Outside the Zhou residence, the air was filled with the clamor of shouts and the glow of torches.
Inside, more than a dozen warhorses belonging to the secret agents were tied to the trees in the courtyard, their hooves stamping restlessly, disturbed by the chaotic atmosphere.
Someone was forcefully pushing against the main gate of the Zhou residence, causing the heavy wooden door to creak and groan under the pressure.
Yun Yang turned to Chen Ji: "The Liu family might break through the gate in less than a quarter of an hour. When that happens, no one can predict what will occur. Can you find the evidence within that time?"
Another quarter of an hour.
Chen Ji asked himself, could he really decipher the secrets of this book in such a short time? Impossible.
His face hidden beneath a gray cloth, he lowered his head in thought for a moment before responding, "A quarter of an hour isn't enough. I need at least..."
Outside the Zhou residence, a loud roar interrupted his thoughts: "Listen up, you inside! Come out and explain yourselves! If you have evidence, present it. If not, the murderer must pay with their life!"
Yun Yang tucked the hem of his robe into his belt, casually drew a long sword from the waist of a nearby secret agent, and strode towards the gate: "Seven and Five, guard the door. Jiao Tu, watch the back wall. Anyone who dares to enter will be treated as a traitor and killed without mercy! Chen Ji, you have a quarter of an hour to find the evidence, or we'll all die here together!"
Chen Ji hesitated no longer.
He turned, closed the door behind him, and shut out the noise from outside.
He opened the book Zhou Chengyi had copied, "Annotations on the Four Books," and quickly scanned it using all the ancient cipher techniques he could remember, trying to determine which method had been used to convey the hidden message.
Was it the hidden character method? No.
Was it the character verification method? No...
Could it be the character decomposition method?
The so-called 'character decomposition method' involved hiding information by breaking down characters.
For example, 'thousand miles grass' could represent the character 'Dong,' and 'ten days divination' could represent 'Zhuo.'
If it was the character decomposition method, it would be troublesome.
It wasn't difficult to crack, but it required a lot of work, and without several days, it would be impossible to decipher!
Time ticked by, and the gate of the Zhou residence could be breached at any moment by the enraged crowd.
In the cool autumn air, beads of sweat formed on Chen Ji's forehead.
It wasn't the character decomposition method.
After searching for a long time, Chen Ji found no clues that fit this method.
What to do?
Chen Ji closed the book and closed his eyes in deep thought...
Wait!
The solution to the problem often lies outside the problem itself!
A flash of insight struck Chen Ji.
He turned back to the bookshelf and began searching through the books, one by one, two, three...
The more books he flipped through, the brighter his eyes became.
At that moment, the noise outside gradually subsided.
The silence after the chaos felt eerie.
Someone shouted through the gate: "Liu Mingxian of the Liu family requests an audience with Lord Yun Yang."
The secret agents silently looked at Yun Yang.
Jiao Tu whispered, "Liu Mingxian, the son of Liu Gelao and grandson of Liu Laotai, is currently the head of the second branch of the Liu family and serves as the Tongpan of Luocheng, a fifth-rank official."
Yun Yang pondered for a moment, then handed his long sword to a secret agent: "Open the gate. Let's not lose face for the Secret Agent Bureau!"
With a creak, the vermilion gate slowly swung open.
Outside, hundreds of people stood silently, holding torches.
Liu Mingxian sat on horseback amidst the crowd, standing out like a crane among chickens.
He wore white hemp cloth, a mourning cap, and his eyes were red with grief.
Even the chest of his brown horse was adorned with a white silk flower.
Yun Yang stepped forward, stopping just inside the threshold: "Lord Liu, gathering hundreds of people in the middle of the night to besiege the Secret Agent Bureau—are you planning a rebellion?"
"Not at all," Liu Mingxian's voice was hoarse as he tightly gripped the reins.
"We are here to ask Lord Yun Yang why you have arrested members of my Liu family without cause. Do you have evidence?"
"Of course, we do!" Yun Yang declared confidently.
"Then show it to us. If my family members are guilty, we will accept the punishment!"
Yun Yang shook his head: "I can't show it to you now. This matter involves state secrets and must be presented to the Grand Chancellor."
Liu Mingxian urged his horse forward, facing Yun Yang across the threshold, and angrily retorted: "Then you have no evidence! If you dismiss us like this, where is the dignity of our Liu family, who have served as ministers for generations? How can my grandfather rest in peace? How will I explain this to the Empress Dowager?"
"Lord Liu, I advise you not to burden yourself with the crime of rebellion," Yun Yang said, unwilling to engage further.
He stepped back into the shadows of the Zhou residence: "Close the gate. Anyone who dares to step inside will be treated as a traitor!"
The gate closed again, and Liu Mingxian's face was illuminated by the flickering torchlight, making him look fierce: "The eunuch faction is ruining the country, nothing but the Grand Chancellor's lapdogs... Call Liang Gou'er here. Be ready to break down the gate."
A young man hesitated: "Uncle, Liang Gou'er was drinking in Red Sleeve Alley tonight. He might already be asleep in some girl's room... Do we really need him?"
Liu Mingxian sneered: "We've kept him around for a thousand days for this one moment. Tell him to bring his broken sword and come quickly. If I don't see him soon, I'll cut off his wine money and his cultivation materials. Someone, gather firewood and pile it against the walls of the Zhou residence. We'll smoke them out!"
...
...
Yun Yang, who had hurried back, was not as calm as before: "Jiao Tu, they're planning to kill us!"
Jiao Tu blinked: "Is Liu Mingxian planning a rebellion?"
Yun Yang sighed: "He didn't bring the Luocheng troops tonight, treating this as a family matter. If he's determined to avenge his grandfather, he might be exiled afterward, but you and I will die for nothing. This kind of thing can be big or small, and it's up to the court officials to decide. Civil officials are stealing the country! No wonder Jin Zhu said this mission was a hot potato when we left the capital. He's a shrewd one..."
Jiao Tu blinked again: "What should we do? Before they surround the back wall, let's run."
Yun Yang hesitated: "If we just run away, where is the dignity of the Secret Agent Bureau?"
Jiao Tu rolled her eyes: "Then I'll run by myself."
Yun Yang: "Let's run together!"
"But there's a problem," Jiao Tu said with a smile, looking at Chen Ji: "What about him? The secret agents can fight their way out, but if there are experts among the Liu family, he'll be a burden."
The two exchanged a glance, then looked at Chen Ji.
Yun Yang expressionlessly picked up the two copies of "Annotations on the Four Books" from the table: "Leave him here. We've got the books. The Secret Agent Bureau will have someone who can decipher them."
Jiao Tu said: "We should kill him. If he falls into the Liu family's hands, they'll know we have no evidence. He'll become a witness."
These two venomous characters changed their minds faster than flipping a book and had already decided to abandon Chen Ji.
Jiao Tu gestured to the secret agents, and more than ten of them silently sheathed their swords and quickly retreated toward the back wall, even abandoning their horses.
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu expected Chen Ji to beg and cry for them to take him along, but he didn't.
Chen Ji stood in front of the bookshelf, pulling out one book after another and flipping through them quickly, as if he hadn't heard Yun Yang and Jiao Tu's conversation.
He didn't examine each book in detail.
Most were quickly skimmed and then tossed to the ground, as if he was searching for something specific.
A thick layer of books had already piled up at Chen Ji's feet, almost burying his knees.
Finally, he threw all the books to the ground and fell into deep thought.
Just as Jiao Tu was about to silence him, Chen Ji suddenly spoke: "Don't you two want to find the evidence of the Liu family's treason?"
...
...
Chen Ji closed the book in his hands and stepped out of the pile of books.
Yun Yang and Jiao Tu looked at each other.
Jiao Tu asked curiously: "Why do I feel like he's different from that night?"
"He is different."
"Hmm," Jiao Tu tilted her head, examining Chen Ji: "Did you crack the secret in that book?"
Chen Ji said confidently: "I already know where the evidence of the Liu family's treason is."
Yun Yang was skeptical: "You're not lying to get us to take you with us, are you?"
Chen Ji replied: "I'm just a small apprentice from a medical clinic. Even if I tricked you into taking me out, you'd still kill me."
Yun Yang looked at him with a half-smile: "Then tell us where the evidence is."
Chen Ji tightened the gray cloth covering his face and calmly analyzed: "Tonight is a struggle between the Empress Dowager's faction and the Grand Chancellor's faction. The Grand Chancellor knew you weren't good at handling this kind of situation but didn't send someone more cunning. He wanted to use your personalities as a weapon against the Liu family. If you two run away without finding the evidence, you'll likely be punished when you return to the Grand Chancellor's office."
"Are you threatening me?" Yun Yang narrowed his eyes.
"Lord Yun Yang, even if I tell you where the evidence is now, without me, you probably wouldn't know how to find it," Chen Ji responded.
On the other side, Jiao Tu had already made a decision.
She called a secret agent: "Qi Wan, take him with you. Keep him alive!"
The group retreated toward the back wall of the Zhou residence.
Jiao Tu agilely climbed over the wall first and stood guard outside.
When she said, "No one's here, hurry!" Yun Yang stood at the base of the wall, forming a step with his hands to help the secret agents climb onto the gray tiles of the wall.
When it was Chen Ji's turn to climb over, he placed his left foot on Yun Yang's hands but suddenly stopped and said seriously: "Lord Yun Yang, the credit for this mission will be beyond your imagination."
Yun Yang sneered: "Trying to step on me a little longer, huh? Do you think I don't notice? Get over there!"
With that, he pushed Chen Ji up onto the wall.
However, just as they had all climbed over, they saw a group of Liu family members carrying firewood, preparing to set the Zhou residence ablaze.
When the Liu family saw the secret agents, they roared: "Quick, they're trying to escape from the back!"
The secret agents didn't engage in a prolonged fight.
They quickly disappeared into the deep alleys of Luocheng.
Yun Yang asked in a low voice: "Where are we going to find the evidence now?"
Chen Ji asked: "What was the name of the scholar who died in the inner prison?"
"Liu Shiyu!"
"Let's go to his house first!"
Chen Ji followed the secret agents, running through the streets of Luocheng.
The cool night wind swept across the city's stone-paved roads, making everyone's clothes flutter and their hair disheveled.
Ahead was the darkness of the night, and behind them were the sounds of pursuit.
At that moment, Chen Ji felt as if he had also become a wanderer in this world, one who might never return.
(End of Chapter)