140. Entrustable
“Stop.”
Outside the town in the evening.
Chen Ji squatted down with the white carp on his back, peering silently through the gaps in the bushes. The Crown Prince and Zhang Xia squatted behind him, holding their breath, too nervous to blink.
A moment later, four infantrymen, their hands on their swords, patrolled past several dozen steps away.
The town was like a camp, with wooden fences more than one person high surrounding it, and infantry patrolling with swords and crossbows, creating a solemn and murderous atmosphere.
Raising 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?"
"Don't move!"
Chen Ji didn't get up immediately. Instead, he waited for three more teams of infantrymen to patrol. Then he whispered, "We'll patrol twice in the time it takes to stick an incense stick. We must enter the town between patrols and find a hiding place."
The prince whispered, "But this town is full of people. Where should we hide?"
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"We're hiding in the ironworks."
Chen Ji stared at the town without turning his head and said, "The furnace in the workshop is extremely hot. Even if the fire is turned off, the temperature will not drop until midnight. It is unbearably hot in there, and the air is unbearable. No one will live there."
He looked back and saw that the prince and Zhang Xia had purple lips from the cold and were shaking uncontrollably.
If you don't change your clothes in time, you may be in danger of hypothermia.
Once you suffer from hypothermia, there is an 80% chance that you will not survive.
At this moment, Bai Li was sleeping with her arms tightly wrapped around Chen Ji's neck. Her instinct to ward off the cold made her subconsciously move closer to the warmth and rest her head on Chen Ji's shoulder. Like a little child.
Seeing this, the prince wanted to speak up to remind him, but in the end he said nothing.
Chen Ji said softly, "Just bear with it for a while. Just wait until sunset."
The prince hugged himself with his arms, trembling, and complained, "It's all my father's fault. We were attending a literary gathering, but he insisted on stopping to eat fish. Now look what happened. He didn't get any fish, and instead got chased all the way."
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Chen Ji casually explained, "The killer won't let you go just because you don't eat fish. On the contrary, it was because of the fish purchase that we were gathered by the river, giving us the opportunity to jump into the river. Otherwise, we would have been trapped on the ox cart and wouldn't have been able to escape."
He carefully recalled what had happened today: the officer on the black-sailed boat had been posing as a fisherman in the middle of the river, not planning to strike anywhere else, and the assassins lurking in the woods had just dealt with the bandits in Longwangtun and weren't ready to ambush him. It was Prince Jing's impulsive decision that prevented the assassins from attacking from both sides, forcing them to rush out all at once.
The prince uttered an "oh," then muttered softly, "Chen Ji, were all these skills taught to you by Imperial Physician Yao? Is it too late for me to kowtow to him and become his disciple?"
Chen Ji turned around and gave the prince a strange look: "Why would you learn this instead of being a good prince?"
The prince thought for a moment and said, "If I can survive this time, I will no longer be the prince. I will also become Yao Taiyi's disciple. When I have learned everything, we will go out together to explore the world and make a great name for ourselves."
At this moment, the afterglow of the sun finally fell behind the hills. Chen Ji said hurriedly, "Let's go."
He was as light as a swallow, carrying the white carp on his back. He took advantage of the patrol to run outside the wooden fence, and then he bent his legs to form a ladder: "Step on my legs and climb up."
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The prince skillfully climbed over the fence and landed steadily on the ground.
When he reached Zhang Xia, he asked hurriedly, "How are you going to get across with the white carp on your back? I'll be the ladder, and you carry the white carp and step on me to get across."
Chen Ji urged: "Don't worry about me, hurry up, the patrol soldiers are coming again."
Zhang Xia gritted his teeth and stepped on Chen Ji's thigh to turn over.
After entering, she looked back after landing and saw Chen Ji squatting down and jumping with all his strength.
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?"
As they walked, Chen Ji explained nonchalantly, "White carp are relatively light."
Zhang Xia frowned: "Can you please answer my question properly for once?"
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"Don't talk nonsense. Left."
Chen Ji followed the edge of the town and, before the next patrol of infantry arrived, he entered the back door of an ironworks and carefully closed it.
It's like isolating the danger from outside, creating 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, a feeling of happiness overwhelming him: "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'll die."
The prince hurriedly crawled away from the blast furnace.
When the human body is in a state of hypothermia, rewarming 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 change of clothes in this workshop. The craftsmen in the workshop have to deal with coal, fire, and molten iron every day. They must have special work clothes here. Please help the princess change later."
Zhang Xia rushed to the front of the workshop to search, and indeed found several sets of clothes that the craftsmen wore when working.
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The clothes were very loose, and when the girl wore them, it looked like an opera robe, with the sleeves covering much of her palms.
"You guys change your clothes first. The prince and I will wait somewhere else. Call us when you're done!"
Chen Ji stood up to avoid it, but found that Bai Li had just grabbed his sleeve at some point.
Chen Ji was silent for a moment, then gently pried Bai Li's hand apart and turned to Zhang Xia, saying, "Thank you for your help."
He walked deep 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 one up and took a look, and was immediately shocked. "Is this... a mold for casting copper coins? Look, copper liquid is poured in through this hole, and after the mold is opened, it becomes a copper coin. Just trim the rough edges and it can be put on the market. They're not only manufacturing ironware here, they're also privately casting copper coins."
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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 put on dry craftsman's clothes.
As he buttoned his clothes, he said nonchalantly, "My father said that privately minting copper coins is nothing new. The Xu, Liu, Hu, Chen, Yang, and Qi families are all doing it. The court has suffered huge losses in recent years. It's all because of them."
"The court doesn't care?"
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Chen Ji was puzzled.
The prince sneered, "The imperial court? They are the ones who run the court. They are the real imperial court. If they are caught, they will just push a few scapegoats. Look, my father wants to make some cotton gloves for the border troops. He has to see what you, the Chen family, think about."
At this time, Zhang Xia called out in a low voice: "We are ready."
Chen Ji and the prince returned to the blast furnace. Zhang Xia, wearing baggy clothes, looked up at Chen Ji and asked, "What are your plans next?"
Chen Ji folded a piece of clothing
He placed it under Baili's head as a pillow, and then watched Baili fall into silence.
In this silence, Bai Li closed his eyes and whispered, "Dad, someone wants to kill us."
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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 had been sitting on the ground, but he stood up in shock after hearing this: "The people outside this town are all their people. How dare you go out at this time?"
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Zhang Xia also sat up straight: "It's too dangerous."
Chen Ji looked at them and said, "The princess's illness cannot be delayed. She needs 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 couldn't say anything. Although he was very worried about Chen Ji, he had to save his sister: "I'll go with you..."
"no!"
Chen Ji shook his head. "The erosion isn't dangerous. The soldiers in these small towns don't wear uniforms, and they don't need signals to meet. Even if I sneak in, no one will notice. Besides, it's more convenient for me to act alone. You guys stay here and warm up, keep the clothes warm, and take good 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'm not back by midnight, you must flee with the princess on your back. Remember to watch out for patrol breaks and flee southwest as far as you can. If this town suddenly becomes chaotic later, stay here and don't act rashly. Sneak away at 3:00 AM and before entering Luhun Villa, be sure to carefully observe whether there's anyone waiting outside. Only enter after you're sure no one is waiting there for you."
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"etc."
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 and then at the prince: "So, this is why you and the princess trust him?"
The prince hummed.
Zhang Xia sighed and said, "No wonder my father kept talking about him in front of me."
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The prince asked, "What did Master Zhang say? Did he exaggerate? I think Chen Ji is worthy of it."
Zhang Xia sighed, "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, dipped his fingers in it and used it to moisten Bai Lile's lips.
Zhang Xia suddenly asked, "Why exactly did the Liu family want to ambush and kill you and the princess? If they were trying to seize the throne, they should have waited until Concubine Jing gave birth to a baby boy. Now they only have Zhu Lingyun, so why rush?"
The prince said in a serious tone: "Then only the Liu family knows!"
End of this chapter.
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