Aoyama

Chapter 410 Old Friend
"You don't want to leave?"

The woman in black scrutinized Chen Ji.

This was the first time in many years that she had examined the relics so closely, just a step away.

Beneath the boy's straw hat were a pair of calm eyes, and his eyebrows were like swords. His nose was thin, but the bridge was high and straight, and beneath his rolled-up sleeves were clearly visible veins on his wrists and the backs of his hands.

This is no longer the little child who would just follow behind her.

At this moment, Chen Ji looked at her. She looked away and said in a calm voice, "The Jie Fan Wei and the Secret Intelligence Bureau have sent over a hundred people. Tonight, they are determined to turn Changping County upside down. They will start by searching the north of the city and will be able to search the entire Changping County before dawn."

“Jiefanwei has a battalion of soldiers five miles away. If they don’t find you tonight, they will bring in five hundred men to search again tomorrow.”

"If they still can't find it after the second search, they will send in local bullies like village chiefs and gentry to search a third time. If they still can't find it after three searches, they will pretend to leave and then send people to keep a close watch on the streets until a month later."

"You might be able to evade three rounds of searches, but if you want to catch Liao Zhong in Changping, the result will be that as soon as there is any commotion, secret agents and guards hiding in the shadows will swarm to the scene."

Madam Lu looked at Chen Ji: "Do you still want to stay in Changping?"

She spoke without any emotion, simply presenting everything she knew to Chen Ji for him to choose from.

However, Chen Ji remained unmoved and said seriously, "I'm sorry, I haven't thought about leaving Ning Dynasty yet."

Lu said calmly, "I will only take ten copper coins from you."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Lu continued, "Five."

Chen Ji shook his head: "Sorry, I can't leave yet."

Madam Lu frowned slightly: "Aren't you afraid of death? You can hide in the inn for now. I'll come back to ask you again tomorrow. If you've thought it through, I can send you away from Ningchao at any time."

She walked out decisively.

However, at that moment, the curtain was lifted.

As Lu was walking out, a woman squeezed through the gap in the curtain into the inn, brushed past her, and went straight to the counter: "With the chaos outside, who's spreading leaflets?"

The woman was around thirty years old, dressed in a black night outfit, with two Emei daggers tucked into her waistband.

Upon seeing her, the shopkeeper instinctively asked, "Sister Su Zhou, when did you get back?"

Su Zhou leaned against the counter: "What, do I need to inform you before I get back? Oh... it's you?"

She turned her head and saw Chen Ji, exclaiming in surprise, "What are you doing here? Where is that brat Xiao Man!"

Chen Ji was also somewhat taken aback, not expecting to encounter this female assassin here: "Xiao Man is still in the capital."

Madam Lu stopped and stood at the doorway, turning around to look at the two of them.

She looked at Su Zhou, then at Chen Ji, unable to understand how the two of them were connected.

Su Zhou's face turned slightly cold as he touched the Emei Dagger at his waist: "You promised to send me to the capital, but you abandoned me in a box as soon as we left Luoyang. Do you know how I managed to get to the capital?"

Chen Ji quickly bowed and apologized: "I'm sorry, there was a reason for what happened last time. The Chen family was summoned to Guyuan and had to leave halfway. Xiaoman also forgot that you were still in the box."

Su Zhou sneered and scolded, "Forgot? You think you can just forget me like that? If I see that brat Xiaoman again, I'll give her a good beating."

Chen Ji cupped his hands and said, "You don't need to hold a grudge against Xiaoman; it was all my oversight."

Su Zhou pointed at Chen Ji's shoulder and scolded, "I hid in the box for a long time, and I was seriously injured. I couldn't eat or drink. I could only wait until everyone was asleep in the middle of the night, crawl out of the box, rummage through the Zhang family's luggage for some food and water, and then crawl back into the box..."

The shopkeeper lowered his head to suppress a laugh, but Su Zhou glared at the young shopkeeper and said, "If you dare to laugh out loud, I'll tear your mouth apart."

Chen Ji looked embarrassed.

Su Zhou circled him with his hands behind his back: "Did you send Ye Zi? There are wanted posters for you everywhere outside, and you still dare to come to the inn?"

Chen Ji explained softly, "I came to the Lantern Inn to ask for their help in finding Liao Zhong's whereabouts."

"Liao Zhong?" Su Zhou asked in surprise, "Weren't you two plotting to assassinate the Crown Prince? What are you looking for him for? Did you get separated?"

The traces cannot be explained.

Anyone who saw the Directorate of Ceremonial posting two arrest warrants at the same time would assume that he and Liao Zhong were accomplices in the assassination of the Crown Prince.

Just then, a commotion arose outside the door, growing louder as it approached.

The Jie Fan Wei and the Secret Service have sealed off all exits and begun searching the city.

As the noise of the search grew closer, the innkeeper hurriedly said, "Gentlemen, let's go to the backyard to lay low for a while, and come out again after the eunuchs have finished searching the inn."

The waiter quickly led the three to the well in the backyard and gestured for them to crawl down the well rope into the well: "There is a blue brick at the bottom of the well that can be removed. The three of you kick the blue brick away, hide inside, and then rebuild the bricks and stones. No one outside will be able to tell anything."

Chen Ji looked at the well opening; the way the well was hidden was exactly the same as in Guyuan.

In his memory, Xiaoman took 1,100 taels of silver from him that day and exchanged it for a grain shop and 2,000 shi of grain in just one day, all of which was hidden in the well. At the time, Chen Ji thought that Xiaoman was good at business, but now it seems that she clearly had Deng Huo's help, as the grain shop originally belonged to Deng Huo.

Strange, it's definitely not the innkeeper of Longmen Inn who helped Xiaoman... So who could be secretly helping Xiaoman?

Master Hu? Or someone else entirely?

Seeing Chen Ji hesitate, Su Zhou assumed he was afraid to go down the well and immediately grabbed the rope and slid down: "Why are you so timid?"

She slid to the bottom of the well, kicked aside the blue bricks, and crawled into the secret room behind them.

Madam Lu glanced at Chen Ji, and hearing the sound of horses' hooves behind her, she suddenly said to Chen Ji, "You go first."

After Chen Ji crawled down the rope into the secret room, the space suddenly opened up before him. It was much more spacious than the well in Guyuan Grain Shop. The eight-foot-high secret room was paved with blue bricks and sprinkled with lime, and even Chen Ji could stand up straight.

There were no bags of grain here, but there was a bed and a table, suggesting that someone often hid here.

Inside the secret chamber, there was also a large urn buried, covered with a thin layer of oiled paper.

Madam Lu was the last to enter. She took out a tinderbox and lit the candle inside. She glanced at Chen Ji and said, "Pile up the blue bricks."

Chen Ji stood guard at the cave entrance, putting the blue bricks back in their original positions. Just as he put the last blue brick in, he heard a series of footsteps overhead.

The thin paper covering the jar allowed for clear transmission of any sounds from above.

Someone shouted, "Search! Don't miss a single corner!"

"There aren't any in the stables!"

"Not on the third floor!"

"There aren't any on the second floor!"

Chen Ji and the others held their breath in the secret room, listening as the officials from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs thoroughly examined the place like a sieve.

Just as the searchers were about to leave, Xuan She's effeminate voice suddenly rang out in the listening jar: "The inn is fourteen feet and one foot wide, but the backyard is only twelve feet and three feet wide... You've been with me for so many years, and you can't even see this little trick? Do I have to teach you again and again?"

Xuan She, as expected of a master of criminal law, saw through the inn's oddities at a glance.

The next moment, footsteps rushed toward the stables, and then a voice called out, "Sir, there is a secret room behind the stables, and account books are hidden in the secret room!"

Chen Ji was startled; there was a secret room behind the stable?

He looked at Su Zhou and Madam Lu by the dim candlelight. Su Zhou was eager to make a move, but Madam Lu pressed her down and made her unable to move.

Su Zhou hissed, "What are you doing? If you don't act now, the shopkeeper and the shop assistant will die at the hands of the eunuch faction."

Madam Lu gave her a cold look: "The managers of the Lantern Inn are all fearless. If you want to go out and die, you can, but we'll talk about it after we leave."

Su Zhou said coldly, "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid."

Lu casually replied, "Prevention is better than cure."

At that moment, a spy roared from above: "Damn it, there's raging oil in the secret room!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud roar followed, and flames burst into flames on the ground, with heat even noticeable underground.

Someone shouted, "The innkeeper has run away!"

The black serpent roared, "What are you all standing there for? Chase them!"

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Chen Ji said in a deep voice, "We shouldn't stay here any longer. They'll come back and search thoroughly. This well probably won't escape the eyes of the Black Serpent either."

Lu had already blown out the candle: "Let's go. The innkeeper of the Lantern Inn has a poison sac hidden in his mouth. He ran away to buy time for you and me."

She went to the entrance of the secret chamber and pulled out a blue brick. This time, she said to Chen Ji, "I'll go first."

Using the rope, Lu leaped out of the well in a few bounds. Several muffled thuds came from outside the well before Lu poked her head out: "Come out."

When Chen Ji climbed out of the well, he was shocked to see five spies lying on the ground, lifeless.

He glanced at the masked woman in surprise. What kind of skill did she possess to have taken down five spies in three breaths and prevent them from making any cries for help?
A raging fire was burning in the backyard of the inn. Before Su Zhou could come out, Madam Lu turned around and climbed over the wall to the east, saying, "This way."

Su Zhou had just peeked out from the well when she saw Lu Shi's figure disappear over the courtyard wall. She gritted her teeth and leaped after her, saying, "Where did this damned woman come from? Is her blood cold?"

As darkness fell, the Jie Fan Guards and secret agents from all directions followed the sound.

Lu led Chen Ji and Su Zhou, walking along the shadows under the eaves, stopping and starting to avoid the crowds, and finally stopped at the granary in Changping County.

Lu whispered to Chen Ji, "The Jie Fan Guard and secret agents will not search the granary at night. If they accidentally start a fire, they will lose their heads."

Chen Ji suddenly realized that the person in front of him had been dealing with Jie Fanwei and secret agents for many years.

(End of this chapter)