Chapter 124: Yi Rushi Falls into the Trap, but Ji Duoduo Fares Even Worse

“...”

After hearing Yi Rushi finish, Song Mo was so shocked that he could not speak. He had never expected to be locked in the same cell as this down-and-out execution supervisor.

Song Mo racked his brains but could not figure out what crime a minor execution supervisor like Yi Rushi could possibly have committed to end up here.

Curious, he asked, “I say, Top Scholar, how did you end up behind bars too?”

Yi Rushi gave a bitter smile. “Don’t mock me. Don’t I know perfectly well what I’m capable of?”

Song Mo understood that Yi Rushi was, in truth, a pitiful man. To outsiders, he might be a live-in son-in-law, but he had married the Chancellor’s daughter. Naturally, he appeared to be enjoying limitless glory.

Yet anyone with discerning eyes knew that Yi Rushi was merely Chancellor Tang Zeli’s means of winning over his elder brother, Yi Qian.

Yi Rushi continued, “Actually, the reason I was thrown into prison is that someone set me up.”

He did not conceal anything and immediately told Song Mo the whole story.

It turned out that half a month earlier, Yi Rushi had received an official document in his capacity as execution supervisor.

The document stated that he was to select and execute a condemned prisoner named Jia Laoda. Naturally, Yi Rushi dared not neglect the order, so he sent men to bring Jia Laoda out of the prison in the middle of the night.

The next day, at the execution ground in the vegetable market, everyone waited until the appointed hour. The executioner’s blade was swift, and with a single stroke, it severed the condemned man’s head.

The matter should have been handled perfectly. Unexpectedly, that very evening, Yi Rushi was summoned by the officers and constables of the Capital Prefecture.

As it turned out, something had gone wrong with the execution.

After learning the truth, Yi Rushi was left both amused and exasperated.

The document had indeed ordered the execution of a condemned prisoner named Jia Laoda, and the prisoner they had executed had indeed been called Jia Laoda. The mistake lay in the person they had brought out.

Among the condemned prisoners, there was a man surnamed Jia who was the eldest son in his family, and thus was known as Jia Laoda. By an astonishing coincidence, there was also another prisoner called Jia Laoda—a notorious ruffian and local thug of Jian’an. People in the underworld called him Jia Laoda simply to show him respect.

The execution order had been meant for the ruffian Jia Laoda, but when the prisoner was brought out, someone had clearly made a mistake and taken the other Jia Laoda instead.

Since both men were condemned prisoners, the error should not have caused any great trouble.

Thus, even after discovering the mistake, Yi Rushi paid it no heed and continued with his own affairs. He never imagined that he would be summoned to the Capital Prefecture that very night.

Mistaking the identity of a condemned prisoner was no trivial matter. Fortunately, both men had already been sentenced to death, so it could not be considered a particularly grave offense.

By rights, Capital Prefect Tang Li should have given Yi Rushi some consideration. Yet for some unknown reason, he still had him locked up.

At last, Yi Rushi sighed. “Now that matters have come this far, even I can tell that someone set me up. Nine times out of ten, it was my dear father-in-law’s doing.”

After hearing the whole story, Song Mo secretly sized Yi Rushi up again.

Yi Rushi was still wearing his everyday clothes. His complexion was ruddy and his spirits seemed good, clearly indicating that someone had been treating him to fine food and drink.

Having lived two lives, Song Mo saw through the situation far more clearly than Yi Rushi did.

Though Yi Rushi had certainly been set up, it could not have been his so-called father-in-law. No matter how one looked at it, Yi Rushi was still the Chancellor’s esteemed son-in-law. Moreover, Tang Zeli needed the support of Yi Qian, who commanded the army. He would never lower himself to commit such an act.

Of course, Yi Rushi had fled from his wedding on the very night of his marriage, and Tang Zeli would undoubtedly have been delighted to see him suffer in prison.

But judging from Yi Rushi’s current condition, the person who had set the trap was certainly clever. He had given Yi Rushi a warning and knocked him down a peg, yet had not struck too hard or damaged his spirit excessively, lest he embarrass Chancellor Tang Zeli.

Such measured handling suggested that the person behind it was no ordinary figure.

Song Mo understood all this, but he did not explain it to Yi Rushi. He merely remained silent.

In the end, Yi Rushi could not resist one last complaint. “Sigh. What have I ever done to deserve this?”

“Heh. You call that misfortune? You’ll be out in a couple of days. When it comes to bad luck, who could compare with me?”

A cold laugh suddenly came from the cell next door.

Song Mo and Yi Rushi looked up and saw a man who appeared to be only a little over twenty. His hair was disheveled, his beard unkempt, and his eyes bloodshot. Clearly, he had suffered greatly in this place.

Yi Rushi said unhappily, “Brother, what exactly do you mean by that?”

The man snorted again. “You still don’t understand? Someone is deliberately teaching you a lesson and making a show of it for your father-in-law. I’ll wager you’ll be out of here within three days.”

Yi Rushi said nothing. He was not a fool. Now that someone had pointed it out, he had clearly understood what was going on.

Seeing the gloom clouding the man’s face, Song Mo asked, “Brother, how did you end up here?”

The man first cast Song Mo a cold glance, then said in a low voice, “Very well. Even if I’m going to die, I refuse to be a fool in the dark. I’ll tell you the story.”

Sure enough, after recalling the past for a moment, the man began to recount a lamentable tale.

“My name is Ji Duoduo. I am the last corpse retriever in the Water Office...”

...

Jian’an.

To the north of Jian’an, geomancy said that the Black Tortoise raised its head. The region was known as the land of Black Water. The capital’s Water Office stood in an isolated corner along the edge of the Northern City, adjoining Yong’an Gate.

Yong’an Gate was the gateway through which Great Yan guarded against the demons of the Northern Desert. The city gate was made of ten-thousand-pound slabs of snowflake darksteel. The Northern Garrison, clad in heavy darksteel armor, patrolled the battlements every quarter-hour. Their battle flags, embroidered with white tigers, fluttered with majestic grandeur.

If Yong’an Gate was imposing, then the Water Office was decrepit. The Ministry of Revenue had nearly forgotten that there was still an office in the Northern City. It had not received an allocation in seven or eight years, and almost all of its personnel had long since scattered. Only the lineage of corpse retrievers still struggled to keep the place running.

Even so, only two corpse retrievers remained in the office: an old man and a young man.

In a small courtyard deep within the office, only the wick of the right-hand stone lantern still burned, barely illuminating the gravel path that crossed the yard.

Inside the room, Ji Duoduo’s gaze shifted restlessly. On the table before him stood a bronze candlestick.

“Ten years!”

In a fit of anger, Ji Duoduo knocked the candlestick to the floor. It rolled once before coming to rest at his feet. Still furious, he kicked it farther away.

“Sigh.”

Ji Duoduo ran his hands through his hair, making it even more disheveled, then collapsed onto the bed and shut his eyes in frustration.

Ten whole years. Could anyone imagine how Ji Duoduo had spent those ten years?

At twenty, Ji Duoduo had already been a corpse retriever at the Water Office for a decade.

Ten years earlier, three wolf demons from the Northern Desert had infiltrated Yong’an Gate and been discovered by the Northern Garrison. With nowhere left to run, the wolf demons chose to fight to the death. They charged into a refugee shelter and slaughtered the refugees indiscriminately.

Since when had the lives of refugees ceased to matter? In the eyes of the Northern Garrison, they were simply the perfect tools for exhausting the wolf demons’ strength.

Ten years ago, when Ji Duoduo crawled out from a heap of corpses, he was taken in by Uncle Qian, the deaf old man of the Water Office, along with the dead bodies dragged from the river.

The Water Office did not keep idle mouths. Since Ji Duoduo had crawled out from a mound of corpses, his fate carried an innate trace of murderous energy. And as the old deaf corpse retriever grew weaker with age, he kept Ji Duoduo behind to lend him a hand.

For ten years, while others composed poetry and debated verses, Ji Duoduo retrieved corpses.

While others enjoyed moonlit romance beneath the flowers, Ji Duoduo retrieved corpses.

While others feasted on delicacies and drank fine wine, Ji Duoduo still retrieved corpses...

Just as his irritation was reaching its peak, the water gate drum of the office suddenly sounded.

Three successive peals rang out. The hurried drums made Ji Duoduo’s heart clench violently.