Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 35: Caught in the act

Late at night, candles were lit in the bookkeeper's room.

An old man was sitting under the lamp, flipping through documents, his head buried so low that his eyes were almost touching the paper.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. The old man turned around and vaguely saw a young man in a brocade robe. Just as he was about to ask something, a man appeared behind the young man.

"Mr. Wu, it's me."

"Pei Jishi?" Wu Mozhi was surprised. "I heard that Jishi was convicted for favoritism. Does this mean he is cleared of suspicion?"

As he spoke, he moved closer to Gu Jingnian and looked at him carefully with his old eyes narrowed.

"This person is unfamiliar."

"Gu Jingnian."

Wu Mozhi took a breath and said in surprise: "Ji Shi really has a private affair with you!"

"No." Pei Nian denied immediately.

She looked calm and acted as if nothing had happened tonight.

Gu Jingnian looked over and saw a red mark on her slender neck, right where he had hurt her last time.

"How strange." Wu Mozhi rubbed his nose and murmured, "But Master Gu has the smell of Ji Shi, and Ji Shi has the smell of Master Gu..."

"No." Pei Nian was a little impatient.

Wu Mozhi had no choice but to shut up, but he pointed at his eyes and nose to Gu Jingnian one after another.

What it means is that although his eyesight is not good, his nose is very sensitive.

"Let's get down to business."

After giving a brief account of what had happened, Pei Nian said, "Liu Jikun has gone mad in his quest for power. We must get rid of him. I have lost my seal and talisman, so I cannot mobilize anyone, and I cannot get close to the Ministry of Personnel. I ask Elder Wu to help me."

Wu Mozhi stroked his beard and said, "This is a big deal. I am old and weak, and cannot help with the sword. Please give me an idea for the investigation."

"Mr. Wu, please speak."

"The Kaiping Si Nan Ya and Bei Ya each have one Zhenfu and two Ti Si. Therefore, in addition to Liu Jikun, there is also Ti Si Xu in the Nan Ya. However, he is old and weak, and has rarely handled affairs in recent years, which gave Liu Jikun the opportunity to cover the sky with one hand."

"Ask Xu Tisi to come forward?" Pei Nian asked, "But he has always been afraid of trouble, so he may not be willing, right?"

"Before, Liu Jikun and Min Zhenfushi were fighting for power, and Xu Tisi didn't want to get into trouble. Now that the dispute between Liu and Min is about to end, it's time for him to leave. As for who he should lean towards? Liu Jikun is strong. If he takes the position, Xu Tisi's power and position will be even less than it is now; Min Zhenfushi is not familiar with general affairs. If Liu Jikun is eliminated, he will have to rely on Xu Tisi in the future. Therefore, if you want to investigate, you only need to go to him, and he will stand on the side of the investigation. Oh, and the most crucial point."

Wu Mozhi spoke slowly, and it took a long time for him to finish a sentence. He paused for a while before preparing to continue, but his eyes narrowed towards Gu Jingnian again.

"Master Gu asked Liu Jikun to move the theater. This is a brilliant move. How did you come up with this idea?"

"It's just a coincidence." Gu Jingnian said, "I don't know what's so wonderful about it. Please enlighten me, Mr. Wu."

"If that's the case, then we can't say anything." Wu Mozhi said: "In short, as long as Xu Tisi knows about this, he will take action."

After saying that, he stood up tremblingly.

"Please wait here with Mr. Gu. Don't move around. I will get the order from Xu Tisi for you."

Pei Nian said, "Thank you, Mr. Wu."

Wu Mozhi went out, and the bookkeeping office became quiet.

Gu Jingnian sat there, his eyes fixed on the door.

"What?" Pei Nian asked, "Are you worried that Mr. Wu will betray us again?"

"If we were caught now, you wouldn't be able to explain yourself."

"Mr. Wu is trustworthy."

"Why don't you contact Wang Qinghe?"

"He cannot be trusted. He is obsessed with factional power struggles. He may help you today but kill you tomorrow."

After Pei Nian finished speaking, he glanced around and saw a bottle of gold healing medicine on the table. Thinking of the bite marks on his body, he picked up the bottle and walked into the inner room.

"Don't come here."

"it is good."

Gu Jingnian was leaning against the bookshelf with his eyes closed, and soon he heard hurried footsteps.

There were shouts coming from outside the yard, saying "surround and search."

He stood up, walked around the screen, and said, "We are surrounded."

Pei Nian glanced at him coldly, continued to apply the medicine, straightened his clothes, and said calmly: "They found out that we escaped, so it was just a routine search."

As he was speaking, footsteps were heard outside the door.

Seeing that there was nowhere to hide in the bookkeeping office, Gu Jingnian was ready to fight his way out.

Pei Nian suddenly pulled him over.

After a quick look, the view became completely dark, and the two of them were already inside the wall.

The space was very small, with two thick walls hollowed out in half and filled with confidential files.

Because they were too close, Gu Jingnian could smell the scent on Pei Nian's body, a very faint fragrance mixed with the smell of gold healing medicine, like some kind of skin moisturizer or shampoo ointment.

Her hands were rough and calloused, far less delicate than the hands of another woman who had been close to Gu Jingnian.

Gu Jingnian's eyes quickly fell on the files, but unfortunately it was too dark and he couldn't see the words on them at all.

"Search!"

There was a sound of rummaging through drawers outside.

The two people inside the wall held their breath and remained motionless. After an incense stick's time, they heard the noise outside become smaller.

"Not here."

"go!"

As the footsteps faded away, Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian did not move, as if they were unwilling to change this close relationship.

After a long while, voices were heard outside again.

"It seems that he is not here."

"I guess he escaped from the yamen."

"Ji Shi, Pei Wu Gou is here, the chief doesn't want to see him, so he wants you to deal with him."

"Got it. You continue searching." The two people in the wall still didn't move, as if they were asleep.

An unknown amount of time had passed, perhaps half an hour, when the wall suddenly began to move, and the two were caught off guard and were transported into a room lit by candlelight.

"Ji Shi, Mr. Gu, I'm late."

Wu Mozhi looked apologetic and bowed deeply.

Gu Jingnian's gaze fell on another middle-aged man behind Wu Mozhi.

The other person had an excellent demeanor, bright eyes, and a long flowing beard. He had an air of integrity and honesty. If this was the Xu Tisi, he looked completely different from the old and frail person that Gu Jingnian had imagined.

Sure enough, the other party was not Xu Tisi, but Pei Wugui.

"Pei Shaoqing can rest assured, your daughter is fine." Wu Mozhi said, "Xu Tisi has also cleared her suspicion."

"Wu Zhangbu, this is Kaipingsi, the title of an official."

"Yes, investigating the case."

Pei Wujiu took a deep look at his daughter, and was relieved to see that she was not injured. But then he noticed the mark on her neck.

His gaze turned and fell on Gu Jingnian.

Wu Mozhi felt that the atmosphere was not right and hurriedly said, "Who is this..."

"I know, Gu Jingnian." Pei Wugou said, "General Gu's son, Marquis Wuding's son-in-law. I won't talk about anything else today. Nian'er, come back with me and we'll talk about it later."

"I still have official business to attend to. Please don't delay me, Mr. Pei."

"Such a big thing has happened, I'm here to protect you..."

Pei Nian interrupted, "Since I have been sent by Xu Tisi, I must complete the official business."

Pei Wujiu knew his daughter's temperament, so he sighed slightly, put his hands behind his back and said to Gu Jingnian, "Young man, talk to me."

"This is an important witness in my case." Pei Nian said.

"If you continue to get along with the witness, I'm afraid your suspicion will not be cleared and will be confirmed."

"Is the Dali Temple trying to interfere in the Kaipingsi case? Pei Shaoqing wants to prove my guilt. Show me the evidence first."

"evidence."

Pei Wujiu raised his hand and pointed, extremely angry and speechless.

Wu Mozhi quickly tried to comfort her with kind words.

"Pei Shaoqing, calm down. Now that Xu Tisi has come forward and the situation is going smoothly, we have to get the job done..."

Pei Nian ignored all this, snatched the seal and token from Wu Mozhi's hand, and walked out decisively.

When she walked out of the door, she looked back at Gu Jingnian, who then bowed to the two people in the room and followed her.

The cold night wind blew past, blowing away the expression on Pei Nian's face.

She was still cold and resolute, pursed her lips slightly, and raised the token in her hand to the hooks standing outside the door.

"We now suspect Liu Jikun of colluding with traitors and plotting something illegal. We are under the order of Xu Tisi to arrest him. Anyone who dares to disobey will be killed!"

--------

"kill!"

The shouts and screams spread into the cell.

Huang Hu, who was sleeping soundly, sat up quickly, tightly grasped the iron chain on his hands, and was ready to strangle the enemy at any time.

With a "bang", the cell door was opened. Huang Hu was about to move when he heard a familiar shout.

"it's me."

"Old You?" Huang Hu was overjoyed. "You came to rob me so soon. Let's go and save Gong...save Jishi and Master Gu before we leave."

He almost let it slip that he put Gu Jingnian before Pei Nian.

"Why are you still leaving?" You Gui stepped forward to remove the shackles, "The verdict has been overturned, Xu Tisi has come forward."

"Him? If you hadn't mentioned him, I would have forgotten about him. But don't mention him. Even if the pacification envoy came forward, in the end, the commander still favored the surname Liu."

"So we have to kill him first and make it a murder case."

"go!"

Huang Hu wanted to kill Liu Jikun without saying a word.

He had been feeling incredibly strong lately, and had been itching to do something.

"This way." You Gui pulled him back, "Liu Jikun personally led people to the North City. Dayanei doesn't have many of his confidants, otherwise how could I rescue you so quickly."

"He went to the North City?"

"Yes, how did you tell him?"

Huang Hu did not answer, but interrupted, "You also know that I have always been a wise general."

The two walked very quickly and soon arrived at Pei Nian's investigation hall.

At this time, there were only about thirty people preparing.

They were going to kill Liu Jikun.

Pei Nian did not mobilize more manpower with Xu Tisi's token, and only dared to use his most trusted subordinates.

Because Liu Jikun's prestige in Kaiping Division was too great, using those wavering people would only cause delays. Moreover, if there was any delay, someone would immediately report the news, so she had to act quickly.

"Set off."

"Walk."

Huang Hu just picked up his knife when he heard the neighing of horses. Pei Nian rushed out first, followed by Gu Jingnian.

The horses' hooves broke the tranquility of the long street at night, heading north all the way to Taipei City.

Not far ahead, there were several people riding horses to report the news to Liu Jikun. Pei Nian ruthlessly raised his crossbow and shot them one by one.

The smell of blood wafted in the wind. She threw away all the distracting thoughts in her mind and remembered what Liu Jikun had said when he was handling the Liu Heng case before: "You only need to prove Liu Heng's guilt, and then you can step on his head and move up a step."

Unfortunately, Liu Jikun didn't know that she still wanted to step on his head to climb to a higher position.

Just before Pei Nian set off, a white dove flew down from the treetops of the Jishitang and landed on her shoulder, just like the clue Feng Niang provided when she was handling the Liu Heng case last time. This time, the white dove also had a piece of paper tied to its feet.

(End of this chapter)