Zhao Changyu had been stingy his whole life – how could he allow his life savings to be seized by Sima Yue?

He would rather learn from his grandfather and father to scatter all family wealth, giving his family and clan members a place of peace and a good reputation, than to let those people benefit.

However, he was ultimately more miserly than his grandfather and father. Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t follow his ancestors’ old path.

On his deathbed, Zhao Changyu had already foreseen the dynasty’s decline.

Even he couldn’t prevent the great edifice from collapsing – who else in this world could save Great Jin?

Great Jin was already finished.

Zhao Changyu no longer thought of saving this corrupt dynasty, but the common people – how innocent were they?

He summoned Zhao Zhongyu and instructed: “The alternation of dynasties is like the replacement of sun and moon, but the race cannot be exterminated. If the race doesn’t perish, the legacy doesn’t perish. The northern Xiongnu are cruel by nature and have long coveted our Central Plains. You must be extremely careful.”

“Wang Yan’s character is mediocre, but his vision is exceptionally sharp. He especially guards against Liu Yuan and his son. You must also constantly remind the Emperor to be cautious of them.”

At this time, Zhao Zhongyu couldn’t even reach the Emperor, much less Prince Donghai. He had little voice in the court.

But he still agreed.

Watching his always-forceful elder brother now only able to lie weakly in his sickbed, Zhao Zhongyu’s heart flashed with a trace of sorrow.

Zhao Changyu knew that after his death, whether to win over the forces in his hands or to appease the aristocratic families, Prince Donghai and the new Emperor would heavily employ Zhao Zhongyu. He very much wanted to break this down and explain it all to Zhao Zhongyu, but lifting his eyes to see his calm face, the words just circled on his tongue twice before dissipating.

He thought of Zhao Ji and his son Zhao Yi.

Forget it – descendants have their own fortunes. Managing too much not only exhausted his own energy but had no effect.

Zhao Changyu went to his death full of worries. He worried so much – worried about He Zhen, worried about Erlang, also worried about this foolish younger brother, worried about the Zhao clan, and even more concerned about this increasingly chaotic world.

So after death, he quickly recovered his consciousness. When he discovered there really was an underworld, his heart held no fear but rather breathed a sigh of relief.

He received much worship. He spent quite a bit of money asking ghost officers about news of friends and relatives.

Several old friends were still queuing to reincarnate. They all died after the ninth year of Yuankang in court struggles and military chaos.

After the ninth year of Yuankang, too many people died in the Central Plains – battle deaths, deaths in fights, freeze deaths, starvation deaths, deaths inexplicably caught up by rebel troops…

Yet because the political system was unstable and wars continued year after year, not many were born among the people. So the underworld had massive numbers of souls stranded. When Zhao Changyu came down, those waiting to reincarnate were already queued up five years out.

People like Zhao Changyu could skip the queue to reincarnate as long as they were willing to pay merit and money.

But after thinking it over, Zhao Changyu righteously refused. The situation in the mortal realm clearly showed great chaos was coming. Reincarnating now, whether born into an aristocratic family or a powerful household, all lived day to day, could be implicated and killed at any time.

If reincarnated into a commoner family, that meant suffering from the womb!

Though this underworld had no sun and everywhere was dim and desolate with no grass growing, it was still somewhat better than being displaced and wandering.

So Zhao Changyu began preparing a mansion for himself while following events in the mortal realm.

He didn’t need to inquire deliberately. Because he had just died and received much incense and offerings, and also spent generously, many ghost officers would actively seek him out.

Today one told him: “When I went to lock souls, I saw your family escorting your coffin back home. They encountered rebel troops and mobs – wow, my goodness, your granddaughter is amazing! One strike of her blade, one arrow – several souls I locked today were killed by her.”

Zhao Changyu listened with wide eyes. Before he could feel proud, he heard another ghost officer say: “But your nephew is useless. He was pulling your cart when it overturned, and your coffin fell into a field. He led people and ran directly away. It was your daughter-in-law who led people to drag the coffin back. When I came down, she was lying beside the coffin crying – quite pitiful.”

Zhao Changyu’s heart tightened. He quickly asked: “Did the rebels stop? My granddaughter, grandson, and daughter-in-law – how are they now? Their lifespans…”

Zhao Changyu stuffed some money into their hands.

The ghost officer calmly pocketed the money and smiled at Zhao Changyu: “Lord Zhao, rest assured, they’ve already escaped danger.”

Seeing he had nothing more to say, Zhao Changyu stuffed another handful of money and persistently asked: “From your perspective, how many more years can my daughter-in-law’s family of three live?”

Seeing Zhao Changyu so persistently inquiring about their lifespans, the ghost officer paused, then looked around before quietly revealing: “Has Lord Zhao never thought – if human lifespans truly completely followed the Book of Life and Death, why would this underworld be overcrowded with ghosts?”

Zhao Changyu’s heart jumped. The fog parted and his eyes suddenly opened wide. He thought of many things he hadn’t thought of before, hadn’t dared to think.

The ghost officer said no more and left with the money.

They decided not to come to Zhao Changyu for money anymore. He was too terrifying – truly not a single coin was wasted on him.

The world thought they hooked souls according to the Book of Life and Death, but didn’t know the Book of Life and Death wasn’t fixed in ink and characters – it was alive!

No one could control the Book of Life and Death – not even King Yanluo. It had its own operating rules.

In the Book of Life and Death, Zhao Changyu should have died long ago, but he survived his death calamity that year, so the words in the Book of Life and Death changed, then gradually extended to the first year of Yongjia.

That year, it was Zhao Zhi who blocked the death calamity for him.

And He Zhen’s death date in the Book of Life and Death had also been constantly changing recently. Now it was just a blur of ink spots – who knew what it would finally become?

People always thought their life and death were controlled by the Book of Life and Death, but didn’t know their life and death had actually always been in their own hands.

As long as they grasped that thread of life, the Book of Life and Death also had to change for them.

The ghost officers no longer came to find Zhao Changyu, but if the mountain wouldn’t come to him, he could go to the mountain. Whenever Zhao Changyu was free, he would go find them.

And he wasn’t a court official in the underworld, nor did he have family business to manage. Every day he was very idle.

In the process of chatting with ghost officers, he discovered a new continent – communicating with newly arrived ghosts who had just recovered their senses could yield even more information.

He had underworld information, they had mortal realm news. Exchanging between the two, fair trade, perfect.

Moreover, his information could be sold repeatedly. He used one piece of underworld common knowledge to exchange for quite a bit of mortal realm information from different people. Later on, he began hiring subordinates. They took underworld information to collect mortal realm news, and he only had to sit at home waiting to review it.

The underworld was vast. Not all ghost souls gathered in this one place – after all, underworld entrances were everywhere.

Most entering Yanluo Hall for judgment from here were souls who died in the Central Plains area, and what they knew was mostly Central Plains information.

But among them were also quite a few court officials, merchants who traveled far and wide, and famous scholars who fled south. They were well-informed and knew quite a bit even about non-Central Plains news.

Thus, Zhao Changyu learned that shortly after his death, the Xiongnu broke into Luoyang. Wang Yan and Prince Donghai together led the Emperor in flight, squatted outside for a few months, then returned to Luoyang.

He also learned he had nearly suffered great merit loss and gained several enemies.

That idiot Zhao Hu had actually wanted to have servants buried with him.