Aoyama

Chapter 237 News from Jing Chao

In the main hall of the inn, where good and bad people mixed together, everyone had their own ulterior motives.

When their eyes swept towards Chen Ji, their expressions were cunning, scrutinizing, and covetous, making it difficult to tell whether they were human or ghost.

Chen Ji looked at the wine jars on the table and suddenly understood: placing Shaodaozi on the Eight Immortals Table means selling information, placing grape wine means buying information, and you only need to place the wine jars when entering the door, and others will know what you are here for at a glance.

It turned out that the Longmen Inn was the largest information distribution center in Guyuan City, and the five hundred coins per jar of wine was the inn's commission.

But Chen Ji originally came to buy information, but by mistake he became the one selling information...

At this moment, the man opposite him knocked on the table with his knuckles: "Young man, what news do you want to sell? Speak now!"

Xiaoman stood behind Chen Ji and glared at the man opposite him: "Why are you so anxious? Isn't my master thinking about it?"

The man sneered, "You little girl have a bad temper. I see you are strangers, I'm afraid you don't know the rules of Longmen Inn? If you can't come up with any useful information after setting up the altar, you may not be able to stay in this inn."

Chen Ji lowered his head and pondered what news to sell.

Just as the man across the table was about to knock on the table with his knuckles again, he raised his hand, and before his knuckles fell, Chen Ji said, "I know what happened in Guyuan Posthouse."

The man's hand that was knocking on the table was suspended in the air, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "You actually know this! How much silver do you want?"

Chen Ji raised his hand to his chest and extended two fingers.

The man lowered his head and thought for a few breaths. When he looked up again, he had already placed two golden melon seeds on the table.

Chen Ji looked at the two golden melon seeds. He originally wanted to sell them for two hundred taels of silver, but the other party only offered twenty taels of silver... Such a shocking thing happened in Guyuan Posthouse, how could it be worth only twenty taels?

Seeing that Chen Ji was slow to speak, the man asked suspiciously, "Do you know what happened in Guyuan Posthouse?"

Chen Ji pondered for a long time, and finally decided to sell the news quickly so that he could exchange the Shaodaozi for grape wine.

He simply whispered, "In Guyuan Posthouse, someone poisoned and killed the maids and servants of the young master Zhan Shi's family, a total of 34 people. No one knows who the murderer is. The border troops and the Yulin troops have investigated, but they have not found the truth."

The man murmured, "No wonder people say that Guyuan Posthouse is full of dead people. Okay, this news is worth twenty taels."

After saying that, he pushed the two golden melon seeds in front of him to Chen Ji, then stood up and left in a hurry.

The man lifted the thick cotton curtain of the inn and disappeared in the cold wind.

Just when Chen Ji was about to ask the waiter to change a jar of wine, the door curtain of the inn was lifted again.

The man who had just left came back, carrying a skinny young man in his hand. He said to the shopkeeper, "Second Master, this guy is breaking your rules. There have been a lot of new faces coming to Guyuan recently, and they dare to ask for money without even knowing the rules."

The shopkeeper finally raised his head and looked at Chen Ji: "Sir, what do you say we should do?"

Chen Ji looked at the young man who was being carried, but he didn't know what this person had to do with him... Maybe there were some rules in this inn that he didn't know about?
He could only say, "Follow the inn's rules."

The shopkeeper said calmly to the man at the door: "Privately ask for information, break a finger, and you are not allowed to enter the inn again until the finger grows back."

The man grinned and said, "Okay."

After saying that, he reached out and forcibly broke the young man's index finger, then carried it out and went out again.

The shopkeeper said slowly, "Recently, the Crown Prince has come to Guyuan, and there are many new faces in Guyuan. I have to tell you, no matter who you are, if you want information, you have to pay for it yourself, don't break the rules."

The main hall of the inn fell silent for a moment, but as the innkeeper lowered his head again and took up his pen to take notes, the room gradually became noisy again.

Chen Ji stuffed two gold melon seeds into his sleeves. Before he could ask the waiter to change the wine, another person sat opposite him, took out two silver ingots and placed them on the table, and whispered, "The buyer has the news."

Chen Ji was slightly startled, and repeated: "In Guyuan Posthouse, someone poisoned Zhan Shifu..."

After hearing the news, the man opposite turned around and left without saying a word.

Chen Ji stared at the silver ingot on the table. He originally thought that after the information was sold to one person, the secret would no longer be a secret, so it could only be a one-time deal.

But now... no wonder the man only paid two gold melon seeds before, he bought the "non-exclusive" one.

Seeing buyers coming one after another, the silver in front of Chen Ji piled up more and more. In just one stick of incense, he earned two hundred and twenty taels of silver.

Xiaoman stared at the silver, unable to move away: "Sir, why don't we stay in Guyuan? This money comes too easily."

Chen Ji didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "We don't have that much information to sell."

Xiaoman hesitated and said, "How about we...how about you find some notorious bandits to kill his entire family, rob him of his money, and then sell the news of his death, killing two birds with one stone."

Chen Ji couldn't help but look back at Xiaoman behind him. What kind of person was his aunt that she had raised a living devil by her side?
He responded nonchalantly: "I don't have that ability."

Xiaoman pursed her lips and said nothing, feeling quite moved.

Not to mention Xiaoman, even Chen Ji himself felt a little unsatisfied. The huge ice flow was still lingering in his dantian, and he needed a lot of silver.

But what other news can be sold? Is the Tiance Army of Jing Dynasty coming to besiege the city?

No, since the border troops have decided to block the news, there must be a reason. If I spread the news, it might disrupt the border troops' position.

But it would be a shame for someone with a lot of secrets to come to this treasure land without taking some money away...

Chen Ji waved to the waiter, who was wiping the table, put the rag on his arm and came over with a smile: "Congratulations on your prosperity, sir. What can I do for you?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "What news is most valuable now?"

The waiter smiled and replied, "Sir, any information related to the Crown Prince and the Dusi Mansion is valuable."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and came up with an idea. He pointed at the Shaodaozi on the table and said, "Please change it to grape wine for me."

The waiter asked in confusion, "The store has just opened, aren't you going to sell some news?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I have some news I want to buy, so I plan to do some business first."

The waiter responded, "Okay, wait a minute, I'll change your drink."

He was about to leave with the wine jar in his arms when Zhang Zheng suddenly asked, "Hey, man, we have already bought the wine, can't we keep it for ourselves?"

The waiter was stunned for a moment: "Sir, there are rules for setting up an altar and opening an altar. If you have great news, come and open this bar. By then, the aroma of the wine will spread ten miles away. You are going to do big business."

The waiter went to the back of the main hall and brought back a jar of grape wine, as well as the buns and noodles that had been ordered earlier.

In addition, there were two plates of melon seeds, two plates of peanuts, a plate of candied fruit, and a plate of raisins, filling the entire table.

Seeing this, Xiaoman said, "We didn't order these, so we won't pay you later."

The waiter laughed and said, "Sir, you are joking. For those who open a shop in my inn, we will not only provide you with snacks and candied fruits, but also waive today's room fee."

Xiaoman's eyes lit up: "There is such a good thing? Your shopkeeper is really good at doing business!" Zhang Xia pulled her to sit next to him at the table: "Eat."

Xiaoman said obediently: "Miss Zhang Er is beautiful and kind-hearted!"

……

……

As soon as the wine jar was placed on the table, someone came up and said, "Gentlemen, I have news to sell."

Chen Ji asked casually: "What kind of news?"

"From Jingchao."

Chen Ji's heart was moved: "How much silver?"

"Five taels."

Chen Ji was silent for two breaths: "Tell me about it."

The man sitting opposite said: "This autumn, there was a locust plague in Shangjing Road, Jing Dynasty, and every household had a poor harvest. If there is a way to transport grain over, we will definitely make a lot of money..."

Chen Ji suddenly lost interest.

There are many merchants in Guyuan, and 60 to 70 percent of them are merchants who rely on the border for business, so most of the news is actually about "buying business."

Chen Ji took out a five-liang silver ingot and pushed it out: "Got it."

Xiaoman said distressedly while eating melon seeds: "Sir, you gave him five taels of silver for such a small piece of information? You don't need it. Who has the ability to transport so many carts of grain to Jing Dynasty will be beheaded... Isn't this a liar?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "It's okay to spend a lot of money to buy horse bones. I will find a way to earn the money back later."

At this time, one person stood up, and another person sat down immediately: "Gentlemen, I also have news worth one or two taels of silver."

"Tell me."

"I came from Minzhou. There is a ship full of spices docked at the port there. It has been sealed by the imperial court. If anyone can help me..."

From morning to afternoon, Chen Ji spent all the money he had saved on news in the morning, but he didn't come across any news that suited him.

Xiaoman was so heartbroken that her face turned grim and she wished she could snatch the silver back.

Xiaoman ate melon seeds while complaining quietly, "Young Master is such a spendthrift, such a spendthrift!"

In the evening, an old man came up to me stealthily and said, "Sir, I have news about Jing Chao. Are you interested?"

Chen Ji picked up a peanut, pinched it with two fingers, and crushed the crispy shell: "Be more specific."

The old man pondered and said, "It has something to do with Lu Jin, the former military strategist of the Jing Dynasty."

Chen Ji paused for a moment while peeling peanuts, and then asked nonchalantly, "What do you do to know the news about a big shot like Lu Jin?"

The old man smiled awkwardly and said, "I only got the news indirectly. As for whether it is true or not, it is up to you to judge."

Chen Ji was noncommittal: "How much silver?"

The old man looked around and said, "Ten taels of silver will do."

Chen Ji nodded slightly, and Zhang Xia pushed a silver ingot in front of the old man: "Go ahead."

The old man recalled: "I was mixed in the tea merchant team of Sanye and did silk business. The business was not big, just enough to make ends meet..."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Where in Jingchao do you usually sell your silk?"

The old man replied, "I dare not go to the heart of Jing Dynasty, so I can only transport silk to Fengsheng Prefecture in Xijing Road and sell it to the merchants there, who then transport it to Shangjing Road and Zhongjing Road for resale. It was during this trip to Fengsheng Prefecture that the merchant who always cooperated with me said that he hoped I could bring 80 pieces of the best Shu brocade next time. An important person specifically asked for Shu brocade, saying that it was a birthday gift for Lord Lu Jinlu."

Chen Ji was sitting at the eight-immortal table when something moved his mind. He put a peanut into his mouth and said, "Since ancient times, officials have always been more likely to kick someone when he is down than to help him in times of need. It is not reasonable to celebrate the birthday of someone who has resigned from office. Besides, Lu Jin is only 46 years old this year. What kind of birthday gift is he going to receive..."

The old man praised, "This gentleman is very smart. I think the same thing: someone must have received the news that Lu Jin will be reinstated in advance, so they want to curry favor with him on Lu Jin's birthday. This is all I know, and I hope this information is useful to you."

The old man took the silver ingot and left, but Chen Ji felt a little depressed.

In his heart, he always hoped that his uncle would never be reinstated, so that he could live peacefully in the Ning Dynasty. But he thought again, this might not be bad news.

At this time, a middle-aged man came in from outside the door, lifted the cotton curtain, glanced at the tables, and immediately picked a table and sat down: "I have news to sell."

The buyer across from him covered his nose and said, "What's that smell on you?"

The man replied, "I am a local from the east of the city, so I naturally have some smell on me."

The buyer pinched his nose and waved his hands: "Why is a dung carrier joining in the fun? Go away, go away."

The man stood up awkwardly and looked around again, but other buyers also avoided his gaze and turned away.

Chen Ji said, "You want to sell information?"

The man's eyes lit up, and he walked to Chen Ji's table and sat down: "This gentleman, my information is not expensive, I just found something strange, and I think it will be useful."

Zhang Zheng smelled the stench and leaned back.

Chen Ji asked, "How much do you want to sell it for?"

The man hesitated for a moment and said, "Two hundred coins will be enough."

Chen Ji nodded: "Go ahead."

The man thought for a moment and said, "I was going to collect manure to sell this morning, but the man who usually drives the manure cart said he couldn't go to the city, so he didn't collect it today. I had no choice but to dump the manure back into the toilet, but halfway there, someone stopped me and said he was collecting manure to irrigate his vegetable garden."

Xiaoman asked in confusion: "What's so strange about this?"

The man explained, "Of course it's strange. That family hired a few idlers who had nothing to do today and bought a lot of manure to put in big vats. The whole yard stinks. Who would buy so much manure? Those dozen big vats are enough to compost dozens of acres of land."

Xiaoman was about to say something else, but Chen Ji said something bad and stood up suddenly: "Big brother, where is that yard?"

The man replied, "It's the house with an elm tree in front of the door on Shache Street in Taohuaifang, east of the city."

Chen Ji strode towards the backyard: "Miss Zhang Er, pay him. You guys stay in the inn, I'm going to the Dusi Mansion!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he shouted, "Zao Zao! Hurry!"

Zaozao bit off the reins wrapped around the hitching post with his mouth and rushed out of the stable. When he rushed to Chenji's side, the horse's hooves did not stop. Chenji grabbed the post on the saddle, turned over, crouched down, and galloped away.

(End of this chapter)