Chapter 674
Reaching the Shore
The Yongding Gate of the capital was bustling with activity. A young Taoist priest sat cross-legged on the back of a large blue ox, his head bowed, holding a book, oblivious to his surroundings.
As the big blue ox slowly left the city, the guards at the city gate recognized him at a glance as Zhang Li, the chief disciple of the Huangshan Daoist Temple, and let him pass without questioning him.
The blank book in Zhang Li's hand was still writing. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the new content of the story: "It's good that he's not dead, it's good that he's not dead..."
But the wordless book suddenly changed its tone and began to write about Chen Ji and the Lu family, about the Lu family's hesitation in the stern tower and Chen Ji's decision in the cabin.
Just then, the big blue ox slowly stopped.
Zhang Li looked up and saw a handsome young Taoist priest standing on the official road outside the capital. When he stood shoulder to shoulder with the cattle-herding tenants, he looked like a cattle herder; when he stood with the peddlers, he looked like a peddler; and when a scholar passed by, he looked like a scholar. This young man simply stood with his hands at his sides, yet he seemed to embody the essence of heaven and earth, and the natural way of Tao.
Zhang Li tucked the brush back into her hair bun and put the blank book back into her bosom: "Yanchi, what brings you to the capital?"
Yanchi, standing about twenty paces away, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Li and said, "Senior Brother, Master has summoned me to the capital to ask you to return to the Huangshan Daoist Temple."
Zhang Li feigned ignorance: "There are still several months until the grand wedding ceremony, why are you in such a hurry to call me back?"
Yanchi remained polite: "Master has investigated the matter of the leak of the 'All Gods Descending to the Abode' incident. Please return and confront him face to face."
Zhang Li looked surprised: "You don't think I leaked it, do you? I cultivate the Myriad Gods' Abode myself, what benefit would I get from doing this?"
Yanchi asked calmly, "Senior brother, may I ask which deity you chose when the myriad gods descended upon the abode to select the star lord?"
Zhang Li scratched his head: "Oh dear, I forgot to choose. Look at the mess this has made. Should I choose now?"
The inkstone remained silent.
Zhang Li suddenly looked behind Yan Chi, her expression changing: "Master, what brings you here?"
Yan Chi's expression remained unchanged as he stared intently at him.
Zhang Li sighed, "Junior brother, give your senior brother some face. I raised you all with my own hands, and Master only talks about the Forty-Nine Heavens all day long. When has he ever cared about you?"
Yan Chi hesitated for a long time before finally sighing and turning back with feigned surprise: "Master?"
When he turned around again, there were only people heading to the market behind him. But then he saw the big blue ox galloping eastward on all fours. Zhang Li patted the ox's back and urged, "Hurry up, hurry up, we can't beat him!"
Yanchi hesitated, then said, "Senior Brother, you..."
Zhang Li waved his hand without turning his head and said, "Junior brother, there's no need to see me off. Go back and tell Master that the arrival of the myriad gods has caused great harm to my Dao Court. Let this lineage end here. Don't come looking for your senior brother anymore; he's very busy."
Yanchi stood still, quietly watching Zhang Li and the big blue ox disappear into the distance. Then, in full view of everyone, he walked up to the sky step by step, as if climbing a staircase. Each step felt like a hundred steps, and in an instant, he was on the clouds, heading south.
The people in front of the city gate knelt down one after another: "The gods have appeared! The gods have appeared!"
Once Yan Chi's figure disappeared into the horizon, Zhang Li finally patted the big blue ox: "Alright, alright, you can rest now. It's a good thing it was Junior Brother who came; someone else might not have been so easy to talk to. I don't know how Master found out, but it seems we can't go home..."
The big blue ox stubbornly mooed.
Zhang Li retorted angrily, "How can it not be your fault? We were in this together, you're an accomplice."
The big blue ox lowered its head and mooed again.
Zhang Li ignored it and took out the blank book from his pocket again. The blank book read: "Chen Ji has already secretly made a plan. As the saying goes, blood ties are not recognized, but gratitude is established first. In the rainy night of the Jianghu, there is no sound between them. The son calls his aunt, and the mother hides her name. For twelve years, each has endured. It is said that for twelve years, in the rainy night of the Jianghu, they were separated by a veil of black gauze. They could not recognize each other when they were born, and they could not be close when they recognized each other."
“The martial world, oh the martial world,” Zhang Li said in a daze for a long time, then closed the wordless book with a waning interest. “I wonder what kind of judgment this wordless book will give when it reaches me? Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing to be able to see the judgment while I’m still alive.”
……
……
The sound of waves crashing against the shore.
The cabin was filled with the creaking sound of wooden planks being pressed together, and the faint chants of the boatmen straining together could be heard outside the cabin.
On the deck, a large pot was set up to cook the offal of pigs and sheep. On the stern, there were two small stoves. Madam Lu was personally stir-frying cabbage with vinegar. On the other stove, white porridge was cooking, with crabs cut into sections and ginger shreds in the porridge. The crabs were swimming crabs that had just been caught in the net yesterday.
She hummed a tune in a nasal tone, and when the porridge was almost ready, she beckoned to Old Li: "Go and call Jiu Jin, and tell him the food is ready."
Old Li responded with a "Yes," and turned to run to the cabin. But when he returned, he looked troubled and said to Madam Lu, "Master, he said he'd be happy to eat and live with the boatmen..."
Lu Shi's hand, which was holding the porridge, paused in mid-air. After a moment, she poured the porridge into the pot and said, "Let it be. Serve the porridge to everyone."
Old Li didn't dare ask any more questions and left with the porridge.
After sailing at sea for several days, Chen Ji still sat and worked alongside the crew, wiping the deck when needed and climbing up the mast to tie the sails when needed, but he never went to the sterncastle again.
The dark clouds no longer need to hide; they can roam freely on the ship, often leaving behind traces, and sneak into the stern to freeload off the Lu family.
Dark Clouds doesn't want to suffer at all.
On the seventh day, before dawn, Old Ears' voice rang out from the deck: "Get up, get ready to go ashore!"
Immediately afterwards, the sound of a gong came from the deck, and Old Li shouted at the top of his lungs, "Get up, get up!"
The boatmen all got up and ran to the deck.
When Chen Ji arrived on the deck, he saw an old man dressed in gray cloth, squatting on the mast lookout like a big monkey, holding a compass and gazing into the distance.
Chen Ji followed his gaze and saw a black coastline appear in the gray sky. There was a sentry post on the coast, with a fire burning on it, the flames illuminating the thin fog over the sea.
Old Ears pointed at the firelight and shouted, "Next time you come, look for this firelight. That's the beacon tower of Jingcheng Port. It's lit by smoke during the day and fire at night. If you see this beacon tower, you've arrived at Jingcheng Port. Quick, hang up the lanterns, two on the left and three on the right."
He slid down the mast, where Madam Lu was already standing guard: "Senior, what's the significance of hanging lanterns two on the left and three on the right?"
Old Ears patted the dampness off his clothes: "The second and third from the left are Ning Dynasty ships, the third from the left and second from the right are Jing Dynasty ships, the third from the left is Japanese, and the third from the right is Japanese and Portuguese. They enter different ports to avoid fighting when doing business. If you don't hang lanterns, everyone will know you are here for the first time, and you will be their business."
Chen Ji asked curiously, "Are there also red-haired barbarians and Portuguese?"
Old Ears scoffed, "What's the big deal? Jingcheng Port is one of the six towns of Goryeo, a place where all sorts of people mingle, and goods from all directions converge here. But don't worry about them, they're all here to do business. As long as there's money to be made, nobody cares where you come from."
At this point, he suddenly added, "But no matter what happens, no matter how deep the grudges of the past, if the Ning Dynasty people and the Jing Dynasty people have a feud with foreign countries, they must help each other. We are of the same ancestry and origin. If the Jing Dynasty people fight with the Japanese or the foreign barbarians, you must help them, without asking why. If you fight with the Japanese, the Jing Dynasty people will also come to your aid. When you are adrift abroad, you rely entirely on your relatives and compatriots. This is not only the rule of Jingcheng Port, but also the same if you want to do business in Japan and Southeast Asia. Only in this way can you avoid being bullied and earn respect from others."
Madam Lu nodded: "This junior has noted it down... Senior, who will you contact after landing?"
Old Ears gave a forced smile: "Forgot the rules again? This kind of big business, which can earn tens of thousands of taels of silver in one round trip, requires a valuable secret in exchange."
Lu Shi concealed her expression with the black veil of her veiled hat. After dismissing everyone else, she spoke, "Grand Secretary Chen and Chen Lizun have been poisoned by the second branch of the Chen family for many years and are unable to have children."
Old Ears' eyes lit up, and Chen Ji subconsciously looked at the Lu family.
Before anyone else could speak, Madam Lu continued, "At first, Grand Secretary Chen thought it was because Chen Lizun's first wife, Madam Liu, was infertile, so he asked Chen Lizun to take a concubine, but Chen Lizun refused. Later, when Grand Secretary Chen's first wife was still alive, the old lady thought that Madam Liu was immoral, so she often punished Madam Liu by making her recite scriptures and worship Buddha, but after several years there was still no result. After the old lady passed away, Grand Secretary Chen summoned Madam Liu to study at the Wendan Hall, but in reality he forced her to have sex with him, so that he could have a child for his son, Chen Lizun."
Old Ears was dumbfounded: "So he couldn't do it either? You're not making this up, are you? I've traveled all over the country for so many years and I've rarely heard such a ridiculous story."
Lu said calmly, "This matter has been discovered by others several times. Chen Lizhi and Chen Yu both discovered it. It is by no means fabricated."
Chen Ji stood there, stunned. In an instant, many past events came together: No wonder Chen Lizhi always said that Chen Lizun was cowardly. No wonder the Chen family preferred to wait for Chen Ji to return to the capital three years later rather than choose Chen Yu when choosing an adoptive parent. It was because Grand Secretary Chen and Chen Lizun found it difficult to face Chen Yu.
After the eldest branch of the Chen family chose Chen Ji, they immediately "exiled" Chen Yu to Jinling. It wasn't until Chen Ji sided with the eunuch faction that they had no choice but to recall Chen Yu.
It was truly a last resort.
The old man, utterly speechless, let out a laugh: "What 'three unfilial acts'? It's actually treating people like animals. The 'three obediences and four virtues' leave women and children with no way out. Ordinary people only think that plays are outrageous, but who knows that the world is far more outrageous than plays."
Lu didn't care at all, only caring about business: "Please give me directions, senior."
This time, Old Ears was in a dilemma: "I originally only planned to introduce you to a reliable broker, but since the master has given me such a big secret, I can't be stingy. Bring me paper and pen."
Lu went back to the stern tower to get paper and pen and handed them to him. He then squatted on the ground, picked up the pen and wrote down the radical "阝".
Old Ear picked up the paper and blew on it: "Take this paper to the Governor of Jingcheng Port. He is the highest-ranking official from Goryeo in Jingcheng. He will make things easier for you once he sees it. If you can't speak the language, go to the port and find an interpreter. There are people who make a living doing this, but be careful not to be deceived by them. Keep your eyes open."
……
There will be another update tonight, but it will be very late. Please read it in the morning. (End of this chapter)