Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Dai Zhou arrived. His crimson official robe appeared so glaring in the last trace of daylight. Chang’an County Magistrate Zuo Kui followed behind him. The group came in great haste—Zuo Kui’s official cap was even somewhat askew. Not far away were Court of Judicial Review subordinate officials holding shackles and fetters.

Yun Ye waved his hand at Dai Zhou, signaling him not to approach. He was removing the long needles from Lüzhu’s waist, shoulders, neck, elbows, knees, and hips. It was these long needles that served a fixing function, keeping her body perpetually in a crouching and kneeling posture. Each time he pulled one out, he tossed it at Dai Zhou’s feet, producing a “ding” sound.

He pulled out a total of fifteen long needles, producing fifteen crisp sounds. Lüzhu’s corpse had long since stiffened. Her originally fair body was covered with corpse spots. In Yun Ye’s view, this body’s development seemed to have only just begun. He reached his hand into Lüzhu’s somewhat excessively wide-open mouth and pulled out the remaining section of wick. Using his hand to press down on her lower jaw, with a slight effort he closed her mouth. As soon as his hand released, the mouth opened again. After all, she was already dead—the muscles had lost their elasticity.

“Who has needle and thread?” Yun Ye asked Dai Zhou.

Dai Zhou waved his hand, and immediately someone ran into the county yamen. Before long, they brought back a needle threaded with silk. He sewed several stitches at the slightly cracked corners of Lüzhu’s mouth. He sewed very carefully, as if afraid of affecting Lüzhu’s beauty.

Lüzhu’s mouth was closed, though slightly crooked, as if smiling mischievously. Yun Ye straightened out her curled body, which took considerable effort, then put his outer robe on Lüzhu. He lifted her up and slowly placed her in her mother’s embrace. This way, the pitiful child would have protection—at least her mother would protect her from harm. If there truly was a heaven, Yun Ye sincerely wished she would find happiness there…

Seeing that Yun Ye had finished these tasks, Dai Zhou stepped forward and was just about to speak when Yun Ye spoke first: “This marquis today, in a moment of indignation, inadvertently caused civil unrest. The crime is unpardonable. Now I surrender myself to the Court of Judicial Review. Please, Court of Judicial Review, take me into custody.”

Having finished speaking, he raised both hands, waiting for those subordinate officials to put on the shackles and fetters. Old Zhuang removed his own outer robe to drape over Yun Ye and stood to the side in silence.

After hesitating for a long while, Dai Zhou finally sighed deeply and ordered that Yun Ye be cangued and shackled. The county yamen had no authority to shackle Yun Ye, and the Court of Judicial Review also lacked this authority without an imperial edict. Now that Dai Zhou and his men held shackles and fetters, they were undoubtedly commissioned by the emperor. It wasn’t only the Dou family who had been frightened by the scene of the people’s collective fury.

After being placed in shackles, Yun Ye asked Old Dai: “Is Old Man Dou dead?”

“Dead. He was scared to death. Dou Huaiyi committed suicide. Dou Huai’en was beaten to death by the common people. Dou Huaide has been imprisoned. Among the Dou family’s direct line, only Dou Yanshan is missing. The court has already issued an empire-wide warrant for his arrest. He cannot escape.” Dai Zhou always spoke cleanly and efficiently.

When the prison cart passed through Chang’an streets, the streets were already empty of people. Only scattered shoes and headbands lay everywhere, as if recounting just how chaotic it had been here not long ago. The ward market gates were tightly locked. Only from those holes in the walls did many eyes still secretly watch the imprisoned Yun Ye.

Chang’an market was empty of people.

As long as it’s a prison, conditions won’t be good. One table, one stool, one couch, one oil lamp—that already counted as premium treatment. After the jailer removed the shackles and fetters, Yun Ye’s first action was to climb onto the bed couch, cover himself with a blanket, and before long, even snoring sounds arose. He seemed extremely exhausted…

The lights in the imperial palace still didn’t go out. Li Er paced back and forth irritably in the great hall. His hands clasped behind his back alternately clenched into fists and then completely opened. He never imagined why his foolproof plan would end with a riot. Before imperial authority could show its might, the lofty and arrogant Dou family had already collapsed with a thunderous crash. His meticulous arrangements, the coordination of armies from all directions—the Dou family’s foundations in Guanzhong, Longyou, Luoyang, and Hebei were swiftly uprooted, leaving only Shandong untouched. It wasn’t that he was soft-hearted, but because there was no need whatsoever. Dou Zhong in Shandong had been his prepared successor for the Dou family two years ago.

Without Dou Zhong’s unrelenting betrayal of Dou family intelligence over two years, he couldn’t possibly have gained such absolute advantage in the Dou family matter so quickly. Two years of preparation, one day’s eruption—the result was the same, yet the process had once spiraled out of control. Li Er suddenly discovered that whenever Yun Ye participated in anything, the matter would inevitably experience some degree of unexpected changes. He didn’t like this feeling of losing control. As an emperor, he liked the feeling of holding everything in the palm of his hand.

The empress wasn’t present. The palace attendants could only serve carefully with trepidation, fearing that one careless mistake would bring catastrophic disaster upon themselves. Li Er was originally someone who, if he himself wasn’t happy, would absolutely not let others be happy either.

The wine pot containing grape wine flew out. The wine pot containing Shidonchun flew out. Finally, even the wine pot containing Sanle wine flew out. All the palace attendants prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to breathe heavily. The chief eunuch counted the wine pots on the ground and discovered that only the wine pot containing Yun Estate’s fine brew hadn’t been thrown out. Greatly pleased, he pricked up his ears to secretly listen to the movements in the great hall. He only heard His Imperial Majesty muttering to himself: “All my life, I have campaigned north and south without rest, encountered countless powerful enemies, yet never has any situation caused me to panic. Today, I was afraid. They are my subjects, unarmed, yet in an instant they made me break out in cold sweat.”

“Master Sun said: ‘One who does not plan for ten thousand generations cannot plan for a moment; one who does not plan for the whole situation cannot plan for a single region.’ If the Li Tang realm wishes to be passed down for thousands of generations, we absolutely cannot ignore such a force. The saying ‘Water can carry a boat but can also overturn it’ is truly a supreme truth. I need all descendants through ten thousand generations to remember this saying. To oppose such a force is truly like throwing an egg against a stone. No matter how hard the shell, it cannot be a match for them.”

Having understood this principle, naturally he wouldn’t be irritable anymore. However, how could Yun family wine be something people casually used to drown their sorrows? Before long, the chief eunuch heard the muffled sound of a wine pot falling to the ground. Craning his head, he peeked carefully into the great hall and saw His Imperial Majesty lying on his side on a low couch—he had fallen asleep.

Anyone would have moments of exhaustion. Old Zhuang hadn’t closed his eyes for two days and two nights, yet he still appeared very alert. Being caught illegally crossing city checkpoints was grounds for beheading. He carefully advanced along the drainage ditches on both sides of Vermillion Bird Avenue toward the city walls. The lord marquis had been arrested and thrown into prison—no matter what, he had to deliver this news to Old Grandmother. Knowing it one moment earlier might mean the lord marquis would suffer one less hardship.

The stench in the drainage ditch nearly suffocated him at one point. The pungent smell seemed to sting his eyes as well. Tears streamed down continuously. He crawled through it using both hands and feet. For the first time, he discovered that Vermillion Bird Avenue was so long.

At the end of the drainage ditch was the moat. Railings as thick as a child’s arm blocked the way. His feet groped through the sludge. Finally, he found that legendary hole—this was information he had spent ten strings of cash to extract from a wandering hero.

He stripped off all his clothes. Completely naked, he took a deep breath and dove down. Slippery mud covered his entire body. Like a loach sliding through sludge, he squeezed through that hole. After swallowing two mouthfuls of foul water, he finally poked his head above the water’s surface. With no time to think further, he only had the time it takes to burn one stick of incense to swim across the moat. Taking a breath, he dove into the water again.

The naked Old Zhuang climbed out of the moat, hurriedly threw on a shirt, and staggered toward Jade Mountain…

A night of deep sleep completely liberated Yun Ye from the sub-healthy state of recent days. His eyes had not yet opened and he was reluctant to open them. A ray of sunshine shone through the narrow skylight onto his face, warm and extremely comfortable. The sunlight passing through his eyelids formed a pink world at the bottom of his eyes.

“Who first awakens from the great dream? In my life, I myself know. Spring sleep in the prison cell is sufficient; outside the window, the sun lingers.” Stretching in a big yawn, mouth opened wide, he expelled the last stagnant breath from his chest. He felt refreshed and clear-headed.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he got a big fright. Before him lay a fat man crying his heart out, still convulsing continuously, seemingly extremely sad.

“My god, can we just honestly and happily earn copper coins from now on? If you’re really so bored you can’t stand it, go to the academy and torment those wastrels—that’s fine too. Please don’t always provoke such terrifying enemies, okay? As soon as big brother arrived in the capital, I originally wanted to go to Yanlai Tower to relax. Who knew that when I casually asked the city gate official where you were, big brother here was so frightened I became impotent. Now whether that thing still works is questionable.”

Old He didn’t know how long he’d been here. He had probably been crying the whole time. What Yun Ye had done wouldn’t appear even in his most terrifying nightmares. He wasn’t sad—he was afraid. Now the Yun family and he were completely grasshoppers tied to one rope. If he had troubles, Yun Ye could still help him out—a merchant’s minor disputes couldn’t even make it to the table. But if the Yun family had troubles, then there was absolutely no salvation. The Yun family and the He family would be finished together.

“Stop crying like a fool. Didn’t I take down the Dou family?” Yun Ye couldn’t stand men crying and whimpering. Seeing Old He crying so pitifully, he casually offered some comfort.

“The Dou family was taken down, but I heard that Longyou, Hebei, Luoyang, and Guanzhong all moved simultaneously. The Dou family head was also reportedly replaced by some fellow called Dou Zhong. That was His Majesty exerting force—it has nothing to do with you. You incited neighbors to riot for no reason. This is a serious crime. Look, others are celebrating their achievements while you have to sit in the Court of Judicial Review’s prison. Killing ten thousand enemies, losing three thousand of your own! That songstress named Lüzhu is absolutely the highest-priced songstress in all history, absolutely comparable to those calamities like Daji and Zhao Feiyan. A ten-thousand-generation family collapsed thunderously because of her. A marquis with boundless prospects sits in prison because of her. She’s the greatest disaster star. I’m never going to Pingkang Ward again—that place is too terrifying.” Listening to Old He’s nagging, Yun Ye felt very warm.

After draining a bowl of the cheese Old He had brought, patting Old He, he said: “Old He, I have never regretted the rashness of this matter. Never.”