Aoyama

Chapter 399 Prey and Hunter

Outside the Ministry of Personnel, Chen Wende, dressed in a red official robe, was greeted by a servant who politely presented him with a visiting card.

Zhang Zhuo was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Chen Wende was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. It was neither reasonable nor logical for him to be so humble.

However, all the officials and nobles in the capital knew that Zhang Zhuo was at the height of his power and was a cabinet minister who was not in the cabinet. It was only a matter of time before he entered the cabinet.

After an incense stick had burned, Zhou Xingwen, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, came to greet him and led Chen Wende into the yamen: "Lord Chen, you are too polite. You don't need to present your visiting card. Just come in directly."

Chen Wende asked politely, "Where is Lord Zhang?"

Zhou Xingwen smiled and said, "Lord Zhang is waiting for you at his official residence."

The two passed through the Ministry of Personnel. Inside the ceremonial gate stood a warning stone tablet, inscribed with the four characters "守政才年" (meaning "to be capable and virtuous in one's conduct") written by Emperor Ning. These were the four criteria for appointing officials during the capital inspection of the Ministry of Personnel.

Chen Wende glanced around and saw that the clerks in the Observatory, the Storehouse, the Office of State Affairs, and the Ministry of Personnel were coming and going in a constant stream, each with their heads down and walking quickly, eager to deal with the matters at hand.

He smiled and said, "Lord Zhou, I have long heard that the Ministry of Personnel is the busiest of the six ministries. Seeing it today, I can confirm that it lives up to its reputation."

Zhou Xingwen responded modestly, "It's the time of the imperial examination and the once-every-six-years capital inspection, so naturally I'm quite busy."

The two arrived at the Ministry of Personnel's official residence. Chen Wende subconsciously looked up at the plaque. This was originally a resting place prepared by the government for the Minister of Personnel, but Zhang Zhuo had already moved in ahead of time.

Inside the official residence, Xiaoman and the little monk were wolfing down their food, while Zhang Zhuo stood by with a smile, trying to dissuade them: "Slow down, slow down. Why are you two eating like you've been reborn from starvation? Is the Chen family so stingy? With such a large family fortune, how could they let you two go hungry?"

Xiaoman, her mouth stuffed with steamed buns, mumbled, "Lord Zhang, apart from my young master, there are no living people left in the Chen family; they're all ghosts."

Neither of them seemed to see Chen Wende standing outside the threshold, while Chen Wende listened to their back-and-forth banter, his face remaining expressionless, neither pleased nor angry.

Zhou Xingwen announced loudly outside the official residence, "My lord, Vice Minister Chen has arrived."

Zhang Zhuo then noticed Chen Wende and hurriedly said, "Oh dear, I didn't see Lord Chen! My apologies... What brings you here, Lord Chen?"

Chen Wende walked into the doorway calmly, not even glancing at Xiaoman and the little monk, and said with composure, "Does Lord Zhang know what the intentions are behind the marriage alliance between the Chen family's eldest branch and the Qi family?"

Zhang Zhuo casually replied, "I'd like to hear the details."

Chen Wende stood in the main hall of the official residence and said softly, "No one is good for a thousand days, and no flower blooms for a hundred days. Grand Secretary Xu has been in the position of Grand Secretary for nineteen years, and there will always be people who feel resentful. Now that Grand Secretary Xu is senile and Lord Zhang is not qualified enough, the matter of Lord Zhang reviewing drafts and memorials on behalf of Xu has been widely discussed in the capital, and naturally some people have their own ideas."

Chen Wende said sincerely, "Lord Zhang, once the Qi and Chen families are united by marriage, those opportunists will naturally side with them, because no one in the Ning Dynasty has more power than them, and even His Majesty has to give way to them."

Zhang Zhuo smiled and said, "Does Lord Chen want to tell me that breaking the marriage alliance between the Qi and Chen families is the most important thing I should do now?"

Chen Wende cupped his hands and said, “That’s right. If the old traces are removed, my Chen family’s second branch will have its own way of making the Qi and Chen families distrust each other and will surely seize power from the first branch within three years. After this matter is over, Lord Zhang will continue to approve your drafts and memorials in the Xu family and promote your new taxes. My Chen family will follow Lord Zhang’s lead.”

Zhang Zhuo sighed softly: "You are a Jinshi from the 24th year of Jianing?"

Chen Wende, not understanding the meaning, replied: "Yes."

Zhang Zhuo recalled: "That year, during the imperial examination, the provincial education commissioner set a question on governance. He asked, 'What is the root cause of the failure of governance?'"

Zhang Zhuo looked at Chen Wende: "I remember that the first sentence of the 512 characters you wrote was 'The most serious problem in the current administration is that powerful families and nobles are like giant trees, obscuring the wisdom of the court and robbing the light of the poor scholars.'"

Chen Wende remained silent for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Lord Zhang truly has a photographic memory."

Zhang Zhuo sighed softly: "What a pity. Back then you had lofty ambitions, but now you've become just another ordinary person, with only the two words 'power and schemes' left in your heart."

Chen Wende smiled and said, "Lord Zhang, I was young and ignorant back then. In my humble opinion, any scheme that benefits others is a legitimate one. Lord Zhang, you are now so close to that position, how can you sit idly by and watch the Chen family's eldest branch marry into the Qi family? Chen Ji is not your friend, but your enemy."

Zhang Zhuo laughed loudly: "Lord Chen, I am not confused. How can this matter be related to Chen Ji alone? Even if he dies, the Qi family is still the Qi family, and the Chen family is still the Chen family. You can't stop them, and I can't stop them either."

Just as Chen Wende was about to argue further, he saw Zhang Zhuo suppress his smile and say seriously, "Furthermore, I sincerely advise Lord Chen that in this world, only by having lofty ambitions and uniting with like-minded people can one achieve a legitimate strategy; everything else is a conspiracy or a petty trick."

Chen Wende remained silent for a long time, then turned and left: "Lord Zhang, Chen Ji will definitely die today, because there are too many people who want him dead now."

Zhang Zhuo stood inside the threshold and asked with a smile, "Lord Chen, do you know why I'm not in a hurry?"

"Why?"

Zhang Zhuo calmly replied, "Because I have worked with him before, I am certain that he will not die."

……

……

"I'm very close to him now."

A hunter crouched beside a smoke tree, his gaze passing through the bone mask and looking down at the bent grass stems on the ground.

There are plenty of wild grasses in the mountains and forests, and there's no way to avoid them. And after the grass stems are trampled by footsteps, they will slowly stand upright again in about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Those who hunted in the mountains only glanced at the bent grass stems in front of them and judged that their prey had just passed by half an incense stick's time ago.

He squatted on the ground, his gaze following the twisting grass stems all the way to the depths of the forest, as if he could clearly see every step Chen Ji had taken.

Not far away, another hunter looked up at the sky. The setting sun cast long shadows of the trees in the forest.

Wildfire flickered in his eyes beneath the bone mask: "The sun is setting."

The hunter who had been squatting on the ground stood up, took the hard bone bow from his back, and casually said, "Don't worry, I'll take his head before sunset."

"And then what?"

The hunter, who had taken down the white bone bow, plucked the bowstring and said, "Let's drink. We should drink it soon, or in a few hours this rotten tongue won't be able to taste it anymore."

"Drink until dawn?" "Drink until dawn, then go home and sleep."

Two hunters, chatting casually, remarked, "How long has it been since we've been to this human world?"

"135,722 days, I counted them."

"It's been 372 years."

While hunting in the mountains, he picked a clover with purple flowers from the ground, plucked the tender shoots, and greedily chewed them.

He plucked a few leaves and handed them to his colleague, who casually removed his skeleton mask and popped the tender shoots into his mouth. These earthy grass shoots were a taste he had longed for but could never have before.

A hunter, donning his bone mask again, said, "Let's go. The centurion is waiting. Be careful not to get caught off guard, or you'll be forced to return to this filthy world alone, waiting for someone to tell you what wine tastes like now."

……

……

Two people set off for a hunting trip.

One person leads the way, head down, searching for traces. Bent grass stems, closed oxalis, every blade of grass and every tree bears a mark.

One person stood at the rear, keeping an eye on everything, ready to draw their bow and shoot at any moment.

The two followed the tracks for a long time, and one of them whispered, "There are footprints in the soil, the forefoot is very deep, he's running hard... his stride is getting shorter, he's about to run out of energy."

"Chase."

The two hunters sped up together, leaping and darting through the mountains and fields, seemingly tireless.

Just as the two were passing a large tree one after the other, the bark of the tree suddenly moved. The hunter behind suddenly turned around and drew his bow.

But before he could even fire the bone arrow, Chen Ji snatched it away and stuck it into the eye socket of his bone mask.

You Shan Huo Lie stared intently at Chen Ji, noticing the black mud on his face: "Is it so hard to get a drink..."

The next moment, the wildfire in his eyes went out, and his body and the white bone mask turned into white ash and fell to the ground.

The hunter in front turned around and shot an arrow, but all three arrows missed their mark.

With three sharp, resounding thuds, bone arrows followed Chen Ji's figure, striking the tree trunk one after another.

Chen Ji fired an arrow with his backhand, forcing him to dodge to the side. When he looked back, Chen Ji had already disappeared into the forest without a trace.

While hunting and exploring the mountains, they tried their best to discern where the traces were hidden, but the traces seemed to blend into the mountains and forests once again.

He was startled and quickly retreated.

While hunting in the mountains, he retreated, drawing another arrow from his quiver, nocking it on the bowstring, and shooting it into the sky. The whistling arrow soared into the air, startling a flock of sparrows in the woods.

He retreated to an open space, drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it on his bowstring, and searched around for any trace of Chen Zi: "Kid, I underestimated you. Who taught you the art of concealment?"

No one answered.

The hunter said again, "Boy, the whistling arrows are about to be fired. Hiding here won't do you any good. A large army will come to surround and annihilate us soon. Run!"

Still no one answered.

The hunter, its eyes scanning the surroundings, searched for the location of the trace: "Found you!"

As he spoke, he plucked the bowstring, trying to trick Chen Ji into revealing his location, but the only sound in the woods was the flapping of birds' wings; there wasn't even a breeze.

After the birds landed, the forest became eerily quiet.

While hunting in the mountains, he suddenly realized that he wasn't chasing prey; the other animal was much more patient than he was.

He slowly retreated, and just then, he heard the rustling of decaying leaves behind him. Without hesitation, the hunter turned and fired an arrow, then dodged to his left to avoid any incoming arrows.

But as he leaped into the air, a sudden glint of wildfire flashed in his eyes. The sound that had just been made was not from Chen Ji, but from a rabbit.

In the end, he lost the patience contest.

While hunting in the mountains, he used a bone bow to block the white bone mask. He didn't know where Chen Ji was, but as long as he wasn't pierced through the eye by an arrow, he still had a chance.

An arrow whistled past the back of his head. The hunter, hearing the sound of the arrow, thought to himself, "It's over."

We can't get any more alcohol.

Not only will he not be able to drink it, but many of his colleagues probably won't be able to either.

The arrow, incredibly powerful, pierced through the back of his head, extinguishing the wildfire in his eyes. Before he could even fall to the ground, the hunter had already turned into a handful of white ash in mid-air.

A few breaths later, Chen Ji emerged from behind the tree. He squatted in front of the handful of white ash, silently examining it for a moment, before tiptoeing away from the battlefield.

After an incense stick had burned, eight hunters cautiously approached.

The two men went forward to investigate, while six others stood guard around the area, forming a net that covered the entire battlefield.

One of them carefully stroked the soil left on the tree bark, then squatted down and stared intently at the bark scraps that Chen Ji had shaken off his body as he moved. The wildfire beneath his bone mask flickered: "Be careful, this kid isn't the prey, he's the hunter."

(End of this chapter)