Chapter 48: Golden Pig

In the noodle shop, a massive pot sat atop a giant stove, billowing white steam.

The noodle master held a lump of dough on one shoulder while his other hand worked the blade incessantly, looking like a swordsman hidden among the common folk.

One by one, thin sheets of dough flew into the pot, each of just the right thickness.

The noodles were served in a bowl, topped with a generous ladle of tender beef and rich broth—simple, yet delicious.

The stove fire and the rising cooking smoke represented the most unadorned, earthly essence of street life.

The Heir gestured to the shop assistant: "Waiter, one bowl of knife-shaved noodles."

The assistant recognized him and immediately smiled, "Coming right up! Please wait a moment, Your Highness!"

Chen Ji was surprised. "Heir, the waiter knows you?"

The Heir sat down at a wooden table in the shop and casually wiped the surface with his exquisitely fabricated sleeve. "I used to come here often before I went to the Donglin Academy. While I was at the academy, I often craved this exact taste."

"As the Heir, why would you come to a small noodle shop like this to eat?"

The Heir pulled a pair of chopsticks from a wooden bucket on the table. "In the Prince's mansion, it takes a full incense stick's worth of time for food to travel from the kitchen to your room. By the time it reaches you, it's already cold. When I was a child, I said I wanted to eat in the kitchen, and they told me I had no manners... It's not like here. The noodles are still steaming hot when they reach your table. Add some vinegar, break a couple of garlic cloves, and it's pure comfort."

"The waiter doesn't seem to care about your status as the Heir, either."

"Haha," the Heir said proudly, "My father taught us to be kind to others and not to carry ourselves with an air of superiority. Haven't you noticed how much the neighbors like me? This is the prestige my father has built up in Luocheng over ten years!"

Chen Ji stopped questioning him. Such an Heir and Prince Jing were inherently unusual in a world divided into strict social hierarchies.

The assistant brought the noodles to the table. The Heir rubbed the chopsticks together, poured some vinegar into his bowl, and looked at Bai Li. "Bai Li, give him ten taels of silver. That half-line of poetry belongs to me... Bai Li?"

Bai Li snapped out of her thoughts. "What is it?"

The Heir asked curiously, "What were you thinking about just now? You were completely lost in thought."

"Oh," Bai Li replied, "I was thinking about that half-line of poetry Chen Ji just said... I can't quite say why it's good, but it felt very evocative."

The Heir laughed. "Then we are the same. I also think it's good, but I can't explain why. Now, pay up."

Princess Bai Li glanced at Chen Ji. This time, she showed no reluctance. She deftly opened her purse and took out a gold seed. "Here. It's pure gold and heavy; you can exchange it for ten taels of silver at a money changer."

Chen Ji found it amusing; Princess Bai Li's purse seemed to contain nothing but gold seeds and silver peanuts—everything was edible.

The Heir looked at him and asked curiously, "Do you have any other poems? Sell them all to me for future use."

"Why would you need so many?" Chen Ji asked, puzzled.

The Heir laughed. "You don't understand. One line at a time isn't satisfying enough. You need ten lines at once, or a hundred, to truly shock those scholars."

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "Great lines come naturally or through sudden inspiration; writing poetry isn't that easy. You'll have to wait."

If he had to recite entire poems, he only knew *Goose, Goose, Goose*, *Quiet Night Thought*, and *Mourning the Farmers*... but half-lines were much more plentiful.

Having undergone nine years of compulsory education, who wouldn't know a few dozen lines?

But he couldn't produce too many at once. If he produced too many, they wouldn't be worth much...

The Heir grew impatient. "You must have written more in the past. Sell them to me!"

Unexpectedly, Princess Bai Li spoke up for Chen Ji: "Brother, writing poetry isn't that easy. Wait until he has more good lines. A poem forced out will have no meaning."

"Fine," the Heir said, still unsatisfied. He muttered to himself, *"Man walks between heaven and earth, suddenly like a traveler on a long journey,"* feeling that the more he pondered it, the more profound it became.

Thinking that this line now belonged to him, he immediately took a silver peanut from Bai Li's purse, slapped it on the table, and shouted, "Boss! I am in a good mood today. All customers eating noodles in your shop today are on me!"

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow. Had he ever seen the Heir pay for anything himself? It was always Princess Bai Li picking up the tab.

No wonder the Heir always brought Princess Bai Li wherever he went. Perhaps Prince Jing was worried he would pick up bad habits and refused him an allowance, so he was leeching off his sister's little treasury?

It was highly likely!

It seemed the Heir was a fake big spender, and Princess Bai Li was the true little wealthy lady!

She Dengke reminded him, "Chen Ji, we should head back. They'll be closing up soon, and Master won't be able to manage alone."

"Alright," Chen Ji stood up to bid farewell to the Heir and his party. "Your Highness, Princess, we will head back first. We will prepare the ladders for you all later tonight."

The Heir: "...A rogue of the martial world!"

After Chen Ji and the others left, Bai Li looked at the Heir. "Brother, I'm starting to feel like he doesn't act like a gambler."

"He indeed doesn't." The Heir looked at the little monk who was silently chanting nearby. "Little monk, Father said you possess the divine ability of 'Telepathy.' What do you say?"

The little monk smiled. "Benefactor Chen Ji has a gambling nature, and a large one at that. But he does not gamble with money; he gambles with life. Such a person is born to walk on the edge of a blade."

Bai Li muttered, "You're making it sound more mystical by the second. Little monk, work on your habit of being cryptic!"

The little monk said helplessly, "I am not being cryptic; I simply do not know how to describe him to you."

Bai Li ignored him and turned to the Heir. "Brother, why did you come out too?"

The Heir swallowed a mouthful of noodles, bit into a clove of garlic, and said indistinctly, "It's nothing. I just came to follow along."

...

...

In the dead of night, the originally spacious communal room felt somewhat cramped due to Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er.

Chen Ji rose quietly, took a bamboo tube and a bamboo scraper, and went into the courtyard to scrape off the layers of white frost from the walls.

The accumulated wall frost from this small courtyard alone could fill half a bamboo tube. In a vast city like Luocheng, there was no telling how much gunpowder could be produced...

Tonight was the night for Lady Yun to trade goods with the Military Intelligence Bureau. Earlier that morning, while buying clothes in the East Market, Chen Ji had passed the intelligence to the official in the backyard of the Bailu Pavilion.

As for whether their transaction would succeed, that was no longer Chen Ji's concern.

Now that Yun Yang and Jiao Tu were behind bars and the new head of the Secret Intelligence Bureau had not yet arrived, Chen Ji enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.

Practicing his blade, making explosives—living a life as carefree as an ordinary citizen.

As Chen Ji was scraping the saltpeter from the wall, a soft knock sounded at the door.

He frowned. Was it one of the martial artists waiting for the Heir to go out and play? But the Heir hadn't arrived yet.

Chen Ji hid the bamboo tube behind a water vat and approached the door cautiously. "Who is it?"

A gentle voice replied from outside, "Golden Pig."

Chen Ji's heart jolted.

The twelve zodiac signs of the Secret Intelligence Bureau... Golden Pig?

Why did he arrive so soon!

He had originally thought that the new administrator of Luocheng would take at least a month to arrive, giving him a month to prepare slowly.

But Golden Pig had arrived quickly—not only exceeding his expectations, but likely exceeding the expectations of the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Liu family as well!

After a moment of thought, Chen Ji took a deep breath, slowly pushed open the clinic door, and greeted him with a smile. "May I ask if you are the Honorable Golden Pig of the Secret Intelligence Bureau?"

Standing outside was a chubby young man wearing straw sandals, a bamboo hat, and coarse cloth clothes, looking exactly like a tenant farmer who had just entered the city from the countryside.

The man's smile was warm, lacking any of the dark, murderous aura possessed by Yun Yang or Jiao Tu. "It is I, Golden Pig of the Secret Intelligence Bureau, real name Song Qian. The first thing I came to Luocheng to do was to find you."

Chen Ji stepped aside composedly. "Why has Lord Golden Pig come? Where are Lord Yun Yang and Lord Jiao Tu?"

Logically, as a clinic apprentice, he shouldn't know that the two had been taken by the Criminal Investigation Division, so he had to play his part perfectly.

Golden Pig walked into the clinic, surveying the main hall while responding with a smile, "Yun Yang and Jiao Tu have caused great trouble and are now behind bars... Did no one come to inform you?"

"No," Chen Ji shook his head. "Lord Yun Yang and Lord Jiao Tu treated me well. Why were they imprisoned?"

Golden Pig shook his head. "You misunderstand them. You likely don't know that they tried to steal your credit. Don't worry, now that I am here, no one will be able to steal your credit again."

Chen Ji tested him. "Did Lord Golden Pig come from the capital?"

"No. When Yun Yang and Jiao Tu arrived in Luocheng, I had already arrived at the Mengjin Camp of the Jiefan Guard outside the city. I must say, the large yellow carp of the Mengjin Yellow River is truly delicious, especially with the local braised sauce. It's wonderful."

Chen Ji was astonished. "Lord Golden Pig has been in Luocheng all along?!"

(End of Chapter)