Aoyama

Chen Ji hurriedly left Jiefan Tower, leaving only the Inner Minister and Bai Long inside.

Neither the inner minister nor the white dragon spoke.

The sound of music drifted from Fengxian Hall; it was the court music "Flowers Bloom and the Moon is Full".

Fireworks went off outside the window at that moment, and the red light exploded in the sky, like a blooming azalea, illuminating the room for a moment.

In that instant, Bai Long saw through the screen that the Grand Secretary was not bent over his desk making official comments, but was staring blankly out the window.

The minister suddenly sighed, "The Nie family's fireworks in Wanzai, Jiangzhou, are not as good as before. I remember they could make colorful flowers back then. It's a pity that Master Nie's son was unfilial, so he took his skills to his grave with him in resentment. Everything has to be figured out from the start... Whose fault do you think this is?"

Bai Long didn't know why the Prime Minister had brought this up, so he simply cupped his hands and said, "My lord, in this world, there is no right or wrong. There is always something hateful about a pitiful person, and something pitiful about a hateful person."

The inner minister laughed: "Without their unique skill, the Nie family has been squeezed out and driven to ruin by the Li family, the Medicine King of Jizhou, and the Tiger Hill Fireworks Society of Suzhou. Everyone curses Master Nie's son for reaping what he sowed, but what they don't know is that Master Nie beat his son with sticks and never gave him a penny. Whenever the son asked Master Nie for money, he would be scolded and berated by Master Nie for half an hour. Now that Master Nie is dead, regardless of whether the unique skill has been left behind, the happiest person is this son... Human nature, where is there right or wrong? It's just that the cause and effect have ripened and naturally fall from the branch."

Bai Long seemed to be deep in thought.

But then the minister sighed again, "What a pity, we'll never see such beautiful fireworks again. The fireworks on the Lantern Festival thirty-one years ago were absolutely gorgeous."

Bai Long countered, "The Grand Chancellor should still be at the Charcoal Bureau back then, right? You can't see fireworks in the capital from the outskirts of the city."

The Prime Minister was unconcerned by Bai Long's probing and calmly replied, "That year, someone secretly brought me into the capital. The four of us followed him, starving. He didn't have any money on him, so he took out his hairpin and exchanged it for five hot roasted sweet potatoes... People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, just as the moon has its phases of waxing and waning. Nothing in this world is perfect. What a fine line."

Bai Long realized that the inner minister's stories today didn't have any profound meaning, nor were they meant to warn him. Perhaps he had just been sitting alone in this Jie Fan Lou for too long and wanted to see the everyday life outside the window.

He suddenly asked, "Sir, among those who went out to celebrate the Lantern Festival thirty-one years ago, Feng Wenzheng should have been one of them, right?"

The Prime Minister turned around and looked at him through the screen, his words somewhat indifferent: "It was Feng Wenzheng's idea to have you succeed Bailong. I thought you were too young at the time, but he said everyone has been young before. If you don't want to be Bailong, you can resign at any time. I have someone else in mind... You don't like Jiefanlou. Since you've stayed until now to listen to my rambling, you must have something to say. Say what you need to say, and then leave."

Bai Long calmly asked, "Your Excellency, is it not important that the yield per acre of fertile land doubles?"

The Minister of the Interior responded, "Of course it is important."

Bai Long then asked, "Isn't firearm improvement important?"

The Minister tapped his fingers on the table: "It's important too."

Bai Long asked again, "Now Your Majesty has many places to spend money, are the imperial treasury and the national treasury not important?"

The Minister of the Interior smiled and said, "Of course it's important."

Bai Long asked in confusion, "This subordinate doesn't understand. Since they are all important, why doesn't the master want them, but instead wants Chen Ji to exchange Han Tong's life for them? Any one of the three things mentioned earlier is far more important than Han Tong's life."

As they were talking, a moth flew in through the window, disoriented, and began circling the flame of the oil lamp in the room.

The Prime Minister looked calmly at the moth and said slowly, "You probably think I'm vicious, don't you? You clearly know the relationship between Han Tong and the princess, and you clearly know that Chen Ji knows, so why did you still ask him to use his father to save his daughter?"

Bai Long didn't mince words: "That's right."

The inner minister laughed heartily, "You can't understand what I'm trying to do, just as you can't understand why Chen Ji is unwilling to let go. There are many things in this world that you can't understand because you are neither Chen Ji nor I am the inner minister. Look at this moth, there are so many windows open in the building, why doesn't it fly away?"

Bai Long remained silent.

The inner minister pointed to the swirling moth: "That's what you see, but it can't. It can only fly towards the light because it survived by relying on that light. A useless flaw won't stay with you, because you've survived to this day because of this flaw. The past is like this, and so is the present."

Bai Long pondered silently.

The Minister waved his sleeve: "Go ahead, my Relief Pavilion only solves problems, it doesn't offer shortcuts."

Bai Long cupped his hands and said, "This humble servant takes his leave."

As he left the room, just as the door was about to close, he saw through the crack that the person inside had blown out the oil lamp.

…… ……

As Chen Ji passed through the gate of Zhengyangmen, he could hear the clamor and bustling activity of the taverns along Zhengyangmen Street.

Arriving at the Eight Great Hutongs, he found them teeming with people. Normally, even if the Eight Great Hutongs were lively, they wouldn't be this crowded. He asked around and learned that Baishun Hutong was holding a beauty pageant today, and the head of the hutong had to come out and perform her talents.

He didn't bother joining the crowd and went straight to Plum Blossom Ferry. From afar, he saw the gangsters smoking their pipes by the railing of Plum Blossom Pavilion, silently guarding their business.

Chen Ji went up to the top floor and casually asked, "Why didn't the Gelaohui go to the Mid-Autumn Festival today?"

The man smiled and said, "Boss, you're joking. The service industry doesn't have holidays; this is the busiest time."

Service industry.

Holidays.

Chen Ji was momentarily dazed upon hearing these two words.

The man with the robe laughed and explained, "I also wanted to learn to speak like a Ning Dynasty person a while ago, but then I felt that once I forgot my native accent, I might forget my home, so I simply didn't change... Why hasn't the boss ever been to the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "There's no time for Mid-Autumn Festival. How are the people I planted in the Canal Gang doing? Have they seen Han Tong?"

The gang leader took a puff of his pipe and explained in detail: "This canal gang lives by the river, and they are half officials and half bandits, with many rules and regulations. Under the chief leader Han Tong, there are 'four beams and eight pillars'; under the four beams and eight pillars, there are branch leaders 'gourders'; under the gourd leaders, there are branch hall leaders; and under the hall leaders, there are canal workers, boatmen, and dockworkers."

"It takes three years to become a canal worker and then a hall master. It takes five years to become a gourd leader and then five years to become a pillar of the state. Only when you become a pillar of the state can you have the chance to meet Han Tong... Han Tong also knows that many people are looking for him and want him dead, so our people have not seen him to this day."

At this point, the man scratched his head with his little finger and complained, "The canal gang is acting like it's evaluating professional titles, it's not like the Jianghu at all. But it's precisely these rules that make it impossible for outsiders to infiltrate, you have to endure it."

Chen Ji frowned and asked, "What rules should I be aware of if I want to infiltrate the Canal Gang?"

The gang member recalled, "First, you had to learn their slang. Boats were called 'floats,' grain was called 'sand,' government officials were called 'water mosquitoes,' killing someone was called 'washing the river,' and dividing money was called 'rain.' Their slang was different from that of the outlaws; it was much more complicated. If the boss wanted to infiltrate the canal gang, he could only work as a canal worker for three years first, and then infiltrate the Wind and Information Hall or the Enforcement Hall. The Wind and Information Hall collected intelligence from the underworld and the movements of the government; the Enforcement Hall enforced the gang rules, punished internally, and fought externally."

Three years is a critical period; old traces cannot wait three years.

At this moment, the Hanmei Tower across the street was brightly lit, and the voice of a courtesan drifted over.

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, "Brother, why do you think the imperial court is so eager to kill Han Tong? Even when I offered such good terms, they ignored everything and just wanted Han Tong. What trouble has he gotten into, or what secrets is he hiding?"

The elder brother shook his head: "I don't know about that. I've heard that the Canal Gang has three ironclad rules: those who collude with outsiders or the government, or sell secret maps of canal routes and water levels, will be drowned; those who rob legitimate grain transport will be burned alive; and those who rape their brothers' wives and daughters or embezzle huge sums of public silver will be stabbed three times and have six holes punched in their chests. There are also four golden rules: when sailing on the river, grain is released upon seeing an official seal, and only the seal of the Grand Master Han Tong is recognized; each branch is responsible for its own section of the river, and when crossing a boundary, a pilgrimage ceremony is held, with each branch managing its own section, and ships crossing the boundary must pay a river tribute to the local authorities..."

At this point, the gangster turned to Chen Ji and said, "Does the imperial court want the River Map in Han Tong's hands? The water depth of the Grand Canal varies. Some places are navigable, while others are prone to running aground. I've heard that hundreds of ships run aground on the Grand Canal every year. If you know the location of the reefs and shoals, you can become a first mate on a ship with a monthly salary of sixty taels of silver."

Chen Ji frowned in thought. Was it just for the River Map? If it was just for the River Map, more experienced boatmen could piece it together.

The gang member tentatively asked, "Does the master want to arrest Han Tong?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

He hadn't decided whether to arrest him or not... After all, he was Princess Baili's biological father. He had already killed the princess's biological mother, Consort Yun, with his own hands. Regardless of the reason for the killing, if he were to arrest her father as well, how would he present himself to Baili?

and many more.

Chen Ji recalled that Wu Yun had said outside Zhongcui Palace that the Empress also wanted to help Bai Li escape her predicament, and that "the Cao Gang used several eunuchs who had been planted in the palace in the early years to secretly help the princess. One of them was named Xu Xi, who was from the Imperial Wardrobe and secretly gave the princess a box of rouge."

Are the canal gangs also secretly plotting to rescue Bai Li? I wonder if they have any ideas?

Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Brother, you should personally go to the Canal Gang and tell them that an old friend from Luocheng has important matters to discuss with you, and ask him to come out for a meeting."

The man knocked the ash from his pipe, picked up his black cloth shirt, and draped it over his shoulders: "I'll go right now." (End of Chapter)