Chapter 225: Frontier Town

In front of the city gate, the swords were no longer drawn and the bows were no longer bent. One by one, the border army soldiers changed their demeanor, cheerfully saying, "Many offenses, quickly enter the city to avoid the wind and cold."

Chen Ji clasped his fists and saluted the deputy general before flipping onto his horse. He pulled up his scarf to cover his mouth and nose, turned his horse, and returned to the end of the camel team to rendezvous with Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia.

Wang Gui knelt beside a camel, allowing Chen Liqin to step on his back to climb back onto the camel.

When Chen Liqin's foot stepped on Wang Gui's back, she couldn't help but turn her head to look at the back of her illegitimate son.

All she saw in the wind and sand was Chen Ji's neck scarf being blown about messily, a long red scarf fluttering in the wind.

Chen Liqin felt as if she were getting to know this illegitimate son again today.

Wang Gui knelt on the ground and dared not urge her. After a long time, Chen Liqin finally came back to her senses and climbed onto the camel.

At the end of the camel team, Xiao Man looked at Chen Ji with eyes full of worry. "Young master, you are a scholar with no strength to truss a chicken. In the future, you must not show off anymore. What if those soldiers hurt you?"

Chen Ji smiled and replied.

Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia exchanged glances, both hiding laughter in their eyes.

Xiao Man changed the subject to praise, "But young master was truly heroic just now. Facing so many long spears, he still dared to drive his horse forward. If you continue like this in the Chen family later, they definitely won't dare to bully you!"

Zhang Xia teased, "How do you think your young master compares to that general wearing silver armor? Is he as heroic as him?"

Xiao Man said in a low voice, "Compared to others, he's still a bit lacking..."

Chen Ji laughed heartily. "Let's go, enter the city!"

The long camel team slowly walked. The sound of camel bells floated through the city gate arch, like passing through a thousand-year-old Buddha niche.

Inside the gate, the sound of camel bells gradually lowered, and human voices gradually boiled.

The scenery inside was actually completely different from the outside.

All they saw were houses built with loess bricks on both sides of the road, with cloth sheds set up and stalls placed one by one, squeezing the uneven earth road to allow only three or four people to pass.

Peddlers and passersby in the middle were continuous and endless, shoulder to shoulder.

Chen Ji subconsciously turned his head to look at the barren yellow land outside the gate, then turned back to look at the lively Gu Yuan city inside. He felt as if he had mistakenly touched some mechanism and entered a paradise.

There was no more wind and sand in the city, and even the temperature seemed to have risen significantly.

By the road, there were dancing girls with exposed bellies in winter. Shining silver chains on their bellies shook as they waved to the newly arrived Chen family people. "Officials, come in and drink wine!"

The clothing in Gu Yuan city was different from that in the Central Plains. People here liked to wear colorful stones on their foreheads, ears, and necks, and they were as enthusiastic as fire.

Chen Wenxiao was mesmerized and enchanted, while Chen Wenzong coldly snorted once and then came back to his senses.

Chen Ji also turned his head to look at the dancing girls. Xiao Man rode her small pony to catch up, wanting to block his line of sight, but she was too short to block him completely.

She reminded him, "Young master, you must not be hooked by those Hu dancing girls. Before marrying a legitimate daughter from Kyoto, you must preserve your reputation, otherwise all the legitimate daughters in Kyoto will avoid you."

Chen Ji chuckled. This Xiao Man was unexpectedly more worried about his marriage than he was, as if it were an obsession.

Zhang Xia, smiling, said beside him, "Your young master already has a loved one, you just don't worry blindly."

Xiao Man exclaimed, "Has a loved one? Who is your young master's loved one? Which family's noble lady? Is her family background high or not?"

Zhang Xia did not answer this series of questions.

Xiao Man rolled her eyes. "Miss Zhang Er seems to understand my young master very well."

Zhang Xia casually said, "It's alright."

Xiao Man pouted. "Why is everyone so mysterious?"

Her eyes moved back and forth between Chen Ji, Zhang Zheng, and Zhang Xia. She always felt that among these three, there were many secrets she didn't know.

While she was thinking, a sudden change occurred.

They saw a rough man in front of the camel team, angrily lifting a weak youth's collar and saying, "You damn well dare to steal this old man's things, you're tired of living..."

Before he could finish, the weak thief pulled a short knife from his waist and stabbed it into the man's abdomen.

The man staggered back a few steps. The thief didn't even want the knife, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd. The man slowly fell down, his bright red blood mixing with the mud and turning purple.

The stall vendors beside him only said, "Unlucky," and then continued to shout beside the corpse, "Top quality tea bricks, tea bricks from Yunzhou!"

All of this was like a small stone thrown into a vast sea, only splashing a little ripple, yet quickly returning to normal.

The faces of the maids and servants in the camel team turned pale. Gu Yuan seemed to have suddenly torn off its colorful veil, revealing its fangs.

Chen Ji instructed Xiao Man in a low voice, "Guard your belongings carefully. There are many thieves here."

Xiao Man tightly clutched her pouch, her eyes vigilant as she sized up everyone. In her pouch was all her possessions. If someone had their eyes on it, she would have to fight to the death.

At this time, a group of children aged eight or nine crowded to the side of the camel team. They held bamboo baskets and said to Chen Wenxiao, "Officials, buy some raisins."

Chen Wenxiao impatiently said, "Go away, go away, I won't buy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, one child reached out and pulled off the jade pendant from his waist, turned around, and disappeared into the crowd.

Chen Wenxiao shouted angrily, "Thief, stand still for your grandfather!"

He jumped down from the camel to chase, but the group of children selling raisins crowded him, making it impossible to rush out.

More and more children crowded forward, like vultures that had smelled blood on the grassland. Even Chen Wenxiao's white jade neck pendant and gold hairpin were pulled away, leaving him standing in place with disheveled hair.

If the servants hadn't protected him in time, perhaps even his clothes would have been stripped off.

The stall vendors by the road loudly mocked, "Look at this fool from the Central Plains still daring to jump off the camel to chase! If he hadn't jumped down, the thieves wouldn't even have been able to reach the hairpin on his head!"

"Fat sheep from the Central Plains, they always have to learn this lesson."

People on both sides of the street hugged their arms and leaned against the wall to watch the fun, as if this was a common occurrence.

At this time, beside the spice stall, a young man with a scarf covering his face saw Zhang Xia's waist jade pendant and immediately blew a whistle.

The children looked back at the source of the whistle. The young man gave them a signal with his eyes, and the children immediately understood, surrounding Zhang Xia.

Just when they were about to reach out to snatch the jade pendant, they saw Chen Ji draw out the cloth-wrapped whale knife from the front of his horse saddle and heavily whip the child's wrist.

"Ah!" The child pulled back his hand in pain. He looked up at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji did not look at him, but calmly stared at the young man not far away.

The child was slightly startled. He reached out again to pull the jade pendant. Chen Ji did not look at him, but the knife sheath followed like a shadow, whipping his wrist again.

The child felt his wrist was about to break and turned his head to look at the young man.

The young man and Chen Ji stared at each other for a long time. Finally, the young man turned to the children and slightly shook his head. The children dispersed in a swarm and went to tear at the packages carried by the servants and maids.

They tightly held their packages, but the thieves cut them open with blades. Jewelry, silver, and copper coins scattered on the ground, and people scrambled to grab them.

Some servants holding batons wanted to fight the thieves for it, but their arms were cut with long wounds, and they could only retreat fearfully.

Chen Wenxiao muttered, "Rites and music have collapsed! A place where rites and music have collapsed! Father, you must report to the Crown Prince and kill all these chaotic people!"

Chen Liqin frowned and shouted in a low voice, "Shut your mouth!"

In the short distance of one li, the packages of the servants and maids were completely robbed. Several years of savings turned into nothing.

The maids cried as they walked, provoking laughter from the passersby.

Xiao Man at the back secretly sized up Chen Ji. Although she had no experience and just cultivated her own path in a dull manner, the two times Chen Ji hit the child just now were absolutely not something the third young master of the Chen family in her impression could do.

Strange!

While thinking, Hei Yun meowed. Chen Ji in front suddenly turned back. Xiao Man hurriedly withdrew her sizing eyes.

But Chen Ji did not look at her, but looked towards the crowd behind him.

By the side of the narrow earth road, the young man who instigated the children to steal still stood in the shadow of the cloth shed, staring directly at him. When Chen Ji stared back at him, he turned and left.

Lord Li led the Chen family camel team to the Gu Yuan station. He turned a blind eye to the matters along the way, as if he had not heard or seen anything.

After settling the Chen family people in the station, he then led Chen Liqin, who had changed into a red official robe, to hurriedly leave and go to the Gu Yuan Commandery Office.

In the room on the second floor, Chen Ji stood by the window, pushing it open a crack and quietly sizing up the outside.

Outside the station, people came and went. There were spice sellers who occasionally stared at the station gate and did not shout. Even if guests stepped forward to ask for prices, they were absent-minded.

Zhang Xia and Zhang Zheng put away their things. While patting the dust off their bodies, they came to rendezvous with Chen Ji.

Chen Ji said in a low voice, "This Gu Yuan is not peaceful. Several people are staring at us. I don't know if they are people from the border army or spies from the Jing Dynasty... It should be from the border army."

Zhang Xia was puzzled. "Why do you say it's from the border army?"

Chen Ji explained, "Look how brazenly they are staring. They obviously have confidence. If they were spies from the Jing Dynasty, they might not be so rampant."

Xiao Man's eyes flickered, and she muttered in a low voice, "It seems young master has seen spies from the Jing Dynasty before..."

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a knocking sound. Chen Ji immediately vigilantly closed the window. "Xiao Man, go open the door."

The door opened, and they saw several border army soldiers carrying a huge silver plate. The plate was covered with a silver lid.

Chen Ji was puzzled. "What is this?"

The border army soldiers said with a smile, "This is what General Zhou instructed. We boiled the best white sheep to send to you. You are Master Wang's direct disciple, so you are naturally the most noble guest in our Gu Yuan border! Just have a taste. Sheep meat is common, but white sheep is not common. Ordinary people may not get to eat it."

Chen Ji asked, "Are there any in the other rooms?"

The border army soldiers laughed. "Others are not noble guests of our Gu Yuan. You can enjoy it alone. In addition, General Zhou asked me to remind you... do not get involved in the matters between the Crown Prince and the border army. It is very complex, and outsiders cannot understand it."

Chen Ji said thank you. "Go back and help me tell General Zhou that I have noted it. Thank him."

The border army soldiers said their farewells. Xiao Man praised, "This is a silver plate! After the sheep meat is eaten, can we take the plate away?"

Chen Ji cried and laughed. "What are you thinking?"

He lifted the lid. Inside the plate was just-boiled sheep meat. He grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. No spices were used, and there was not the slightest bit of fishiness.

Chen Ji greeted Zhang Zheng and Zhang Xia. "Come and fill your stomachs."

While stuffing meat into her mouth to eat, Xiao Man mumbled to probe, "Young master, I have a bit of a headache now. You can check my pulse later. You studied medicine in the medical hall for two years, but I've never seen you use it."

Chen Ji glanced at her and said casually, "Learning medicine is a long-term thing. I didn't learn much in two years. I was an apprentice for two years and haven't reached the stage of diagnosing. I haven't learned pulse checking."

Xiao Man was suspicious. "Then what did you learn in the medical hall?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "I learned some pharmacology, memorized the cold and hot properties of various medicinal ingredients and foods, and the principles of mutual generation and restraint."

Xiao Man was startled, her cheeks stuffed full, like a hamster. "What does that mean?"

Chen Ji recalled. "For example, pork and water chestnut cannot be eaten together, it will cause stomach pain; potatoes and bananas cannot be eaten together, it will cause spots on the face; onions and honey cannot be eaten together, it will hurt the eyes; turtles and amaranth cannot be eaten together, it will be poisonous..."

Xiao Man said, "Oh." Her mouth was full, and she mumbled, "So that's what you learned... Young master, then what can't this sheep meat be eaten with?"

Chen Ji lowered his head to look at the plate. He saw that half of the large plate of sheep meat had already gone into Xiao Man's mouth. He said leisurely, "This sheep meat... cannot be eaten with you..."