Aoyama

Chapter 191: Taking the Zodiac Position

child time.

Huanjing Hutong.

In the main hall of the Secret Service Office, Chen Ji and Bai Long sat opposite each other with a chessboard between them.

It is still the old rule of Longwangtun. Play fast chess and each move should not exceed ten breaths.

The two men each held black and white pieces and made their moves quickly.

Bai Long put on the mask. He looked at the chessboard and praised as he made his moves: "You are not panicked at all. Your style of play is very different from last time. You finally understand the meaning of 'willing to give up'. Zhi Gu Tun Long's move is brilliant, but it is also the most greedy and should not be taken."

Chen Ji didn't say anything, just stared at the chessboard.

Bai Long said slowly, "It's already midnight, and Yun Yang and the others haven't been able to bring the prince to me yet. I'm afraid they messed up their job again."

Chen Ji said without even raising his head: "Since Yunyang and Jiaotu always mess things up, why don't you replace them, Lord Bailong?"

Bai Long was happy: "I have my own reasons, you will understand later."

As soon as he finished speaking, a night watchman passed by the alley, beating a gong: "Close the doors and windows to prevent theft!"

The agreed time of midnight has passed, and it is now the hour of Chou, when dawn has already begun.

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief: "Lord Bailong, it looks like I won."

Bai Long smiled and said, "I won, but I am a little curious, where did you hide the prince?"

Chen Ji remained calm: "Lord Bailong, I have proven myself to be useful enough. From now on, I will do my best for you and go through fire and water. I don't know about the princess's affairs..."

Just at this moment, footsteps were heard outside the door.

Yunyang, Jiaotu and Jinzhu came together, brushing off the snow on their bodies and said, "Sir, Princess Baili has been detained in the secret residence and is under the personal supervision of Jiefanwei."

As soon as Jin Zhu saw Chen Ji, he was stunned: "Why are you here?"

Chen Ji pointed to the chessboard and said, "Play chess with Lord Bailong."

The golden pig looked puzzled.

Bai Long stood up and put his hands behind his back: "Have you found the prince?"

Yunyang and Jiaotu looked at each other and lowered their heads. "Reporting to Lord Bailong, I am incompetent and have not found the prince. But I am sure that Zhang Zhuo is helping them cover their whereabouts. Lord Bailong, please give the order, and the two of us will arrest Lord Zhang and put him in the inner prison, and we will definitely interrogate the prince's whereabouts!"

Bai Long laughed loudly and pointed at the two of them. "You two made a mistake, and you want me to take the blame with you. How can this be justified? Tell me, what else did you do?"

Jiaotu whispered, "It didn't cause any trouble."

"Hmm?" Bai Long turned around and said, "Golden Pig, you go ahead and speak."

Jin Zhu didn't bother to be polite with them: "Yun Yang and Jiao Tu led the Jie Fan Guard to stop Zhang Zhuo's grain transport team, but in the end they failed to find the prince and scattered the official grain all over the ground."

Jiaotu argued: "Not much food was moved, I stopped it in time!"

The Golden Pig thought for a moment and said, "The Jiefan Guard was quick and pierced through 27 bags. The official grain escort may seem insignificant, and a dozen bags of grain are not worth much money, but it has always been a major military matter. It can be big or small. Let's see if Zhang Zhuo wants to put the two of you on the scale to measure you."

Bai Long raised his head and thought for a moment: "One bag of government rations is 120 jin, and one jin is 11 coins. According to our Daning law, anyone who steals more than 25 guan of military rations will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane, tattooed with the words 'stealing government money and food', and exiled 3,000 miles away... You two are going to be exiled again."

Chen Ji subconsciously turned his head to look at Bai Long. He didn't expect that the other party could recite the Daning Law so accurately.

What kind of people can memorize the law? Three kinds of people.

The first type is people like Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Xia who have a photographic memory.

The second type is law enforcement personnel.

The third type is those who are preparing to break the law.

White dragon should be the third type.

Bai Long sighed at Yun Yang and Jiao Tu, "I told you a long time ago that you should read the laws of our dynasty more often. Only in this way can you avoid breaking the law and not be caught by others. How do you think I got to the top three? It was by not being caught by others."

Yunyang and Jiaotu were so guilty that they dared not look up.

Bai Long thought for a moment and said, "How about this, I will ensure that you two will not be exiled, but I will take back the position of the zodiac sign on behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs, so that I can have an explanation to the Xu family. From now on, you two will be demoted to pigeon-level spies and work under Chen Ji."

"What?" Yun Yang was shocked: "Why should we work under him?"

Bai Long pretended to be confused: "You are pigeon-level spies, and he is Hai Dongqing, one level higher than you. Can't you work under him?"

Yun Yang was as sad as if she had lost her parents: "But...but..."

Bai Long: "Oh? You don't accept it?"

Jiaotu hurriedly pulled his sleeve and said through gritted teeth: "Do you want to die? Hurry up and agree to it, agree to it, agree to it..."

Yun Yang looked at Chen Ji with a look of ashes, then clasped his fists and saluted: "As you command."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Ji spoke up: "Lord Bailong, I am still inexperienced and I am afraid I don't have the ability to lead others. Otherwise, Yunyang and Jiaotu should not work under me."

It’s not that Chen Ji didn’t want to take this opportunity to humiliate the two of them.

Rather, these two people were too vindictive and extremely good at assassination. He was worried that if he pushed them too far, they would do something desperate.

Bai Long turned his head and glanced at him: "You are all so bold, you dare to talk back to my arrangements?"

Chen Ji, Yun Yang, and Jiao Tu all clasped their fists and bowed their heads at the same time: "We dare not!" Bai Long was afraid and patted Chen Ji on the shoulder: "Do your job well, I will go to the Minister of Internal Affairs to ask for credit for you."

Jinzhu's expression changed. Why did Chen Ji change the door lintel and obey Bailong's orders?

The next moment, Bai Long waved his hand and said, "Alright, everyone disperse. Go and guard all the main roads in Luocheng, check every household, and don't let the prince escape."

"Yes," Jin Zhu and others saluted and retreated, but Chen Ji did not move.

Jin Zhu walked to the threshold, turned around and waved to Chen Ji: "Let's go."

Chen Ji said softly, "I still have to play chess with Lord Bailong, Lord Jinzhu, please leave on your own."

Jin Zhu's face darkened. After hesitating for a while, he could not help but said, "You want to change your allegiance? Have you forgotten how I treated you? If it weren't for Tianma and I saving you, you would have been killed by the sword long ago!"

Chen Ji was silent for a long time: "Master Jinzhu, I still think that it is more promising to work with Master Bailong."

Bai Long laughed out loud: "Pig, oh pig, a forced melon is not sweet."

The Golden Pig sneered three times: "Okay, okay, Master Bailong has good means. I wish Master Chen to achieve the position of the zodiac as soon as possible!"

After all, walk away.

……

……

Bai Long took a few steps forward, put his hands behind his back and looked at the snow in the courtyard. "You win this round tonight. I have been thinking about it and I still can't figure out where you hid the prince... Are you really not going to reveal the answer to me?"

Chen Ji came to his side and said, "Since Lord Bailong is willing to let the prince live, why bother to investigate further?"

Bai Long laughed: "It's not that I intend to let him live, but someone threatened me, saying that if I don't let you live this time, he will kill me. There are not many people in Ning Dynasty who can kill me, and he is one of them."

Chen Ji was slightly startled.

He subconsciously turned around and looked at the teacup on the table. Someone had just been drinking tea here, which had delayed Bai Long for an hour.

Chen Ji looked towards the courtyard. When he just entered the courtyard, there was a faint smell of Chinese medicine in the yard. It was clearly the familiar smell of the medical clinic, with a bitter taste in the fragrance.

When Chen Ji turned back, his eyes flashed with an inexplicable light: "Sir, are you talking about Sir Binghu?"

Bai Long sneered, "You are so smart if you talk too much."

Chen Ji suddenly understood why Bai Long repeatedly showed kindness to him and why Meng Ji helped him in his dream. It turned out that someone had been protecting him from behind...

Master, Sick Tiger!
Tiger is a tiger!
Chen Ji said, "Lord Bailong, if I must save the princess, what should I do?"

Bai Long sighed, "You have given me a huge problem. Chen Ji, that is a serious crime of treason. Do you think His Majesty will let Prince Jing's family go?"

Chen Ji whispered, "But Prince Jing clearly had no intention of rebelling. This is a crime that others have put on him."

Bai Long's voice became solemn: "After you leave this door, don't say such arrogant words. You and I are in this position, so we must be clear about our identities and think clearly before doing and saying anything. Don't let others know that you are determined to save the princess. His Majesty wants to kill her, but you want to protect him. Are you also planning a rebellion?"

After a long silence, Chen Ji asked, "Your Majesty, why must Prince Jing die?"

Bai Long sighed, "In the spring of the 23rd year of Jianing, the Qiansui Army returned victorious from suppressing the rebellion. His Majesty was so happy that he rewarded the three armies. However, those soldiers said that they did not want any reward and only hoped that His Majesty would let the rebels go."

Chen Ji was stunned: "Why is this? Why would the Qiansui Army plead for the rebels?"

Bai Long sneered and said, "It's because the Qiansui Army initially thought that the rebels were some vicious bandits, but when they arrived in Cangzhou, they found that they were all tenants who had nowhere else to live. The Qiansui Army was strong in soldiers and horses, but they wanted to kill the people holding hoes. How could they bear it? In that battle, many of the Qiansui Army's soldiers cried while killing people, and they were so heartbroken by the killing that they were heartbroken."

Bai Long continued, "Thirty-seven generals of the Qiansui Army knelt outside the Queyou Gate, asking His Majesty to withdraw the reward and spare the lives of the rebels. His Majesty was furious and asked Prince Jing what to do. The prince said that the crimes of those rebels did not deserve death."

Chen Ji looked puzzled: "And then?"

"Then?" Bai Long stretched out his hand to catch the falling snow. "Then His Majesty withdrew the reward and pardoned the rebels. In order to cover up the matter, His Majesty did not pardon only the rebels, but found an excuse of finding an auspicious sign to pardon the whole country. From then on, His Majesty and Prince Jing were no longer of the same mind."

Chen Ji whispered: "But if the rebels are desperate civilians, then they are indeed..."

Bai Long asked back: "Chen Ji, the rebels want to rebel against the court. If Prince Jing says the rebels are not wrong, then who is wrong?"

Your Majesty is wrong.

Prince Jing's fate seemed to be determined from that day on.

Bai Long changed the subject and said, "Just because the princess's matter cannot be done now does not mean it cannot be done in the future. I will help you save her life first, and put her under house arrest in a temple with a green lamp as company, and we will talk about it when things turn around. How do you think?"

Chen Ji concealed his excitement. As long as he could save his life, there was still hope!

He clasped his fists and bowed again, saying, "Thank you, Lord Bailong!"

Bai Long shook off the snow that had melted into water in his hand and said, "Don't thank me yet. When I was young, I also thought I could change everything, but later I found that there were too many things I had to give up on this road. Chen Ji, once you embark on this road, there is no turning back."

Chen Ji clasped his fists, bowed his body, and looked at his toes.

Someone has to pay the price, right?

He slowly stood up and said firmly: "Don't look back!"

Bai Long glanced at him sideways, then turned his head to look at the night, and sighed: "My lord, you can't get rid of the last bit of the world after all."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "What?"

Bai Long said casually: "It's okay, come in, I have something to tell you."

(End of this chapter)