Brocade Guards Rule the Nation

Spring Breeze Pavilion is Shenjing's premier money pit.

Guests who come here, whether learned or not, will feign understanding.

Those with fiery tempers in normal times must put on a show of elegance in front of fair-skinned and beautiful young ladies.

Captain Lu's whip strikes against prisoners are terrifyingly powerful, but when he speaks to the girls, his voice is light and soft.

Zhou Yi was helping Miss Rou Rou read her palm. Having spent two or three decades immersed in Daoist and Buddhist scriptures, he far surpassed most ordinary fortune-tellers, and his pronouncements were naturally articulate and insightful.

"This career line is a bit flat... no, small, bah, short. You should drink more milk every day..."

Suddenly.

A loud crash drowned out the laughter of the guests, and Spring Breeze Pavilion fell silent.

Zhou Yi followed the sound and saw four middle-aged men in the hall on the first floor overturning a table of food and drinks.

The madam hurried forward, bowing and apologizing, "Gentlemen, Susu has been dancing for half the night, let's change to someone else..."

"This master came here to see her!"

One of them said, "With Master Chen here today, even if she can't dance, she'll have to dance even if her legs are broken!"

Another chimed in, "Just a lowly woman, a few compliments about her waist being the best, and she thinks she's precious?"

The madam's expression changed slightly. Judging from their accents, they were from Shenjing, which made them difficult to deal with.

Firstly, Shenjing was full of powerful and influential people, and they might be sons of marquises or earls. Secondly, Shenjing people would know that Spring Breeze Pavilion had a deep background, so anyone who dared to be so arrogant must have something to rely on.

A richly dressed guest nearby, seemingly an admirer of Susu, couldn't stand their arrogance.

"Miss Susu is already tired, forcing a weak woman, how can..."

Before he could finish speaking, a figure flashed, grabbed the guest's arm, and with a flick of the wrist, drew a dagger from his waist.

Ah!

A scream rang out as the dagger pierced the guest's palm, pinning it to the table.

The last man, who was still sitting calmly, took out a badge from his pocket and threw it into the madam's arms.

"Keep singing!"

"Brocade Guard!"

The madam saw the badge clearly, with the words "Chen Yang, Brocade Guard Centurion" written on it, and trembled in fear.

A moment later.

The music started again, and Susu took to the stage again, twisting her waist even more vigorously than before.

Chen Yang glanced at the injured guest, his voice quite amiable, "Where are you from?"

"Daizhou."

The guest's palm was still bleeding, but he dared not make a sound, looking to his friends for help, but none of them dared to speak.

"A good place for salt production!"

Chen Yang smiled, "I heard there are pirates causing trouble there, colluding with many salt merchants in secret. Are you one of them?"

"No, absolutely not."

The guest forcefully pulled his hand away, tearing the dagger wound in half, and knelt on the ground, kowtowing, "Sir, spare me, I'm related to Vice Minister Lu of the Ministry of Revenue..."

Chen Yang's expression remained unchanged, still slowly drinking his wine.

The guest gritted his teeth, "Sir, I'm willing to give you thirty percent of the money, delivered to your residence."

"Seventy percent!"

Chen Yang said slowly, "And you don't have to give it to that Lu fellow anymore. In a few days, he won't be an official anymore."

The guest was immediately horrified, not caring that blood was flowing all over the floor, and kowtowed in agreement.

With this matter settled.

The madam dared to have someone carry the injured man away, clean the floor, and arrange for the best girl in the building to serve him.

With this disturbance over, the cheerful atmosphere of Spring Breeze Pavilion was greatly reduced, and some cautious guests quietly left, lest they attract the attention of the imperial claws.

Second floor private room.

Zhou Yi witnessed the whole thing and was quite surprised by the power of the Brocade Guard.

"Captain Lu, how can the Brocade Guard be so powerful?"

The Brocade Guard was established by the Great Qian Dynasty's founding emperor. Initially, it recruited nobles, even branches of the imperial family.

There was no question about the loyalty of these people. The nobles of that time had been on the battlefield, fighting with swords and spears, and their martial prowess was naturally not bad.

At that time, the Brocade Guard supervised all officials and had independent powers of arrest and imprisonment. The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review had no right to interfere, so its power was immense.

Now, more than three hundred years later, the Brocade Guard has been weakened by successive emperors, its powers of arrest and supervision have been taken back, and its power is no longer what it once was. Only impoverished nobles or unimportant sons of concubines would go to this department, which had a bad reputation but no real power, to make a living.

"Little Zhou, there are two things you don't mess with in Shenjing these days."

Captain Lu said, "The first is not to mess with the Brocade Guard. The current Emperor Jinglong is close to the nobles and has restored their power to supervise all officials, so their power is on the rise. The second is not to mess with the Zhang family. The current Empress is the daughter of Duke Wenzhong, and the Crown Prince is his grandson!"

Zhou Yi asked, puzzled, "I haven't been in Shenjing long, but I've heard many people say His Majesty is benevolent?"

"Old Zhou only taught you the trade, but not the ways of the world."

Feng Qiao, tipsy, chimed in, "His Majesty's benevolence is for the officials, nobles, and the imperial family. What use is it to commoners!"

A colleague said, "The Brocade Guard is expanding rapidly now, and the Imperial Prison is recruiting people everywhere. Old Feng can give it a try."

"Cough, cough, cough! Don't talk nonsense. What's wrong with the Heavenly Prison!"

Captain Lu, fearing Zhou Yi might have other ideas, after all, the Brocade Guard was very prestigious and had better prospects than the idle job in the Heavenly Prison, quickly changed the subject.

"What's the point of going to the Brocade Guard? Catching thieves is a life-threatening job. It's better to directly curry favor with the Zhang family."

A colleague nodded and said, "Captain Lu is right. The Zhang family is really powerful. In a few decades, the Great Qian Dynasty will be half theirs. At the very least, they'll enjoy a century of wealth!"

"Lord Liu was able to rise fifteen ranks in ten years because he offered timely help to Chancellor Zhang when he was at a low point and joined the Zhang family."

"Now, those who offer superficial praise must be at least state or provincial officials, otherwise they can't even get through the door!"

"That makes sense!"

"If it were ten years ago, I would definitely be able to get in with the Zhang family."

"..."

Listening to his colleagues' idle chatter, Zhou Yi, on the contrary, was not optimistic about the Zhang family's future.

Even if ordinary people have a good relationship, who would divide half of their family property, let alone such a vast land? When this happens, even the greatest achievements, favors, and family ties will be worn away.

Having lived through four reigns, Zhou Yi had heard and seen too much, and he vaguely had some insights.

Sometimes, whether to rebel or not is not something one can control. When the general trend has reached a certain point, only a decisive blow can offer a chance of survival.

"What does this trivial matter have to do with me? It's more interesting to read fortunes with young ladies!"

Zhou Yi whispered to Susu.

"Palmistry isn't accurate enough. I also have the secret art of bone reading. Let's go upstairs for an in-depth exchange."

The next day.

Refreshed.

Zhou Yi carried a wooden bucket and delivered food with practiced ease.

With a gentle shake of his hand, only soup remained in the thin porridge, not a single grain of rice.

"My skill in serving food hasn't gotten rusty!"

Cell B-6.

The new prisoner who had been brought in last night was not wearing prison clothes, but a government robe.

Dark green, embroidered with egrets.

Zhou Yi scooped to the bottom of the bucket, filling the spoon with thick porridge, "This sir, it's time to eat."

After delivering the food.

Zhou Yi watched the guards playing cards and casually inquired about the prisoner's background, and it turned out he had quite a reputation.

The top scorer in the first imperial examination after Emperor Jinglong ascended the throne, Yu Su.

"Little Zhou, this person must be served well."

Captain Lu threw away a bad hand he drew, not following the bet, "Captain Ma told me this morning that a eunuch came from the palace last night and ordered that Compiler Yu not be neglected. It's likely His Majesty's instruction."

Zhou Yi asked in surprise, "His Majesty's prized student, why is he locked up in the Heavenly Prison?"

"We don't know, maybe he said something wrong."

The Heavenly Prison had held many officials who were punished for their words or writings. Before, there was a scholar who wrote poems and did not respect the taboo of the emperor's name, actually using Emperor Zhongzong's real name.

After the Brocade Guard heard about it, they investigated and found no evidence that the scholar was rebelling, so they threw him into the Heavenly Prison.