In the early morning, before the roosters crowed, the sound of rushing water ca from the Silver Apricot Garden.
Xiao Man sat on a small chair by the bed, groggily opening her eyes.
She got up holding the Little Black Cat, followed the sound of water, and pushed the door open, just in ti to see Chen Ji rolling up his sleeves and pouring water from a bucket into the large jar in the side room.
She rubbed her eyes and exclaid in surprise, "Young Master, you really went to fetch water? What noble young master would fetch water himself? If word got out, wouldn’t people laugh at you?"
Chen Ji smiled, "I’m not so noble young master. I’m just a country bumpkin from a dical Hall apprenticeship; I don’t care what others think of ."
Xiao Man muttered, "You’re not at the dical Hall anymore, so don’t bring up the apprentice identity. Many people in the Imperial Capital aren’t aware of it."
Chen Ji lowered his rolled-up sleeves and said earnestly, "Xiao Man, being a dical Hall apprentice is my favorite identity; there’s nothing shaful about it."
Xiao Man looked up, cautiously probing, "Is it because of the Commandery Princess you t there, Young Master?"
Chen Ji paused for a mont with his hand on the sleeve, then said frankly, "Not entirely, there’s also my master, two senior apprentices, the Princely Heir, Brother Gou’er, Brother Cat. Oh, and a little monk who can see through people’s thoughts; he’s probably practicing at Yuanjue Temple now. We can visit him when we have ti."
Xiao Man whispered, "Young Master, what I’m about to say may not be pleasant, but the Commandery Princess, she..."
Chen Ji interrupted, "Xiao Man, even if you were trapped in Jingyang Palace, I would find a way to save you."
Xiao Man’s eyes lit up, "Really? You’re not lying to , Young Master?"
"Really, really," Chen Ji changed the subject, "By the way, how much silver do I have left?"
Xiao Man calculated carefully, "When you left Guyuan, Young Master, you had 237 taels of silver. At the ti of the sworn sisterhood, Second Sister gave 600 taels as a gift. Upon returning to the Chen Mansion, Sister Duanwu bought your information for 100 taels, of which I got 30 taels... I took 20 taels, and you got 80 taels, Young Master. That’s a total of 917 taels."
Chen Ji pondered, to grow one striped mark, you need to light 720 stoves, which requires 360 old ginsengs, and tens of thousands of taels of silver...
He already had three striped marks, 550 stoves...
At least more than 40,000 taels of silver are needed!
The Mountain Lord Sect’s Scripture is really burning money. Where can I get that much silver? Even if I sold all of Aunt’s properties, it might not be enough for that much silver.
Besides, there’s sothing else I need to do, which requires a lot of silver.
Chen Ji thought for a mont, "Xiao Man, we need to start saving money, a lot of money."
Xiao Man was puzzled, "What does Young Master need so much money for, is it for a bride price?"
Chen Ji shook his head, "No, you’ll find out later. Go back to bed; I have to go to the Yulin Army Commander’s Mansion to report."
Xiao Man followed him to the courtyard gate, "Then I’ll bring you lunch at noon? The food at the Chen family is free now, since both the master and the grand master have instructed the kitchen not to make things difficult for . We should save where we can and spend where we need to, but if your colleagues see you eating here, they might laugh at you for being so frugal, not wanting to eat out."
Chen Ji smiled, "It’s okay, let them think what they want."
Xiao Man suddenly said, "Oh, the Little Black Cat doesn’t have a na yet. Please give it one... You’ve never held it."
She held the Little Black Cat in front of her, and the Little Black Cat looked around with wide eyes.
Chen Ji didn’t reach out to hold it, he just smiled and said, "You can na it."
With that, he turned and walked out through the side gate of the Qingzheng Garden along the blue brick path.
...
...
The Chen family was the second house on Fuyou Street, with a clean blue brick road in front, adorned with carved plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.
Just as he stepped out, he saw Li Xuan waiting at the gate, with Qi Zhenzhuo leaning against the side gate, casually kicking the stone lion in front of the Chen house.
Seeing Chen Ji co out, he hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe the footprints off the stone lion, "Master, you’re finally out."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Why are you also going to report so early? I thought you’d be sleeping at ho."
Qi Zhenzhuo clicked his tongue, "The family barely managed to get out of the Imperial Prison, I have to be responsible. If that Poison Minister caught anything against again, my father might break my legs."
Chen Ji looked at Li Xuan, "Why are you waiting for here?"
Qi Zhenzhuo quickly explained, "The Qi family is the first house on Fuyou Street, the Chen family is the second; isn’t this just on our way? Besides, that Zhao Zhuofan under Chen Wenren got chopped, he might be thinking of how to get back at us. That guy doesn’t have much skill but is pretty sly, what if he gets soone to ambush you on the way and causes you to miss the reporting ti? So traveling together is safer."
Chen Ji hmd in agreent.
Qi Zhenzhuo added, "Not to underestimate you, Master, but we all know your skills, though the second branch of the Chen family keeps several Grand Officials. If that guy instructs them to harm you, it would be hard to guard against."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "No need to explain, thank you."
The three of them crossed the Taiping Bridge made of Han Baiyu stone, and on the other side were not the grand gates of the noble families, but narrow alleys exuding cooking smoke.
As they passed through the alleys, the sky was still bluish.
At the entrance of the alley, stears stacked higher than a person were on coal stoves, and an old man in a short jacket tapped the pot with an iron ladle, calling out crisply, "Crispy rings! Sweet oil cakes!"
Several small tables and stools were set up in front of the stall, where laborers gathered to eat breakfast, muttering, "At Tianqiao yesterday, where the fight happened, which side won? I was in a hurry to deliver vegetables to the Hu Family and didn’t dare to stop to watch."
The vendor laughed heartily, "Of course, it was Heji. Heji has been winning for seven years, keeping Rui Fuxiang constantly suppressed."
Beside the small table, a man said mysteriously, "I was on Tianqiao yesterday watching, almost missed the play at Vice Minister Li’s house... hehe, this ti it wasn’t Heji who won!"
"Quick, tell us, what happened?"
"Rui Fuxiang sohow found a new ruffian, nicknad Brother Pao. His skills were incredible, and he had Wang Kui from Heji completely lost!"
"Whoa! That impressive?"
Chen Ji stopped in his tracks, Li Xuan turned back puzzled, "What’s wrong? They’re just so hooligans from East City, spending their days wrestling and fighting over territory, giving the governnt quite a headache. I don’t know who’s backing them, but no one’s touched them for years."
Chen Ji thought for a mont, "Nothing, let’s go."
The three of them walked along West Chang’an Street to the gate, where over two hundred Yulin Army soldiers were in the training field.
Chen Wenren, who was giving a speech, saw them co in, turned and gave a sidelong glance, then continued speaking: "From today on, all of us in the Yulin Army will be on rotation. If anyone is absent at the 5 to 7 AM call, don’t bla this Commander for being ruthless..."
Qi Zhenzhuo, smiling, pulled Chen Ji forward, interrupting Chen Wenren, "Let introduce to my colleagues, this is our Yulin Army instructor ’Chen Ji’, and from now on, he’ll be teaching us weapon skills. Those who ca back from Guyuan with us know what he’s capable of, and for those who haven’t been to Guyuan, no worries, you’ll find out soon enough..."
Before he finished, Chen Wenren sneered and interrupted Qi Zhenzhuo, "I’ve seen the Ministry of War’s docunts, and it only promotes him to small flag officer, it didn’t say anything about making him the instructor. Among us Yulin Army brothers, is there any position lower than a small flag officer?"
He said it, and the Yulin Army beside him burst into laughter, their white pheasant tails on their helts shaking.
The Yulin Army was a gilding place for official’s sons.
In the Divine Machine Camp, Longevity Army, and Five Armies Camp, ranks from top to bottom were General, Deputy General, Assistant General, households, common households, General Banner, small flag officer, soldier.
In the Yulin Army, it was Commander, common households, General Banner, small flag officer, soldier. The odd thing was, nine out of ten in the Yulin Army were small flag officers, with more officers than soldiers.
Qi Zhenzhuo pointed at soone beside Chen Wenren and said, "Li Bing, don’t think I don’t know how you got to be a small flag officer. Didn’t your family pay to catch a few bandits for you to take credit? You have the nerve to laugh?"
Li Bing’s face changed, "Qi Zhenzhuo, don’t pretend you’re clean. You think I don’t know how you beca Deputy Commander?"
Qi Zhenzhuo was stumped.
After a long hesitation, "The n have changed for good now!"
The opposite side of the Yulin Army roared with laughter, "Talking nonsense, as if you’ve changed?"
Chen Wenren said coldly, "The brothers in our Yulin Army all know each other well, no need to pretend to be big shots. Besides, seventy percent of our Yulin Army brothers have the Official Gateway on them, do we need him to teach?"
Duobao, who ca back from Guyuan, squinted, "So the Official Gateway is so impressive? Who isn’t like an official? Once you’ve been on the battlefield, you’ll understand that when the Jing Dynasty Iron Cavalry charges towards you, an official is just a target."
Chen Wenren chuckled, pointing at Chen Ji, "Alright, since he wants to be the instructor, I’ll find soone to spar with him. If he wins, let him be the instructor. If he loses, he’ll quietly stay as the small flag officer. Wang Fang, give it a try. Win, and you’ll be the instructor of our garrison."
The Yulin Army made way, revealing a burly man inside.
Qi Zhenzhuo whispered to Chen Ji, "Master, don’t worry. This common household Wang Fang always says he’s stepped into the Seeking Dao Realm with one foot, but he’s all show, never fought anyone. With your skills..."
Before he could finish, Chen Ji had already said, "Can’t beat him, no need to try."
Qi Zhenzhuo was taken aback.
As Chen Ji walked towards the Governor Mansion, he casually said, "Everyone in the Yulin Army is an official, they all have unique skills, they won’t learn much from . Don’t listen to Qi Zhenzhuo’s nonsense; in Guyuan, I just had good luck and no real skills."
Chen Wenren was stunned, he had prepared a lot of tricks, yet didn’t expect Chen Ji to have no intention of seizing power, leaving him at a loss.
Qi Zhenzhuo followed behind Chen Ji, whispering, "Master, why did you say that, how could defeating hundreds be luck?"
Chen Ji turned and looked at him, puzzled, "What do I get out of teaching these people?"
Qi Zhenzhuo replied naturally, "Being the instructor of the Yulin Army, isn’t it impressive to say?"
Chen Ji was puzzled again, "Is the Yulin Army a very powerful, renowned army?"
Qi Zhenzhuo opened his mouth but hesitated.
Chen Ji entered the Governor Mansion, took out armor from a cabinet and put it on, while Li Xuan, beside him, said, "Whether or not you want to be the instructor doesn’t matter, but all the brothers who returned from Guyuan want to learn so weapons skills from you."
Chen Ji lowered his head and adjusted his armor in silence.
Qi Zhenzhuo, seeing Chen Ji’s silence, was scratching his head in frustration, not knowing if he wanted to teach or not: "Master, say sothing."
Chen Ji remained silent.
At that mont, Li Xuan suddenly rembered sothing, and whispered to Qi Zhenzhuo, "Dragon Gate Inn."
Qi Zhenzhuo was puzzled, "What Dragon Gate Inn? Brother-in-law, why bring up Dragon Gate Inn now? Don’t ntion that place, I have nightmares about it right now."
Li Xuan said in a low voice, "Did you forget why he went to Dragon Gate Inn by himself? Trading information about His Highness."
Qi Zhenzhuo was startled awake, then imdiately turned to Chen Ji and said, "Master, teach weapons, and I’ll pay fifty taels tuition every month!"
Chen Ji finished putting on his armor, rubbed his shiny heart protector, and looked up, "Deal."
He then turned to Li Xuan, "Does Lord Li want to learn?"
Li Xuan: "...Yes, but my wife controls the money, I can’t co up with that much."
Chen Ji warmly comforted, "No worries, it’s the sincerity that counts, a sincere heart will be blessed."
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