85. Treating Orphans
In the small courtyard of the Taiping Clinic, a group of people were huddled around a small eight-person table, making it incredibly crowded. Liang Maoer raised his arm slightly and nearly pushed Liu Quxing to the ground.
The table was piled high with steaming steamed buns. When the steamers were opened, one hand on the left, then the other on the right, quickly grabbed all the buns from the steamer, as if they were fighting for food.
Old man Yao was just about to reach out to grab a bun, but he saw Liang Maoer stretch out his hand and leave a shadow, and the leopard in the cage had disappeared.
When he wanted to take another bun, it was already in the prince's hands.
Old man Yao held a bowl of millet porridge with a dull expression and drank it mouthful by mouthful.
In the past, he was used to a quiet and deserted life, and now that Taiping Medical Clinic is so lively, he is a little uncomfortable.
…
They chatter even while I'm eating. It's so noisy.
"Master, why don't you eat?"
Chen Ji asked curiously.
Old Man Yao said indifferently, "I'm telling you fortunes!"
"Ah? You don't know the birth dates of the princes, right? How do you calculate it?"
Old man Yao sneered, "I don't even need to look at your birth date to know you're my unlucky star. Hurry up and eat, then get out of here."
At this time, it became lively outside the door.
Countless people gathered on both sides of Anxi Street.
Some carried fruit, others carried baskets of eggs.
The air on Anxi Street seemed to be boiling.
The last time it was so lively was when the prince and the princess had just returned.
The next moment, a black procession of ceremonial processions suddenly passed by the door.
The common people followed the soldiers along the way, carrying the things in their hands and insisting on stuffing them into the hands of the soldiers standing beside the guard of honor.
The laws of the Ning Dynasty clearly stated that the Emperor of Daning could use ochre-yellow ceremonial guards, while the vassal kings of Daning could use black ceremonial guards.
Prince Jing is back.
“It’s broken, it’s broken!”
The prince stood up suddenly, hurriedly stuffed half a bun in his hand into his mouth, and said vaguely, "Didn't General Wang say that the old man just arrived in Gongyi County last night? Why did he rush back overnight? Baili, return home quickly. If he catches you, I'm afraid your monthly salary will be cut off."
Bai Li was also a little panicked. He climbed up the ladder with his clothes in hand and disappeared on the other side of the courtyard wall.
The prince, who is usually carefree, is like a mouse seeing a cat at this moment.
Chen Ji and others walked to the door and watched from afar as the huge team entered Prince Jing's Mansion.
He looked at the old man curiously: "Master, why is Prince Jing so loved by the people? The people are vying to give him gifts!"
Old Man Yao curled his lips and said, "Over the years, many people in Yuzhou have survived thanks to him. Naturally, they respect him."
At this moment, a middle-aged man suddenly came to the door and said, "Doctor Yao, Doctor Yao, my father fell down and he won't wake up no matter how much we call. Please come and take a look."
"Did you bring the consultation fee?"
"I brought it!"
Old Man Yao beckoned to She Dengke and said, "Go carry my acupuncture box over here. Hurry up, his father won't be able to hold on for much longer!"
After Old Man Yao and the middle-aged man got on the carriage, Liang Maoer got up to clean up the dishes.
Old man Yao went out, and Chen Ji was just about to go back to the backyard to clean up the dishes when he heard a gentle voice coming from the door of the clinic.
"Chen Ji?"
Chen Ji's body in the clinic suddenly stiffened.
Last time, the shopkeeper came to my house in the middle of the night and asked the same question!
Could it be that the Jingchao Military Intelligence Department has come to visit again?
Didn’t Ke Gui say that all those who knew his identity had been dealt with?
He turned around slowly, but what came into his sight was not the fat figure of Manager Yuan.
But the person who was speaking was a middle-aged man wearing an old navy blue robe with a newly patched collar and patches on the elbows of the sleeves. He had a simple wooden hairpin in his hair and looked tired.
Who is this?
Never seen before.
The middle-aged man looked at Chen Ji and asked after a moment, "Why, you don't remember me anymore?"
Chen Ji was puzzled.
The middle-aged man smiled faintly and said, "It seems that you don't recognize me. When you were a child in the capital, I held you in my arms. Your eyes and eyebrows haven't changed much, you look a lot like your mother."
Chen Ji was shocked.
"uncle?"
Could it be that his uncle, a high-ranking official of the Jing Dynasty, fled to the Ning Dynasty to seek refuge in order to avoid political enemies?
Judging from his appearance, the other person was weathered, with mud spots on his pants and boots. He really looked like he had been traveling through wind and rain.
But what's with the patches on the other person's body? My uncle shouldn't be so miserable.
The most important thing is that Chen Ji has just gotten rid of his identity as a spy of Jing Dynasty.
I was just planning to live an ordinary life, but why did the other party come to me at this time?
You didn't take me back to Jing Dynasty when I was rich and powerful, so why are you here now? Are you planning to make a comeback in Ning Dynasty?
Then I would be forced to put my head on the line and work for him!
Chen Ji thought for a moment and said stiffly, "What can I do for you?"
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then jokingly said nonchalantly, "Don't you use honorifics when addressing your elders? Where's your master?"
When Chen Ji heard the word "elder", his tone became even stiffer. "Master is out, just come to me if you have any problems!"
The middle-aged man lifted his coat and stepped over the threshold: "Then wait for your master to come back to the clinic. Do you know how to play Go? Let's play a game to kill time! Your mother is very good at Go, so you should be pretty good too!"
Chen Ji said, "There is no Go in the clinic."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Of course it's there. Isn't it in the second drawer of the cabinet in the main room? Go get it. I'll wait."
Chen Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. These words sounded more like a threat to him, just like when Yun Yang first rewarded him and placed the silver ingot directly next to his pillow.
The subtext is: I can enter and leave the clinic at will, but you can't find out.
Chen Ji turned around, went to the main room, opened the second drawer, and sure enough, there was a Go set inside.
He brought the Go board to the main hall of the clinic, spread out several chessboards on the counter, and held the chess pieces in his hands: "Guess what goes first!"
The middle-aged man thought for a moment and said, "An even number!"
Chen Ji opened his palm and saw three black pieces in his hand: "You guessed wrong, I will play black first."
The middle-aged man said generously: "Okay, you go first, I can give you two sons."
Chen Ji looked up and glanced at him: "Okay."
The middle-aged man is very good at chess, so good that he can make big moves and his moves are like a mountain pressing down on one's head, making it impossible to avoid.
In just sixty-five moves, the black pieces of Chen Ji were cut apart, like reefs in the waves, isolated and helpless.
The middle-aged man smiled and looked at Chen Ji. "You need to hone your Go skills. Go is about making choices. Giving up small things will lead to big things, and that's how you achieve the big picture. If you don't want to give up anything, then nothing will work out."
However, at this time, Chen Ji didn't hear what he said, but just made another move in the isolated and helpless place.
It seems like he is persistent and unwilling to admit defeat, but also like he is lonely and crazy.
The middle-aged man was startled and followed his son.
Chen Ji made another move.
The middle-aged man has another son.
However, the two sides fought back and forth, and when Chen Ji was at the 72nd move, he managed to fight his way out of isolation and become one with the other isolated chess piece.
The middle-aged man's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in admiration: "Swallowing a dragon? What kind of move is this?"
Chen Ji looked up at him and said: Treat the orphan.
The so-called treatment of isolated pieces means taking advantage of the weaknesses of the opponent's chess pieces in isolation, so that your own isolated pieces can find a way to survive.
Often, a single piece of chess can turn around and destroy the opponent's overall situation.
Chen Ji once won the second prize in the Los Angeles Go Competition, relying on his unconventional technique of dealing with isolated opponents.
Chen Ji has no sense of the overall situation, he is just stubborn.
He imitated the other person's tone and said slowly, "The world is so big, how can there be no place for us? There are only small spaces, but not small minds!"
The middle-aged man laughed: "Why are you lecturing me again?"
Chen Ji said calmly: "No, I was talking about chess."
In fact, he was angry. After coming to this world, he didn't know his past life experience and was led by others everywhere.
Now that we have finally sent Gui and Wu Hongbiao away, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
But someone else came to the door.
However, at this moment, Old Man Yao led She Dengke in from outside the door.
She Dengke, carrying his medicine box, said cheerfully, "Chen Ji, don't you know that old man was practically dead just now, but Master gave him two injections and he woke up instantly... Huh?"
The middle-aged man turned to look at the door and said with a smile: "Doctor Yao, long time no see. Your little apprentice is good at chess and is better than you."
Old Man Yao glanced at Chen Ji and said, "That's strange. Why did you come here alone?"
"Come and help me take my pulse. I've been feeling a little unwell lately!"
Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Why did you end up so exhausted just to go out and gather some food?"
Chen Ji was stunned. Wait?
Raise food and supplies?
What kind of food and supplies should be raised?
But the middle-aged man sat down opposite the counter, looking exhausted. He forced a smile and said, "I searched for the complete version of Miaowei Shuwu Kanqingshan. When we first arrived in Jiangnan, someone brought his wife's body to the government office and said that we had forced her to death by taxing her. The southern gentry now regard us as enemies and try every possible means to get rid of us when they hear any sign of trouble."
Resisting taxation is not easy."
As Old Man Yao walked behind the counter, he said calmly, "Taking someone's money is like killing their parents. What they're afraid of isn't the tax, but the idea that you'll remeasure the land."
The more Chen Ji listened, the more he felt something was wrong. It was obvious that he had recognized the wrong person.
Who is this?
He looks dusty and ragged. Could he be a tax collector?
Or maybe...
The middle-aged man put his wrist on the counter and said, "Still, the food and fodder are easy to get. It just takes a little more effort and negotiation. But the glutinous rice required by the front line is a real problem for us."
Old man Yao placed three fingers on the middle-aged man's pulse and asked, "Can't find glutinous rice?"
The middle-aged man explained, "Too many city gates were destroyed by the Jing Dynasty this year, and a large amount of glutinous rice mortar is needed to build the city walls. This summer, there was a flood, and many families couldn't even afford to eat. How can we spare glutinous rice to build the city walls?"
After saying this, the middle-aged man sighed and said, "In fact, there is enough glutinous rice. Unfortunately, the batch in early autumn was intercepted by the capital and sent to His Majesty to repair the Renshou Palace and the mausoleum."
Chen Ji was puzzled. This middle-aged man seemed to have a very good relationship with his master and actually told him everything.
The old man, who always avoided talking nonsense, did not stop the other person from speaking.
He knew that glutinous rice was one of the strategic materials these days.
Because the adhesive materials used to repair the city walls are all boiled on-site by mixing glutinous rice with slaked lime and limestone.
The amylopectin in the glutinous rice mortar has an excellent adhesive effect.
After three years, once the glutinous rice mortar has calcified, the repaired building can stand for thousands of years.
But in this era, many people could not even get enough food, and glutinous rice was a life-saving food.
If it is used to build the city wall, the people will starve to death.
At this time, the middle-aged man coughed a few times, and Old Man Yao told Chen Ji: "Pour a cup of tea."
Chen Ji entered the kitchen, brought a cup of warm tea, placed it in front of the middle-aged man, lowered his head, lowered his eyebrows and said submissively, "Please have some tea."
The middle-aged man looked up at Chen Ji and smiled: "Why are you suddenly so polite and using honorifics? Didn't you just lecture me?"
Chen Ji said awkwardly, "I was just talking about chess, I didn't mean to teach you a lesson!"
The middle-aged man raised his hand and nodded at him, smiling and saying, "It's normal for young people to be a little arrogant. There's no need to be so humble."
Chen Ji quickly said, "No, no, I'm not arrogant."
Old Man Yao was puzzled: "What just happened? What kind of nonsense did this kid say?"
The middle-aged man laughed heartily. "Everyone is like this when they are young. When I was young, I often came to you to treat my injuries. When I followed His Majesty to fight the Second Emperor, His Majesty knew he couldn't win, but he still insisted on letting me go first, which resulted in me getting beaten badly."
Chen Ji took a breath of cold air.
It can finally be confirmed that this is Prince Jing.
However, he could not connect the simple middle-aged man in front of him with the majestic and vast Prince Jing's Mansion.
He has no airs and no temper, just like an ordinary neighbor, completely different from what I imagined.
At this time, Prince Jing looked at Old Man Yao and asked, "How is my health?"
Old Man Yao said calmly, "I'll prescribe some medicine for you. You can recuperate for a while. But don't go out again recently. If you don't rest, I'm afraid something big will happen."
Prince Jing shook his head. "Some things cannot be delayed. The Jing Dynasty cavalry will march south in the spring of next year. If the city wall is not repaired before then, Chongli Pass will be lost and many people will die. Even the capital will be in danger."
Old Man Yao said indifferently, "I'm just giving you some advice. Whether you listen or not is up to you. But I suggest you stay in Luocheng so you can discipline the Crown Prince and the Princess. They've let their minds run wild and are about to get into trouble. The whole time you were away, the Crown Prince and the Princess climbed over the wall in the middle of the night to play, disturbing me, an old man, from getting any rest."
Chen Ji: Huh? No, Lao Deng, why are you slapping me in the back?
He turned to look at Prince Jing, only to find that Prince Jing's expression had become even worse.
Prince Jing slowly asked, "Have they caused any trouble recently?"
Before he could finish his words, he heard a noise coming from the backyard, as if someone was climbing over the wall.
Then, the prince's voice was heard: "Strange, our father clearly hasn't come back yet, but Yizhang has returned first. I don't know why they made such a mistake, forcing me to climb over the wall again for no reason. Chen Ji, come and play Pai Gow with me. Watch me kill everyone today and defeat you all cleanly."
"belch"
The prince walked into the main hall of the clinic, and the moment he saw Prince Jing, he was so scared that he hiccuped.
Prince Jing played with the white chess pieces in his hand, his tone calm and intimidating: "Climb the wall? Pai Gow?"
The prince thumped and knelt on the ground: "Dad, it was the little monk who helped me turn it over. It has nothing to do with me..."
End of this chapter.
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