Chapter 59 Killing Si Cao
There were only two oil-slag lamps lit in the dim apprentice dormitory.

Chen Ji was lying on the bunk bed, he had changed into clean clothes, his chest and thighs were wrapped in white cloth, and the whole apprentice dormitory was filled with the smell of Chinese medicine.

Such a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine is like a breath of death.

But Chen Ji had no time to think about these things. He had been unconscious for a day and a night, which was enough time for many things to happen.

Before he fell into a coma, the Ning Dynasty Secret Service led by Jin Zhu had found witnesses and was investigating in the direction where Wu Hongbiao fled.

There are two possibilities for Chen Ji not being caught yet: either the Secret Service's investigation was slow, and as it was a rainy night with few people around, no new witnesses were found, and Wu Hongbiao has not been caught yet; or Wu Hongbiao has been arrested and sent to the inner prison, but has not yet handed over Chen Ji.

If it is the former, Chen Ji still has room for redemption, but if it is the latter, Chen Ji can't rush into the inner prison to rescue people or silence them, right?
Moreover, even if Wu Hongbiao was not arrested.

Chen Ji was seriously injured, and Wu Hongbiao was also seriously injured. Chen Ji had someone to treat him, but Wu Hongbiao had no one to treat him.

Not to mention treatment, the other party was hiding in the backyard of the cloth shop and didn’t even have food to eat…

While thinking, Princess Baili turned around, threw the washcloth into the basin in the house, then wrung it dry and placed it on Chen Ji's forehead, replacing the original one.

She even washed the towel again, lifted Chen Ji's arm, and wiped his armpit to cool him down.

"Um, Princess, what are you doing?" Chen Ji was extremely surprised.

"You're still running a fever," Princess Baili glared at She Dengke and Liu Quxing. "You two grown men, you can't even do a little work. Your master asked them to apply a towel to your face to cool you down, but they didn't even wring the towel clean before applying it to your face, and they didn't even change the cloth covering your wound."

She Dengke and Liu Quxing lowered their heads in embarrassment: "We used to do this."

Bai Li said: "You can't be so careless. How can you take care of a patient like this?"

The prince sighed and said, "Bai Li, you can't do these things..."

Bai Li also glared at him: "In Donglin Academy, teachers are not allowed to bring book boys. Wasn't it me who took care of you when you were sick?"

"But Chen Ji is an outsider after all," the prince said anxiously, "If this gets out, how can you get married?"

"Get married?" Princess Baili frowned. "I am just staying with my father and mother, why do I have to get married? I am wondering, since last year, you have all been talking about getting married, why do I have to get married?"

Liang Gou'er said quietly, "Because everyone should have their own retribution..."

Prince: “…”

Baili: “…”

Liang Maoer quickly covered his mouth and pulled him into the yard: "Brother, shut up."

Chen Ji was lying on the bed, looking at Bai Li in white clothes, who went to Hongyi Lane and the gambling house with her brother in the middle of the night to make friends with people from the underworld. She herself was upright and self-reliant, like a female knight who did things without dragging her feet and without being constrained.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere in the room, She Dengke quickly said, "I'll go make food for Chen Ji. Are you hungry? I'll make more for everyone to eat together."

Liang Gou'er rushed back into the house and raised his hand: "Bacon, I saw bacon in the kitchen."

Liang Mao'er also said shyly: "I just want to eat some pickles and drink some porridge."

The prince seemed to be thinking: "Tofu, pot-fried tofu."

Chen Ji: "Hey, wait...you didn't even mention what I wanted to eat."

She Dengke smiled and explained, "Chen Ji, I'm going to make you some porridge and steamed egg custard. Master said you can't eat anything else since you've been unconscious for so long."

When She Dengke went out to cook, Chen Ji looked aside in confusion: "Why are you here, Prince and Princess?"

The prince explained cheerfully, "We were planning to go out and play tonight, but after we climbed in, we didn't see you. We only saw Liu Quxing and She Dengke busying around with basins of water. We could have saved the toll by not seeing you, but Bai Li insisted on giving it to you, so we asked Liu Quxing where you were, and that's when we found out you were seriously injured. Then Bai Li said he didn't want to go out and play anymore, and stayed to see if there was anything he could do to help."

Bai Li turned to look at Chen Ji, and asked in confusion: "Chen Ji, you were injured by some bad guys, the bad guys are too arrogant, they dare to commit crimes in Luocheng... I thought Luocheng was very peaceful."

She Dengke said in a muffled voice: "Princess, Luo City is not peaceful at night, especially in the West Market. That's where the human traffickers hang out, and they are all very vicious. You should not go there."

Bai Li frowned: "When my father comes back, I will tell him about this and make sure that Luocheng will be clear and sunny!"

The prince smiled and said to everyone: "My sister is born with a sense of justice. She can't stand us doing anything unjust. We stole two watermelons from others, and she scolded us for a whole day. She had to go back and put down 20 copper coins."

Bai Li rolled his eyes and said, "I have worked hard for several months to grow watermelons. You guys stole them and you think you have the right to do that? Stop talking nonsense. Chen Ji, do you still remember what the person who hurt you looks like and where he is? I will ask General Wang to catch him!"

Liang Mao'er at the side also said quickly: "No need for General Wang, my brother can chop him alive with one blow!"

Chen Ji lay on the bed, smiling and shaking his head: "Thank you everyone, thank you Princess, the person who hurt me has been brought to justice."

Princess Baili nodded: "That's good."

At this moment, the small apprentice dormitory was filled with people, so that it looked extremely crowded. Everyone was talking at once, and it was a mess.

However, there had never been so many people gathered in the backyard of Taiping Medical Clinic, and there had never been so many people who cared about Chen Ji. The messy environment in front of him actually made him feel a little...warm.

As he was speaking, Old Man Yao walked into the room with a gloomy face and his hands behind his back.

He looked at the crowded room and immediately said, "Go do what you need to do. The prince and the princess should not stay here. Go back to the palace first. Chen Ji needs to rest."

The prince originally wanted to take Bai Li away quickly, but upon hearing this, he immediately stood up and said goodbye: "Dr. Yao is right, we will go back now... Chen Ji, we will come to see you tomorrow morning!"

Chen Ji smiled and replied, "Thank you, Prince and Princess."

Old Man Yao glanced at him, then turned to the people in the room and said, "Liang Gou'er, Liang Mao'er, the two of you wait in the yard for now. I have something to say to Chen Ji. Liu Quxing, you also go to the kitchen to help. I didn't tell you not to come in."

……

……

When there was no one in the room, Old Man Yao no longer treated Chen Ji well, and Chen Ji felt guilty and dared not speak.

They were silent, and even the flame of the oil-slag lamp was a little lower.

After a long time, Old Man Yao asked in a serious tone, "Who was that man in the cloth shop? If you wanted to kill him, why did you let him go?"

Chen Ji's heart tightened. His master actually knew this!

Old Man Yao said intriguingly: "Are you still planning to hide it? Why don't you ask whether the Golden Pig has caught him?"

Chen Ji immediately became honest, raised his head and asked, "Master, how is he now?"

Old man Yao stood beside the bunk bed with his hands behind his back, sneering, "Early this morning, the Secret Service had already found a new witness and was investigating here. It looked like they would find the cloth shop in a few hours. I took advantage of the boy in the cloth shop being unconscious and stripped him of his bloody clothes and threw them into the alley outside the West Market. The secret agents guarding there found the bloody clothes and have now surrounded the West Market, checking every household inside."

It turned out that it was the master who helped him to divert the attention of the Secret Service!

This old man Yao said that there was no need for them to have a master-disciple relationship, but he still took action in the end.

But what makes Chen Ji feel strange is that although they are master and disciple, and although old man Yao is a little cold on the outside but warm on the inside, the relationship between them is not good enough for the other party to fight against the Secret Service for him, right?

He always felt something was strange, as if there was some other hidden story behind this matter.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Old Man Yao sneered and said, "You faked the scene and fooled the Golden Pig, but you couldn't fool me. The crow saw that you almost lost your life, so it hurried back to call me to save you. You really should thank it. If it weren't for it, you would be a corpse in the inner prison now. Aren't you going to say it? I predict that this divination is a bad omen for you."

Chen Ji sighed in his heart, and finally chose to confess his secret: "Master, I am not only working for the Ning Dynasty's Secret Service Department, but also for the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Department."

Old Man Yao raised his eyebrows: "I know this, tell me something I don't know."

"Ah?" Chen Ji was stunned: "You know this too?"

Old Man Yao sneered and said, "You think you are being very secretive. Do you want me to repeat what you talked about with Concubine Yun?"

Chen Ji was completely dumbfounded.

He really couldn't figure out how the master knew about this. There was no crow present at the time...

and many more.

The persimmon tree in Feiyun Garden... Although there was no one in the courtyard when I was talking with Concubine Yun, there were magpies pecking at the persimmons on the tree, and magpies would occasionally land and fly away in front of the door!
If clouds can communicate with all cats, then crows can also communicate with all birds.

Do magpies have intelligence? Of course they do. Magpies are among the top five species of birds in terms of intelligence. Not only can they remember thousands of hidden food locations, but they can also clearly classify food. Their intelligence is even higher than that of many mammals.

Seeing his eyes flickering, Old Man Yao sneered, "How many years have I been practicing the way of the tiger? How many days have you been practicing?"

"Why didn't you teach me earlier?"

Elder Yao was in a state of great distress: "Did you give me time to teach you? It has only been a short time since I taught you to obtain the Dragon Qi, and you have caused so many troubles?!"

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment: "As a Ning Dynasty man, wouldn't you be angry when you found out that I was working for the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Department?"

Old Man Yao shook his head: "I don't want to explain this matter, you will understand it later. Let's talk about your business first. What's going on with the people in the cloth shop?"

Seeing that the other party did not seem to care about his identity as a spy, Chen Ji simply chose to tell the whole story: "The man in the cloth shop is named Wu Hongbiao. He was sent by my uncle from Jing Dynasty. He will teach me espionage knowledge and be my partner. My uncle is a big shot in Jing Dynasty. He has failed in the political struggle now. His opponent 'Lu Guanwu' is secretly clipping his wings, and Wu Hongbiao happens to be on the clipping list. He came to the cloth shop to tip me off and tell me to be careful of danger." Old man Yao fell into deep thought.

Chen Ji asked: "Master, what should I do now?"

Old Man Yao said unhappily, "Why are you asking me? How long do you want me to help you fix the trouble you just caused?"

"Is Wu Hongbiao still alive?"

"I do not know."

"It was so cold. After you took off his bloody clothes, did you change his clothes?"

"No, that's none of my business."

"Did you give him anything to eat?"

"None of my business."

Chen Ji suddenly sat up from the bed: "It's broken!"

Poor Wu Hongbiao!

Old man Yao is really only concerned with keeping himself alive and doesn't care about the lives of others at all.

But old man Yao sneered: "Shouldn't you thank me? If he died like this, you can put away your soft-heartedness with peace of mind. Don't worry, it's not you who caused his death, it's me."

It turned out that the master wanted to drag Wu Hongbiao to death.

Chen Ji said seriously: "Master, this is not a woman's kindness."

After that, he struggled to get up and wanted to go out, but he quickly calmed down and sat back on the bed: "No, we have to wait until everyone goes to bed."

Old man Yao snorted and went out. "He's not stupid... I advise you to try not to get involved with Wu Hongbiao. I see that the lifeline on his palm is short and sharp and looks quite cute. Getting involved with him will not end well."

Chen Ji: "..."

Master, you took off someone's clothes and read his palm at the same time?

……

……

It was late at night and the apprentices' dormitory was filled with snoring. Chen Ji quietly got up amid the snoring and put on his clothes with difficulty.

The big movement affected the wound, causing him so much pain that cold sweat broke out on his forehead, but he didn't dare to make a sound.

Chen Ji limped out of the door carefully. In the yard, the crow was standing on a branch of the apricot tree with its eyes closed and resting, as if it had become one with the tree.

When it saw Chen Ji coming out, it opened its eyes and stared at him quietly.

Under the moonlight, the silver light sprinkled on it, and colorful colors appeared, as if it was covered with a layer of divinity.

Chen Ji said seriously: "Uncle Crow, thank you."

The old man said that Crow had been practicing with him for fifty-three years, so it was no problem for him to call him Uncle Crow. But it was the first time for Crow to hear someone call him that, so he looked at Chen Ji with some curiosity.

Chen Ji smiled softly and said, "Master said that if it weren't for you, I would have died yesterday. I have to go out now. If you find anything unusual, please let me know. I'm in the cloth shop next door."

The crow was silent for a moment, then waved its wings, signaling him to go without worry.

Chen Ji took a set of clothes from the closet, went to the kitchen to get four multi-grain cakes, filled a bamboo tube with clean water, put some snake bed in his arms, and then walked out of the clinic.

He was badly injured and could only hold on to the wall, stumbling forward bit by bit in the shadows between the houses.

After only a distance of 100 meters, Chen Ji was sweating all over as if he had just run 5 kilometers. The wound on his thigh burst open and the blood soaked his pants again.

He gritted his teeth and climbed over the wall into the backyard of the cloth shop, only to see dark clouds hiding in the shadows, guarding the main door.

When Wuyun saw him like this, he immediately meowed, "What's wrong with you? Who hurt you?!"

Chen Ji leaned against the wall to catch his breath and said with a sad smile, "Let's not talk about this for now. Is Wu Hongbiao still in there?"

Wuyun replied, "He's still inside. He was unconscious for most of the time, and when he woke up he didn't try to escape. It seemed like he was waiting for you."

Chen Ji was silent. At some point he wished that Wu Hongbiao was acting, so that he could kill him without any psychological burden and eliminate the trouble forever.

"Did he eat today?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Wuyun said, "I caught a few mice while he was unconscious and threw them next to him. He didn't care. After he woke up, he skinned them with a knife and ate the meat from the legs and backs of the mice raw."

Chen Ji took a look into the room and saw a bloody mess on the floor, with three skinned rat carcasses lying on the side.

"How does he drink water?"

Wuyun explained: "When he was thirsty, he went to the yard and drank some water from the ground."

Chen Ji knew that Wu Hongbiao wanted to survive. His desire to survive was beyond that of ordinary people. No wonder he could survive until today despite being hunted down.

"Wuyun, has he seen you?"

"never seen it."

"it is good."

Chen Ji walked into the house. Wu Hongbiao, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was him, he was relieved and smiled bitterly, "I thought you had met with an accident... But you don't look much better than me."

Chen Ji threw food, medicine, and clothes to Wu Hongbiao and got straight to the point: "Which Si Cao wants to kill you?"

"Which one?" Wu Hongbiao was shivering with cold. He quickly put on his clothes and asked in confusion, "There is only one Si Cao."

Chen Ji asked, "Is he wearing a green-faced, fang-toothed mask, good at using a knife, and wearing clothes with patches on the elbows?"

"Yes, that's him."

Chen Ji was already 80% certain in his heart that behind the title of Si Cao, there was definitely more than one person playing this role.

One of them is the shopkeeper Yuan of Bailu Pavilion, and the one with green face and fangs is another one. At present, it seems that the one who wants to kill him and Wu Hongbiao is the one with the knife...

"How long have you worked with this Si Cao?" Chen Ji asked.

Wu Hongbiao sat up with great effort, leaning against the wall while chewing on a multi-grain cake. "I have worked with him for about four years, and have never seen his true face. I only know that his name was Li Xilong during the Jing Dynasty. But when I came to the Ning Dynasty, I heard from your uncle that this man was his old subordinate, and that he would take care of you and me."

"Then why did he want to kill you?"

Wu Hongbiao choked on the grain pancake. He took the bamboo tube handed to him by Chen Ji and took a big sip of water before he spoke his guess: "I guess he probably just received the news from Jing Chao. Previously, your uncle was only dismissed from the post of Left Prime Minister of the Secretariat by the court, and was allowed to continue to serve as the Military Strategy Officer. Now even the Military Strategy Officer has been dismissed, and replaced by his former political enemy Lu Guanwu. So in order to keep his position as the Secretary, Li Xilong has completely turned to Lu Guanwu and plans to use you and me as a token of his loyalty."

Chen Ji thought that keeping Wu Hongbiao did not disappoint him. The other party held a high position in the Military Intelligence Department and knew many secrets.

Li Xilong...

Chen Ji leaned against the door frame of the main house, looking a little tired.

He had already sensed that the crisis was approaching, and now that the other party couldn't find Wu Hongbiao, they would definitely look for an opportunity to attack him.

Chen Ji looked at Wu Hongbiao who was sitting on the ground: "How are you?"

Wu Hongbiao patted his chest and said, "I have a way to practice cultivation, so I won't die."

"I don't think you're that great..."

"You kid deserve to be punished again," Wu Hongbiao cursed, "I was seriously injured yesterday, and I was blocked by that son of a bitch Li Xilong. I had made enough contributions, but he didn't give me the next level of cultivation."

"What are your plans next?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Wu Hongbiao said: "I plan to return to Jing Dynasty. I must go back as soon as possible to ask your uncle to save my sister. I also have to help your uncle make a comeback. I must go back as soon as possible..."

The room became quiet, the moonlight cast from behind, lengthening Chen Ji's shadow in the room.

After a long silence, Chen Ji looked directly at Wu Hongbiao and said, "Sorry, you can't leave yet."

"What are you staying for?"

"Kill Si Cao."

(End of this chapter)