White-Robed Chief

“You should just go into isolated cultivation now,” Xu Huande insisted.

Chu Li frowned. “I’m just worried that the Secret Guardians Hall will face big trouble.”

The Secret Guardians Hall could be taken as one of the main sources from which he drew support and information. Without the Secret Guardians Hall, his eyes and ears would not be so effective, and this would be a hindrance to his future grand plan. He had been adding more eyes and ears in preparation for the future.

While others planned their next steps, he was planning ten steps ahead by placing a few idle pawns, which would come in handy during critical moments.

Xu Huande said, “No, I really can’t send you into action again.”

Chu Li replied, “I won’t need very long. I’ll be able to complete the search within a day.”

“Hmm…?” Xu Huande was dumbstruck. “A day?”

Chu Li nodded. “That’ll be enough!”

Xu Huande frowned, not speaking.

Chu Li pressed on. “In fact, I won’t be causing alarm to too many people as well, so there won’t be any huge scandals.”

Xu Huande hesitated.

He could not help feeling torn. If the search could really be completed within a day, that would be the most fortunate outcome, for they would be able to minimize the courtiers’ discontentment toward the Secret Guardians Hall and cause them to gasp in admiration instead of criticizing. With that, the Secret Guardians Hall would be able to hold their heads up for once.

Chu Li added, “Send someone who’s familiar with the Ministry of War to come with me. It’d be best if the person is familiar with everyone in the Ministry of War and is on good terms with them.”

“… One day?”

“Yes.”

“… Alright then,” Xu Huande said through gritted teeth after another moment of hesitation. “Initially, the Commander and I were planning to have you keep a low profile for a while.”

“I’ll do that after completing this task,” Chu Li reassured.

“Ah…” Xu Huande shook his head, smiling humorlessly. “My willpower is still not strong enough after all. Alright then, since you’ve insisted, I’ll hand this over to you!”

Chu Li gave a fist salute, smiling. “I’ll only name the people who should be investigated. As for the investigation itself, I’ll leave it to the Secret Guardians Hall and let the other Courtyards handle it.”

“Yes, that’ll be best.” Xu Huande nodded. “You won’t be too much under the spotlight then.”

Chu Li nodded.

…

Chu Li followed a secretary of the Ministry of War into the ministry’s government office.

The Ministry of War was two streets away from the Secret Guardians Hall, which was not a long distance at all, but they had never visited each other all their lives.

Most government offices acted as such too, viewing the Secret Guardians Hall as threatening and dangerous. They would avoid them like the plague, refusing to have anything to do with them, yet also regarding them with some sense of awe and respect.

The Secret Guardians Hall had found him a secretary of the Ministry of War to assist him with his search. The man was called Ji Jiang and was a jovial, chubby senior in his fifties.

Judging by Ji Jiang’s gentle and friendly demeanor, it was very hard to believe that he was also someone from the Ministry of War. While he did not have high status as a secretary, his network of connections was very wide.

As Ji Jiang led Chu Li to the Ministry of War’s government office, he laughed and said, “Chief Chu, the others might not seem very pleased to see you later, but their displeasure is directed at the Secret Guardians Hall and not at Chief Chu personally, so please don’t mind them.”

Chu Li strode alongside the man, smiling. “I understand. Such unfriendly treatment is a common occurrence for me. In fact, this would show that they have nothing to hide, and I admire them for that.”

“Haha, that’s good, that’s good.” Ji Jiang laughed.

The two men walked into the entrance and entered into the first courtyard. As soon as they entered the courtyard, Ji Jiang started introducing the people in the courtyard to Chu Li first and then introduced Chu Li to them.

Oftentimes, Chu Li received supercilious and cold looks from them.

Ji Jiang would turn and glance at Chu Li from time to time, fearing that he would get upset and leave.

Nonetheless, Chu Li kept a straight face, acting as though he had not noticed the expressions of these people and the looks they gave him. He would calmly nod at them, and would even greet them with a smile. As they entered and left each courtyard, he remained calm and at ease.

Ji Jiang, on the other hand, became increasingly uncertain and anxious, for he found Chu Li’s calmness to be very out of the ordinary.

It would be more normal for him to be furious and upset, for Ji Jiang knew very well how young people were usually more aggressive and hot-tempered, and that they could get angry very easily. However, looking at how well Chu Li had managed to keep his composure, this became a clear indication of his shrewdness and subtlety.

Ji Jiang did not believe that anyone would be able to ignore such supercilious, cold looks. It was more likely that he was pretending to be unaffected while making a serious mental note of this, waiting for a chance to get his payback.

As they approached the last courtyard, Ji Jiang laughed and said, “This is the most unremarkable place in our office. It’s where secretaries like me, work. I’m stationed here too.”

Chu Li nodded and entered the courtyard.

There were twenty-something people in this courtyard, where an air of busyness pervaded. When they saw Chu Li and Ji Jiang, they merely gave them a curious glance before continuing with their work.

Ji Jiang introduced them to Chu Li one by one and then led him out of the courtyard.

After having finished their tour of the Ministry of War’s government office in two hours, Chu Li bid Ji Jiang goodbye with a fist salute and returned to the Secret Guardians Hall.

He went to the Mei Er Courtyard. His people were training in the martial arts field, and when they saw him had returned, Yang Zongwen and Qin Jin went over to meet him while the others carried on with their training.

“Centurion, are you done with the search?” Yang Zongwen asked.

Chu Li nodded. “Prepare the brush and ink.”

Yang Zongwen went on to grind the inkstone before getting a brush and a piece of white paper ready. As for Qin Jin, he stood at the side, watching.

Chu Li took the brush and wrote down three names, indicating their respective relations to the Li Dynasty, the Zheng Dynasty, and the Fu Dynasty. Then, he set down the brush, picked up the white paper, and blew on it. When the ink had dried, he handed the paper to Yang Zongwen. “Bring this to Commander Xu.”

Yang Zongwen became surprised when he saw the names. “Centurion, they’re all traitors?”

Chu Li nodded.

Yang Zongwen was bewildered. “Even this Ji Jiang?”

Chu Li nodded again.

Yang Zongwen said with disbelief, “He previously got promoted from Xi Jiang because of his military exploits, and it’s been years since his last promotion. How can he be a mole…”

Chu Li smiled. “Whether or not he is a mole, you’ll know for sure after a thorough investigation.”

“Understood.” Yang Zongwen sighed in resignation. “This is really unexpected. It seems almost impossible.”

Chu Li replied, “Choosing him to be the mole is clever, precisely because he would be beneath suspiscion. Don’t do anything else, and just leave the rest to Commander Xu. Let the others investigate them.”

“Ah…” Yang Zongwen sighed and rose to leave.

He went to the main hall of the Secret Guardians Hall, and when he saw Xu Huande, handed the piece of paper over to him with both hands. “Commander Xu, the Centurion has given me the order to bring this to you.”

Xu Huande was sitting in the armchair as he took the paper and glanced through it. There was a slight change in his expression before he stood up.

Yang Zongwen knew that he should be feeling very shocked, for he himself felt the same way.

Xu Huande frowned. “This Ji Jiang…”

Yang Zongwen said, “The Centurion was very sure of it. He said that as long as we conduct a thorough investigation, we’ll be able to prove it.”

“Then we really must investigate him thoroughly!” Xu Huande said in a grave manner. “If he’s really a mole for the Fu Dynasty, this is going to be very troublesome.”

Ji Jiang was a secretary in the Ministry of War. He was a tactful and humble man, and was quite popular and had deep social connections. Aside from that, he was an informant of the Secret Guardians Hall, feeding them information on a regular basis. At times, he would also receive some information from the Secret Guardians Hall.

If he really was a mole for the Fu Dynasty, then that would be a truly huge irony. This would be a great embarrassment to the Secret Guardians Hall!

Xu Huande replied, “Alright then, he won’t need to worry about the rest of this case. The Secret Guardians Hall will take care of it, so he can go ahead and begin his isolated cultivation.”

“Understood.” Yang Zongwen gave a fist salute before taking his leave.

Xu Huande stared at the paper, shaking his head.

There were actually three traitors in the Ministry of War’s government office, and their positions were all pretty high. If they had not been discovered and were allowed to carry on like this, they might all attain higher positions within the next ten to twenty years and become another Minister Counsellor!

This time, the investigation had to be conducted carefully and thoroughly. Even if a huge scandal were to arise, the investigation had to go on, because this matter was too important. When they had first joined, these people had all undergone three rounds of examination and verification and had been proven to have spotless backgrounds, yet today this was the outcome of the search.

Chu Li had put all these affairs aside and returned to his own courtyard in King An’s Imperial Residence. However, Chief Zhu soon came rushing over to pass him an invitation card, which was from Miss Yu Qing of the Verdant Cloud Brothel.