Chapter 650
9 years old
The drum for petitioning in front of the Meridian Gate was beaten even louder than the drum during curfew.
Chen Ji stood under the eaves of the Wenhua Hall, and Li Dongyan beside him sighed, "When the Dengwen Drum sounds, the drummer goes straight to the emperor. Even if someone is about to be executed, the executioner can be spared. I spent twelve years in the capital and never heard the Dengwen Drum. Now that I've just returned, I've heard it. It makes up for a regret."
Chen Ji casually replied, "I've only been in the capital for a year, and the Dengwen Drum has already sounded three times. I'm getting a little tired of it."
Li Dongyan turned his head, his gaze scrutinizing him: "Has Lord Chen ever considered that the repeated sounding of the Dengwen Drum might be because of you?"
Chen Ji raised an eyebrow.
Listening to the drumbeats, Li Dongyan joked, "Has Lord Chen ever heard that the capital city never fears ambitious people, but only three kinds of people? The first is the carefree wandering knight-errant who dares to cause bloodshed among officials. The second is the old censor carrying a coffin, who can use his life to nail someone to the annals of history, never to be able to turn back for eternity."
Hearing the drumbeats, Chen Ji casually asked, "What about the third one?"
Li Dongyan smiled: "Starving peasants. Lord Chen, please wait here for Lord Zhang. I'm heading to the Meridian Gate. If Old Master Qi really dies there, I'm afraid I'll have to return to Taiyuan and deal with scoundrels and all sorts of shady characters. As I said before, I'm keeping the Secret Service in check because they're used to doing evil. If Lord Chen doesn't follow their example, there's no need to worry about me."
Chen Ji cupped his hands and said, "I've remembered it."
Li Dongyan headed towards the Meridian Gate, while Chen Ji headed towards the East China Gate. The two left the eaves and went in opposite directions.
In front of Donghua Gate, Jiao Tu leaned against the wall, gloating: "The other day, that Xuan She mocked me for opening the Liu family's ancestral tomb, saying that I was almost exiled to Lingnan by a little trick. But look what happened, he himself fell into the trap."
Yun Yang said irritably, "It's too early to gloat now. With the sounding of the petition drum today, if my secret service has to be supervised by censors from now on, our hands and feet will be completely tied."
Jiao Tu stopped laughing upon hearing this and said resentfully, "It's all Xuan She's fault for insisting on lifting Qi Zhen's coffin lid."
Chen Ji felt a sudden jolt in his heart, as if he had seen this story before: back in Luocheng, he had also lured Jiao Tu and Yun Yang to the Liu family ancestral graves to open the coffins, forcing the two of them to leave.
Today, the Military Intelligence Bureau also lured Xuan She into opening her coffin, forcing the Censorate to carry her coffin and die in remonstrance, thus restraining the eunuch faction.
Is it a coincidence?
Or is someone intentionally replicating their own scheme?
If it was done intentionally, then the sound of the Dengwen Drum was the real declaration of war, as if the other side wanted to use the same tactics that he had used to prove that the other side's intelligence was no less than his own.
Chen Ji suddenly frowned.
No, it's not a coincidence, otherwise the other party wouldn't have sent gunpowder to the Zhang residence... They were after me.
Strange, when did I ever provoke such a person? Why is he so determined to go against me?
At this moment, Zhang Zhuo, carrying a stack of memorials, hurriedly walked out of the Donghua Gate from the Wenhua Hall. Upon seeing Chen Ji, he immediately asked with concern, "Does this Dengwen Drum have anything to do with you?"
Chen Ji was both amused and exasperated: "How could my father-in-law think it's related to me?"
“The previous two times were more or less related to you…” Zhang Zhuo felt relieved: “Since they are not related, let’s go home. This is something Xu Wenhe should be worrying about.”
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Has my father-in-law stopped reviewing memorials?"
Zhang Zhuo stuffed the stack of memorials in his hand into Chen Ji's arms: "It's the same to read them at home. If we stay here, His Majesty might summon us to Renshou Palace for questioning again. We should avoid such trivial matters if possible."
Chen Ji was even more puzzled: "Why don't you bring it home to see it on weekdays?"
Zhang Zhuo glanced at him sideways: "You've just gotten married, so you don't understand yet. You might understand in a few years."
Chen Ji: "..."
He went to the outside of the main room to fetch a carriage, which carried Zhang Zhuo slowly towards the Zhang residence, his mind heavy with worries.
Zhang Zhuo was still reading memorials in the carriage, while Bao Hou sat obediently to the side, letting the dark clouds sleep on his head.
As the sun set, the carriage passed through the Meridian Gate, only to find a thin wooden coffin placed in front of it, with more than twenty imperial censors kneeling beside it. The one in the lead was thin and had gray hair; it was Qi Zhen.
Zhang Zhuo parted the curtains and silently peered through the gap for a long time: "It will be difficult for the Secret Service to do whatever it wants in the future."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Does Father-in-law think His Majesty will agree to the censors' request and make them the 'supervisors' of the Secret Service?"
Zhang Zhuo lowered the curtains and answered irrelevantly, "Chen Ji, what do you think the emperor, who is above all others, fears most?"
Chen Ji thought for a moment: "When a person dies, the light goes out."
Zhang Zhuo smiled and said, "Everyone is afraid of death, so this doesn't count."
Chen Ji countered, "What does my father-in-law think emperors fear most?"
Zhang Zhuo glanced at the precious monkey sitting next to him and said slowly, "Since ancient times, civil officials have tried to restrain emperors with the orthodox tradition, ancestral rules, rites and laws, the three judicial departments, and the power of veto, simply because they hold the power to evaluate emperors, namely posthumous titles and historical records. As long as emperors still care about their posthumous reputation, they must govern the world together with scholar-officials. This is the art of compromise."
At this point, Zhang Zhuo changed the subject: "But once the emperor no longer cares about his posthumous reputation, it will be of no use for the civil officials to kowtow until their heads break or plead with the heavens. In the end, the country belongs to him alone."
As the carriage arrived at the gate of the Zhang residence, Chen Ji handed the reins to the gatekeeper, who said, "Young master, more people have come to wish you a Happy New Year today. Some people from the city who have received your kindness have brought chickens, ducks, fish, and eggs, which Madam has instructed to be taken to the kitchen so as not to go to waste. Another person has brought a box and a letter, which Madam has not allowed to be touched, saying that it should be kept for you to read."
Chen Ji immediately asked, "Where?"
The servant led the carriage toward the side gate: "It's been taken to the West Garden."
Chen Ji abandoned Zhang Zhuo and headed straight for the West Garden, carrying his whale-shaped sword. Xiao Man was in the courtyard when she saw him return. She picked up a white handkerchief and went to greet him, trying to brush off the dust: "Young Master, Sister Xia went to the main hall... Eh?"
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Ji had already swept past her and gone straight into the main room. The door closed in front of her with a dull thud. Inside, a wooden box and a letter sat quietly on the table. The wooden box was exactly the same as the one that had been delivered with gunpowder yesterday, made by the same person.
Chen Ji drew his whale knife and used the tip to pry open the box lid.
Inside is a cloth tiger.
It was very old and worn, like a child's toy. It had been there for so long that one ear was worn through, revealing the yellowed cotton inside. Chen Ji frowned, picked up the cloth tiger, and examined it for a moment. This cloth tiger was no different from those sold on the street, and there was nothing hidden inside.
He leaned the whale knife against the table, then picked up the letter, which was sealed with sealing wax and showed no signs of being opened.
The letter was written in the same handwriting as yesterday:
"Jingchao Military Intelligence Division Chief, Tianzhi, bows again to Your Excellency Wuxiang Viscount."
"In the Battle of Los Angeles, you used the coffin-opening strategy to trap Jiao Tu and Yun Yang in a desperate situation, forcing them to flee thousands of miles away. At that time, you were in the dark while the enemy was in the light, and you struck with one blow. I have repeatedly pondered this situation, and it can be called a brilliant move."
"This time, Master's plan was the same old trick, but I never expected that you would fall for it. Is your wisdom limited to this?"
"Also, congratulations on your birthday! May your future be bright and your youth last forever."
Signed Zhang Qian.
The eleventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-second year of the Jia Ning era.
Chen Ji looked up abruptly after reading the letter.
Tomorrow, the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, is his birthday. If this person hadn't reminded him, he probably would have forgotten. But how did the person giving the gift know his birthday?
The messenger was clearly an old acquaintance of his.
……
……
It was late at night.
Chen Ji lay on the floor, his eyes open, staring at the ceiling.
He carefully reviewed the places he had visited and the people he had met since arriving in Ningchao, pondering which people might know his birth date.
The household register of Ningchao did not record birth dates. The register was updated every ten years, with one register per household, which recorded gender, place of origin, name, age, number of people, and land and property.
For example, Chen Ji's Yellow Register states: Male, from Los Angeles, Chen Ji, eighteen years old, not yet an adult.
There is no date.
Who knows his birth date?
Old Yao, Xiaoman, She Dengke, Liu Quxing, Chen Liqin.
But Old Man Yao and Xiaoman wouldn't be involved with the Military Intelligence Bureau, and Chen Liqin, She Dengke, and Liu Quxing wouldn't be capable of such a feat. So who else would know their own birthday?
His uncle, whom he had never met, might also know, but this matter did not seem to be the work of the other party.
Chen Ji was certain that this matter was not instigated by his uncle. His uncle should already know that he had defected from the Military Intelligence Bureau. If the uncle's men came to Ning Dynasty, the best thing to do would be to expose his identity, not to play games with him.
There are three clues to this person's identity: first, this person belongs to the Military Intelligence Bureau; second, this person knows his/her birth date; and third, this person is secretly competing with himself, wanting to prove that he/she is mentally superior to himself/herself.
Chen Ji pondered for a long time but couldn't find a single person who fit the description.
He took the tattered cloth tiger from under his pillow and held it up in front of him, examining it repeatedly by the moonlight. The other person was someone who liked to pose riddles; perhaps the answer lay in this cloth tiger.
Chen Ji suddenly stopped, staring intently at the cloth tiger in front of him.
At this moment, the sound of the night watchman's gong came from outside the Zhang residence, and the long, drawn-out tune broke through the window: "No illness, no disaster, all is well!"
It's past midnight.
Chen Ji suddenly heard Zhang Xia whisper from inside the tightly closed bed curtains: "I am nineteen years old. May my beloved be healthy and carefree every year."
Chen Ji was slightly taken aback: "You haven't slept at all, are you waiting for midnight to wish me a happy birthday?"
The rustling sound of Zhang Xia turning around came from inside the bed curtains. With her back to Chen Ji, Zhang Xia said, "I was just woken up by the night watchman's gong."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "How did you know my birthday?"
Zhang Xia explained, "Xiaoman said it yesterday. She said that her aunt said that although it's not considered a birthday before fifty, it's always good to have someone remember your birthday. A person's heart is very big and empty, and it needs birthdays, festivals, family, and friends to fill it. Only when the heart is filled can the body grow flesh and blood."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Thank you."
Zhang Xia said in a low voice, "Try saying thank you again?"
Chen Ji said awkwardly, "I just said it offhand."
"Even casual remarks are not allowed!" (End of Chapter)