Chapter 89: Ethics
"make a deal."

The two words are powerful.

Outside Taiping Medical Clinic, there was a constant flow of traffic and people.

Inside the Taiping Clinic, a skinny, distressed apprentice stood behind the counter and agreed on a deal with the powerful vassal king of the Daning Dynasty.

However, before Chen Ji could continue to say anything, Bai Li became anxious: "Chen Ji, do you know how hard it is to be exiled to Lingnan? You will have to wear shackles and chains and walk to Lingnan. Less than 30% of prisoners can make it to Lingnan alive."

Bai Li continued hurriedly, "It's okay for us to be grounded for half a year. Don't do anything stupid for us."

The prince also quickly advised: "That's right, in half a year he will be a brave man again!"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Prince Jing stroked the black chess piece in his hand, looked at him calmly and said, "Since you are young and ignorant, I can give you a chance to repent."

Chen Ji said seriously and honestly: "I am not doing this just for the prince and the princess. I also want to find a way to make money for myself."

Prince Jing smiled and said, "Born in the Chen family, do you need to find a way to make money? Your Chen family has been nobles for generations, so why do you need your own children to make money? As long as you don't disobey your father, you will have enough food and clothing."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the Chen family is too high for me to marry into."

Prince Jing suddenly asked, "Are you short of money?"

Does Chen Ji lack money? Of course he does.

The tiger's way of spending money is like running water. If he wants to light hundreds of fires all over his body, he might need tens of thousands of taels of silver.

This number made Chen Ji feel desperate, until the word "cement" appeared in Chen Ji's mind.

At this time, Prince Jing saw that he did not answer, so he smiled and said: "Well, since you insist on doing this, I need to make three rules with you."

"Your Majesty, please speak."

"Until the transaction is completed, you are not allowed to set foot in Red Lane or White Lane."

"it is good."

"No drinking."

"it is good."

“Don’t provoke trouble.”

"it is good."

Chen Ji was inside the counter of the clinic, and Prince Jing was outside the counter. The two of them stared at each other across a chessboard, and the young apprentice did not avoid looking at them.

Prince Jing stared at Chen Ji and said, "There is no joking in the army, and no trivial matter in military strategy. Remember your promise. If you fail to fulfill it, I will really send you to exile in Lingnan. Young man, remember not to be clever."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I know what I am doing."

At this time, a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard, wearing brown cloth, walked into the clinic and said softly, "Your Highness, the three masters of the Liu family, Liu Gun, Liu Mingxian, and Liu Mingli, have arrived at the mansion."

Chen Ji looked up when he heard the voice and subconsciously looked towards the direction where the voice came from. The middle-aged man was tall and burly, but his voice was exceptionally gentle and delicate.

Prince Jing turned around and pointed at the Crown Prince and Bai Li, "Feng Daban, tell these two to hand over all the money they have on them, and tell the palace that no one is allowed to give them money within six months."

The Prince and Bai Li's faces turned dark. Their father was so meticulous in his work that he even remembered to take away all their money.

Now the brother and sister are both paupers!
Prince Jing turned and left, leaving the two paupers in the clinic.

The prince looked at Chen Ji and said seriously: "Chen Ji, I think it's good to be confined to my house for half a year. I can go out and play after half a year, and you don't have to go to Lingnan..."

Bai Li simply smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes: "No point in talking any more. Chen Ji, what are you going to do now?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a kiln factory firing porcelain near Luocheng?"

Bai Li and the prince looked at each other. How would they know this?

Old man Yao said slowly, "Go south along the official road out of the city for ten miles and you will reach Liujiatun at the foot of Longmen Mountain. There are several porcelain workshops there. However, the kilns in Luocheng only make crude ceramics to sell to ordinary people, which is not as good as those in Jingdezhen."

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "It's OK. It should be OK as long as there is a kiln."

After that, he went to the backyard to find Liang Maoer: "Brother Maoer, can you do me a favor and go out with me for half a month? It might be very hard."

Liang Maoer smiled naively: "It's okay, as long as I can contribute, I'm not afraid of hardship."

Chen Ji turned to look at Bai Li and said, "Prince and Princess, please go back to the palace and wait for my news. I will be back in half a month at the latest."

The prince raised his eyebrows and said, "What do you mean? Friends should share happiness and hardships. Brother Liang Maoer can endure hardships, but why can't we? We will go with you!"

Bai Li also said: "Yes, we can endure hardships too!"

Chen Ji was amused: "Who would rush to suffer?"

The prince patted his chest and said, "This is the loyalty of the underworld!"

She Dengke and Liu Quxing also came to the main hall of the clinic and looked at the master cautiously: "Master, can we go?"

Old man Yao sneered, "Go ahead. It's so fun for a bunch of poor people to get together. If you all go, I can have some peace and quiet for a few days and save a lot of money on food. Liang Maoer, carry your brother over too. Otherwise, he will be a lazy guy staying in the clinic and have to rely on me to cook for him."

Liang Maoer said ashamedly: "Okay, Doctor Yao, I will definitely carry him away."

Seeing that things had come to this, Chen Ji smiled and instructed: "Prince and Princess, go back to the palace to change clothes. Your current clothes are not suitable for work. In addition, everyone remember to bring two sets of clothes, because we have to be away for ten days or half a month. Let's meet at the entrance of the clinic in half an hour."

"Row!"

……

...After everyone left, Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yao who was fiddling with an abacus behind the counter and said, "Master, you asked Liang Mao'er to bring Liang Gou'er with you because you were worried about our safety?"

Old Man Yao sneered: "Don't be so self-indulgent, I just don't want to see him in the clinic."

Chen Ji said "oh" and said no more.

In the silence, Old Man Yao gradually stopped fiddling with the abacus and said calmly, "You should have understood that the two things that are most lacking in practicing the Mountain King's Way are power and money, so you are in a hurry to make money. But you should know that in this world, these two things are the easiest to make people lost. I hope you don't repeat the mistakes of your predecessors."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Don't worry, Master."

Old man Yao suddenly said, "The thing you made last time caused a huge commotion. Now the entire traffic artery in Yuzhou is clamped by the Wansui Army, and only people are allowed to enter but not leave. The last matter is not over yet, what are you going to make this time? Don't cause trouble again and implicate me!"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and replied, "You'll know once it's made. Don't worry, it's not dangerous this time."

Old man Yao looked at him for a moment, still worried, he took out six copper coins from his sleeve and threw them on the counter, while interpreting the hexagram, he muttered: "Kun Yuan, the auspiciousness of peace and stability, the earth is boundless, and it carries all things..."

After saying that, he suddenly looked up at Chen Ji and asked, "What exactly are you going to make?"

Chen Ji smiled and replied, "I've already told you that it's something that can replace the glutinous rice mortar."

As he was speaking, he heard footsteps outside the door.

He turned around and saw Baili wearing the coarse cloth clothes that a maid used to wear when working, and carrying a cloth bag on her back. But even this old coarse cloth clothes could not hide Baili's noble temperament...

Because there was a golden hairpin inserted in Baili's hair.

Chen Ji was surprised and said, "Princess, your clothes and the golden hairpin don't match."

Bai Li hurriedly pulled out the golden hairpin, and took out a wooden hairpin from his sleeve to put his hair up: "Hush! My silver was confiscated by my father. I secretly put it out when my mother wasn't paying attention and used it to exchange for money. They didn't even notice it!"

"Madam Yunfei is smart and careful, how could she not notice it? She is just letting you off on purpose..."

"Ah, really?" Bai Li was stunned for a moment: "Anyway, it's already been worn out. I thought you must need money to do things. In this world, you can't do anything without money."

Chen Ji was silent.

Bai Li smiled and said, "Let's go. I have called an ox cart. Let's ride it out of the city!"

"Wait for me a moment," Chen Ji returned to the apprentice dormitory, pulled out the loose brick under the bed, took out all his belongings from the hole and put them in his arms, then went out.

But just as he reached the door, he saw a fast horse coming from the end of Anxi Street. On the tall horse was a man in a green shirt with his hair flying back. He was truly a romantic and handsome young man.

Chen Ji slowly stopped and watched the other party rein in his horse and stop in front of the clinic.

Chen Wenzong was sitting on his horse, panting and saying, "Chen Ji, come back with me quickly, and don't get angry with your father anymore!"

Chen Ji stood at the threshold of the clinic, looking up at his brother who was riding a horse across the threshold: "Brother, you misunderstood. I am not angry with anyone."

Chen Wenzong persuaded him, "Father has already found out the truth. It was a servant under the housekeeper who embezzled your monthly salary. Now mother has beaten the servant to death to vent her anger for you. Even the housekeeper was beaten with ten sticks."

Chen Ji groaned, "Poor thing."

Chen Wenzong was puzzled: "Pathetic?"

Chen Ji smiled and said, "I said that boy is very pitiful."

Chen Wenzong could not help but said in a hurry: "Chen Ji, as the saying goes, a harmonious family brings prosperity. There is no deep hatred among family members. Now that you have turned over a new leaf, I naturally hope that you can return home and reunite as soon as possible. I will persuade my father to send you to Donglin Academy to study. In three years, you can also take the imperial examination. At your age, it is not too late to study now!"

study?

It is really a torture for a science student to learn the eight-legged essay of Mingjing.

However, Chen Ji looked up and gazed at his elder brother, who was sincere at this moment, just like the modest gentleman who was as unpolished as a jade in the storyteller's stories.

But everyone has their own aspirations.

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Brother, we are going out of town now. Our friends are waiting for us."

Chen Wenzong jumped off his horse and said sincerely and solemnly: "Chen Ji, although you have little education, you should also understand the principles of father-son ethics. There are no parents who are not right in the world. How can you keep being angry with your own father?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "Brother, whether you believe it or not, I really am not angry with anyone, please go back."

After saying that, he carried his bag, walked around Chen Wenzong and sat at the end of the ox cart.

Chen Wenzong took two steps forward and said in a more serious tone, "Chen Ji! When you do this, where do you put the father-son relationship?!"

At this moment, Bai Li suddenly looked up and said, "You keep talking about moral principles, but does anyone in your Chen Mansion know that Chen Ji was injured by the villains before? He was cut in the chest and pierced in the thigh by the villains, but I don't see you sending anyone to care about him."

Chen Wenzong was stunned: "Princess?"

He looked carefully and saw that in this simple car there was not only the princess but also the prince!

These two persons of noble status were wearing coarse cloth and squeezed on a simple and dilapidated ox cart with their half brother!
Bai Li sat cross-legged on the cart, straightened his back and continued, "When Chen Ji was injured, we met in the Embroidery Building in Baiyi Lane. Did you greet him that day?"

Chen Wenzong was completely silent.

Bai Li insisted, "What you care about is just the ethics you mentioned. You came to the clinic to persuade him only because the teachers in the academy taught you that a harmonious family is the foundation of success, and the classics taught you that the ruler should be the ruler, the minister should be the minister, the father should be the father, and the son should be the son. That's all."

Chen Ji stopped Bai Li and turned to the driver and said, "Let's go. If we delay any longer, we may not reach Liujiatun until dark."

The ox cart moved slowly forward with a creaking sound.

Chen Wenzong stood where he was, staring blankly at Chen Ji and the others sitting on an old ox cart in the open air, laughing and playing.

In this cold season, their curious appearance does not seem like they are going to work, but more like they are going for an outing in the spring when the flowers have just bloomed.

The prince's teasing voice floated from afar: "Haha, did you see that? Baili was like an angry little tiger just now. Ah, pinch it gently!"

(End of this chapter)