Chapter 167: I Do Have Rebellious Intentions
“J-Jiang Bro.”
The few of them awkwardly greeted Jiang Li.
Everyone was reunited in the dungeon, only Commander Liu hadn’t come. Should they just call him over too?
Jiang Li quickly dismissed that dangerous thought.
Marshal Ma and his wife saw Jiang Li and lowered their heads, trying to reduce their presence.
“Konghu, talk to me. What happened?” Jiang Li’s purpose here was to see Zhang Konghu and talk some sense into him.
As for Marshal Ma and his wife—heh—they could figure it out on their own.
“Jiang Bro, I-I just don’t get it. I didn’t kill anyone or set anything on fire. I was just walking down the street, chatting with someone, and right before leaving I said ‘let’s talk tomorrow.’ How—how does that make me a criminal?” Zhang Konghu was knocking on his own head in frustration. He just couldn’t make sense of it.
If you told him he did something wrong in a moment of recklessness and got locked up, he’d accept that. But getting arrested just for saying the word “Ming”? No way. He’d rather fight someone than admit to that.
Still, he felt like maybe he was too dumb to see the bigger picture. The Yong Emperor must have had his reasons for issuing that order. Maybe he just hadn’t figured it out.
But he didn’t know what the Yong Emperor’s reasoning was, so Zhang Konghu was deeply conflicted.
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. His eyes turned red, and he had the urge to cry.
Seeing honest and hardworking Zhang Konghu so aggrieved lit a fire in Jiang Li’s chest.
Jiang Li comforted him, “Konghu, you’re right. The Yong Emperor was wrong.”
“R-Really?” Zhang Konghu looked up, trying hard to hold back his tears. “But isn’t the Yong Emperor running a whole country? Can he make mistakes too?”
“Of course. Everyone makes mistakes. I make mistakes, you make mistakes, even someone as wise-seeming as Ji Zhi makes mistakes,” Jiang Li said softly.
“A hundred years ago, Ji Zhi believed that alcohol was the root of all crime. Drinking caused problems and interfered with cultivation, so he issued a prohibition order, banning the production, sale, or transport of alcohol across the Great Zhou.”
“The initial intent was good. Once the order was issued, alcohol disappeared from public view. But the ban couldn’t erase people’s desire and demand for alcohol. The black market exploded. Illegal production and sale of alcohol became incredibly profitable. Countless people turned to crime, and the crime rate in the Great Zhou soared year after year.”
“In the end, Ji Zhi had to admit that the prohibition had failed and repealed the order.” Jiang Li explained the full story behind the ban. Zhang Konghu looked like he kind of understood, but also kind of didn’t.
Ji Zhi rarely made big mistakes in his life—the prohibition was one of them.
“Everyone makes mistakes. The Yong Emperor is no exception,” Jiang Li said with a smile. “Konghu, there are no saints in this world. Don’t blindly trust anyone. You have to learn to think for yourself.”
Zhang Konghu nodded, still confused but trying.
“And you too, Old Huang, tone down your cultivation technique. You’re making Konghu want to cry,” Jiang Li said without even looking over at Commander Huang.
Commander Huang’s technique affected the emotional state of those around him—whatever mood he was in, people nearby would feel the same. Since Commander Huang was always a sad guy, people near him felt sad too.
Usually, Zhang Konghu wasn’t affected by it, but now that his mind was stuck and his spiritual platform was unstable, it made him more vulnerable.
“I didn’t cry.”
“Xiao Mu, who are they? And who are you?”
Even though no one had mentioned words like “Human Sovereign” or “Fusion Stage,” Zhang Konghu’s cellmate, a young cultivator, still sensed something was off.
A bunch of commanders, a big bro named Jiang, casually talking about the Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi—it was hard not to think of something… untouchable.
Commander Mu scratched his head and explained, “Actually, we’re all commanders of the Human Sovereign Hall. This is our Hall Master. You’ve probably heard of him—Jiang Li.”
The young cultivator’s eyes widened.
There were seven people here in total: one Mahayana, five Fusion Stage cultivators—and him, just a sixth-layer Qi Refining noob. How the h*ll did he end up locked up with them?
Did smoke rise from his ancestral grave or something?
He felt like even if his ancestors rose from the grave, they wouldn’t be able to pull off getting him locked up next to the Human Sovereign.
“You lot, come out and face His Majesty.”
The constable looked delighted. As far as he knew, no other nearby city had reached the target number set by the emperor. Only their city had hit the quota.
After today, he was sure to be promoted.
…
“You’ve done well. Over three hundred people were found harboring anti-Xuan, pro-Ming sentiments. This number is acceptable.”
The Yong Emperor sat in high court, dressed in imperial yellow, flipping through the numbers reported by the officials. He nodded slightly. Local officials stood in two rows beside him.
Seeing the emperor satisfied, the officials quickly knelt and kowtowed, loudly praising the emperor’s wisdom and praying for Great Yong’s eternal rule.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, a few troublemakers held deep resentment against Your Majesty and hid it well. It took great effort from this humble official to find even the slightest trace of their treasonous intent.”
The local official pulled the credit for the constable’s work toward himself, hoping for a promotion later. As for the constable, he’d just toss him a few benefits—no way he’d dare speak up.
“Bring them up. Let me see,” the emperor said. With such an introduction, he was curious how “deeply hidden” these culprits were.
“Bring them up!” the local official said joyfully, then turned and barked the order. The constable, face stern, brought the suspects forward.
His superior was stealing the credit, so of course he had to steal it back.
“Your Majesty, please take a look. One of these two is a flatbread vendor, and the other sells bananas. The flatbreads are big and round, shaped like the sun—‘Ri’. The bananas resemble the moon—‘Yue’. Put together, ‘Ri’ and ‘Yue’ make ‘Ming’. According to our investigation, these two have been selling together for sixteen years. Their resentment runs deep!”
The constable proudly explained his reasoning, emphasizing his deductive process.
“Your Majesty, we’re innocent! How could we possibly be plotting rebellion?” the flatbread and banana vendors cried out. They were only at the third layer of Qi Refining. Supporting the previous Yong Emperor? They weren’t tired of living!
Besides, the last Yong Emperor only ruled for half a month before this one took over. Who would even support a half-month emperor?
If it weren’t forbidden to say “Ming” now, they wouldn’t even know the previous emperor’s name was Luo Ming.
At this point, probably everyone in Great Yong knew his name was Luo Ming.
The constable ignored the cries of these “troublemakers” and continued his report.
“And this person,” he pointed, “has no respect for royal law. He ate a round flatbread into a crescent shape. That’s turning ‘Ri’ into ‘Yue’, forming ‘Ming’, which implies a desire to change the heavens. This official believes he definitely harbors treasonous intent!”
The guy eating the flatbread nodded. “I do have treasonous intent. I want to change emperors.”
The constable was overjoyed. He hadn’t expected to randomly hit the jackpot and actually find a rebel—and the idiot even admitted it. Promotion guaranteed!
The Yong Emperor shot up, legs shaking like a leaf.
“Your Majesty jests,” the emperor forced a smile. The officials below might be ignorant and blind, but how could he not recognize Jiang Li?
When a new emperor is enthroned in any of the Nine Great Dynasties, they’re supposed to pay a visit to the Human Sovereign.
Back when he first took power, the Yong Emperor had wanted to visit Jiang Li, but Jiang Li had still been in the zombie world. Naturally, he couldn’t meet him.
Now they’d finally met, but the emperor would rather they hadn’t.
“Is that so? Looks like the Yong Emperor understands me better than I understand myself. I didn’t even know I was joking,” Jiang Li said casually, his tone turning cold.
Zhang Konghu had been wronged, and as his big bro, Jiang Li had to stick up for him.
Even the Human Sovereign had personal feelings.