Under the congee stall, Wang Daosheng was distributing congee to the disaster victims.

Zhang Zhu took a clay bowl and casually extended it towards Wang Daosheng. Wang Daosheng glanced at him calmly, silently filling the clay bowl with a wooden ladle. Zhang Zhu tilted his head back, gulped down the thin congee, and then wiped his beard with the sleeve of his red official robe.

He casually placed the clay bowl on the blue brick stove and asked curiously, “Didn’t you take my daughter to Luhu Mountain Villa for a study tour? How did you end up at this congee stall? I heard people from both Daoist courts, Huangshan and Laojunshan, along with eminent monks from Yuanjue Temple and Tuoluo Temple, are already there. There are fascinating debates on Buddhist scriptures every day. Why are you wasting time here with them?”

Wang Daosheng responded casually while distributing congee to the victims, “Life itself is the best scripture! Originally, the principles written by ancient sages were all learned from life. Instead of learning principles from books written by sages, it’s better to learn directly from life, which gets closer to the original meaning.”

Zhang Zhu stroked his beard, “If only you said fewer rebellious things like that, Elder Hu wouldn’t keep criticizing you. People should know when to hold back their sharpness. As students, we shouldn’t always go against our teachers.”

Wang Daosheng responded calmly, “You’re lecturing me now.”

Zhang Zhu chuckled, nodding his chin towards Chen Ji, “What do you think of that lad?”

Wang Daosheng calmly said, “Why do you ask?”

Zhang Zhu raised an eyebrow, “Can’t I ask?”

Wang Daosheng said casually, “You already have the answer in your heart. Asking me is just to confirm what you already believe. But what I have to say might not be to your liking.”

Zhang Zhu grew impatient, “Well, tell me then.”

Wang Daosheng glanced at Chen Ji, then turned to Zhang Zhu and said, “This child has a murderous aura about him.”

Zhang Zhu was startled and scrutinized Wang Daosheng, “People who’ve led soldiers are indeed different. You can even see that?”

Wang Daosheng ladled out a spoonful of congee into a victim’s clay bowl, “He’s been late twice in two days of school. When asked why, he wouldn’t say. But every time he arrives, I see a palpable murderous aura about him. He doesn’t seem like he’s here for schooling; he’s more like the infantrymen under my command who have just killed Japanese pirates, with blood still on them.”

Zhang Zhu shook his head, “He’s no mere infantryman. A thousand soldiers are easy to find, but a single general is hard to come by. If you were to work with him, you’d understand he’s a talent for command.”

“You have a very high opinion of him.”

Wang Daosheng pondered, “So, he was the one who delayed the disaster victims outside the West City Gate the day before yesterday?”

Zhang Zhu quickly said, “No.”

Wang Daosheng chuckled, “Someone who has worked with you, was late for school that morning, and is so highly regarded by you—who else could it be but him?”

Zhang Zhu warned, “Don’t you dare scheme against him.”

Wang Daosheng said helplessly, “What schemes could I have for him? Just collect his tuition and teach him principles, nothing more.”

Zhang Zhu suddenly asked, “Has your mourning period ended?”

Wang Daosheng nodded, “Yesterday.”

Zhang Zhu then asked, “What official position has Elder Hu arranged for you?”

Wang Daosheng casually replied, “My teacher hopes I’ll return to the capital as Minister of War and an Academician of the Hanlin Academy.”

“What?” Zhang Zhu raised his voice. Seeing some victims looking their way, he quickly lowered his voice, “How can you skip two ranks to become Minister of War? Are you going to join the Grand Secretariat next?”

Wang Daosheng didn’t answer the question, but looked far off at Chen Ji and suddenly said, “He’s quite warm-hearted.”

Zhang Zhu also looked at Chen Ji, and after a moment, sighed, “He’s a bit too enthusiastic right now. He’s not usually like this.”

At this moment, Chen Ji was ladling out congee to the victims one by one. In just half an hour, the original cherry-red furnace fire within him had gradually turned light red, and a wisp of yellow flame, as thin as a silk thread, seemed to be growing within the embers. Chen Ji felt a surge of vitality, as if he had been reborn, with fire seemingly flowing even in his breath.

He suddenly realized that the Mountain Lord devours dragons; the ice currents on officials are the materialized dragon qi, while in the hearts of the common people lies the root of dragon qi—that which makes a nation a nation. No wonder Imperial Physician Yao, after practicing the Mountain Lord’s path, had already taken on the identity of an imperial physician. Presumably, when he healed people, the furnace fire within him would undergo a similar transformation. But why didn’t his master tell him about this? Did he not want him to discover this secret? No, there must be another reason.

The large pot in front of Chen Ji was already empty; it would take two more incense sticks’ worth of time to boil new congee. He looked at the long line of victims in front of him, each holding a brand new clay bowl. He went to Bai Li and said, “Go rest for a bit; I’ll help you.”

Bai Li exclaimed in surprise, “Ah… really?” After speaking, she looked at the others, “But everyone else is still busy, it’s not right for me to rest alone.” Chen Ji smiled and said, “It’s fine, just stand aside and rest secretly.” Bai Li moved aside, then hesitated and asked, “Why didn’t you go help my brother?” Chen Ji explained, “The Heir has more strength; he can hold on for now. I’ll go help him when he can’t endure it anymore.” Bai Li drew out an “Oh.”

Chen Ji picked up the wooden ladle and swiftly scooped spoonful after spoonful of congee to the victims. That wisp of yellow flame became more and more apparent, like a golden dragon swimming within the red fire. Once the large pot at Princess Bai Li’s side was empty, he ran to the Heir to help. The Heir rubbed his arm, then immediately gave a thumbs-up, “A true hero of the jianghu, righteous!”

After the congee in the Heir’s pot was also distributed, Chen Ji slowly came to Chen Wenxiao’s side. Chen Wenxiao had waited a long time for this moment; seeing him approach, he immediately handed out the wooden ladle. Chen Ji raised an eyebrow, “Why give me the ladle? Do your own work.” Chen Wenxiao was puzzled, “Aren’t you here to help?” Chen Ji shook his head, “No, I’m just watching.” Chen Wenxiao: “?”

Chen Ji stood aside. Every time Chen Wenxiao ladled out a spoonful of congee, and the victims hastened to thank him, Chen Ji would preemptively reply with a smile, “You’re welcome.” After saying it repeatedly, Chen Wenxiao couldn’t help but question him, “I’m the one distributing congee here, why are you pretending to be a good person?”

But Chen Ji ignored Chen Wenxiao. He had confirmed that even if he wasn’t distributing congee, as long as the victims inwardly acknowledged his contribution to the good deed, the furnace fire would transform a little. However, there was another condition for the transformation: the beneficiaries had to know his identity. Chen Ji took a deep breath. The essence of the Mountain Lord’s path was far more profound than he had imagined. But what was the purpose of the transformed furnace fire? For this, he probably had to ask Xuanyuan.

As he was pondering, Zhang Zhu came over with some constables, cheerfully saying, “Thank you for your hard work, everyone. We have already registered the victims, so we will take over the congee distribution now.” Wang Daosheng handed the ladle to a constable, patiently admonishing, “You must absolutely prevent things like forcing good people into prostitution or people exchanging children to eat.” Zhang Zhu replied with a smile, “Rest assured.” After that, he seemed to sigh with emotion, “If only I could set aside my responsibilities and go with you all. When I was young, listening to debates on scriptures was like enlightenment. If I heard there was a debate somewhere, I would rush to attend, even without eating or drinking. But now, I can’t spare the time.”

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too. What you’re doing now is more important.”

Wang Daosheng waved to his disciples, “Let’s go.” Chen Ji was still eager, but had no better reason to stay, so he departed reluctantly.

As he passed Chen Wenzong, the latter suddenly cupped his hands and bowed to him, “Third Brother, today, when distributing congee, I saw your tireless efforts and your kind demeanor towards the victims. Only then did I realize I had misunderstood you greatly in the past. In the days to come, the three of us brothers, under Master Wang’s tutelage, should support each other more. If there are any scriptures you don’t understand, you can always ask me. Although you missed this imperial examination, three years from now will be your time to shine.” Chen Ji looked at him strangely and perfunctorily replied, “Alright!”

This time, everyone walked behind the ox-cart; even Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao didn’t ride in it. On the ox-cart, only the Prince of Jing remained, his hat brim pulled low, isolated, driving the ox-cart with his back to the others.

After walking several hundred steps, Bai Li suddenly said with sparkling eyes, “Since we’re going to walk to Luhu Mountain Villa, why don’t we let the ox-cart and the driver return to Luocheng? They don’t need to come with us.” The Prince of Jing’s hand, holding the whip, suddenly froze, then he harshly whipped the ox-cart, pretending not to have heard anything. Bai Li continued speaking to Master Wang, “Master, they say it’s better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books.” Before she could finish speaking, the Prince of Jing stopped whipping the ox, stood up, jumped off the ox-cart, and swung the whip towards Bai Li. Bai Li quickly hid behind Chen Ji and the Heir, clutching their arms, peeking out with half her face from the gap, “The driver’s hitting people!” The Prince of Jing gritted his teeth, “You little cotton jacket, you’re leaking wind!”

The Heir recognized the face under the hat brim and exclaimed, “Father?” Hearing the Heir’s shout, the Prince of Jing instantly flared up, chasing him around, “So you’ve come of age, huh? I can’t control you, can I?” The Heir angrily said, “Bai Li got me into trouble!” Chen Ji and Zhang Xia stared, dumbfounded. Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji, “Do the Prince of Jing, the Heir, and the Princess usually interact like this?” Chen Ji hesitated, “The Heir and the Princess don’t cause trouble every day.”

Wang Daosheng smiled wryly and stopped the Prince of Jing, “You really are something, keeping even me in the dark. If we were to encounter ruffians, how could I explain it to the Princely Manor or the imperial court?” The Prince of Jing stopped, panting, and sighed, “After all, I’m getting old. Can’t even beat my own son anymore.” Bai Li cautiously approached, “Father, I truly didn’t want you to go on a disguised tour. Yesterday, you caught a cold and fainted, unconscious. Imperial Physician Yao rushed into the manor and watched over you for three hours. Now that we’re out, what if something happens again and Imperial Physician Yao isn’t around?” He directly raised a hand to stop her, “See? Father is fine now, isn’t he? Yesterday, I was just napping; your mother made a big fuss over nothing.” Bai Li eyed him suspiciously. At that moment, the Prince of Jing indeed looked rosy, not at all like someone who had just recovered from a serious illness. She looked at Chen Ji for help. Chen Ji, however, remained silent.

He was pondering a question: If the Prince of Jing had truly only been napping, how could his master have stayed in the manor for three hours without leaving? Therefore, it was certain that the Prince of Jing’s illness was real. But if the Prince of Jing was ill, why did he insist on going on a disguised tour? Unless he had a compelling reason to be out.

Wang Daosheng thought for a moment and said, “Everyone get back on the cart. Since we’re already out, there’s no reason to turn back halfway. All of you, be sure not to mention the Prince’s identity to outsiders; just treat him as the driver.”