Chapter 165: “Ming” Is Now Forbidden

At this moment, Jiang Li still didn’t know that yet another restless cultivator had come up with yet another restless idea. He was currently speaking with Commander Liu.
Jiang Li floated in the skies above the Nine Provinces; Commander Liu was stationed at the Human Sovereign Hall. The two were communicating via Remote Communication Talisman.
“That’s the situation. Of the six commanders we have at the Human Sovereign Hall, three are currently locked up in prison. I think, Palace Master, you might want to consider replacing a few of them.”
“Wait—what? I didn’t catch that, say it again.” Jiang Li couldn’t believe his ears.
“The Great Yong Dynasty is trialing a literary inquisition, forbidding people from saying any word that contains the character ‘Ming.’ Zhang Konghu said ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow,’ and just for saying that, he was thrown into prison by the officials to await punishment. Marshal Ma and his wife were caught red-handed selling indecent erotic books and were also thrown into prison—right next to Zhang Konghu.”
“The Great Yong Dynasty’s prison doesn’t separate men and women. That’s not good. Palace Master, maybe you could make some suggestions to them.”
“…That’s the part you’re focusing on?” Jiang Li glared. “Zhang Konghu can’t break himself out?”
“Of course a Fusion Stage cultivator can break out of prison, but Zhang Konghu said he stands upright and walks straight, did nothing wrong, so why should he run? He wants to wait for the Great Yong officials to return his innocence.”
“Zhang Konghu can think that deeply?” Jiang Li was genuinely surprised.
Deep, of course, is relative. For Zhang Konghu, this kind of thinking was already rare.
“I recently recommended a few books to him.”
“What about Marshal Ma and his wife? How do Fusion Stage cultivators get caught? Are the Great Yong Dynasty’s officials all Fusion Stage too?”
“The Minister of Personnel in Great Yong noticed his son seemed gloomy lately and found out it was from reading those books. So he personally went to catch the sellers. Turns out, he just so happens to be a Fusion Stage cultivator. And coincidentally, Marshal Ma and his wife just so happened to be selling books in Great Yong at the time.”
“Then why didn’t they run?”
“Marshal Ma and his wife weren’t using disguises when selling books—they were using their real faces. Fortunately, they rarely appear in the Nine Provinces, so the minister didn’t recognize them. If they had run, a wanted poster would’ve gone up across all of Great Yong, and everyone would’ve seen their faces.”
“…You sure these three are Fusion Stage?”
“Disgrace to the Fusion Stage. Disgrace to the Human Sovereign Hall’s commanders.” Commander Liu nodded sincerely.
“Should we replace the three commanders?” Commander Liu suggested. He’d been speechless too when he heard this news. Could they be any more embarrassing?
As a veteran commander of the Human Sovereign Hall, he’d had enough. The one above never came home. The ones below were all unreliable. He was exhausted.
He couldn’t replace the one above—Jiang Li—but maybe he could suggest switching out a few of the younger commanders.
Jiang Li looked up at the sky. Was this karmic backlash? He’d just stirred up trouble for Ji Zhi, and now his own people had messed up.
“I’ll go to Great Yong.” Jiang Li said helplessly.
“Much appreciated, Palace Master.” Commander Liu bowed. He hadn’t brought this up to really push for new commanders—he’d watched Zhang Konghu grow up. How could he give up on him?
He just wanted Jiang Li to come up with a way to pull those three embarrassing people out.

……

A year ago, the Great Yong Dynasty had a change of emperor.
Luo Zheng’s incompetence was on full display at the Nine Provinces Council Meeting—stingy, useless, nowhere near Ji Zhi’s ability, constantly changing ancestral rules, and had turned the dynasty into a mess.
Luo Zheng had an elder brother named Luo Xuan, far more competent in governance, and had always believed the throne should have been his.
But Luo Zheng was skilled in political scheming. During the succession struggle, he framed Luo Xuan, accusing him of having relations with imperial concubines. The previous emperor was furious, stripped Luo Xuan of his crown prince status, and banished him to the cold palace.
In the end, Luo Zheng successfully became the new Emperor of Yong.
A year ago, Luo Zheng died, and the eldest prince Luo Ming took the throne.
Luo Ming was also incompetent—greedy for pleasures and neglectful of state affairs.
Seeing his nephew was a fool, Luo Xuan developed ambitions to usurp the throne. He allied with various sects within Great Yong to stage a rebellion.
Eventually, Luo Xuan rose to power and became the new Emperor of Yong.
Though Luo Xuan was capable, he was deeply paranoid. His path to the throne wasn’t legitimate, and he constantly suspected others of slandering him.
So Emperor Luo Xuan issued an order forbidding the use of the character “Ming” throughout Great Yong. Violators would be imprisoned and await punishment.
Zhang Konghu ended up in prison because of this—sharing a cell with Marshal Ma and his wife.

……

Jiang Li flew into Great Yong and found the place lifeless. People hurried along the streets, immediately going home after buying things, clearly unwilling to linger for even a moment.
“Shopkeeper, how’s business lately?” Jiang Li descended and asked the roadside flatbread vendor.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” The snack vendor looked worried. “Just look around—who still has the mood to eat snacks? If this keeps up, I won’t be able to keep this flatbread stall going much longer.”
“Give me two flatbreads.”
“Right away.” The vendor looked a bit happier—rare to sell two flatbreads today. Life was hard, but it had to go on.
Next to the flatbread stall was a fruit stand. Jiang Li ate his flatbread as he walked over. “Boss, how’s business lately?”
The fruit vendor didn’t even dare to speak. He pointed to his mouth, shook his head hard, then pointed one by one to the bananas, apples, and other fruits, using gestures to show prices.
The flatbread vendor sighed, “He’s timid, got scared. Doesn’t dare speak anymore.”
Jiang Li stood up—Great Yong’s situation was far worse than he had imagined. No wonder Zhang Konghu insisted he’d done nothing wrong.
Just as he was about to go look elsewhere, a group of officials came marching over, full of bluster.
“Officer, is there something wrong?” The flatbread vendor asked, trembling with fear. The fruit vendor was also terrified, curling up in the corner.
“You sell flatbreads?”
“Yes.”
“You sell fruit?”
The fruit vendor nodded desperately.
“I asked you a question!” The officer glared, scaring the fruit vendor into answering out loud.
“Yes.”
“You two have been selling here for years?”
“Sixteen years.” The flatbread vendor didn’t dare lie. He had no idea what these officials were up to.
“Flatbreads are round—shaped like the sun. Bananas are curved—shaped like the moon. The sun is ‘Ri,’ the moon is ‘Yue.’ Combine the two and you get ‘Ming’!” the officer barked. “You two clearly have intentions of criticizing His Majesty in secret. Arrest them!”
The flatbread vendor stammered, “O-Officer, this is going a bit far, isn’t it? We’re just commoners trying to survive by selling food—how could we possibly criticize His Majesty?”
The officer sneered, “You dare say you weren’t criticizing His Majesty? You two could’ve sold your goods separately. Why, after His Majesty banned the character ‘Ming,’ are you still selling flatbreads and bananas side-by-side? I say you’re not just criticizing—you’re plotting rebellion! Trying to overthrow Xuan and restore Ming! Take them away!”
The flatbread and fruit vendors were both mere mortals, only at the third level of Qi Refining—how could they possibly defy these officials? Their outrageous logic left them speechless.
The officer’s eyes then landed on Jiang Li, who was frowning as he ate his flatbread. With a wave of his hand:
“You’ve bitten into a round flatbread, making it crescent-shaped—like a waning moon. That’s still ‘sun and moon equals Ming’! And you’re frowning in thought—clearly harboring discontent toward His Majesty, silently rebelling! Arrest him!”