The Azure Mountain

Chapter 86: Managing an Isolated Piece

Tall bamboo steamers were stacked on the table, with piping hot steamed buns inside emitting clouds of steam. The moment the steamer was uncovered, a hand from the left and a hand from the right darted out, taking all the steamed buns in the blink of an eye, as if they were scrambling for their lives.

Old Yao was just preparing to reach out for a bun, but saw Liang Mao'er's hand draw out a blurry afterimage, and the buns in the steamer vanished into thin air.

By the time he tried to grab another bun, it was already in the Prince Heir's hands.

Old Yao, with an impassive expression, held a bowl of millet porridge and took slow sips from the edge. Having lived a quiet and lonely life in the past, he was still somewhat unaccustomed to the Taiping Medical Clinic being this wildly lively...

Even eating a meal involved endless chattering; it was too noisy.

"Master, why aren't you eating?" Chen Ji asked curiously.

Old Yao said impassively, "I am reading your fortunes."

"Ah? You don't even know the birth charts of the Prince Heir and the others, so how can you read them?"

Old Yao scoffed, "I don't need to look at your birth charts to know that you're an absolute curse on me. Hurry up and eat, and once you're done, get out."

At this moment, it became bustling outside. Countless commoners gathered on both sides of Anxi Street, some carrying fruits, and others holding baskets of eggs.The air on Anxi Street seemed to boil. The last time it was this lively was when the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess had just returned.

The next moment, a black imperial guard of honor suddenly passed by the front door in a mighty procession. The commoners, carrying the items in their hands, followed closely along the way, insisting on stuffing them into the hands of the soldiers beside the honor guard.

The laws of the Ning Dynasty clearly stated that the Emperor of Great Ning could use an ochre-yellow honor guard, while the regional princes of Great Ning used a black honor guard.

Prince Jing had returned.

"Oh no, oh no," the Prince Heir suddenly stood up, frantically stuffing half a bun into his mouth and mumbling, "Didn't General Wang say the old man just arrived at Gongyi County last night? Why did he rush back overnight?! Bai Li, quickly return to the estate! If he catches you, I'm afraid your monthly allowance will be cut off too!"

Bai Li, also somewhat panicked, lifted the hem of her dress, scurried up the ladder, and disappeared over the other side of the courtyard wall.

The usually careless and loud Prince Heir now looked like a mouse that had seen a cat.

Chen Ji and the others walked to the front door and watched the mighty procession enter Prince Jing's Estate from afar. He looked at Old Yao in curiosity, "Master, why is Prince Jing so beloved by the commoners? The commoners are competing to give him gifts."

Old Yao curled his lip, "Over the years, many people in Yuzhou have survived entirely because of him, so naturally, they respect him."

At this moment, a middle-aged man suddenly arrived at the clinic's door, "Physician Yao! Physician Yao! My dad took a fall, and now we can't wake him up no matter how much we yell. Please come quickly and take a look!"

"Did you bring the consultation fee?"

"I brought it, I brought it!"

Old Yao waved at She Dengke, "Go carry my acupuncture box over here. Move faster; his dad won't be able to hold on for much longer."

After Old Yao and the middle-aged man got onto the horse carriage, Liang Mao'er stood up to clear the bowls and chopsticks.

...

...

With Old Yao gone, Chen Ji was just planning to return to the backyard to clean the dishes when he heard a gentle voice at the clinic's entrance.

"Chen Ji?"

Inside the clinic, Chen Ji's body suddenly stiffened. The last time Shopkeeper Yuan visited in the middle of the night, he seemed to have asked the exact same question. Could it be that the Military Intelligence Division of the Jing Dynasty had come knocking again? But didn't Gui say that those who knew his identity had all been cleaned up?

He slowly turned around, but the person who entered his lines of sight was not Shopkeeper Yuan's plump figure.

Instead, the speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a worn-out navy blue robe. The collar was newly sewn on, and the elbows of the sleeves were patched. The man had a simple wooden hairpin in his hair and a weary expression.

Who was this?

He had never seen him before.

The middle-aged man sized Chen Ji up and asked a moment later, "What, you don't remember me anymore?"

Chen Ji hesitated.

The middle-aged man smiled faintly, "It seems you don't recognize me. When you were little in the Capital City, I even held you in my arms. Your eyebrows haven't changed much; you look a lot like your mother."

Chen Ji was shocked inwardly... Uncle?

Could it be that his Uncle, a high-ranking official of the Jing Dynasty, fled to the Ning Dynasty for refuge to avoid political enemies? From the looks of it, the other party was covered in the dust of travel, with mud splatters on his pants and boots. He indeed looked like he had traveled day and night through rain and wind.

But what was with the patches on his clothes? His Uncle shouldn't be doing so poorly, right?

Most importantly, Chen Ji had just gotten rid of his identity as a spy for the Jing Dynasty and was just planning to live a few peaceful days. Why was this person looking for him right now?

When he enjoyed wealth and glory, he didn't bring him back to the Jing Dynasty, so what was he doing here now? Was he planning to stage a comeback in the Ning Dynasty? Then he would be forced to risk his life working for him again.

Chen Ji pondered for a moment and said stiffly, "What business do you have?"

The middle-aged man was startled, then immediately teased nonchalantly, "You don't even use an honorific for your elder? Where is your Master?"

Hearing the word 'elder', Chen Ji's tone grew even stiffer, "Master went out. If you need anything, just talk to me."

The middle-aged man lifted the hem of his robe and crossed the threshold, "Then I'll just wait for your Master to return in the clinic. Do you know how to play Go? Let's play a game to pass the time. Your mother's Go skills were excellent; yours shouldn't be bad either, right."

Chen Ji said, "The clinic doesn't have a Go board."

The middle-aged man chuckled, "How could it not? Isn't it right in the second drawer of the cabinet in the main room? Go get it, I'll wait."

Chen Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. To his ears, these words sounded more like a threat, just like when Yun Yang directly placed a silver ingot by his pillow when paying him for the first time.

The underlying meaning was: I can enter and leave the clinic as I please, yet you wouldn't even notice.

Chen Ji turned and went to the main room, pulling open the second drawer. Inside, there was indeed a Go set!

He carried the Go set to the main hall of the clinic, laid the board on the counter, and held a few pieces in his hand: "Guess first."

The middle-aged man thought for a moment: "Even numbers."

Chen Ji opened his palm to reveal three black pieces, "You guessed wrong; I will take black and play first."

The middle-aged man said generously, "Alright, you go first. I can give you a two-piece handicap."

Chen Ji glanced up at him: "Alright."

The middle-aged man's Go skills were incredibly strong—so strong that his sweeping and powerful movements felt like Mount Tai pressing down, leaving no room to escape. In just sixty-five moves, he had cut off Chen Ji's black pieces, leaving them isolated and helpless like reefs amidst crashing waves.

The middle-aged man smiled as he looked at Chen Ji, "Your Go skills still need tempering. Go is all about giving up and taking. Only by sacrificing the small can one achieve the big picture. If you refuse to sacrifice anything, everything will be lost."

However, Chen Ji didn't hear what he said at this time, only placing another piece in an isolated and helpless spot. He seemed to have a stubborn refusal to admit defeat, as if he was a desperate fanatic.

The middle-aged man paused.

He followed with a piece.

Chen Ji placed another piece down.

The middle-aged man followed with another.

The two continuously went back and forth, and by the seventy-second move, Chen Ji actually managed to carve a bloody path out of the isolation, connecting it with another group of isolated pieces.

The middle-aged man's eyes lit up as he praised, "Dragon Swallower? What kind of playstyle is this."

Chen Ji looked up at him: "Managing an isolated piece."

The so-called managing an isolated piece was to utilize the opponent's flaws amidst isolation, allowing one's isolated piece to carve out a path of survival. Often, a single isolated piece could turn the situation around and destroy the opponent's grand scheme.

Chen Ji had once won the second prize in the Luo City Go tournament. What he relied on was an unorthodox technique of managing isolated pieces. Chen Ji lacked a grand picture of the board; he only possessed a streak of obstinacy.

Mimicking the man's earlier tone, he spoke unhurriedly, "The world is so large, how can there accommodate no place for me? There are only narrow spaces, not narrow minds."

The middle-aged man laughed out loud: "How come you're lecturing me now."

Chen Ji said calmly, "I'm not, I'm talking about Go."

In fact, he was a bit angry. After arriving in this world, he didn't know his past background and was constantly being led by the nose by others. Now that he had finally sent away Gui and Wu Hongbiao and finally could take a breather, someone else came knocking at his door.

However, right at this moment, Old Yao led She Dengke in from the outside. She Dengke, carrying the medical box, said joyfully, "Chen Ji, you don't know this, but that old man just now had clearly stopped breathing, yet Master inserted two needles, and he immediately woke up... Eh?"

The middle-aged man turned to the door, smiled and said, "Physician Yao, long time no see. This little disciple of yours has good Go skills, even better than yours."

Old Yao glanced at Chen Ji, "That's strange... Why did you come alone?"

"Come check my pulse for me; I've been feeling a bit unwell lately."

Old Yao glanced at him: "You went out to prepare provisions, so how did you end up looking so physically and mentally exhausted?"

Chen Ji was startled, wait?

Prepare provisions?

What provisions?

The middle-aged man sat down opposite the counter. Looking exhausted, he forced a smile, "As soon as we arrived in Jiangnan to collect taxes, someone carried their dead wife's body to the yamen, claiming she was forced to death by our tax collection. The scholars and gentry in the south now treat us like enemy bandits. The moment they hear even a little rustle of wind, they try every means to resist; tax collection is not easy."

Old Yao walked over behind the counter, saying plainly, "Taking people's money is akin to killing their parents. What they're actually afraid of isn't the tax collection, but that you want to re-measure the farmland."

The more Chen Ji listened, the more he felt something was off. It was obvious he had mistaken the person.

Who was this? Covered in dust and dressed in rags. Could it be some tax official? Or perhaps...

The middle-aged man placed his wrist on the counter: "However, the provisions are still somewhat easy to resolve, at most it takes a bit more effort and persuasion. But the glutinous rice the front lines need is truly stumping us."

Old Yao placed three fingers on the middle-aged man's pulse: "You can't find glutinous rice?"

The middle-aged man explained, "Too many city passes were destroyed by the Jing Dynasty this year, requiring a massive amount of glutinous rice mortar to rebuild the cities. With the floods this summer, many families don't even have enough food to eat. How can they spare any glutinous rice to build the city walls?"

Having said that, the middle-aged man let out a sigh: "Actually, the glutinous rice was originally enough, but it's a pity that the batch in early autumn was intercepted by the Capital City and sent to His Majesty to repair the Renshou Palace and the imperial mausoleum."

Chen Ji was puzzled. This middle-aged man seemed to have a very good relationship with Master, to the point of saying anything openly. And Old Yao, who usually avoided speaking carelessly, didn't stop the other from continuing.

He knew that in this era, glutinous rice was considered a strategic material. This was because all the adhesive materials used to repair city walls were a mixture of glutinous rice, slaked lime, and limestone prepared on the spot. The amylopectin in the glutinous rice mortar had an excellent binding effect. After three years, once the glutinous rice mortar calcified, the repaired structures could stand for over a thousand years without collapsing.

But in this era, many commoners didn't even have enough food to eat. Glutinous rice was life-saving food, and if it was used to build city walls, the commoners would starve to death.

At this moment, the middle-aged man coughed a few times. Old Yao ordered Chen Ji, "Pour a cup of tea!"

Chen Ji went into the kitchen, brought out a cup of warm tea, and placed it in front of the middle-aged man. Keeping his head low and acting submissive, he said, "Please, have some tea."

The middle-aged man looked up and smiled at Chen Ji, "Why are you suddenly so polite with honorifics? Weren't you just lecturing me?"

Chen Ji said awkwardly, "I was indeed just talking about Go earlier, I didn't mean to lecture you."

The middle-aged man raised a hand and pointed at him across the space, smiling, "It is normal for youths to be a bit arrogant and spirited; there's no need to be so humble."

Chen Ji quickly said, "No, no, I'm not arrogant."

Old Yao was bewildered, "What happened just now? What arrogant words did this kid spew?"

The middle-aged man laughed out loud: "Who isn't like this in their youth? When I was young, I also frequently came to you to treat my injuries. Back when following His Majesty to fight Second Royal Brother, His Majesty knew perfectly well we couldn't win, yet he still insisted I went first, causing me to be brutally beaten."

Chen Ji gasped.

He could finally be certain that this was Prince Jing!

However, no matter what, he couldn't connect this simple middle-aged man before him with the majestic and vast Prince Jing's Estate.

He had no airs, no temper, and seemed just like an ordinary rich man next door, completely different from what he had imagined.

At this moment, Prince Jing looked at Old Yao, "How is my health?"

Old Yao said indifferently, "I'll prescribe you a few doses of medicine. Just rest for a few days and you will be fine. But don't run around outside anymore lately. If you don't rest, I'm afraid major problems will arise."

Prince Jing shook his head, "There are some matters that absolutely cannot be delayed. Next spring, the Jing Dynasty's cavalry will head south again. If we don't fix the city walls before then, many people will die if Chongli Pass is lost, and even the Capital City will be in imminent danger."

Old Yao said impassively, "I was just offering casual advice; whether you listen or not is up to you. But I recommend you stay in Luo City. You can also use this chance to discipline the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess, lest they go too wild with their playing and end up causing a disaster. During the days you were gone, the Prince Heir and the Commandery Princess sneaked out over the wall every single night to play, making so much noise that an old man like me couldn't rest properly."

Chen Ji: Ah?

No, you old geezer, how could you backstab people like this?

He turned to look at Prince Jing only to find his complexion had worsened even more...

Prince Jing asked slowly, "What have they been up to lately..."

Before he could finish his words, there were sounds from the backyard, as if someone was climbing over the wall.

Immediately after, the Prince Heir's voice sounded: "Strange, clearly our dad hasn't returned yet, but his guard of honor returned first. I don't know what's the use of this bungle; it made me jump over the wall an extra time for nothing. Chen Ji, come play Pai Gow with us! Watch me massacre all sides today and win you guys clean... Burp!"

The Prince Heir walked into the main hall of the clinic, and the moment he saw Prince Jing, he was actually so scared that he burped!

Prince Jing played with the white Go piece in his hand, his tone calm yet exuding an unquestionable authority: "Jumping over the wall? Pai Gow?"

The Prince Heir dropped to his knees with a thud, "Dad, it was the Little Monk who led me over the wall! It has nothing to do with me!"