My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 5: The Great Mastery of Taizu Long Fist, The Mysterious Prisoner

Shen Yan woke up in the early morning.

I felt my blood and qi surging within me, my aura rising, and dark red filth appearing on my skin.

The changes within himself immediately woke Shen Yan up.

"This... the Great Ancestor's Long Fist technique has been perfected!"

Upon checking his own situation, he discovered that he had indeed mastered the Taizu Long Fist and was only a step away from becoming a rank-3 martial artist.

Feeling the surging energy within him, Shen Yan was overjoyed.

He casually threw a punch, and the whistling sound of the punch reached his ears.

A ninth-rank martial artist already holds a considerable position in the Great Zhou Dynasty. Take prison guards, for example; once they break through to the ninth rank, they can escape their lowly status and, in the future, either join the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Six Doors to obtain an official position.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it transcending class boundaries.

The fact that he was about to be upgraded to a higher grade gave him some peace of mind, as he now had the ability to protect himself.

"Now is not the time to be boastful. We need to work harder and strive to master the Golden Body Technique as soon as possible."

Shen Yan went to the well in the courtyard to fetch water and washed himself clean before going out to do his duty.

Stepping out of the courtyard, I noticed a horse-drawn carriage parked in front of Widow Wang's house next door.

Waiting to the side was Shen Rong, the steward of the second young master's family of the Duke's mansion.

At this time.

Song Mingli came out from inside, and Shen Rong immediately went up to him warmly and invited him to get into the carriage.

Upon seeing Shen Yan, Song Mingli greeted him warmly, and then followed Shen Rong into the carriage.

"It seems that Song Mingli is a distinguished guest of the Duke's mansion."

Duke Shen Moxuan had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son was born to his first wife, but he was said to have died young.

The other two sons were born to the second wife, and the only daughter was born to the third wife.

The first wife passed away not long after giving birth, and the third wife had no family background, so the second wife is now in charge of the Duke's mansion's inner court.

If nothing unexpected happens, the second son will be the future Duke of Dingguo.

The fact that Shen Rong was waiting at the door shows that Song Mingli's identity is not simple.

"I wonder who Song Mingli is from the Duke's mansion, and why he's renting a room at Widow Wang's house."

Upon arriving at the prison, Shen Yan was puzzled to find that there were no shouts of betting coming from the office today.

Seeing that everyone looked rather somber and were staring blankly at the official documents in their hands, it was unclear whether they understood them or not.

Shen Yan quietly walked over to Sun Fugui and asked in a low voice.

"Brother Sun, what happened?"

"Wang Daquan is dead. Last night, when Yang Wanli, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, came to interrogate the prisoners, Wang Daquan was sleeping in his cell and was caught by Vice Minister Yang. He was punished with ten strokes of the cane, but he couldn't hold on and died this morning. His body has already been sent to his family."

"The guards on duty in the prison last night were also flogged and have gone home to recuperate."

Shen Yan was shocked upon hearing this.

"Human life is as worthless as grass!"

Wang Daquan and he were both prison guards in the C-level prison, and they were both responsible for delivering meals, but they were in charge of different areas.

Today it's Wang Daquan, tomorrow it might be Shen Yan, he doesn't know.

Ten strokes of the cane in court don't sound too severe.

But life and death are only a matter of a single thought from the superior; with just a slight indication, the executioner will naturally understand.

No wonder everyone is so cautious today.

At this moment, Hu Youtian and Lü Youcai, the jailers of prisons A and B, arrived at the office with their jailers.

Several prison guards followed along, limping. They appeared to be the guards who had been tortured the day before, but it was unclear why they hadn't asked for leave.

Not long after, Xu Shaogong and his advisor also walked in.

Looking at the scene before him, Shen Yan felt it was just like the morning meeting at his company in his previous life.

As expected, the jailers had their guards stand in twos and threes.

Xu Shaogong pointed at the jailer in front of him and cursed loudly, extremely angry.

"A bunch of lowlifes. I told you a few days ago that a new vice minister had arrived at the Ministry of Justice. I told you to be careful in your duties, and you'd better pretend to get through these two months."

"I didn't expect you guys to forget about it so soon after you said it. You got caught red-handed by the new Vice Minister Yang. You deserve it."

"Next month, the profits from prison C will be halved, and 30% of the profits from prisons A and B will be allocated to the Ministry of Justice."

The words had barely left his mouth when the jailers began to wail incessantly. Those on duty in the imperial prison lived off their monthly share of the loot; as for their official salaries, they were rarely paid, sometimes only once every six months.

With the profit sharing drastically cut now, how can the prison guards, who are used to spending money lavishly, not wail in despair?

"Scream! Scream your ass! You're lucky we didn't beat you all to death."

"That's settled then. Next month, the advisor will proceed accordingly."

A group of prison guards looked even worse than when their parents died.

Ignoring the jailer's cries, Xu Shaogong led his clerk away from the office and back to his own cell.

"Master, remember to send the withheld commission to Vice Minister Ding next month. Whether this will work out or not depends on this."

"Yes, sir. Should we make some arrangements with Vice Minister Yang Wanli?"

"Hmph! That son of a bitch Yang Wanli, I bribed him with a lot of silver when he took office, and he still targets me at every turn. Never mind him, once I've got my way with Lord Ding, I'll go work somewhere else. Who cares about Yang Wanli or Zhang Baili?"

After speaking, Xu Shaogong picked up the Spring and Autumn Annals on the table and began to read. After reading for a short while, he spoke again to the clerk.

"Remember to remind those scoundrels to behave themselves during this time and not cause any more trouble, or they'll be sorry."

"Damn it, this prison is lucrative, but you get bullied everywhere. I'll transfer to the county and be a magistrate someday; that'll be much better than this."

"Yes, sir, I'll go and give them a heads-up right away. I'm sure I won't let you down."

……

……

Shen Yan didn't have much of a problem with his share of the profits being withheld. Even if it was half gone, it was still much better than when he was working at the trading company.

The jailers in the office were all distracted and huddled together discussing what Xu Shaogong had just said.

Shen Yan wasn't very interested in these topics and went to inspect the prison cells.

Listening to the prisoners chat is much more interesting than the wailing of the prison guards.

As usual, they first went to Zhu Zhengyang's cell. The conversations over the past few days had greatly improved Zhu Zhengyang's impression of Shen Yan.

He told Shen Yan almost everything he knew about martial arts, except for the medicinal bath recipe.

Whenever this topic comes up, Zhu Zhengyang always says, "The leader has treated me well, but I would never tell him the prescription."

Shen Yan was curious about who this leader of the Giant Whale Gang was and what kind of magic he possessed that made him do this.

"Old Zhu, do you regret what you did back then?"

"Regret? It would be a lie to say I don't regret it, but it's no use saying that now. I just don't know how my wife and children are doing now."

As he spoke, Zhu Zhengyang looked intently at Shen Yan, hoping to hear something from him.

"I'll ask around for you later."

"Thank you! I will repay this kindness in my next life."

Bang bang bang!

Zhu Zhengyang kowtowed three times to Shen Yan, and the two chatted for a while longer.

Seeing that it was getting late, Shen Yan didn't dare to linger and headed to the next place.

As he passed a prison cell, someone called out to him from behind.

"Hey! You little rascal, you were just an ordinary person a few days ago, and now you're almost at the rank of Master?"