Green Mountain

"Found the evidence?!"

"Where's the evidence?!"

Everyone looked toward Chen Ji, whose gaze was filled with scrutiny and doubt, all converging upon him.

Yet he stood at the doorstep, unwavering, and reiterated with utmost conviction, "I have found the evidence."

Lin Chaoqing's sharp eyes passed beyond Jiao Tu and looked at Chen Ji, still masked, "Who is this?"

Yun Yang stepped forward, partially shielding Chen Ji, "This is the Military Intelligence Department's Yao Sun."

"So, it's Yao Sun. Not yet a full-fledged spy, there must be a special reason why you need to conceal your face," Lin Chaoqing asked sternly, "But could this Yao Sun enlighten me, what evidence lies within the book? If you lie, I'm afraid you too will have to take a trip to the inner prison with me."

Chen Ji pulled up the gray cloth covering his face a bit and looked at Yun Yang, "May I speak?"

"Speak."

Chen Ji nodded and said, "Lord Yunyang, please take out those two books and show them to Commander Lin."

Yun Yang took out the two books from his bosom and handed them to Lin Chaoqing.

Lin Chaoqing glanced through them and spoke indifferently, "A common book, where is the intelligence?"

Chen Ji calmly explained, "If one is not sufficiently familiar with the Four Books with Chapter Notes, it certainly is hard to spot the issue. But the method of hiding the intelligence in this book is actually quite simple; it just requires comparison with the original edition."

"The original edition?" Yun Yang took back the two books from Lin Chaoqing, opening one while Jiao Tu opened the other, both reading by moonlight.

Chen Ji spoke, "The original sentence in the book is 'gained in heart without loss', with 'loss' missing. However, Zhou Chengyi, during transcription, intentionally wrote it as 'gained in heart without need,' replacing the 'loss' character with the character for 'need' from 'need.'"

"Look further back at the third page; where the original sentence should have the character 'sincerity,' Zhou Chengyi changed it to 'success.'"

These altered characters were scattered across different corners of the book, separated by several pages. Unless someone compared them, word for word, with the original, the differences would be indeed hard to catch.

Originally, Chen Ji thought Zhou Chengyi might use the hidden word method, the character verification method, Reverse Cut Technique, or the character analysis method—all historically recorded techniques that people actually used.

But after analyzing, he found that the other party had used a simpler method.

Lin Chaoqing went through the books again and indeed found what Chen Ji had pointed out. His brows relaxed slightly, "What is the complete message being transmitted by this book?"

Chen Ji replied, "Due to time constraints, I have not been able to fully decipher the entire book; so far, I have only obtained one message: 'Once successful, the Division Head will meet with you.'"

"Division Head!" Yun Yang's eyes abruptly shone with brilliance, "Are you certain the message refers to the Division Head? I thought it was already significant if Si Cao came along, but to think the Chief of the Military Intelligence Department himself has come down to Luocheng City!"

Jiao Tu spoke gravely, "We must quickly have this message sent back to the Imperial Capital. It must be a grave matter that would compel the Chief of the Military Intelligence Department to come all the way here... Just what is this member of the Liu Family planning to do to earn such trust from the Military Intelligence Department?!"

The tense atmosphere within the mansion suddenly eased, and Chen Ji even felt everyone breathe a long sigh of relief.

Lin Chaoqing sheathed his blade, and Jiao Tu used his thumb to wipe his forehead; the cut that had been there healed in an instant, leaving no trace.

Lin Chaoqing looked at Chen Ji, speaking steadily, "Young man, you are merely a Yao Sun in the Spy Department without even a rank. How about coming to the Criminal Justice Department?"

Yun Yang: "Hmm?"

Jiao Tu: "Hmm?"

Lin Chaoqing continued, "I know that the clues and evidence tonight were all found by you. It would have been impossible for Yun Yang and Jiao Tu to do so. With your capabilities, I assure you, you will rise through the ranks swiftly in the Criminal Justice Department."

"Lin Chaoqing, how can you poach people right before me without any sense of shame?" Yun Yang exclaimed angrily.

"In your Spy Department, he is nothing but a tool for you to gain merits. In my Criminal Justice Department, however, he can truly serve the Emperor and contribute to the state," Lin Chaoqing scoffed.

"He belongs to my Spy Department!"

"He is not yet officially part of your Spy Department. If he agrees, I could write a memorial tonight to commend his service," Lin Chaoqing said, "What say you? Could you do the same?"

Yun Yang and Jiao Tu exchanged glances, hesitating whether to give up the merits they had just gained.

Lin Chaoqing sneered, "Or let him choose himself."

Everyone turned their gaze to Chen Ji, but the expression of the young man stood concealed under the gray cloth mask.

After a long silence, they heard Chen Ji say, "I appreciate the offer, Commander Lin, but I would much rather work under the command of Lord Yunyang and Jiao Tu."

Lin Chaoqing said, "Well, everyone has their aspirations, but if you ever change your mind, you can always find me at the Luocheng City Main Criminal Justice Department within the next two months; I should be here all the time."

"Many thanks, Commander Lin."

As they were speaking, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from outside the mansion. It turned out that hundreds of Liu Family members had surged over, surrounding the entire front and back of Liu Shenyu's residence, leaving no way out!

Someone outside shouted loudly, "Lord Yunyang, the trick of 'Slipping Through the Net' was very clever, but the Liu Family doesn't just sit around either. If you don't give us an explanation, I'll avenge the Old Master today, and afterwards, whether the court wants to behead me or exile me to Lingnan, I, Liu Mingxian, will have no complaints!"

After these words, they heard the sound of people outside arranging kindling and dousing it with oil, the pungent smell of the oil wafting into their faces!

Everyone in the residence looked at each other in dismay.

This time, it was Lin Chaoqing who took the initiative, "Li Dabing, Li Dapao, take some men out to hold off the Liu Family. No one is allowed to set fire to the residence; otherwise, they shall be executed without mercy!"

After speaking, he turned to Chen Ji, "Where is the evidence that convicts the Liu Family members? How can we be sure that Zhou Chengyi's message was meant for the Liu Family members?"

The event tonight started because a member of the Liu Family died in the inner prison. Although the Spy Department had found important intelligence, this book can only prove that the Chief of the Military Intelligence Department is about to head south, but how can it prove that Zhou Chengyi intended to pass this intelligence to the Liu Family members?

If they couldn't prove it, the Liu Family wouldn't let the matter rest.

Chen Ji raised the book in his hand and asked, "How many chapters are there in the 'Four Books with Chapter Notes' altogether?"

Lin Chaoqing replied indifferently, "Thirty-nine chapters in total, each printed separately, making thirty-nine books."

Chen Ji then asked, "Which number is the chapter 'Governance Second' among them?"

Lin Chaoqing answered, "It's the eighth..."

Chen Ji nodded, "No one would start transcribing from the eighth chapter. They would surely begin from the first, the second... and so on until the eighth chapter. I didn't find any handwritten copies of the first seven chapters at Zhou Chengyi's house, so he must have already sent them out. That is to say, Zhou Chengyi should have already passed on the intelligence seven times under the guise of borrowing and transcribing books."

Lin Chaoqing suddenly realized, "If we find those seven transcribed copies with Zhou Chengyi's handwriting, we can prove who received the intelligence!"

"That's right," Chen Ji lifted the book in his hand, "This is the 'Four Books with Chapter Notes,' chapter seven, 'Study First' that I just found in Liu Shenyu's house. The handwriting seems to be that of Zhou Chengyi; with this, we can convict Liu Shenyu."

His words resonated with the authority, like thunder piercing through the layers of fog that night, illuminating the truth for everyone.

The people inside the house searched the bookshelf while Chen Ji searched elsewhere. When he opened a cabinet in the inner room, he suddenly paused.

Upon opening the cabinet, the Ice Flow within him which had been dormant for so long began to stir again.

There were several wooden boxes in the cabinet. Chen Ji nonchalantly opened them, finding two white jade bracelets in the first box, some account books in the second box, and in the third box... there was a ginseng!

He looked over his shoulder, took out the box, and placed it on the table, intending to touch the ginseng.

Before he could reach it, Lin Chaoqing's words drifted over, "Young man, it's forbidden to touch the belongings of a guilty official's household. The most important responsibility of my Criminal Justice Department overseeing the Spy Department is to prevent you spies from lining your pockets. Put those things back; the Prime Minister will send someone to confiscate and register them later."

Chen Ji: "..."

He had thought that the Spy Department, with its role as an eraser of households, could freely gather possessions... No wonder Lord Yunyang looked so pained when haggling over the price – it turns out they're watched by the Criminal Justice Department every day!

Chen Ji stood at the table tapping his fingers on the box, pondering for a moment before finally returning it. He went back to the bookshelf, picked up a book to casually flip through, and then stuffed it back into place.

By now, they had found all seven chapters of 'Four Books with Chapter Notes' that Zhou Chengyi had written!

Lord Yunyang took a long breath, "We won! The Liu Family's case is finally settled. Whether Old Master Liu died of anger or illness, our Spy Department has handled the case fairly, a great achievement indeed!"

Lin Chaoqing said disinterestedly, "I hope you won't have to win by such a fluke next time. You were lucky this time, but next time if you encounter the Hu Family, the Xu Family, the Chen Family... you may not have anyone to protect you."

Lord Yunyang chuckled coldly, "Thank you for the reminder, Commander Lin."

He adjusted his hair and smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes before picking up the sorted pile of books, "Let's go and shut the Liu Family up with this evidence!"

"Hold on," Lin Chaoqing said icily, "No one is allowed to leave with any valuables. Check everything."

Lord Yunyang and Jiao Tu rolled up their sleeves, patting their clothes up and down with impatience, "It's just a few copper coins, no hidden items, we know the rules!"

Lin Chaoqing then looked towards Chen Ji, who reluctantly rolled up his sleeve and patted his clothes just the same, "I haven't taken anything either."

"Good."

As everyone moved toward the door, by the time they reached the entrance, they saw a black cat rise from the beams of the room, stretching lazily.

Wu Yun, light as a feather, leaped down from the beam, taking the ginseng Chen Ji had just placed back in the cabinet. It then climbed onto the bookshelf, grasping in its mouth the same book Chen Ji had just flipped through.

The fluffy black Wu Yun surveyed its surroundings and, seeing no one was paying attention, climbed back onto the beam and slipped through a gap into the night.