My daily cultivation progress is calculated.

Chapter 23 The New Doctor

Early the next morning.

Shen Yan arrived at the prison, and before he could even settle in, Wei Shitou came to him to complain.

"Boss Shen, that Ji Boyan has too many tricks up his sleeve, I really can't handle him anymore."

"What's going on? What does he want now?"

"He asked me to prepare pen and ink for him so he could write the essay."

Shen Yan was also at a loss after hearing this, even though the bottom line of the Heavenly Prison was that there was no bottom line.

Giving prisoners paper and pen is considered a major taboo. Normally, when messages are passed around, the prisoners speak and the jailers write them down.

They were afraid that these officials would write something treasonous and get themselves into trouble.

Civil officials were least afraid of being beheaded, and even took pride in remonstrating to the death. There was a time when a prison guard gave a convicted official paper and pen.

Finally, he wrote an acrostic poem, angrily denouncing Emperor Xuanwu as incompetent and tyrannical.

Somehow, the Embroidered Uniform Guard overheard it. At that time, almost all the jailers in the Class A prison were replaced, leaving only two or three people. The rest were all beheaded.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Great Zhou Dynasty was omnipresent; even one's bedmate could be a spy for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as an official once joked.

I told a joke while putting the child to bed at night. The child didn't laugh, but the Imperial Guard spy under the bed laughed.

Although it was said in jest, it still gives a glimpse into the terror of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

After pondering for a while, Shen Yan decided to give Ji Boyan a writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. His father was the Minister of Works; if he were to write something treasonous, his father would be the first to suffer. He couldn't possibly ruin his father's life, could he?

"Send it to him."

Shen Yan delivered the items to him, but Ji Boyan looked at the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone in his hand with great disdain.

"Such crude things are unworthy of fine writing. Send me Huizhou ink, Xuan paper, and wolf-hair brushes."

Shen Yan frowned upon hearing this. Even if one had the money, one couldn't buy these things in a short time.

"Young Master Ji, this is the only kind of stuff we have in the Imperial Prison. It's the same set that Grand Tutor Wang used when he was imprisoned there."

"Hmm!? It's actually the writing set used by Grand Tutor Wang. No wonder there's a scholarly aura swirling within it. Not bad, then there's no need to change it."

Shen Yan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the man had finally calmed down.

On the way back, Wei Shitou asked curiously, "Shen Tou, is this really something that Wang Taifu used? I have to keep it safe after he finishes using it; it's a treasure."

"You're asking me? How would I know? Didn't you give it to me?"

The tutor Wang that Shen Yan mentioned is Wang Yuan, the teacher of the current crown prince and also the teacher of Emperor Xuanwu.

He wasn't lying; Wang Yuan had indeed been imprisoned, and more than once.

In fact, almost 90% of the third-rank civil officials in the Great Zhou Dynasty had been imprisoned.

The Heavenly Prison truly deserves its reputation as a place for enlightenment.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard sent in many more prisoners, including quite a few officials. Now, not only was Cell C full, but Cell A was also almost full.

Even the long-serving jailer exclaimed that it was a truly extraordinary sight, as he hadn't seen anything like it in over a decade.

The happiest person was Xu Shaogong, who saw these people not as prisoners, but as money.

During this period, he amassed a fortune, pocketing countless amounts of silver.

He had given everything to get promoted, and the money only stayed in his hands for a few nights before ending up in the hands of Ding Anzhi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

As for the effect, it was naturally good. After spending tens of thousands of taels of silver, Ding Anzhi looked at him as if he were his own son.

Every time we met, he was exceptionally kind, constantly saying things like, "Shaogong is truly a great talent," "He's really wasted in prison," and "I'll definitely find an opportunity to promote you in a few days."

Each time they met and exchanged money, the time allotted by Minister Ding would shorten, just like a progress bar in Xu Shaogong's eyes.

But can we really wait until tomorrow and tomorrow?

If Shen Yan saw this scene, he would definitely say something.

"Isn't this just like a heartless boss making empty promises in a past life?"

He showered you with compliments, but offered no real benefits. He always envisioned a bright future for you, urging you to work harder so he could live in a villa, drive luxury cars, and have a mistress.

Shen Yan left Prison No. 1, intending to find Sun Fugui to see if anyone was willing to hand over their martial arts techniques.

Currently, many martial arts practitioners are imprisoned in Prison C, and many of them possess cultivation skills.

Shen Yan was extremely envious and even considered transferring back to Prison C to work.

Of course, that's impossible.

"Sun Fugui, what's wrong with this person?"

He saw Sun Fugui holding down a prisoner, but what was strange was that the prisoner was carrying a medicine box and looked like a doctor.

Sun Fugui winked at him and said, "Brother Shen, this is the new doctor from the prison."

"A doctor? Then why are you dressed like a prisoner?"

"Hey, isn't this just the warden giving him a chance to redeem himself by seeing the increasing number of wounded in the prison?"

The doctor, who looked to be around forty years old and had a goatee, became furious upon hearing Sun Fugui's words, his goatee practically standing on end.

"Isn't this all a frame-up by you?"

Sun Fugui was immediately displeased upon hearing this.

"Li Jianzhong, don't talk nonsense. It's clearly your poor medical skills that caused someone's death. We officials are only giving you this opportunity because of your years of treating patients in the prison."

Shen Yan overheard their conversation and immediately understood the whole story. He could only conclude that Li Jianzhong had been careless and underestimated the shamelessness of the prison guards.

The number of prisoners in the prison has surged, and most of them are injured.

The original method of temporarily fetching a doctor from the clinic is definitely not going to work; a doctor must be stationed permanently in the prison.

But this prison is not a good place after all. Medical students, like scholars, have their own pride.

Besides, since they treat patients and save lives, they are not short of money, so naturally they would not want to come to the prison.

If we can't invite them through proper means, then we'll naturally have to resort to special methods.

What could be more appreciated than helping someone escape unscathed?

As for how you ended up in this mess, that's none of your business.

This approach aligns perfectly with Shen Yan's view of the Heavenly Prison.

After Sun Fugui saw Li Jianzhong off, Shen Yan asked about the cultivation technique.

The prison guards all knew that Shen Yan was obsessed with martial arts, and they would keep an eye out for suitable opportunities for him.

Shen Yan was well-liked in the prison. He was a righteous person and would lend a helping hand to anyone in urgent need.

The jailers were willing to help him, even though they believed deep down that Shen Yan, at his age, couldn't possibly achieve anything significant in martial arts.

"Brother Shen, you know what, there really are some. Not all of these江湖草莽 (jianghu caomang, meaning roughnecks and outlaws) are tough guys. Starve them for a couple of days, and if all else fails, take them to the torture chamber. There's nothing they can't get out of them."

Sun Fugui handed him the paper in his arms. The handwriting on it was neat and tidy, and it was clear that it was not written by a jailer.

Shen Yan took it and saw that, wow, there was quite a lot.

I was overjoyed.

"Thank you for your hard work, brothers. Here's ten taels of silver. Take it and share it with the brothers. Consider it my treat to drinks."

"Hey! Brother Shen, you're the best at handling things."

Back in the office, he began to examine the contents; the cultivation techniques were varied and numerous.

Shen Yan once spent a great deal of effort to obtain the Golden Body Technique, but now, with just a casual remark, someone can help him collect several other techniques.

"There are quite a few styles, including 'Swift Steps,' 'Twenty-Six Styles of Tan Leg,' and 'Arhat Fist.'"

Although they all looked like ordinary goods, Shen Yan accepted them all.