Aoyama

Chapter 226 Border Town
The situation in front of the city gate was no longer tense. The border soldiers changed their faces and said happily, "Sorry for the offense. Please go to the city to avoid the cold."

Chen Ji clasped his fists and saluted the lieutenant general, then got on his horse. He pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth and nose, and rode back to the end of the camel caravan to meet Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia.

Wang Gui knelt beside the camel and let Chen Liqin step on his back to climb back onto the camel.

When Chen Liqin put one foot on Wang Gui's back, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the back of his illegitimate son.

In the wind, the scarf on Chen Ji's neck was messed up, and a long red scarf fluttered in the wind.

Chen Liqin just felt that today was like he got to know this bastard all over again.

Wang Gui knelt on the ground and did not dare to urge him. It was not until a long time later that Chen Liqin came to his senses and climbed onto the camel.

At the end of the camel caravan, Xiaoman looked at Chen Ji with concern: "Sir, you are a weak scholar, don't try to show off your abilities in the future. What if these soldiers hurt you?"

Chen Ji agreed with a smile.

Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia looked at each other, with smiles in their eyes.

Xiao Man changed the subject and praised: "But you were really brave just now. You dared to ride forward in the face of such a pair of long spears. If you can do the same in the Chen family in the future, they will definitely not dare to bully you!"

Zhang Xia teased, "How do you think your son compares to that general in silver armor? Is he as heroic as him?"

Xiaoman whispered: "It's still worse than others..."

Chen Ji laughed: "Let's go into the city!"

The long camel caravan moved slowly, and the sound of camel bells floated through the city gate, as if passing through a thousand-year-old Buddhist shrine.

As we entered the door, the sound of camel bells gradually became quieter and the voices of people became more and more lively.

The scenery inside is completely different from that outside.

There were houses made of loess bricks on both sides of the road, tents and stalls set up, so that the bumpy dirt road was so crowded that only three or four people could pass through.

Peddlers and pedestrians were crowded in the street.

Chen Ji subconsciously looked back at the desolate yellow land outside the door, then looked back at the bustling Guyuan City, and felt as if he had accidentally touched a mechanism and entered a paradise.

Without the wind and sand in the city, even the temperature seems to have risen a lot.

There were dancers on the roadside, their bellies exposed in the winter, with the silver chains shining on their bellies trembling. They waved to the Chen family members who had just arrived: "Sir, come in and have a drink."

The clothing in Guyuan city is different from that in the Central Plains. People here like to wear colorful stones on their foreheads, ears, and necks, and they are as passionate as a fire.

Chen Wenxiao was dazzled by the bewitching, and Chen Wenzong snorted coldly before coming back to his senses.

Chen Ji also turned to look at the dancer, and Xiaoman rode up on his pony and tried to block his view, but he couldn't because he was too short.

She reminded him, "Sir, don't be seduced by those Hu Xuan dancers. Before you marry a legitimate daughter of the capital, you must protect your reputation, otherwise the legitimate daughters of the capital will avoid you."

Chen Ji burst out laughing. It seemed that Xiaoman was more worried about her marriage than himself, as if it was an obsession.

Zhang Xia smiled and said, "Your son has a sweetheart, so don't worry about it."

Xiaoman exclaimed, "You have a sweetheart? Who is your sweetheart? Whose family is this noble lady from? Is her family background high?"

Zhang Xia did not answer this series of questions.

Xiaoman rolled her eyes and said, "Miss Zhang Er seems to know my young master very well?"

Zhang Xia said casually: "Not bad."

Xiaoman curled her lips: "Why are you so mysterious?"

Her eyes moved back and forth between Chen Ji, Zhang Zheng, and Zhang Xia. She always felt that there were many secrets among these three that she didn't know about.

While thinking, something strange happened.

But in front of the camel caravan, there was a rough man, who was holding a thin young man by the collar and angrily said: "How dare you steal my things? Are you tired of living..."

Before he could finish, the skinny thief pulled out a dagger from his waist and stabbed it into the man's abdomen.

The man staggered back a few steps, the thief dropped his knife, turned around and dived into the crowd. The man slowly fell down, and his bright red blood mixed with the soil and turned purple.

The vendor at the stall nearby just cursed and continued to sell beside the corpse: "Top-quality tea bricks, tea bricks from Yunzhou!"

All of this was like a small stone thrown into the sea, which only caused a few ripples but soon returned to normal.

The maids and servants in the camel caravan looked pale, as if Guyuan had suddenly torn off his colorful veil, revealing his fangs.

Chen Ji whispered to Xiao Man: "Watch your belongings carefully, there are many thieves here."

Xiaoman held her purse tightly and looked at everyone with vigilance. The purse contained all her belongings. If someone targeted her, she would fight to the death.

At this time, a group of eight or nine-year-old children came to the camel caravan. Holding bamboo baskets, they said to Chen Wenxiao, "Sir, please buy some raisins."

Chen Wenxiao said impatiently: "Go away, go away, I don't want to buy it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a child reached out and ripped off the jade pendant from his waist, then turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Chen Wenxiao shouted angrily: "Stop right there, thief!"

He jumped off his camel and chased after them, but the group of children selling raisins squeezed him and he couldn't get out at all.

More and more children crowded forward, like vultures smelling blood on the grassland, and even pulled away Chen Wenxiao's white jade collar pendant and golden hairpin, leaving him standing there with disheveled hair.

If the servant hadn't protected him in time, all the clothes on his body would have been stripped off.

A street vendor shouted jokingly, "Look, this fool from the Central Plains dared to jump off his camel and chase him. If he hadn't jumped off, the thief wouldn't have been able to reach the hairpin on his head!"

"The fat sheep in the Central Plains must learn this lesson." People on both sides of the street leaned against the wall with their arms folded to watch the excitement, as if they were already accustomed to it.

At this time, a young man with his face covered by a scarf at a roadside stall selling spices saw the jade pendant on Zhang Xia's waist and immediately whistled.

The children turned around and looked towards the source of the whistle. The young man winked at them, and the children immediately understood what he meant and gathered around Zhang Xia.

Just as they were about to reach out to snatch the jade pendant, they saw Chen Ji pull out the whale knife wrapped in cloth in front of the saddle and hit the child's wrist hard.

"Ah!" The child withdrew his hand in pain. He looked up at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji did not look at him. Instead, he stared calmly at the young man not far away.

The child was slightly startled, and reached out to pull the jade pendant again. Chen Ji didn't even look at him, and the scabbard followed him like a shadow, hitting his wrist again.

The child felt as if his wrist was about to break and looked back at the young man.

The young man stared at Chen Ji for a long time, and finally turned to the children and shook his head slightly. The children swarmed away and started tearing the bags carried by the servants and maids.

They held on to their bags tightly, but the thieves cut the bags open with a blade, and the jewelry, silver and copper coins were scattered all over the ground and were looted.

A servant tried to fight with the thief with a whistle stick, but got a long cut on his arm and could only retreat in fear.

Chen Wenxiao murmured, "Rites and music are broken! This is a place where rites and music are broken! Dad, you must report to the crown prince and have all these rioters killed!"

Chen Liqin frowned and shouted, "Shut up!"

In just a journey of one mile, the bags of the servants and maids were all snatched away, and their savings of several years were wiped out.

The maids cried as they walked, causing passers-by to burst into laughter.

Xiaoman secretly looked at Chen Ji from behind. Although she had no knowledge, she just focused on practicing her own skills. But the two hits Chen Ji had just given the child were definitely not something that the third son of the Chen family in her impression could do.

Weird!
While he was thinking, Wuyun meowed and Chenji in front of him suddenly turned around. Xiaoman quickly withdrew his gaze.

But Chen Ji didn't look at her, but looked at the people behind him.

Beside the narrow dirt road, the young man who instigated the children to steal was still standing in the shadow under the awning, staring at him. After Chen Ji looked him in the eye, he turned and left.

……

……

Lord Li led the Chen family camel caravan to Guyuan Posthouse. Along the way, he turned a deaf ear to what was happening behind him, as if he had not heard or seen anything.

After settling the Chen family into the post station, he led Chen Liqin, who was wearing a red official robe, and hurried away to Guyuan Dusi Mansion.

In the room on the second floor, Chen Ji stood by the window, opened it a crack and looked out quietly.

People were coming and going outside the post station. A spice vendor would stare at the post station gate from time to time without shouting out his wares. Even when a customer came up to ask for the price, he was absent-minded.

Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng put their things down, brushed off the dust on their bodies, and went to meet Chen Ji.

Chen Ji whispered, "Guyuan is not peaceful. There are several people watching us. I don't know if they are from the border army or spies from the Jing Dynasty... They should be from the border army."

Zhang Xia was puzzled: "Why do you say it's from the border troops?"

Chen Ji explained: "Look at how recklessly they stare at us. They are clearly fearless. If they were spies from the Jing Dynasty, they wouldn't be so arrogant."

Xiaoman's eyes flickered as she whispered, "It seems as if the young master has seen a spy from the Jing Dynasty..."

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Chen Ji immediately closed the window cautiously: "Xiao Man, go open the door."

When the door opened, several border soldiers came in carrying a huge silver plate with a silver lid on it.

Chen Ji asked in confusion: "What is this?"

The border soldier smiled and said, "This is General Zhou's order. We cooked the best mutton and sent it to you. You are Mr. Wang's direct disciple, so you are naturally the most distinguished guest in Guyuan Border! Please try it. Mutton is common, but mutton is not. Ordinary people can't eat it."

Chen Ji asked, "Are there any in other rooms?"

Bian Jun smiled and said, "Others are not my distinguished guests in Guyuan, you can enjoy it alone. In addition, General Zhou asked me to remind you... Don't get involved in the affairs between the crown prince and Bian Jun. It's very complicated and outsiders can't understand it."

Chen Ji thanked him and said, "Please tell General Zhou when you get back. I'll remember this. Thank him."

When the border soldiers said goodbye, Xiaoman exclaimed: "This is a silver plate. Now that we have finished eating the mutton, can we take the plate with us?"

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What are you thinking about?"

He opened the lid and saw freshly cooked mutton on the plate. He grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. There was no spice in it and it didn't have any fishy smell at all.

Chen Ji called Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia: "Come and fill your stomach."

Xiaoman stuffed meat into her mouth while mumbling tentatively, "Master, I have a headache right now. Can you feel my pulse later? You went to the clinic to learn medical skills for two years, but I've never seen you use them since you came back."

Chen Ji glanced at her and said nonchalantly, "Learning medicine is a long-term thing. You can't learn anything in two years. I have been an apprentice for two years. I haven't even started seeing patients yet, and I haven't learned how to take a pulse."

Xiaoman asked suspiciously, "What did you learn in the clinic?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "I learned some pharmacology, remembering the cold and hot properties of various medicinal materials and food ingredients, as well as the principles of mutual promotion and mutual restraint."

Xiaoman was startled, her cheeks puffed up like a hamster: "What do you mean?"

Chen Ji recalled: "For example, pork and water chestnuts cannot be eaten together, or you will have a stomachache; potatoes and bananas cannot be eaten together, or you will get facial spots; onions and honey cannot be eaten together, or you will hurt your eyes; turtles and amaranth cannot be eaten together, or you will get poisoned..."

Xiao Man uttered an "oh" and filled her mouth with food. She asked in a slurred voice, "So I learned all this... Sir, what can't be eaten with mutton?"

Chen Ji looked down at the plate and saw that half of the mutton had gone into Xiao Man's mouth. He said quietly, "I can't eat this mutton with you..."

(End of this chapter)