Chapter 46: Art

At the banquet, everyone fell silent, and even the sound of the zither ceased.

They could no longer mock She Dengke and Liu Quxing's names or attire. They also couldn't help but reflect: if they themselves were slandered, how many people would be willing to stand up for them?

An ordinary person hearing rumors about you would merely repeat a few words they heard from others.

But you might not care what others say. Perhaps you care more whether your friends spoke up for you when those rumors were spread.

Chen Ji hadn't expected She Dengke and Liu Quxing to speak up for him, and that unexpectedness was why he was surprised.

At this moment, the Crown Prince drained his cup. The wine cups in the prince's manor were a bit small, and feeling unsatisfied, he wanted to call for a larger bowl.

However, a glare from Princess Baili made him reconsider.

Such a boorish manner was, of course, out of place at a refined gathering of scholars.

Still, the Crown Prince muttered under his breath, "These scholars are ultimately not as interesting as people of the martial world... Chen Ji's name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?"

At this point, Princess Baili looked at Chen Wenxiao. "May I ask, are your brother's IOUs authentic?"

Chen Wenxiao pulled back his sleeves and sat upright. "My brother, Chen Ji, is addicted to gambling. He owes a total of one thousand two hundred thirty-one taels of silver to seven gambling houses. Every word I've said is true."

A scholar cupped his hands towards the princess and said, "Wenxiao is a man of noble character; he would certainly not lie about such a matter."

"Alright," Princess Baili sighed.

Chen Ji listened silently beside the pavilion, pondering what kind of person he had truly been in the past. Was he really a gambler?

It was possible, as the IOUs from the gambling dens couldn't be faked, and such matters were easy to verify.

But those things had nothing to do with him; they were in the past.

Behind the bamboo curtain, Consort Jing vaguely looked towards Chen Ji. "Don't your family members know you're with the Secret Service Bureau?"

Chen Ji replied, "Begging your pardon, Madam, I am not officially with the Secret Service Bureau. At most, I am merely a scout for them, not even a secret agent myself."

"Oh?" Consort Jing was somewhat perplexed. "Why are you risking your life for the Secret Service Bureau?"

Chen Ji answered candidly, "For money. They pay me fifty taels of silver for each clue I help them find."

Consort Jing was taken aback. "Only fifty taels? You're risking your life for the Secret Service Bureau for just fifty taels of silver?"

At this point, she had already believed Chen Wenxiao's words, convinced that this medical apprentice was indeed a gambler who would throw away his life for money.

However, Chen Ji thought to himself, *This is the disparity of the world.* He worked himself to exhaustion for fifty taels, yet in the eyes of Consort Jing and Consort Yun, such a small sum was utterly insignificant.

From behind the bamboo curtain, Consort Jing slowly leaned back on her soft couch. "Help me get revenge, and I will give you one thousand taels of silver when it's done."

Chen Ji thought for a moment. "You want Liu Mingxian dead?"

"Precisely."

"Lord Liu has hidden masters by his side and usually keeps to himself, making him difficult to kill. If we were to use the Secret Service Bureau, he has already crushed Yunyang and Jiaotu, making it even harder... For your revenge, it will cost five thousand taels."

"Two thousand taels, no more."

"Agreed."

Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, it was easier to earn money from the rich!

With these two thousand taels of silver in hand, he would dare to venture into the inner prison again, collect all the ice flow, and ignite hundreds of braziers.

Then, as long as no patrolling official intervened, three or five ordinary secret agents wouldn't be able to do anything to him.

As he was thinking, Consort Jing suddenly asked, "What do you think of Chunhua? She's in the prime of her youth, a delightful age. Though she's a bit older than you, she knows how to care for people. I paid one hundred taels of silver to buy her from Yangzhou."

Chen Ji quickly replied, "Madam, please don't play matchmaker. Just giving me the money is enough."

During the banquet.

Chen Wenzong looked at She Dengke and Liu Quxing, asking, "Are you colleagues of my brother? How has he been recently? Did he come today?"

"Yes, he's here. As his older brother, why don't you ask him how he's been instead of me?" She Dengke replied glumly.

Chen Wenzong looked embarrassed. "You're right."

Chen Wenxiao's expression darkened. "After what he did, why should we still care about him?"

The Ning Dynasty governed the country with ethical principles and social hierarchies, where the system of 'ruler to subject, father to son' upheld social order. However, while everyone spoke of filial piety and fraternal harmony, how many non-biological parents in this world could truly treat a concubine's child as their own?

It was merely a show for appearances.

Liu Quxing was about to retort but felt a pat on his shoulder. He turned around to see Chen Ji, who had returned to the banquet table at some point.

Chen Ji cupped his hands towards Chen Wenzong and Chen Wenxiao from a distance. "My two brothers, we meet again after a long separation, and I didn't expect such a commotion. Why don't we let it go? After all, this is a literary gathering hosted by the Crown Prince; we shouldn't disturb the other guests."

Upon seeing Chen Ji appear, Baili quickly tugged on the Crown Prince's arm. "Brother, it's him! The one who charged us a toll and gave us a ladder. If I had known, I wouldn't have spoken up for him!"

The Crown Prince chuckled. "I don't think we helped him for nothing. Don't you find him very interesting? He even dared to charge a toll to the Crown Prince of Jing!"

Baili pouted. "Charging three taels of silver at once; his heart is truly black. But... even though he's a terrible person, I don't think he seems like a gambler." The Crown Prince smiled, "What do you think a gambler looks like?"

Baili recalled, "I've seen them when I went with you to the gambling dens. The gamblers there were all out of their minds, completely indifferent to anything other than gambling, their eyes bloodshot, their clothes dirty, and mud under their fingernails... But he is clean and full of spirit."

Gamblers only think of gambling; they gamble when they wake up and sleep when they're done. How could they have time to care about their appearance?

The Crown Prince nodded. "Indeed, he doesn't seem like one. Anyway, the young monk said he has given up greed and anger, and I trust the young monk."

"Where has he reformed? Even if he's stopped gambling, he's still awful!" Baili huffed.

The Crown Prince chuckled reassuringly, "There, there. Three taels of silver is just the cost of a box of your rouge and powder."

At this moment, Chen Wenzong found Chen Ji's face somewhat familiar.

It was only then that Chen Wenzong remembered Chen Ji had previously looked at him during the banquet, yet he hadn't recognized him.

Of course, it was also because they had never been close. His mother had always warned him not to associate with Chen Ji.

Chen Wenzong stood up. "Wenxiao was out of line earlier. I apologize on his behalf; please don't take it to heart."

Chen Ji smiled. "It's fine. People's mouths are their own; there's no stopping what they say."

Chen Wenzong said, "Father has been home recently. If you have time, you should come back and fulfill your filial duties. He would surely be happy to see that you have reformed and are diligently studying medicine."

Chen Ji replied, "My studies at the Imperial Medical Academy are quite busy, so... there's no need."

He had no intention of returning to the Chen family, nor did he plan to ever go back in the future. As he had told Old Yao, he truly considered the medical clinic his home now.

Chen Ji could understand. With a gambler son and a mother whose identity was suspect, it was natural that they wouldn't be well-regarded.

Since they weren't welcome, there was no need for further contact, avoiding the need for everyone to put on a pretense.

At this moment, someone stood up and chuckled, "The so-called relationship between ruler and subject, father and son, and the established rituals must not be disturbed. Perhaps you resent your father for not sending you to Donglin Academy, or for neglecting you, but he is still your father, and you are still his son. You must fulfill your filial duties."

Chen Ji looked at the person's face with some confusion. "And you are?"

The speaker was handsome and elegant, dressed in a blue scholar's robe, wearing an exquisite black gauze cap, and adorned with a jade belt from which a valuable jade pendant hung.

Hearing Chen Ji's question, the man stated with proud reserve, "Lin Chaojing, from Donglin Academy."

It seemed that merely stating the name should have been enough for Chen Ji to know who he was.

But Chen Ji's attention wasn't on that. He suddenly realized, *No wonder I found him familiar!*

This Lin Chaojing actually bore an eighty percent resemblance to Lin Chaoqing of the Judicial Department. He must be a close relative, if not a direct brother.

Yet Chen Ji clearly remembered this voice; it was this Lin Chaojing who had spoken of denouncing the eunuch faction during the imperial examination... and Lin Chaoqing was a member of that very faction.

He stopped thinking about it and simply patted Liu Quxing and She Dengke. "Let's go. This place isn't for us. I apologize for causing you to endure such unpleasantness on my behalf."

"Mmm, let's go," Liu Quxing sniffed.

"Wait a moment," Lin Chaojing said loudly. "The three of you also came to this literary gathering, so you must also be accomplished individuals. Earlier, everyone presented and recited their new works, but I wonder if the three of you have brought any pieces?"

Chen Ji looked directly at Lin Chaojing, remaining silent.

Works? He had no works.

Should he copy works from his former world? He couldn't even copy them.

Chen Ji was severely specialized. For years, he had focused on science, popular science, deduction, investigation, and counter-investigation knowledge. Even when studying some humanities subjects, it was only for cryptography.

So, it wouldn't be difficult for him to produce gunpowder right now, but reciting a poem was truly asking too much of him...

If he really had to recite a poem, he could probably only recall the most famous line from each.

For example, he couldn't immediately recall what came before or after lines like "Long winds will break the waves, and I'll set my cloud-white sail to cross the sea."

Most importantly, the anecdote of the Double Ninth Festival weighed on Chen Ji's mind. He still didn't know the connection between this world and his own. If he recited a poem that someone here had already written, it would be a joke.

Wait!

Suddenly, Chen Ji's thoughts cleared, like clouds parting to reveal a bright, clear sky.

The earlier haze instantly dispersed: Gunpowder?

Gunpowder!

While he certainly couldn't recite poetry, he *could* make gunpowder.

Poetry is art, but isn't an explosion also art?