Green Mountain-Chapter 572 - 432: Wang Gui

Late night.

The night patrol had already struck the second watch.

Chen Ji stood in front of the Silver Apricot Garden gate, rubbing his cheeks before pushing the door open and entering.

In the courtyard, Xiao Man was dozing at the stone table, holding the Little Black Cat, while the little monk sat with eyes closed, reciting sutras.

Upon hearing the door open, the little monk opened his eyes and met Chen Ji’s gaze. His eyes seemed like a pool of lake water rippling, directly seeing into Chen Ji’s heart.

The moon white kasaya he wore made him appear gentle, like a round moon.

Seeing his gaze, Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then smiled casually and said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The little monk bowed his head, pressing his palms together, "Benefactor, do not mistake ’self-attachment’ as your true self. Attachment is the root of troubles, you should abide nowhere, yet let the mind arise... Benefactor, you actually know your own mind."

Chen Ji leaned on the doorframe, sighing, "I don’t even know my own mind, but you seem to know better..."

The little monk gazed into his eyes earnestly, "Benefactor, Buddha says, to see oneself, to see the multitude, to see the world. Be humble when seeing the world, compassionate when seeing the multitude, and clear when seeing oneself."

Chen Ji retorted, "How to be clear?"

The little monk replied earnestly, "Why not overlook the past dust and then look at the present moment?"

Chen Ji smiled and asked again, "Without the past, how can there be the present?"

The little monk sighed, "Benefactor, a mind without hindrance has no fear, distances itself from inverted dreams, ultimately attains Nirvana. Many fools exist in the world, but in the end, it’s just a big dream. Like flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water. Perhaps what you cling to is merely what you see in the mirror or water. Once you touch it, it shatters."

Chen Ji laughed and said, "I’ll talk about it once I touch it."

The little monk’s expression gradually became solemn, "Benefactor, greed and anger have been cut off, why does ignorance linger so long?"

Chen Ji walked into the courtyard, casually touching the little monk’s smooth head, "If I had that ability, I’d have cut off ignorance long ago. I don’t even know how I cut off greed and anger, always listening to your nonsense."

The little monk hurriedly said, "I did not speak nonsense."

Xiao Man woke up at the sound, drowsy-eyed, and said, "What are you talking about... Have you eaten, young master?"

Chen Ji replied without turning his head, "I have eaten. I’ll rest first. You all should sleep early too. From now on, Xiao Man will stay in the east wing, the little monk in the west wing, and I’ll have a room to myself."

Xiao Man was slightly taken aback, "How can that be?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the main house doors were tightly closed.

Xiao Man turned to the little monk, "What were you talking about with the young master just now? He just got a noble title, but why does he seem unhappy?"

The little monk answered irrelevantly, "Miss Xiao Man, birth, aging, sickness, death, unfulfilled desires, love separation, resentment, the five aggregates burning, which is the most painful?"

"Not having money is the most painful!" Xiao Man rolled her eyes, "If you don’t speak properly in the future, I won’t make meals for you."

The little monk pressed his palms together, "Amitabha Buddha, Miss Xiao Man is right."

Xiao Man smiled, "The young master got a noble title today. I’m happy, tell me, what do you want to eat tomorrow morning?"

The little monk thought seriously, "Scallion pancakes, red bean buns, fried sugar pastries, pan-fried tofu skins..."

Xiao Man slowly retracted her smile, "If you eat so much, I won’t be happy."

The little monk: "..."

...

...

Chen Ji took off his clothes and lay on the bed, quietly gazing at the satin canopy above the canopy bed, finally able to catch his breath.

He lay with open eyes, unable to sleep for a long time.

Fragrant Mountain, Changping County, Anding Gate, Renshou Palace, Wendan Hall...

The engagement.

Everything that happened in recent days, like autumn leaves, whipped up by a gust of wind, made the once settled leaves fly into chaos.

Has the dust settled?

Not yet.

Today at Wendan Hall, what Official Chen and Chen Lizhi said undoubtedly aimed to reconcile with the second branch. But given Chen Lizhi’s nature, reconciliation is impossible.

Now Si Caogui has completely disappeared. If he is certain of his betrayal, he could expose everything, from his relationship with Lu Jin to his dealings with the Jing Dynasty, without even lifting a finger, enough to lead himself to death.

At that time, not only will I perish, but Xiao Man will also have a hard time surviving.

He gazed at the canopy above his bed...

It’s better not to drag others down with me.

It was unknown how long he spent on the bed until the rooster crowed from a distance.

Chen Ji turned over, got up, dressed, and went outside.

He did not go to fetch water but headed south along the brick path, arriving outside the Chen family stables, silently observing inside.

The coachmen were already up and working. Some were throwing hay into the troughs, some were using bamboo rakes to clean manure. There were thirteen coachmen in gray outfits, yet there was no sight of Si Caogui.

Seeing Chen Ji standing at the entrance, a coachman quickly put down his work, bowed, and clasped his fists, "What orders do you have, young master?"

Chen Ji casually said, "I’m going out today, prepare a carriage."

The coachman agreed, "Rest assured, young master, the carriage will be waiting for you at the side gate shortly."

Chen Ji’s gaze swept across the stables, "The coachman who drove me before, why haven’t I seen him?"

The coachman was slightly stunned, "Oh, after you went to the spring hunt last time, we haven’t seen him since. It’s strange, some of his clothes are still in the stable, even if he quit, he should have taken them."

Chen Ji instructed, "Take me to have a look."

The coachman led Chen Ji towards the stable, cautiously asking, "Young Master, could this fellow have committed some crime?"

Chen Ji remained unperturbed, "Let’s observe first."

Upon arriving at the horse shed, there was only one large bed where all the coachmen slept together.

The coachman rummaged through Si Caogui’s belongings, and Chen Ji casually searched but found nothing: Si Caogui was a cautious man, and it was expected that he wouldn’t leave anything in the horse shed.

Chen Ji turned to look at the coachman, seemingly displeased, "Leaving without a word, who is it that found such an unreliable person?"

The coachman whispered, "Replying to Young Master, it was the housekeeper of the third house, Wang Gui..."

Wang Gui.

Again, it’s Wang Gui.

First conspiring with the Chen family’s second house, then connecting with the Military Intelligence Department of Jing Dynasty, such a small figure surprisingly became the crux of the matter today.

Chen Ji recalled Zhang Xia once saying that when they hid in the well in Guyuan, Wang Gui was the first to be caught and pulled up, and after dozens of moments, the second person was captured.

Fetching Wang Gui from the well, logically speaking, shouldn’t take that long, after all, the Heavenly Strategy Army of Jing Dynasty had no need to waste time on a small figure.

Unless there was something fishy about Wang Gui’s identity.

It’s no wonder so many people perished under the iron hooves of the Heavenly Strategy Army, yet Wang Gui, an ordinary man, managed to return to the Imperial Capital alive.

Chen Ji walked out, casually instructing, "Prepare the carriage and wait for me at the side gate."

The coachman quickly bowed, "Alright."

Chen Ji headed straight towards Bamboo Garden.

...

...

Bamboo Garden was surrounded by green bamboo, and even the blue bricks inside the courtyard were engraved with bamboo joints, symbolizing humility, integrity, and virtue.

Bamboo Garden was larger than Silver Apricot Garden, which only had a single main house, while Bamboo Garden was a two-story Covered Building.

On usual days, at this time, the maids would already be standing in the building with basins and food boxes, attending to Chen Liqin and Mrs. Liang with dressing and washing. Now, they had nothing to do, and over a dozen of them were leaning under the covered bridge, worriedly whispering amongst themselves.

A young maid whispered, "Now that the master has gone to Jinling, the lady has passed away, the eldest young master has returned to Lu State for mourning, and the second young master has died prematurely... Will we be sold by the main family?"

An older maid, pulling on her handkerchief, said, "That depends on who makes the decisions. If it’s Mrs. Liu from the first house, she will certainly choose people from the shopkeepers, second shopkeepers, cabinet heads, and warehouse supervisors of the Chen family’s businesses to marry us properly, live a solid life. In that case, we might even enjoy a good life, not having to serve anyone anymore, and we could enjoy the prestige of the rightful wife."

The young maid asked curiously, "What if it’s the second house’s master who makes the decisions?"

The older maid sneered, "How could the master involve himself in such matters? It’s all handled by the housekeeper Wang Duo. If he makes the call, he’d bestow us all to the confidant’s servants to be concubines, still having to bow down to others."

The young maid, still worried, said, "But I’ve heard that some people will be sold to brothels."

The older maid, leaning on the covered bridge, shook her handkerchief and said, "Young lass, rest assured, the Chen family is respectable and won’t do such a thing. It’s not that the Chen family has such compassion for the servants, but they do not wish to earn a bad reputation. Think about it, if they sell you to a brothel, and then the brothel owner tells everyone you came from the Chen family, each time those sleazy men visit you, the Chen family loses face once. They might as well kill you outright, as the Chen family doesn’t care about that little bit of silver."

The young maid tentatively said, "Is there a better future? I don’t want to marry those warehouse supervisors and cabinet heads who are full of sweat and yellow teeth."

The older maid, pondering, said, "A better future would naturally be..."

Just then, someone behind them cleared their throat.

The older maid turned back, startled to see Chen Ji standing at the door.

She hurriedly tugged the others, who all came forward with lowered eyes, calling out respectfully, "Third Young Master."

Chen Ji got straight to the point, "When did Wang Gui disappear?"

The older maid recalled, "The day before the spring hunt, he scheduled himself a day off and went home, never to return... The second house’s housekeeper Wang Duo, the executive officer by the side of the second master, and the first house’s manager Chen Xu also inquired about it; they even searched the entire Bamboo Garden and went to Wang Gui’s house outside the mansion... I am Bai Lu, a first-class maid in the mansion."

The other maids looked slightly surprised, sneaking peeks at her, but she remained composed.

Chen Ji said calmly, "How do you know they visited Wang Gui’s house outside the mansion?"

Bai Lu lowered her head and replied, "On the night of the spring hunt, I secretly saw them bringing Wang Gui’s wife back. The woman was crying uncontrollably, repeatedly saying she did not know where Wang Gui had gone."

Chen Ji pondered silently for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Have any valuable items gone missing in Bamboo Garden recently?"

If Wang Gui had the thought of escaping, he would certainly try to gather some money for himself, and to obtain these funds, he would have to find a way to convert them into Buddhist Treasure to avoid detection, as a large batch of gold and silver couldn’t pass through the Five Cities Military Department unnoticed.

Bai Lu shook her head, "After the lady passed, we checked the gold and silver following the records and found nothing missing."

Chen Ji pondered again, "Did the master or lady ever bestow any valuable items to him?"

Bai Lu recalled after a long time, "In the 25th year of Jianing, the master bestowed him a Mutton Fat Jade Ring, which he never wore. In the 26th year of Jianing, the lady gave him several pairs of boots, but those were ones that Young Master Wenxiao... Chen Wenxiao wore and discarded. Later, after the master went to Luocheng City, the maid is not sure."

Chen Ji, seeming to understand something, asked, "Previously, were any valuable items lost in the mansion?"

Bai Lu shook her head, "No... Wait, yes!"

Chen Ji looked up sharply, "What?"

Bai Lu quickly said, "When the master and lady went to Luocheng City before, they took with them many valuable items, including the lady’s favorite jewelry. But when they returned to the Imperial Capital, a batch of items was missing. It was said that during the turmoil in Luocheng City, a whole chest of valuable items was snatched away by the Liu family’s soldiers amid the chaos."

Chen Ji slightly frowned. When the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry searched the Chen Mansion and Zhang Mansion, he was present and mingled among them wearing the Tiger Armor Iron Cavalry’s iron mask.

He was certain that the Liu family’s soldiers did not take the belongings of the Zhang and Chen families but instead went directly to Prince Jing’s Mansion with the captives.

That box of items couldn’t have been taken by the Liu family’s soldiers.

Chen Ji unaffectedly asked, "Among the lost items, was there anything special?"

Bai Lu thought, "There were two jade hairpins, a top hairpin embedded with east pearl, a gold-inlaid jade pin with a treasure butterfly pattern, the longevity lock worn by Young Master Wenxiao as a child... too many, I can’t remember them all."

At this moment, the young maid added, "Also, also! The lady’s favorite Phoenix Crown Blue Flower Head gear!"

Chen Ji turned and walked out, "Thank you."