After discussing the attitude towards Pang Zi, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua returned. The gate was still tightly closed. After knocking, the ones who opened the door were people Chen Ke had never seen before; unexpectedly, there were two of them. In the darkness of the night, their appearances couldn't be seen clearly; he only heard them ask viciously in Shandong dialect: "Who are you looking for?"

Chen Ke was stunned, but he soon thought that these two were probably the people Wu Xingchen mentioned who were preparing to rebel. Since they had arrived, Wu Xingchen should have followed them here too.

"We live right here," Chen Ke replied.

While they were speaking, two more people came over. Looking at the dark and tall figure of one of them—who else could it be but Wu Xingchen? After approaching, it was indeed Wu Xingchen and Pang Zi.

"Brother Wu..." Before Chen Ke could finish, Wu Xingchen didn't let the two enter the door but pulled Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua away to a distance. Seeing the situation was like this, Chen Ke stopped making a sound. Not until they reached a secluded place outside the village did Wu Xingchen ask anxiously, "Wenqing, what did you say to Brother Pang?"

Chen Ke didn't like Wu Xingchen's tone, but he didn't want to bicker with Wu Xingchen either, so he simply told the truth. "Said some words he didn't like to hear."

After hearing Chen Ke finish, Wu Xingchen was speechless for a long time. When he spoke again, his tone was unusually soft, but there was uncontrollable helplessness in his voice. "Wenqing, Brother Pang just said that no matter what, he doesn't want Wenqing and Xingtai to participate in this meeting."

"Did Brother Wu bring your own horses, or rent animals?" Chen Ke asked directly.

"Uh?" Wu Xingchen was somewhat puzzled, but understood after a moment. "Wenqing is preparing to leave?"

"Brother Pang feels unhappy; I can actually understand. Since it's like this, there's no meaning in me sticking around here. If it really doesn't work, I'll just rush back to Xingtai overnight tonight."

"It's not necessary to go that far, right?" Wu Xingchen felt Chen Ke was also overreacting a bit.

"The few friends who came this time are all going to do big things; they may not necessarily be willing to let me meet them. Since Brother Pang said so, why should I ask for trouble?"

Wu Xingchen knew Chen Ke spoke reasonably. He originally wanted to let Chen Ke have a good talk about revolution with these people, but he didn't expect it to turn out like this. However, he and Pang Zi had talked for a while just now; Pang Zi refused to agree to let Chen Ke continue staying here no matter what, and he couldn't persuade him otherwise.

"It can only be so." Wu Xingchen sighed and had to agree to Chen Ke's departure.

Beijing in 1905 was vastly different from Beijing in the 21st century. If he had to say, Chen Ke actually preferred the appearance of Beijing in 1905. Of course, in Chen Ke's feeling, Beijing in 1905 was more like a toy than the center of power of the Manchu Qing. The ancient buildings visible everywhere were actually built with quite a flavor. Modern architecture used a large amount of reinforced concrete structures, while these ancient buildings didn't have this problem. The result was that compared with modern buildings full of geometric styles, those city gates, towers, and walls were full of a flavor of "exhausting all ingenuity" unique to the old era.

But this was merely a visual impression. The traces of the Eight-Nation Alliance ravaging Beijing were far from being eliminated. Those broken city walls and walls blackened by flames were still silently telling of the tragic experience. The ancient imperial capital had far from recovered. On the avenues outside the city gates, ragged adults could be seen selling emaciated children, yet no one showed interest. Most pedestrians were dressed shabbily, and in Beijing, even those wearing mandarin gowns and jackets couldn't be called brightly dressed. An unspeakable decadence and depravity, like a stream of rotten air, shrouded Beijing city and couldn't disperse. Chen Ke had no good feelings toward the humans filling this city. The streets were full of people wearing queues, dressed in long gowns or short clothes; slick Beijing accents and various accents from other places filled both sides of the streets. Among the cities of 1905 Chen Ke had seen, only Shanghai could compare with Beijing. But it was completely different from Shanghai. Beijing was China's political center; Shanghai, as an important area where foreign forces penetrated China strongly, had a completely different style.

Even so, this city of Beijing, which could still be considered to have quite a flavor, was just at the level of a third-rate provincial capital in the eyes of Chen Ke, who had seen the 21st century. It couldn't trigger Chen Ke's good feelings in the slightest.

Leaving Pang Zi's place, Chen Tianhua didn't discuss Pang Zi excessively either. On the way, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua had been discussing how to gather comrades in Beijing. Compared to a local hero like Pang Zi, Chen Tianhua felt scholars suited his taste better. Arriving in Beijing, following the address given by Wu Xingchen when they parted, the two found their new residence. Chen Ke always felt Wu Xingchen was a guy with quite a few methods. Wu Xingchen went north first; he rented a house for everyone in Beijing. It was said this residence was actually the house of a former official. Chen Ke suspected quite maliciously that this official's family probably suffered some misfortune in the Gengzi year, but this matter wasn't easy to verify.

Opening the door with the key, Chen Ke was very satisfied. A very ordinary *siheyuan* (quadrangle courtyard), without any furniture. The house should have been uninhabited for at least half a year. Chen Ke pulled Chen Tianhua to start cleaning. Chen Tianhua was also a person who loved cleanliness. The two cleaned thoroughly, even sweeping the roof beams clean. The wonderful thing was that there was actually a well in the courtyard; the water drawn was slightly bitter, unpleasant to drink, but acceptable for bathing. By the time the two sprinkled water in the courtyard and took a bath, it was already afternoon. Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua moved the grand master's chairs from the main room out and placed them in the courtyard. Just as the two sat down, Chen Ke suddenly remembered something: there was no bedding in the house. Neither of them knew where to buy this stuff. So the two, whose buttocks hadn't even warmed the seat, got up hurriedly to go shopping.

The rickshaw puller stopped outside the door was slightly stunned upon hearing their request. "Two masters, the place I know is relatively expensive." It seemed the puller was also an honest person.

"Expensive is expensive; just pull us there."

Since Chen Ke said so, the puller didn't speak anymore; pulling the two, he started moving. Chen Tianhua sat in the cart looking left and right, while Chen Ke leaned on the seat closing his eyes to rest his mind. Along the way, he only heard the surroundings becoming livelier and livelier. Chen Ke was also tired these few days, plus having cleaned for a while, he was actually somewhat sleepy now. When Chen Tianhua shook him awake, Chen Ke had actually slept for a while. Opening his eyes, Chen Ke finally knew why the puller said "expensive." Heaven knew what the puller was thinking; the cart actually stopped in front of a silk and satin shop.

Looking left and right, this was actually a bustling downtown area. Looking at this silk and satin shop again, people were also going in and out. Chen Tianhua's face was already somewhat wrong; it looked like he felt pitted by the puller. Chen Ke didn't say much either; getting off the cart, he paid the fare, and then strode into the silk and satin shop.

"Two masters, please sit." A waiter came up to welcome them.

The people coming to the silk and satin shop were all wearing long gowns and mandarin jackets, dressed in silk clothes; the very few women were also wearing gold and silver. Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua's short hair and short clothes were very eye-catching. Chen Ke waved his hand. "No need to sit. Waiter, do you sell bedding here?"

"What?" The waiter felt somewhat strange hearing this.

"We want two sets of bedding, no, three sets of bedding." Chen Ke continued. Chen Ke was already the object of everyone's attention; hearing his words, low laughter already drifted over.

"This master, we only sell quilt covers here, not quilts." The waiter replied hurriedly.

"Then are there places selling quilt covers nearby?" Chen Ke asked next.

"There don't seem to be any on this street." The waiter replied.

"Then do you have silk quilt covers here?" Chen Ke asked again.

Hearing this, the waiter was almost somewhat respectful. "This master, we don't have the silk quilt covers you mentioned here either."

Chen Ke nodded. "Then tear off two pieces, oh, three pieces of satin face for me."

"This way please."

Just as Chen Ke stood up and was preparing to follow the waiter to choose satin, he saw several small rooms inside the silk and satin shop. A middle-aged man was looking at him with strange eyes. Looking carefully, he looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall exactly where he had seen him. Chen Tianhua had also stood up. Chen Ke turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Have we met that person opposite us?"

"We have; it's that official's steward we met in Tianjin that day." Chen Tianhua replied.

"Oh," Chen Ke also remembered. "Is it that Steward Yang?" he said in a low voice.

"The one surnamed Yang is the car dealership boss; the steward is surnamed He." Chen Tianhua corrected.

Seeing the two short-haired guys, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua, looking at him and muttering, Steward He was already certain that these two were definitely the guys he met last time. The meeting last time was very short; actually, he couldn't remember their faces clearly either. But this hair and clothes were so rare; plus these two noticed him, Steward He believed he absolutely didn't mistake the person.

Last time Chen Ke just walked away laughing haha; from a long distance, one could still hear Chen Ke laughing non-stop like he was possessed. What the steward saw in the car dealership boss's eyes was a kind of mockery. For Steward He, face was a matter bigger than the sky. He was actually laughed at by two young punks. If he hadn't been pulling the car dealership boss to talk business at the time, he would have grabbed these two guys of unknown origin to clarify things right then. In the end, he still failed to gain an advantage from the car dealership boss that day. Steward He held back a bellyful of anger. Unexpectedly, he actually saw those two short-hairs here again. In these years, those without queues were either scholars or soldiers. But most people kept long hair like foreign devils. In Steward He's view, Chen Tianhua was definitely a student who had studied abroad. And Chen Ke's short hair looked more like a monk who had just returned to secular life.

At this time, the waiter was already standing in front of the counter next to Steward He. "These two masters, please look here."

Chen Ke saw Steward He's expression was unkind. He himself didn't feel he had any real conflict with Steward He. Chen Ke smiled at Steward He, only to see Steward He's round face twitch, as if beaten by someone. Chen Ke didn't care about that much; he walked generously to the counter. The clerk inside the counter took out a bolt of satin. Chen Ke slid the back of his hand over the back surface; the feel was acceptable.

After settling the price, the clerk tore off the satin face. Chen Ke looked at Steward He not far away. This steward had a face looking ready to beat someone. Just now he saw waiters taking quite a few silk samples into that small room; presumably, it should be specially for noble ladies to use. It seemed the steward was serving at the door and dared not leave his post without permission. Seeing Chen Ke looking at him again with a cold expression, the steward's already unhappy face became even gloomier. Just at this time, the door curtain was lifted, and three women walked out from inside. In the middle was a middle-aged woman; behind her followed two young girls. At this time, the steward was facing the three women, looking like he was serving carefully.

*So that's how it is*, Chen Ke thought to himself.

Among the three women, the middle-aged woman's appearance was very ordinary, with a pointed face, thin and emaciated. Her skin was dull, but her eyes were very bright. The two young girls stood behind the middle-aged woman looking straight ahead; this rule already showed considerable family education. The girl who looked older was closer to Chen Ke. He stared very seriously at that older young woman for a while. She was quite a handsome girl, with fair skin, an oval face, two slender eyebrows, and a pair of quite bright almond eyes. Her nose was slightly upturned, and her lips were plump. There was great calmness between her brows. From the corner of her eye, she probably saw Chen Ke looking over; the woman's long eyelashes moved slightly, but her gaze didn't turn.

The steward saw this small movement. He turned his body around, and a murderous gaze pressed straight toward Chen Ke. Chen Ke stared back at Steward He without showing weakness for a while before turning around. Coincidentally, the clerk had already torn the satin. Chen Ke paid the bill and asked again, "Is there needle and thread for sale here?"

"Needle and thread, we do have." The clerk replied.

"Give me a few big needles that can sew bedding."

By the time Chen Ke finished selecting needles, the group of people had walked so far that not even their shadows could be seen.

The rickshaw puller who brought them had already disappeared. Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua first went to a nearby cloth shop to buy quilt lining, then hired a cart and asked the puller to take them to a place selling quilt covers. After arriving at the place, Chen Ke almost choked with anger; it turned out this quilt cover shop was less than two streets away from his residence. It seemed he had actually been tricked by that puller who looked honest originally.

Buying quilt covers, they went back to sew quilts and mattresses. It was already dark. Chen Ke and the other ate outside together. After returning home and talking about revolution for a while, everyone went to sleep.

Most of the residents on this street were officials. Early in the morning, there were quite a few sounds outside. Chen Ke looked up; it wasn't light yet. He didn't know what demons those people outside were raising. He put on clothes and opened a crack in the door; there was bright firelight outside, and several small sedans passed by the door. It seemed they might be officials going to court. Closing the door, Chen Ke went back to continue sleeping.

After waking up again, Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua ate breakfast outside. They began to stroll around the capital.

Truly, enemies are bound to meet. Just as the two arrived at the gate of Fayuan Temple, they saw those four people from yesterday coming out of the temple. The steward walked at the very front; upon seeing Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua at the gate, all three were stunned. The steward frowned but didn't speak. Immediately after, the three women behind also saw Chen Ke. The leading middle-aged woman was slightly startled upon seeing Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua at the gate, but didn't speak. The older woman glanced at Chen Ke and then followed the middle-aged woman down the steps. The younger one, however, looked carefully at Chen Ke's head. She was probably fifteen or sixteen, maybe younger. Her appearance gave Chen Ke the feeling of a young girl not yet fully grown; her forehead and nose bridge were quite high, eyes very large, bangs in front of her forehead, and long hair braided into a queue following behind her head. Seeing Chen Ke looking at her so unscrupulously, the girl blushed, turned her head, and quickly caught up with the two older women in front. The steward also turned his head back and glared fiercely at Chen Ke and Chen Tian. A Western-style carriage was parked at the gate; the three women got into the carriage, and the steward followed in. Two domestic servants and a coachman sat properly in front, and the carriage started moving with a rumble.

By evening, when Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua walked back to their residence carrying pig head meat and a few sesame seed cakes, a carriage caught up from behind. The coachman suddenly waved his whip to drive the horses, but the whip didn't hit the horses; instead, it swept toward Chen Ke. Chen Tianhua was walking on Chen Ke's left; if he wanted to dodge, he would definitely bump into Chen Tianhua. Hearing the wind sound, Chen Ke raised his hand and grabbed, catching the whip tip exactly in his hand. The coachman struck quite ruthlessly; the whip tip lashed onto Chen Ke's palm, shaking it painfully. Chen Ke turned his head angrily. He saw this carriage was exactly that carriage from the morning. The steward sat on the front left of the carriage, glaring at Chen Ke angrily. The carriage wasn't moving too fast. Chen Ke grabbed the whip tip tightly, but the whip handle was in the coachman's hand. The carriage continued to move forward, and the middle of the whip was already tightening against the steward's chest.

Chen Ke had no intention of letting go. Without the steward's order, the coachman didn't dare let go either. The horse whip slid up along the steward's chest and was already stuck on the steward's neck. Chen Ke still didn't let go. Unfortunately, the tail of the horse whip was a rope loop, looped on the coachman's wrist. In the urgency, the coachman couldn't loosen the rope loop. The coachman was also considered clever; he stopped the carriage hurriedly, avoiding making a huge fool of himself. Chen Ke flung the whip tip in his hand forcefully, hitting the carriage canopy with a *pa*. The steward was already quite angry with Chen Ke; seeing Chen Ke repeatedly for more than a day, this anger was even greater. With such a scene, the steward could no longer endure it; he pushed the coachman aside and jumped down from the carriage.

Chen Tianhua saw the steward jump out and looked slightly nervous. Offending the government in these years wouldn't make life easy. He looked at Chen Ke and saw Chen Ke's square face was gloomy like water, and the gaze in his beautiful eyes was icy cold. Watching the steward jump down, before the steward could speak, Chen Ke spoke first. "What's your name? Which family's person? Is this how your master teaches you to handle things?"

"Which family's little brat are you?" The steward had never been mocked like this by such a young person. Hearing Chen Ke's words, his face flushed red.

Chen Ke laughed loudly. "Is an old guy like you worthy of asking me?"

The tit-for-tat verbal conflict intensified the situation immediately. The faces of the domestic servants behind the steward changed greatly; rolling up their sleeves, they leaned forward, staring at Chen Ke with a provocative look.

Chen Ke fished out a name card from his pocket, put away his fierce appearance, and handed it to the steward grinningly. "If you want to find someone to report to the officials, then take this name card and go. It's also good to know who I am. Steward He, your family members are still in the carriage. You say if we fight like this and disturb the family members, how will you explain to your master when you go back?"

Hearing this, the steward's face changed slightly. If he really disturbed the family members in the carriage, he couldn't bear it. Moreover, Chen Ke looked like a rascal; presumably, he wasn't that easy to deal with either. Glancing at Chen Ke's name card, he saw a string of foreign text on it. Plus Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua's attire, hairstyle, and style, presumably, they were also compradors from somewhere.

During the steward's moment of pondering, the coachman trotted into a house diagonally opposite Chen Ke's door. The coachman shouted two sentences inside, and soon two domestic servants rushed out.

Seeing the situation was wrong, Chen Tianhua became alert all over. Chen Ke laughed loudly instead. "So we are neighbors." He pointed to his own residence. "We live right here now. As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. Us making a scene like this only lets others see a joke. If you, Steward, are unconvinced, then tomorrow morning, hmm..." Chen Ke raised his wrist and deliberately looked at his wristwatch. "Come to my place at nine tomorrow morning; I'll treat you to a cup of tea." After speaking, Chen Ke handed the name card in his hand forward again. "You keep it first."

The steward was quite embarrassed; taking it wasn't right, not taking it wasn't right either. Just at this time, Chen Ke saw the curtain of the carriage window open slightly. He took back the name card and nodded slightly toward the carriage window to signal. Regardless of how Steward He planned to make a scene, he walked swaggeringly toward the residence with Chen Tianhua.

Hearing a middle-aged woman give low instructions from behind, the steward immediately called out to Chen Ke from behind. Turning back, he saw the steward's face was as usual. "What is this little brother's surname?"

"Avoid the honorable; surnamed Chen." As Chen Ke spoke, he took out the name card again. "This is my name card." After the steward took it, Chen Ke continued, "I won't disturb you today. Steward He, nine o'clock tomorrow morning, I'll wait for you at home."

The steward thought for a moment and nodded. "I will definitely visit tomorrow."