Chapter 233: Slang

The moonlight over Guyuan is silver, shining clear and cold upon the human world.

Four horses threaded through earth houses and small roads between them. Suddenly, a "hiss" sounded, and Chen Ji pulled the reins, turning his head to look at the empty street behind him. "The Prince shouldn't have sent people to look for us. We've already shaken them off."

He wore a black cloak, and dark clouds seemed to be gathered in it, sleeping sweetly.

Xiao Man rode a small pony behind him, asking curiously, "Young master, why did we have to sneak away quietly?"

Chen Ji answered without turning his head, "Li Xuan and Qi Jianzhe have bravery but lack strategy. Master Chen is also not a quick-witted or capable official. If the Prince wants to investigate and resolve the case of Liang Mao's merits, I'm afraid he'll have to rely on himself. That's one thing. Now, someone is secretly plotting against the Prince and the border army. If we continue to follow them, we might also suffer misfortune."

Zhang Zheng lamented, "The Feather Forest Army, good as it is, is the face of the imperial guard. I don't know why they employ so many descendants of meritorious nobles. That Qi Jianzhe used to be chased around by us in the imperial city. Now he's riding a Feather Forest Army white horse, too."

Zhang Xia glanced at him. "Employing descendants of meritorious nobles isn't entirely because of connections, but to use their loyalty. The Feather Forest Army guards the palace gate, which is the most important place. This kind of position absolutely cannot use people with no ties or connections. If they employ a bachelor and he commits a crime, the court would find it difficult to execute his nine clans."

She turned her head to look at Chen Ji. "Following the Prince will be dangerous."

Chen Ji nodded. "I suspect the poison given to the Chen family tonight wasn't from the border army, but from a spy of the Jing Dynasty's military intelligence department."

Zhang Zheng was startled. "A spy?"

Chen Ji explained, "As I said before, the border army has no motive to do this, and the local powerful figures within Guyuan city also have no motive. But if it were Jing Dynasty spies stirring up conflict between the Prince and the border army, then it would make sense. Only the people around the Prince seem to think it was the border army and haven't considered other possibilities."

At this moment, Zhang Zheng gripped the reins and smiled. "It's also strange how the Prince's side has no useful people. No wonder he was anxious to transfer Master Chen over."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Who is the Master Qi the Prince mentioned? Why didn't he follow the Prince to Guyuan?"

Zhang Xia shook her head. "I don't know. We know very little about matters within the palace. Father and uncle have never mentioned it either. They are very secretive about matters of state and storage."

She thought for a few breaths and guessed, "If I were to guess, when the Prince was previously investigating the private minting of copper coins as the Assistant Minister of Education, his half-hearted behavior had already disappointed His Majesty to the extreme. Thus, His Majesty simply transferred away the strategists and advisors around him one by one to show admonition."

Zhang Zheng said happily, "His Majesty is probably afraid that those old schemers will lead the Prince astray."

Chen Ji pondered in his heart. After he returned to the Chen family, Chen Liqin was immediately promoted to Minister of the East Palace. The consecutive transfers of the Prince's staff created a power vacuum.

This series of events, as if fatefully making way for Chen Liqin... was it a coincidence, or a conspiracy?

If Chen Ji were still a newcomer medical hall apprentice, perhaps he wouldn't think about these things. But after witnessing the methods of White Dragon and the inner ministers in taking down the Liu family and the Jing Wangfu, he couldn't help but think more deeply.

Zhang Xia asked, "Then what do we do now?"

Chen Ji came back to his senses. "We need to find out the military intelligence department's spies. Otherwise, if they cooperate with the Jing Dynasty troops outside the city, Guyuan might truly be in danger."

Zhang Xia thoughtfully said, "You want to help the Prince?"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. "Yes, I have reasons to approach the Prince, but I can't say them for now..."

Speaking to this point, he suddenly realized: the Prince's people were all transferred away, could it be not making way for Chen Liqin, but making way for himself?

In the night, Chen Ji urged his horse along the narrow earth roads within Guyuan city, looking around for something.

After a moment, he found an old man in a dim alley. The other was huddled behind a pile of sundries, dozing. Beside him was a worn copper gong and a gong mallet.

Chen Ji sat on his horse, leaned down, and asked, "Old man, are you the watchman?"

The old man was disturbed but didn't even lift his eyelids. Only his hands gathered in his sleeves tightened further, and he continued to doze.

Zhang Zheng sat in the saddle, took out a piece of broken silver from his sleeve, and threw it onto the earth road. It made a soft thud, stirring up some dust. The old man suddenly opened his eyes and crawled over with hands and feet to pick up the silver.

Zhang Zheng said happily to Chen Ji, "Ask now."

Chen Ji repeated his previous question, "Are you the watchman?"

The old man said flatteringly, "Replying to the masters, this little one is indeed the watchman of this Wushi Ward."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Since you're the watchman, why aren't you beating the watch?"

The old man sold a pitiful story with a bitter face. "Have the masters just arrived from outside? You don't know. It's not that this old one is lazy, but there are many roughnecks and local strongmen in Guyuan at night. If I happen to meet bad people who have just committed a crime, I might be silenced."

Chen Ji doubted, "Doesn't the Guyuan Commandery Office manage this?"

The old man hesitated to speak.

Zhang Zheng threw another piece of broken silver, and the other then opened his mouth and said, "Masters, if the Commandery Office wanted to manage, they wouldn't have let so many outsiders in. The city gate of Guyuan is usually open. Entering and exiting doesn't even require a road permit. As long as you're willing to pay taxes and tolls, various powerful groups who have committed crimes all run here to take shelter. How can it not be chaotic?"

Chen Ji said thoughtfully, "When we came, the city gate was closed."

The old man explained, "Closing the city gate was only about half a month ago."

Chen Ji asked again, "Was the city gate closed when the Prince came to Guyuan?"

The old man shook his head. "No, the Prince only arrived about ten days ago. The city gate was already closed before he came, not allowing entry or exit. Many merchant teams were trapped in the city, making Kucha Street very lively."

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia. "It seems the border army still concealed some things. Their scouts should have discovered the Jing Dynasty's movements earlier."

Zhang Xia's heart tightened. "You feel that the Jing Dynasty troops are truly going to surround Guyuan?"

Chen Ji nodded. "The timing of the Jing Dynasty's Tian Ce Army's arrival is very opportune... How do you feel, if the Jing Dynasty wants to turn this place into an isolated city, which time would be most suitable?"

Zhang Xia was slightly startled on her horse. "Precisely now."

Zhang Zheng scratched his forehead. "What riddle are you two playing? Why precisely now?"

Zhang Xia considered. "Guyuan has frequent merchant teams coming and going. If Guyuan were besieged under normal circumstances, Taiyuan Prefecture would definitely suspect something if they didn't see merchant teams coming and going for many days. But now it's immediately before the winter solstice and Lantern Festival, and also the cold winter. Even if no merchant teams come and go, no one will feel suspicious."

She continued, "If it's truly as the border army said, and Jing Dynasty officials have already infiltrated behind Guyuan, then Guyuan is probably already an isolated city."

The old man panicked. "What are the masters saying? Are the Jing Dynasty thief army coming?"

Chen Ji didn't answer, and continued to ask, "Where are the merchants all gathered in Kucha Street?"

The old man explained, "Guyuan's best brothels, wine houses, inns, and gambling dens are all in Kucha Street. Merchants have nothing to do at night, so why wouldn't they all go there? According to rumors, a merchant team from the northwest was set up by a gambling den. In just seven days, they lost all the antelope hides they brought. Now they don't even have silver to live in an inn and are working as pimps in a brothel."

Zhang Zheng lamented, "Indeed, they can bend and stretch."

The old man hurriedly said, "They weren't willing to be pimps either; the gambling den sold them in."

Just as he was speaking, urgent footsteps came from the distance, and someone was loudly shouting, "You bastard, don't run! Let this old man catch you, and I'll chop off your two fingers!"

Chen Ji silently touched the horizontal whale knife on the front of his horse saddle. The next moment, several young servants wearing short Hu clothing and carrying short knives chased a middle-aged man with a short knife stuck in his shoulder past them. This group didn't even give Chen Ji and the others an extra glance from beginning to end.

After these people ran far away, the narrow road returned to quiet, as if nothing had happened.

Zhang Zheng hesitated. "This is..."

The old man answered, "Those young servants just now were from the Wuqia gambling den. It seems another gambler who lost everything is trying to renege on his debt to the gambling den."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Last question, where is the Longmen Inn?"

"Master, the Longmen Inn is right inside Kucha Street. The tallest building is it."

On both sides of the long Kucha Street, brothels and wine shops hung red lanterns. The sounds of ordering wine and the endless voices of orioles and swallows from within the brothels were like a boiling hot stove in the cold twelfth month, preventing this border military town from being completely frozen.

Chen Ji and the others had already dismounted, leading their reins and walking on the blue stone slab road.

Zhang Zheng looked left and right. "Only here in all of Guyuan are there blue bricks paved. I thought we were back in Luocheng's Hongyi Lane."

Zhang Xia frowned. "Brother, it's a critical moment. You shouldn't wander around and play."

Zhang Zheng smiled happily. "What do you take your own brother for? Brother has already passed through ten thousand flowers without a single leaf sticking to his body. I've long since gotten tired of playing. Even if the top courtesans of the eight great alleys in the capital begged me to be their guest, I wouldn't agree. In the imperial city, what you play is face. Wildflowers here might not attract masters."

Xiao Man followed behind, softly muttering, "What boasts are you spouting? Aren't you afraid of blowing your cover?"

Zhang Zheng said "hey" and turned back. "Who are you looking down on, little girl?"

Xiao Man looked at Chen Ji. "Young master, he's bullying me."

Zhang Zheng: "...I am not!"

Chen Ji didn't pay attention to the two of them. He lifted his head and looked over. He saw that exactly in the middle of the long Kucha Street, a three-story octagonal building stood out.

He led the three people to the door. He saw a gold-lettered plaque "Longmen Inn" hanging above the door. On the right side, the upper couplet read, "Observe matters, observe things, observe heaven, observe earth, observe the sun, observe the moon, observe the upper, observe the lower, observe others always have high and low"; on the left side, the lower couplet read, "Laugh at the ancient, laugh at the present, laugh at the east, laugh at the west, laugh at the south, laugh at the north, laugh coming, laugh going, laugh at oneself originally ignorant, ignorant."

Chen Ji's eyes showed contemplation. Other inns hung couplets welcoming guests, wishing for guests from all directions and wealth from all seas. Why did this Longmen Inn not seem like it was doing business, but rather like cultivating Zen?

He lifted the thick cotton cloth door curtain and walked inside with the wind and frost clinging to him.

Before he could even clearly see the furnishings inside the shop, a waiter carrying a white cloth walked up and used the white cloth to pat the dust off his body. "Several guest officers, staying at the inn or just passing through?"

Chen Ji lowered his head and looked at the waiter. Using the opportunity of 'sweeping dust,' he thoroughly swept his entire body, even touching his sleeve. This clearly meant he was trying to use the opportunity to see how much wealth or weapons he had on him.

When the waiter touched the whale knife on Chen Ji's hand wrapped with a cloth strip, his hand paused slightly, but his face remained as if nothing had happened.

Chen Ji said after two silent breaths, "Four people, staying at the inn."

The waiter smiled and narrowed his eyes. "Guest officer, will you use copper coins or silver taels?"

Chen Ji's eyes narrowed slightly. If it were an ordinary inn waiter, they would only ask how many rooms you were staying in and what kind of room you wanted, but this waiter asked a baffling question... use copper coins or silver taels?

This Longmen Inn revealed strangeness everywhere.

Chen Ji calmly asked, "What if we use copper coins, and what if we use silver taels?"

The waiter laughed heartily. "Guest officer, don't overthink it. Anything is fine. I was just asking casually."

Saying that, he shouted to the shopkeeper behind the counter, "Shopkeeper, here are some sharp fruits and sharp grandsons, perhaps river dragons who have walked the wrong path. Let's check their backgrounds."

Chen Ji asked, "What does that mean? I don't understand."

The waiter politely said, "Guest officer, this is our Guyuan local dialect. It's just shouting to the shopkeeper to entertain you."

However, just at this moment, Zhang Xia suddenly stepped forward and smiled at the waiter, saying, "Brother, let's talk."

She translated for Chen Ji, "He just now told the shopkeeper in Jianghu black talk that handsome men and women have arrived, perhaps river dragons who have walked the wrong shop. He wants the shopkeeper to check our backgrounds."

The waiter was startled. "Hard?"

Zhang Xia explained in a low voice to Chen Ji, "He's asking if we're from the same Jianghu path."

Saying that, she turned her head to the waiter and said, "No need to question further. The four of us are just passing through Guyuan and won't delay your business. Please arrange guest rooms."