Aoyama

Chapter 254: The First Day of the Siege

First day of the siege.

When the roosters crowed, a long line formed outside the porridge stall on Qiuci Street.

In the team, singers and dancers wrapped themselves in thick camel-hair blankets with only their cheeks exposed. Servants, pimps, and guests stood in the team, holding ceramic bowls in their hands, waiting for the team to move forward little by little.

The border soldiers, wearing gray turbans and holding long iron spoons, served the porridge to the people in line.

Qi Zhuozhuo came back from the porridge kitchen early with a bowl in his hand. He lifted the cotton curtain, ran up to the second floor on the wooden stairs, and knocked on Li Xuan's door.

Li Xuan in the room put on his clothes and opened the door: "What's the hurry?"

Qi Zhuozhuo handed the bowl to Li Xuan and said angrily, "Brother-in-law, look, the porridge cooked by the border troops is so watery. There are only a dozen corn kernels in a full bowl. What's the difference between drinking this and drinking water?"

Li Xuan lowered his head to look at the ceramic bowl, and his heart sank suddenly: the porridge in the bowl was crystal clear and the bottom was visible, and it was as bland as the water used to wash the pot.

He held the pottery bowl and hurried out without even having time to put on his clothes.

Qi Chenzhuo pulled him back: "Brother-in-law, where are you going?"

Li Xuan grabbed his collar and said in a low voice, "Take people to buy food later. We must buy food at any price, even if it's only one ounce of silver per pound!"

Qi Zhuozhuo was stunned: "One tael per catty? That's a hundred times more! Brother-in-law, at this price, the silver we brought can't buy much food, and even if we buy it, it won't be enough for the Yulin Army to eat!"

Li Xuan angrily said, "Now that the border troops are distributing porridge, everyone in Guyuan is starving. We are lucky to be able to buy food! It's no big deal for you and me to starve, but if His Highness starves with us, we will die! Spend all the money and save His Highness first!"

He pushed Qi Zhuozhuo away, ran up to the third floor, and knocked on the prince's door.

The prince opened the door: "Master Li, what's wrong?"

Li Xuan said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, look at this porridge. I am afraid that in half a month, someone will eat their own children. If the Jing Dynasty army besieges the city for half a month... the consequences will be disastrous."

The prince looked at the porridge in his hand and frowned. "Hurry up and send the Yulin soldiers to find food. If anyone can buy ten dan of food, he will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver when he returns to the capital. If anyone can buy one hundred dan of food, he will be promoted one level when he returns to the capital! Go and call Lord Chen and the others to come up. We need to discuss new countermeasures immediately!"

Li Xuanfeng left in a hurry.

The prince paced back and forth in the room, thinking about how to solve the food problem and who around him could solve the problem.

Chen Liqin? Chen Liqin is not good enough. This Lord Chen still places his hopes on the border troops. He only knows how to do things step by step and has no ability to "go beyond the ordinary" in times of crisis.

Li Xuan? Li Xuan is no good either. This high official has the ability to fight a hundred people alone in a chaotic battle, but he is not a "capable official".

Qi Chenzhuo? He was just a playboy who came to the Qi family to gild his reputation. He had to give face to the Qi family on weekdays, but he couldn't be entrusted with important tasks right now.

Traces...

The prince thought for a long time, and finally walked to the next door and knocked on the door.

dong dong dong.

dong dong dong.

The prince knocked for a long time, but no one opened the door.

At this time, Li Xuan led Chen Liqin, Chen Wenzong, and Qi Chenzhuo upstairs. The prince asked in confusion, "Where did Chen Ji go?"

Chen Wenzong bowed and replied, "Reporting to the Crown Prince, before the cock crowed, I saw my third brother go out with Zhang Zheng and Miss Zhang Er. I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to get porridge."

Qi Chenzhuo was stunned for a moment: "I also went to get porridge, but I didn't see him."

After that, he muttered quietly, "Will this kid see that we are out of food and run away alone again?"

Everyone looked at each other and the prince said slowly, "Let's ignore Chen Ji for now, everyone go into the house and discuss countermeasures."

……

……

In Taohuaifang, Zhang’s grain and oil shop was in a mess.

All the shelves in the house were pushed to the ground by the border troops who came to collect grain last night. Even the earthen walls and the ground were smashed with several holes, and baskets were scattered everywhere.

I think yesterday, when the border troops saw no one answered the door, they simply climbed over the wall and searched. They took away everything edible, including salt shakers, rapeseed oil, flour, sesame seeds, mung beans, vinegar, and even the dried radishes drying on the roof.

At this time, Zhang Zheng, Zhang Xia and Xiaoman were surrounding a stone well, waiting silently.

After an incense stick of time, Chen Ji climbed out by climbing the hemp rope at the mouth of the well. Zhang Zheng stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and pulled him up.

Chen Ji brushed off the dust on his body and whispered, "The food is still there. The cellar is big and the walls are plastered with lime, so we don't have to worry about the food getting damp in the short term. There are corn, millet, rice, and some dried bacon and pickled vegetables in it, enough for us to eat."

After that, he took off the cloth bag on his back and handed it to Xiaoman: "Put it in, it contains our food for the next few days. You can't light a fire to cook here, so as not to arouse suspicion from the neighbors." In those days, selling private salt was illegal, and if caught, you would be exiled 3,000 miles away to do hard labor. Small salt dealers would pickle private salt into meat and vegetables, dry it in the air, and sell it, which was more concealed. With these things, there was no shortage of salt.

Chen Ji sighed, "I just saw that the porridge in the porridge stalls along the way was so thin. It's okay now, but in ten days or half a month, I'm afraid many people will starve to death."

Xiaoman hugged the bag tightly in his arms and said, "Sir, please don't be so kind as to give away all the food. These two thousand dan of food may seem like a lot, but if you really give it away, it won't be able to save the people in this city."

Chen Ji said helplessly: "Don't worry. If you really want to save people, you can't rely on this little food. Don't hold the bag so tightly, otherwise others will know that there is treasure inside."

Zhang Zheng sat on the stone edge of the well and said with emotion: "The Yulin Army and the prince are really careless. They were able to sleep well last night. If I were Li Xuan, I would go door to door to buy food overnight. However, Chen Ji, if you want to get close to the prince, now is the best time."

Chen Ji's eyes were calm: "Let them starve for a while first."

Knock, knock, knock. There was a knock on the door.

The four of them looked at the tightly closed door of the grain and oil shop at the same time. A shout came from outside: "Shopkeeper? Shopkeeper! Is there any grain left in the shop?"

Zhang Xia whispered, "That's Qi Zhuozhuo's voice. They're here to buy food."

After a while, Qi Chenzhuo saw that no one responded, so he immediately went to knock on the door of the shop next door.

But the waiter next door said impatiently: "It's gone, it's all gone. The border troops searched it all last night. If you want to buy food, go somewhere else. Don't bother us!"

Qi Chenzhuo said angrily, "No, no, can't you talk properly? Do you believe me or not, I will smash your shop!"

As he was speaking, the voice gradually faded away, as if he was being dragged away by other Yulin soldiers.

In the backyard of the grain and oil shop, Zhang Zheng said disdainfully by the well: "If we keep buying like this, the day lilies will be cold!"

Xiaoman glanced at him and said, "Mr. Zhang likes to talk after the fact. I didn't see you mention buying grain before."

Zhang Zheng said cheerfully, "Isn't it that Xiaoman is here? Why would you need me?"

Xiaoman was slightly startled. Zhang Zheng suddenly stopped arguing with her and started to flatter her instead. She was a little uncomfortable with it.

Chen Ji wiped off the white lime powder on his clothes and said, "Let's go. Don't worry about them."

A few people quietly left the grain and oil shop before dawn.

All the houses along the way were deserted. The steamed bun shops, breakfast shops, and noodle stalls were all closed. Outside the simple porridge stalls, there were long queues, and the people in the queues looked lifeless.

Hawkers still set up stalls to sell furs, ironware, pottery, glass, and silk, but no one was interested in their stalls.

Just at this moment, two people passed by them.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Xia suddenly looked back with a sigh: "Are you from Luocheng?"

Chen Ji frowned and followed Zhang Xia's gaze, only to see two sturdy men wearing only single clothes in the winter, striding quickly.

Zhang Zheng thought for a moment and asked, "Is he a businessman or escort from Luo City doing business?"

Zhang Xia closed his eyes and recalled: "I'm not sure. The last time I saw him was at the Lantern Festival in Los Angeles last year, next to the Wenfeng Tower. He was holding a little girl in his arms. The little girl had two buns tied up with a red hairband and was holding a colorful windmill in her hand..."

"The other one, I saw him twice, both times in the East Market. The first time, he came out of the silk shop and I was about to go in; the second time, I was riding Zaozao and he drove past us in a carriage..."

Silk, Lantern Festival, and horse-drawn carriage.

Chen Ji always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

Zhang Zheng asked curiously, "Maybe they are really merchants who come here to do business? Luocheng is the first stop for the transportation of silk to the Western Regions, and many merchants transit there."

"No," Chen Ji frowned, "They didn't have bowls in their hands. They left so early instead of getting porridge. There must be something more important."

Chen Ji followed the two sturdy men, but just after turning a corner, he suddenly turned around and led Zhang Zheng and others into a dental shop on the street that had just removed its door panels.

Diagonally opposite the shop, a middle-aged man with a scar on his face passed by the two men and stuffed something into their hands.

Zhang Xia turned around and saw that the scarred middle-aged man was actually Old Wu, the border army general who was suspected of poisoning the 34 members of the Chen family!

Chen Ji was inexplicably frightened. How could these two people, a general from the border army and a man from Luocheng, who had nothing to do with each other, suddenly get together?
He whispered, "You guys take the food back first. I'll follow Old Wu to see where he's going. Old Wu might be the link that keeps the border troops connected to all parties and the key to solving the mystery."

After saying that, Chen Ji turned and walked out.

As he passed by a stall outside the door, he picked up a hat and put it on his head. The stall owner was about to shout when he saw twenty copper coins clinking onto the stall.

When the stall owner looked up again to look for Chen Ji, he had disappeared.

(End of this chapter)