Chapter 259: Finding Food

Thick smoke rolled and billowed into the air, mixed with upward-rushing sparks and ash. The sky hung low.

The original citizens of Shouyuan all turned their heads to look at the distant raging fire, instantly freezing like sculptures. Their mood plummeted to the bottom, and their faces showed despair.

Chen Ji stood on the eaves of a tavern roof, his expression grave as he stared intently at the border army camp.

The next moment, a roaring sound came from the border army camp. A huge explosion echoed through Shouyuan, like more than a dozen cannons from the Shenji Battalion firing simultaneously.

Was it firearms?

No!

Chen Ji watched as the flames scattered and flew, instantly engulfing a large section of the tents… This looked like a dust explosion. The flour in the border army camp had exploded.

What was burning was indeed the border army’s stored grain!

At this moment, someone downstairs cursed angrily: "Damn it, the border army requisitioned our grain, and now it’s burned by Jing Dynasty spies."

"The border army is useless, they can't even guard the grain. What's the point of fighting this war?"

"I said it before, that Hu Junxian doesn't know how to fight. The general of Shouyuan should have been replaced!"

Someone said mournfully: "What's the use of saying this now? Shouyuan is finished! Everyone wash your necks and wait for the Jing Dynasty army to kill their way in."

"Go, go find the border army for an explanation!"

Not a single soldier from the Jing Dynasty army had been deployed, yet Shouyuan city was already in complete chaos.

Chen Ji watched the black mass of people rushing towards the border army camp, then turned and leaped away across the rooftops.

Hurrying back to the Longmen Inn, the Yu Lin army stood on Guizhi Street, gazing at the fire from afar. Their expressions were complex, and they were silent and taciturn.

Groups of Shouyuan citizens passed by them, shouting that they were going to find the border army for an explanation. Qi Jianzhe looked at Li Xuan: "Brother-in-law, how about we also go ask Hu Junxian what exactly the border army is doing."

Li Xuan glared at him fiercely: "You still think it's not chaotic enough?"

Qi Jianzhe stiffened his neck: "Isn't all this the border army's fault? If we can get back to the capital alive, I'll definitely make grandfather impeach that Hu Junxian!"

The Crown Prince said slowly: "Alright, let's go inside first and tally the grain bought today... Chen Ji is back."

He saw Chen Ji standing outside the crowd and subconsciously looked at Chen Ji's hands, but when he saw Chen Ji's hands were also empty, he was suddenly disappointed.

The Crown Prince asked gravely: "You also didn't find any grain?"

Chen Ji calmly replied: "Reporting to Your Highness, I did not go to seek grain today. I handled other matters."

Qi Jianzhe frowned: "What matter is more important than grain now? You didn't go find grain, what were you blindly busy with?"

Chen Ji silently glanced at him once and did not continue the conversation.

The Crown Prince sighed: "Now is not the time for colleagues to attack each other. Let's go inside to talk, so the citizens don't see and laugh."

Li Xuan stepped forward a few steps to lift the cotton cloth curtain for the Crown Prince, and the group filed in.

In the main hall of the inn, the innkeeper was nowhere to be seen, leaving only Xiao Wu sleeping soundly on the counter.

The Crown Prince and Li Xuan sat beside an Eight Immortals table. An account book was placed in front of Li Xuan, and he lifted his pen, asking the Yu Lin army officers in front of him: "How much grain did you buy today?"

A Yu Lin army officer lowered his head: "My lord, I..."

Li Xuan said heavily: "You didn't buy a single bit of grain today?"

The Yu Lin army officer said shamefully: "My lord, I visited over a hundred households today. None of their homes had any surplus grain. No matter how much silver I offered, it was useless."

Li Xuan wanted to speak but stopped, finally only waving his hand helplessly: "Next."

The Yu Lin army officers had gone out with empty sacks early in the morning and returned with empty sacks. Several hundred people took turns reporting their harvests, and finally, only a little grain was piled on the Eight Immortals table.

Li Xuan stared blankly at the few sacks in front of him, then lifted his head to look at the crowd of Yu Lin army: "Over four hundred people went out today and only bought back twelve jin of millet and twenty-eight jin of yellow flour. We can cook porridge tonight, but I don't know what we'll eat tomorrow morning..."

This was only the first day of the siege, and the Yu Lin army could already not hold on.

Li Xuan looked around and said gravely: "Now all of you go out for me and continue seeking grain. If you can't find any, don't sleep tonight. No matter what means you use, if you come back empty-handed, there's no need to return!"

Chen Liqin suddenly added from the side: "But everyone must pay attention, don't do anything that violates the national law. You must not give His Highness a bad name."

Qi Jianzhe's eyebrows raised: "Master Chen, what do you mean? Do you look down on my Yu Lin army's military discipline?"

Chen Liqin's face sank: "Vice Envoy Qi, this official has no such meaning. I am just reminding you that you also need to pay attention to your methods when seeking grain. Inside and outside the court, how many pairs of eyes are watching His Highness? If you all make mistakes and implicate His Highness, it will also be recorded by historians. How will the world view His Highness?"

Qi Jianzhe angrily rebuked: "Master Chen is truly standing and speaking without back pain. Your family servants bought grain today, right? Why didn't I see it taken out and put together with everyone's grain? Our Yu Lin army brothers are braving the cold wind to seek grain, while your Chen family members are all hiding in the room warming yourselves. Even if you and madam are not convenient, Chen Wenzong, Chen Wenxiao, and Chen Ji should go with us, right?"

Wang Gui hurriedly said: "My family's eldest young master and second young master are both juren!"

Qi Jianzhe spat on the ground: "Pah, what kind of juren? My Qi family has plenty of juren, is it rare? You ask my Yu Lin army brothers, which family doesn't have a juren?"

Wang Gui still wanted to say something, but was stopped by Chen Wenzong.

Chen Wenzong cupped his hands: "Brother Qi speaks reasonably. Later, I will go with you all to seek grain."

Qi Jianzhe laughed coldly: "This is more like a human! Also, the grain your Chen family bought today, take it out together, don't hide it!"

Liang Shi slowly comforted: "The Chen family didn't buy much grain today either. At noon, we steamed a few wotou and ate them."

Qi Jianzhe pointed at Wang Gui: "That's not right, I just saw him hiding in the inn kitchen eating wotou!"

Liang Shi suddenly turned her head, her eyes like knives looking at Wang Gui.

Wang Gui quickly knelt down: "I've been wronged, Vice Envoy Qi saw wrong. This humble one did not hide grain privately."

Chen Liqin angrily rebuked: "Still not going to roll and take out the grain you hid? Otherwise, I'll break your dog legs!"

"Oh, oh, this humble one will go now!" Wang Gui scrambled towards the backyard.

Amidst the noise, Chen Ji quietly stood in the corner, his gaze fixed on the beam, secretly pondering. Earlier, the innkeeper said the secret passage was under the wooden board of the counter, he wondered if it was true?

Was this big fire the work of Jing Dynasty spies, or Bai Long's handiwork?

Chen Ji didn't know the answer. He only knew that anything involving Bai Long would become elusive, and no one would know what would happen until the last moment.

He could only wait and see.

At this moment, the Crown Prince saw he was distracted and suddenly asked: "Chen Ji, what did you do today?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "Reporting to Your Highness, this humble official went to seek traces of Jing Dynasty spies."

The Crown Prince's gaze was probing: "Did you find any?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "No."

He had caught Old Wu today, killed the shopkeeper of the Yang Family Fur Shop, and found the Xuanshu Department and Bai Long. But these must be kept quiet, so as not to ruin Bai Long's plans.

In the main hall, a Yu Lin army officer sneered: "So, you were busy for nothing all day? You might as well have gone to find some grain, at least you wouldn't starve yourself. What time is it and you're still thinking of finding Jing Dynasty spies, acting like you're one of the twelve zodiacs of the Xuanshu Department?"

Chen Ji glanced at him but didn't retort.

Qi Jianzhe pressed on: "You haven't been hiding somewhere slacking off all day, have you? After His Highness appointed you as the Right Sima, you still haven't established any merits. I advise you to be more diligent and share worries for His Highness."

Chen Ji was silent for a long time, finally cupped his hands to the Crown Prince and said: "This humble official originally thought that finding grain was not a difficult matter, and with the Yu Lin army officers seeking grain, it should be enough. So this humble official simply went to seek Jing Dynasty spies and didn't put this matter in mind, yet I didn't expect so many people from the Yu Lin army only brought back forty jin of grain."

When these words came out, the room suddenly became quiet. The Yu Lin army all turned their heads to look at Chen Ji, their brows furrowed.

Qi Jianzhe was suddenly angry: "Chen Ji, what do you mean?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "No meaning."

Li Xuan frowned: "Master Chen, don't show off your verbal skills. Seeking grain is indeed not easy now, don't put yourself in a difficult position."

Chen Ji cupped his hands to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, I know where I can seek grain. It's just that the price of this grain is not cheap, and you will probably need to spend money."

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment: "Chen Ji, you don't need to worry about the price, but can you really seek grain? Relax, even if you can't find it, it's fine, there's no need to force it."

Chen Ji said without change: "This humble official can definitely seek grain, but this humble official has one request."

The Crown Prince saw his determination and no longer tried to persuade him: "What request?"

Chen Ji pointed to the nearby Qi Jianzhe: "If I can buy forty jin of grain, Vice Envoy Qi only needs to call me 'Master Chen' from now on."

Qi Jianzhe sneered: "What kind of bragging is this? If you can really find it, what's the harm in me calling you 'Master Chen' once?"

Chen Ji nodded: "A word is settled."

Saying this, he looked at the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, now forty jin of grain will probably cost four hundred taels of silver. This silver..."

In normal times, four hundred taels of silver could buy forty head of cattle, eighty mules, or forty-eight thousand jin of grain. Now that human lives were at stake, the Crown Prince didn't care about these things either.

He glanced at Li Xuan, and Li Xuan took out a string of common treasures from the Buddha Gate from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji: "This is five hundred taels. As long as you can buy it, silver is easy to talk about."

Chen Ji received the common treasures of the Buddha Gate, turned around, lifted the curtain, and walked out of the inn.

At this moment, shouting came from outside the door: "The border army is killing people! The border army is killing people!" "Run!"

Dense footsteps sounded, and countless Shouyuan citizens ran past the front of Guizhi Street, some even with blood splattered on their bodies.

Chen Ji grabbed a person and asked gravely: "What happened? Why is the border army killing people?"

The man he grabbed explained in panic: "We went to the border army camp to demand an explanation. We don't know how, someone moved away the barrier horse and rushed towards the camp. The border army turned their faces and didn't recognize people, killing everyone they saw. I'm afraid several hundred people were killed!"

Chen Ji looked at the sunset gradually sinking behind the city and did not speak for a long time.

Someone charged the military camp, and the border army naturally had to kill a chicken to warn the monkeys, quickly resolving the mess.

But this was only the first day of the siege.