Chen Ji silently watched the crowd surge frantically outside the inn, as border guards with swords drove people away, capturing those instigating trouble. Any resistance was met with immediate death.

A队 of border guards passed through Qiuci Street. As they went by Dragon Gate Inn, one guard turned and gave Chen Ji a cold glance but ignored him, continuing the pursuit.

The sky gradually darkened. Chen Ji turned, climbed onto the roof, and instead of heading for food, he moved stealthily along the grey tiled eaves towards Taohuai Lane.

Upon reaching Quli Street, the entire street was eerily silent. Both the tailor shop and Baofeng Zhai had their doors closed.

Chen Ji walked directly to Squire Li’s gate and knocked loudly on the courtyard door.

But after a long time, there was no response from inside the courtyard.

Chen Ji frowned. He had come to find Bailong to inquire about the situation, wanting to test if Bailong was responsible for the burned grain and if he had a countermeasure.

Even if that fire wasn’t Bailong’s doing, bringing Xiaoman, Zhang Zheng, and Zhang Xia to Bailong now was the safest way to ensure their survival, certainly better than staying with the Imperial Guards.

He thought it over carefully, then lightly leaped, gripping the wall’s edge. Using his hands to pull himself up, he crouched gently on top of the courtyard wall, looking inside.

The courtyard was empty. The dozen or so secret agents with knives and axes were nowhere to be seen. The courtyard was neatly arranged and completely exposed, as if no one had ever lived there.

Chen Ji jumped into the courtyard. He pushed open the doors of the east and west wings, finding only tables, chairs, benches, and beds inside. Not even a single piece of paper was left.

For a moment, he found it absurd. Bailong had left? Where had he gone?

Was everything that happened in the afternoon just a dream?

He then walked to the main house. With a gentle push, the door opened.

The room was empty; only a solitary brown leaf package lay on the Eight Immortals table.

Chen Ji walked over and lifted a corner. It was exactly the oranges Bailong had asked him to take to Miss Zhang Er that afternoon!

Everyone had left, but this package of oranges remained, as if Bailong knew he would return, silently mocking him from some hidden place.

Chen Ji, carrying the oranges, returned to Quli Street. He walked directly to the tailor shop and knocked, but again, there was no answer.

He lifted the door panel and entered the shop. Fabrics were neatly stacked on the shelves, and half a garment, unfinished, lay folded on the counter.

The proprietress of the tailor shop was also gone.

As if refusing to believe it, Chen Ji went to knock on doors next door. But only after knocking on every door on Quli Street did he realize that the entire Quli Street had been emptied!

This vast, long Quli Street was like a haunted place: empty and silent.

Chen Ji looked at the dark, cavernous street, his heart filled with uncertainty and suspicion. “Is everyone on this street Bailong’s people? Does that mean hundreds of people were hidden here?”

Where did Bailong gather so many secret agents? And why did he bring so many?

What exactly was Bailong planning to do?

As he pondered, a group of people, openly carrying torches and short knives, burst into Quli Street. The leader pointed forward with his short knife: “Search! Search every single house for grain! If the border army won’t let us live, then no one gets to live. If they won’t give us food, we’ll find it ourselves!”

It wasn’t just Quli Street; the adjacent Duohun Street was the same. The powerful families of Guyuan were starving and couldn’t provoke the border army, so they could only turn their attention to the common people.

Cries and curses filled the air incessantly.

Guyuan was on the verge of chaos.

Chen Ji slowly retreated from Quli Street. He climbed onto a rooftop and hurried towards the grain and oil shop.

Inside Dragon Gate Inn, Xiao Wu was sound asleep, sprawled across the counter. Li Xuan led the Imperial Guards in the main hall. Everyone held a clay bowl filled with thin gruel.

The young masters of the Imperial Guards sat, looking disheveled. Forty catties of grain, divided among five hundred people, meant they were barely surviving.

The Crown Prince lifted his bowl; there was even less gruel in his than in others’.

Li Xuan urged, “Your Highness, please allow me to give you more gruel. If you only drink this little, what if you harm your health?”

The Crown Prince smiled reassuringly. “All of you soldiers have tired yourselves out running around to buy grain. How can I, who merely stays in the inn, take more? Don’t be disheartened, everyone. Perhaps the Right Commander will return with food soon.”

Li Xuan worried, “Your Highness, although Chen Ji is capable, he is still too young. He took on such a heavy responsibility after being provoked a few times by that brat Qi Zhenzhuo. We’ve been running around all day, so we naturally know how difficult it is to find grain. If he truly cannot find any, he shouldn’t be blamed.”

Qi Zhenzhuo mumbled quietly, “He wanted to show off himself. What does it have to do with me?”

Li Xuan glared furiously. “Silence! At a time like this, how can you not work together to assist His Highness? If I catch you bothering Chen Ji again, I will report you upon our return! Don’t blame me for being ruthless then!”

Qi Zhenzhuo retorted defiantly, “But what he said was too infuriating! ‘Grain is easy to find’ – it made it sound as if we Imperial Guards were useless.”

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the inn.

Li Xuan gave Qi Zhenzhuo a look. Qi Zhenzhuo went out to check, and after a moment, he returned with a grave expression. “This is bad. The powerful families in Guyuan are leading their subordinates to plunder the common people, forcibly searching their homes for grain. Some houses where no grain was found even had their walls torn down.”

The Crown Prince suddenly rose. “How can this be? Aren’t the Guyuan border guards doing anything about it?”

Just then, a figure quietly approached the inn’s door, squeezing through the crack into the room.

All eyes turned to see Chen Ji entering, carrying a sack of grain. Xiao Wu suddenly woke up, quickly grabbed a cloth, and brushed the dust and sand off Chen Ji.

Qi Zhenzhuo looked surprised. He took the sack, set it down heavily on the table, and untied the hemp rope binding the sack’s opening. Inside were all bright yellow corn kernels.

He looked at Chen Ji in disbelief. “You… where did you get this grain?”

Chen Ji glanced at him. “Naturally, I bought it from the common people’s homes.”

Qi Zhenzhuo immediately questioned, “Impossible! We visited so many houses and offered a good amount of silver. Why couldn’t we get any?”

Chen Ji gave him a sidelong glance but didn’t respond.

Then, Qi Zhenzhuo pointed at the grain and challenged, “You didn’t just loot this from the common people’s homes during the chaos, did you?”

Chen Ji frowned slightly. “No.”

Chen Liqin stood up and said in a deep voice, “Chen Ji, tell us the truth, did you really steal this grain from the common people’s homes?”

Chen Ji replied again, “No.”

Chen Liqin stepped forward a few paces. “Then where did this grain come from? Which lane, which street, which household, and how much did it cost?”

Chen Ji calmly replied, “Taohuai Lane, Quli Street, Squire Li’s house. It cost five hundred taels of silver for sixty catties of corn.”

Qi Zhenzhuo suddenly said, “That’s wrong. You definitely stole it.”

Chen Ji said in a steady voice, “What if it isn’t?”

Qi Zhenzhuo was silent for two breaths. “Earlier, the Crown Prince gave you the Buddhist currency. If you bought the grain, that string of Buddhist currency would surely no longer be on you. If you stole it, then the Buddhist currency must still be on you, unspent. Allow me to search you; we’ll know immediately.”

Chen Ji looked at the Crown Prince. “Your Highness, what do you think?”

The Crown Prince hesitated for a moment, then stated firmly, “No, we cannot. Chen Ji worked tirelessly to find this grain. How can we make such unfounded conjectures? Everyone, let’s not doubt him.”

But Qi Zhenzhuo persisted, turning to Minister Chen with a sneer. “Minister Chen, earlier today you reminded us Imperial Guards not to steal. What about now? When it’s your own family member, do we search or not?”

Chen Liqin looked at Qi Zhenzhuo, then at Chen Ji, and suddenly cupped his hands towards the Crown Prince. “Your Highness, search him.”

The Crown Prince shook his head. “He cannot be searched.”

Chen Wenzong also stood up, blocking Chen Ji, and said coldly to everyone, “Confucius said: ‘Do not anticipate deceit, nor expect untrustworthiness! Do not suspect others of fraud in advance, nor idly speculate that others are lying!'”

The next moment, Chen Ji smiled and pushed Chen Wenzong aside. “Thank you, elder brother. However, since everyone has doubts, let’s search.”

With that, he spread his arms, gesturing for Qi Zhenzhuo to come forward.

Qi Zhenzhuo didn’t hesitate. His hands searched Chen Ji from his topknot to his ankles, pulling out the package of oranges hidden in his embrace and the Buddhist currency on his wrist.

Triumphantly, Qi Zhenzhuo handed the Buddhist currency to the Crown Prince. “Your Highness, look! The Buddhist currency is still on him! This brat didn’t go to buy grain at all; he simply looted it during the chaos!”

The Crown Prince frowned and handed the Buddhist currency back to Qi Zhenzhuo. “Chen Ji… do you have anything to say?”

Before Chen Ji could answer, Xiao Wu approached Qi Zhenzhuo, examining the string of Buddhist currency. “No, this is two thousand five hundred taels worth of Buddhist currency, not five hundred taels! Look, the first six beads are engraved with ‘All Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas,’ indicating they came from Tuoluo Temple in Luocheng. The middle six beads are engraved with ‘Transferred to Prince Jing’s Estate for Safekeeping,’ meaning the first time they left the temple, they were delivered to Prince Jing. The last six beads are engraved with ‘Holding the Skandhas with Freedom in All Ten Directions,’ which means two thousand five hundred… Do you even understand any of this?”

Having said that, he ran his hand over the micro-carvings on the Buddhist currency. “Hmm, it’s real. The feel of these micro-carvings can’t be mistaken.”

The others were puzzled. The Crown Prince asked curiously, “Where did this Buddhist currency come from?”

Chen Wenzong quickly explained, “My younger brother previously developed a substance called cement. This was the payment Prince Jing gave him when he bought the cement formula.”

The Crown Prince sighed in relief. “So that’s it. It seems everyone misunderstood Chen Ji.”

Li Xuan stood up to mediate. “Chen Ji, as you saw, people were plundering the common folk outside the door just now, which is why we…”

Chen Ji didn’t listen to what he said, nor did he reply. He simply hoisted the sack and walked outside.

Qi Zhenzhuo was instantly startled. “What are you doing?”

No sooner had he spoken than Chen Ji ripped open the sack and poured all the corn kernels out onto the ground by the entrance. Those outside swarmed forward, and in an instant, the scattered corn was completely scooped up.