When Luo Daoqing opened his eyes,
what he saw was a small, cramped guest room.
He was wearing a washed-out green scholar's robe with frayed cuffs, clearly indicating a life of financial hardship.
He had become Xu Yi.
Initially, he thought about simply hiding away in the inn for three days.
However, this plan was clearly unfeasible. As a scholar who had studied hard for ten years and finally made it through the imperial examinations, it would be far too suspicious if he didn't even go to check the results.
After leaving the inn, he walked toward the Examination Hall.
The streets were packed with people.
Scholars were either in small groups or alone, their faces filled with a mixture of anticipation and fear.
Luo Daoqing stood at the very back of the crowd.
He watched as a long Yellow List was carried out from the gates of the Examination Hall, pasted with glue, and slapped onto the screen wall.
The crowd immediately surged forward.
Only he did not join the scramble, because he knew very well.
Xu Yi's name would not be on that list.
Once the crowd began to disperse, he went over to take a look.
As expected, it wasn't there.
He counted the list from the first name to the last. There were three people with the surname Xu, but none of them were Xu Yi.
The top scholar was a man named Zhang Xun, a native of the capital.
He had an impression of this Zhang Xun.
Back when he was still the State Preceptor Luo Daoqing, this man had taken the initiative to join his faction and helped him win over other officials. He was a talented individual.
Sigh, there was no point in reminiscing about the past.
Now, it was uncertain whether he could even survive.
On the way back to the inn, he calculated how to endure these three days, completely unaware that a pair of eyes had been watching him from the shadows like a venomous snake waiting for the right moment to strike.
The second day.
Luo Daoqing was awakened by a sudden commotion.
It was still dark outside, and he had no idea what time it was when the sound of running footsteps echoed in the hallway.
Just as he was about to get up, his door was kicked open. Two men dressed as yamen runners burst in, grabbed his arms from both sides, and dragged him directly off the bed.
“What are you doing?!”
Luo Daoqing was both shocked and enraged, instinctively struggling against them.
“What are we doing?” The lead yamen runner sneered, pulling a jade pendant from his sleeve and waving it in front of him. “Someone reported a crime. You stole Young Master Zhang’s jade pendant!”
Luo Daoqing was furious. “You’re not even going to try and act? You clearly just pulled that pendant out of your own sleeve!”
The runner kicked him in the stomach, causing him to curl up like a shrimp in pain as he let out a miserable cry.
“Xu Yi, you actually dare to strike a government official? I see you’re looking for trouble. Take him back to the yamen!”
The two runners stepped forward and pinned Luo Daoqing down.
They dragged him to a side room in the back courtyard of the yamen, beat him half to death, and then forced his hand to press a thumbprint onto a pre-written confession.
Luo Daoqing cried out for justice until his voice went hoarse, but not a single person paid him any mind.
A man who looked like a legal clerk walked over and looked down at him, his gaze like that of someone looking at a chicken about to be slaughtered.
“Xu Yi, you stole Young Master Zhang’s personal jade pendant. You were caught red-handed with the goods and have confessed to the crime.” The clerk paused. “According to the Laws of Great Yong, you shall be sentenced to Criminal Tattooing and exiled three thousand miles.”
Criminal Tattooing? Didn’t that mean having characters tattooed onto his face?
Luo Daoqing tried to struggle, but he was pinned down by three runners as an iron needle pierced the flesh of his left cheek.
Again and again.
The pain made his vision go dark in waves.
When it was all over, his face burned with searing pain, half of it was swollen high, and his mouth was filled with the metallic taste of blood.
Afterward, he was thrown into a dark, damp prison cell with moldy straw covering the floor.
While he huddled in a corner, he tried to comfort himself. It wasn't as if he were truly going to spend his whole life in prison.
Once these three days passed, everything would be fine...
That afternoon, news suddenly arrived at the yamen.
To celebrate the Emperor's birthday, a general amnesty had been declared for the entire realm. All prisoners were to be pardoned and released.
Luo Daoqing was dragged by his arms by two jailers and tossed out of the yamen gates like a piece of trash at the bottom of the steps.
He lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time. The wound from the tattooing on his face tore open, and blood smeared half his face.
People on the street gathered around to watch the spectacle.
“Oh, what character is that tattooed on his face?”
“Thief... he’s a thief!”
“He’s so young and looks like a scholar. Of all things to do, he chose to be a thief. How truly shameless...”
Contemptuous gazes fell upon Luo Daoqing.
He gritted his teeth and climbed up from the ground, covering the tattooed side of his face with his hand as he stumbled away.
The third day.
The rumors grew more intense and even more foul.
Everywhere Luo Daoqing went, strange looks followed him. Even children chased after him, shouting, “Thief, thief, thief!”
Always a proud man, he finally reached his limit. He ran to the yamen gates and beat the drum to cry for justice.
A runner glanced at him and mocked, “You? A thief has the face to cry for justice? Get lost!”
Luo Daoqing was beaten by the runners once again.
Unwilling to give up, he ran to the Censorate.
In the end, those officials shielded one another. Instead of clearing his name, he was thrown back into the dungeon.
“Xu Yi, the taste of being framed isn't pleasant, is it?”
The new Number One Scholar, Zhang Xun, deigned to visit the dungeon. “I originally intended to spare your life, but you were foolish enough to take this matter to the Censorate.”
“Since that's the case, I cannot let you live.”
Luo Daoqing looked at him and said through gritted teeth, “I have no grievance or enmity with you. Why would you harm me?”
Zhang Xun’s eyes were full of mockery. “Xu Yi, aren’t you curious who took your place in the examinations?”
“It was you?” Luo Daoqing was shocked. “Cheating in the imperial exams and stealing someone’s title are capital offenses. Are you not afraid?”
“Someone would have to be able to convict me first.”
Zhang Xun said proudly, “I am now the State Preceptor’s right-hand man. Who would dare to convict me?”
Luo Daoqing’s blood froze in that instant.
He suddenly remembered something.
Zhang Xun had once told him that a distant cousin of his had fought with a scholar over a girl in a brothel, and the matter had reached the yamen.
At the time, he hadn't thought much of it and didn't even ask for the scholar's name before ordering his subordinates to convict the man.
“The State Preceptor has already sentenced you to death. If you must blame someone, blame your humble origins for daring to dream of becoming a Disciple of the Emperor.”
“Heh, pure delusion!”
At the moment he was taken to the execution ground and his head fell, only one thought remained in Luo Daoqing’s mind.
Retribution.
As his consciousness returned, Luo Daoqing blankly touched his neck, and two lines of clear tears suddenly fell.
How did things turn out like this?
Before, his only thought had been to find a steady job after graduation and honor his parents.
After transmigrating to this world, in just one year—only one year—he had become unrecognizable.
He had never realized so clearly what a wretched person he was. No, he was an animal!
The Divine Lady spoke: “Luo Daoqing, Xu Yi was not only known as a prodigy since childhood but was also a diligent and inquisitive student. He should have become a pillar of the state, but because of a single word from you, he was driven to a dead end.”
“Divine Lady, I was wrong...”
Luo Daoqing knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly. “I truly know I was wrong. I shouldn't have disregarded the lives of others...”
“You still haven't truly awakened.”
The Divine Lady said slowly, “Your mistake was not only in disregarding the lives of others but also in trampling upon the justice of this world.”
“The law should be a shield that protects the people and the final line of defense for fairness and justice, not a tool to be toyed with by any individual or power class.”
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