Emperor Yuan De also realized that he had lost his composure just now. He sat back down dejectedly on the dragon throne for a long time before finally issuing an edict.

Basically, he asked the people from the capital’s government offices and the positions related to public security in the capital to go and look for the old beggar, and asked them to treat him with as much courtesy as possible after finding him. As for the original Head of the Astronomical Observations Department, Minister Yan Chang, the old emperor did not mention him again.

Afterwards, Emperor Yuan De felt physically and mentally exhausted, and had no interest in staying in the hall any longer. With a somewhat listless expression, he announced, “the court is dismissed” to the old eunuch beside him, and stood up to leave first.

“Adjourn–!”

After the old eunuch loudly announced the decree, he quickly followed the emperor. Given the old emperor’s current state, he was really afraid that he might fall.

The court officials below were all chattering about the matter after the emperor had left, and the experts also looked at each other in bewilderment. The position of “Heavenly Master” that was supposed to have been conferred today had not been given out, and no one knew what would happen next.

Anyway, no one dared to raise any objections, not even the officials of the Ministry of Rites, let along those who had been counting in receiving the position of “Heavenly Master.”

Those experts that possessed some real skills didn’t care, or else they were also surprised by the old beggar’s decapitation and resurrection. After all, the old beggar had no interest in mortals before, and they almost all thought he was a liar. It seemed that he was definitely a master with unfathomable skill in Taoism.

“Master Lu, do you think that old beggar is really an immortal?”

“It’s not clear.”

“Hmph, you’re just spreading rumors to confuse the public.”

“Master Xiao, what do you think of this situation?”

“What are you looking at?”

“Why didn’t the emperor release Lord Yan Chang?”

“Ah…”

Some court officials shook their heads or sighed and left the hall one after another.

And the four palace guards were still kneeling in the hall, as if they had been forgotten by everyone.

Prince Jin took a few slow steps forward and looked at the four of them. He saw that everyone in the hall was leaving, and that his elder brother had already left. He hesitated for a while, and finally spoke to the four of them.

“You all should go down too, Royal Father won’t blame you.”

“Thank you, Your Royal Highness Prince Jin!”

“Thank you, Your Royal Highness Prince Jin!”

The group of palace guards stood up and saluted Prince Jin Yang Hao¹ gratefully. Only then did they feel truly relieved, and sensed that their lives were no longer in danger.

Today, they deeply understood that serving the emperor was like serving a tiger.

. . .

In the prison of the Ministry of Justice, Yan Chang didn’t suffer much abuse. He was detained in a fairly clean cell with a brick bed covered with some straw, a mat, and a low table.

At this moment, Yan Chang had been stripped of his official uniform and changed into prison clothes. He sat on the bed with his back against the wall, his expression depressed.

“Alas… people’s hearts determine what is right and what is wrong, but it’s a pity that the emperor is heartless… Haha, perhaps in most people’s minds, I am already a sycophant…”

Judging from the time, the old beggar should have already been beheaded.

Speaking of complaints, Yan Chang did indeed have some complaints about the old beggar, but he didn’t really want to hate him. After thinking carefully, it seemed that he had recommended the old beggar himself, and so brought disaster to him as well…

“Ah…”

After being locked up in the prison for a whole morning, Yan Chang had lost count of how many times he had sighed.

The candle in the lamp on the low table beside the bed had only melted just a tiny bit. It was not yet dark, but the prison was already gloomy. He had no idea what it would be like at night.

He looked up at the layout of the cell again. Apart from the iron and wooden bars in front, there were no windows to the back or to the left and right. It was impossible to see the stars at night.

Two jailers armed with swords patrolled from deep inside the prison, passing by Yan Chang’s cell.

The jailer had a strong impression of Yan Chang. After all, he had been personally escorted to the Heavenly Prison by the palace guards. There was only one possibility: he had been directly convicted by the emperor during the court session. In recent years, this usually happened to some censor.

Seeing that Yan Chang was still in a daze, the jailer stopped and asked a question.

“Lord, did you previously work in a provincial government?”

Yan Chang looked at the two of them. As the saying went, it was better to offend a prime minister than a jailer. Now, he needed to look the guard of the Heavenly Prison in the eyes, so he forced himself to cheer up and answered with a wry smile.

“I’m not a magistrate or provincial official. I am the Head of the Imperial Astronomical Department.”

“The Imperial Astronomical Department? Oh, is it that same Astronomical Department that sets the calendar?”

One of the jailers thought for a while and suddenly said.

Yan Chang was not in the mood to agree, so he just nodded.

The other jailer was also very curious.

“This is new. We have detained many former high-ranking officials in the prison of the Ministry of Justice, but it is the first time that someone from the Imperial Observatory has come in, and particularly the Head of the Imperial Astronomical Department!”

The two prison guards found this quite interesting. Normally, the Imperial Astronomical Department would not get involved din the muddy waters of the court, so they began to speculate on a little gossip in their hearts.

“Then, Lord Imperial Astronomer,² what did you do? What crime did the emperor convict you of?”

He was just sitting there doing nothing either way, and he didn’t know whether he would survive, or how long he would live. After a morning of laying about, Yan Chang finally felt like talking to someone, and wanted pour his heart out, so he sat up straight.

“Do you know about the Land and Water Assembly held here in the capital?”

“How could I not know? The whole capital has been buzzing with the news.”

Yan Chang gave a smile that was uglier than crying.

“The Land and Water Assembly is mainly led by some officials from our Astronomical Department and the Ministry of Rites. They are needed to monitor and select some experts for the emperor, for him to confer the title of Heavenly Master. My troubles also started from there…”

Yan Chang spoke slowly, describing the circumstances of why he was convicted. He did not hide anything, as everything was recorded in the records of the Heavenly Prison, but it was relatively brief.

Once they heard Yan Chang finish his speech, the two jailers looked at each other.

“This old beggar is so bold, saying such things to the emperor, and then even begging for his own death…”

“Someone is coming.”

Before one of the jailers finished speaking, the other looked outside. The two of them bowed with cupped hands to Yan Chang and walked out quickly.

After about half a cup of tea, an unknown jailer led an old eunuch to Yan Chang’s cell.

When Yan Chang saw the person coming, he immediately felt energetic, but he didn’t know what to say.

The jailer took the ring of keys off of his waist, picked out a key to unlock the cell, pushed open the door, and stretched out his hand.

“Please, Eunuch!”

Once the old eunuch had entered the cell, the jailer locked the door again.

It was only at this moment that Yan Chang came back to his senses, and found that the old eunuch was carrying something that looked like a food box in his hand. He hurriedly got off the bed and bowed.

“Eunuch Li, why are you here?”

The old eunuch placed the food box on the bed and bowed respectfully to Yan Chang.

“Lord Yan, you haven’t eaten lunch yet, right? This meal and the dishes were all bestowed by the emperor. They are all made by chefs from the imperial kitchen. Please, eat while it’s still hot.”

As he spoke, the old eunuch opened the food box and took out the dishes inside, the aroma wafting through the air.

Yan Chang stared blankly at the food. The dishes were all exquisite, with fish and meat. As he watched the dishes being brought out, Yan Chang’s expression grew more and more ugly and pale. By the time the old eunuch had brought out the wine, Yan Chang’s face had already turned ashen.

“His Majesty is going to kill me…”

Although Yan Chang rarely dealt with people from the Ministry of Justice, he had heard a rumor that if an official had offended someone but had not yet convicted suddenly ate extremely sumptuous dishes such as fish and meat, it was most likely his last meal before execution.

“Lord Yan, Lord Yan? You don’t look well. Would you like to call the imperial physician?”

“Eunuch Li… Is the emperor going to kill me?”

The old eunuch looked at the spread of food and suddenly realized something. He shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

“Lord Yan, you misunderstand. The Emperor was worried that you would not eat well in the prison, and he ordered this lunch to be brought to you specifically. There is no other meaning. After the court session, all the officials from the Imperial Astronomical Department and the officials of the Ministry of Rites jointly went to the Imperial Study to plead for you, Lord Yan…”

Yan Chang felt that this story seemed a little far-fetched.

‘Are they truly that nice? No, would they even dare to do that?’

When the old eunuch finished his sentence, he sighed and continued speaking.

“Actually, some things happened after Lord Yan was brought to the Heavenly Prison…”

. . .

In a private room on the second floor of the Qingye Building, a teahouse in the capital of the Capital Prefecture, Ji Yuan and the old beggar sat together, along with the young beggar, who had joined them later on his own. There was a pot of hot tea and six plates of pastries and dried fruits on the table.

“Oh, so Mr. Lu will no longer be accepting this disciple?”

Ji Yuan had just finished listening to some of the events that had taken place during the Ninth Heaven Ten Gatherings, as well as the cause and effect of the events in the court this morning.

“I’ve already died once, anyone who would go back and accept it is a fool!”

The old beggar stuffed two pieces of pastry in his mouth and grunted. At the same time, the young beggar put a small piece of pastry in his own mouth and poured a cup of water for the old beggar.

“Grandpa Lu, what about Lord Yan?”

“Him? Don’t worry, as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid, he will be fine. Right now, you should worry about me, your Grandpa Lu.”

The young beggar who had been stuffing cakes in his mouth suddenly turned pale when he heard these words, and nervously ran over to the old beggar to look him over.

“Ah? Grandpa Lu, are you hurt? Are you uncomfortable?”

“No, no… I’m not referring to that, I’m referring to Mr. Ji in front of us…”

The old beggar smiled and looked at Ji Yuan, who was drinking tea and listening to them talk with a normal expression.

“This old beggar was testing the Emperor of Dazhen at this time. Perhaps I violated one of Mr. Ji’s taboos. This is much more dangerous than facing the palace executioners! If I had a choice, I might not even want to drink this tea…”

“Huh?”

The little beggar looked at Ji Yuan, who always seemed gentle, and then back at the old beggar, only to find that Grandpa Lu’s expression was unusually serious.

“Mr. Lu’s move will inevitably cause some turmoil in Dazhen’s government…”

Ji Yuan put down the teacup, let a couple drops flow onto the table, then dipped his index finger into the water and wrote the character “fate.”³

“However, Mr. Lu has misunderstood. Dazhen has its own destiny. The wicked and the evil who cause chaos must be controlled. What you did, sir, is not against your heart, nor is it against the Tao. It is also an opportunity for the emperor. I don’t have much to say about it. As long as you think it was worth the trouble, then it’s fine.”

“Ah…it was indeed not worth it…”

T/n:

Lu: *gives a middle finger to the emperor* So long, idiot

JY: *polite applause*

Lu: *realizes JY was here the whole time* *panik*

Lu: … you gonna smite me

JY: Probably not

Little beggar: PROBABLY???

1. Reminder that Yang Hao is probably another one of his titles 杨 (yáng): poplar, 浩 (hào): grand/vast.
2. Mocking subtext
3. 缘 (yuán) yes it’s the same as the character in JY’s name

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read