Chapter 49: The Brocade-d Rule the State
Spring Breeze Building was a top-tier Golden Cavern in Divine Capital.
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 beautifuldies.
Colonel Lu, whoshed prisoners with frightening force, now spoke to thedies in a gentle and soft manner.
Zhou Yi was reading youngdy 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 t… No, that’s not right, it’s small, spit spit, it’s short, you should drink more milk on regr days…”
Suddenly.
A loud bang, louder than theughter 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, bing so arrogant after a fewpliments about having the ‘number one waist’?”
The madam’s face changed slightly, recognizing the ent 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 shed 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.
Thest 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 nced 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 ce 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 rted 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 bestdies 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 ws.
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 n.
These people’s loyalty was certainly not in question; at that time, the nobility fought on the battlefield, brandishing swords and spears, so naturally, theirbat power was notcking.
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 yearster, after numerous dynasties had whittled away the Jinyiwei’s authority, reiming 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 n; what use is this benevolence to themon 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 attractivepared to the rxed 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 rtionships are, who could split half their property, especially when ites 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 youngdy!”
Zhou Yi whispered to the gentledy, Susu.
“If palm-reading is not urate, 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 schr) from Emperor Jinglong’s first imperial examination after his ession.
“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 thatst night an eunuch from the pce 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 schr 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 schr, threw him into the heavenly prison for incarceration.