Chapter 96: The Method of Crushing the Heart

Liu Liwa finally understood. Even though he and Young Master Ye put on a show yesterday, and Third Miss Zhao’s impression of Young Master Ye had improved somewhat, it still hadn’t reached her standards for choosing a partner. Then, that evening, she happened to meet a chivalrous man dressed in black like the night, coming and going like the wind. When he saw injustice, he shouted and helped a woman fight off bullies. This immediately stirred her longing for a hero in her heart, completely ignoring Young Master Ye, the philanthropist who had bought his image with over a thousand silver taels.

Young Master Ye was so anxious that he paced around the room, waiting for Liu Liwa to come up with an idea. But Liu Liwa, this was his first time on the third floor, officially entering a guest room. Everything looked fresh and exciting to him. Red candles, red curtains, red bedding—the room was decorated like a bridal chamber, filled with an ambiguous atmosphere. Especially under the pillow, there was a pillow book with vivid, lively, and beautifully posed figures. Liu Liwa only glanced at it once and became completely enthralled.

“Brother Xiaoqi, my Third Sister is about to ignore me, and you still have the mind to look at this?” Young Master Ye yelled anxiously. He snatched the book and tore it to shreds, blurting out, “If you like looking at this, after Third Sister and I get married, I’ll draw some for you myself!”

Oh? Liu Liwa widened his eyes and looked at him. He never expected that this Young Master Ye shared the same hobby as Brother Guanxi.

Young Master Ye paid no attention to his dirty thoughts and urgently said, “Brother Xiaoqi, hurry up and think of a plan for me! My Third Sister is about to put up posters everywhere to find that black-clad hero. What should we do?”

Liu Liwa wiped his sweat. He hadn’t expected this young lady to be so earnest, so infatuated with her admiration for heroes. Thinking of this, Liu Liwa suddenly had an idea. He pulled Young Master Ye closer and whispered, “Since our Third Sister…”

“Wait a minute, she’s my Third Sister, not our Third Sister.” Young Master Ye had the potential of Brother Guanxi but lacked the spirit of “the more you share, the happier you are.”

Liu Liwa laughed. “Let’s each address her as we please. She’s your Third Sister, and she’s also Miss Zhao’s Third Sister. And Miss Zhao and I… well, there’s nothing between us. We just practiced hugging… It’s none of your business! I have an idea. Do you want to hear it or not?”

“I want to hear it, I want to hear it.” Young Master Ye quickly nodded. Whatever relationship he had with Miss Zhao, he didn’t care.

Liu Liwa waved his hand, signaling him to come closer. He whispered, “Since Third Sister likes heroes, let’s create a hero for her, thoroughly and completely. Tonight, we’ll do it like this…”

“What a great idea, Liu Xiaoqi! You’re so talented!”

“I was a tailor in my past life!” Liu Liwa said humbly. Suddenly, his expression changed. “But Young Master Ye, this plan has its difficulties. The most important part is finding the right person. They need to be discreet and good at acting. Such a person isn’t easy to find. If we go to the theater to hire an actor, we’d at least have to pay them for a performance. What do you think…”

“It’s just silver, right? No problem. As long as I can be the hero, I’ll pay however much silver it takes.” Young Master Ye was extremely excited. He pulled out a mishmash of gold and silver from his chest, belt, sleeves, and socks. There were gleaming gold ingots, shiny silver ingots, strings of copper coins, and silver notes stamped with official seals. Liu Liwa couldn’t even calculate the total—it was just a lot.

Young Master Ye couldn’t wait. He pulled Liu Liwa along, intending to follow his advice: first, survey the terrain and plan the route. Every detail was crucial. They had to cover everything to ensure nothing went wrong.

But as soon as they reached the main gate, Liu Liwa suddenly gripped the doorframe tightly and refused to go out. No matter how hard Young Master Ye pulled, even using all his strength until his arm almost broke, Liu Liwa wouldn’t budge. Young Master Ye grew angry. “Liu Xiaoqi, what do you mean? You came up with the idea, and you’ve taken the silver. Are you backing out now?”

Liu Liwa nervously shook his head. He cautiously glanced behind him and said, “It’s not that I’m backing out. I just overlooked the most important point earlier. I’m a criminal who was demoted here to serve as a slave. If I walk out this door just like that, wouldn’t it count as escaping? Would I be killed on the spot—oh, I mean, shot dead by a hail of arrows… Young Master Ye, I think we should reconsider this carefully. I heard you know how to draw, right? How about you draw a few maps of the nearby surroundings on me first?”

Liu Liwa was indeed terrified. After all, he was a death row inmate whose sentence was commuted to a suspended death penalty, assigned to the Intoxication Pavilion for reform through labor. Although no one had officially announced any rules for serving his sentence, it was strange that none of the many young masters and young ladies, despite being mistreated daily and with no formal supervision, ever tried to escape. The front gate was open every day, and the backyard had a low wall, yet no one ran away. This indicated that they were aware of the terrible consequences of attempting to escape.

Since it concerned his own life, Liu Liwa chose to be cautious. His good days had just begun—better not to push his luck.

Young Master Ye still didn’t understand what he was worried about. Liu Liwa’s “Leftover Warriors” gathered around. Xing Shi asked, “Seventh Brother, where are you planning to go?”

“I want to take him out to handle some business, but he’s talking about escaping and being pierced by ten thousand arrows. What’s going on?” Young Master Ye asked, puzzled.

The Leftover Warriors, who shared the same plight, immediately understood the reason. Zi Long said, “Seventh Brother, are you worried that leaving this door counts as escaping? You don’t have to worry about that. No one is supervising us at all. As long as the owner of the Intoxication Pavilion lets you leave and the guards don’t stop you, you can go wherever you want.”

“Ah? Why?” Liu Liwa asked, confused.

“Because we’ve already been demoted to slaves, entered the Lowly Status Register, and it’s been announced to the world. Even if we escape from the Intoxication Pavilion, there’s no way for us to survive…”

As they explained, Liu Liwa understood. Being registered in the Lowly Status Register and having it announced to the world was like being on a nationwide network. Such people were only allowed to be slaves and were not permitted to have jobs. Even if you ran away from here, no one would take you in. If you tried to work, the capitalists would check your identity papers. If you tried to farm, the landlords would check your identity papers. Every place you went, you’d be registered as an outsider. Then, the Yamen had specialists who would compare you against the publicly announced Lowly Status Register. If you were discovered, you’d be punished as an escapee.

Of course, Liu Liwa didn’t care much about this. Posting notices wasn’t truly a nationwide network with information on file—it was all done manually, and mistakes were inevitable. Actually, the main point was that the Leftover Warriors had no intention or desire to escape at all. Although they had to work after being demoted to the Intoxication Pavilion, the place still provided food and shelter. At the very least, they could survive here. But once they left the Intoxication Pavilion, these second-generation elites couldn’t take the imperial exams, had no skills, couldn’t carry heavy loads or do manual labor, and only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun. Without their backing, they were useless and would soon freeze or starve to death.

This was the cruelty of the person who spared them the death penalty: making you choose to live without dignity was the method of crushing the heart. At the same time, this story also tells us that having a skill is very important for living in this world!