Aoyama

Chapter 257 Seizing the legitimate son
In the main hall of the inn, Wang Gui was holding a steaming bowl of yellow flour steamed bread, with his back to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji ignored him and walked straight to the left staircase. With each step he took, Wang Gui turned his body a little bit to follow the footsteps, so that his back was always facing Chen Ji, which was particularly funny.

At this time, Chen Wenxiao stood at the corner of the stairs on the second floor and shouted loudly: "Wang Gui, why did you take so long? The meal is not yet ready..."

The moment he saw Chen Ji, his voice stopped abruptly and he turned and walked into the house.

Only when Chen Ji disappeared around the corner of the stairs did Wang Gui heave a long sigh of relief.

Behind the counter, the shopkeeper in a black shirt glanced at Wang Gui: "Isn't Chen Ji also a member of your Chen family? Why are you all guarding against him like a thief?"

Wang Gui glared at the shopkeeper fiercely: "Do you care about the Chen family's affairs? We finally bought some food, but the eldest son may not be able to eat enough, so how can he have a turn?"

The shopkeeper sneered: "The Chen family is a famous and prestigious family, but they like to do some shameful things. The master is like this, and the dog tied at home is the same."

Wang Gui narrowed his eyes slightly. "The Chen family has been nobles for generations, and they won't allow a country boy like you to interfere. If you want to fight for him, you might as well share your food with him. But the Jing Dynasty will be besieging the city for who knows how long, so don't feed others and starve yourself to death."

At this moment, Wang Gui keenly sensed something was wrong: "Wait, do you have a grudge against my Chen family?"

As he spoke, the cotton curtain was lifted again.

Qi Chenzhuo and a Yulin soldier were dressed in ordinary clothes. Each of them was holding a light cloth bag, and it was obvious that there was not much food in it.

When Qi Zhuozhu saw the steamed bread in Wang Gui's hand, his eyes suddenly lit up.

The young master of the Qi family took a few steps forward and grabbed two steamed buns from the tray, stuffing one into his own mouth and the other into his colleague's mouth.

He chewed his steamed bread and said incoherently: "I'm starving!"

Wang Gui was horrified and reached out to snatch the steamed bread from Qi Zhuozhuo's mouth: "What are you doing? This is the food I collected from the people with great difficulty!"

Qi Zhuozhuo tilted his head back to avoid Wang Gui's outstretched hand, cursing, "What do you mean by yours and mine? We are all in this together. If there is food, take it out and let's eat together! Come here, I'll take two more. My brother-in-law hasn't eaten since this morning!"

"No way!" Wang Gui was so scared that he turned around and ran upstairs.

Qi Chenzhuo felt lost. He looked at the half-eaten steamed bread in his hand, gritted his teeth and stopped eating it, intending to leave it for Li Xuan.

The shopkeeper jokingly asked from behind the counter: "Is it difficult for the army to collect grain?"

Qi Chenzhuo laughed out loud, "All the grain shops were searched by the border troops, so we can only collect some grain from the corners of the people's homes, and we have to pay a huge price for it. The money I use to buy this small half bag of grain is enough for me to go to the Eight Great Hutongs for a drink!"

The shopkeeper said lightly, "Eat sparingly. I'm afraid you will be hungry for a long time."

Qi Chenzhuo rolled his eyes and said, "Boss, have you seen how much food the Chen family bought in the main hall?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "I only bought a small amount and steamed it all into steamed bread in one go."

Qi Chenzhuo asked again: "Where is Chen Ji? Did Chen Ji bring back the food?"

The shopkeeper glanced at him and said, "No."

Wang Gui went upstairs carrying the steamed bread and knocked on the door. Chen Wenxiao opened the door and looked at the tray with a frown: "Is this all there is? There's not even any braised beef in soy sauce. How can I swallow this?"

Wang Gui patiently explained: "Second Master, I bought this from the people with great difficulty."

Chen Wenxiao hesitated for a moment, but finally took the tray.

Wang Gui was about to follow him into the house when the door slammed shut in front of him. Wang Gui was stunned for a moment and opened his mouth to say that he hadn't eaten yet, but he didn't know how to start, and his face gradually became gloomy.

Inside the house, Chen Liqin and Chen Wenzong were standing by the window with frowns on their faces.

Liang took the tray from Chen Wenxiao: "Master, Wen Zong, come and have something to eat."

Chen Liqin sighed heavily: "How can I still have the mood to eat? If we can't buy food, the Yulin Army will go hungry tonight! By then, those soldiers will make a fuss, and who knows what kind of trouble they will cause."

Chen Wenzong hesitated: "The Yulin Army also has military discipline." Chen Liqin sneered: "When people are hungry, they can do anything. I am afraid that they will rob the people's food and be caught by the border army and punished by military law. The Yulin Army was led by Your Highness. If the reputation of the Yulin Army is ruined, Your Highness's reputation will also be ruined. At that time, it will be a problem whether the prince can keep his position."

Chen Wenzong was worried: "What should we do? Dad, let's go find food!"

Chen Liqin frowned and said, "Where should I look? I've already looked for everything I should look for!"

Chen Wenzong's eyes suddenly lit up: "Go find Chen Ji, he has a lot of ideas, maybe he will come up with a solution!"

Chen Wenxiao chewed his steamed bread and sneered, "Brother, do you think he is a god? Five hundred Yulin soldiers couldn't find food, how could he? If he can, I will see him walking upside down in the future!"

Chen Wenzong said coldly: "If you have the time to make sarcastic remarks, you might as well think about how to help His Highness and father!"

Liang took his arm and sat him at the table, trying to smooth things over: "Wen Zong, hurry up and eat something. You haven't eaten for a whole day."

Chen Wenzong picked up a steamed bread and hesitated for a moment: "Did mother send food to Chen Ji?"

Chen Wenxiao sneered and said, "You said he has great magical powers, so why does he need us to send him food? Brother, aren't you contradicting yourself?"

But the next moment, Chen Wenzong stood up, picked up four steamed breads and walked out: "I'll go see him."

Liang was anxious: "What are you doing? I... I have arranged for Wang Gui to send him four steamed buns, you can just eat yours!"

……

……

Chen Ji knocked lightly on the door of Room C with his knuckles: "It's me."

With a creak, Xiaoman opened the door.

Chen Ji saw Zhang Zheng pacing in the room, anxious like an ant on hot pan.

He looked around the room, frowned, and asked, "Where is Miss Zhang Er?"

Zhang Zheng took a few steps forward and said hurriedly, "After you left with Old Wu, my sister said that you must want to know where those two Luocheng men went, and she insisted on following them. I disagreed, but she took advantage of Xiaoman and I not paying attention and followed them to who knows where!"

Chen Ji thought something was wrong and turned around to go out to look for someone.

But just as he went out, he saw Zhang Xia coming up the stairs and asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

Chen Ji heaved a sigh of relief: "I thought you were in the hands of those people in Luocheng."

Zhang Xia smiled and said, "I'm not that stupid. I won't let them find me. Let's go inside and talk."

Chen Ji looked around the corridor and then closed the door: "Where did you go just now?"

Zhang Xia leaned against the window and said carefully, "I didn't dare to follow too closely. I don't know who they met along the way. I only know that they finally went to Taohuaifang and then entered the home of a wealthy man named Li."

She continued, "I quietly asked a few children about this. One of them said that Mr. Li was a businessman and quite wealthy. He would give lucky money to his neighbors during festivals and every child got a share. They were a very kind family."

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "What kind of business does Mr. Li's family run?"

Zhang Xia thought for a moment and said, "I didn't ask that question... There's a strong smell of sulfur on that street. Maybe they're doing the sulfur business?"

Chen Ji suddenly realized: "Sulfur!"

Zhang Xia asked in confusion, "Isn't sulfur a medicinal herb? Why is there such a big reaction?"

Only Chen Ji knew that sulfur was one of the raw materials used to make firearms!

(End of this chapter)