Green Mountain
Chapter 320 - 260, Suspicion

Chapter 320: 260, Suspicion

Chen Ji silently watched the crowd frantically running in front of the inn, as the border soldiers brandished knives to drive them on, capturing those who instigated the trouble. Resisters were killed on the spot.

A troop of border soldiers passed through Qiu Ci Street, and when passing by the Dragon Gate Inn, one of them cast a cold glance at Chen Ji but ignored him and continued chasing and killing further ahead.

As dusk fell, Chen Ji turned and climbed onto the roof. He didn’t go for food; instead, he tiptoed across the rooftop ridges towards Taohuai Square.

Reaching Quli Street, the whole street was eerily silent. The tailor shop and Baofeng House were all shuttered.

Chen Ji walked straight to Landlord Li’s door and knocked loudly.

But after a long while, no one in the courtyard responded.

Chen Ji frowned. He was here to inquire about Bai Long’s situation, to probe whether Bai Long was behind the burning of the grain supplies, and whether there was any countermeasure...

Even if Bai Long wasn’t responsible for the fire, bringing Xiao Man, Zhang Zheng, and Zhang Xia to seek refuge with him would be the safest way to survive, much better than following the Yulin Army.

After much thought, he finally leapt up gently and climbed onto the wall, using both hands to hoist himself up lightly and crouched on top of the wall, peering inside.

There was no one in the courtyard. The dozen or so spies with axes and knives were nowhere to be seen. The entire courtyard was tidy and empty, as if no one had ever lived there.

Chen Ji jumped into the courtyard, opened the east and west wing rooms, and found nothing inside but tables, chairs, and beds. Not even a single piece of paper was left behind.

For a moment, he felt it to be absurd. Did Bai Long leave? Where did he go?

Was everything this afternoon just a dream?

He went to the main house and lightly pushed the door open.

There was nobody inside, just a lone package wrapped in palm leaves on the square table.

Chen Ji approached and lifted a corner. It was exactly the oranges that Bai Long had asked him to bring to Second Miss Zhang that afternoon!

Everyone had gone, leaving only this package of oranges behind, as though Bai Long knew he would return, silently mocking him from some hidden corner.

Clutching the oranges, Chen Ji stepped back onto Quli Street, walking straight to the tailor shop and knocking on the door, but again there was no response.

He lifted the door panel and walked in. The cloths were neatly stacked on the shelves, and a half-finished garment lay folded on the counter...

The tailor shop’s proprietress had also vanished.

Chen Ji, incredulously knocking on neighbouring doors, realized after knocking through the entire Quli Street that it had been completely evacuated!

This vast and long Quli Street was as if haunted, desolate and silent.

Chen Ji stared into the dark street, overwhelmed with suspicion: "Could this entire street belong to Bai Long’s people? Then did this street previously hide hundreds of individuals?"

From where did Bai Long bring so many spies? And why? What does Bai Long ultimately intend to do?

While he pondered, a crowd with torches and short knives stormed into Quli Street, the leader pointing with a short knife: "Search, go search every household for food. If the border army won’t let us live, then no one shall. If the border army won’t give us food, we’ll find it ourselves!"

Not just Quli Street but the neighbouring Dohun Street as well was experiencing the same chaos. The wealthy in Guyuan, starving and desperate, unable to confront the border army, could only turn their attention to the common people.

The cries and curses were incessant.

Guyuan was descending into chaos.

Chen Ji slowly backed out of Quli Street and climbed onto the roof, rushing towards the grain shop.

...

...

Inside the Dragon Gate Inn, Xiao Wu was sleeping soundly on the counter while Li Xuan led a group of Yulin soldiers in the hall, everyone holding a bowl with a thin layer of porridge.

The disheveled Yulin soldiers sat, forty jin of grain divided between five hundred men, barely enough to stay alive.

The Crown Prince picked up his bowl, which contained even less porridge than the others.

Li Xuan suggested, "Your Highness, please let us add more porridge for you. How will you handle it if you ruin your health by just drinking this little?"

The Crown Prince smiled and reassured, "All the officers have exhausted themselves running around to buy grain, and I simply reap the benefits staying at the inn. How can I justify eating more? Everyone, do not be disheartened; perhaps the Right Guard will bring back the grain later."

Li Xuan, worriedly said, "Your Highness, although Chen Ji is capable, he is still too young. Qi Zhenzhuo provoked him, and he took on this heavy responsibility. We know how difficult it is to find grain after running around all day. If he really can’t bring back the food, we can’t blame him."

Qi Zhenzhuo murmured quietly, "He wanted to show off. What’s that got to do with me?"

Li Xuan glared at him, "Won’t you shut up? What’s the point of not cooperating and supporting Your Highness at times like this? If I find you making trouble for Chen Ji again, I’ll report you when we get back! Then, don’t blame me for being heartless!"

Qi Zhenzhuo indignantly said, "But what he said was so infuriating. What does he mean by grain is easy to find? It’s as if he’s making us of the Yulin Army out to be completely useless."

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside the inn.

Li Xuan gave Qi Zhenzhuo a meaningful glance, and after Qi Zhenzhuo went out to check briefly, he returned with a solemn look: "This is bad. The local strongmen in Guyuan are leading their men to plunder the common people, forcibly searching for grain in their homes. Some families that didn’t produce grain even had their walls knocked down."

The Crown Prince abruptly stood up: "How can this be? Is the Guyuan Border Army not going to manage this?"

Just then, a figure quietly approached the inn entrance, squeezing through the door crack into the room.

All eyes turned to see Chen Ji carrying a sack of grain inside. Xiao Wu suddenly woke up, hurriedly brought over a cloth, and patted the dust off Chen Ji’s body.

Qi Zhenzhuo looked surprised as he took the sack, slamming it heavily onto the table and undoing the twine tied around the sack’s opening, revealing it to be full of golden corn kernels.

He looked at Chen Ji, incredulous: "Where... where did you get this grain from?"

Chen Ji glanced at him: "Naturally, I bought it from the homes of the common people."

Qi Zhenzhuo immediately challenged, "Impossible. We visited so many homes and offered plenty of silver, why couldn’t we obtain any?"

Chen Ji glanced at him, offering no response.

At this time, Qi Zhenzhuo, pointing at the grain, accused, "You couldn’t possibly have taken advantage of the chaos to rob the common people of this grain, could you?"

Chen Ji frowned slightly: "No."

Chen Liqin stood up and said in a deep voice, "Chen Ji, tell the truth. Did you rob this grain from the homes of the common people?"

Chen Ji answered again: "No."

Chen Liqin took a few steps forward: "Then where did this grain come from? Which square, which street, whose house, and how much did it cost?"

Chen Ji calmly said, "From Taohuai Square, Quli Street, Landlord Li’s house, it cost 500 taels of silver, for a total of sixty catties of corn."

Qi Zhenzhuo suddenly said, "That’s not right. You definitely stole it."

Chen Ji replied firmly, "What if I didn’t?"

Qi Zhenzhuo fell silent for a moment: "Earlier, the Crown Prince gave you the Buddhist Treasure. If you bought the grain, then that strand of Buddhist Treasure would no longer be on you. If you stole it, then that strand of Buddhist Treasure would definitely still be on you, unspent. Allow me to search you, and all will be clear."

Chen Ji looked towards the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, what do you think?"

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, then asserted, "No, Chen Ji has worked hard to find grain and bring it back. How can we recklessly speculate? Gentlemen, let us not be suspicious."

However, Qi Zhenzhuo was relentless and turned to mock Chen Liqin, "Mr. Chen, today you even reminded us of the Yulin Army not to steal or skulk. So what do you say now? When it concerns your own Chen Family, do we search or not?"

Chen Liqin looked at Qi Zhenzhuo and then at Chen Ji before suddenly bowing to the Crown Prince, "Your Highness, let’s search."

The Crown Prince shook his head: "We cannot search."

Chen Wenzong also stood up and blocked Chen Ji, sternly saying to everyone, "Confucius said, ’Do not be bent on contriving against others, be not deceitful without faith!’ We must not preemptively suspect others of deceit; we must not conjecture lies out of thin air!"

The next moment, Chen Ji, smiling, stepped aside from Chen Wenzong: "Thank you, elder brother. However, since everyone is suspicious, let’s have a search."

With that, he spread his arms, signaling Qi Zhenzhuo to come forward and search.

Qi Zhenzhuo did not hesitate, searching Chen Ji from his hair down to his ankles, and took out a packet of oranges and the Buddhist Treasure from his wrist.

Qi Zhenzhuo, beaming with triumph, handed the Buddhist Treasure to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, look, the Buddhist Treasure is still on him. This guy didn’t go to buy grain at all but stole it amidst the chaos!"

The Crown Prince frowned and handed the Buddhist Treasure back to Qi Zhenzhuo: "Chen Ji... what do you have to say?"

Before Chen Ji could answer, Xiao Wu drew closer and examined the Buddhist Treasure: "That’s not it. This Buddhist Treasure represents 2,500 taels of silver. Look, the saying ’Bodhisattva Mahasthamaprapta’ is inscribed on the first six beads; these came from Luocheng Tuluo Temple; the phrase ’Prince Jing Mansion Transfers Welfare’ on the next six beads indicates they were first transferred to Prince Jing; the final six say ’Ten Directions of Freedom,’ representing the amount of 2,500... Can’t you understand?"

After that, he touched the micro-engraving on the Buddhist Treasure: "Hmm, it’s real. The feel of this micro-engraving cannot be mistaken."

Everyone looked puzzled as the Crown Prince curiously asked, "Where did this Buddhist Treasure come from?"

Chen Wenzong hurriedly explained, "Earlier, my younger brother developed cement, and this was the price Prince Jing paid when purchasing the formula for the cement."

The Crown Prince breathed a sigh of relief: "It appears we have all misunderstood Chen Ji."

Li Xuan rose to smooth things over, "Chen Ji, you also saw that earlier, someone was looting the common people outside, so we were only..."

Chen Ji didn’t listen to what he said, nor did he respond, but simply shouldered the sack and walked outside.

Qi Zhenzhuo was taken aback: "What are you doing?"

As soon as the words fell, Chen Ji tore open the sack and spilled the whole bag of corn kernels at the entrance. The people outside swarmed over and quickly gathered up the scattered corn from the ground.