Day one of the siege.

With the crowing of the rooster, a long line had already formed outside the porridge shed on Kucha Street.

In the line, sing-song girls and dancing girls wrapped themselves in thick camel hair blankets, only their cheeks exposed. Young servants, pimp masters, and customers stood in line, holding ceramic bowls in their hands, waiting for the line to move forward little by little.

The border army soldiers, not wearing armor, wrapped gray headcloths, and held long iron ladles to scoop thin porridge for the common people in line.

Qi Shen Zhe returned from the porridge shed early, holding a bowl. He lifted the cotton curtain, and thump-thump-thump, he ran up the wooden stairs to the second floor and knocked on Li Xuan’s room door.

Inside the room, Li Xuan, who was getting dressed, opened the door and asked in surprise, “What’s the hurry?”

Qi Shen Zhe held the ceramic bowl in front of Li Xuan and said angrily and rapidly, “Brother-in-law, look! The porridge the border army is boiling is actually this thin, looking like this bird. A full bowl is only a dozen grains of corn. What’s the difference between drinking this and drinking water?”

Li Xuan lowered his head to look at the ceramic bowl, his heart suddenly sinking. He saw the thin porridge in the bowl, so clear that he could see the bottom, as bland as dishwater.

He held the ceramic bowl, and without even properly getting dressed, he hurriedly wanted to go out the door.

Qi Shen Zhe pulled him back, “Brother-in-law, where are you going?”

Li Xuan grabbed his collar, lowered his voice, and said, “Wait a while, quickly take people to buy grain. No matter the price, you must buy grain back, even if it’s one tael of silver for one jin!”

Qi Shen Zhe was stunned, “One tael for one jin, this might flip over a hundred times! Brother-in-law, if we buy at this price, the silver we brought may not buy much grain, and what we buy won’t be enough for the Yu Lin Army to eat!”

Li Xuan said angrily, “Grain merchants’ grain has all been requisitioned by the border army. That group of merchants doesn’t even have the chance to hoard and resell. Now, the border army is giving porridge like this. Everyone in the whole of Gu Yuan is not getting enough food. It’s fortunate if you can still buy grain. It’s a small matter if you and I starve. Now, if His Highness starves with us, you and I will have to apologize with death! Spend all the silver you have, protect His Highness first!”

He fiercely pushed past Qi Shen Zhe and ran up to the third floor, knocking on the Crown Prince’s room door.

The Crown Prince opened the door, “Official Li, what’s wrong?”

Li Xuan said in a low voice, “Your Highness, look at this porridge. I only fear that in half a month, people will exchange children for food. If the Jing Dynasty army besieges the city for a month… the consequences are unimaginable.”

The Crown Prince looked at the porridge in his hand and furrowed his brows, “Quickly send Yu Lin Army soldiers to find grain. If someone can buy ten shi of grain, they will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver after returning to the capital. If someone can buy one hundred shi of grain, they will be promoted by one rank after returning to the capital! Also, go call Official Chen and the others up. We must immediately discuss a new strategy!”

Li Xuan left in a flurry.

The Crown Prince paced back and forth in the room, thinking about how to solve the grain problem and who among the people around him could solve this matter.

Chen Li Qin? Chen Li Qin wouldn’t work. This Official Chen still pinned his hopes on the border army and would only follow the rules. In times of crisis, he had no ‘extraordinary’ ability.

Li Xuan? Li Xuan also wouldn’t work. This high official had the skill to cause chaos in the ranks and fight a hundred enemies alone, but he was not a ‘capable official’.

Qi Shen Zhe was just a playboy from the Qi family who came to gain experience. Normally, he had to give face to the Qi family, but at present, he could not be entrusted with important tasks.

Chen Ji…

The Crown Prince thought for a long time, and finally walked to the next door and knocked.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

The Crown Prince knocked for a long time, but no one opened the door.

At this time, Li Xuan led Chen Li Qin, Chen Wen Zong, and Qi Shen Zhe up the stairs. The Crown Prince asked in confusion, “Where did Chen Ji go?”

Chen Wen Zong bowed and replied, “Reporting to the Crown Prince, I saw third brother and the young master and second miss of the Zhang family go out together before the rooster crowed. I asked him where he was going, and he said he was going to get porridge.”

Qi Shen Zhe was slightly startled, “I also went to get porridge, but I didn’t see him.”

After saying this, he muttered in a low voice, “This kid wouldn’t have seen us cut off from grain and run away on his own again, would he?”

Everyone looked at each other, and the Crown Prince said slowly, “Let’s not worry about Chen Ji for now. Gentlemen, please come in and discuss strategy.”

In Peach Locust Alley, Zhang’s Grain and Oil Shop was a mess on the ground.

The shelves in the room were all pushed down by the border army who requisitioned grain last night. Even the earth walls and the ground were smashed with several holes, and baskets were scattered everywhere.

It seemed that the border army saw no one answer the door yesterday, so they directly climbed over the courtyard wall to search and take things. Salt jars, vegetable seed oil, flour, sesame, mung beans, vinegar on the shelves – everything edible was taken away. They didn’t even spare the dried radishes hanging on the roof.

At this time, Zhang Zheng, Zhang Xia, and Xiao Man were just gathered around a stone well, silently waiting.

An incense stick later, Chen Ji climbed out of the well with a hemp rope. Zhang Zheng stepped forward and stretched out his hand to pull him up.

Chen Ji patted the dust off his body and said in a low voice, “The grain is still there. The cellar is very big, and the walls inside are coated with lime, so there’s no need to worry about the grain getting damp for a short time. Inside, there is corn, millet, rice, and also some air-dried preserved meat and pickled vegetables stored, enough for us to eat.”

After saying this, he untied the cloth bag on his back and handed it to Xiao Man, “Pack it well. Inside is our ration for the next few days. We can’t make a fire and cook here to avoid attracting the suspicion of the neighbors.”

This year, selling private salt was forbidden. If caught, one would be exiled three thousand li to serve labor. Small salt peddlers would then pickle private salt into meat and vegetables and sell them air-dried, which was more hidden. With these things, there was no shortage of salt.

Chen Ji sighed, “Just now, I saw that the porridge in the porridge sheds was so thin. It’s still okay for now, but in another ten days or half a month, perhaps many people will starve to death.”

Xiao Man hugged the cloth bag tightly in her arms, “Young master, you must not be overly kind and send all the grain out. This two thousand shi of grain seems like a lot, but if you really send it out, it won’t save the common people of this whole city.”

Chen Ji said helplessly, “Don’t worry, if you really want to save people, you can’t rely on this little bit of grain. Don’t hug the cloth bag so tightly, otherwise others will know that there is treasure inside.”

Zhang Zheng sat on the stone edge of the well and sighed, “The Yu Lin Army and the Crown Prince are also big-hearted. They could actually sleep last night. If I were Li Xuan, I should have gone door to door overnight to buy grain. However, Chen Ji, if you want to approach the Crown Prince, now is the best opportunity.”

Chen Ji’s eyes were calm, “Let them be hungry for a while first.”

Knock, knock, knock. There was a sound of pounding on the door.

The four people looked at the tightly closed big door of the grain and oil shop at the same time. A shout came from outside, “Shopkeeper! Shopkeeper! Is there any grain left in the shop?”

Zhang Xia said in a low voice, “It’s Qi Shen Zhe’s voice. They’ve come to buy grain.”

A moment later, Qi Shen Zhe saw no one respond and immediately went to knock on the big door of the shop next door.

He heard the clerk next door say impatiently, “None, none. It was all searched away by the border army last night. If you want to buy grain, go elsewhere, don’t bother us!”

Qi Shen Zhe said angrily, “If you don’t have it, you don’t have it. You can’t speak properly. Believe me, I’ll smash your shop!”

As he spoke, his voice gradually went further away. It seemed that other Yu Lin Army soldiers were dragging him away.

In the backyard of the grain and oil shop, Zhang Zheng said disdainfully at the well edge, “If they buy like this, the yellow cauliflower will be cold. What they should do most now is to go find the neighbors and buy the surplus grain from their homes door to door with heavy gold. More or less, they can still buy some that are hidden up. Places like grain shops were searched clean by the border army long ago!”

Xiao Man gave him a side glance, “Young Master Zhang, you’re like putting the horse after the cannon. I didn’t see you mention buying grain earlier.”

Zhang Zheng said cheerfully, “Isn’t Xiao Man here? Why do I need to?”

Xiao Man was slightly startled. This Zhang Zheng suddenly didn’t argue with her and instead flattered her. She was still a bit unaccustomed.

Chen Ji patted the white lime powder off his clean clothes, “Let’s go. Don’t worry about them.”

The few people quietly left the grain and oil shop while it was still not bright.

Along the way, ten thousand households were desolate. Steamed bun shops, breakfast shops, noodle stalls, all were closed. Outside the simple porridge sheds, there were long lines. The common people in line also seemed to have their yang energy sucked away by yin souls, without any spirit.

Peddlers still came out to set up stalls, but no one inquired at the stalls.

Just at this time, two people brushed past them.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Xia suddenly let out a light “eh” and turned her head to look, “People from Lu Cheng?”

Chen Ji furrowed his brows and followed Zhang Xia’s gaze. He saw two strong men wearing single clothes in the winter, hurrying in large strides.

Zhang Zheng thought for a bit, “Are they merchants or escorts who came from Lu Cheng?”

Zhang Xia closed her eyes to recall, “Not certain. The last time I saw him was at the Lantern Festival lantern fair in Lu Cheng last year, beside Wen Feng Tower. He was holding a little girl in his arms. The little girl had two pigtails tied with red ribbons, and she held a colorful windmill in her hand…”

“The other one, I saw him twice, both in the East Market. The first time, he came out of the silk shop, and I was just about to go in; the second time, I was riding a red date horse, and he was driving the Liu family carriage and passed by…”

Silk, Lantern Festival, carriage, Liu family.

Chen Ji always felt that something was wrong, but for a moment, he couldn’t think clearly what exactly was wrong.

Zhang Zheng said curiously, “It’s also possible that they are truly merchants who came to do business. Lu Cheng is the first station for transporting silk to the Western Regions. Many merchants stop there and then go to Taiyuan Prefecture.”

“No, that’s not right,” Chen Ji furrowed his brows, “He isn’t holding a bowl. Going out so early and not going to get porridge means there must be something more important.”

Chen Ji lifted his feet to follow the two strong men, wanting to investigate the truth. He subconsciously felt that a shocking secret was hidden within this.

However, just after turning a street corner, Chen Ji suddenly turned around and led Zhang Zheng and the others into the pawnshop shop on the side of the street, where the doorboards had just been unloaded.

Diagonally opposite the shop, a scar-faced middle-aged man, as he brushed past the two men, seemed to stuff something into their hands.

Zhang Xia turned her head to look. The scar-faced middle-aged man was strikingly Old Wu, the border army deputy general suspected of poisoning and killing the thirty-four people of the Chen family!

Chen Ji’s heart was inexplicably alarmed. The thirty-four lives of the Chen family, the border army’s deputy general, men from Lu Cheng – what was the connection between them?

No, no, that’s not right. There were also the cotton gloves sent by Jing Wang to the border army, the border army soldiers who wanted revenge for Jing Wang… Gu Yuan seemed like a huge labyrinth, and this intricate labyrinth had only one exit.

In such a big city of Gu Yuan, few people could walk out alive to that exit.

He said in a low voice, “You all take the grain back first. I’ll follow Old Wu to see where he goes. Old Wu might just be the key to maintaining various sides and untangling the riddle for the border army.”

After saying this, Chen Ji turned and went out the door.

As he passed a small stall outside the door, he picked up a hat and put it on his head. The stall owner was just about to shout, but he saw twenty coins fall onto the stall with a ding-ding-dang.

When the stall owner lifted his head again to look for Chen Ji’s figure, Chen Ji had already disappeared without a trace.