If Bai Yuan's previous request had merely scratched the wound—
Then his latest plea was a full-arm plunge straight into San Shier's already-bleeding heart.
San Shier and Tan Liwen sat facing each other at the long council table.
At the same moment, they both raised their hands.
At the same moment, they both let them drop again.
No words.
Because there really were no words left.
Tan Liwen finally sighed first, rubbing his temples. "If this were any other order, I'd pretend I didn't hear it."
San Shier stared at the ceiling, eyes hollow. "Unfortunately… it came from Dao Xuan Tianzun."
Silence.
That name had weight. Not metaphorical weight—real weight. The kind that crushed excuses flat before they even formed.
"Divine decrees," Tan Liwen muttered, "are not things we can ignore. Even if we sold our homes, pawned our shoes, and mortgaged our dignity, the decree must still be fulfilled."
San Shier slammed his forehead onto the table with a dull thud.
"Blue Hats… Blue Hats… where in the nine layers of bureaucracy am I supposed to find more Blue Hats?"
He dragged out thick stacks of documents, flipping pages so fast the paper screamed for mercy.
Factories in Puzhou.
Roads in Baishui.
Fortifications at Dragon Gate Ferry.
Now Sunji Town, too.
Everyone wanted Blue Hats.
Everyone needed experts.
And Gao Family Village, for the first time, had run headfirst into a problem money couldn't solve.
People.
Just as San Shier was on the verge of questioning his life choices, a familiar silhouette appeared at the council hall entrance.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Wearing the relaxed smile of a man who commanded tens of thousands of backs and shovels.
"Gentlemen," Zhong Gaoliang said cheerfully, clasping his hands. "Long time no see."
San Shier looked up.
"…You."
If San Shier were a drowning man, Zhong Gaoliang would be the unexpected piece of driftwood—slightly damp, possibly splintered, but still floating.
Zhong Gaoliang, Warden of Labor Reform Valley.
The man currently in charge of one hundred and twenty thousand labor reform prisoners.
In sheer manpower alone, his authority rivaled an entire county.
There was a saying circulating quietly around Gao Family Village:
If a mountain blocked Zhong Gaoliang's road, he'd just point at it and say 'dig,' and by tomorrow morning the mountain would be gone.
Zhong Gaoliang smiled. "I've come to make a small request. A few labor reform prisoners performed exceptionally well recently. I was hoping to reward them with some of those… miraculous foods bestowed by Dao Xuan Tianzun."
"I have no time," San Shier replied flatly.
Zhong Gaoliang blinked. "Wow. That wasn't even an idiom."
"No time to think of idioms!" San Shier snapped.
Now that caught Zhong Gaoliang's interest. "Oh? What could possibly have our Third Steward so flustered?"
San Shier waved him over and explained the entire situation—the bridges, the fortifications, Bai Yuan's request, and the catastrophic shortage of Blue Hats.
Zhong Gaoliang listened… then burst out laughing.
"That's it?"
San Shier stared. "That's it?!"
Zhong Gaoliang waved a hand casually. "If you need people, why not come to me? I've got a hundred and twenty thousand over there. Surely a few are usable."
San Shier squinted. "Yellow Hats, sure. But Blue Hats? Technicians?"
Zhong Gaoliang crossed his arms confidently. "You underestimate labor reform prisoners. Their past professions span all thirty-six trades. Carpenters, blacksmiths, masons, scholars—you name it. Plenty can read, write, calculate."
He leaned forward slightly. "They've been building roads, leveling mountains, constructing workshops. After working alongside Gao Family Village's technicians, some of the sharper ones already are Blue Hats in everything but name."
San Shier's eyes lit up.
"So that's how it is!"
Then his expression collapsed again.
"But they're still serving sentences!" he hissed. "How can we let them wear Blue Hats and send them to Shanxi? What if they run? What if something happens? Dao Xuan Tianzun—"
Before he could finish, the golden-thread embroidery on his chest stirred.
The embroidered image of Dao Xuan Tianzun calmly opened its mouth.
"You may try it."
San Shier froze.
When Dao Xuan Tianzun speaks, discussion ends.
San Shier straightened immediately. "Very well. Zhong Gaoliang, select them yourself. Skill, character, reform progress—no mistakes."
Zhong Gaoliang bowed. "Understood."
One Day Later
Huanglong Mountain — Labor Reform Valley
For once, the valley buzzed with excitement rather than exhaustion.
At the fortress gate, a line of Labor Reform Model Workers stood upright.
Among them were two old acquaintances: Qi Cheng and Chen Ergou.
Today, they looked… different.
Gone were the undyed cotton uniforms.
They now wore blue work clothes and blue safety helmets—identical to Gao Family Village's technicians, except for a single character stamped on the helmet:
Trial.
The moment they put them on, something strange happened.
For the briefest instant—
They felt free.
Around them, tens of thousands of labor reform prisoners stared with undisguised envy.
Zhong Gaoliang stood atop the wall, megaphone in hand.
"Congratulations," he announced. "Due to your outstanding performance and technical ability, Dao Xuan Tianzun has granted you a special assignment."
The crowd erupted.
"You will leave the Labor Reform Valley and be deployed to Shanxi. During this period, you will receive treatment equivalent to free technical workers."
Gasps.
"Your wages will be slightly reduced," Zhong Gaoliang added calmly, "but this difference may be exchanged for sentence reduction."
Qi Cheng and Chen Ergou grabbed each other's hands.
"The chance for sentence reduction!" they whispered, eyes shining.
After years of full bellies, people always want more.
Freedom.
Qi Cheng shouted first. "Warden! I swear I will perform excellently!"
Chen Ergou followed immediately. "I won't disappoint!"
Zhong Gaoliang chuckled. "You answer not to me—but to Dao Xuan Tianzun."
The prisoners fell silent.
"Look at your chests."
They looked down.
There—embroidered in five-colored thread—was Dao Xuan Tianzun.
Suddenly, the image on Qi Cheng's chest smiled.
Qi Cheng yelped.
Then Chen Ergou's smiled.
Then the next.
Like falling dominoes, smiles spread across the line.
A collective gasp rose.
Zhong Gaoliang's voice turned cold. "Heaven watches. If anyone harbors wicked intent—do not embarrass yourself by trying. Dao Xuan Tianzun will see."
Qi Cheng swallowed hard. "I would never!"
The Blue Hats shouted in unison. "We will never disappoint Dao Xuan Tianzun!"
Zhong Gaoliang nodded.
"Good. Depart."
A retainer from Bai Family Fortress stepped forward.
"Follow me."
And so—
The first trial Blue Hats marched out of Labor Reform Valley.