Aoyama

Chapter 422
In the courtyard, Bai Long sat calmly with a tea set in front of him. A silver teapot sat slowly on a small red clay stove, as if he were chatting with a few close friends around a stove.

Bao Hou, wearing a wooden monkey mask, sat cross-legged on the ground to the side, intently making a kite, which looked somewhat comical.

But Mr. Lu did not find it funny.

The names of the twelve zodiac signs of the Secret Service are like twelve towering mountains; the shadows cast by these mountains alone are enough to make the entire martial arts world feel suffocated.

Being targeted by the sheep and rabbit, one dares not even close their eyes while sleeping; falling into the hands of the dream chicken, all secrets will be exposed; the precious monkey can steal people's faces and is unpredictable; those listed in the Xuan Snake register will be caught and brought back to the imperial prison no matter where they hide...

But all these people combined can't compare to just two words.

White Dragon.

At this moment, the teacups on the stone table are steaming, and the aroma of tea wafts under the gray-tiled eaves and lingers.

Bai Long was still pushing the teacup, and Lu Shi was still in the same posture as when she jumped out of the secret passage. When Bao Hou turned his head to look at the two of them, he almost thought that the world had stopped.

A shrill voice from beneath the wooden monkey mask said, "Who is this woman? She's not in the martial arts illustrations at Jiefan Tower, I'm certain of it."

A hoarse voice said, "Ignore her, hurry up and finish making the paper kite, or that kid will start crying again. His crying is giving me a headache and eye pain."

A shrill voice complained, "Isn't it also my brain's eye?"

"It's mine too!"

"It's mine too!"

It seemed that several noisy monsters were hiding under that wooden monkey mask; if the mask were removed, they would all be released to wreak havoc on the world.

Hearing the noisy noise, Bai Long casually said, "Alright."

The voices beneath the wooden monkey mask vanished, leaving only the precious monkey diligently making a kite.

Bai Long looked at Madam Lu and said with a smile, "You flatter me."

Lu remained silent, still poised to act at any moment.

Bai Long didn't care about her vigilance and showed no signs of defensiveness: "Let our friends in the secret passage come out, since we can't go back anyway."

After a moment's thought, Madam Lu stepped aside to allow Third Master Hu to leap out of the tunnel with Thirteen in his arms.

Bai Long pointed to the table opposite him and said politely, "Please sit down and have some tea."

Master Hu looked at Madam Lu, who remained silent for a moment before actually sitting down opposite him: "Lord Bailong, what a refined taste you have! There's chaos outside, yet you still have the mind to hide here and drink tea."

Bai Long pointed to the two cups of tea on the table and teased, "Do you need me to test the poison?"

Lu picked up the teacup, brought it to her lips, and drank it all in one gulp: "No need. Although it is said in the martial arts world that Bai Long is vicious and ruthless, I have never heard of Bai Long poisoning anyone, because Bai Long doesn't need to poison people."

Bai Long exclaimed, "What boldness! I was worried that this fine pre-rain Longjing tea would be wasted. Enough of the small talk, I came here today specifically to ask you two a few questions."

Madam Lu put down her teacup: "What would you like to ask, Lord Bailong?"

Bai Long picked up the teapot and poured half a cup for Lu Shi: "My first question is, why do you two help Chen Ji? This question is very important. If you answer incorrectly, you two may die here today."

Master Hu sneered: "A single, casual remark can decide someone's life or death. The Secret Service has quite the audacity."

Bai Long nodded: "This is the Secret Service."

Lu remained unfazed and downed the second cup of tea in one gulp: "Is Lord Bailong so certain that he can leave our lives here? I doubt it."

The moment the words left his mouth, Bao Hou, who had been bending down to make a kite, suddenly looked up.

Beneath that wooden monkey mask, countless voices overlapped, women's voices, men's voices, hoarse voices, and shrill voices mingled together, indistinguishable as men, women, young, or old, as if gods and demons were one, as if heaven and earth resonated together:
"presumptuous!"

The moment those two words were uttered, even the roof tiles trembled, and dust began to fall.

Lu Shi and Hu Sanye's pupils contracted slightly, but Bai Long was completely unaffected. He picked up the teapot and poured Lu Shi another cup of tea.

He said with great interest, "Shall we give it a try?"

A divine roar erupted once more from beneath the monkey mask: "Try it!"

The courtyard fell silent, the air thick with tension, as if the very air itself were frozen solid. Madam Lu calmly took a sip of her tea, then said indifferently, "Lord White Dragon has come here specifically to fight me, surely not to intimidate me. Instead of making threats, why don't you tell me what you really want?"

Bai Long laughed heartily: "I am asking this question sincerely, so you should answer it sincerely."

Madam Lu tapped her fingers on the table: "Pour the tea."

The monkey roared, "How dare you make the master pour you tea!"

Bai Long raised his hand to stop him from speaking.

"What courage! Truly a heroine among women," Bai Long exclaimed, lifting his sleeve with his left hand and refilling her cup with the teapot in his right. "Looks like you're thirsty."

Lu drank the tea in one gulp for the third time and answered the first question: "Chen Ji was framed by the Crown Prince. I am his friend, so naturally I must help him clear his name."

Bai Long placed the teapot back on the red clay stove: "Friend, the world of martial arts is truly wonderful."

Lu said nonchalantly, "I'm afraid Lord Bailong has no friends."

The white dragon shook his head and pointed at the precious monkey on the ground: "I have a friend, but this friend is a bit dim-witted."

Beneath the wooden monkey mask, a shrill voice exclaimed in surprise, "He said we're his friends..."

The woman said, "He must be talking about me, not you."

He was talking about me!

"it's me!"

The hoarse voice said in a deep voice, "Don't believe him. Who beats up their friend every day?"

"But he's not beating people up anymore." Bao Hou retorted angrily, "Shut up, all of you!"

Bai Long looked helplessly at the Lu family: "My second question..."

Madam Lu and Third Master Hu exchanged a glance, this time it was their turn to be completely baffled.

They originally thought that Bai Long had come to question Chen Ji about the matter, but they did not expect that Bai Long would so simply let the matter go after receiving the answer.

Bai Long smiled and said, "My second question is, is Deng Huo willing to submit to my Secret Service?"

Lu asked calmly, "What lights?"

Bai Long pointed to the secret passage: "My secret service knows more than you two can imagine, such as this secret passage."

He then pointed to Master Hu: "For example, this rebellious son of the Hu family, Hu Junyuan, and the Dragon Gate Inn... The lights have never been a big secret. Even the Canal Gang knows about you. My Secret Service is not stupid. It's just that you are all focused on clearing General Wentao's name. The Grand Chancellor praised your sincere hearts and didn't pay any attention to you."

Bai Long tapped the table: "Gentlemen, you must know that the matter of framing General Wen Tao has nothing to do with my secret service. It was done by the Chen family in collusion with Jingchao's spies. Therefore, there is no blood feud between us."

Madam Lu and Master Hu couldn't help but exchange another glance. The Secret Service knew far too much, even about their plan to exonerate Qing Wentao. There must be an extremely important figure among them who had sided with the eunuch faction.

Strangely enough, the Poison Master of the Jie Fan Lou has really ignored them all these years.

why?
The answer is definitely not as simple as Bai Long said.

Lu asked in a low voice, "What does the Secret Service want?"

Bai Long corrected, "It's not what the Secret Service wants to do, but what I want to do. As you all know, the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Bureau has been infiltrating our dynasty. Among our spies are not only high-ranking officials, but also ordinary people. Yet, the spies that my Secret Service sends to the north are always found by that Lu Jin, and then killed one by one."

Lu asked calmly, "What does Lord White Dragon want my lamplight for?"

Bai Long smiled and said, "Naturally, I want to use Deng Huo to plant spies in the north. I already have some suitable candidates here. Deng Huo only needs to mix them into the caravan and take them to Jingchao. Once in Jingchao, find suitable household registrations for them... just like what you did for wealthy merchants and fugitive officials in Ningchao."

Forging household registrations is a delicate task; it's not as simple as just copying a similar document. The household registration system in the Jing Dynasty was far stricter than in the Ning Dynasty, so only by finding some destitute people and having them impersonate others could this be accomplished.

However, this can only penetrate some remote rural counties. To penetrate higher levels, more effort, resources, and manpower are needed.

Now, Lu Jin is guarding against it with utmost utmost caution, making it as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Lu calmly asked, "What can I, with my lamplight, gain?"

Bai Long pondered for a moment, then pointed to the secret passage: "The Black Serpent will come out of this passage later. I will kill him, and you will become the next snake in the twelve zodiac animals. You don't have to be called the Black Serpent; you can be called the Black Snake, the White Snake... anything is fine."

Lu seemed to be deep in thought. How could the White Dragon grant her a place in the twelve zodiac animals?
But after much deliberation, she shook her head: "I won't be one of the twelve zodiac animals."

Bai Long asked curiously, "What, do you dislike the name?"

Ms. Lu raised an eyebrow. Is this a problem with the name?
The Secret Service is full of inexplicable lunatics.

She took a deep breath: "Change the terms."

Bai Long smiled and said, "If the twelve zodiac animals that everyone else is scrambling to become can't attract you, then I'll think about it some more... How about I open up trade routes to Annam, Jiaozhi, and Siam for you?"

Mrs. Lu shook her head: "Not enough."

Bai Long pondered for a long time and then said, "If you find clues and evidence, I will help you clear General Wen Tao's name."

Lu remained silent.

Bai Long tapped the stone table: "Hurry up and agree, or I'll kill your people. First the caravan, then those who collect the leaves, kill them one by one, and I think you'll agree eventually."

Madam Lu smiled and said, "Lord Bailong, all the household registration records of the spies infiltrating the North have passed through my hands. Aren't you afraid that I will betray all the spies in the Secret Service?"

Bai Long was silent for a moment: "You are all from Guyuan. I trust the people of Guyuan."

The courtyard fell silent once again.

Suddenly, Bao Hou happily held up the paper kite: "It's done!"

Bai Long turned his head and saw that the paper kite, which looked like a monkey, was crooked and twisted: "Make it again."

Bao Hou let out an "oh," crumpled the paper kite into pieces, and then fetched new bamboo strips and bamboo paper.

Suddenly, Madam Lu said, "Deal. The next caravan will depart in seven days. You will send spies to Bianyifang to wait for them, with no more than three spies at a time."

Bai Long clapped his hands with delight: "Good, good, good! It's a pity there's no wine here, otherwise we should have a good drink!"

Madam Lu stood up and said, "There's no need for heavy drinking. I only drink with my friends."

Bai Long laughed loudly: "It's alright, it's alright. Perhaps in the future, you'll find that being friends with me is a very pleasant thing. Alright, let's not waste any more time. I still have some secret affairs to attend to."

Madam Lu walked out, saying, "Farewell."

She pushed open the courtyard gate, only to find it empty; there were no spies or guards.

The White Dragon and the Monkey King came alone, either because they had absolute confidence in their strength or in the human heart.

Standing in front of the courtyard gate, Madam Lu, despite having just escaped from the jaws of death, did not rush to leave.

She suddenly turned to look at Bailong: "I also want to ask Lord Bailong a question."

Bai Long said casually, "May I ask?"

Lu stared directly at the dragon-patterned mask: "Why is Lord White Dragon helping Chen Ji?"

Bai Long calmly said, "Chen Ji was framed by the Crown Prince. I am his friend, so naturally I should help him clear his name."

This was originally Lu's answer to Bai Long, but Bai Long returned it to Lu without changing a single word.

Madam Lu turned and left, saying, "Until we meet again."

(End of this chapter)