Chapter 60

Prison Cell Six.

Yu Su was in a horse stance, practicing his boxing.

His movements flowed with ease between force and gentleness, mastery of Taijiquan’s profound essence.

After a long while.

Yu Su gradually finished his routine and said to Zhou Yi, who was standing outside the railing.

“Old Zhou, your boxing technique is extraordinary, not only cultivating the body and spirit but also embodying the ultimate principles of heaven and earth!”

“What do you mean by ‘ultimate principles of heaven and earth’?”

Zhou Yi was shocked inside. He, a cultivator, could not sense the profound mysteries, could it be that Yu Su, with his prodigious talent, understood the Dao of Taijiquan and ascended to highness like in the tales?

“The affairs of the world are like Taijiquan, not contending yet leaving no room for contention, acting without action!”

Yu Su sighed, “In the past, I was too hasty in dealing with matters, reforming the Imperial Court can’t be achieved overnight, hence the two failures.”

“…”

Zhou Yi’s emotions settled after a long time, he finally responded stiffly, “You have a point!”

Yu Su’s solemn face suddenly changed as he said with a cheeky grin, “Brother Zhou Li, quickly bring out the pig trotters, these days without you, I’ve almost tasted birds from the blandness in my mouth!”

Yu Su was a genuine pauper, when Zhou Yi wasn’t around, though the jailers might not dare to bully him, they certainly wouldn’t dig into their own pockets to bring him meat and wine.

Zhou Yi handed in the pig trotters and wine, “Old Yu, are all officials as thick-skinned as you? With trotters, I am ‘Brother Zhou Li,’ without trotters, just ‘Old Zhou’?”

“If I had a thinner skin, I would have died who knows how many times by now!”

Yu Su never mentioned how dangerous reforming the officialdom was, Emperor Jinglong had indirectly lost his life, Yu Su’s survival thus far was truly not easy, “Old Zhou, do you know why I like chewing pig trotters?”

Zhou Yi curled his lips, “I guess you suffered from hunger before? Such a deep memory, someone close to you left you a pig trotter before dying?”

Yu Su snorted, “Boring! Boring! It’s so boring to talk with a clever person!”

“I’m certainly no clever person.”

Zhou Yi shook his head, “Just that I’ve heard and seen too much in jail. At first, I could feel pity, but now it’s like watching a tale, just feeling sad momentarily and then it passes.”

“It’s precisely because there’s so much of it that I want to enact reforms!”

Yu Su sighed, “When I was young, my family was still wealthy. After encountering a drastic change, I lived the life of the common people, then I understood what reading books was truly for.”

Zhou Yi looked at Yu Su, whose eyes were shining, and couldn’t help but remind him.

“Old Yu, I don’t think you can win!”

“Even you can see that, don’t you think I know?”

Yu Su took a sip of wine, either choked or the liquor was too strong, he began tearing up.

“Yet, some things must be done even if failure and death are certain! Just a slight change in the Imperial Court could benefit thousands upon thousands of people, so how can we only talk about winning and losing?”

“Old Yu, you are truly a brave man!”

Zhou Yi gave a thumbs-up and then suddenly asked, “Do you have children?”

Yu Su looked puzzled, “Why do you ask?”

Zhou Yi smiled, “I’m often entrusted by others to look after their descendants. A man like you should not have his lineage or will extinguished!”

“The things I do are far too dangerous, I’d hate to bring harm to others, so I’ve never even married.”

Yu Su glanced at Zhou Yi and said in a low voice, “Old Zhou, you are a remarkable person, but some matters still require caution.”

Zhou Yi said with interest, “What do you mean by that, Old Yu?”

“When I inspected the Northern Border, I found the military leaders to be too autonomous, showing tendencies of warlords.”

Yu Su continued, “Such a calamity to the National Dynasty cannot be ignored, so I attempted to create alliances and divisions among them, at least to ensure the military leaders are not united, waiting for the chance to eradicate them completely.”

Zhou Yi frowned slightly, he vaguely understood what Yu Su was saying.

“The other military leaders are manageable, being arrogant and uncouth, easily dealt with a bit of scheming.”

Yu Su went on, “But there was one group with exceptionally strong cohesion, which could not be swayed by threats or bribes. On closer investigation of these generals, they turned out to be former subordinates of a Duke who had served the nation!”

“What does this have to do with me?”

Zhou Yi shrugged his shoulders. Li Hong had taken root in the Northern Border, and it was certainly to summon the old subordinates of the Marquis of Zhen Guo. Interested parties could easily investigate this matter.

“I originally thought it had nothing to do with me. After all, the Marquis of Zhen Guo is already dead, and it’s normal for his former followers to look out for one another.”

Yu Su said in a deep voice, “It was only after you, Old Zhou, mentioned entrusting his offspring, that I suddenly saw the light…”

Zhou Yi’s brows slightly furrowed as a thread of mana within his sleeve coalesced into sword qi, ready to be unleashed at any moment.

“Old Yu, are you actually investigating me?”

“Don’t be angry, Old Zhou. It’s just habit, merely habit!”

Yu Su felt Zhou Yi’s genuine anger and hastily clasped his hands in apology, explaining, “I have fallen into too many traps in the past and have become accustomed to investigating everyone around me, and besides, you’re not the first such remarkable person I’ve come across.”

“Oh? You’ve met others?”

Zhou Yi did not deny it. “Zhou Li’s” identity was indeed not worth scrutinizing. After all, there were no signs of activity in Xuanzhou; it was just that no one had bothered to investigate a mere prison guard before.

Of course, the real reason for admitting his identity was that Zhou Yi was now only seventy-two years old.

If he had been one hundred seventy-two, Yu Su would have been dead by now!

Zhou Yi would have arranged a grand funeral for him, inscribing on his tombstone: Curiosity killed the cat.

Yu Su nodded, “The old Daoist who divined my fortune was surnamed Yang.”

Zhou Yi asked in surprise, “The Yang family from Jiangnan?”

“Hmm, Old Grandfather Yang of the Yang family!”

Yu Su said, “The newly arrived Yang Zheng is the esteemed illegitimate great-grandson of Old Grandfather Yang.”

Zhou Yi took note of the Yang family and said, “This Officer Yang is not to be taken lightly!”

“He has the look of a formidable leader!”

Yu Su spoke with considerable gravity, “On his first day here, he sought me out for a chat. His goal was to gain the support of my former colleagues from the Ministry of War.”

During his tenure as Minister of War, Yu Su thoroughly inspected the Capital Garrison, patrolled the Northern Border, and reformed the military personnel of the state governments. Even now, while imprisoned, there were still many of his former colleagues in the Ministry of War.

Empress Dowager Zhang and her faction had imprisoned Yu Su, merely wishing to control the Imperial Court, but without intending to topple everyone who got things done.

There had to be those in the Imperial Court who would warm their seats without accomplishing anything, but also those who genuinely got work done.

Zhou Yi wondered, “The current Minister of War is from the Yang family, so why did he come looking for you?”

“There are too many people from the Yang family of Hongzhou. How could he, a mere collateral member of the family, take over the power of the main branch?”

Yu Su said, “With my support, it would be different. The Yang family would see him striving hard and would also give him strong support. With combined forces, it wouldn’t take many years for him to obtain a position of high power and influence in the military!”

“What a scheme!”

Zhou Yi praised, “The guards outside are under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Prison. In theory, Officer Yang could be appointed as a commander of the garrison, which means stepping into the military system. Give him a few more years to take charge of the Imperial City’s guards, and he will be a close associate of the Emperor.”

“Old Yu, since you see his intentions, why did you agree to help him?”

“Firstly, Yang Zheng indeed has the ability and talent; secondly, a formidable leader does things by any means necessary and specializes in conquering villains.”

Yu Su said, “Yang Zheng wants to use me, but am I not also using him?”

“Then Old Yu had better hurry.”

Zhou Yi reminded, “A few days ago, Jiang Chao, the deputy commander of the Capital Garrison, was imprisoned for embezzlement of military funds.”

Jiang Chao was Yu Su’s student and had strongly supported his teacher in reforming the military, considered a central figure of the “Yu faction.”

“Given Jiang Chao’s fickle nature, without me above to keep him in check, the crime of embezzlement is likely true. A trip to the imperial prison is not unjust!”

A cold gleam flashed in Yu Su’s eyes, “Soon! Very soon! In no more than three years, I will regain everything I’ve lost!”

Zhou Yi tidied up the bowls and chopsticks and walked away. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back and asked.

“Old Yu, what do you think about the Northern Border?”

“My loyalty is not to Fengyang!”

Zhou Yi nodded slightly; the old man had narrowly escaped death yet again.