Chapter 615
Persuasion
Chen Ji looked at the Treatise on Typhoid Fever on the table: "It seems Lord Bailong is aware of this as well. I won't be able to leave for the time being."
Bai Long sat opposite him: "With the court in turmoil, I envy you for being able to hide away in peace and tranquility here."
The monkey spread a sheepskin chessboard on the table and placed two tubes of chess pieces on it.
Bai Long looked at Chen Ji: "Are you just idling around anyway?"
Chen Ji picked up a black chess piece and casually placed it in the corner: "Lord Bailong came to the Censorate just to play chess? And he brought so many zodiac animals with him."
Bai Long also placed a white piece: "The three sick tigers of my Secret Service have been imprisoned in the Censorate. Someone has to come and support us. Otherwise, when the Grand Chancellor comes back, he will think we are useless and do not care about camaraderie at all."
Chen Ji's hand, which was holding the chess piece, paused slightly.
The bright rabbit and the cloud sheep stood at the door and couldn't help but glance at each other.
Beneath the monkey mask, a hoarse voice rose in pitch: "Is he really a sick tiger?"
A woman's voice sneered, "I told you long ago he was a sick tiger, but you didn't believe me. Who else would have gone that way for Princess Baili that night besides him?"
A shrill voice said, "I guessed he was Sick Tiger too, but I didn't say it!"
The woman sneered, "Hindsight is 20/20!"
Chen Ji took a deep breath. Although the outside world was unaware that he had obtained the Sick Tiger waist token, many people within the Secret Service had speculated about it, but it had never been made public.
Now that Bai Long has revealed this secret, I wonder what his intentions are.
Chen Ji placed a piece on the board: "What are your orders, Lord White Dragon?"
Bai Long picked up a white chess piece: "Unless otherwise instructed, you and I are both among the top three, and we should naturally look out for and help each other from now on. However, there are some things that need to be clarified. Jiao Tu and Yun Yang will be under your command, while the daily affairs of the Secret Service will remain under my jurisdiction..."
Chen Ji shook his head: "I have no intention of vying for power. Let Jiao Tu and Yun Yang remain under the jurisdiction of Lord Bai Long."
Bai Long chuckled and placed the white piece on the center of the board: "Alright."
The two were playing a fast-paced game, going back and forth, and in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they had almost filled the chessboard.
A hoarse voice from beneath the monkey mask asked, "Who won?"
The woman sneered, "Of course, Lord White Dragon won."
White Dragon picked up the white stones one by one in his hand: "You have lost your competitive spirit."
Chen Ji also picked up the black pieces: "Winning or losing won't cost you anything, right?"
Bai Long paused in his chess-picking: "Does Lord Binghu have nothing else he wants to do? I heard someone mention that you wanted to go back to Luocheng and open a clinic."
Chen Ji picked up the black pieces, saying absentmindedly, "I don't want to think about it anymore. Reading medical books is just a way to pass the time."
Seeing Chen Ji's lack of interest, Bai Long continued picking up the chess pieces: "Opening a clinic is a good idea. Even if it's not for a living, it would be good to save a few lives."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Everyone else thinks I'm sharp enough to be used as a knife, so why are you advising me to open a clinic?"
Bai Long said casually, "I just feel that Lord Binghu is disheartened, which is a bit of a pity. Even if he can't open a clinic in Luocheng, it would be good to open one next to Shaojiu Alley. My Directorate of Ceremonial has a property there that has been vacant for a long time... Before Physician Yao went to the Imperial Medical Academy, he practiced medicine here. It would be perfect for Lord Binghu to open a clinic there."
Chen Ji was taken aback.
strangeness.
This white dragon seems to have really come to persuade him to open a clinic?
Chen Ji joked, "Does Lord White Dragon intend to earn some rent from me?"
Bai Long suddenly said, "Lord Sick Tiger is one of the three zodiac signs in my Secret Service. He only needs a shop; there's no need to pay."
Unable to fathom Bai Long's intentions, Chen Ji changed the subject: "Lord Wu Xiu has been sentenced to immediate execution and imprisoned in the inner prison. Who is now in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial? Has the Grand Chancellor returned?"
Bai Long put all the white chess pieces into the bamboo tube: "The Grand Chancellor hasn't returned yet. Without His Majesty's approval, no one knows whether the Grand Chancellor can return. Everything depends on the turmoil in the Three Judicial Offices and how each side reacts."
Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "The Minister of Justice has already been chosen; this is the Hu family's trump card in supporting Prince Fu. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Right Vice Censor-in-Chief haven't been chosen yet; are they trying to see what price each family can offer?"
Bai Long paused, then waved to Jiao Tu and Yun Yang: "Go outside and wait."
The clever rabbit and the cloud sheep closed the door and stood guard outside.
The high-pitched voice from behind the monkey mask rose to a louder tone: "See, I told you he doesn't treat us like outsiders. He doesn't even need us to hide when he whispers to him."
The hoarse voice said, "It's nothing more than a way to win people's hearts."
Bai Long glanced at them sideways: "You all go out too."
The woman complained, "It's all your fault. Now we can't eavesdrop on what they're saying."
Bao Hou turned and left, his original voice beneath the mask growling, "Shut up."
Once the courtyard quieted down, Chen Ji placed a black piece on the blank chessboard again: "Lord White Dragon, please speak. I would like to hear the details."
Bai Long followed up with his move: "Do you know why the Three Judicial Offices have been able to hinder His Majesty for so many years?"
Before Chen Ji could answer, he continued, "In his early years, His Majesty wanted to rule personally, so he used the Qi family to get rid of the maternal relatives. At that time, His Majesty personally elevated the Three Judicial Offices to a point where even the Empress Dowager had no right to interfere. Therefore, His Majesty also benefited from the Three Judicial Offices. However, every sword has two edges. After the Qi family eliminated the Liu family, they became too powerful to control. The Three Judicial Offices were originally a sword in His Majesty's hands, but later they went out of control. So some people wanted to clear this obstacle for His Majesty."
Chen Ji stared at the chessboard: "Prince Jing?"
"That's right, but it's more than that."
Chen Ji then asked, "And what about the Inner Minister, Mr. Feng, and Wu Xiu?"
Bai Long laughed and said, "Clever."
Chen Ji placed a chess piece down: "Now Your Majesty can rest easy."
Bai Long changed the subject: "Is it really a good thing?"
Chen Ji was taken aback.
Bai Long said meaningfully, "Of the thirty-three emperors of my Ning Dynasty, only seven were wise rulers who are praised by the people. As for the rest, one liked to seize the wives and daughters of his ministers, another increased taxes just to build palaces and temples, and yet another did not attend court for thirty years just to resist the civil officials, causing the government to stagnate for thirty years. During the Chongjing era, the people were destitute and starving, and the people ate tree bark and even exchanged children to eat. It was only ninety years ago... Now, during the Jianing era, we can consider it a rare year of peace."
Chen Ji finally understood why Bai Long had sent the others away.
He said calmly, "Lord White Dragon, aren't you afraid I'll accuse you of a grave offense of disrespect?"
Bai Long stopped making moves and continued to speak to himself: "With civil officials to check and balance things, at least the eunuch faction and the imperial relatives will not dare to act recklessly and without restraint."
He then changed the subject: "But civil officials are often shameless. In the past, civil officials still had integrity and dignity, but in recent years they have all become actors, putting on moral dramas on the surface. Filial piety and integrity have become the stepping stones to becoming an official, and behind the scenes, even impeachment has become a business."
Chen Ji frowned: "What exactly is Lord White Dragon trying to say?"
Bai Long looked up at him: "What about the people?"
The traces of the past remain silent.
Bai Long stroked the chess pieces with his fingers and said calmly, "The flood in Yuzhou has scattered more than 80,000 households, leaving them homeless. Women are holding their newborn babies, but they have no milk and are on the verge of tears. Officials set up soup kitchens, but deliberately placed them 30 miles away, and the people were exhausted just walking there. The people of Yuzhou fled south to Jinling, where now the pleasure boats and painted barges are brightly lit, and the newly arrived singing girls on board are all women who sold themselves in Yuzhou."
Chen Ji said nonchalantly, "Why is Lord Bailong telling me all this? I am but a nobody, and my words carry little weight. I have no power to control such matters."
Bai Long continued, "Do you still remember those three sentences you wrote when you were running the morning newspaper?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "My lord, that was just a casual remark."
Bai Long sighed, "May all the poor families in the world have books on their desks and light in their windows. May all the people in the world have fire in their stoves and no frozen bones in the streets. May all the people in the world have rice in their bowls and millet in their pots. You're just saying it casually, but has anyone actually cut out those three pages and pasted them next to their stoves?" Chen Ji remained silent.
Bai Long tapped the table: "You exposed the Li family pawnshop in front of Renshou Palace. The court confiscated the Li family's property, waived the high interest rates for the people, and allowed them to repay only the principal. You may not have heard of it, but I know that some people are kneeling on the ground, kowtowing and chanting your name, remembering your kindness."
The traces of the past suddenly became clear.
Now, all 720 flames in his body have returned to a yellow hue, like candles flickering in the wind, yet a persistent thought keeps the flame burning, which must originate from here.
But why would Bai Long tell him all this?
The other party first asked him to open a clinic, and now they're bringing up the common people, trying to persuade him to do something in a roundabout way.
Chen Ji remained silent for a long time: "Lord Bailong, I only wanted to bring down the Qi family back then. Whether it benefited the people or not was not my concern. Lord Bailong, let's be frank. I don't want to be someone's tool anymore."
Bai Long placed a chess piece on the chessboard: "What about the people around you? Aren't you going to make some plans for them?"
Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "I will send them away."
Bai Long suddenly threw all the chess pieces back into the bamboo tube: "Send them away... You really don't believe they're willing to share your joys and sorrows? Never mind, there's no point in saying more. Since Lord Binghu is unwilling to do anything, let him stay here in the Censorate and be supervised. He'll have three meals a day, so he won't go hungry."
Having said that, the white dragon stood up and strode away.
Chen Ji stared in astonishment at the swaying courtyard gate.
……
……
The white dragon is gone.
Chen Ji sat in the empty courtyard for a long time.
He didn't know what he was thinking when he was spacing out; sometimes he remembered, and sometimes he forgot as soon as he turned his head away.
He occasionally recalled his time at Taiping Medical Clinic when he first arrived in Ningchao, the aroma of medicine in the main hall, the thin mist on Anxi Street, and the way Old Man Yao cursed with a bamboo stick.
He would occasionally laugh at himself, having spent a year running around and narrowly escaped death several times, only to find that others had already laid the groundwork for Jing Wang's exoneration.
If I had known this would happen, I could have stayed in Luocheng and not done so much. The only difference would have been that Bai Li would have come out a few days earlier or later.
Chen Ji suddenly thought that if the little monk asked him again at this moment, if he could go back to a year ago but couldn't change anything, would he still be willing to go back?
This time, he might answer yes again, or he might answer no, but it doesn't seem to matter anymore.
The sky was gradually darkening.
Chen Jicai got up and gathered the remaining chess pieces into a bamboo tube. Then he went back into the house, lit an oil lamp, and turned the pages of the Treatise on Febrile Diseases by the dim flame.
The Censorate was very empty, so empty that only the sound of turning pages could be heard.
It started raining in the middle of the night.
Chen Ji sat behind the desk and looked up. It wasn't the kind of heavy, pattering rain; it was fine, soft raindrops falling on the tiles.
He put on his coat and walked to the eaves, leaning against the doorframe. He watched the rain drip from the eaves, forming lines that disappeared into the darkness where the lamplight couldn't reach.
He reached out to catch it, and rainwater mixed with icy bits fell into his palm, then flowed through his fingers.
He stood there with his arms raised, lost in thought, for the entire night, until the oil lamp in the room went out by itself, until dawn broke and footsteps sounded outside the door again.
Chen Ji came to his senses and realized that his hand was still sticking out of the eaves, his fingertips already white from being soaked in water.
The courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside.
A figure in white, holding an oil-paper umbrella, walked in, his shoes splashing through the puddles. He walked through the rain curtain, across the courtyard, and under the eaves, where he closed his umbrella. Water droplets fell from the umbrella, soaking the ground into a small, dark gray patch.
Bai Long handed the oil paper package to Chen Ji: "Mutton buns, eat them while they're hot."
Chen Ji looked down at the oiled paper package. A small patch of the paper was damp from the heat, and oil droplets were faintly visible through it. The package was warm, and he could feel the heat inside even through the paper.
He was somewhat surprised, thinking that Bai Long wouldn't come again: "Lord Bai Long came by himself?"
Bai Long leaned his wet oil-paper umbrella against the corner of the wall and casually explained, "The court is in turmoil, and His Majesty lost his temper again last night at Renshou Palace. I can't find out why. Rather than living in fear outside, I'd rather come here to find some peace and quiet."
Chen Ji ate the mutton buns slowly, wondering if they were as delicious as the ones Wu Xiu had eaten back then.
Bai Long looked at him: "Playing hand games?"
"Let's go inside," Chen Ji said, finishing his steamed bun in a few bites. He wiped his mouth, laid out the sheepskin chessboard on the table in the room, and sat down opposite Bai Long.
Chen Ji, playing black, made his first move quickly, seemingly without thinking.
White Dragon was equally swift, each move like a sword strike, precisely severing Chen Ji's path. In just over twenty moves, Black was trapped in a cramped corner, unable to advance or retreat.
The pieces were discarded, and the game was restarted.
Let's try again. I lost again.
Let's try again. Still, I lose.
Bai Long seemed like a completely different person today, showing no mercy whatsoever and defeating him in every single round.
Chen Ji wasn't angry. He would put away the pieces after losing, and then set them up again.
Fifth game.
The tenth inning.
The rain pattered softly outside the window, falling on the tiles and mingling with the sound of raindrops on the steps. Inside, only the crisp sound of chess pieces hitting the chessboard could be heard, one after another, unhurried and gentle.
Neither of them spoke again, and neither mentioned yesterday's events.
By evening, Bailong had won seventeen games, then got up, opened his umbrella, and left.
Chen Ji stared blankly at the departing figure, as if the other person had truly come here to escape the hustle and bustle of the day.
He suddenly asked, "Lord White Dragon, if you were to return to a year ago, would you be willing?"
Bai Long, holding up her umbrella, turned to look at him and said, "I'm willing."
Chen Ji thought for a moment: "What if we go back but can't change anything?"
Bai Long was silent for a moment, then said, "I'm willing."
Chen Ji responded with an "oh".
Bai Long asked, "Are you willing?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "I haven't decided yet."
Bai Long held up his oil-paper umbrella and watched him quietly: "I know you are disheartened. But in this year, besides saving the princess, there must be other things that are also important."
Chen Ji fell into thought and remained silent for a long time.
Bai Long didn't wait for his answer and turned to leave. (End of Chapter)