Chapter 40: Breaking Through the Wall

General Wang's voice dropped, heavy with purpose. "Chunhua, have you found anything?"

Chunhua’s voice was thick with suppressed tears. "No…"

She turned, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at She Dengke. A flicker of doubt, and perhaps relief, crossed She Dengke's face.

General Wang glanced at Chunhua, then at She Dengke, his voice chilling. "I trust Miss Chunhua will have solid evidence next time before summoning us. We are the Prince's Thousand-Year Army, his personal guard, not some paltry constabulary chasing after chickens. Let us go."

As the guards prepared to depart, Elder Yao stepped forward, blocking their path. In a soft voice, he said, "Apologies are due."

General Wang was silent for a moment, then turned to Chen Ji. "My apologies, we have caused much disturbance!"

Chen Ji spoke slowly. "Would General Wang trouble himself to clarify matters at my door? Otherwise, my neighbors will shun me hereafter."

General Wang shook his head. "That, I cannot do. Let's go!"

The Wangfu guards arrived swiftly and departed just as quickly. Chunhua looked at She Dengke, her lips parted as if to speak, but no words came. Finally, her eyes red-rimmed, she turned and left. "You tried to ruin me!"

"Wait!" Chen Ji called out.

Chunhua stopped, turning back to face Chen Ji, a hint of fear in her eyes. "What do you want? I didn't want to, but I had no choice."

"A word in private," Chen Ji said.

Chen Ji led Chunhua to the doorway and spoke softly. "When you return, inform Consort Jing that she and I need not be enemies. Liu Shiyu was not killed by me, nor by the Secret Spy Division. The Liu family silenced him. Just as I helped her find the lead glass cup last time, I can help her seek vengeance now. Deliver this message. It is of no concern to you."

Chunhua was startled for a moment, then turned and departed.

Chen Ji stood at the entrance of the medical hall, listening to the murmurs of the surrounding populace and watching Chunhua's retreating figure.

The setting sun cast an orange glow that slowly faded from his form, giving way to the encroaching night.

The Secret Spy Division, the Military Intelligence Division, Consort Jing, Consort Yun – these individuals were like colossal mountains in this world, seemingly capable of crushing him with a flick of their wrist.

Chen Ji's fate was not his own. His first arrival in this world was a struggle for survival in the crevices of existence.

But now, a chessboard lay before him. He gently placed a piece at the 'Spring Corner,' a seemingly insignificant move that might not determine victory or defeat, but he played chess with a wild abandon, never following the conventional path.

He returned to the medical hall, only to find Elder Yao glaring at She Dengke. "Your wings have grown hard? Kneel!"

She Dengke obediently knelt, weeping and snotting. "Master, I didn't intend for this! Chunhua said Consort Jing made her do it, or she would be killed tonight. Chunhua told me I only needed to hide a pearl in Chen Ji's clothes, and he would be expelled from the Imperial Medical Academy. She promised to give me all her savings to compensate Chen Ji, so he could start a small business after leaving the medical hall."

As he spoke, She Dengke pulled out three silver ingots, two silver hairpins, two silver bracelets, and thirty-six copper coins from his bosom.

Elder Yao turned to Chen Ji. "This is your matter. What do you say?"

Chen Ji stood in silence.

Chunhua could have offered ten taels, fifty taels, or even five hundred taels of silver. But she gave precisely thirty taels and thirty-six copper coins, because that was all she had.

Could he forgive? He could not.

He knew that in this era, a girl like Chunhua had no choice. If she refused, Consort Jing truly would have killed her.

But if he had been successfully framed, would the outcome have been merely expulsion from the Imperial Medical Academy? No, he would surely have been beaten to death by Chunrong's thugs.

He had initially thought of the medical hall as his home, and his master and fellow disciples as his family. But reality rarely aligned with expectations.

The most damnable aspect of this world was that being a good person offered no protection.

Chen Ji was not a good person.

He picked up the scattered silver, bracelets, hairpins, and copper coins. "I will take these things. However, Senior Brother She, you and Chunhua each owe me a life. When I call upon you to repay, you must repay, understood?"

She Dengke nodded wildly. "Understood! Understood!"

Chen Ji turned and walked back into the main hall of the medical hall. Liu Quxing looked at his back, wanting to speak but refraining, feeling that anything said now would be useless.

Elder Yao looked down at the kneeling She Dengke. "Bewitched by a woman. Go and kneel in your room. Don't be an eyesore here. Although Chen Ji has not pursued this matter, if it happens again, this medical hall will not accommodate you."

***

Night fell, and the Taiping Medical Hall grew quiet, as if the events of the day had never occurred.

Chen Ji stood behind the counter, propping up his chin.

Black Cloud emerged from the shadows, lightly leaping onto the counter and settling down. It spat a round pearl into Chen Ji's palm.

It meowed softly. "Don't be sad, don't be angry."

Chen Ji tucked the pearl into his sleeve. "I'm not sad, nor am I angry. Sadness and anger are the emotions of the weak and useless... Let's talk about happier things, let's count our wealth!"

"I have now lit sixteen lamps of spirit flame. I feel I could take on a Secret Spy without issue. When the Wangfu guards confined me today, I felt I could completely break free. I wonder how many more lamps I need to light to defeat Si Cao, Lin Chaoqing, Yun Yang, and Jiao Tu…"

"The pearl can't be sold yet. I'll sell it in another city later. I bought six ginseng roots at the Bailu Pavilion earlier. One was given to Elder Yao, leaving five. They cost a total of one hundred ninety-five taels of silver… Including the fifty taels under my bed and the money Chunhua compensated me with, we have eighty-five taels of silver and one hundred twenty-one copper coins remaining."

Black Cloud looked doubtful. "How many roasted chickens can that buy?"

Chen Ji calculated for a long time but couldn't figure it out. "...Many! When I bought the ginseng, that Si Cao really didn't give me any discount. Should I find a way to join the Military Intelligence Division's Hai Dongqing in Luocheng and become a shopkeeper at the Bailu Pavilion? It would be perfect, I studied medicine, the profession fits…"

If he could manage the Bailu Pavilion, even without embezzling, he could at least buy ginseng at wholesale price!

Just then, Black Cloud's ears perked up. It heard faint, disordered footsteps approaching the medical hall from outside the door. Several figures were closing in.

"Chen Ji, someone's coming, quite a few!"

"Huh," Chen Ji blew out the oil lamp, and quietly moved behind the door, listening.

Who could it be?

The Ning Dynasty Secret Spy Division or the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Division? Or was Consort Jing still unwilling to give up, sending more assassins?

In this situation of multiple identities, when assassins came, Chen Ji couldn't even determine who was making the move.

However, before he could finish his thoughts, he heard a voice from the backyard. "Quick, be quiet!"

Chen Ji whirled around. Looking through the corridor between the main hall and the backyard, he saw a tall figure vaulting over the wall into the yard!

He was surrounded!

He signaled Black Cloud to hide in the darkness and himself drew a short medicine-cutting knife from behind the counter, quietly creeping towards the backyard.

Chen Ji's palms were slightly sweaty. Surrounded by over a dozen people front and back, such a grand mobilization to encircle and kill was something he absolutely could not handle.

But before he reached the backyard, he saw a small monk climbing over the wall that separated the medical hall from the Wangfu!

The little monk's bald head shone brightly in the moonlight as he puffed and panted, struggling to climb over the courtyard wall. And the one who had already climbed over, upon closer inspection, was none other than the Jingwangfu's heir, who had been so full of youthful vigor during the day!

In his surprise, a voice from Anxi Street outside the medical hall called out, "Everyone, please be patient, the heir will be out shortly!"

Chen Ji turned back to look at the front door, then looked at the heir and the little monk in the yard, and the one who was currently climbing over the wall… Princess Bai Li.

Chen Ji: Ah?

At this late hour, he had expected Consort Jing to send ten more assassins to kill him, but he had been mistaken.

Chen Ji slapped the little monk's bald head. "Hey, what are you all doing?"

At his words, the little monk and the heir jumped in fright. The head of Princess Bai Li, who was clinging to the wall, quickly shrank back, only to stealthily peek out a moment later, looking towards the medical hall's backyard.

Under the moonlight, Chen Ji held a knife, the slender girl clung to the wall, and the heir and the little monk looked like guilty thieves. None of them had expected to meet like this.

Just like the beginning of all stories, the meeting of people was sometimes sudden.

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow and asked, "Heir, is it proper to climb over someone's yard wall late at night?"

The heir looked doubtful. "You know me?"

Chen Ji sneered. "I know. I even held you when you were young."

The heir: "…"

Zhu Bai Li, clinging to the wall, laughed heartily. "Brother, he's teasing you."

"Keep your voice down," the heir whispered urgently. "Don't attract the guards!"

The heir looked at the medical hall apprentice in front of him, not angry, and came forward with a cheerful smile, wanting to put his arm around Chen Ji's shoulder. But upon seeing the short knife in Chen Ji's hand, he disheartenedly retreated. "It's like this, little brother, you know who we are. The Wangfu has a curfew in the evening, and free entry and exit are not allowed. So, we're just borrowing a path through your medical hall. Don't worry, we won't damage anything!"

A Wangfu curfew? Chen Ji had never heard of it, but coupling it with the heir's earlier statement about the "strict old master," perhaps this curfew was specifically for the heir and the princess.

So, instead of using the main entrance of the Wangfu, they chose to climb over the medical hall wall.

As he thought, the little monk used the moonlight to examine Chen Ji, his eyes suddenly brightening. "So it's you! You're in this medical hall?"

The heir looked doubtful and asked in a low voice, "You two know each other?"

The little monk smiled. "We do! We saw him during the day, he's a very powerful person. I wanted to ask him for some pointers, but he disappeared into the crowd."