Chapter 141 Can Be Trusted

"Stop."

Outside the town in the evening.

Chen Ji squatted down with the white carp on his back, looking out silently through the gaps in the bushes. The prince and Zhang Xia squatted behind him, holding their breath, and were so nervous that they didn't dare to blink.

A moment later, four infantrymen, hands on their swords, patrolled by several dozen steps away.

The town was like a camp, with wooden fences more than a person high surrounding it, and infantrymen patrolling with swords and crossbows, creating a solemn and murderous atmosphere.

Keeping private soldiers and carrying bows and crossbows are all serious crimes punishable by death.

As the infantrymen walked away, the prince lowered his voice and asked, "Should we sneak in now?"

"do not move."

Chen Ji did not stand up immediately, but waited for three more teams of infantrymen before whispering, "We will patrol twice in the time of one stick of incense. We must enter the town and find a hiding place during the interval between patrols."

The prince whispered, "But this town is full of people, where should we hide?"

"We hide in the iron smelting workshop," Chen Ji stared at the town without turning his head, "The furnace temperature in the workshop is extremely high. Even if the fire is turned off, the temperature will not drop until midnight. It is unbearably hot and smelly in there. No one will live in it."

He looked back and saw that the Crown Prince and Zhang Xia's lips had turned purple from the cold and they were shaking uncontrollably.

If you don't change clothes in time, you may be in danger of hypothermia. Once you get hypothermia, you will probably die.

At this time, Bai Li wrapped her arms tightly around Chen Ji's neck in her sleep. Her instinct to ward off the cold made her subconsciously move closer to warmth. She rested her head on Chen Ji's shoulder like a little child.

Upon seeing this, the prince wanted to speak out a warning, but in the end, he said nothing.

Chen Ji said softly: "Just bear with it for a while and wait until the sun sets."

The prince hugged himself with his arms, trembling as he complained, "It's all my father's fault. He had to stop to eat fish during a literary gathering. Now, instead of eating the fish, he was chased by someone all the way."

Chen Ji explained casually: "The killer will not let you go just because you don't eat fish. On the contrary, it is because of the purchase of fish that we are gathered by the river and given the opportunity to jump into the river. Otherwise, we would be surrounded on the ox cart and would not be able to escape."

He carefully recalled what happened today: the officer on the black-sailed boat was pretending to be a fisherman in the middle of the river and had no intention of taking action there. The assassins who were ambushing in the forest had just dealt with the bandits in Longwangtun and were not ready to ambush and kill. It was because of Prince Jing's sudden decision that the assassins were unable to attack from both sides and could only rush out all at once.

The prince uttered an "oh" and then whispered, "Chen Ji, did Imperial Physician Yao teach you all these skills? Is it too late for me to kowtow to him and take him as my master?"

Chen Ji turned around and gave the prince a strange look: "Why do you want to learn this when you can be a good prince?"

The prince thought for a moment and said, "If I can survive this time, I will no longer be the prince, and I will become Yao Taiyi's disciple. When I have finished my studies, we will go out into the world together and make a name for ourselves..."

At this time, the afterglow of the sun finally fell behind the hill, and Chen Ji said hurriedly: "Let's go!"

He was carrying a white carp on his back, as light as a swallow. He took advantage of the patrol period and ran to the outside of the wooden fence, standing with his legs bent to form a ladder: "Step on my legs and climb up!"

The prince skillfully climbed over the fence and landed steadily on the ground.

When she came to Zhang Xia, she asked hurriedly: "How are you going to get over there carrying the white carp? I'll be the ladder, and you carry the white carp and step on me to get over there!"

Chen Ji urged: "Don't worry about me, hurry up, the patrolling infantry is coming again!"

Zhang Xia gritted her teeth and stepped on Chen Ji's thigh to roll in. After she landed, she looked back and saw Chen Ji squatting down and leaping with all his might.
The next moment, Chen Ji actually jumped over the fence with the white carp on his back.

Zhang Xia was surprised: "How come you are so strong? Are you an official?!"

Chen Ji explained casually as he walked: "White carp is relatively light."

Zhang Xia frowned: "Can you please answer my question properly for once!"

"Stop talking nonsense, go left!" Chen Ji stuck to the edge of the town and entered the back door of an iron smelting workshop before the next team of patrolling infantry arrived. He carefully closed the door as if to isolate the danger from outside. There was an independent world inside.

Inside the workshop, the coal ash in the blast furnace had not yet completely extinguished, and the heat emitted was constantly surging.

The prince suddenly collapsed on the ground, feeling overwhelmed by happiness: "It's so warm, I want to lie here and sleep until I die."

Chen Ji gently placed the white carp on the ground, raised his head and said to the prince, "Stay away from the blast furnace, don't rush to get warm, or you will die."

The prince hurriedly rolled and crawled away from the blast furnace.

When the human body is in a state of hypothermia, rewarming the body too quickly can lead to low blood pressure and shock, which is more dangerous than hypothermia.

This time, Chen Ji directly touched Bai Li's forehead, then turned to Zhang Xia and said, "Please find out if there are any clothes to change in this workshop. The craftsmen in the workshop have to deal with coal, fire, and molten iron every day. There must be special clothes prepared here. Help the princess change later."

Zhang Xia rushed to the front of the workshop and searched, and indeed found a few sets of clothes that the craftsmen wore when they were working. The clothes were very loose, and the girls wore them like opera robes, with sleeves covering much of their palms.

"You guys change your clothes first. The prince and I will wait somewhere else. Call us when you are done." Chen Ji stood up to avoid him, but found that Bai Li had grabbed his sleeve tightly. Chen Ji was silent for a moment, gently pried Bai Li's hand away, turned to Zhang Xia and said, "Thank you for your help."

He walked deeper into the workshop and searched every corner while the prince was changing his clothes.

Chen Ji saw some molds neatly stacked in the southwest corner. He lifted them up and was shocked: "Is this... a mold for casting copper coins? Look, the copper liquid is poured in from this hole, and after the mold is opened, it becomes a copper coin. After trimming the rough edges, it can be circulated in the market. Not only are they making ironware here, they are also privately casting copper coins."

No wonder there are organized infantry, cavalry and hunting dogs here in the river. Those people were originally the garrison troops of this small town. If they had not been led away by the dark clouds, Chen Ji and his men would not have been able to get in.

The prince took off his wet robe and changed into dry craftsman's clothes. While buttoning his clothes, he said nonchalantly: "My father said that privately minting copper coins is nothing new. The Xu family, the Liu family, the Hu family, the Chen family, the Yang family, and the Qi family are all doing it. The huge deficits in the court in recent years are all due to them."

"The court doesn't care?" Chen Ji wondered.

The prince sneered, "The imperial court? They are the real imperial court. Once they are caught, they will just push a few scapegoats. Look, my father wants to buy some cotton gloves for the border troops, but he has to see what your Chen family thinks."

At this time, Zhang Xia shouted in a low voice: "We are ready."

Chen Ji and the prince returned to the blast furnace. Zhang Xia, wearing loose clothes, looked up at Chen Ji and asked, "What are your plans next?"

Chen Ji folded a piece of clothing and put it under Bai Li’s head as a pillow, then watched Bai Li fall into silence.

In this silence, Bai Li closed his eyes and whispered: "Dad, someone wants to kill us..."

The prince hurried over and asked, "Bai Li, are you awake?"

However, Bai Li did not open his eyes, but just said in a daze: "Brother, where are you..."

The prince quickly said, "I'm here! Open your eyes and look!"

Baili still didn't open his eyes.

The prince lowered his head and secretly wiped the corners of his eyes. When he looked up again, he said to Chen Ji, "He's not awake yet. He's talking nonsense."

Just as he finished speaking, Bai Li called out softly, "Chen Ji..."

The prince glanced at Chen Ji and said, "Look at this kid, he's really starting to talk nonsense."

After a long time, Chen Ji said, "I have to go out first."

The prince was originally sitting on the ground, but he stood up in shock after hearing this: "This town is full of their people, how dare you go out at this time?"

Zhang Xia also sat up straight: "Too dangerous!"

Chen Ji looked at them and said, "The princess' illness cannot be delayed, she needs to take medicine. There should be a pharmacy in the town. I will go and steal some medicine for the princess and find some food for you."

The prince opened his mouth but said nothing. Although he was very worried about Chen Ji, he had to save his sister: "I will go with you..."

"No," Chen Ji shook his head, "It's not dangerous. The soldiers in these small towns don't wear uniforms and don't need to exchange secret codes when they meet. No one will notice me even if I sneak in. Besides, it's more convenient for me to act alone. You stay here to warm yourself, dry your clothes, and take care of the princess. I'll be back soon."

As he spoke, he walked to the door in his soldier's clothes and stopped.

Chen Ji lowered his head and thought for a moment, then turned back to the prince and said, "If I am not back at midnight, you must run away carrying the princess. Remember to watch out for the patrol breaks and run southwest as far as you can. If the town suddenly becomes chaotic later, do not hesitate and run away immediately. Before entering Luhun Villa, be sure to carefully observe whether there is anyone waiting outside. Only go in if you are sure that no one is waiting there for you."

"Wait!" the prince stopped him.

But Chen Ji ignored him, pushed the door open and walked into the night: "Don't follow me, you will drag me down... I will be fine."

The prince froze in place.

Zhang Xia looked at the closed wooden door, then looked at the prince: "So, this is why you and the princess trust him, right?"

The prince hummed.

Zhang Xia sighed and said, "No wonder my father kept talking about him in front of me."

The prince asked, "What did Lord Zhang say? Did he exaggerate? I think Chen Ji deserves it."

Zhang Xia said with emotion: "My father doesn't like to use fancy words. He just says that the old things are reliable and can be trusted."

The two fell into silence. The prince went to the front yard of the workshop to fetch some water, and used his fingers to moisten Baili's lips.

Zhang Xia suddenly asked, "Why did the Liu family want to ambush and kill you and the princess? If they wanted to seize the throne, they should have waited until Concubine Jing gave birth to a baby boy. Now she only has Zhu Lingyun, why are they in such a hurry?"

The prince said in a serious tone: "Then only the Liu family knows."

(End of this chapter)