Chapter 256: Claiming the Throne

In the main hall of the inn, Wang Gui held a steaming hot yellow flour steamed bun, his back firmly turned towards Chen Ji. He pondered in his heart what reason he should use to send Chen Ji away if Chen Ji came up and demanded a steamed bun. However, Chen Ji paid no attention to Wang Gui, walking directly towards the stairs on the left. With each step Chen Ji took, Wang Gui slowly turned his body, making sure he always had his back to Chen Ji.

At this moment, Chen Wenxiao, standing at the corner of the second-floor stairs, shouted loudly, "Wang Gui, why did you take so long, the food still hasn't..." When he saw Chen Ji, his voice suddenly stopped, and he turned to go into the room.

Everyone waited for Chen Ji to go upstairs. Not until Chen Ji disappeared at the corner of the stairs did Wang Gui finally let out a long breath.

Behind the counter, the innkeeper, dressed in a black cloth shirt, slanted a glance at Wang Gui. "Isn't Chen Ji also one of your Chen family? Why are you all guarding him like a thief?"

Wang Gui glared fiercely at the innkeeper. "Chen family matters, can you manage them? We finally managed to buy some grain. Our legitimate young master may not even get a full meal, so how could he?"

The innkeeper gave a cold laugh. "The Chen family is a famous and prominent clan, yet they like to do such unseemly things. The master is like this, and the dogs tied up at home are the same."

Wang Gui slightly narrowed his eyes. "The Chen family has produced high officials for generations, and they won't tolerate you, a commoner from the countryside, interfering. If you want to stand up for him, you might as well divide your own grain for him to eat. Only, with Jing Dynasty besieging the city, who knows how long it will last. You might not be able to feed others and starve yourself to death."

As he spoke, the cotton cloth curtain was lifted open again by someone. Qi Jianzhe and a Feather Guard Army soldier, dressed in casual clothes, each carried a lightly floating cloth bag. With one look, it was clear there wasn't much grain inside.

Qi Jianzhe saw the steamed buns in Wang Gui's hand, and his eyes suddenly lit up. This Young Master Qi took several steps forward and self-importantly grabbed two steamed buns from the tray. He stuffed one into his own mouth and the other into his colleague's mouth. While chewing the steamed bun, he mumbled indistinctly, "I'm starving to death!"

Wang Gui was greatly shocked and reached out to snatch the steamed bun from Qi Jianzhe's mouth. "What are you doing? This is grain I finally managed to collect from the common people's homes!"

Qi Jianzhe tilted his head back, avoiding Wang Gui's extended hand. He cursed and mumbled, "What's yours and mine? Everyone is in the same boat now. If there's grain, take it out and everyone eat together! Come here, I'll take two more. My brother-in-law hasn't eaten since morning!"

"No way!" Wang Gui turned and ran upstairs in a panic.

Qi Jianzhe was disappointed as if he had lost something. He looked at the half-eaten steamed bun in his hand, gritted his teeth, and didn't eat it any further, planning to leave it for Li Xuan.

Behind the counter, the innkeeper sized up Qi Jianzhe. "Are the army sirs not having a smooth time collecting grain?"

Qi Jianzhe sighed. "Every grain shop has been searched clean by the border army. We can only scrape some grain from the corners of the common people's homes, and we still have to buy it at exorbitant prices. The silver spent on this small half-bag of grain is enough for me to go to the Eight Great Alleys and drink flower wine!"

The innkeeper said lightly, "Save some to eat. The days of hunger might still be long."

Qi Jianzhe's eyes rolled around. "Innkeeper, you're always in the main hall. Haven't you seen how much grain the Chen family bought back?"

The innkeeper smiled. "Just bought that little bit, and it was all steamed into steamed buns in one go."

Qi Jianzhe asked again, "What about Chen Ji? Did Chen Ji bring grain back?"

The innkeeper glanced at him. "No."

Wang Gui, holding the steamed buns, thumped his way upstairs. He knocked on the door of the earth character second room. Chen Wenxiao pulled open the door and looked at the tray with a frown. "Is this all? There's not even any sauced beef. How am I supposed to eat this?"

Wang Gui patiently explained, "Second Young Master, this was all I could manage to buy from the common people's hands."

Chen Wenxiao hesitated for a moment, but finally took the tray.

Wang Gui was about to follow him into the room when the door slammed shut in front of him. Wang Gui was startled for a moment. He opened his mouth to say that he hadn't eaten yet, but didn't know how to speak. His face gradually darkened.

Inside the room, Chen Liqin and Chen Wenzong were standing by the window, their brows tightly furrowed. Liang-shi took the tray from Chen Wenxiao's hand. "Old Master, Wenzong, come and eat something."

However, Chen Liqin and Chen Wenzong did not immediately come to eat. Instead, they observed the movements inside Solid Plains city from their high position. Outside Solid Plains city, a mountain fire was burning, with rolling thick smoke.

Chen Wenzong said gravely, "Father, Solid Plains is in danger. The grain stored in the city may not last for even half a month, let alone a whole month."

Chen Liqin sighed heavily. "How can I still care about Solid Plains city? If we can't buy any more grain, the Feather Guard Army will have to go hungry tonight! At that time, when those soldiers make a fuss, who knows what kind of trouble they will cause."

Chen Wenzong hesitated. "The Feather Guard Army also has military discipline."

Chen Liqin gave a cold laugh. "The Feather Guard Army has military discipline, but what can people do when they are desperate with hunger? I'm just afraid they will go and rob the common people's grain and be caught by the border army and dealt with according to military law. The Feather Guard Army was brought out by His Highness. If the Feather Guard Army's reputation is ruined, His Highness's reputation will also be ruined. At that time, whether the Crown Prince can keep his position will also become a problem."

Chen Wenzong's pupils contracted. "Before a great enemy, how can it be to this extent?"

"You are still young, you don't understand the dangers of the court," Chen Liqin slowly explained. "Hu Junxian is Fu King's uncle. That Fu King seems harmless and uninvolved in worldly affairs, but what he does in private, who knows? I haven't even seen a shadow of the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army yet, and the city wall is peacefully quiet. I even suspect that everything is fabricated by the border army, just to make the Feather Guard Army make a mistake and for the succession!"

Chen Liqin continued, "Think about it, the commandery office, the granary, and the armory are always strictly guarded. How could the Jing Dynasty thieves set fire? It must be the border army guarding them who stole it themselves!"

Chen Wenzong murmured, "But they exhausted themselves and caused such a big disturbance just to frame the Crown Prince? If the Feather Guard Army doesn't make a mistake, will all the common people in the city have to continue starving like this?"

Chen Liqin shook his head. He saw that his legitimate eldest son still didn't believe him, so he patiently said, "Seizing the heir is seizing the world's mountains and rivers. Compared to that throne, what do the common people of one city count for?"

Chen Wenzong worriedly said, "Then what should we do, Father? Let's go find grain!"

Chen Liqin's brows furrowed tightly. "Where can we find it? We've already found everything we could find!"

Chen Wenzong's eyes suddenly brightened. "Find Chen Ji. He has many ideas. Maybe he'll have a way!"

Beside him, Chen Wenxiao, who was chewing a steamed bun, sneered. "Elder Brother, you take him as an immortal. Even five hundred Feather Guard Army can't find grain, can he? If he can find it, I'll see him walk upside down afterward!"

Chen Wenzong said coldly, "While you have time to say such sarcastic words, you might as well think about how to share the worries of His Highness and Father!"

Liang-shi pulled his arm and made him sit down at the table, trying to smooth things over. "Wenzong, quickly eat something. You haven't eaten anything all day."

Chen Wenzong picked up a steamed bun, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Mother, should we send some to Chen Ji's side to eat?"

Chen Wenxiao laughed sarcastically. "You even say he has great powers, where does he need us to send food? Elder Brother, aren't you contradicting yourself?"

However, the next moment, Chen Wenzong stood up, grabbed four steamed buns, and walked towards the outside. "I'll go see him."

Liang-shi was anxious. "What are you doing? I... I've already arranged for Wang Gui to send him four steamed buns. You just eat yours!"

Chen Wenzong was suspicious. "Really?"

Liang-shi said angrily, "Don't tell me you don't believe your mother? This might violate filial piety!"

Chen Wenzong hurriedly explained, "I don't suspect Mother... Since Mother has arranged it, that's good."

In front of the heaven character third room, Chen Ji lightly knocked on the door with his knuckles. "It's me."

With a creak, Xiao Man opened the door. Chen Ji saw Zhang Zheng pacing back and forth in the room, anxious like an ant on a hot pot. He looked inside the room and asked with a furrowed brow, "Where is Second Miss Zhang?"

Zhang Zheng took several steps forward and urgently said, "After you left with Old Wu, my sister said that you would definitely want to know where those two men from Luo City went and insisted on following them. I didn't agree, but while Xiao Man and I weren't paying attention, she followed them somewhere!"

Chen Ji's heart sank. He turned to go out and find her. But just as he stepped out the door, he saw Zhang Xia coming up the stairs. She said curiously, "Where are you going?"

Chen Ji suddenly let out a breath. "I thought you had fallen into the hands of that group from Luo City."

Zhang Xia smiled. "I'm not that silly. I wouldn't let them discover me. Let's go in and talk."

Chen Ji looked left and right in the corridor, then closed the door. "Where did you just follow them?"

Zhang Xia leaned against the window and said carefully, "I didn't dare follow too closely, so I don't know who else they met along the way. I only know that they finally went to Peach Locust Alley and entered an official's household surnamed Li."

She continued, "I quietly found several small children to inquire. One of the children said that this Official Li is doing business and is quite wealthy. Every New Year festival, he gives out lucky money to his neighbors, and all the children get a share. He's quite a kind family."

Chen Ji pondered for a moment. "What kind of business does this Official Li's family do?"

Zhang Xia thought for a bit. "I didn't ask that... Wait, the smell of sulfur on that street is very heavy. Perhaps he's doing sulfur business?"

Chen Ji suddenly realized, "Sulfur!"

Zhang Xia asked doubtfully, "Isn't sulfur just a medicinal material? Why such a big reaction?"

Chen Ji remained silent. Only he knew that sulfur was one of the main raw materials used to make firearms, but he couldn't let others know that he had the formula for firearms!