Chapter 85: Curing the Orphan

In the small courtyard of Taiping Medical Hall, a group of people squeezed around a small Eight Immortals table, making it particularly cramped. Liang Mao’er lifted his arm slightly, almost pushing Liu Quxing to the ground.

Steamer baskets were piled high on the table, and one by one, steaming hot buns emitted warmth. As soon as a steamer basket was opened, hands reached in from both sides, and in an instant, a whole basket of buns was gone, as if everyone were fighting for food.

Just as Old Man Yao was about to grab a bun, he saw Liang Mao’er’s hand flash past, and the bun inside the steamer basket had already disappeared.

By the time he wanted to grab another bun, it had already landed in the Prince's hand.

Old Man Yao held a bowl of millet porridge with an indifferent expression, sipping it mouthful by mouthful.

In the past, he lived a simple and quiet life. Now that Taiping Medical Hall was so lively, he was still a bit unaccustomed to it.

Eating a meal was full of chatter, too noisy.

“Master, why aren’t you eating?” Chen Ji asked curiously.

Old Man Yao said indifferently, “I’m telling your fortunes!”

“Ah? You don’t know the Prince’s birth date characters, how can you calculate?”

Old Man Yao scoffed, “I don’t need to look at your birth date characters to know you all are bad for me. Hurry up and eat, and then get out.”

At this moment, it became lively outside the door.

Countless common people gathered on both sides of Anxi Street.

Some carried fruits, and some carried baskets of eggs.

The air on Anxi Street seemed to boil over.

The last time it was so lively was when the Prince and the Princess had just returned.

The next moment, a magnificent black ceremonial guard suddenly passed by the front of the door.

The common people carrying things in their hands walked alongside, constantly trying to stuff their items into the hands of the soldiers on the side of the ceremonial guard.

The laws of the Ning Dynasty clearly stated that the Great Ning Emperor used ochre yellow ceremonial guards, while the Great Ning vassal kings used black ceremonial guards.

Jing Wang had returned.

“This is bad, this is bad!”

The Prince suddenly stood up, panicking as he stuffed the half-eaten bun in his hand into his mouth, muttering, “Didn’t General Wang say the old man just arrived in Gongyi County last night? How did he rush back overnight? Bai Li, hurry back to the mansion. If he catches you, maybe your monthly allowance will be cut.”

Bai Li was also somewhat panicked. He lifted the hem of his skirt and thumped up the ladder, disappearing on the other side of the courtyard wall.

The usually carefree Prince was at this moment like a mouse seeing a cat.

Chen Ji and the others walked to the doorway and watched the grand procession enter the Jing Wang Mansion from a distance.

He looked at the old man curiously, “Master, why is Jing Wang so loved by the common people? They are all competing to send him things!”

Old Man Yao pursed his lips, “These years, many people in Yu State only survived because of him. Naturally, they respect him.”

At this moment, a middle-aged man suddenly came to visit outside the door. “Imperial Physician Yao, Imperial Physician Yao, my father fell and can’t be woken up no matter how much we call him. Please come quickly and take a look.”

“Did you bring the consultation fee?”

“Brought it, brought it!”

Old Man Yao beckoned to She Dengke, “Go get my acupuncture box. Be quick, his father can’t last much longer!”

After Old Man Yao got into the carriage with the middle-aged man, Liang Mao’er got up to clear the bowls and chopsticks.

As Old Man Yao left, Chen Ji was about to go back to the backyard to clear the bowls and chopsticks when he heard a gentle voice sound at the medical hall entrance.

“Chen Ji?”

Chen Ji’s body inside the medical hall suddenly stiffened.

The last time Shopkeeper Yuan visited in the middle of the night, he also seemed to ask this very sentence!

Could it be that the Jing Dynasty military intelligence department had found him again?

But didn’t Gui say that everyone who knew his identity had already been dealt with?

He slowly turned around, and reflected in his eyes was not the胖 figure of Shopkeeper Yuan.

Instead, the speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a dark blue old long robe. The collar had been newly sewn, and the elbow part of the sleeves was patched. The other party wore a simple wooden hairpin in his hair temple, and his face was tired.

Who was this?

He had never seen him before.

The middle-aged man sized up Chen Ji, and after a moment asked, “What, don’t you remember me anymore?”

Chen Ji was confused.

The middle-aged man smiled faintly, “It seems you don’t recognize me. When you were little in the capital, I even held you. Your eyebrows haven’t changed much, they are very much like your mother’s.”

Chen Ji’s heart jolted.

“Uncle?”

Could it be his uncle, the high official of the Jing Dynasty, who had fled to the Ning Dynasty for refuge to avoid political enemies?

From his appearance, the other party was full of dust and fatigue, with mud stains on his pants and boots, indeed looking like he had been rushing through wind and rain.

But why were the patches on the other party’s clothes like this? His uncle shouldn’t be in such a miserable state.

Most importantly, Chen Ji had just gotten rid of his identity as a Jing Dynasty spy and was planning to live a quiet life. How did the other party find him at this time?

He hadn’t come to take him back to the Jing Dynasty during his time of glory and wealth, so what was he here for now? Was he planning to rise again in the Ning Dynasty?

Then he would have to be forced to tie his head to his waist and work for him!

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said stiffly, “What important matter is it?”

The middle-aged man was startled for a moment, then teased carelessly, “Don’t you use a respectful tone with your elder? Where is your master?”

Chen Ji heard the word “elder” and his tone became even stiffer, “Master went out. If you have something, just tell me!”

The middle-aged man lifted the hem of his robe and stepped over the threshold. “Then I’ll wait for your master in the medical hall. Do you play Go? Let’s play a game to pass the time! Your mother is very good at Go, you should be too!”

Chen Ji said, “There’s no Go set in the medical hall.”

The middle-aged man laughed, “How can there not be? Isn’t it in the second drawer of the cabinet in the main room? Go get it, I’ll wait.”

Chen Ji’s eyes were slightly strange. This sounded more like a threat to him, just like when Yun Yang first rewarded him, placing the silver ingot directly beside his pillow.

The implied meaning was: I can enter the medical hall freely, and you don’t even realize it.

Chen Ji turned around, went to the main room, pulled open the second drawer, and inside indeed was a Go set.

He held the Go set and came to the medical hall lobby, spread several Go boards on the counter, and held the Go pieces in his hand. “Guess first!”

The middle-aged man thought for a moment, “Even!”

Chen Ji opened his palm, and there were three black pieces inside. “Wrong guess, I hold the black pieces, I’ll go first.”

The middle-aged man generously said, “Good, you go first, I can let you two pieces.”

Chen Ji raised his head and glanced at him, “Okay.”

The middle-aged man’s Go skill was very strong, so strong that within the grand opening and closing moves, his placements were like Mount Tai pressing down, leaving no room to avoid.

In just sixty-five moves, he cut Chen Ji’s black pieces apart, like isolated reefs in the waves, unsupported.

The middle-aged man smiled and looked at Chen Ji, “You still need to practice your Go skills more. Go emphasizes taking and giving up, giving up the small to take the big, then you can have the overall situation. If you don’t want to give up anything, then everything will be left behind.”

However, at this time, Chen Ji wasn’t listening to what he was saying, only placing another piece in the isolated and unsupported area.

It was like stubborn refusal to admit defeat, and also like isolated obsession.

The middle-aged man was startled, and then placed a piece.

Chen Ji placed another piece.

The middle-aged man followed with another piece.

As both sides went back and forth, on the seventy-second move, Chen Ji actually carved out a bloody path from the isolated and unsupported area, connecting with another isolated piece.

The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up, and he praised, “Swallowing the dragon? What kind of play is this?”

Chen Ji raised his head and looked at him. “Curing the isolated.”

So-called curing the isolated is to utilize the opponent’s weakness in the isolated area to make your own isolated pieces find a way to survive.

Often, one isolated piece can overturn the opponent’s overall situation.

Chen Ji once won second prize in the Lu City Go competition, relying on his technique of curing the isolated like a sword cutting diagonally.

Chen Ji didn’t have much of an overall view; he only had a stubborn streak.

He imitated the other party’s tone just now and said slowly, “The world is so big, how can there be no place to live? Only a narrow space, not a narrow mind!”

The middle-aged man was happy, “Why are you even teaching me now!”

Chen Ji said calmly, “No, I’m talking about Go.”

Actually, he was frustrated. After coming to this world, he didn’t know his past life and was led around everywhere.

Now, with great difficulty, he had sent off Gui and Wu Hongbiao, and with great difficulty, he could breathe, but someone had come to find him again.

However, just at this moment, Old Man Yao led She Dengke in from outside the door.

She Dengke carried the medicine box and said joyfully, “Chen Ji, you don’t know that old man just now clearly had his breath cut off, but as soon as master put down two needles, he immediately woke up…huh?”

The middle-aged man turned around and looked towards the doorway, smiling, “Imperial Physician Yao, long time no see. This little apprentice of yours is not bad at Go, better than you.”

Old Man Yao glanced at Chen Ji, “That’s indeed rare. Why did you come alone?”

“Come and feel my pulse, I haven’t been feeling well lately!”

Old Man Yao glanced at him, “You went out to prepare grain, how did you end up looking so exhausted?”

Chen Ji was startled, wait?

Prepare grain?

Prepare what grain?

He saw the middle-aged man sit down opposite the counter, his face full of fatigue, forcing a smile. “Just after arriving in Jiangnan, after collecting taxes, someone carried their wife’s corpse to the yamen and said we forced her to death by collecting taxes. The southern gentry now regard us as enemies. As soon as they hear any disturbance, they try every way to resist. Collecting taxes is not easy.”

Old Man Yao walked to the back of the counter while saying flatly, “Seizing people’s wealth is like killing their parents. What they fear is not actually collecting taxes, but they fear you want to re-measure the fields.”

Chen Ji felt more and more that something was wrong. He had clearly mistaken the person.

Who was this?

Dusty and fatigued, with ragged clothes, could he be some tax official?

Or…

The middle-aged man stretched out his wrist and placed it on the counter. “But grain is still easy to solve, it’s just a matter of spending more effort and talking more. However, the glutinous rice needed for the front line is difficult for us.”

Old Man Yao placed three fingers on the middle-aged man’s pulse. “Can’t find glutinous rice?”

The middle-aged man explained, “This year, too many city gates were destroyed by the Jing Dynasty, and a large amount of glutinous rice mortar is needed to build city walls. This summer’s flood meant many families didn’t even have enough to eat, how could they still spare glutinous rice to build city walls?”

After speaking, the middle-aged man sighed, “Actually, there was enough glutinous rice originally, but unfortunately, the batch in early autumn was intercepted by the capital and sent to His Majesty to repair Renshou Palace and the tomb.”

Chen Ji was confused. This middle-aged man seemed to have a very good relationship with the master and would say anything.

And the old man, who always avoided talking nonsense, didn’t stop the other party from speaking.

He knew that this year, glutinous rice was a strategic material.

Because the adhesive material used for repairing city walls was mixed on site with glutinous rice, cooked lime, and limestone.

The branched starch in glutinous rice mortar had an excellent adhesive effect.

After three years, once the glutinous rice mortar was calcified, the repaired buildings could last for a thousand years without falling.

But in this era, many common people couldn’t even eat their fill, and glutinous rice was life-saving grain.

If it was used to build city walls, the common people would starve to death.

At this time, the middle-aged man coughed several times, and Old Man Yao instructed Chen Ji, “Pour a cup of tea.”

Chen Ji entered the kitchen, brought out a cup of warm tea, placed it in front of the middle-aged man, lowered his head, lowered his eyebrows, and obediently said, “Please drink tea.”

The middle-aged man raised his head and smiled at Chen Ji, “Why are you suddenly so polite and using respectful language? Weren’t you teaching me just now?”

Chen Ji said awkwardly, “I was just talking about Go, I didn’t mean to teach you anything!”

The middle-aged man raised his hand and pointed at him in the air, smiling, “It’s normal for young people to have some arrogance, no need to be so humble.”

Chen Ji quickly said, “No, no, not arrogant.”

Old Man Yao was puzzled, “What happened just now? What arrogant words did this boy say?”

The middle-aged man laughed, “Who wasn’t like this when they were young? I also often went to you for treatment when I was young. When I was fighting against the second imperial brother with His Majesty, His Majesty clearly knew he couldn’t win, but still insisted on letting me go first, causing me to be beaten terribly.”

Chen Ji gasped.

He could finally confirm that this was Jing Wang.

But, he couldn’t link this simple middle-aged man with that majestic and imposing Jing Wang Mansion.

No airs, no temper, he seemed like an ordinary neighbor, completely different from his imagination.

At this time, Jing Wang looked at Old Man Yao, “How is my body?”

Old Man Yao said faintly, “I’ll prescribe you a few doses of medicine. Rest for a few days and you’ll be fine. But don’t run around outside anymore recently, or you might have a big problem if you don’t rest.”

Jing Wang shook his head, “Some matters can’t be delayed. Next spring, the Jing Dynasty cavalry will still come south. If the city walls are not repaired before then, many people will die when Chongli Pass is lost, and even the capital will be in danger.”

Old Man Yao said indifferently, “I’m just giving you casual advice, whether you listen or not is your business. But I suggest you stay in Lu City and also discipline the Prince and Princess. They are so wild at heart, something bad might happen again. These days you haven’t been here, the Prince and Princess have been climbing the wall to play every night, making it hard for me to rest.”

Chen Ji: Ah? No, Old Deng, why are you backstabbing people?

He turned his head to look at Jing Wang, and found that Jing Wang’s face was even worse.

Jing Wang slowly asked, “What have they been doing recently?”

He hadn’t finished speaking when he heard sounds from the backyard, as if someone had just climbed over the wall.

Immediately after, the Prince’s voice came through, “Strange, clearly our dad hasn’t returned, but the ceremonial guard is back first. Don’t know what this mess is for, wasted my time climbing the wall. Chen Ji, come and play Pai Jiu together. See how I’ll win everything from you today.”

“Hiccup”

The Prince walked into the medical hall lobby and was so scared when he saw Jing Wang that he actually hiccuped.

Jing Wang played with the white piece in his hand, his tone calm, with an inherent majesty, “Climbing the wall? Pai Jiu?”

The Prince plopped onto the ground and knelt, “Dad, the little monk led me to climb it. It has nothing to do with me…”