CHAPTER 48: 46, ART

At the banquet, everyone fell silent, even the sounds of the guqin ceased.

They could no longer mock She Dengke and Liu Quxing for their names and attire, nor could they help but reflect: if they themselves were slandered, how many would be willing to stand up and speak out for them?

Ordinary people, upon hearing rumors about you, merely echo a few words they’ve learned from others.

But perhaps you don’t care what others say; what may concern you more is whether your friends defended you when those rumors were spread.

Chen Ji hadn’t expected She Dengke and Liu Quxing to stand up and speak for him; it was the surprise of not expecting it that made it a surprise.

At that moment, the Princely Heir downed the wine in his cup. The cups in the Prince Mansion were slightly smaller than he preferred, and he wanted to call someone to bring a larger bowl of wine.

However, after receiving a glower from Princess Bai Li, he had to let it go.

The air of Jianghu was naturally at odds with the refined gathering of scholars.

However, the Princely Heir muttered softly, "These scholars are ultimately not as interesting as the people of Jianghu... Chen Ji, this name sounds familiar, like I’ve heard it somewhere before?"

At that time, Princess Bai Li looked towards Chen Wenxiao, "May I ask if that IOU of your brother’s is genuine?"

Chen Wenxiao gathered his sleeves, sitting upright and proper: "My brother Chen Ji, a gambler, owes a total of one thousand two hundred thirty-one taels of silver to seven gambling houses, every word of which is true."

A scholar bowed to the princess and said, "Wenxiao has an esteemed character and would certainly not lie about such matters."

"Well then," Princess Bai Li sighed in relief.

Chen Ji stood silently beside the pavilion, pondering what kind of person he once was—was he truly a gambler?

It was possible, after all, those IOUs from the gambling houses couldn’t be faked, and such matters were easy to verify.

But those things were in the past and had nothing to do with him.

Behind the bamboo curtain, Princess Consort Jing faintly looked towards Chen Ji, "Does your family not know that you are with the Spy Department?"

Chen Ji replied, "To respond to the lady, I am not a person of the Spy Department, at most I could be considered a Yao Sun of the department, not even a spy."

"Oh?" Princess Consort Jing was somewhat puzzled, "What are you selling your life to the Spy Department for?"

Chen Ji answered frankly, "For money, they give me fifty taels of silver each time I find them a clue."

Princess Consort Jing paused, "Only fifty taels? For fifty taels of silver, you’re willing to risk your life for the Spy Department?"

By now, she believed what Chen Wenxiao had said; this apprentice of the Medical Hall truly was a gambler, willing to give up his life for money.

However, Chen Ji thought this was just the disparity of the world; he worked himself to death for fifty taels, but to Princess Consort Jing and Consort Yun, such a small amount of money seemed nothing.

Princess Consort Jing leaned slowly back on her soft couch behind the bamboo curtain, "Avenge me, and upon success, I’ll give you one thousand taels of silver."

Chen Ji thought it over, "Do you want Liu Mingxian dead?"

"That’s correct."

"There are hidden masters around Lord Liu who rarely step outside; it’s not easy to kill him. If we seek help from the Spy Department, even Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were taken down by him, making it even harder... If you seek revenge, it’ll cost five thousand taels."

"Two thousand taels, not a tael more."

"Deal."

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Money from the wealthy was indeed easier to earn!

With two thousand silver taels to his name, he dared to further explore the inner prison and collect all the Ice Flow, lighting up hundreds of stoves.

By then, if no Executive Officer intervened, no ordinary group of spies would dare to touch him.

As he was pondering, Princess Consort Jing suddenly asked, "What do you think of Chunhua? In the prime of youth, just the right age, though a bit older than you, she knows how to care for people. When I bought her from Yangzhou, it cost me one hundred silver taels."

Chen Ji quickly responded, "Lady, better not set up any blind dates for me. The money is enough."

...

...

During the banquet.

Chen Wenzong looked towards She Dengke and Liu Quxing, probing, "Are you my younger brother’s colleagues? How has he been doing lately? Did he come today?"

"He came. As for how well he’s been lately, why don’t you, as his brother, ask him yourself? Why ask me?" She Dengke responded dully.

Chen Wenzong showed an awkward expression, "That’s true."

Chen Wenxiao’s expression darkened, "Why should we care about him after what he’s done himself?"

In Ning Dynasty, the country was governed by Confucian ethics, with each person bound to their roles as ruler, subject, father, and son, forming the very order of the society. Yet, while everyone spoke of maternal love and filial piety, brotherly respect and brotherly deference, how many non-biological parents in the world could truly treat the children of concubines as their own?

It was all just for appearance’s sake.

Liu Quxing was about to retort but someone patted his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that Chen Ji had somehow returned to the banquet.

Chen Ji gave a distant bow to Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao, "Brothers, after a long separation, I had not expected today’s reunion to turn out like this. Let’s leave it at that, after all, this is a Literary Meeting hosted by the Princely Heir; we shouldn’t disturb the other guests’ occasion."

Princess Bai Li caught sight of Chen Ji and quickly tugged at the Princely Heir’s arm, "Brother, it’s him, the one who collected our toll and set up ladders for us. I knew I shouldn’t have spoken for him!"

The Princely Heir let out a laugh, "I actually think it was worth it, don’t you find him interesting? He even dared to charge the Princely Heir of Prince Jing a toll!"

Princess Bai Li pouted, "Three taels of silver each time, his heart is pitch black. Though... as nasty as he is, he doesn’t strike me as a gambler."

The Princely Heir asked with a smile, "What do you think a gambler looks like?"

After pondering, Princess Bai Li recalled, "When I went to the Gambling House with you, I saw them, gamblers losing their minds over betting, caring about nothing but gambling, with bloodshot eyes and filthy clothes, their nails caked in dirt... but he’s clean and full of energy."

A gambler’s mind holds only gambling; they gamble upon waking and sleep after gambling, how could they care about their appearance?

The Princely Heir nodded in agreement, "Indeed, he doesn’t resemble one. Anyway, the little monk said he has already renounced greed and anger, I believe the little monk."

"He’s not reformed at all, even if he’s not gambling, he’s still very nasty!" Princess Bai Li grumbled.

The Princely Heir soothed her with a smile, "There, there, three taels of silver is nothing more than the cost of a box of your rouge."

At this moment, Chen Wenzong noticed something familiar about Chen Ji.

It was then that Chen Wenzong remembered that Chen Ji had been eyeing him earlier in the gathering, and he had not recognized him.

Naturally, being distant from one another previously played a part, his mother had always warned him against associating with him.

Chen Wenzong stood up, "I wronged you earlier, and I offer an apology on behalf of Wenxiao, please don’t take it to heart."

Chen Ji smiled lightly, "It’s fine, mouths are on other people’s faces, no stopping what they say."

Chen Wenzong spoke, "Father has been at home recently, you should visit when you have time, to fulfill your filial duty. Seeing you turned over a new leaf and studying medicine diligently would undoubtedly make him happy."

Chen Ji replied, "The Medical Hall keeps me busy, so... there’s no need."

He had no intentions of returning to the Chen family, not now, perhaps never. As he told Old Yao, he truly considered the Medical Hall his home.

Chen Ji understood, having a gambler son and a mother under suspicion would naturally make him unwelcome.

Since he was unwelcome, then it was better to cease visiting, saving everyone the pretense.

At that moment, another man stood up and declared with a laugh, "As the saying goes, the relationship between monarch and subject, father and son, should not be muddled. Maybe you resent your father for not sending you to Donglin Academy, or for neglecting you, but after all, he is the father, and you are the son; the filial duty must be fulfilled."

Chen Ji studied the man’s face, puzzled, "Who are you?"

The speaker was handsomely dressed, in a blue scholar’s robe, wearing an exquisite black hat and a jade belt with a pendant worth a small fortune.

Upon being questioned by Chen Ji, he asserted with pride, "Donglin Academy, Lin Chaojing."

It seemed that simply mentioning this name should be enough for Chen Ji to recognize him.

But Chen Ji wasn’t focused on that; suddenly it dawned on him why the man looked familiar!

This Lin Chaojing bore a striking resemblance to Lin Chaoqing of the Criminal Justice Department; they had to be brothers or somehow related.

But Chen Ji distinctly remembered his voice, it was Lin Chaojing who had spoken of denouncing the Eunuch Party during the imperial examination... and Lin Chaoqing was a member of that Eunuch Party.

He did not dwell on it further, only patting Liu Quxing and She Dengke, "Let’s go, this place isn’t for us, sorry you had to put up with this for my sake."

"Alright, let’s go," Liu Quxing sniffed.

"Wait a moment," Lin Chaojing called out confidently, "All three of you are here for the Literary Meeting, surely you each have a verse or two in your hearts. Everyone has shared their new works, may I inquire what works you have brought?"

Chen Ji looked directly at Lin Chaojing, silent.

A work? He had no work.

Should he copy from the works of his previous world? He couldn’t.

Chen Ji was heavily biased in his studies, having focused on the natural sciences, popular science, logic, detection, and counterespionage over the years. Even when delving into humanities, it was only to study cryptography.

So, making gunpowder was no issue for him, but reciting a poem was a real challenge...

For instance, to recite the famous lines "When the west wind fully scatters, water birds, / Birds from Sandbar Isle do not return," he’d be hard-pressed to recall what came before or after at that moment.

And most importantly, with the proverb linked to the Double Ninth Festival pressing on his chest, he was unsure of the connections between this world and his own. Should he recite a poem someone else might have written, he’d be the laughingstock.

Wait!

An epiphany struck Chen Ji.

The earlier haze cleared instantly, the sky was bright.

Gunpowder?

Gunpowder!

He might not be able to recall poems, but he could make gunpowder.

Poetry was art, but wasn’t explosion also an art form?

...

One more Chapter to go.