Green Mountain

"Big Leader? Lingchi?" Chen Ji looked at Old Ears in disbelief, "These two words... I couldn’t have guessed them, your experiences must be quite diverse."

Old Ears looked slightly embarrassed, "Had a stint as a mountain bandit when there was nothing better to do, just muddling through life."

Chen Ji said calmly, "Just muddling through life couldn’t land you in a fate as extreme as lingchi. Did you dig up the Imperial Mausoleum?"

Old Ears patiently explained, "I was bored and wrote a doctrine for the stronghold, didn’t expect to gather a bunch of followers in just two or three years."

Chen Ji hesitated to speak. Creating and spreading apocryphal books, gathering crowds to establish a cult and cause chaos, the leader would face lingchi. This was true not only in the Jing Dynasty but also in the Ning Dynasty.

He wondered, "What did you write that actually attracted followers?"

The old man inside the courtyard gate laughed heartily, "Young man, seems like you haven’t heard of Da Heishan’s fame. In the old days, our stronghold dominated the first peak in Liaoyang, steadily suppressing the nearby White Cloud Mountain, Guangding Mountain, Sky-reaching Ridge, Xin Kai Ling, Tongming Mountain."

Chen Ji probed, "Did you do the burning, killing, looting stuff that comes with living as a marauder?"

The old man’s expression turned solemn, "Impossible, ordinary mountain bandits rob the common people, but we at Da Heishan only rob other bandits and corrupt officials. We keep only a tenth of the money we rob, returning the rest to the villages. The local people were grateful to us. What’s this called? Right, acting with justice on behalf of heaven, robbing the rich to give to the poor. Otherwise, how could we have had so many followers?"

Chen Ji replied with an "Oh," continuing to probe, "No wonder. What was your nickname back then?"

The old man laughed, "Back then we all wore a colorful cloth around our waists, my nickname was pretty famous too..."

Old Ears seemed to remember something and quickly pulled him back, "Alright, enough, it’s nothing to be proud of."

The old man staunchly said, "How can we not mention it? Even now, quite a few people still talk about your nickname, Hua Yaofeng."

Old Ears shouted sternly, "Niu Er!"

Chen Ji’s expression became strange, looking Old Ears up and down, "Flower Waist..."

Old Ears looked as if he had eaten a fly, complaining, "I told you not to bring it up, but you just had to! Is there anything to eat at home, let’s make something warm first!"

The old man, named Niu Er, quickly led them into the house, "Yes, yes, we’ve just got some freshly stewed cabbage and cellophane noodles on the kang, they’re still hot."

Old Ears entered the house, crossed his legs, and climbed up on the kang.

He grabbed a cornbread from the dishes and devoured it, remembering to call to Chen Ji only halfway through, "What are you standing there for, come on and eat."

"Alright, Hua Yaofeng," Chen Ji first made a small bow to thank Niu Er, then sat down against the edge of the kang.

Niu Er held his hands inside his sleeves, smiling as he watched Old Ears eat, "I didn’t expect you to still be alive. Back then, when the old brothers heard you were being lingchi’d, they cried like a storm during the farewell meal before going their separate ways. You eat first, I’m heading out for a bit."

Old Ears waved his hand, "Go on."

Niu Er tightened the collar of his cotton-padded jacket, tucked in his neck, and left the courtyard.

After he left, Old Ears jumped down from the kang and hid behind the courtyard gate, quietly observing where Niu Er went. When he turned around, he found Chen Ji also peeking half a head from beside him, "What are you looking at?"

Chen Ji said matter-of-factly, "Aren’t you trying to see if he’s gone to report us for a reward? I need to see too. If he really goes to inform, we can run early."

Old Ears watched Niu Er’s silhouette stumbling through the snow, squinting his eyes, "People have always been fickle. If someone in the stronghold hadn’t defected to the official army back then, I wouldn’t have been exposed. To this day, I still don’t know who betrayed me back then."

Chen Ji wondered, "Didn’t you investigate?"

Old Ears shook his head, "There’s no need, a person can’t be fixated on the past."

Chen Ji suddenly said casually, "According to reason, after being caught by the Jing Dynasty court for lingchi, you should’ve been dead, yet here you are lively and kicking. How does an Executive Officer of the Innate Realm manage to escape from the Ministry of Justice Prison? Could it be that you have some connections in the court?"

Old Ears changed the subject, "Let’s go, let’s go, Niu Er is back."

Niu Er returned from somewhere, and Old Ears quickly pulled Chen Ji back onto the kang, pretending to eat.

The door creaked open, and Niu Er cheerfully came inside carrying a clay pot, which revealed a fragrant stew of hen and hazel mushrooms.

Old Ears looked up at Niu Er, "Where did you get that from?"

Niu Er explained, "Borrowed it from Old Li’s at the village entrance."

Old Ears’ eyes were complicated, "You just went out to borrow this thing?"

Niu Er didn’t notice Old Ears’ gaze and continued talking to himself, "Do you remember his daughter was kidnapped by Dian Dengzi from Tongming Mountain on her way to marry? I was the one who got her back. When I passed by his house just now, I smelled meat, so I told him I had distinguished guests. Just took the pot and left, haha, considered him repaying the favor."

As he spoke, there was a knock on the door and someone shouted, "Niu Laoer!"

Niu Er was startled and hurried out to meet, "What’s the matter?"

A villager outside handed Niu Er a plate of dumplings, "Heard you’ve got guests, you, an old bachelor, don’t have much in the way of culinary skills, thought we’d back you up, don’t want our village to lose face. Eat the dumplings while they’re hot, cabbage and pork ones."

Niu Er thanked him, "Thank you very much."

The villager turned and left, "Don’t get polite with me."

Before Niu Er could return to the house, another aunt brought a plate of jellied pork and sticky bean buns, and when Niu Er returned to the house, the small table on the kang was packed full.

Niu Er stood aside without eating, just happily watching with his hands tucked away, "It’s not easy for the villagers, whoever has a guest, everyone helps. I’m well-liked in the village, so everyone gives me some face."

Old Ears waved him over, "Come eat."

Niu Er rubbed his hands and smiled, "I’m not hungry, Big Leader, you eat first."

Old Ears was impatient, "Stop babbling, hurry up."

Niu Er eagerly climbed up on the kang, picked up a cornbread and asked, "Big Leader, I saw with my own eyes when you were captured by the court, later the villagers said the court issued a proclamation to have you lingchi’d. How come you’re still alive?"

Chen Ji got interested too, "Explain it for us."

Old Ears saw he couldn’t avoid the topic, so he put down his chopsticks and slowly explained, "When I was taken into the Ministry of Justice Prison in the Imperial Capital, I simply exposed all the bandits from several surrounding mountains, revealing the stronghold’s locations, the real names of each head, and where their families lived. I used that information to trade for my life. So although the court issued a proclamation, the sentence was never carried out."

Niu Er suddenly realized, "No wonder that shortly after, the Imperial Guard came and wiped out the dozens of mountain peaks nearby. But those bandits had it coming, trading them for your life was worth it."

Old Ears continued, "But just outing those people was barely enough to survive, it wasn’t enough to get me released. I met a young aristocrat in prison, he had been mistakenly locked up after drunkenly causing trouble. I thought heaven hadn’t decided my fate yet, so I promised him from the adjacent cell, if his father could get me out, I would give them a gold mine in Da Heishan as an exchange."

Niu Er asked, "Was it Elder Jingyuan’s youngest son? No wonder he suddenly brought people to Da Heishan to mine. That ore strike was a big one, that gold mine was worked for seventeen or eighteen years, still not finished, and I heard Elder Jingyuan wasn’t originally inheriting without a break, but he used 3,000 taels of gold to bribe Yuan Xiang, getting Your Majesty to issue an edict for hereditary succession."

Old Ears nodded, "Yes, him."

Chen Ji was skeptical, seeing how Old Ears managed to cover up the lingchi incident, "Then after getting out, why didn’t you come back to show you’re alive, at least let everyone know?"

Old Ears retorted with annoyance, "If they knew I was still alive, wouldn’t the bandits I outed want to tear me apart? Niu Er, we’ve some serious business to attend to, do you have any way to sneak into the Imperial Capital?"

Niu Er paused with his chopsticks, "Imperial Capital isn’t easy to enter. Our village burns and sends charcoal to the capital, I’ve heard from those who returned it’s strictly controlled there now, the Imperial Guard is at each city gate, checking all luggage. Moreover, people from the same village must gather outside the city, wait until there are ten people, then identify each other to pass through. If someone from the same village doesn’t recognize you, they’d chop on the spot."

Chen Ji frowned, "What if they never gather ten people?"

Niu Er picked some jellied pork, "Then freeze to death outside the city, the Imperial Guard wouldn’t care."

Old Ears laughed at Chen Ji’s misfortune, "Kid, once the Imperial Guard deploys tactics like this, there’s no sneaking in. I suggest you head to Lushun instead. It’s for your own good, staking your life here isn’t worth it."

Chen Ji responded with a nod, "Thank you, Hua Yaofeng."

...

Another update coming tonight, catch it in the morning