Chen Ji watched as Wu Yun slowly retreated into the shadows, disappearing into the gambling den.
Wu Yun darted into the pouring rain, ignoring the heavy downpour soaking its fur, as it searched every corner of Red Clothes Alley.
It leaped into a backyard and gently lifted a bamboo winnowing basket, revealing a fat orange cat inside.
Seeing it was just an orange cat, Wu Yun felt a bit disappointed, but after a moment of hesitation, it asked, "Have you seen a wounded human running away tonight?"
The orange cat looked up and meowed, "Huh?"
Wu Yun suppressed its irritation, "I said, have you seen a wounded human..."
The orange cat meowed again in confusion, "Huh?"
Wu Yun covered the basket again, "I shouldn't have bothered asking you!"
It braved the heavy rain and climbed back onto the roof of the tallest building in Red Clothes Alley, the "Golden House."
Standing on the edge of the roof, it surveyed the entire alley, quickly analyzing where the calico and tabby cats might be hiding.
However, Wu Yun suddenly noticed that in the nearby streets, over a hundred spies were hiding in the shadows, cloaked in raincoats, lying in ambush.
Moreover, some spies disguised as civilians were conducting house-to-house searches.
Despite the difficulty of searching for the defector in the heavy rain, Jin Zhu hadn't given up!
Feeling urgent, Wu Yun leaped down from the roof.
It had to find that person before the spy agency did.
Meanwhile, Chen Ji, standing at the back door of the gambling den, looked out into the dark night, feeling a sense of impending danger.
No matter how skilled Chen Ji was at reasoning, it was impossible for him to find the defector under these circumstances.
Fortunately, Wu Yun brought a turning point...
It all depended on whether Wu Yun could find the defector before the spy agency did.
Chen Ji adjusted his raincoat and pressed down the brim of his hat before turning back into the gambling hall.
He found a spy and pointed at Chen Wenxiao, who was squatting in the crowd, "Drag him into the room and hang him up. I have some questions for him."
Chen Wenxiao had been squatting for so long that his legs were numb, and he kept shifting his position as if he urgently needed to relieve himself.
As soon as the words were spoken, a spy approached Chen Wenxiao, grabbed his hair, and dragged him away, "You, come with me."
Chen Wenxiao's scalp hurt from being pulled, and he could only grimace as he was taken to an upstairs private room, where he was tied up and hung from the ceiling.
After a while, the spy left, and Chen Ji, wearing his hat, walked in and asked calmly, "Name."
"My father is Chen Liqin, the Deputy Magistrate of Luo City. You can't treat me like this!" Chen Wenxiao roared, trying to see Chen Ji's face, but hanging from the beam, his view was completely blocked by Chen Ji's hat.
With a loud thud, Chen Ji struck Chen Wenxiao with a feather duster and said coldly, "Answer what I ask, understand?"
"Understood, understood," Chen Wenxiao's hands were in pain, and he no longer had the elegance he once had when riding through Luo City.
"Name."
"Chen Wenxiao."
Chen Ji asked, "Why are you colluding with the Jing Dynasty?"
"Huh?" Chen Wenxiao was dumbfounded, not knowing how he got involved in such a serious crime.
Chen Wenxiao panicked, "I'm innocent! I didn't collude with the Jing Dynasty! I just came to gamble!"
"Innocent?" Chen Ji sneered, "Then why is there no record of your debts or transactions in the gambling dens of Red Clothes Alley? You're not a gambler here; you're clearly a Jing Dynasty spy here to assist your comrades!"
Chen Wenxiao was desperate, "I just returned from Donglin Academy a few days ago. How could there be any records of debts or transactions?"
Chen Ji said darkly, "It seems you have no way to prove your innocence. Then come with me to the inner prison."
Hearing the words "inner prison," Chen Wenxiao was so scared he almost lost control of his bladder.
In recent years, few had come out of the inner prison alive.
Not to mention he was the son of a fifth-rank official; even fifth-rank officials had died in there.
After thinking for a long time, he said, "Wait, before I went to Donglin Academy, I borrowed money from the gambling dens using my brother Chen Ji's name. That's why there's no record of my name. You can check the account books of the gambling dens; you'll definitely find Chen Ji's name!"
Chen Wenxiao added, "For the past three years, I've returned home for a month every Spring Festival. During that time, you'll definitely find Chen Ji's name in the account books."
Chen Ji was silent.
Did he have the account books of the gambling dens? Of course not.
He was just bluffing Chen Wenxiao based on his own speculation.
Once upon a time, he really thought his past self was a gambler, and the Chen family despised him because of his bad behavior.
But now, Chen Ji suddenly understood many things.
He lowered his head and asked softly, "Since it's under Chen Ji's name, who should the gambling dens go to for the debt?"
Chen Wenxiao replied, "Naturally, they go to my father. If my father doesn't want the family's disgrace to be known, he has no choice but to acknowledge those IOUs."
Chen Ji was puzzled, "Does your father know it's your debt?"
"No, he thinks it's Chen Ji's."
Chen Ji was even more confused, "Wouldn't Chen Ji himself refute it?"
"He did, but what good did it do? His reputation has been ruined over the years. My father doesn't believe him... Sir, please let me down. I'm really not a Jing Dynasty spy. Hanging here is too painful."
Chen Ji sighed softly, "I'm not sure if what you're saying is true... But out of respect for your father, I'll let you go for now. However, you must write down everything you just said and sign it. If there's anything false, the spy agency will come to your house again."
Chen Wenxiao was overjoyed, "Sir, rest assured, everything I said is true. I'll write it down clearly!"
Chen Ji left the private room and gave a few instructions to the spies.
Soon, two spies entered the room and closed the door.
After a while, one of them came out with a piece of paper filled with writing and handed it to Chen Ji, "He's done."
"Thank you," Chen Ji nodded and turned to walk upstairs, carefully tucking the confession into his robe, protected by his raincoat.
"Sir... sir," the spy didn't know Chen Ji's rank or how to address him, but seeing that Chen Ji was with Jin Zhu, he assumed Chen Ji was one of Jin Zhu's trusted men, "What should we do with the person inside?"
Chen Ji walked up the wooden stairs, his voice drifting lightly, "Keep him hanging."
...
Just as Chen Ji was going upstairs, a spy rushed in from outside, throwing his rain-soaked cloak on the floor and rushing up to the second floor with his hand on his sword.
Reaching the door of the private room on the second floor, the spy cupped his hands and said to Jin Zhu, who was drinking tea inside, "Sir, I've finally found a witness. The witness is a street vendor who saw someone with a wound on their waist running west this evening!"
Chen Ji's heart sank.
He hadn't expected Jin Zhu to say it was impossible to find the defector but still sent so many people to search for clues.
And they actually found someone!
Where was the defector now? Had anyone else seen him? What would he reveal if caught? Chen Ji had no idea.
Chen Ji calmed himself and looked at Jin Zhu, "Congratulations, sir. The merit is within reach."
Jin Zhu stood up with a smile, "Send more people to search west. He must have been seen by others while fleeing. Find all the witnesses! The Jing Dynasty's military intelligence sent so many people to capture him; he must be hiding a big secret! We must find him tonight!"
The spy accepted the order and hurried downstairs to the door.
But just as he stepped out of the gambling den, there was a loud bang, and he was sent flying back into the den, smashing a table!
With a clang, all the spies drew their swords and aimed their crossbows at the darkness outside the door.
But the person who entered was cloaked in a blue cape.
He simply removed the cape from his neck, flicked it in front of him, and all the arrows were caught in the cape, leaving him unharmed!
The heavy rain around him seemed to be repelled by a magnet, not a single drop falling on him.
Chen Ji heard Jin Zhu sneer beside him, "This isn't a Jing Dynasty spy. Judging by his moves, he's more like a retired official. I heard he went into seclusion years ago. I didn't expect him to reappear today... Capture him alive!"
In the next moment, a spy blew a copper whistle.
Shouts and the sound of fighting came from outside Red Clothes Alley.
Over a hundred spies emerged from the shadows, surrounding the official.
Jin Zhu calmly walked down the stairs, moving slowly outside the encirclement.
He held a few copper coins in his hand, ready to throw them at any moment to take a life.
Chen Ji silently observed the situation.
He didn't care whether the military intelligence or the spy agency won this fight...
"Meow!"
A cat's cry suddenly rang out.
Chen Ji turned to the window and saw Wu Yun standing on the windowsill, "Found him. A tabby cat said it saw the person escape to Anxi Street, in the backyard of the fabric shop that just moved out."
Chen Ji frowned.
Why did the defector have to escape to Anxi Street?!
Anxi Street wasn't a major thoroughfare, nor was it as chaotic as the East or West Markets, making it easier to hide.
Instead, it was close to the prince's residence, with more soldiers patrolling at night.
Was the defector trying to find him, or did he just happen to escape to Anxi Street? It couldn't be a coincidence!
The more skilled someone was at reasoning, the less they believed in coincidences!
Chen Ji knew he couldn't stay here any longer.
He had to deal with the defector!
But how could he leave?
As he pondered, there was a sound of tiles breaking above him.
Chen Ji looked up and saw someone with heavy footsteps walking across the wooden beams towards the eaves.
Not only that, footsteps came from other directions, heading towards the windows of the gambling den's second floor.
The official outside was a diversion.
The spies invading from all directions were here to silence everyone.
With a whoosh, a masked black-clad figure flipped down from the roof into the window, like a hawk, and without a word, swung his sword at Chen Ji!
In the narrow room, Chen Ji grabbed a chair and threw it at the spy, then quickly retreated to the second-floor corridor, shouting, "Sir Jin Zhu, someone has infiltrated from above!"
His shout attracted everyone's attention.
Jin Zhu raised an eyebrow and turned to kill the intruder.
As Jin Zhu rushed back, he saw a spy chasing Chen Ji down the corridor.
The spy's sword skills were fierce, splintering wood with every slash.
Chen Ji, a weak medical apprentice, could only dodge desperately, unable to fight back.
With a hiss, the sword tip grazed Chen Ji's chest, cutting a large gash in his raincoat, and blood seeped through his clothes.
Just as everyone thought Chen Ji was about to die, he suddenly roared with unexpected courage, charging forward instead of retreating, and slammed into the Jing Dynasty spy's chest!
With all his strength, Chen Ji pinned the spy's sword arm under his armpit and pushed the spy back into the private room, crashing through the second-floor window!
Jin Zhu was stunned for a moment, then with a slight exertion of his legs, his obese body floated up to the second floor like a feather.
He reached the window just in time to see the Jing Dynasty spy, staggering after the severely injured Chen Ji, disappearing into the dark rain outside Red Clothes Alley.
Jin Zhu stood by the window, letting the night rain sweep over him, "Strange, the Jing Dynasty spy was here to silence everyone. Why did he abandon his target and chase Chen Ji like his life depended on it?"
(End of Chapter)