Chapter 40 Overcoming the Wall
General Wang asked in a deep voice: "Miss Chunhua, have you found anything?"

Chunhua suppressed her tears and said, "No..."

She turned around and looked at She Dengke in disbelief with red eyes, while there was some confusion and some relief in She Dengke's eyes.

General Wang looked at Chunhua, then at She Dengke, and said in a colder voice: "Miss Chunhua, please call us next time when you have solid evidence. We, the Qiansui Army, are the prince's guards, not petty detectives looking for chickens and dogs. Let's go."

The guards were about to leave, but unexpectedly Old Man Yao stood in front of them and said lightly, "Apologize."

General Wang was silent for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Ji: "Sorry, I'm sorry for the offense!"

Chen Ji said slowly: "Please General Wang, please clarify this for me at the door, otherwise the neighbors will not associate with me anymore."

General Wang shook his head: "I can't do this, let's go!"

The palace guards came and left quickly. Chunhua looked at She Dengke, who was about to say something but hesitated. Finally, with red eyes, she turned around and left: "You are going to kill me!"

"Wait!" said Chen Ji.

Chunhua stopped, turned around and looked at Chen Ji, and said with some fear: "What are you going to do? I don't want to do it, but I can't help it."

"Take a step to speak."

Chen Ji led Chunhua to the door and said softly, "Please tell Concubine Jing that she and I didn't have to be enemies. Liu Shiyu was not killed by me, nor by the Secret Service. He was silenced by the Liu family. Since I was able to help her find the lead-barium glass cup last time, I can also help her get revenge this time. Go back and tell her this, and you should be fine."

Chunhua was stunned for a moment, then turned and left.

Chen Ji stood in front of the clinic, listening to the discussions around him and watching Chunhua leaving.

As the sun sets, the orange-red light from him fades away little by little until it is shrouded by night.

The Secret Service Department, the Military Intelligence Department, Concubine Jing, and Concubine Yun, each of these people is a giant in this world, and it seems that they can crush him to death with a wave of their hands.

Chen Ji's fate is not in his own control. As a newcomer, he can only survive in the cracks.

But now there is also a chessboard in front of him. He gently places a piece on the edge of the 'Spring Corner'. Perhaps it cannot determine the outcome, but he always takes unconventional approaches when playing chess and never makes common moves.

He returned to the clinic, only to see Old Man Yao staring at She Dengke: "Have you grown wings? Kneel down!"

She Dengke knelt on the ground obediently, crying and wailing: "Master, I didn't expect this to happen. Chunhua said that Concubine Jing asked her to do this, otherwise she would kill her tonight. Chunhua told me that I only needed to hide a bead in Chen Ji's clothes and drive Chen Ji out of the Imperial Medical Clinic. She took out all her savings over the years, saying that she wanted to compensate Chen Ji, and that Chen Ji could also do a small business after leaving the clinic."

As he spoke, She Dengke took out three silver ingots, two silver hairpins, two silver bracelets, and thirty-six copper coins from his arms.

Old Man Yao turned to look at Chen Ji: "This is your business, what do you say?"

Chen Ji stood silently.

Chunhua could have given ten taels of silver, fifty taels of silver, or five hundred taels of silver, but she chose to give thirty taels of silver and thirty-six copper coins because that was all Chunhua had.

But can I forgive myself? I can’t.

He knew that in this era, a girl like Chunhua had no choice, and if she didn't do it, Concubine Jing would really kill her.

But if he was really framed, would the only outcome be to be kicked out of the Imperial Medical Clinic? No, he would definitely be beaten to death by Chunrong and his servants.

He thought he could treat the clinic as his own home and his fellow disciples as his family, but reality will never happen as you expect.

The fucked-up thing about this world is that it won’t let you off just because you’re a good person.

Chen Ji is not a good person either.

He picked up the silver, bracelets, hairpins, and copper coins on the ground and said, "I'll take these things, but Senior Brother She, you and Chunhua each owe me a life. You have to pay me back when I ask you to, okay?"

She Dengke nodded frantically: "Yes! Yes!"

Chen Ji turned around and went back to the main hall of the clinic. Liu Quxing looked at his back and seemed to be hesitant to speak. He felt that nothing he said would be of any use now.

Old man Yao looked down at She Dengke who was kneeling. "You are obsessed with women. Go inside and kneel down. Don't be an eyesore here. Although Chen Ji will not pursue the matter, if you do this again, this clinic will not tolerate you."

……

……

At night, Taiping Medical Clinic became quiet, as if nothing had happened during the day.

Chen Ji stood behind the counter with his chin propped up.

Wuyun walked out from the shadows, gently jumped onto the counter and sat down, spitting out a round pearl in Chen Ji's palm. It meowed, "Don't be sad, don't be angry."

Chen Ji hid the pearl in his sleeve: "I am not sad, nor angry. Sadness and anger are useless emotions for the weak... Let's talk about something happy and settle the score!"

"I have lit a total of sixteen fires now. I feel like beating the spy won't be a problem. When I was imprisoned by the palace guards today, I felt like I could break free from them. I don't know how many fires I need to light to defeat Sicao, Lin Chaoqing, Yunyang, and Jiaotu..."

"Pearl cannot be sold now. I will sell it in other cities later. I bought six ginsengs in Bailu Pavilion earlier. I returned one to Old Man Yao, and the remaining five cost a total of 195 taels of silver... Counting the 50 taels under the bed and the money Chunhua compensated me, we still have 85 taels of silver and 121 copper coins left."

Wuyun wondered, "How many roast chickens can I buy?"

Chen Ji calculated for a long time but still couldn't figure it out: "... In short, it's a lot! When I bought ginseng, that Si Cao really didn't give me any discount at all. Do you think I should find a way to become Hai Dongqing of the Military Intelligence Department in Luocheng and become a shopkeeper in Bailu Pavilion? It just so happens that I studied Chinese medicine, so my major is also suitable..."

If I could manage Bailu Pavilion, even if I didn't embezzle money and property, I could still buy ginseng at the purchase price, right? !

At this time, Wuyun pricked up his ears and heard light but messy footsteps coming from outside the door. Several people were approaching the clinic.

"Chen Ji, some people are coming, several of them!"

"Huh," Chen Ji blew out the oil lamp and quietly came behind the door to listen.

Who is it?
Ning Dynasty Secret Service Department or Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department? Or is it that Concubine Jing is unwilling to give up and sent someone to kill her again?
This is the situation of multiple identities. When someone attacks, Chen Ji can't even tell who did it.

However, before he could think clearly, he heard a voice from the backyard: "Hurry up, be gentle!"

Chen Ji suddenly turned around and looked through the corridor between the main hall and the backyard, only to see a tall figure climbing into the yard!

Surrounded!

He made a gesture to Wuyun, asking him to hide in the dark, while he pulled out a short knife used for cutting medicine from behind the counter and quietly attacked.

Chen Ji's palms were slightly sweaty. He was surrounded by dozens of people from front and back. Such a large-scale siege was definitely not something he could handle.

But before he reached the backyard, he saw another little monk climbing up the wall separating the clinic from the palace!
The little monk's head was shiny smooth in the moonlight, and he was struggling to climb over the courtyard wall. Chen Ji took a closer look at the one who had already climbed over. Wasn't he the prince of Prince Jing's Mansion who was dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse in the daytime?
As they were shocked, a voice came from Anxi Street outside the clinic: "Everyone, be patient, the prince will be out soon!"

Chen Ji looked back at the main gate, then at the prince and the little monk in the yard, and Princess Baili who was climbing over the wall.

Chen Ji: Ah?

It was the middle of the night and he thought that Concubine Jing had sent more than ten people to assassinate him, but he didn't expect it to be a misunderstanding.

Chen Ji slapped the little monk on the bald head and said unhappily, "Hey, what are you doing?"

When these words were spoken, the young monk and the prince were startled. Princess Baili, who was climbing over the wall, quickly retracted her head. After a moment, she secretly stuck her head out again and looked towards the backyard of the clinic.

Under the moonlight, Chen Ji was holding a knife, the slim girl was clinging to the wall, the prince and the little monk were as guilty as thieves, and no one expected that they would meet like this.

Just like the beginning of all stories, people are caught off guard when they meet each other.

Chen Ji raised his eyebrows and asked, "Sir, it's the middle of the night, it's not a good idea to climb over someone else's wall like this, right?"

The prince was puzzled: "Do you know me?"

Chen Ji sneered: "I know you. I held you in my arms when you were a child."

Prince: “…”

Zhu Baili, who was clinging to the wall, laughed out loud: "Brother, he is insulting you."

"Keep your voice down," the prince said in a low voice, "Don't call the guards!"

The prince looked at the apprentice in front of him and was not angry. He came over with a smile and wanted to put his arm around his shoulder, but after seeing the dagger in Chen Ji's hand, he retreated angrily: "It's like this, little brother, you also know who we are. The palace has a curfew at night and is not allowed to enter and leave freely, so we borrow a passage from your clinic. Don't worry, we will never damage any property!"

A curfew in the palace? Chen Ji had never heard of it, but considering what the prince said during the day, "the old man is very strict", maybe this curfew was specifically for the prince and the princess.

So the other party did not go through the main gate of the palace, but instead climbed over the wall of the clinic.

While thinking, the little monk looked at Chen Ji in the moonlight, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "So it's you, are you in this clinic?"

The prince was puzzled and asked in a low voice: "Do you know each other?"

The young monk smiled and said, "Yes, I know him. I met him during the day. He's a very capable man. I wanted to ask him for advice, but he disappeared in the crowd."

(End of this chapter)