Luocheng buzzed with life in the early morning, its streets filled with bustling pedestrians. Ox carts headed to the East Market, occasionally causing traffic jams on the narrow paths. Drivers chewed on their biscuits, cursing and shouting for people to make way. Laughter, curses, and vendor calls filled the air. One could hardly perceive its decline over the centuries; the city seemed to linger in its most glorious moment.

Inside Taiping Medical Hall, Chen Ji stood behind the counter, sleeves rolled up, smiling as he weighed herbs for patients with a brass scale. His smile was so pure that no one would ever associate him with something like “capturing spies.” Meanwhile, Old Man Yao was testing his students. She Dengke sat upright behind the counter, eyes closed, diagnosing a patient’s pulse. Old Man Yao stood beside him, holding a bamboo switch, and asked in a low voice, “Quick, tell me, what kind of pulse is this?”

She Dengke placed three fingers on the patient’s wrist and tentatively suggested, “A surging pulse?”

*Thwack!* The bamboo switch landed on She Dengke’s back, startling the middle-aged male patient across the counter. Old Man Yao gestured for the patient to remain calm and continued to ask She Dengke, “What pulse?”

She Dengke grimaced, “A full pulse!”

*Thwack!* Another strike!

She Dengke quickly said, “A deep pulse!”

*Thwack!* Another strike!

The patient quickly stood up and grabbed Old Man Yao’s arm. “Don’t hit the boy anymore, Imperial Physician Yao, please calm down. My pulse *can* be deep; let’s just say it’s a deep pulse!”

Old Man Yao slowly turned to the patient, speechless for a long moment. “…If I were to diagnose a pregnancy pulse, would you accept that too?!” With that, he turned his gaze to Chen Ji and Liu Quxing, considering who to hit next. As his eyes swept across, they suddenly stopped at the doorway.

At that moment, a small black cat was dodging and weaving through the crowd outside the medical hall. It carefully tilted its head, observing human footsteps, then avoiding them. Reaching the entrance, Wuyun stealthily peered over the threshold, only to meet Old Man Yao’s gaze. Old Man Yao looked at it impassively. Chen Ji’s heart tightened; his master didn’t seem like someone who liked small animals, and he hoped Wuyun wouldn’t be chased away.

However, Wuyun, meeting Old Man Yao’s gaze, merely drew in its neck before gathering courage to cross the threshold and approach little by little. Then, Wuyun leaped onto the counter, came before Old Man Yao, and simply lay down in his hand! Old Man Yao froze for a long moment, his stern expression slowly changing until he was grinning, wrinkles appearing. She Dengke and his two fellow disciples were all stunned; it was the first time they had seen their master so pleasant! So, the old man *can* smile!

Realizing his composure had slipped, Old Man Yao immediately became serious again, remarking blandly, “This little creature is quite endearing.”

Liu Quxing leaned over, wanting to pet Wuyun, but Old Man Yao immediately slapped his hand away. “Get lost!”

Liu Quxing: “…”

The next moment, Wuyun nudged its head in Old Man Yao’s hand. Old Man Yao was silent for a moment, then turned to She Dengke and said, “Go fetch the purple wooden box from my room.” With his other hand, Old Man Yao lightly tapped Wuyun’s head and casually asked, “Your name is Wuyun, isn’t it?”

Chen Ji’s pupils suddenly constricted, his heart clenching as if squeezed. Only he and Wuyun knew about the cat’s name. How did Old Man Yao know? Had he already figured everything out? Chen Ji now recalled Old Man Yao picking him up from Zhou Manor, pulling him back to the medical hall during the Buddha and Bodhisattva procession, and visiting Wanxingyuan for a house call. Each incident seemed to hide a deeper meaning. As Chen Ji pondered, Old Man Yao silently glanced at him, a look that seemed to see right through him.

Old Man Yao merely flicked his gaze at Chen Ji before turning back to Wuyun. She Dengke leaned over and asked, “Master, isn’t this the cat from Wanxingyuan? I remember you haven’t been to the Prince’s Residence in a long time. How do you know its name is Wuyun?”

Old Man Yao cast a sideways glance at him. “I divined it. Is there a problem with that?”

Liu Quxing, standing nearby, was startled. “You can divine that? Then divine my childhood nickname.”

Old Man Yao calmly pulled six copper coins from his sleeve, scattered them on the counter, and then said expressionlessly to Liu Quxing, “Your childhood nickname is Moron.”

Chen Ji: “…”
Liu Quxing: “…”

She Dengke brought over the purple wooden box, opened its drawer, and revealed exquisite pastries inside. Liu Quxing exclaimed, “Zhengxin Zhai pastries!”

Old Man Yao placed a pastry in his palm and offered it to Wuyun. “Eat.” Wuyun devoured it in a few bites, then stared at the box. Old Man Yao wasn’t stingy; he took out another piece and said, “It’s good that it eats pastries. Dumb cats only know how to eat meat. Only clever cats understand the benefits of pastries.”

After eating two pastries, Wuyun ran to Chen Ji and lay down in front of him without a backward glance or any lingering attachment. Seeing this, Old Man Yao simply brushed the pastry crumbs from his palm into his mouth, showing no anger. He looked at Chen Ji and casually remarked, “It seems to be quite fond of you.” With that, he resumed testing She Dengke’s studies.

Seeing that everyone’s attention had shifted, Chen Ji whispered, “Why did you come during the day?”

Wuyun replied, “Consort Jing left Jing Prince’s Residence and I don’t know where she went. Now, no one is managing Wanxingyuan, and the maids are slacking off, so I came out to play with you!”

Chen Ji chuckled, “Then stay here at the medical hall. I’ll weigh the medicine for the patient first.”

Just as they were speaking, a richly dressed middle-aged man entered, holding a prescription. “Imperial Physician Yao, I’ve come for medicine, but I left home in such a hurry this morning that I forgot to bring enough money. Could I take the medicine first to treat my mother, and you send a junior apprentice with me to my home to collect the payment? I’ll also give the apprentice twenty *wen* for his trouble, so he won’t have wasted his time.”

Old Man Yao glanced at the prescription. “These herbs aren’t cheap. Are you sure you have the money at home?”

The middle-aged man nodded, “Absolutely!”

Liu Quxing quickly said, “Master, I’ll go!”

Old Man Yao gave a sinister smile. “You don’t want to be tested on your studies, do you, boy? Chen Ji, you go!”

Liu Quxing’s face immediately turned ashen, watching helplessly as Chen Ji left with the man!

Upon reaching the doorway, the middle-aged man led Chen Ji into a carriage. After pulling down the curtain, the middle-aged man slowly peeled off the beard and wrinkles from his face, revealing Yun Yang’s true appearance. “You sent word to me that you want to visit the Inner Prison?”

“That’s right,” Chen Ji nodded. “I believe Liu Shiyu’s case isn’t simple. It doesn’t seem like his personal actions; there’s a bigger fish behind it.”

“Oh, you’re actually taking the initiative to help me gain merit? Are you short on money?” Yun Yang grew suspicious. “By rights, you just earned fifty taels of silver; even if you went to Red Cloak Alley, you couldn’t spend it all in a month. Could it be that you went to White Cloak Alley? Take my advice: those Yangzhou ‘thin horses’ are raised from childhood to excel in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and their every movement is seductive. They aren’t something a junior apprentice like you can handle.”

Chen Ji smiled, “Lord Yun Yang, aren’t you happy that I want to help you gain merit? If one day you reach a high position, perhaps you can help me secure a minor official post in the Secret Surveillance Bureau.”

Yun Yang was noncommittal. “You think the remaining Liu family members are also involved?”

“I’ll only know after seeing them.”

Yun Yang wasted no more words. He produced a black blindfold. “Close your eyes. The Inner Prison’s location is a secret; you cannot know it. Your ears must be plugged as well.”

With his eyes closed and ears plugged, Chen Ji’s world grew quiet. The hustle and bustle of Luocheng seemed to have no bearing on him anymore. Yun Yang lifted the curtain and went out to drive the carriage. The carriage slowly rumbled along the cobblestone path. Unnoticed by anyone, a small black cat was crouching on the carriage roof, swaying with the vehicle as it headed south.

Old Man Yao stopped his testing, standing with his hands behind his back at the medical hall’s entrance, watching the carriage depart, lost in thought.

“We’ve arrived!”

Yun Yang removed the cotton from Chen Ji’s ears and pulled him out of the carriage by the arm. He saw Chen Ji pull out a grey cloth from his robe to cover his mouth and nose, and he curled his lips, remarking, “You’re quite cautious.”

Chen Ji chuckled, “This Luocheng Inner Prison must have been thoroughly infiltrated by the Liu family, otherwise how could they have learned of Liu Shiyu’s death so quickly? Investigating the Liu family’s case in a place like this naturally requires some caution. Speaking of which… isn’t Lord Yun Yang angry that the Secret Surveillance Bureau’s Inner Prison has been infiltrated to such an extent?”

Yun Yang scoffed, “All the wardens in Luocheng were already sent to Lingnan last night. Now, everyone here has been transferred from other places.”

Blindfolded, Chen Ji stumbled along, pulled by Yun Yang. He heard silence all around, with no sounds other than birdsong. Reaching an iron gate, Yun Yang knocked three quick times, then two slow ones. Only then did the iron gate slowly swing inward. As the heavy, decaying door creaked open, it emitted a grating, metallic screech that set one’s teeth on edge. Inside, a young secret agent was waiting.

Once inside the Inner Prison, Yun Yang said, “You can take off the blindfold now.”

Chen Ji opened his eyes, slightly shielding them from the light with his right hand, and squinted as he looked around. He saw a narrow staircase descending steeply, extending deep underground. On the walls alongside the staircase, an oil-residue lamp hung every fifteen steps, like guiding lights for the departed. Curiously, beneath each oil-residue lamp, a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) symbol was intricately carved into the lamp base. Chen Ji asked curiously, “What are these Bagua symbols about?”

Yun Yang recalled, “It’s said that seven years ago, the Internal Minister sought out an ‘Officer of the Way’ who was skilled in *Qimen Dunjia*, and these were drawn in every Inner Prison. The saying goes… ‘One lamp, one prison. With the Bagua diagram, the lamp never goes out, and the person never perishes.'”

Chen Ji frowned. “What does that mean?”

Yun Yang shrugged. “How would I know?”

The young secret agent led Yun Yang and Chen Ji deeper underground. On level ground, a stone-walled passage led into the darkness ahead, and on either side, dimly lit cells were ’embedded’ in the rock face. As their figures appeared, someone immediately clutched the iron bars and cried out, “Your Honor, I’ve been wronged! I absolutely have no connection with Jing Dynasty spies. My elderly mother is over sixty, and I have two children to feed. Please, I beg you, let me go home!”

Cries of injustice were incessant, but Yun Yang acted as if he hadn’t heard them. “Let’s go, the files are inside.” However, just as Chen Ji took a step behind him, he froze in place. In the dimly lit Inner Prison, two streams of grey-white icy energy shot out from the cage in front of him, piercing Chen Ji’s glabella and entering his body.

Yun Yang turned back. “What’s wrong?”

Chen Ji’s expression was normal. “Nothing, it’s my first time in the Inner Prison, and seeing these emaciated prisoners is a bit unsettling.”

Yun Yang chuckled, “I was startled at first too, but you get used to it.”

Chen Ji resumed walking, and as he and Yun Yang went deeper into the Inner Prison, streams of grey-white icy energy flew out from various cells. They seemed to sense Chen Ji’s presence, surging forth and swirling like dragons twisting in the air. Chen Ji watched this scene with profound shock; hundreds of icy streams drilled into his body through his glabella, eventually merging and settling in his Dantian. The icy energy was so immense that, subtly, it seemed to threaten to extinguish the furnace fire!