Aoyama

Chapter 417 Outlaws
At dawn, the rooster crows.

Chen Ji woke up next to the woodpile. He smelled the aroma of alcohol and turned to look at two empty wine jars on the ground not far away.

Turning my head again, I saw Lu practicing his "walking stance" exercise in the courtyard.

Dressed entirely in black with a black veiled hat, Madam Lu moved swiftly along the blue brick walls. Her body shifted and moved with agility, yet her steps never strayed from the yin-yang symbol of the Bagua.

quietly.

Chen Ji leaned against the woodpile, looked up and asked, "Why didn't you wake me up to keep watch?"

Lu casually remarked, "It's no harm for young people to sleep more; it's not so bad for older people to be unable to sleep even when they want to."

Seeing Chen Ji awaken, Lu's Bagua Palm no longer restrained itself, suddenly shifting from the most yin and softest to the most yang and hardest, each move carrying rain and wind. This Bagua Swimming Palm, imbued with a drunken air, even gained a touch of unrestrained freedom and decisiveness.

But then she said, slightly drunk, "Shall we try our hand at each other's fists?"

Chen Ji shook his head and refused, saying, "I only know how to use weapons, I'm not good at hand-to-hand combat... Is this how Aunt Ping operates her official career?"

Lu did not answer directly, but instead, with a hint of drunkenness, demonstrated a move called "Zouma Huoxie": "When someone taught me before, I didn't want to learn. But after he passed away, I practiced it for more than ten years."

At this moment, after Lu finished one round of beating, he started again, teaching as he beat: "First strike the sun, second strike the throat, third strike the center of the two walls, fourth strike the two sides of the ribs, fifth strike the groin, sixth strike the two kidneys facing the heart, seventh strike the tailbone and Fengfu, eighth strike the two ears fanning the wind."

Unlike the pleasant-sounding names of martial arts practitioners, this phrase, "one move, one fatal blow," is deceptively simple.

Lu slowly retracted his fist stance: "Want to learn?"

Chen Ji leaned against the woodpile and shook his head: "I'm not learning anymore. Fists and kicks aren't fast enough to kill people."

Madam Lu smiled and said, "That's what I said back then. I told him he wasn't good at fighting, but he wouldn't accept it, so we suggested a drinking contest to decide the winner. I ended up drinking all three of them under the table. He drunkenly admitted defeat and asked me, with blurry eyes, 'What kills the fastest?' I said swords and knives kill the fastest, but words kill the most ruthlessly. Little did I know, my words would come true."

Chen Ji was puzzled, wondering why Lu Shi was telling him all this, whether she meant it or was just drunk and talking nonsense.
Madam Lu dusted herself off: "Enough with the nonsense. Today I'll help you catch Liao Zhong. Once you catch him, you can return to the capital tonight."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

He felt that after one night, Aunt Ping seemed to have gained a bit more murderous aura.

Sitting at the octagonal table, Madam Lu said slowly and deliberately, "If you want to catch Liao Zhong, you have to guess where he is hiding first. Changping County has five wards. Xuanhua Ward is where the government offices and officials and gentry live; Anfu Ward is where merchants live; Weimo Ward is where the garrison is stationed and the granary is stored; Rulin Ward has the county school and the Confucian temple, where scholars and literati gather. Many poor students who cannot afford to live in the capital will stay here; Gongji Ward is mostly inhabited by commoners and the 'mausoleum households' of the Ning Emperor's Mausoleum. There are craftsmen who make paper offerings and incense, as well as laborers who clean the mausoleum roads."

She looked at Chen Ji through the black veil of her hat: "If you were Liao Zhong, where would you place the assassins?"

Chen Ji sat across the table and analyzed, "The assassin from Changping County is Liao Zhong's last resort. It is his last choice to hide his whereabouts and escape from Ning Dynasty. This assassin must hide in a place where all sorts of people are mixed to avoid being captured, and must also have a legitimate identity to leave the city."

Chen Ji used the process of elimination: "Wei Mo Fang is not an option, because if the assassins are garrison soldiers, they cannot leave their posts to send him away; Xuan Hua Fang is not an option, because constables and yamen runners gather here; Ru Lin Fang is also not an option, because the scholars taking the imperial examinations will not stay here for long."

Only Gongji Ward and Anfu Ward remain.

Mrs. Lu listened quietly without interrupting.

Chen Ji continued, “Although there are wealthy merchants in Anfu Ward, they often have to travel far away, and as assassins, they may not be able to stay in Changping to wait for them at all times. Although the status of the tomb keepers in Gongji Ward is low, the Ninghuang Mausoleum needs to be cleaned every month and paper offerings and tributes need to be sent every month. They have a legitimate reason to leave the city... The paper figures they make can also wrap people in them and be transported out of the city.”

Chen Ji said with certainty, "It is Gongji Fang."

The Ninghuang Mausoleum, located east of Changping County, is the final resting place of dozens of emperors of the Ning Dynasty. Monthly sacrificial ceremonies are held there, with paper offerings, incense, candles, and gold and silver ingots being indispensable.

The tomb raiders frequently traveled between Changping County and Ninghuang Mausoleum, having perfectly legitimate reasons for leaving the city, which the garrison troops were accustomed to.

Chen Ji looked up and said, "Liao Zhong lives in Gongji Ward... I suppose that's why Aunt Ping lives there. Does Aunt Ping know how many households live in Gongji Ward?"

"Two hundred and sixty-three households." Madam Lu poured herself another bowl of wine and asked with great interest, "With so many households, how are we supposed to find them?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Doesn't Aunt Ping have a gyrfalcon ivory tag? Naturally, she can use her secret agent identity to search openly and honestly from house to house. If she searches for three days and three nights, she'll surely find it."

Madam Lu shook her head: "You've become bolder, but not bold enough."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

Lu explained, "I can't hide my identity as a secret agent for long, so I have to act quickly."

She pulled a dagger from her sleeve and carved a map of Gongjifang on the octagonal table: "Gongjifang has only one main road running east to west, and you can see the end of it at a glance. Later, I will make some noise. You go east and I will go west. Liao Zhong will hide in the house of the household that reacts differently from the people."

Chen Ji was slightly puzzled: "What kind of commotion would it take to attract all 263 households out?"

The next moment, Lu walked into the side room, took out the wine jar, and smashed it in the main room. Instantly, a strong smell of wine rose into the air.

She took a tinderbox from her bosom, blew out sparks, and threw it into the wine, igniting a raging fire.

In just a few breaths, the flames spread along the window paper all the way to the roof!
Madam Lu smiled and said, "If we don't make a big fuss, how will we attract people to come and watch the excitement? Don't worry, the whole Washing Lane is mine, so it won't affect the neighbors."

Chen Ji turned to look at her: "Aunt Ping, aren't you afraid of making too much noise and attracting the attention of Jie Fanwei and the secret agents?"

Madam Lu then brought out a jar of wine from the side room. She broke the mud seal, took a big gulp, and then threw it next door: "Don't be afraid. You're worried about the eunuch faction, and Liao Zhong is also worried about the eunuch faction. It's just a matter of who can't hold back first."

The firelight inside the house, accompanied by a gust of wind, gently lifted half of the black veil of Lu Shi's veil, revealing the scar that ran across the bridge of her nose.

At this moment, Chen Ji doesn't seem like a wanted criminal on the wanted poster; Aunt Ping beside him is more like it.

Outlaw! Lu turned and walked out: "Let's go."

She and Chen Ji went to patrol east and west, and in less than half an incense stick's time, the entire Daoyi Lane was engulfed in flames, billowing black smoke, which startled the neighbors who came out to check.

"Go away!"

"Put out the fire!"

Locals rushed over carrying their buckets, shouting urgently, "Fire!"

Chen Ji just quietly observed.

Only a short time had passed since the rooster crowed, and people were still at home. When they encountered such a large fire, they would instinctively go out to check, either to rush to put out the fire or to watch the spectacle.

Those who dare not go out to check must have something wrong, and those with strange expressions also have something wrong... Chen Ji dared not overlook any detail.

Just as I was pondering this, I heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar, booming like thunder.

And the sound of the secret service's brass whistles rose and fell, each whistle accompanied by two bird calls: "Surround!"
The commotion was so great that it eventually attracted the attention of the lurking Secret Service and the Anti-Trouble Guard.

As Chen Ji listened to the approaching sound of horses' hooves, his heart grew calmer and calmer.

He needed to find Liao Zhong before Jie Fanwei arrived.

As Chen Ji looked around, every household in Gongjifang came out to check, except for four houses whose doors were tightly closed.

Among these four households?
No, that's not right. These four households didn't dry wild vegetables on their rooftops.

In the spring, people in the northern part of Ningchao often lacked food. Elm seeds, shepherd's purse, purslane and dandelion were life-saving early spring wild vegetables, which could be dried and stored for emergency use in autumn and winter.

Looking around, every household had wild vegetables drying on their rooftops, except for these four households.

No one lives in the house.

Chen Ji made a note of these four households for the time being, and then turned his gaze elsewhere.

Just then, he suddenly saw a woman looking nervously at the fire, her eyes red and swollen, as if she had been crying several times.

The woman secretly watched the fire in Daoyi Lane, instinctively hiding behind her neighbor as she did so.

The woman asked her neighbors in a low voice, "What happened over at Daoyi Lane?"

Neighbors shook their heads, saying, "I don't know how it started to burn."

The woman cautiously scanned the crowd, and just as her gaze was about to fall on Chen Ji, Chen Ji turned away so that she wouldn't see his face.

Lu rushed over from the west and came to Chen Ji's side, asking in a low voice, "There's nothing unusual in the west. How are things on your end?"

Chen Ji did not answer, his eyes still fixed on the woman from before.

But this woman was extremely alert. When she saw Chen Ji and Lu Shi walk together, she immediately became suspicious and lowered her head to walk back to her own home.

Chen Ji sensed something was wrong.

The next moment, the woman pushed through the crowd and ran into the alley. Chen Ji ignored everyone else and leaped over the rooftop.

The two ran wildly, one in the alley and the other on the rooftop. Chen Ji leaped down, gathering all his strength to fight the woman.

But before he could land a blow, the woman, knowing she was no match for him, knelt on the ground with a thud, tears streaming down her face.

The woman looked at the ruins in front of her, then at the Lu family blocking her way, and said sadly, "My lords, please spare me! My child is still in his hands. If anything happens, my child will be dead!"

Chen Ji landed in front of her and asked in a low voice, "Is Liao Zhong holding your child hostage?"

The woman kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "He threatened us with the child. My husband and I were forced into this situation. Please, sir, have mercy. Once we rescue the child, we will accept whatever punishment you may give us."

At this moment, the sound of horses' hooves approached from afar.

Lu walked straight past the woman and said, "It's too late. A suicide soldier must be prepared to die. Once you've taken someone else's money, you're no longer an innocent person."

Seeing that her pleas were useless, the woman suddenly stood up, drew a dagger from her sleeve, and lunged at Madam Lu.

Lu dodged the dagger to the side, her body twisting suddenly. Chen Ji didn't even see how her body jolted, but she was thrown out and crashed heavily against the wall.

Lu didn't look at the woman. Instead, she went into an open house, took a lit piece of firewood from the stove, and threw it into the woman's next-door house, which started another fire.

Thick smoke billowed into the woman's house as the wind blew it in.

The fire spread quickly, reaching the woman's house in less than half an incense stick's time.

Chen Ji saw Lu leap onto the roof, crouch on the eaves of the woman's house, holding her breath and waiting for the people inside to be forced out of the house by the thick smoke.

The sound of the secret service's whistle grew closer, but Lu remained unmoved.

(End of this chapter)