Lu Jin.

Uncle.

A name and a title, both strange and familiar.

This person existed in Chen Ji’s world like a legend, thousands of miles away, yet as unignorable as the towering mountains beside Chunlei Lake.

In the study of the Zhou residence, only Chen Ji, Jin Zhu, and Xifeng remained, poring over the official gazettes.

Xifeng sat upright in the grand armchair, his expression detached and contemptuous, as if he wasn’t reading gazettes but rather memorials from the governors-general of various Jing Dynasty provinces.

Jin Zhu sat by the redwood desk, putting down the gazette in his hand and looking at the tiger-faced man opposite him. “Do you think the previous firearms explosion in Luocheng was caused by an internal struggle within the Jing Dynasty’s Ministry of Military Intelligence?”

Chen Ji held up the gazette in his hand, unfolding it for Jin Zhu to see. “Lu Jin was ousted due to a political power struggle, and his political rivals would naturally move to eliminate his allies immediately. This explains why the Jing Dynasty assassins who attacked you, sir, then turned on and killed the monks from Jing Dynasty’s Kujue Temple.”

Jin Zhu applauded. “It took me a whole day to figure that out, yet you understood it just by reading one sentence in this gazette. Remarkable, truly remarkable.”

“So, sir, you already knew about this.”

Jin Zhu said with a smile, “The internal purge of the Ministry of Military Intelligence wasn’t just happening in Luocheng. There was chaos in the capital, Jinling, Suzhou, Yangzhou, and Tianjin as well.”

Chen Ji, puzzled, asked, “With such infighting, aren’t they worried about delaying important matters?”

Jin Zhu said meaningfully, “Is there anything more important than power in this world?”

Chen Ji pondered for a moment before asking, “Has the internal struggle within the Ministry of Military Intelligence concluded?”

Jin Zhu smiled and said, “Not by a long shot.”

“Oh?”

Just then, a secret agent outside the door entered, carrying a tray with a pot of hot tea.

Jin Zhu, pulling back his sleeve, poured hot tea for Chen Ji and remarked, “Lu Jin will not accept defeat. For a man like him, you can never truly judge his success or failure until his very last breath.”

“Sir, you seem to hold him in high regard?”

Jin Zhu poured himself a cup of hot tea as well and slowly began to recount, “Lu Jin was originally a descendant of a Jing Dynasty military noble, but his family fortune declined. So, he ruthlessly knelt at the mansion gate of Yuan Zhong, the Vice Minister of the Bureau of Military Affairs, recognizing Yuan Zhong as his adoptive father. He offered all his remaining family land and silver, in exchange for a ‘Sicao’ position in the Bureau of Military Affairs.”

“At that time, it was fashionable for the descendants of Jing Dynasty nobles to hold idle positions in the Bureau of Military Affairs, spending their days bird-walking, dog-fighting, gambling, and visiting courtesans.”

“But Lu Jin didn’t idle away his days in the Bureau of Military Affairs. Instead, he petitioned to establish the Ministry of Military Intelligence. Yuan Zhong publicly mocked him, telling him to just enjoy his sinecure in the Bureau of Military Affairs and not get ahead of himself. Lu Jin didn’t give up; he simply knelt before Yuan Zhong’s door for three days and three nights. Impatient, Yuan Zhong publicly declared, ‘If you go to Ning Dynasty and assassinate a Grand Secretary, I’ll let you establish that nonsensical Ministry of Military Intelligence.'”

Jin Zhu sighed. “From that day on, Lu Jin disappeared, only to reappear several years later. When he did, he was carrying the head of our Ministry of Revenue’s Minister, preserved in lime, standing before the vermilion-lacquered gate of the Bureau of Military Affairs. This incident shocked both dynasties. Our Ning Dynasty was enraged and dispatched over thirty groups of assassins to kill him, but they all returned empty-handed. At the same time, Lu Jin caught the eye of Yuan Mao, the Grand Secretary of the Central Secretariat, and rose swiftly through the ranks.”

The Grand Secretary of the Central Secretariat was a Chief Councilor of the Jing Dynasty, second only to the Emperor and above all others.

Chen Ji found it a bit strange. “Sir, why are you so well-informed about this?”

Jin Zhu drained his cup of hot tea, closed his eyes, and savored it for a moment. Then, he opened his eyes, smacked his lips, and said, “Excellent Xinyang Maojian tea, though a pity it’s out of season… It’s not surprising that I know this. Ever since Lu Jin gained the favor of the Grand Secretary, that loudmouth Yuan Zhong would constantly talk about Lu Jin kneeling to him twice every time he drank. Not only that, even when Lu Jin reached the same rank as him, he still treated Lu Jin like a son, ordering him around.”

Chen Ji chuckled. “That Yuan Zhong, I’d imagine the grass on his grave is already a meter high, isn’t it?”

Jin Zhu smiled. “If Lu Jin had truly killed Yuan Zhong, it would just be a clichéd story, and Lu Jin would be a clichéd person, not worthy of our Ministry of Espionage treating him as a major threat. In fact, Lu Jin not only didn’t kill Yuan Zhong, but he consistently addressed him as his adoptive father, offering generous gifts every New Year and festival, grateful for his past patronage.”

Chen Ji was momentarily stunned.

Jin Zhu praised, “Today, the common people of the Jing Dynasty may not know all the edicts Emperor Jing has issued, but they certainly know that Lu Jin repays kindness. If you help him, it’s like having a golden pass for immunity.”

Chen Ji asked, puzzled, “This man possesses such high political acumen, why did he lose to Lu Guanwu?”

Jin Zhu shook his head. “It wasn’t he who lost; it was Grand Secretary Yuan Mao who lost… Enough of that, let’s continue reading the gazettes.”

“Understood.”

Chen Ji quickly finished scanning an entire box of gazettes. He suddenly realized something: none of the gazettes mentioned that Lu Jin had a younger sister.

It was as if that woman had never truly existed.

Just then, a secret agent, under the cover of night, knocked on the Zhou residence’s gate.

With a creak of the wooden gate, the agent, without waiting for it to fully open, squeezed sideways into the courtyard, knelt on one knee, and cupped his hands, saying, “Sir, something’s wrong!”

Jin Zhu stepped over the threshold, moving from the study to the courtyard. “Didn’t I tell you to escort Liutiao and the others transporting the Assistant Supervisor out of the city? Why are you back alone?”

The agent said in a strained voice, “Liutiao had concealed the Assistant Supervisor in a false bottom of a night-soil cart, planning to secretly transport him out through the northern Azure Dragon Gate. But as luck would have it, the Luocheng Garrison coincidentally searched for and found the Assistant Supervisor! Before your subordinate could intervene to rescue them, the Garrison’s infantry had already surrounded Liutiao and the others, forming a military formation. A formation of over twenty elite infantrymen, your subordinate didn’t have the confidence to engage.”

Jin Zhu’s expression changed. “What? All I asked was for you to transport one person, and you’ve made such a huge blunder!”

The agent said bitterly, “This method of transporting people has always worked without a hitch; we never expected such a major setback this time. Sir, what should we do now? Liutiao and the others are likely in trouble. Sir, why don’t we reveal our identities and demand the Luocheng Garrison release them? How can our people fall into the hands of these petty officials?”

Chen Ji also stepped out of the room at this point. “No, you cannot.”

All the secret agents looked at him, their gazes like daggers.

Jin Zhu looked at Chen Ji. “What do you mean?”

Chen Ji looked up at the night sky, thinking for a moment. “If we reveal our identities now, and Liu Mingxian finds out, all our previous efforts will be in vain. Sir Jin Zhu, is it more important to overthrow the Liu family, or to save a few subordinates?”

“Both are important.”

Chen Ji reassured them, “Perhaps they’ll return on their own by daybreak?”

“Hmm?” Jin Zhu mused thoughtfully.

Chen Ji did not reply, but turned back into the room, continuing to pull out and quickly flip through more gazettes from the box, constantly searching for a specific piece of information.

Jin Zhu looked back at the slender figure in the room, feeling as if that person was truly the Zodiac, and he himself had reverted to his days as a ‘Pigeon’ level secret agent.

Back then, if the sky fell, there were taller people to hold it up; it was never up to him, Song Qian, to worry and exert himself so much. At a superior’s command, he would rush forward, risking his life to capture Jing Dynasty rebels. After catching them, he would return home and eat a steaming bowl of beef noodles on the way, as if even the smell of blood in his mind was swallowed down.

Jin Zhu chuckled to himself and also went back into the room to continue reviewing the gazettes, leaving the other secret agents looking at each other in bewilderment.

By Sishi (9-11 AM), the sky outside the Zhou residence was completely bright.

Xifeng kept nodding off from exhaustion, but Chen Ji, still energetic, retrieved new gazettes from the second box.

He stood by the box, opened the first page, and saw a passage: “In the autumn of the fifteenth year of Jianing, Chen Liqin of the Chen clan took office as the Tongzhi of Luocheng. His legitimate son was quite talented, while his illegitimate son was dull and quiet…”

Just as he read this, a hand reached out from beside him and took the gazette from his hand.

Chen Ji looked up in surprise as Jin Zhu smiled and closed the gazette. “These gazettes are confidential documents issued by my Ministry of Espionage to various prefectures for review by the Haidongqing and the Zodiacs. They require the Haidongqing or a Zodiac member’s brow-blood to be opened. Allowing you and Xifeng to see information about the Jing Dynasty today is already an exception; the rest cannot be viewed.”

They looked at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly froze.

Chen Ji remained silent for a moment, then smiled brightly. “Then I won’t look.”

Jin Zhu smiled and patted his shoulder. “Hurry up and earn some merits. Once you become a Haidongqing, you can naturally read whatever you wish. If you become a Zodiac, you can even go to the Jiefan Tower to see even more confidential documents.”

Chen Ji explained, “Earning merits is secondary. My primary purpose in assisting with the overthrow of the Liu family this time is to avenge you, sir.”

“Good brother!”

At this moment, several secret agents vaulted over the grey-tiled eaves into the Zhou residence.

“Huh? Liutiao!” A secret agent in the courtyard asked in confusion, “Weren’t you captured by the Luocheng Garrison? Why did they let you go?”

Jin Zhu came into the courtyard and asked sternly, “Did you reveal your identities?”

Liutiao shook his head. “No. Last night, before we set off, the sir by your side instructed us not to reveal our secret agent identities, so we allowed the Garrison to apprehend us. They took us to the city gatehouse for detention, and then they took the Assistant Supervisor away for separate interrogation. After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Lord Liu of the Garrison came and told us we could leave, and to await the arrival of the Chief three days later.”

The other secret agents were stunned. “They just let you go like that?”

Jin Zhu asked, “Were you followed?”

“Yes, but we shook them off.”

The secret agents looked at Jin Zhu. “Sir, something’s amiss.”

Chen Ji calmly said, “This is the Liu family’s test. That Assistant Supervisor must be one of Liu’s people. Liu Mingxian deliberately handed him over to us to see how we would handle him. Since you didn’t reveal your identities after being captured, our plan to impersonate the Jing Dynasty’s Ministry of Military Intelligence is halfway successful.”

Jin Zhu praised, “I didn’t expect you, despite your young age, to be so meticulous in your work.”

Chen Ji cupped his hands and bowed. “It’s all thanks to your excellent guidance, sir. The Liu family should believe us now. When we meet again in three days, I expect there will be a pleasant surprise, and I wish you success in getting your revenge. However, your subordinate has been away for too long this time and needs to return home quickly.”

“Go, go. Just remember to meet here the night after tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

Jin Zhu stood on the steps at the study door, watching Chen Ji’s retreating figure leave the Zhou residence. His smile gradually faded, and he waved to Liutiao. “Send someone on horseback to Kaifeng Prefecture to fetch Meng Ji. Once the Liu family affair is settled, I have many people to interrogate.”

At this moment, Xifeng stood up from the grand armchair, asking suspiciously, “…I’ve been with you for seven years; how is it I never knew you had a feud with the Liu family?”

Jin Zhu paused, then sighed, “Sir Chief, you certainly get deep into character.”