The four young women personally trained by Second Lady were all sharp-witted. Each had her own specialty, be it playing instruments or singing. Zheng Xiu felt confident and at ease entrusting them with his affairs.
Besides, the secret code between him and "Sharp-Eared" was known only to them. In a worst-case scenario, even if there was a traitor in the Zheng Family, they wouldn't know what the code meant.
Deep in the quiet of the night, Zheng Xiu didn't enter the Ghostly Realm. Instead, he activated [Divine Travel] and drifted into the night.
The [Divine Travel] Ability was similar to "Primordial Spirit Emergence" from novels, but Zheng Xiu still needed to explore its full potential.
To be honest, though Zheng Xiu was currently in a cell, his mind was buzzing with excitement.
Zheng Xiu still hadn't figured out if the Ability granted by [Prisoner] was one of the Xuanmen Techniques or a Rebirth Technique. But as long as it allowed him to transcend the mundane, it fulfilled a wish he'd held for years.
After all the storms he'd weathered over the years, Zheng Xiu understood one thing clearly: Empire Authority was like a great mountain. No matter how much money you had, if you couldn't protect it, it wasn't truly yours.
Even while keeping a low profile, Zheng Xiu had secretly spent a fortune recruiting Odd People, retired Generals, and Jianghu Alchemists to form "Sharp-Eared," "Thousand-Mile Eye," and the "Brotherhood."
For twenty years, the world had been at peace, and Zheng Xiu had kept them on his payroll as idle hands, all for the sake of his own peace of mind.
He even voluntarily paid an extra ten percent in taxes to the Ministry of Revenue each year to help fill the state coffers.
But things were different now.
His nearly transparent body passed effortlessly through the walls.
Zheng Xiu could feel a faint, almost imperceptible connection between his Ah Piao and his Main Body, allowing him to switch between the two at will.
However, the moment his consciousness returned to his Main Body—the instant he opened his eyes—the Ah Piao would be sucked back with a WHOOSH, no matter how far away it was.
After a few practice runs in and out of his body, Zheng Xiu had mastered the ins and outs of Divine Travel, becoming smooth and slick with it.
As its name suggested, [Divine Travel] seemed to only let him... well, travel.
The Ah Piao was similar to a "Ghost Soul" in the truest sense: semi-transparent, clothed, and able to pass through any physical obstacle.
However, Zheng Xiu was not afraid of light or fire, which made him different from those "unclean things" of legend.
Then there was the Ah Piao's range of activity.
If the squarely laid-out Imperial City were divided into a nine-square grid...
The Prison Camp, home to Earth No. 1 Prison, was in the northeastern district.
The Imperial Palace sat in the center, facing south.
The Ah Piao's range covered the northeastern district, the northern district, the eastern district, the area outside the city walls, and finally, a part of the Imperial Palace.
As an Ah Piao, he had no sense of touch, so he couldn't physically experience the thrill of spreading his arms and flying freely in the sky, or feel the cool breeze tickling his armpit hair.
But for Zheng Xiu, an ordinary Richest Person, soaring through the heavens as an Ah Piao was a liberating experience he'd never had in two lifetimes. For a while, Boss Zheng was having the time of his life.
He played around for over an hour. Around the third watch of the night, as the Night Watchman's gong echoed through the city's streets, alleys, and markets, Zheng Xiu's exhilaration faded. As he calmed down, a wave of intense fatigue washed over him.
Zheng Xiu felt the pull from his physical body once again.
'Being an Ah Piao is pretty draining.'
He had more or less figured out the [Divine Travel] Ability. Overcome with sleepiness, Master Zheng decided to head back.
Just then, an exquisite horse-drawn carriage emerged from the Imperial Palace, its horse's hooves clopping rhythmically and crisply against the ground.
'The Imperial Palace?'
In mid-air, Zheng Xiu froze, halting his drift.
By rights, the Imperial Palace should have been under curfew by now. Not even a palace Maid or concubine could leave without an official permit.
The palace guards were extremely strict during the curfew. Forget a person—even a bird flying over the inner walls might be shot down for a midnight snack.
Recalling Lord Shi, the aggrieved party, visiting him during the day, Zheng Xiu thought, 'It couldn't be that much of a coincidence, could it?' He drifted closer for a look.
The sight left Zheng Xiu not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Two arrogant little flags fluttered above the exquisite carriage, each embroidered with an audacious "Shi" character.
'Well, what a coincidence.'
'Someone didn't check their almanac before leaving home today.'
'To run into him even here.'
'Out so late at night... with such a guilty conscience, aren't you afraid a night-shift ghost will come knocking?'
And so, with a clear conscience, Good man Zheng floated toward the carriage carrying Shi Wentong.
Of course.
Good man Zheng didn't actually intend to do anything to Shi Wentong.
His [Divine Travel] currently lacked any real offensive power. Even if he wanted to do something, his spirit was willing but his form was weak.
But Zheng Xiu had a good guess why Shi Wentong was sneaking in and out of the Imperial Palace on such a dark and windy night.
His meeting with Shi Wentong earlier that day had made Zheng Xiu realize someone was backing him.
Shi Wentong's late-night trip to the Imperial Palace must have been to personally report Zheng Xiu's reaction after being put in his place.
Fortunately, the carriage wasn't moving fast. It ambled along, the driver prioritizing a steady ride.
This allowed Zheng Xiu to easily float along the edge of the carriage.
Zheng Xiu quietly poked his head into the carriage from above.
Judging by the proper official's hat, the man in the carriage was indeed the aggrieved husband, Shi Wentong.
His withered hands were rapidly rolling a pair of jade Ruyi scepters, the motion getting faster and smoother.
Zheng Xiu hovered for a while. He watched as Shi Wentong nearly reached his home without muttering a single useful piece of information to himself. Just as he was about to exceed his Ah Piao's range and would be forced to return to his cell, Shi Wentong suddenly let out a dry, "Heh heh."
The weary Zheng Xiu instantly perked up.
"Boss Zheng, oh, Boss Zheng, you really don't know what's good for you. So indecisive, trying to play both sides. Heh heh. Do you really think your dead father's merits in defending the country can protect you for a lifetime?"
"And that Old Ke, he's backed the wrong horse, picked the wrong side. In the future, if something happens to you, don't blame this old man for not warning you!"
'Old Ke?'
'The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Ke Bingliang?'
'And then?'
Zheng Xiu waited with bated breath.
'Since you can't hold it in, why don't you say a little more?'
"If you hadn't repeatedly refused the Prince's attempts to recruit you, how would this old man have gotten such a golden opportunity?"
Shi Wentong added.
After that, he just kept chuckling drily, saying no more.
An old fox like him naturally understood that walls have ears.
He couldn't help but let a couple of sentences slip, but he revealed no more information.
But for Zheng Xiu, it was more than enough.
It seemed Zheng Xiu's guess was correct: the old Emperor was probably not long for this world.
Ever since Old Wei pacified the Northern Barbarian Chaos, the external threats had been eliminated. What he now feared most was the formation of internal factions for selfish gain.
If Old Wei wasn't on his deathbed, no Prince would be so bold as to summon a key minister from the Six Ministries late at night. It was a clear overreach of authority.
Shi Wentong only said "the Prince," without specifying which one. 'Just which Prince could it be?'
As for Shi Wentong...
Even inside his own carriage, he didn't dare say much. Who didn't know that walls have ears?
It was just that for Shi Wentong, good things had come in threes lately; a string of joyous occasions.
First, the new concubine he'd taken in a few days ago was in the flower of her youth. She was as beautiful as a flower and as fair as jade, with pale skin and lovely features, though a bit on the thin side. If it weren't for being tied up with official duties and feeling unwell—his spirit willing but his flesh weak—how could Shi Wentong have waited until now? Tonight was an auspicious date, the perfect time to "pluck the melon." This was the first joy.
Second, although Shi Wentong had been humiliated by Zheng Xiu at the Prison Camp today, what was that compared to the promise the Prince had made him? This was the second joy.
As for the third, Shi Wentong had recently sought out a famous doctor for a special prescription. The doctor had instructed him to brew it down from three bowls of water to one, guaranteeing it would restore his virility. But Shi Wentong, fearing it would be too diluted, had instead used ten bowls' worth of herbs and brewed it all down to a single bowl. Wouldn't that be even more effective? The third joy, oh, the third joy!
The thought that by this time next year he could have a son in his old age, and that once the dust settled, he could finally strike back hard at the powerful men who once made him so meek and submissive... wave after wave of elation washed over him. Just before stepping out of the carriage, Shi Wentong couldn't help but throw his head back, laugh, and sing a joyous tune:
"Oh, joyous joy, oh, joyous joy! Oh, joyous—"
He threw his head back and laughed.
Head back.
Head.
.
Their eyes met.
Lord Shi's joyous tune came to an abrupt halt.
The carriage fell deathly silent.
Shi Wentong looked up and saw a pale, handsome face embedded in the ceiling of his carriage, hazy and sinister.
There's nothing scarier than a sudden silence.
Zheng Xiu immediately rolled his eyes back and, in a drawn-out, melodramatic wail, broke the awkward silence: "Looord... Shiii... I... dieeed... sooo... tragically... SOB SOB SOB..."
"AHHHHH—Don't, don't come any closer! AHHHHH—"
The old man's hysterical screams shattered the silence of the Imperial City's streets.
You could call it four joys arriving at once.