The capital of the Gaoli Kingdom, the deposed crown prince's residence.

Jin Tiancheng had come.

Whenever he had the time, he came to humiliate Jin Dongxing.

To see the man who had once been a head above him at every turn now trampled underfoot... that feeling was simply wonderful.

Jin Dongxing had picked a basket of vegetables.

It was getting cold. This was the last crop of the year.

He washed a cucumber, sat down, and looked at the leaves slowly turning yellow. He sighed softly and said to himself, "Another autumn. How fast it goes... That man has been gone almost a year now. I wonder how he's getting on over there.

Living, be a hero among men; dead, be a hero among ghosts.

A man like him, even in the world below, is surely doing great things."

When he was done, he smiled soundlessly, then bit into the cucumber. It was crisp and sweet. Nothing beat what you grew yourself.

"His Majesty is here!"

A eunuch's shrill voice rang out.

The servants in the courtyard went down on their knees.

In dragon robes and looking in fine health, Jin Tiancheng strode in.

Jin Dongxing sighed softly. He blew the loose dust off the stone table, set the cucumber down, stood, straightened his clothes and cap, and knelt. "Your guilty subject Jin Dongxing pays respects to Your Majesty!"

Jin Tiancheng came over in long strides and sat down on a stone stool, showing no sign of telling Jin Dongxing to get up.

Nor had Jin Dongxing expected him to.

Whenever Jin Tiancheng came, he had to stay on his knees the whole time. He was used to it.

Jin Tiancheng glanced at the vegetables in the basket beside him. "The crown prince of the Gaoli Kingdom, once backed by the officials of the court, civil and military, and beloved by the people, now spends his days in a vegetable patch with shit and piss for company.

Jin Dongxing, you never seem to tire of it. Tell me, were you just born to love living this low?"

Jin Dongxing lowered…