Green Mountain

Si Caogui sat opposite her and said, "Ah Jie knows the adult’s ability. He wouldn’t summon Lin Chaoqing back unless he had seventy percent confidence. So don’t hope for luck, leave quickly."

Mrs. Lu raised her head, her narrow eyes under the bamboo hat staring at the opposite person. "Since you’re loyal to Lu Jin, why are you willing to help me?"

"Ah Jie, my loyalty lies with the people of the Jing Dynasty, not any individual," Si Caogui said slowly. "As for helping you... Half of my life belongs to the adult, and the other half to you. It’s right to return it."

Mrs. Lu asked in a deep voice, "When was the messenger pigeon sent?"

"At morning’s Chen time."

Mrs. Lu bowed her head to calculate the time, the brim of the bamboo hat casting her eyes in shadow.

But before she could finish calculating, Si Caogui already crisply said, "The messenger pigeon was said to fly to Lushun, when actually it flew to the Hu Ben Army camp eighty miles outside Lvshun City. The pigeon could arrive as late as tonight’s Hai time. Lin Chaoqing will immediately set off after receiving it, change horses en route to the capital, and he can reach Shangjing City by tomorrow night at the latest."

Mrs. Lu got up to leave, but she heard Si Caogui calmly say, "Ah Jie plans to ambush Lin Chaoqing halfway? But there are two official roads from Lushun to Shangjing. Do you know which one Lin Chaoqing will take?"

Mrs. Lu’s steps halted.

Si Caogui asked again, "Does Ah Jie want to take the risky step to fight him in the capital now? But if you act in Shangjing City, the entire city of Marquises will mobilize, and the Imperial Guard, under Yuan Xingzhi, will follow close behind. You are facing certain death."

Mrs. Lu turned to look at Si Caogui.

Si Caogui examined her expression: "Ah Jie, even if you die, you’re determined to ambush Lin Chaoqing? The adult wants Lin Chaoqing back to verify someone, is it Chen Ji?"

Mrs. Lu frowned, "No."

Si Caogui calmly said, "After Qing Wentao was vindicated, I don’t know who would be worth your life. He’s the one who triggered the Martial Arts Roar at the Temple of Martial Arts, right? Don’t deny it, Ah Jie. When the Sword Seed inheritor appeared at Chongli Pass, he was there. There’s no coincidence like that in the world. Though he was masked at the time, recognizing your identity makes his identity easy to guess... The adult should have already guessed it."

After twenty years, the Military Intelligence Department Chief standing before her was no longer the embarrassed boy trailing behind like a follower. Any slight flaw can be detected.

Si Caogui watched Mrs. Lu’s clenched fist, then raised his eyes to her murderous gaze. "The adult has never seen Chen Ji. In Shangjing City, only Lin Chaoqing and I really know Chen Ji’s true identity. So Ah Jie not only wants to kill Lin Chaoqing but also me? Ah Jie, save it. If you move against me here, you’ll attract the Imperial Guard Marquises before you even kill me."

Mrs. Lu walked to the water jar, scooped up a ladle of water, took a harsh drink, and sat back at the stone table. "What method do you have to break the situation?"

Si Caogui replied at a slow pace, "Ah Jie, since General Wentao has been vindicated, why don’t you let go of past grievances, take Chen Ji and leave for a peaceful life far away? Why wade into this murky water in the capital?"

Mrs. Lu remained unfazed, thinking Si Caogui assumed she could always find Chen Ji and leave together. But currently, she had no news of Chen Ji, unable to take him out of Shangjing.

She spoke solemnly, "If it weren’t for you people dragging Chen Ji into the Military Intelligence Department, how could he fall into such a predicament now?"

Si Caogui was silent for a moment. "Bringing Chen Ji into the Military Intelligence Department wasn’t my intention either."

Mrs. Lu’s voice grew cold. "Lu Jin’s orders?"

Si Caogui looked up at her. "Ah Jie, you don’t need to harbor such hostility toward me. I don’t know what happened between you and the adult. He never says anything, and I never ask. After your fake death, I watched Chen Ji silently looking for you, bribed the Chen family servants to gather his information, but didn’t draw him into the Military Intelligence Department. Later, the adult ordered me to bring Chen Ji in, and I thought the adult intended to groom Chen Ji for future duties."

Si Caogui reminisced: "Since then, I had Wu Hongbiao teach him hand by hand how to hide, how to kill, how to preserve life. Years passed peacefully. When Chen Ji infiltrated the Spy Department, I killed the Bailu Pavilion’s manager to ensure only I knew his Military Intelligence Department identity, even Lin Chaoqing was kept in the dark."

Mrs. Lu felt a stir in her heart. Si Caogui did not lie here. If Lin Chaoqing knew Chen Ji’s identity, Chen Ji would have been exposed long ago.

Si Caogui sighed: "When Chen Ji just entered the Imperial Capital, I noticed he was betraying the Jing Dynasty. He said he didn’t kill those over a hundred Heavenly Strategy Army people, but a person’s demeanor after such a massacre is unmistakable. The flaws were many. When Wang Daosheng deployed troops to Korea, his eagerness to inform was obvious. I ordered him to kill the Jing Dynasty’s southern envoy for talks. He only killed Jiang Xiansheng, sparing Princess Liyang, and these incidents alone would warrant his death ten times."

Si Caogui looked at Mrs. Lu: "Ah Jie, I warned him, but to no avail. Later, thinking I’d stay by his side daily, I might eventually persuade him to turn back, so I infiltrated the Chen family to be his carter, disciplining him daily, but it was in vain... It was then I harbored killing intent for him. But since I watched him grow up, I couldn’t bring myself to do it."

Mrs. Lu gave no comment.

Si Caogui, his voice hoarse: "You don’t believe, Ah Jie? I didn’t even report his betrayal to the adult, otherwise, he’d have cleaned house and Chen Ji wouldn’t have survived."

Mrs. Lu finally spoke: "If so, you shouldn’t interfere, and I won’t kill you."

Si Caogui suddenly said, "Ah Jie, rather than ambushing Lin Chaoqing, why don’t you apologize to the adult, he certainly won’t make things difficult for Chen Ji. Lin Chaoqing must have told the adult the truth by now, but he hasn’t disclosed Chen Ji’s Military Intelligence Department identity to Ning Dynasty for so long, showing he still cares about this nephew."

Mrs. Lu replied sternly, "He’s the one in the wrong!"

"You are siblings. So many years have passed, why insist on right and wrong?" Si Caogui urged anxiously, "Ah Jie, the Master just wants to find you, not to kill you. He has no children these years; you and Chen Ji are his last family, and there is no grudge that cannot be resolved! Even if he was wrong, even if you don’t want to forgive him, you have to think about Chen Ji. His uncle is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Jing Dynasty’s Privy Council, and he possesses the Sword Seed Path. Given time, when the Mountain Master passes away... what power will he hold in the Jing Dynasty?"

Mrs. Lu seemed somewhat moved, her expression softened considerably: "Has Lu Jin mentioned me over the years?"

Si Caogui breathed a sigh of relief: "Of course, the Master mentioned you. Unifying the two dynasties and saving the people was both of your wishes, and he hasn’t dared to forget for a single day."

Mrs. Lu was stunned for a moment, then laughed wryly: "We were so naive back then."

Si Caogui stood up, his expression resolute: "This is our lifelong wish; how can it be called naive?"

Mrs. Lu looked him up and down, sighed: "Ah Gui, you’re still the same as back then."

She stood up, rolled up her sleeves, and walked into the kitchen: "Let’s eat some dumplings first. I remember, during the end of the year, everyone would go to Yangyang Alley for a New Year’s Eve dinner. I wrapped dumplings for you there. By the way, you wrote something on the bed board. What did you write?"

Si Caogui was silent for a long time: "To establish merit and save the people."

Mrs. Lu asked while rummaging for ingredients: "What did Wang Que write?"

Si Caogui replied softly: "The riches and nobility, becoming a general and receiving a noble title. Li Zhi wrote ’to be a dog born in a peaceful era in the next life’. The Master wrote ’to unify the rivers and mountains’. You also wrote something; you wrote ’May the four seas be at peace, and all children have candy to eat’."

Mrs. Lu paused: "You still remember?"

Si Caogui’s voice was even lower: "How could I forget? After you went to Guyuan, a few more people came. Old Huang wrote ’Mother, I’m unfilial’. Lin Chaoqing wrote a poem: ’Already a drifting guest, never ashamed before others, bones soaked in wind and rain, moonlight illuminating the lonely soul.’"

Every corner and every tile in Yangyang Alley, he remembered clearly.

At this moment, Mrs. Lu asked in puzzlement: "Why is there only corn and salted vegetables in your kitchen? I’ll go buy some meat and flour."

Si Caogui looked up at Mrs. Lu: "Ah Jie wants to take this opportunity to escape and ambush Lin Chaoqing, right? Forget it, I won’t let you go to your death. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go find Chen Ji with you, then help you both escape the Imperial Capital."

He stood up, walked to the water tank, scooped up a ladle of water and gulped it down: "Appetite is useless, just surviving is enough."

But when he turned around, Mrs. Lu stood at the kitchen door, looking at him with a complicated expression.

Si Caogui staggered, suddenly looked down at the gourd ladle in his hand, and realized Mrs. Lu had touched it: "Ah Jie, you..."

The next moment, he collapsed to the ground, his eyelids growing heavier, struggling to say: "Ah Jie, don’t risk your life, it’ll be the end..."

Mrs. Lu came beside him, speaking softly: "Ah Gui, I should have died long ago."

"Ah Jie, don’t..." Si Caogui slowly closed his eyes, as Mrs. Lu squatted, drawing the short knife from his sleeve.

Mrs. Lu pulled out the bright, snow-like short knife, looked at the scars on her nose and the weary corners of her eyes, then raised the short knife to Si Caogui’s neck, silently pondering, as the blade pressed out a line of blood on his neck.

At this moment, laughter and joy came from next door, a child shouted, "Ah Jie, I found the copper coin! Ah Jie look!"

Mrs. Lu paused, looking at the ray of light reflected from the wall next door, then slowly withdrew the knife from Si Caogui’s neck.

She took out a small packet of medicine and poured it into Si Caogui’s mouth, scooped a ladle of water and poured it down. Just as she was about to leave, she turned back and took Si Caogui’s waist tag, went into the house, and tossed it onto the bed: "Sleep and dream as if nothing ever happened and you never saw me."

With that, she took the Privy Council’s waist tag from Si Caogui’s bosom and turned to leave.

The skies grew increasingly dark, until the room had no light. After an unknown duration, a rooster crow sounded outside, unable to wake Si Caogui on the bed.

Until the sun was high and then dipped again, Si Caogui slowly awakened.

He shook his head, thinking he hadn’t slept long as he looked at the sky. Then, he instinctively touched the wound on his neck, and once he felt the dried blood, he was fully awake.

Si Caogui reached to check his chest, the waist tag was gone. He checked his sleeve, the short knife gone too: "Not good!"

Si Caogui dashed out of the yard as if mad.

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