The Great Luck Favors (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Reporting to you, sir."

"Old Li went home to visit family. This is his brother-in-law..."

A prison runner walked over to Commandant Deng and whispered in his ear, "Old Li's been away visiting family for quite a while, but he wouldn't give up his post, so he had his brother-in-law come fill in for him. He also gave the brothers a little something some time ago. Sir... please be lenient."

"So that's how it is."

Commandant Deng nodded as though enlightened and allowed them through.

Officials and clerks followed two different paths. Official posts were not hereditary, but clerical ones were. It was hardly unusual for a clerk's family member to take over the original clerk's duties. Old Li's work was not an important post anyway, so having someone fill in for him was no great matter.

He had no grounds to criticize it.

After all, his own commandant's post had been inherited from his father!

Xu Xing and Chang Ji, hiding in the inner compartment beneath the cart's boards, breathed sighs of relief at this.

Originally, Earth King's plan had been to impersonate Old Li directly. But after Xu Xing filled in the gaps, he suggested that Earth King find someone to impersonate Old Li's brother-in-law instead.

That way, those unfamiliar with Old Li would simply assume that "Old Li" was still Old Li, unchanged.

And those who knew Old Li well would have an explanation to account for it.

The night-soil cart continued onward with a creak and rumble.

There was another small path for dumping night soil, one that did not pass through the Heavenly Prison's main gate.

(Chapter Twenty-One had already mentioned this: there was another secret passage for dumping night soil.)

The Heavenly Prison was guarded by three prison warden offices, six departments, and twelve shifts of guards, with mounted agents from the Night Patrol Directorate scattered throughout. To slip through under their noses and escape the Heavenly Prison was by no means an easy task.

Yet compared with the difficulty of passing through the Heavenly Prison's main gate, this small path for dumping night soil was much easier.

They only needed to withstand questioning at three checkpoints.

Before long.

According to plan, "Old Li" successfully passed through two checkpoints. But at the third, the Prison Warden Office, the night-soil cart was stopped. Two runners stepped forward to conduct their routine inspection.

"Commandant Deng and the others will inspect the Heavenly Prison's inmates at a quarter past the Hour of the Dragon."

"Chang Ji and I are in Cells Ding Twenty-Four and Ding Twenty-Five. Even if Magistrate Tian buys us time, at most he can only secure a little over a quarter of an hour..."

"And roughly ten minutes have already passed. We have to get out of the Heavenly Prison within five minutes."

Hearing the prison runners' footsteps approach the night-soil cart, Xu Xing worried inwardly.

A quarter of an hour equaled fifteen minutes.

When leaving the Heavenly Prison, he had already instructed his counterpart in the replica world to keep an eye on the academy's Western pendulum clock.

That was to ensure there would be no mistake in the timing.

Fifty minutes had now passed in the replica world, equivalent to ten minutes in the real world...

If they could not bluff their way through this next part..., then they would have no choice but to fight to the death!

"Why is today's night soil so damn foul?"

"Take it away, take it away..."

Suddenly, the two prison runners stopped. One hand clamped tightly over their noses and mouths, while the other fanned the air before them as they urged "Old Li" to hurry up and haul away the overnight night soil.

At that, Xu Xing released his grip on the steel blade hidden inside the night-soil cart.

It seemed great fortune had smiled upon him...

He had stumbled into a stroke of luck.

Then again, even the imperial court was a smoky, foul mess—let alone the Heavenly Prison system.

There was no hope of advancement.

Everyone drew their pay while on duty; slacking off and fishing around were the norm. Who had the leisure to take their work seriously?

"I hear the food in the Heavenly Prison has improved quite a bit lately."

"The prison runners in there are all fat with grease..."

"After eating meat and taking a shit, of course it reeks."

The runners hid off to one side and quietly gossiped about recent happenings in the Heavenly Prison. Whenever they mentioned the prison runners inside, their voices turned noticeably more sour.

Prison runners could collect bribes.

But runners like them from the Prison Warden Office could only miserably guard the gate, unable to skim even a drop of profit.

The iron portcullis slowly opened, revealing a road leading out into the world beyond.

Old Li said nothing and pushed the cart onward.

Everything went extraordinarily smoothly.

Inside the Imperial Prison.

Commandant Deng searched Cell Ding-24.

"My lord."

"Lord Xu... has been switched."

A prison runner approached the cell and checked Xu Xing's body. His pupils contracted sharply, and he hurried to Commandant Deng's side, whispering into his ear.

A prisoner had gone missing from the Imperial Prison. Officials like them would be unable to bear the consequences.

Losing a convicted official was an even more monstrous crime!

Therefore, upon discovering that Xu Xing had been swapped out, the prison runner did not dare make a public commotion.

"Quick, notify the three outer wardens, the six divisions, and the twelve guard shifts..."

"It was Old Li..."

"There's something wrong with him!"

"By no means let Xu Xing get away."

Commandant Deng's expression changed abruptly as he issued his orders in a taut voice.

For losing a convicted official, the light punishment was dismissal; the heavy punishment was execution.

Coming back to his senses, he vaguely felt that this matter was connected to Old Li.

However—

Several jailers soon brought back news.

Old Li had already pushed his night-soil cart out of the Imperial Prison. Moreover, at the mouth of an alley after leaving the prison, Old Li had abandoned the cart and vanished without a trace.

"A grave crime! A grave crime!"

Cold sweat poured from Commandant Deng's brow.

"My lord..."

"In this humble one's opinion, why not announce to the outside that Xu Xing and Chang Ji suddenly died of a violent illness?"

"Or simply use a fire as the excuse..."

The effects of Four Brightness Mountain's bribes upon the Imperial Prison's guards now showed themselves. The prison runners knew that if news of Xu Xing's escape reached others, not only would Commandant Deng come to no good end, neither would they.

Thus, these prison runners instantly banded together, planning to deceive the heavens and cross the sea.

If the Imperial Prison caught fire, they would certainly still bear a grave crime, but at most they would be dismissed. Besides, the law did not punish the multitude. The Imperial Prison could be rebuilt, but it could not do without prison runners like them, whose positions had been passed down through generations.

Whose family did not have some backing?

"Right! A fire!"

"We'll use a fire as the excuse..."

Commandant Deng suddenly saw the light. Slapping his thigh, he agreed to the suggestion.

"But the Night Patrol Directorate's mounted agents have surely noticed our strange behavior. What should we do about that?"

"The swapping of a convicted official definitely can't be concealed from the Night Patrol Directorate's spies..."

He added anxiously.

"My lord..."

"Let us all contribute silver. Hopefully, it will be enough to stuff those people from the Night Patrol Directorate."

Several prison runners wore bitter expressions and sighed.

Meanwhile.

Benevolence Ward, western Divine Capital.

After obtaining the secret formula for firing glass, Han Sui rushed without pause to the glassworks located here. He had several master craftsmen formerly of the Directorate of Construction immediately fire glass according to the formula he had been given.

One hour later.

A flawless sheet of transparent glass had been fired by the master craftsmen.

"Exquisite beyond the work of nature!"

"Ordinary grains of sand can become such a treasure!"

Han Sui carefully stroked the glass, unable to stop himself from marveling.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that the sand and grit he saw every day could turn into glass worth its weight in gold.

"What a pity..."

He shook his head, and a trace of regret suddenly rose in his heart.

He somewhat regretted having Xu Xing take the blame.

"Has Zhao Yunniang left?"

Han Sui gathered his thoughts and looked at the steward beside him.

"Master..."

"Zhao Yunniang has already left the Divine Capital under the escort of the retainers. By now... she should probably be at Horse-Illuminating Post Station."

The steward cupped his hands and replied.

Horse-Illuminating Post Station lay south of the Divine Capital, roughly twenty kilometers away.

"Once they've escorted her out of the capital environs, have them return."

Han Sui nodded.

He had the retainers escort Zhao Yunniang for two reasons. First, to prevent anyone from intercepting and killing Zhao Yunniang, then splashing dirty water all over him. Second, the retainers could keep watch over Zhao Yunniang as well. Should the glassmaking secret formula she had given him prove false, it would be easier to "invite" Zhao Yunniang back to the Divine Capital...

Yet before even half an hour had passed, a centurion from the Night Patrol Directorate came galloping over in haste. "Lord Han, the Commander has issued an order: apprehend Zhao Yunniang at once. Do not let her escape the Divine Capital..."