The Azure Mountain

Chapter 87: Even if We Meet, We Should Not Recognize Each Other

In the main hall of Taiping Medical Clinic, Old Yao unhurriedly wrote a medical prescription and then handed it to Chen Ji to fetch the medicine.

When weighing out the medicine, Chen Ji moved slowly and quietly, staring straight at the markings on the copper scale until he nearly went cross-eyed. He absolutely did not spare a single glance anywhere else, for fear that Prince Jing's anger would spill over to him.

Bai Li stood next to the Prince Heir with her head down, constantly kicking him covertly with the tip of her toes, urging him to quickly admit his mistake.

However, Prince Jing no longer looked at the Prince Heir, but looked at Chen Ji instead: "Wait on weighing the medicine for now. It's rare to meet a partial genius in the Way of Go like you, come play a few more rounds with me."

"Oh..." Chen Ji walked over to the counter submissively and picked up the Go pieces one by one, dropping them into the Go bowl.

Prince Jing smiled: "I won't give you a two-piece handicap this time, I can't win against you if I do."

Bai Li's eyes widened from the side. Her father actively saying he wouldn't give a handicap when playing against a junior? This was a rare occurrence.

She inched over step by step to peek at the two playing Go, but after just two steps, Prince Jing swept a sideways glance at her, and she honestly obediently retreated back, only able to secretly stand on her tiptoes to peek over.

Chen Ji's Go skills were far inferior to Prince Jing's, but relying on Prince Jing having never seen such an obsessive managing of isolated pieces technique, he launched desperate counterattacks again and again.

Prince Jing praised: "You are clearly a very smart person, why don't you follow the orthodox path of Go and only love this unorthodox sword striking from a slant method? Aren't you just limiting your own Go skills?"Chen Ji calmly placed a piece: "Greed does not lead to victory."

Prince Jing paused; the phrase 'greed does not lead to victory' was also one of the key tenets of Go strategy.

What Chen Ji meant was that this was just his personality, and he was only skilled in this path of managing isolated pieces and swallowing dragons. If he were forced to learn how others controlled the grand picture and advanced step by step, he actually wouldn't be able to win.

Prince Jing picked up a piece and sighed emotionally: "With a personality like yours, you won't be able to become a Go player. If you can only be a Go piece, will you be content?"

Chen Ji was puzzled; was this something a Prince should be asking a medical clinic apprentice? Medical clinic apprentices were nothing more than part of the multitude of living beings, living like wild grass, unable to touch the blue sky.

With such a status, how could one even talk about being a Go player or a Go piece?

He pondered for a moment, then asked back in confusion: "Must one live within this Go board?"

Prince Jing laughed heartily: "You can also live outside the Go board, but that would be a different way of living altogether."

The Prince Heir quietly raised his head from his kneeling position and exchanged a look with Bai Li; both of them noticed that their old man's mood had actually gradually improved after playing Go with Chen Ji...

The Prince Heir gave Bai Li a meaningful glance, and Bai Li immediately understood. She hurriedly took away Prince Jing's already empty teacup and refilled it with tea.

At this moment, while playing Go with Chen Ji, Prince Jing could even distract himself to chat with Old Yao: "Physician Yao, have Bai Li and Zhu Yunxi caused any trouble lately?"

The Prince Heir and Bai Li's hearts instantly leaped into their throats as they looked eagerly at Old Yao.

Old Yao stood in front of the medicine cabinet, his back facing the mahogany counter, and he said indifferently while grabbing medicine: "They haven't caused any major trouble, just that they go out to play almost every night. They leave at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM) every day, I also don't know where in Luo City there is to play at such a late hour."

Prince Jing said steadily: "Naturally, they went to White Clothe Lane and Red Clothe Lane."

The Prince Heir and Bai Li's suspended hearts finally died.

Prince Jing spoke unhurriedly: "Zhu Yunxi's monthly allowance was already reduced previously, he doesn't have money to go to these places. Presumably, it was Bai Li who opened her purse for him. Starting this month, Bai Li's monthly allowance is also reduced."

The Prince Heir panicked instantly, it's over!

Bai Li said in a low voice: "Father, I won't give my brother money in the future, can you not reduce my monthly allowance?"

Prince Jing didn't answer, just picked up a Go piece, wanting to play another round with Chen Ji.

He looked up at Chen Ji: "When Yunxi and Bai Li went to White Clothe Lane and Red Clothe Lane, did you have a share in it?"

Chen Ji said earnestly: "Reporting to Your Highness, this commoner diligently studies medicine and schoolwork, how would I have the time to go to that kind of place."

The Prince Heir: Ah?

Bai Li: Ah?

Prince Jing glanced at the Prince Heir and Bai Li: "You two should really learn more from Chen Ji."

The Prince Heir suddenly said: "This brat went with us!"

Chen Ji: "..."

Nobody gets to live!

Prince Jing looked cheerfully at Chen Ji: "You went too?"

Chen Ji: "..."

Prince Jing put the Go piece back into the bowl and asked with a smile: "So, 'If life were just like our first encounter, why should the autumn wind bring sorrow to the painted fan' and 'Withered vines, old trees, dusk crows; small bridge, flowing water, people's homes' were written by you? I know perfectly well what Yunxi is capable of, he wouldn't be able to write those things."

Chen Ji was astonished. It turned out Prince Jing knew everything; not only did the other party know that the Prince Heir and the others went to White Clothe Lane and Red Clothe Lane, but he also knew every poem the Prince Heir used at the Embroidery Building.

Indeed, how could a powerful regional prince be completely ignorant about Luo City.

The Prince Heir was even more astonished. How come when he went to White Clothe Lane he had to kneel here, yet when Chen Ji went to White Clothe Lane he was treated with kind words?!

It was unfair!

The Go game continued.

Prince Jing lost three consecutive games to Chen Ji's tricky method of managing isolated pieces, but there was not a trace of unwillingness or anger on his face; instead, there was a bit more exploration and interest in his eyes.

Just like this, they played game after game, and Chen Ji struggled more and more until Prince Jing blocked all his unorthodox paths, leaving him unable to manage isolated pieces and swallow dragons anymore.

He lost.

Chen Ji was just a second-prize winner in a Luo City Go tournament; looking at the entire Go world, this wasn't much. Losing was a matter of sooner or later, but he didn't expect to lose so quickly.

Prince Jing smiled and looked at Chen Ji, asking: "Young man, how are my Go skills?"

Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Formidable."

"If I asked you to evaluate it with one word, what would it be?"

Chen Ji thought about it: "Patience."

Prince Jing really was very patient. The other party advanced step by step and could plan dozens of steps ahead for the sake of the big picture. When laying out the board, it was as if the desire to win was superfluous, a distracting thought. But looking closer, one would find that everything the other party did was to win.

At this moment, Prince Jing looked at Old Yao: "Physician Yao, you have a life-saving grace towards the mother of Jian Province's Surveillance Commissioner Ma Yiming. If you hadn't treated her illness nine years ago, his mother would have likely passed away long ago. There is still some glutinous rice in the granaries of Jian Province right now. Can you write him a letter? I want to requisition that glutinous rice to solve this urgent crisis. My Ning Dynasty civil officials value filial piety above all else; a letter from you will definitely work."

Old Yao nodded: "I can, I will write it tonight. Your Highness can just send someone to fetch it tomorrow."

"Write it later, we can't delay even for a moment," Prince Jing's expression eased somewhat, but he still hadn't completely let his guard down: "The Surveillance Commissioner in Jian Province has continuously refused to hand over this batch of glutinous rice, and it's also for the sake of the livelihood of an entire province. Now that I am transferring this batch of glutinous rice away, I still have to figure out a way to fill his granary with other crops, so the commoners don't go hungry."

Chen Ji suddenly fell into deep thought. In his world, glutinous rice mortar had been used right up until the late eighteenth century. It was only gradually replaced when foreign cement technology was introduced domestically.

At that time, cement was called "foreign ash" by the commoners.

Was glutinous rice mortar good? It was good. The Great Wall was built using glutinous rice mortar as a binder and had stood for a thousand years without falling. To some extent, it was even stronger and more durable than ordinary cement.

But the key was that glutinous rice mortar appeared in an era of low productivity, inherently conflicting with the people's livelihood. Moreover, after applying glutinous rice mortar, it took three years to calcify and reach its standard strength, whereas cement only needed twenty days and cost extremely little.

Once cement appeared, it would be a complete revolution in the entire construction field.

Chen Ji reminisced, how do you make cement again?

While he was lost in thought, the outside of Taiping Medical Clinic became lively once again.

The crowd looked over, only to see sedan bearers carrying official sedan chairs heading towards Prince Jing's Estate right at the entrance. Just a rough estimate showed there were thirty or forty officials coming together to visit Prince Jing.

Chen Ji looked up and saw that Prince Jing seemed as if he hadn't noticed these people, just calmly placing a piece and even reminding Chen Ji: "It's your turn. Yunxi, stop kneeling there acting embarrassingly, get up."

"Oh." The Prince Heir stood up happily, bending over to rub his painful knees.

Before long, those officials headed to Prince Jing's Estate to no avail; seemingly receiving news that Prince Jing wasn't at the estate, they could only return.

As they passed by the Taiping Medical Clinic, an official in a sedan chair inadvertently lifted the curtain and caught a glimpse of the familiar figure by the clinic's counter.

"Stop, stop, stop," the official called for the sedan bearers to halt. He focused his gaze and confirmed he wasn't mistaken.

It wasn't because he was incredibly familiar with Prince Jing, but rather that Prince Jing had worn this outfit for who knew how many years, and it had long been etched into the officials' memories.

The sedan chair set down. A group of officials wearing green and blue official robes with rank badges of silver pheasants, golden pheasants, and mandarin ducks on their chests, leather belts around their waists, and black official boots on their feet.

They gathered in front of the Taiping Medical Clinic, hesitating for a moment, not knowing if they should enter, each of them whispering and conferring.

The next moment, everyone looked to the two leading officials. One of them, sporting a long beard and a ruddy complexion, thought for a moment and said: "Once the Prince finishes this game of Go, we will go in."

The crowd quieted down, stomping their feet and rubbing their hands in the freezing weather, their noses red from the cold.

A moment later, the leading official let out a soft sound of surprise: "The Prince's Go skills are exquisite, how does he have the leisure to play against a young apprentice today? What joy is there to speak of... Eh? Chen Liqin, I find that kid looks a bit familiar, have I seen him somewhere before."

Hearing this, Luo City Vice-Prefect Chen Liqin looked up and gazed intently, suddenly realizing that the young man playing Go against Prince Jing was actually his youngest son whom he hadn't seen in over half a year!

Only then did he remember that he had sent Chen Ji to Taiping Medical Clinic as an apprentice!

Zhang Zhuo turned to look at Chen Liqin: "I remember now, I saw him at your estate. I remember when I went to your estate for drinks on the Lantern Festival last year, he was sitting at the very end on the right side..."

Zhang Zhuo passed the xiucai exam at twelve, easily had his name announced outside East Brilliance Gate at fifteen, becoming the youngest Top Scorer in the Ning Dynasty. He wrote beautiful calligraphy and even had a photographic memory.

This man lost his first wife at nineteen, married the niece of Xu Gong, the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty, at twenty-two. From then on, he underwent a rapid rise to high positions, finishing a career path in fifteen years that others couldn't finish in a lifetime. Given some more time, entering the cabinet was a matter of sooner or later.

However, Zhang Zhuo lacked the steady and restrained nature of a Prefect. He frivolously nudged Chen Liqin with his elbow: "How could the boy from your family be playing Go with Prince Jing? Well done, Chen Liqin, you secretly took the Prince's Estate route without telling me; no wonder you sent your own son to be an apprentice."

Chen Liqin frowned and didn't answer. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer, but he didn't know how to answer.

Zhang Zhuo's question was also his question: why was Chen Ji able to play Go with Prince Jing?

Furthermore, inside Taiping Medical Clinic at this moment, Prince Jing's hearty laughter occasionally rang out, and his own kid seemed to be chatting happily with Prince Jing...

Hearing a clattering sound, Chen Ji picked up the black pieces and threw them into the Go bowl inside the clinic; a game had ended.

Zhang Zhuo tugged at Chen Liqin's sleeve: "Hurry and keep up."

The two men crossed the threshold and arrived behind Prince Jing. Chen Liqin merely cupped his hands and bowed, while Zhang Zhuo bowed obsequiously all the way to the floor with a fawning smile: "Greetings, Your Highness Prince Jing. Your efforts heading south to raise military provisions this time have been strenuous."

Prince Jing slowly turned around: "You two have also worked hard. I heard that when it snowed, you even went to the riverbanks to console the river workers. Such an act of sympathizing with the commoners demonstrates you are worthy of being the parent officials of this city."

Zhang Zhuo preemptively smiled and said: "Not at all, not at all, it's all part of our duty. It's just that the flood in Southern Yuzhou a few months ago submerged many fields, and right now there are a large number of refugees who are homeless and have no land to farm. They are currently fleeing towards our Luo City as refugees, and we must rapidly figure out a way to build houses to settle them down."

"At least your heart is tied to the commoners of this province," Prince Jing said slowly: "Tell me, what are the difficulties?"

"Building houses now, it might be a bit too late to manage..."

While Zhang Zhuo was conversing with Prince Jing, Chen Liqin's gaze kept darting towards Chen Ji. Strangely enough, however, this youngest son of his was concentrating on clearing the Go board and didn't spare him a single glance.

When his youngest son finished clearing the Go board and looked up, the two locked eyes, yet the other party merely gave a polite, smiling greeting, as if looking at a stranger.

Chen Liqin's brow gradually furrowed. Back then, it was because Chen Ji was fond of gambling that he sent this son to Taiping Medical Clinic to be an apprentice.

He asked himself and felt he had not treated Chen Ji poorly; being an apprentice at Taiping Medical Clinic was a good path, and he also instructed the butler to deliver the tuition fee every month.

Yet now, the other party actually didn't even return home while in the clinic, acting like a stranger when seeing his own father. Was this acting out of spite and severing ties with the Chen Estate completely? Too immature.

Setting aside Chen Liqin's doubts, Chen Ji was also feeling a bit unnatural.

With so many officials present, he didn't know whether to leave or stay by the Go board, and there was one official who kept staring at him. He didn't know what he was looking at.

Chen Ji looked down to examine his clothes; there weren't any tears or anything.

Seeing his discomfort, Old Yao said softly: "Chen Ji, go pour two cups of tea for the two Lords to warm their hands."

"Alright, coming right up," Chen Ji went to the backyard, brought out a tray, and politely offered it to Chen Liqin: "Lord, please have some tea."

On Chen Liqin's square face, his brows were almost twisted together: "You call me Lord?"

Chen Ji paused for a moment; if I don't call you Lord, what do I call you?

Before he could react, Zhang Zhuo had already picked up the warm clay cup, warming his hands while smiling and saying: "Your Highness, this year's Yuzhou Autumn Examination is highly anticipated. Lord Chen's son, Chen Wenzong, was praised by the teachers when he was at Donglin Academy, saying he possesses the talent to be a Top Scorer. Many scholars from Jiangnan are unconvinced and are threatening to compete with him during next year's Palace Examination."

Prince Jing glanced at Chen Ji, and also smiled and praised Chen Liqin: "Lord Chen teaches his sons well; not only is the eldest son taught well, but this youngest son Chen Ji is also taught well. During our Go match just now, he won quite a few games against me."

Chen Ji was shocked inwardly!