The Heavenly Prison Catches Fire (Seeking Reads)

If this had been the early years of the dynasty, Xu Xing's plan would very likely have gone wrong.

With a shrewd emperor at the helm, the civil and military officials below would not have dared defy the imperial will so easily. The state, that apparatus of violence, would have run at full speed under their command until it found the two fugitive officials and the host of rebels.

But—

Phoenix Creek Kingdom had already passed through fourteen emperors and reached the twenty-first year of Chongming.

Factional strife never ceased at court, and corruption and filth filled both the government and the countryside.

The vast numbers of private slaves kept by Divine Capital's nobles alone could not withstand an investigation by the imperial court.

If the Night Patrol Directorate wanted to conduct a citywide search, it would certainly face no small amount of resistance at court. At the very least, the authority to search the city rested with the Five City Military Command, which answered to the Ministry of War and was not under the Night Patrol Directorate Commander's control.

To search the city, they first had to notify the Five City Military Command...

They were two separate administrations, checking and restraining each other.

Therefore, the easiest point for the Night Patrol Directorate to focus its manhunt on was Divine Capital's city gates.

Trying to leave the capital now was true nine deaths and one sliver of life.

That night, during the fourth watch.

In the southwest of Divine Capital, in the direction of the Imperial Prison.

A blaze suddenly erupted. Its glow reddened half the sky over Divine Capital, like clouds set aflame by the sunset.

The citizens of Divine Capital were horrified and rushed from their homes to stare into the distance.

"Mr. Xu?"

"What is going on?"

Earth King, Ghost Hand, and the others gathered in the flat-roofed house's sitting room, their eyes fixed on Xu Xing, their voices full of confusion.

They had not sent anyone to burn down the Imperial Prison.

How could such a heavily guarded place suddenly catch fire?

"The Imperial Prison is missing two criminal officials—General Chang and me."

"That is a grave offense!"

"As the saying goes, officials shield officials."

"If any of you have ever worked in a government office in Divine Capital..."

At this point, a faint smile touched Xu Xing's lips. "Then you should have heard this saying: 'The Imperial Granary has few auspicious jars, while the Ministry of Revenue has many rats and ants.'"

"Please explain in detail, Mr. Xu..."

Seeing Xu Xing enter the sitting room, Earth King invited him to sit beside him and said this.

Before rebelling, Earth King had been nothing more than an ordinary farmer. Xu Xing, though now a criminal official, had joined Four Brightness Mountain with the natural status of an official. In terms of standing, Earth King vaguely felt himself to be a notch beneath Xu Xing...

To fear an official by three parts was something carved into one's bones.

"Gladly."

Xu Xing did not demur, sitting down calmly. "Auspicious jars refer to fire-prevention water jars, while the Imperial Granary is the great storehouse where the court keeps its grain. The officials in charge of the Imperial Granary often sell off its grain, passing off old grain as new, inferior goods as fine ones, and replacing large measures with small ones..."

"Over time, the shortages in the Imperial Granary become too great. But to conceal the matter without a seam showing, they deliberately arrange for a fire to break out, burning down part of the granary. And in the warehouses they burn, the auspicious jars usually contain far less water than they should, making it difficult to put out the blaze effectively..."

In ancient residences, every courtyard had water jars known as auspicious jars, used to prevent fires.

"The Ministry of Revenue oversees money, grain, and household registrations. It is very easy for those above and below to embezzle a tidy sum—one only needs to make a few slight alterations to the account books. But after enough time passes, the Ministry's officials grow afraid of an audit, so they deliberately keep rats and ants in the government office to gnaw through the ledgers..."

He explained in detail where the saying came from.

Authority had to be built step by step.

And as Four Brightness Mountain's designated dog-headed strategist, he needed to keep using the "information gap" to make Earth King and the others dependent on his knowledge, gradually establishing his authority in this regard.

It was much the same as Pavlov's dogs.

Slowly forming a conditioned reflex.

Training people... was much like training dogs.

Not everyone had lived through an explosion of information or received a proper education.

The rebels of Four Brightness Mountain generally had poor literacy.

"So that's how it is..."

"Who would have thought there were so many twists and turns inside it..."

Everyone suddenly understood.

"Based on what Mr. Xu said..."

"The fire at the Imperial Prison tonight must have been caused by us switching out Mr. Xu and General Chang. The prison guards feared the matter would be exposed, so they deliberately used the fire to cover up their negligence."

Before joining them, Ghost Hand had been a wandering jianghu sorcerer who had traveled far and wide, and he was rich in experience.

With a few reminders from Xu Xing, he made a slight connection and understood why the Heavenly Prison had caught fire at this time.

"Then we'll be able to leave the Divine Capital very soon."

Earth King was no fool either; with one sentence, he pinpointed the crux.

The prison fire was meant to conceal the guards' dereliction of duty.

In other words, the "Xu Xing" and "Chang Ji" on the surface were already dead. Even if the Night Patrol Directorate was still secretly hunting the two of them, the intensity of the search would certainly be far lower than it had been during the day.

They might even... abandon the search altogether!

After all, if they continued issuing orders to hunt the two men, then who were the two convicted officials who had died in the Heavenly Prison?

Deliberate arson was a major case.

Deliberately setting fire to the Heavenly Prison to cover up one's crimes was a major case among major cases.

"Exactly. We'll wait a few more days, then leave the capital."

A smile appeared at the corner of Xu Xing's mouth.

He had not expected escaping the Heavenly Prison and evading the manhunt to be so easy.

Though his careful planning had certainly played a part...

On closer thought, however, the plan's smooth execution had much to do with the "help" of the Chongming Dynasty's officials.

The entire court, from top to bottom, had rotted through.

Not only could they not pull together in the same direction, they constantly wrangled and held one another back.

And though the court's illustrious ministers were not without shrewd men like Han Sui, it was precisely because such people were too clever—seeking no merit, only freedom from fault, and daring not shoulder responsibility—that he had been able to escape the Heavenly Prison so calmly...

"Only..."

"Yunniang..."

Xu Xing silently turned his gaze southward.

Divine Capital, Night Patrol Directorate offices.

"Commander..."

"By the time we arrived, Zhao Yunniang had already left. According to Han the Grand Stud Master's retainers, the woman's destination was Jiangnan. She has likely already boarded a boat..."

A Centurion in a flying-fish uniform hurried into the main hall, dropped to one knee, and reported.

"River-Crossing Post Station?"

"Horse-Illuminating Post Station?"

"This Han Sui..."

Commander Liu sat in the seat of honor with a ravishing beauty in his arms. His large hand reached into her robe and kneaded wantonly several times. A trace of displeasure appeared on his face. "He dared deceive this Commander?"

With the Night Patrol Directorate's capabilities, it was not difficult to determine which direction Zhao Yunniang had fled.

It merely took time.

Yet Han Sui's false lead had wasted a great deal of the Night Patrol Directorate riders' time, preventing them from capturing Zhao Yunniang.

"It hurts!"

"My lord..."

The beauty's willow-leaf brows drew together as she cried out in pain.

"Commander..."

"Grand Stud Master Han has sent you a box of pastries."

Just then, another figure appeared outside the door—it was Butler Sun, who attended Han Sui.

"Pastries?"

"Heh... This Commander would like to see what riddle he's selling."

Commander Liu withdrew his hand from the beauty's robe and accepted the pastry box handed over by one of his hounds.

The pastry box was made of carved red lacquered wood.

It looked quite luxurious.

He opened it and saw that it was divided into nine compartments.

Apart from the middle compartment, which held a flaky pastry, every other compartment contained something different: a gold filigree ball, a silver peony, a jade ornament, and other precious treasures—eight kinds in all.

"My master said that if one accepts another's trust, one must be loyal to their task!"

Having received permission to enter the hall, Butler Sun spoke these words first upon seeing Commander Liu.