Chapter 201: Land Deed

Late at night.

In the depths of the Chen residence, lively laughter, musical sounds, and the singing of courtesans could still be heard.

The direct lineage officials of Chen Liqin, without waiting for the banquet three days later, arrived in droves with their servants and gifts, practically wearing out the threshold of the Chen residence.

However, the liveliness of the Chen residence had nothing to do with Mingquan Garden.

At this moment, Chen Ji lay on the step bed in Mingquan Garden, staring blankly at the canopy above. Uyun lay beside him, also staring blankly.

On the bed, there were three layers of bedding. The bottom layer was a woven palm mat for moisture resistance, the second layer was a newly fluffed cotton mattress, and the third layer was a silk sheet.

The bed was soft, incomparably better than the communal beds in the apprentice dormitory. There was no foot odor, no snoring, but Chen Ji just couldn't fall asleep.

He always felt there were many things to do before leaving Luocheng, but for a while, he couldn't organize his thoughts.

Uyun, with round, glistening eyes, stared at him and said, "Chen Ji, if you really can't sleep, why don't you sneak back to the medical hall to sleep and come back at dawn?"

Chen Ji chuckled, "I don't have to live in the medical hall, I just can't sleep in a new place, that's all." Besides, those who snore, toss and turn, and kick their legs randomly aren't at the medical hall anymore anyway.

Chen Ji opened his mouth and asked, "Uyun, when we rescue the princess, shall we go to sea together? We can take a boat all the way from Qiming to Lushunkou and go to the Jing Dynasty."

Uyun flipped over and sat up, muttering curiously, "Go find your uncle?" Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "No, don't find anyone. We'll go to the big mountains and be hunters, build a hut in the mountains and live there. In the winter, I'll take you to catch hibernating bears, silly little things. In the summer, I'll take you to dig for frogs and catch cicadas. In late autumn, we'll pick all the pears and make them into frozen pears to eat... Then we'll go further north to see the aurora borealis and ride a sled."

He was lost in the beautiful hometown described by Wu Hongbiao, and even Uyun was a little wistful.

Chen Ji thought to himself, he was now an innate realm walking official; wouldn't he be able to do whatever he wanted in the big mountains? Interacting with animals might be much better than interacting with people. Uyun said curiously, "If you hide in the big mountains, the path of Shanjun Gate might not have any ice flow. If you don't reach the Seeking Dao realm before you're thirty-six, you won't live long."

Chen Ji said lightly, "What's the point of living that long? Master said, longevity brings many troubles."

Uyun was silent for a moment, then said, "But I see Master is quite happy every day."

Chen Ji was doubtful, "Happy? The few of us in the medical hall almost drove him to death every day." Uyun said casually, "He just says that. Master watches you all fighting and playing in the courtyard from the crack in the window of the main room, and he laughs quite happily."

"Is that so..."

As they spoke, a knocking sound came from outside Mingquan Garden.

Chen Ji lifted the blanket and got out of bed, put on a large robe, and walked into the courtyard: "Who is it?"

Chen Liqin's warm voice said, "It's me." Chen Ji pulled open the door bolt.

As soon as he opened the door, he was hit by a gust of wine fumes. He saw that Chen Liqin's dark face was flushed with a reddish-purple color, and drunkenness was clearly written on his face.

Chen Ji asked doubtfully, "Master Chen, why are you here so late?"

Chen Liqin was already used to hearing the words 'Master Chen', and his eyebrows didn't even twitch: "Why do you still bolt the courtyard door when you live in your own home? Don't worry, our family soldiers in the Chen residence patrol at night and won't let any bad people in." Chen Ji smiled and didn't answer.

Chen Liqin suddenly realized that Chen Ji was not guarding against bad people outside the Chen residence, but bad people inside the Chen residence.

He was momentarily speechless, then said softly, "Aren't you going to invite me in to sit for a bit?"

Chen Ji moved aside: "Master Chen, please come in." Chen Liqin entered the courtyard, looking around: "Is this place satisfactory?"

Chen Ji chuckled, "Naturally, it's satisfactory."

The two stood in the courtyard, suddenly looking at each other in silence, the atmosphere strangely quiet.

After a long time, Chen Liqin coughed lightly: "When we arrive in the capital, the residence will still leave a separate courtyard for you, don't worry, it won't be worse than Wen Zong and Wen Xiao's." Chen Ji cupped his hands and thanked him: "Thank you, Master Chen."

After he said this, Chen Liqin didn't know what to say for a while. Chen Ji wasn't in a hurry to speak either, just waiting quietly.

After another long silence, Chen Liqin sighed: "Today, in front of outsiders, I can't just expose the family scandal for them to see. The face of the Chen family is not just my face. You and I, as members of the Chen family, should maintain it well and not bring shame to the Chen family. If outsiders know about the family scandal, no one will truly care, they will only laugh at our Chen family." Chen Ji hummed in agreement.

Chen Liqin stood with his hands behind his back in front of the winter plum tree: "I know you've suffered a lot and been wronged a lot over the years. Don't worry, in the future, you won't suffer this kind of unfounded grievance again."

Chen Ji cupped his hands and thanked him: "It's good that Master Chen knows I am innocent."

At this moment, Chen Liqin turned back, took a paper deed from his sleeve, and handed it to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji was doubtful: "What is this?" Chen Liqin said: "The Si Li Jian confiscated the properties of Jing Wangfu and the Liu family. Some unimportant industries were sold on the spot. The one in your hand is the land deed for Taiping Medical Hall. I know you've lived there for two years and have feelings for it, so I simply entrusted someone to buy it back. I think, although we are going to the capital, this also counts as leaving a memory in Luocheng..."

Chen Ji's expression changed. He quickly unfolded the land deed and saw five large characters written on the header: Fen Mu Gui Hu Ticket.

"Thirty-three Du Six Mian Feng, this residence clearly shows measured fields and ponds, Anxi Street No. 12..." Chen Ji carefully folded the land deed and put it into his sleeve. Then, he clasped his hands together and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Master Chen, you are very thoughtful."

Chen Liqin looked at Chen Ji with a complex expression. He had sent valuable Dongzi cucumbers, but Chen Ji hadn't been moved. He had offered to arrange for him to study at Donglin Academy and pave the way for the imperial examinations, but Chen Ji hadn't been moved either.

Only at this moment did he finally feel Chen Ji's heartfelt gratitude.

Chen Liqin felt a bit awkward for a moment. He helped Chen Ji up: "What are you doing? You and I are father and son, I should do this little bit for you..." Before Chen Liqin could finish, he saw Chen Ji go back to the room to put on clothes, hug Uyun, and stride out towards the courtyard: "Master Chen, I'm going out for a trip."

"Where are you going..." Chen Liqin raised his hand as he looked at Chen Ji's back, but ultimately lowered it slowly.

Liu Family Alley.

In a dilapidated household, a man's rough roar could be heard: "At the beginning, the old man said don't learn medicine, don't learn medicine, but you insisted on going, saying you could earn money for the old man. The old man spent so much silver to arrange connections to send you to learn. The money hasn't been earned yet, and the medical hall is gone. Now all the silver the old man spent is wasted. Tell me, how should this account be calculated?" In the room, a faint oil lamp burned on the table.

The blue bricks on the ground were chipped, and the vermilion Eight Immortals table was also peeling paint.

A man over thirty years old sat on a chair panting, his fat body trembling slightly, and a thick smell of wine came from his mouth.

Liu Quxing knelt at the hall door with his head bowed. His mother knelt beside him, weeping: "Master, the medical hall is gone, there's nothing that can be done about it, and it has nothing to do with Xingxing." "Nothing to do?" The man laughed coldly: "You say it has nothing to do with it, then it has nothing to do with it?"

Liu Quxing said in a low voice, "Then tell me what to do?"

The man narrowed his eyes: "The person who spoke to you in the secret spy office yamen that day, wasn't he a high official? I've seen him, he used to be an apprentice at your medical hall, right?" Liu Quxing hummed in agreement.

The man asked again: "I heard he is from the Chen family?"

Liu Quxing hummed in agreement again.

The man said: "He was willing to help that day, which shows you still have a schoolmate friendship. Tomorrow, go find him and ask him to arrange a position for you. When you work in the Si Li Jian, wouldn't you be able to do whatever you want with the high officials and nobles in Luocheng?"

Liu Quxing said stubbornly: "I won't go, I have no friendship with him." The man picked up the wine bowl on the table and threw it over. Liu Quxing turned his head to dodge. With a bang, the wine bowl shattered on the ground in the small courtyard behind him.

Liu Quxing's mother quickly hugged her son: "Master, if Xingxing doesn't want to go, then let him not go. There are many ways to earn money. Didn't you get all the dividends from the preparation bureau before? That silver is enough for our family to spend for many years."

The man sneered: "Talking about silver makes me angry. I was doing well in the gambling house, but you insisted on bringing me bad luck and made me lose all the silver. You woman are simply a jinx. Ever since I married you, nothing has gone smoothly!" The woman knelt there dumbly: "All gone? Master, you lost all five hundred taels of silver? At the beginning, we agreed that if Xingxing couldn't become an imperial doctor, this money would be left for him to open a medical hall. How could you lose all the silver?"

The man stood up and kicked the woman in the face, knocking her to the ground: "It's your turn to question the old man?!"

Liu Quxing, who had always been patient, suddenly lifted his head and straightened his waist: "Don't hit my mother!" The man was startled for a moment, then slapped Liu Quxing in the face: "You've rebelled! I sent you to learn medicine, and you've grown wings?"

Liu Quxing was slapped to the side, but turned back: "Don't hit my mother!"

The man laughed fiercely: "I don't know how that old medical hall taught you, they actually taught you to disobey your dad!"

Liu Quxing stood up and said fiercely: "Don't scold my master!"

The man slapped Liu Quxing's face again: "Did that old man teach you to be human like this?"

Liu Quxing turned back and said word by word: "I said, don't hit my mother again, don't scold my master again."

The man was so angry he laughed: "What if I scold him?"

Liu Quxing hesitated for a moment, then turned and went out, carrying a kitchen knife from the kitchen. He held the kitchen knife, trembling all over, and said: "Try hitting my mother one more time? Try scolding my master one more sentence!"

The man tore open the front of his clothes, exposing his fat belly: "Can you really chop me to death? Come on, chop your old man..."

Before he finished speaking, the man dodged to the side.

With a crash, the kitchen knife chopped onto the Eight Immortals table behind him. The man was terrified. If he hadn't dodged just now, that knife would probably have split him open. He turned to look at Liu Quxing, who had a fierce look on his face that he had never seen before.

Liu Quxing pulled the kitchen knife out of the table and said coldly: "Divorce my mother. Write the divorce paper now. If you don't write it, no one will live!"

The man took a step back: "Over the years, you mother and son have eaten mine, drunk mine..."

Liu Quxing took a step forward with the kitchen knife: "Isn't five hundred taels of silver enough to repay what you owe? My mother and I don't owe you anything anymore! Write it or not? If you don't write it, I'll chop you to death right now!" The man's body trembled slightly: "I'll write it! I'll see where you mother and son can go after leaving me and drinking the northwest wind. This house is mine, you two can get out of my house tonight!"

Liu Quxing laughed coldly and watched the man write the divorce paper: "Press your handprint!"

The man cursed: "There's no ink paste at home."

Liu Quxing cut a wound on his own palm, opened his palm, and handed it to the man: "Dip it in my blood and press it!" The man's body trembled: "You boy must be possessed by something evil. I see you won't live long. Tomorrow, let City God grandfather take you away."

Seeing the man press his handprint, Liu Quxing tore a piece of clothing to wrap his hand wound. He took the divorce paper, pulled up his mother, and went out.

Pushing open the door, Liu Quxing stood blankly in the doorway... Where should they go?

However, just then, his mother said in a low voice, "Xingxing, what's this on the ground?"

Liu Quxing lowered his head to look and saw two silver ingots pressing a white paper on the blue stone road in the small alley in front of the door. He bent down to pick up the silver, picked up the white paper from the ground, and looked at it: "This is... this is the land deed for Taiping Medical Hall!"

The woman gasped and turned back to look at the man behind her, whispering, "How can the medical hall's land deed be here?"

Liu Quxing didn't answer. He anxiously scanned both ends of the alley and saw a thin figure who had just reached the end of the small alley, turning into the night without looking back.

He rushed to chase, but outside the alley, the figure was no longer visible in the night. Liu Quxing suddenly squatted on the ground and wailed: "Don't go, come back!"