Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 22.2
Chapter 22.2
Yuyan, come, I’ll take you —
The maid helped Luo Wanqing to change her clothes. It was said to be changing clothes, but it was a body search instead. She let Luo Wanqing undress and then stretched out her hands.
Luo Wanqing put her five fingers together and held them flat for the maid to see. She had seen someone play a trick on the street back then. The coin would disappear into thin air in the hands of those who played the trick, and one couldn’t find it no matter how. At that time, she was extremely curious. Later, Jiang Shaoyan told her it was because the other person moved too fast. When you looked at the back of his hand, he transferred the thing to his palm, and when you looked at his palm, he did conversely.
Jiang Shaoyan had demonstrated this magical trick to her, and she had practiced it many times in her spare time. Last night, she had re-practiced it a few times to confirm there was no problem before she decided to bring the drug into the examination.
But now that she was facing the examination, her heartbeat was uncontrollably fast. She pretended to have a calm face and held her hand flat, revealing her palm with the wound.
“You ……” The maid hesitantly looked at her.
Luo Wanqing smiled, “An accidental scratch. Does Miss want to check?”
The maid didn’t hesitate. She examined the wound before saying, “Turn it over.”
Luo Wanqing flipped over until the back of her hand was facing upward, and as she flipped her hand over, she slipped the drug onto one side of her hand.
The maid didn’t notice and continued, “Open your fingers.”
When hearing these words, Luo Wanqing’s movements faltered. The maid vigilantly raised her eyes to look at her.
Luo Wanqing smiled, “The Inspection Department is strict in its searches.” Saying this, she opened her five fingers. Her hands were clean, and nothing fell. The maid raised her head in satisfaction and then searched all the places around her body where she could hide things, including her ears, nose, and even finally, she touched her mouth with her clean hands.
Finally, she stepped back and put on a white robe for Luo Wanqing, tied up her hair, and led Luo Wanqing out the door.
While leaving the room, Luo Wanqing held the drug that stuck to the magnet with cold sweat on her hands. The maid led her to yesterday’s courtyard.
People were standing in twos and threes in the courtyard. When Luo Wanqing entered the courtyard, everyone looked at her without saying much. These prisoners knew each other on the way to Dongdu. There weren’t many people left from Yangzhou, just her, Qin Jue, and Zhao Yuyan. Luo Wanqing went in and started looking for Zhao Yuyan. Without a moment to spare, she saw her standing in the corner, with Qin Jue beside her.
Seeing Qin Jue standing there, Luo Wanqing’s footsteps slightly paused. Thinking of his advice yesterday, she didn’t rush forward. She casually found a position near Zhao Yuyan, waiting for the others.
All the prisoners were led to the courtyard by the attendants one after another. Seeing they almost all arrived, the red-clothed youth who led Luo Wanqing through the door yesterday came from the backyard in a flurry of wind, looked up, and shouted, “Have all the people arrived?”
“All have arrived.” The attendant responsible for counting said, “Ambassador Zhu Que, you may begin.”
“Then I’ll call the names once.”
Zhu Que lowered his head, took the roster, and quickly said, “Those who didn’t answer, I’ll consider them dead. If they’re not, I’ll give them an on-site execution, so keep your ears perked up for me, you hear me!”
Everyone was jolted and immediately said, “Yes.”
Zhu Que quickly read those names. He spoke fast, and the following people also answered fast. Luo Wanqing only heard a cry, “Liu Xiniang!” She instinctively answered, and then he had already read the next one. Hundreds of people, he finished counting them in less than half an hour.
Zhu Que threw the roster to the side, looked up, and said, “I’ll talk to you about the rules. When you enter the Inspection Department, if you want to sit in a position where you can show your face as an official like me, you must build up your career and make achievements. You don’t have anything now, so come in and be an officer first. There are two kinds of officers. One is responsible for the paperwork and collecting information, all of the internal affairs, and we called them ‘shadow.’ The other is responsible for killing and carrying out the task, called the ‘agent.’ Today’s assessment is an initial test and retest. The initial test required a team to participate. If passed the initial test with outstanding results, you can become a ‘shadow.'”
“After that, if you want to become an ‘agent,’ you can participate in the retest examination. Those who did not pass the preliminary examination can also participate in the retest examination. It’s just that those who didn’t pass the preliminary examination can only turn into ‘shadow’ if they pass the retest.”
“What’s the difference between becoming a shadow and an agent?”
Someone asked aloud, and Zhu Que glanced at the other party and said lightly, “You enter the Inspection Department through the death row amnesty and become a ‘shadow,’ you can only be amnestied for five years. After five years, you can take the retest to become an agent, or you can go to your death. However, if you directly become an agent, then you will be granted a lifetime amnesty and will have nothing to do with death row inmates from then on. Furthermore, each agent will cooperate with a shadow. The agent will designate the shadow’s mission.”
Listening to this, Luo Wanqing understood that the existence of shadow was more like an observation. For those who had potential but were not good enough for the time being, becoming a shadow could give them room to grow. The agent, on the other hand, was the real amnesty. The shadow’s job was more like assistance, and the agent was the existence that held true power in the Inspection Department.
“The test location is in the Zhuang Courtyard. Find two hundred keys in Zhuang Courtyard. One key is one point, and the time is four hours. After four hours, count the total number of keys that you obtained. Per team, if each person scored more than thirty, they can be considered to pass. You can form a team, or you can be alone. You choose. You can do any tricks, no bottom line. Whatever you want to do is up to you. There are no rules here.”
“What about poison?” Someone shouted.
Zhu Que glanced over and said lightly, “If you can bring poison here, it’s your ability.”
Everyone glanced over. The person who shouted was startled by everyone’s stares, then realized what was happening and hurriedly said, “I’m just asking. I’m afraid people will poison me. I didn’t bring any poison!”
Everyone stayed quiet, pondering over the words of Zhu Que just now.
Two hundred keys, thirty points for a person. Which meant less than six people would pass the preliminary exam. There were no rules, so it was possible to kill people. That means the real difficulty was not finding the keys but finding them and still being able to keep them. If you are powerful, it is best to find it by yourself. If you are not, naturally, you have to team up, and when there are more people, you may be able to rob the ‘strong person’ who is fighting alone. But, with too many people in one team, it will be hard to share equally. So, she must select elite personnel.
“I already say the rules. If you want to team up, discuss it yourselves. You can enter the Zhuang Courtyard after you confirm the group. During the process, if you want to take the retest instead, just come back.” Zhu Que turned back and said, “Open the door.”
Everyone saw the open gate behind Zhu Que, revealing the spacious courtyard at the back.
After everyone pondered, they began to team up in low voices.
Luo Wanqing hesitated before walking towards Zhao Yuyan. But Zhao Yuyan turned and looked towards Qin Jue, pleading, “Young master, you’re also from Yangzhou, right? How about we team up together?”
Luo Wanqing’s footsteps lurched, and she saw Qin Jue staring back coldly, seemingly thinking.
Zhao Yuyan pursed her lips and timidly said, “If …… if Young Master doesn’t agree, I’m afraid I won’t be alive.”
“This ……”
“Yuyan,” before Qin Jue could say anything, Luo Wanqing immediately spoke out, walked to Zhao Yuyan, and said gently, “Are you short of a team? Shall I take you?”