"Come, come! Slap two more layers of red brick over here. It’ll look more festive."

"Over here, hang up some sable fur wall-hangings. For warmth."

"Remember, the door curtain must be perfectly symmetrical. For good luck."

"Put my desk in the corner. Be careful, don’t break my golden silk vine. It’s imported from the Western Regions, worth a fortune!"

"Make sure the door curtain covers everything tightly. I need my privacy."

"Remember to position the bed with the head facing south and the feet facing north. This is very important."

"Once the job is done, go to Zheng’s Bank and collect your reward—one hundred taels. Hmm? I said one hundred taels *each*. What’s the point of one hundred taels total? You’re all renowned craftsmen in the city! If word got out, people would think I couldn’t afford to pay."

Today, several of the city’s finest craftsmen took on a massive job.

When the murderous-looking Prison Director, Old Liu, politely invited them to the legendary Heaven-Gazing Platform—a prison said to house only the most serious criminals—their legs turned to jelly.

But when the craftsmen learned that the purpose of their visit was simply to improve the comfort of a prison cell, they were so shocked they could barely stand.

And when they further learned that the "occupant" of this cell was none other than the richest man in the Imperial City, Master Zheng, it all suddenly made sense.

The moment Master Zheng more or less understood the cause and effect of the butterfly effect, his first order of business was to have Scarface Liu help him improve his living conditions as quickly as possible.

In half a day’s time.

A small bedroom large enough for one person was built within the prison, complete with a small, open-air balcony.

Scarface Liu knew this was against regulations, but who was he now?

’The Prison Director of the Heaven-Gazing Platform. If you don’t say anything, and I don’t say anything, and he doesn’t say anything, who’s going to know?’

’Besides, I’m the Prison Director, the boss around here. If I say it’s within regulations, it’s within regulations. Who would dare to question me?’

He wouldn’t dare release a death row inmate. But for a minor matter like renovating the prison slightly under the excuse of it being "in disrepair for years," Scarface Liu didn’t even need to file a report; he could make the decision himself.

The small house inside the prison was completed in just half a day.

...

Heaven-Gazing Platform.

One of the four great "Celestial Prisons."

These four special prisons were dedicated to housing major criminals.

The worst of the worst.

The criminals locked inside were either on death row or serving life sentences, with very few exceptions.

For instance, Master Zheng, "suspected of killing Princess Yu Run."

These four special prisons were Heaven-Gazing Platform, Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, Pantian Building, and Qitian Pavilion.

The names sounded rather cheerful, but the reality was anything but.

The prison where Zheng Xiu had been held before was merely an "Earth Cell." Compared to a Celestial Prison, the level of severity was worlds apart.

Take Heaven-Gazing Platform, for example.

Heaven-Gazing Platform was comprised of nine floors of ’Lao’—Cells.

The tenth floor was called the ’Yu’—the Prison.

The nine-zhang-tall structure, roughly thirty meters high, contained these nine floors.

Each floor had no windows and was completely sealed. The only exception was the very top floor: an open-air, single-occupant space, wide and exposed to the elements.

Floors one through nine each contained ninety-nine cells. It sounds like a lot, but in reality, each individual cell was only three chi long and wide.

Inside, an inmate could barely curl up or stand. The air in the cells was foul, freezing in winter and scorching in summer. Staying for a day or three was perhaps tolerable. But after ten days or half a month, the experience was something no ordinary person could endure.

Above the nine floors was the top level where Master Zheng was currently located, which the Six Gates called "Heaven-Gazing Prison." The difference between the "Prison" on top and the "Cells" below was as vast as heaven and earth.

To put it bluntly, Heaven-Gazing Prison was just a big iron cage.

Though the space was large, a major criminal in Heaven-Gazing Prison had to endure wind, sun, rain, and snow. Worse, there were storms, lightning strikes, and hail. The suffering was beyond what any ordinary person could bear. Because Heaven-Gazing Prison was so brutal, the top floor was usually left empty and not used for important criminals.

The reason: it was too cruel.

"Ahhh..."

Master Zheng was currently reclining in a Grandmaster’s Chair, the aroma of tea wafting from the table and sandalwood incense curling beside him.

On the temporarily erected wall behind him hung the "Inscription in the Prison Cell" that Zheng Xiu had recently written. Without being asked, Scarface Liu had taken the initiative to move "Master Zheng’s calligraphy" here, adding a touch of scholarly elegance to Heaven-Gazing Prison.

Gazing at the fluffy snowflakes dancing in the sky, Zheng Xiu felt a surge of poetic inspiration and sighed aloud:

"In winter, the arriving snow is like flowers; at summer’s peak, the flowers are like snow."

’It doesn’t really rhyme.’

’No matter. I’ll spend some money later to have someone revise it, then get it mounted.’

And so, Heaven-Gazing Prison, a place of immense terror in the eyes of the world, had been temporarily transformed by Master Zheng into something resembling a small villa with its own rooftop terrace.

First small goal: complete.

As for the second goal...

Zheng Xiu closed his eyes and entered the Heart Prison.

On the Game Table, two small figures—one large, one small; one tall, one short—stood motionless like puppets.

The map had not yet updated with any new Ghostly Realms.

Zheng Xiu opened his eyes. For now, he wasn’t in a hurry to explore Ghostly Realms.

The butterfly effect created by clearing "Baili Village" had not yet been fully sorted out.

However, Master Zheng already had a few clues.

He had sounded out Scarface Liu and uncovered a crucial piece of intelligence.

On the day Old Wei came to see him, he was wearing Soft Armor and entered the Prison Camp alone.

The words Scarface Liu had used to describe Old Wei were: majestic, majestically majestic, and majestic.

For an illiterate man to squeeze out such a word was no easy feat.

At the time, Master Zheng had repeatedly baited him, saying things like, "There’s no one else here, you can speak freely. Don’t hold back, don’t exaggerate. Sixth Brother, don’t give me that bureaucratic nonsense."

But Scarface Liu vehemently denied it, insisting he wasn’t exaggerating. He added that the Emperor looked exceptionally powerful at that moment, making Scarface Liu’s eyes light up.

At that, Zheng Xiu was convinced.

One of the most significant divergences caused by the butterfly effect had appeared: Old Wei was now hale and hearty, no longer an old emperor on the verge of death.

Since Old Wei wasn’t gravely ill, the Second Prince had no reason to make a move. Following that logic, Shi Wentong wasn’t sent by the Second Prince as a warning. But since Shi Wentong was dead, it meant that the person behind him had changed.

Or perhaps Shi Wentong’s death was really just a case of him overdoing it and dying of a stroke in the saddle.

If it was the former, then who was the one trying to stir up trouble?

Thinking back even further, he even had to reconsider the very reason for his initial imprisonment.

Master Zheng poured a fresh cup of tea, rubbing his temples as he sank into deep thought.

Moreover, aside from Duan Cai, Gou Fugui, and Zhang Wushuang, many other people had died.

The most outrageous part was that Old Wei’s most beloved daughter, Princess Yu Run, was dead, and written in blood in her boudoir were the words: "The killer is Marquis Zhonglie."

’It’s such an obvious frame-up, someone must have seen through it.’

But despite such an obvious setup, he had still been "upgraded" to a new cell on the Heaven-Gazing Platform.

’Who is it? What are their intentions?’

Countless riddles, one after another.

Since Old Wei wasn’t gravely ill, there would have been no "Three Questions of the Emperor." So why did Old Wei come to the Prison Camp that day?

’To ask if I killed Princess Yu Run?’

’No, based on my understanding of Old Wei, if he suspected me, he wouldn’t need evidence or questions. He’d just have me killed.’

’In other words, Old Wei doesn’t believe I killed Princess Yu Run. Locking me in Heaven-Gazing Prison was likely just a temporary measure to appease the public under pressure from popular opinion.’

’It’s a mess. A complete mess.’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Zheng Xiu gazed up at the snow, sipping his tea in contemplation. He remained like that for a full four hours.

The snow stopped, the tea grew cold, and the sun began to set.

’What should I do next?’

The changes wrought by the butterfly effect had left Zheng Xiu feeling somewhat unsettled. He occasionally picked at a pimple on his forehead and touched the silent sparrow on his chest. As the twilight glow completely sank behind the mountains, Zheng Xiu decided to go for a walk and see for himself the changes in the Imperial City after the butterfly effect.

The events in the Ghostly Realm had been strange and perilous, but the form the Caged Sparrow had taken after possessing him had given Master Zheng a boost of confidence.

’With Extraordinary Abilities, in all of heaven and earth, where can’t I, Zheng Xiu, go?’

’Worst comes to worst, I’ll just go home and build a dungeon, install a wooden horse, get a few sets of shackles for decoration, call over a few girls to add to the prison atmosphere, wait for the Ghostly Realms to come to me, train until I’m invincible, and then roam free between heaven and earth.’

Having made his decision, Zheng Xiu closed his eyes. [Divine Travel] activated.

In the Heart Prison, the handsome youth with a lotus mark on his forehead opened his eyes with a smile.

A faint shadow drifted out from behind Zheng Xiu, solidifying in an instant.

"CAW—CAW—CAW—"

The scattered flock of black crows circling in the sky seemed to be startled, quickly avoiding the space above the Heaven-Gazing Platform.

[Evil Child], strike!

Zheng Xiu glanced up at the flock of crows. ’Why are they so noisy?’ he wondered as he floated outward.

CLANG! KRAK—

The handsome youth slammed violently into the bars. The refined steel, forged a hundred times over, instantly buckled into the shape of a person.

Master Zheng was caught spread-eagle in the bent steel bars, a look of pure astonishment on his face.