Ye Xiaotian, male, 19 years old, lives in Xiquzi Hutong, Xuanwu Street, Beijing. He is a jailer in the No. 1 Xuanzi Prison of the Ministry of Punishment. He was promoted to No. 1 Xuanzi by prison officer Mr. Liu at the beginning of the eighth year of Wanli because of his obedience and cleverness. The head of the prison.
Ye Xiaotian's identity as a jailer is inherited from his father, and the old Ye family is a hereditary jailer. This is the rule set by Emperor Hongwu: the son follows the father, and the inheritance is passed on from generation to generation.
If you are a soldier, one of your sons must be a soldier. If your mother-in-law does not live up to you and does not give birth to a boy, then find one from your relatives. If there is no boy among your relatives Ding, then you can find one wherever you want, even if you turn one from the street, you have to make up for it anyway.
If you are a cook in a craftsman's household, but your father died before you learned how to cook, and you don't know how to cook at all, then it doesn't matter. When the government needs to summon cooks, you can go , Can't cook and fire the fire assembly? Anyway, the food you cook is not eaten by officials, and the number of people must match. If you are a doctor and you don't know medical skills... then we just pay a silent tribute to the patients in advance.
The identity of the Ye family's jailer was passed down to the generation of Ye Xiaotian's father, Mr. Ye, who was only a single seedling when he was a child. But Father Ye was very competitive, he gave birth to twins in one go, the eldest son Ye Xiaoan, and the second son Ye Xiaotian. Xiao Tian discovered by accident that they were twins, adding another meaning of a son.
Ye Xiaotian really didn't like this vulgar name, and because he was used to being called by others, he couldn't tell the world with drums and gongs and drums even if he changed his new name, so after solemnly protesting to Lao Tzu, with the approval of the old man, Ye Xiaotian became Ye Xiaotian.
Mr. Ye's status as a jailer can only be passed on to one son, and logically speaking, it should be passed on to Ye Xiaoan who crawled out of his mother's belly first, but Xiaoan was frightened when he was a child. The cauliflower snake that came out and hid under his blanket has since become particularly cowardly and honest.
Mr. Ye considered that the Heavenly Prison was not suitable for his honest son because of the crowds of people, so he took out his life savings and opened a rice noodle oil shop for his eldest son, passing on the promising career of a jailer in the Heavenly Prison to him. The second son Ye Xiaotian.
Ye Xiaotian prepared food and drinks for Huang Shilang and returned to the sky prison. Seeing that it was getting dark and it was time to take over after finishing this job, he quickened his pace. Unexpectedly, just after entering the sky prison, he saw the prison officer, Mr. Liu, coming from afar. Walking over from the corridor, Ye Xiaotian quickly stopped, and saluted Master Liu from afar.
The prison officer's name is Liu Yong, he is in his early fifties, he has a red face, he is not tall, but he is very solid, his clothes are similar to Ye Xiaotian's, except that he has a red carapace on top of his green clothes.
The jailer is a small official from the ninth rank, no matter how small he is, he is an official, especially in Tianlao Xuanzi No. 1 Prison, he is an uncompromising character, so his behavior has a kind of arrogance.
Ye Xiaotian leaned forward and smiled, "Hello Liu Siju."
"Um!"
Liu Yong snorted through his nose, and glanced at the food box in his hand, knowing that he was just making some extra money. These jailers pay him tribute every month, so he has always turned a blind eye to such things that are not bad.
Liu Siyu said: "You came just in time, the cook is preparing wine and meat, you can send it to Yang Lin in a while."
Ye Xiaotian said strangely: "How do you add vegetables to Yang Shengun for no apparent reason? Ah! Could it be that his case has been sentenced, and this is... going to Caishikou?"
Since Ye Xiaotian took over his father's job, he has given countless wine and meat to the prison, but apart from the wine and meat bought by the prisoners themselves, he has only given five servings, and each gift means that a life is about to die. leave.
Liu Yong didn't answer, just glanced at him lightly, put his hands behind his back and walked away. Ye Xiaotian stood in a daze for a moment, shook his head lightly, and walked towards No. 1 Prison in Xuanzi.
Ye Xiaotian handed the wine and meat to Huang Shilang, turned around and came to Yang Lin's cell again, and saw Yang Lin sitting cross-legged on the ground, throwing a few stones on the open space in front of him, watching the falling of the stones and muttering words, probably deducing Fuxi Sixty-four hexagrams.
Ye Xiaotian coughed and said, "Master Yang."
Yang Lin looked up and saw that it was Ye Xiaotian, immediately threw away those stones, greeted the prison happily, and said with a smile: "It seems that the little brother is very interested in Western constellations, but do you want the old man to do the math for you? "
Ye Xiaotian smiled and said: "Come on, it's always weird to count the lives of our Daming people with Westerners' stuff, Master Yang should show the boy."
As long as there is a chance to show off his skills, Yang Lin is very happy. As for what kind of physiognomy to use, Yang Lin is not picky. Across a wooden fence, he looked at it carefully for a while, and sighed, "Little brother, your bones are strange, your lips are black and red, your eyes are big and your eyebrows are beautiful, this is the appearance of a rich man..."
"Oh?" Ye Xiaotian stroked his eyebrows, and then raised his eyebrows.
Yang Lin said: "The forehead is in charge of wisdom and luck. Your forehead is high and full, so if you are smart, you can have great luck in youth. The nose is in charge of wealth and women. If your nose is straight and thick, it runs through your forehead. When you are young, you will have good fortune. The peach blossoms are blooming."
"Is this true?" Ye Xiaotian smiled, everyone loves to hear good words, even if he knew it was false, he touched his straight nose, and suddenly felt that he really looks good.
Yang Lin said seriously: "That's natural. In fact... the eyes are in charge of peach blossom luck. Although your eyes are not peach blossom eyes, they are not far away. As for the nose, it is majestic, straight and thick, which is the same as that It’s similar, hehe! If you have good luck, you also need to have a good capital, what do you think?”
"Well, it makes sense, it makes sense." Of course the man couldn't say that he couldn't do it, Ye Xiaotian immediately agreed with Yang Lin's words, but seeing his half-belief, he almost took off his clothes on the spot and verified it.
Yang Lin stroked his sparse beard, and continued leisurely: "You have a full seal, a lustrous complexion, bright eyes and upturned corners of the eyes. People with this kind of appearance are easy to succeed in doing things. In addition, your ears are beautiful and your complexion is smooth. White, clear outline, and thick pendant beads, this is the appearance of great blessing. You have red lips, white teeth, and a deep and broad face, this is the appearance of Yifuwangzi... "
Ye Xiaotian's expression froze, and he said in astonishment, "Yifuwangzi's face?!"
Yang Lin quickly changed his words and said: "A slip of the tongue, if a woman is born with such a face, it will be like this, but you are a man, such a face, it means wealth and wealth, hehehe, little brother, you have three stars of good fortune and longevity , life will be smooth and happy.”
Ye Xiaotian chuckled, shook his head amusedly, and said, "Master Yang, you have to be good at flattering. Fu Lu Shou's three-star photo? Well, the jailer of Fu Lu Shou's three-star photo is still a jailer." , where can I go in a beautiful way?"
The few hairs on Yang Lin's head shook violently, and he said angrily, "Fart! What a flattery, it's all shown by your face. Thinking of me, Yang Lin is a dignified member of the bureaucracy, so many high-ranking officials would bow down and flatter me when they saw me Ingratiate yourself, does this old man need to flatter you, a little jailer?"
Ye Xiaotian pointed to the prison with a finger, teasingly said: "Master Yang, wake up, you are now a prisoner, the hero Moti was brave back then!"
A few bristling white hairs on Yang Lin's head suddenly drooped, softly sticking to the flesh-red scalp, like a defeated cricket drooping its beard in frustration, and resentfully said: "Although the old man is now a I am a prisoner, but the old man has studied Yi Li since childhood, and there is absolutely no problem in physiognomy!"
Ye Xiaotian smiled and said: "Okay, I'll accept your good words, this time Xiaotian believes in you, sir, I'll buy some wine and meat to treat you later, it will be regarded as Xiaotian's payment to you."
Yang Lin was overwhelmed with surprise when he heard this, and thanked him again and again, but when Ye Xiaotian took five or six steps, Yang Lin suddenly came back to his senses, he suddenly took a step forward, grabbed the fence, and shouted: "Little Ye Zi, stop for me!"
Ye Xiaotian stopped slowly, and turned around slowly, with a faint smile still on his face. Yang Lin clasped the fence tightly with both hands, looked at him straight in the eye, and said slowly: "The dead wine! Is it the old man's dead wine?"
Ye Xiaotian raised his right eyebrow slightly, then lowered it slightly, the smile on his face gradually disappeared.
Seeing this, Yang Lin laughed miserably. His big bony hands clasped the fence tightly, but his body seemed to be pressed down by a huge boulder, and he slid down inch by inch. It wasn't until he collapsed to the ground that he said with a hoarse and difficult smile: "The old man's deadline...has it come..."
Ye Xiaotian walked back slowly, looked at him through the cell door, shook his head, and said pityingly: "Master Yang, why don't you enjoy this last dinner happily? You are so shrewd, why bother?"
Yang Lin said sadly: "This old man has only done three things in his life: deceiving himself, deceiving others, and being bullied by others. Now that he is about to die, this old man just wants to be a sensible person, and he doesn't want to be a fool again!"
Ye Xiaotian shook his head helplessly, turned around and was about to leave, Yang Lin suddenly leaned forward, a skinny old hand stretched out from the fence, grabbed his ankle, pressed his skinny cheek against the wooden fence, and sternly shouted: "Don't go, The old man has a big task to ask!"
Ye Xiaotian pulled his leg hard, but Yang Lin didn't know where he got so much strength, he clasped his ankle tightly, Ye Xiaotian couldn't break free at all.
Ye Xiaotian frowned, squatted down slowly, and his eyes gradually showed coldness: "Master Yang, we are very familiar, aren't we? But you and I are neither close relatives nor old friends, let alone friendship! Xiaotian I am just a little jailer, if I can give you some convenience within my ability, I will naturally not refuse, but I will not do anything out of the ordinary!"
Ye Xiaotian's voice is very soft, very calm, but his tone is very firm: "When my father handed over this iron rice bowl to me, he told me four words 'follow the rules!' Since the Yuan Dynasty, we Ye Xiaotian The family is the jailer of the Ministry of Punishment. After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Zhu was replaced, and our Ye family is still the jailer of the Heavenly Prison. As long as we do our job and do not make mistakes, our Ye family can continue to eat this bowl of Gongmen food!"
The corners of Ye Xiaotian's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a hint of sarcasm: "Our Ye family is a lowly servant, but if you say something outrageous, even if the Ming Dynasty falls one day, the emperor's family will lose their heads, just like us The humble servants can't afford it, whoever sits in the world doesn't need us? We still eat this bowl of Gongmen rice. Master Yang, I value this rice bowl very much, although in the eyes of you big men, it is extremely low. It's about smashing my rice bowl , please refrain from opening your mouth!"
Yang Lin laughed hoarsely, and said: "Don't be afraid, I can still let you rob prison? Even if you are willing, you don't have that ability, right? I just... want you to help me get a message out, as long as you agree , the old man has a great benefit for you."
Ye Xiaotian didn't ask about the benefits at all, and refused the temptation without hesitation. He shook his head and said, "Master Yang, colluding with internal and external news for the criminal officer, once captured is a capital offense, you don't know this rule, do you?"
Yang Lin said sadly: "Now the old man is obviously an abandoned son, who else can be in collusion? The old man just wants to ask you to send a message to my family, and after the old man died, this... can't be done. Is it against the rules?"
Ye Xiaotian stared at him and said, "That's it?"
Yang Lin nodded vigorously: "That's it!"
Ye Xiaotian breathed a sigh of relief, and blurted out, "What is the great benefit you mentioned?"
Yang Lin was stunned for a while, and then said: "Uh... How about the reward of fifty taels of silver!"
"Fifty taels?"
Ye Xiaotian's eyes lit up, and he responded straightforwardly: "Master Yang has any last words, you can say them now!"