Chapter 35: Burning Bridges

The Inner Court consisted of twelve bureaus, four offices, and eight departments, collectively known as the twenty-four yamens of the Inner Court.

The Eunuch Bureau ranked first among these twenty-four yamens. It was overseen by the Grand Eunuch, who held almost all the power within the Inner Court. Ning Emperor devoted himself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of the Dao, and for many years he did not attend court or manage political affairs. Even the memorials from the hundred officials of the outer court had to be approved by the Eunuch Bureau. Because the Grand Eunuch handled all matters in an orderly fashion, Ning Emperor specially granted him a building and named it "Solve Trouble" to praise the merits of the Eunuch Bureau.

At noon, Wu Xiu bowed respectfully and backed out from the shadows of the covered building. It wasn't until the sunlight shone on his body that the embroidered red python on his robe became vibrant again. He slowly exhaled, straightened his back, and strode towards the pigeon house. Along the way, all the eunuchs saw his python robe from afar and immediately knelt to show respect. Wu Xiu's eyes remained fixed forward, not even sparing them a glance.

Upon reaching the pigeon house, he dismissed the young eunuch who was cleaning the pigeon cages. He sat at a desk and wrote a strip of paper. He examined the paper repeatedly, confirming that the handwriting and the meaning of the words were correct. Then, he carefully rolled it into a thin bamboo tube. Wu Xiu went to the pigeon cage engraved with the characters 'Luo City,' reached inside, took out a pigeon, and carefully tied the bamboo tube to its leg. At the door, he tossed the pigeon into the sky. He watched the pigeon fly into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

A young eunuch quickly walked over and said: "Adoptive father, His Majesty has summoned you. He said that the messenger Daoist Master from Huangshan, leading his senior disciple Zhang Li, has arrived."

Wu Xiu nodded: "Understood."

He watched the pigeon fly into the sky, circle the imperial city once, and then fly south. Wu Xiu said absentmindedly: "Birds in the sky are truly free."

The young eunuch quickly flattered him with a smile: "Why does adoptive father envy a bird? Once you take over, you will be second to none and above all, much freer than it."

Wu Xiu glanced at him. His eyes were calm and unwavering, yet they made the young eunuch's heart tremble. "Adoptive father, I spoke wrongly."

"If you make such a mistake again, go to the Charcoal Bureau to chop wood," Wu Xiu lifted the hem of his robe, stepped over the threshold, and quickly hurried towards Renshou Palace in the West Garden.

Meanwhile, the gray pigeon in the sky first flew out of the vast Forbidden City, then out of the capital area, soaring over clouds and plains, rivers and and mountains. On the first night, the pigeon stopped for rest at a pigeon station in Hebi. The next day it flew directly south, finally arriving at a small courtyard in Luo City on the third morning.

Inside the courtyard, a black-clothed secret agent was standing at a sand table. Prominently displayed on the sand table was the layout of the Liu family's large courtyard and ancestral grave. At this moment, Yun Yang saw the pigeon circling in the sky. He grabbed a handful of corn and held up his hand. The pigeon flapped its wings and landed in his palm.

"Jiao Tu! A letter from the capital!" Yun Yang shouted.

Jiao Tu responded from inside: "Quickly open it and see what Inner Minister adult said."

Yun Yang removed the sealing wax and took out the letter paper: "It's Wu Xiu transmitting words again. I recognize his handwriting... Wu Xiu says, let us decide ourselves whether to dispatch the Troubled Guard to open the coffin and verify the corpse."

Jiao Tu walked out and leaned against the door frame: "This is so troublesome, it will cause trouble. We two are scapegoats. What should we do? Still want to act?"

"Inner Minister adult didn't stop us, so he hopes we act. If we succeed, we'll get a great merit. If not... at the very least, we'll be exiled to Lingnan," Yun Yang stood in the courtyard thinking.

Jiao Tu rolled his eyes: "At least eight hundred of the prisoners in Lingnan were caught and sent there by us. Will we two have a good ending if we go to Lingnan?"

"What are you afraid of? We two are official agents," Yun Yang said.

"There are already dozens of official agents exiled to Lingnan by us!"

"Their families are still in our hands, they wouldn't dare act recklessly. With our relationship with Inner Minister adult, even if we're exiled there, we won't suffer... Wait, why does it sound like we're definitely going to be exiled? This time we absolutely won't fail. The Liu family just wait to be raided and interrogated!" Yun Yang said happily.

Jiao Tu tilted his head and looked at the paper strip: "What else did Inner Minister adult explain?"

Yun Yang lowered his head to look at the paper strip again. After a moment, his face changed: "Wu Xiu wants us to hand over the information about that masked person in the Liu residence to him!"

"Ah? Lin Chaoqing definitely reported it! These Main Criminal Division people only know how to report things every day!" Jiao Tu said angrily: "...But if Chen Ji can become a secret agent, he can also help us establish merit. It would be good to transfer him under us."

Yun Yang shook his head: "No... What kind of person do you think Chen Ji is?"

Jiao Tu thought for a bit: "...He thinks things without speaking, and he's quite good at handling matters."

"I'm not talking about that!" Yun Yang frowned: "That night at the Zhou residence, to survive, he directly killed the Zhou residence steward. I could see that at that time he shouldn't have been an experienced hand, and there was still hesitation in his eyes. But now, in just a few days, I hung a person to death in the inner prison, and he could calmly look at it."

Yun Yang looked at Jiao Tu seriously: "Jiao Tu, he is a vengeful person. He absolutely won't forget how we treated him initially. Inner Minister likes smart and unscrupulous people like him. If one day he climbs higher than us, we don't need to live."

Jiao Tu thought for a moment: "Then kill him? Anyway, the Liu family case doesn't need him anymore. But Inner Minister will definitely investigate the cause of death. No matter if Xuan She or Jin Zhu comes to investigate, we can't hide it."

Yun Yang shook his head: "So we can't do it ourselves. We need to borrow someone else's knife to kill."

"What do we do now?"

"You take Wang's command flag to dispatch the Troubled Guard. I will go borrow a knife. Success or failure is today."

Luo City's early autumn morning was high and refreshing. On the ninth day of the ninth month, clash monkey evil north, suitable for travel, marriage, praying for blessings, curing illness, killing people.

......

......

Taiping Medical Hall.

Master and the three disciples leaned at the medical hall door, happily watching the passersby. The Double Ninth Festival was approaching. Not only did large households invite Buddhas and Bodhisattvas out for processions to eliminate disasters and ward off evil for everyone, but wealthy households and merchants also distributed 'Double Ninth Cakes' door to door. One by one, wine shops set out chrysanthemum wine signs at their doors, and peddlers wandered the streets and alleys, selling red pouches. If you bought a red pouch, you got a dogwood branch.

Chen Ji sighed: "The Double Ninth Festival is really lively."

In his former hometown, the festival atmosphere was no longer this strong. Fireworks were not allowed during the Spring Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival had all become carnivals of the commodity economy. Wait, Chen Ji suddenly asked: "How did the Double Ninth Festival come about?"

Liu Qu Xing casually said: "You don't know this? During the Eastern Han period, in Ru Nan of Yu State, there was a plague demon. A person named Huan Jing sought an audience with the immortal 'Fei Chang Fang' about this matter. Fei Chang Fang gave Huan Jing a pot of chrysanthemum wine and a dogwood branch, instructing him to take his family to climb high to avoid disaster on the ninth day of the ninth month. Evil would not invade. After the ninth day of the ninth month, Huan Jing brought his family down the mountain and discovered that all the cattle and sheep at home were dead. Their family escaped a calamity."

Chen Ji was stunned, because in his hometown, the origin of the Double Ninth Festival was also like this. The same Eastern Han period, the same Fei Chang Fang and Huan Jing. If one said the same moon and sun hung in the sky, he could still forcibly accept it. But even the legend stories were the same, he had to think deeply: why? What was the connection between the two worlds?

Just as he was pondering, he saw Chun Hua from Late Star Garden, leading two strong servants carrying four food boxes, coming from the street. She Deng Ke's eyes lit up: "Chun Hua, how did you come?"

Chun Hua wore a light green ruqun with a golden chrysanthemum embroidered on the hem of her skirt. She lifted her skirt and said with a smile: "Isn't it Double Ninth Festival? My lady sent me to the medical hall to deliver some pastries."

Liu Qu Xing quickly took the pastry boxes from the strong servants' hands: "Girl Chun Hua is really thoughtful. The last time we ate Late Star Garden's pastries was during the Lantern Festival, and you still haven't forgotten until now."

Chun Hua changed the subject, smilingly looking at Chen Ji: "Lady is free today and wants to invite the doctors from your medical hall to have tea and chat. What do you think?"

She Deng Ke quickly said: "Good!"

However, just at this moment, Chen Ji's peripheral vision saw Black Cloud on the roof opposite the street, panting heavily. Black Cloud meowed. Only Chen Ji understood: "Someone told Quiet Consort that you are that masked person from Liu Shi Yu's residence. She wants to trap and kill you!"

A huge sense of crisis suddenly arose in Chen Ji's heart. Who told Quiet Consort his identity? It must be Yun Yang and Jiao Tu, because only these two knew his real identity. Could it be that the Liu family case was about to catch a big fish, and the other side felt they no longer needed him and planned to burn the bridge after crossing?

Chen Ji looked at Chun Hua without moving, and smilingly asked: "Girl Chun Hua, why did Quiet Consort lady invite us?"

Chun Hua explained: "Last time, thanks to your help in finding that cup, otherwise lady would still have to use it to drink water. Lady said earlier she wanted to thank you, but she was always busy with other things. Today she has time."

But Chen Ji wasn't actually asking Chun Hua, he was asking Black Cloud: Why does Quiet Consort want to kill me?

Black Cloud meowed again: "Quiet Consort is a member of the Liu family. Liu Shi Yu is the son of her only elder sister. She left the prince's mansion the other day to go back to the Liu family to mourn old master Liu!"

So the big figure in the prince's mansion who colluded with the Jing Dynasty military intelligence department was not Cloud Consort, but Quiet Consort! But since Quiet Consort was that big figure, why did she still have killing intent towards him initially? Didn't the other side know he was a Jing Dynasty spy? Strange, too strange!

Chun Hua saw Chen Ji not answering, and waved her hand in front of him: "Chen Ji? What are you thinking about?"

Chen Ji came back to his senses and said smilingly to Chun Rong: "Sorry, today is Double Ninth Festival. Master allowed us to go home for a reunion. Please help me apologize to Quiet Consort. Certainly next time."

Saying that, he didn't care about everyone's surprise and walked out without looking back. Quiet Consort's revenge wouldn't be just this once. If it didn't succeed this time, it would definitely come again next time. Chen Ji didn't know if he could easily dodge it next time, but he knew that his revenge only needed one time.

He lightly muttered: "I wonder if I can make it in time..."