Chapter 177: A Door Apart

Early in the morning, Chen Ji woke up alone.

The bedroom was empty inside; there was no longer the smell of Liang Gou'er's alcohol, nor was there the sound of She Dengke's snoring. The warmth was also gone.

He put on his clothes and went out, glanced at the ladder propped against the wall, then bent down, picked up the shoulder pole, and walked into An Xi Street.

The water vat in the courtyard was full, but Chen Ji still fetched water as he did in the past, as if by this stubborn method, he could make time stay before the military disaster occurred.

There were no pedestrians on An Xi Street, so he stood alone by the well, slowly turning the windlass above the well mouth, turning and turning until he started to doze off.

It wasn't until the assistant from the steamed bun shop came to fetch water that he snapped back to reality, drew the water, and carried the shoulder pole to Zhi Xing Academy.

Dong dong dong. Chen Ji knocked on the tightly closed wooden door of Zhi Xing Academy.

After a moment, Wang Dao Sheng opened the door and asked doubtfully, "Why have you come?"

Chen Ji smiled, turned his body, and walked towards the courtyard. "I am your direct disciple, and I live so close. Naturally, I should help you fetch water and chop firewood."

Wang Dao Sheng followed him into the courtyard, looked at him carefully, and suddenly said, "You have confusion in your heart, and you have a question you want to ask me, right?"

Chen Ji's footsteps paused. He hadn't expected Mister Wang to see through him with one glance.

He put down the shoulder pole and poured the water from the wooden bucket into the vat. "Mister, when the Liu family rebelled, did they come to find you?"

Wang Dao Sheng stood to one side and replied, "They found me. Liu Ge Lao promised high officials and generous salaries, hoping I could plan strategy for him, but I refused."

Chen Ji asked, "The Liu family didn't make things difficult for you?"

Wang Dao Sheng shook his head. "The Liu family didn't make things difficult for me. In their eyes, I'm just a smelly and hard stone, no need to waste time."

Chen Ji laughed. "Why do you describe yourself like this?"

Wang Dao Sheng said casually, "That's how others describe me."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "You're not angry?"

Wang Dao Sheng thought for a bit and said frankly, "I get angry."

Chen Ji asked, "Mister also gets angry because of others' views?"

Wang Dao Sheng laughed and said, "I still have many principles I haven't fully understood yet."

Chen Ji said "Oh" and bent down again to pick up the other wooden bucket to pour water.

Wang Dao Sheng calmly said, "You came to Zhi Xing Academy; you shouldn't be asking these things."

Only the sound of water gurgling in the vat remained in Zhi Xing Academy.

After a long time, Chen Ji finally told the truth. "Mister, there is now such a person. As long as she is alive, she is a big hidden danger to me and to many people. The simplest choice now is to kill her with one strike. As long as I do it covertly enough, except for heaven, earth, and myself, no one else will know."

Wang Dao Sheng said lightly, "That's very good. What are you hesitating about?"

Chen Ji finished pouring the water, carried the empty wooden bucket, and looked at him. "But if I strike this one blow, there are some people I can no longer face. So I want to ask Mister, should I kill this person or not?"

Wang Dao Sheng said with a smile, "Just do things according to your own conscience."

Chen Ji lowered his head and murmured to himself, "Conscience?"

Wang Dao Sheng thought for a bit and said, "If you lose a bag of money on the road, will you feel uncomfortable?"

Chen Ji nodded. "I'll feel a little, after all, I lost wealth."

Wang Dao Sheng continued, "Then if you see a beggar on the road about to freeze to death, and you only need to give him five coins to save him, but you don't. The next day you hear he really froze to death, will you feel a little uncomfortable?"

Chen Ji nodded again. "I'll also feel a little."

Wang Dao Sheng asked, "Why do you feel uncomfortable? You clearly didn't lose wealth."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Wang Dao Sheng pointed at his heart. "You feel uncomfortable because you lost a piece of yourself in your heart."

"Huh?"

Wang Dao Sheng said with a smile, "Actually, this metaphor isn't accurate. It's just that most people in the world can only see the gains and losses of external things, but they cannot see the gains and losses of their own original heart. Before you came to ask me, you already had the answer in your heart. Just follow your original heart and do what feels right."

"Thank you, Mister."

Chen Ji carried the shoulder pole towards the medical hall. A horse carriage was already parked in front of the door. The coachman was squatting by the door, gnawing on a dry, hard, mixed-grain cake. This was the horse carriage he had appointed yesterday.

When the coachman saw him coming, he quickly stuffed the remaining half of the cake into his bosom and said with a smile, "Official Sir, you still need to fetch water yourself?"

Chen Ji glanced at the sky. "You came quite early, it's not yet our appointed Chen time."

The coachman laughed happily. "The early bird gets the worm to eat. This humble one has to work hard to make a living, so of course, I have to come early to avoid the Official Sir suddenly advancing the trip without a carriage to use."

Chen Ji said, "Wait a moment, I'll put my things down." He entered the medical hall, put down the shoulder pole, and then took out the dim sum from Zheng Xin Zhai and an altar of Daughter Red that he had bought yesterday. Only then did he get on the carriage.

The horse carriage rumbled out of the city. The coachman sat in front and turned his head to ask, "Official Sir, are you sure you can get out of the city? Yesterday, another guest hired me to go out of the city, but they were blocked back by the city gate soldiers. These days, I don't know what's happening; the boats at the dock aren't allowed to leave, and the city gates aren't allowing people out. Guests traveling north and south are scratching their ears and cheeks in frustration."

Chen Ji laughed. "Don't worry, I won't let you make a wasted trip."

Half an hour later, the horse carriage arrived in front of the south city gate. Three layers of chevaux de frise were erected in the city gate arch, and dozens of armored soldiers blocked the road. "Who is in the carriage?"

Chen Ji lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down. He took out his Secret Spy Department waist token from his sleeve. "Secret Spy Department."

A deputy general slowly walked up to him and sized him up. "So it's an adult from the Secret Spy Department. Where are you going?"

Chen Ji put away his waist token. "Going to the Liu family manor on official business."

The deputy general didn't question him too much, but simply cupped his fist in salute. "According to the rules, this humble general must search and inspect the adult's carriage."

Chen Ji asked in surprise, "My carriage also needs to be searched? My Secret Spy Department can enter and exit even the Forbidden City based on a waist token. How is the south city gate of Luo city more precious than the Forbidden City?"

The deputy general quickly explained, "This is not a rule set by this humble general; this humble general cannot decide. My general has ordered that all vehicles entering and exiting must be carefully checked one by one, without omission. Violating the order will result in confiscation of family property, interrogation, and execution of nine generations of relatives."

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows. "What if I insist on not letting you check?"

The deputy general was startled at first, then slowly retreated.

He took a long halberd from the soldiers' hands and said solemnly, "Adult, please don't make it difficult for this humble general. This humble general is also just following orders."

As he finished speaking, dozens of soldiers in front of the gate slowly surrounded them, and the coachman's legs trembled with fear.

Chen Ji smiled. "General, don't get worked up, I'll let you search and check."

He retreated to one side and let the soldiers lift the carriage curtain. But inside, it was empty; one glance could see to the end. The deputy general then squatted down to check the bottom of the carriage. After confirming there was nothing abnormal, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The deputy general cupped his fist to Chen Ji. "Adult, I have offended you."

Chen Ji's face darkened, playing along. "It's the first time my Secret Spy Department's carriage has been searched. General, we will meet again later."

The deputy general didn't speak, but turned his head and waved to the soldiers. "Let them pass!" Seeing the soldiers move the wooden chevaux de frise to the side of the road, Chen Ji lifted the carriage curtain, sat inside, and let out a long breath.

He had hired this horse carriage just to see if he could enter and exit the city using his waist token. Now, entering and exiting the city was indeed not an obstacle, but relying solely on the waist token to send Yun Fei away was undoubtedly a foolish dream.

If that were the case, it might be better to let Yun Fei hide in the city first and wait for a better opportunity.

Chen Ji slowly fell into thought until the horse carriage stopped again. The coachman called out from outside the carriage, "Adult, we have arrived."

"Wait for me at the door; I still need you to take me back to the city later." He carried the dim sum and the wine altar and got off. He picked up the beast-head ring on the vermilion-lacquered main door of the Liu family manor and knocked.

The vermilion-lacquered main door was slowly pulled open from the inside. Through the crack in the door, Jin Zhu's eyes lit up. "Why have you come?"

Chen Ji walked inside while asking doubtfully, "Adult Jin Zhu, why are you guarding the door?"

Jin Zhu's white, fat face was full of misfortune. "That damn Bai Long, that grandson, is giving me a hard time. I was originally having a good sleep, but he insisted that the Liu family manor was very important and needed an expert to guard the door, dragging me here."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Can't Adult Tian Ma help you say a word?"

Jin Zhu said in a bad mood, "Tian Ma has already left Luo city. The Inner Minister has other things he needs him to do. Now, within Luo city, Bai Long is the highest official in our Secret Spy Department. Forget it, after this matter is over, I'll avoid him! If I can't provoke him, can I still not hide?"

After saying that, he quietly muttered, "Strange, why does that grandson always target me? Could it be that I said bad things about him behind his back and he heard me?"

Chen Ji's expression was strange. "Adult, it's better if you say less."

At this time, Jin Zhu lowered his head and looked at the dim sum and wine altar in his hand, asking curiously, "For me?"

Chen Ji smiled and handed him the wine altar. "This one is for you, the dim sum is not."

Jin Zhu smacked his lips. "Alright, I knew you, this kid, wouldn't specifically come to see me."

Go."

He called out to Xi Feng, "You lead the people to guard the door well. I'll take Chen Ji in."

Jin Zhu led Chen Ji through a long, long green brick alley. The white mourning streamers under the eaves had already been torn down, and the corpses on the ground had all been cleaned up, leaving only the dried blood mud in the brick seams, which had turned a deep purplish-black.

When they reached the front of a small courtyard door, Jin Zhu waved to the secret spy guarding the door. "You all go to the side and rest for a while."

The guarding secret spy cupped his hands and retreated. Just as Chen Ji was about to push the door, Jin Zhu grabbed his wrist and said solemnly, "I know you are very close to Jing Wang Fu, and I also know you and the heir, the county princess... but the situation has already changed."

Chen Ji said unmoved, "How has it changed?"

Jin Zhu lowered his voice. "You may know what Bai Long is doing now? He's looking for evidence to nail Jing Wang for rebellion! This must be a secret instruction from Adult Inner Minister. He wants to kill three birds with one stone."

"Who?"

"Three birds?" Chen Ji doubted, "Besides the Liu family and Jing Wang, there's still..."

Jin Zhu said, "Bai Long wants to catch Yun Fei and pin the crime of colluding with the enemy and rebellion on Jing Wang Fu. That Yun Fei's background is also not simple. Luo Tian Zong, who is behind her, has secretly controlled the transport along the two rivers for so many years, and they are already a thorn in His Majesty and the Inner Minister's side. Bai Long catching Yun Fei is not only to establish Jing Wang's guilt, but also to use her crime to eradicate Luo Tian Zong."

Chen Ji was silent. West.

This Inner Minister is greedy enough, actually wanting to swallow so many things in one go. Jin Zhu reminded in a low voice, "As long as it's something the Inner Minister wants to do, then there's nothing he cannot do. Today, Jing Wang is still Jing Wang, and the county princess is still the county princess, but tomorrow they might become prisoners. You absolutely cannot have any more contact with them; you'll just waste your own future. I've made things clear. Think it through yourself, do you still want to go in and see them?"

Chen Ji said lightly, "Adult Jin Zhu, thank you very much for your kind reminder, but since the dim sum has already been bought, I always want to send it in, otherwise it would be a waste."

Jin Zhu carefully observed Chen Ji's expression, and finally sighed. "Young people are temperamental and don't know the weight of things! Today I'll quietly open the net and let you go in and say a few words to the county princess and the heir again. Afterward, don't come to the Liu family manor again. Cultivate peacefully in the medical hall. With your cultivation speed, you will sooner or later become a Zodiac."

After saying that, he pushed open the courtyard door and made way.

Chen Ji turned his head and suddenly saw Bai Li, who he didn't know when, was standing in front of the door, staring fixedly at him.

He wanted to walk inside, but Bai Li blocked the way, hesitating, only saying coldly, "Go back."

Chen Ji smiled, casually pushed away her arm, and was about to walk inside. "County Princess, I have something to ask Wang Ye. This is dim sum from Zheng Xin Zhai, you and the heir..."

However, Bai Li snatched the dim sum from his hand and threw it out the door. The hemp rope wrapping the dim sum broke, and the dim sum scattered on the ground into pieces.

Bai Li said coldly, "Chen Ji, you're just a greedy little apprentice. If I hadn't seen you were poor and pitiful, I wouldn't have been kind enough to pay for your travel expenses, let alone know you. What is your identity? What is my identity? Why do you need to come and give me dim sum? Get out!"

As she spoke, Bai Li slammed the courtyard door shut and bolted it.

Inside the door, Bai Li leaned against the door, biting her lip, her eyes lowered. Outside the door, Chen Ji lowered his head and looked at the dim sum on the ground for a long time without speaking.

One door separated them, like separating ten thousand miles.

Just at this moment, Xi Feng ran over, pinching a piece of letter paper. "Adult, Bai Long has sent someone to deliver an order, saying they caught Yun Fei's personal nanny, Xi Tang, in Luo city's east market and know Yun Fei's approximate hiding place. He wants us to assemble our people and enter the city to search for her!"

Jin Zhu took the letter paper and glanced at it, then lifted his steps and walked outside. "Quick, quick, quick, don't let Yun Yang and Jiao Tu steal the credit!"

Chen Ji followed them out. When they reached the corner, he suddenly stopped and turned his head to look towards the end of the small road where the door was already closed.

Jin Zhu turned his head and urged, "What are you doing, hurry up and go!"

"Coming."