Chapter 657
Yao An
It was getting dark.
Chen Ji, wearing a straw hat, leaned against the eaves of a building on Xuanwumen Street, quietly watching the pedestrians come and go.
As the sun sank behind the ridge beasts of Xuanwumen Gate Tower, the last ray of light peeked through the crenellations, illuminating half of its body in pale gold and the other half in black.
Until the blackness completely enveloped his body, the evening drum sounded from the city gate tower.
A peddler carrying a load on his shoulder pole came from the north, his wooden crates already empty, hurrying to leave the inner city before the evening drumbeats ceased. In the alley, a woman called out a child's name, urging him to come home for dinner. The child, clutching a small stone he'd picked up from somewhere, ran home.
The streets were full of people heading home, but Chen Ji could not return to his home.
The Jie Fan Guards, disguised as guards, sat in the grain and oil shop opposite Zhang's residence, and even in the alley next to Zhang's residence, they were stationed.
Chen Ji suddenly lowered his head and pulled his straw hat down even further. Only when several pedestrians on their way home passed by did he raise his head slightly.
The story of Shan Junmen spread throughout the capital in a single day. The Secret Service searched every inn and tavern in the city for the Military Intelligence Bureau's spy, while the Jie Fan Guard changed into plain clothes and secretly searched the entire city for him.
Li Dongyan's reaction was even more brutal than Chen Ji had imagined. Faced with an official channel that could devour the dynasty's fortunes, Jie Fanwei would rather kill the innocent than let the guilty go free.
Chen Ji looked at the Zhang family's gate in the distance. Nuan Chun was standing on tiptoe under the Zhang family's plaque, looking left and right, but she hadn't seen anyone returning home yet.
He suddenly realized that this might be the result his senior brother Yao An wanted.
To resolve this matter, we must find our senior brother... but where could he be? To determine his location, we must first determine his intentions.
Chen Ji closed his eyes and pondered. Where did his senior brother go after disappearing for so many years?
Jingchao.
For someone to be able to advance to the Dao Seeking Realm, they must be very close to the center of power. Since they are not in the capital of Ning Dynasty, they must be in the capital of Jing Dynasty.
My senior brother must have heard the news that Grand Secretary Qi and Grand Secretary Xu are nearing the end of their lives when he returned to the capital. How could someone with such greed in his heart miss out on the dynasty's fortune that these two first-rank Grand Secretaries carry? Their fortune is only a hair's breadth away from that of Prince Jing and the Empress.
But as a veteran of the Military Intelligence Bureau, the other party must have other goals in coming to Ningchao. What are these goals?
A jumble of images flashed through Chen Ji's mind: three letters, a box of gunpowder, the academy envoy's corpse, a discarded brush on the ground, Zhang Qian's appearance... all clues related to his senior brother's appearance before and after.
Suddenly, the image in Chen Ji's mind froze on a wooden box, inside which was a tattered cloth tiger.
Chen Ji suddenly opened his eyes, guessing where his senior brother might have gone.
Just then, the Zhang family's carriage passed by. Xiaoman, driving the carriage, complained, "Young master is really something. He clearly said he would be back soon, but he made us wait in the teahouse all day."
At this point, Xiaoman changed the subject and sighed, "I wonder if Young Master has had lunch yet. It's not good for your health to be busy and not eat. And those damned rumors, I wonder if they will have any impact on Young Master. That damned Jingchao Military Intelligence Bureau, why are they going against Young Master? Young Master hasn't even had a child with Sister Xia yet."
Chen Ji listened to Xiaoman's rambling and watched the carriage stop in front of the Zhang residence.
After the little monk and Xiaoman entered the mansion, they saw Baohou crawl out of the carriage and walk towards the north.
As they were about to pass Chen Ji, Chang Sheng's voice came from behind the mask: "Why are you in such a hurry to go back to the Eagle House? Let's go have a couple of drinks."
Qi Xiao said in a muffled voice, "It's not impossible. We can find an alley, take off the mask, and go to the outer city. Wearing this mask on my face every day is suffocating. I heard that a new tavern has opened east of Liulichang, I think it's called something like Liuquanju. The yellow wine brewed with sweet well water under the willow trees is exceptional."
Yu Yuan retorted, "Nannan is still young, how can she drink alcohol? It's not good for her."
Bao Hou calmly said, "The important matter is the matter at hand. These past few days, the Jing Dynasty traitors have been wreaking havoc in the capital, and Lord Bai Long is short of manpower."
Changsheng: "Oh."
Qi Xiao: "Oh."
Chen Ji listened to the chattering voices coming from under the monkey mask, and when the other person came to his side, he whispered, "Come with me."
Bao Hou was taken aback upon hearing this, and then followed Chen Ji into the alley.
Yu Yuan asked curiously, "Where did Lord Sick Tiger go today? We've been waiting at the teahouse for a long time."
Chang Sheng muttered to himself, "Why are they acting so suspiciously? Where are they going?"
Chen Ji did not answer, but carefully avoided the main road and wandered around the alleys. When he reached Nianzi Hutong behind Qipan Street, he heard a meow from the roof. He immediately stopped at the entrance of the alley and retreated step by step into the shadows under the eaves.
A moment later, two strong and powerful men passed by the alley entrance. They were dressed in coarse cloth clothes, but they had a foot-long short knife hidden in their sleeves.
Relieve troubles and protect.
After the two had been gone for a long time, Chen Ji continued walking forward.
Bao Hou had been in the teahouse all day and still didn't know what had happened: "Sir, is the Jie Fan Guard arresting you? What happened today?" Chen Ji calmly replied, "Grand Secretary Qi has passed away."
Changsheng asked in surprise, "You killed him?"
Chen Ji glanced back at him and said, "It was an assassination attempt by the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Division."
Chang Sheng said "Oh," and then asked, "Then why did the Jie Fan Guard arrest you?"
Chen Ji continued on his way: "The other party framed me in public, claiming that I was their senior brother. In addition, Li Dongyan wants to take me to the inner prison to investigate the matter of the Mountain Lord's sect."
Chang Sheng said in a high-pitched voice, "Li Dongyan is not someone to be trifled with. When I was promoted to commander of the Jie Fan Guard, he had just been promoted to commander of a hundred. He managed to make all sorts of people in the capital unable to hold their heads up. He wiped out the Beggars' Gang, and forced the leaders of several old Rong families in the outer city to go south."
Changsheng continued, "Speaking of which, the rule that out-of-towners traveling the martial arts world must first pay their respects to the Three Mountains Society before entering the capital was established by him. I even inquired about this matter at the time, asking him if he had received money from the Three Mountains Society. He said that matters of the martial arts world should be left to the martial arts world, and he didn't have time to deal with so many small fry; he only needed to take care of the Three Mountains Society. At that time, the capital was peaceful for quite a while, and Heji and Furuixiang were also at peace. It was only after he went to Taiyuan that trouble started again."
Qi Xiao sneered: "You're going to brag about being the commander of the Jie Fan Guard again, but in the end, someone else climbed up to you. When you were a commander, they were a centurion. They were promoted to commander, but you're still a commander."
Chang Sheng flew into a rage: "What the hell are you saying, you defeated bastard?"
"Shut up, all of you," Bao Hou looked at Chen Ji, "My lord, where are we going now?"
At this moment, Chen Ji stopped at the entrance of an alley: "We're here."
Bao Hou looked around and suddenly realized that they had arrived at Shaojiu Alley.
Chen Ji walked to the gate of the residence that Emperor Ning had once bestowed upon him. This residence, which had been taken back by the inner court, should have been empty, but Bao Hou could clearly hear the sound of cooking oil being heated inside.
The courtyard gate wasn't closed properly, and the aroma of food wafted out from the gaps.
Changsheng whispered, "Stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, and pan-fried tofu."
The dishes are the kind that Old Yao likes to cook, and the courtyard is the place where Old Yao has lived for decades, as well as the place where his senior apprentice Yao An lived for more than ten years.
Chen Ji took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the courtyard gate.
He gripped the whale knife in his hand and quietly watched the courtyard. Beside the stone table, a middle-aged man who looked like a scholar was reading a medical book in the dim light.
The middle-aged scholar had graying temples, but his face did not look old.
The other person had slightly high cheekbones, a thin jaw, wore a plain silver hairpin, and a faded old Taoist robe.
His fingers, which held the book, were long and slender, with neatly trimmed nails and not a speck of dust between his fingers. He looked more like a schoolteacher than a sergeant in the Military Intelligence Bureau.
The only distinguishing feature was the several old scars on the other person's wrist, as fine as a spider web, that stretched all the way into the shadow of the sleeve.
The middle-aged scholar looked up and said with a smile, "Junior brother is indeed clever. How did you come up with the idea of finding this place?"
The moment their eyes met, Chen Ji's heart skipped a beat, as if he were being stared at by a tiger.
Heart palpitations?
This feeling was exactly the same as when he first looked into the eyes of Old Man Yao, but Chen Ji was suddenly startled.
wrong!
Didn't I have a heart palpitation once today on the long street? Why do I still feel a heart palpitation when I see this senior brother again?
Could it be because what I saw during the day was a ghost, and because the ghost was human, that I felt palpitations when I looked into the eyes of the ghost?
Just as I was pondering this, a young man came out of the kitchen carrying food, and like a servant, placed two dishes on the table.
The young man was wearing a cross-collar long gown, and a faint knife mark could be seen extending into the collar below his neck, similar in shape to the knife mark on Zhang Qian's chest where his chest and abdomen had been cut open.
Is this young man also a cougar?
Just how many ghouls can this senior brother command?
The young man glanced up at Chen Ji, then turned and went back to the kitchen to get more rice. This glance did not stir any fear within him.
Chen Ji was filled with doubt and uncertainty. If this was the first time he had made eye contact with his senior brother, then who was the fellow cultivator he had been eyeing on the long street today?
not good!
Yao An put down the book in his hand, glanced at the precious monkey behind Chen Ji, and said with a smile, "Junior brother, why are you standing outside the door? Since you have invited the precious monkey as a helper, you should have some confidence. Come in and have a meal with us."
After pondering for a moment, Chen Ji sat down opposite Yao An, carrying the whale knife.
Yao An asked curiously, "Junior Brother, how did you come to this place?"
Chen Ji said expressionlessly, "Cloth Tiger, Senior Brother has kept an old item for twenty years, so he must be a sentimental person. Now that you've returned to your hometown, you should come back and visit."
Yao An clapped his hands in praise, saying, "Although it's not hard to guess, I still have to think highly of you." (End of Chapter)