CHAPTER 49: 47, PEOPLE WALK BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Some knowledge, if no one points it out, you could struggle forever and still not get a clue. But once it’s revealed, it’s hardly extraordinary: take the gunpowder formula for example.

"The simplest mnemonic goes ’one nitrate, two sulfur, three charcoal, add a bit of sugar, voila!’" Saltpetre, sulfur, and charcoal, using the copper scales of this era that weigh sixteen taels to a jin, results in a ratio of 16:2:3.

Adding sugar is to increase the volume of gas produced during combustion. This gunpowder mixture, when exploded in a confined space, is comparable to a miniature nuclear bomb indoors; even an Executive Officer like Yun Yang or Si Cao wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Sulfur can be found at the Medical Hall.

Charcoal is easy to produce.

As for the so-called saltpetre, scientifically known as Potassium Nitrate, it’s actually the efflorescence on soil walls; when ancient people made fireworks, they obtained saltpetre by "digging at the base of the wall."

Nowadays, there are still plenty of brick and earthen houses in Luocheng City; in Chen Ji’s memory, efflorescence was everywhere.

The secret firearm recipe that the Jing Dynasty Military Intelligence Department sought painstakingly to find—instead of going to the Liu Family, it would be better off looking for Chen Ji!

Even the various blueprints for front-loading guns, what’s so difficult about them for Chen Ji? Front-loading guns are composed of a front chamber, a powder chamber, and a tail mortise. Be it a handheld gun or a city gate cannon, Chen Ji had a bit of understanding of them all...

But the most crucial point was, ever since Chen Ji had come here, every time he met characters like Yun Yang, Jiao Tu, or Si Cao, he was always at their mercy simply because he had no power to resist.

But now he did.

The next moment, someone interrupted Chen Ji’s ruminations, "May I ask the three of you, do you have any works? Why the silence?"

Liu Quxing and She Dengke looked at each other, not sure what to do. After all, they were at a Literary Meeting, and it was indeed not proper to just come to freeload without having any works to share.

However, Chen Ji suddenly smiled and said, "We are just here to freeload on an invitation that the Prince Mansion sent to the Medical Hall; we don’t excel in this field, so we’ll take our leave now. Senior Brother She, Senior Brother Liu, I heard from Brother Zhang, the waiter at the restaurant across from the Medical Hall, that Mu Xinzhai on Zhenghe Street makes excellent knife-shaved noodles. My treat."

With that, he turned to leave, his face showing no embarrassment. If you can, you can; if you can’t, you can’t. There’s no need to pretend just for the sake of pride.

Everyone has their own expertise; you understand art, I also understand art... My art might even see off your art.

Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao watched Chen Ji’s back as he left with an air of contentment, chatting and laughing with friends as if the Literary Meeting had no impact on him, as if he had not taken the recent events to heart at all.

Suddenly, he felt that Chen Ji was not just talking big but genuinely had no thoughts of returning to the Chen family.

But the imposing and splendid entrance of the Chen family, wasn’t that something everyone aspired to? How could someone willingly give it up?

At the gathering, Princess Bai Li turned to the Princely Heir, "Brother, was it you who invited him?"

"No," the Princely Heir shook his head, "I don’t recall sending an invitation to the Medical Hall... But it doesn’t matter!"

Princess Bai Li pondered for a moment, then suddenly got up, "This place is uninteresting; I’m going out for a walk!"

The Princely Heir watched his sister’s departing figure, wanting to say something but hesitating, "You..."

...

...

On the way back.

"Senior Brother She, why did you stand up for me?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Walking along the road, She Dengke’s tall and sturdy figure seemed less imposing as he hung his head, speaking softly, "I nearly got you killed yesterday, I’m sorry, I lost my mind. Our two years of friendship, I ruined it; I deserve to die."

Chen Ji asked again, "Was it only to save Chunhua’s life that you did it?"

"There was also selfishness; Chunhua said that if this worked out, she would beg Princess Consort Jing to promise her to me, and then we could live peacefully together."

Liu Quxing scoffed, "You believe everything Chunhua tells you? With your family so poor, could she really give up the glory and riches of the Prince Mansion to follow you?"

She Dengke countered, "She’s not that kind of person... Chen Ji, could you not let my brother and my father know about this? If they found out, they’d definitely kill me."

"Don’t worry, I won’t," Chen Ji said with a smile.

Beside him, Liu Quxing was somewhat annoyed, "I don’t know what my father was thinking, giving me this name. Such a disappointment I am, even named after the literary star, yet unable to comprehend those scriptures. Nowadays, when introducing myself, I’m practically embarrassed to mention my own name."

To become a countryside gentleman by dawn, and ascend to the emperor’s hall by dusk, that is the grandest dream of Ning Dynasty’s scholars.

But it wasn’t Chen Ji’s dream.

What was his dream? His former dream was to be a diplomatic officer, but neither the Ning Dynasty nor Jing Dynasty were worthy of his life’s devotion, so now he was without a dream.

Without someone to protect, without a place to protect, he could only barely protect himself, pushed along by the torrent of the era.

Today, the words "gunpowder" and "sword seed" had a fatal attraction for him.

When these two things were placed on the scales, perhaps those scales of destiny would tip in his favor.

While he pondered, someone called from behind, "Chen Ji!"

Chen Ji turned around and saw Princess Bai Li catching up, still dressed in her dashing and heroic attire, unchanged in her white robe and red tassels.

However, today she had her hair done up in a silver-threaded Yun style, with strands of pearl jewels hanging beneath, which wobbled unsteadily as she walked.

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Does the Commandery Princess need something?"

Princess Bai Li didn’t explain and simply waved her hand grandly, "Come, I’m taking you to have a meal on Zhenghe Street. Let’s have the knife-shaved noodles you mentioned!"

After saying that, Princess Bai Li strode ahead with her hands behind her back, tippy-toeing with pride, and Chen Ji thought to himself that she resembled a free-spirited antelope.

The three brothers exchanged glances, and suddenly Chen Ji said, "You guys go ahead, I’ll go back to the Medical Hall and call Liang Mao’er..."

Twenty minutes later, in the knife-shaved noodle restaurant, Princess Bai Li rested her chin on her arms on the table, staring open-mouthed at the high stack of bowls and dishes in front of Liang Mao’er, "Five bowls, six bowls, seven bowls... Chen Ji, you really are heartless!"

Chen Ji smiled and looked at Liang Mao’er, "If you’re full tonight, you don’t need to eat so much tomorrow morning, okay?"

Liang Mao’er looked toward Princess Bai Li cautiously, "Commandery Princess... am I eating too much?"

Chen Ji said seriously, "The Commandery Princess has a heart of chivalry, and we are all children of Jianghu. How could she mind you eating a lot?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine, how much could a bowl of noodles cost!" Princess Bai Li grimaced as she pulled out her purse, "But you really can eat a lot... No wonder everyone was drinking last night and only you were gorging yourself non-stop."

Liang Mao’er awkwardly explained, "I don’t know why, but I’ve always been able to eat a lot. When my brother was ten and I was three, I could eat more than him."

Princess Bai Li didn’t dwell on the matter any further. Since she was treating them, she’d do so generously.

After she’d paid for the meal, she turned to Chen Ji with curiosity, "They were saying such things about you at the Literary Meeting earlier. Why weren’t you angry?"

"There’s nothing to be angry about."

"Since I stood up for you, can you not charge me a toll in the future?"

"No way."

Princess Bai Li became angry, "I’m never going to speak up for you again. Just let them curse you till they’re blue in the face!"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "They can say whatever they like, but time will prove everything."

Suddenly, Liu Quxing from the side spoke, "Chen Ji, you actually can write poetry. I’ve seen it."

"Huh?" Chen Ji was taken aback.

Liu Quxing whispered, "I’ve seen you secretly studying in the middle of the night, making excerpts on the back of a prescription. So, while you were sleeping, I sneaked a peek to see what you’d excerpted, and I found half a line of poetry."

Princess Bai Li asked curiously, "What did it say?"

"People traverse the vastness between Heaven and Earth, suddenly like travelers far from home."

Princess Bai Li felt as if these words made her stand alone in a vast expanse of snowy mountains, enveloped by twilight, utterly solitary.

That was the day when Chen Ji woke from the dusk, and the streets were bustling with people, yet he had no family to await him. He carelessly wrote down a line of poetry in the night which was then seen by Liu Quxing.

Princess Bai Li slowly turned to Chen Ji, "This is your..."

Before she could finish speaking, a head popped out from behind, astonished, "Chen Ji, is this your poem? Since you can write, why didn’t you say so at the Literary Meeting?"

Chen Ji was also stunned, only to see the Princely Heir and the little monk right behind him. The star of the Literary Meeting had somehow slipped out unnoticed; how rash!?

And something was odd; did this world not have this poem? But the tale of the Double Ninth Festival was identical.

He nonchalantly replied with thick skin, "This half-line came to me unexpectedly. I do not have a complete poem. Besides, I have no interest in this pursuit. Poetry and literature are not my ambitions."

The Princely Heir paused, then somewhat embarrassedly rubbed his hands and smiled, "Well... you want to earn money, right? Can I buy that half-line of poetry from you?"

Chen Ji: Huh?

The Princely Heir explained, "I’ve been driven mad for three years at Donglin Academy; those scholars write a poem every day. Seeing a lotus, they write one, seeing the moon, another. And I... I haven’t even got a fart. I know some of those scholars whisper that I’m just a good-for-nothing Princely Heir, and I’ve always wanted to write a poem to shock them, but I truly can’t... So how about this, your half-line is quite impressive. I’ll pay you ten taels of silver for it, okay? You get the respect, I get the silver, what do you say?"

"Deal!"

There’s no need to write poetry, but selling half a line... that could work.