Prison Disaster

In the Jingzhao Prefecture of the Great Feng Dynasty, a prison.

Xu Qi'an slowly woke up, catching the damp, rancid smell in the air, which caused a slight discomfort and made his stomach churn.

What is this overwhelming stench? Did my family's Husky run up to the bed and defecate again...? Given the intensity of the smell, it’s probably right above my head...

Xu Qi'an had a dog at home, a Husky, commonly known as “Er Ha.”

Having drifted in Beijing for ten years, feeling all alone, one tends to think of getting a dog for comfort and distraction... not in a physical sense.

He opened his eyes and looked around, momentarily dazed.

Stone walls, three bowl-sized square windows; he lay on a cold, tattered straw mat, with sunlight filtering through the square windows onto his chest, dust motes dancing in the beam of light.

Where am I?

In a moment of existential confusion, Xu Qi'an pondered, and then he truly questioned his life.

I’ve time-traveled...

A torrent of memories surged in, not giving him a chance to react, forcefully inserting themselves into his brain and flowing rapidly.

Xu Qi'an, courtesy name Ning Yan, was a constable in the Changle County Office under the Jingzhao Prefecture of the Great Feng Dynasty. He earned a monthly salary of two taels of silver and a stone of rice.

His father was an old soldier who died in the 'Battle of the Mountains and Seas' nineteen years ago, and shortly after, his mother passed away due to illness... Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an felt a slight sense of comfort.

It is well known that those who lose both parents are not simple.

"I never thought I would come back to life and still not escape the fate of being a cop?" Xu Qi'an grimaced.

In his previous life, he graduated from police academy, successfully entered the system, and secured a golden rice bowl.

However, even though Xu Qi'an followed the path chosen by his parents, his heart was not in the career of a public servant.

He liked being unrestrained, loved freedom, enjoyed the pleasures of life, and cherished a quote from Ji Xianlin in his diary: —

Thus, he brazenly resigned and went into business.

"But why am I in prison?"

He struggled to digest the memories and quickly understood his current situation.

Xu Qi'an was raised by his second uncle since childhood; due to his long-term martial arts training, he consumed over a hundred taels of silver annually, which made his aunt dislike him.

After reaching the peak of refining essence at eighteen, he stagnated; under pressure from his aunt, he moved out of the Xu residence to live alone.

Through his uncle's connections, he landed a constable job in the county office, and life was going well until...

Three days ago, his second uncle, who served in the Imperial Sword Guard, escorted a batch of tax silver to the Ministry of Revenue and encountered an accident, losing the tax silver.

A total of one hundred and fifty thousand taels.

The court was in an uproar, and the emperor was furious, personally ordering Xu Pingzhi to be executed in five days, with his three clans punished, male members sent to the frontier, and female relatives sent to the brothel management.

As Xu Pingzhi's nephew, he was dismissed from his position as a constable and thrown into the Jingzhao prison.

Two days!

In just two days, he would be exiled to the desolate frontier, spending the second half of his life in toil.

"This is hell mode right from the start..." Xu Qi'an felt a chill run down his back, his heart turning cold.

This world is ruled by a feudal dynasty, with no human rights; what is the frontier like?

Desolate, with a harsh climate, most prisoners sent to the border do not survive more than ten years. Many others die on the way due to various accidents and diseases before even reaching the frontier.

Thinking of this, Xu Qi'an's scalp tingled, a chilling dread enveloping him.

"System?"

After a moment of silence, Xu Qi'an's tentative voice echoed in the quiet prison cell.

The system did not respond to him.

"System... Daddy System, come out." Xu Qi'an's voice was filled with urgency.

Silence remained.

No system, there’s really no system!

This meant he had almost no way to change his situation; in two days, he would be shackled and sent to the frontier. Given his physique, he should survive the journey.

But that was not a benefit; it meant being exploited as a tool, ultimately dying...

Too terrifying, too terrifying!

Xu Qi'an's beautiful fantasy of time travel had shattered like a bubble, leaving only anxiety and fear.

"I must find a way to save myself; I can't just die like this."

Xu Qi'an paced in the cramped prison cell, like an ant on a hot pan, like a beast caught in a trap, desperately thinking of countermeasures.

I am at the peak of refining essence; my physical fitness is terrifyingly strong... but in this world, I belong to the category of unyielding silver; escaping prison is impossible...

Relying on family and friends?

The Xu family is not a big clan, and its members are scattered; with a total of one hundred and fifty thousand taels of tax silver stolen, who would dare plead for mercy at this critical moment?

According to the laws of the Great Feng, one could avoid the death penalty by achieving merits to offset sins!

Unless the silver is recovered...

Xu Qi'an's eyes suddenly brightened, much like a drowning person grasping at a life-saving straw.

He was a genuine police academy graduate, rich in theoretical knowledge, with clear logic and strong reasoning skills, having read countless cases.

Perhaps he could try to approach the case from the angle of solving it, recovering the silver and redeeming himself.

But then, the light in his eyes dimmed.

To solve a case, one must first review the files to understand the details of the incident; then comes the investigation and resolution.

Now he was deep in prison, and it was pointless to call out to the sky or the earth; in two days, he would be sent to the frontier!

No solution!

Xu Qi'an sat down heavily, his eyes staring blankly.

He had been drinking heavily at the bar yesterday, and waking up in prison, it seemed he might have died from alcohol poisoning and then time-traveled.

Did heaven grant him the chance to time travel, not to let him live again but because he died too easily?

In ancient times, exile was almost as severe as the death penalty.

Although he had been battered by society in his past life, at least he lived in a time of peace. You say rebirth is great; without a second thought, he would steal his parents' savings to buy a house.

Then, with his mother’s help, he’d break his stock-loving father’s hand to keep him from becoming a victim.

At this moment, the sound of chains sliding echoed from the dark corridor, indicating the door was about to open.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

A guard led a pale, handsome scholar who stopped in front of Xu Qi'an's cell.

The guard glanced at the scholar and said, "Half a stick of incense time."

The scholar bowed to the guard, and after watching the guard leave, he turned to face Xu Qi'an.

The scholar wore a moon-white robe, his long black hair tied with a jade hairpin, looking quite handsome, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, and thin lips.

Xu Qi'an's mind recalled relevant memories of this person.

Xu family’s second son, Xu Xinnian.

His uncle's biological son, Xu Qi'an's cousin, who had passed the imperial examination this autumn.

Xu Xinnian calmly looked him in the eye: "The soldiers escorting you to the frontier took three hundred taels from me; that is all the silver our family has left. You can go in peace; there will be no accidents on the way."

"And you?" Xu Qi'an inexplicably asked this question, remembering that the original character did not have a good relationship with this cousin.

Due to his aunt's dislike, aside from his uncle, the rest of the Xu family did not treat Xu Qi'an well. At the very least, his cousins would not show too much closeness to him.

Moreover, in the original character's memory, this cousin was also known for his sharp tongue.

Xu Xinnian impatiently replied, "I have been stripped of my title, but I have the protection of my academy's teachers, so I do not need to be exiled. Just take care of yourself. When you get to the frontier, keep your temper in check; living a year is better than nothing."

Xu Xinnian studied at the famous Bailu Academy in Kyoto, receiving considerable attention and having just passed the imperial examination. Therefore, after his uncle's incident, he was not imprisoned but was not allowed to leave Kyoto, running around for days.

Xu Qi'an fell silent; he did not think Xu Xinnian would fare better than himself. Perhaps it was not just the stripping of his title but also being reduced to a lowly status, with generations barred from the imperial examination, unable to rise again.

Furthermore, in two days, the Xu family's female relatives would be sent to the brothel management, subjected to humiliation.

Xu Xinnian was a scholar; how could he still have the face to live in the capital? Perhaps being exiled to the frontier was the better option.

Xu Qi'an felt a stir in his heart, took a few steps forward, and grasped the iron bars: "Are you thinking of ending it all?!"

Uncontrollably, a wave of sadness surged within him... I clearly don’t even know him.

Xu Xinnian expressionlessly flicked his sleeve: "What does it have to do with you?"

After a pause, his gaze dropped a few inches, avoiding eye contact with his cousin, his expression softening: "Live."

Having said that, he resolutely stepped away!

"Wait!" Xu Qi'an reached through the bars, grabbing his sleeve.

Xu Xinnian halted, silently looking at him.

"Can you get the case files? The files on the tax silver loss case?"