Chao Tian Yi is located in the southwest of Guishan, Gutang County, Jiangning Prefecture. The North Station Road from Dongyang Prefecture, the Shiliang River waterway, and the Tangtu Station Road from Gutang County to Tu Zhong County all converge here. To the southwest of the station is Chao Tian Tang, also known as Chao Tian Lake, a natural barrier for Jiangning City. The dock where Lin Xie and Gu Wu Chen stopped their boat was called Gua Bu Ancient Ferry, and the shore directly south was Qi Xia Ancient Ferry, one of the main waterways across the river in Jiangning Prefecture. It is also known as the First Station of the Southern Country due to Chao Tian Yi. Behind Chao Tian Yi, there was a private residence of Taizu when he served as the Pacification Commissioner in Jiangning. After Taizu founded the country in Jiangning, the Guishan private residence was expanded into a temporary palace. After Taizong moved the capital to Yanjing, the Guishan Temporary Palace was renamed Jing Jue Chan Temple.

  Most of the civil and military officials who came and went, as well as the postmen who delivered official documents, had to change boats, horses or carriages at Chaotianyi Post House or take a rest; compared with the strict rules in the early days of the founding of the country, the official postal stations were more skilled in doing business, and openly allowed merchants who could not cross the river at night to stay overnight and collect silver.

  Listening to the distant bell of Jingyue Chan Temple behind the mountain at night, Lin Xie stood in front of the steps with his hands behind his back.

  Chen Enze just came back and said that Du Rong had invited Gu Suiyuan and Yongchang Xiao Houye Yuan Jinseng to visit Jingjue Chan Temple at night, and Yang Shi as well as two nephews of Gu Wudian, Gu Suiming and Gu Tianqiao, also joined the trip.

  Gu Siyuan and Yuan Jingsheng are what kind of relationship, Chen Enze actually found out from the maids mouth.

  When Gu Wu Chen and his wife were exiled to the northern border, their son Gu Siyuan and daughter Gu Junxun were still young. They were taken in by Gu Wu Chens father-in-law, Tang Haixin. Although Tang Haixin was implicated by his son-in-law and could not be appointed as Minister of Works, as a third-ranking official of the imperial court with only one daughter to inherit his title, he was able to send his grandson Gu Siyuan to the Imperial Academy to inherit his title.

  The Imperial Academy is divided into the Taixue and the Guozixue. The Taixue selects scholars from prefectures and counties, and both meritorious families and talented scholars can be recommended by local authorities to enter the academy. In reality, however, only 500 students are admitted to the Taixue, which means that it is actually controlled by local powerful families; while the Guozixue only admits as students those who are of the third rank or above, or the sons and grandsons of dukes and marquises, and the great-grandsons of those of the second rank.

  Both the northern and southern capitals have a National Academy, with slight differences being that if the children of dukes or above want to attend school, they can only choose to go to the capital. Gu Suiyuan and Yuan Jingshen met at the Yanjing National Academy.

  Gu Wudu obtained the position of Jiangdong Press Deputy, and he wanted to bring his son Gu Sihuan with him to strictly discipline him. He took him to Jiangning, where he could transfer to Jiangning National Academy for further study, which would not affect his future career prospects.

  Yuan Jinshe was to inherit the title of Marquis Yongchang, and according to law, he was prohibited from entering officialdom. He also spent his days idly at the Imperial Academy, with other plans in mind, and soon ended his studies and returned to Jiangning.

  It seems that Yuan Jingshen is not a very important figure after all.

  This morning, in order to restrict the sons and grandsons of the emperor from causing trouble locally and even threatening the imperial power of the direct imperial clan, although the nobles who were enfeoffed with a title had a high status and could also obtain rich supplies of silver money from their fiefs to enjoy honor, they actually had very limited power and were restricted from colluding with local powerful families.

  Lin Xie thought that Du Rong would invite Gu Siyuan and others to visit the Jingjue Temple at night, and more than half of them could learn about his situation in Shanglin from Gu Siyuans mouth, as well as his true relationship with the Gu family. Lin Xie didnt worry about this point, he had vowed not to stand together with Du Rong in front of the post house, mainly to attract Du Rongs attention to his opponent, and Du Rong would never explain these things to his opponent.

  To the east of the post house, a large courtyard was opened up for merchants and travelers to stay in, as well as for those who came to burn incense on the mountain. At this time, the sound of silk and bamboo instruments drifted over, interspersed with the soft voices of singing girls. Su Mei had been thinking about Lin Xie arriving in Jiangning, and today she had crossed the river with her sisters from Bianji Alley to burn incense at Jingyue Temple, where they met Zhou Pu and Chen Enze who arrived after noon. However, she couldnt stay behind to meet Lin Xie without drawing attention from others, so she let Xiao Man dress up as a young boy to follow Zhou Pu instead.

  Lin Xian thought to himself that his soul was attached to this world, and with Su Mei and Xiao Man on Changshan Island, he had experienced all sorts of things, and naturally felt closest to them. In his heart, he felt that only Su Mei and Xiao Man were his relatives in this world. He also thought about how Su Mei had stayed at this inn before noon, and his heart was filled with a few strands of nostalgia.

  Listening to the soft and gentle footsteps like a cat, Lin Xie turned his head back, and Xiao Man came over with her hair tied up in a cold manner, trying to scare him.

  "Your ears are so pointy..." Little Man saw Lin Xie turn his head around, and exclaimed in surprise, with an exaggerated and cute expression, her voice barely above a whisper.

  "At the ferry terminal... I should apologize to you." Lin Mou said.

  In front of the ferry, Gu Wu Chen said eagerly that he hoped Xiao Man could accompany his daughter Gu Jun Xiang in Jiangning. Lin Xie had to hint at Gu Wu Chen about Xiao Mans identity in order to avoid future resentment towards the Gu family. Xiao Man was extremely sensitive and felt the hint given by Lin Xie to Gu Wu Chen, her gloomy and hurt expression at that time was something Lin Xie could hardly forget. Later generations would probably find it hard to imagine a 14-year-old naive girl shouldering such a heavy burden. He knew Xiao Man had been hurt, and at this moment, he didnt know how to apologize or comfort her.

  "Whats that? Ive long forgotten, it all slipped my mind when you sat on the horseback with your knees together." Little Man said innocently shaking her head, her smile was clear and pure, she had a few hints of beauty in her eyebrows and eyes even at such a young age, Lin Xian thought to himself that when she grew up, she would probably be another Su Mei, a beautiful woman who brought disaster to the country.

  "What are you looking at?" Xiaoman stood beside Lin Xie, tiptoeing to look out, but her height was a head shorter than Lin Xies, and her eyes were blocked by the wall in front of her. She then leaned on Lin Xies shoulder and jumped up to take a peek, still unable to see anything.

  "Give you another kick, and you can forget the unpleasantness in front of the ferry; you just know that in my eyes, not to mention those official ladies, you are more noble than those princesses and county lords." Lin Xie squatted down on one knee, letting Xiao Man stand on his thigh. Afraid of being discovered by Du Rong or those around him, Lin Xie couldnt take Xiao Man out of the courtyard casually.

  Xiao Man happily put one hand on Lin Xies shoulder and stood on his leg, with the other hand supporting Lin Xies palm, and asked: "Does it hurt? Am I too heavy?"

  Lin tied up and only then did he realize that the little girls body was unusually light, looking not thin at all, with soft hands, saying: "Its okay, dont look at it as if its just one night."

  The inn was built on a slope, Lin Xie stood in front of the steps and looked towards the southwest direction of Chao Tian Tang. The sparkling water waves unfolded in his field of vision, and the majestic Jiangning City only had a very faint shadow. There was a faint outline of a mountain ridge at the eastern end of the city. Lin Xie estimated the position and thought that it must be Jinshan Mountain, the first of the Jiangning Mountains. To the east of Zijin Mountain was She Mountain in the territory of Moling County under Jiangning Prefecture. The famous Xixi Academy was located on the west slope of She Mountain, by the side of Xixi Creek, and it was only thirty miles away from the East City Gate of Jiangning City, Taiping Gate.

  ***********

  The family had to stay in the post house for a few more days, waiting for an auspicious day before proceeding to Jiangning to take up his new post.

  The next morning, there were carriages for rent at the post house. Zhao Hu rented a carriage. They didnt need to hire another driver, Lin Dai and his men simply pulled the carriage away. After entering the city, they would return the carriage to Jiangs Mule Shop in the city. This was very convenient, but the cost was quite high, renting such a carriage for one day required two hundred copper coins.

  Lin tied up the horse and carriage, letting Xiao Man accompany Liu Yueer in the courtyard to wait early. He went to bid farewell to Gu Wu Chen, making an appointment to meet again in Jiangning City, then drove the horse and carriage straight to Gua Pu Ancient Ferry, where he hired a large boat to cross the river.

  The Yangtze River is connected to the north of Jiangning City and the Chongjiang River, forming a large expanse. In winter, the river water is shallow and narrow, from Guabu Ferry to Xiashan Ferry on the opposite bank, there are more than 20 miles of water surface, with sandy islands scattered on the water surface. Considering that even if you disembark at Xiashan Ferry, its still within the territory of Muling County, and you need to walk west for nearly thirty miles to enter Jiangning City, Lin Xie let the boatman steer the boat directly into Chongjiang River, heading towards the mouth of Jinchuang River northeast of Jiangning City.

  The Jin River is only three or four miles long and then flows into the Muling Lake, which is located northwest of the Purple Mountain and east of Jiangning City. The Muling Lake is also known as the Xuanwu Lake after a thousand years. Because it was not filled in for farming, this eras Xuanwu Lake is much larger than what people remember later on. The lake shore surrounds an area of over 40 miles, located east of Jiangning City, and is even bigger than the entire city of Jiangning. It covers an area equivalent to that of the Purple Mountain.

  Before entering the Jinjiang River estuary, Lin Xie saw a island in the middle of the river about two miles away from the estuary. The island had a relatively large area with a cluster of buildings made of green bricks and gray tiles surrounded by high walls. In this section of the Yangtze River near Chao Lake, there were more river islets. Although some people lived on the island to open up wasteland and plant crops, or built thatched cottages, he had not noticed this island outside the Jinjiang River estuary when he came to Jiangning before.

  "Whats over there?" Lin Xie asked a local Jiangning native.

  "Oh, thats the great prison of Jinjiang Island in the Jiangdong Provincial Inspectorate!" said Xiao Man.

  Lin Xuans mind was a bit knotted, whether it was his previous memories or the impression of ancient prisons thousands of years later. It seemed rare to build such a large-scale prison on an island outside the city in the inland area. Usually, whether it was a county town prison, a prefectural prison, a circuit intendants prison, a Ministry of Justice prison, or a Supreme Court prison, they all had dual functions as both a detention center and a prison, because suspects needed to be brought to trial at any time, and the various government offices and their affiliated prisons were generally not too far apart, let alone built on an island outside the city, which was more like a professional prison thousands of years later.

  Although Jiangxin Island deviates from the main waterway, Lin Xies boat came from Guabu Du and crossed over to the island. The island happened to be right in their way as they entered the Jin River estuary. Seeing that the boatman intentionally took a detour, Lin Xie loudly asked the boatman at the rear of the boat: "Why not go close to the island?"

  "Thats the prison castle over there," said the boatman, "and as we get closer, you can see that even the boats and people are being escorted down."

  "Prison Island!" When Lin Xie heard this term from the boatman, he suddenly remembered something and understood why the Provincial Governors office had renovated the large prison into an island. This matter was actually a long-standing unsolved case between Nanjing and Beijing.

  According to the "Xing Li Lu" of this dynasty, punishments are divided into five categories: flogging, caning, penal servitude, exile, and death. Among them, penal servitude refers to imprisonment with hard labor, similar to the so-called fixed-term imprisonment used a thousand years later. Exile means banishing prisoners to remote and desolate areas for hard labor. Generally speaking, exile is heavier than penal servitude but lighter than death penalty. In recent years, some of the border areas where serious prisoners were exiled, such as Saiwai, Jibei, Hexi, and Donghai Island, were either frequently invaded by alien tribes or occupied by pirates. In fact, sending prisoners to these border areas would bring them actual punishments beyond what was prescribed in the "Xing Li Lu". Moreover, there is concern that these exiled prisoners might be taken away by aliens or pirates, increasing their strength. In view of this situation, the Jiangning Ministry of Justice, the Jiangning Court of Judicial Review, and the Jiangning Procuratorate decided to reform the prison system and redefine punishments, proposing to build a prison city to replace exile, and to imprison prisoners who should be exiled in the prison city for hard labor, rather than sending them to more dangerous remote areas.

  According to Lins understanding, this should be a pretty good reform, but the ruling clique in Yanjing and the Jiangning guard officials are two opposing bureaucratic groups that have always been at odds. The people from Yanjing who are currently in power think that the Jiangning guard officials should be more obedient and not act as troublemakers, resolutely resisting the so-called replacement of exile with imprisonment.

  Lin Xian still thought that the discussion about building a prison had long since dissipated, but unexpectedly, the disgruntled officials in Jiangning were not willing to give up. Despite strong opposition from the powerful official clique in Yanjing, they first instigated the Jiangdong Provincial Governors Office to build a new prison under the pretext of "building a new great prison", and it was built on an island in the middle of the Yangtze River outside the city of Jiangning.