Spring Breeze Pavilion was one of Shenjing's foremost dens for burning gold.
No matter whether the guests who came here had any learning, they all pretended to know more than they did.
No matter how fiery their tempers usually were, before fair-skinned, beautiful young ladies, they had to put on an elegant act.
Captain Lu wielded terrifying force when he whipped prisoners, yet when he spoke to the ladies now, his voice was light and soft.
Zhou Yi was reading Miss Rourou's palm. Having pored over Daoist and Buddhist scriptures for twenty or thirty years, he had long surpassed most mundane fortune-tellers. When he spoke, his words flowed with convincing authority.
"This career line is rather flat... no, it's small—ptui, ptui, it's short. You should drink more milk every day..."
Suddenly.
A thunderous boom drowned out the guests' laughter, and Spring Breeze Pavilion fell abruptly silent.
Following the sound, Zhou Yi saw four middle-aged men in the first-floor hall overturn their wine table.
The madam hurried forward and bowed in apology. "Gentlemen, Miss Susu has been dancing for half the night. Let someone else..."
"I came here to watch her!"
One of the men in the middle said, "Lord Chen is here today. Even if she cannot dance, even if her legs are broken, she still has to dance!"
Another chimed in, "A mere cheap woman gets praised a few times for having the finest waist, and she thinks herself precious?"
The madam's expression shifted slightly. Judging from their accents, they were natives of Shenjing, which made them all the harder to provoke.
For one thing, Shenjing was full of powerful nobles; who knew whether they might be young masters from some marquis's or earl's estate? For another, anyone from Shenjing surely knew that Spring Breeze Pavilion had deep backing. If they still dared act so arrogantly, they must have something to rely on.
A finely dressed guest nearby seemed to be one of Miss Susu's admirers and could not stand their arrogance.
"Miss Susu is already tired. Forcing a frail woman like this, how could that be..."
Before he could finish, a figure flashed past, seized his arm, and drew a dagger from his waist with a swish.
Aah!
With a scream, the dagger pierced through the guest's palm and nailed it firmly to the table.
The last man, who had remained seated calmly all this while, took a token from his robe and tossed it into the madam's arms.
"Keep singing!"
"Brocade Guard!"
The madam saw the token clearly. It bore the words "Brocade Guard Hundred-Household Chen Yang." She trembled uncontrollably in fright.
A moment later.
The music resumed, and Miss Susu returned to the stage to dance, twisting her waist even more vigorously than before.
Chen Yang glanced at the wounded guest, his voice quite genial. "Where are you from?"
"Daizhou."
Blood still streamed from the guest's palm, yet he did not dare make a sound. He looked pleadingly at his friends on either side, but none of them dared utter a word.
"A fine place that produces salt!"
Chen Yang smiled. "I hear pirates have been causing trouble there, secretly colluding with many salt merchants. Would you happen to be among them?"
"No. Absolutely not."
The guest yanked his hand free with all his strength, allowing the dagger to slice it cleanly in two. He dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed. "My lord, spare my life. I am related by marriage to Vice Minister Lu of the Ministry of Revenue..."
Chen Yang's expression did not change as he continued drinking leisurely.
Gritting his teeth, the guest said, "My lord, I am willing to send thirty percent of the silver to your residence."
"Seventy percent!"
Chen Yang said slowly, "You will not need to give anything to that Lu fellow anymore. In a few days, he will no longer be an official."
The guest was instantly horrified. Paying no heed to the blood pooling across the floor, he kowtowed and agreed.
With the matter settled.
Only then did the madam dare have someone carry the wounded man away, wash the floor clean, and arrange for the finest ladies in the establishment to attend them.
After such a disturbance, Spring Breeze Pavilion's merry atmosphere had diminished considerably. Some more cautious guests slipped away quietly, lest they provoke the court's claws and fangs.
Private room on the second floor.
Having witnessed the entire affair, Zhou Yi was quite astonished by the Brocade Guard's power.
"Captain Lu, how can the Brocade Guard be so formidable?"
The Brocade Guard had been founded by the Grand Ancestor of the Fengyang Kingdom. In the beginning, it recruited only nobles of merit, even collateral members of the imperial clan.
Their loyalty was naturally beyond question. In those days, the noble families had gone to war and fought their way out with blade and spear, so their martial prowess was naturally not lacking.
Back then, the Brocade Guard monitored all officials and possessed independent powers of arrest and criminal adjudication. The Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review had no authority to interfere. Their power had truly reached the heavens.
Now, more than three hundred years had passed. The Brocade Guard had been weakened through several reigns, and its powers of arrest and oversight had been reclaimed. Its former might was long gone. Only fallen branches of noble families or overlooked sons born of concubines would join that yamen, which bore an empty evil reputation but held no real power, merely to scrape out a living.
"Little Zhou, there are two kinds of people you must not provoke in Shenjing nowadays."
Captain Lu said, "The first is the Brocade Guard. His Majesty favors the nobles of merit and has restored their power to monitor all officials. Their influence is at its height. The second is the Zhang Family. The current Empress is Wenzhong's legitimate daughter, and the Crown Prince is his grandson!"
Zhou Yi asked doubtfully, "I have not been in the capital long, but I have heard many people say that His Majesty is benevolent?"
"Old Zhou only passed on his craft to you. He never taught you about the ways of the world."
Feng Qiao, his drunkenness rising, joined in. "His Majesty's benevolence is for officials, nobles of merit, and the imperial clan. What fucking use is it to ordinary people?"
A colleague said, "The Brocade Guard is expanding rapidly now, and the Imperial Prison is recruiting everywhere. Old Feng, you could give it a try."
"Cough, cough, cough! Don't talk nonsense. What is wrong with the Heavenly Prison?"
Captain Lu feared Zhou Yi might get other ideas. After all, the Brocade Guard was tremendously impressive and had better prospects than an idle post in the Heavenly Prison, so he hurriedly changed the subject.
"What is so interesting about joining the Brocade Guard? Catching criminals is work that can cost you your life. Better to curry favor with the Zhang Family directly."
The colleague nodded. "Captain Lu is right. The Zhang Family is truly formidable. In a few decades, half the realm may belong to them. At the very least, they will enjoy wealth and honor for a hundred years!"
"Lord Liu rose fifteen ranks in ten years because he offered charcoal in the snow when Chancellor Zhang was at his lowest and joined the Zhang Family."
"Now that people are merely adding flowers to brocade, they must at least be major provincial officials, or they cannot even enter the door!"
"That makes sense!"
"If I could go back ten years, I would surely have found a way onto the Zhang Family's boat."
"..."
Listening to his colleagues chat, Zhou Yi instead had little faith in the Zhang Family's future.
No matter how close their relationship, how could anyone divide half their family fortune away? Much less a vast realm. Once such a matter arose, no amount of achievement, favor, or kinship could withstand being ground away.
Having lived through four reigns, Zhou Yi had heard and seen much, and he had gained a vague understanding.
Sometimes, whether one rebelled or not was not something one could decide for oneself. When the tide of the age had reached that point, only one strike of a raised spear offered any hope of survival.
"What do such birdshit matters have to do with me? Reading a young lady's fortune is far more interesting!"
Zhou Yi said softly to Miss Rourou.
"Palm lines are not accurate enough. I also have a secret art of bone-reading. Let us go upstairs and have a deep exchange."
The next day.
Refreshed and invigorated.
Zhou Yi carried a wooden bucket and delivered meals along the familiar route.
With a light flick of his hand, the thin gruel was left with only broth, not a single grain of rice.
"My serving hand has not gotten rusty!"
Prison Cell B-6.
The prisoner brought in last night was not wearing prison clothes, but an official's robe.
Dark green, embroidered with egrets.
Zhou Yi scooped down to the bottom and filled a bowl with thick porridge. "My lord, it is time to eat."
After delivering the meals.
Zhou Yi watched the jailers play cards and chatted with them to inquire about the prisoner's background. His reputation was unexpectedly considerable.
In Emperor Jinglong's first imperial examination after ascending the throne, he had achieved first place in all three stages and become the top scholar: Yu Su.
"Little Zhou, you must attend to this man well."
Captain Lu drew a terrible hand, casually tossed it aside, and did not follow the bet. "Captain Ma told me this morning that a palace eunuch came last night and ordered that the editor not be neglected. It was very likely His Majesty's instruction."
Zhou Yi asked in surprise, "How did one of His Majesty's favored students end up in the Heavenly Prison?"
"How would I know? Perhaps he said something he should not have."
The Heavenly Prison had held quite a few officials convicted over words or characters. Previously, there had been a scholar who wrote poetry and, not knowing to avoid the name taboo of an honored personage, had used Emperor Zhongzong's personal name.
After hearing of it, the Brocade Guard found no evidence that the scholar intended rebellion, so they threw him into the Heavenly Prison.
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