Cautious in Speech and Action

Time slipped by in the blink of an eye.

This day.

Was the day Wei Chang was to be beheaded at the Execution Grounds, punished openly according to the law.

When Zhou Yi came to deliver food that morning and found the small mess hall had not lit its fires, he guessed that Young Master Long had already been released from prison.

Breaking into a home and exterminating an entire family!

He had been locked up for barely half a month, without even a single interrogation.

He had lived in a private cell in the Heavenly Prison, with jailers serving him fine food and drink, and girls from Spring Breeze Pavilion keeping him company. He had lived more happily than ninety-nine percent of the people in the world.

"This world..."

Working duty in the Heavenly Prison, Zhou Yi had often heard his colleagues speak of Chancellor Long's towering power.

The current Emperor Chongming was immersed in cultivating immortality and refining the Dao, having skipped court for twenty-six years. Chancellor Long had already served as chancellor for nineteen years; saying he covered the sky with one hand would not be an exaggeration.

The common people discussed it in private: even if His Majesty attended court again, the civil and military officials would no longer obey him!

Cell A-13.

Zhou Yi carried a food box containing the customary final meal. No matter what crime a prisoner had committed, they received meat and wine before execution.

"Hero, you'll be on your way in one hour!"

Wei Chang's hair hung loose and disheveled, while the scars left by burns on his face made him look like a vicious ghost.

"Did you bring the century-old vintage?"

"Of course I did."

Zhou Yi drew a porcelain bottle from his robe. When he lifted the lid, a rich fragrance of wine wafted out. "Century-old Pear Blossom White. The proprietor treated it as the treasure of his establishment and refused to sell it no matter what. I had to pawn more than half my family fortune to get it."

Wei Chang gulped down half the bottle in succession, let out a belch, and praised it.

"Good wine!"

Zhou Yi then fed him Dǐngxiāng Restaurant's Lion's Head Meatballs, Braised Fish Belly Tofu, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

Rich but not greasy, they melted the moment they entered the mouth.

As Wei Chang ate, he asked, "How is your Return to Origin Skill progressing?"

"My talent is ordinary. Every day, I can only gather a thread of inner force through meditation." Zhou Yi had long suspected as much. He was old and his natural constitution was poor; being able to cultivate inner force at all already proved that the cultivation method was exceptional.

The greatest hardship in life was accepting one's ordinariness and still striving onward!

"Your comprehension is not bad, but it is a pity that you are too old."

Wei Chang guided him through several obstacles in cultivation. Only after he had eaten and drunk his fill did he laugh heartily. "This final meal is good. In forty-three years, I have never eaten such fine food or drunk such fine wine!"

Zhou Yi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Hero, if these iron chains were broken, could you escape?"

Wei Chang shook his head in refusal.

"The poison has seeped into my marrow. I will not live more than a few days, so I might as well go to the execution ground and curse this court!"

At this moment.

The sound of a lock opening came from the cell door. Zhou Yi hurriedly cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.

Zhang Zhou entered with a clerk from the Ministry of Justice. After verifying his identity, more than a dozen jailers escorted Wei Chang to the execution ground.

"Those who do good suffer poverty and die all the sooner, while those who commit evil enjoy wealth and long lives!"

Zhou Yi sighed and continued carrying his bucket to deliver food.

The former Vice Minister of Rites in Cell B-6 had accepted reality after a month of torment. Unfortunately, no one from his family had sent money, and he only received two ladles of thin gruel each day. He was already so hungry that his breath was faint.

"Young fellow, give me another ladle, just one more ladle!"

"This is all there is."

Zhou Yi ignored the former vice minister's pleas. First, people feared inequality more than scarcity; second, this man was no good person.

The reason he had been thrown into the Heavenly Prison was simple: he had embezzled the court's silver. It was said that the Brocade Guard had uncovered over a hundred thousand taels, with all sorts of gold, silver, and jewels piled into a small mountain.

In the neighboring Cell B-7.

Su Wenhao awoke from meditation, looking quite spirited.

He slurped down his thin gruel, then said, "Young fellow, do you have something troubling you? This old man is well versed in the Book of Changes and numerical arts. I can help ease your worries and resolve your difficulties!"

"Then calculate why I am troubled."

Zhou Yi felt some sympathy for Su Wenhao. He had merely written poetry and vented a little frustration, yet he had been thrown into the Heavenly Prison to suffer.

"Is it because of this fellow?"

Su Wenhao pointed next door, toward the former vice minister who lay on his bed groaning with hunger.

Zhou Yi was somewhat disappointed. Su Wenhao's knowledge of the Book of Changes and numerical arts was merely reading faces and observing expressions, not true divination. Still, he nodded.

"I hate corrupt officials most in my life. They say they take the court's silver, but in truth, it is all the people's fat and blood!"

"Hehehe, then you do not understand."

Su Wenhao chuckled twice. "This old man knows that fellow. His ability as an official was fairly good, and he did accomplish some practical things for the people. As for the silver he embezzled, it was not all that much."

The former vice minister lay there and groaned twice. "Old Su, I did not make you my friend for nothing!"

Zhou Yi asked curiously, "Then why was he thrown into the Heavenly Prison?"

"In officialdom, what matters is neither political achievements nor whether one is clean or corrupt, but choosing a side!"

Su Wenhao said, "Those who embezzle are not necessarily denied promotion, and those thrown into the Heavenly Prison are not necessarily there because of embezzlement."

Zhou Yi pondered it carefully, clicking his tongue twice. "Interesting, interesting!"

The former vice minister said, "Since you find it interesting, give this old man another ladle of food."

"Fine."

Zhou Yi had intended to mock him a little, but on second thought, the prisoners in the B-section were no ordinary people. Quite a few convicts had resumed their former posts, so it was better not to provoke him.

He scooped up the thick gruel from the bottom of the bucket and served the former vice minister a bowl.

Zhou Yi asked, "Why is Teacher Su so eager to talk today?"

This old man was usually taciturn. After eating, he would meditate and cultivate, likely practicing some kind of internal cultivation method, which was why he remained sharp-eyed, vigorous, and healthy.

"By mistake I fell into prison, and once gone, four or five years passed!"

Su Wenhao proudly recited a line of poetry. "This old man has a feeling that the day I leave this cage and regain my freedom is not far away."

"Then congratulations to Su Wenhao."

Zhou Yi cupped his hands and left carrying the bucket.

Even after being imprisoned for three or four years, this old man had not changed. He could not keep his mouth shut when reciting poetry. What did he mean by "fell by mistake"? It was obvious that he refused to accept Emperor Chongming's sentence.

The former vice minister, who had been burying his head in his meal, suddenly paused, his eyes shining brightly.

After Wei Chang was beheaded.

Zhou Yi's life returned to its routine of home and the Heavenly Prison, two points along a single line.

Zhou Yi's father had worked as a jailer for most of his life. Most of the money he had scraped together had gone toward treating Zhou Yi's illness, while the remainder had bought a residence in Shenjing.

Ningde Ward, a single-entry courtyard.

Using the imperial city of his previous life as the first ring, Ningde Ward was a courtyard home within the second ring. Zhou Yi would have had to work for five hundred years without eating or drinking to afford it.

The Return to Origin Skill progressed slowly, but Zhou Yi was not in a hurry. His greatest advantage was time.

As days stretched into years, he would eventually achieve great mastery of divine skill.

"Reach out and touch sister's hairy bay, scattered on the outside, sprouting broad in the middle..."

Zhou Yi hummed a newly learned little tune. Though the Return to Origin Skill had yet to reach great mastery, it contained a Daoist method for locking yang and preserving essence, allowing a man to be unyielding and gallop astride his horse.

After checking in for duty, Zhou Yi carried his bucket to deliver food.

He ran into Chang Ning, the officer assigned to the night shift, who was followed by four jailers escorting a prisoner in a cangue.

The prisoner's hair was loose and disheveled. Looking closely, it was Su Wenhao.

Zhou Yi stepped forward and greeted him. "Uncle Chang, what happened to him?"

Zhou Yi was the youngest and latest arrival in the Heavenly Prison. The other jailers and officers were of the same generation as Zhou Yi's father. Calling everyone uncle cost him nothing, and he could receive more care from his elders in ordinary times.

Chang Ning snorted coldly. "Hmph! This fellow refuses to accept His Majesty's judgment and even slandered His Majesty's lifespan. He deserves to be sent to the Imperial Prison for confinement!"

The Imperial Prison, the jail where the Brocade Guard interrogated prisoners!

If being thrown into the Heavenly Prison still left a thread of hope for survival, then after entering the Imperial Prison, one could only pray for an early reincarnation and perhaps suffer fewer tortures.

Su Wenhao's face was ashen, and he muttered to himself, though no one knew what poem he was reciting.

Cell B-6.

The former vice minister sat cross-legged on a straw mat. He glanced at the thin gruel, then crooked a finger at Zhou Yi.

"This official is about to be released. Hurry and prepare good wine and fine dishes, or once I resume my old post, I will make every last one of you pay!"

Zhou Yi looked at the empty cell beside him and suddenly understood.

"My lord, please wait. I will go prepare them at once!"

That afternoon.

A palace eunuch entered the Heavenly Prison to deliver an imperial decree. Vice Minister Liu had rendered meritorious service by exposing and reporting wrongdoing; his merits offset his crimes, and he was transferred laterally to serve as Vice Minister of Revenue.

The Ministry of Personnel was prestigious, the Ministry of Revenue was wealthy, and the Ministry of Rites was poor...

Vice Minister Liu had caught Emperor Chongming's eye. It was a nominal lateral transfer but a hidden promotion—like a mouse entering a rice vat.

"From now on, I must be cautious in speech and action!"

Zhou Yi broke out in a cold sweat as well. If he had not given that ladle of thick gruel, would Vice Minister Liu have retaliated after leaving prison?

It was hard to say!