Green Mountain
Chapter 294 - 236, News of the Jing Dynasty

Chapter 294: 236, News of the Jing Dynasty

In the main hall of the guesthouse, where the good and the bad jumbled together, everyone harbored their own schemes.

When their gazes swept towards Chen Ji, their expressions were sly, scrutinizing, covetous, making it unclear whether they were human or ghostlike figures.

Chen Ji looked at the jug of wine on the table, and had a sudden realization: a Fire Saber wine on the square table meant selling information, while grape wine meant buying information. Merely by arranging the wine jug after entering, others would instantly know your business.

So it turned out that this Dragon Gate Inn was the largest hub for news distribution within Guyuan City, and this five hundred cents for a jug of wine was the inn’s commission.

But Chen Ji had originally come to buy information, yet due to some mix-up, had become someone selling information...

At that moment, the burly man sitting opposite him tapped the table with his knuckles, "Young lad, what information are you exactly looking to sell? Speak up!"

Xiao Man, standing behind Chen Ji, glared at the man across the table: "What’s your hurry? Isn’t my master still considering?"

The man let out a cold sneer: "You, girlie, got quite the temper. You both look new here, probably not familiar with the rules of Dragon Gate Inn, huh? If you lay out the jug without useful information, I’m afraid you won’t be able to stay here."

Chen Ji lowered his head, pondering what information to sell.

Just as the man across the table was about to knock on the table with his knuckles again, his hand had just risen, not yet fallen, when Chen Ji spoke: "I know what happened at Guyuan Inn."

The hand of the man poised to knock froze mid-air, his eyes suddenly lighting up: "You actually know about this matter! How much silver do you want?"

Chen Ji brought his hand to his chest and stretched out two fingers.

The man pondered for a moment then raised his head, placing two golden melon seeds on the table.

Looking at the two golden melon seeds, Chen Ji had originally intended to sell the information for two hundred taels of silver, but the other party only took out twenty taels... With such earth-shattering events at Guyuan Inn, how could it be worth only twenty taels?

Seeing Chen Ji not speaking, the man asked suspiciously, "Do you really know what happened at Guyuan Inn?"

After a long contemplation, Chen Ji eventually decided to sell the information quickly and then switch the Fire Saber wine for grape wine.

He simply whispered, "Inside Guyuan Inn, someone poisoned and killed the maid, servant, and thirty-four people from the Master’s Mansion’s Junior Scholar’s household. The perpetrator is unknown; both the border army and the Yulin Army have investigated, but the truth remains uncovered."

The man muttered to himself, "No wonder there were rumors that Guyuan Inn is filled with corpses. Alright, this information is worth twenty taels."

With that, he slid the two golden melon seeds in front of Chen Ji and hurriedly got up to leave.

The man lifted the heavy cotton curtain of the inn and disappeared into the cold wind.

Just as Chen Ji was about to call an attendant to change for a new jug, the curtain at the entrance of the inn was flung open again.

The man who had left returned, this time dragging in a skinny young man. He said to the Shopkeeper, "Second Boss, this fellow violated your rules. Many new faces have come to Guyuan recently, each bold enough to seek favors without knowing the rules."

Finally lifting his head, the Shopkeeper looked towards Chen Ji, "Guest, what do you say we do?"

Chen Ji looked at the young man being held, but had no idea how this person was related to him... were there any rules in this inn he was unaware of?

He could only reply in line with the place, "Handle it according to the inn’s rules."

The Shopkeeper calmly said to the man at the entrance, "For privately soliciting information, break a finger. Until the finger heals, he is not allowed to enter the inn again."

The man grinned viciously: "Got it."

After saying so, he forcefully broke the young man’s index finger and hauled him out again.

Methodically, the Shopkeeper said, "Lately, as the Crown Prince has come to our Guyuan, there have been many new faces around. Let me remind everyone, no matter who you work for, if you want information, you buy it with your own money. Don’t break the rules."

The main hall of the inn fell silent for a moment, only to gradually become noisy again as the Shopkeeper lowered his head to resume his bookkeeping.

Chen Ji stuffed the two golden melon seeds into his sleeve. Before he could summon an attendant to switch the wine, another person sat across him, taking out two silver ingots and placing them on the table, murmuring, "I’ll buy that information you just sold."

Chen Ji was momentarily stunned, then repeated, "Inside Guyuan Inn, someone poisoned and killed..."

After hearing the information, the man across the table departed without a word.

Chen Ji fixed his gaze upon the silver ingots on the table. He had thought that once the information was sold to one person, the secret would no longer be a secret, so it would be a one-time deal.

But now... it’s no wonder the earlier man had only coughed up two golden melon seeds; what he bought was "non-exclusive."

As buyer after buyer approached, the pile of silver in front of Chen Ji grew larger, and in the time it took to burn thirty minutes of incense, he earned a total of two hundred and twenty taels of silver.

Xiao Man couldn’t take her eyes off the silver. "Master... let’s stay in Guyuan, we make money all too easily here."

Chen Ji smiled wryly: "We don’t have that much information to sell."

Xiao Man hesitated, then ventured, "Why don’t we... Why don’t you go and kill some notorious pirates, loot their money first, then sell the news of their demise? Killing two birds with one stone."

Chen Ji couldn’t help but turn to look at Xiao Man behind him. What kind of person was his Aunt to have nurtured a living Yama by his side?

He responded nonchalantly, "I’m not capable of that."

Xiao Man pursed her lips, remaining silent, quite tempted.

Not to mention Xiao Man, even Chen Ji himself felt somewhat reluctant to stop. The colossal Ice Flow still circulated within his Dantian; he needed a lot, a lot of silver.

But what else was there to sell? The Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army planning to surround the city?

No, that’s not an option. If the border army decided to lock down the news, there must be a reason. If he spread the news himself, it might disrupt the border army’s formation.