Green Mountain
Chapter 129 - 95, Departure and Stay_2

Chapter 129: 95, Departure and Stay_2

He looked at the Princely Heir and the others wolfing down food at the entrance of the kiln factory and suddenly asked, "Master, in fact, you had already foreseen a great disaster befalling the Prince Mansion. That’s why you don’t want me to get caught in this vortex and have chosen to send me away, right? If I just return to the Chen family, stay away from Taiping Medical Hall, away from Prince Jing Mansion, away from the Princely Heir, and away from the Commandery Princess, can I avoid involvement and escape this calamity?"

Old Yao fell silent for a moment, "Yes."

Chen Ji said earnestly, "Master, if my destiny can be changed, then can the destiny of Prince Jing Mansion be changed?"

Old Yao gazed intently at Chen Ji, "The fate of Prince Jing Mansion is intricate and complex. It’s not something that can be changed with just a few words by one person. Their destiny is already sealed, but yours still holds endless possibilities. If you don’t leave, it’s like a moth to a flame, throwing yourself into the unknown fires."

At that moment, the Princely Heir, who hadn’t eaten for most of the day, was stuffing donkey meat pastries into his mouth with a silly grin. Liu Quxing leaned against the carriage, teasing She Dengke’s way of eating.

Looking at the figures of these people, Chen Ji suddenly said, "Master, they are very good friends, I cannot leave. Even if fate is predetermined, I want to try to change it."

The little monk once said that in this life, Chen Ji had cut away greed and hatred, only leaving behind the word "foolish," which was not to be resolved.

Foolishness is stubbornness, and it is also persistence.

Old Yao looked at his disciple and said nothing for a long time.

After a long while, he stood up, "You can pretend that I didn’t say any of this tonight. But when you face your destiny, do not regret it."

"No regrets."

Then Chen Ji waved to the Princely Heir and the others with a smile, "Have you all eaten?"

"Yes, we have!"

"Get to work!"

Liu Quxing laughed and joked, "Chen Ji, have one yourself. I saved the one with the most donkey meat for you!"

Old Yao turned and climbed into the carriage, looking back halfway up at the kiln factory where the young men had stuffed the donkey meat pastries into their mouths and started pushing the stone roller again, as if pushing the heavy weight of fate.

...

...

The next afternoon, the sun was just right.

A carriage was slowly traveling on the official road.

Princess Bai Li opened a slit in the curtain, allowing the cold wind to stir her delicate hair, "Father, my brothers didn’t return to the mansion yesterday."

Prince Jing sat at the end of the carriage with his eyes closed in meditation, responding with a slight hum.

Princess Bai Li curiously inquired, "Father, in the past, if my brother spent the night out, you would have him strung up and beaten. Why are you being so lenient now?"

Prince Jing didn’t even open his eyes, "In the past, I was strict with him because he would one day become Prince Jing. Sitting in that position, every word and action affects countless people’s livelihoods; naturally, he can’t be allowed to act recklessly according to his temperament."

"What about today then? Why haven’t I seen you get angry?"

"Because he is doing the right thing."

Princess Bai Li looked out the window and tentatively probed, "Father, you’ve been meditating with your eyes closed all this time. Are you considering how to deal with Chen Ji?"

Prince Jing slowly opened his eyes, "In your heart, is your father such a petty person?"

Princess Bai Li closed the curtain and sat up straight, speaking seriously, "Father, you know very well how magnanimous you are. Just tell me straight, after taking a loss yesterday, how do you plan to deal with him?"

Prince Jing laughed, "Why are you asking this? If I tell you, won’t you go right away and snitch on me? Well, Bai Li, you’ve started to play mind games with your old father now."

"Don’t scheme against him anymore. I’ll make you braised pork when we get back!"

"Your father doesn’t like braised pork anymore, it’s too greasy."

"Then I’ll massage your back!"

Prince Jing exclaimed, "Why are you so on his side? Has he fed you some kind of enchanting potion?"

Princess Bai Li solemnly said, "He has no family to rely on; we, as friends, naturally have to look out for him. He is not one of those scholars, and you may not use methods against him as you would against them."

Prince Jing fell silent for a moment, "Alright, but some matters involve military strategies, and I will not allow those secrets to fall into the hands of commoners. Also, you should understand that allowing him to enjoy certain things alone, like a child harboring a jade, will attract trouble."

Princess Bai Li stretched out her little finger, "Anyway, you promised me, pinky swear."

"Very well, a pinky promise."

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the kiln factory, and before Feng Daban could place the footstool properly, Bai Li had already flipped open the carriage curtain and jumped down.

Feng Daban hurriedly called out from behind, "Eh, Commandery Princess, be careful, the mud road is slippery!"

As soon as his words fell, Bai Li had already run through the gate and disappeared from sight.

A light cough came from inside the carriage, and Feng Daban turned his head to look, "Prince, how do you feel?"

Prince Jing smiled, "After drinking Doctor Yao’s medicine, I am feeling better... Why is it so warm here? Let’s go and have a look!"

At this moment in the kiln factory, a sturdy inverted flame kiln stood in the center, coal was being shoveled into the combustion chamber by Chen Ji and others, one shovelful at a time.

The fire blazed fiercely, sweeping through the sealed inverted flame kiln, the raw material slowly consumed by the flames, melting, sintering.

Prince Jing stood silently in front of the kiln, unable to see anything happening inside, only feeling the heat wave coming through the kiln walls hitting his face.

He looked at Wang Kezhi, "How is it?"

Wang Kezhi said with difficulty, "Prince, the flames are nearly white, the temperature is higher than we imagined."

"What are they burning now?"

"Cement."

"How much longer?"

"This is already the third batch. Before dawn this morning, they had already produced the first batch, and with that batch of mature material, they had built a brick wall."

Only then did Prince Jing notice a brick wall in the corner of the kiln factory, which had not been there before, with mud ash sticking between the bricks.

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Chen Ji stop shoveling coal, smiling as he looked toward Prince Jing and handed over a hammer, "Prince, try knocking on that brick wall with a hammer, to see if this cement can replace glutinous rice mortar."

Feng Daban said from the side, "Prince, you just took your medicine, let me do the knocking."

But Prince Jing shook his head at the brick wall, "No need, I’ll do it myself."

Having said that, he dragged the hammer to the front of the brick wall, swinging it vigorously, only to see some of the green bricks chipping away, but the wall itself remained extremely solid, not budging an inch!

Prince Jing struck a few more times with the hammer, finally knocking down a few green bricks.

The Princely Heir, seeing the wall hammered open, anxiously looked at Chen Ji, "What do we do? This doesn’t seem sturdy enough."

However, the next moment, Prince Jing asked, "This wall was built this morning?!"

Wang Kezhi explained, "Reporting back to the Prince, I saw them build it this morning."

Prince Jing continued, "If it were glutinous rice mortar, how long would it take to achieve this strength?"

"Reporting back to the Prince, glutinous rice mortar needs a full ten days. If this cement is used for repairing city walls in the border towns, it may have remarkable effects."

Prince Jing asked again, "How long does it take them to make this cement?"

"Reporting back to the Prince, less than thirty minutes. If it were glutinous rice mortar, it would take four hours to prepare on site, then another two hours to settle before use."

Prince Jing asked once more, "What do you think is the cost of this substance?"

"Reporting back to the Prince, the raw materials are just clay and white ash, costing less than a fifth of glutinous rice mortar. If we can procure the materials locally, ignoring transportation, the cost might not even be a tenth..."

The Princely Heir fell silent, as they say, outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the technique, only a military craftsman like Wang Kezhi could understand the significance of cement to this era.

Prince Jing looked at Feng Daban, "Go and invite Lord Zhang Zhuo and Mr. Chen Liqin over."

Feng Daban asked, puzzled, "Prince, today Lord Zhang still needs to preside over the Imperial Examination Hall’s autumn exams and Mr. Chen has to deal with river embankment affairs; they may not be able to come."

Prince Jing said with a smile, "Then tell Lord Zhang, isn’t he worried about how to build houses to solve the issue with Henan Province’s refugees? Now, his problem is solved. With this substance, the refugees can have temporary dwellings. If Luocheng City can avoid any deaths this winter, that would be his, Zhang Zhuo’s, great merit. Compared to this matter, the autumn exam is nothing, he knows what is more important."

"And Mr. Chen?"

"Tell him, his river embankments can be saved as well."

The Princely Heir suddenly cheered, and Bai Li looked on, smiling as she saw him along with Liu Quxing and She Dengke lift Chen Ji up, "We’ve done it! We’ve really done it!"