Chapter 261: Apology

In the black night, bright yellow corn kernels scattered on the road, making a rustling sound. Chen Ji stood at the inn door, quietly watching as people holding torches followed the sound, like a swarm of bees squatting on the ground, gathering the scattered kernels in their arms, then standing up and running.

Grain was what? At this moment in Guyuan, grain was life.

Several members of the Yulin Army rushed out of the inn. Standing beside Chen Ji, with eyes wide in anger, one asked, "Why did you pour the grain on the ground?"

Chen Ji ignored him, turned, and went inside the inn.

Qi Jianzhe followed behind him, angrily demanding, "Grain is scarce now, you poured out all the grain! What will everyone eat tomorrow? What will His Highness eat?"

Chen Ji returned to the room.

The inn’s main hall was quiet and peaceful, the flickering candlelight dancing in everyone’s eyes. They looked at each other. When Chen Ji had been searched earlier, they had no complaints, thinking he had submitted. They didn't expect him to act so decisively.

Just then, Qi Jianzhe rushed into the main hall. He reached out to grab Chen Ji’s shoulder. "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear Master ask you a question?"

As Qi Jianzhe's right hand grabbed Chen Ji's shoulder, Chen Ji, without turning his head, reached out with his left hand, grabbed Qi Jianzhe's hand, slightly bent his waist, and threw the other man out.

With a bang, Qi Jianzhe crashed through a wooden table and lay on the ground.

"You bastard!" Qi Jianzhe got up and cursed angrily. "Come, let's compare skills! Let Master see how much you're worth!"

Li Xuan suddenly became angry. "Qi Jianzhe, have you had enough? Stop it now!"

But Qi Jianzhe was consumed by anger and didn't listen.

Qi Jianzhe bent down and rushed towards Chen Ji. Chen Ji slightly stepped aside to avoid him, then lightly hooked with his foot. Qi Jianzhe was actually tripped and fell to the ground.

Several members of the Yulin Army who were friendly with Qi Jianzhe simultaneously flipped over tables and lunged at Chen Ji. Unfortunately, these few 'young masters' had bought their official positions through connections but had never truly fought with real knives and guns. These few figures touched Chen Ji and then separated, a dizzying sight for onlookers. By the time everyone looked again, several of the young masters were already lying on the ground, wailing endlessly.

One of the watching Yulin Army saw his comrade insulted and immediately drew the long sword from his waist, stabbing towards Chen Ji. Chen Ji had no weapon in his hand but didn't avoid or dodge. As the long sword was about to stab his chest, he clamped the sword blade with both hands and simultaneously exerted force with his wrists, shaking it. "Let go!"

The Yulin Army soldier's palm went numb, and he involuntarily let go of the sword hilt.

Li Xuan’s pupils suddenly contracted. Qi Jianzhe got up and still wanted to lunge forward but was kicked back by Li Xuan.

Qi Jianzhe’s eyes were red. "Brother-in-law!"

Li Xuan said in a low voice, "What more is there to say when your skills are inferior? You're like this. If ten more came, what could they do to him?"

Qi Jianzhe's face also turned red.

Inside the main hall, quiet finally returned.

Chen Liqin pondered for a long time, then opened his mouth and said, "Chen Ji, in the future, you will all serve His Highness as colleagues. How can you fight so fiercely? Quickly apologize to everyone. Also, your action of pouring the grain was indeed improper..."

Chen Ji looked at Chen Liqin and politely interrupted. "Chen adult, there is no need to worry. They are not seriously injured. Furthermore, your subordinate will not do sneaky things, nor will he spoil the Chen family's reputation. This grain came cleanly, and it left cleanly; even when poured, it is clean."

Chen Liqin was speechless for a moment.

Li Xuan smoothed things over. "Chen Ji, just now Chen adult and Qi Jianzhe were just worried that you were momentarily confused. Everyone was not thinking of themselves, but of His Highness's reputation. If we are caught, it will also implicate His Highness's reputation. If they have offended, I apologize on their behalf. Please do not take it to heart."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Li adult, your subordinate naturally understands this principle and will not take it to heart." Saying this, he cupped his hands towards the Crown Prince from a distance. "Your Highness, this humble job was just a momentary impulse to pour out all the grain. Now I regret it extremely. Whatever punishment is due, this humble job will accept it all."

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, finally letting out a light sigh. "It is not entirely your fault... Punishment is not necessary. Chen Ji, wise brother, you have worked hard today. Go back and rest first."

Chen Ji picked up the palm leaf wrap from the table, and before everyone's eyes, took out a golden-bright orange, placed it in Chen Wen Zong's hand, and said with a smile, "Elder brother, eat an orange to calm your anger. It's nothing."

Chen Wen Zong was stunned as he received the orange. He then saw Chen Ji place two oranges down for the Crown Prince before going upstairs. Everyone’s gazes followed Chen Ji’s figure until he disappeared at the end of the stairs. There was no fierce debate, no angry accusations. As if nothing had happened, it just ended.

After a long time, Li Xuan said in a low, angry voice, "Qi Jianzhe, are you satisfied now? Just a quarter of an hour ago, I just warned you not to cause trouble for Chen Ji. Can you understand human words at all?"

Qi Jianzhe knew he had caused a disaster, but he still softly defended himself. "Could it be that you all weren't suspicious just now? Even Chen adult suspected him!"

Chen Liqin’s face changed.

Li Xuan saw him still quibbling and was so furious that he drew the long sword from his waist and split the Eight Immortals table in front of him into two. "No more quibbling! I ask you, what will we eat tomorrow? What will His Highness eat? If my five hundred Yulin Army don't die on the battlefield but instead starve to death in Guyuan, my ancestors for generations will be shamed!"

Qi Jianzhe saw that he was truly angry and immediately became as silent as a cicada in winter.

At this moment, Zhang Xia's sharp voice came from upstairs. "So many people spent the whole day unable to find grain, and you found it, yet are still suspected. Then don't bother with them. Just let them go find grain themselves and see how many days it takes them to starve to death."

Speaking of this, Zhang Xia still wouldn't relent. "And that Chen family, I don't know what's wrong with them. Their own people don't protect their own people, but instead learn from others to speculate groundlessly. It's fine if they secretly hide grain at home to eat, but they even hide grain from their subordinates. Truly, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. Born into the Chen family is also bad luck; it's better to come to my Zhang family!"

Finally, Zhang Xia threw out a sentence: "One two three four five six seven, filial piety fraternal duty loyalty faith rite righteousness integrity." Then she returned to her room and closed the door.

Everyone understood. Zhang Xia was pretending to speak to Chen Ji, but she deliberately went to the corridor outside the door to speak for the people downstairs to hear. Zhang Xia was truly angry this time, just short of pointing at their noses and scolding them.

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment. "Earlier, I heard that Zhang second miss in the capital is sharp and straightforward, but I didn't expect her to be so... um, upright and straightforward."

Li Xuan looked at everyone. "What was the meaning of the doggerel poem Zhang second miss just recited at the end?"

"The first half has no 'eight', and the second half has no 'chi'," Chen Wen Zong explained faintly. "So the meaning of this sentence is to forget 'eight', without 'chi'."

A crowd of the Yulin Army soldiers turned ashen-faced from the scolding.

Li Xuan turned to the Crown Prince and bowed his fists. "This humble job requests Your Highness to dismiss Qi Jianzhe from his position as vice commander and demote him to squad leader. Additionally, all the Yulin Army who engaged in the scuffle just now should have their salary deducted by half a year to give Chen Ji an explanation."

Qi Jianzhe was about to speak when Li Xuan glared at him fiercely. "No more quibbling! I ask you, if you don't accept this, then you have to find sixty jin of grain every day! Qi Jianzhe, you always say you admire capable people. Now that you have truly met someone more skilled than you, why are you unwilling to submit? Where has the backbone of the Qi family gone?"

The Crown Prince looked at Qi Jianzhe. "What are your thoughts?"

Qi Jianzhe was silent for a long time. "Reporting to Your Highness, this humble job is willing to accept the punishment and will go to Chen Ji later with thorns to apologize."

The Crown Prince nodded. "Then do as Li adult says. Don't go to Chen Ji now. He is still angry. If you go, it's not certain that you won't argue again. Wait until tomorrow morning. You and Li adult go apologize together."

The second day of the siege. Early in the morning, there was no cockcrow, no dog barking. Guyuan's chickens and dogs seemed to have all died in one night. It was like abandoned land, without a sound.

Li Xuan pulled Qi Jianzhe's arm and dragged him out of the room. "Go, what are you dawdling for!"

Qi Jianzhe tilted his body backward to resist. "Brother-in-law, I still haven't figured out what to say."

Li Xuan scolded in a low voice, "Still not submitting? You've cultivated for so many years, and the Qi family has provided you with cultivation resources, yet you have only reached the Acquired realm. You haven't even seen the threshold of the Innate realm. He is seven or eight years younger than you and is already in the Innate realm. Even if he gave you one hand, you still couldn't beat him!"

Qi Jianzhe swung his arm and struggled. "I'm submitting, I didn't say I wasn't submitting!"

Li Xuan stood still in the corridor and stared intently at Qi Jianzhe. "The grain you collected was a mix of rice, millet, sorghum, and corn. It clearly came from piecemeal collections from common people's homes. Look at him again. He directly brought back an entire sack of corn. What does this explain?"

Qi Jianzhe was puzzled. "Explain what? He found a cornfield?"

Li Xuan laughed in anger. "It explains that he found a big grain merchant! The other side definitely has more grain than just these sixty jin of corn!"

Qi Jianzhe was startled. "That makes sense."

Li Xuan slightly softened his tone. "Consider it your brother-in-law begging you, okay? Your brother-in-law still has several hundred people waiting to eat. We can't really let them starve to death, can we? Jianzhe, this official position, your sister went to beg the old master for half a year before she got it for me. Don't make things difficult for me."

Qi Jianzhe hesitated for a moment, finally gritting his teeth. "It's just an apology, I won't lose a piece of flesh. Let's go."

The two people went up the stairs to the third floor and knocked on the door of the Tian Zi Bing room. Dong, dong, dong. No one responded.

The two looked at each other. Li Xuan raised his hand to knock again. Still no response. Li Xuan’s heart felt a sense of unease. He turned and ran downstairs. He came to the main hall and looked at Xiao Wu, who was wiping a table. "Waiter, where are the guests in the Tian Zi Bing room upstairs?"

Xiao Wu answered lazily, "Replying to the guest, they went out early this morning."

Qi Jianzhe was puzzled. "Could they have gone to find grain?"

Xiao Wu grinned. "They shouldn't have gone to find grain."

Qi Jianzhe was puzzled. "How do you know?"

Xiao Wu finished wiping the table and put the cloth on his shoulder. "Yesterday was a difficult round of finding grain. Why would they go find more trouble for themselves today? That's not cheap."

Qi Jianzhe's face felt a wave of heat. This inn waiter was actually mocking them.

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

Xiao Wu turned and went towards the backyard. "Why are you asking me? People don't need to tell a small waiter like me where they're going."

Li Xuan and Qi Jianzhe looked at each other. Chen Ji didn't even plan to give them a chance to apologize.