Chapter 589: The Wind Blowing Through the Hall |
Chen Huaibei had guessed at Chen Ji's identity.
Perhaps an old subordinate of Prince Jing? Back then Prince Jing had three thousand guests under his roof. Now some are dead, some scattered, but there are always a few slips through the net hiding in the dark, waiting to do something for their old master one day.
Or perhaps a death soldier secretly raised by Wen Yunmo? That descendant of the Wen family had great ambitions, secretly raising a few people to prepare for contingencies couldn't be more normal.
For a time, Chen Huaibei thought of many possibilities, but he simply didn't think this person could be Bing Hu. Yet he couldn't figure out, how could Bai Li, this new Guild Master, be entangled with the Secret Spy Division's Bing Hu?
Bing Hu.
For the other Zodiacs, perhaps there were still stories circulating in teahouses. There were always audacious storytellers who dared to talk about some old Jianghu matters, such as Jiao Tu and Yun Yang joining hands to wipe out one hundred and twenty-seven cult members at the White Lotus Sect's headquarters in Jinmen, or Tian Ma single-handedly flattening the Yangquan bandits in the Taihang Mountains, or...
Only for these two words 'Bing Hu', surprisingly there wasn't even a decent story in The Jianghu. What Practitioner Pathway? What strength and realm? What things had he done for the Eunuch Faction? The Jianghu was completely ignorant.
This person was neither in the imperial court, nor did he reside in The Jianghu.
At this time, seeing Xuan She arrive nearby, Chen Ji said with perfect composure: "What, do you also want to block this seat?"
Chen Ji said calmly: "You've finished paying your respects, retreat."
Xuan She didn't retreat.
He kept his body bowed and his head slightly lowered, but his eyeballs rolled upward, secretly staring at every move Chen Ji made.
Xuan She's voice remained respectful: "I don't know what use the Lord has in taking Han Tong away? After Meng Ji interrogated Han Tong some days ago, his severe injuries haven't healed yet. This humble official originally wanted to wait for Meng Ji to fully recover before interrogating out the location of the Canal Transport Guild's treasury vault. The Lord might as well wait another three days; just three days, and this humble official guarantees to question the details of the Canal Transport Guild's treasury vault completely clean."
As Xuan She spoke, he emboldened himself to scrutinize Chen Ji.
Although this Lord Bing Hu covered his face, he was a master of criminal justice (interrogation/judging); some clues couldn't be covered up just by covering the face.
Those of lower status have a constrained posture because their lives do not allow them to make mistakes.
While those of high status have a relaxed posture, acting freely and unrestrainedly in their movements. That is a posture of "not fearing to make mistakes"; even if they make a mistake, there is still leeway.
But Xuan She discovered that this Lord Bing Hu before him was perfectly composed when facing him, clearly a posture of someone who had resided in a high position for a long time, which made him somewhat muddled.
At this time, Chen Ji said methodically: "This seat gathering the Canal Transport Guild for Lord Inner Chancellor is imminent, where is there room for you guys to delay time? Retreat, this seat naturally has my own decisions."
As he spoke, three Sword Seeds within his Striped Marks System swam out and lay dormant at his cuffs.
Xuan She was still unwilling to give up, taking a step forward and saying: "Lord, this Han Tong has a wild nature that is hard to tame. Having been imprisoned in the Inner Prison for so long he refused to say a single word. Letting him back, I fear there's no way to gather the Canal Transport Guild, but instead releasing a tiger back to the mountains."
Through this step, he got closer to Chen Ji, and finally had the opportunity to see Chen Ji's hands clearly... they were surprisingly the hands of a youth.
The physiognomy of hands is one of the biggest differences between youths and older individuals.
The palms of youths are mostly slender. Even for a short and plump hand shape, the joints won't be overly thick and large. Only as age increases will the hand become sturdier and more robust, and the joints will also gradually become prominent.
But the hands of this Bing Hu before him was clearly a youth.
Xuan She was startled in his heart, and then took another step forward: "This humble official makes bold to ask a question. Each generation of the Twelve Zodiacs has its own titled name. After Mu Gou is Shi Gou, after Night Sheep is Yun Yang, after Spirit Rabbit is Jiao Tu... Bing Hu is already the title of the previous generation's Feng Wenzheng. I don't know what the Lord's titled name is now?"
This time, he saw the corner of Chen Ji's eyes clearly. The texture around the eyes cannot deceive people; this Bing Hu was indeed a youth. But how could the Inner Chancellor appoint a youth to be one of the Top Three Ranks of the Zodiacs?
Fake!
At this time, Chen Ji calmly said: "Bai Long is always Bai Long, Bing Hu is always Bing Hu."
Xuan She suddenly let out a laugh, the laughter very light. He slowly straightened his body, looking levelly at Chen Ji: "Incorrect. Bai Long is indeed always Bai Long, but Bing Hu might not necessarily still be Bing Hu."
The next moment, Xuan She violently launched an attack. The black cloak on his body suddenly flared open, pouncing toward Chen Ji like a night owl.
Chen Huaibei reacted extremely fast, pulling Zheng Zhou to dodge to the side. Lü Qi and Tian Kuang drew their blades simultaneously, moving up to meet Xuan She from the left and right.
At this critical moment when a thousand catties hung by a thread, the horse carriage curtain moved automatically without wind, as if something gushed out from inside. When the majestic Aura pressed out, the people around the horse carriage only felt their chests tighten, as if someone had punched them squarely in the chest.
Xuan She's expression changed drastically. His hands grabbed his cloak and gathered it backward, barely blocking in front of his body.
A gust of violent wind suddenly blew past with a loud boom, and Xuan She surprisingly flew backward five or six zhang.
"Lord!"
Gyrfalcon Gao Yi rushed forward and caught Xuan She, which was what prevented Xuan She from falling to the ground in a sorry state. Xuan She steadied his stance, looking at the horse carriage with an expression of shock and doubt, not daring to rashly step forward again for a time.
Chen Ji said calmly: "Is this seat's identity also something you can probe? Go receive fifty Court Floggings yourself, if you dare offend again, you will be demoted to Gyrfalcon."
Xuan She gritted his teeth and remained silent for a moment, repeatedly looking at Chen Ji and the horse carriage. Ultimately, he still lowered his head, cupped his fists and said: "Yes, it was this humble official being presumptuous, I will go receive the Court Floggings right now."
He turned and strode toward the Falconry Office.
Gao Yi followed by his side, asking in a low voice: "Lord, was that person really Lord Bing Hu?"
"No!" Xuan She glanced at the solemn and solemn Forbidden City: "Beat the drums, Curfew!"
Gao Yi was stunned for a moment: "Lord, tonight is the Double Ninth Festival. If we beat the drums for Curfew without proof or evidence, I fear there will be severe punishment."
Xuan She stopped in his tracks and looked at him: "How could Lord Inner Chancellor appoint a youth to become one of the Top Three Ranks? This person is definitely not Bing Hu! Go beat the drums, don't let them escape the capital city... Lock down the water gates, they are from the Canal Transport Guild, and there will definitely be people receiving them at the water gates. I'll go to the Trouble-Resolving Tower right now and report this matter clearly to Lord Inner Chancellor. Before I leave the palace, not a single fly is allowed to be let out."
Xuan She passed by the Falconry Office without stopping his footsteps, arrived in front of the Xihua Gate, flashed his Waist Plaque, and shouted in a low voice to the Trouble-Resolving Guards on duty here: "Open the door!"
At this time, a figure at the Xihua Gate turned around.
Chang Xiu.
Chang Xiu said with a face full of smiles: "So it's Lord Xuan She, it's so late and you still haven't gone back to rest?"
Xuan She's footsteps paused for a moment. He scrutinized this handsome and elegant little eunuch before him, saying grimly: "Move aside!"
The Trouble-Resolving Guards pushed the Xihua Gate open a crack. Chang Xiu smiled and made way to the side by one step, making a gesture of invitation.
Xuan She walked past him and stepped into the Xihua Gate.
Behind him, Chang Xiu still stood in the gap of the Xihua Gate, looking at his back with a smiling expression.
...
...
The sound of drums rang out on the city walls of the Forbidden City, urgent and dense.
This drum sound transmitted from the Forbidden City to the Inner City walls, and then to the nine gate towers. The nine city gates closed simultaneously, the massive city gates emitting loud rumbling sounds.
Amidst the drum sounds, the Five Wards Military and Police Department personnel on night duty acted upon hearing the drums, immediately rushing onto the streets to drive the commoners home. After an hour, anyone wandering on the streets would be exiled to Lingnan without exception.
Curfew had fallen.
Chen Ji pondered for a moment beside the horse carriage, greeting Lü Qi and the others to get into the horse carriage together: "Go to Anding Gate."
Lü Qi snapped the reins, driving the horse carriage toward the Anding Gate in the north. Chen Huaibei said anxiously inside the carriage compartment: "Now the nine gates are locked, how can we take Anding Gate? We should go to the North Water Gate right now, there are my Canal Transport Guild members receiving there. Taking a fast boat north, it will only take half an hour to merge into the Yongding River."
Everyone in the carriage looked at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji sat upright with his eyes closed to rest his mind, without the slightest intention of changing his mind.
Chen Huaibei looked at Bai Li again: "Guild Master?"
Bai Li said softly: "Go to Anding Gate."
The carriage compartment quieted down.
Chen Huaibei and the others pondered whether Chen Ji was Bing Hu or not. Their gazes swept over Chen Ji from time to time, yet they could never be certain.
The galloping horse carriage coincidentally passed by the Bodhisattva Ceremonial Procession in opposite directions. The monks carried the Sumeru Pedestal, returning to Yuanjue Temple early during the Curfew, chanting scriptures in unison: "...is empty dharma, neither past, nor future, nor present..."
Bai Li sat at the very end of the carriage compartment, quietly looking at Chen Ji's side profile. But after Chen Ji got into the carriage, his eyes had never opened again from beginning to end.
In that story, Li Changge, whose name was famous throughout the capital city, would appear whenever the Commandery Princess was in trouble.
But the story was meant to end; Li Changge would not appear again.
The dark Thread of Sky Pass walked through at Luhun Villa, the white cloaks of the Feather Forest Army fluttering in the wind on the road to the Altar of First Sericulture, that crimson Qilin robe killing its way into the Imperial Music Bureau... like all inverted dreams and vexations, unable to reach Nirvana.
At this time, Lü Qi who was driving the carriage suddenly said in alarm: "Not good, the City Defense Division is blocking the front of Anding Gate!"
Chen Huaibei hurriedly lifted a corner of the carriage curtain to look. He saw Wooden Barriers standing in front of Anding Gate, and there were over a hundred infantrymen standing densely in front of the city gate.
The drum sounds on the gate tower were urgent.
...
...
In front of Anding Gate, Wooden Barriers lay horizontally, arranged in three parallel rows.
The sharpened jagged edges on the wooden poles looked intimidating and terrifying under the illumination of the torches. Behind the Wooden Barriers were dense figures of people.
The leader wore chainmail armor, holding a long spear in his hand with the spear tip pointing to the ground. The person himself didn't move an inch, like a stone statue.
Torches.
There were torches everywhere.
Rows of torches were inserted on both sides of the city gate tunnel, illuminating an area of dozens of zhang around as bright as day. The firelight danced in the wind, stretching the shadows of those infantrymen extremely long, overlapping one another like a wall.
It was even denser on the gate tower, with a torch every three steps, illuminating the entire gate tower with clear outlines.
Heads poked out from the crenelations; those were archers. The bows were already strung, the arrowheads pointing diagonally at the ground. With just a single command, they could turn the area below the wall into a hedgehog.
The drum sounds were still ringing.
It wasn't just that one drum on the gate tower, but several ones, coming from all directions. Anding Gate, Desheng Gate, Xizhi Gate, Dongzhi Gate... the drums of all nine gates sounded, rising and falling in succession.
"What did I say?" Chen Huaibei violently turned his head, glaring at Chen Ji: "I said we should take the North Water Gate! There are our Canal Transport Guild people at the North Water Gate, the boats are hidden in the Reed Marshes! As long as we get there, traveling downstream for half an hour we can enter the Yongding River! Great, now where do you want us to go?"
Zheng Zhou also leaned closer, his face deathly pale with anxiety: "Chen Huaibei's words make sense, what do we do now?"
Chen Ji didn't open his eyes. He still sat in the outermost position of the carriage compartment, his back straight: "Keep going."
Lü Qi looked at Bai Li in a panic. Bai Li said calmly: "Keep going."
"You!" Chen Huaibei pointed at Chen Ji: "Whether you are Bing Hu or an old subordinate of Prince Jing, this old master doesn't care what kind of person you are! But since you led us down this path, you must give an explanation! If we continue moving forward now, what difference is it from throwing ourselves into the net?"
Lü Qi yelled with a suppressed voice outside: "Stop arguing, the City Defense Division people have moved!"
Chen Huaibei leaned forward, lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and looked out.
That military officer riding the horse had moved. He held his long spear and urged his horse forward a few steps, stopping only when he reached the front of the Wooden Barriers.
The light of the torches reflected his young face, his pair of eyes as cold as knives: "During Curfew hours, who is walking in the streets?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it transmitted clearly into the horse carriage.
Chen Huaibei turned to glance at Chen Ji. Chen Ji finally opened his eyes, and he saw clearly the military officer guarding the city gate; it was precisely the original Feather Forest Army Centurion, and current Five Wards Military and Police Department Deputy Commander, Lin Yanchu.
Chen Ji got out of the carriage compartment, stood beside Lü Qi, and made three hand signals from a distance toward Lin Yanchu.
The next moment, Lin Yanchu actually turned his horse around and said loudly: "Open the city gate."
The infantrymen exchanged glances. A Five Wards Military and Police Department Centurion leaned close and said: "Commander Lin, are we really going to open the city gate? The Curfew drums have sounded, rashly opening the city gate will lead to dismissal and investigation."
Lin Yanchu said with certainty: "Open it!"
Receiving the order, the Five Wards Military and Police Department infantrymen immediately carried away the three rows of Wooden Barriers. The heavy city gate of Anding Gate was slowly pulled open, leaving a gap just wide enough for a horse carriage to pass through.
Everyone in the horse carriage looked at Chen Ji. No wonder Chen Ji insisted on taking Anding Gate; it turned out he had left a backup plan at Anding Gate long ago.
For every step tonight, Chen Ji seemed to have calculated everything early on. When soldiers come, the general fights them; when water comes, earth blocks it; nothing could stop him from sending Bai Li away.
Chen Huaibei was so astonished his words lacked coherence: "Why would the Five Wards Military and Police Department Deputy Commander obey your orders? You knew early on there would be a Curfew and city lockdown? When did you figure this out?"
Chen Ji said not a word.
When?
He had prepared for this day for a long time: exchanging interests with the Inner Chancellor, holding Bing Hu's Waist Plaque, Lin Yanchu sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall (enduring hardships to accomplish an ambition)...
He was no longer that newly arrived stranger from a foreign land. He also knew how to place pieces on this chessboard. Every move of his pointed to the road leaving the capital city, but he himself couldn't leave.
Upon reaching the area beneath the city gate, Chen Ji entered the carriage compartment and stuffed what he had in his hand into Bai Li's hand.
In the quiet carriage compartment, he looked at Bai Li for the first time. There was no longer a dancing fire in those eyes, no morning glow, nor twilight: "Take care."
Bai Li opened her palm, looking down at the six Melon Seed Gold Nuggets in the palm of her hand.
When she looked up again, Chen Ji had already jumped off the horse carriage and viciously whipped the horse's backside, watching the horse carriage pass through the gap in the city gate. Bai Li turned her head and lifted the curtain at her back, watching Chen Ji stand in the shadow of the city gate tunnel like a stone sculpture, moving further and further away.
Lin Yanchu rode his horse to Chen Ji's side and dismounted, standing shoulder to shoulder with him watching the horse carriage depart: "Lord, is it worth it?"
Chen Ji didn't answer this question, only saying calmly: "You've worked hard."
Lin Yanchu grinned and smiled: "The Lord is too polite. If it weren't for you, Lord, this humble official fears I would have already died in the Inner Prison long ago, or would be feeding horses and sweeping the floor amidst the ostracization of those wealthy scions in the Feather Forest Army. Coming to the Five Wards Military and Police Department is actually much more comfortable than staying in the Feather Forest Army. It's just that every time Qi Zhenzhuo and the others see me, they have to speak mocking words, making me feel quite bad in my heart. Lord, remember to tell them tomorrow, I, Lin Yanchu, am not an ingrate who betrays Righteousness."
Chen Ji looked outside the city gate: "Are your parents all settled properly?"
Lin Yanchu gave an "mm": "They've all been sent to Guyuan."
Chen Ji took out a letter and a string of Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency from his chest and handed them to Lin Yanchu: "The letter is written to Hu Junxian. As long as you dare to put your life on the line, he will give you a good future prospect. Inside the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency is four thousand seven hundred taels of silver, enough for you to settle down and establish a home in Guyuan."
Lin Yanchu pondered for a moment. He only took the envelope and didn't take the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency: "Lord, one letter is enough."
Chen Ji stuffed the Buddhist Prayer Beads Currency into his chest: "The Jianghu road is long. Having silver and money upon your body, the road is also easier to walk. Take care."
Lin Yanchu didn't decline further. Facing Chen Ji, he bowed deeply, going all the way down: "Lord, going a few thousand li away this time to establish merits and careers, we will meet again on another day with Official Honors and wealth! Take care!"
Saying this, Lin Yanchu led his horse to the front of Anding Gate, hung his Deputy Commander Official Seal and Tiger Tally together on the vermilion-lacquered gate, mounted his horse, and galloped quickly away.
In the city gate tunnel, The Wind Blowing Through the Hall howled past, blowing Chen Ji's lapels to flutter noisily.
Chen Ji didn't leave immediately. Just like every person who decides to turn around, he stood in the wind for a long time.
Until Lin Yanchu's horse hoofbeats could no longer be heard, until that horse carriage completely blended into the dark night, Chen Ji took out a strip of red cloth from his chest. The handwriting on it had blurred at some unknown time, unable to see clearly what was written on it.
It seemed to be: Year after year the flowers are similar, year after year the people are different.
Chen Ji raised his hand, letting The Wind Blowing Through the Hall carry away the red cloth strip. (End of Chapter)