Chapter 25 Li Wu Is in Prison
Year 17 of Hongchang. Summer.
A special prisoner had come to the Sky Prison. No one escorted him or dared to escort him. He stepped into the cell himself.
Li Wu!
The Sky Prison was built before the reform of the Fengyang Kingdom. It had a thousand years of history and had imprisoned countless nobles. Today, it welcomed the second Connate Grandmaster to stay.
The total number of Imperial Guards on duty was not enough for Li Wu to slaughter!
“This is really unexpected…”
Zhou Yi prided himself on being a bystander. He understood the power of the Fengyang Kingdom, but he could not guess their hearts.
“Bring me the lunch box. I’ll deliver it
myself.”
“Thank you, Master Zhou.”
Zhang Yun, the prison guard in charge of delivering food, was Zhang Zhou’s grandson back then. His son, Zhang Jin, died under the knife of a thief less than two years after he was imprisoned. On account of his past kindness, Zhou Yi recruited Zhang Yun into the Sky Prison when he became an adult last year.
Cell C-9.
Li Wu closed his eyes to regulate his breathing. Suddenly, he sensed danger and opened his eyes to look at the prison guard who was gradually approaching. “Who are you?”
“A mere nameless prison guard.” Zhou Yi replied via voice transmission. He opened the cell door, took out fine wine and delicacies from the food box, and placed them on the table.
After fifteen years, he finally got to see this famous general and grandmaster up close! It was not that there was no chance previously, but Zhou Yi had always been cautious and was unwilling to approach such a person before he was confident of his safety, in case something unexpected happened.
For example, the person who sought revenge on Li Wu must also be a top martial artist. When the two of them fought, others would be killed.
“I didn’t believe that there were experts among the commoners. After all, life is short. Who can reach the peak and remain nameless?” Li Wu’s eyes were filled with admiration. He also used a secret voice transmission technique. “I only found out today that there really is such an extraordinary person in the world. I admit that I’m inferior!”
“You flatter me, General.” Zhou Yi asked the question in his heart, “Why did the general enter the Sky Prison today?”
Li Wu said, “Back then, Li Xiong sent troops to cause trouble and slaughtered thousands of people. I am guilty of negligence and dereliction of duty as a general. I am guilty of not disciplining my brothers well.”
“You jest, General. There’s no one in the whole Fengyang Kingdom who doesn’t know that you run a harsh household.” Zhou Yi said, “I’ve also been in this prison for decades. People from other families often come in, but only the Li family has a Li Xiong.”
Moreover, Li Xiong’s mistake did not have much to do with Li Wu. Furtherover, he had also given the citizens an explanation for his righteousness.
Li Wu shook his head and said, “This is what an official should do. It’s not worth mentioning.”
“General, you know what I want to ask—”. Zhou Yi said directly, “Why don’t you learn from the Long Rebellion?”
Li Wu said, “Since they’re traitors, how can I be like them? If there hadn’t been a general back then, perhaps it wouldn’t have been the Long Rebellion, but… Emperor Long?”
Zhou Yi had personally experienced the Chongming Dynasty. The dog emperor had long lost the hearts of the people. After Prime Minister Long’s rebellion succeeded, he could easily sit on the throne.
“The Long Rebellion only rebelled in the capital, and there were more than 60,000 casualties. If I don’t submit, regardless of victory or defeat, it will definitely be a chaos that affects all the state capitals.”
Li Wu muttered, “The country has only been peaceful for a few years. I can’t cause misery and suffering for my own selfish reasons!”
Zhou Yi was silent for a moment. “You can resign and retire.”
Since Connate Grandmasters did not care about power, the Imperial Court would not deliberately make things difficult for them. If they were forced into a corner, they would directly attack the Imperial Palace!
Li Wu said, “I know that I have made great contributions to the country. As long as I don’t die, the country will not be stable. The late emperor has done me a great favor. Before he died, he instructed me to prioritize the people of the country!”
That dog emperor only knew how to teach others. When had he ever cared about the citizens of the country?
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When Zhou Yi saw Li Wu mention Emperor Chongming, his face was filled with emotions, so he could not scold him in person.
“Is your family settled?”
Li Wu nodded and said, “His Majesty has agreed that as long as I am loyal to the country, the Li family will die with the country!”
If they died, they would be able to show their loyalty to the country!
Do you believe that promise? Zhou Yi did not ask this question in the end. Li Wu might or might not believe it, but he already had a choice. Firstly, he was unwilling to start another war. Secondly, he wanted to repay Emperor Chongming for his kindness.
“No matter what happened to Li Wu, the conflict was resolved.”
If Zhou Yi was in Li Wu’s position, he would definitely not be able to do this. It was very likely that he would receive a military order from the Ministry of War in five years and directly lead the Northern Frontier Army back to the capital.
As for how many soldiers would die, Zhou Yi did not care. In any case, my family and I could not die! How many people in the world could give up their lives and power for someone they didn’t know?
For example, when future generations read history, they would most likely curse Li Wu for being foolishly loyal.
“People like Li Wu are born heroes. They are strict with themselves and control their families. Unfortunately…. I’ll take good care of them when the Li family goes to jail.”
Zhou Yi was never stingy with his malicious guesses. He had previously guessed that Li Wu would rebel, but he was wrong. Now, he guessed that before Emperor Hongchang died, he would clean up the Li family and the military forces and leave the successor to the clean and innocent Fengyang Kingdom.
Times create heroes, heroes change times!
After Li Wu was imprisoned, the gloom that enveloped the Divine Capital dissipated. The originally oppressive imperial court suddenly became much lighter.
All the officials submitted their reports. General Li had contributed greatly to the country, please forgive him, Your Majesty. No one knew what crime Li Wu had committed, but everyone knew that Li Wu could not walk out of the prison alive.
“The Duke is indeed the country’s capital!”
The officials used all kinds of flattering words to praise Li Wu’s imprisonment. They wanted to match him with the Imperial Ancestral Temple as soon as possible. Yet, when they spoke to their trusted aides in private, they despised Li Wu for being a lowly martial artist. With a million troops in his hands, he ended up with the same outcome as the Long Rebellion!
This matter spread to the public and caused a huge uproar!
Li Wu was ostracized by all the officials in the imperial court. Even the Ministry of War did not support him. However, in the eyes of the people, he was like a savior from the heavens.
At first, the crowd was in a frenzy and clamored to ask the Imperial Court for an explanation.
Later, there were rumors such as “Li Wu marched south and wantonly slaughtered the common people”, “Li Xiong robbed merchants, it was Li Wu’s silent agreement”, “The murderer behind Duke Wei’s death was Li Wu”, and so on…
After being splashed with dirty water, the Uniform Guards arrested many people. Soon, the public opinion disappeared!
Just as Li Wu had said, the citizens of the Fengyang Kingdom had just settled down for a few years and were unwilling to cause any more chaos, so they did not need a famous general who could sweep through the world.
On the account that Li Wu had quelled the rebellion back then, they erected a temple and a monument for him, there was nothing else…
“Those people thought you were dead. They built a temple and erected a monument to offer incense. They cried very sadly.” Zhou Yi asked, “Do you regret your choice?”
“Mr. Zhou, there’s no need to persuade me. This is my own decision. It has nothing to do with others. It has nothing to do with leaving my name in history. I just don’t want many more people to die!”
Li Wu picked up his chopsticks and drank a glass of wine. “Besides, there’s no chance for regret now.”
Zhou Yi frowned and waved his hand to take the wine pot. The wine was called the Nine Brewing Spring. It was the tribute wine of the royal family of the Fengyang Kingdom and was 200 years old. The wine was originally a crystalline amber red, but because there was too much medicinal powder, it turned pale.
“This poison is too much. A good pot of wine is ruined by the poison!”
“It’s not bad. Rare in the world!” Li Wu’s expression was natural. He picked up a mouthful of food and drank a mouthful of wine, pretending that the poison did not exist.
“General, what are your last words? I can still help with some small matters.”
It was very difficult for Zhou Yi to be noble, but he might as well pay respect to noble people.
