Chapter 1

The cries of summer cicadas had almost disappeared, and the air gradually took on the flavor of autumn. Ding Yi, standing at the alley entrance, stood beside the ginkgo tree scattered with small white flowers, took a deep breath, and felt an extraordinary freshness. He looked down at his clothes, then glanced around at the houses in front, behind, and to the sides, and couldn't help but nod: this street, this courtyard, and even his attire—this body in the Ming Dynasty was indeed living quite well.

But how did it come to the point where he couldn't survive and had to hang himself from a branch in the southeast?

Tightening the cloak on his shoulders, Ding Yi wasn't cold, but he used the fur-trimmed cloak to cover the dark purple, ugly勒痕 (bruise) on his neck, which extended from above his Adam's apple to both sides of his neck. Based on his experience from the special forces and five years as a frontline police officer, he easily determined that the previous owner of this body had committed suicide and, due to his lack of expertise, had hung for a long time before suffocating to death.

Indeed, it was thanks to the previous owner's incompetence in hanging himself that the neck bones and trachea were not broken by the belt, thus benefiting Ding Yi, the穿越者 (time traveler).

Indeed, Ding Yi was a time traveler. In the terminology of his previous life, his situation was called soul transmigration or body snatching. In his previous life, he had transferred from the special forces to the police force. Before he could achieve anything significant, he was transported to this unfamiliar dynasty, becoming a well-off scholar with a house and a carriage, a bright future.

The previous owner of this body was also named Ding Yi, a scholar who died resolutely. His brain was as empty as a formatted hard drive, with the soul and memories completely erased and fragmented.

The only things clearly left to Ding Yi, the inheritor, were three things that the previous owner couldn't forget until his death: the ancestral home, the scholar's title, and the beloved lady.

The old home was the middle one of the three courtyards in the alley, with blue brick walls, black lacquered gates, and shiny red copper door rings on each gate. There was even a garden with a small bamboo grove behind the courtyard. Just these items and the location of the courtyard in the city were enough to make Ding Yi realize that the original owner of his body, even if not a wealthy gentleman, was at least a second-generation wealthy gentleman.

This was a luxury home in the city center, only 300 steps from the Confucian temple.

In Ding Yi's previous life, he would have had to save for 50 years without eating or drinking to afford a toilet in the same area—on credit.

The only thing that made him constantly complain in his heart after the body snatching was the name: in his previous life, he was an orphanage-raised child, and being named Ding Yi was understandable. But this was a scholar from a wealthy family; did they really have to name him Ding Yi? As a scholar, it was truly a disgrace to the literary world, wasn't it?

But looking at the real "dwelling with bamboo" not far away, he finally stopped complaining: such a luxurious home was worth the穿越 (transmigration)!

He slowly moved his limbs and continued to approach his home in this era.

Even though this body was weak and could only display one-tenth of his previous skills, he thought he could still solve the scholar's troubles.

He pondered in his heart, who could have forced this scholar to the point of not being able to survive? Perhaps it was local ruffians who bullied bookworms? Seeing that the previous owner of this body only read books, had money but no elders to support him, they came to plunder and bully...

Suddenly, a clamor of voices came from the other end of the alley, near the Confucian temple. A group of people, lifting the hems of their robes, hurried over. Ding Yi flexed his facial muscles and quickly put on a bright smile. Although the scholar's brain was thoroughly formatted, he recognized the attire of the people coming. They were dressed similarly to him, definitely other scholars. They must be classmates and friends who heard he was being bullied and came to help!

His heart warmed. Although this era had many shortcomings, there were no electric lights, but at least it wasn't an era where helping an old lady could lead to false accusations; at least scholars, though weak, would feel the same when hearing a classmate was in trouble, and they still had integrity and a sense of justice.

But just as Ding Yi opened his mouth, he realized something was wrong: "Gentlemen..."

Before he could finish, a thick wad of phlegm was spat in front of him. The leading scholar, with veins bulging on his forehead, said with a hatred like that of a father being killed or a wife being taken: "Spit! Ding Rujin, you are insane and aiding the enemy! From now on, we are enemies! I, Liu Mou, come to cut ties with you today!" He threw a corner of his robe at Ding Yi and, amid the cheers of the crowd, walked away with his head held high like a victorious general.

Ding Yi felt that this person, in the terms of his previous life, was truly "beyond redemption." Who knew that the second person came up, spat on Ding Yi's face, and shouted, "Vile scoundrel! Moral decay! Shameful! Despicable! Killable!"

Ding Yi's skills from his previous life were gone, but his consciousness and reactions were still there. He calmly sidestepped to avoid the phlegm, but then saw another corner of a robe thrown at him, "Clothed beast, Cao Mou is ashamed to be in your company!"

Next, "Clothed beast!" "Self-degraded, beyond redemption!" were still bearable; later, the scholars seemed to run out of words and didn't want to repeat what the previous people said, so "Lackeys, walking corpses!" and "Dead bones, selling your head" came out. One even said, "Ding Rujin, you, you despicable prostitute!" and won a round of cheers.

These words were so vicious that a fragment of the previous owner's memory, or rather, a part that wasn't completely formatted, immediately reacted in a corner of Ding Yi's brain.

The inner disgust made Ding Yi's eyes widen, staring at the person's face.

The eyes were the scholar's, but the soul was Ding Yi's, who had experienced blood and fire.

How many times had these scholars seen such a penetrating, murderous gaze? The shouting immediately quieted down. But they were unwilling to be intimidated by a shameless person, so they stomped their feet and shouted, "Do not think that finding a patron will allow you to act as you please. We read the books of sages and have a righteous spirit in our hearts! Sacrificing our lives for justice is enough to leave a name in history!"

"Right, we have a proud spirit!" The more talented ones even pointed to the cluster of bamboo in Ding Yi's backyard and recited a few lines, full of phrases like "graceful like a gentleman" and "hanging a branch of dust," which were hard to understand.

After the scholars finished their tirade, they all walked away with their robes missing corners. Ding Yi, confused and dazed, couldn't help but take a few steps forward and ask, "Gentlemen! What did I do to make everyone hate me so much?"

The scholars at the end of the street turned around. Some had extremely disdainful smiles, others coldly snorted, but none of the twenty or so people answered his question.

Subconsciously touching his nose, Ding Yi smiled bitterly. What was this? He shook his head, looked at the scattered corners of the robes on the ground, and picked one up. The cut was very neat, but no one had taken out scissors or a knife to cut the robes. It seemed they had cut them at home and brought them here.

Was this a prearranged performance?

Ding Yi decided not to care about them. If they wanted to cut ties, so be it. At least he wouldn't have to worry about his body snatching being exposed, which was a good thing. Now, with a spacious courtyard and a scholar's title, he should go home and secure what he had.

But as soon as he entered the courtyard, he heard someone roaring loudly, "You bastards! Is the young master like that? And you, Ergouzi, when you were frozen stiff at the city wall, if it weren't for the master, you would have been buried in a mass grave; Xuchui, your whole family borrowed money, and the human traffickers would have taken your eldest daughter to the red-light district. Who gave you a way out..."

"Uncle Zhong, I, I am not a person!" The young servant named Ergouzi squatted under the longan tree in the courtyard, holding his head and crying, "But, but the village sent a message saying that if I don't go back, they will dig up our ancestral graves..."

"Yes, Uncle Zhong, I have no choice. We know the young master is not the kind of person they say he is. But, but the family and neighbors don't know!"

"Uncle Zhong, Uncle Zhong, please, let us go! We will find a way to repay the Ding family in the future!"

...

Ding Yi stood at the door and listened for a while, gradually understanding the situation. It seemed that the servants hired by the family were all quitting, willing to forgo their wages to find other means of livelihood. It appeared that they were forced to do this because of the master's reputation, which had made their lives unbearable. They were all crying, making it hard to bear.

"Alright, Uncle Zhong." Ding Yi pushed open the door, walked to the old steward, sighed, and said, "Uncle Zhong, it's fine, no need to say more. A forced melon is not sweet. Let them go and settle their wages for this month." Then Ding Yi said to the servants who were quitting, "Take your wages and live well."

In his previous life, when someone quit a job, unless it was very tense or involved trade secrets, the HR department would always say a few nice words, and everyone would part on good terms. After retiring and becoming a police officer, Ding Yi had encountered all sorts of people and situations, so he wasn't at a loss.

But the servants, hearing this, shed tears. In this era, the lower-class people were very simple and felt guilty for leaving their master in trouble. They were moved that Ding Yi not only settled their wages for the whole month but also kindly advised them to live well.

If he was going to do something, he would do it well. In his previous life in the city, with high prices and a salary that barely covered the down payment, he lived a very tight life. This time, he didn't want to be seen as stingy.

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