Green Mountain
Chapter 321 - 261, Apology

Chapter 321: 261, Apology

In the darkness of the night, yellow corn kernels spilled across the road, clattering as they scattered.

Chen Ji stood in front of the inn, quietly watching as people came with torches drawn by the sound, swarmed to the ground like bees, scooped up the scattered corn kernels into their bosoms, and ran off.

What is grain?

At this very moment in Guyuan, grain is life.

Several members of the Yulin Army rushed out of the inn and, with veins nearly bursting in anger, demanded from Chen Ji at his side, "What are you doing? Why spill the grain on the ground?"

Chen Ji paid them no mind and turned to walk back into the inn.

Qi Zhenzhuo followed behind him, angrily demanding, "With such scarcity of food nowadays, what will everyone eat tomorrow if you spill all the grain? What will His Highness eat?"

Chen Ji returned to the room.

The main hall of the inn was quiet and calm, the flickering candlelight dancing in everyone’s eyes.

They exchanged glances, thinking that Chen Ji had given in without complaints when searched earlier, but they did not expect him to be so resolute.

At this moment, Qi Zhenzhuo charged into the main hall, reached out to clap a hand on Chen Ji’s shoulder, "Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me questioning you?"

The instant Qi Zhenzhuo’s right hand touched Chen Ji’s shoulder, Chen Ji, without turning his head, reached out with his left hand to grab Qi Zhenzhuo’s hand, slightly bent his body, and threw him over his back.

With a loud bang, Qi Zhenzhuo crashed into a wooden table and lay on the ground.

"Damn you!" Qi Zhenzhuo got up cursing angrily, "Come on, let’s see what you’re made of!"

Li Xuan burst into fury, "Qi Zhenzhuo, have you caused enough trouble? Stop it now!"

But Qi Zhenzhuo was aflame with rage and wouldn’t listen.

Yet as Qi Zhenzhuo charged towards Chen Ji, Chen Ji sidestepped lightly, and with a gentle trip of his foot, Qi Zhenzhuo stumbled and fell heavily to the ground.

Several members of the Yulin Army familiar with Qi Zhenzhuo flipped tables and lunged at Chen Ji.

Regrettably, these ’Young Generals’, though they had their Entry into Official Gateway bought by their families, had never truly fought with weapons with anyone. Their figures barely touched Chen Ji when they were already sent reeling, leaving onlookers dazzled.

When everyone refocused, several Young Generals were lying on the ground, wailing in pain.

A member of the Yulin Army, witnessing his comrades being disgraced, immediately drew his sword and stabbed towards Chen Ji.

Unarmed, Chen Ji neither dodged nor avoided, and as the sword was about to pierce his chest, he caught the blade with both hands, flicked his wrists forcefully, and commanded, "Let go!"

The Yulin Army soldier felt a numbness in his palm and involuntarily released the hilt.

Li Xuan’s pupils contracted sharply; Qi Zhenzhuo got up and rushed forward again, only to be kicked back by Li Xuan.

Qi Zhenzhuo’s eyes reddened, "Brother-in-law!"

Li Xuan scolded in a low voice, "What’s there to say when you’re outclassed in skill? Even if ten more of you came at him, what could you do to him?"

Qi Zhenzhuo’s face turned red as well.

The main hall finally returned to silence.

Chen Liqin pondered for a while, then spoke up, "Chen Ji, we shall still serve under His Highness in the future, how can we come to blows like this? Quickly apologize to everyone. Also, your actions of spilling the grain were indeed inappropriate..."

Chen Ji looked at Chen Liqin and interrupted courteously, "Mr. Chen, no need to worry, their injuries are not severe. Moreover, I would neither stoop to petty theft nor disgrace the Chen family’s honor. This grain was obtained cleanly, spilled cleanly, and it left cleanly."

Chen Liqin was at a loss for words.

Li Xuan intervened, "Chen Ji, Mr. Chen and Qi Zhenzhuo were just worried that you acted rashly. None of us were thinking of ourselves, but rather of the Crown Prince’s reputation. If we give others something to seize upon, it would also tarnish the Crown Prince’s reputation. If there’s any offense, I’ll apologize on their behalf. Please don’t take it to heart."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Lord Li, I understand the principle naturally and won’t take it to heart."

Having said that, he bowed respectfully to the Crown Prince from a distance, "Your Highness, I impulsively spilled the grain earlier and now deeply regret it. Whatever punishment I deserve, I accept."

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, and then sighed softly, "It’s not entirely your fault... there is no need for punishment. Brother Chen Ji, you’ve had a hard day today, go back and rest."

Chen Ji picked up a palm leaf wrap from the table, and in full view, took out a golden-orange orange and shoved it into Chen Wenzong’s palm, saying with a smile, "Brother, have an orange to cool off, it’s fine."

Chen Wenzong took the orange in a daze and saw Chen Ji leave two oranges for the Crown Prince before going upstairs.

Everyone’s gaze followed Chen Ji’s figure until he disappeared at the top of the stairs.

Without fierce debate or angry accusation, as if nothing ever happened, it all ended just like that.

A long while later, Li Xuan scolded in a low voice, "Qi Zhenzhuo, are you satisfied now? It was just a quarter of an hour ago when I reminded you not to cause trouble for Chen Ji. Can you not understand simple words?"

Qi Zhenzhuo, aware he had caused trouble, still muttered his defence, "Didn’t you all have suspicions just now? Even Mr. Chen doubted him!"

Chen Liqin’s face changed.

Seeing Qi Zhenzhuo still arguing, Li Xuan was so enraged that he drew his sword and split the square table in front of him in two, "Stop your excuses! I ask you, what will we eat tomorrow, what will His Highness eat? If my five hundred soldiers of the Yulin Army don’t die on the battlefield but instead starve to death in Guyuan, generations of our families will be shamed!"

Qi Zhenzhuo saw him getting truly angry and immediately fell silent as if struck by a chill.

At this moment, Zhang Xia’s fierce voice came from upstairs, "With so many people unable to find any food for a whole day, and yet when you do, you’re suspected? Then don’t bother with them. Let them find their own food and see how many days they can survive without starving."

At this point, Zhang Xia did not relent and continued, "And the Chen family, I don’t know what’s wrong with them, not standing up for their own people, guessing wildly like others. It’s one thing to keep food hidden and secretly eat it themselves, but even the servants are hiding food. The beam is not straight above, the foundation isn’t right below; being born into the Chen family is truly bad luck, it would have been better to be part of our Zhang family!"

Finally, Zhang Xia threw out a sentence: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, filial piety, brotherliness, loyalty, trust, etiquette, righteousness, frugality."

Then she went back to her room and closed the door.

Everyone knew that Zhang Xia was pretending to speak to Chen Ji, but actually she made her point in the corridor outside the door for those downstairs to hear. This time, Zhang Xia was really angry, almost to the point of cursing at their noses.

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, "I had heard that the Second Miss Zhang was fierce and straightforward, but I didn’t expect her to be so... um, outspoken and honest."

Li Xuan turned to everyone, "What does the limerick read by Second Miss Zhang just now mean?"

"The first half lacks ’eight’, the second half lacks ’shame’," explained Chen Wenzong indifferently, "So the meaning of the poem is ’forget eight, without shame.’"

The Yulin Army were scolded until they were downcast and ashamed.

Li Xuan turned and saluted the Crown Prince with a fist to his chest, "I humbly request that Your Highness remove Qi Zhenzhuo from the position of Deputy Commander and demote him to Squad Leader. In addition, all the Yulin soldiers involved should have half a year’s salary deducted, as a way to make amends to Chen Ji."

Qi Zhenzhuo was just about to open his mouth when Li Xuan fiercely stared at him, "Otherwise, do you want to be the one to find sixty catties of grain every day? Qi Zhenzhuo, you always claim to admire capable people, so now that you’ve met someone more formidable than you, why can’t you admit it? Where has the pride of the Qi family gone?"

The Crown Prince looked to Qi Zhenzhuo, "What are your thoughts?"

Qi Zhenzhuo was silent for a long while, "Your Highness, I am willing to accept the punishment and will go to make amends to Chen Ji shortly."

The Crown Prince nodded, "Then do as Lord Li says. You need not go to Chen Ji now, he is still fuming at the moment, and if you go now, it might just lead to more quarreling. Tomorrow morning, you will go with Lord Li and offer your apologies together."

...

...

The second day of the siege.

Early in the morning, there was no crowing of roosters, no barking of dogs.

The chickens and dogs of Guyuan seemed to have died out overnight, making this place seem abandoned, silent once again.

Li Xuan pulled Qi Zhenzhuo by the arm, dragging him out of the room, "Let’s go, what are you dawdling for!"

Qi Zhenzhuo leaned back in resistance, "Brother-in-law, I haven’t thought about what to say yet."

Li Xuan lowered his voice and rebuked, "Still not convinced? You’ve been training for so many years, and the Qi family has supplemented your cultivation resources, yet you only reached the Postnatal Realm without even seeing the threshold of the Innate Realm. He’s seven or eight years younger than you, and now he’s already in the Innate Realm, and you couldn’t beat him even if you had one hand tied behind your back!"

Qi Zhenzhuo struggled with his arm, "I am convinced, I never said I wasn’t!"

Li Xuan stood still in the corridor, glaring at Qi Zhenzhuo, "The grain you guys collected was a mix of rice, millet, sorghum, corn, all clearly pieced together from the homes of the common people. Now look at him, he brought back an entire bag of corn. What does that tell you?"

Qi Zhenzhuo was puzzled, "What does it tell us? That he found a cornfield?"

Li Xuan laughed in exasperation, "It tells us that he found a big grain merchant, and that merchant has certainly more than just this sixty catties of corn!"

Qi Zhenzhuo was startled, "That makes sense."

Qi Zhenzhuo softened his tone, "Can you please help me out, brother-in-law? I have several hundred men under me waiting to be fed, I can’t really let them starve to death, can I? Zhenzhuo, I only got this position after your sister begged our grandfather for half a year, don’t make it tough for me."

Qi Zhenzhuo hesitated for a long while, finally gritting his teeth, "It’s just an apology, not like we’ll lose a piece of flesh. Let’s go."

The two went down the stairs to the third floor, and knocked on the door of Tianzi Room C.

No one responded.

The two looked at each other, and Li Xuan knocked again.

Still no response.

Li Xuan thought something was wrong and ran downstairs. Upon reaching the hall, he asked Xiao Wu, who was cleaning the table, "Young man, where are the guests from Tianzi Room C upstairs?"

Xiao Wu replied lazily, "Dear Guest, they left early in the morning."

Qi Zhenzhuo questioned, "Did they go to find food?"

Xiao Wu cracked a smile, "Probably not to find food."

Qi Zhenzhuo wondered, "How do you know?"

Xiao Wu finished wiping the table and slung the cloth over his shoulder, "After all the trouble collecting food yesterday, would they go out to find more trouble today? That would be foolish."

Qi Zhenzhuo’s face burned with embarrassment—the inn’s staff dared to mock him openly.

Li Xuan hastily asked, "Where did they go?"

Xiao Wu walked towards the backyard, "What’s it to me? They don’t need to tell a little worker like me where they’re going."

Li Xuan and Qi Zhenzhuo looked at each other, realizing Chen Ji didn’t even intend to give them a chance to apologize.