The sun set.

The sound of the Bell and Drum Tower’s drum drifted from a distance. The eight hundred drumbeats marked the end of daylight. When the drum sounds stopped, night began.

The capital city in the dusk was like a piece of blood-soaked green jade, gradually taking on a dark red color.

The attendant of the mutton shop had just sprinkled the last handful of coarse salt onto the chopping board. Passing carriages rattled and clattered over the broken stones of the bluestone slab road. The attendant of the silk and satin shop stepped onto a herringbone ladder and hung a lantern with his shop’s name written on it from the eaves. Copper bells hung from the eaves of the Imperial Academy, emitting pleasant dinging and clanging sounds.

The fragrance of fried dough twists was mixed with the sound of the city patrol censor’s copper gong. On the Zhengyang Gate city tower, the last wisp of the setting sun skimmed across the arrow windows.

If you only looked at the capital city at this moment, it was beautiful.

So beautiful that foreign merchants lingered and forgot to return, not thinking of the return date.

But under this sunset, thirty secret agents escorted two hundred Imperial Guards through the inner city, all of them silent.

No shackles, no shoving, the Imperial Guards just walked on their own, like a group of two-legged sheep wearing shoes.

Chen Ji walked among them. Commoners cast curious glances. Even inside passing carriages, people lifted curtains to size them up. The Imperial Guards’ officers and men turned their heads to avoid their gazes.

Qi Jianzhe, who had woken up, was somewhat unwilling: “Master, is there really no other way?”

Chen Ji hummed in response.

Qi Jianzhe wanted to speak but stopped, finally looking at Li Xuan again: “Brother-in-law, can we get out of the imperial prison alive? I fear our families will need to demote several censors who have scolded the poisonous prime minister to appease him.”

Li Xuan calmly said: “Not only that. The poisonous prime minister always likes to target the noble offspring of officials to make an example. He absolutely won’t be lenient unless he forces you to swear allegiance with a blood oath. This is exactly how the eunuch party forces have gradually occupied the court.”

Qi Jianzhe frowned: “Can’t we just fight back? We can find fault with him too!”

Li Xuan sighed deeply: “Look at Bailong’s law-abiding manner, you fundamentally can’t find any flaw… and they don’t ruin the offspring of families.”

Inner officials are not fond of female beauty and have no offspring, so naturally they have two fewer flaws compared to civil officials.

Once, a capital official mocked himself after drinking wine, “Rather than cultivate virtue and cultivate the heart, it’s better to first manage the flaw in your pants.” Many officials and nobles in the capital have been implicated by their children, as numerous as ox hairs.

The escort team went all the way north to Taiye Pool, then crossed the White Jade Bridge and entered Qionghua Island. In front of an artificial hill, a secret agent stepped forward and knocked on the iron door of the imperial prison.

The small window on the first iron door opened. A jailer inside said coldly: “Waist token.”

The secret agent took off the Hai Dongqing ‘attend court tooth card’ on his waist and held it close to the small window: “By order of Lord Xuanshe, the Imperial Guards are to be detained separately to prevent them from colluding on testimony, while awaiting interrogation.”

The jailer carefully checked the tooth card before opening the door and saying: “Obey the order.”

He consecutively knocked on the second door eight times, some light, some heavy, some fast, some slow. The second iron door opened accordingly.

The wind outside surged into the imperial prison, making the Bagua lamps on the walls sway, but they never extinguished.

Chen Ji felt a slight sense of relief in his heart.

Indeed.

The capital imperial prison was also hung with Bagua lamps, trapping the countless wronged souls who had died in this imperial prison, preventing them from dispersing year-round.

The next moment, countless ice flows surged in.

As if a black tide surged from room after room of cells towards Chen Ji, this capital imperial prison, where countless officials and nobles had died, actually made the ice flows continuous like a tide.

Chen Ji immersed himself among the violent ice flows, letting them drill into his Dantian.

The ice flows consumed by Solid Origin were full again. If there were enough ginseng, the ice flows accumulated here might only be able to help him grow three or four more stripes.

Chen Ji looked at the Bagua lamps on the dark walls of the tunnel, actually in a daze for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking.

The secret agent behind him saw that he wasn’t walking and immediately stepped forward to push and shove him into a cell.

Deep within the inner prison, wails came from the “Pipa Hall.” There was even a Yin wind blowing up from underground, carrying the smell of burnt flesh, making the Imperial Guards vomit nonstop.

Gradually, the Imperial Guards couldn’t bear it any longer. Some people paced back and forth in their cells, some grasped the iron bars of the cells and shouted injustice.

Qi Jianzhe, scared, grasped the bars in the next cell and shouted: “Master, think of a way!”

Chen Ji didn’t answer, only leaned against the wall of the cell and closed his eyes to rest.

Two incense sticks later, the secret agent dragged a prisoner whose body was a bloody mess, deliberately passing in front of all the cells, saying as he walked: “This person wildly claimed portents after drinking wine, actually spreading rumors that the flood in Yu Province was caused by His Majesty’s lack of virtue, and even wanted His Majesty to write an edict of confession. Lord Inner Prime Minister has ordered that his back skin be peeled off tomorrow.”

The Imperial Guards inside the cells stirred. These dandies who had not experienced big storms and waves were so scared by this kind of psychological warfare that their legs trembled.

Xuanshe’s Hai Dongqing patrolled the tunnel, casually pointed to a cell: “Drag him to Pipa Hall, I will interrogate him personally.”

Li Xuan saw that it was someone he had brought back from Solid Origin and immediately said angrily: “How dare you?”

The Hai Dongqing laughed coldly: “In this imperial prison, I have even interrogated high officials of the second rank, what is there to dare? Drag him away!”

Li Xuan and Qi Jianzhe’s eyes were red with anger, but they were helpless.

Just at this time, Chen Ji, who was leaning against the wall, said casually: “This person is a meritorious minister of Solid Origin. He just entered the palace for an audience yesterday. Today he is caught and severely tortured in the imperial prison. If this matter spreads, it will surely attract criticism. This Lord Hai Dongqing, it’s the same who you interrogate first and who you interrogate later, right? Leave some leeway for yourself. The Qi family will surely have a generous reward afterwards.”

The Hai Dongqing heard the words, turned his head, and looked at Chen Ji with cold eyes. He pondered for two breaths, then immediately said to the jailer: “Send him back, change the one next door to interrogate.”

Li Xuan and the others breathed a sigh of relief. If their comrades who had gone through life and death together were interrogated, it would be harder to bear than being directly killed.

Next door, the Imperial Guard under Chen Wenren and Zhao Zhuofan suddenly went limp like rotten mud and was dragged into the depths of the imperial prison by the jailer.

He bitterly begged Li Xuan: “Lord, in the past, I was blinded by lard and shouldn’t have helped Chen Wenren oppose you. Please say a word for me!”

This time, both Li Xuan and Chen Ji were silent.

In just a moment, intense wails came from the darkness: “My father is the Jinling circuit judge, you…”

“Ah! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

Two incense sticks later, two jailers framed his arms and dragged him back to the cell. All the Imperial Guards stood in front of the iron bars and looked at him with lingering fear. They saw that the interrogated Imperial Guard’s hands were a bloody mess, his ten fingernails were already gone.

Xuanshe’s Hai Dongqing’s gaze swept back and forth, then he pointed at another Imperial Guard to be taken away. When he was dragged back this time, they saw that the Imperial Guard’s chest had two cannon-burnt scars, the skin and flesh rolling outward.

The Imperial Guards were in despair.

From You hour to Hai hour, only two hours had passed, and the imperial prison was already filled with cries.

But no matter how much they interrogated, the case made no progress. The Hai Dongqing also gradually lost patience.

He pointed at an Imperial Guard under Li Xuan and laughed coldly: “I have read the Solid Origin files and know that you brothers have deep feelings. But now the matter involves foreign envoys, Lord Xuanshe has given a death order to solve the case within twelve hours, so I have no choice. If you know anything, it’s still time to speak up now. If you don’t say anything, then I can only interrogate one by one. Rest assured, Lord Li, Lord Qi, I will definitely interrogate you two last.”

Li Xuan’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed, Qi Jianzhe didn’t know what to do.

Just as the secret agent was about to drag the Imperial Guard away, Chen Ji, who was leaning against the wall, suddenly said: “No need to interrogate him, interrogate me. I’ll take his place.”

The Imperial Guards’ officers and men were solemn upon hearing this. No one expected Chen Ji to say that.

Qi Jianzhe was anxious: “Master, no!”

Chen Ji stood up: “It doesn’t matter.”

The Imperial Guard being dragged away said anxiously: “Lord Chen…”

Chen Ji smiled: “Don’t worry.”

Li Xuan said: “Exchange me, I’ll go!”

The Hai Dongqing laughed heartily: “Are there really hard bones in the Imperial Guards? Lord Li, your trip to Solid Origin was not in vain.”

Saying that, he reached out and pointed at Chen Ji: “Drag him to Pipa Hall for me, I want to interrogate him properly. There is an old saying in this imperial prison, there are no true good men under the intimidating rod. How many men who claimed to have hard bones couldn’t last a day after coming in.”

Chen Ji patted the dust off his clothes and walked outside: “No need to drag, I’ll walk myself.”

However, just at this moment, Jiao Tu’s voice came from the entrance of the tunnel: “I will personally lead the interrogation of him.”

The Hai Dongqing’s face changed. He turned his head and looked at Jiao Tu: “You… Although you are a sparrow-level secret agent, I am Lord Xuanshe’s Hai Dongqing. It’s not your turn to tell me how to do things.”

Jiao Tu smiled, narrowed his eyes, and came to his front, casually slapping him, making him spin in place: “Elder sister will teach you a principle: if your strength is not enough, speak a little softer. One more sentence of nonsense and I’ll kill you now. I’ll go to Lord Inner Prime Minister and plead guilty myself… and ah, I just made merit in Solid Origin and am already a pigeon-level secret agent. How did you arbitrarily demote me one level? Do you know how hard I worked to earn that merit?”

The Hai Dongqing covered half his face and dared not speak. Everyone in the Directorate of Ceremonial knew that Jiao Tu and Yun Yang had been demoted by Bailong, but these two people’s strength was there, and they were once the most capable assassins in front of the Inner Prime Minister. No one dared to be sure that the Inner Prime Minister really regarded them as discarded pieces.

Imperial favor is power, this sentence is also applicable in the Directorate of Ceremonial.

Jiao Tu waved his hand impatiently: “Leave the key, hurry up and scram.”

The Hai Dongqing laughed coldly, threw the key on the ground, turned and walked away.

Jiao Tu pulled Chen Ji’s arm and walked towards the depths of the imperial prison. When they passed Qi Jianzhe’s cell, he trembled and said: “What are you doing? Let go of my master! I am a direct descendant of the Qi family’s third generation, I… What do you want, I can think of a way.”

Jiao Tu glanced at him: “Putting your family background on your lips every time you open your mouth and close your mouth, haven’t you grown up yet?”

Li Xuan stood by the iron bars: “He never came into contact with the Korean envoys’ sedan chair!”

Jiao Tu didn’t pay attention, only pulled Chen Ji through the long dark tunnel with a cold face.

Only when they were completely far away from the Imperial Guards’ cells did she change to a smiling face: “This little woman Jiao Tu came to the rescue one step late, Lord Chen forgive me.”

Chen Ji glanced at her: “Are you delaying even the merits you have in hand?”

“Some things were delayed,” Jiao Tu changed the subject and said meaningfully: “Lord Chen is quite trustworthy. Are you actually really willing to give up your merits?”

Chen Ji calmly said: “The Secret Agent Office is surrounded by jackals, tigers, and leopards. One more ally is always better than one more enemy, what do you think, Lord Jiao Tu?”

Jiao Tu’s smile was even more abundant: “Of course, of course… It’s naturally best for Lord Chen to think this way. You also saw those two monsters Xuanshe and Bao Hou today. Compared to them, it’s definitely more refreshing for us old acquaintances to cooperate.”

She turned her head to look at Chen Ji: “Is Lord Chen like a snake or a monkey? Which position do you like, and we’ll just kill the people in that position. Rest assured, as long as there’s an opportunity for them to be alone, leave it to me.”

Chen Ji’s expression didn’t change: “Lord Jiao Tu has only probably stepped one foot into the threshold of seeking the Dao, no wonder you can get Lord Inner Prime Minister’s favor.”

Jiao Tu smiled without answering, changing the subject: “Tell me, what reward does Lord Chen want this time? Elder sister can do many things for you.”

Chen Ji stopped in the tunnel of the inner prison: “Lord Jiao Tu, Yun Yang is not here, so there’s no need to act.”

Jiao Tu slowly put away her smile: “Why mention that fool? No energy. Say it, you are a master who won’t get up early without profit. What do you want to exchange for merits?”

Chen Ji deliberated for a long time: “What to exchange is not something to talk about, it’s something promised to you early. There is still a sky-high merit that needs you and Yun Yang to help… Can Lord Jiao Tu walk in the palace?”

Jiao Tu’s eyes lit up: “You really asked the right person. Even Bailong, Tian Ma, Bao Hou, and Shan Niu can’t do this, only I, this woman, can! They can only enter the Troublesome Building, but they cannot re-enter the deep palace one step!”

Chen Ji doubted: “Can Xuanshe?”

Jiao Tu smiled and narrowed her eyes: “He is a eunuch from the inner court, naturally he can. But cooperating with that kind of monster is so tiring. Cooperating with silly secret agents like me and Yun Yang is safer, isn’t it? Lord Chen, please instruct me, what do you need me to do?”

Chen Ji stood in the long dark tunnel, looking straight at Jiao Tu and said: “I need you to go to Jingyang Palace and protect Princess Baili from dying.”

Jiao Tu was startled: “Old feelings are not over or you can’t bear it? At first, when you betrayed King Jing, I only thought you were a ruthless person with a kind face. Why do you regret it now?”

Chen Ji’s expression was flat: “I need her to be useful.”

Jiao Tu was suspicious: “What use?”

Chen Ji said with a resounding voice: “Han Tong. The Salt Gang assisted His Majesty early and has the merit of following the dragon. Its momentum in the Jianghu is vast, and its connections in the capital are also deeply rooted. Now its tail is too big to shake off. The Inner Prime Minister has long wanted to eliminate the Salt Gang. As long as we catch Han Tong and disintegrate the Salt Gang, it’s not only possible for one person to ascend to a high position, but even for the three of us to ascend together.”

Jiao Tu covered her mouth and laughed: “This is exactly right. This is the style of our Secret Agent Office. People with good hearts and soft hearts can’t live long in our Secret Agent Office. However, we used the princess to fish for Han Tong before, and it didn’t work. That Han Tong actually ran away alone. The poor princess, at first, she was forced onto the road to the capital, washing her face with tears every day. By the time she reached Fengtai, her eyes were almost cried blind, and now she doesn’t have a single tear left.”

Saying that, she observed Chen Ji’s expression, but found no clues.

Chen Ji said casually: “Let her cry, she can’t cry herself to death.”

Jiao Tu questioned: “Using her can really catch Han Tong?”

Chen Ji said lightly: “I have my own way.”

Jiao Tu saw that he was determined and felt relieved: “After the Korean envoys’ matter is settled, I will go into the palace. Lord Chen may have really found the right person, this matter is indeed something only I can do… See, I said you would always have a place for me.”

She stretched out her hand, her index finger slowly sliding down Chen Ji’s collar: “So, shouldn’t Lord Chen tell me, who is the murderer?”

Chen Ji answered: “There is no murderer, he committed suicide.”

Jiao Tu raised her eyebrows: “Lord Chen, don’t fool me. How could he commit suicide?”

Chen Ji explained: “That Korean prince said that the thieves of the Jing Dynasty had assassinated him three times… Lord Jiao Tu, you and I have both dealt with the thieves of the Jing Dynasty. That Korean prince has some interpreters, secretaries, doctors, and merchants beside him. With the military intelligence methods of the Jing Dynasty, if they were determined to kill him, could they still let him live until now?”

“That’s true,” Jiao Tu was surprised: “You mean, his previous assassinations were also acting?”

Chen Ji counter-questioned: “Are there any survivors among the Jing Dynasty thieves who assassinated him earlier?”

Jiao Tu shook her head: “No.”

Chen Ji nodded: “That’s right, they dare not leave a living mouth.”

Jiao Tu hugged her hands and lowered her head to think: “But what is all this for?”

Chen Ji thought: “Thinking about it, it’s to create a false appearance that the Jing Dynasty hates him to the bone, leading our dynasty to be their common enemy. Then, using the death of the envoys in the heavenly dynasty as an excuse, they force our dynasty to send troops to aid or agree to his marriage request. If I’m not mistaken, at this time, some people have already spread the matter of the Korean envoys being assassinated by the Jing Dynasty into the streets, stirring up anti-Jing public opinion.”

Jiao Tu leaned against the iron bars of an empty cell: “If you’re really right, Xuanshe will be tracing the source of the news now… But how should I prove that he committed suicide?”

Chen Ji changed the subject and asked: “After the Korean prince came to our dynasty, what did he do every day in the Reception Hall?”

Jiao Tu thought for a moment: “According to the records of the Reception Hall, he copied Dao scriptures every day, saying it was to present to His Majesty as a congratulatory gift. He didn’t do anything else special.”

Chen Ji turned and continued to walk towards the depths of the imperial prison, then took out a blue account book from his bosom: “When the Korean envoys entered the Reception Hall, they were searched, and their belongings were registered one by one. How many items they had when they entered must match the number when they left. Therefore, the object carrying the poison must be a consumable, for example, the medicines they brought.”

Jiao Tu frowned: “They definitely won’t be so silly. If we check the account book now, not a single pill from the other side will be missing.”

Chen Ji calmly said: “Besides medicines, there is one more consumable.”

Jiao Tu was curious: “What is it?”

Chen Ji stopped in front of an isolated cell. He looked at the person inside the cell, and without turning his head, said: “Ink sticks. As long as you mix Maqianzi with glue and counterfeit it into the appearance of an ink stick, chew it up and swallow it on the spot, you will die. Maqianzi dissolves in the stomach, it only takes the time of one incense stick to become a lump of paste. After the medicine melts, the color will also turn from black to dark green. The prince copied Dao scriptures every day, who can tell exactly how much ink he used?”

Jiao Tu’s eyes brightened: “That makes sense! Their minds are quite ingenious.”

Chen Ji shook his head: “It’s just a trivial skill, betting that our Ning Dynasty cannot prove it.”

Jiao Tu was again perplexed: “Yes, the medicine is all dissolved in the stomach pouch, the stomach is definitely a mess, nothing can be distinguished. If you want to investigate the ink stick, he said he used it when copying Dao scriptures. How should I prove it to the Inner Prime Minister?”

At this time, Chen Ji stood inside the cell. The person reading put down his book roll and came to the edge of the iron bars, smilingly asking Chen Ji: “That’s right, how should you prove it to the Inner Prime Minister?”

Chen Ji answered: “Lord Jiao Tu, you can cut open the corpse’s stomach pouch and mix his gastric juice with strong tea. If white flocculation floats up, it is glue. The food he ate today was the fixed meal prepared by the Reception Hall, there is no glue. In addition, if that Korean prince still wanted to kill people with poison, it’s not certain there isn’t a Maqianzi ink stick beside him.”

The scholar inside the cell said unexpectedly: “Strong tea actually has this kind of effect?”

Jiao Tu looked at Mister Feng in the cell, then looked at Chen Ji: “You deliberately got caught in the inner prison to find him? What are you looking for him for?”

Mister Feng stood in the cell with his hands behind his back, also smilingly asking Chen Ji: “Yes, what are you looking for me for?”

Chen Ji didn’t answer, turned his head to Jiao Tu and said: “I’ll trouble Lord Jiao Tu to lock me in the next cell. I have a few things to ask Lord ‘Sick Tiger’.”

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