In the middle of the night, the sound of a door opening came from Room B next door. Someone stepped lightly on the wooden floorboards in the corridor, left the room, and went downstairs.
Sitting on the small stool, Xiaoman was jolted awake. She groggily opened her eyes, only to see that Wu Yun had somehow curled up beside Zhang Xia's pillow at some point, tucking in her paws and falling asleep.
Xiaoman felt a burst of annoyance. Along this journey, no matter how much she tried to curry favor with Wu Yun, Wu Yun heartlessly refused to get close to her. Now, she was willing to sleep beside Second Miss Zhang. She was too lacking in conscience.
She looked up.
Chen Ji was still standing in his original spot, gazing out the window, hugging the Whale Blade in his arms with his back perfectly straight.
Xiaoman thought to herself, If the Young Master put on the silver armor and white cloak of the Feather Forest Army, with white pheasant tail feathers stuck in his helmet, he would definitely look more majestic than those Feather Forest Army soldiers, wouldn't he?
But was this still the concubine's son of the Chen Estate in her impression, the one who would lower his head and dare not speak after being reprimanded a few times by Madam Liang or Wang Gui?
Xiaoman rolled her eyes, quietly got up, lifted the hem of her clothes, moved close to Chen Ji's side, and spoke out to probe, "Young Master..."
Chen Ji suddenly spoke and interrupted, "Xiaoman, thank you."
Xiaoman's eyes widened. Hmm?! Why did the Young Master suddenly say thank you to her? Could it be that the Young Master found out about her manipulating the Taotie to help him vent his anger previously?
When did the Young Master find out? Was she seen when she was forming the hand seals? Or did she eat too much and arouse suspicion?
Chen Ji said calmly without turning his head, "Along this journey to Guyuan, you haven't complained of hardship or exhaustion. No matter who we face, no matter what the other party's status is, you always stand in front of me to protect me. Thank you."
The heavy boulder in Xiaoman's heart plummeted to the ground, and she instantly breathed a sigh of relief. So this was what the Young Master meant.
She opened her mouth to say, "The Young Master doesn't need to be so polite. I am your maid; this is all what I ought to do..."
Chen Ji spoke again, "Xiaoman, don't worry about your status."
Panic surged in Xiaoman's heart.
Status?
Could it be that the Young Master knows her status in the 'Lamp'? Was she overheard talking to Su Zhou? Or did she accidentally sleep-talk?
Chen Ji comforted her warmly, "When we reach the capital city, I will ask Madam for your contract of servitude back. At that time, whether you want to leave or stay will be entirely up to you. If you want to leave, I will give you a sum for a dowry. If you want to stay, I will raise your monthly silver."
Xiaoman's state of mind seemed to tumble between the clouds and the earth, suddenly going up and suddenly going down, and her heart thumped non-stop.
But when she heard that she could get her contract of servitude back, she still couldn't suppress her joy. "The Young Master must keep his word! You were the one who said you would return my contract of servitude to me. You are not allowed to regret it."
Chen Ji gave a grunt of affirmation and said in a low voice, "Go back to rest. I will continue keeping watch."
"Oh."
Muddleheaded, Xiaoman returned to the small stool. Only when her buttocks touched the chair did she remember: wasn't she supposed to go probe the Young Master?!
She looked suspiciously at Chen Ji's silhouette. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed!
Ah! When did the Young Master become so cunning... He must have been led astray by Zhang Zheng!
Thinking of this, she secretly stuck out her leg and kicked the soundly sleeping Zhang Zheng not far away. But Zhang Zheng didn't even open his eyes; he just rolled over and continued to sleep.
Xiaoman muttered, "Sleeping so dead, you wouldn't even know if someone killed you!"
At this time, Chen Ji stared at the stable through the crack in the window. He wanted to see if the fat man who entered the stable would come out again, but he waited for over two hours, and there was still no sign of the other party.
Could it be that the secret passage for quietly leaving the Guyuan military town was beneath this stable? Where did the guest next door go after leaving in the middle of the night? Could it be that he also wanted to leave Guyuan city?
But Chen Ji waited until dawn broke, and he still didn't see anyone enter or exit the stable. It wasn't until the rooster's crow sounded that an inn waiter carried forage to feed the horses.
He looked as far as his eyes could see once more, only to see that the torches and fire basins on the distant city walls had all been extinguished.
Fortunately, the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army did not come.
Chen Ji thought for a moment, handed the Whale Blade to Xiaoman, and turned to walk out the door. "Guard the room well."
Sitting on the chair, Xiaoman turned around to look at Chen Ji's back. After the door closed again, she quietly untied the cloth strips on the Whale Blade and unsheathed a foot of the blade's body.
The blade's body was snow-bright and could reflect people clearly like a mirror. Xiaoman could actually see her own face cleanly reflected on the blade's body. She had never seen such a good blade before, not even at Auntie's place.
Xiaoman thought for a moment, used the blade's body as a mirror to smooth her hair, and only then sheathed the blade as if nothing had happened.
Chen Ji walked down the stairs with light footsteps. In the main hall on the first floor of the inn, three waiters were setting up the tables and chairs.
When the waiters saw him come down, they successively stopped the work in their hands and cupped their hands. "A myriad of blessings to the guest."
Chen Ji nodded and walked to the backyard on his own. The shopkeeper shot a meaningful glance at Xiao Wu, and Xiao Wu limped behind Chen Ji.
"Guest, do you have any orders?" Xiao Wu asked with an apologetic smile.
Chen Ji smiled and said, "I'm going to comb my horse's hair."
Xiao Wu hurriedly said, "Guest, it's better to let this lowly one do such dirty and tiring work, isn't it? The stable is a filthy place, and the smell is quite strong."
Chen Ji explained, "My horse has a big temper and doesn't let others touch him."
As he spoke, he walked straight to the front of the stable and reached out his hand. Zaozao stepped forward and used his head to nudge his palm.
Xiao Wu praised, "Guest, this horse of yours is truly miraculous. Even the warhorses brought over from... the north, aren't this robust and strong."
Chen Ji opened the stable and led Zaozao out. "Trouble you to fetch two kilograms of roasted soybeans, mix in two eggs, and put it on my tab for elite Heaven-grade Room A."
Xiao Wu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately agreed, "Alright!"
Listening to the footsteps fading away behind him, Chen Ji immediately sized up the stable from the corner of his eye.
Inside the stable, over twenty horses were tied to hitching posts one by one. The ground was covered with thick straw. Perhaps the secret passage was hidden beneath a patch of straw.
At this time, Chen Ji suddenly saw a corrugated black gauze hat in the corner of the stable, its shape deformed from being trampled by horse hooves.
How could a corrugated black gauze hat be scattered here? Was it that fat man's from last night?
The fat man did indeed wear a corrugated black gauze hat, but it was deep in the night last night, and the styles of these hats were all largely identical. Chen Ji also couldn't be certain if this was the fat man's hat.
Holding a wooden comb, Chen Ji combed away the loose hair for Zaozao as he waited for Xiao Wu to return with the soybeans. However, the one who returned was not Xiao Wu, but the shopkeeper.
Holding a wooden basin, the shopkeeper offered it in front of Zaozao, but Zaozao remained unmoved.
Chen Ji smiled and said, "I'll do it."
He took the wooden basin and offered it in front of Zaozao. Zaozao snorted and wolfed it down.
The shopkeeper tutted in amazement, "Guest, this horse of yours is truly spiritual. Just now, Xiao Wu told me that others couldn't touch this horse of yours, and I initially didn't believe it."
While speaking, his gaze swept toward the stable, and he also saw that black gauze hat, instantly frowning.
The shopkeeper shifted his steps slightly, blocking the space between Chen Ji and the black gauze hat, and asked with a smile, "Guest, where did you come from?"
Chen Ji answered with an irrelevant point: "Shopkeeper, how did that waiter just now become limp?"
The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes slightly. "There's no need to hide it from you. The few of us used to be in the Border Army. At the foot of Mount Quwu, Xiao Wu had his ankle pierced by an arrow shot by a divine archer from the Jing Dynasty Heavenly Strategy Army from over a hundred paces away."
Chen Ji suddenly asked, "Doesn't our Ning Dynasty have firearms? But when I passed by the south city gate last night, I didn't see the Border Army holding firearms."
The shopkeeper smiled. "Firearms are military ordnance equipped only for the Three Great Training Camps; they won't be given to our Guyuan Regional Military Commission to use."
Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Why? Aren't they all used to fight Jing Dynasty rebels?"
The shopkeeper said unhurriedly, "The imperial court just doesn't trust us, afraid that we would privately sell the firearms to the north... Guest, caring so much about the Border Army's affairs, could it be that you are a Jing Dynasty spy?"
Chen Ji said casually, "Shopkeeper, I am looking for Jing Dynasty spies, do you believe that?"
The shopkeeper sized Chen Ji up and down. "You don't look like it. You actually look more like a Top Scorer heading to the capital city for the imperial examination."
"The shopkeeper really knows how to speak beautiful words," Chen Ji suddenly turned his head to look at the shopkeeper. "Trouble you to answer a question. If I want to buy some information, I wonder where I should go?"
The shopkeeper smiled faintly. "Guest, you came to the right place. Come back to the main hall during the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), and you will naturally find what you are looking for."
...
...
The hour of Chen (7-9 AM).
Chen Ji led Zhang Zheng, Zhang Xia, and Xiaoman downstairs, simply planning to eat some breakfast inside the Longmen Inn.
However, when they walked down the stairs, they all froze in their tracks. The inn's main hall, which was completely empty of people last night, was now almost completely packed with guests.
When Chen Ji came down from upstairs, the entire hall full of guests successively cast sidelong glances at him. Afterward, they turned their heads back as if nothing had happened and preoccupied themselves with eating the side dishes in front of them.
Among these guests, some carried blades, some wore swords, some sat alone, and there were also seven or eight people crowded at the same square table cracking melon seeds.
In the entire main hall, only a single empty table remained right in the middle.
Zhang Xia hesitated, "How could it be so lively?"
Zhang Zheng whispered, "The people of Guyuan are strange and odd. Drinking alcohol so early in the morning?"
Chen Ji swept his gaze over, only to see that every table had a jar of alcohol placed on it, yet the alcohol jars were still covered with red cloth and mud seals, untouched.
Zhang Xia recalled, "I have heard that Sichuan Province has a custom of drinking morning alcohol. Even wealthy old men will go to the street stalls to order a small pot of braised beef and fatty intestines to eat, accompanied with strong liquor. But I have never heard that Guyuan also has this custom."
Chen Ji walked up to the empty table and was just about to sit down, but Xiao Liu blocked him.
Xiao Liu smiled apologetically, "Guest, you cannot sit at this table."
Chen Ji was thoughtful. "Are there any rules here?"
Xiao Liu hurriedly explained, "It's not exactly a rule, but this table is specially reserved for our Longmen Inn's boss. If the boss doesn't come, no one can sit here."
Chen Ji asked calmly without batting an eyelid, "Who is the boss?"
Xiao Liu said with a smile, "It is inconvenient to disclose her elderly self's identity. If it is fated, you will naturally meet her."
While they were speaking, someone at the neighboring table got up and left. The waiter led Chen Ji over. "Guest, sit here."
When Chen Ji sat down, he discovered that right up until the guest left just now, the red cloth and mud seal on the alcohol on the table had not been removed, nor was the alcohol taken away.
Xiao Liu picked up that jar of alcohol. "Guests, what would you like to eat?"
Chen Ji glanced at the wooden plaques hanging behind the counter. "Two bamboo steamers of steamed buns and four bowls of thin noodles."
Xiao Liu suddenly asked, "Should the steamed buns be vegetarian buns or meat buns?"
Chen Ji smiled. "Vegetarian."
"Guest, do you want Western Regions grape wine or Strong Distilled Liquor?"
Chen Ji's heart stirred. The other party didn't even ask if he wanted to drink alcohol; instead, he directly asked what alcohol he wanted.
He looked around, only to see that the alcohol jars on the neighboring tables had "grape wine" or "Strong Distilled Liquor" written on them, not looking like anything unusual.
Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked calmly, "Waiter, what is this jar in your arms?"
The waiter replied with a smile, "Strong Distilled Liquor."
Chen Ji pointed at the table. "Put it down, I'll take this jar of Strong Distilled Liquor."
The waiter shouted loudly, "Alright! One jar of Strong Distilled Liquor!"
As soon as these words came out, gazes from the surroundings successively turned toward them, and people began to whisper privately.
The waiter placed that jar of Strong Distilled Liquor from his arms back onto the table. "Guest, the alcohol is here. The steamed buns will take a little longer."
Chen Ji gave a grunt of affirmation.
As soon as the waiter turned and left, a burly man carrying a blade immediately stood up, walked straight to the side of the table, sat down, and asked carelessly, "Young man, you have a very unfamiliar face. What information do you want to sell?"
The surroundings suddenly quieted down, and the guests at quite a few tables pricked up their ears.