Aoyama

Chapter 266: Changes and Unchanged
"Chen Ji, our Ning Dynasty stretches from Bohai Sea in the east to Qinghai Sea in the west, from Chongli Pass in the north to Dongfan Liuqiu Island in the south. From east to west, from north to south, a document takes several months to travel. The rebellion of the common people in the south was not known to the capital until several months later. The siege of Guyuan was probably not known until the winter jasmine in the capital bloomed."

Mr. Hu San sat at the table and drank a sip of tea. "All the emperors in the world know very well that they can't manage all the affairs of the world even if they work themselves to death, so they really care about only one thing: who is coveting the power in their hands. If the Hu family produces two great officials of the divine realm at once, I'm afraid that the person in Renshou Palace will not be able to sleep."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Is Hu Junxian confident that he can be promoted to the Divine Dao Realm?"

Third Master Hu laughed, "The realm of the gods is like a natural chasm. Unless one is as brilliant as Lu Yang from the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple, who can be sure that he can definitely cross that threshold in this lifetime? Even the young supervisor of my Hu family has never boasted about it, and Xu Shu simply said that it is impossible for him to do so in this lifetime. But are these important to the one in Renshou Palace?"

Chen Ji asked softly, "Isn't he afraid that Jing Dynasty will suddenly have two more great officials in the Godly Realm, and that Jing Dynasty will swallow up Ning Dynasty?"

Mr. Hu San said seriously: "There are a total of four great officials in the two dynasties, two in the Jing Dynasty and two in the Ning Dynasty. One more is not allowed. This is the tacit understanding of the emperors."

Chen Ji looked up and found that Mr. Hu Sanye's blind white eye seemed to be staring at him deeply.

That eye was obviously bad, but it seemed to be able to see into people's hearts.

Chen Ji changed the subject and said, "Third Master, before Hu Junxian came to Guyuan to serve as the deputy general, this position should have been yours, right?"

Mr. Hu smiled and said, "It's me."

Chen Ji asked, "Why did you resign?"

Mr. Hu Sanye said casually: "I want to leave Guyuan to do something. I can't leave without resigning."

Chen Ji probed, "Is it because there is someone you want to kill that you need to practice the way of an official again?"

Uncle Hu San picked up the teapot and refilled himself with tea. He said nonchalantly, "Why fight and kill? Maybe I just want to see what the world outside Guyuan is like? When I wanted to come to Guyuan, my mother disagreed, saying it was too far from home. I stole a fast horse, took five hundred taels of silver, and rushed all the way to Guyuan to join the army. I have been gone for twelve years."

"Before coming to Guyuan, I thought I could fight bravely with my colleagues every day, but after coming here, I found that Guyuan does not have wars every year. Maybe there is only one every two or three years, or maybe only one every five or six years. In between, there is a long and silent loneliness. When you stand on the wall and look into the distance, you can only see loess, mountains, and gravel, which makes you crazy."

"No one cares about this place. The scholars don't care, the ministers don't care either. The military pay and supplies are exploited before they are transported here. They don't seem to worry about the loss of Guyuan at all. Anyway, it won't affect the prosperity of the capital. I think Hu Junxian and I, like all the border troops, hate this place. We dream of leaving here and returning to the prosperous capital to visit temple fairs and enjoy lanterns."

Chen Ji listened quietly to Mr. Hu's reminiscence. Mr. Hu stood up, opened the window a crack, and looked calmly at the parapet in the distance: "After leaving Guyuan, I was like a country bumpkin entering the city. It seemed that many things had changed. Before I left Beijing, the most famous head of the Eight Great Hutongs was named Yun. Head of Yun was so beautiful. When I saw her at the age of seventeen, the red mole between her eyebrows gave me several erotic dreams. When she sat on a high platform and played the piano, I thought that a fairy was no more than this. But when I returned to Beijing twelve years later to inquire, I learned that she married into the Qi family as a concubine, and was later given to a subordinate by Minister Qi."

Chen Ji suddenly asked: "Is there anything that hasn't changed?"

Uncle Hu laughed and said, "Guyuan has not changed. Now, I come back here after many years and find that only this stinky and hard stone of Guyuan has not changed."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Since you've already left, why did Mr. Hu come back here?"

Uncle Hu laughed at himself after a long pause: "It's like a joke. When I was in Guyuan, I dreamed of leaving. But after I left, I dreamed of coming back."

Chen Ji was silent.

At this time, there was a noise coming from the next door room, No. 10B. Someone was pacing back and forth in the room, making the wooden floor creak.

Zhang Zheng's loud voice came through the wall: "Chen Ji is not being held by the border troops, why hasn't he come back yet? Why don't we go to the border troops to look for him? Since the Chen family doesn't want to take care of it, then we can bring up the Xu family. I don't believe that Hu Junxian is determined to make a mortal enemy of the Xu family."

Uncle Hu glanced at Chen Ji and then walked quietly to the wooden wall to listen.

But Zhang Xia said, "You and I are only half members of the Xu family. Borrowing the Xu family's identity may not really work. So, let's go to Baiyun Temple in the west of the city and use the name of my uncle."

Chen Ji stood up reluctantly and knocked on the wall with his knuckles.

In an instant, the next door became quiet.

Chen Ji said loudly across the wall: "I'm in Room B, don't worry about me, I'll be back soon."

After saying that, he sat back at the eight-immortals table and took a sip of tea.

Mr. Hu looked at the empty cup and asked, "Why, aren't you afraid that I'll poison you?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "If the Third Master wanted to kill me, there would be no need to go through so much trouble."

Mr. Hu San suddenly changed the subject: "How did the Chen family treat you? They knew you were in danger but were unwilling to stand up for you?"

Chen Ji's eyes moved slightly: "I am just the bastard of the Chen family. I was sent to the clinic as an apprentice for two years. We are a little unfamiliar with each other. It is understandable that they are unwilling to step forward."

Mr. Hu was startled, and then his face darkened: "They actually asked you to be an apprentice and serve tea?"

Chen Ji explained: "My master is the imperial physician Yao Qimen, he is very kind to me."

Mr. Hu San was slightly relieved and asked with a smile: "You are not young anymore, do you have a girl you like?..."

Chen Ji looked at the other person silently. He was not familiar with Mr. Hu Sanye, and they were already close friends when they talked about the Chen family. And the words he said at that moment sounded more like the tone of an elder speaking to a younger person.

Mr. Hu San knew that he had said something wrong, so he quickly stood up and changed the subject: "If you want ginseng, come to Yuancaotang at 9:00 tomorrow morning, and it should be available then."

After saying that, Mr. Hu was about to go out.

Chen Ji asked in confusion: "Where is the Third Master going?"

Mr. Hu Sanye responded: "If you want to buy his ginseng at a low price, you must cut off all his escape routes... Then you will know."

The door closed, leaving Chen Ji alone in Mr. Hu Sanye's room, deep in thought.

He had previously suspected that Mr. Hu San was the one who paid Xiaoman to buy his whereabouts, but now it seems that he is not. The other party did not even know that he was an apprentice in the clinic, nor did he know his situation in the Chen family.

strangeness.

Chen Ji came to the window and slowly opened it. He looked down at the windowsill and saw a pair of handprints on the dust on the windowsill. It must be that Mr. Hu Sanye had also stood in the same position, looking at the city wall in the distance for a long time.

For some reason, the low cry of Old Wu before his death suddenly rang out in his heart, Guyuan, Guyuan.

While he was thinking, there was a knock on the door next door. The prince's gentle voice came from the corridor: "Chen Ji?"

Chen Ji opened the door: "Your Highness, I'm here."

The prince was surprised: "Hey, weren't you in Room C? Why did you go to Room B?"

Chen Ji explained: "I just chatted with my friends in this room...Your Highness, do you have something to talk to me about?"

The prince stood in the dark room and asked softly, "Why did General Hu come to you today? Did he cause you any trouble?"

Chen Ji knew that the prince was trying to get some information out of him, so he thought for a moment and replied half-truthfully, "General Hu did not embarrass me, because my teacher Wang Daosheng's letter had previously reached Guyuan, recommending me to General Hu, so he called me over to ask if I was willing to stay in the frontier army."

The prince asked casually, "How do you answer?"

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Of course I refused."

The prince smiled slightly: "Brother Chen Ji has great talent. No matter where you go, people will cherish your talent. Don't worry, with your talent, you will definitely achieve greater things in my East Palace."

Chen Ji replied: "Thank you, Prince."

The prince changed the subject and said, "Chen Ji, Qi Chenzhuo was jealous of you for stealing the limelight from the Yulin Army, so he wanted to go against you in everything. After you left today, Li Xuan and I have severely reprimanded him... It is difficult for you to forgive him, but we can't let so many Yulin Army soldiers suffer because of him. Don't worry, if I can return to the capital, I will definitely transfer him away from the Yulin Army."

Chen Ji bowed and said, "Your Highness, you worry too much. I don't take it to heart."

The prince looked at him for a moment and sighed, "The Yulin Army has been out of food for a day and can only survive by drinking water. If we don't eat tomorrow, I'm afraid we won't even have the strength to kill the enemy."

Chen Ji immediately said: "Your Highness, please be at ease. I will definitely find food for the Yulin Army tomorrow."

The prince smiled and said, "You are so magnanimous. You already have the heart of a prime minister."

He took off a string of Buddhist coins from his wrist and handed it to Chen Ji: "This is one thousand taels of silver, all for you to spend. The more food the better."

……

……

The third day of the siege.

Before daybreak, Longmen Inn was already bustling with activity.

Zaozao was snoring in the backyard, Xiaoman was dozing off beside the charcoal brazier, and when he looked up, he saw Chen Ji had gotten up at some point and was standing by the window, staring at the backyard of the inn through the gap.

In the backyard, Xiaowu and Xiaoliu sent the Guyuan merchants to the stable one by one. Seven of them were sent away in one night. No one knew whether they were sent to Jingchao or were really "sent away".

Zhang Xia was also awakened by Zaozao's snorting. He stood up and walked to Chen Ji's side and whispered, "Do you want to give food to the Yulin Army? Don't worry about what others say about 'the overall situation is more important'. My father said that life is only a few decades long and it will pass in the blink of an eye. There is no need to wrong yourself for others."

Chen Ji closed the window and said, "I am not putting the overall situation first. Hu Junxian is going to surrender the city. When that time comes, the grain will not be sold at a good price. I want to take advantage of this last opportunity to make all the money I can."

Zhang Xia was quick-witted: "Open the gates and surrender the city? Then we must move to the cellar today. It is the safest place to hide there. We will leave at dawn. We will take Xuwei Lane, which is less crowded."

Chen Ji hummed: "Only after you are settled in the cellar can I work with peace of mind."

Without saying a word, Zhang Xia turned around, patted Zhang Zheng who was still sleeping, and packed his luggage together.

Before the sky was completely bright, Chen Ji quietly opened the door, and four people walked out one after another and quietly walked downstairs.

When passing the main hall, there was only the shopkeeper sweeping the floor in the empty hall, and Xiaowu was sleeping soundly on the counter.

Chen Ji didn't talk to him and just walked past him.

Before they left the house, the shopkeeper suddenly called out to them, "Where are you going, sir?"

Chen Ji looked back and saw that the shopkeeper looked calm, but his eyes seemed to be hiding many things.

He replied: "Go out and take a look. Is there anything I can do for you, shopkeeper?"

The shopkeeper did not ask any more questions, but said meaningfully: "Sir, you will not come back after you leave, right?"

Chen Ji's mind was moved. Could it be that the other party could hear the conversation in his room? It was not impossible. If there were threads in the listening jar connecting the rooms, it would not be a problem to listen to any room.

He calmly asked, "What does the shopkeeper mean?"

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "It's okay, I just asked casually."

After saying that, he walked to the backyard with a broom.

Chen Ji looked at the other person's departing back, then turned around and lifted the door curtain.

As soon as he left the inn, he realized something was wrong.

When someone in the alley beside Qiuci Street saw them leaving, they immediately lowered their bamboo hats and followed behind them. Chen Ji ignored them, but when he walked more than ten feet, another group of people followed him.

As soon as I walked out of Qiuci Street, four groups of people followed me.

They did not avoid Chen Ji's traces. When Chen Ji quickened his pace, they followed suit. When Chen Ji stopped, they stopped too. When Chen Ji turned around and looked at them, they looked at Chen Ji openly.

Zhang Xia whispered, "I recognize these people. They have all bought information from you. They are the local tyrants in Guyuan. I think they are panicked by the siege. Since they can't buy information, they can only follow you."

Chen Ji thought for a moment, then turned back to the inn and said, "You can't get rid of these people with you. You wait in the inn. I'll get you after I get rid of them and finish my business."

(End of this chapter)