Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

After doing all this, Gu Yannian clapped his hands in satisfaction.

He took off the conspicuous burial clothes he was wearing, revealing a gray cloth robe that he had already put on underneath.

He took a package that he had hidden beforehand from the crossbeam of the thatched shed.

Inside the package were a few pieces of silver, a change of clothes, a mask, and a flask of aged liquor.

Gu Yannian tore off the white beard stuck to his face, and his face shape changed.

In the dim light of the bronze mirror, he had transformed into an ordinary-looking, weathered old itinerant doctor.

"This court drama has been going on for so many years, and they've had their fill of scheming."

Gu Yannian picked up the wine jug and tilted his head back to gulp down a large mouthful of strong liquor.

The spicy liquor flowed down my throat, igniting a fiery sense of freedom in the chilly spring night.

He took one last look at the thin-skinned coffin and the Forbidden City hidden in the night in the distance.

There are the iron-fisted emperors he trained, and the prosperous era he personally created.

He no longer needs to worry about any of this.

"The sky is high and the sea is vast, the road to immortality is long. This mortal world, I, Gu, am departing!"

Gu Yannian laughed softly, so softly that it did not disturb anyone.

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his whole body soared into the air like an eagle.

With thousands of points of agility, he became a blur in the night, invisible to the naked eye.

In a few leaps, he had already crossed the high wall of the cemetery and disappeared into the vast night and the boundless world.

The next morning.

Zhu Qiyu led his civil and military officials and personally carried the thin-skinned coffin filled with sandbags into the tomb.

The loess covered the earth, and the history of Gu Yannian, a powerful minister of his generation, came to an end.

Zhu Qiyu stood before the tombstone, facing the spring breeze, his eyes slightly red, but he did not shed a tear.

He turned around and looked at the group of trembling officials behind him, his hand unconsciously touching the sandalwood abacus at his waist.

"Although the Grand Tutor has departed, the rules of the Ming Dynasty remain unchanged! This morning at court, the Ministry of Revenue will review the accounts for the land reclamation in Guangdong and Guangxi for me again!"

"If there are still deficits, I will not let them off lightly!"

The new emperor's angry shouts echoed over the cemetery.

On the official road hundreds of miles away...

An elderly man in gray clothes, carrying a bag and wearing a straw hat, was leading a skinny donkey slowly southward.

The old man carried a bright yellow gourd in his hand, humming an unknown tune as he walked.

Looking at the willow trees by the roadside that have just sprouted new buds, my eyes are full of leisure and anticipation for this vast world.

"Let's go to Jiangnan and see what this beautiful land is really like."

A gentle breeze swept by, and the old man's figure gradually blended into the misty rain of the Jiangnan water town.

Immortality without end, the game is over.

In the early summer of the fourth year of the Jingtai reign.

Rainfall is gradually increasing in the Jiangnan region.

The misty drizzle, like countless silver threads, gently enveloped the white walls and black tiles of Suzhou Prefecture.

A gentle breeze blows, and the weeping willows on both sides of the canal sway softly.

The streets and alleys paved with bluestone slabs were spotless after being washed by the rain, exuding a gentle and tranquil charm unique to the water towns of Jiangnan.

In the south of the city, there is a quiet little courtyard built by the water.

Gu Yannian wore a soft, dark blue Hangzhou silk robe, and his hair was casually tied in a topknot with a simple wooden hairpin.

A few fine lines were visible at the corners of his eyes, and his gray beard was neatly trimmed.

He leaned against a bamboo rocking chair under the eaves, holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand.

The fan swayed intermittently as the rocking chair rocked.

On the small red clay stove in front of me, the kettle was making a "bubbling" sound as it boiled.

He sat up, picked up the kettle, and poured the boiling spring water into a purple clay teapot on the table.

In an instant, the delicate fragrance of premium Biluochun tea, accompanied by the rising steam, spread throughout the continuous drizzle.

"The soil and water in Jiangnan are indeed more nourishing than the dry north winds of the capital."

Gu Yannian picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and let out a comfortable sigh.

Since faking his death and escaping from the capital, he has been traveling and enjoying the scenery, stopping and starting as he pleases.

They eventually settled down in the prosperous and wealthy Suzhou.

They acquired this small courtyard by the water and hired an elderly deaf-mute servant named Uncle Fu to be in charge of daily cleaning.

He used the pseudonym Gu Qingweng and told the outside world that he was a wealthy old man who had been a businessman in his early years and had now retired to his hometown.

Gone are the mountains of folded paperwork that could never be finished.

Gone are the days of those officials arguing heatedly over a few taels of silver in the imperial court.

There were no longer those two royal brothers, whom he had personally trained, who were always ready to smash people's heads with an abacus.

This life is so good, it's something even a god couldn't trade.

The rain gradually subsided, turning into a light drizzle like cow's hair.

Gu Yannian put down his teacup, picked up a piece of sweet and soft osmanthus cake from the bamboo basket beside him, put it in his mouth, and chewed it slowly.

Just then, a crisp knocking sound came from outside the courtyard gate.

The deaf and mute Uncle Fu walked over with faltering steps and opened the door.

Then, Wang, the shopkeeper who often visited the neighborhood, walked in with a smile, holding an oil-paper umbrella and carrying several official gazettes with ink-printed characters under his arm.

Shopkeeper Wang runs a silk shop at the street corner. He often goes to the capital to purchase goods and is a very inquisitive person.

He noticed that the newly arrived "Old Man Gu" spoke eloquently and was willing to spend money on tea and food.

They would often come over to ask for a cup of good tea and tell me about the interesting things they had heard in the capital.

"Brother Gu, what a fine mood you're in! On such a rainy day, enjoying tea and listening to the rain under the eaves—truly a refined and elegant pursuit!"

Manager Wang put away his umbrella and walked familiarly to the corridor, sitting down on the stone bench opposite Gu Yannian.

Gu Yannian smiled, shook his palm-leaf fan, and poured him a cup of tea from the teapot.

"I've had nothing better to do, just wanted some peace and quiet. What brings you here today, Manager Wang? Is business slow at the shop?"

Manager Wang picked up his teacup, greedily inhaled the aroma of the tea, and smacked his lips.

"This rain is so persistent, there's not a soul to be seen on the streets, let alone any customers. Look, my errand boy just returned from trading in the capital yesterday, bringing back several copies of the latest imperial gazette."

"I figured my brother likes to listen to things about politics, so I brought this up to amuse him."

Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Gu Yannian's eyes.

It's been almost a year since he left the capital.

The Jingtai Emperor Zhu Qiyu, who valued the abacus more than his own life, must have turned the Ming Dynasty into something unimaginable.

Gu Yannian casually picked up another piece of osmanthus cake and asked, pretending to be nonchalant:

"Oh? What's new in the capital?"