Zhao Changyu had been stingy his whole life, how could he allow his life’s savings to be taken by Sima Yue?
He would rather follow in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps, scattering all his wealth, providing his family and clan with a peaceful place and a good reputation, rather than making it easy for those people.
However, he was ultimately more frugal than his grandfather and father, and would not take their old path unless absolutely necessary.
On his deathbed, Zhao Changyu had already foreseen the decline of the dynasty.
Even if he couldn’t save the collapsing edifice, who else in this world could save the Great Jin?
The Great Jin was already finished.
Zhao Changyu no longer thought of saving this decaying dynasty, but how innocent were the common people?
He summoned Zhao Zhongyu and advised, "Dynasties rise and fall like the change of the sun and the moon, but the race must not be destroyed. If the race is not destroyed, the heritage will not be destroyed. The Xiongnu in the north are inherently cruel and have long been eyeing our Central Plains. You must be extremely careful."
"Wang Yan’s character is mediocre, but his insight is exceptionally sharp. He is especially wary of Liu Yuan and his sons. You must constantly remind the emperor to be cautious of them."
At this time, Zhao Zhongyu could not even face the emperor, let alone Prince East Sea; he had little say in the court.
Yet he still agreed.
Seeing his always assertive elder brother now lying weakly on the sickbed, a trace of sadness flashed in Zhao Zhongyu’s heart.
Zhao Changyu knew that after his death, whether to win over the power he held or to appease the gentry, Prince East Sea and the new emperor would employ Zhao Zhongyu heavily. He wanted very much to tell Zhao Zhongyu all these things, but upon seeing his calm face, the words dissipated after circling his tongue twice.
He thought of Zhao Ji and Zhao Yi, father and son.
No matter, let the descendants have their own luck. Managing too much would not only exhaust his energy but also be ineffective.
Zhao Changyu went to his death full of worry. He fretted about Hezhen, worried about the Second Son, and worried about his foolish brother, concerned about the Zhao Family, and worried about the increasingly chaotic world.
Thus, after death, he quickly regained consciousness. Upon discovering that the underworld did indeed exist, he was not afraid but sighed with relief instead.
He received a lot of offerings and spent quite a bit of money with the government officials to inquire about the news of his relatives and friends.
Some old friends were still queuing for reincarnation. They all died after the ninth year of Yuan Kang amidst the court struggles and chaos.
After the ninth year of Yuan Kang, too many people died in the Central Plains, killed in battle, died fighting, froze to death, starved to death, died inexplicably while being dragged along by chaotic troops...
And because of the unstable regime and years of war, the population born in the civil society was not much, resulting in a large number of souls lingering in the underworld. By the time Zhao Changyu died, the queue for reincarnation was already five years long.
For people like Zhao Changyu, as long as they were willing to spend virtue and money, they could cut in line for reincarnation.
But Zhao Changyu thought about it and righteously refused. The situation on earth clearly seemed headed for utter chaos. To be reborn now, whether born into a gentry family or a noble house, was to be on the brink of disaster, constantly at risk of being implicated or killed.
To be reincarnated into a civilian family would be to suffer from the womb.
Though the underworld had no sun, everywhere it was dim and desolate with no grass or trees growing but was better than living in turmoil.
Therefore, Zhao Changyu began preparing his own lodging while keeping an eye on what was happening in the human world.
He did not have to inquire intentionally because of the many offerings and dedications he had just received. Being generous, many ghost messengers would come to him proactively.
Today, someone told him, "When I went to capture souls, I saw your family escorting your coffin back home. They encountered bandits and mobs on the way, and oh, dear, your granddaughter is formidable, slicing one with a knife, and shooting one with an arrow. Several of the souls I caught today were killed by her."
Zhao Changyu widened his eyes in surprise, barely feeling proud before hearing another ghost messenger say, "But your nephew is useless. He overturned your carriage and your coffin fell into the field. He fled with people directly, and it was your daughter-in-law who brought people to drag your coffin back. When I came down, she was crying beside the coffin, poor thing."
Zhao Changyu’s heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Have the bandits stopped? How are my granddaughter, grandson, and daughter-in-law now? Their lifespan..."
Zhao Changyu slipped them a cent.
The ghost messenger quietly accepted the money and smiled at Zhao Changyu, "Rest assured, Mr. Zhao, they are now out of danger."
Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Zhao Changyu handed him another handful of money, persistently asking, "From your perspective, how many more years can my daughter-in-law’s family live?"
Seeing Zhao Changyu so persistent in inquiring about their lifespan, the ghost messenger paused and, after looking around, softly revealed, "Mr. Zhao, haven’t you ever thought that if people’s lives were truly determined solely by the Book of Life and Death, how could the underworld be so overcrowded with ghosts?"
Zhao Changyu’s heart skipped a beat, the fog cleared, and his mind opened. He thought of many things he hadn’t considered or dared to consider before.
The ghost messenger said no more and left with the money.
They decided not to come back to Zhao Changyu for money again because he was too terrifying, and not a single cent went to waste.
The world thought they captured souls according to the Book of Life and Death, yet they did not know that the Book was not fixed in one ink and word; it was alive!
No one could control the Book of Life and Death, not even King Yama, as it operated with its own set of rules.
According to the Book of Life and Death, Zhao Changyu should have died long ago. But the year he escaped death, the words on the Book changed, slowly extending to the First Year of Yongjia.
That year, Zhao Zhi had blocked the death calamity for him.
And Zhao Hezhen’s recorded death date on the Book of Life and Death had also been changing recently, turning into a bunch of indistinct ink blots. Who knew what it would eventually become?
People always thought their life and death were controlled by the Book of Life and Death but didn’t realize that their fate had always been in their own hands.
As long as they seized that sliver of life, the Book of Life and Death would have to change for it.
The ghost messengers no longer sought Zhao Changyu, but since the mountain would not come to him, he could go to the mountain. Whenever Zhao Changyu was free, he sought them out.
And in the underworld, he was neither a courtier nor had estates to tend to, leaving him free each day.
While conversing with the ghost messengers, he discovered new territory and found that communicating with newly arriving, just recovered spirits could yield more information.
He had information from the underworld, and they had news from the mortal world. Both sides exchanged, trading fairly, perfectly.
Furthermore, his information could be sold repeatedly. He used a piece of underworld knowledge to exchange for a lot of human world news from different people. Later, he began hiring subordinates to take the underworld information to collect human world news. He only had to sit at home and review the results.
The underworld was vast, and not all souls congregated in one place as the entrances to the underworld are everywhere.
Most souls entering the Yama Hall for judgment from here were those who died in the Central Plains area. What they knew was primarily information from the Central Plains.
Yet among them were many courtiers, merchants who traveled far and wide, and scholars fleeing south. They were well-informed and knew a lot beyond just Central Plains news.
Thus, Zhao Changyu learned that not long after his death, the Xiongnu breached Luoyang. Wang Yan and Prince East Sea fled with the emperor, and after hiding for several months outside, they returned to Luoyang again;
He also learned that he almost incurred a great loss of merit and gained a few enemies.
Zhao Hu, that fool, even wanted to bury servants with him.

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