“Your Excellency, I don’t believe it.”

In the courtyard, Bailong sat at a stone table, eating an orange segment. Chen Ji stood nearby, bowing as he replied, his voice firm and clear.

Bailong, intrigued, asked, “Why don’t you believe it? The Crown Prince came to Guyuan to gain leverage over the border army and force them to abandon King Fu. Is King Fu not allowed to retaliate? No sooner had the Crown Prince arrived in Guyuan than King Fu dispatched trusted aides to conspire secretly with high-ranking border army officials, aiming to force the Crown Prince into making a mistake. The two sides are on the verge of open conflict. If I were to side with King Fu now, wouldn’t that be a meritorious act in helping to establish a new dynasty?”

“My disbelief has nothing to do with King Fu or the Crown Prince. I don’t understand them, but I understand you,” Chen Ji calmly replied. “When you sought to bring down the Liu family, you lay low for seven years, alone and in secret. If your Excellency were planning to frame the nation’s heir apparent, you would never bring so many people to Guyuan; otherwise, silencing them afterward would be troublesome.”

Chen Ji looked up into Bailong’s eyes. “Furthermore, your ambition isn’t in a succession struggle; you intend to do something far greater.”

Bailong sighed. “I told you long ago that hiding your abilities is the way to survive.”

Chen Ji bowed humbly. “I can only remain by your side, serving your Excellency, because of my intellect. If I lost that, I would be useless.”

Bailong sneered, “Don’t overestimate yourself. This venerable one only uses you because of your identity as a Chen family member.”

Chen Ji calmly added, “And the identity of my master, Yao Qimen.”

Bailong was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. “Imperial Physician Yao is no longer in the Ning Dynasty; he can’t protect you. To dare speak to this venerable one like that is truly courting death.”

Chen Ji knew Bailong was capricious, but as long as he handled matters well, Bailong wouldn’t turn on him. In a way, such people were easier to deal with.

Bailong’s fingers lightly tapped the stone table. “Come, guess why this venerable one came to Guyuan.”

After pondering, Chen Ji said, “Your Excellency intends to use the death of Prince Jing as a ploy: to have Zhou You, who has a past record of mutiny in the border army, feign surrender to the Jing Dynasty under the pretext of ‘avenging Prince Jing,’ thereby luring the Jing Dynasty’s Heavenly Cavalry Army to their demise. Your Excellency, am I correct in my guess?”

Bailong smiled. “You’ve guessed a few things correctly, but the Jing Dynasty isn’t foolish. Without a pledge of allegiance, how would they believe it?”

Chen Ji said gravely, “Poisoning the wells and burning the granaries would be their pledge of allegiance.”

Bailong said with a smile, “Then do you know that your interference with the poisoned wells nearly ruined my grand plan?”

Chen Ji bowed his head slightly and replied softly, “Your Excellency, ignorance is no fault.”

Bailong chuckled in exasperation. He pointed a finger at Chen Ji from a distance. “Stop investigating the Jing Dynasty’s spies. This venerable one still has use for them.”

Chen Ji bowed. “Understood.”

Bailong mused, “If all my subordinates were like you, why would I ever worry about failing in great endeavors? Do you know why I had to come to Guyuan for this mission?”

Chen Ji replied, “I do not.”

Bailong slowly said, “What we plan to do will likely shake the vast Ning Dynasty to its core. I must first eliminate external threats, then proceed cautiously. If this venture succeeds, the Jing Dynasty won’t return for at least three years… Just give me three more years.”

Chen Ji’s heart stirred. He wondered who else was part of the “we” Bailong spoke of. Furthermore, Bailong was no longer referring to himself as “this venerable one” but simply “I.”

After a moment of deliberation, he asked, “Your Excellency, what is the meaning of telling me all this?”

Bailong said meaningfully, “One day you too will hold a high position. If I don’t tell you these things now, it might be too late then.”

Chen Ji probed, “Are you referring to a Zodiac position? How might I become one of the Zodiacs?”

Bailong chuckled. “When the time comes, you will understand.”

Chen Ji was a little baffled. What kind of riddle was Bailong speaking?

Bailong waved his hand. “Go on.”

However, at this moment, Chen Ji suddenly asked, “Your Excellency, is the grain truly gone, or was that just for show?”

Bailong scoffed. “If it were just for show, do you think those Jing Dynasty rogues wouldn’t see through it? More than half was burned last night; the rest is hidden in the border army’s main camp.”

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good then.”

Bailong picked up a scroll from the table and said lazily, “Go back.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

Chen Ji slowly backed out of the courtyard, still facing Bailong, when he heard Bailong speak up: “Stop.”

Chen Ji, perplexed, asked, “Is there anything else, Your Excellency?”

Bailong went into the house, retrieved a food item wrapped in palm leaves, and tossed it to him from a distance. Chen Ji caught it. Peeling back a corner of the palm leaf, he found it filled with bright yellow oranges.

Chen Ji, puzzled, asked, “Your Excellency, is this…?”

Bailong casually said, “Take them to Miss Zhang Er and ask if she’s willing to join my Secret Service.”

Chen Ji frowned. “Your Excellency, what do you mean?”

Bailong looked at him with a half-smile. “That Miss Zhang Er walked back and forth on this street several times. If it weren’t for her, would you have found this place? If this venerable one didn’t cherish talent, how could she have returned safely to the inn? Tell her that civil officials won’t allow her to take the imperial examinations, but in my Directorate of Ceremonial, she can rise swiftly. This venerable one guarantees her a place among the Twelve Zodiac Generals.”

After much thought, Chen Ji placed the oranges back on the stone table. “Your Excellency, Miss Zhang Er might not be used to these oranges.”

Bailong narrowed his eyes slightly. “Since when do you have the right to defy this venerable one?”

The air in the courtyard suddenly grew tense. Chen Ji felt a stinging pain on his face as if pricked by needles, as if killing intent had materialized, pressing down on him like a wall.

Chen Ji gritted his teeth and said, “Your Excellency, Miss Zhang Er once asked Xu Shu, the Deputy Supervisor of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau, to teach her the ways of official service, but he refused, stating he didn’t want her involved in worldly affairs. If Xu Shu were to learn that you’re recruiting Miss Zhang Er into the Secret Service, it would likely not end well. I urge you to reconsider.”

Bailong stared at Chen Ji for a long time, then finally waved his hand with an indifferent expression. “Go. Don’t meddle anymore. Today you killed Shopkeeper Yang, creating needless complications. Those Jing Dynasty ruffians are like startled birds, and I’ll have to do a lot more to salvage my plans.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.” Chen Ji quickly exited the courtyard gate.

He had just stepped past the threshold when he suddenly stopped, and looked up to ask, “Your Excellency, was the poisoning of the thirty-four members of the Chen family your doing?”

Bailong scoffed. “Why would I kill those unfortunate people? Do you truly think I enjoy killing? I only kill those who make mistakes.”

Chen Ji no longer hesitated, and turned to stride away.

After he left, the owner of Baofengzhai, the tailor shop proprietress, and the watchman who had been feigning sleep at the street corner all came forward one by one, kneeling on one knee before Bailong, their faces pale. “Your Excellency, we are incompetent. Please, Your Excellency…” The words “punish us” trembled on their lips, unable to be fully spoken.

Bailong said calmly, “Return to Wunian Mountain. You may come out to work again in three years.”

The three were stunned, then quickly dropped to both knees, bowing low. “Thank you, Your Excellency, for sparing our lives.”

Bailong rose and walked slowly towards the house, saying leisurely, “I am a reasonable person. It wasn’t entirely your fault that you were discovered; perhaps anyone else would have been too. So, I won’t kill anyone this time.”

In Guyuan City, more and more citizens gathered in the streets, making a commotion, clamoring to demand their grain back from the border army.

Chen Ji walked silently through the crowd, feeling somewhat lighter than when he arrived. Now that it was confirmed to be a ploy set by Bailong and the border army for the Jing Dynasty, at least there was no longer a fear of the city being breached.

As he pondered, he saw several people run past him.

Chen Ji looked up to see three hurried Imperial Guardsmen carrying bulging cloth sacks; it was unclear where they had gotten the grain from.

However, at that very moment, someone suddenly shouted, “Fire! The base of the city wall is on fire again!”

Chen Ji was startled. He turned to look and saw thick smoke billowing from the south, enveloping the city gate.

He lightly leaped, grabbing the eaves and pulling himself onto a rooftop, but the earthen houses were still too low to see clearly.

Chen Ji looked around, found a taller tavern, and ran across the rooftops towards it.

He climbed onto the second-story roof of the tavern and gazed into the distance, seeing a large fire burning among the border army’s sprawling tents, the flames wildly spreading with the wind.

Within the border army’s main camp, armored soldiers moved back and forth like shadows, carrying wooden buckets, but the fire only intensified.

Chen Ji’s heart sank. Could it be that the grain hidden by the border army, along with the grain they confiscated from the common folk last night, had all been incinerated?

Judging by the intensity of the fire, someone must have hidden an accelerant, making it impossible to stop.

The Secret Service and the border army intended to collaborate on a staged ploy, but someone wanted to turn the fake into reality!