Chapter Forty-Six: Paying the Price for Art

Chen Kan was not foolish enough to take Ji Gang’s polite words at face value.

He merely stood quietly to one side, saying nothing.

"Heh."

Ji Gang gave a light chuckle and offered no further remark, continuing to eat in a leisurely manner.

When the dishes on the table were nearly empty, Ji Gang pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

Casually, he said, "Why are you standing? Sit."

Chen Kan curled his lips in mild disdain, but complied, walking over to sit opposite Ji Gang.

Once Chen Kan was seated, Ji Gang said faintly, "You caused such a massive uproar on your very second day on the job. Do you have nothing to say to me?"

Chen Kan lowered his head and replied, "This subordinate knows he was wrong."

"Wrong?"

"Heh, 'knowing one's wrong.' Go ahead, tell me where you went wrong."

Ji Gang’s expression remained unchanged. He picked up a white porcelain wine cup and scrutinized it intently, not glancing at Chen Kan even once.

Stealing a glance at Ji Gang’s expression, Chen Kan said with a serious demeanor, "This subordinate's fault lies in failing to extinguish the fire on Yongning Street in a timely manner, which to a certain extent caused panic among the common people."

Hearing this, a strange, hard-to-read smile appeared on Ji Gang’s face. He asked, "So you're saying you went there to put out the fire?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, this subordinate arrived too late and ultimately failed to save Prince Jin’s residence from the flames."

Chen Kan spoke with utmost sincerity, his tone laden with regret.

Ji Gang listened just as earnestly, though the smiles packed tightly into his eyes betrayed his true thoughts.

After a moment, Ji Gang stood up, walked around behind Chen Kan, patted his shoulder, and said, "You ought to be the Commander of the Brocade Guard."

Chen Kan argued with a look of dismay, "This subordinate wouldn't dare. Your Excellency, please see the truth."

"I know you wouldn't dare. Remember to say the same thing tomorrow when you see His Majesty."

Patting Chen Kan’s shoulder once more, Ji Gang left those words behind and walked out with his hands clasped behind his back.

Chen Kan looked at the empty plates on the table and could not help letting out a sigh.

Once is enough, twice is pushing it!

Chen Kan was not at all surprised by Ji Gang’s reprimand.

When all was said and done, Ji Gang was his immediate superior; since he had stirred up such a colossal disaster, Ji Gang could hardly shirk responsibility.

The only reason Ji Gang seemed to brush the matter aside so lightly was because Chen Kan had already anticipated a countermeasure.

Otherwise, facing the immense pressure of a prince of the blood, even Ji Gang would have had to carefully weigh the fallout this incident would bring upon the Brocade Guard.

After clearing the empty plates and returning them to the kitchen, the plump cook sighed with the resignation of someone accepting his fate.

Once Chen Kan had stuffed himself to his heart's content, he walked out of the kitchen with a toothpick clenched between his teeth. The moment he stepped outside, he felt a gaze full of hostility fixed upon him.

The glare came from a sinister fellow with triangular eyes and a face shaped like a cobbler’s last.

Just as the two were about to brush past each other, the man suddenly lowered his voice and said, "You must be Chen Kan?"

Chen Kan was somewhat bewildered by this inexplicable hostility from a stranger.

"I am Chen Kan. What's it to you?"

"Hmph! This official is Li Yan, Guard Commander of the Northern Bureau of Control. Chen Kan, let me offer you a piece of advice: when dealing with people and affairs, don't try to hog all the glory."

"Where on earth did this lunatic crawl out from?"

Chen Kan muttered under his breath, then walked around him and strode away.

He couldn't be bothered to entertain inexplicable people.

He had only reported for duty at the Brocade Guard yesterday and hadn't even fully memorized the faces of his own subordinates, let alone someone named Li Yan.

Offending Li Yan was completely out of the question.

This hostility was utterly uncalled for.

"Nutcase!"

Shaking his head, Chen Kan quickened his pace toward the main gates of the Brocade Guard compound.

Watching Chen Kan’s retreating figure, Li Yan wore an expression of deep-seated hatred.

Then, with a cold snort, he turned and headed toward the kitchen.

Once outside the gates, Chen Kan let out a long stretch.

As expected, a good mood needed to be built upon someone else's misery. Having burned down Zhu Jixi's residence, Chen Kan felt thoroughly refreshed from head to toe.

Thus, he immediately decided to grant himself a holiday.

In any case, his official position was merely temporary, and he had no official duties to speak of. With an entire afternoon stretching ahead of him, why waste his life lingering inside the Brocade Guard compound instead of playing hooky?

As for what to do after skipping work, he hadn't decided yet.

But it would certainly be more interesting than staying cooped up with the Brocade Guard.

Right as he turned a corner, he bumped into Fang Xu leading a squad of men, heading who-knows-where.

Chen Kan spat out his toothpick, immediately raised a hand to block their path, and said, "Fang Xu, take your men and accompany me outside the yamen to take care of some business."

"Your Excellency, what kind of business?"

Perhaps due to the comradeship forged that morning when they went out to burn down a mansion together, the moment Chen Kan mentioned taking him out on official business, Fang Xu’s heart grew warm. Chiefly because working under this particular superior wasn't just exhilarating—it also paid well.

"We'll talk on the way."

Walking ahead with his hands clasped behind his back, Chen Kan casually asked, "You know a guy named Li Yan, right?"

The moment Chen Kan uttered the name Li Yan, a flicker of awkwardness crossed Fang Xu’s face.

Nodding in acknowledgment, he replied, "This subordinate previously served under Lord Li, along with Centurion Xing Fang."

"So that's how it is!"

Dawning comprehension washed over Chen Kan. No wonder Li Yan held such intense animosity toward him.

So the man felt as though his territory had been poached.

Oh well, it didn't matter.

Chen Kan had no intention of making a long-term career out of the Brocade Guard anyway.

"Oh, by the way, Your Excellency, what kind of business are we heading out for?"

Chen Kan came to a halt, turned to look at Fang Xu, and asked, "Did you bring any money?"

Fang Xu nodded, and without a moment's hesitation, pulled a money pouch from his robe.

Handing it over to Chen Kan, he said, "As for the pearls we extorted from Prince Jin this morning, this subordinate took a share of one thousand three hundred liang of silver, though I don't have all of it on me right now. I only have this much on hand. How much do you need, Your Excellency? If it's not enough, I can have someone fetch more immediately."

Chen Kan opened the pouch, tipped out a few fragments of silver into his palm, and weighed them. There was roughly three or four liang, accompanied by a handful of scattered copper coins.

He casually replied, "This is plenty. Where is a good place nearby to listen to some music?"

Fang Xu’s eyes widened in shock as he blurted out, "Ah, does Your Excellency wish to—"

Chen Kan smacked him across the back of the head. "Just listening to music, what on earth are your thoughts wandering to?"

"The pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River."

"Let's move. Nothing to do today, time to hit the pleasure quarters and listen to tunes!"

Recalling the decadent and unbridled civil servant lifestyle of a certain predecessor from another world, Chen Kan decided to emulate it. With a wave of a grand gesture, he led a dozen murderous-looking Brocade Guard officers straight toward the Qinhuai River.

---

As the setting sun cast its dying rays, Chen Kan emerged from a painted pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River with a flushed face, fleeing almost as if escaping for his life.

Living through two lifetimes, though he had always preserved his purity, Chen Kan considered himself to have "read countless women" in his previous existence.

He had certainly conducted no shortage of academic research and observation late at night into the masterworks of instructors like Ozawa, Aoi, and Hato.

Yet, facing the bold, fiery, and overwhelmingly enthusiastic women of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Kan ultimately proved no match, retreating in defeat after a single afternoon.

Fang Xu and the Brocade Guard officers trailing behind Chen Kan bore expressionless faces; clearly, they held little interest in such recreational activities that allowed only for distant appreciation rather than physical indulgence.

Smacking his lips, Fang Xu said with a look of pained reluctance, "Your Excellency, we spent three whole liang of silver just to watch a bunch of wenches shake their hips?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Kan immediately grew displeased.

Glaring at Fang Xu with utter contempt, he retorted, "Vulgar, utterly unbearable! We were paying to support art, what the hell do you know?"