“Time to eat!” With this impatient voice, a bowl of rice was placed in front of the bars. The yellow-brown rice had a few pieces of pickled vegetables on top – this was the dish to go with the rice. Beside it was a bowl of soup with a thin slice of radish floating in it.

As Liu Wenjing took the rice that reeked of staleness as usual and prepared to fill his stomach, a jailer led a figure in a dark robe to the front of the cell: “Liu Wenjing, someone’s here to see you.”

After the jailer left, Liu Wenjing continued eating with his head down: “Brother Pei, you don’t need to come see me every day. I probably won’t die anytime soon.” The news of his imprisonment was still unknown to his family, so during this period, only Peiji had come to visit.

The figure crouched down and looked at Liu Wenjing who was eating rice with his hands: “I’ve troubled Zhaoren to suffer in prison.”

Hearing this voice, Liu Wenjing’s hand movements froze. He slowly raised his head, and at the same time, the figure pushed back the hood somewhat, allowing him to see the face beneath the hood by the weak oil lamp light on the wall.

After a long while, Liu Wenjing finally recovered from his shock. Suppressing his excitement, he said calmly: “If Duke Li finds this difficult, you needn’t force yourself to come see me.”

The visitor was indeed Li Yuan. He smiled: “It seems Zhaoren is quite dissatisfied with me.”

Liu Wenjing shook his head: “I wouldn’t say dissatisfied, just somewhat disappointed.” Then he added: “Am I about to die?”

Li Yuan looked at him for a moment: “Would Zhaoren blame me?”

Liu Wenjing sighed deeply and smiled bitterly: “So it’s true after all.” With that, he met Li Yuan’s eyes: “This is my own fate – there’s no point blaming anyone. But before this happens, I have something to remind Duke Li of.”

Li Yuan nodded: “I’m all ears.”

“The current emperor is not only tyrannical but also extremely suspicious.” After pausing, he said slowly: “Peach and plum children, don’t speak out, yellow cranes circle the mountain flying, winding through flower gardens – Duke Li must have heard this folk song too. It speaks of the Li clan replacing the Yang clan to gain the realm. Because of this, His Majesty has killed many people surnamed Li. Toward Duke Li, he may not be unwilling to kill you – it’s just that he still has use for Duke Li now, so he temporarily restrains himself. Once Duke Li loses value, I fear he’ll immediately kill you. Duke Li’s loyalty and devotion to the ruler will ultimately only bring disaster upon yourself and the entire Li clan. To survive in this chaotic world, unless you carve out a bloody path, there can be no peace.”

Liu Wenjing thought Li Yuan would rebuke him for these words, but unexpectedly he nodded: “I understand. I came here today precisely to discuss great matters with Zhaoren.”

Liu Wenjing was completely stunned, looking at Li Yuan in disbelief. Wasn’t he loyally devoted to Yang Guang, unwilling to bear the name of “betraying one’s lord”? Why had he suddenly changed his tune?

Li Yuan saw through Liu Wenjing’s thoughts: “At this point, I might as well speak plainly. Actually, even before Zhaoren advised me, I already had those thoughts and have been secretly recruiting soldiers and buying horses. It’s just that I couldn’t determine whether Zhaoren’s intentions were genuine or false, so I rebuked you then. I hope Zhaoren will forgive me!”

Liu Wenjing’s whole body trembled with excitement. He had already despaired before, but unexpectedly there was light at the end of the tunnel. He hadn’t misjudged – Li Yuan must be that enlightened ruler who could save the world and stabilize the nation, he must be!

“Duke Li, you… you…” His excessive excitement made Liu Wenjing forget to control his volume, drawing sideways glances from prisoners in nearby cells. Li Yuan quickly made a gesture for silence: “Be careful not to attract the jailers.”

Liu Wenjing nodded repeatedly, clenching his fists. After his emotions calmed down somewhat, he said in a voice only they could hear: “Everything Duke Li said is true?”

“If it weren’t so, I wouldn’t risk being discovered by Wang Wei and the others to come see Zhaoren.” With that, he said: “Regarding the current situation, does Zhaoren have any brilliant strategies?”

After confirming Li Yuan’s true intentions, Liu Wenjing immediately spoke the words he had held in his heart for so long: “Since Yang Guang ascended the throne these years, heaven and people alike are angry. Anti-Sui forces are everywhere. Only the Hedong and Shanxi regions that Duke Li guards, plus Luoyang and Jiangdu, are somewhat peaceful. Other places have long been in warlord chaos. At this time, if Duke Li rises with the momentum, you can surely seize the realm and become a generation of enlightened ruler who saves the world and rescues the people.” With that, he said word by word: “Open the government treasury, summon heroes from the south, pacify the Turks in the north, gather Yan and Zhao in the east, cross the Yellow River, occupy Qin and Yong – then the enterprises of Tang and Wu can be achieved.”

Li Yuan looked at him with admiring eyes: “I hope Zhaoren will assist me in achieving great enterprise!”

“I’ve been a county magistrate for many years and know that many heroes and outstanding men have gathered in Jinyang. Coincidentally, they all have the heart to undertake great deeds. If we can win them over, combined with Duke Li’s troops and my suggestions above, I believe we can break into the pass and command the realm within half a year!” With that, he sighed: “Unfortunately, I’m imprisoned and cannot summon them for Duke Li. Otherwise… shall I tell Duke Li their names and gathering places?”

“No need.” Li Yuan said in a deep voice: “I’ve already thought of a way to rescue you from prison.” As he spoke, a jailer in the distance urged them to hurry up.

Li Yuan quickly stuffed something he had been holding into Liu Wenjing’s hand: “Take this immediately after I leave. I’ll arrange everything else.” With that, he stood up and left the cell.

After the cell door closed, Liu Wenjing looked down at what was in his hand – it was a brown pill. He unobtrusively swallowed the pill wrapped in rice while pretending to eat.

After an unknown amount of time, Liu Wenjing felt severe cramping pain in his abdomen. Cold sweat continuously dripped from his forehead. At first it was just low moaning, but later it became almost painful screaming.

The jailer heard the sound and came over, impatiently banging on the wooden bars: “What are you yelling about? Be quiet!”

“I… ah!” Liu Wenjing tried hard to speak, but having said only one word, he was interrupted by another surge of severe pain, turning into a scream.

The jailer was startled and glared: “Didn’t you hear me tell you to be quiet? If you keep yelling, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

Liu Wenjing didn’t speak – not because he didn’t want to, but because the pain made it impossible to speak. Later he even rolled his eyes and convulsed, with white foam constantly coming from his mouth. The nearby prisoners saw this and said: “He seems to really be having an attack.”

“He was fine just now – how could he be having an attack?” Having said this, the jailer banged on the wooden bars again: “Hurry up and get up, stop pretending!”

Liu Wenjing didn’t answer him because he could no longer hear anyone’s words. His whole body had only one sensation – pain!