Aoyama

Chen Ji, holding a book, hid behind the bookshelf and calmly watched from the gaps in the shelf as the Imperial Palace Supervisor approached the counter.

The Imperial Palace Supervisor took out a copy of the Four Books with Commentary from his robes and asked in a low voice, "Do you collect the Four Books with Commentary here?"

When Chen Ji looked at the commentary on the Four Books, he had doubts and did not act rashly.

At this moment, Aunt Ping stood behind the counter and said slowly, "You don't understand the rules. Bringing your spies here has exposed Wenchang Bookstore. How many people will be forced to leave the capital for refuge? I will report this matter back to the capital. Whether you can still serve as a clerk will be decided by the magistrate."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor placed the commentaries on the Four Books on the counter, his face also showing displeasure: "I came here today at the risk of being exposed. The Lord warned me long ago that 'Heaven' and 'Earth' should never meet. Your invitation to me today is already a taboo. If the Di Ting finds out, we will both be in deep trouble!"

Aunt Ping remained calm, only sneering, "Do you think I want to see you? With such a big incident happening to your lineage, the Chief Minister naturally sent me to ask you how you did it."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor said solemnly, “We are not under the jurisdiction of the Chief, so don’t try to intimidate me with the Chief. According to the rules, as long as two of us five subordinates are still alive, it’s not time for you to be used. You just need to lie low and play your role as shadows.”

Aunt Ping's voice turned serious: "If the Master doesn't intervene soon, I'm afraid you will all be wiped out very soon."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor took a deep breath: "Enough with the small talk, let me ask you, how did Si Cao Gui die? Did he fall into the hands of the Secret Service? Was he interrogated by Meng Ji?"

Aunt Ping replied, "Si Cao Gui went to Changping County to assassinate Princess Li Yang and Yuan Cheng, but was ambushed by the Man of Wu Xiang County. After being captured, Si Cao Gui did not commit suicide, but was secretly taken away by the secret agents who were lying in ambush. It was only through the intervention of the Director that he was eliminated from the organization."

The Imperial Palace Commander breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that he's dead."

Aunt Ping suddenly asked, "In the twelfth year of the Jianing era, a lieutenant general from Guyuan fled back to the capital and then disappeared without a trace. What was this person's name?"

The Imperial Palace Supervisor stood frozen in place.

He had previously used the name of a minor official from the Ministry of Revenue to verify his identity, and Aunt Ping had answered correctly. But now, when Aunt Ping asked him a question, he couldn't answer.

Aunt Ping said softly, "You are not Si Cao Ding."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor took a step back: "Si Cao Ding? You sent the message in the capital's morning newspaper, but you didn't specifically name Si Cao Ding. Who are you, and why are you looking for Si Cao Ding?"

Aunt Ping then said, "You are not Si Cao either."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor remained unfazed: "Who says I'm not?"

Aunt Ping smiled and said, "The person who sent you here probably didn't tell you the rule of 'two shadows existing as one.' You can't meet in the heavens and the earth. If you are forced to meet, afterward either you deal with me or I deal with you. Only one of you can live."

The Imperial Palace Supervisor's expression changed drastically.

Aunt Ping carefully observed his expression and said regretfully, "If you don't even know this rule, then you're just a scapegoat... capture him alive."

The next moment, the doors of Wenchang Bookstore suddenly closed, and the main hall suddenly became dark. Thirteen, who had been hiding on the roof beams, suddenly flipped down and charged towards the Divine Palace Supervisor.

The Imperial Palace Supervisor stumbled backward, looking nothing like an official; he was just an ordinary person.

As Thirteen's crescent hook hurtled toward the face of the Imperial Palace Supervisor, the two men protecting him did not try to stop him. Instead, each of them brandished a dark blue dagger and plunged it into the supervisor's waist.

The Imperial Palace Commander turned around in disbelief. A black glint spread rapidly along the veins beneath his skin, and his eyes were instantly clouded with a gray mist... The dagger was poisoned!

Chen Ji emerged from behind the bookshelf, intending to capture the two men, but before he could get close, he found that their faces had turned black and they were slowly kneeling on the ground.

There was no desperate struggle, no cornered beast fight; the battle ended before it even began.

In the dim light, Chen Ji squatted down beside two military intelligence officers, frowning as he said, "He committed suicide by swallowing poison. A clean and tidy death."

Aunt Ping said in a low voice, "Si Caoding doesn't believe the message you sent out. He just wants to use this opportunity to throw out a fake Si Caoding so that he can escape unscathed... He knows we're watching him. After this, Si Caoding will be like a frightened bird, and it will be difficult to catch him."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Seeing this, Aunt Ping patiently comforted him, saying, "Si Cao Ding is a cunning and treacherous person. I've been looking for him for so long and haven't been able to find him. It's normal for you to fail a few times."

Chen Ji said in a low voice, "But I don't have time."

Si Cao Ding lived up to his reputation. Even though Chen Ji had endured for so long, remaining unmoved no matter how the other party probed, the other party ultimately did not show up.

Even summoning the other party in their capacity as the Chief Judge and the Chief Clerk does not work.

Chen Ji looked at the three corpses on the ground, and just as he was thinking about what to do, there was a knock on the door.

dong dong dong.

The knocking sound seemed to strike at their hearts. Chen Ji and Aunt Ping turned their heads sharply, as if trying to see through the closed wooden door.

Who is knocking on the door? Is it a spy under Si Cao Ding, or someone else secretly observing?

Aunt Ping gave Thirteen a wink, and Thirteen immediately dragged the three corpses toward the backyard.

There was another knock on the door.

Aunt Ping was about to open the door when Chen Ji grabbed her wrist and shook his head silently. A moment later, Shen Ye's voice came from outside the door: "Strange, it was open just now, why is it closed so early?"

After saying that, Shen Ye's footsteps faded away, and he did not knock on the door again.

Inside the main hall of Wenchang Bookstore, Chen Ji turned to Aunt Ping and asked in a low voice, "What is Di Ting? This is the first time I've heard of this name."

After a moment's thought, Aunt Ping replied softly, "When Lu Jin first started planning the Military Intelligence Bureau, the Director of the Bureau commanded all ten Yama Kings. He himself was Ksitigarbha, above the Director. Later, he divided the ten officials into two groups, one for Heaven and one for Earth. Normally, only the Earth group was doing the work, while the Heaven group remained hidden and never saw each other until the Earth group was severely damaged, at which point the Heaven group could be activated. As for Di Ting, he was responsible for monitoring Heaven and Earth and enforcing the family rules."

Chen Ji frowned. Si Cao Gui had never mentioned these things, which meant that the other party had never trusted him.

He looked at Aunt Ping: "How does Aunt Ping know this?"

Aunt Ping paused, "In order to capture Si Cao Ding, I once captured and interrogated the previous Di Ting."

Chen Ji's expression shifted; Aunt Ping had lied.

Di Ting is a detached figure in the Military Intelligence Bureau, used by Lu Jin to monitor all the officers. If Di Ting, with such a status, were to be captured and interrogated by Aunt Ping, why would there be such a arduous search for the officers?

Chen Ji suddenly realized that Aunt Ping hadn't been telling the truth about the information from the Chief of the Military Intelligence Bureau, Dizang, Diting, and others. The grudge between the other party and the Military Intelligence Bureau was definitely not as simple as just investigating Cao Ding.

Just now, Chen Ji watched as Aunt Ping and the Divine Palace Supervisor conversed fluently, and for a moment he even had the illusion that it really was two officials talking.

Aunt Ping interrupted his thoughts: "What do you plan to do?"

After pondering for a moment, Chen Ji's voice gradually became more certain: "Aunt Ping, that person just now was Si Cao Ding."

Aunt Ping immediately understood: "You want to use him to get rid of me?"

Chen Ji nodded: "Aunt Ping, I must capture Si Cao Ding today, otherwise I won't be able to do something. Nobody knows who Si Cao Ding is right now, so I'll just hand over the title of Supervisor of the Divine Palace and get through this first."

Aunt Ping pondered, "The position of the Director of the Divine Palace is already extremely high, so it's reasonable to use him to complete the task. After this incident, Si Cao Ding will definitely remain silent for a long time, and no one will come out to expose you."

At this point, Aunt Ping said confidently, "It's feasible, let's do it this way."

……

……

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), the sky gradually darkens.

A carriage stopped in front of the Wenchang Bookstore. Thirteen quietly pushed open the door and led the shop assistant to carry the three corpses onto the carriage.

Before getting into the car, Chen Ji turned back to Aunt Ping and said, "Aunt Ping, thank you."

Aunt Ping stood at the threshold of Wenchang Bookstore and said with a smile, "Don't be so polite, go ahead."

Chen Ji drove the carriage towards the inner city. When he passed the Wen Yuan Bookstore, he heard a burst of laughter and cheerful chatter from inside.

He didn't look around much, and drove the carriage swaying and bumping past Xuanwu Gate, finally stopping outside Taiye Pond.

Bai Long waited there all alone. When Chen Ji jumped off the carriage, he casually said, "I thought you were going to break your promise. The Inner Minister only gives everyone one chance. If you break your promise this time, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get him to help you again."

Chen Ji cupped his hands and said, "I have not failed in my mission. I have found out that Si Cao Ding is the supervisor of the Divine Palace. This man was hiding in the Directorate of Ceremonial to spy on the palace. I have now arrested him... However, the spies of the Military Intelligence Bureau are cunning and ruthless. When I surrounded them, they committed suicide."

Bai Long walked to the carriage, lifted the curtain and glanced at Chen Ji, then turned to look at Chen Ji and asked meaningfully, "Are you sure this person is Si Cao Ding?"

Chen Ji answered with a forced smile, not daring to go into too much detail: "This humble servant used the identity of Si Cao Bing to lure out this person, and this person came to keep the appointment as Si Cao Ding as agreed. After verification, it was confirmed that he was indeed Si Cao Ding."

Bai Long didn't ask any more questions, only saying, "Wait here, I'll go and report to the Grand Chancellor."

Chen Ji stood beside the carriage, watching the white dragon's figure disappear into the darkness of Taiye Pond. He paced back and forth, carefully considering where there might be any oversights, wondering if he could still hide them from the Prime Minister.

Two incense sticks later, Bai Long returned to the carriage, but did not speak immediately.

Chen Ji asked, "Lord Bailong, what did the Inner Minister say?"

Bai Long calmly said, "The Prime Minister said that you are not the first, nor will you be the last, to dare to deceive him. He will not punish you this time, but this will not be a repeat of the incident."

Chen Ji's heart sank to the bottom: "Why is the Grand Chancellor so certain that this person is not Si Cao Ding?"

Bai Long stared at Chen Ji: "The inner minister said that this person doesn't have the guts."

Chen Ji said in a deep voice, "Perhaps the Divine Palace Supervisor is very good at disguising himself, pretending to be timid and cowardly?"

Bai Long turned and walked towards Taiye Pool: "No need to argue. If the Inner Minister says it's not true, then it definitely isn't. Go, you have three hours left." (End of Chapter)