Zheng Xin Zhai's pastries. You and the heir..."

However, Bai Li snatched the pastries from his hand and threw them out the door. The rope wrapping the pastries broke, and the pastries scattered on the ground into fragments.

Bai Li said coldly, "Chen Ji, you are just a greedy little apprentice. If I hadn't seen how poor and pathetic you were, I wouldn't have kindly paid your travel expenses, let alone known you. What is your identity? What is my identity? Where do you need to come and give me pastries? Get out!"

As she spoke, Bai Li forcefully closed the courtyard door and put on the bolt.

Inside the door, Bai Li leaned back against the door and bit her lips, lowering her eyelids. Outside the door, Chen Ji lowered his head and looked at the pastries on the ground for a long time without speaking.

One door separated them, like ten thousand li apart.

Just then, Xi Feng came running over, clutching a letter. "Adult, Bai Long sent people to deliver a hand order. He says they caught Yun Fei's personal nanny, Xi Tang, in the east market of Luoyang and learned Yun Fei's approximate hiding place. He wants us to gather our people and enter the city to search for her!"

Jin Zhu took the letter and looked at it, then lifted his foot and walked outside. "Quick, quick, quick! Don't let Yun Yang and Jiao Tu snatch the credit!"

Chen Ji followed him outside. When he reached the corner, he suddenly stopped and turned back to look at the closed door at the end of the small road.

Jin Zhu turned back and urged, "What are you doing? Hurry up!"

"Coming."