Green Mountain-Chapter 599 - 456: Palm Lines

Chen Ji scrutinized Zhang Xia in front of him, feeling something was different.

The girl dressed in fiery red riding a chestnut horse, who sped to the Taiping Medical Hall to make a three-point pact with him, suddenly seemed like a virtuous wife and good mother.

She still looked beautiful, but she no longer seemed like Zhang Xia.

Nor like Yan Zhihu.

Zhang Xia suddenly smiled at Chen Ji, "Why are you looking at me, do I look good like this now?"

Caught off guard by the question, Chen Ji could only reply sincerely, "You looked better before."

Aunt Li emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of water, teasing, "Young man, you’re too honest. When complimenting girls, you should say all looks are nice, praise the past first, then the present. That’s how my husband won me over; otherwise, who would have wanted to live with him when he was so poor?"

Chen Ji felt a bit embarrassed but insisted, "Indeed, she looked better before."

Zhang Xia smiled, "Then once we’re out of Baidadan City, I’ll change back."

Aunt Li glanced at the two of them, finished her bowl of water, and cheerfully tossed a string of coins given by Ah Sheng onto the stone table, "Mr. Hong, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back first; I won’t charge for today."

Hong Zuer raised his eyebrows, "Why? Is my money too hot to handle?"

Aunt Li gathered her mother-of-pearl box, "Nothing to do with you; I just find this little couple delightful, consider it a gift for them."

Saying this, she left without giving others a chance to argue, lifting her box and walking out without looking back.

Hong Zuer looked at the awkward Chen Ji and Zhang Xia and instructed Ah Sheng, "Go fetch the herbs; there are some flaws to cover up before we head to Baidadan City."

Ah Sheng understood, turned around, and brought out a medicine bottle from inside.

Chen Ji was curious, "What is this?"

Ah Sheng removed the wooden cork and explained, "Those who have been engaged in fighting and training for many years inevitably have marks left on their bodies. Weapons leave weapon marks, reins leave rein marks. The guards at Baidadan City can easily tell what you usually do from these. Mr. Hong collected herbs and extracted their juice to apply on calluses. Apply once daily, leave for an hour, then wash off; in twelve days, the calluses will naturally fade."

Hong Zuer leisurely added, "Not only should we remove some calluses, but on the twenty-odd days to Baidadan City, everyone should also persist in doing rough work daily to develop natural calluses, making it easier to enter the city."

Zhang Xia admired, "Mr. Hong is meticulous; no wonder not everyone can be part of the Night Patrol."

Ah Sheng proudly said, "Indeed." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He tore off a strip of cloth, dipped it in the dark green herb juice, and applied it to Hong Zuer, Zhang Baishi, and Chen Ji’s hands.

When it was Zhang Xia’s turn, Ah Sheng naturally handed the cloth strip dipped in herb juice to Chen Ji, "Young master, you do it."

Chen Ji looked at the strip, took a deep breath, accepted it, and lowered his head to apply the juice to Zhang Xia’s palms. Since Zhang Xia normally didn’t use weapons, her tiger’s mouth had no calluses.

However, they were both posing as farmers from the outskirts of Liaoyang Prefecture on their road pass, so they shouldn’t have rein calluses either.

Chen Ji carefully wiped Zhang Xia’s palms and fingers with the cloth strip. Zhang Xia’s fingerprints had seven loop patterns, three arch patterns, a very long life line reaching the wrist, and a long career line too...

In fact, Chen Ji didn’t know how to read palms; he only noticed that Zhang Xia’s palms had a light sheen of sweat, glistening under the sunlight.

Zhang Xia suddenly asked, "Do they look good?"

Chen Ji awkwardly looked up, "All done."

Zhang Xia turned to Hong Zuer, "Mr. Hong, is there anything else we need to pay attention to?"

Hong Zuer thought for a moment, "This time we’ll be driving a mule team, first heading east through the mountain paths, then turning towards Baidadan City, pretending to be coming from Liaoyang Prefecture. Besides learning the local customs along the way, you must get familiar with the temperaments of the mules to avoid any chaos at crucial moments...though that shouldn’t be too difficult."

He leaned on the stone table and slowly stood up, "Let’s go, we’re not eating inside the pass today; who knows how long it’ll be before we have another warm meal on the road. Tonight, we’ll eat at the military market, and it’ll be a good time to stock up on some travel essentials."

As he started walking out, he turned halfway to scrutinize Chen Ji and Zhang Xia, "Everything else is fine, but you two still aren’t quite natural together. From this moment, you must keep up the act of being a married couple until others believe it, to fool the guards of Baidadan City."

Zhang Xia replied, "But I heard that, even though the Jing Dynasty doesn’t uphold strict etiquette, husbands and wives are still expected to be courteous to each other, so we shouldn’t need to act out for others to see, right?"

Hong Zuer chuckled, "Did you read that from a book? That’s how the scholars live, not the common folk. The Jing Dynasty is half herdsmen and half Han, not as constrained as you imagine. Ah Sheng, go fetch the bronze figurines from inside, let them see what kind of life the common folk in the Jing Dynasty live."

Ah Sheng responded and went inside, bringing out a box and opening it for everyone to see, revealing five pairs of bronze figurines, "Mr. Hong brought these back from Baidadan City before."

Zhang Xia and Chen Ji were taken aback, quickly averting their gaze.

Hong Zuer sneered, "There are no shortage of licentious and promiscuous people in the Jing Dynasty; you’ll see many walking arm in arm. I don’t ask you to do anything outrageous, just be a bit more affectionate. Remember, we must deal not only with the guards at the city gate but also with patrol soldiers inside the city. At Chongli Pass, we’re capturing Jing Dynasty spies day and night. Similarly, in Baidadan City, they are on high alert against the Ning Dynasty, so we must be cautious at all times."

Chen Ji hesitated, unsure how to convincingly act like a couple.

But at that moment, Zhang Xia took a deep breath and said with a smile, "It’s all fake anyway."

The next moment, she calmly took Chen Ji’s hand, "Don’t worry, Mr. Hong, we won’t make any mistakes."

Chen Ji didn’t dare to hold too tightly, letting Zhang Xia hold his hand.

Hong Zuer’s expression remained indifferent, "Be more natural."

Chen Ji slowly exerted some force, curling his fingers to hold Zhang Xia’s hand.

"Dawdling," Hong Zuer sneered, leading Ah Sheng and Zhang Baishi, limping out of the house.

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia walked shoulder to shoulder about a dozen steps behind, not speaking to each other for some time. Despite the cool and pleasant spring breeze, their palms were sweaty with tension.

Eventually, Chen Ji broke the silence, "Why did you come to Chongli Pass?"

Zhang Xia absentmindedly explained, "Xiao Man heard you were demoted to the Night Patrol at Chongli Pass by the emperor, so she came to ask me for help, hoping we could lend a hand. Also, with so many matchmakers coming to the house these days, I decided to come north to relax."

Chen Ji was astonished, "So many matchmakers?"

Zhang Xia replied nonchalantly, "What, is that surprising?"

Chen Ji shook his head, "Not surprising. Second Miss Zhang, with your beauty and talent, it’s only natural for many matchmakers to visit... Who has called on you?"

Zhang Xia smiled, "The Ru Nan Yuan Family, the Hongnong Yang Family, the Qian Family, the Zhou Family, and that Yang Yuan from the Yang Family. Oh, and a few others who want to marry in."

Chen Ji made a sound of acknowledgment.

Zhang Xia glanced at him, "But my father refused them all."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "How did Lord Zhang reject them?"

Zhang Xia mimicked Zhang Zhuo’s impatient tone, "Toads from nowhere shouldn’t have such wild dreams, before coming in, take a piss and look in the mirror to see if you deserve my daughter!"

Chen Ji laughed and said, "That really fits Lord Zhang’s straightforward nature."

In a low voice, Zhang Xia said, "Father said he’s already exhausted from dealing with people all day in the Forbidden City, outside he has no energy for socializing."

At this moment, Hong Zuer, turning back halfway, saw Zhang Xia gesturing that they were still holding hands, and only then did he continue walking forward.

In the Ning Dynasty, holding hands between men and women was quite unusual. The husband should walk in front, and the woman would walk slightly behind and to the side; this was "husband as the head of the wife," a rule of etiquette.

There was once an official who, after painting the eyebrows of his wife and writing a poem about it, was denounced by two Imperial Censors for shamelessness, becoming a laughingstock.

So at this time, passing infantry kept looking at the two.

Chen Ji instinctively wanted to let go of his hand, "If this gets back to the Imperial Capital, it won’t be good for you."

This time Zhang Xia clasped tighter, "What’s there to fear if it’s fake?"

She looked at the passing bystanders, boldly joking, "Never seen this before?"

The passing infantry hurriedly turned their heads back.

Yan Zhihu was still that Yan Zhihu.

...

...

Chen Ji changed the subject, "This trip to Baidadan City is extremely dangerous, you, Xiao Man, and the little monk shouldn’t follow."

Zhang Xia smiled, "What, looking down on us?"

Chen Ji hurriedly said, "I didn’t mean that."

Seeing no one looking, Zhang Xia raised her hand, a wisp of cloud lingered beside the joined index and middle fingers, complementing the mutton fat jade bracelet on her wrist.

In the next moment, Zhang Xia waved her hand, and that wisp of cloud carried a subtle killing intent, flashing briefly.

Chen Ji’s heart instinctively tightened.

Zhang Xia turned her head and said seriously, "You’re Innate, I am also Innate, Xiao Man is also Innate, don’t underestimate people."

Chen Ji asked in a low voice, "When did you become Innate? Why haven’t I heard you mention it?"

Zhang Xia casually replied, "I became Innate last month, today I have already reached the first level of Innate."

Chen Ji had previously calculated, the entire Shrouding Cloud consists of two hundred and thirty-nine sentences, totaling one thousand six hundred and seventy-three words.

With Zhang Xia’s speed in reciting Shrouding Cloud, without anyone practicing the scripture together, Zhang Xia would have to painstakingly cultivate day and night to reach this level.

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Why are you cultivating so diligently?"

Zhang Xia was silent for a moment, then smiled, "Of course, I want to reach the Seeking Dao Realm before thirty-six so I can live a long life, what woman wouldn’t want to stay young forever?"

Chen Ji nodded, "Makes sense."

Zhang Xia teased, "You better watch out, maybe I’ll reach the Seeking Dao Realm before you do."

Chen Ji cultivated the Mountain Lord Sect’s Scripture neither in a rush nor a panic.

At the eighth level of Innate, Chen Ji needed to form eight stripes to reach the threshold of the Seeking Dao Realm.

But the Mountain Lord Sect’s Scripture is peculiar. When Chen Ji kindled over seven hundred stove fires at the first level of Innate, his skills were comparable to the Peak of Innate. After igniting seven hundred and twenty stove fires, the fires would extinguish together, turning into stripes.

When he had just grown one stripe and hadn’t rekindled the stove fires, he was no better than an Executive Officer at the Peak of Postnatal.

Now he had ignited seven hundred fourteen stove fires, reaching the zenith of Innate, but another step forward would mean falling back in the realm. The Ice Flow in his Dantian could enable him to reach the sixth heaven of Innate, but there’s not much difference.

Only by cultivating the sword seed can he possess more advantages more quickly.

Zhang Xia asked softly, "When you reach Baidadan City, how do you plan to retrieve the Jing Dynasty Envoy?"

Chen Ji was calm, "How do you know I’m retrieving the envoy? And not going to assassinate the envoy?"

Zhang Xia casually said, "His Majesty sent you ahead as Night Patrol, with the Yulin Army following close behind. I know your connection with the Yulin Army, naturally guessing your purpose is to retrieve the envoy together with the Yulin Army. However, if you really accomplish this, the soldiers at Chongli Pass and the Imperial Three Camps would probably see you as an enemy."

Chen Ji said calmly, "I have my tasks to do, before rescuing the Commandery Princess, how others see me can only be left to their own thoughts."

Zhang Xia was silent for a moment, then smiled, "I’ll help you."

At this moment, Xiao Man and the little monk approached, and Chen Ji was about to greet them, but noticed Xiao Man was dazed, staring directly at the hands held by him and Zhang Xia.

Xiao Man’s mouth grew bigger and bigger, pulling hard on the little monk’s sleeve, "Did you see that?"

Zhang Xia, holding onto Chen Ji, asked calmly as they approached, "Where did you two go just now?"

Xiao Man hurriedly replied, "Went east, didn’t expect there to be a Buddhist Temple and a City God Temple inside Chongli Pass, I saw Buddhist Monks and Daoist Priests from the Dao Court there, burning incense prosperously."

Zhang Xia said calmly, "The Nine Towns of the Border Army all have them, after all, no one wants to die. Unfortunately, once the war starts, praying to Buddha or the Taoist Ancestor is of no use."