Early morning, before the chickens crowed, the sounds of splashing water came from the ginkgo garden. Xiao Man sat on a small chair at the edge of the bed, her eyes opening in a daze.

She hugged the little black cat and got up, following the sound of water. Pushing the door open, she saw Chen Ji with his sleeves rolled up, carrying a wooden bucket and pouring water into the large jar in the ear room. She rubbed her eyes and said in surprise, “Young master, you really went to fetch water! Which noble young master would fetch water himself? It would be a joke if it got out.”

Chen Ji smiled, “I’m not some noble young master. I’m just a humble person from a medical hall apprentice background. I don’t care how others see me.”

Xiao Man muttered, “You’re not in the medical hall anymore. Don’t mention the medical hall apprentice identity. Many people in the capital don’t know.”

Chen Ji put down his rolled-up sleeves and said seriously, “Xiao Man, the medical hall apprentice is the identity I like the most. There’s nothing that cannot be seen by people.”

Xiao Man looked up and asked carefully, “Is it because young master knows the princess from there?”

Chen Ji’s hand, pulling down his sleeves, paused for a moment. He said frankly, “Not just that. There’s also my master, two senior brothers, Shizi, Brother Gou Er, and Brother Mao Er. Oh, and a little monk who can see through others’ thoughts. He should be cultivating at Yuan Jue Temple now. We can go see him when we have time.”

Xiao Man said in a low voice, “Young master, I’ll say something unpleasant. The princess, she…”

Chen Ji interrupted, “Xiao Man, even if you were trapped in Jing Yang Palace, I would find every way to save you.”

Xiao Man’s eyes brightened. “Really? Young master isn’t deceiving me.”

“Really, really,” Chen Ji changed the subject. “Right, how much silver do I still have?”

Xiao Man calculated carefully, “When young master left Gu Yuan, you had two hundred thirty-seven taels of silver. When you became sworn siblings, Second Sister gave six hundred taels of ritual money. After returning to the Chen residence, Sister Duan Wu gave one hundred taels for you to buy information. Of that, I took thirty taels and twenty taels, and young master took eighty taels. A total of nine hundred seventeen taels of silver.”

Chen Ji pondered. Growing one stripe required lighting seven hundred twenty lamps of furnace fire, which meant three hundred sixty branches of old ginseng, and over ten thousand taels of silver… He now had three stripes, five hundred fifty lamps of furnace fire. At least over forty thousand taels of silver were still needed! The path of the Shan Lord Gate was too expensive. Where could he get so much silver? Even if he took back and sold all of his aunt’s assets, it wouldn’t necessarily be enough. Moreover, there was something else he needed to do that required a lot of silver.

Chen Ji thought for a moment. “Xiao Man, we need to save money recently, save a lot, a lot of money.”

Xiao Man was puzzled. “What does young master need so much money for? Betrothal gifts?”

Chen Ji shook his head. “No, you’ll know later. You go back to bed and sleep for a bit. I need to go to the Yu Lin Army Commandery Mansion to report for duty.”

Xiao Man followed him to the courtyard door. “Then I’ll bring you lunch at noon. The Chen family’s meals don’t cost anything. Now that the old master and the eldest old master have told the kitchen, they won’t dare bully me anymore. We should save where we can and spend where we should. Just let your colleagues see. They might laugh at you for being poor, not even willing to eat at a restaurant.”

Chen Ji smiled, “It’s okay, let them think what they want.”

Xiao Man suddenly said, “Oh, this little black cat still doesn’t have a name. You should give it one… You still haven’t held it.”

She held the little black cat in front of him. The little black cat turned its head, its slippery eyes looking around.

Chen Ji didn’t reach out to take it, just smiled and said, “You can give it a name.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the Qin Zheng Garden side door along the green brick path. The Chen family was the second house on Fu You Street. In front of the door was a clean green brick road, and the bricks were carved with plum blossom, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum.

Just outside the door, he saw Li Xuan waiting. Qi Zhen Zhe leaned against the side door, using one foot to kick the stone lion in front of the Chen family door. Seeing Chen Ji come out, he quickly used his sleeve to wipe the footprints off the stone lion. “Master, you finally came out.”

Chen Ji asked in confusion, “Why are you also reporting for duty so early? I thought you would be sleeping in at home.”

Qi Zhen Zhe grunted, “It was hard for my family to get me out of prison. I have to be honest on duty now. If that poisonous minister catches a handle again, my dad will probably break my leg.”

Chen Ji looked at Li Xuan. “Why are you all waiting for me here?”

Qi Zhen Zhe quickly explained, “The Qi family is the first house on Fu You Street, and your Chen family is the second house. We’re just on the way. Besides, that Chen Wen Ren was killed by Zhao Zhuo Fan. Who knows what kind of revenge he’s planning? That person has no real ability, but he has a lot of malicious tricks. What if he finds people to ambush you on the way and delays you from reporting for duty? So it’s safer to go together.”

Chen Ji hummed in understanding.

Qi Zhen Zhe added, “I’m not looking down on you, Master. We all know your ability. But the Chen family’s second house has several high officials. What if that kid instructs an official to cause trouble for you? You can’t defend against it.”

Chen Ji smiled and said, “No need to explain, thank you very much.”

The three of them crossed the Tai Ping Bridge made of Han Bai Yu. Opposite the bridge was no longer the high gates and courtyards of noble families, but a small alley emitting cooking smoke.

As they walked through the alley, the sky was still blue. On a coal stove at the alley mouth, steamers were stacked higher than a person. An old man in a short jacket knocked on the edge of a pot with an iron spoon, shouting clearly, “Fried dough twists! Sugar oil cakes!”

There were several small tables and stools in front of the stall. Short workers eating breakfast together muttered, “There was wrestling on Tian Qiao yesterday. Which side won in the end? I had to rush to deliver vegetables to the Hu family and didn’t dare stop to watch.”

The stall owner laughed happily, “It must have been the He Ji! The He Ji has won for seven years, completely suppressing the Rui Fu Xiang.”

Beside a small table, a man said mysteriously, “I was just watching at Tian Qiao yesterday. I almost missed the Li Shi Lang family’s banquet, hehe. This time, it really wasn’t the He Ji that won!”

“Quick, quick, tell us what happened!”

“The Rui Fu Xiang somehow found a new wrestler, nicknamed Brother Robe. His skill is outstanding! He beat Wang Kui from the He Ji so badly he didn’t know which way was up!”

“Wow! That fierce!”

Chen Ji stopped. Li Xuan turned back in confusion. “What’s wrong? They’re just some minor idlers from the East City. They wrestle and fight fiercely all day, snatching territory. It gives the officials a headache. Who knows who is supporting them from behind? No one has done anything about them for so many years.”

Chen Ji thought for a moment. “Nothing, let’s go.”

The three of them walked along West Chang An Great Street to the front of the Yuan Gate. Over two hundred Yu Lin Army soldiers were all on the training ground. Just as they were talking, Chen Wen Ren saw them come in, turned his head to give a sideways glance, and then said loudly, “From today on, all of us in the Yu Lin Army will take turns on duty. If you are not on time to report for duty again, don’t blame this commander for being ruthless and unforgiving.”

Qi Zhen Zhe smiled, narrowed his eyes, and pulled Chen Ji forward, interrupting Chen Wen Ren’s words. “Let me introduce someone to you all. This is Chen Ji, our Yu Lin Army instructor. From now on, he will teach us weapon skills. All the brothers who came back from Gu Yuan know his ability. Those who didn’t go to Gu Yuan don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. You will all know sooner or later.”

Before he finished, Chen Wen Ren let out a cold laugh and turned back to interrupt Qi Zhen Zhe. “I looked at the document from the military department. The document only promoted him to a small flag official. It didn’t say he would be an instructor. Among our Yu Lin Army brothers, is there anyone with a lower official position than a small flag official?”

With that, the Yu Lin Army soldiers beside him burst into laughter, their white pheasant tails on top of their heads shaking. The Yu Lin Army was a place for officials’ children to gain experience. In the Shen Ji Camp, Wan Sui Army, and Five Army Camp, from top to bottom, they were divided into general soldiers, vice general soldiers, participating soldiers, thousand households, hundred households, total flag officials, small flag officials, and soldiers. However, the Yu Lin Army had a strange arrangement: the commandery commander, hundred households, total flag officials, small flag officials, and soldiers. The strange thing was that nine out of ten people in the Yu Lin Army were small flag officials. There were more officials than soldiers.

Qi Zhen Zhe pointed at a person next to Chen Wen Ren and said, “Li Bing, don’t think I don’t know how you got that small flag official position. If your family hadn’t bought several bandits for you to catch and earn merit, you wouldn’t have the nerve to laugh.”

Li Bing’s face changed. “Qi Zhen Zhe, you just cleaned your ass! Don’t you think I don’t know how you became a vice commandery commander?”

Qi Zhen Zhe was tongue-tied. He hesitated for a long time. “Grandfather is now reformed!”

The Yu Lin Army opposite roared with laughter. “You’re talking nonsense. You’re also reformed.”

Chen Wen Ren said coldly, “The brothers in our Yu Lin Army all know each other’s backgrounds. No one is pretending to be a big-tailed wolf. Moreover, seventy percent of our Yu Lin Army brothers have official positions. Who needs him to teach?”

Duo Bao, who had also returned from Gu Yuan, narrowed his eyes. “What’s so great about having an official position? Wait until you go to the battlefield. You’ll understand that when the Jing Dynasty’s iron cavalry charges towards you, an official position is just a target.”

Chen Wen Ren chuckled and pointed at Chen Ji. “Okay, since he wants to be this instructor, I’ll find someone to spar with him. If he wins, I’ll let him be the instructor. If he loses, he can just honestly be his small flag official. Wang Fang, you come and try him. If you win, you can be our guard station instructor.”

The Yu Lin Army made way, revealing a sturdy man inside. Qi Zhen Zhe whispered to Chen Ji, “Master, don’t worry. Although this hundred household Wang Fang always says he’s one step away from entering the Seeker Realm, I think it’s just for show. He doesn’t actually fight people. With your ability…”

Before he finished, Chen Ji had already spoken. “There’s no end to fighting. No need to try.”

Qi Zhen Zhe was stunned.

Chen Ji walked towards the commandery mansion, casually saying as he walked, “Everyone in the Yu Lin Army is an official, each with their unique skills. You won’t learn much by following me. Don’t listen to Qi Zhen Zhe’s bragging. I was just lucky in Gu Yuan. I don’t have any real ability.”

Chen Wen Ren was stunned. He had originally prepared a lot of tactics, but he didn’t expect Chen Ji to have no thoughts of seizing power at all, leaving him unsure of what to do.

Qi Zhen Zhe followed behind Chen Ji, saying in a low voice, “Master, why did you say that? Killing over a hundred people in a formation can also be luck?”

Chen Ji turned his head to look at him and said in confusion, “What good is there in me teaching these people?”

Qi Zhen Zhe said as if it were obvious, “Yu Lin Army instructor! How impressive does that sound?”

Chen Ji said again in confusion, “Is the Yu Lin Army a very fierce army with a very loud name?”

Qi Zhen Zhe opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but stopped.

Chen Ji entered the commandery mansion, took out his armor from a cabinet, and put it on. Li Xuan said from the side, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to fight for this instructor position, but the brothers who came back from Gu Yuan all want to learn some weapon skills from you.”

Chen Ji lowered his head to tie his armor, remaining silent. Qi Zhen Zhe didn’t know if he was willing to teach or not, anxiously scratching his ears and cheeks. “Master, say something.”

Chen Ji remained silent.

At this moment, Li Xuan suddenly thought of something and whispered to Qi Zhen Zhe, “Long Men Inn.”

Qi Zhen Zhe was confused. “What Long Men Inn? Brother-in-law, why are you mentioning Long Men Inn at this time? Don’t mention that place. I have nightmares about Long Men Inn now.”

Li Xuan said in a low voice, “Did you forget what he went to Long Men Inn to do by himself earlier? Buying and selling news about the situation in the capital.”

Qi Zhen Zhe woke up and immediately turned to Chen Ji and said, “Master, teach me weapon skills, and I’ll give you fifty taels of tuition silver every month!”

Chen Ji put on his armor, stroked the bright heart guard mirror with his hand, raised his head, and said, “Deal.” He then turned to look at Li Xuan. “Does Lord Li want to learn?”

Li Xuan: “…Learn, but my inner person manages the money. I can’t take out that much.”

Chen Ji comforted him warmly, “It’s okay. Any amount is sincerity. Sincerity in the heart, then the spirit is willing.”