He was granted a noble title.

The three hundred shi stipend was negligible.

But if there were another spring hunt, no one, not even the Directorate of Ceremonial, could circumvent Emperor Ning and issue a warrant.

The outsider, in this world, finally had a hereditary “identity.”

Zhang Zhuo jokingly bowed to Chen Ji: “Chen Ji, from now on I can’t call you ‘you little rascal’ or ‘that kid.’ I must call you Lord Jue.”

“Minister Zhang, you jest,” Chen Ji said as he accepted the imperial decree.

Xiao Man, holding the little black cat, her eyes sparkling, leaned in, full of disbelief: “Young Master, you’ve been granted a title? You’ve really been granted a title! Won’t the matchmakers proposing marriage for you wear out the threshold of the Chen family’s door?”

Chen Ji glanced at her, no longer pretending to be drunk: “You’re more concerned about my marriage than I am.”

Xiao Man whispered: “But this three hundred shi stipend is too little. As a Lord Jue, the monthly stipend is only twenty liang of silver. Which Lord Jue lives so shabbily?”

The little eunuch delivering the decree’s face changed, and he quickly said, “Young lady, mind your words! You can’t speak so carelessly!”

Xiao Man saw the little eunuch standing by and immediately rummaged through her sleeve to find something. But she had left in such a hurry that she hadn’t brought any silver for a tip.

Her gaze fell on the Buddhist beads in the little monk’s hand: “That on your hand…”

The little monk quickly explained: “This is a true mala, not a Buddhist coin.”

Xiao Man said “Oh.”

Zhang Zhuo pulled out a golden peanut from his sleeve and tossed it to the little eunuch: “What are you still looking at? Go do your work. You didn’t hear anything just now.”

The little eunuch’s face broke into a smile, and he hastily bowed: “Thank you, Minister Zhang, thank you, Minister Zhang!”

Zhang Zhuo turned to Chen Ji: “Boy, now that you have a title, you should host a few banquets to celebrate.”

Chen Ji folded the imperial decree and handed it to Xiao Man: “Before the spring hunt, His Majesty promised a County Viscount and a four hundred shi stipend. Why has it been reduced by one rank today?”

Zhang Zhuo smiled and pointed at him: “Don’t be ungrateful. The stipend isn’t important. The four words ‘hereditary and perpetual’ are the most valuable. The Ning Dynasty hasn’t granted a noble title outside the imperial clan for twenty-seven years. Now that you have a County Baron, you can be promoted to County Viscount, and later there will be princes, dukes, marquises, earls… Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a prince of a different surname?”

“I haven’t thought that far,” Chen Ji shook his head and changed the subject: “By the way, Minister Zhang, where are Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia?”

“They both went to the Xu family to visit the Grand Secretary,” Zhang Zhuo sighed lightly, walking towards Qipan Jie: “The Grand Secretary is gravely ill, and I don’t know how much longer he can hold on. If Xu Shu hadn’t exchanged Daoist elixirs from Hu Junyan, he probably wouldn’t have made it past last month. Now some people hope the Grand Secretary will pass away sooner, even within the Xu family. A few days ago, the Hu family specifically sent someone to the Directorate of Astronomy to ask Hu Junyan not to give the life-sustaining elixirs to the Xu family anymore.”

Chen Ji was puzzled: “Someone in the Xu family also wants the Grand Secretary to die?”

Zhang Zhuo smiled and explained: “While the Grand Secretary is alive, he can still decide to hand over the Xu family to me to manage. Once he’s gone, those collateral branches of the Xu family will all come to snatch a share. At that time, the Xu family will no longer be under my control. Now, I only wish for him to hold on a little longer, to wait for me, to wait for me to put this great land in order with the new policies.”

He walked beside Zhang Zhuo and asked curiously: “Doesn’t Xu Shu, the Director of Astronomy, inherit the Xu family’s estate? He’s the Grand Secretary’s legitimate son. With him around, how could collateral branches snatch a share?”

Zhang Zhuo shook his head as he walked: “He is a person from the Forty-nine Heavens. Grand Secretary Xu also doesn’t want him to inherit the family estate. I ask you, if you were the Grand Secretary, would you be close to someone who took over your only son’s body? Grand Secretary Xu originally wanted to kill him, but Xu Shu was saved by Yuanjue Si back then. When he woke up, he didn’t hide his identity and frankly stated that he came from Jingliuli World, borrowed the Xu family’s body, and could ensure the Xu family’s prosperity for nineteen years… Only then did Grand Secretary Xu suppress his murderous intent. But from then on, the two never spoke another word. Grand Secretary Xu used me to relay messages to Xu Shu, and Xu Shu used me to relay messages to Grand Secretary Xu.”

Chen Ji was curious: “Which year is it now?”

Zhang Zhuo was silent for a moment: “The nineteenth year.”

He said nineteen years, and it was nineteen years.

During these nineteen years, Grand Secretary Xu firmly held the position of Grand Secretary, suppressing other influential families so they couldn’t raise their heads, even the Liu family was gone. Now that Grand Secretary Xu was leaving, the Xu family’s edifice was on the verge of collapse.

Chen Ji tentatively asked: “Did Xu Shu ever mention why he came down from the Forty-nine Heavens? Why did other immortals from the Forty-nine Heavens come to the human world? Who lives in Jingliuli World?”

Zhang Zhuo recalled: “He only said that Jingliuli World is the Pure Land of the Medicine Buddha. He wasn’t willing to say more about anything else.”

While he was pondering, they had already arrived outside Chengtian Men.

Zhang Zhuo looked at the empty Qipan Jie and suddenly sighed with emotion: “Chen Ji, this capital city is like a martial arts world where swordsmen duel. Everyone is afraid to make a move, waiting for others to reveal their flaws. The more you do, the more mistakes you make… But some things must be done by someone. In this year of my demotion, come and help me.”

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo stood side by side outside Chengtian Men, looking at the dim gate tower of Qipan Jie. One was clad in a bright red official robe, the other was stained with blood.

The once bustling Qipan Jie was now dark, and everything was silent.

In Chen Ji’s hometown, this place was no longer called Chengtian Men; it was Tianan Men.

The Zhang family members were now the most trustworthy people to him in this world, and he also wanted to help Zhang Zhuo, but he still had his own things to do.

Chen Ji was about to refuse, but then he had a change of heart: “What is Minister Zhang currently planning to do?”

Zhang Zhuo slowly said: “Dredge the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is like the dragon’s spine; all the empire’s taxes must be transported to the capital via the Grand Canal. But the Caobang has controlled the Grand Canal for a long time and has become a serious hidden danger, reaching a point where it must be eliminated. However, the core members of the Caobang are deeply hidden. I need your help to contact the Sanshan Hui and inquire about the situation of the Caobang.”

Chen Ji pondered for a long time: “Alright.”

If it were anything else, he could only refuse Zhang Zhuo. But since it involved the Caobang, this was also something he needed to investigate:

First, the disguised Jie Fan Wei assassins were hidden among the boatmen, and they must have come from the Caobang. Only the Caobang on both sides of the Grand Canal had the power to raise such assassins. Second, Aunt Ping once said that the Tomb Dog escaped to Yangzhou with twelve scrolls of scriptures and was intercepted by an official of the Zangmang Sect, and the blood sacrifice method of the Wu Chang Bing Ma also fell into the opponent’s hands. Chen Ji also knew an official of the Zangmang Sect related to the Caobang… Bai Li’s biological father, Han Tong.

Aunt Ping once said that Zangmang Sect officials usually only tattooed pythons. Some tried tattooing celestial deities but went mad, but she didn’t say that tattooing deities would definitely make one mad.

Han Tong had a Buddha tattooed on his hand.

So, whether Chen Ji wanted to gather evidence to condemn the second branch of the Chen family or find the blood sacrifice method of the Wu Chang Bing Ma, he had to investigate the Caobang, which coincided with Zhang Zhuo’s goals.

Zhang Zhuo was slightly surprised and also somewhat pleased to hear him agree: “I didn’t expect you, kid…”

Xiao Man cautiously reminded: “Minister Zhang, you should call him Lord Jue.”

Zhang Zhuo and Chen Ji both turned to look at Xiao Man, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The little monk closed his eyes: “Amitābha…”

Just then, the sound of hoofbeats came from a distance, urgent and powerful.

A swift horse galloped from the east, and someone shouted from afar: “Great victory! Wang Daosheng, the Pingdong General-in-Chief and Vice Minister of War, led our Ning Dynasty navy to raid the Jing Dynasty’s Lüshun Port, capturing Jing Dynasty’s Privy Council official, Yuan Cheng, alive! They will return to the capital soon!”

The swift horse galloped past the two, carrying the wind from afar, fluttering their clothes, and heading towards Wu Men.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zhuo instinctively exchanged glances.

Attacked Lüshun Port?

Captured the Privy Council official alive?

Didn’t Wang Daosheng lead the navy to reinforce Goryeo? How did he end up at Lüshun and even capture a Privy Council official alive?

The Jing Dynasty’s Privy Council official controlled the Military Command Bureau, the Military Intelligence Bureau, and the Military Ordnance Bureau. Only the Zhongshu Pingzhang and the Jing Dynasty Emperor could restrain him.

This was a truly important figure in the Jing Dynasty, yet he was captured alive by Wang Daosheng. And Wang Daosheng, after capturing Yuan Cheng, was still able to withdraw unscathed?

Great victory.

It was indeed a great victory.

Zhang Zhuo turned to a wine shop on Qipan Jie and knocked on the closed door: “Open up, open up quickly!”

He knocked for about half an incense stick’s time, and a waiter inside grumbled as he removed the door planks: “Didn’t you see we’re closed… Sir!”

The waiter saw the red-robed official outside the door and immediately became nervous: “What is it, sir?”

Zhang Zhuo walked into the shop, self-importantly grabbed a jar of wine, and poured it into his mouth: “Excellent! Our Ning Dynasty soldiers landed at Lüshun Port and advanced unopposed, capturing a high-ranking official of the Jing Dynasty! Unprecedented and unparalleled!”

He pulled the waiter: “Come, come, you drink a bowl too!”

Qipan Jie gradually became lively again. The shops that had closed now removed their door planks again, hearing the commotion and rushing over: “Was the great victory just announced true?”

Zhang Zhuo burst out laughing: “Could it be false? Of course, it’s true!”

He threw a handful of golden peanuts to the waiter: “Here’s money for your wine. Anyone who comes to your shop to drink today, I will pay for their wine!”

The shopkeepers and clerks outside the wine shop quickly ran off into the distance, knocking on doors and calling people from house to house. More and more people gathered in the wine shop.

Chen Ji watched this scene and finally understood what it meant to “spread the news excitedly.”

This great victory was indeed worthy of celebration by the entire Ning Dynasty, but Chen Ji was momentarily unsure whether he should be happy or worried.

He stood outside the wine shop and turned to Xiao Man: “Our coachman went to the spring hunt with me earlier. Later, I was pursued and separated from him. Did he return to the Chen family?”

Xiao Man looked confused: “No, you didn’t mention him, I almost forgot about him…”

Chen Ji’s heart sank.

Si Cao Gui had disappeared, once again hiding among the masses.

When Chen Ji revealed his strength after being pursued, the other party might have realized that what happened at Guyuan Longmen Inn was not a false report of military achievements.

Chen Ji silently pondered that Si Cao Gui probably wasn’t entirely sure about the Guyuan incident, nor would he necessarily conclude that Chen Ji had manipulated things just by hearing the good news…

But Si Cao Gui was a person who acted without relying on evidence.

At this moment, Zhang Zhuo came out of the wine shop with two bowls of wine, handing one to Chen Ji: “Your teacher is returning in triumph, why aren’t you, his disciple, happy?”

Chen Ji smiled and drank the wine in one gulp: “Happy.”

But as he drank, Zhang Zhuo also reined in his joy, frowning.

Chen Ji said calmly: “Minister Zhang, what’s wrong?”

Zhang Zhuo said in a deep voice: “After your teacher returns, I’m afraid there will be another twist.”

Chen Ji was puzzled: “What does Minister Zhang mean?”

Zhang Zhuo drank the wine in his bowl and sighed: “His Majesty promoted him to Pingdong General-in-Chief, a rank of Zheng Er Pin, with the Pingdong General Seal to command the Ning Dynasty Navy, and added the title of Vice Minister of War. He was also exceptionally granted the Special Rank of Grand Master of Glorious Happiness and a Loyal and Brave Golden Tablet, allowing him to execute first and report later… His favor is too great.”

“Oh?”

Zhang Zhuo slowly said: “His Majesty gave him forty thousand miscellaneous naval soldiers, but then bestowed so many titles upon him, actually not expecting him to return… Now that he has returned, how should the imperial court reward him? If I were him, I would have deliberately discredited myself on the way back, either by massacring captives or embezzling military funds, to give His Majesty an opportunity to demote me. But Wang Daosheng would not do that; he wants to be a saint.”

But this vast Ning Dynasty could not tolerate a literary saint.

The next moment, Zhang Zhuo’s expression changed again: “Not good, with Yuan Cheng captured, Lu Jin will have the opportunity to be promoted to Privy Council official. This man is much more difficult to deal with than Yuan Cheng and is also the Jing Dynasty’s most steadfast advocate for war.”

Chen Ji casually said: “How difficult is Lu Jin? So much so that Minister Zhang treats him like a formidable enemy?”

Zhang Zhuo shook his head: “You don’t understand. This man has immense influence in the Jing Dynasty army and is extremely skilled in strategy and patience. Behind all the Jing Dynasty’s great victories in the south these past years, his shadow can be seen. You two should go back and rest for now. I need to enter the palace to meet His Majesty right now!”

With that, Zhang Zhuo threw his wine bowl and turned to run towards Wu Men, not even caring about his demeanor.