Aoyama

Yin Shi.

The chaos and turmoil within the Forbidden City had not yet reached the outside world, and the Chen family on Fuyou Street remained quiet.

In his sleep, Chen Ji suddenly felt an icy chill throughout his body. A huge flow of ice surged into his chest and spread to his limbs and bones, as if freezing his blood vessels and causing his blood to freeze into icy fragments.

The sheer magnitude of this icy current was unparalleled in his cultivation of the Mountain Lord's path, rivaled only by Prince Jing's. The icy current surged through his body like a flood, gradually dimming the inner fire within Chen Ji's body, causing it to flicker like the octagonal lamps in the inner prison.

Just as Chen Ji closed his eyes to think of a solution, Bing Liu touched the markings between his ribs and suddenly shrank into his dantian like a frightened wild beast, refusing to come out again.

The next moment, Chen Ji suddenly opened his eyes while lying on the bed. He looked at his chest and saw a fluffy little black cat curled up on it without making a sound, using its long black tail to cover its face.

Chen Ji was stunned: "Dark clouds?"

The tip of the dark cloud twitched slightly, but there was no response; it remained buried, like a child who had been injured on a long journey.

Chen Ji suddenly realized that it was the dark clouds that had carried the ice flow away from the Forbidden City, but the strange thing was, where did such a huge ice flow come from?

He sat up and pulled Wuyun into his arms: "What happened?"

The cloud buried itself in its tail and let out a soft meow. With just that one sound, the cloud told him everything it had seen and heard, and even the sadness was etched into Chen Ji's heart along with the sound. It seemed that the little cloud had vaguely regarded the Empress as its mother, and then lost her.

The Empress was framed and died.

The white carp was intercepted by Consort Xue and failed to escape the Forbidden City.

So much happened that night that Chen Ji was stunned for a long time before he could sort out the cause and effect. He looked down at Wu Yun, and the little black cat was still curled up tightly in a ball... This seemed to be the first time Wu Yun had experienced death.

In Los Angeles, they also experienced separation, but those who were important in their lives were still alive, and as long as they were alive, there was still hope for reunion.

Now that the Empress has passed away, death is like a lamp going out.

Chen Ji remained silent for a moment, then picked up Wu Yun and went outside. He climbed onto the rooftop, sat down, and gazed at the dark Forbidden City in the distance.

After the Beginning of Autumn and the Mid-Autumn Festival, the wind in the north begins to cool down. Some people, like the summer of 1932 in Jia Ning, will forever remain in the past and never return.

Chen Ji didn't try to comfort Wu Yun, but he said softly, "The Empress must have loved the Emperor, but she fell in love with a selfish person who couldn't give her what she wanted. Loyalty, honesty, responsibility, commitment, and self-sacrifice—these most precious things in love all require a conscience. Conscience is the least valuable thing, yet the most precious."

The dark clouds gradually calmed down.

It slightly raised its tail, revealing a slit in front of its eyes, and quietly gazed into the distance along with Chen Ji.

Chen Ji gazed at the night sky, lost in thought, and said, "The Empress is a good person. I know you miss her and are very sad, but perhaps leaving is a relief for her."

The dark clouds looked up at him.

Chen Ji's voice was gentle: "In that cold Forbidden City, her joys and sorrows had to conform to etiquette, and even her life and death had to be considered for the sake of the greater good. I guess the court won't make last night's events public. History books might record that she died of illness, the Ministry of Rites will formulate elaborate funeral rites, officials will mourn according to regulations, and the emperor will feign a general amnesty. Everything will be grand and standardized, perfectly showcasing the majesty and glory of the imperial family. Only the pain and loneliness belonging to a specific woman will be wiped clean, as if it never existed... But thankfully, she no longer has to go through all of this herself. She is free."

Wuyun emerged from Chen Ji's embrace, squatted on the roof ridge beside him, and meowed softly, "If Her Majesty knew that the person she was marrying was like this, she definitely wouldn't have married him."

Chen Ji sighed, "How could she possibly know?"

Dark Cloud's head drooped again: "I hate the emperor."

As dawn broke, Chen Ji watched the white light illuminate the golden glazed roof of the Forbidden City: "Wu Yun, I hate this era. This era is fundamentally indifferent to the lives of others. Emperor Ning is like that, Prince Jing is like that, and Mr. Feng is like that too. I originally thought that I might be able to do something for this era, but later I realized that it is like trying to stop a rushing river with bare hands for one person to try to change an era... All I can do is stay away."

A person and a cat sat on the roof ridge, their backs resembling two large and small eaves beasts, or perhaps bystanders who did not belong to this era.

After a long while, Wuyun meowed: "Actually, I had a chance to escape a long time ago. Aunt Yuanjin stopped watching me after that. She's a good person... but I couldn't bear to leave. Sometimes I would turn back while walking. Did that delay you a lot of things?"

“It’s alright,” Chen Ji patted its head. “You were forced to leave your mother when you were very young, and when you were just a few months old, you followed me to Guyuan to kill people. So I think you can spend a carefree time by the Empress’s side, like a real kitten. You are the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation and Responding to the Origin of Thunder, not anyone’s pet or weapon. So you can put your cultivation aside for now, and whether you’ve found out anything isn’t that important.”

Wu Yun said earnestly, "Chen Ji, you're a good person." ...

……

Suddenly, Wu Yun asked, "I don't understand, why did Wang Wenbiao become someone else?"

“It’s through an official called ‘Cai Mian’,” Chen Ji’s voice gradually deepened. “Others may not know, but I’ve dealt with this official several times. Manager Yuan and Lin Chaoqing both used him to change their identities. He’s from the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Bureau.”

Wuyun meowed in surprise: "Jingchao's Military Intelligence Bureau is involved?"

Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "Strange. This person should be a spy from the Earthly Branches, but now that Si Cao Gui and Si Cao Ding have both left, why is he still active in the capital? What is his identity? Also, when did he get in touch with Consort Xue?"

and many more.

He knew someone who had both the opportunity to contact the Military Intelligence Bureau and the motive to collude with Jing Chao.

Chen Ji then wondered, "According to Aunt Ping, if the Colored Face Sect wants to completely change its appearance, it needs to take the blood of its beloved. If it changed the appearance of three people, then it has already killed three beloved people... Does it really have that many beloved people? Or is there more than one official of this sect? How is this beloved person defined? Is it someone who loves him, someone he loves, or someone he must love? Moreover, this person must have been in Luoyang before, and now he has come to the capital."

Finding this person might avenge the Empress and eliminate many members of the Military Intelligence Bureau in one fell swoop. But there are no leads on this person, and we don't know where to begin searching.

At this moment, the sky gradually brightened.

The sounds of hurried carriages and sedan chair bearers echoed along Fuyou Street, all heading towards the Meridian Gate.

The Forbidden City gates have been opened, and news of the Empress's passing has spread beyond the palace walls.

Officials from various government offices rushed to their respective offices without stopping, while those qualified to enter the palace to meet the emperor waited outside the Meridian Gate for orders, fearing that they would not be able to find anyone when summoned by the palace.

Chen Ji jumped off the roof while holding Wu Yun: "Once they're done with their work, someone will probably be looking for you. I need to send the other little black cat back disguised as you."

The reason he didn't name the other little black cat was because he knew he would have to give it away sooner or later. Old Yao had said that one shouldn't casually form entanglements with anyone in this life; it's all karma.

As he spoke, Chen Ji looked at the longevity lock hanging around Wu Yun's neck: "This also needs to be transferred to another cat. As long as it wears the longevity lock, it will be you."

Wu Yun paused for a moment: "This was given to me by the Empress. She melted down a gold hairpin that she brought to the palace when she got married and made it out of it. She said she hoped I would be safe and live a long life..."

Chen Ji fell silent.

People died easily in this era; plague, smallpox, tuberculosis, tetanus—each could be fatal. A small cut on the hand, perhaps unintentionally, could be fatal.

When a child reaches one month or one hundred days old, people would ask each of their neighbors for one coin to make a lock to protect the child's safety. Therefore, the longevity lock is also called the hundred-family lock.

It symbolizes that one will be blessed with good fortune, peace, and a long life.

Longevity locks come in various shapes, including ruyi (a type of scepter), ingot, qilin (a mythical creature), and butterfly, and are often engraved or embossed with characters and patterns. Chen Ji examined the longevity lock around Wu Yun's neck; it was a common ruyi shape, with "May you live a long and healthy life" engraved on the front and "May you have good fortune, longevity, and peace" on the back.

"You get a good night's sleep at home, I'll figure something out," Chen Ji said, then turned and left the Chen residence alone.

He spent a whole day searching through the jewelry shops of the capital, from the inner city to the outer city, before finally finding a similar longevity lock. The ruyi shape is common, longevity is common, and good fortune and health are common, but finding them all together is rare.

Even the new longevity lock that Chen Ji found was half a size larger than the one the Empress had custom-made for Wu Yun, but Chen Ji didn't have time to find a craftsman to make an exact replica.

When he returned to the Chen residence that night, Wuyun was astonished to see the longevity lock: "You really went to find the same one? Actually, my longevity lock would have worked too..."

Chen Ji rubbed its head: "That was given to you by the Empress. Although you can't wear it around your neck anymore, it's still nice to take it out and look at it occasionally. Go, take that little black cat and deliver it to the Forbidden City. Just put it in a corner of the Fengxian Hall or the Jianji Hall. It will be discovered before tomorrow morning. The Emperor likes cats, so someone will take good care of it."

Suddenly, Wu Yun asked, "But what about the princess?"

Chen Ji stood there silently for a long time: "Don't worry, I have a way." (End of Chapter)