Green Mountain
Chapter 175 - 130. The teaching master

Chapter 175: 130. The teaching master

"Shush, keep it down, keep it down!"

Prince Jing glared, pressing his index finger to his mouth, warning Chen Ji and Bai Li.

He looked back to make sure no one was watching them, then turned to Chen Ji and Bai Li, "It was not easy for me to sneak out in disguise, and here you are shouting and yelling!"

Bai Li, puzzled, said, "Dad, you teach my brother and me every day not to climb over the wall, yet you climb over the wall yourself?"

Prince Jing smiled and responded, "What are you talking about? I left through the main gate."

Bai Li also smiled, "General Wang is on duty at the main gate today, I’ll go ask him."

Prince Jing hastily grabbed Bai Li’s arm, "I climbed out, I climbed out from the Medical Hall side!"

Chen Ji, puzzled, said, "Prince, to venture out in disguise like this, what if something happens to you? We cannot bear such responsibility."

Prince Jing laughed and said, "I am merely a coachman right now. As long as you don’t tell anyone, who would bother a coachman?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment but continued to advise, "You should still take some guards with you, or have Feng Daban accompany you to take care of your needs."

"No!" Prince Jing raised his voice, "If they are with me, they will be advising me all day what not to eat, drink, do, or visit. What’s the point of traveling incognito then? Besides, the Literary Meeting is very lively this time. If I attended as Prince Jing, everyone would feel restrained."

Chen Ji felt thoughtful, "I used to wonder why the Princely Heir was such a character; turns out he takes after you."

Prince Jing raised an eyebrow, "Why do I feel like you are insulting someone? How is he like me? At his age, I already had those civil servants wrapped around my finger!"

Chen Ji sincerely said, "Prince, everyone knows you. It won’t take half a morning before everyone figures out who you are."

Prince Jing waved his hand, "No worries, by that time I will have already left Luocheng City, free as the vast sea and sky!"

Chen Ji interrupted, "Prince, setting aside your undercover travels for now. You see, I’m truly not suited for studying classics or entering politics. Why not let me quit the academy? As for the border army’s funding, how can it be altered for one person? Affairs of state are not child’s play."

Prince Jing fell silent for a moment, then meaningfully said, "I’ll not bind you with state righteousness. How about this: you only need to continue studying until next spring, and I will owe you a favor. In the future, if you need help with anything, as long as it does not harm the Ning Dynasty or society, I can help you once... How about that?"

Chen Ji did not answer.

He was just a humble apprentice at the Medical Hall, yet now both the Luocheng City Prefect and a real power Vassal Prince owed him a favor. It sounded good, but how would he redeem this favor?

After thinking it over, Chen Ji said, "Then I have a request now. You traveling incognito is too dangerous. Maybe you should go back..."

Before he could finish, Prince Jing’s expression changed, and he interrupted, "Stop! Young man, you are still young and don’t know what you truly want. How can you use this favor so rashly?"

Just then, Wenxiao, sitting in the cart, called out, "Coachman, coachman, let’s go!"

Prince Jing hurriedly responded in a muffled voice, "Coming!"

He lowered the brim of his straw hat, walked to the very front of the cart, turned his back to all, and with a casual flick of the whip, the old ox started pulling the cart slowly forward.

Bai Li, smiling, stuffed a cloth bundle into Chen Ji’s arms, "Everyone knows my dad keeps his word. You better think about how to use this favor... and don’t forget to enjoy some desserts!"

Saying this, she hurried a few steps, then lightly jumped to sit at the rear of the cart, her legs hanging out, swinging with the bumps of the cart.

Bai Li patted the Princely Heir sitting next to her, "Bro, remember what dad instructed us on this trip, no drinking for a month."

The Princely Heir scoffed, "Tsk, now that I’m out of Luocheng, can he still control me?"

Bai Li’s eyes sparkled, "Bro, isn’t that bad, what if dad finds out?"

The Princely Heir waved his hand dismissively, "So what if he knows? I am of age now, do I still need to see someone’s face to drink?"

Bai Li let out a long "Wow, impressive!"

Seeing that Prince Jing was at the very front, the motion of his whip faltered, then he fiercely brought it down, causing the old ox to moo and hasten its pace.

...

...

The street was bustling with people, a cart pulled by an ox, followed by a galloping horse and a young man on foot.

On this rare clear and brisk winter day, Chen Ji suddenly felt that taking a trip for scholarly pursuits wasn’t so bad, a brief escape from the endless trifles and troubles.

Walking leisurely behind the cart, he unwrapped the cloth bundle from his arms. Inside were desserts from Zhengxin House—honeyed trifles, golden sesame crisps, peach crisps, and smiling cookies...

As he was eating, the clopping of hooves approached; Zhang Xia rode up beside him, looking down at the snacks in his hand, and asked carelessly, "You seem to be very close with the Princely Heir and Commandery Princess, she even prepared desserts specifically for you."

Chen Ji glanced at her and replied, "The Princely Heir and Commandery Princess are my friends."

Zhang Xia puzzled, "Friends?"

Chen Ji calmly answered, "Don’t you have friends?"

Zhang Xia bluntly said, "No. After coming to Luocheng City, those who wanted to be my friends either sought Silver or my father’s help for some matter. It’s better not to have such friends."

Chen Ji casually responded, "With the reputation of the Xu Family, befriending Second Miss Zhang isn’t easy."

Zhang Xia suddenly said, "My name is Zhang Xia, you don’t need to keep calling me ’Second Miss Zhang’."

Chen Ji casually agreed, "Sure, Zhang Xia."

Just then, Bai Li, seeing Chen Ji walking behind, turned to Wang Daosheng and said, "Master, Chen Ji has been walking for several miles, perhaps we should let him on the cart?"

Mr. Wang put down the book in his hand and silently looked towards Chen Ji.

Bai Li saw there was an opportunity and quickly added a sentence, "Look, he’s already been punished, and he definitely won’t be late again. There’s still more than forty li to Yichuan County. If you walk all the way there, your shoes will wear out."

Mr. Wang said to Prince Jing, "Please stop for a moment."

Prince Jing did not turn his head but reined in the ox cart, which gradually came to a stop.

Just as Bai Li was about to wave and let Chen Ji get on the cart, he saw Mr. Wang jump down from the cart and say to Prince Jing, "Continue on the journey."

Everyone was shocked, "Master, what are you doing?"

Mr. Wang dusted off his clothes and smoothed out the wrinkles, "It’s a good thing the Commandery Princess reminded me. Since I’ve accepted the tuition fee, I am Chen Ji’s instructor. If he makes a mistake, I am also responsible and should be punished with him. You all sit in the cart; I will walk with him to Yichuan County."

Chen Ji said, "Master, you don’t have to do this."

Mr. Wang shook his head, "This has nothing to do with you; I am merely acting according to my conscience."

Chen Ji felt ashamed, "I’m sorry, I will not be late again."

Mr. Wang brushed the dust off his shoulder with a book, "No, if there is something more important than studying the classics, you should still do it."

"Hmm?"

Mr. Wang said calmly, "Zhi Xing Academy can only teach you the principles of being human, and that principle is to act according to your heart. The heart that wants to help when seeing a beggar lying on the ground is the heart, and the heart that draws a sword to assist when seeing injustice is also the heart. When your heart compels you, you should act, and there is no mistake."

Chen Ji was somewhat puzzled.

The usually serious Mr. Wang rarely smiled, "If you just miss one of my classes, I can repeat it for you. But some opportunities, once missed, are missed forever."

Chen Ji took a deep breath, "I understand, Master."

Suddenly, he felt that Mr. Wang was unlike any of the scholars he had encountered.

"I will walk too," Bai Li pushed off from the cart and jumped down neatly, walking shoulder to shoulder with Chen Ji, with a red jade carp pendant on his collar like a plum blossom in winter.

The Princely Heir hesitated for a moment and then unwillingly jumped down from the cart, complaining, "Why walk when we can ride a fine ox cart... you all must be crazy..."

Chen Wenzong also stood up, but Chen Wenxiao held him back, "Brother, what are you trying to do? If he made a mistake, let him bear it alone; why should we be punished with him? This walk to Yichuan County will blister our feet!"

Chen Wenzong sighed and finally sat back down.

Zhang Xia, seeing the walking group, suddenly jumped down from his horse and walked beside Bai Li, leading his horse by the reins.

Bai Li glared at her, "Why did you get down?"

Zhang Xia said nonchalantly, "We’re classmates; we share both the good times and the bad!"

The Princely Heir gave a thumbs up, "True warriors of Jianghu!"

...

...

The ox cart slowly left through the South City Gate.

Outside the city, many displaced people had gathered, living in makeshift shelters, surviving daily on porridge distributed by the government.

The Princely Heir said, "Did you hear that just the other night near the West City Gate, there was nearly a riot? In the end, Lord Zhang Zhuo managed to get food there in time and caught a conspirator from the crowd who was trying to incite the riot, which settled things down."

Chen Wenzong sat at the back of the ox cart and responded to the Princely Heir, "My father mentioned it. He said that day was critical, and the displaced people nearly broke into Luocheng to loot and plunder."

The Princely Heir said, "They say that night there was a mysterious person wearing a hat and a mask outside the city who negotiated as a hostage, promising that food would definitely arrive around 5 to 7 AM, which helped delay the crowd for over two hours. These days, all the storytellers in the teahouses have been outside the city, gathering information from the displaced about that night to turn it into a story."

Zhang Xia, leading her horse by the reins, admired, "My father said that was a young hero, calm and fearless in the face of danger, worthy of being a General. Not only did he hold off the crowd and buy time, but he also identified death soldiers from the Liu Family among the displaced, which was impressive."

Bai Li looked at Chen Ji unconsciously.

The day before yesterday, wasn’t that the day Chen Ji was late?

She didn’t know why she thought of Chen Ji; these words didn’t mention Chen Ji, nor was there any evidence that the person was him.

But in her deepest impressions, Chen Ji too was masked, also calm and fearless in the face of danger.

Chen Wenxiao suddenly scoffed, "What young hero, that’s a member of the Eunuch Party."

Zhang Xia glared, "What about the Eunuch Party? They genuinely saved people too."

Chen Wenxiao retorted, "How can you call someone from the Eunuch Party a hero just because they did something good occasionally? Are they worthy? My father said, if anyone from the Chen family associates with the Eunuch Party, their legs will be broken!"

Bai Li suddenly felt that the person outside the city couldn’t have been Chen Ji, because the night Chen Ji saved her, he killed six spies from the Ritual Supervision.

How could a killer of the Eunuch Party be one of them?

Meanwhile, Mr. Wang, ignoring their debate, walked over to a porridge tent and said to a government officer of the Luocheng City Government, "Today, go register and create a record. In the homes with children among the displaced, allow an extra half portion of porridge. Going forward, if any child goes missing, that household will be banned from collecting porridge."

The government officer impatiently said, "Who are you? Get lost; is it your turn to give orders? We distribute as we see fit!"

Mr. Wang remained untroubled and politely replied, "Just tell Lord Zhang that Wang Daosheng said this. He will understand."

Zhang Xia curiously asked, "Why can’t the whole family collect porridge if a child is missing?"

Chen Ji casually explained, "Perhaps it’s to prevent someone from swapping children for food."

Zhang Xia was horrified, "Exchange children for food? Would parents do such a thing?"

Chen Ji calmly stated, "In a year of great disaster, there are only the strong and the weak."