In the city gate’s archway, Zhang Zhuo stood, holding his horse.

He looked at Chen Ji, his eyes gleaming. “Do you have a way to find the Liu family members? If you can find them, this official… this official…” Zhang Zhuo had initially wanted to say, ‘This official will ensure you receive merit and promotion,’ but then he reconsidered. Chen Ji was from the Inner Court, and even with great power, Zhang Zhuo couldn’t grant him official titles or ranks.

After a moment of thought, he said, “I saved my official position today thanks to you. If you can find those people, I will owe you a huge favor. In the future, if you encounter difficulties or need assistance, as long as it’s something I can do, I will never refuse.”

Chen Ji asked, perplexed, “Are there no conditions? For example, ‘without violating principles’?”

Zhang Zhuo chuckled, patting Chen Ji’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, this official has no principles.”

Chen Ji was speechless.

Zhang Zhuo smoothed the wrinkles on his official robe, his eyes still bright as he looked at Chen Ji. “Tell me, what’s your plan to find them?”

Chen Ji looked at the dense crowd of disaster victims and softly said, “They’ll reveal themselves.”

At that moment, a dusty carriage arrived from within the city, accompanied by over a hundred constables. Zhang Zhuo instinctively glanced at Chen Ji and casually remarked, “That’s the carriage of Chen Liqin, the Deputy Magistrate of Luocheng. He must have just heard about the civil unrest and rushed here despite the danger. *Cough*… Although our Deputy Magistrate is a bit pedantic, he’s considered a rare upright gentleman in official circles.”

At this point, Zhang Zhuo changed his tone, boasting, “Of course, compared to me, Lord Chen is still far behind. At least I’m easier to get along with!”

The carriage drew near. Before it fully stopped, Chen Liqin lifted the curtain, took a rod of authority from a constable, and aggressively approached. “Lord Zhang, what is the situation now?”

Zhang Zhuo teased, “Lord Chen, if we had waited for your assistance at this moment, thousands of households in Luocheng would probably have suffered by now.”

Chen Liqin’s expression froze. “After drinking at the Deer Cry Banquet last night, I went to bed early. I…”

Zhang Zhuo smiled and waved his hand. “No matter, no matter. The civil unrest has temporarily subsided, Lord Chen. No need to blame yourself. Later, you can preside over the large-scale porridge distribution.”

Chen Liqin breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Zhuo looked at Chen Liqin. “Lord Chen, where are you coming from?”

Chen Liqin’s face darkened. “Today was the day for roll call at Zhixing Academy. I sent Wen Zong and Wen Xiao there early this morning, taking the opportunity to visit Master Wang and ask him to be stricter when disciplining my sons. Who would have thought that on his very first day at the academy, that boy Chen Ji would make me lose so much face?”

Zhang Zhuo was startled, instinctively wanting to glance at Chen Ji, but forcefully restrained himself. It was Chen Ji’s first day of school. Wang Daosheng’s rule was to call roll at *Mao Shi*, but it was already three-quarters past the hour.

Chen Liqin continued, “Lord Zhang, yesterday you mentioned Chen Ji had agreed to Prince Jing. At that time, I thought as long as he was dedicated to his studies, nothing else mattered. But this boy is simply incorrigible and beyond saving.”

Zhang Zhuo opened his mouth but couldn’t speak for a long time. After a long pause, he hesitantly said, “Perhaps that boy Chen Ji had something more important to do?”

Chen Liqin scoffed, “What more important matter? I initially thought he was just sleeping in, which would still be excusable. After all, it’s understandable for a young person to be playful and enjoy sleep. But I even made a special trip to the medical hall and found he wasn’t there at all.”

“Did Imperial Physician Yao say where he went?”

Chen Liqin grew angrier as he spoke. “Imperial Physician Yao wouldn’t say, and neither would his two senior apprentices. But I suspect the boy went to the gambling house again and stayed out all night. All that talk about turning over a new leaf – I see he’s a dog that can’t change its ways.”

Zhang Zhuo, hearing him speak so harshly, immediately felt a surge of anger. “As a father, why do you always doubt your own son? When someone first claimed Chen Ji was a gambler, did you thoroughly investigate?”

Chen Liqin was confused. “The gambling house came to my door with a black-and-white IOU. How could it be fake?”

Zhang Zhuo’s eyes widened. “So you believed it just because you saw an IOU? If someone slandered my child, I would get to the bottom of it and uncover the truth. Lord Chen, it’s a good thing you’re the Deputy Magistrate and not the Prefect; otherwise, how many wrongful cases would there have been in Luocheng Prefecture these past years?”

Chen Liqin glared back. “You…”

A voice interrupted their argument. “My lords, perhaps we should discuss the important matters first.”

The voice was as calm as a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.

Zhang Zhuo turned his head. He saw Chen Ji still wearing his bamboo hat, his face covered. Only his calm, unruffled eyes were visible. He felt a little worried but didn’t know how to offer comfort.

However, Chen Ji merely analyzed, “My lords, quickly arrange the porridge distribution. Not to mention whether prolonged delay might cause further incidents, I observe that these people are truly on their last legs. If they don’t eat soon, I fear they won’t last.”

For some reason, Zhang Zhuo suddenly felt that this medical apprentice had truly severed all blood ties with the Chen family. He was like a wild blade of grass in the wilderness, caring not where it came from or where it was going, growing freely. Yet, the way he stepped forward last night was like a powerful August downpour, grand and forceful.

Chen Liqin looked at Chen Ji. “Who is this?”

Zhang Zhuo pointed to Chen Ji. “The pacification of the civil unrest was largely thanks to this colleague from the Secret Service. He shows the bearing of a great general at such a young age.”

Chen Liqin, in his red official robe, scrutinized Chen Ji up and down, slightly frowning. “Secret Service?”

Zhang Zhuo irritably said, “Lord Chen, you really should thank him properly. If he hadn’t single-handedly held the disaster victims hostage outside the city last night, both your official caps and mine would be gone right now.”

Chen Liqin calmly stated, “This official will not collude with the eunuch faction just because they occasionally do something good. Lord Zhang, I advise you to keep your distance from them too.”

Zhang Zhuo was so angry he laughed. “Lord Chen, your pedantry will be your downfall one day.”

With that, he turned and waved to the constables from the prefectural yamen. “What are you all standing around for? Quickly borrow iron pots from nearby commoners’ homes to cook porridge!”

Sixteen large iron pots were set up outside the city. White rice porridge bubbled and steamed, releasing a rich aroma. The disaster victims craned their necks and stood on tiptoe to see. However, the front of the porridge stalls was completely blocked by a line of constables standing arm in arm, preventing anything from being seen.

Behind the human wall, Chen Liqin inspected each pot. He pulled up the long sleeve of his official robe with his left hand and, holding a chopstick in his right, inserted it into the thick porridge. Only after confirming that the chopstick stood upright did he feel relieved.

Zhang Zhuo pursed his lips. “Lord Chen, it’s already good enough if these disaster victims can get some thin porridge. Why are you still talking about rules like chopsticks standing upright?”

Chen Liqin solemnly said, “Lord Zhang, chopsticks standing upright and two meals a day are ironclad rules for court-sponsored porridge distribution. We, who serve the court, must naturally abide by them. Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. If everyone disregards rules, only the powerful will benefit in the end, and the common people will suffer.”

“Isn’t your Chen family one of the powerful?” Zhang Zhuo retorted sarcastically, “Do you know that if you distribute porridge like this, Luocheng’s available grain will only last two weeks at most? After two weeks, what will they eat, what will they drink? If you’re truly capable, then act according to the law and reclaim the land from the aristocratic families to distribute to the common people. At that time, why would the common people even need your porridge distribution?”

Chen Liqin waved his hand. “Lord Zhang, I can’t out-argue you. I only act according to rules and laws.”

As the two debated, Chen Ji returned, carrying a sack of sand and dirt, and grabbed a handful of sand, intending to throw it into a pot.

“What are you doing?” Chen Liqin grabbed Chen Ji’s wrist and glared. “This is porridge cooked for the disaster victims! Aren’t you deliberately humiliating them by throwing sand in it?”

Chen Ji looked up at him, silently pulled his wrist free, and was about to continue throwing sand into the pot. But Chen Liqin angrily shouted, “Guards, stop him!”

Several constables, holding rods of authority, blocked Chen Ji’s path. Jin Zhu, leading the secret agents, blocked Chen Ji’s path, saying with a smile, “What’s going on? We saved your official caps, and now you greet us with rods of authority?”

Chen Liqin angrily retorted, “Leaving aside the matter of official caps, these disaster victims are already miserable enough. Why would you disgrace them by mixing sand into their porridge?”

Jin Zhu hesitated for a moment, then looked back at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji explained, “Among these disaster victims are Liu family assassins. If we don’t find them, civil unrest will inevitably break out again sooner or later. But with so many victims, it’s impossible to distinguish between genuine victims and assassins just by their appearance.”

“What does this have to do with you mixing in sand?”

Chen Ji, holding the sack, took out a handful of sand and said, “Those genuine disaster victims have gnawed tree bark bare; they won’t care if there’s sand in the porridge. But the assassins are different; they’re not hungry, so they will be particularly bothered by the sand. They might even voluntarily reveal themselves and use the opportunity to incite another uprising.”

Chen Liqin shook his head. “This act is not in line with the laws of Great Ning. Distributing porridge is distributing porridge. We cannot break the rules. Moreover, if the disaster victims interpret this as officials mixing sand into the food to embezzle relief grain, we won’t be able to explain ourselves.”

Seeing his insistence, Chen Ji threw the sack aside. “Then there’s another method: there’s plenty of large-leaf holly along the roads in Luocheng. Have the constables collect it and add it to the pots to make the white porridge bitter.”

“When humans are extremely hungry, neurons in the arcuate nucleus and lateral area of the brain become particularly active. At this time, human sensitivity to sweetness increases, while tolerance for bitterness and sourness strengthens. This is also why everything tastes sweeter when one is hungry. So, adding large-leaf holly to increase the bitterness is also a solution. But it’s not as direct or effective as adding sand.”

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Zhuo. “Lord Zhang, have the constables gather the large-leaf holly.”

However, after a moment’s consideration, Zhang Zhuo directly picked up the sack, grabbed handful after handful of sand and dirt, and threw them into the pots. “What kind of rubbish rules are these? If we go gather large-leaf holly now, when will we ever finish? Those who achieve great things don’t fuss over minor details. If there’s any problem, I will bear the responsibility.”

Chen Liqin flung his sleeve and stepped aside. “Lord Zhang certainly has courage, but by disregarding your reputation like this, who knows how history books will condemn you?”

Before the large pot, Zhang Zhuo’s hand, which was throwing sand, suddenly paused. After a few breaths, he again grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into the pot, then picked up the rod of authority and stirred the white porridge in the pot. “Let history write whatever it wants about me. I, Zhang, have a clear conscience!”