Chen Ji had many questions to ask.
For example, would the Pri Minister keep his promise, and with the impending marriage alliance, how would Bai Li extricate herself?
Should he persuade Emperor Ning not to proceed with the marriage alliance and to pardon Bai Li? Would Emperor Ning agree to and national policy?
Or should he help Bai Li fake her death to escape? Could this strategy fool Wu Xiu and the Jiefan Guard?
Chen Ji was full of doubts, but Bai Long didn't give him the chance to ask these questions, turning to leave the alley: "I know what you want to ask, but I'm in a hurry to see the Pri Minister now, and I have no ti to get entangled with you. Everything will beco clear once I enter the palace to et the emperor tomorrow."
At this point, Bai Long glanced back at Chen Ji: "Rember to change your clothes. Don't wear that in front of His Majesty; it's an eyesore."
Chen Ji looked down, seeing himself covered in blood and tears. When he looked up again, Bai Long had already left the alley.
Bai Long took the reins handed to him by a spy, mounted the horse, and led a group of spies galloping north of the city, only stopping outside Taiye Pond.
He strode towards the Eagle House Office, holding the Top Three dominoes, passing unimpeded along the way.
He arrived before the West Gate.
The palace gates, which should have been locked, were ajar. A little eunuch whispered, "Sir, the Pri Minister is waiting for you in Jiefan Building."
Bai Long made a sound of acknowledgnt, following the little eunuch through the deep palace gates.
As he passed Cining Palace, he couldn't resist glancing at the charred main hall, where tens of thousands of taels of silver went up in flas.
The little eunuch walked ahead, but it seed as if he had eyes on his back: "The Empress Dowager has temporarily moved to Yikun Palace. His Majesty decreed the refurbishnt of Cining Palace, specifically requesting golden nanmu beams from Yunzhou, six zhang long, to highlight the Empress Dowager's prestige. But where to find six zhang golden nanmu these days? Perhaps ransacking an Official's ho might uncover so, but definitely not in Yunzhou... It seems Cining Palace won't be repaired anyti soon."
Bai Long looked at the little eunuch's back: "Changxiu, you've been in the palace for seven years; do you plan to leave the palace for work? Train at Jiefan Guard for a few years, and you'll surely beco the Commander sooner or later."
The little eunuch also smiled: "Sir, I'm different from you. You all like the world outside the palace walls; I prefer the world inside them."
Bai Long laughed and asked, "Why is that?"
The eunuch nad Changxiu answered cheerfully: "Everyone says the palace is like an ocean, and people's hearts are inscrutable, but how much better are people's hearts outside the palace? Here, it's just a few thousand people. Once you understand them, you can live quite freely. But outside these walls, you face countless people. Are their intentions really that much better?"
Bai Long laughed heartily: "True, the Jianghu outside these walls isn't much better than inside. No, perhaps it's even more treacherous."
Changxiu agreed lightly: "I entered the palace the year I left Wunian Mountain. Having ti to read so books in Jiefan Building every day is quite good."
Bai Long asked: "How much have you read?"
Changxiu replied, sowhat embarrassed, "Only about twenty percent."
Bai Long laughed: "That's not little. You're better than many Great Scholars."
Upon arriving at Jiefan Building, the doors were open, but no lights were on.
Changxiu gestured respectfully into the darkness of Jiefan Building: "Brother Mountain Bull, Lord Bai Long is here."
Mountain Bull sat in the doorway's darkness, glancing over Bai Long briefly, then lazily nodded a greeting before closing his eyes again.
Bai Long lifted his robe and ascended the steps, knocking on the Pri Minister's door: "Lord Pri Minister, I'm back."
A copper bell jingled inside.
Bai Long pushed the door open, clasping his hands in salute: "Lord Pri Minister, Han Tong has been captured and is held in the inner prison. He can be brought to the palace for trial tomorrow morning... Should we order the Spy Departnt to imdiately arrest the Four Beams and Eight Pillars and all Hall Masters?"
The Pri Minister responded with a slight hum, still working behind a screen with an unperturbed tone: "No need. If we arrest them all, Cao Yun might fall into chaos. Arrest a couple and execute them to deter the others, and those who comply should be given official positions... The obedient ones get positions as Cao Yun Baihu, and after five years of stability, they can be promoted to Common Households. The most obedient can be elevated to Captain, commanding five thousand troops of Jinling's garrison."
Bai Long agreed: "I'll take care of it tomorrow."
At this mont, the Pri Minister wrote a few lines on the paper, lifting it to blow the ink dry: "Hand this over to ng Ji later. In tomorrow's trial, ask only what should be asked. Do not ask a single extra word."
Bai Long stepped around the screen, taking the Xuan paper in hand to examine, but suddenly froze.
The Pri Minister looked up at him: "What is it?"
Bai Long thought for a mont: "Chen Ji has now captured Lin Chaojing and Han Tong. Will the Pri Minister grant freedom to Princess Bai Li as promised?"
The Pri Minister paused, then looked towards the screen with a half-smile: "What, don't you trust ?"
Bai Long bowed his head: "I wouldn't dare. It's just that after reading what's to be tried tomorrow, I fear there might still be twists, as if the Pri Minister intends to renege."
The Pri Minister slowly remarked: "More and more out of line."
Bai Long did not back down, calmly saying: "Before departing, Mr. Feng advised that in speaking with the Pri Minister, there's no need for formalities, nor concern for social niceties. As long as things are done correctly, nothing else matters. Mr. Feng said the Pri Minister only cares about results, not the process."
The Pri Minister chuckled lightly: "He's becoming increasingly bold. Is this teaching suitable for everyone?"
Bai Long gently replied: "I think Mr. Feng taught well."
The Pri Minister got up from behind the desk and walked to the window to look outside: "Soone taught many principles more than twenty years ago. He said, when examining other people's actions, only look at the result; otherwise, others can easily make up an excuse to fool you. How can you be a leader then? As long as the result is perfect, then everything is perfect."
"But when examining yourself, you should only look at the process, not the result; doing your best is all that matters. He said the most pitiful thing for a person is to scrutinize others with the process and oneself with the result. In the end, one is trapped in a cycle, sitting under an oil lamp for twenty years, just for that one result, trapped within it. Like Chen Ji."
Bai Long looked up: "Lord Pri Minister, are you speaking of Chen Ji or yourself?"
The Pri Minister smiled: "Feng Wenzheng has corrupted you. The elders often say, the ten most important things in life are: one fate, two luck, three Feng Shui, four accumulating good deeds, five reading, six making connections with influential people, seven respecting the divine, eight eting good people, nine seeking fortune and avoiding misfortune, ten not stubbornly adhering to good or evil. Encounter three out of these ten, and one can have a good life."
"But these ten things reversed are the thod to accomplish things. First, you must not be stubborn about good and evil, then learn to seek fortune and avoid misfortune, and finally et a calm person who doesn't overreact. Once you've made influential connections and understood the books, if things haven't succeeded by then, it's no longer in your hands and should be left to fate and luck."
Bai Long cupped his hands: "I have been taught."
A cold wind blew outside the Fan Building, and the Pri Minister felt the chill in the breeze: "The sky will cool... The hardest ti for poor families is winter. Spring, sumr, and autumn still provide a way to survive; as long as one is willing to work hard, they won't starve. Only winter gives no room for the poor to live, so wood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea—wood ranks first. That boy Chen Ji sent out honeycomb coal, indeed generous; anyone who hoards coal stone to drive up prices, kill them for any reason."
Bai Long replied: "Yes."
The Pri Minister closed the window and turned to Bai Long: "Anything else?"
Bai Long thought for a mont and shook the Xuan paper in his hand: "Since the Pri Minister has decided to release Princess Bai Li, why not release her directly but still take an extra step?"
The Pri Minister laughed: "That boy dared to burn the Cining Palace; what's wrong with making him pay so silver? Alright, go back and rest."
Bai Long stood still.
The Pri Minister asked puzzled: "Anything else?"
Bai Long asked seriously: "Lord Pri Minister, do you really want to release such a good bargaining chip as Bai Li?"
The Pri Minister sat back behind the desk: "I already have a better one."
...
...
Chen Ji returned to Chen Mansion at midnight, and in another three hours, the palace gate would open.
He glanced inside the room; Wu Yun was nowhere to be seen, Xiao Man was snoring heavily in the West Wing Room, audible through the window, and the little monk was even sounder asleep.
Chen Ji's emotions gradually cald down.
He entered the side room, stripped off his clothes and looked at his body covered in blood, all his own dried blood. Beneath the dried blood were four dim stripes and four as good as new.
The stripes were transford by Molten Flow. Previously, when using only one stripe, he hadn't noticed any change; now using three at once, he was startled to find those fading stripes had transford back into Molten Flow and rged into the stove fire.
At this mont, the seven hundred and twenty stove fires within him burned fiercely, more intense, vibrant, and concentrated than any other mont.
If previously they were just a small bonfire, now they were a massive blaze fueled by a hundred sticks of wood, flas leaping several feet high. The stripes transford from the stove fires never disappeared and returned after he used them.
Chen Ji thought for a mont and lifted a large water tank filled with water effortlessly, which used to be heavy even if he could lift it.
He murmured to himself: "Though I don't yet know how to break through to the Seeking Dao Realm, having more strength is a good thing."
Chen Ji scooped up clear water with a wooden ladle, washed away the blood, and then changed into his crimson official uniform representing his status as Marquis of Wuxiang County.
A white gauze inner robe with a blue-edged collar.
An outer robe with a right-side opening dyed in vermilion, adorned with square gold patches embroidered with a Kirin pattern at the front and back.
Wearing a black lacquered gauze Flared-Corner Futou on his head, its corners spread evenly, asuring a foot and two inches on each side.
Chen Ji dressed with unusual solemnity today.
After dressing, he quietly sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, waiting for dawn.
At so point, Wu Yun returned and sat at the stone table beside him: "Has Han Tong been caught?"
Chen Ji nodded: "Caught."
Wu Yun curiously asked: "What are you thinking about then?"
Chen Ji calmly replied: "Hoping everything goes smoothly next."
Wu Yun asked again: "What do you plan to do after rescuing the Commandery Princess?"
After thinking for a mont, Chen Ji said: "I originally planned to take her to the Jing Dynasty; I heard my master is there, the Princely Heir is there, Brother Liang Mao'er and Brother Gou'er are there too. After eting them, perhaps we'll go further northeast into the deep mountains, to hunt wild boar, and catch bears. We could also gather Lingzhi, collect honey, and dig for ginseng. If hungry, we'll stew so mushrooms with chicken, if thirsty, we'll drink spring water, build a cabin in the forest... Wu Yun, I heard soone say that when you see your friends, you return to the age you first t them. Throughout growing up, you keep losing parts of yourself; these parts are preserved with your friends, and when you see them, they're restored."
Wu Yun tilted his head: "Originally that's the plan… What about now?"
This ti, Chen Ji didn't answer, as if many things had already quietly changed.
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