Chapter 21 Three Thin-skin Coffins
Light snow, light wind, and a chilly chill.
Lu Yu and Lao He changed into casual clothes and walked slowly along Youlouzi Street.
The Jiangtanzi Street next door was still bustling with people. It was bustling with restaurants, hotels, brothels, casinos, and various entertainment venues.
There are many workshops and residents on Youlouzi Street. Some workshops also run shops, and there are some customers visiting at this moment.
Some other special workshops have already half-closed their doors. Through the open doors, one can see the waiters setting up tables and chairs in the store and having dinner in a lively manner.
A team of patrolling warriors with two fierce dogs walked across the street. Their footsteps were rumbling, and the friction of weapons and armor could be clearly heard.
Lao He looked at the group of Wu Hou, smiled, and suddenly asked: "Xiao Lu, why do you want to join the Shougong Prison? To be honest, our Shougong Prison has a bad reputation. You are so young, why do you want to join?"
Lu Yi changed into an ordinary light blue silk gown, and covered it with a bright red fox fur coat that Lao He got from somewhere. With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he was looking at the street scene of Youlouzi Street.
Hearing Lao He ask this, Lu Yi couldn't help but laugh.
"Lao He, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Lao He blinked and asked him curiously, "How do you tell a lie?"
Lu Yu narrowed his eyes and walked slowly: "It's a lie. It's about being loyal to the emperor and serving the country. The Shougong Supervisor is the emperor's close minister. Only by joining the Shougong Supervisor can we better sacrifice our lives for the emperor."
Lao He spat on the ground.
'Loyalty to the emperor and serving the country'?
Nonsence.
Just look at the three brothers of the Three-tailed Black Scorpion. They know nothing about 'loyalty to the emperor and serving the country'.
In the Guardian Eunuchs' Prison, except for the young eunuchs who were brought up in the palace since childhood, ninety-nine percent of the guards were desperate fugitives, a bunch of damn scum and scoundrels.
Expect them to be "loyal to the emperor and serve the country"?
"Then, what's the truth?" Old He asked Lu Yu with a smile. He patted his chest and laughed softly, "To be honest with you, little Lu, I, Old He, also committed a crime in the past and killed 23 members of my enemy's family. I was wanted by the Sikoutai and was forced to join the Guard Palace Prison."
Old He heaved a long sigh: "Once you enter the Guardian Prison, you have signed a document to sell yourself. You can never get out of it in this lifetime."
Lu Yi looked at Lao He in surprise and said, "I never thought that you, Lao He, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, would actually kill an entire family? But, what happened in the past is over."
"You want to hear the truth. The truth is, Guardian Palace is the shortcut to Zhongnan!"
"You don't understand what 'Zhongnan shortcut' means? Well, it means a good way to get promoted, get rich, and rise to the top."
Lu Yi said softly: "I don't have big ambitions. In this life, I just want to live a better life and be better to myself."
"As a man, if you want to live a better life, it's nothing more than these few points."
"First, in order to avoid being bullied, you need to have some fists and some power."
"Secondly, to live a comfortable life, you need some gold and some money."
"Third, you want to live a long life, a long enough life, like a thousand years?"
Old He laughed and kept shaking his head.
Lao He agreed with Lu Yi's first two points. With power and money, a man can live a good life.
But a thousand years old?
Legend has it that when the Dayinwu Dynasty was founded, some of the ancestors of those military families lived to be over 600 years old.
That's only six hundred.
Nowadays, the level of martial arts cultivation is getting lower and lower with each generation. The life span for cultivating the essence is 80 years, for expanding the meridians is 120 years, and for opening the meridians, one can add another half a century to the life span, which is a maximum life span of 150 years.
In today's Dayin, those at Peiyuan Realm are considered the backbone, those at Tuomai Realm are considered the masters, and those at Kaijing Realm are the trump cards that every household uses to maintain their reputation.
Above the Kaijing realm, it is said that the old eunuch Yu Changle of the Shougong Supervisor used the evil magic of "taking yin to replenish yang" and "eating human hearts" to reach a realm above the Kaijing realm.
This is the legend.
Lu Yi looked at Lao He very seriously and said in a deep voice: "As for me, my origins are not difficult to find out. My last name is Lu, but I am from an unimportant collateral family. The hereditary position left by my grandfather was taken by a relative, and I will never get it back in my lifetime."
"If you want to talk about shortcuts to becoming an official such as being selected as a filial and honest official, a scholar, or a scholar, how many legitimate sons of the first wife are waiting for it? And how many 'recommendations' are there in the imperial court every year? Obviously, this won't happen to me."
"Speaking of the imperial examination, whether it is the examination for the scholar or the doctor, unless you are from a literary and educational background and have a great sage as your teacher, otherwise, don't even dream of passing the examination on your own. Especially , my last name is Lu, and the examiners of the literary and educational fields will not allow a Lu, even a collateral family member, to pass the examination unless they are crazy."
"The other easy ways to go are nothing more than these."
"I'm afraid of pain after I purify myself and enter the palace."
"If you become a patrolling martial marquis, you will be a patrolling martial marquis for the rest of your life, and you will never be able to make a name for yourself."
"Joining Sikoutai, not to mention the hardships of living in the open air, Sikoutai has long been the territory of the head constables' families. Unless you are a direct descendant of theirs, you will not be able to make a name for yourself in Sikoutai."
"Only the palace guard."
Lu Yi said with emotion: "Old He, only the Palace Guardian has left a way for people like us to be promoted. Regardless of your background or past, even if you can't read a single word, even if you are a bastard at heart, if you have made contributions, you can be promoted!"
"What if one day you get close to the emperor and are appreciated by him? He will confer a title on you. Wouldn't wealth and glory be yours?"
Old He blinked desperately, staring at Lu Yi in a daze, and muttered, "That's true. Tsk, but in the past, even the captains and generals above us never explained it so clearly to us."
"Xiao Lu, I didn't realize you have such great knowledge. Your last name is Lu, are you Jingyang Lu?"
Lu Yu smiled, but did not answer Lao He's question. He continued to talk to himself, "Getting promoted and getting rich in the Shougong Prison is easier than in other government offices. There are still ways to get promoted."
"But being a palace guard is not just about getting promoted and making money."
Old He widened his eyes and looked at Lu Yi in confusion.
Lu Yu did not explain much. He looked up at the sky and murmured, "Originally, I planned to join the Guardian Guard in two years, when I had more skills in saving my life."
"But the situation forced me to come here two years earlier."
"Old He, I'm only sixteen years old. At sixteen, I followed you around the streets to find those vicious murderers. Do you think this is a sin?"
Lao He laughed dryly and said hurriedly, "You tell me first, tell me first, what are the benefits of the palace guard?"
Lu Yi pondered for a moment and lowered his voice.
"The palace guard has a direct line to the imperial city. The benefits here are too numerous to mention in a short time."
"Tsk, let me tell you one thing. The Guardian Guard can control the 'Treasure Guard'. The Treasure Guard stores countless rare treasures that were tributed by the princes from all directions. Among them, there are many 'rare and precious medicines'."
Lu Yi's voice became very subtle. He smiled at Lao He and whispered, "Perhaps there are one or two such rare plants that can increase one's life span after taking them. Wow, isn't that the third point I mentioned? Live longer."
Lao He was stunned for a moment, then he started laughing softly.
He pointed at Lu Yi and said with a smile: "Little Lu, little Lu, you are really, really interesting... If there is such a rare treasure that can prolong life in the Sibaojian, there are so many nobles in the palace, how can we get it? You, you, but maybe it is really possible. Hey, hey."
Old He blinked his eyes and murmured, "Perhaps, it is really possible. If one has made enough contributions, and no one has discovered the magical use of the rare treasure... picking up a bargain, yes, that's right, picking up a bargain. It's not impossible!"
"Legend has it that thirty years ago, one of our current nine-star generals made great contributions and was rewarded with a 'White Jade Black Patterned Ginseng'. Originally, he was seriously injured and his blood and energy roots were damaged. This ginseng was to replenish his foundation."
“ Who could have thought that there was actually a drop of rare and precious ointment hidden in the white jade black-veined ginseng? That nine-star general opened up three meridians and six channels overnight, reaching the late stage of the channel-opening realm. Moreover, his foundation was strengthened, and he even gained a body with ‘divine power’.”
"Now, he is the leader of the guards around the emperor and a well-known figure under the Lord Supervisor."
Lu Yu smiled and nodded: "So, I want to live longer in this life. Well, I'll live as long as I can. The Treasure Bureau is the place with the most rare treasures in the world. No matter what, I have to be closer to the Treasure Bureau, closer and closer."
"So, you say, with my background, if I want to make my life better, is there any better way for me besides joining the Guardian Prison?"
"No!"
“So, this is my truth.”
"All of the above are true, not a single lie!"
Lu Yu let out a long breath towards the sky.
This is what he really thinks.
Originally, he planned to join the Palace Guard Prison after he turned eighteen.
The Shougong Prison, or the imperial city behind the Shougong Prison, has more benefits than just the Sibao Prison.
However, Bai Changkong's family was really too bullying, forcing him to make a decision two years in advance.
"I'm sixteen years old, not even an adult yet . Does this count as child labor?" Lu Yi sighed in his heart.
The light ahead dimmed.
On both sides of the street, two red lights glowed dimly, like two ghost lights, illuminating a section of the street slightly red.
On the left side of the street is a coffin shop with an antique, mottled gilded sign with the four big characters "Safe Journey" inscribed on it.
On the right side of the street, there is also a coffin shop with the same mottled and ancient gilded signboard with the four big characters "Blessings to future generations" inscribed on it.
The storefronts of the two coffin shops are very large, with five doors on each side.
According to the customs of Dayin, a red lantern is hung in front of the door of the coffin shop all year round. There is a red lantern hung at the door of each of the two coffin shops. In the night wind, the two red lanterns swayed slightly, making people's scalps numb inexplicably.
Lao He shuddered.
Lu Yi walked calmly to the sign that read "Blessings to Future Generations".
Just then, he heard a voice coming from the store: "Boss, give me three of the cheapest thin-skin coffins in your store."
