Aoyama

Chapter 248 Cut off the beard
The newly moved room, No. 30 Tianzi, was clean and tidy. There was a bonsai of Pyracantha, an evergreen tree in winter, and the bedding was changed to silk. The table was set with melon seeds, candied fruits, sand dates, and snacks. Even two charcoal basins were delivered.

Xiaoman watched Xiaowu and Xiaoliu busying around for a long time, pointed at the charcoal basin and said, "One charcoal basin in the room is enough, we won't pay for the extra one!"

Xiao Wu quickly bowed and said with a wry smile, "The shopkeeper feels extremely guilty for scaring you just now, so he specially asked me to prepare these to apologize to you. Not only that, your room fee will be waived from now on, and you can stay as long as you want."

Zhang Zheng grabbed a handful of melon seeds from the table and cracked them while wondering, "Your inn doesn't make money, so why do you do such a money-losing business?"

Xiao Wu's face turned bitter: "I don't want to do a business that will lose money. Who knows what these Jing Dynasty spies are doing."

Chen Ji's heart moved, and he leaned against the window frame, holding the Whale Knife in his arms, and asked casually: "Did you know that Hong Xiuzhao's madam was a spy of the Jing Dynasty, or did you just find out? Can you tell me about it?"

Xiaowu hesitated for a moment.

Zhang Xia took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and placed it on the Eight Immortals Table.

Xiao Wu waved his hands quickly: "No, no, the shopkeeper just told me that if you have any questions, I will tell you everything I know. No need to pay!"

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia looked at each other. Xiao Wu had to pay money in the afternoon before he would tell him the news.

But Xiao Wu explained: "Hongxiuzhao has always been a den of thieves from the Jing Dynasty. The Jing Dynasty's caravans from the north took a detour from Yinchuan and stopped at Hongxiuzhao to rest when they arrived in Guyuan. Those caravans seemed to be visiting prostitutes, but they were actually exchanging information."

Chen Ji asked curiously: "How did you know?"

Xiao Wu said proudly: "Look at what you said, when will the secret of Guyuan be hidden from my Longmen Inn?"

Chen Ji was puzzled: "You are just a place that provides trading information, but you are not involved in the information trading. Those people buy and sell information, but it doesn't go through you."

Xiao Wu said mysteriously, "Sir, you may not know that there is a large urn buried under the floor of our inn. If someone sits in the urn, he can hear the guests' voices in the main hall no matter how quiet they are."

Chen Ji knew that the craftsmanship of the listening jar was generally used in the military.

The defenders of the city covered a large urn with a thin layer of cowhide and buried it under the city wall. The soldiers sat in the urn and could hear the sound of horse hooves twenty kilometers away.

Some people buried a large urn next to the foreign envoys and found a blind man with excellent hearing to sit inside it and write down the content of the foreign envoys' conversation.

Unexpectedly, there was also this thing in the basement of Longmen Inn, and all the transaction information was heard.

However, Chen Ji looked at Xiao Wu with a complicated expression, and his doubts were already extremely strong: Can such a secret be told to me? I am just a guest.

Xiao Wu didn't notice Chen Ji's expression and continued to talk to himself: "What kind of information does the customer like to inquire about? We can guess his identity from the side. Merchants buy information for business, and only a few people pay attention to the border military intelligence. We have secretly remembered these people."

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Who has ever inquired about the military situation?"

Xiao Wu put the white rag on his shoulder and counted on his fingers: "The clerk of the glass shop in Nanluofang, the owner of Yangji Fur in Duohun Street, Luoshifang, and the madam of Hongxiuzhao... Sir, do you have anything else to ask? If not, Xiao Liu and I will leave. The owner also told me something else."

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Thank you very much. I have nothing else to ask for now."

Xiaowu and Xiaoliu left Room Tianzi C and carefully closed the door before they breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Liu muttered beside him, "What's wrong with the shopkeeper? He's just the illegitimate son of a fourth-rank official. Is it necessary for us to curry favor with him so much?"

Xiao Wu quickly patted him on the back of his head: "Just do whatever you are told to do, do more and ask less!"

Inside the room, Chen Ji walked to the door silently, and confirmed that Xiaowu and Xiaoliu had gone downstairs. Then he turned around and asked Zhang Xia, "Do you think they are telling the truth?"

Zhang Xia sat at the Eight Immortals Table, still playing with the silver ingot that he had not given out just now. "It seems that they have no reason to lie to us... It's strange, how can they even tell us about the eavesdropping jar hidden underground? This is a matter of great importance to the reputation of the inn. If we tell others about this, who will come to the inn to buy and sell information? This is probably something that only the shopkeeper and the owner can know, right?"

Zhang Zheng lay carelessly on the floor, legs crossed. "He took so long to get a basin of hot water before, but now he's so attentive that it's scary... Why is he so rude at first but so polite later? Is he planning something else? We better be careful and don't let this shady shop rip us off!"

Zhang Xia was thoughtful: "What do you think? Could it be that Mr. Hu San specially gave a heads-up to the inn, and the innkeeper gave him face?"

Zhang Zheng turned and lay on his side, supporting his head with his hands. "But where did that Third Master come from? Why did he help me out for no reason?"

"He must be coming for Chen Ji," Zhang Xia analyzed seriously. "According to what the clerk said, Mr. Hu Junyuan was once a lieutenant general under General Wen Tao. Later, he left Guyuan and followed an important figure... The lieutenant general of the border army is a fourth-rank official, which is higher than Mr. Chen's official rank. What kind of person would be worthy of him giving up his official position to follow him?"

Zhang Zheng sat up, his eyes sparkling as he guessed, "Could he have been secretly protecting General Wen Tao's orphan all these years? Just like in the storytellers' books, where the general entrusted his orphan to the care of his subordinates, hiding their identities and protecting them, loyal and courageous, even at the cost of their lives?"

Zhang Xia shook his head: "General Wen Tao has never married, so how can there be an orphan?"

Zhang Zheng said cheerfully: "Who can say for sure? We don't even know how many illegitimate children our father has out there."

Zhang Xia glared at him and said, "Don't tarnish our father's innocence."

Zhang Zheng curled his lips: "He still has innocence?"

Zhang Xia thought about it and said, "That's right."

Chen Ji: “…” Xiao Man: “…”

Zhang Xia changed the subject: "No matter what, the person Mr. Hu is following now must be related to General Wen Tao. Maybe if we find out who the big man behind him is, we will know why he helps Chen Ji."

Chen Ji hummed and said, "I'll go and find out some rumors about General Wen Tao these days..."

At this moment, there came from the room next door the sound of wailing, running, and falling tables and chairs.

Everyone in the room looked at each other and gathered around the window.

Chen Ji opened the window a crack, and the four of them leaned over to look out, but could see nothing.

Two sticks of incense later, the noise in Hongxiuzhao stopped, and Xiaowu, Xiaoliu and other inn waiters were seen carrying a corpse each, walking into the yard cursing.

Under the moonlight, every waiter in the inn was holding a kitchen knife and was covered in blood.

There was still blood dripping from the tip of the knife. Xiao Wu shook the knife in his hand, wiped it on his arm, and ordered, "Xiao Liu, give everyone a bowl of hot soup."

As he spoke, Xiao Wu turned back to look at the third floor, and Chen Ji hurriedly pulled everyone back. Then, Xiao Wu led the men to carry the body, went into the stable and disappeared.

Zhang Zheng was in doubt and asked in a low voice, "Did the Longmen Inn really come to kill the Hongxiuzhao family?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment and said, "You guys should go to bed early. I'll go to the Dusi Mansion."

……

……

It was late at night. There was no longer any sight of the tyrants fighting and hacking at each other in Guyuan City. Chen Ji rode his horse at a rapid speed. All he could see in the distance were the endless stream of braziers burning on the distant city walls, and teams of frontier soldiers armed with halberds patrolling back and forth behind the battlements.

He dismounted in front of the Dusi Mansion, but found that the guards of the Dusi Mansion had been replaced by the Yulin Army. More than 20 Yulin soldiers had their hands on the long swords at their waists, and the border soldiers had disappeared.

Chen Ji walked closer, holding the reins, and said loudly, "Generals, please tell him that I have something important to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

A Yulin soldier stepped out from the crowd and sneered, "What are you doing here?"

Looking at the traces, it turned out that it was Qi Chenshen who was on duty.

He clasped his fists and repeated, "General Qi, please help pass on the message that I have something important to report to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Qi Chenzhuo raised his head arrogantly, the white pheasant tail on his helmet swaying slightly: "What, you still want to trick His Highness into doing something, and then sell the information about His Highness for money? Chen Ji, I advise you, you can only make this kind of money once, don't think everyone is a fool."

Chen Ji calmly put down his hands and said, "General Qi, I'm afraid you have misunderstood me. I really have something very important to do."

Qi Zhuozhuo waved his hand impatiently: "Now the Jingchao Tiance Army is ten miles outside the city. We don't have time to deal with you. His Highness has learned that you sold him at Longmen Inn. It was Lord Chen who ordered you not to enter the Dusi Mansion again in the future. Hurry and leave."

Qi Chenzhuo continued, "Actually, Lord Chen is doing this for your own good. You can say that selling information about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is a big deal or a small matter. Whether or not to chop off your head is entirely up to His Royal Highness. Let's forget about it this time, but if there is a next time, be careful of your head."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then he got on his horse and rode back.

At this time, Qi Chenzhuo's eyes flickered: "Wait."

Chen Ji looked back and asked, "General Qi, do you have any other instructions?"

Qi Zhuozhuo used his little finger to pick his ear and pretended to be indifferent and said lazily: "You definitely can't enter the Dusi Mansion, but if you have anything important to say, you can tell me and I will report to His Highness on your behalf."

Chen Ji sat on his horse and thought for a while, and finally said: "Hongxiuzhao in Qiuci Street was opened by the thieves of Jing Dynasty. It is a base dedicated to transmitting intelligence to Jing Dynasty."

Having said that, he turned his horse and rode away.

Qi Chengzhu looked at Chen Ji's receding figure, his eyes sparkling.

He whispered to the Yulin Army on both sides, "You stay here and I will report the news to His Highness! Remember, this is the news I got from the informants I planted in the streets, not from that kid Chen Ji... When I have made a contribution, I will never treat you unfairly."

The Yulin soldiers looked at each other.

Qi Zhuozhuo raised his eyebrows: "Why, are you willing to let that kid steal the limelight?"

The Yulin Army hurriedly clasped their fists and said, "If Your Highness asks, we will definitely follow your instructions."

Qi Chenzhuo laughed and hurried into the Dusi Mansion.

(End of this chapter)