Green Mountain
Chapter 311 - 251, Run out of food

Chapter 311: 251, Run out of food

Inside the main hall of the inn, the Yulin Army surrounded, swords at the ready, while Zhou You stood alone in the center, his voice booming as he spoke.

Li Xuan glanced around, then turned back to this Deputy General of the border army: "Lord Zhou, it is admirable that you share meals and lodgings with your soldiers. However, if Jing Dynasty spies can set fire to your food supplies right under your nose, you cannot be entirely blameless. If there was no insider in your border army, the Jing Dynasty spies could not have succeeded in their task."

Zhou You’s eyelids twitched slightly, then he slowly replied: "We will investigate this matter ourselves, Lord Li need not trouble himself."

Unable to restrain himself, Li Xuan scolded: "You will investigate? Lord Zhou, I think you seem like an insider for the Jing Dynasty. If the food you requisitioned is burned again, then even the gods won’t be able to save Guyuan City!"

Zhou You, in his armor, sneered as he looked around: "What, Lord Li, would you like to detain me for questioning? Let’s see if your Yulin Army has the strength to do so! I’ve been in the border army since the 11th Year of Jianing, risking my life. Over twenty-one years, I’ve beheaded 319 Jing Dynasty thieves, and it’s not up to a bunch of officials from the Imperial Capital to accuse me of being a Jing Dynasty insider!"

The Crown Prince said soothingly: "Lord Zhou’s contributions to defending the frontier are monumental, and we do not question this. However, regarding the destruction of the border army’s food supplies, doesn’t the border army owe the court an explanation?"

Zhou You dusted off his clothes and arrogantly said: "If I survive this battle, I will indeed provide an explanation to the court. Men, take all the remaining food in this Dragon Gate Inn and transport it to the border army’s camp!"

Outside the inn, someone suddenly tore down the cotton curtain at the door and wearing bamboo armor, burst into the inn’s backyard, moving all the food in sight.

Qi Zhenzhuo wanted to draw his sword, but was firmly held back by Li Xuan: "Hold back, Zhou You seems to be provoking us on purpose. Small tolerance is needed for the big plan!"

Qi Zhenzhuo gritted his teeth so hard they might shatter, but he eventually slowly relaxed his grip on the sword.

After the border army departed, the chill wind howled into the inn, leaving everyone inside staring blankly at each other.

Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu picked up the trampled cotton curtain from the ground and looked towards the Shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, what should we do?"

The Shopkeeper calmly said: "What else can we do? Patch it up, rehang it on the door frame. Do you really need to ask me that?"

Xiao Wu scratched his head: "I mean, our inn’s dignity has been trampled on, shouldn’t we do something? Why does Zhou You dare..."

The Shopkeeper snapped: "Shut up."

At this moment, both Li Xuan and Chen Liqin were deeply troubled.

Li Xuan whispered: "Now that the army has taken all the food in the city, what should we do? If we really ask His Highness to queue up for porridge at the relief shelter, we should thank him to death."

Chen Liqin sighed and asked: "How much silver did His Highness bring this time to Guyuan?"

Li Xuan answered: "The Ministry of Revenue allocated four thousand taels of silver, which is official. How much the Crown Prince brought in private, I am not clear."

Chen Liqin silently calculated: "On a normal day, four thousand taels of silver could buy eight thousand bushels of grain, enough for a Yulin Army soldier for thirty days. But now there’s a food shortage in the city. Even if grain merchants have secretly hoarded grain, they will raise the prices sky-high."

The four thousand taels of silver could only buy about eight hundred bushels of grain at this time, which was very fortunate. Not to mention eight hundred bushels, even finding grain was good. If it were only enough to feed a dozen people, he could think of something, but here were five hundred Yulin Army soldiers waiting to eat.

Chen Liqin already regretted not heeding Zhang Zhuo’s advice. If he had ignored the urgent five hundred li express and went to the Ministry of Personnel in the Imperial Capital instead, he wouldn’t have to deal with these vexing matters.

He looked towards Li Xuan: "Does Lord Li have any strategies?"

Li Xuan was silent for a moment: "Mr. Chen, as the Left Guard of the Eastern Palace, I am only responsible for ensuring His Highness’s safety. Matters of food and fodder are not within my duties."

Chen Liqin’s heart sank.

At this moment, the Shopkeeper bowed to the Crown Prince: "Honorable guests, will you continue to stay at the inn?"

The Crown Prince’s gaze shifted back from the door, smiling, he said: "Yes, please arrange rooms for us, Shopkeeper."

The Shopkeeper flipped through the ledger, glanced back at the water tables hanging behind: "Guest, there’s only one remaining room in the Tianzi class left. Who will stay?"

Li Xuan quickly responded: "Of course, my Lord stays there."

The Shopkeeper took out a water plate engraved with ’occupied’ and hung it on the wall corresponding to Tianzi Room D, then continued to ask: "What about the ten rooms in the Dizi class? Who will stay?"

Before Li Xuan could reply, Chen Wenxiao asked from the side: "Can’t we ask the guest in the Tianzi class room to vacate a few rooms?"

The Shopkeeper chuckled: "No matter who it is, once they check into my inn, they are my honored guests. What kind of business would I be running if I simply drove people away? Some guests will leave the day after tomorrow, and it won’t be too late to change rooms then."

Chen Wenxiao wanted to say more, but Chen Liqin held his shoulder.

Chen Liqin pointed to Chen Ji and politely said to the Shopkeeper: "We do not need to stay in the Tianzi class rooms, just rooms next to him will do."

The Shopkeeper raised an eyebrow: "Guest, that’s not possible, as the Chen family’s young master is staying in Tianzi Room C, and there are no vacant rooms next to it."

Chen Liqin was slightly startled.

Chen Wenxiao’s gaze shifted, then loudly said: "Chen Ji, give your Tianzi class room to father, mother, and we few will stay in a Dizi class room."

Even Chen Wenzong whispered to Chen Ji: "It’s fine for us to stay in the Dizi class room. Our dynasty places great importance on filial piety. If we don’t swap, it might affect your future prospects in the Eastern Palace."

Chen Ji glanced at Chen Wenzong, knowing that the other party also had his career in mind. He thought for a moment, then said: "Shopkeeper, please help us switch rooms, let Mr. Chen stay in the Tianzi class room."

However, what was unexpected was that when the Shopkeeper heard about Chen Liqin’s identity, his face collapsed immediately: "It can’t be switched."

Chen Wenxiao said in surprise, "We agreed to the switch ourselves, why won’t you allow it? We paid for the room, it’s our decision who stays in it!"

The Shopkeeper scoffed, "Tianzi Room C is meant for the young master of the Chen family to live in, and I won’t charge any rent for it. I decide who gets to stay, isn’t that reasonable?"

Even Chen Ji was surprised this time, unsure of the Shopkeeper’s intentions.

Amid the deadlock, the Crown Prince quietly observed. He was puzzled by the shift in the Shopkeeper’s attitude: What gives an innkeeper the audacity to stand up to a Secondary Fourth-rank official? And why would he do so?

Moreover, he was even more curious about Chen Ji’s special treatment in this inn; at this point, he would believe someone if they told him that this inn was opened by Chen Ji.

Chen Liqin questioned, "Why does Chen Ji get to stay here for free?"

Leaning on the counter with his elbow, the Shopkeeper rolled his eyes and said, "It’s none of your business."

Chen Liqin was fuming with anger, "You!"

The Shopkeeper mockingly said, "What about me?"

Wang Gui stepped up, his voice stern, "My Lord is a Junior Scholar at Master’s Mansion and serves as a Secondary Fourth-rank official of the court. Show some respect when you speak!"

The Shopkeeper was silent for a moment, then sneered, "Secondary Fourth-rank? Before I quit, I was a Standard Fourth Rank; I didn’t even care about that rank, let alone a secondary rank."

Wang Gui widened his eyes, "You were a Standard Fourth Rank? Lying about that can get you in serious trouble!"

The Shopkeeper firmly said, "In the 14th Year of Jianing, I served as Deputy General in Guyuan, and His Majesty honored me with a Qilin Uniform as recognition!"

With that, he pulled out a jade belt from under the counter and casually threw it on the counter.

Everyone’s eyes focused and it turned out to be the jade belt of the Qilin Uniform, the white jade inlaid belt also featuring intricately designed patterns of dragon heads, musk deer bodies, and lion tails.

Normally, if an official received such an honor, he would enshrine and care for the Qilin Uniform at home. Yet, this Shopkeeper just stuffed the jade belt under the counter and tossed it on there, seemingly indifferent.

Chen Liqin and Li Xuan exchanged glances, both not expecting such hidden depths in this modest inn.

Li Xuan clasped his fist and said, "I had heard that this inn was opened by former subordinates of General Wen Tao; I thought it was just a rumor, but turns out it’s true."

The Shopkeeper lazily retracted the jade belt back to the counter, "No harm done, no harm done. It’s all in the past. I wouldn’t have taken out this jade belt if no one tried to boss me around here. Now I’m just an ordinary man taking care of this plot of land, even if the Second Grade official Hu Junxian comes, I would assign him Tianzi Room D and he would have to accept it."

"Stop bragging," Chen Wenxiao sneered, "Even if you had an official rank before, now you are just a commoner. Huh, we will not stay here anymore!"

The Shopkeeper’s eyes narrowed slightly, "Once you leave this door, if the Dragon Gate Inn refuses to accommodate someone, nobody in Guyuan City dares to accommodate them."

Chen Wenxiao pointed at the Shopkeeper’s nose, "Earlier you said you were just running a business, but now you act this way... Is it Chen Ji instructing you?"

Chen Wenzong slapped his hand away, annoyed, "When have you seen Chen Ji instructing the Shopkeeper?"

Chen Wenxiao became frantic, "Brother, why do you always take his side? We are the legitimate brothers!"

Chen Wenzong calmly said, "I only speak what is right. Moreover, in our court, legitimate and illegitimate brothers are not differentiated between noble and humble. Do not mention such things again, otherwise you will be punished with ten canings as a lesson."

Chen Wenxiao opened his mouth, unable to speak for a while.

Moments later, the Crown Prince smiled and made amends, "Gentlemen, let Chen Ji stay in Tianzi Room C. Currently, as my Right Guard, he should stay next door to ensure my safety."

The inn suddenly quieted down, and seeing the Crown Prince no longer hiding his identity, everyone bowed and said, "As Your Highness commands."

With his identity revealed, the Crown Prince turned back to see how the Shopkeeper would react, but the Shopkeeper went about his business, heading to the back courtyard and calling out, "Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu: go and clean up all the rooms!"

The Crown Prince smiled and lifted his robe to walk upstairs.

As he walked, he intriguedly asked, "Chen Ji, in which room are the young master and Second Miss Zhang from the Zhang Family staying? Now that I am also here, I should pay them a visit."

Chen Ji hesitated a moment, "Your Highness, they are sharing Tianzi Room C with me."

The Crown Prince, on the staircase, turned back in surprise, "You are all in the same room?"

Even the Chen family members behind them were stunned, with Chen Liqin frowning, "How could this disregard the propriety? If this gets out to the Imperial Capital, how would Second Miss Zhang face others?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment, the Crown Prince had already brought up Zhang Xia more than once, what was his intention?

He explained, "Guyuan is not safe, and being alone in a foreign place, the four of us chose to all stay in a ground spread in the same room, separated by bed sheets, which makes it easier to take turns keeping watch all night."

The Crown Prince responded with a smile, "I see, you indeed have had it tough before. Now that the Yulin Army is guarding the surroundings, you can split the rooms. Give Second Miss Zhang a separate Tianzi Room D, to avoid ruining her reputation. I will also instruct the Yulin Army that no one is allowed to divulge this matter, violators will be dismissed and permanently banned from employment."

Chen Ji calmly replied, "Thank you for Your Highness’s concern, having extra rooms is certainly good, I’ll go and ask them right away."