Han Si was an idler.
From childhood, Han Si had never liked reading or studying. Even when his family whipped him into the private school with leather lashes, he could anger the teacher so badly he nearly choked on his phlegm.
In the end, his family gave up on Han Si.
When Han Si was fifteen, both his parents died, and he became a ruined man. Every day, he wandered Ya County, doing such things as stealing chickens and dogs, cheating, swindling, and abducting.
Many years passed. Aside from a dilapidated thatched hut, Han Si no longer possessed anything of value.
If not for the Han Household clan head having some standing in Ya County and forbidding anyone from buying that broken hut, then in a lawless place like Ya County, where bandits never ceased, Han Si would have frozen to death in the streets long ago.
After all, Yan Prefecture lay north of the Yangtze River and bordered Mi Prefecture. Even spring was somewhat cold there.
At that moment, Han Si wore a ragged padded jacket with cotton stuffing spilling out of it. He knelt in a small dark room, repeatedly kowtowing as snot and tears streamed endlessly down his face.
"Spare me, Imperial Envoy! Spare me, Imperial Envoy! This lowly one knows his mistake, this lowly one knows his mistake! This lowly one should not have offended Heaven's majesty and tried to swindle you as an ordinary outsider. This lowly one truly knows his mistake..."
Han Si was also a ruthless sort. His forehead was already split open and bleeding, stars swimming before his eyes, yet he continued to kowtow without stopping.
Just as Han Si's face became covered in blood and he was about to be unable to hold on, a flash of fire lit up in