In the dark night, golden-yellow corn kernels were scattered on the road, making a crisp rustling sound.

Chen Ji stood quietly in front of the inn, watching people approach, torches in hand, following the sound. They swarmed, prostrated themselves on the ground, scooped the scattered corn kernels into their arms, and then got up and ran.

What was grain?

In Guyuan at that very moment, grain was life.

Several Imperial Forest Guards rushed out of the inn, their eyes bulging with fury as they questioned Chen Ji, “What are you doing? Why did you pour the grain on the ground?”

Chen Ji ignored him, turning to walk back into the inn.

Qi Zhenzhuo followed him, angrily demanding, “Grain is scarce now! You’ve dumped it all—what will everyone eat tomorrow? What will His Highness eat?”

Chen Ji returned to the main hall.

The inn’s main hall was quiet, and the flickering candlelight danced in everyone’s eyes.

They exchanged glances. When Chen Ji had been searched earlier, he hadn’t complained, leading them to believe he had given in. They never expected him to act so resolutely.

At that moment, Qi Zhenzhuo followed, rushing into the main hall. He reached out to grab Chen Ji’s shoulder. “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me talking to you?”

The moment Qi Zhenzhuo’s right hand touched Chen Ji’s shoulder, Chen Ji, without turning his head, extended his left hand, seized Qi Zhenzhuo’s wrist, and with a slight bend of his body, threw him over his back.

With a crash, Qi Zhenzhuo smashed through a wooden table and lay on the ground.

“You bastard!” Qi Zhenzhuo got up, cursing angrily. “Come on, let’s see what you’re made of! Let me test your strength!”

Li Xuan exploded in rage. “Qi Zhenzhuo, have you caused enough trouble yet? Stop it!”

But Qi Zhenzhuo was in a fit of rage and wouldn’t listen.

Qi Zhenzhuo lunged at Chen Ji, who subtly shifted his body aside. Then, with a light hook of his toe, Chen Ji tripped Qi Zhenzhuo, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Several Imperial Forest Guards, who were familiar with Qi Zhenzhuo, simultaneously flipped over tables and lunged at Chen Ji.

Unfortunately, these “young master” soldiers, despite having their official positions bought by their families, had never truly fought in real combat. Their movements against Chen Ji were a blur, a series of touches and immediate separations, leaving onlookers dazzled.

When everyone looked closely again, the “young master” soldiers were already lying on the ground, groaning incessantly.

An Imperial Forest Guard watching the fight, seeing his comrade humiliated, immediately drew the long sword from his waist and thrust it towards Chen Ji.

Chen Ji, though unarmed, neither dodged nor yielded. Just as the long sword was about to pierce his chest, he used both hands to clamp down on the blade. With a powerful flick of his wrists, he demanded, “Let go!”

The Guard’s palm went numb, and he involuntarily released the sword hilt.

Li Xuan’s pupils suddenly contracted. Qi Zhenzhuo got up, ready to lunge again, but Li Xuan kicked him back.

Qi Zhenzhuo’s eyes reddened. “Brother-in-law!”

Li Xuan growled, “What more is there to say when your skills are inferior? Even ten more like you wouldn’t be able to do anything to him!”

Qi Zhenzhuo’s face also flushed red.

In the main hall, silence finally returned.

Chen Liqin pondered for a long time before speaking. “Chen Ji, you will all be colleagues under His Highness in the future. How can you resort to such fighting? Quickly apologize to everyone. Also, your action of pouring out the grain was indeed improper…”

Chen Ji looked at Chen Liqin and politely interrupted, “Master Chen, there’s no need to worry; their injuries are not severe. Furthermore, I would never do anything underhanded or disgrace the Chen family name. This grain came cleanly and went cleanly; it’s quite clear.”

Chen Liqin was speechless for a moment.

Li Xuan stepped in to smooth things over. “Chen Ji, Master Chen and Qi Zhenzhuo were only concerned that you might have been momentarily confused. Everyone here wasn’t thinking of themselves, but of His Highness’s reputation. If we were to be caught doing something wrong, it would also damage His Highness’s good name. If any offense was given, I apologize on their behalf. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Chen Ji smiled and said, “Master Li, I naturally understand that principle and won’t take it to heart.”

With that, he bowed remotely to the Prince. “Your Highness, this humble subordinate was impulsive just now and threw all the grain away. I deeply regret it. Whatever punishment there is, I will accept.”

The Prince hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed softly. “It’s not entirely your fault… there’s no need for punishment. Brother Chen Ji, you’ve worked hard today. Please go back and rest.”

Chen Ji picked up the palm-leaf package from the table. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, he took out a golden-yellow orange and placed it in Chen Wenzong’s palm. He smiled and said, “Elder brother, eat an orange to calm down. It’s fine.”

Chen Wenzong dazedly took the orange, then saw Chen Ji place two more oranges for the Prince before heading upstairs.

Everyone’s gaze followed Chen Ji’s figure until he disappeared at the top of the stairs.

There were no fierce arguments, no angry accusations. It ended just like that, as if nothing had happened.

A long time later, Li Xuan angrily whispered, “Qi Zhenzhuo, are you satisfied now? Just fifteen minutes ago, I told you not to cause trouble for Chen Ji. Can you not understand plain language?”

Qi Zhenzhuo knew he had caused trouble but still whispered defensively, “Didn’t you all suspect him just now? Even Master Chen doubted him!”

Chen Liqin’s expression changed.

Seeing him still arguing, Li Xuan was so enraged that he drew the long sword from his waist and chopped the Eight Immortals table in front of him in two. “Stop arguing! Let me ask you, what will we eat tomorrow? What will His Highness eat? If my five hundred Imperial Forest Guards don’t die on the battlefield, but are starved to death here in Guyuan, our ancestors will all be disgraced!”

Seeing Li Xuan’s genuine fury, Qi Zhenzhuo instantly fell silent.

At that moment, Zhang Xia’s sharp voice came from upstairs. “So many people couldn’t find any grain all day, and you found it, only to be suspected? Then don’t bother with them! Let them go find their own grain, and we’ll see how many days it takes for them to starve to death.”

Speaking of which, Zhang Xia continued relentlessly, “And that Chen family, I don’t know what’s wrong with them! Their own people don’t protect their own, but instead join others in baseless speculation. It’s bad enough they hide grain and secretly eat it, but even their servants hide grain! Truly, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. It’s bad luck to be born into the Chen family; they might as well come to my Zhang family!”

Finally, Zhang Xia tossed out a line: “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven… Filial piety, fraternity, loyalty, trustworthiness, courtesy, righteousness, integrity.”

Only then did she return to her room and close the door.

Everyone knew that Zhang Xia was only pretending to speak to Chen Ji, but had purposely gone to the corridor outside her door to ensure those downstairs could hear her. Zhang Xia was truly furious this time, just short of pointing her finger at their noses and scolding them.

The Prince hesitated for a moment. “I had heard earlier that the Second Miss Zhang in the capital was fiery and spirited, but I never expected her to be so… well, frank and direct.”

Li Xuan looked at everyone. “What was the meaning of that doggerel rhyme Second Miss Zhang recited just now?”

“The first half lacks ‘eight’, and the second half lacks ‘shame’,” Chen Wenzong calmly explained. “So the verse implies complete shamelessness.”

All the Imperial Forest Guards were left utterly shamed by the scolding.

Li Xuan turned and bowed with clasped fists to the Prince. “This humble subordinate requests Your Highness to remove Qi Zhenzhuo from his position as deputy commander and demote him to squad leader. Additionally, all the Imperial Forest Guards who took action just now shall have their salaries docked for half a year, as a form of accountability to Chen Ji.”

Just as Qi Zhenzhuo was about to speak, Li Xuan glared at him fiercely. “Otherwise, you can be responsible for finding sixty catties of grain every day! Qi Zhenzhuo, you constantly claim to admire capable people, yet now that you’ve truly met someone stronger than you, why won’t you admit defeat? Where has the integrity of the Qi family gone?”

The Prince looked at Qi Zhenzhuo. “What are your thoughts?”

Qi Zhenzhuo remained silent for a long time. “Reporting to Your Highness, this humble subordinate is willing to accept the punishment and will go to Chen Ji later to offer a sincere apology.”

The Prince nodded. “Then do as Master Li says. Don’t go to Chen Ji later; he’s still angry right now. If you go, you might end up in another noisy quarrel. Wait until tomorrow morning, then you and Master Li can go together to apologize.”

The second day of the siege.

In the early morning, there was no crowing of roosters, no barking of dogs.

Guyuan’s chickens and dogs seemed to have all died overnight. The place was like an abandoned land, utterly silent.

Li Xuan pulled Qi Zhenzhuo’s arm, forcibly dragging him out of the room. “Come on, stop dawdling!”

Qi Zhenzhuo leaned back, resisting. “Brother-in-law, I haven’t figured out what to say yet.”

Li Xuan lowered his voice and scolded, “Still not convinced? You’ve cultivated for so many years, and the Qi family has provided you with all the resources, yet you’re still only at the Post-Natal stage, not even close to the Innate stage. He’s seven or eight years younger than you, and he’s already at the Innate stage. Even if he fought you with one hand, you couldn’t beat him!”

Qi Zhenzhuo struggled, shaking his arm. “I am convinced! I didn’t say I wasn’t!”

Li Xuan stopped in the corridor, staring fixedly at Qi Zhenzhuo. “The grain you collected was a mixture of rice, millet, sorghum, and corn—it’s obvious it was gathered piecemeal from ordinary households. Now, look at him: he brought back an entire package of corn. What does that indicate?”

Qi Zhenzhuo wondered, “What does it indicate? He found a cornfield?”

Li Xuan gave an exasperated laugh. “It indicates he found a major grain merchant! The grain they have is definitely more than just these sixty catties of corn!”

Qi Zhenzhuo was startled. “That makes sense.”

Li Xuan softened his tone. “Please, can your brother-in-law beg you? I still have hundreds of people under me waiting to eat. We can’t just let them starve, can we? Zhenzhuo, your sister begged the Old Master for half a year to get me this official position. Don’t make things difficult for me.”

Qi Zhenzhuo hesitated for a long time, finally gritting his teeth. “It’s just an apology; it’s not like I’ll lose a limb. Let’s go.”

The two went up the stairs to the third floor and knocked loudly on the door of Room Tianzi-Bing.

No one responded.

They exchanged glances, and Li Xuan raised his hand to knock again.

Still, no one responded.

Li Xuan’s heart sank. He turned and ran downstairs. When he reached the main hall, he looked at Xiao Wu, who was wiping tables. “Attendant, where are the guests from Room Tianzi-Bing upstairs?”

Xiao Wu lazily replied, “They went out early this morning, sir.”

Qi Zhenzhuo wondered, “Could they have gone out to find grain?”

Xiao Wu grinned. “Probably not to find grain.”

“How do you know?” Qi Zhenzhuo asked, puzzled.

Xiao Wu finished wiping the table, tossed the rag onto his shoulder, and said, “Yesterday, he went to all that trouble to find grain, only to be harassed. Would he really go looking for more trouble today? That would be foolish.”

Qi Zhenzhuo’s face flushed. Even the inn attendant was mocking him.

Li Xuan hastily asked, “Where did they go?”

Xiao Wu turned and walked towards the backyard. “Why ask me, sir? They don’t need to tell a mere attendant like me where they’re going.”

Li Xuan and Qi Zhenzhuo exchanged glances. Chen Ji didn’t even intend to give them a chance to apologize.