The Azure Mountain

Chapter 98: Cannot Be Brought Back

"Hey, She Dengke, if you had money, what would you plan to do?" Liu Quxing sat on the edge of the stone roller's platform, asking indistinctly while eating the rolled pancake Master had brought.

"Of course I would first buy a residence for my family. I want to buy a courtyard with two enclosures. My dad, my mom, my eldest brother, and my eldest sister-in-law will live in the back courtyard, and my second brother, second sister-in-law, third brother, and third sister-in-law will live in the front courtyard. They've had it too hard these past years. The whole family squeezes into one room, sleeping on the floor. It's not even easy to turn over."

"What about yourself, where will you live?"

She Dengke shoved the last piece of the rolled pancake in his hand into his mouth: "I'll live in the clinic. My family doesn't need to save a room for me... Liu Quxing, if you had money, what would you plan to do?"

Liu Quxing thought for a moment and said: "I want to bring my mom out of the Liu family, so she won't have to look at the main wife's expressions anymore. Every time she comes to bring me money and food, she always meets with people's eye-rolls when she returns home, and inevitably suffers a round of ridicule."

"It's really good to have money," She Dengke lowered his head and said. "Money is like an old immortal, able to help people fulfill their dreams."

Liu Quxing suddenly asked: "After having money, are you still going to be an apprentice in the clinic?"

She Dengke froze for a moment, and said somewhat hesitantly: "Yeah, will I still be an apprentice when I have money..."

Smack.

The bamboo strip landed on She Dengke's back, hurting with a burning pain.She Dengke turned his head to look. Old Yao had walked to his side at some point. He glared angrily at Liu Quxing: "Grandson, you motherf*cking dug a pit for me again!"

Old Yao sneered coldly at the two of them: "Alright then, if you have money you won't be apprentices in my Taiping Medical Clinic anymore, right."

Liu Quxing hurriedly jumped down from the stone roller and said with a flattering smile: "Master, those were She Dengke's words, it has nothing to do with me. I will definitely stay steadily and earnestly in the clinic to learn medical skills from you, and in the future be respected by others just like you!"

Old Yao scoffed mockingly: "Why would several wealthy gentlemen need to come to my Taiping Medical Clinic to eat bitterness and suffer exhaustion?"

She Dengke said in panic: "Master, please don't misunderstand. We will definitely stay in the clinic to serve you. We remember all the goodness you've treated us with these past two years."

At this time, Liang Gou'er was lying on the grass mat not far away, a grass stalk dangling from his mouth, swinging his crossed legs: "Five thousand taels of silver yo, how do you guys plan to divide it? Haha, throughout history, how many brothers have turned against each other and become enemies, not because they shared adversity, but because they shared wealth and honor."

Liang Mao'er raised his hand: "I originally just came to help out, I don't have to take a share."

Liang Gou'er abruptly sat up, feeling bitter disappointment that iron isn't becoming steel: "These past few days, other than Chen Ji, you exerted the most effort. On what basis should you not take a share?"

Liang Mao'er cast a sidelong glance at him: "Brother, stop talking first. You don't get a share anyway."

Liang Gou'er: "..."

He opened his mouth but couldn't say a word for half a day. Finally, he simply leaned back, covered his face with the straw hat, and his crossed legs bounced faster than anyone else's.

Everyone gradually quieted down, looking at one another in blank dismay, no one daring to speak first.

How should the five thousand taels of silver be divided among everyone? Dividing it equally is a good method, but everyone knew that dividing it equally was unfair to Chen Ji.

During this silence, Bai Li wanted to step forward to speak, but was pulled to the side by Prince Jing reaching out his hand.

He sized up this group of youths with great interest: "The world hustles for profit, and the world bustles for profit. Only in front of true profit can you see a person clearly. Don't speak first, let's just see whether these friends of yours can withstand the test."

Bai Li hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "But why test human nature? This is unfair to the people being tested."

Prince Jing froze for a moment, and then smiled: "Silly child, where is there any fairness to be spoken of in this world? You have to learn to protect yourself."

As his voice fell, a carriage slowly stopped outside the kiln factory.

Only to see Zhang Zhuo lift the carriage curtain, carrying the hem of his official robe as he jumped down. After landing, he didn't forget to turn back and support Chen Liqin, and only then did the two of them stride into the kiln factory with wide steps.

The two of them arrived beside Prince Jing, and Zhang Zhuo cupped his hands: "Your Highness..."

Prince Jing raised his hand to stop him: "Don't speak yet to startle them, let's see how they divide the money. Brothers dividing money has always been a good show. The two of you came right on time; you coincidentally caught it."

Zhang Zhuo was surprised: "Dividing money? What money are they dividing?"

Prince Jing said with a smile: "I'll slowly explain it to you guys in a bit. Right, Lord Chen, Chen Ji is also among them."

At this time, Zhang Zhuo narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully distinguishing everyone in the crowd. He pulled Chen Liqin to the side and asked in a low voice: "Eh, why is your family's kid also here?"

Chen Liqin hesitated for a moment and whispered: "I already knew he was here yesterday, and even made a special trip to pick him up to return to the estate, but he didn't leave with me."

Zhang Zhuo said, surprised: "This child has such a big temper? He would rather come to the kiln factory to do rough and heavy manual labor than return to the Chen Estate with you?"

Chen Liqin sighed: "Previously, it was also my lack of observation as a father. After he went to the Taiping Medical Clinic, I ordered the butler every month to send a young servant to deliver his monthly allowance to him. Who could have imagined that this young servant would secretly deduct it, changing three taels of silver a month to three hundred copper coins a month, and later on simply dragging his feet and delaying giving it altogether. I presume he came to the kiln factory to earn some tuition fees for himself?"

Zhang Zhuo sized up Chen Liqin: "Lord Chen, what was the young servant's end?"

Chen Liqin answered: "Already beaten to death with a cane."

Zhang Zhuo stroked his beard and asked again: "What about the butler? Was he beaten to death with a cane?"

Chen Liqin shook his head: "No, he received ten planks as a slight punishment."

Zhang Zhuo smiled meaningfully: "This kid of your family actually has more resilience than my family's kid. He would rather eat bitterness and suffer exhaustion than go back to suffer this cowardly anger. I presume his previous lingering in gambling dens was also from being harmed by bad friends? Listen to a piece of advice from me. You first give that kid of your family two hundred taels of silver to suppress the panic in his heart, and then beat that stupid butler of your family to death with a cane to let him vent his anger. I guarantee you'll be able to bring him back."

"Beat the butler to death with a cane?" Chen Liqin looked at Zhang Zhuo in astonishment: "Why go so far? This butler is also an old servant of the estate that I brought from the Capital City. For more than ten years he has conscientiously managed things from top to bottom; even if he lacked meritorious service, he put in hard work."

Zhang Zhuo was amused: "When the Late Emperor was alive, was General Hu Guang's meritorious service great enough? He recaptured Chongli Pass and blocked the Jing Dynasty's iron cavalry for over a decade. His meritorious service was so great that he dared to hold military power and roar in the imperial court. What was his end in the final analysis? First, the Late Emperor promoted Liu Wencheng to Minister of War to enter the Grand Secretariat. Then, he allowed Grand Secretary Liu to clip General Hu Guang's wings and have General Hu's property confiscated and his entire clan exterminated. Once Grand Secretary Liu was cursed by everyone as a treacherous prime minister, a single imperial edict from the Late Emperor demoted Grand Secretary Liu to return to his hometown, and he was immediately praised as a sagacious ruler of a generation."

Chen Liqin's expression changed: "Lord Zhang, speak cautiously!"

Zhang Zhuo chuckled happily, his words certain: "You are an upright gentleman and naturally wouldn't go to the Eunuch Faction to file false accusations against me, you're just too pedantic."

Being called pedantic made Chen Liqin unhappy in his heart. He emphasized his tone: "Lord Zhang does not seem like a scholar, but more like a petty person."

Zhang Zhuo cupped his hands freely and easily, not caring at all: "You overpraise me, you overpraise me."

The cold wind was piercing.

Liu Quxing and the others had their hands frozen red, yet were completely unaware, all keeping their mouths shut and calculating how the five thousand taels of silver should be divided.

Everyone looked at one another in blank dismay; no one was willing to speak first.

In the silence, Chen Ji opened his mouth. He looked at Liu Quxing and the others and said with a smile: "I won't be overly modest with everyone. I will take three tenths of this silver every year, and you guys divide the rest."

Take three tenths?

Zhang Zhuo subconsciously looked at Chen Liqin. He counted; there were six or seven people present. The Chen family kid demanded to take away three tenths as soon as he opened his mouth? How should the remaining people divide it then.

Chen Liqin furrowed his brows tightly. He cupped his hands to Prince Jing: "Your Highness, this lowly official has no proper methods in teaching his son. In the future, I will definitely bring him back to the estate and strictly discipline him, to teach him modesty, courtesy, and yielding."

"Ha," Prince Jing let out a bright laugh. "Lord Chen, don't be anxious. Even the ones dividing the money aren't anxious, what are you anxious about?"

Chen Liqin froze.

The next moment, however, She Dengke was heard saying in a muffled voice: "No way!"

Inside the kiln factory, it became quiet again. Chen Liqin frowned and looked over, deeply afraid that Chen Ji would get into a brawl with the others over the matter of dividing money, disgracing his scholarly refinement.

However, She Dengke suddenly said: "Chen Ji, we are all clear in our hearts that without you, this sum of money would absolutely not exist. Although we also put in effort, in fact, it was nothing more than suffering the freezing cold for two days and doing heavy manual labor for two days. For this kind of work, you could go to the Eastern Market and spend a few taels of silver to find strong laborers who could do it just as well. You take half of it, and we will divide the rest. Liu Quxing, what do you think?"

Liu Quxing's face darkened: "Why are you looking at me? You're making it seem like I'm so greedy for money!"

She Dengke pressed on: "Just say whether you agree or not!"

Liu Quxing gritted his teeth and said: "I agree! I agree! You big idiot, he already opened his mouth to say he takes three tenths, can't you just accept it directly? Do you know how much money two tenths less is?"

She Dengke's eyes widened: "You grandson, you finally said all your true thoughts!"

The Prince Heir laughed heartily: "Good, good, good. If everyone kept it stifled in their hearts, over time it would instead breed resentment. Now that everyone has spoken their true thoughts out, it's quite open and magnanimous. To tell the truth, even I am envious seeing this sum of money. Tonight, let's not let Bai Li treat us to a meal either; Chen Ji must be the one treating. The best private room in Yingxian Restaurant, and we'll order their most famous Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. If Chen Ji dares to so much as furrow a brow, we'll beat him up!"

Liu Quxing said with heartache: "Right, he took so much money. If he dares to furrow a brow when treating us, we'll beat him up!"

Chen Ji smiled and said: "Rest assured, I absolutely will not furrow a single brow. The little monk upholds the precept of not touching money, so the remaining Prince Heir, Commandery Princess Bai Li, Brother Mao'er, Senior Brother She, and Senior Brother Liu, the five of you can divide it equally."

The little monk put his palms together and asked curiously: "Then after we finish eating, are we going to Red Clothe Lane?"

Everyone laughed out loud: "You flower monk!"

...

...

Bai Li looked at Prince Jing with a beaming smile: "They didn't break into a brawl as you wished!"

Prince Jing said with pity: "I thought I'd be able to see a good show. Turns out they all have the hearts of newborn children, which is rare and commendable. I only hope these newborn hearts won't be refined black by the great furnace of the mortal world."

At this point, Zhang Zhuo and Chen Liqin gradually realized something was wrong.

Previously, they had thought they were dividing the wages for this bitter kiln work. But if it was only wages, how could they still afford to go to Yingxian Restaurant and Red Clothe Lane?

Zhang Zhuo looked at Prince Jing and asked in puzzlement: "Your Highness, how much money are they dividing?"

Prince Jing smiled and explained: "Five thousand taels of silver every year."

Zhang Zhuo subconsciously gasped sharply: "So, the Chen family kid alone is taking away two thousand five hundred taels of silver?"

Prince Jing nodded: "Correct."

Zhang Zhuo slowly looked to Chen Liqin: "Lord Chen, this kid of your family, I'm afraid you won't be able to bring him back."

Chen Liqin remained silent.

Zhang Zhuo continued: "I'm afraid your Chen family's expenditure for the whole estate in a year is not even as much as his two thousand five hundred taels of silver per year. Living outside, he will live much more comfortably than in your Chen Estate. Pretend I didn't say my previous words. If you want to pull him back, you cannot use money. I'm afraid you will have to appeal to his emotions and move him with reason..."

Chen Liqin ignored him. He merely stepped forward and asked in puzzlement: "Your Highness, five thousand taels of silver is a massive sum of capital, where did it come from?"

Prince Jing led the two of them to the brick wall and had them strike it with the large hammer: "They developed this item named 'cement'. Its solidification time is several times faster than glutinous rice mortar, and its cost is only two tenths of glutinous rice mortar. My Prince's Estate has already bought the formula for this item, promising to share out a dividend of five thousand taels of silver to them every year. How about it, do the two Lords feel this formula is worth it?"

A brilliant light burst forth from Zhang Zhuo's eyes. He picked up a pinch of cement, rubbed it, and asked: "The cost is only two tenths of glutinous rice mortar, and it solidifies faster than glutinous rice mortar? Worth it, too worth it! Your Highness, you are saying this thing was produced by that group of youths?"

Prince Jing nodded: "Exactly. The formula was thought of by Chen Ji, and the work was done by them together."

Zhang Zhuo suddenly realized: "No wonder when everyone was dividing the money, he said he takes three tenths, yet the others told him to take five tenths. So this thing was created by him."

Only then did Chen Liqin also recall that yesterday when Chen Ji told Prince Jing something about 'the technique of iron absorbing carbon to become steel', Prince Jing actually raised his hand to stop him, preventing him from bringing Chen Ji back to the estate...

In the kiln factory, Chen Liqin looked with a complicated expression at Chen Ji, who was surrounded in the crowd.

He had thought that as long as he disciplined the young servant at home, let Chen Ji vent his anger, and then persuaded him with kind words, he could eventually bring Chen Ji back.

He had also thought that perhaps if he cut off Chen Ji's silver and money, Chen Ji would obediently return home.

But at this point today, that son who he had driven out of the house no longer needed that home.

At this time, Chen Ji and the others cupped their hands and said to Prince Jing: "Your Highness, we have been tired for a few days. Today we want to go back, change clothes, and celebrate a bit, so we will take our leave first."

Prince Jing waved his hand: "Go on. I permit you guys to drink wine today."

Chen Ji responded with a smile: "Thank you, Your Highness."

After saying that, he hesitated for a bit, then turned around and cupped his hands to Zhang Zhuo and Chen Liqin: "Lord Zhang, Lord Chen, farewell."

Chen Liqin didn't say a word.

Zhang Zhuo watched those youths get on the ox cart and unsteadily exit the kiln factory, his eyes flickering: "That kid of yours seems to have latched onto the Prince's Estate. If he can mingle his way into becoming Prince Jing's favorite person, you and I might be able to use him to connect with Prince Jing, and take a slice of the pie from the Liu family in this Yuzhou before we leave."

Chen Liqin furrowed his brows slightly: "Lord Zhang, the Liu family is fierce and ruthless. Even the two of us are overly cautious and on tenterhooks in Yuzhou. Why involve an inexperienced child in it?"

Zhang Zhuo rolled his eyes: "It's not like asking him to charge and shatter enemy lines, what are you anxiously being over-protective of the calf for. If you had taken good care of him earlier, you wouldn't have let him address you as Lord Chen sentence after sentence. So what are you pretending with me for now!"

Chen Liqin's face turned even darker: "You!"

However, right at this time, Zhang Zhuo suddenly raised his hand to stop Chen Liqin's words.

After pondering for a moment, he spoke up and asked: "Lord Chen, I wonder if anyone has proposed marriage for Chen Ji? My family has a daughter who has just grown up, currently waiting in her boudoir..."

(End of Chapter)