Green Mountain

Bai Xingzhen came to the window, clutching the windowsill in surprise: "Why have you returned to Shangjing? And you still remember what you promised me!"

In an instant, before Chen Ji could respond, he pretended to be mature and generous, saying: "You’re really bold, aren’t you? The entire Jing Dynasty is looking for you; how dare you come back? Although I secretly blame you, I know you have your reasons, so I won’t truly hold it against you..."

At this, Bai Xingzhen impatiently waved his hand: "You better leave quickly, don’t lose your life in Shangjing, and don’t drag me down with you."

Without a word, Chen Ji grabbed Bai Xingzhen by the belt and lifted him out of the window. The two of them sneaked past the household subordinates, heading towards the edge of the Duke Mansion.

Bai Xingzhen, being carried, turned his head to examine Chen Ji: "There are rumors around that you have some ghostly protection, able to come back to life instantly. I scoffed at that at the time, but now seeing you completely unharmed, maybe the rumors are true?"

Chen Ji did not respond.

Bai Xingzhen, still curious, asked: "Where’s Yuan Xing, wasn’t it said you kidnapped him?"

Chen Ji casually replied: "He’s the kind-hearted person who led the Imperial Guard astray."

Bai Xingzhen suddenly realized: "Did you set him up? Good job! This guy, relying on Yuan Xiang being his uncle, often caused havoc in Shangjing, bullying men and women alike, known as ’official’s son Yuan.’ After he took over the Right Martial Guard, he formed cliques and excluded dissidents, causing many of the Imperial Army elites to go serve in the border towns. Several household chiefs under Jiang Xianzong in the Western Capital Road left because of him."

Chen Ji asked softly: "Did me riding Zhaolei cause you trouble?"

Bai Xingzhen remained silent for a moment: "Indeed, some did impeach me, but Your Majesty didn’t mention it and wouldn’t allow anyone to investigate your identity. A few days ago, there were even guesses that you were a spy for the Ning Dynasty, and Bai Jian refuted it publicly. After all, you had once protected the Emperor, and you were granted the title of County Lord by Your Majesty. If it became known that a noble from Ning Dynasty saved their Emperor, the court would lose face... Moreover, with you being close to that person, Your Majesty doesn’t even consider you as a Southern Dynasty person. Perhaps one day, you’ll be part of the Jing Dynasty."

He finished speaking and turned to observe Chen Ji’s expression: "Did you already guess that person’s identity?"

Chen Ji suddenly stopped under the eaves of the East Cross Courtyard, holding his breath. Moments later, a team of Bai’s subordinates passed by not far away.

Once the Bai’s subordinates had gone past, he continued moving towards the edge of the Duke Mansion: "His acting is quite bad, almost as if he wrote his own name on his face. It’s impossible not to guess."

Bai Xingzhen chuckled: "True, how many ordinary people have the courage to drink all of Yuan Xiang’s secretly stored wine?"

Suddenly remembering something, he gritted his teeth and said: "Ah, you intentionally didn’t reveal his identity! By pretending not to know, you can occasionally make comments about him; break that fragile understanding, and you’d have to honor him like an old Immortal. Back when you guessed my identity, you did the same, clearly knowing I’m Duke Huang, yet pretending not to know, ordering me around... Was my disguise that unconvincing? When did you guess my identity?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment: "At first glance."

Bai Xingzhen, huffing in frustration, made up his mind not to speak to Chen Ji, but then couldn’t help turning his head and saying: "You’ve earned that person’s favor, even Your Majesty is willing to cover for you... But Li Yang, that woman, got incredibly lucky. Your Majesty actually transferred a general from under Jiang Yu, the Tokyo Dao Jiedu Envoy, to the Left Martial Guard as Deputy Commander, clearly to divide Yuan Xiang’s power and give it to her. Now the court indeed has a situation of three powers standing strong."

Chen Ji responded with a sound: "The affairs of the Jing Dynasty are none of my concern."

Bai Xingzhen reminded: "You need to be careful, it won’t be long before the Southern Dynasty learns you saved our Jing Dynasty’s Emperor. What will you do then?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

He and Lu Jin were not on the same path; even without this situation, the other side would send people to spread news in Ning Dynasty. Whether it was his nephew relationship with Lu Jin, his birth mother being from Jing Dynasty, or him saving the Emperor of the Jing Dynasty, all could make it impossible for him to gain a foothold in Ning Dynasty.

All he could do was conceal his name and hide his identity.

Bai Xingzhen probed: "Why don’t you just stay in our Jing Dynasty then... Oh right, you could follow that person to the Temple of Martial Arts to cultivate. As long as you’re at the Martial Temple Mountain Gate, who could harm you?"

Chen Ji chuckled: "You must have guessed that person’s intentions wrong, he’s not taking me as a disciple."

Bai Xingzhen widened his eyes: "Ah? What do you mean?"

At this moment, the sound of laughter and joy outside was already drifting over the courtyard walls, and Chen Ji could see in the distance the tall lamp wheels and lamp stands beyond the wall, as if hundreds of days were hanging in the air, with their lights extending the daylight.

Distracted by the noise, Bai Xingzhen was lifted by Chen Ji by his shoe soles onto the wall.

He clung to the wall eaves, looking outwards, the lamp light casting his cheeks in an orange-red glow: "So many people!"

Along the street, liquor banners fluttered, shop owners’ shouts echoed, and pedestrians jostled shoulder to shoulder, barely able to move forward.

The walls on both sides were covered with lantern racks made of silk and gauze, red, green, gold in overlapping layers. The racks hung countless colorful ribbons, and when a breeze blew, the ribbons fluttered, as if the Milky Way above had been pulled down to the mortal world.

Bai Xingzhen cautiously leaned half of his head out over the eaves, and gazed distantly towards the Vermilion Bird Gate, excitedly saying: "Look at the lamp wheel in front of Vermilion Bird Gate, it must be twenty zhang high? How many lamps hang there, must be tens of thousands, right?"

Chen Ji responded from below the wall: "I saw it when I came. At most three zhang high, and only two hundred lamps. Tens of thousands is just exaggerated in poetic writings and novels... What’s the Marquis on the watchtower looking at?"

Bai Xingzhen muttered softly: "Why so serious..."

At this time, voices calling from inside the Duke Huang Mansion were heard: "Duke? Duke, where are you?"

Bai Xingzhen quickly turned around and saw from a distance the dark Mansion filled with dozens of subordinates carrying lanterns in search. He hurriedly looked towards the watchtower outside the courtyard: "Quick, the Marquis is also watching the lamps, hurry and climb over."

Chen Ji leapt over the wall and caught Bai Xingzhen at the base, blending into the crowd together. Bai Xingzhen, being small in stature, barely reached Chen Ji’s ribs. Afraid of being separated by the crowd, he held onto Chen Ji’s sleeve tightly.

The two walked along the street lined with temporary stalls, leaving Bai Xingzhen dazzled.

The old man selling sugar figurines was holding an iron ladle, pouring on the iron plate in front of him a horse galloping through the clouds, making a few children clap and jump with joy.

Next door was a stall selling glutinous rice balls. The pot of tangyuan swirled like white waves. The proprietress stirred with a long-handled spoon, shouting: "Black sesame filling, bite into it and it scalds your mouth!"

Bai Xingzhen was dazzled: "I want to eat this, that, and that... I smell the jujube cake, I want jujube cake!"

Chen Ji casually said, "I didn’t bring any silver."

Bai Xingzhen grumbled, pulling out his wallet: "Might as well let you starve to death."

He dragged Chen Ji to the jujube cake stall, took out a piece of broken silver from his wallet, and tossed it out: "Two sticks!"

The jujube cake was packed into bamboo tubes. Bai Xingzhen picked two sticks, one for himself and handed one to Chen Ji. The vendor split open the bamboo tube with a cleaver, releasing the fragrance of bamboo and glutinous rice, revealing the jujube cake inside.

The crowd ahead parted like a tide, with someone shouting: "The Tage Team is coming!"

At the end of the street, dozens of young women dressed in bright red ru skirts with flower hairpins appeared, carrying lanterns as they stepped to the music.

They stepped on the bluestone as they sang in unison: "Vermilion Bird Avenue links with the narrow pass, Qing Niu, Bai Ma, Seven Fragrance Carts..."

Bai Xingzhen listened in a daze.

The songstress’ voices were clear, resonating along the brightly lit long street.

The crowd clapped in time with the rhythm, with some joining the end of the team to step to the song. The entire street seemed to transform into a flowing river, the lights as the water and the crowd as the waves, surging towards the towering lamp wheel in the distance.

Bai Xingzhen murmured: "So beautiful..."

He was swept up in the crowd, one hand holding the bamboo tube, the other clutching Chen Ji’s sleeve to avoid being separated.

He looked up at the flowers and lights in the sky and suddenly shouted: "Thank you!"

Bai Xingzhen’s voice was drowned in the rowdy crowd. Chen Ji looked down: "What did you say?"

Bai Xingzhen smiled and repeated: "I said thank you... If we meet again in battle, I’ll spare your life!"

Chen Ji laughed and said: "Why is it suddenly about meeting in battle?"

Bai Xingzhen thought for a moment: "I read it in a story, in stories, childhood friends are destined to meet in battle when they grow up, just like Yuan Xiang and Yuan Cheng."

At that moment, the distant lamp wheel suddenly lit up, with two hundred lanterns blooming in unison, illuminating the entire Shangjing City as if it were day.

The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers, countless Kongming lanterns rose from the streets and alleys, swaying as they floated into the night sky like a stream of stars flowing upstream.

Bai Xingzhen watched the Kongming lanterns soar, each one extinguishing at the horizon, and he let go of Chen Ji’s sleeve, turning southward: "This way."

Chen Ji followed behind Bai Xingzhen, raising his voice: "Are you going to East Market or West Market? I heard on my way here, the West Market’s performances are better than the East Market, and the Immortal Rope you’ve always wanted to see is in the West Market now."

Bai Xingzhen vaguely replied: "I know the way, just follow me."

He led Chen Ji through the crowd, but Chen Ji increasingly felt something was amiss.

Chen Ji asked suspiciously: "This isn’t the direction to the West Market, where are you taking me?"

Bai Xingzhen waved without looking back: "I said, just follow me, I won’t sell you off."

He squeezed forward, shouting: "Excuse me, coming through."

Suddenly, Chen Ji spotted a courtyard, precisely the Yuan Xiang’s private residence Old Ears had taken them to before.

He stepped ahead and caught Bai Xingzhen: "Why did you bring me to Pingkang Square?"

Bai Xingzhen stopped, turned back, and looked up at him: "I know you wouldn’t come back to Shangjing just for our little agreement, you’re here for that old master beside Liyang, right? I remember you were supposed to meet him at Pingkang Square South Curve on Lantern Festival Night... Is he your master? He seemed like it."

Chen Ji was taken aback.

Bai Xingzhen grinned and said: "My grandmother said once I turn fourteen, she’ll no longer watch over me. In two years, I can roam however I want on Lantern Festival Night, but you’re different. If you miss seeing your master today, who knows when you’ll have another chance, so what you’re doing is more important."

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