Jinzhu

In the noodle shop, a huge pot sat atop the enormous stove, billowing white steam.

The noodle master held a lump of dough over one shoulder and shaved away at it with a blade in his other hand, like a swordsman of the jianghu living in obscurity among ordinary folk.

Strip after strip of noodles flew into the pot, each one just the right thickness.

The noodles were served in a bowl, then topped with a ladleful of tender, fatty beef and broth. Simple, but delicious.

Stove fires and cooking smoke were the simplest signs of everyday life in this world.

The heir waved to a shop assistant. "A bowl of knife-shaved noodles, please."

The assistant recognized him and smiled at once. "Coming right up, Your Highness! Just a moment!"

Chen Ji was surprised. "Your Highness, the assistant here knows you?"

The heir sat down at a wooden table and casually wiped its surface with his finely tailored sleeve. "I used to come here often before I went to Eastern Grove Academy. While I was at the academy, I kept craving a taste."

"Why would you, a prince's heir, come to a little noodle shop like this?"

The heir pulled a pair of chopsticks from a wooden holder on the table. "At the princely residence, it takes a whole incense stick's time to carry food from the kitchen to my room. By the time it reaches me, it's cold. When I was little, I said I wanted to eat in the kitchen, but they said I had no manners... Not like here. The noodles are still piping hot when they're set in front of you. Add some vinegar, break off a couple of garlic cloves, and it's a satisfying meal."

"The assistant doesn't seem to care that you're the heir, either."

"Haha." The heir looked thoroughly pleased with himself. "Father taught us to treat people kindly and not lord our status over them. Haven't you seen how much the neighbors like me? That's the reputation my father has built up over more than a decade in Luo City!"

Chen Ji asked no further. An heir and a Prince Jing like these were unusual enough in a world where people were divided into high and low ranks.

The assistant brought the heir's knife-shaved noodles to the table. The heir rubbed his chopsticks together, then looked at Bai Li as he poured vinegar into his bowl. "Bai Li, give him ten taels of silver. That half-line of poetry is mine now... Bai Li?"

Bai Li came back to her senses. "What is it?"

"What were you thinking about?" the heir asked curiously. "You were completely lost in thought."

"Oh." Bai Li replied, "I was thinking about that half-line Chen Ji just recited... I can't say what's good about it, but it paints a beautiful picture."

The heir laughed. "Then we're alike. I think it's good too, but I can't say what's good about it. Pay him."

Commandery Princess Bai Li glanced at Chen Ji. This time, she showed no reluctance. She promptly opened her purse and took out a gold melon seed. "Here. Pure gold and full weight. You can exchange it for ten taels of silver at a money shop."

Chen Ji found it amusing. Commandery Princess Bai Li's purse held either gold melon seeds or silver peanuts, all things one could eat.

The heir looked at him and asked curiously, "Do you have any other poems? Bring them all out and sell them to me, so I can keep them in reserve."

"What do you need so many for?" Chen Ji asked, puzzled.

The heir smiled. "You don't understand. One line at a time isn't satisfying enough. Ten at once, a hundred at once-that would give those scholars a real shock."

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "Fine lines are born of heaven and chanced upon by a gifted hand. Writing poetry isn't so easy. You'll have to wait."

If he had to recite a whole poem, all he knew were "Goose, Goose, Goose," "Thoughts on a Quiet Night," "Compassion for the Farmers"... But half-lines were another matter.

Who, after nine years of compulsory education, didn't know a few dozen lines?

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

The heir grew anxious. "Surely you've written others before. Bring them out and sell them to me!"

At his side, Commandery Princess Bai Li actually spoke up for Chen Ji. "Brother, writing poetry isn't that easy. Wait until he comes up with another good line. A poem forced out of him wouldn't be interesting anyway."

"All right," the heir said, still wanting more. He murmured, "A man walks between heaven and earth, suddenly like a traveler far from home," and felt that the more he pondered it, the more meaningful it became.

Thinking that the line was now his, he immediately took a silver peanut from Bai Li's purse, slapped it on the table, and shouted, "Owner, I'm happy today! Every customer who comes to your shop for noodles eats on me!"

Chen Ji raised an eyebrow. How was it that he'd never seen the heir pay for anything himself? He always had Commandery Princess Bai Li foot the bill.

No wonder the heir took Commandery Princess Bai Li everywhere he went. Perhaps Prince Jing was worried he'd go bad and refused to give him spending money, so he relied on his little sister's private stash instead?

Possible. Very possible!

Seen that way, the heir was a fake big spender, while Commandery Princess Bai Li was the real little rich lady!

She Dengke reminded him, "Chen Ji, we should head back. It's nearly closing time, and Master can't manage everything by himself."

"All right." Chen Ji rose and took his leave of the heir and the others. "Your Highness, Commandery Princess, we'll head back first. We'll have a ladder ready for you tonight."

The heir said, "...That's the spirit! True children of the jianghu!"

After Chen Ji and the others left, Bai Li looked at the heir. "Brother, the more I see of him, the less he seems like a gambler."

"He really doesn't." The heir looked at the little monk beside him, who was silently reciting scriptures. "Little monk, Father said you have the Mind-Reading Divine Power. What do you say?"

The little monk smiled. "Benefactor Chen Ji has a gambler's nature, and a strong one at that. But what he gambles with isn't money. It's his life. A person like him was born to walk the edge of a blade."

Bai Li muttered, "You're making it sound more and more mysterious. Little monk, you should get rid of that habit of making things needlessly profound!"

The little monk was helpless. "I'm not trying to sound mysterious. I just don't know how to describe it 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 garlic clove, and said indistinctly, "Nothing. I just came along to have a look."

Deep in the quiet night, the communal sleeping platform, normally spacious, seemed a little crowded with Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er there.

Chen Ji rose quietly, picked up a bamboo tube and a bamboo sliver, and went into the courtyard. There, he scraped the layers of white frost from the walls.

The frost accumulated over the years on the walls of this one small courtyard house was enough to fill half a bamboo tube. In the vast expanse of Luo City, who knew how much gunpowder could be made...

Tonight was the night Consort Yun would trade goods with the Jing Dynasty's Military Intelligence Directorate. That morning, when Chen Ji went to the East Market to buy clothes, he had passed the information to the officer in the Hundred Deer Pavilion's rear courtyard.

As for whether their transaction succeeded, that was none of Chen Ji's concern.

Now that Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit were behind bars and the Secret Intelligence Directorate's new person in charge had yet to arrive, Chen Ji had a rare stretch of leisure.

He could practice with his saber and make explosives, as carefree as an ordinary commoner.

Chen Ji was scraping saltpeter from the wall when a faint knock suddenly sounded at the gate.

He frowned. Was it one of the jianghu people waiting for the heir to go out and have fun? But the heir hadn't arrived yet.

Chen Ji hid the bamboo tube behind the water jar and quietly approached the gate. "Who is it?"

Someone outside answered pleasantly, "Jinzhu."

Chen Ji's heart tightened.

Jinzhu, one of the Secret Intelligence Directorate's Twelve Zodiac Animals?

How had he arrived so quickly?

He had originally thought it would take the new person in charge in Luo City at least a month to arrive, giving him a month to prepare.

But Jinzhu had come quickly. It was beyond not only his expectations, but probably those of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Liu Family as well!

Chen Ji considered for a moment, took a deep breath, and slowly opened the medical hall's gate, greeting him with a smile. "May I ask if you are Lord Jinzhu of the Secret Intelligence Directorate?"

A plump young man stood outside, wearing straw sandals, a bamboo hat, and coarse clothes. He looked like a tenant farmer who had just come to the city from a country estate.

The man wore a warm smile, with none of Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit's sinister killing intent. "That's me, Jinzhu of the Secret Intelligence Directorate. My real name is Song Qian. The first thing I did upon arriving in Luo City was come looking for you."

Chen Ji stepped aside without betraying his thoughts. "Why have you come, Lord Jinzhu? Where are Lord Cloud Goat and Lady Bright Rabbit?"

Logically, an apprentice at a medical hall shouldn't have known those two had been arrested by the Bureau of Punishments, so he had to play his part to the end.

Jinzhu entered the medical hall. As he surveyed the main hall, he replied with a smile, "Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit caused a great deal of trouble. They're behind bars now... Did no one come to tell you?"

"No." Chen Ji shook his head. "Lord Cloud Goat and Lady Bright Rabbit treated me well. Why were they imprisoned?"

Jinzhu shook his head. "You've misunderstood Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit. I'm afraid you still don't know they stole the credit for your work. Don't worry. Now that I'm here, no one will be able to steal your credit."

Chen Ji probed, "Did you come from the capital, Lord Jinzhu?"

"No. When Cloud Goat and Bright Rabbit arrived in Luo City, I had already reached the Trouble-Resolving Guard's Meng Ford Grand Camp outside the city. I must say, the big Yellow River carp around Meng Ford really are delicious, especially with the local braised sauce. It's wonderfully fragrant."

Chen Ji was astonished. "You've been in Luo City all along, Lord Jinzhu?!"