The inn had a tea room. A faint sandalwood scent wafted from a perforated bronze censer, lit by a minor official.

Chen Ji and Zhang Zheng sat facing each other on a divan, a chessboard between them. The game was nearing its end.

Amidst the swirling smoke, Chen Ji placed a white piece. Zhang Zheng, opposite him, pondered deeply for a long while before finally making a move. Chen Ji casually placed another piece, and Zhang Zheng fell back into deep thought.

Zhang Xia sat by the side, cracking sunflower seeds, watching her own brother being utterly defeated without any intention of offering help.

Zhang Zheng became exasperated, constantly winking and gesturing to his sister. Zhang Xia asked curiously, “Brother, what’s wrong with your eye? Did you get sand in it?”

Zhang Zheng immediately deflated. “At least tell me how I should play!” he pleaded. “You can’t just watch your own brother get bullied like this, can you?”

Zhang Xia’s white teeth clicked together as she deftly cracked open a sunflower seed. “A true gentleman does not speak while watching a game,” she said. “I wouldn’t do something like that.”

Chen Ji looked up at Zhang Zheng. “Brother Zhang, weren’t you the one who wanted to play chess with me?” he asked. “Your chess skills… don’t make you seem like someone who enjoys the game.”

Zhang Zheng was speechless. “I…”

Zhang Xia then asked Chen Ji, “What are your plans when you get to the capital? Will you stay in the Chen family’s grand residence or buy your own courtyard house?”

Chen Ji pondered for a moment. “I should be staying in the Chen family’s grand residence,” he replied.

Bai Long had told him to return to the Chen family, which meant he wouldn’t be allowed to remain uninvolved. It would be better to be as close to the core as possible.

Zhang Xia asked again, “Will Lord Chen secure you a student slot at the Imperial Academy? He definitely will, right? But you don’t want to study the Classics, so what will you do?”

Chen Ji chuckled playfully, “Didn’t Miss Zhang previously criticize me for being unlearned and untalented?”

Zhang Zheng quickly explained, “You misunderstood. My sister merely looks down on those who lack ability, but this ‘ability’ doesn’t necessarily refer to the Classics. When you arrive in the capital, you’ll know; she has quite a reputation there. Even the students at the Imperial Academy are afraid of her.”

“Oh?” Chen Ji’s curiosity was piqued. “Why is that?”

While Chen Ji’s gaze was off the chessboard, Zhang Zheng secretly placed a few black pieces on the board while explaining, “You might not know this, but the Imperial Academy not only teaches the Four Books and Five Classics but also mathematics and legal codes. Our little uncle, Xu Shu, is not only the Deputy Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory but also holds the position of Doctor of Mathematics at the Imperial Academy.”

Zhang Zheng continued, “Our little uncle is lazy and doesn’t like waking up at dawn to teach, so he frequently calls my sister to substitute for him. At first, the Imperial Academy students were extremely reluctant, seeing that she was a woman. They even staged a sit-in protest to the Libationer. Later, my sister posed a problem, and it took half an hour for just one person to answer it. That’s when they became well-behaved.”

Chen Ji glanced down at the extra pieces on the board but didn’t expose it. He simply placed a white piece, capturing all the extra black pieces. Then he asked, “What kind of problem took them half an hour?”

Zhang Xia, laughing, said from the side, “Looking far at a grand seven-story pagoda, red lights multiply with each increasing level. There are 381 lights in total. How many lights are on the very top?”

Chen Ji didn’t even look up. “Three,” he said.

Zhang Xia’s eyes widened. “Oh, have you heard this problem before?” she exclaimed.

Chen Ji smiled. “Yes, I’ve heard it before,” he replied.

Zhang Xia held a sunflower seed poised at her lips, eyeing Chen Ji suspiciously. “Really?” she pressed. “Then let me ask you this: There are beasts with six heads and four feet, and birds with four heads and two feet. There are 76 heads in total, and 46 feet in total. How many birds and how many beasts are there?”

Chen Ji said casually, “Eight beasts, seven birds.”

Zhang Xia was startled. “You’ve heard this one too?” she asked.

Chen Ji laughed heartily. “Yes, I’ve heard that one too,” he said.

He changed the subject. “So, Miss Zhang became unbeatable at the Imperial Academy thanks to her ‘mathematics’ skills?”

Zhang Zheng chuckled gleefully. “And also her sharp tongue,” he added. “Those Imperial Academy students hadn’t passed the provincial examination for many years, so they were frustrated and discontent. A little ‘horse pee’ and they’d start spouting nonsense and cursing people. One of them, drunk, went to pick a fight with my sister, claiming that his failure to pass the provincial examination was entirely because there were women in the Imperial Academy, and he cursed loudly outside my sister’s study.”

Chen Ji remained calm. “And then?” he asked.

Zhang Zheng said, “Then my sister gave him a problem.”

Chen Ji was puzzled. “What problem?” he asked.

Zhang Zheng picked up the teacup beside him and drained it. “My sister asked him: ‘If your mother and ten rabbits are in a cage, why are there only forty feet?’ The student was utterly baffled. ‘Ten rabbits naturally have forty feet,’ he said. ‘Why are there still only forty feet when my mother is added?'”

Zhang Zheng put down the teacup. “My sister replied, ‘Because you don’t have a mother.'”

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia in astonishment. What a powerful retort!

Zhang Xia gave a light cough. She lowered her head slightly, somewhat embarrassed, and sipped her tea to hide it.

At this moment, a clamor arose from the hall not far away, where officials were clinking cups and drinking heartily.

Chen Ji looked at Zhang Xia. “Who’s over there?” he asked.

Zhang Xia emptied the sunflower seed shells from her left palm into a plate and clapped her hands. “The gentry and prominent families from Mengjin County have come to pay their respects to my father,” she said. “My father is drinking with them right now.”

Chen Ji asked curiously, “Lord Zhang is about to be promoted to Left Vice Minister of Personnel. Does he still need to socialize with the gentry from a small county?”

Zhang Xia explained from the side, “They say ‘imperial power does not extend below the county level.’ In the nine counties of Luocheng, the social connections are intricately complex. If my father doesn’t get close to these gentry, he won’t even be able to collect the autumn grain. The gentry in these large counties live even more comfortably than the wealthy landowners in the capital or Jinling. They are the true local emperors.”

A weak mother produces merchants; a strong father raises ministers; prosperous ancestors allow one to stay in their native place; a poor family forces one to travel to other lands. In the Ning Dynasty, people believed that unless one became an official, only the unsuccessful would need to leave their hometowns and endure hardships.

As they were speaking, urgent hoofbeats were heard from outside the inn.

As it drew near, they saw a soldier on horseback shouting, “Five hundred li urgent dispatch!”

Chen Ji and the others stood up and started walking outside. Even Zhang Zhuo and the others, who were clinking cups, put down their wine glasses and rushed out to greet him.

The urgent dispatch grades at the inn were categorized as four hundred li, five hundred li, and six hundred li. These three grades were strictly forbidden unless for critical military matters.

The soldier, carrying a bamboo tube sealed with wax, came forward. He dismounted and asked, “Where is the Postmaster of Mengjin Post Station?”

A middle-aged postmaster with a flowing beard stepped forward. “I am he!” he said.

The soldier untied the bamboo tube from his back and took out an envelope from his pocket. “Inside is a War Ministry dispatch,” he announced. “Prepare a meal and a top-grade horse for me. I’ll return to report my mission after I’ve eaten!”

The postmaster took the bamboo tube, on which black characters were branded with a hot iron: “For Luocheng Prefect Chen Liqin. Those who open it without authorization shall be punished by law!”

Zhang Zhuo exclaimed in surprise, “It’s for Lord Chen… Young man, who sent this five hundred li urgent dispatch?”

The soldier glanced at him and said haughtily, “The Crown Prince!”

No wonder the soldier was so arrogant, disregarding even the postmaster; he had come by the Crown Prince’s command.

Zhang Zhuo handed the bamboo tube to Chen Liqin. “Open it and see,” he said.

Chen Liqin exhaled a breath smelling of wine. He broke the wax seal and poured out a letter with a red seal inside. After reading it, he frowned for a long time without speaking.

Zhang Zhuo asked, puzzled, “What did the Crown Prince say that has you so worried?”

Chen Liqin looked at him. “The Crown Prince has ordered me not to return to the capital, but to go directly to Guyuan to meet him,” he said.

Zhang Zhuo instinctively said, “No!”

“Hmm?” Chen Liqin was bewildered. “Lord Zhang, what do you mean by that?”

Zhang Zhuo pulled Chen Liqin aside and, emboldened by the wine, said, “Lord Chen, I’m only telling you this because we’ve been colleagues for three years. If you think it’s wrong, just consider it drunk talk. Guyuan is one of the Nine Borders, already a place where good and bad are mixed. In recent years, the Jin faction’s border army has often defied the imperial court. Cases of embezzling military pay and supplies, and killing innocent civilians to claim military achievements, have been endless; they’ve just been suppressed by the Grand Secretariat. The Crown Prince’s timing in going to Guyuan is certainly not simple. Don’t get involved in this muddy water, or you might lose your life and fortune!”

Chen Liqin hesitated. “But I am an official of the Eastern Palace, a Junior Attendant of the Zhan Shi Fu. How can I refuse?”

Zhang Zhuo grumbled, “Haven’t you even reported to the Ministry of Personnel yet? And according to regulations and ancestral customs, before taking up your post, you must fast for three days at the City God Temple and offer sacrifices to all gods. Just use that as an excuse to decline!”

Chen Liqin shook his head. “Since I am already an official of the Eastern Palace, it is my duty to assist the Crown Prince with all my heart and might. If I don’t go for the Crown Prince’s five hundred li urgent dispatch, how will I conduct myself in the Eastern Palace in the future? How will the Crown Prince trust me?”

Zhang Zhuo’s eyes widened. “Must you become a ‘dragon-following minister’?” he retorted. “Don’t get dizzy from the pie falling from the sky. If he doesn’t trust you, at worst he’ll replace you. At that point, you’ll just be holding a different office; it won’t cost you your life!”

Chen Liqin’s face hardened. “Lord Zhang, there’s no need for further words,” he declared. “I am not like you; I don’t have so many thoughts of self-preservation. A ruler acts as a ruler, a minister as a minister; a father as a father, a son as a son. If the ruler wishes the minister to die, the minister must die. The Crown Prince is in need of people right now; how can I not go? I, Chen Liqin, am not someone who fears death!”

Zhang Zhuo was so angry he laughed. “Fine, fine, go ahead and court death,” he scoffed. “Your wife, children, and elderly will come with me; I’ll escort them to the capital.”

Chen Liqin’s face grew darker and darker. “Lord Zhang, don’t be an alarmist,” he stated. “The Crown Prince is in Guyuan, which is within our Ning Dynasty’s jurisdiction. With over two hundred thousand troops stationed there, what danger could there be?”

Zhang Zhuo pondered for a moment. “I don’t care about others, but Chen Ji must come with me,” he declared.

Chen Liqin, furious, flung his sleeve and walked away. “Absurd!” he scoffed.

Zhang Zhuo watched Chen Liqin’s retreating back and sighed. He cupped his hands to the gentry. “It seems we can’t continue drinking,” he said. “Please head back, everyone.”

After everyone had taken their leave, he looked at Chen Ji again. “You don’t need to pay attention to Lord Chen and his trip to Guyuan,” he said. “We’ll go to our capital. When we get there, you can spend the New Year at the Zhang Residence. On the Lantern Festival, I’ll give each of you six hundred taels of silver as New Year’s money. You can visit the City God Temple, enjoy the lantern fair, and drink at pleasure houses—play however you wish. Young people should just enjoy themselves and have fun; there’s no need to worry about affairs of state.”

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. He took out his Secret Service waist token from his sleeve. “Lord Zhang,” he said, “with this token, you should have no trouble passing through.”

Zhang Zhuo was about to try to persuade him again, but Chen Ji stopped him. “I appreciate your kindness,” Chen Ji said. “Please take Xiaoman with you and lead her to the capital to temporarily stay at the Zhang Residence… I must go with the Chen family to Guyuan.”