My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 96 Yan Fan Discusses the Great Zhou! The Name of the Prison Demon!

Chapter 97 Yan Fan Discusses the Great Zhou! The Name of the Prison Demon!

Yan Fan was completely at the mercy of the prison guards, like a puppet on strings.

It wasn't until he was locked in a cell that his eyes regained some luster.

After a long while, he murmured, "Is this the Heavenly Prison?!"

"Lord Yan, this is the Imperial Prison."

Shen Yan replied softly, telling the jailer to leave first, lest Yan Fan say something treasonous and spread it, bringing trouble upon himself.

Yan Fan was imprisoned in cell number A1, which was surrounded by other prisoners.

Generally, only particularly important prisoners are detained here.

Firstly, it ensures a quiet environment; secondly, it prevents prisoners from speaking recklessly before their death, as their words might be leaked and cause trouble.

"I am already a prisoner, no longer fit to be a superior. I never imagined that my final destination, Yan, would still be the prison."

"What official doesn't end up in prison? I was in prison when I was twenty, decades earlier than most people."

"

Yan Fan seemed amused by Shen Yan, and a smile appeared on his face.

"You're quite interesting. You're right, every official ends up in jail eventually, it's just a matter of sooner or later. The victor is king, the loser is villain, there's nothing more to say. It's a pity I was ultimately outmaneuvered."

Shen Yan didn't think so. It wasn't surprising at all that the Great Zhou had a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm. Yan Fan himself probably had also expected it, but the arrow was already on the string and he had no choice but to take the gamble.

Seeing that Shen Yan seemed unconvinced, Yan Fan sneered and said, "Without me, the Great Zhou Dynasty is not far from its demise!"

Why?!

Shen Yan became interested upon hearing this. Convicted officials always liked to belittle current affairs and criticize the country after entering the prison. He had heard this quite often during his time working in the prison.

Much of the information was also obtained from the prisoners of war.

Yan Fan said, "The harm caused by the powerful families of the Great Zhou Dynasty runs deep. Everyone curses me for being greedy, but who knows that out of every ten taels of silver I embezzle, five taels end up in the national treasury? And the royal family, officials at all levels, and powerful families own half of the land and estates in the country, yet they pay no taxes. Tell me, where does the money in the national treasury come from?"

"Opening up maritime trade?! The people's taxes?!"

"That's right, the arable land of hundreds of millions of people is less than half of the entire country, yet they have to support the whole Great Zhou. How can the national treasury not be in deficit? In previous years, I was able to make up for it, but after I die, who will fill this hole?"

Shen Yan frowned and asked, "If you hadn't taken a cut, wouldn't the national treasury have received ten taels of silver from the common people?"

Yan Fan said disdainfully, "Ten taels of silver from the common people don't even reach the national treasury. If the Qingliu were truly upright, the annual tax revenue of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be more than seventy million taels, and it wouldn't be surprising if it doubled."

"Is His Majesty unaware of the illness prevalent among aristocratic families?"

At this point, Yan Fan sighed, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"How could His Majesty not know?! But if the Zeng family and the Yan family fall, the Zhang family will appear tomorrow. The Wu family is in a hopeless situation."

Shen Yan nodded inwardly. He wasn't concerned about national affairs; it was just his curiosity.

Being born into the Shen family, he could be said to have benefited from the family's prestigious status.

Of course, Yan Fan wasn't as great as he claimed; in the end, it was greed that got the better of him.

Even without him, there will still be Zhang Fan and Wang Fan doing the same thing.

The reason why the Great Zhou Dynasty has been able to survive to this day is that it has a profound foundation, which is why it was able to withstand the turmoil caused by Emperor Xuanwu.

Yan Fan suddenly turned towards the palace and said sternly, "The Emperor is the ruler of this Great Zhou Dynasty, but His Majesty is already seventy years old. When the sky collapses, it will also be the day my Yan family is destroyed. I, Yan, have sheltered the Great Zhou Dynasty from the wind and rain for half my life, and all I have sought is a chance to survive. What wrong have I done!"

Shen Yan shook his head upon hearing Yan Fan's words.

"People always have this illusion that the world keeps turning no matter who's gone. You may be important, but you're not as important as you think."

Having been stationed in the prison for the past few days, Shen Yan has not drunk any alcohol for a long time.

With the Imperial Guards back in their positions, he no longer needed to stay in the Heavenly Prison every step of the way as he had in the past few days.

Arrive at the tavern.

Shen Yan noticed that there were only a few tables of guests drinking inside.

Because of the rebellion, many martial arts practitioners left Bianjing. The outside world was not peaceful, and the common people were unwilling to go out.

The tavern was unusually quiet.

Shen Yan found a seat by the window and sat down.

Thinking back to the last time I sat in this seat, it was the time I met Ah Si.

"It's been a long time. I wonder how Ah Si is doing these days?"

During a drinking session, Ah Si mentioned that his mentor was Zheng Jun.

Shen Yan was also somewhat surprised, not expecting that he was actually the apprentice of the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Just then, he heard the guests next to him talking quietly.

"Su Mu, just who is this Prison Demon Shen Yan? Why have I never heard of him when I came to Bianjing last time?"

"Lu Heng, you don't know this, but this Prison Demon Shen Yan seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He got his name from killing hundreds of martial arts masters in the Heavenly Prison a few days ago. Among those people were quite a few seventh-rank masters, all of whom were young talents of the Central Plains martial arts world."

"Hiss! A seventh-rank expert, that Hell Demon is truly ruthless."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yan frowned, cursing inwardly, "I only killed a few dozen people, not a hundred! Damn it, who spread this rumor!"

He glanced over and noticed that the two people who were talking loudly looked very young, around twenty years old, and had a calm aura; they were both rank-1 martial artists.

The young man named Lü Heng seemed very interested in Shen Yan's matter.

Su Mu sighed.

"Who says otherwise! Otherwise, why would he be called the Prison Demon? When we came to Bianjing this time, our masters instructed us not to cause any trouble. If we fell into the hands of the Prison Demon, we would be finished."

"Isn't there any senior expert who can punish the demon in the prison?"

Su Mu sneered, "That Prison Demon Shen Yan is highly regarded by Shen Moxuan. He is a top-tier expert of the first rank. Who would dare to lay a hand on the Prison Demon?"

Shen Yan was furious when he heard them keep mentioning the "Prison Demon."

Unable to hold back, he said, "Those martial arts figures you're talking about deserve to die in my eyes. They were delusional to try to break into the prison and rescue prisoners."

Seeing Shen Yan's youthful appearance, Su Mu sneered, "The court is corrupt, treacherous officials are in power, and the people are suffering. The henchmen of the Great Zhou are to be killed by everyone. My friend is still too young and doesn't know the hardships of the world."

"What does your high-sounding rhetoric and the court's incompetence have to do with your disregard for the law? Your lives matter, but the lives of the prison guards don't?!"

Su Mu was furious.

"you----"

Lu Heng, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up, saying, "Friend, I see you are dressed in plain clothes and have no official rank. Why do you speak up for the court like this?"

Shen Yan looked at the two of them and said calmly, "Because I am the Demon Shen Yan you speak of!"

The two men stared at him wide-eyed, utterly shocked.

"What?!"

"You're Shen Yan?!"

Su Mu seemed unconvinced and questioned, "Rumor has it that Shen Yan is nine feet tall, with a blue face and fangs, and eats a whole cow every day. How could he possibly be a weak scholar like you?"

'

"?!"

Shen Yan felt dizzy after hearing this; the rumors in the martial arts world were too outrageous.

"If you are referring to Shen Yan, the jailer of Bianjing Prison, then that is me."

The two exchanged a glance, then immediately fled the tavern without looking back.

Upon seeing this, the tavern waiter shouted, "Sirs, you haven't paid yet!"