An Honest Girl

The Imperial Mausoleum lay at the southern foot of Longevity Mountain.

An area fifty li in every direction was designated as the mausoleum grounds, encircled by mountains, with the Su River to the north.

The imperial mausoleums were arranged from west to east, seventeen burial sites in all.

Zhou Yi easily slipped past the Imperial Mausoleum's guards and arrived before Emperor Chongming's newest tombstone.

"Emperors truly are the most unreasonable creatures in the world. That dog emperor skipped court for over thirty years in pursuit of immortality, yet spent more than a decade building his own mausoleum."

"You may not know this, Senior. When the Imperial Mausoleum was built, my father served as an official in the Ministry of Works Construction Department."

Huang Yuniang floated out from the jade hairpin. "According to my father, once the dog emperor's tomb was completed, tens of thousands of craftsmen were buried alive to keep the imperial mausoleum's secrets."

Zhou Yi nodded slightly. "I had heard something of it. The uproar was tremendous back then, and Long Ni directly dispatched troops to suppress it."

The imperial army could not defeat the rebels scattered across the land, but it had quite a knack for suppressing common folk. Before long, all sound of resistance vanished.

Huang Yuniang said, "That dog emperor was a foolish ruler his entire life, yet on his deathbed, he did one good thing: he secretly cultivated General Li."

"It was hard to say whether that would prove good or bad."

Looking at the great accomplishments inscribed upon the tombstone, Zhou Yi said, "From now on, you will reside inside the dog emperor's tomb. At least that will put everything to proper use."

When he had studied history before, the books merely said that this emperor or that emperor had been foolish and incompetent. Zhou Yi had never experienced it firsthand, so it had been difficult to truly feel hostility toward them.

But after living through Emperor Chongming's reign, Zhou Yi had truly seen and heard it all.

People eating people—three words written lightly, yet they contained countless bleak and absurd fates.

Then there were words such as "omitted," "massacred," "great famine," "exterminated three clans," and "more than half dead." Such simple sketches lacked the flowery language of a tombstone and contained not a shred of emotion, yet that was precisely what made them all the more cold and cruel.

"Remember: once you have the ability someday, help me burn that dog emperor's corpse and scatter his ashes to the wind!"

Zhou Yi found a concealed spot. His True Essence sword-light bored through the mausoleum, and after sensing the enormous tomb within, he sent Huang Yuniang's jade hairpin, which she inhabited, inside.

Sword Qi churned the earth at the entrance into fragments. After some time passed, no trace would remain.

Heavenly Prison.

With the remnant souls cleared away, much of the gloomy chill had dispersed.

The prison guards discussed it for several days, but since it was ultimately a good thing, the matter gradually faded away.

Ever since Zhou Yi had taken action to eliminate the criminals, he was still nominally a prison guard, but his treatment was equivalent to Zhu Xiaowei's. He had been assigned a room of his own.

He hired craftsmen to renovate and decorate it exquisitely, furnished it with rosewood tables and chairs, bought a fine tea set, and brewed a pot of pre-rain Longjing tea. Going to work was more comfortable than staying at home.

"What did the lofty court or the distant martial world have to do with me? Better to cultivate immortality!"

After cultivating the Origin Returning Art for nearly half a year, all the Innate True Essence within Zhou Yi's body had transformed into Mana. His efficiency at drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had increased severalfold.

Though it had originally only been a few digits after the decimal point, it was still a tremendous improvement!

The Mana of Immortal Techniques possessed clear advantages over martial True Essence. It was more attuned to the great Dao of heaven and earth, clear and ethereal in quality, changing at the heart's command.

For example, True Essence could originally condense into forms such as swords, sabers, and fists, but the details were rather crude. With Mana, a mere thought could transform it into a lifelike palm.

One day.

Zhou Yi was meditating in cultivation when he suddenly sensed someone entering the room and silently landing atop the roof beam.

"Get down!"

A streak of sword-light swept over. The guest on the beam could not dodge in time and fell, yet gracefully flipped through the air before landing steadily.

"What brought you here, you rascal?"

Zhou Yi gave Lao Bai a once-over and had to admit that the man's looks had only improved over the past decade or so. Amid his dashing charm, he now carried an added trace of mature steadiness.

He had originally been a jade tree before the wind, a maiden-slayer. Now, he could probably bewitch countless married women.

"A dignified Innate Grandmaster hiding in the Heavenly Prison to deliver meals—this could be called unprecedented and unlikely to ever be repeated!"

Envy flashed through Lao Bai's eyes, but when he thought of the Cang Family's miserable fate, he also felt somewhat fortunate. "Old Zhou, your brother here is planning to get married. I came especially to invite you to serve as my best man."

A best man was someone who followed beside the groom and blocked drinks for him, lest he get so drunk that he could not consummate the marriage.

Zhou Yi said in surprise, "You're actually getting married? What family's girl has such charm?"

"Princess Rongchang."

Lao Bai took a bright red invitation from his robes. Gold thread was stamped upon it, and its decoration was extremely lavish.

Zhou Yi paused, then said disdainfully, "You really have no shame. After playing to your heart's content and wandering enough outside, you decide to settle down and ruin some honest girl?"

Princess Rongchang was the legitimate daughter of Prince Dongyang of the Fengyang Kingdom.

Lao Bai had boasted many times in prison that he had accidentally stumbled into the Prince's Manor back then and nearly died. Relying on his looks, he had captured Princess Rongchang's heart, then turned around, patted his backside, and slipped away.

Lao Bai set down the invitation, picked up the teapot, and gulped down several mouthfuls.

"Are you even my brother? Did you really think I wanted to marry? They merely got hold of something on me."

"What did they get hold of? Do you need me to act?"

Zhou Yi raised a brow. Not only had Lao Bai taught him, but the two had always been friends.

Over the years, whenever Lao Bai occasionally came to Shenjing, he would seek Zhou Yi out for drinks and conversation, bringing along local specialties that were tasty, entertaining, or interesting.

After drinking, they would go their separate ways. Zhou Yi continued guarding the Heavenly Prison, while Lao Bai continued roaming the martial world.

Zhou Yi envied Lao Bai's carefree freedom, while Lao Bai admired Zhou Yi's indifference to fame and profit. Their friendship had much of the flavor of gentlemen's friendship, light as water.

"Back then, in order to get away, I exchanged tokens of affection with Princess Rongchang. I had only taken it as a joke. Who would have thought the girl was so stubborn? After all these years, she still could not forget."

Lao Bai sighed. "Prince Dongyang had no choice. Seeing that the Princess was getting older, he invited several top experts to search the entire martial world for me. Either I marry his daughter, or else..."

Zhou Yi could no longer endure it. He pointed at the door and said.

"Get out! Get out, now!"

"Haha, remember to come on time!"

Lao Bai could no longer maintain his sorrowful expression. It turned into a smug grin—at last, he had won back a round.

The fifteenth of the month was auspicious for marriage.

Zhou Yi requested leave early and familiarized himself with the complicated, cumbersome wedding procedures.

When Zhu Xiaowei heard that it was the Prince's Manor marrying off a daughter, he marveled at Zhou Yi's vast connections and shamelessly asked for an invitation, saying he wanted to broaden his horizons.

Zhu Xiaowei was a man eager to improve himself, so naturally he would not miss such an opportunity.

That day.

Yongchang Ward was draped in red silk. From Lao Bai's new residence to the Prince's Manor, peonies lined both sides of the road, while flower petals of every color carpeted the ground.

The cost of decorating the road alone consumed more than ten thousand taels of silver.

Not to mention Lao Bai's new residence. Yongchang Ward bordered the imperial palace, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold; its value could no longer be measured in gold or silver.

"Can being handsome really let you do whatever you want?"

Zhou Yi looked into the mirror and touched his own face.

"I'm not bad either!"

Another benefit Mana had over True Essence was that it constantly nourished the body, allowing the fleshly form to transform toward greater perfection. That was why the Cultivation World was filled with handsome men and no ugly women.

After a string of procedures, they finally brought the Princess home.

Bai Estate's banquet hall.

Lao Bai followed the elders from the Prince's Manor, going from table to table to offer toasts and exchange pleasantries, becoming acquainted with the various princely and marquis households.

Zhou Yi accompanied him at his side and secretly transmitted, "Prince Dongyang treats you far too well. He is introducing all these relatives to you, his son-in-law?"

"Perhaps this is how parents love their children."

Lao Bai had still been lively and unrestrained yesterday, but now that he was truly married, even his manner of speaking had suddenly changed.