The young master and Bai Li went to gather laborers, leaving only Chen Ji and Chen Wenzong standing side by side at the entrance of the kiln factory.
One was covered in dust, looking like a dirty dog, while the other was dressed in pristine white, resembling the protagonist of a story.
Chen Wenzong frowned as he looked at the cheerful Chen Ji, wondering what his younger brother was so happy about.
"Chen Ji, I see that you handle things in an orderly and clear manner. You're actually quite intelligent. Why are you content to wallow in this muddy business?"
Chen Ji, patting the dust off his clothes, responded with a carefree smile, "I'm very happy today. You all look down on this old kiln factory and this dusty work, but the more I look at it, the more I like it."
This was because, for the first time in this world, Chen Ji had something that truly belonged to him.
"Are you trying to make some money?" Chen Wenzong misunderstood.
"Although a concubine-born son cannot inherit the family business, when the family divides, I will certainly give you some enterprises. If you just turn back from your misguided path, study hard, and take the imperial exams, how could I possibly sit by and watch you starve?"
Chen Ji cheerfully patted Chen Wenzong's shoulder, leaving a black handprint on his white robe, and teased, "Brother, you're actually a good person, but I'm really not cut out for studying the classics. I'm more suited to working hard, farming, and firing kilns."
Chen Wenzong took a step to the left but still couldn't avoid the black handprint.
He frowned and said, "The sage said, 'If those in high positions uphold propriety and integrity, the people will naturally come to them with their children. Why should one need to till the land themselves? Toiling in the fields is a lowly task. We scholars should set an example for the world, and followers will naturally flock to us.'"
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, not well-versed in Confucian teachings, so he didn't know how to refute his brother's ideas with classical texts.
At that moment, Bai Li's voice came from a distance: "Chen Ji, I've found people who can modify the kiln. They said they built all the kilns in Liu Family Village, and they can help us."
Behind Bai Li was a hunchbacked old man with a long pipe at his waist, a tobacco pouch swinging like a purse.
Behind the old man were seven sturdy men.
As they approached, the hunchbacked old man stopped at the entrance of the kiln factory, stuffing tobacco into his pipe as he looked at Chen Ji.
"Are you the one in charge here?"
Chen Ji calmly replied, "Yes, I am."
The old man spoke slowly, "All the kilns in Liu Family Village were built by us Liu family members. If you want to build a kiln, it's no problem. First, pay 200 taels of silver. During the construction, we'll need four catties of white flour, one catty of meat, and two catties of good wine per day."
"What?" The young master's eyes widened.
The old man looked up at him expressionlessly.
"This is the business rule in Liu Family Village. No one else knows how to build a semi-inverted flame kiln, and no one else dares to build one for you."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Are you from the Liu family of Liu Gelao?"
A sturdy man behind the old man laughed, "You have some knowledge."
Chen Ji thought for a moment.
"Please go back. We really don't have that much money. Buying this kiln factory has almost exhausted all our savings."
Without another word, the old man turned and left.
"If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."
Chen Ji watched his retreating figure.
"No wonder Old Zhou was in such a hurry to sell this kiln factory. No wonder there's only a simple rising flame kiln here. These days, doing any business means the local bullies take a cut, and the government takes another."
Bai Li looked troubled.
"What should we do? I'm sorry, I didn't know they were local bullies who would jack up the price. I shouldn't have brought them here."
Chen Ji said calmly, "Let's do it ourselves. Without them, we can still build a kiln. If he can build a semi-inverted flame kiln, then I'll build a fully inverted one."
Let's give them a little shock.
As they walked toward the kiln, Chen Ji suddenly turned to Chen Wenzong.
"Brother, we're short on hands. Could you lend us a hand?"
Chen Wenzong stood silently for a long time, looking at the dusty group in front of him and the earthen kiln behind them.
He then took a silver ingot from his sleeve and handed it to Chen Ji.
"I'm sorry, but the autumn exams are in two days, and I can't stay here for long. I didn't bring much money with me, so this is all I can give you for now. If it's not enough, I'll send a servant with more tomorrow."
Chen Ji pushed the silver ingot back into Chen Wenzong's hand, took a step back, and cupped his hands in respect.
"Then I wish you success in the exams and hope you achieve the top rank!"
With that, he led the young master and Bai Li to dismantle the kiln without looking back.
Chen Wenzong looked down at the silver ingot in his hand, wanting to say something but not knowing what.
After a long silence, he tucked the ingot back into his sleeve, turned, and left the courtyard.
The apology he had wanted to say remained unspoken.
As the sound of the kiln being dismantled echoed, the white horse galloped away.
...
Liang Mao'er put in a lot of effort, wielding a hammer with ease as he demolished the old kiln.
Chen Ji, while clearing away the debris, praised, "Brother Mao'er, your big appetite hasn't gone to waste!"
Liang Mao'er blushed slightly.
"A soldier trains for a thousand days to be used in one moment. It's good to finally be able to contribute."
Chen Ji looked at the young master and Bai Li.
"I'm a bit curious. Why are you two willing to do such dirty and tiring work? Look, my brother wouldn't touch this kind of thing."
The young master laughed.
"It's fine to do it occasionally, but if you really made me do this every day, I'd run away too!"
Chen Ji sighed.
"I feel like Prince Jing is very different from other nobles. He seems..."
Bai Li thought for a moment and said, "Mother said that Father suffered a lot when he was young, so he's naturally different from other princes."
"Oh?"
"I heard from Mother that shortly after Father was born, he and his birth mother were sent to Yueci Nunnery in the outskirts of the capital."
Chen Ji was stunned.
"Usually, even if a mother makes a mistake and is expelled from the palace, the child is kept. Why were both of them sent away?"
Bai Li explained, "The late emperor had seventy-nine sons, and the struggle for the throne was fierce. I don't know the details, but many princes and their birth mothers were expelled from the palace and died outside. Father's birth mother also died mysteriously in Yueci Nunnery the second year after they were sent there. Father was only a little over a year old at the time. It's said that a eunuch from the inner court secretly looked after him, which is how he survived."
"Later, Father grew up in a yamen under the Directorate of Ceremonial in the outskirts of the capital. He worked alongside the young eunuchs, chopping wood, burning charcoal, and washing clothes. It wasn't until he was eight that the current Empress Dowager brought him back to the palace to live with the current emperor. Father is three years older than the emperor, and they lived together in the palace for six years, as close as brothers."
"Later, when the emperor ascended the throne at eleven, Father was sent to his fief at fourteen. As a young prince, he allied with the northern aristocratic families—the Chens, the Hus, and the Qis. Over six years, he secretly cooperated with the censors and other upright officials to purge the imperial relatives and help the emperor take control of the government... Of course, I heard all this from Mother, so it might not be entirely accurate."
"Father has always insisted that we do many things ourselves. I heard that Prince Fu had people feed him and dress him when he was young, but we never had that. Occasionally, when Father had free time, he would take us to the countryside to chop wood and burn charcoal."
Chen Ji listened quietly, feeling that this short story contained many important pieces of information.
The Liu family was the imperial relatives Bai Li mentioned, but if Prince Jing had purged the imperial relatives in his youth, why had he later married a woman from the Liu family and made her his concubine?
Was it a political compromise, or was there another intention?
...
That night, the moon was bright, and the stars were sparse.
Originally, Chen Ji had planned to stay at the kiln factory, but there wasn't even a place to sleep, so they had to return home.
The ox cart swayed as it made its way back to the city.
Everyone on the cart looked exhausted, barely able to keep their eyes open.
After a day of hard work, their backs ached, their hands were blistered, and they were all starving.
Someone's stomach growled, and soon everyone's stomachs were rumbling.
They looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"I wonder if there are any noodle shops still open in the city?"
"Definitely not!"
Liang Mao'er said, "When we get back to the clinic, I'll make noodles for everyone. How about garlic sauce noodles?"
"Anything is fine. I'm so hungry I could eat an ox!"
"I could eat two!"
Liang Mao'er said shyly, "I could eat three."
"I think Brother Mao'er isn't joking."
"Hahaha."
When they arrived at the Taiping Clinic, the young master quietly pushed open the door and led everyone to the backyard.
"Keep your voices down. Don't wake up Physician Yao. If we disturb him now, I'm afraid his venomous tongue will scold us to tears."
"Oh? Really?" Everyone was startled and looked toward the darkness of the clinic's main hall, where Physician Yao was sitting in a bamboo chair, holding a small black cat.
He slowly stood up and asked leisurely, "Young Master, would you like to explain to this old man how my tongue is venomous?"
The young master's smile was uglier than a cry.
"You must have misheard. It was Liu Quxing who said that!"
Physician Yao didn't argue with him and simply turned to walk toward the backyard.
"There are rolled noodles on the kitchen counter. If you want to eat, cook them yourselves."
The young master swallowed his saliva.
"Physician Yao, you're a living bodhisattva!"
A moment later, a group of "dirty dogs" squatted in a row in the backyard, each holding a large bowl of noodles, slurping and shoveling the food into their mouths.
The young master looked up and saw Physician Yao standing by the bare apricot tree, looking at them with disdain.
The cat in his arms also looked at them with disdain.
The young master hesitated.
"Physician Yao, it seems like the cat looks down on us?"
Physician Yao sneered.
"With the way you're eating, I allow it to look down on you."
The young master: "..."
Chen Ji: "..."
Physician Yao looked at them with pity.
"Eight people went out this morning, and eight dirty dogs came back tonight. Those who know think you went to make something new. Those who don't know would think you were exposed by a demon-revealing mirror."
He hugged the black cat and turned to go back inside.
"I'm going to sleep. After you finish eating, remember to clean the kitchen."
After finishing his noodles, the young master slumped on the ground and sighed.
"Chen Ji, can we take a day off?"
Bai Li quickly said, "No, he made a military pledge to Father. If he doesn't complete it, Father will really banish him to Lingnan."
The young master was speechless and finally muttered, "You're even more enthusiastic than he is."
At that moment, Bai Li stood in front of the apricot tree in the yard, lost in thought.
Chen Ji, sitting on the ground with his bowl, looked up curiously.
"What's wrong?"
Bai Li suddenly said, "The apricot tree has lost all its leaves. It doesn't look good... Wait for me."
With that, she climbed over the wall into the prince's residence.
After a while, she returned with a piece of red cloth.
Bai Li cut the red cloth into thin, long strips and wrote words like "peace," "joy," "smoothness," and "worry-free" on them, tying them to the branches.
She then wrote another strip and brought a ladder to hang it on the highest branch of the tree.
Seeing her struggling with the ladder, Chen Ji offered, "Princess, let me help you hang it."
Bai Li insisted, "No, I'll do it myself!"
She even wrapped the strip around the branch several times, making it impossible to see what was written from below.
After slowly climbing down the ladder, Bai Li smiled and called out to everyone, "You should write something too."
They looked at each other.
"Write what?"
Bai Li's eyes curved into a smile.
"Just write your wishes!"
Liu Quxing said, "I know what to write!"
He dipped his brush in ink and wrote on the red cloth, "May my master live a long and healthy life."
She Dengke scolded him for being a flatterer, then wrote, "May my master live forever."
Liang Gou'er wrote, "May I have wine every day," while Liang Mao'er wrote, "May I acquire a few acres of good farmland."
The young master hesitated for a moment, then secretly wrote a strip like Bai Li and tied it to the highest branch, not letting anyone see what he wrote.
After climbing down the ladder, he looked at the bald monk.
"Little monk, what's your wish?"
The monk looked slightly embarrassed.
"I can't make wishes casually. Making a great vow requires fulfilling it, and it's closely related to my cultivation."
"Alright then, you don't have to write!"
The red cloth strips hung from the apricot tree branches like blooming red flowers.
The courtyard, filled with rough men, suddenly had a touch of delicate beauty.
Bai Li stood in front of the apricot tree, her hands behind her back, looking up with a smile as she admired her handiwork.
She turned to Chen Ji.
"Chen Ji, what are you going to write? You haven't written anything yet."
Chen Ji thought for a moment, then picked up the brush.
Bai Li leaned over to peek, only to see the young man write four simple words: "Reunion and togetherness."
Bai Li whispered, "I thought you'd write something like 'ten thousand taels of gold.' Are you looking forward to reuniting with your family? But your family..."
Chen Ji smiled without explaining.
The "reunion and togetherness" he wrote wasn't about his family.
Bai Li looked at the red cloth strips on the tree, her expression peaceful.
"Sometimes I envy the lives of commoners. I know it sounds like I don't appreciate my own blessings, but I still wish my family could be warmer and have more days of togetherness."
Hearing this, Chen Ji tentatively asked, "I see that Lady Yun gives you a lot of monthly allowance. Even the young master doesn't live as well as you do. Why do you say that?"
Bai Li also smiled.
"For girls, as long as we grow up well in our parents' eyes, we don't need to study too hard. We just need to marry according to their wishes. My parents aren't too strict with me, so they're more lenient. Mother has always wanted to have another son. You see, as soon as Father returned to the residence, she immediately had people clean the entire Anxi Street and gave all the neighbors Yanzhao dates."
Chen Ji was stunned.
So the Yanzhao dates had a hidden meaning, but it couldn't be too obvious, which was why they didn't give out peanuts, longans, or lotus seeds...
He suddenly asked, "Princess, what about the persimmon tree in Feiyun Garden?"
Bai Li smiled.
"Mother wanted to cut it down and replace it with a pomegranate tree, but I stopped her. I think persimmons are prettier than pomegranates."
"Then why don't you pick the persimmons when they're ripe?"
"I leave them for the magpies to eat in winter."
"So it's the princess's kindness..."
Chen Ji felt a chill run down his spine.
The Yanzhao dates symbolized the wish for a son, and the pomegranate tree symbolized fertility.
Lady Yun's desire for a son was almost blatant.
But even if she had a son, could he inherit Prince Jing's title? No, there was still the eldest son, the young master.
Unless the young master died in prison!
At this moment, Chen Ji's speculation formed a logical chain.
Lady Yun hoped the young master would die in prison.
As for whether Bai Li would be implicated, she didn't care...
Or perhaps Lady Yun intended to send Bai Li to prison as well, so no one would suspect her.
Chen Ji looked at Bai Li with a complicated expression, wanting to warn her but not knowing where to start.
First, there was Liu Mingxian, who had killed his own grandfather, and now there was Lady Yun, who was willing to harm her own child.
Compared to these two, Chen Ji suddenly felt that his own father, who had sent him to the Taiping Clinic as an apprentice, was somewhat merciful.
This world...
Chen Ji said softly, "Princess."
"Hmm?"
"Your kindness will be rewarded."
"Really? I think so too! Let's go. We still need to wash off the dust. See you tomorrow morning!"
"See you tomorrow. We'll call some helpers from the city to help us modify the kiln."
Chen Ji watched as Bai Li climbed over the wall and disappeared into the night.
He turned to look at the gentle and delicate red apricot tree, silent for a long time.
At one point, he wanted to climb up and see what the young master and Bai Li had written on the highest red cloth strip, but he felt it was wrong to pry into their privacy, so he just smiled and let it go.
(End of Chapter)