Chapter 220: The Knife

On the official road side, Chen Ji blankly looked at those two strange backs. The two people were leading an ox cart, following the big group of people into the Mengjin city gate, not at all noticing the burning gaze behind them.

The two escorts were strong and robust, one tall and one short. The tall one was a bit lazy, seemingly an old Jianghu; the short one spoke in a muffled and gruff voice and did things rigidly and precisely.

Before today, Chen Ji had never seen the appearances of these two people, but he just felt very familiar.

Accurately speaking, it was the other side's way of speaking that made him especially familiar.

Er Dao, Pao Ge. These were two people Chen Ji had once thought he would never see again in this life.

Now their appearances had all changed, and Chen Ji couldn't confirm if his guess was correct. What if there were people in the world who spoke in the same style as Er Dao?

But the desire to reunite with old friends in a foreign land made him want to chase after them immediately and ask clearly.

However, just a few steps in, Chen Ji slowly stopped again.

He stood in the cold wind, took a few deep breaths, letting the ice-cold, piercing wind pour into his lungs. This sobered him up a bit.

Leading Zaozao, Chen Ji braved the cold wind through the city gate arch and caught up with the two people, asking with a smile: "Are you two escorts from the Liang Family Escort Bureau?"

The tall escort turned his head to look at Chen Ji and smiled politely: "That's right, we work under Escort Head Liang."

Chen Ji asked casually: "How should I address you two?"

The short escort wanted to answer, but the tall escort pulled him back.

With one pull.

The tall escort, while leading the ox cart and walking, introduced: "Reporting to this noble person, you can call me A Da, and my brother is called A Si. We are four sworn brothers from the same family, I am the eldest, and he is the fourth."

A Da sized up Chen Ji: "And you are?"

Chen Ji said with a smile: "I am the third son of the Chen family. Our family elders have been transferred to official positions in the capital, so our whole family is moving to the capital. By the way, A Da and A Si, are those your milk names? What are your full names?"

A trace of vigilance flashed in A Da's eyes, but he responded with a smile: "So it is the Third Young Master of the Chen Residence, how disrespectful, how disrespectful. Small characters like us from the mud live longer if we are called by our small names. Fortune tellers told our dad and mom that our brothers' lives are cheap, and using big names would be too much for us, so it's better not to mention them."

The more cautious the other side was like this, the more Chen Ji wanted to get to the bottom of it.

He led Zaozao and walked alongside the two, chatting casually: "You two are escorts, you must have been to many places. I haven't traveled far, I wonder if you two could tell me about your experiences in some places to broaden my horizons."

A Da's fingers suddenly clenched tight: "What does the young master want to hear about?"

Chen Ji asked with a smile: "First tell me where you two have been."

A Da laughed: "We just came back from Runan. How about I tell the young master about things in Runan? Runan is a beautiful place, surrounded by water on all sides, and the county city is like a gourd ladle in the lake..."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Besides Runan, where else have you two previously gone to deliver escorts?"

A Da and A Si subconsciously glanced at each other, A Da's mouth still not stopping: "Previously we went to Jincheng to deliver someone, it was the second young master of the Qiao family, a Jin merchant. That trip was thrilling, all mountains along the way, and many mountain bandits. Also, we went to Jinling, at that time we were responsible for escorting the silver of Staff Yao of Luocheng..."

Chen Ji became interested: "I haven't been to Jinling. I heard that there are singing girls all along the Qinhuai River, and at night it's like fire trees and silver flowers, with bright lights, is it true?"

A Da also became interested: "It is indeed! The Qinhuai River at night is very lively, with dense lights on both banks, merchants gathering; golden powder buildings and terraces, high and low, different; evening teahouses and wine shops, all night joyful songs, wine and color noisy. On the river surface, there are boats, the big ones are called 'walking warehouses', and the small ones are called 'vine sheds'. The boats are hung with bright horn lamps, and women sit under the lamps playing the pipa. Those women are graceful, with light gauze covering their faces, you can't see clearly from afar... It's a pity my two brothers' pockets were empty, we didn't dare to call them to row the boat over."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked curiously: "I heard that the Imperial Academy on the south bank of the Qinhuai River is very lively, with many students, and that government students have to worship before the imperial examination, and it is said to be very effective."

A Da glanced at him: "This young master remembered wrongly, the Imperial Academy is on the north bank, not the south bank."

Chen Ji ah-ed: "It is I who remembered wrongly. Is there a plaque at the gate of the Imperial Academy that says 'World Literary Transport'?"

A Da laughed heartily: "Young master's memory is really bad, the plaque at the gate of the Imperial Academy is called 'World Literary Pivot', not 'World Literary Transport'!"

A Da talked endlessly, as if he knew the Qinhuai River like the back of his hand.

Chen Ji fell into thought. If this A Da and A Si were really Er Dao and Pao Ge, then they shouldn't have personally been to Jinling, so why could they speak so fluently?

Moreover, he had set two traps, and the other side had actually resolved them easily.

Could it really be just a coincidence?

Or was Pao Ge thoughtful, and although he was a foreign guest, he supplemented his identity loopholes to avoid exposure? Hadn't he previously checked the secret spy department's files precisely to cover his identity?

This A Da had already shown a flaw.

At this time, unlike later generations where everyone was literate, instead, few were literate, and many were illiterate. In a profession like escort, if you picked out ten escorts, it would be good to have one literate.

Earlier, when this A Da described the Qinhuai River, he was clearly speaking in a literary and flowery way, like reciting a lesson, and he could even remember the plaque of the World Literary Pivot. Was this the knowledge of an ordinary escort?

A Da and A Si definitely had problems!

Chen Ji had the mind to open his mouth and ask directly, "Are you Er Dao? Are you Pao Ge?"

But what then?

Before his death in his previous life, Pao Ge had pretended to cherish him and sighed that they had met too late. But if Chen Ji therefore took Pao Ge as a good person, that would be greatly wrong.

It was precisely because of Pao Ge's bad reputation in the underworld that he chose the latter as the key link in his plan.

This person was a scattered fighter in his early years. Because he killed someone while fighting in black boxing, he was imprisoned and sentenced. After getting out of prison, he followed an underworld big brother to operate a high-interest loan business and was good at violent collection. He had been in and out of prison six or seven times, and later he himself became a big brother.

If this kind of person knew Chen Ji's real identity, it would be hard to guarantee what would happen.

While thinking, he saw the convoy stop at the Mengjin relay station. Escort Head Liang, under the setting sun, was waving his arms and shouting: "Don't stand around, drive all the carts into the backyard, eat hot meals in turns. Tonight we will live in the woodshed and cattle shed, and watch over the boss's things!"

A Da saw the situation, turned his head and smiled at Chen Ji: "Third young master, we have to go get busy. If you still want to hear something, you can come find us after we are done."

Chen Ji cupped his hands: "Thank you for your trouble."

A Da and A Si lowered their heads and went into the backyard. A Si softly asked: "Brother, didn't you say that all officials are bad people? I think this young master is quite good."

A Da's eyes were deep: "Always ask about the root and bottom, absolutely don't be careless... I'm only afraid that the matter will be exposed. Strange, where exactly did we give ourselves away?"

A Si softly asked: "Want to finish him off?"

A Da helplessly scratched his eyebrows: "I told you early on not to fight and kill all day, you have to first tuck your tail and be a person!"

A Si looked back at his own buttocks and became troubled.

A Da sighed: "I meant that as a metaphor!"

A Si asked: "Then what do we do now?"

A Da did not answer.

He stood in the backyard, looking towards the outside of the yard, his eyes deep.

Ning Dynasty relay stations were all officially run and were one of the largest military institutions, specializing in three matters: relay, station, and post.

The so-called 'relay' was to verify identity with a 'post symbol', entertain guests, arrange supplies, and transport personnel.

The so-called 'station' was to verify identity with a 'Ministry of War fire ticket' and 'Secret Spy Department fire plaque', and to transmit important urgent documents and military intelligence. This was for military use.

The so-called 'post' was for normal official transmission of documents, managed by the county magistrate and prefect.

The scale of the Mengjin relay station exceeded Chen Ji's imagination, far incomparable to an ordinary inn. Even more than ten inns combined were not as large. For example, the most famous 'Chicken Cry Mountain Relay' in the Ning Dynasty even had the title of relay city, a solid small city.

The sky gradually darkened. Chen Ji settled Xiao Man here, and immediately went out to the backyard where the ox carts were parked again. But smelling the cow dung, he walked around among the ox carts for a long time and still couldn't find A Da and A Si.

He called out to Escort Head Liang: "Escort Head, where are A Da and A Si?"

Escort Head Liang was startled for a moment: "Third young master, who are A Da and A Si?"

Chen Ji's heart sank. He softly said: "Just in your escort team, the two people who often go together, one tall and one short, one of whom speaks and does things rigidly, do you have an impression?"

Escort Head Liang's face changed: "Why are you asking about them... Did they offend you?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "No, I just chatted with them congenially on the road today and wanted to hear them tell more about places outside."

Escort Head Liang slightly relaxed: "So that's it... Then I'll help you find them."

Saying that, he raised his voice and asked: "Dao Zi and Diao Zi?"

He shouted for a long time, but no one responded.

Escort Head Liang pulled an escort over: "Have you seen Dao Zi and Diao Zi?"

The escort was holding a bowl of buckwheat noodles, slurping. He swallowed a mouthful and pointed towards the yard gate with his chopsticks: "They said they went out to buy wine to drink."

Escort Head Liang asked: "How long have they been gone?"

The escort recalled: "Ah, I'm afraid it's been about an hour. When they left, the sky wasn't dark yet. Why haven't they come back?"

Chen Ji looked towards the night outside the yard and hesitated for a long time... They ran away!