Chapter 56 Gambler
Chen Ji watched the dark clouds slowly retreat into the shadows and disappear into the gambling house.

The dark clouds penetrated into the rain curtain, and regardless of the heavy rain pouring down on them, they searched all the way to every corner of the Red Dress Lane.

It flipped into a backyard and gently lifted a bamboo dustpan, revealing a fat orange cat inside.

Wuyun was a little disappointed to see that it was an orange cat, but after a moment of hesitation he asked, "Have you seen an injured human run away tonight?"

The fat orange boy looked up and meowed: Huh?
Wuyun held back his temper and said, "I say, have you seen a wounded human being..."

Fat Orange meowed again in confusion: Huh?
The dark clouds covered the bamboo dustpan again: "I have no need to ask you!"

In the heavy rain, it climbed back up to the roof of the "Golden House", the tallest building in Hongyi Lane.

It stood on the eaves, overlooking the entire Red Lane, and quickly analyzed where Sanhua and Lihua might appear.

However, Wuyun suddenly saw that in several nearby streets, there were hundreds of spies wearing straw raincoats and hiding in the dark, and not only that, some spies were disguised as civilians, searching house by house.

Although it was difficult to search for the defected spy due to the heavy rain, Golden Pig did not really give up!
Wuyun jumped off the eaves in a hurry. He had to find that person before the Secret Service.

At this moment, Chen Ji looked through the back door of the gambling house at the darkness outside, feeling a sense of uneasiness that a crisis was approaching.

No matter how good Chen Ji is at reasoning, it is impossible for him to find the defected spy under the current circumstances.

Fortunately, Wuyun brought a turning point... It just depends on whether Wuyun can find the defected spy before the Secret Service.

Chen Ji adjusted his raincoat, pressed down the brim of his hat, and turned back to the gambling hall.

He found a secret agent and pointed at Chen Wenxiao who was squatting in the crowd: "Drag him into the house and hang him up. I have something to ask him."

Chen Wenxiao squatted on the ground for so long that his legs became numb and he kept changing his posture as if he had to pee urgently.

As he was talking, a secret agent came up to Chen Wenxiao, lifted his hair and walked away: "You, follow me."

Chen Wenxiao's hair was pulled so hard that it hurt. He could only grimace as he was dragged to a private room upstairs and hung from the ceiling with ropes.

After a long time, the spy left, and Chen Ji walked in wearing a bamboo hat and slowly asked, "Name."

"My father is Chen Liqin, the co-magistrate of Luocheng. You can't do this to me!" Chen Wenxiao roared and wanted to see Chen Ji's appearance clearly, but he was hanging on the beam and his vision was completely blocked by Chen Ji's hat, so he couldn't see clearly.

With a bang, Chen Ji hit Chen Wenxiao with a feather duster and said coldly, "Answer whatever I ask you. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand." Chen Wenxiao's hands were sore from the pain and he no longer had the elegance he had when he was riding a horse in Luocheng.

"Name."

"Chen Wenxiao."

Chen Ji asked: "Why are you connected to Jingchao?"

"Ah?" Chen Wenxiao was stunned. He didn't know how he was involved in such a heinous crime.

Chen Wenxiao said in panic: "It's unfair, I have no connection with Jingchao, I just came to the gambling house to have fun!"

"I'm wrongly accusing you?" Chen Ji asked with a sneer, "Then why are there no IOUs or account transactions of yours in the account books of the gambling houses in the entire Red Lane? You are not a gambler here, you are clearly a spy of the Jing Dynasty, here to meet your colleagues!"

Chen Wenxiao was anxious: "I just came back from Donglin Academy a few days ago, how can there be account transactions and IOUs?"

Chen Ji said gloomily: "It seems that you have no means to prove yourself? Then follow me to the inner prison."

When Chen Wenxiao heard the word "Inner Prison", he was so frightened that he almost lost control of his bladder. In the past few years, how many people could walk out of the Inner Prison alive? Not to mention that he was the son of a fifth-rank official, even fifth-rank officials had died in there.

He thought for a long time: "Wait, before I went to Donglin Academy, I borrowed money from the gambling house under the name of my brother Chen Ji, so my name was not on it. You can look through the account books of each family, and you will definitely find Chen Ji!"

Chen Wenxiao added: "In the past three years, I have returned home to visit my family for a month every Spring Festival. At this time of year, you can definitely find the name Chen Ji in the accounts."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Did he have the account books of the gambling houses? Of course not. He was just making false assumptions based on his own guesses.

Once upon a time, he really thought that he was a gambler in his previous life, and the Chen family hated him because he had really done something bad.

But now, Chen Ji suddenly understood a lot of things.

He lowered his head and asked softly, "Since Chen Ji's name is written, who should the gambling house ask for the debt?"

Chen Wenxiao replied: "Of course I'll go find my father. If my father doesn't want the family's shame to be exposed, he can only acknowledge those IOUs."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Does your father know that this is your debt?"

"I don't know. He thought it was a relic."

Chen Ji was even more confused: "Could it be that Chen Ji himself can't refute it?"

"He has argued, but what's the point? His reputation has been ruined over the years. My father doesn't believe him at all... Sir, please put me down. I'm really not a Jing Dynasty spy. It's too uncomfortable to be hanging there."

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm not sure whether what you said is true or not... For the sake of Lord Chen, I can let you go for now, but you have to write down everything you just said and sign it. If there is anything untrue, my Secret Service will go to the Chen Mansion to find you." Chen Wenxiao cried with joy: "Don't worry, Lord, everything I said is true and I will write it down clearly!"

Chen Ji walked out of the private room and gave the spy a few instructions.

But two secret agents walked into the private room and closed the door. After a while, one of them came out with a piece of rice paper covered with words and handed it to Chen Ji: "He has finished writing."

"Thank you," Chen Ji nodded, turned around and walked to the second floor. He carefully stuffed the confession into his arms and sheltered it under his straw raincoat.

"Sir..." The spy didn't know Chen Ji's rank, nor how to address him, but he saw Chen Ji following Lord Jin Zhu, so he must be Jin Zhu's confidant: "What should we do with the people in the room?"

Chen Ji climbed up the wooden stairs, and his voice came over lightly: "Keep hanging."

……

……

Just as Chen Ji was going upstairs, he saw a secret agent running in from outside the door. He threw off his rain-soaked straw raincoat on the floor, held his sword in his waist and rushed to the second floor.

Arriving at the door of the private room on the second floor, the spy bowed to Jin Zhu who was drinking tea inside and said, "Sir, I have accomplished my mission and finally found a witness. The witness is a street vendor. He saw a man running west tonight, holding a wound on his waist!"

Chen Ji's mood gradually sank to the bottom. He didn't expect that although Jin Zhu said that it was impossible to find it, he still arranged a large number of people to search for clues.

And it was actually found!

Chen Ji had no idea where the defected spy was now, whether anyone else had seen him, and what he would confess after being arrested.

Chen Ji calmed down and looked at Jin Zhu: "Congratulations, sir, the credit is just around the corner."

Jin Zhu stood up with a smile: "Send people to continue to look for him westwards. He must have been seen by other people when he was fleeing. Find all the witnesses! Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department sent so many people to arrest him. This person must be hiding a big secret! We must find him tonight!"

The spy received the order and hurried downstairs and out the door.

However, just as he walked out of the door of the gambling house, he heard a loud bang, and the whole person flew back into the gambling house, crushing the gambling table!

With a clang, all the spies drew their swords and aimed the crossbows on their waists at the darkness outside the gambling house's door.

But the man was wearing a blue cloak, and he just took the cloak off from his collar, shook his hands in front of him and rolled all the crossbow arrows into the cloak, and he himself was unharmed!
The heavy rain fell around him, but it was as if it was pushed away by a magnet, and not a single drop landed on him.

Chen Ji heard the golden pig beside him sneer: "This is not a spy from the Jing Dynasty. Judging from his actions, he is more like a certain official. I heard that he hid his identity and retired to the mountains a few years ago. I didn't expect him to come out again today... Go ahead, I want to be killed alive!"

The next moment, a secret agent took out a whistle and blew it.

Shouts and cries of killing were heard outside Red Lane, and hundreds of spies rushed out from the shadows and surrounded the official.

Golden Pig calmly walked down the stairs and slowly walked outside the encirclement. He held a few copper coins in his hand, as if ready to take someone's life at any time.

Chen Ji silently observed the situation. He didn't care whether the Military Intelligence Department or the Secret Service Department won the fight...

"Meow!"

A cat's cry suddenly sounded. Chen Ji turned his head to look out the window, only to see Wu Yun standing on the windowsill. "Found it. A tabby cat said it saw the other party fleeing to Anxi Street, in the backyard of the cloth shop that just moved away."

Chen Ji frowned. How come the other party happened to escape to Anxi Street? !
Anxi Street is not a major traffic route, nor is it as convenient for hiding as the mixed East Market and West Market. On the contrary, because it is close to the palace, there are more soldiers patrolling at night.

Was the spy going to look for me, or did he really just happen to escape to Anxi Street? It couldn't be such a coincidence!
The better a person is at reasoning, the less he believes in coincidences!

Chen Ji knew that he could not stay here any longer, he had to deal with this spy!
But how to leave?
While he was thinking, he heard the sound of tiles breaking above his head. Chen Ji looked up and saw that someone seemed to be walking towards the eaves with heavy footsteps on the wooden roof and beams.

Not only that, footsteps were heard from other directions one after another, running towards the windows on the second floor of the gambling house.

The officer outside the door is used to lure the tiger away from the mountain, and these spies who invade from all directions are there to kill and silence them.

With a whoosh, a masked man in black flipped from the roof into the window, like a falcon, and without saying a word, he drew his sword and slashed at Chen Ji!

In the narrow room, Chen Ji picked up the chair beside him and threw it at the spy. He then quickly left the room and went to the corridor on the second floor, shouting, "Master Jinzhu, someone sneaked in from upstairs!"

His shout attracted everyone's attention. Jinzhu raised his eyebrows, turned around and rushed back.

Just as he was chasing, Jin Zhu saw a spy with a knife chasing him into the corridor.

The spy's knife skills were sharp, and wood chips flew everywhere as he chopped. Chen Ji, a weak apprentice in the medical clinic, could only dodge left and right desperately and had no power to fight back!
With a hissing sound, the tip of the knife cut through Chen Ji's chest, leaving a huge hole in his straw raincoat, and blood seeped out of the clothes.

Just when everyone thought that Chen Ji was going to die, Chen Ji suddenly burst out with courage from nowhere. He roared and instead of retreating, he rushed forward and ran headfirst into the arms of the Jing Chao spy!
With all his might, Chen Ji used his arm to clamp the spy's knife-holding hand under his armpit, pushed the spy back into the private room, and rushed out from the second-floor window!

Jin Zhu was stunned for a moment, but saw that he exerted a little force with his legs, and his fat body floated to the second floor like a feather.

He rushed to the window and saw the Jingchao spy who had fallen down the stairs. He staggered after the seriously injured Chen Ji and rushed into the dark night and rain outside Hongyi Lane.

Jin Zhu stood in front of the window, letting the night rain sweep over him: "Strange, the Jingchao spies came here to kill people, why did they abandon their target and chase Chen Ji desperately?"

(End of this chapter)