Chapter 212: Assassination

“Young gentleman, quickly think, exactly which stanza is missing.”

“It’s hard to see such a good poem, and you just forgot one stanza, it really makes us all unable to sleep.”

Literary men and scholars spoke one after another, completely forgetting about the matter of "betraying King Jing" and pestering Chen Ji, making it impossible for him not to think of the incomplete poem.

To them, a flawed good poem was like a beautiful woman covering half her face with a veil, making people’s hearts unbearably itchy. This 'Breaking Formation Subsong', seemingly a straightforward and heartfelt ‘heroic declaration’, actually expressed the 'grief' and 'regret' of ambitions unfulfilled. When drunk, he seemed to be that young general again, amidst the cold gleam of knives and swords in the camp tent, and the continuous rise and fall of bugle calls outside.

Waking from a great drunken dream, there were no soldiers beside him, no battlefield. His bowstring was untied and hung high on a cabinet, only leaving behind his greying hair.

Pitiable, lamentable.

Zhang Zhuo and Zhang Xia in the crowd looked towards Chen Ji.

Only the two of them, father and daughter, knew that after Chen Ji left this poem for King Jing, he could never write another half-sentence of poetry.

Zhang Zhuo walked up and patted his shoulder, saying in a low voice: "It's been hard on you."

Chen Ji smiled: "It's nothing." Zhang Zhuo’s eyes shifted: "Did you really forget a stanza, or was the poem text taboo and couldn't be written?"

Chen Ji said lightly: "Really forgot."

Chen Ji wasn't lying. He was originally not good at literature. The poetry he had given to the Crown Prince before was also given half a sentence at a time. It was already not easy for him to remember this poem the most. Before writing it, he was still afraid he had written a sentence wrong or remembered a sentence wrong.

He really forgot.

At this time, General Wang saw everyone discussing poetry and stepped forward, saying coldly: "Zhang Da, can you let me and Chen Ji have a word alone?"

Zhang Zhuo did not avoid him: "No. General Wang, you want to unjustly accuse Chen Ji without distinguishing right from wrong. How can this matter be resolved?"

Chen Ji held Zhang Zhuo's arm: "Zhang Adult, let me talk to General Wang for a few sentences."

Zhang Zhuo glanced at him, waved his robe sleeve, and turned to the side. Xiao Man and Zhang Xia also moved away.

General Wang walked closer, standing only a foot away from Chen Ji. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a low voice: "You, a mere youth, reacted quickly."

Chen Ji smiled: "General Wang overpraises."

General Wang said in a deep voice: "You and I both know the contents of the blood letter clearly. What reaction do you think the Secret Spy Department will have when they hear today's words? When everyone knows that the blood letter is not the poetry you wrote, do you think you can still escape the accusations?"

Chen Ji’s eyelids drooped slightly.

Currently, the Secret Spy Department is only announcing that King Jing committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and the case is still under investigation.

As for the progress of the investigation and the evidence obtained, it is all secret and not publicized.

Originally, the Secret Spy Department wanted to use Yun Concubine to supplement the evidence. As long as they could definitively prove that King Jing’s mansion was connected to the Jing Dynasty, the crime of treason and rebellion would be established. But now, Liu Cabinet Elder, who could prove this matter, hanged himself. Jing Concubine hit a pillar and died. Yun Concubine disappeared from the world without a trace.

All the evidence has become incomplete.

Bai Long has King Jing’s blood letter in his hand, but the content of the blood letter can only prove that after King Jing was framed and imprisoned, he once tried to use the Qian Sui Army to break him out and protect himself. Even if this blood letter were taken out, in the eyes of the civil officials, it would have no direct relation to the matter of treason. Clearly, the eunuch party was the first to persecute loyal officials, and King Jing was only protecting himself afterward.

Therefore, Bai Long directly suppressed the matter of the blood letter and treated it as if it did not exist. King Jing’s treason case also became a pending case.

This is also why Bai Long could help Chen Ji preserve the county princess and prevent her from being executed. At the same time, Chen Ji also wondered why Bai Long, such a meticulous person, made mistakes in the matter of convicting King Jing, allowing Liu Cabinet Elder to hang himself and Jing Concubine to hit a pillar. Bai Long might have been present at the scene. Why didn't the other party save these two key witnesses?

Was Bai Long intentional, or was he genuinely too busy to notice?

If Bai Long was indeed intentional in making this case a pending case, what was the reason?

As for the blood letter…

As long as Bai Long still needs Chen Ji to lurk in the Chen family, he will cover for him.

General Wang's biggest mistake today is that he doesn't know that Chen Ji has already joined Bai Long and become Bai Long of the Secret Spy Department.

Chen Ji looked up at General Wang: "General Wang should take care of himself. Those who betray their master for glory will not have a good end." General Wang let out a cold laugh: "Young people are used to speaking fiercely. It's useless. And I'll give you some more time."

After saying that, he turned and left, entering the main hall to sit down.

Xiao Man finally dared to come forward and muttered in a low voice: "Young master, he is slandering you! Can it just be settled like this?" Chen Ji smiled helplessly: "Otherwise, what can I do? He is a military officer of the fifth rank in the Qian Sui Army. Although I am a bastard son of the Chen mansion, what can I do to him?"

Xiao Man was indignant: "A fifth-rank general is amazing! I dared to contradict him. Why are you always being bullied, young master…"

At the banquet, Zhang Zhuo seemed to want to ease the atmosphere, constantly urging wine on General Wang, and drinking himself until he was dead drunk. By the time the banquet ended, it was already evening. General Wang looked at Zhang Zhuo, who was lying prostrate on the table, and swayed as he stood up. Supported by his armored soldiers, he went to the carriage outside the gate. He turned his head and glanced into the depths of the Zhang mansion. The guests had all scattered, as if nothing had happened today. Everything was the same as in the past, calm and uneventful.

General Wang sat steadily in the carriage, exhaled a breath of wine, and suppressed the drunkenness on his face: "Return to camp."

The carriage slowly drove away, followed by more than a dozen Qian Sui Army armored soldiers urging their horses, guarding on both sides.

……The sunset sank in the west, as if drawing out the last thread of warmth from the human world. Under the night curtain, the pavilions and terraces rose and fell continuously, and one lamp after another gradually extinguished.

Chen Ji sat silently on a gray roof ridge, and Hei Yun sat beside him, his ears perked up.

Under the moonlight, in the empty alleys of Luo City, the flying eaves hooked up like black waves rippling towards the distance. It was as if only this one person and one cat were sitting in the world. Hei Yun meowed: "Xiao Man came back to Ming Quan Garden today and was sulking all afternoon, eh. Listening to you all talk, it seems that General Wang wanted to splash the dirty water of betraying King Jing onto you at the banquet."

Chen Ji hummed: "Yes."

Hei Yun thought for a moment: "Why not expose him?" "No need," Chen Ji said calmly: "Let him show off his sharp tongue if he wants to. No matter if he says a thousand words or a million words today, I can handle it, as long as he is willing to leave the Qian Sui Army camp."

These days, General Wang had always stayed within the Qian Sui Army camp, surrounded by over a thousand soldiers. It was harder to kill him than to ascend to heaven.

Chen Ji had finally waited for this opportunity before leaving Luo City, and it was only this one time. Hei Yun meowed: "Coming."

From the distance came the sound of horse hooves and wheels. The Qian Sui Army guarding General Wang was coming towards the south city gate.

Chen Ji drew out two Emei thorns from his waist: "I will go and assassinate him. You wait for an opportunity in the dark. Remember, the one named Wang must die under an Emei thorn."

Hei Yun arched his back and stretched: "I understand." The carriage was getting closer and closer. The Qian Sui Army armored soldiers’ gazes were like knives, vigilantly sweeping around. However, just at this moment, the hair on Hei Yun's spine suddenly exploded: "Meow!"

Chen Ji took advantage of the moonlight to look into the distance, only to see a cloud of black smoke leaping nimbly on the roof in the distance, like a cunning antelope running on the grassland, effortlessly moving up and down on the high and low pavilion roofs, as if stepping on clouds.

With a sheep's body, a human face, feet stepping on black auspicious clouds, and a blood-basin mouth tightly closed between its chest and abdomen. This was the first time Chen Ji had seen the glutton that Hei Yun had mentioned. If he hadn't seen the scene of the other party eating people, he wouldn't have felt how terrifying this spirit beast was.

It's just, why would the other party appear here?

He looked, trying to find the person driving the glutton behind it, but looking around, he simply couldn't find the other party's hiding place, and couldn't even confirm whether the other party had come here. The next moment, he saw the glutton on the roof, moving as fast as the wind and lightning, chasing after the Qian Sui Army from behind.

The black figure leaped down from the roof.

The Qian Sui Army armored soldiers urged their horses forward. A patch of gloom covered the moonlight above their heads. By the time they looked up, it was too late. With a bang, the glutton hit the carriage directly, smashing the wooden carriage into pieces and scattering wood chips everywhere.

General Wang, caught off guard inside the carriage, was actually knocked out of the carriage and smashed far away onto the brick wall beside the road, then fell to the ground.

Chen Ji muttered: "Ferocious, ferocious!" On the long street, the Qian Sui Army armored soldiers roared angrily: "Protect the general!"

More than a dozen armored soldiers urged their horses forward, blocking in front of General Wang. However, what surprised people was that the glutton did not chase after them to fight again, but instead turned around and ran away.

It was as if children were fighting, and one child kicked out a foot, then took advantage of the moment to leave, gaining something from the kick. He only saw it lightly leap onto the roof, stepping on the gray tiles, and disappearing into the night among the undulating roof ridges. It was as if it had only come here out of temporary interest, and when its interest was exhausted, it could happily go home.

Hei Yun: "Ah, this!" Chen Ji and Hei Yun crouched on the rooftop, staring wide-eyed and speechless, still not understanding what this glutton was all about after a while.

Moreover, the other party first swallowed the patrol official monitoring Chen Ji, and then came to hit General Wang's carriage.

To say this had nothing to do with Chen Ji was absolutely impossible.

Hei Yun meowed: "What do we do now?" Chen Ji said calmly: "Kill him. Take advantage of his illness to take his life. Remember, anyone who sees you make a move, leave none."

However, just as the person and the cat were preparing to rush down and kill, they saw another figure quickly approaching from a distance. The other party was dressed in black, black pants, a black hat, and was extremely thin, yet moved like thunder.

The black-clothed person acted without hesitation, as if they had thought about it a thousand times. The moment they saw the Qian Sui Army, they leaped down from the roof to kill. A Qian Sui Army armored soldier drew his waist knife and slashed over, but the black-clothed person crouched down and flashed under the horse's belly, not getting entangled with the armored soldiers at all, only wanting General Wang's life!

Another Qian Sui Army soldier saw the situation and was suddenly furious, urging his horse forward. The war horse raised its front hooves high and stepped down towards the black-clothed person's path: "Die!"

In a flash, the black-clothed person retreated while drawing out two Emei thorns from his waist. One of them was thrown out, passing through the gap between the armored soldier and the war horse, and nailed into General Wang's shoulder! General Wang grunted, and Hei Yun looked at the Emei thorn in the black-clothed person's hand, and then at the two Emei thorns in Chen Ji's hand…

Chen Ji originally intended to place the crime of killing General Wang on this person, but he didn't expect the main culprit to come and kill him!