Green Mountain
Chapter 114 - 86, Even if we meet, I should not recognize you

Chapter 114: 86, Even if we meet, I should not recognize you

At that moment, Prince Jing looked at Old Yao, "Doctor Yao, you saved the life of the mother of the Jianzhou Inspection Officer, Ma Yiming. Nine years ago, had it not been for your treatment, his mother would probably have long since passed away. Nowadays, there is still some glutinous rice in the grain stores of Jianzhou. Could you possibly write him a letter? I plan to utilize that glutinous rice to solve an urgent crisis. In the Ning Dynasty, civil servants greatly value filial piety. Your letter will surely be effective."

Old Yao nodded, "I can do that. I’ll write it tonight, and you can send someone to collect it tomorrow, Your Highness."

"Let’s write it now, without a moment’s delay," Prince Jing’s expression eased somewhat, yet he had not fully let down his guard, "The Inspection Officer of Jianzhou refuses to hand over the glutinous rice also due to the livelihood considerations of the entire province. Now that I am taking this batch of glutinous rice, I still need to think of a way to fill their granaries with other crops to prevent the people from starving."

Chen Ji suddenly lapsed into deep thought. Glutinous rice mortar had been in use in his world until the end of the eighteenth century. It was only gradually replaced when foreign cement technology entered the country.

At that time, cement was called "foreign ash" by the common people.

Was glutinous rice mortar effective? Yes, it was effective. The Great Wall was constructed using glutinous rice mortar as a binding agent, and it has withstood thousands of years. To some extent, it was more robust and durable than ordinary cement.

But the crux of the matter was that glutinous rice mortar emerged in an era of low productivity, inherently conflicting with people’s livelihoods. Furthermore, glutinous rice mortar required three years after application to achieve the standard strength through carbonation, while cement only needed twenty days and was extremely low in cost.

Once cement appeared, it was a complete upheaval for the entire construction industry.

Chen Ji remembered, how was cement produced again?

While he was pondering, it became lively outside Taiping Medical Hall again.

Everyone looked over, only to see bearers carrying numerous official sedans heading towards Prince Jing Mansion; roughly estimating, there were about three to four dozen officials visiting Prince Jing together.

Chen Ji looked up and saw Prince Jing, seemingly oblivious to these people, calmly making his move in the game and reminding Chen Ji, "It’s your turn. Yunxi, don’t kneel there shamefully, get up."

"Oh," the Princely Heir rejoiced and stood up, rubbing his sore knees.

Not long afterward, the officials returned from Prince Jing Mansion empty-handed, seemingly having received news that Prince Jing was not in the mansion; they had no choice but to return.

As they passed by Taiping Medical Hall, one of the officials inadvertently lifted the curtain of his sedan, glanced at a familiar figure next to the counter at the Medical Hall.

"Stop, stop, stop," the official called for the bearers to stop. He stared intently to make sure he was not mistaken.

It wasn’t that he was very familiar with Prince Jing, but rather, Prince Jing’s outfit, worn for God knows how many years, was etched in the officials’ memory.

Dismounting from the sedan, a group of officials dressed in green and blue official robes, with patterns of white pheasant, brocaded roosters, and mandarin ducks embroidered on their chests, wearing leather belts and black boots.

They congregated in front of Taiping Medical Hall, hesitating whether to enter or not, whispering to one another quietly.

In the next moment, everyone looked toward the two leading officials, one of whom had a long, ruddy face and a lush beard. After some thought, he said, "Let’s wait for His Highness to finish this game of chess, then we’ll go in."

Everyone quieted down, stamping feet and rubbing hands together in the cold, their noses red from the cold.

Shortly after, the leading official suddenly exclaimed in a soft voice, "His Highness is skilled at chess. Why would he be leisurely enough today to play with a young apprentice? What pleasure is there in this... Eh? Chen Liqin, I find that boy somewhat familiar; have we seen him somewhere before?"

Chen Liqin, the Magistrate of Luocheng, looked up and gazed intently only to discover to his surprise that the young man playing chess with Prince Jing was his own son, whom he hadn’t seen in more than half a year!

He then remembered, he had sent Chen Ji to Taiping Medical Hall as an apprentice!

Zhang Zhuo turned his head to Chen Liqin, "Remember now? I saw him at your mansion. I remember during the Lantern Festival the year before last when I went to your mansion for a drink; he was sitting in the last seat in the bottom right-hand corner..."

Zhang Zhuo, who passed the scholar examination at twelve and was named the best scorer at the Eastern Hua Gate at fifteen, becoming the youngest Scholar of the Ning Dynasty, possessed both impeccable calligraphy and a photographic memory.

This man, whose first wife passed away at nineteen and who remarried at twenty-two the niece of the Grand Preceptor Xu Gong, had swiftly ascended the ranks; within fifteen years, he had traversed a path in the officialdom that others could not complete in a lifetime. After waiting a little while, entering the cabinet would also be a matter of time.

Only, Zhang Zhuo didn’t have the steadiness and restraint of a magistrate. He playfully elbowed Chen Liqin, "Why is your boy playing chess with Prince Jing? Look at you, Chen Liqin, sneaking through the Prince Mansion’s path and not telling me. No wonder you sent your son here to be an apprentice."

Chen Liqin frowned in response but didn’t answer, not because he didn’t want to, but because he didn’t know how to answer.

Zhang Zhuo’s question was also his question: Why could Chen Ji play chess with Prince Jing?

Moreover, from time to time, there were bursts of hearty laughter from Prince Jing within Taiping Medical Hall; it seemed his boy was conversing quite happily with Prince Jing...

Suddenly there was a clattering noise; Chen Ji picked up a black piece and dropped it into the chess basket, marking the end of the game.

Zhang Zhuo tugged on Chen Liqin’s sleeve, "Hurry up."

The two stepped across the threshold and approached Prince Jing from behind. Chen Liqin merely bowed his hands in a salute, while Zhang Zhuo grinned obsequiously, "Greeting, Your Highness Prince Jing. You must be exhausted from your trip south to arrange military provisions."

Prince Jing slowly turned around, "You both have worked hard too. I heard that when it snowed, you went to comfort the river workers on the embankment. Such empathy for the people surely qualifies you as parents of this city."

Zhang Zhuo quickly smiled and said, "Not at all, it’s just part of our duties. However, the flood a few months ago in South Henan submerged many fields, and currently, there are a lot of homeless refugees with no land to farm, fleeing towards Luocheng City. We need to think quickly about building houses to accommodate them."

"You do take good care of the people in the province," Prince Jing slowly remarked. "Tell me, what’s the difficulty?"

"Building houses now might be a bit too late..."

While Zhang Zhuo was talking to Prince Jing, Chen Liqin’s gaze kept darting over to Chen Ji. Strangely enough, his younger son, focused on tidying up the chessboard, didn’t even glance at him.

When his son finally finished and looked up, their eyes met, and the other merely gave him a polite smile and a greeting as if he were a stranger.

Chen Liqin’s brows gradually furrowed; he had initially sent Chen Ji to Taiping Medical Hall as an apprentice because of the boy’s fondness for gambling.

He hadn’t treated Chen Ji unfairly; being an apprentice at Taiping Medical Hall was a good opportunity, and each month he would even send tuition fee through his steward.

But now the boy wouldn’t even return home and acted as if he and Chen Mansion were strangers – was this a petty way to sever ties with the Chen Family? Too immature.

Not to mention Chen Liqin’s puzzlement, Chen Ji also felt uneasy.

With so many officials around, it was awkward for him to stay near the chessboard or to leave. Plus, an official kept looking at him, and he had no idea why.

Chen Ji looked down at his clothes, which were intact and without holes.

Old Yao noticed his discomfort and casually said, "Chen Ji, go pour some tea for the gentlemen to warm their hands."

"Ah, right away," Chen Ji replied and fetched a tray from the backyard, bringing it respectfully to Chen Liqin, "Sir, please have some tea."

On Chen Liqin’s stern face, his brows nearly knotted, "You’re calling me ’Sir’?"

Chen Ji was taken aback. If not ’Sir,’ what should he call him?

Before he could recover, he saw Zhang Zhuo warming his hands with the hot clay cup, smiling as he spoke, "Prince, this year’s Autumn Imperial Examination in Henan Province is drawing much attention. Mr. Chen’s eldest son, Chen Wenzong, was already praised by the masters at Donglin Academy as having the talent of the best scorer. Some scholars from Jiangnan refuse to accept this, claiming they want to compete in next year’s palace examination."

Prince Jing looked at Chen Ji and then praised Chen Liqin with a smile, "Mr. Chen, you have taught your sons well, not only your eldest but also this younger son, Chen Ji. In our game just now, he won quite a few rounds against me."

Chen Ji was taken aback!