Divine Chamber

"The emperor was without virtue, levying harsh exactions and crushing taxes, taxing even chickens and pigs, scraping away every last penny. He drove the common people to sell their sons and barter away their wives, leaving starved corpses in the fields; he made households as empty as hanging chimes, and cries of suffering filled the roads. Yet he still drove the people like cattle and sheep, conscripting the masses like dogs and horses. An edict went forth to every prefecture, ordering the Grand Canal to be dug. Iron shackles clanged, binding the flesh and bones of the people; leather whips cracked, driving the common folk toward the Yellow Springs."

"Within two years, forty-nine canals! Mountains were carved apart and valleys filled in, destroying the graves of countless families; dikes were breached and rivers cut off, ruining the homes and fields of a thousand villages. Able-bodied men died beneath shovels and picks, the old and weak perished in wind and frost. Thirty million wronged souls wailed through the long night, and bones lay exposed across ninety thousand li of wilderness. The river waters ran red, all with the blood and tears of the people; earth and stone stank of blood, for they were steeped in the marrow and fat of the masses."

Someone was reciting softly, their voice continually reaching Chen Lingxi's ears.

Chen Lingxi opened his eyes through the excruciating pain in his organs.

"Not dead yet." Chen Lingxi drew a deep breath, tugging at the scabs on his lips and sending a sharp pain through them.

A mud wall came into view.

Enduring the agony, Chen Lingxi turned his head slightly and saw several crude wooden beds, with a few rough pottery bowls and plates piled in the corner.

The room was dark and damp, seemingly deprived of sunlight all year round. With it being winter as well, the room was unbearably cold.

But he had no time to despise this "servants' quarters." He immediately rasped, "Liu Changle, do you have a death wish?!"

Liu Changle, curled up on the other bed, had a pale face and a thin frame.

He turned his head, licked lips likewise covered in bloody scabs, and fixed him with an unfathomably deep gaze.

"Lingxi! You and I were both born to official families, sons of learning. We studied the works of the sages for over a decade, and you even held scholarly honors. Once, we were high-spirited and peerless in splendor."

"And yet, because of a single word from that woman's [Mirror Listening], the Sage blindly believed her, destroying our families and leaving us trapped in these servants' quarters as slaves..."

Liu Changle panted heavily, seemingly suppressing his own pain as well. "Now the times have changed. The Sage is muddleheaded, and even this Baosu Marquis Residence, famous for a century, is plagued by treacherous men! The Marquis spends every day cultivating the Dao, ignoring all affairs of the residence! The eldest young master is cruel by nature—beneath his cane, there is no intact flesh; before his steps, all are mute slaves! The second young miss is cold and heartless, without the slightest pity or compassion."

"When the Sage has no virtue, there can naturally be no virtue beneath his rule. This proclamation by Xiao Changlü calling for rebellion is exceedingly well written, in my opinion!"

"If he fights his way into Capital Circuit, we will no longer have to suffer as drug-testing slaves!"

Liu Changle said much in one breath, his gaze remaining deep throughout.

Chen Lingxi fell silent. He barely managed to sit up and looked around.

There were four beds, but now only the two of them remained.

"It seems Zhou Hu and Zhu Luanwen didn't survive the effects of this medicine. They're already dead."

Chen Lingxi drew a deep breath.

"But how many more days can Liu Changle and I live?"

Chen Lingxi closed his eyes as searing pain coursed through every part of his body.

After living in a daze for more than a decade, the memories of Earth from my previous life had awakened—only for me to be trapped in this predicament. How hateful!

Creak!

With a grating sound, the door was suddenly pushed open.

A man of twenty-three or twenty-four entered the room.

He wore a small black velvet cap set with a flawless piece of creamy white Hetian jade at its center, and a dark bluish-gray silk robe. His face was fair and clean, while his narrow, slitted eyes resembled those of a venomous snake.

"You two still aren't dead? You're quite lucky!"

The man chuckled and flung over several packets of medicinal herbs. "These are restorative medicines bestowed by Steward Zhao. Build up your health. For the next two days, you needn't work—just recover in peace."

"This room of yours truly stinks beyond belief."

As he spoke, he backed out and left directly, still cursing under his breath. "Three doses of medicine, and two dead. These scholars are so delicate. What a pity you don't have the fate of nobles!"

Liu Changle straightened up and snorted. "Wang Kong is nothing but a dog throwing its weight around!"

Yet as he spoke, he forced himself to rise, brewed the two packets of medicine, then helped Chen Lingxi up and fed him the decoction.

"Lingxi! I've been having dreams lately. In them, a long river hangs above my head. It is like a white rainbow piercing the sun, its vapor spanning the heavens. When it flows, silver mountains crumble and snowy peaks collapse. Vast as a million heavenly soldiers racing forward with bits in their mouths; fierce as the earth's axis overturning, shaking the very pillars of the land."

"You've read books on dream interpretation. Once you've recovered, interpret this dream for me!"

The two had both fallen into this marquis residence, a prison in all but name, and could be considered friends who had faced life and death together.

Liu Changle had not even taken any medicine himself.

"My condition is much better than yours. It seems I don't need it. I'll leave all these restorative medicines for you."

Chen Lingxi shook his head. "You should drink a dose soon as well. This restorative medicine is quite effective. After each drug test, taking it helps one recover faster. Chief Steward Zhao has gone to the capital to make purchases and will return in five days at most! If we don't nurse ourselves back to health, when the time comes for another drug test, you and I will be in grave danger!"

Liu Changle's gaze was deep as he shook his head. "I don't need it. That medicine... can't poison me to death."

Chen Lingxi thought for a moment but did not try to persuade him further.

Liu Changle must be hiding many secrets.

Perhaps that venomous woman's [Mirror Listening] truly is wondrous. She divined that among the noble families and powerful officials of Great Li Dynasty, many would bring calamity upon the dynasty... My mother's family was among them, and even my Chen family was implicated!

Thinking of the parents he had in this world, Chen Lingxi could not help but feel grief well up within him.

It had only been two years since his memories awakened.

The memories of two lives intertwined. He was both a modern man who had transmigrated here and a member of the Chen family who had lived nineteen years in Great Li Dynasty.

The Chen family had been raided and exterminated. The father and mother who had raised him both died as a result.

He himself had been reduced to an official slave and assigned by the Ministry of Justice Directorate to the Baosu Marquis Residence in Yuan River Prefecture, Capital Prefecture, becoming nothing more than a household servant...

For two years, he had suffered every hardship imaginable!

Chen Lingxi's thoughts were heavy, but his gaze remained resolute.

There is still a chance to escape with my life.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into his mind.

There seemed to be a point of light within it.

As Chen Lingxi focused his attention, that point of light suddenly flickered, then spread open.

Sensing the scene within the light, Chen Lingxi suddenly froze!

The [Divine Chamber] has changed so drastically!

Was it because of that dose of medicine?

He was not sure, but he had no time to dwell on it.

At that moment, all his attention was fixed upon the [Divine Chamber]!

—It seemed to be a tiny model of a region, much like the scale model of a residential complex in a real estate sales office from his previous life.

What astonished Chen Lingxi was... within the [Divine Chamber], buildings rose in layers, like a giant dragon lifting its head!

At the southernmost end stood the imposing main gate of the marquis residence, its door studs arranged like golden pearls. Northward lay Silver Peace Court, the rear courtyard, the sleeping quarters, and all the way at the northernmost end, the servants' building.

There were also side courtyards and wing rooms to the east, west, south, and north, spread out symmetrically to form enclosed courtyards.

Beyond the sleeping quarters was the rear garden, where a pool of clear water curved like a crescent moon, and a delicate rockery of Taihu stones rose in layered formations!

"This is the Baosu Marquis Residence!"

Chen Lingxi suddenly realized, "Not just the Baosu Marquis Residence! There are also the streets outside, the woodland, and the Yuan River!"

Looking carefully, he saw that at the very center of the Divine Chamber was the northern servants' building where he was located!

"The Divine Chamber is centered on where I am. At this reduced scale, it spans roughly three hundred zhang across and three hundred zhang from north to south! It encompasses the Baosu Marquis Residence, as well as part of the streets and the Yuan River!"

Chen Lingxi's eyes brightened slightly.

And that point of light above the [Divine Chamber] seemed already connected to his will.

It was waiting for him to issue an order!

But the intense pain caused the Divine Chamber in his consciousness to suddenly shatter.

The pain made it difficult for him to focus his thoughts.

Before dusk arrived, snow had already begun to fall.

There was no brazier in the servants' quarters, and the wooden bed was as hard as frozen earth.

He lay on his back as pain began to gnaw at his organs once more, spreading warmly through him in silent confrontation with the thin frost covering the quilt, leaving him unable to concentrate.

The locust tree outside the window was so gaunt that only its sinews and bones remained. Snow pellets struck its branches with a soft rustling sound.

The snow fell ever thicker.

Finally, when the last trace of dark blue-gray was swallowed from the world, his mind abruptly steadied.

Because he had finally subdued the pain, focused his attention once more, and entered the [Divine Chamber] again!

In the empty Divine Chamber, tadpole-like characters gleaming with golden light flickered in and out of view.

"There's hope."