Chapter 162: The White Boat

The dark stone steps were silent and windless, and no one knew where they led to.

Chen Ji looked at the deep stone steps and wondered, if he just passed through this underground corridor, he would be able to find out who Prince Jing was conspiring with and what they were conspiring about?
Perhaps at that moment, many of the puzzles that have puzzled him for a long time will be solved.

Prince Jing walked down the stone steps carrying an oil-residue lamp. Looking back, he saw Chen Ji standing at the entrance of the cave without moving. He wondered, "Let's go."

Chen Ji suddenly hesitated: "Your Majesty, where does this secret passage lead to? If I see someone or something I shouldn't see, will I be silenced?"

Prince Jing didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What have you been thinking about all day? Put your heart back in your stomach, no one wants to kill you. Also, leave the knife in your hand to your master for safekeeping. Such a long knife doesn't even have a scabbard. It will be too conspicuous to carry it outside."

Chen Ji thought for a moment, leaned the Whale Knife against the wall, and asked Old Man Yao casually: "Master, did you discuss with Prince Jing in advance when you came to Luocheng three years ago?"

Old man Yao glanced at him and said, "Stop trying to get me to say something. Get out of the way."

Chen Ji: “Oh.”

He lowered his head slightly and followed Prince Jing into the extremely narrow corridor.

In the dim light, only the faint flame in Prince Jing's hand was swaying, stretching Prince Jing's shadow infinitely in the corridor.

Chen Ji became more alert with every step he took.

I am about to meet that mysterious big shot. What kind of person is he? Can he trust me like my master and Prince Jing?
He had no idea.

After walking for about dozens of breaths, Prince Jing climbed the stairs holding the oil residue lamp. Chen Ji took a deep breath and then followed him.

The next moment, he was a little stunned.

There are no big shots or followers here, only empty shops.

Chen Ji looked at the furnishings around him and felt familiar: "Your Majesty, is this Wang Ji Butcher Shop on Anxi Street?"

Prince Jing replied, "That's right. This Wang's Meat Shop is originally owned by the palace, and its business has always been good."

While Prince Jing was not paying attention, Chen Ji touched the candlestick on the table: the white wax had not yet completely solidified, which meant that it had just been extinguished not long ago, and the person who had a secret meeting with Prince Jing had just left.

But since the people who had the secret meeting had already left, what was Prince Jing doing here?
Chen Ji asked, "My Lord, where is the person you want to see?"

Prince Jing was amused: "When did I say I was coming to see someone? I never said that."

Chen Ji looked up and saw that Prince Jing had blown out the oil lamp, opened the door of the butcher shop and walked to the street. He was standing in the moonlight and turned back to wave at him: "What are you standing there for? It's almost too late."

He walked towards the door, but before he could go out, he pulled Prince Jing back into the shadow of the butcher shop.

Prince Jing was puzzled: "What's wrong?"

In the dark night, a horse-drawn carriage hurriedly drove eastward, crushing the snow on the road.

The carriage was plain and simple. Prince Jing and Chen Ji saw that Xibing had slightly opened the curtain and was quietly looking out, urging the driver to go faster.

The carriage passed by, and Prince Jing stood in the wind created by the carriage and asked with a smile: "How many people do you think are in this carriage?"

Chen Ji recalled: The carriage was not big, and the horses had a hard time pulling it. I guess there were at least two people in the carriage, or even three.

Who is the other person in the car? Yun Fei.

At this moment, Prince Jing was "seriously ill", but Concubine Yun quietly left the palace under the cover of night. This matter can be said to be a big deal or a small matter.

Chen Ji observed Prince Jing's expression and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, I can't tell how many people are in the car."

Prince Jing was amused: "Playing tricks."

He watched the back of the carriage rushing into the night and chuckled softly, "General, don't dismount. Let's go. We have business to attend to."

……

……

Luocheng, Tongji Street, where wealthy businessmen gather, is also the place where Chen Ji assassinated Manager Yuan.

There are 48 courtyards along the entire long street. The first 12 courtyards cover a large area. Each of them was built by a garden artist from the Jiangnan water town. They have pavilions, terraces and towers, and are nicknamed "Tian Kui" by the people. The last 36 courtyards are much smaller and are nicknamed "Di Kui" by the people.

However, no matter whether it is Tiankui or Dikui, the rise and fall, honor and disgrace of the owner's family changes like flowing water, only the pavilions and towers remain unchanged.

At this time, carriages and horses were parked in rows on the bluestone road of Tongji Street. The drivers and servants put their hands in their sleeves and gathered in groups of three or four under the gray tile wall to brag and talk about women.

Today is the wedding day of the eldest son of Mr. Lin Tiankui. The streets are decorated with lights and lanterns, and on the bluestone pavement, a red wedding character is pasted with paste every five steps.

There were many guests in Mr. Lin's courtyard, and there were dozens of tables for the buffet alone.

Prince Jing stood in front of the Lin Mansion, looked up to confirm the plaque, and said to Chen Ji with a smile: "This is it."

After saying that, he raised his leg and was about to walk inside.

Chen Ji grabbed him and whispered, "Your Majesty, are you going to walk in so brazenly? There are so many people in the Lin Mansion, what if someone recognizes you?"

Prince Jing said angrily, "What are you afraid of? You are a young man, how can you be more decadent than me? This Mr. Lin is in the business of brothels and gambling houses, and he has a group of young men under his command. Officials and nobles will never lower their status to attend his wedding banquet. Since there are no officials and nobles, how could anyone recognize me?"

Chen Ji hurriedly said, "That won't work either. If something unexpected happens in this place full of people, how can I explain it to Bai Li and the prince?"

Prince Jing walked towards the front door of the Lin Mansion and said, "Boy, I hired you to be my bodyguard, not to keep an eye on me. I have something important to do today, so I have to go in."

Chen Ji could only bite the bullet and hurried to catch up. When they arrived at the door, the butler who was welcoming guests stood in front of the high threshold and bowed to the two of them with a smile: "I am a stranger to you two guests. Excuse me, do you have an invitation from my master?"

Prince Jing said casually, "We are two merchants passing by. We saw that there was a lively party going on here, so we came to congratulate and get some drinks."

The butler was stunned. He had never seen anyone who ate for free so righteously.

He looked at the empty hands of Prince Jing and Chen Ji, and responded skillfully without thinking: "You two, today is a big day for my Lin family, and I only invited some relatives and friends to the banquet..."

Prince Jing interrupted with a smile, "Please forgive me, Master. We came here in a hurry and didn't have time to prepare a small gift. But today is a big day for the Lin family, so we would like to offer thirty taels of silver to express our congratulations."

After that, Prince Jing looked at Chen Ji and said, "Give it to the butler."

Chen Ji: "?"

He was originally watching the fun from the sidelines, but as he watched, he realized that he had been tricked.

Seeing that Chen Ji was hesitant to move, Prince Jing urged him, "Thirty taels."

Chen Ji was shocked and said, "Thirty taels, I'll give it to you?"

Prince Jing said in a gentle voice: "You brought it with you, don't you? Take it out quickly, don't let this steward wait anxiously."

Chen Ji expressionlessly took out three small silver ingots from his sleeve and handed them to the butler. The butler smiled and put the silver ingots into his sleeve: "Please come in, my two distinguished guests. A servant will lead the way for you."

After entering the door, a servant led the two people into the courtyard.

Chen Ji said in a serious tone: "You do the work and I pay for it, isn't this inappropriate?"

Prince Jing laughed cheerfully and said, "Bai Li has spent so much money on you, what's wrong with me asking you to spend thirty taels of silver? Do you want me to give you a detailed account?"

Chen Ji suffered a loss.

He was silent for a long time before he asked in a low voice: "You said thirty taels of silver without asking me. What if I don't have that much? Please discuss it with me next time."

Prince Jing put his hands behind his back and said slowly, "No need. Your master told you to carry thirty taels of silver with you for emergencies."

"Good good..."

The servant led the two men and arranged a seat at the edge of the stage in front of the hall.

There were leftovers on the table, but Prince Jing didn't mind. He picked up some food for himself while stretching his neck to look at the stage.

Chen Ji followed his gaze towards the stage and asked, "Is the person you are going to meet secretly later on the stage?"

Prince Jing gave him a strange look: "Secret meeting? What secret meeting?"

Chen Ji was puzzled: "Didn't you say you had something important to do?"

Prince Jing said patiently, "Today, Mr. Lin is holding a party and has specially invited the Northern Variety Show's Master Meng to sing The Story of the White Boat. You know, Master Meng was a famous actor in the capital back then. It's not easy to hear him sing a piece of the play. I'm here just to listen to the play."

Chen Ji: “Ah?”

So the important thing you mentioned before was to listen to opera?

At this moment, the Liu family was planning, Concubine Yun was planning, Concubine Jing was planning, and the Imperial Household Department was planning. Everyone was trying hard to win something from the changing situation.

But you, who are at the center of the vortex, sneak into other people's parties and listen to the show as if nothing happened?
The Liu family is planning a rebellion, and the relatives in the palace are going their separate ways. What's happening outside the play is even more absurd than what's happening inside. If you don't try to turn the tide now, what's the point of listening to this play?

Just when Chen Ji was about to say something, Prince Jing suddenly said, "Don't say anything, this scene is about to begin."

The young man suddenly turned his head and looked towards the dim lights on the stage. On the red stage, a drum sounded and an actor with a heavily painted face ran onto the stage: "The summer night is long, the summer night is long, flying through the important borders, running through the wilderness, wasting my youth in the capital in the world of mortals..."

In the play, the young man is ordered to go to the battlefield.

He beheaded treacherous officials, killed bandits, and pacified the northern border, and in a blink of an eye, his hair turned white. But before he could return to Beijing to be appointed as prime minister, he was suspected by the emperor and thrown into prison.

It is said that peace is originally determined by generals, and generals are not allowed to see peace.

Chen Ji turned his head to look at Prince Jing, but saw that this prince with gray hair was sitting upright, but his eyes were no longer in the play and his mind was nowhere to be found.

It seemed as if it was difficult to distinguish the sad and happy things on stage and the ridiculous things happening off stage.

I don’t know how long it took, but the show was over.

Prince Jing looked at Chen Ji and smiled, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Chen Ji was heartbroken and said, "You risked your life to go out tonight just to listen to this play?"

Prince Jing jokingly said, "Can't we just listen to the opera? Who says that we have to do something important every day to save the country and the people? That would be so tiring."

Chen Ji was speechless.

Prince Jing laughed, "In the early years when the Northern Variety Show was still flourishing, the Queen Mother summoned Master Meng to the palace to perform, and he performed "The Story of the White Boat" at that time. At that time, I was crowned king at the age of 21, and Master Meng was famous. Now that Southern Kunqu Opera has replaced Northern Variety Show, Master Meng has fallen to the point of performing in the homes of merchants who need to come to trade in sex."

Prince Jing looked at the empty stage and said with a smile, "They are all famous actors from the old times who are about to retire. This play is one less to be heard."

Chen Ji asked, "Your Majesty, now that the show is over, where are we going now?"

Prince Jing stood up and walked out: "Go home."

(End of this chapter)