My father ordered me to kill the emperor, but His Majesty bestowed a princess upon me instead.

Chapter 40 Ji Qing ran away

When I said I was going to chase, my legs didn't even feel like my own anymore.

When people are extremely tired, they experience a strange illusion.

My mind is still racing, but my body is cursing behind me.

But Ji Qing had no choice but to pursue it.

Pei's long-time attendant, with six fingers on his left hand, wore a gold-threaded crane-patterned sleeve, a Guangchu Gate supplementary register, a secret order for clearing the accounts, and the smell of bitter almond medicine.

All those threads fell on him.

If he runs away, many things will become incriminating evidence.

Death certificates are useful.

But it's not as useful as a living person.

The dead don't recant their confessions, they won't be frightened to tears, and they certainly won't accidentally let slip anything.

The Living People Association.

What I need most right now is someone who can let slip something.

Zhao Guanlan immediately dispatched officers from the Censorate to each city gate.

Yan Xiaoyi asked me, "Which door are you going through?"

"Which gate did Ji Qing apply to?"

The constable said, "The Pei family has submitted a leave request, and he's going through Xizhimen, saying he's returning home to visit his mother."

"Then let's go to Xizhimen."

Yan Xiaoyi glanced at me.

"What if he doesn't go through Xizhimen?"

"That's even better."

"Where is it good?"

"It shows he has a guilty conscience."

Yan Xiaoyi paused for a moment.

"Lord Shen, you investigators really know how to comfort yourselves."

I do need comfort right now.

By the time we arrived at Xizhimen, the sun was already setting.

There were many people at the city gate, with carts, merchants, and porters lined up in a long queue. The gatekeepers were getting impatient checking passes, and their curses mingled with the neighing of horses.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance, I saw a small blue cloth car parked on the side of the road.

Two Censorate officers stood beside the carriage.

One of them saw me and immediately stepped forward.

"Lord Shen, we've intercepted them."

My heart skipped a beat.

Where are they?

"In the car."

"How many people?"

"A coachman and a servant, who called himself Ji Qing."

Self-proclaimed.

Those two words chilled me to the bone.

If Zhen Jiqing were to so easily refer to himself, it wouldn't seem like the real Jiqing.

I walked up to the carriage.

The carriage curtains were drawn.

The people inside didn't move.

Yan Xiaoyi stood to the side of the carriage, his hand resting on the shaft, seemingly lazy, but actually blocking the way for the people inside to suddenly rise up.

I reached out and lifted the car curtain.

Inside the car sat a man in his thirties, dressed in a blue cloth robe, his face pale and his forehead covered in sweat.

He saw me and immediately lowered his head.

"This humble one, Ji Qing, greets Your Excellency."

His voice trembled.

It doesn't seem like an act.

I looked at his hands.

Both hands were placed on his knees.

The five fingers of the left hand.

I didn't say anything.

The man seemed to realize what I was looking at, and his fingers trembled even more violently.

Yan Xiaoyi clicked his tongue softly behind me.

I know without him saying it.

Ji Qing's hand is perfectly normal.

That's perfectly normal.

I asked, "Are you a servant in the Pei household?"

"Yes."

"How many years have you been in the Pei household?"

Five years.

"What kind of tea does Lord Pei usually drink?"

He froze.

"what?"

I asked gently, "Lord Pei Shen, what kind of tea do you usually drink?"

"This... I am merely an attendant in the outer courtyard and do not serve you personally, so I am unaware."

"Then who do you work for?"

"Manager."

"Which one is in charge?"

He opened his mouth.

I can't answer that.

I lowered the carriage curtain and turned to look at Yan Xiaoyi.

"Fake."

Yan Xiaoyi nodded.

"They're really trying hard to fake it."

The person in the car immediately panicked.

"My lord, I am indeed from the Pei family!"

I turned around.

"I didn't say you weren't from the Pei family."

He was stunned.

"I said you're not Ji Qing."

His face turned even paler.

The coachman next to him tried to quietly back away, but Yan Xiaoyi stuck out his foot and almost tripped him.

I ordered the officers to search me.

Soon, the constables found a Pei family servant's token in the man's arms.

The cards are real.

The person is fake.

This is even more troublesome than fake cards.

The fact that the card is genuine means that someone in the Pei household voluntarily lent Ji Qing his identity.

Or rather, the Pei family was helping Ji Qing escape.

I took the long-serving card and turned it over to the back.

The back is engraved with the two characters "Ji Qing".

The engravings are old, not made temporarily.

I asked, "Who gave you the cards?"

The man's lips trembled.

"Yes...it's Steward Ji."

"Who is Steward Ji?"

"I am unaware."

"I don't know?"

"I only know that's what they call it in the manor."

I looked at him.

"Where are you going after taking his tokens and leaving Beijing?"

"Returning to my hometown to visit my mother."

Where is your mother?

"Qingzhou".

Which county in Qingzhou?

He sweated even more profusely.

"Anping County...

How many city gates does Anping County have?

He was completely stuck.

If Ah Liu were here, he would definitely sigh on my behalf: "Young master, that's a really tricky question."

But that's exactly what I wanted.

The worst thing about a fake identity is being questioned too closely.

The finer the mesh, the more it leaks.

I put away the long-time follower card.

"Take him back to the Censorate."

The man knelt down with a thud.

"My lord, spare my life! I was just doing this for money, I really didn't know anything else!"

I crouched down to look at him.

"Who gave you the money?"

"A manager."

"What is it like?"

"Thin, long face, left hand always tucked into sleeve."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Six fingers?"

"I didn't see it."

"Are there golden cranes on the cuffs?"

He shook his head blankly.

He genuinely didn't see it.

They might not dare to look.

Where was the money given?

North of Anren Bridge.

It's Anren Bridge again.

This bridge has been appearing more frequently lately than Ah Liu.

I asked, "When are you supposed to leave Beijing?"

Before 3 PM.

"Why the rush?"

"He said... that if anyone asks, just say Ji Qing is going back to his hometown to visit his mother. As long as he leaves the city, someone will meet him."

"Where are you going to be picked up?"

"Willow Pavilion, three miles outside the city."

I stood up.

Yan Xiaoyi asked, "To Willow Pavilion?"

I shook my head.

"I'm not going."

We've intercepted all the stand-ins, so even if Liu Ting has someone, it's just an empty shell.

Since Ji Qing dared to use a stand-in to leave the capital, his real identity is most likely still in the capital.

Leaving Beijing was a pretense.

Let's chase them out of the city; that's the real goal.

The people Zhao Guanlan sent to the other city gates gradually sent back news.

Ji Qing is not included.

There are no people with six fingers.

No suspicious blue-clad attendants left the city.

In other words, Zhen Jiqing did not actually go through the city gate.

Or perhaps he took a path we hadn't considered.

I returned to the carriage and re-examined it.

The car is very ordinary.

Blue cloth curtains, wooden carriage, and newly oiled axles.

But there was a black ink stain in the corner of the carriage.

The ink is very fresh.

I rubbed it with my fingertips.

It's not completely dry yet.

As Liu Laoqi just mentioned, the six-fingered man's sleeves had a strong smell of ink, as if he had just come out of a writing room.

There was ink in the stunt double's car too.

This suggests that he may have just met with Zhen Jiqing before he set off.

I asked the driver, "Where did this cart come from?"

The driver kept his head down.

"The back gate of the Pei residence."

"Which road did you take?"

"North of Anren Bridge, past Xishi, then to Xizhimen."

"Did you stop along the way?"

The driver dared not speak.

Yan Xiaoyi lazily patted the carriage shaft.

The driver immediately replied, "We stopped once! In the alley behind the Yongfeng Bank!"

My eyes narrowed.

"Yongfeng Bank?"

"Yes. It only stopped for a short while. The gentleman in the carriage got out to retrieve a bundle."

The stand-in cried out, "It wasn't me! Someone stuffed the bundle into my hands!"

"What burden?"

"Clothes, a few travel permits, and some loose silver."

"Who gave it to you?"

"A bank clerk."

Which cabinet?

He shook his head.

"I didn't go in, so I don't know."

I took out the fragment of the crane tent.

It says:

Silver: Yongfeng Third Container.

Yongfeng Three Containers.

Finally connected.

Ji Qing had no intention of leaving Beijing.

He used a double to draw our attention to the city gate, while he or his accomplices went to Yongfeng's three stores to retrieve items, clear accounts, and transfer money.

Chasing someone is a pretense.

The real purpose is to investigate the money.

I looked at the stand-in and asked, "How much silver did you take?"

"Ten taels."

"You dare to impersonate Pei Fu Ji Qing for just ten taels of silver?"

He was about to cry.

"A petty person in debt from gambling can be saved by ten taels of silver."

I sighed.

Life in the capital can sometimes be really cheap.

For ten taels of silver, you can get someone to take the blame for a potentially fatal card.

I turned to the constables and ordered, "Take the people and the carriage back to the Censorate. Don't move the carriage. Seal the bundles, travel permits, and loose silver."

The constable accepted the order.

Yan Xiaoyi asked, "Shall we go to Yongfeng now?"

I glanced at the sky.

"go."

Aren't you sleepy?

"Sleepy."

"Then should we still go?"

"If we don't go, Yongfeng's three counters will be closing down."

"Even banks will silence witnesses?"

"The bank will not be silenced."

I tucked the long-serving card into my sleeve.

"The bank will settle its accounts."

Yan Xiaoyi remained silent for a moment.

"I really hate this word lately."

I also find it annoying.

What's even more annoying is that I'm increasingly convinced it's not just an ordinary code word.

It's a set of rules.

Some people said "clear the accounts," and others burned embroidery patterns, changed old clothes, altered the door registers, killed coachmen, and sent servants to their homes.

These rules are hidden in the government offices, banks, carriage shops, embroidery workshops, and palace gates of Daliang.

It's even more effective than the law.

Because the law must be brought to court.

Settling accounts only requires one sentence.

When we arrived at Yongfeng Bank, it was already getting dark.

The bank was preparing to close.

Just as the waiter was about to put the board down, Yan Xiaoyi stopped him with one hand.

The man looked up at him.

Yan Xiaoyi said, "Don't close it."

The waiter frowned.

"Sir, we're closing up shop for today."

I stepped forward and took out my Censorate badge.