Chapter 71 Farewell
It was a sunny morning, and Chen Ji asked Liang Maoer and She Dengke to carry him and the bamboo chair to the main hall of the clinic.

Old man Yao was diagnosing patients, She Dengke and Liang Maoer were prescribing medicine for the patients, and Chen Ji was watching from the side, as if he wanted to keep the sunlight shining in from the door and the bustling atmosphere of Anxi Street in his mind.

If he went to Jingchao, it would be difficult for him to come back before his sword seed path and tiger path entered the realm of seeking the Tao.

Liu Quxing returned to the clinic happily, carrying pork, mutton, fish, a basket of vegetables and a jar of osmanthus rice wine from Xue's Old Tavern.

Old man Yao was sitting behind the counter taking someone's pulse. When he saw him coming in with a bunch of stuff, he wondered, "Did you sell your brain? How come you're so rich all of a sudden?"

Liu Quxing: "...Master, what are you talking about? Chen Ji gave me money to buy this. He said he wanted to make a meal for everyone at noon."

Old man Yao was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Ji in confusion.

Liu Quxing brought the things to Chen Ji and read out the prices one by one: "Today, pork is 41 wen per catty, mutton is 34 wen per catty, and fish is 52 wen per catty..."

Then he took out a bunch of copper coins from his sleeve and said, "This is the change for you. I didn't put a penny into my pocket."

Chen Ji took the copper coin with a smile: "Thank you for buying things for me, Senior Brother."

Liu Quxing said cheerfully: "I'll take all these to the kitchen and help pick the vegetables first."

She Dengke asked curiously: "Chen Ji, why do you suddenly want to treat everyone to a meal? Is there something good?"

"Nothing good," Chen Ji replied with a smile, "During the past few days when I was injured, everyone has taken care of me. You and Brother Liu Quxing helped me change the bandages, Brother Liang Maoer carried me everywhere, and Master diagnosed and prescribed medicine for me. It is only right that I treat everyone to a meal."

In fact, if conditions permit, Chen Ji even wants to buy a Li Ji cherry corrugated hat for Liu Quxing, a set of silk clothes for She Dengke, a box of Zheng Xinzhai snacks for Liang Maoer, and a new bamboo chair for Old Man Yao.

But he has to leave tomorrow evening for the distant Jingchao, so it is too late.

Chen Ji suddenly said, "Oh, right, some of the tiles in our clinic have been cracked by the grass. It should be that bird droppings fell on the roof, and the grass seeds in the droppings were not digested completely, so willow seedlings grew. Willow seedlings are very harmful to the roof. If they are not pulled out in time, it may leak in the future."

"It's time to re-paper the windows of our clinic, otherwise it will leak in the winter. It's time to fluff up the quilts of the two brothers, otherwise they won't keep them warm."

Old Man Yao said suspiciously, "Why are you suddenly blabbering as if you are explaining your last wishes? Don't worry, your minor injury won't kill you."

Chen Ji smiled and said nothing more. He was afraid that if he said more, he would be discovered.

At this time, Old Man Yao picked up a prescription and asked, "Who among you can go to Guangle Street and deliver these two prescriptions to Mr. Wang?"

She Dengke raised his hand and said, "Master, I'll go. Guangle Street is a bit far away. I have good legs and feet."

"Okay, then you go."

Chen Ji slowly stood up by holding the armrest of the bamboo chair. He rolled up his sleeves to his forearms and slowly moved to the kitchen at the back to pick vegetables with Liu Quxing.

Liu Quxing laughed cheerfully and said, "It's only natural for brothers to take care of each other. It's not worth it for you to spend so much money. By the way, where did you get all this money from? Did your family give it to you?"

"The princess gave it to me."

Liu Quxing smacked his lips and said, "The county master is so nice, she doesn't seem like a noble official."

"What should a high-ranking official look like?" asked Chen Ji.

"That's the kind of high-handed look that should be used. When they look at you, it's like they're looking at an ant," Liu Quxing said with emotion, "When my parents and I went to attend Old Master Liu's birthday banquet, many officials and dignitaries gathered that day. Some even came from the capital, Nanjing, and Shanghai. You didn't see the scene. The carriages lined up for several miles in front of the Liu family compound."

Liu Quxing continued, "My father was just a minor official in Mengjin County, and he was respected in Mengjin County. But when he arrived at the Liu family compound, no one looked at him straight in the eye. The Liu family arranged us to sit at the table of servants. It would have been fine if we were at the same table with servants, but those servants of high-ranking officials didn't even look at us straight in the eye. When you get to that place, you realize that people are really divided into different classes."

"Have you ever thought about taking the imperial examination? I see that you study medicine very hard, so there's no reason why you can't understand the classics."

Liu Quxing was amused: "The path to the imperial examination is not accessible to small families. The teachers in the schools also look at people according to their status. If you only pay tuition, you can only listen to the most superficial knowledge in the school. But if you often send rice, flour and money, he will let you go to his house for small classes and teach you real things!"

Chen Ji was silent.

Liu Quxing smiled and shook his head: "Instead of giving dozens of taels of silver to those people, I'd rather cling to my master's thigh and become a royal physician. When I meet those teachers in the school again, I will deliberately give them a few more needles when I give them acupuncture!"

Chen Ji was happy.

The reason why he felt reluctant to leave this place was perhaps because of people like Liu Quxing who were a bit worldly and yet a bit lovely.

Chen Ji looked at Liu Quxing who was picking vegetables with his head down and said, "Senior Brother Liu, you will definitely become a good imperial physician in the future and live a prosperous life."

"Thank you for your good wishes," Liu Quxing asked, "...what dishes do you plan to make for lunch?"

"How about pork stewed with vermicelli, steamed sea bass, scallion-fried lamb, braised eggplant, and a pot of white rice?"

Liu Quxing took a sip and said, "It sounds delicious!"

……

……

At this time, She Dengke ran back to the clinic and shouted, "Master, Master, please save me! A thief passing by cut my arm with a blade."

When everyone looked, they saw that She Dengke's sleeve had been cut with a sharp weapon, all the way from the wrist to the elbow, his clothes were torn and blood was flowing.

Old Man Yao tore open the hole in his clothes and saw the flesh torn apart. His face suddenly darkened: "How could a thief be so cruel? If he wants to steal something, he can just steal it. Why hurt someone like this?!"

As he was talking, a carriage slowly stopped at the door, and Manager Yuan jumped out of the carriage, walked into the clinic with two bags of snacks in his hand and a smile on his face.

Shopkeeper Yuan was dressed in a suit of bright red satin and had a golden crown on his head, exuding an air of wealth.

He placed the snacks on the counter, smiled and bowed, "Doctor Yao, I'm here to visit Chen Ji again. Is he feeling better today?"

Doctor Yao glanced at him coldly and said indifferently, "Chen Ji is in the yard, go and see him yourself."

Shopkeeper Yuan went straight to the backyard, lifted up his clothes and sat on the stool opposite Chen Ji.

Chen Ji peeled off the scallion skin and asked calmly, "Did you hurt She Dengke?"

Shopkeeper Yuan smiled and said, "I asked you to contact the person in the palace, but you didn't even leave the house yesterday, and you didn't pass on any information to me. I said I would only give you one day. Since you want to challenge my patience, I have to let you know the consequences of the challenge."

Chen Ji threw away the green onion in his hand and looked directly into the eyes of Shopkeeper Yuan: "What if I still don't help you contact them?"

Shopkeeper Yuan picked up the scallion that Chen Ji had thrown away from the ground, peeled it layer by layer until the innermost layer, and then gently broke it off: "From today on, if you don't contact me every day, one person will die in this Taiping Clinic every day. If everyone dies and you still don't contact me, you will also die."

The traces are speechless.

Now Liang Gou'er is unwilling to go against the Secret Service, and although Liang Mao'er is born with supernatural powers, he cannot guard against the spies' conspiracy.

If Manager Yuan is really determined to force him, then letting one person die every day in Taiping Medical Clinic is definitely not empty talk.

Moreover, if the other party discovers that I show signs of betrayal and inform the Secret Service, the three people responsible for monitoring the Taiping Medical Clinic will immediately kill me to silence me.

Chen Ji said in a serious tone: "I said I was seriously injured and it was inconvenient for me to move. How can I contact the person in the palace?"

Manager Yuan lowered his voice and said seriously, "Do you know how many people in my Jing Dynasty's border army have died because of Ning Dynasty's firearms? In order to obtain these drawings and formulas, how many spies in my Military Intelligence Department have died one after another? Seeing that we are only one step away, how can we delay it because of you?"

Chen Ji suddenly had an epiphany. On that rainy night, Manager Yuan visited the clinic but was caught by the golden pig.

The other party could have killed me at that time, but he didn't because it was not because he was kind, but because he was worried that my death would delay the second delivery of the goods!
Once all the goods are delivered, Shopkeeper Yuan will kill himself! Shopkeeper Yuan stared at Chen Ji and threw the scallion in his hand, which was broken into two pieces, to the ground: "I have said everything I need to say. The sooner we get this batch of goods, the sooner we can develop the firearms of the Ning Dynasty. The border troops died heroically on the border, and you and I in the Ning Dynasty should also sacrifice our lives."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment and replied, "I understand. I will contact the big shot in the palace as soon as possible and get the delivery time and location of the second batch of goods before midnight tomorrow."

Shopkeeper Yuan smiled with satisfaction. He stood up and patted Chen Ji on the shoulder: "That's right. By the way, I brought you some snacks from Zheng Xinzhai and put them on the counter. Don't forget to eat them. If you succeed in this, I will promote you to the pigeon level. Our dynasty will not treat meritorious officials unfairly."

After saying that, he swaggered out of the clinic, while Chen Ji sat alone in the yard, falling into endless silence.

Now it is no longer a question of when and where to deliver the goods. Once I leave, Manager Yuan will definitely not let go of the people around me.

Shopkeeper Yuan will not let him go, and neither will Golden Pig. The intelligence agencies of the two dynasties have been fighting for countless years, and their hearts have become hard as iron. They don't care about the lives of civilians at all.

In their eyes, human life is as cheap as weeds.

So, to go or not to go?
If we don't leave, we'll all die together.

Chen Ji stood up and cooked the dishes step by step. When the dishes were served, everyone praised them. Even She Dengke, who had just been injured, bandaged his wound and drank three bowls of white rice.

Amidst the laughter and joy, only Chen Ji remained silent.

This meal was not supposed to be eaten like this.

While eating, Chen Ji suddenly asked tentatively: "Master, She Dengke was stabbed by a thief, should we just let it go?"

Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Those thieves in the market are organized. If you take revenge on one, a group of people will come to take revenge on you. Will you still be alive by then?"

"Oh."

Old man Yao added meaningfully: "Go where you should go, do what you should do, don't let others affect you."

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly wondered if his master had guessed something.
What does the other party mean by this? Is he asking me to leave quickly?
She Dengke said cheerfully: "Chen Ji, don't worry about it. Don't hurt yourself because of me."

After finishing his meal, Chen Ji lay back on the bamboo chair. He slowly closed his eyes, returned to the ancient battlefield, and picked up the long sword named "Whale".

……

……

At night, Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes and walked into the yard.

Liang Gou'er still didn't come back, and the prince, the princess, and the little monk didn't climb over the wall to ask for passage, and they didn't even say a proper goodbye.

Under the guidance of Uncle Crow, Chen Ji climbed into the backyard of the cloth shop. He saw Wu Hongbiao found a broom and a wooden barrel from somewhere and was washing and sweeping the floor in the yard.

He asked curiously, "Why are you sweeping the floor in the middle of the night with all these injuries?"

Wu Hongbiao smiled and said, "There are some rat bones and blood in the yard. If someone comes to see the shop and gets scared, it might cause unnecessary trouble for the owner."

"You seem to be in a good mood?" Chen Ji asked.

Wu Hongbiao smiled and said, "I have good news for you. I met Si Cao today, and he didn't want to kill us. In addition, he arranged for someone else to take us away, and we can return to Jing Dynasty tomorrow evening!"

Chen Ji hummed: "Is it reliable? Are they trying to trick us out and kill us?"

Wu Hongbiao held the broom and thought for a moment: "It should be reliable. When he dragged me into the alley today, I was ready to die, but he didn't do it... If he wanted to kill us, there would be no need to go through so much trouble."

As he spoke, Chen Ji leaned against the door frame, slowly sat on the threshold and whispered, "Do you miss your hometown?"

Wu Hongbiao stood in the yard with a broom in his hand. He looked at the moon in the sky and said with longing, "I miss it. I was taken to the winter camp for hard training when I was twelve years old. I never had the chance to return to my hometown and see my parents. This time I go back, I should have the chance to go home."

"When I was a kid in the village, in autumn, everyone picked pears from the trees. The good ones were sold to the city, and the unpalatable ones were kept to be made into frozen pears. The kind of pears we made into frozen pears were sour and astringent. My grandmother called them 'choking dogs', but they tasted good once they were frozen outside... Isn't that weird?"

"In winter, the adults would carry hard bows and take four or five hunting dogs to the mountains to hunt bears. We would wait at home. When they brought the bears back, grandma would peel the fat off the bears and fry them for us. Many people said it was fishy, ​​but I thought it was delicious."

"When we return to Jingchao, I will definitely take you back to my hometown. I will treat you to frozen pears and oil spindles, and we can also go up the mountain to kill blind bears."

Chen Ji listened silently. Perhaps Wu Hongbiao had suffered too much during this period, so he became more sentimental. Or maybe he had been missing his homeland in the north since he came to Ning Dynasty, and now he was finally going back, so he talked a lot tonight.

He had also heard bits and pieces from the merchants recently and knew that Jing Dynasty seemed to have ten states, and Wu Hongbiao's hometown should be the northeastern state, "Shangjing Road".

Chen Ji sat on the doorstep, looking at the moon with Wu Hongbiao: "Brother Biaozi, you were seriously injured at the time, why did you come to tell me the news? What if I betrayed you?"

Wu Hongbiao smiled and said, "Actually, I was a little scared on the way here. What if you really betrayed me? But...if I don't come, I'm afraid I will regret it."

"Ah."

After they finished speaking, one of them was sitting and the other was standing, and they both fell silent.

Although their circumstances were different, both of them wanted to leave this dangerous place and no longer have to live in fear every day. But when they really had to leave, they felt complicated.

Chen Ji suddenly said, "Brother Biaozi, please go back. I won't leave."

"Huh?" Wu Hongbiao was stunned for a moment: "You're not leaving? You'll die if you stay in Luocheng!"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Have you forgotten that my father is the governor of Luocheng? I have plenty of ways."

"Then I'll stay too!" Wu Hongbiao said firmly.

Chen Ji and Wu Hongbiao looked at each other: "What about your sister?"

Wu Hongbiao was stunned.

Just now, Chen Ji really wanted to keep Wu Hongbiao and help him kill the shopkeeper Yuan, but he couldn't do that.

He smiled and said, "Don't worry, go back. I will move back to Chen's house in Luocheng tomorrow. I don't believe that Manager Yuan dares to sneak into the Tongzhi's house to kill me. Do you think he dares?"

Wu Hongbiao scratched his head and said, "Yes, if he really dares to go to the Tongzhi's house to assassinate him, not only Luocheng can't tolerate him, but the entire Ning Dynasty can't tolerate him... Then you really won't leave?"

"Well, I'll stay and continue to work for Jingchao!"

"……it is good."

Chen Ji stood up and patted the dust off his butt: "I may not be able to send you off tomorrow. Live a good life in Jing Dynasty this time, and don't go back to Ning Dynasty again."

Wu Hongbiao laughed: "I don't want to come back and live in fear again. I'll wait for you in Jingchao."

As he said this, he opened his arms.

Chen Ji hesitated for a moment, but finally opened his arms, hugged Wu Hongbiao, and climbed over the wall to leave the cloth shop.

When he turned out, Wuyun was squatting on the wall of the next courtyard. He asked curiously, "Are we really not leaving?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "I won't leave. I'm afraid I'll regret it. Go beat up Bai Prajna. I have something to say to its owner."

(End of this chapter)