fantishu
Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Loyalty to One’s Country
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“So, it’s someone from the Li family. Mr. Liu, you have to use your trump card!”
Zhou Yi opened the food box. There were four cold and four hot dishes. They looked and smelled
good. The wine pot was also a hundred years old. To be able to find such good wine in one night, the
warden must have put in a lot of effort.
“But of course.” Head Chef Liu pursed his lips. “I’ve used all the skills of my ancestors for fear of
angering her.”
There were also many unspoken rules in the small kitchen of Sky Prison, especially for cell C-9. Chef
Liu had to customize meals according to the prisoner’s title, official position, and close relatives. They
could not be generalized. If the Duke’s family ate the same dishes as the Assistant Minister’s family
member, it would definitely cause trouble!
These profligate young masters were extremely bored. All that’s left is to compete for face. One could
eat cold food and drink hundred-year-old wine in the Sky Prisonand be better off than those eating four
hot dishes!
In the eyes of ordinary people, the reason why noble young masters were jealous of each other was
that they had nothing to do and were bored to death. However, they had to follow the orders of the
officials in the Sky Prison.
The most powerful family in the Chongming Dynasty was the Long family. Now, the treatment that had
been reserved for Young Master Long had been transferred to the Li family.
Li Wu razed the Fengyang Kingdom to the north and south. After resting for a year, he led a million
troops to fight with Great Yong in the north and vowed to take back the lost three states. Now, their
power was even greater than the Long family of the Chongming Dynasty!
Zhou Yi carried the food box to Prison C9 and met Lieutenant Zhu, who was in charge of day-time duty.
Commandant Zhu repeatedly reminded him, “Zhou Yi, you must be careful. That master is a fierce
person. If he goes crazy, I won’t dare to save you!”
Zhou Yi said in surprise, “Commander, we’re just delivering food…”
“Do you know why he was sentenced to the Sky Prison?” Lieutenant Zhu reminded him in a low voice,
“He sent troops to plunder the trade route and pretended to suppress the bandits. Instead, he
slaughtered a few villages and claimed the job was done!”
…
Zhou Yi was silent for a long time before asking, “Who would dare to expose such a shocking matter?”
To plunder and kill the innocent!
Who among the nine clans of the Li family wasn’t a criminal? That included Great General Li Wu. He
could lead an army of a million troops to attack the north. If this matter wasn’t handled properly, the
world would be overturned!
Now that even Commandant Zhu knew, it was obvious that he could no longer hide it. It was equivalent
to announcing the Li family’s crimes to the world.
Zhou Yi did not think that the imperial court, or Emperor Hongchang, had the guts!
Commandant Zhu said, “Who else could it be? It was Prime Minister Zhang!”
After Emperor Hongchang ascended the throne, he massacred the remaining members of Long’s
court. The four ministers were all implicated. Now, the person ranked as the Grand Secretary was his
teacher, Zhang Zhengyang.
“No wonder.”
Zhou Yi had never seen Zhang Zhengyang before, but from the rumors in the city, he only felt that this
person was an important person in the empire. It was rumored that after Zhang Zhengyang became the
Grand Secretary, the first time he penned a statement, he resolved a major crisis in Fengyang.
It was better to be safe than sorry!
It was also Zhang Zhengyang who proposed the strategy of exempting all taxes for five years to win
over the hearts of the rebel army and completely cut off the problem of the rebel army’s revival.
In seven years, Zhang Zhengyang was the only person who could compare to Li Wu.
Cell C-9.
Zhou Yi opened the cell door and took out the dishes from the food box and placed them on the table.
“Time to eat, my lord.”
“Yeah.”
The prisoner sat cross-legged on the soft couch in the inner room without opening his eyes. He let out
a soft snort from his nose.
Zhou Yi bowed and retreated. The feeling this person gave him was not merely the arrogance of
ordinary popinjays. Instead, he looked down on everyone.
“How fearless!”
…
Several days passed.
Zhou Yi came to the small room to get food and realized that Chef Liu was not there.
“What’s wrong with this guy?”
Word of Li Xiong’s crimes had already spread like wildfire in the market. A few days prior, many people
were beating the imperial drums and crying out injustice, claiming to be relatives of those villages.
The imperial court pretended not to hear.
In the end, it was still the constables of the capital government who invited the innocent to leave one by
one, then began locking them up on the grounds that they had gathered to cause trouble.
After this incident, the Imperial Court became a place for the people to vent their anger. Every day, the
gate was stained with all kinds of filth.
The Imperial Censor wrote a letter to the governor of the Divine Capital, stating that he had treated the
people harshly, neglected his duty, and protected criminals. However, He didn’t mention the Li family by
name.
The governor of the Shenjing Prefecture was helpless. He sent a letter to confess and apologize and
then went to jail. In a short period of time, the Divine Capital could be said to have changed drastically.
The center of the storm was now cell C-9.
Chef Liu seemed to have gone crazy. Zhou Yi hurriedly went to look for Lieutenant Zhu and asked him
about the day’s food delivery.
Lieutenant Zhu said righteously, “He’s also a prisoner in Sky Prison. He’ll eat whatever others eat.
There’s no need to treat him differently!”
Zhou Yi frowned slightly, then said in realization, “There’s news from the north?”
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“You son of a—” Commandant Zhu did not hide it from them. In any case, he would not be able to hide
it from them in a few days’ time. “At noon tomorrow, all the members of the Li Clan under Li Xiong’s
command will be executed. I reckon that it won’t be long before the Uniformed Guard sends their men
here!”
Zhou Yi asked, “The general requested it?”
“Things change with age! Zhou Yi, if you’re so smart, why have you been delivering food your whole
life?”
Commandant Zhu said in a low voice, “I heard from the warden that the general personally wrote a
letter saying that the Li family should have implicated all nine sects of the family. He knelt and asked for
Your Majesty’s understanding. He said that the law would be merciful and only Li Xiong’s branch would
be executed!”
“General, you’re right!”
“You are wise, General!”
Zhou Yi and Lieutenant Zhu looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock. They felt that the full
power of the capital was about to sweep over them.
Cell C-9.
Zhou Yi poured the gruel into a bowl. He knocked on the cell bars with his spoon and shouted. “Time to
eat!”
Li Xiong glanced at the swill, his eyes flashing with shock, but then he calmed down. “It seems that my
cousin wants to send his uncle’s family to his death for his own reputation!”
The laws and ethics of this era emphasized intimacy. Li Wu’s actions were despised by the big clans.
Zhou Yi said in surprise, “You know everything?”
Li Xiong said coldly, “Look at you people trying to curry favor. You can easily guess the change in the
situation outside.”
“Tomorrow afternoon, your entire family will be executed.” Zhou Yi continued, “Your parents, wives, and
children will all die because of your greed!”
Li Xiong was expressionless. He glanced at Zhou Yi as if to mock him.
“Do you have a son? How old is he? Is he very cute? In the future, he might have practiced martial arts
and joined the army, or taken the liberal arts exam. He might have married a virtuous wife, and you will
have grandchildren. Or a daughter, who would marry…”
Zhou Yi described the happy scene of a family reunion.
Li Xiong’s expression gradually changed. When he heard the last sentence, “Your ten-year-old son’s
head will fall to the ground and spit blood for the last time,” his eyes turned red with anger. “… about
ten years old, probably doesn’t know anything. He’ll ask you why he is getting his head chopped off. He
will ask you, ‘Will it hurt?’”
Zhou Yi smiled and said, “Let me give you some advice. Before the execution, get your son drunk so
that when he encounters the executioner’s blunt knife, it will easily cut through his flesh. Otherwise, it
will be a hundred times more painful!”
“Get out of here!” Li Xiong roared, “What do you know? My cousin only wants to leave his name in
history and has people keep an eye on his relatives. He’s not even allowed to do business! I followed
him to war for several years, and we left a few liters of blood on the battlefield. When I returned to the
Divine Capital, I didn’t have the money to hold a banquet. The joke was on me!”
“We can’t be greedy about military pay. We can’t be merchants, so we have to rob them!” Li Xiong said
coldly, “I fought desperately at the front line. Those bullshit nobles selling weapons to the Great Yong
also committed crimes of treason. Why aren’t they punished the same way?”
Zhou Yi wondered, “How do you explain killing an innocent person?”
Li Xiong vented his anger, and the resentment in his heart dissipated. His expression returned to
normal. “Someone has to pay for the crimes of robbing merchants. Those people were unlucky enough
to be chosen by me!” This is the property of Nô-velDrama.Org.
“If you had led your troops into a noble house and killed the traitor who smuggled the armaments on
the spot, perhaps General Li would have spared your life. However, you didn’t dare to do so and only
slaughtered the commoners!” Zhou Yi shook his head and said, “Such a character who bullies the
weak and fears the strong seems to be no different from a dog raised by flies.”
Li Xiong slowly turned his head and finally looked at Zhou Yi. “Sharp-tongued smart ass!”
Zhou Yi shrugged and left with the bucket.
“When your family comes later, I’ll arrange for you to be imprisoned with your children. Cherish your
last night together!”
…
Fengtian Palace.
Silence.
The Emperor dismissed the servants to both sides of him, leaving only Zhang Zhengyang in the hall.
“Teacher, this storm is too dangerous.”
Emperor Hongchang walked down from the hall and personally carried two brocade piers. He sat down
and looked at Zhang Zhengyang.
“Your Majesty, I have no choice.” Zhang Zhengyang bowed, sat down, and said, “The civil officials have
the heart to rebel. Even if they are as powerful as the Long Rebellion, they can still be destroyed
overnight. Military officials like Li Wu, who are brave enough to challenge you, whose achievements
cover the world…” He paused, as if weighing his words. After a moment, he said, “It’s possible to
abolish it!”
Emperor Hongchang frowned. “Teacher, Minister Li is devoted to the king’s affairs and is strict with his
clansmen. How can the Long Rebellion be compared to him?”
“This is what’s terrifying. It’s fine if Li Wu is as greedy and violent as the Long Rebellion, but he just had
to be strict with his clansmen to buy the hearts of the people. Clearly, he has a big plan! This time, Li
Xiong committed a crime. I sent someone to publicly announce it. My intention was to let Li Wu submit
a letter. The Imperial Court is forced to spare Li Xiong and his family.”
Zhang Zhengyang said, “How could I have thought that Li Wu could even be so ruthless as to kill his
own uncle and cousin? Such a heartless and decisive person, is he even the slightest bit loyal?”
Emperor Hongchang was puzzled, “The crimes committed by Li Xiong are unforgivable. Teacher, why
are you doing this?”
“With this, we can break Li Wu’s golden body of reputation. He can lead troops and conquer the world,
but he can’t be famous!”
Zhang Zhengyang said, “The people will never allow a person who protects his relatives and slaughters
the people to rule the world. In this way, His Majesty can rest easy.”
Emperor Hongchang shook his head and said, “Teacher, the history books say that the world should be
ruled by the strong. If Minister Li really has the intention to rebel, with his military prestige, I’m not
confident…”
“The history books are right, but they can’t be trusted.” Zhang Zhengyang said, “After the chaos of the
previous emperor’s reign, the people have only been able to live a stable life for a few years. They
definitely don’t want there to be any chaos. With billions of people like this, it can be said to be the
general trend. It’s not something that soldiers and horses can do.”
Emperor Hongchang was silent for a long time, but he still shook his head slowly.
“Minister Li is loyal to the country. Back then, he followed the edict and swept the north and south.
That’s why I’m here today!”
“If Minister Li did not betray me, I will not betray him!”