Aoyama

Chapter 181 Blood Book

Before the iron gate opened, Chen Ji slipped sideways into the inner prison.

He walked down the narrow steps and asked casually, "This morning, Lord Bailong brought Prince Jing, the Crown Prince, and the Princess here?"

The jailer followed him and said, "My Lord, Prince Jing is being held in cell A-1, and the Crown Prince and Princess are being held in cell A-7, which is not far away. My Lord, Lord Bailong has specifically instructed that no one is allowed to talk to them without permission, so please don't make things difficult for me."

Chen Ji stopped on the stone steps and looked back at the jailer calmly.

The jailer lowered his head and did not dare to look him in the eye. After a long pause, he said, "But since Lord Bailong is not here right now, it should be okay for you to talk to them."

Chen Ji continued to move forward.

Many people from Prince Jing's Mansion were imprisoned here. Along the way, Chunhua, Chunrong, Xibing... When they saw Chen Ji, they screamed in pain that they were wronged and shouted for help.

When passing through the corridor between the cells, the cold, damp and foul stench from the cells hit my nose.

When passing by cell number 7, Chen Ji looked at the cell in disbelief. The prince's hair was disheveled, and Bai Li's white clothes were covered in dust, like a pearl covered in dust.

How could you be locked up in a place like this?
However, Chen Ji said nothing. He just turned his head calmly and kept walking.

When the prince saw Chen Ji passing by, he tried to rush to the cage like a madman, but was held back tightly by Bai Li.

She lowered her head, hiding her expression in her falling hair, and whispered, "Don't go. Brother, please, don't get him into trouble."

The prince turned around and saw his sister's tears falling one by one into the straw on the ground. He slowly relaxed his body, sat back on the ground dejectedly, and watched Chen Ji pass by the door and disappear.

Chen Ji came to the door of cell No. 1 and saw Prince Jing sitting behind a desk, quietly flipping through a book.

He turned and looked at the jailer: "I want to talk to Prince Jing for a few words, is that okay?"

The jailer was in a dilemma.

Chen Ji took out a ten-liang silver ingot from his sleeve: "Either accept the silver ingot or wait to die."

The jailer quickly pocketed the silver and retreated to a distance to act as a guard for Prince Jing and Chen Ji.

At this time, Prince Jing saw Chen Ji coming, and smiled as he stood up and walked to the edge of the cage: "Why are you here?"

Chen Ji noticed that Prince Jing looked haggard and exhausted: "Prince, is it worth it?"

Prince Jing smiled and answered the question irrelevantly: "Chen Ji, do you know that the Ning Dynasty is going to fall?"

"Ok?"

Prince Jing held the scroll in his hand, looking past the old traces to the end of the long corridor: "In the winter of the eleventh year of Jianing, I led troops to suppress the rebellion, and eventually trapped in Liuzhou. Everyone said they were bandits, but they were actually raised by the Yang family. If it weren't for Ayi asking my father-in-law to go to the Yang family to mediate, I would have really died there."

"When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, you sent imperial envoys to inspect the salt production in Liangjiang. However, the people you sent either colluded with the Xu and Yang families, died in a fire at home, or fell into the water on a cruise ship. The court sent thirteen imperial envoys in two years, and seven of them died. The Lord Hai who carried the coffin to meet Your Majesty was upright and came to Yuzhou to measure the land and demanded that the Liu family return the land to the people, but in the end he had to leave in disgrace."

"Chen Ji, do you know that the soldiers on the border haven't received their food and wages for three years? How many more three years can they wait? If we can't make a comeback, the Ning Dynasty will be in ruins."

Chen Ji said calmly: "So, the prince and His Majesty conspired to use extreme means to drag the Liu family into the grave together?"

Prince Jing smiled and said, "The Liu family, the Hu family of the Jin party, the Xu family and the Yang family of the Xu party, your Donglin Chen family, and the censors of the Qi party are always fighting. But once they face the imperial power, they will suddenly unite against the enemy and no one can move. Without this extraordinary measure, the Liu family cannot be eliminated..."

Chen Ji interrupted Prince Jing and said earnestly, "Your Majesty, I don't understand what you are going to do, nor do I care what you are going to do. I just think that the prince and Bai Li should not die with you, they are innocent. Your Majesty, they are your children, please find a way for them to live."

Prince Jing stood in the cell in silence. He slowly said, "Your Majesty once promised me that Yunxi would inherit the throne of Prince Jing."

Chen Ji suddenly laughed. He grabbed the cast iron bars of the cage and stared at Prince Jing. "Your Highness, are you a person who trusts others so easily? Do you believe it yourself? You are obviously not the type to surrender, but you were locked up in the inner prison so easily. You have clearly entrusted your orphan to me, which means you knew this day would come! Who are you still plotting against? Your Highness, don't wait any longer. If you wait any longer, Bai Li will die with you!"

Prince Jing carefully examined the traces. He bit his finger and wrote a bloody letter on the book: "Send this letter to the Qiansui Army and give it to General Wang, and report the secret order of 'the country is safe'. He will lead the troops to break out of the prison. From now on, are you willing to take Baili into the rivers and lakes, hide your identity, and protect her?"

After that, he tore the page from the book and handed it over.

Chen Ji reached out his hand, but Prince Jing retracted it: "You haven't answered me yet."

Chen Ji took a deep breath and said, "Yes."

He took the piece of paper from Prince Jing's hand, stuffed it into his arms, then turned and walked out.

Prince Jing suddenly said behind him: "Chen Ji, I'm sorry."

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, then turned around and asked, "What is the prince referring to?"

Prince Jing smiled but did not answer. He waved his hand to signal him to leave quickly.

Chen Ji touched his chest and felt that the blood letter hidden inside was as heavy as a thousand pounds. If he wanted to save the prince and the princess, he could not do it alone and he must have the help of the Qiansui Army.

In the dim prison corridor, he stopped when passing cell number 7 and looked inside silently.

Bai Li originally lowered her head, but when she heard the footsteps taking a while to move forward, she couldn't help but raise her head to look at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji looked away slightly: "Don't be afraid, everything will be fine."

Before Bai Li could respond, the iron gate in front of him creaked, and Bai Long's masked voice came: "Go to Yingxian Tower at noon and order a table of food. Although Prince Jing is imprisoned here, he is, after all, a powerful vassal king with a high reputation in our dynasty. Don't neglect his food and daily life..."

Chen Ji hurriedly left the door of Baili's cell. In the narrow corridor, he saw Bailong and Yunyang coming towards him, and Chen Ji had no way to avoid them.

Bai Long looked him up and down and said, "Are you here to visit Prince Jing and the Princess?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Bai Long said with great interest: "Don't worry, it is human nature to visit friends. If you are determined not to come, I will find it strange. It is also written in the laws of our dynasty that relatives can hide the truth without any punishment."

Chen Ji said softly: "Lord Bailong is magnanimous, I admire you."

Bai Long changed the subject and said, "But young man, you need to understand that first of all, you are just friends with them, not relatives; secondly, the crime of treason is not covered by the law of hiding the crime among relatives. If you cover up the crime of treason, you will be guilty regardless of whether you are a relative or a friend."

Chen Ji quickly clasped his fists and said, "I understand."

Bai Long laughed: "In my Secret Service, you must understand that feelings are feelings and duties are duties. You are a smart person, I believe you can tell the difference. Now Concubine Yun is still on the run. If you can't find her, you will all have a hard time. Go."

Chen Ji clasped his fists and said, "I understand."

He lowered his head and hurried past Bai Long, but Yun Yang beside him suddenly grabbed his arm and said, "Wait."

Chen Ji slowly turned his head and asked: "Master Yunyang, what do you want?"

Yun Yang smiled and said, "I heard that the imperial edict for your and Xi Feng's promotion has arrived. I'm here to congratulate you in advance."

Chen Ji was startled. "Thank you, Lord Yunyang. I will go and do my work first."

He broke free of Yun Yang's hand and walked straight out of the inner prison. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he was out of the inner prison and smelled the fresh air.

Chen Ji rode at full speed with the blood letter in his arms. The Qiansui Army camp was eighty miles south of Luo City. When he arrived at the camp, the horse under him was sweating profusely and foaming at the mouth.

Always stay with me.

Someone on the arrow tower of the main camp shouted, "Stop, if you move forward, I will shoot you with arrows!"

Chen Ji reined in his horse and paced back and forth tiredly in front of the camp gate. He shouted loudly: "The country is safe! I have something important to discuss with General Wang!"

When the soldier on the arrow tower heard "the mountains and rivers are safe", he immediately raised a black flag and waved it towards the depths of the camp.

A moment later, the camp gate was opened and General Wang came in alone with big strides. He looked at Chen Ji's warhorse and frowned: "It's you, where are you from, and why did you rush the warhorse like this?"

Chen Ji jumped off his horse, took out a bloody letter from his bosom and handed it to the other party: "This is a bloody letter written by the prince, please open it yourself, General Wang."

General Wang took the letter and unfolded it, his expression changed: "Has the prince been imprisoned by the eunuch party?"

"Yes."

General Wang frowned for a long time, then looked up at Chen Ji and said, "The south gate of Luocheng is heavily guarded now. We need to change into civilian clothes and sneak into the city in batches as tenants. Young man, you go back first and wait for us in front of the Tuoluo Temple at midnight to lead us to the inner prison!"

Chen Ji looked straight at General Wang and said, "No, I will go with the Qiansui Army. If I don't see the Qiansui Army go out with my own eyes, I will not feel at ease."

General Wang thought for a moment and said, "Okay, you go to the central army camp and rest for a while, I will call the generals!"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I'll wait here and not go anywhere."

"Young man is very cautious," General Wang had no choice but to shout loudly to gather the soldiers. In the time it takes to stick an incense stick, the footsteps of the Qiansui Army camp were like thunder and surging. Thousands of soldiers crossed each other on the parade ground and formed a mighty military formation.

It was not until this moment that Chen Ji felt a little relieved.

He moved to the side to avoid occupying the position in the army formation, but when he turned around, General Wang beside him had disappeared.

Chen Ji was startled. He grabbed a lieutenant general and asked, "Where is your General Wang?"

The lieutenant frowned and said, "General Wang, go and do your job. Who are you and why are you in my Qiansui Army camp?"

Chen Ji said angrily: "Let me ask you, do you know why General Wang summoned you?"

The lieutenant general said: "The flag command just told us to do routine exercises, it didn't say what it was about."

Chen Ji's heart sank deeper and deeper into the abyss. He turned around and saw the back of General Wang riding a fast horse, galloping out of the military camp alone!

No wonder Bai Long didn't search himself just now. It turned out that the other party didn't care at all. Even if Prince Jing really passed some news to the outside world, the news would come back to Bai Long.

Chen Ji pulled the lieutenant and shouted angrily: "Prince Jing is imprisoned in the inner prison. I brought him a letter in blood to ask General Wang for help, but General Wang ran away alone!"

The lieutenant general was a little surprised: "The prince's blood letter? Where's the blood letter?"

"Of course it's in General Wang's hands!" Chen Ji said fiercely, "Now he is going somewhere with the blood letter. You all should follow me to Luocheng."

The lieutenant slowly calmed down and retreated: "Come here, this man is a remnant of the Liu family, capture him!"

Chen Ji felt a chill on his back.

(End of this chapter)