Chapter 243: Buying the Shop

Chen Ji listened to Xiao Man’s hurried, fiery footsteps grow fainter and further away, until they disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Sometimes he couldn’t understand this maidservant. She was sometimes silly, sometimes shrewd, her moral compass fluctuating uncertainly. To say she was a bad person was wrong because she hadn’t done anything to harm Chen Ji; she repeatedly secretly picked up the Buddhist treasure of universal salvation, only to repeatedly put it down again. To say she was a good person was also wrong, as she wanted to kill people and sell information... It was as if when someone taught her principles, a few pieces were inexplicably missing. Or perhaps, the person who taught her was just like this, and Xiao Man was merely imitating the example.

Now, the thing Chen Ji understood the least was why, despite being an official, she was willing to remain a maidservant in the Chen residence.

Just then, the room curtain was lifted open by someone, and Zhang Xia, dressed neatly, walked out. He asked with a smile, “The County Master said you’ve completely shed the two words ‘greed’ and ‘anger,’ only leaving ‘infatuation.’ Indeed, it seems so. You gave away over two thousand taels of silver without a second thought.”

Chen Ji stood by the window, slightly startled. No one had mentioned that sentence in a long time.

As he was thinking, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. Chen Ji signaled to Zhang Xia with his eyes. He held the Whale Knife and walked to the door alone, pulling it open a crack.

The shopkeeper, dressed in a black cloth shirt, stood outside the door, smiling as he cupped his hands and said, “Good morning, honored guest. When you go to open the altar, I’ll instruct the waiter to reserve a table for you and prepare some snacks and preserved fruits.”

Chen Ji, unmoving, leaned the Whale Knife to the side. Then he pulled open the room door, smiling as he replied, “Thank you for the trouble, shopkeeper. We’ll be down shortly.”

The shopkeeper changed the subject. “Honored guest, have you thought about where you’ll go after opening the altar? Fengsheng Prefecture on the West Capital Road of the Jìng Cháo is a good place.”

Chen Ji thought of the wails and bloody stench from the secret passage inside and immediately replied, “I haven’t thought about where to go yet. I’m afraid I’ll be staying a few more days, in case there are still business opportunities in this Gǔ Yuán city.”

The shopkeeper sincerely said, “Honored guest, you are an outsider and don’t know, this Gǔ Yuán city is very chaotic, especially every time my Lóng Mén Inn opens the altar, it is a time of rampant demons. At that time, there will be many strongmen coveting the enormous wealth in your hands, like carp crossing a river.”

Chen Ji countered, “Could it be that they dare to kill their way into Lóng Mén Inn?”

The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes slightly. “They themselves wouldn’t dare to kill their way into Lóng Mén Inn… Forget it. Since the honored guest plans to stay a few more days, I won’t advise further. Otherwise, the honored guest might think I have other intentions.”

Chen Ji politely responded, “How could I? I remember all the shopkeeper’s good intentions in my heart.”

The shopkeeper cupped his hands. “If there are no other matters, I will take my leave first.”

“Shopkeeper, walk slowly.” Chen Ji slowly closed the room door. The moment the wooden door was fully closed, the eyes of the two people, one inside and one outside the door, both turned cold.

The shopkeeper stood in front of the door and pondered for a moment, then turned and went downstairs, beckoning to the floor-sweeping Xiǎo Wǔ.

Xiǎo Wǔ, limping with one leg, came over holding a broom. “What is it, shopkeeper?”

The shopkeeper instructed, “Spread the word outside that someone is opening the altar. Let all the strongmen on the street gather here, so this honored guest knows what kind of place Gǔ Yuán is.”

Xiǎo Wǔ said, confused, “Didn’t you say one of them is carrying a lamp-fire copper coin? We still want to take advantage of the situation, and they are people being watched by Third Master. We shouldn’t touch them, right?”

The shopkeeper said calmly, “We naturally cannot touch them. But if others finish the job, and we pick up the ready-made rewards, that doesn’t count as breaking the rules, right?”

Xiǎo Wǔ muttered in a low voice, “If the supervisor finds out, they’ll definitely like you even less.”

The shopkeeper gave him a cold look. “Do you think the money I’ve earned for my inn over the years has been spent on myself? So many people are waiting to eat and wear clothes. If we don’t make money, what will they eat and drink?”

Xiǎo Wǔ shrank his neck. “Understood, understood! I’ll go now!”

The shopkeeper returned to the inn’s main hall.

Less than the time it takes to burn one incense stick, the inn’s cotton cloth curtain was lifted open by someone, and six full-bearded men filed in, finding a corner table to sit at. The six men had short knives tied to their waists, and blue gems were inlaid on the knife handles, gleaming with oil.

The cotton cloth curtain was lifted open again, and a gust of fragrant wind blew in. The still charming old procuress from the neighboring Red Sleeve Invitation waved a silk handkerchief, twisting her waist as she passed table by table, greeting everyone with a charming laugh.

One man, taking advantage of her passing by, reached out to forcefully pull her into an embrace. The old procuress only laughed lightly, and with a slight turn of her body, she dodged away like a flying flower or butterfly. The instant the two touched lightly, the man’s wrist was cut with a long gash by a hidden knife blade on the old procuress’s fingertip, and blood flowed like a stream. The man suffered a great loss but didn’t dare to make a sound, only covering his wrist and escaping out the door.

Someone sitting at a nearby table laughed heartily, “Blind thing! Still dare to take advantage of Red Sleeve Invitation’s Black Widow!”

Various solid and influential local figures swarmed in. In another incense stick’s time, the inn’s main hall was actually full of people, with only two tables remaining empty. The originally cold and deserted inn main hall was actually as hot as a furnace, the smell of greasy leather jackets, sweat, and spices mixed together.

At this moment, the door curtain was lifted open again, and a blind man with one eye walked in indifferently. He was wearing a lambskin jacket with leopard sleeves attached.

Instantly, everyone in the main hall stood up. Someone said in surprise, “Third Master!” “When did Third Master return to Gǔ Yuán?” “Third Master is doing well recently.”

Third Master did not answer. He used his remaining good eye to sweep over the crowd, then, as if no one else was present, he passed through the Eight Immortals tables one by one and walked to the counter, calmly asking, “Someone is opening the altar today?”

Seeing that Third Master was not interested in talking to them, the guests were not angry and all sat down and whispered.

Third Master saw the shopkeeper did not answer and added with a heavier tone, “I’m asking you a question!”

The shopkeeper didn’t even lift his eyelids. “Haven’t seen a person for two consecutive days. Opening the altar is a small matter, how did even you, elder, get alarmed?”

Third Master gave a cold laugh. “Who is opening the altar?”

The shopkeeper said carelessly, “Just the one you’ve been watching.”

Third Master’s face changed. “It’s him.”

The shopkeeper stared directly at Third Master. “Why are you reacting like this? Who exactly is he?”

Third Master glanced at the shopkeeper. “Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.”

The shopkeeper laughed coldly. “You don’t trust me.”

Third Master sneered. “Why should I trust you, Old Second? Lift up the fake skin mask on your face and look in the mirror. Look at the ‘降’ character stabbed on your face and then come tell me if I should trust you.”

The shopkeeper lowered his voice, gritting his teeth angrily. “How many times do I have to say it? That year the general let me go. If it wasn’t for me, Gǔ Yuán would have been broken that year! Even the supervisor said he trusts me. Why don’t you trust me?”

Third Master looked at him deeply, then turned and went to the empty table in the middle of the main hall and sat down.

The old procuress from Red Sleeve Invitation waved the silk handkerchief in her hand and asked the shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, didn’t you say someone is opening the altar? Everyone has put down their matters to come over, why haven’t we seen any movement?”

The shopkeeper was silent for a moment, then turned his head and instructed the waiter beside him, “Go upstairs and urge the guest.”

In the room on the third floor, Chen Ji had been waiting from early morning until noon, but he still hadn’t seen Xiao Man return. The waiter went upstairs to urge them three times, and when he saw the guests downstairs getting impatient, Chen Ji still had no intention of going down. When the waiter came to urge them a fourth time, he found an excuse to send the waiter away and then closed the room door.

Zhang Xia said, puzzled, “What exactly did Xiao Man go to do? Why hasn’t she come back yet?”

Chen Ji smiled, “Perhaps she really ran away.”

However, just as he finished speaking, Zhang Zheng on one side suddenly said, “She won’t run.”

“Oh.” Chen Ji looked at Zhang Zheng. “Usually you two argue the most fiercely, why are you still speaking up for her now?”

Zhang Zheng chuckled. “I usually argue with her to pass the time, but I know she has no ill intentions. Although she always irritates me, when we encountered thieves on the road, she didn’t make a sound to help me stop them. Last night when she went to touch Chen Ji’s clothes, I was awake. I saw with my own eyes that she took out the Buddhist treasure of universal salvation and then put it back. If she really wanted to run, she should have run last night, not waited until now.”

Chen Ji sized up Zhang Zheng from head to toe. “Then will you still argue with her later?”

Zhang Zheng laughed happily, “Argue, why not argue? I have nothing else to do…”

Before he finished speaking, the room door suddenly opened, and Xiao Man stood gasping at the door, glaring fiercely at Zhang Zheng, then said to Chen Ji, “Young master, I’m back!”

Chen Ji asked with a smile, “What did you go to do? Why are you gasping like this?”

“I was anxious to come back!” Xiao Man took a deed from her sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji.

Chen Ji unfolded it and said, puzzled, “You bought a shop.”

Xiao Man explained, “Seeing that the Jìng Cháo will surround the city, I bought a grain and oil shop in advance, along with two thousand one hundred stone of grain in the shop. When the Jìng Cháo army arrives, the price of grain will triple! Is this business worthwhile or not?”

Chen Ji didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What time is it? Even if you earn money, you must have your life to spend it.”

Xiao Man paused for a moment, then said, “There is a cellar hidden under the water well in the backyard of this grain and oil shop. Even if we don’t sell the grain, it’s enough for us to hide in the cellar for a very long time.”

Chen Ji was slightly startled. “How did you know?”

Xiao Man lowered her head and said in a low voice, “Don’t worry about that. In any case, if the Jìng Cháo truly surrounds and traps Gǔ Yuán, that will be your escape route, young master.”

At this moment, a knock sounded at the door again. The waiter shouted from outside the door, “Honored guest, the shopkeeper asked me to come and ask you, when are you coming down?”

Chen Ji put the deed into his sleeve and answered loudly, “Coming.”

On Guǐ Zi Street, Lǐ Xuán and Qí Shēn Zhé led four Yu Lin Army soldiers in plain clothes, wearing hats, quietly observing their surroundings. As the several people passed by, silk handkerchiefs from upstairs fluttered down like snow, and the endless sounds of warblers singing and swallows chattering could be heard.

Qí Shēn Zhé said in a low voice, “Brother-in-law, why did you bring me to a brothel? Aren’t you afraid I’ll go back and tell my sister?”

Lǐ Xuán glared fiercely at him. “What are you thinking? I heard that the Lóng Mén Inn on this Guǐ Zi Street is a gathering place for brokers, with frequent news coming and going. I brought you here to buy news, not to visit a brothel!”

Qí Shēn Zhé breathed a sigh of relief. “So that’s what it is.”

Lǐ Xuán let the silk handkerchief fall to the side, his eyes not looking around. “You and I serve under the Ministry of Rites, and previously were overshadowed by that bastard son of the Chen family. If we don’t do something again, I’m afraid the Ministry will think we are useless.”

Qí Shēn Zhé became interested. “That’s right. If Chen Ji can get news in this Gǔ Yuán city, we naturally can too… We won’t be much different from him.”

Just then, several passersby hurried past, still muttering, “Walk faster, I’m afraid we won’t make it.”

Qí Shēn Zhé pulled one of them and asked, “Brother, where are you all going?”

The man who was pulled shook him off. “Someone is opening the altar at Lóng Mén Inn, so naturally we are going to Lóng Mén Inn.”

Qí Shēn Zhé was completely bewildered. “What does ‘opening the altar’ mean?”

The man sneered. “A country bumpkin from out of town. Opening the altar means someone wants to sell important news, a matter concerning the safety of the entire city.”

Lǐ Xuán and Qí Shēn Zhé looked at each other, a flicker of joy flashing in their eyes. Qí Shēn Zhé said in a low voice, “Brother-in-law, what a good opportunity! We just arrived and already caught up!”

Lǐ Xuán lowered his hat brim and quickened his pace. “Quickly, go! Get the news and report back to the Ministry as soon as possible.”

The several people followed the hurried passersby to the front of Lóng Mén Inn, lifted the cotton cloth curtain, and ducked in.

Inside the inn, the voices of people were booming, lively to the extreme. Qí Shēn Zhé entered the door and first looked around, saying excitedly, “Brother-in-law, we really came to the right place this time. Last night, the Ministry of Rites muttered about Chen Ji after returning, praising him for being clever and having courage and strategy. This time it should be our turn to show our face.”

As he was speaking, the inn suddenly quieted down. The sound of thumping footsteps came, and someone walked down the stairs.

Xiǎo Wǔ was the first to run down the stairs, giving a shy laugh and cupping his hands to the guests in the main hall, apologizing, “Sorry to have kept you waiting, everyone. The person opening the altar has finally been invited down by this humble one!” Qí Shēn Zhé raised his head to look up the stairs, his expression suddenly stiffening. He muttered, “You motherfucker…”