Anxi Street was quiet and still, the moonlight sprinkled on the green stone slab road like flowing water, peaceful and clear.

Chen Ji stood inside the door, silent, while Yun Yang outside didn’t urge him. The two of them stood quietly, a door separating them.

Chen Ji pondered for a long time, then finally took a deep breath. With a creak, he slowly pulled open the door: “Master Yun Yang, what is the matter?”

Outside the door, Yun Yang was dressed in black. His clothes fit him perfectly as if they had just been ironed, and his hair was neatly gathered on top with a hairpin, like a young master often seen in operas.

Stepping over the high threshold of the Taiping Medical Hall, Yun Yang smiled and asked: “Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit?”

Chen Ji shook his head: “There’s no place to serve tea inside the medical hall. We might as well talk at the door.”

“Oh?” Yun Yang looked Chen Ji up and down with interest: “Don’t you know I’m from the Secret Spy Office? Did Physician Yao not tell you?”

“He told me.”

Yun Yang restrained his smile and said indifferently: “Then do you know that when someone from the Secret Spy Office says they want to sit at someone else’s home, no one dares refuse? Aren’t you afraid of me?”

After saying this, he stepped one foot over the threshold and walked past Chen Ji as if no one else was there, heading inside the medical hall.

“I am afraid,” Chen Ji turned around and admitted honestly: “But I said we should talk at the door because I know you are in a hurry and don’t want to waste your time.”

“Oh?” Yun Yang had his hands behind his back and looked around the medical hall while asking curiously: “Why am I in a hurry?”

Chen Ji stood at the door and looked at Yun Yang’s back: “You’ve arrested the Liu family members, which caused the Liu family’s old master to faint from anger, and he doesn’t have many days left. The Liu family’s elder in the court cabinet, the Minister of Personnel, is rushing back to Luocheng. You must all be very anxious, right?”

Yun Yang laughed: “Based on Physician Yao being invited by the Liu family to diagnose him, you dare to affirm my current situation from just this one piece of information? I came here tonight on the orders of Master Inner Minister. It doesn’t matter how the Liu family reacts. Now I suspect you are a spy from the Jing Dynasty. Follow me to the Inner Prison.”

Chen Ji leaned against the door frame: “Master Yun Yang, let’s be open and honest. If you truly came to arrest me and take me to the Inner Prison, why bother coming yourself? Sending two people over would have been enough.”

Yun Yang turned around and stared directly at Chen Ji, observing his determined expression: “Since you’re so smart, you should also know that Physician Yao isn’t here tonight, and I don’t even need a reason to kill you. How dare you confront me like this?”

Chen Ji’s reason for confronting him… was just as Yun Yang had said to Zhou Chengyi: When you see the Secret Spy Office, you have no choice.

Either cooperate or die.

However, he had another idea.

Seeing that Chen Ji didn’t speak, Yun Yang slowly said: “Since you are a smart person, then guess why I came. If you guess correctly, it proves you still have value.”

Chen Ji said: “Everyone says the Secret Spy Office executes first and reports later, with special imperial authorization. But this power also has a premise, and that is you must execute the right person.”

Yun Yang raised his eyebrows: “Continue.”

Chen Ji frowned and analyzed: “There aren’t many things that would make Master Yun Yang rush to find me in the middle of the night. It’s nothing more than you haven’t found solid evidence after arresting the people. Now the Liu family’s old master is on the brink of death. If you can’t find evidence to prove that the people you arrested were correct, you will likely be pushed out by Master Inner Minister as a scapegoat.”

“Very good!” Yun Yang clapped his hands, directly opening up: “According to the clues you provided, Jiao Tu searched twenty-two paper shops in inner Luocheng and finally found two types of paper that were the same as those in Zhou Chengyi’s mansion, and they are all businesses of the Liu family. However, we didn’t find any other evidence in the paper shops.”

Chen Ji quickly asked: “Did you use vinegar to brush over all the paper?”

“Yes, but no words appeared.”

Chen Ji doubted: “Since there’s no evidence, why did you dare to directly arrest people?”

Yun Yang flicked his sleeve and chuckled coldly: “Our Secret Spy Office always prefers to kill the wrong person than let a spy go. If we let one spy go, the front line may lose a hundred soldiers, or even more. Three years ago, the autumn grain transported north via the Grand Canal was set on fire because there was a spy in the army responsible for escorting the grain. Our Ning Dynasty lost two thousand four hundred stones of grain, enough to feed a thousand front-line soldiers and horses for a month. Do you think the consequences were serious or not serious?”

“But you didn’t expect the Liu old master to be angered to death. If it weren’t for him, arresting a few young descendants would just be arresting them, right?”

For the first time, Yun Yang’s face showed a helpless expression: “Who could have thought this old man’s life was as thin as paper? Now Jiao Tu is still arguing with the Liu family, and we have to find evidence.”

Chen Ji asked: “When do we leave?”

Yun Yang was the first to step over the threshold and head outside: “Now!”

“Wait a moment.”

“Hm?”

Chen Ji didn’t move, just asked seriously: “What do I get out of this?”

……

……

Yun Yang stopped and turned around. He stood under the moonlight on Anxi Street, looking at Chen Ji inside the medical hall with a half-smile: “You dare to negotiate terms with me?”

Chen Ji didn’t humble himself because of the power of the person opposite him, but simply said honestly: “Master Yun Yang, you and Jiao Tu are now in a difficult situation. This originally has nothing to do with me, but if I help, I should have some reward. Just treat me as a dock worker; I get paid for my work.”

Yun Yang laughed. He took a few steps forward and flicked his hand, stabbing a silver needle into Chen Ji’s chest. The silver needle was as fine as an ox’s hair and had to be carefully distinguished in the moonlight to be seen clearly.

Instantly, the blue veins on Chen Ji’s neck jumped, and his chest felt an unbearable pain, almost painful enough to shock him.

Yun Yang’s voice gradually grew cold: “My Secret Spy Office never bargains with people.”

Chen Ji leaned on the door frame, panting: “There are always exceptions.”

Yun Yang retorted: “Based on what do you think this matter must be you?”

Chen Ji suddenly straightened his body, supporting himself on the door frame, and looked directly into Yun Yang’s eyes: “That’s right, it must be me.”

The world fell silent.

It was as if immense pressure had descended on Anxi Street, pressing down all the sounds here.

Chen Ji continued: “If it didn’t have to be me, Master Yun Yang wouldn’t come to find me, this unknown junior, at this critical moment.”

Did the Secret Spy Office have experts in catching spies? Absolutely.

But Yun Yang had also said that they were temporarily transferred to Luocheng, and given the style of Yun Yang and Jiao Tu, they didn’t seem like people specialized in catching spies, but rather… assassins.

On the day they captured Zhou Chengyi, neither Yun Yang nor Jiao Tu displayed anti-espionage abilities. Instead, their killing methods were extremely secretive and decisive.

Now, the two of them were temporarily given a heavy responsibility, but they had stirred up a big mess.

They needed someone to help clean it up… they needed a smart person.

Yun Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Even if I need your help this time, aren’t you afraid I’ll find trouble with you afterward? I suggest you carefully consider every sentence you say to me, otherwise, there will be consequences you cannot bear.”

Chen Ji said: “Master Yun Yang will surely still have to deal with many spies afterward. Where there are spies, there are merits. I am helping you earn merits, so how will you find trouble with me?”

“Eh,” Yun Yang’s eyes lit up.

Of all the words Chen Ji had spoken, only this time did he truly attract him!

“You think you can help me earn merits?” Yun Yang retorted.

Chen Ji said: “The alum in Zhou Chengyi’s mansion was found by me.”

“This merit is not big,” Yun Yang shook his head.

Chen Ji also shook his head: “No, the merit I’m talking about is not Zhou Chengyi, but me… no, it is Master Yun Yang, you cracking the way the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department writes secret letters. In the past, the Secret Spy Office captured spies and searched homes, missing this method of screening secret letters, and also missing a lot of information. Now with this method, if you check back, you might find unexpected gains in their homes.”

The light in Yun Yang’s eyes grew brighter and brighter: “That’s right! This time I can let Master Inner Minister know that Jiao Tu and I…”

He glanced at Chen Ji, and his words suddenly stopped.

Yun Yang considered for a moment: “What kind of benefit do you want?”

Chen Ji said: “Power, I want an official position in the Secret Spy Office.”

Yun Yang said in a bad mood: “Do you think I’m the Inner Minister? The Secret Spy Office is the most powerful yamen under the Eunuch Supervisory Bureau, doing the most secret things. To get in, you must go through the Main Criminal Office to check three generations and report to the Inner Minister. Others cannot decide!”

Chen Ji said: “Then I want money.”

He hadn’t originally planned to truly want power, but when a person wants something, they can’t reveal their intention in advance. First, they must ask for a high price, then talk.

Seeing that Chen Ji didn’t want an official position, Yun Yang relaxed a breath: “How much money do you want?”

“Two thousand taels of silver.”

“What?!”

Chen Ji asked: “Can’t you give it?”

Yun Yang scratched his head: “Do you know that my annual salary is only thirty-six taels of silver, and you open your mouth and want two thousand taels?! You’re so outrageous, see if I don’t stab you to death!”

“Does the Secret Spy Office only rely on salary to live?” Chen Ji didn’t believe it.

Yun Yang thought for a moment, put away his mindset influenced by “merits,” and said unequivocally: “Every time you help me earn merits, I will give you fifty taels of silver.”

“Master Yun Yang, such a big figure, only offers fifty taels?”

“Only fifty taels? Fifty taels is enough for you to buy twenty maidservants in the West Market! Time is urgent today. I don’t know how long Jiao Tu can delay over there. If you delay any longer, I will have to kill you. I’ll ask you one last time, fifty taels, do you want it or not?”

“I want it!”

Yun Yang turned and walked: “There are still three hours until dawn. You also only have three hours.”

“Where does Master Yun Yang plan to find evidence now?”

“I’ll take you to the paper shop. Perhaps you can find something there!”

Chen Ji shook his head and refused: “Not the paper shop, we’ll go to Zhou Chengyi’s mansion.”

Yun Yang frowned: “You already found the alum in Zhou Chengyi’s mansion last time? What else?”

Chen Ji remained silent.

Yun Yang instantly reacted: “Wait, you definitely discovered other clues in Zhou Chengyi’s mansion last time, but you hid them and didn’t tell Jiao Tu and me!”

“I also kept some cards for self-preservation, please forgive me, Master Yun Yang,” Chen Ji was never a person who would tie his hands and wait. When killing, even if he was stabbed in the waist with a knife, he would bite a piece of flesh from the enemy’s neck.

“Hiss!” Yun Yang sucked in a cold breath: “The more I see you, the more I feel like a spy from the Jing Dynasty, what should I do?”

“Would a spy from the Jing Dynasty help you catch spies, Master?”

Yun Yang put two fingers on his tongue and blew a clear whistle. A steed ran out from the corner of Anxi Street.

He flipped onto the horse and pulled Chen Ji up behind him: “Sit tight!”

The horse’s hooves, wrapped in cloth, made a muffled sound on the green stone slab road as they galloped, crashing into the thin fog of the early morning.

No one noticed that a small black cat had always been hiding in the shadows on the eaves of a street-side roof.

When they left, the cat lightly jumped onto the gray tiles of the roof, following in pursuit.