Chapter 40: Climbing the Wall

General Wang asked in a low voice, "Miss Chunhua, have you found anything?"

Chunhua suppressed a sob. "No..."

She turned around, looking at She Dengke with bloodshot eyes and disbelief, while She Dengke’s eyes held a mixture of confusion and resignation.

General Wang looked at Chunhua, then at She Dengke, his voice growing colder. "I suggest Miss Chunhua calls us next time when she has concrete evidence. We, the Thousand-Year Army, are the Prince's guards, not petty constables looking for lost chickens and dogs. Let's go."

As the guards prepared to leave, Old Man Yao stepped in front of them, saying nonchalantly, "Apologize."

General Wang fell silent for a moment, then turned to Chen Ji. "My apologies for the offense!"

Chen Ji said slowly, "I would appreciate it if General Wang could clarify this for me at the entrance; otherwise, the neighbors won't associate with me in the future."

General Wang shook his head. "I cannot do that. Let's go!"

The Prince's guards arrived quickly and left just as fast. Chunhua looked at She Dengke, wanting to speak but hesitating, before finally turning away with red eyes. "You're going to get me killed!"

"Wait!" Chen Ji said.

Chunhua stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at Chen Ji, saying with a hint of fear, "What are you going to do? I didn't want this, but I had no choice."

"Let's speak privately."

Chen Ji led Chunhua to the entrance and whispered, "When you go back, please tell Consort Jing that we didn't have to become enemies. Liu Shiyu wasn't killed by me, nor by the Secret Intelligence Bureau; he was silenced by the Liu family. Since I was able to help her find the lead-barium glass cup last time, I can help her seek revenge this time. Go back and deliver this message, and you should be safe."

Chunhua froze for a moment, then turned and left.

Standing before the clinic, Chen Ji listened to the surrounding gossip and watched Chunhua's departing figure.

As the sun set, the orange-red glow gradually faded from his body until he was enveloped by the night.

The Secret Intelligence Bureau, the Military Intelligence Bureau, Consort Jing, Consort Yun—each of these people was a titan of this world, capable of crushing him with a mere wave of a hand.

Chen Ji's fate was not within his own control; as a newcomer, he could only survive in the cracks.

But now, a chessboard lay before him. He gently placed a piece on the 'Spring Corner' at the edge. Perhaps he couldn't decide the final outcome, but when he played chess, he always took unconventional paths and never played the common moves.

He returned inside the clinic, only to find Old Man Yao glaring at She Dengke. "Have you grown too bold? Kneel!"

She Dengke knelt obediently on the ground, weeping uncontrollably. "Master, I didn't expect this to happen. Chunhua said Consort Jing ordered her to do it, otherwise she would be killed tonight. Chunhua told me I only needed to hide a bead in Chen Ji's clothes to get him kicked out of the Imperial Medical Hall. She even offered all her savings for years, saying it was to compensate Chen Ji, so he could start a small business elsewhere."

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

Old Man Yao turned to Chen Ji. "This is your business. What do you have to say?"

Chen Ji stood there in silence.

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

But could he forgive her? He could not.

He knew that in this era, a girl like Chunhua had no choice; if she hadn't done it, Consort Jing truly would have killed her.

But if he were framed, would the consequence really be as simple as being kicked out of the Imperial Medical Hall? No, Chunrong would surely have him beaten to death with heavy staves along with the servants.

He had thought he could treat the clinic as his home and his fellow disciples as his family, but reality never unfolds according to one's expectations.

The most wretched thing about this world is that it won't let you go just because you are a good person.

Chen Ji wasn't a good person either.

He picked up the silver, bracelets, hairpins, and copper coins from the ground. "I will accept these. But Senior Brother She, you and Chunhua each owe me a life. I will tell you when to repay it, and you must repay it then. Is that acceptable?"

She Dengke nodded frantically. "Yes! Yes!"

Chen Ji turned back to the main hall. Liu Quxing watched his back, wanting to say something but feeling that nothing he said would matter now.

Old Man Yao looked down at the kneeling She Dengke. "You fool, bewitched by a woman. Go kneel in the inner room; don't be an eyesore here. Even if Chen Ji doesn't pursue this, if it happens again, this clinic will no longer have room for you."

...

...

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

Chen Ji stood behind the counter, resting his chin on his hand.

Wuyun emerged from the shadows, lightly hopped onto the counter, and spat out a round pearl into Chen Ji's palm.

It meowed, "Don't be sad, don't be angry."

Chen Ji hid the pearl in his sleeve. "I am neither sad nor angry. Sadness and anger are useless emotions of the weak... Tell me something happy. Let's do the math!"

"I have currently lit sixteen furnace fires; I feel like fighting a secret agent wouldn't be a problem. When I was being detained by the Prince's guards today, I felt I could have broken free entirely. I wonder how many fires I need to light to defeat Si Cao, Lin Chaoqing, Yun Yang, or Jiao Tu..."

"The pearl can't be sold now; I'll sell it in another city later. Previously, I bought six ginseng roots from Bailu Pavilion. I gave one back to Old Man Yao, so the remaining five cost a total of one hundred and ninety-five taels of silver... Including the fifty taels under the bed and the compensation from Chunhua, we have eighty-five taels of silver and one hundred and twenty-one copper coins left."

Wuyun asked curiously, "How many roast chickens can we buy?"

Chen Ji calculated for a long time but couldn't figure it out. "...Anyway, a lot! When buying the ginseng, that Si Cao really didn't give a discount at all. Do you think I should find a way to infiltrate the Military Intelligence Bureau in Luocheng as a Gyrfalcon and become a manager at Bailu Pavilion? It just so happens I study traditional Chinese medicine, so it's a perfect fit..."

If he could manage Bailu Pavilion, even if he didn't embezzle, he could at least buy ginseng at cost price, right?!

Just then, Wuyun pricked up its ears. It heard faint, hurried footsteps outside, and several people were approaching the clinic.

"Chen Ji, someone is coming. Several people!"

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

Who could it be?

The Ning Dynasty's Secret Intelligence Bureau or the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Bureau? Or had Consort Jing not given up and sent more assassins?

This was the predicament of having multiple identities; when an assassination attempt occurred, Chen Ji couldn't even judge who was behind it.

However, before he could think it through, a voice came from the backyard: "Hurry, be quiet!"

Chen Ji spun around. Looking through the corridor between the main hall and the backyard, he saw a tall figure vaulting into the courtyard!

He was surrounded!

He signaled to Wuyun to hide in the shadows, while he drew a short medicinal knife from behind the counter and prepared to move for a stealthy strike.

Sweat slightly beaded in Chen Ji's palms. Being surrounded by over a dozen people in such a large-scale ambush was certainly not something he could handle alone.

But before he could reach the backyard, he saw another figure climbing over the wall that separated the clinic from the Prince's estate—a little monk!

The little monk's head was smooth and shiny under the moonlight as he struggled to climb over the wall. As for the one who had already climbed over, Chen Ji looked closely—wasn't that the Heir of Prince Jing, who had been riding a fine horse in fine clothes earlier today?

In his shock, a voice came from Anxi Street outside the clinic: "Everyone, please stay calm! The Heir will be out momentarily!"

Chen Ji looked back at the main entrance, then at the Heir and the little monk in the courtyard, and then at the one currently climbing the wall... Princess Baili.

Chen Ji: *Huh?*

In the middle of the night, he thought Consort Jing had sent over a dozen assassins, but it turned out to be a massive misunderstanding.

Chen Ji slapped the little monk's bald head and said irritably, "Hey, what are you guys doing?"

At his words, the little monk and the Heir were startled. Princess Baili, who was climbing the wall, hurriedly pulled her head back, only peeking out stealthily a moment later to peer into the clinic's backyard.

Under the moonlight, Chen Ji held his knife, a graceful young lady clung to the wall, and the Heir and the little monk looked guilty like thieves. No one expected them to meet like this.

Just like the beginning of all stories, encounters between people can be quite unexpected.

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow and asked, "Heir, isn't it a bit improper to be climbing someone else's wall in the middle of the night?"

The Heir asked in confusion, "You know me?"

Chen Ji sneered, "I do. I even held you when you were a baby."

The Heir: "..."

Clinging to the wall, Zhu Baili burst into laughter. "Brother, he's mocking you."

"Keep it down," the Heir hissed. "Don't attract the guards!"

The Heir didn't seem angry at the clinic apprentice before him. He walked over smilingly, intending to act friendly, but after seeing the short knife in Chen Ji's hand, he retreated sheepishly. "It's like this, little brother. You know who we are. The Prince's estate has a curfew at night and doesn't allow free passage, so we're just borrowing a path through your clinic. Don't worry, we definitely won't damage any property!"

A curfew at the Prince's estate? Chen Ji had never heard of it, but combining it with what the Heir had said earlier about "the old man being strict," perhaps this curfew was specifically for the Heir and the Princess.

So, instead of using the main gate of the Prince's estate, they chose to climb the clinic's wall.

While he was thinking, the little monk studied Chen Ji under the moonlight, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "So it's you! Are you in this clinic?"

The Heir was puzzled and whispered, "You know him?"

The little monk said with a smile, "Of course. I saw him during the day. He's a very impressive person. I originally wanted to ask him for advice, but he disappeared into the crowd."