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The guests who came here, whether they were educated or not, all pretended to know more than they did.

Even those with the fieriest tempers had to feign an air of elegance in front of the fair-skinned and beautiful ladies.

Colonel Lu, who lashed prisoners with frightening force, now spoke to the ladies in a gentle and soft manner.

Zhou Yi was reading young lady Rou Rou’s palm at the moment. Having studied the Taoist and Buddhist scriptures for two or three decades, he had long surpassed most of the ordinary fortune-tellers, and his words carried authority.

“This career line is somewhat flat… No, that’s not right, it’s small, spit spit, it’s short, you should drink more milk on regular days…”

Suddenly.

A loud bang, louder than the laughter of the guests, silenced Spring Breeze Building in an instant.

Zhou Yi looked toward the source of the noise, and saw four middle-aged men in the main hall on the ground floor overturning the dining tables.

The madam rushed forward, bowed, and apologized, “Gentlemen, Susu has been dancing all night, let’s have someone else take over…”

“We came here to see her!”

One of the men said, “Today Chancellor Chen is present; even if one’s leg is broken, she must dance!”

Another joined in, “What’s with this lowly woman, becoming so arrogant after a few compliments about having the ‘number one waist’?”

The madam’s face changed slightly, recognizing the accent as that of Divine Capital, which meant they weren’t to be trifled with.

For one thing, Divine Capital was home to many powerful individuals, and you never knew if one was the son of a Marquis or an Earl’s estate. Secondly, people from Divine Capital would know that Spring Breeze Building had powerful backing, and their brazen behavior meant they had strong support.

A beautifully dressed guest sitting nearby, who seemed to be an admirer of Susu, found the men’s arrogance intolerable.

“Miss Susu is already tired. Forcing a delicate woman to perform is hardly…”

Before he could finish his statement, a figure flashed by, grabbed the guest’s arm, and swiftly drew a dagger from his waist.

Ah!

A scream filled the air as the dagger pierced through the guest’s palm, nailing it firmly to the table.

The last person still sitting calmly took a token out of his robe and threw it into the madam’s bosom.

“Continue singing!”

“Jinyiwei!”

The madam recognized the token depicting “Jinyiwei Hundred Household Chen Yang” and began to tremble with fear.

After a moment.

The sound of music rose again, and Susu returned to the stage to dance, twisting her waist with even more effort than before.

Chen Yang glanced at the injured guest and asked kindly, “Where are you from?”

“Dai State.”

The guest’s palm was still bleeding, yet he dared not make a sound, looking to his friends for help, who didn’t dare utter a word either.

“A good place known for its salt production!”

Chen Yang smiled, “I’ve heard that there are pirates causing trouble there, colluding with many salt merchants in secret. Are you involved in any of this?”

“Not at all, absolutely not.”

The guest forcibly pulled his palm off the table, ripping the dagger in half, and fell to his knees knocking his head on the floor, “Please spare my life, my lord, I am related by marriage to Secretary Lu from the Ministry of Revenue…”

Chen Yang’s expression remained unchanged as he leisurely sipped his wine.

The guest gritted his teeth, “My lord, I am willing to give thirty percent of my silver coins to bring to your residence.”

“Seventy percent!”

Chen Yang said slowly, “In the future, you won’t need to give anything to the Lu family. In a few days, he won’t be an official anymore.”

The guest was shocked, ignoring the blood on the floor, and nodded his head in agreement.

After resolving the matter.

The madam only dared to have people carry away the injured and clean the floor, and then arranged for the best ladies in the building to wait on them.

This disturbance subdued the cheerful atmosphere of Spring Breeze Building, and some cautious guests quietly left to avoid involving themselves with the Imperial Court’s claws.

In the second-floor private room.

Zhou Yi witnessed the whole affair and was rather surprised at the power of the Jinyiwei.

“Colonel Lu, why are the Jinyiwei so formidable?”

The Jinyiwei were established by the great ancestor of Fengyang Country and initially recruited nobles and even side branches of the Imperial Clan.

These people’s loyalty was certainly not in question; at that time, the nobility fought on the battlefield, brandishing swords and spears, so naturally, their combat power was not lacking.

Back then, the Jinyiwei had independent powers of arrest and jurisdiction over criminal punishment; the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court had no authority to intervene, which could be described as a reign of overwhelming power.

Now, more than three hundred years later, after numerous dynasties had whittled away the Jinyiwei’s authority, reclaiming their powers of arrest and oversight, their influence was no longer what it had been. Only the destitute among the nobility or the overlooked illegitimate children would go to this nominally notorious but actually powerless government office to eke out a living.

“Xiao Zhou, there are two powers in the Divine Capital now that one must not provoke,”

Colonel Lu said, “The first is the Jinyiwei which, favored by contemporary nobles, has regained the power to oversee the Officials, and their influence is on the rise. The second is the Zhang family. The current Empress is the legitimate daughter of Chancellor Zhang, and the Crown Prince is her grandson!”

Zhou Yi asked in confusion, “I haven’t been in the capital for long, but haven’t many people said that His Majesty is benevolent?”

“Old Zhou only passed on his skills to you but didn’t teach you about worldly affairs.”

Feng Qiao, drunk, joined in, “The Emperor’s benevolence is towards the Officials, the nobility, the Imperial Clan; what use is this benevolence to the common people!”

A colleague suggested, “Right now, the Jinyiwei are rapidly expanding, hiring all over for their prisons; Old Feng could give it a try.”

“Cough, cough, cough! Don’t talk nonsense, what’s wrong with the heavenly prison!”

Colonel Lu, fearing Zhou Yi might have other ideas, since the Jinyiwei’s position was imposingly attractive compared to the relaxed post at the heavenly prison, quickly changed the subject.

“What’s the point in joining the Jinyiwei? Chasing down thieves is a deadly job, better to curry favor directly with the Zhang family.”

The colleague nodded, “Colonel Lu is right; the Zhang family is truly formidable. In a few decades, they could control half of the National Dynasty. At the very least, they’ll be wealthy for a hundred years!”

“Chancellor Liu rose through the ranks in just ten years because he supported the Zhang family when Chancellor Zhang was at his lowest, throwing charcoal amid the snow.”

“Now, to add icing to the cake, one has to at least be a senior official in a provincial government; otherwise, you can’t even enter their doors!”

“That makes sense!”

“If I could turn back the clock ten years, I would definitely hitch my wagon to the Zhang family.”

“…”

Zhou Yi, listening to his colleagues’ idle talk, felt even more skeptical about the future of the Zhang family.

An average person, no matter how good their relationships are, who could split half their property, especially when it comes to such a vast territory? In such cases, even the greatest merit and kinship grind to dust.

Having lived through four dynasties, Zhou Yi heard and saw much and had some insights.

Sometimes, rebelling or not rebelling isn’t something one can control; when the tide of destiny arrives, only by striking with the spear does one have hope to live.

“Such trifling matters have nothing to do with me, what could be more interesting than divining fortunes with a young lady!”

Zhou Yi whispered to the gentle lady, Susu.

“If palm-reading is not accurate, I still have the secret technique of bone-touching; let’s go upstairs and have a deeper exchange of ideas.”

…

The next day.

Refreshed and clear-headed.

Zhou Yi carried a wooden bucket, expertly making his usual rounds delivering meals.

With a light shake of his hand, the thin porridge was left with just broth, not a single grain of rice.

“My skills in serving meals haven’t gotten rusty!”

Cell number Yi 6.

The prisoner who had been brought in the previous night was not in prison clothes, but rather in an official robe.

A deep green color, embroidered with egrets.

Zhou Yi scooped to the bottom, filling the bowl with thick porridge: “My lord, it’s time to eat.”

After serving the meal.

Zhou Yi watched the jailer shuffle cards and casually inquired about the prisoner’s background, turning out to be quite renowned.

Yu Su, the zhuangyuan (top scholar) from Emperor Jinglong’s first imperial examination after his accession.

“Xiao Zhou, you must take good care of this man,”

While Colonel Lu carelessly discarded a bad hand of cards, not following the bet, he mentioned, “This morning Colonel Ma told me that last night an eunuch from the palace gave orders not to neglect Yu Su, the editor; it’s very likely a hint from His Majesty.”

Zhou Yi asked in surprise, “How did His Majesty’s favored student end up in the heavenly prison?”

“We don’t know; perhaps he said something wrong.”

The heavenly prison had confined many officials for their words or writings. There was once a scholar who wrote poetry without regard for the taboo of mentioning a sovereign’s personal name, inadvertently using Emperor Zhongzong’s given name.

After hearing about it, the Jinyiwei, having found no evidence of rebellion from the scholar, threw him into the heavenly prison for incarceration.