The Azure Mountain

Chapter 104: Lu Jin

Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division.

These few words seemed to possess some kind of magical power over the secret spies.

From the day they joined the Secret Spy Division, their instructors and their superiors reminded them at every single moment: search for the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division, capture the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division.

At the instant Chen Ji said that sentence, the subconscious sound of drawing sabers from several black-clothed secret spies actually came from the gloomy and dark small alley!

Under the night sky, dozens of gazes simultaneously turned towards Xi Feng.

Standing beside the gray tiles and white walls, Xi Feng became somewhat flustered from being stared at. He looked at Jin Zhu: "Lord, how did I become the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division, I'm not some Department Head."

Jin Zhu was initially also momentarily stunned, but upon a second thought, he understood what Chen Ji wanted to do. He patted Xi Feng's shoulder with a beaming smile: "If he says you are, then you are."

Xi Feng panicked even more: "You aren't trying to kill the innocent to claim military merits, handing me over to the imperial court as the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division, are you?"

Jin Zhu's face darkened. He took off the wooden ox mask on his face and knocked Xi Feng's head with it: "Look at your cowardly appearance, no wonder you haven't been able to be promoted to the Gyrfalcon position all these years, I really don't know why I promoted you back then!"

Xi Feng hurriedly said: "Of course it's because I'm absolutely loyal to you!"Jin Zhu laughed from anger: "We are asking you to impersonate the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division to trick the Liu family, not to hand you over to the imperial court."

Xi Feng breathed a sigh of relief, but very quickly panicked even more again: "I can't impersonate him ah."

Wearing the tiger mask on the side, Chen Ji said calmly: "Everyone, now is not the time for making jokes and playing the fool. The Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division is mysterious; I'm afraid even many Jing Dynasty spies haven't seen what he looks like. By impersonating him, we can fish out more of the Liu family's secrets. Lord, if you still trust me, then let me make the arrangements next."

Jin Zhu sized up Chen Ji, but Chen Ji's features were always hidden beneath that tiger mask. He thought quietly for a few seconds: "Tell me what we should do, we'll listen to your arrangements this time."

The secret spies suddenly looked at Chen Ji.

One secret spy was puzzled: "Lord?"

Jin Zhu raised his hand to stop him from speaking: "No need to say more."

Chen Ji looked at Xi Feng: "Xi Feng, let me ask you, who is the superior of the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division? What is their official position?"

Xi Feng pondered for two seconds and answered: "The superior of the Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division is naturally the Military Strategy Commissioner of the Jing Dynasty. The previous Military Strategy Commissioner was Lu Jin, and the current one is Lu Guanwu who just assumed office."

Chen Ji asked again: "Before Lu Guanwu assumed the position of Military Strategy Commissioner, what was his official position?"

Xi Feng answered: "Previously, it was... Military Advisor of the Privy Council?"

Chen Ji asked: "And before that?"

Xi Feng froze: "Lu Guanwu previously lay dormant in the Privy Council and his reputation wasn't renowned, so very few people paid attention to what he did in the past. In addition, us common soldiers don't need to remember these things either."

Saying that, he turned his head and looked at the black-clothed secret spies wearing bamboo hats in the small alley: "Do you guys know?"

The secret spies looked at each other and shook their heads wordlessly.

Chen Ji looked at Jin Zhu: "This is exactly where the problem lies. Liu Mingxian's guard is very high, and there will definitely be probing tests when you meet three days later. If we want Xi Feng to impersonate the Department Head, we must first let him become familiar with all kinds of information about the Jing Dynasty."

"Makes sense," Jin Zhu nodded: "Let's go, depart for the Inner Prison. Every month, new Imperial Gazettes are dispatched from the capital city to the Secret Spy Divisions of various provinces to update some information. Yuzhou's Imperial Gazettes are all stored in Luo City's Inner Prison."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Previously when I went to the Inner Prison, why did I never see these Imperial Gazettes."

Jin Zhu gave him a look: "These Imperial Gazettes can only be viewed by great secret spies of the Gyrfalcon rank and above. Naturally, they couldn't be shown to you. However, since the matter is urgent and requires flexibility, I'm afraid we'll have to make an exception today."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "Don't go to the Inner Prison. The distance to the Inner Prison is far, and every round trip takes an hour, and one has to be blindfolded entering and exiting, which is quite inconvenient. How about this, Lord Jin Zhu sends people to escort these Imperial Gazettes and transport them to Zhou Chengyi's residence. We can just set up a temporary strategy room there."

Jin Zhu readily agreed without hesitation: "Everything will be done according to your arrangements! Xi Feng, lead people to go!"

Xi Feng acknowledged the order and called people to lead a carriage out from another alley. He brought a stepping stool and placed it on the ground: "Lord, please get on the cart."

"Hold on."

Everyone looked towards the source of the voice, only to see Chen Ji slowly walking beside the carriage, sizing up Xi Feng: "Acting this way doesn't look like the grand and dignified Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division. Where is there any logic of a Department Head acting as an attendant to blindly run errands for others?"

Xi Feng said in astonishment: "Shouldn't we wait until three days later? I'm not him yet right now."

Chen Ji said: "If we don't pay attention to details, they will sooner or later discover the flaws. From this moment onwards, you are the true Department Head of the Military Intelligence Division. Men, assist Lord Department Head onto the cart."

Jin Zhu walked over with a beaming smile and set up the stepping stool: "Lord Department Head, please."

Xi Feng panicked: "Lord, it's better if You get on the cart first."

Jin Zhu's smile abruptly withdrew: "Cut the crap. If you ruin my major affair three days from now, I will strip you naked and hang you in front of the Imperial Music Bureau's door, making you unable to raise your head for the rest of your life!"

Hearing this, Xi Feng took a deep breath, held his head high, puffed out his chest, stepped onto the stepping stool, and boarded the carriage.

Just as he was about to lift the cart curtain himself, Chen Ji took a step forward and reached out to lift the cart curtain for him: "Department Head, please."

...

...

Inside the swaying carriage compartment, accompanied by the clatter of the wooden wheels pressing onto the bluestone paved road, Xi Feng sat at the very back of the cart, while Chen Ji and Jin Zhu sat facing each other.

Amidst the grave atmosphere, the restless Xi Feng silently took out a copper hand warmer from under his seat.

He took out a fire wood strip from his chest, wanting to ignite the silver thread charcoal powder inside.

However, he only heard Chen Ji say calmly: "This isn't something the Department Head should do."

Xi Feng smiled awkwardly: "It's cold, warming Lord Jin Zhu's hands."

But Chen Ji's expression didn't change as he said solemnly: "I am not joking with the two of you. This is the closest my Secret Spy Division has ever been to the Liu family. As long as we gain their trust, overwhelming heaven-shaking merits will be within easy reach."

He changed the topic: "Liu Mingxian is shrewd and crafty. Ordinary child's play definitely won't deceive him. If he discovers any flaws when making contact three days later, he'll probably completely shrink back like a turtle completely and not move. Therefore, you two must act seriously. Only by acting until even you yourselves believe it, can you make Liu Mingxian believe it."

Xi Feng froze, then looked at Jin Zhu, his voice trembling: "Little... Little Jin, light the hand warmer for me?"

Jin Zhu: "..."

The corners of his mouth twitched, but he took the fire wood strip and copper hand warmer without hesitation, and smiled flatteringly at Xi Feng: "Lord Department Head, for such a small matter to even require you to give instructions, this humble official deserves death ten thousand times."

Xi Feng's body shivered: "Lord, don't be like this, I'm scared."

Jin Zhu pressed down on his shoulder and said coldly: "Do you know how much I want to exterminate the entire Liu family? I want every single male in the whole Liu family residence to become a slave, and every female to become a prostitute, never able to turn their lives around for eternity. In front of this matter, official positions, face, and dignity are all unimportant. Sit up straight and act properly for me!"

Xi Feng gradually calmed down: "Yes, this humble official understands!"

Jin Zhu sneered coldly: "Say it again!"

"This Seat understands."

Chen Ji silently watched this scene. He suddenly somewhat believed the story Jin Zhu told.

While lighting the charcoal powder, Jin Zhu looked at Chen Ji and asked with a heavy voice: "What should we do about that Deputy Supervisor?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment: "If we're going to put on an act, we must do a complete job. Order the secret spies to pretend to be Jing Dynasty spies, secretly sending that Deputy Supervisor to the North, and don't come back until the matter is accomplished."

"Alright," Jin Zhu subconsciously tucked the just-ignited copper hand warmer into his own hands.

Xi Feng suddenly stretched out his hand and said: "Little... Little Jin, the copper hand warmer."

Jin Zhu froze, and hurriedly stuffed the hand warmer into Xi Feng's embrace.

The carriage slowly stopped.

Jin Zhu drilled out of the carriage compartment first. Like a servant, he set up the stepping stool for Xi Feng and lifted the cart curtain.

Xi Feng was somewhat perturbed and uneasy. Chen Ji said calmly: "Recall the grandest and most imposing major figure you have ever seen. What was their bearing and mannerisms like?"

Xi Feng probed and asked: "Lord Wu Xiu?"

"I've never met Lord Wu Xiu, just go ahead and imitate him."

Xi Feng closed his eyes to recall, and when he opened his eyes again, his demeanor had actually completely changed.

He was seen walking off the cart with a face full of arrogance. After getting off the cart, he straightened his back, didn't spare another glance at Jin Zhu, and walked into the Zhou residence as if there was no one else around.

Just as he stepped over the threshold, Xi Feng immediately turned his head back in pleasant surprise: "Lord, is it this kind of feeling?"

Chen Ji laughed: "Exactly, Lord Department Head."

Xi Feng spread his hands and sized himself up, feeling pretty good. He turned around, put on the arrogant expression again, and took large strides into the backyard.

An hour later, the secret spies transported four wooden boxes from the Inner Prison. Each box also had a yellow paper talisman sealing strip pasted on it.

Inside Zhou Chengyi's study, Jin Zhu fetched a short blade, cut the center of his own brow, and used his finger to dab the fresh blood from his brow and smear it onto the talisman sealing strips. Only then did he remove the four sealing strips one by one: "Everything from within the past three years is here."

Chen Ji took out one booklet and handed it to Xi Feng: "In three days, you must finish reading all these Imperial Gazettes. Three days later, you must understand the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Division better than anyone in the Secret Spy Division. You must be able to answer every single one of Liu Mingxian's questions."

Saying that, he casually picked up an Imperial Gazette himself, sat in front of Zhou Chengyi's desk, and flipped through it.

Jin Zhu stretched out his hand and pressed down on the hand Chen Ji used to flip the book. Looking at that tiger mask with a spurious smile, he said: "The Imperial Gazettes are confidential intelligence of the Secret Spy Division, they are not something Pigeon Rank secret spies can read. Xi Feng can make an exception because of the mission, but you... Why do I feel like you came here targeting this batch of Imperial Gazettes?"

Chen Ji moved Jin Zhu's hand away and interrupted: "Lord Jin Zhu, not only do I need to read them, together with you, you also need to read them once more. Do you feel it's appropriate for the person following beside the Department Head to be completely ignorant about the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Division? Lord, is there any matter more important than bringing down the Liu family?"

Sitting before the desk, he raised his head and locked eyes with Jin Zhu. The gaze beneath the tiger mask didn't evade or yield.

After a moment, Jin Zhu suddenly smiled: "For some reason, I always have the illusion of currently handling a case together with Lord Bing Hu, as if you truly became that Top Three Rank Lord Bing Hu."

"Borrowed your auspicious words (Thank you for the blessing)."

Jin Zhu pulled over a chair and sat across from Chen Ji: "Then let's read together."

Chen Ji lowered his head and continued flipping through the Imperial Gazette. However, the first Imperial Gazette made his pupils shrink slightly: Summer of the 31st year of Jianing, Si Cao Ren transferred his route from Jinmen and entered the capital. After dismissing his entourage, he disappeared without a trace. It is suspected he met with an important figure. This matter should be related to Lu Jin stepping down.

A short sentence contained too much information. The Ning Dynasty's Secret Spy Division had long known that there was more than one Si Cao, and clearly knew that the ten Si Cao took the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as their codenames.

Moreover, the Ning Dynasty's Secret Spy Division was also very clear that the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Division was undergoing a transfer of power.

Just as he was reading, Chen Ji inadvertently raised his head, only to discover that Jin Zhu wasn't looking at the Imperial Gazette in his own hands at all, but rather, his gaze was darting towards him.

Seeing him looking over, Jin Zhu smiled and said: "Are you interested in this Lord Lu Jin? This is a genuine major figure. Our Secret Spy Division has fought with him for many years, and suffered quite a few losses."

Chen Ji felt a chill in his heart, and then said absentmindedly: "Can't say I'm interested. I was just pondering whether the previous mutual slaughter between the Jing Dynasty thieves might precisely be due to this matter of Lu Jin stepping down."

(End of Chapter)