Aoyama

Chapter 416 Diary
At dusk, every household in Changping County closed their doors, fearing they might be caught up in trouble.

Lu walked ahead, just as familiarly as he had been at the Jingcang granary.

Looking at Aunt Ping, whom he had only met a day ago, Chen Ji suddenly had a strange feeling: In the past, when he was with others, he was the one who worried about everything and was meticulous in everything. Apart from Zhang Xia, who could share the burden with him, he could not rely on anyone else.

But following Aunt Ping is like not having to use your brain; you can just follow along.

In a daze, he felt as if he had returned to the first day he came into this world. The withered little old man, with his hands behind his back, led him back to Taiping Medical Clinic like a homeless stray cat.

Without turning her head, Madam Lu said, "Hurry up."

Chen Ji snapped out of his daze: "Okay."

The two turned left and right and arrived at Daoyi Lane. Chen Ji looked up at the plaque of "Lin Residence" and was surprised: "You actually told the Secret Service your real residence? I thought you were just saying a place randomly."

Madam Lu drew her dagger and pried open the latch from the inside of the door through the crack: "Why not? Once the Secret Service discovers Liao Zhong's whereabouts, they will report to you and me. Wouldn't that save us trouble?"

Chen Ji was taken aback. That makes sense, but do you really think you're a gyrfalcon?
At this moment, Madam Lu pushed open the door and walked in on her own, saying, "Come in."

After entering, Chen Ji lowered the door latch and looked back at the courtyard.

The courtyard was simple and tidy, without any flowers or plants. Cured meat hung in the kitchen, and the water vat in the northeast corner was full of clear water.
Neatly stacked firewood stood under the eaves against the east wall, and several jars of wine were piled up in the side room.

The patches on the window paper were stacked like fish scales, some of which were obviously patched just before last winter.

A couplet is pasted on the main room. The first line reads "May our son be blessed with good fortune," and the second line reads "May our son be healthy and strong." The horizontal inscription reads "May you enjoy long life and happiness."

The handwriting is delicate yet sharp, seemingly written by Aunt Ping herself.

Chen Ji looked down and saw a ring of exceptionally smooth marks on the clean and tidy blue brick floor. It seemed that someone had been practicing their steps here for many years, the soles of their shoes had worn the blue bricks like a mirror, and the wear marks could be vaguely seen to resemble a yin-yang symbol.

This is actually Aunt Ping's usual place of residence?

Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "If the Secret Service really finds this place, you won't be able to keep this house."

Lu walked straight into the kitchen and skillfully started a fire to cook: "It's alright, I should be going anyway."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

Madam Lu calmly replied, "Having come from Jinling, we should naturally return to Jinling."

The firelight from the stove reflected in her eyes, making the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes clearly visible.

Chen Ji sat down at the octagonal table in the courtyard, quietly watching the firelight emanating from the stove, as if he were looking at the oil lamp on the counter of the Taiping Medical Clinic.

Since the spring hunt, I finally had a moment of free time and a chance to catch my breath, and I unconsciously drifted off into thought.

After an unknown amount of time, Madam Lu brought two bowls of rice with cured pork and poached eggs into the courtyard.

Just as Chen Ji was about to reach out to take it, Madam Lu frowned instinctively and scolded, "Wash your hands before meals!"

Chen Ji stood there, stunned, as did Lu Shi.

After a moment of silence, Chen Ji silently got up, scooped water from the water vat to wash his hands, and then washed his face with the clean water. Madam Lu silently placed the bowls and chopsticks on the stone table in the courtyard, went back to the main house to change into a black dress and a black veiled hat before coming out.

The two sat facing each other at the stone table. Madam Lu said casually, "I'm sorry, I have a son who is about your age. He never likes to wash his hands after playing outside. He always wants to pick up chopsticks when he's all dirty."

Chen Ji smiled and picked up the bowl: "It's alright. It's been a long time since anyone reminded me to wash my hands before meals. Thank you, Aunt Ping... Is Aunt Ping's son in Jinling?"

The black veil of her hat concealed Lu's expression: "Yes, he's been left in the countryside of Jinling to tend a few acres of paddy fields. He's been away from home for so many years, I can hardly remember what he looks like anymore."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Why have you been away from home for so long?"

As she ate, Madam Lu held her bowl, concealing it within the black veil of her veiled hat to hide her face: "I was being hunted by my enemies, and I left so as not to become a burden to them."

After a moment's thought, she suddenly said calmly, "If your mother couldn't stay by your side for a long time, would you blame her?"

Chen Ji paused, his chopsticks stilled. "No. My mother was a very, very good person. I won't blame her. If she really left, it must have been for something very important."

mother.

His mother is gone forever, but the memory remains.

After his mother passed away, he found her diary while sorting through her belongings, and saw the scattered words she had written.

The diary begins with "I want to travel", "I want to go to the beach", "I really don't want to work", "The manager is an idiot", and "Chen Zhe is alright, hmph".

Chen Zhe is the name of Chen Ji's father.

Later, her diary entries included things like, "Why do I lose so much hair after giving birth!", "I need to lose weight back to 105 pounds after giving birth!", and "Chen Zhe, you deserve to die!"

In the end, the diary entries were reduced to "Baby can eat complementary food today", "Baby can walk today", "Baby went to kindergarten today, I cried my eyes out!", "Baby has grown taller", "Chen Ji didn't eat properly again and was angry with me. I'm thinking of abandoning him. Why is he already going through a rebellious phase at seven years old?", "Baby is sick again. Chen Zhe isn't here. Chen Zhe, you deserve to die."

The relationship between a child and a mother is perhaps the most tragic in the world.

A child spends their whole life saying goodbye to their mother, and a mother spends their whole life telling her child to be careful.

The words "wash your hands before meals" almost pulled him back to his childhood memories, and he only realized after a while that the person in front of him was not his mother.

Chen Ji looked up at Madam Lu, who was holding her bowl and chopsticks but hadn't moved for a long time. He said softly, "You actually want to ask if your son will blame you, but I'm not him, so I can't answer this for him... In my opinion, he probably really wants to see you, he dreams of seeing you."

Madam Lu looked down at the food she was holding, as if she could count every single grain of rice in the bowl.

She put down her bowl and chopsticks, got up and went to the side room to fetch a jar of wine: "Have you had any wine?"

Chen Ji finished his food in a few bites: "I've had my fill. I still owe someone eighty-two bowls of wine, but I have important business to attend to right now, so I can't drink."

Madam Lu said earnestly, "You're only ten years old, still just a child. Why do you have to carry so many things every day?"

Chen Ji didn't want to talk too much about his parents, so he immediately put down his empty bowl and changed the subject with a smile: "Aunt Ping, a person without a mother is no longer a child. I'm going to sleep for a while. You can keep watch for the first half of the night, and I'll take over for you after midnight."

After saying this, he walked to the eaves, sat down against the woodpile at the base of the wall, and fell asleep fully clothed.

Madam Lu was stunned for a long time. Looking at Chen Ji's tired expression, she picked up the wine jar, poured herself a bowl of wine, and sipped it slowly.

……

……

At the city gate of Changping County, the gyrfalcon on duty whispered to his subordinates, "My wife is about to give birth, and I've been worried about her these past few days. I'm going back to the capital for a trip and will be back on duty before sunset tomorrow. If any officials come asking, please cover for me."

The subordinates exchanged glances and quickly clasped their hands in greeting, saying, "Sir, please go quickly." Hai Dongqing mounted his horse and galloped south. Changping was only a few dozen miles from the capital, a round trip in a day would suffice.

But after he was out of his subordinates' sight, he turned his horse and headed west, and it wasn't until half an hour later that he saw a camp in the distance.

A campfire burned in the camp, and beside it sat Bai Long silently, seemingly lost in thought.

This first of the twelve zodiac animals did not go to Guyuan, Datong, or Dongying, but stayed in a place ten miles west of Changping County.

This road is the only way for Changping County to travel to Datong.

Hai Dongqing was stopped in front of the camp, and someone held a knife to his neck: "Who goes there?"

Hai Dongqing pulled out his waist token and announced loudly, "Cheng Fang, Hai Dongqing of the C-class of the Secret Service, has important matters to report to Lord Bailong!"

The noise startled the monkey inside the tent. Hearing a clue about a wanted criminal, he immediately crawled out of the tent. A woman's voice asked from behind the wooden monkey's mask, "Quickly, where is the wanted criminal? Why did you come alone? Were your colleagues all killed?"

“There are no signs of fighting on your body,” Bai Long said with a smile, sitting by the campfire. “You came alone, probably because you were afraid of having your credit shared, so you sneaked away. Cheng Fang, you’re already a gyrfalcon, and you’ve made such a great contribution by discovering a wanted criminal. What would you like to ask of me?”

Hai Dongqing, having his thoughts exposed, lowered his head unconsciously: "My lord, I have heard that there is a vacancy for Hai Dongqing in Yangzhou, and I would like to fill it."

Bai Long remained noncommittal: "Let's get down to business first."

Hai Dongqing bowed and clasped his hands, saying, "At dusk, a man and a woman entered Changping County through the west gate. The unfamiliar woman was holding a Hai Dongqing ivory token, while the other person's features bore a resemblance to Chen Zhao on the wanted poster. I did not disturb them and have come to report this."

The monkey suddenly looked at the white dragon.

Bai Long calmly asked, "Is there anything I've overlooked?"

Hai Dongqing recalled carefully: "The woman claimed that she was sent by you to Changping County to apprehend a wanted criminal..."

The other spies also stood up, their hands on their waist knives.

However, at this moment, the white dragon slowly said, "Indeed, it was sent by me."

The gyrfalcon froze on the spot: "Huh?"

The monkey was also stunned: "Sir, you..."

Bai Long glanced at him sideways: "What?"

The monkey shrank its neck: "It's nothing."

Beneath the mask, the woman's voice was barely audible as she said, "Weren't we all with him today? When did he ever send a gyrfalcon to Changping?"

Another hoarse voice said, "Can't you tell? That's Chen Ji. Bai Long doesn't intend to capture him!"

A shrill voice said, "Bai Long is protecting a wanted criminal of the court. We can go back to Jie Fan Lou and report him to the Grand Chancellor. Maybe we can become one of the three highest-ranking officials."

Bai Long seemed to hear a faint argument behind the mask and turned to look.

When the Monkey King saw the White Dragon turn around, he quickly forced out a few words from his throat: "Shut up, all of you!"

All sounds vanished, and all was silent.

Bao Hou scratched his ear, anxious and impatient, but dared not utter a sound; every sound under the mask was utterly silent.

The gyrfalcon, who had come to claim credit, was trembling like a leaf, already realizing something was wrong.

He glanced at the hundreds of spies lurking around the campfire. These were all Bai Long's trusted confidants and loyal followers; even if he were silenced and buried, not a word of it would get out.

Bai Long looked him up and down: "Cheng Fang? I remember your wife is about to give birth..."

Cheng Fang sweated profusely, his forehead dripping with sweat: "My lord, spare my life!"

Bai Long smiled and said, "Go back and be with your wife. Don't come to Changping County again. I've approved your request, but you know the consequences of talking nonsense."

Cheng Fang immediately knelt down: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir. I will never reveal a single word of this."

Bai Long waved his hand: "Everyone, step back."

After the spies left, only Bailong and Baohou remained by the campfire.

Bai Long pondered for a long time, then picked up a piece of dry firewood and started the campfire: "Immediately send someone to call Xuan She back and tell him that a wanted criminal has appeared in Changping County."

Bao Hou was taken aback. He tentatively asked in his original voice, "My lord, why did you call Xuan She back? We are loyal to you and are willing to do all the dirty and hard work. How can we let that scoundrel Xuan She come back to steal our credit? He will stop at nothing to get ahead and has already sided with Wu Xiu. How can we let him benefit? We should clean house for the Grand Chancellor!"

Bai Long casually said, "I have my own plans. Don't worry about the credit. This time, neither you nor Xuan She will get the credit, but you will get what you've always dreamed of."

The monkey asked in confusion, "The thing I've been dreaming of?"

The jumbled sounds beneath the mask can be guessed in turn:

"woman?"

"Gold?"

"Emerald?"

"The three above?"

"Paper kites?"

"Pah, pah, pah, what do you need a paper kite for? If you want one, we'll make one for you. Just shut up."

Bai Long said slowly, "It's Liao Zhong's face. Liao Zhong is the last person you've been searching for in your quest to achieve Dao."

The precious monkey froze in place again, and exclaimed, "What?!"

The next moment, he shamelessly prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: "Thank you, sir! Thank you, Lord White Dragon!"

A voice came from beneath the mask, trying to stop him: "Hey, don't kowtow to him!"

"stand up!"

"We're about to achieve enlightenment, what are we afraid of him for!"

Bai Long grew impatient and turned to walk out of the camp: "Bring the horses here, let's go to Changping County."

(End of this chapter)