Aoyama

Chen Ji stood alone in the darkness outside Taiye Pond, looking at the brightly lit Qipan Street in the distance.

He risked his life, even using himself as bait to go to Changping, attempting to lure out Si Cao Ding by using Princess Li Yang and Yuan Cheng.

He spent many days patiently plotting and even started a newspaper for the Military Intelligence Bureau, all in an attempt to lure out Si Cao Ding.

Today, he risked punishment from the Minister of the Interior again, using the position of Director of the Imperial Palace to impersonate the Chief Clerk, all to save one person.

But it still failed.

Chen Ji sat back in the carriage and gently shook the reins, driving towards the outer city.

With only three hours left, he stopped rushing and let the horse trot slowly. He hadn't succeeded after a month; what could he possibly do with the remaining three hours?

The carriage drove into the Eight Great Hutongs and finally stopped at the back gate of Meihuadu.

The gatekeeper took the reins from his hand: "Master, the Gelaohui are at Meirui Tower."

Chen Ji grunted and went inside. He lifted the curtain with his stick and peeked out, almost scared out of his wits: three black-faced corpses lay inside the carriage, the Imperial Palace Supervisor dying with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

Hearing the noise, Chen Ji turned around: "Sorry, I forgot to tell you... Let's find a place to put it first, and I'll think about what to do with it."

He quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

Chen Ji followed the path to the foot of Mei Rui Tower. The accountants had already retired for the day, leaving only bamboo plaques hanging on the wall. He climbed the steps and reached the top floor, where he saw a member of the Gelaohui (a secret society) leaning against the railing, slowly smoking his pipe.

A warm summer breeze blew in at night, causing the black cloth shirt draped over the shoulders of the man to sway.

On the table was a half-empty jar of wine. Chen Ji picked up the jar and walked toward the Gelaohui (a secret society).

Looking at the myriad lights in the Eight Great Hutongs, the gangster said without turning his head, "It seems they've encountered some trouble; they're walking slower than usual."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "It's nothing. It's just that I've been planning for a month and haven't been able to get things done, so I feel a bit frustrated."

The man took a drag on his cigarette, the grayish-white smoke he exhaled drifting in the night breeze.

He said slowly, “The older brother who brought me into this industry taught me that people always magnify the difficulties they face. When I was in school, I felt like the sky was falling if I made a small mistake and my parents were called in. When I was working, I would overthink for a long time if I said the wrong thing. But many of the hurdles that I thought I could never overcome before are actually nothing when I look back now.”

The man turned to look at him and said, "Don't be too tense. If you're tired, take a break. If you fail, take a nap. As long as you're not dead, there's always a chance."

Chen Ji stood beside the brother from the railing, letting out a long sigh: "Yes."

The brother looked at his profile and suddenly burst out laughing.

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, "What are the brothers laughing about?"

The man laughed and said, “I laugh at your insincerity. Boss, we’re actually the same kind of people. When I first entered this business, everyone told me that the most important thing in our line of work is to cut your losses. Don’t dwell on the money you’ve lost, and don’t try to keep people who leave. But I don’t believe it. The word ‘cut your losses’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary. It only means ‘accepting the consequences of your gamble.’”

Chen Ji sighed softly, "I am indeed unwilling. Now that we have failed to capture Si Caoding, we don't know when we will be able to find another opportunity to save Princess Baili. Moreover, after this, Si Caoding probably will not use the Capital Morning Post again, and finding him again will be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

The man scratched his scalp with his little finger: "Is there no chance anymore?"

Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "There are still three hours until the time I agreed with the Inner Minister, but there's not enough time to do anything in three hours."

Suddenly, the man said, "My English isn't good, but I remembered two words from when I used to play Texas Hold'em. One is 'NiceFold,' which means 'rationally giving up with regret,' and the other is 'HeroCall,' which means 'calling the bet despite knowing there's danger.'"

Chen Ji was stunned. Standing in Ningchao, looking at the gray tiles of the buildings in front of him, he suddenly heard the Gelaohui speaking English, which gave him a sense of unreal absurdity and incongruity.

The man stared at the ruins: "Boss, NiceFold or HeroCall, which do you choose?"

Chen Ji gazed quietly at the distant inner city tower, then suddenly raised his hand and gulped down a large mouthful of wine.

Every piece of information he had ever suspected since he transmigrated flashed through his mind: Luocheng, Guyuan, the capital, Changping... He had suspected too many things, and at this moment, those suspicions surged forth like great rivers flowing into the Yellow River.

Chen Ji suddenly turned around and walked towards the stairs: "I choose 'All.In'."

The man laughed loudly: "Boss, ever since I've known you, you've always gone all in, never leaving yourself a way out."

Chen Ji stood in front of the stairs, turned to look at the Gelaohui (a secret society), and asked, "What do you choose?"

The man tapped the cigarette ash with the sole of his foot, then looked up and said with a smile, "I choose HeroCall."

Chen Ji turned around and continued downstairs: "Then bring the most reliable person with me to Liulichang. If it works out, great; if not, we'll go to the Imperial Prison together."

The man put on his black cloth shirt and buttoned it up one by one: "I haven't been there yet, I'm thinking of going to take a look."

……

……

The Eight Great Hutongs are less than half a kilometer apart from Liulichang.

Chen Ji led the way into the dilapidated alley of Liulichang, followed by the Pao Ge and Erdao, as well as ten of his most trusted men.

Chen Ji glanced back at the five sticks: "Can you trust them?"

The gangster grinned and said, "We haven't been in the capital for long, so it's a bit difficult to train enough elite warriors to fight on the front lines. But I can't guarantee that any of these ten will die with me." Chen Ji casually replied, "It's not that serious."

The man asked curiously, "Where are we going?"

Chen Ji replied, "Wen Yuan Bookstore."

When the group arrived outside Wen Yuan Bookstore, the backyard of the bookstore was still brightly lit.

Chen Ji did not rush in. He stood under the eaves of the alley and listened to Lin Chaojing talking loudly inside: "From now on, we will hand over the poems we write every day to Xu Bin and publish them in a special section. This will not only spread our poems, but also help Wenyuan Bookstore. Gentlemen, this one section alone is enough to surpass that damn Beijing Morning Post."

The man in the robe paused for a moment, then whispered to Chen Ji, "Where did this idiot come from, talking so arrogantly?"

Chen Ji stepped over the threshold: "That's the one we're after."

As soon as they entered Wen Yuan Bookstore, a staff member immediately greeted them: "Esteemed guests, our establishment is already closed. The back courtyard is currently occupied by some important figures who have been invited here..."

Before he could finish speaking, a man with a stick strode forward, pressed a dagger against the waiter's chin, and forced him into a corner: "Don't move, or I'll bleed you out."

Chen Ji lifted the bamboo curtain and went into the backyard, where the lively discussion suddenly stopped.

Qi Zhaoning immediately stood up: "Why are you back again?"

Chen Ji ignored him and pointed at Lin Chaojing, saying, "Take him away."

Lin Chaojing calmly sat back down and stared directly at Chen Ji: "May I ask, Mr. Wu Xiang, where do you intend to take me?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "Lin Chaojing colluded with Jingchao spies to plot treason."

One of them stood up and angrily rebuked, "Man from Wuxiang County, you're here for your Beijing Morning Post, aren't you? Are you afraid that we'll gather together and steal the limelight from your damn Morning Post!"

"To accuse a Hanlin Academy probationary official of treason for a mere business deal? Utterly shameless!"

"We were all involved in this matter. Does the Magistrate of Wuxiang County intend to arrest us all as well?"

"The magistrate of Wuxiang County accepted bribes from Jing Chao himself, and now he's turning around and accusing him?"

Inside the Wen Yuan Bookstore, everyone was talking at once, and Chen Ji was not given a chance to speak again.

At this moment, Qi Zhaoning suddenly stood up: "Chen Ji, are you jealous because you see me being close to him?"

Chen Ji glanced at Qi Zhaoning, then looked at Lin Chaojing: "Let's go."

Lin Chaojing smiled slightly: "The man from Wuxiang County said that I am a traitor and colluding with the enemy. Do you have any evidence? If you can produce evidence, I, Lin, will go with you."

Chen Ji calmly said, "I'll give you the evidence in a moment."

Lin Chaojing's smile widened: "So the magistrate of Wuxiang County has no evidence and wants to take me to a secluded place to torture me into confessing? Lord Chen, you are already infamous in the capital. Don't act recklessly anymore, or the court will not tolerate you."

Chen Ji stopped wasting words with him and waved to the person behind him: "Take him away."

The men with sticks stepped forward and pushed through the crowd. Xu Bin, the owner of Wenyuan Bookstore, stood in front of them and said, "I am a member of the Xu family. Let's see who dares to kidnap someone from my Wenyuan Bookstore! This is under the emperor's nose. How dare you kidnap a Hanlin Academy probationary in broad daylight? Do you have no respect for the law?"

However, at that moment, a member of the gang stepped forward and delivered a hook punch to Xu Bin's jaw, causing Xu Bin to stiffen and lean backward.

The man dusted himself off and said, "Noisy."

Several men shoved the man aside with sticks, then lifted Lin Chaojing up and walked him outside.

Chen Ji remained until the very end, his gaze so intimidating that the assembled scholars dared not move. The gangster returned, smiling, and said to everyone, "This matter has absolutely nothing to do with the Beijing Morning Post. Even if we tie you all together, you won't steal the slightest bit of the Morning Post's limelight. If you don't believe me, let's try."

Chen Ji turned and went out, leading the stick towards the Wenchang Bookstore.

In the darkness, Lin Chaojing was dragged along by a stick, but his expression remained calm: "Lord Chen has made a desperate gamble, but I wonder if he has thought through the consequences?"

Chen Ji looked ahead: "I've thought about it carefully for a long time. Among those who initially worked in Jinling, then were able to access the records of the Directorate of Ceremonial in Luocheng, and finally came to the capital, only your elder brother Lin Chaoqing fits the bill."

Lin Chaojing remained calm: "Does this prove that he is a spy for the Jing Dynasty?"

Chen Ji glanced at him: "Lord Lin, I haven't said what it should be."

Lin Chaojing didn't care at all: "Didn't Lord Chen arrest me just to catch Jingchao's spy? Besides, Lin Chaoqing and I have already severed ties. He is a eunuch and I am a civil official. We are irreconcilable enemies."

Chen Ji ignored Lin Chaojing's explanation and continued, "Earlier at the Qi Family Literary Gathering, you were the only one who asked about the Guyuan matter, and you even used a poem to satirize the Imperial Guards for killing innocent people and claiming credit, trying to provoke Qi Zhenzhuo into revealing the truth about the Dragon Gate Inn. It seems that someone specifically instructed you to investigate this matter, right?"

Lin Chaojing did not answer, but looked up at the end of Liulichang: "Perhaps Lord Chen is right, perhaps Lord Chen is wrong, but regardless of whether I am alright tonight, you are probably already in trouble tonight. Kidnapping a Hanlin Academy probationary without any evidence is a serious crime.

At the end of the alley in Liulichang, the faint sound of galloping hooves could be heard.

Chen Ji looked up and saw that the twenty-odd people who came were all wearing straw hats and raincoats, with swords at their waists, exuding a murderous aura.

The trouble-relief guard has arrived. (End of Chapter)