Aoyama

Chen Ji looked at the boundless reed marshes. When the summer wind blew, the lush reeds fell like waves, making a loud noise.

The sound was overwhelming, drowning out everything else.

Chen Ji watched the empty boat sail south, while Jin Zhu comforted him, "Let's go. Jie Fanwei can lay a net within three days. Even if he escapes today, it will be difficult for him to get out."

Chen Ji grunted and turned his horse around.

Jinzhu glanced at him several times, seemingly wanting to say something but then stopping herself.

Chen Ji turned his gaze to the side and asked in confusion, "What does Lord Golden Pig want to say?"

The golden pig hesitated for a moment: "Have you been to the Relief Pavilion?"

Chen Ji was taken aback.

Jin Zhu sighed, "So you really did go in. No wonder you chased Lin Chaoqing like your life depended on it... Kid, do you remember what I told you?"

Chen Ji recalled: "Lord Jinzhu said that the Inner Minister once said that the sharpest things in this world are fame and profit."

The golden pig said irritably, "Don't play dumb. You know that's not what I meant."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "The Inner Minister once said that the two most useful things in this world are hatred and love."

“The Inner Minister is the best at using these four things. He’s not even an official, yet he can make the whole world fear him,” Jin Zhu said, looking at the undulating reeds in the distance. “Be careful. Although the Jie Fan Lou can relieve the world’s troubles, those who have been inside no longer have their own lives.”

Chen Ji seemed not to have heard the last sentence, and only asked seriously, "Can it really relieve troubles?"

The golden pig laughed in exasperation: "You're so stubborn, aren't you?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Jin Zhu chuckled and said, "Fine, I have no right to say anything to you... Don't worry, although the Prime Minister is concerned about your life, he will do whatever he promises you."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "That's enough."

……

……

When Chen Ji returned to Yongding Gate, it was already evening, and the orange-red setting sun shone on the gray-white city walls of the capital.

The sound of horses' hooves could be heard behind us.

Chen Ji, Jin Zhu, and Tian Ma turned around at the same time and saw a group of twenty-five people riding towards them at high speed. They were all dressed in black, twelve men and thirteen women.

The golden pig saw a woman in the lead wearing a straw hat and a black veil covering her face, revealing only her eyes.

He recognized the other person's identity just by their figure and eyes, and his expression immediately changed: "Didn't Prisoner Rat go to Wunian Mountain? How come he's back so soon?"

Chen Ji stared intently; it was the first time he had ever seen a caged rat.

Before he could see clearly, Jin Zhu suddenly instructed Chen Ji and his secret agents, "Cover your faces, don't let the wolf cub who just came out of Wunian Mountain remember what you look like."

Jin Zhu tore a strip of cloth from the hem of the spy's robe beside him and handed it to Chen Ji: "Quick."

Chen Ji was puzzled but did as he was told. While covering his face, he looked around at the spies and saw that these usually fierce spies were all on edge.

Just as the cage was covered, the caged rat approached, looking to be around thirty years old.

She gave the golden pig a cold look: "You fatso, why didn't you greet me?"

The golden pig chuckled and said, "It's just that we haven't had time yet."

Chen Ji looked at the two with a strange expression. The last time he saw Jin Zhu so timid was in front of Bai Long. But Qiu Shu wasn't one of the top three, and Tian Ma was still by his side…

There is a story.

Tianma gestured to Jinzhu: I'm going to see the Prime Minister, you guys chat.

The golden pig nodded.

After the Pegasus left, the Caged Rat looked at the spies behind the Golden Pig and said in an icy tone, "A cowardly soldier is a cowardly one, a cowardly general is a cowardly whole army. What kind of state are you all in, so listless?"

The golden pig turned around and angrily shouted, "Straighten your backs!"

After saying that, he looked at the twenty-four young men and women behind the caged rat.

The wolf cubs did not shy away from the golden pig's gaze. Instead, they met his eyes one by one, their gazes sweeping over the golden pig's neck, waist, and other vital points, as if searching for any weaknesses in the golden pig.

Without turning around, Prisoner Rat knew what the wolf cubs behind him were doing: "Don't look. That old bastard Golden Pig loves to play dumb to fool others. You greenhorns might get tricked by him and end up helping him count his money. This is not someone you can mess with."

Golden Pig chuckled: "Sister Caged Rat has misunderstood me. I, Golden Pig, have a pure heart. When have I ever done anything underhanded?"

He rode closer to the prisoner and asked in a low voice, "Were they all just escorted out of Wunian Mountain? Did you take a longer route? Don't let them sneak back."

The caged rat sneered, "Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? Who would want to go back to that godforsaken place after seeing the outside world? Would you?"

Jin Zhu shook his head: "I'm unwilling, but we still have to be careful. Who knows if someone really lost their soul on Wunian Mountain... The last person who went back caused a huge disaster."

The caged rat didn't care at all: "Don't worry... take the money."

The next moment, the golden pig took out a bag of silver from its sleeve and threw it to the person behind the caged rat. Then, as if by magic, it took out another bag of silver and threw it to the next person. It didn't stop until all twenty-four wolf cubs had a money bag in their hands.

Jin Zhu smiled and said, "Today, I'd like to make a good connection with you all. This capital city is not like Wunian Mountain; there are many places to spend money. When I first came to the capital from Wunian Mountain, before I received my first salary, I was so poor that I couldn't even afford a bowl of hot soup noodles. When I finally received my salary, I ate twelve bowls in one go."

The caged rat said coldly, "Aren't you going to thank Lord Golden Pig yet?"

The twenty-four men, their faces devoid of emotion, said, "Thank you, Lord Golden Pig."

The Golden Pig changed the subject and said with a smile, "I'll also give you some news. The Cloud Sheep and the Bright Rabbit were recently demoted to the Sea Falcon. These two are brave but lack strategy. They only managed to regain their place in the Twelve Zodiacs after making great contributions at Chongli Pass, so their foundation is unstable. The Black Serpent had both arms broken in Changping. Now he hides his arms in his cloak, so they probably haven't healed yet."

Chen Ji saw that the twenty-four people opposite him finally had some spirit left. The prisoner glanced at the golden pig: "Stop digging a pit, the inner minister has a use for these people."

The golden pig chuckled and said nothing more.

"I'm not going to say anything more. I'm in a hurry to see the Grand Chancellor." The Rat and the Golden Pig brushed past each other, and she rode her horse into the gate of Yongding Gate. Without turning her head, she instructed the twenty-four people behind her: "Take the silver and go to the capital to enjoy the world of pleasures. Use fine wine and beautiful women to dispel the murderous aura in your bodies. Remember, no killing is allowed today."

Chen Ji watched the caged rat's retreating figure, then turned to the golden pig: "Are you afraid of her?"

Jin Zhu smiled and said, "It's not fear, it's respect. She left Wunian Mountain three years before me. When I came to the capital, I had no relatives or friends and no money. She gave me one tael of silver for the first month, otherwise I would have starved to death on the street. Let me warn you, don't mess with her. She has been in charge of the inner prison for many years. The number of people that Xuan She and Bao Hou have killed over the years may not be as many as she has. She doesn't care about her own family when she does things."

Chen Ji didn't know whether these words were true or false, but he felt that the relationship between the two was not as simple as Jin Zhu himself said.

Jin Zhu waved his hand: "Go back and rest. I will send someone to inform you as soon as I have any news about Lin Chaoqing."

"Thank you."

……

……

Chen Ji bid farewell to the golden pig and returned to the Chen residence alone.

He stood outside the Ginkgo Garden and rubbed his cheeks vigorously before pushing open the door: "I'm back."

Xiaoman came up carrying the little black cat. When she saw Chen Ji's current state, she immediately threw the little black cat on the ground: "Young master, what happened to you? You look like you've been burned... I'll go and boil some water for you to take a bath."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "No need. It's so hot. I'll just take a cold shower. You guys go out and wait a bit."

Xiaoman said "Oh," and pulled the little monk out the door.

Chen Ji took off his clothes and used a wooden ladle to scoop up water and pour it down, using the coolness of the water to extinguish the restlessness in his heart.

I wonder how my powerful uncle will treat me after I meet him.

Should he consider family ties or sacrifice himself? Should he allow the military intelligence agents to reveal his identity?

Or should we send an official to clean house?

Chen Ji had no idea what was going on. He only hoped that the Secret Service and the Anti-Fan Guard's encirclement and capture could delay Lin Chaoqing's return to Jingchao for a while longer.

As for the second life he owed the Grand Chancellor, he would have to find another way.

Chen Ji changed into clean clothes, reopened the courtyard gate, and saw Xiao Man and the little monk whispering to each other outside the gate.

He asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Xiaoman cautiously observed his expression: "Young master, please don't be angry when I tell you."

Chen Ji asked in bewilderment, "What exactly happened?"

Xiaoman took out a stack of bamboo paper from her sleeve: "Just now, Wenyuan Bookstore published some damn Beijing Evening News to compete with us, and they even criticized you in the newspaper."

Chen Ji took the newspaper and unfolded it, only to be shocked to see that the headline on the front page was about how he had used the law to punish Lin Chaojing out of jealousy.

The arrest of Lin Chaoqing is being kept secret. The people only know that the court is arresting fugitives, but they don't know who they are arresting or why.

The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs knew the truth, but ignored the Beijing Evening News, whether to confuse the public or to avoid offending the Xu family.

In the newspapers, some writer, I don't know which one, wrote him as utterly wicked and despised by both gods and men.

Xiaoman said worriedly, "Young master, I originally wanted to ask Sister Xia to talk to Lord Zhang Zhuo and ask the Xu family not to go against you, but Sister Xia said earlier that Grand Secretary Xu is hanging by a thread and we don't know when he will pass away. The funeral banner and burial clothes have been prepared... The Xu family is in a lot of chaos right now, fighting each other and causing a great disturbance."

Chen Ji looked down at the newspaper, ignoring the insults directed at him, and touched the paper: "They also use bamboo paper from Jiajiang, Shuzhou, which is cheap."

He then examined the ink and the printed characters: "Wen Yuan Bookstore didn't use movable type, but rather a laborious method, employing more manual labor to carve the blocks overnight. They have significantly more manpower than we do, yet they could only hastily print two pages, far fewer than our articles. And the ink isn't even oil-based; many characters are illegible..."

Xiaoman became anxious: "Young master, what time is it? Why are you still concerned about these things?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "What's the rush? The sky hasn't fallen yet. We're just being insulted. Let them say what they want."

After saying that, he continued to flip through the Beijing Evening News, but stopped looking at the advertising section on the last page and stood there stunned.

Xiaoman asked in confusion, "What's wrong, young master?"

Chen Ji stared intently at the newspaper. In the bottom right corner of the last page, there was an advertisement written boldly using the acrostic technique.

Zuixianlou New Opening Sign:
The "Di" brand aged liquor is being opened today.

Steaming new grain in a pot, the aroma permeates three alleys.

The initial heat has subsided, leaving a mellow flavor.

We bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.

The divinely bestowed secret recipe is put into use today.

Set up a large table, just in time for connoisseurs of wine.

Unlock and you're free if you don't get drunk.
I'll give you my sincerity in return.

Chen Ji looked at the advertisement and said in a low voice, "The Earthly Branches have retreated, and the Heavenly Branches are now in use."

……

……

Volume 7, Life for Life, End. (End of Chapter)