Qingshan

Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Climbing the Wall

General Wang asked gravely: “Miss Chunhua, did you find anything?”

Chunhua, stifling her sobs, said: “No…”

She turned around, eyes red, looking at She Dakang with disbelief, while She Dakang’s eyes held a mix of confusion and relief.

General Wang glanced at Chunhua, then at She Dakang, his voice growing cold: “Miss Chunhua, next time bring solid evidence before calling us. The Thousand-Year Army is Prince Jing’s guard, not petty constables chasing chickens or dogs. Let’s go.”

As the guards moved to leave, Old Man Yao blocked their path, saying lightly: “Apologize.”

General Wang paused, then turned to me: “Sorry, we offended you!”

I said slowly: “Please, General Wang, clear my name outside, or the neighbors won’t deal with me anymore.”

General Wang shook his head: “I can’t do that. Let’s go!”

The prince’s mansion guards came quickly and left just as fast. Chunhua looked at She Dakang, wanting to speak but stopping, her eyes welling up as she turned to leave: “You’ve ruined me!”

“Wait!” I said.

Chunhua stopped, turning to face me with a hint of fear: “What do you want? I didn’t want this, but I had no choice.”

“Let’s talk privately.”

I led Chunhua to the doorway and said softly: “Please tell Consort Jing we didn’t need to be enemies. I didn’t kill Liu Shiyu, nor did the Secret Spy Division—it was the Liu Family silencing him. Since I helped her find the lead-barium glass cup last time, I can help her get revenge this time. Go back, deliver this message, and you should be fine.”

Chunhua froze, then left.

I stood at the clinic’s entrance, listening to the surrounding murmurs, watching Chunhua’s departing figure.

The sun set in the west, its orange-red glow fading from my body, until night enveloped me.

The Secret Spy Division, Military Intelligence Division, Consort Jing, Consort Yun—each a towering force in this world, seemingly able to crush me with a flick of their hand.

My fate wasn’t in my control. As a newcomer, I could only survive in the cracks.

But now, a chessboard lay before me. I gently placed a piece on the ‘spring corner,’ perhaps not deciding the game, but when I played, I always took sharp, unconventional moves, never predictable ones.

Back inside the clinic, I saw Old Man Yao glaring at She Dakang: “Think you’re tough now? Kneel!”

She Dakang knelt obediently, crying with snot and tears: “Master, I didn’t expect this. Chunhua said Consort Jing forced her, threatening to kill her tonight if she didn’t comply. She said we just needed to hide a pearl in Chen Ji’s clothes to get him expelled from the clinic. She gave me all her savings to compensate Chen Ji, saying he could start a small business after leaving.”

With that, She Dakang pulled out three silver ingots, two silver hairpins, two silver bangles, and thirty-six copper coins from his chest.

Old Man Yao turned to me: “This is your matter. What do you say?”

I stood silently.

Chunhua could’ve given ten taels, fifty taels, or five hundred taels, but she gave thirty taels and thirty-six copper coins—because that’s all she had.

Could I forgive her? No, I couldn’t.

I knew in this era, a girl like Chunhua had no choice. If she didn’t act, Consort Jing would truly kill her.

But if I had been framed, would my fate be just expulsion from the clinic? No, Chunrong would’ve brought servants to beat me to death.

I thought I could treat the clinic as home, my martial brothers as family, but reality never followed my hopes.

The worst part of this world was that it didn’t spare you for being good.

I wasn’t a good person either.

I picked up the silver, bangles, hairpins, and coins: “I’ll take these, but Senior Brother She, you and Chunhua each owe me a life. When I ask you to repay, you must. Agreed?”

She Dakang nodded frantically: “Agreed! Agreed!”

I turned back to the clinic’s main hall. Liu Quxing watched my back, wanting to speak but stopping, feeling nothing he said would help now.

Old Man Yao looked down at the kneeling She Dakang: “Fool, swayed by a woman. Go kneel inside; don’t be an eyesore here. Chen Ji isn’t pursuing this, but if it happens again, this clinic won’t keep you.”

…

…

At night, Taiping Clinic grew quiet, as if nothing had happened during the day.

I stood behind the counter, propping my chin.

Dark Cloud emerged from the shadows, lightly hopping onto the counter and spitting a round pearl into my palm.

It meowed: “Don’t be sad, don’t be angry.”

I hid the pearl in my sleeve: “I’m not sad or angry. Sadness and anger are useless emotions of the weak… Let’s talk about something happy—let’s settle accounts!”

“I’ve ignited sixteen furnaces now; I feel I could take on a secret spy. When the mansion guards restrained me today, I felt I could break free. I wonder how many furnaces I’d need to beat a Division Officer, Lin Chaoqing, Yunyang, or Jiaotu…”

“The pearl can’t be sold now; we’ll cash it out in another city later. I bought six ginseng roots at Hundred Deer Pavilion; one went to Old Man Yao, leaving five, costing one hundred ninety-five taels of silver… With the fifty taels under the bed and Chunhua’s compensation, we’ve got eighty-five taels of silver and one hundred twenty-one copper coins left.”

Dark Cloud asked curiously: “How many roast chickens can that buy?”

I calculated for a while but couldn’t figure it out: “…A lot, anyway! When buying the ginseng, that Division Officer didn’t give me a discount at all. Should I try to become the Military Intelligence Division’s Sea Goshawk in Luocheng and manage Hundred Deer Pavilion? I studied Chinese medicine; it’s right up my alley…”

If I could run Hundred Deer Pavilion, even without skimming profits, I could buy ginseng at cost, right?

At that moment, Dark Cloud perked its ears, hearing faint but chaotic footsteps outside, as several people approached the clinic.

“Chen Ji, someone’s coming—several of them!”

I blew out the oil lamp, quietly moving behind the door to listen.

Who could it be?

The Ning Dynasty’s Secret Spy Division, the Jing Dynasty’s Military Intelligence Division, or Consort Jing, unrelenting, sending assassins again?

This was the plight of multiple identities—when an attack came, I couldn’t even tell who sent it.

But before I could think it through, a voice came from the back courtyard: “Hurry, keep it quiet!”

I spun around, peering through the corridor between the main hall and the back courtyard, and saw a tall figure climbing into the yard!

Surrounded!

I signaled Dark Cloud to hide in the shadows, then drew a short herb-cutting knife from behind the counter and stealthily moved forward.

Sweat beaded in my palm. Ten or more people closing in from front and back—this kind of ambush was beyond my ability to handle.

But before I reached the courtyard, I saw another figure climbing the wall separating the clinic from the prince’s mansion—a little monk!

The little monk’s bald head gleamed in the moonlight, struggling to clamber over. The one already inside, I looked closely—wasn’t that the splendidly dressed Heir from the prince’s mansion I saw during the day?

In shock, a voice came from Anxi Street outside the clinic: “Everyone, stay calm; the Heir will be out soon!”

I glanced at the front door, then at the Heir and little monk in the courtyard, and another figure climbing the wall… Princess Baili.

Me: Huh?

In the dead of night, I thought Consort Jing had sent a dozen assassins, only to realize it was a misunderstanding.

I smacked the little monk’s bald head, exasperated: “Hey, what are you all doing?”

At my words, the little monk and Heir jumped. Princess Baili, mid-climb, ducked back down, then cautiously peeked over the wall into the courtyard.

In the moonlight, I held a knife, a graceful girl clung to the wall, the Heir and little monk looked guilty like thieves—none of us expected to meet like this.

Like the start of any story, encounters between people were often sudden.

I raised an eyebrow: “Heir, climbing someone’s wall in the middle of the night isn’t exactly proper, is it?”

The Heir was puzzled: “You know me?”

I smirked: “Sure do. I held you when you were little.”

The Heir: “…”

Princess Baili, clinging to the wall, burst out laughing: “Brother, he’s mocking you!”

“Keep it down,” the Heir hushed: “Don’t attract the guards!”

The Heir looked at me, the clinic apprentice, without anger, grinning as he tried to sling an arm around me but backed off when he saw my knife: “Here’s the deal, little brother. You know who we are. The prince’s mansion has a curfew; we’re not allowed out freely, so we’re borrowing your clinic as a pass-through. Don’t worry, we won’t damage anything!”

A curfew in the prince’s mansion? I hadn’t heard of it, but recalling the Heir’s daytime comment about “the old man keeping a tight leash,” maybe the curfew was just for him and the princesses.

So, they skipped the mansion’s front gate and climbed the clinic’s wall.

As I pondered, the little monk studied me in the moonlight, his eyes lighting up: “It’s you! You’re at this clinic?”

The Heir whispered, puzzled: “You know each other?”

The little monk smiled: “Yes, we met during the day. He’s an impressive person. I wanted to ask him something, but he vanished into the crowd.”