I

Ji Xia, the inaugural emperor of Qian, stands as both the genesis and finale of immortality. He pioneered the unification of this expansive realm and its diverse people under one banner. Since his epoch, language and history have intertwined, flowing like an inexorable river through the ages.
A wealth of knowledge concerning Ji Xia persists, his influence permeating every corner and epoch. As WeiShi scholars diligently pursue their studies, they unearth ever more enigmatic facets of the first emperor. Yet, they acknowledge that despite each revelation, countless untold chapters of Ji Xia's past remain entombed within the sands of time.

II

No matter the era, Ji Xia has always loved drinking. The exact time he first drank alcohol is lost to history, or perhaps he witnessed the entire process of primitive malt fermentation by the ancestors. For many centuries, he never gave up this rich, flavorful drink.
But Ji Xia could never have imagined that this small hobby would face so many setbacks in history.
The first alcohol prohibition he encountered came from his very own descendants. An early dynasty in Qian believed that the previous generation fell because the nobles and ministers indulged in drinking and neglected state affairs, so they decreed a ban on drinking without cause.
That period caused Ji Xia much discontentment, but he soon found a workaround: he created an extensive family tree for himself, with each day being the memorial day of some ancestor, allowing him to drink under the pretext of ancestral worship. Inspired by him, his neighbors soon remembered the names of their ancestors from fifty or sixty generations ago within a few months.
After leaving Qian and traveling west, Ji Xia encountered another prohibition in Obed. The young Emperor Daliu outlawed all taverns to improve military readiness, allowing young men to drink legally only by joining the army and earning rewards for their service. Judging by later history, this decree was very effective; however, Ji Xia left Obed and continued west, perhaps driven by Daliu's prohibition.
Unfortunately, Ji Xia's bad luck continued. When he arrived in Japh, he found the Japhetic Ethics flourishing, promoting a higher standard of living that led nobles to abstain from alcohol and prohibit their servants from drinking, even denigrating alcohol as "the devil's drink." Fortunately, few people are as steadfast as a rock; Ji Xia's brewing skills, brought from Qian, soon "persuaded" a cardinal in Javriel. They reached an understanding: every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Ji Xia would brew and give the cardinal a pot of wine for free; every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, Ji Xia would confess his sins to the cardinal in church, and the cardinal would absolve him; on Sunday, they both rested… It is said that the cardinal wrote in his meditation journal: "Resisting excessive drinking is a battle with one's own soul. I have been defeated many times, but I will fight until the day I am summoned to another world." However, the most shocking prohibition for Ji Xia was the total prohibition in Polestar Conglomerate. About a century ago, Polestar banned all imports and exports of alcoholic beveRages. This continues to baffle historians: a nation of merchants banning a product with a gross profit margin of over 70% seems like a suicidal move. This decree was highly effective, raising the gross profit margin of alcohol from 70% to 700%, albeit on the black market.

III

During his years with "Master", Wushi never seemed to see him worry about money. When they traveled, Ji Xia handed over any earnings to Wushi to manage, never inquiring about the amount or the accounts.
However, Wushi was not good at managing finances, and once, in desperation, he had to inform Ji Xia that they were nearly penniless and could not even pay the rent.
"Is this house rented?" Ji Xia seemed surprised, but his response shocked Wushi even more: "If we can't pay the rent, why not buy the house?"
"Master, we are about to be thrown out, where would we get the money?" Wushi smiled wryly.
"True." Ji Xia thought for a moment, then went to his room and rummaged through his things, finally pulling out a yellowed note from a crumpled notebook. He held it up to the light and said: "This should be enough."
Wushi recognized that the note was not written in the script of Qian but in Japheth script. He did not understand the language but recognized the faded emblem on the corner of the note, which was the mark of the Florentine Bank. "This should be enough." Ji Xia tossed the note to Wushi and did not mention the matter again.
Wushi, puzzled, took the note to a branch of the Florentine Bank and handed it directly to the manager. The manager stared at the note for a long time with a look of disbelief, made a few phone calls, and finally respectfully invited Wushi into the VIP room. Soaked in sweat, the manager said: "Sir, this deposit has accrued five centuries of interest! The cash amount is too large for us to provide immediately. Could you allow us a few days to gather the funds?"
Wushi was taken aback but remained composed: "I do not need to withdraw the full amount."
"How much would you like to withdraw?" the manager asked eagerly.
"I wish to purchase a property in this city. How much would that cost?"
The manager led him to the window, where he could see the bustling streets of the city center: "Just look from here. Tell me which building you like, and I will handle the rest."
Once everything was settled, Wushi returned to Ji Xia, unable to suppress his curiosity any longer: "Master, do you have many such notes?"
"Perhaps." Ji Xia replied with a faint smile, neither confirming nor denying.
"Have you bought many properties before?"
"Perhaps."
"Where did you get such wealth? Have you done business, or is it an inheritance? Or-"
Ji Xia raised a hand to stop him. Wushi quickly realized he had overstepped: "I apologize; I shouldn't ask such questions, Master."
"I'm not blaming you." Ji Xia shrugged, "It's just that such trivial matters are hard for me to remember. Even if you ask, I can't recall."

IV

Ji Xia has an extensive history of imprisonment.
From what he recalls, he has been sentenced by courts in over a dozen different countries, with total prison terms amounting to more than 1,600 years, not to mention countless fines and additional punishments such as hard labor.
In one dynasty of Qian, the law determined guilt based on height, with those under six feet five inches exempt from punishment. Unaware of this law, while wandering, Ji Xia was caught with a group of impoverished children stealing cured hams from a butcher's shop. After being captured by the waiting shopkeeper and taken to the authorities, Ji Xia learned that since the children's heights did not meet the legal standard, all their crimes would be attributed to him. Consequently, he was sentenced to seventeen counts of theft, each carrying a nine-month prison term, totaling nearly thirteen years.
During the early days of the Polestar Conglomerate, various regions enacted many bizarre regulations. This period marked the most intensive phase of Ji Xia's criminal record. For instance, one train station prohibited snoring while waiting for the train. Ji Xia was detained for 12 hours for snoring, causing him to miss his train. When he accidentally fell asleep and snored again while waiting for the next train, he was detained for another 40 hours for provocation. Another town required bachelors over the age of 20 to pay a bachelor management tax within two days of entering the town. Unaware of this rule, Ji Xia was fined for tax evasion. At a farm, making noise while drinking soup was forbidden; Ji Xia praised the chef's skills while drinking soup and was punished by having to wash 25 horses before being expelled. One port designated odd-numbered docks for net fishing and even-numbered docks for spearfishing, resulting in Ji Xia violating both regulations by using a fishing rod and being fined double.
However, to Ji Xia, prisons were merely brief respites in his long life. With his abilities, no prison could hold him indefinitely; whenever he wanted to leave, he almost always succeeded. On one occasion, traveling from Japheth to Cyril, he encountered a group of convicts at a train station, exiled to perform hard labor in the vast eastern regions of Cyril. These impoverished people warmly shared their poor-quality moonshine with Ji Xia, so he taught them some of his "tips" for serving time in prison. Unfortunately, one escorting officer overheard and immediately sentenced Ji Xia for instigation to commit a crime. Hours later, Ji Xia found himself on a train bound for the desolate plains, thousands of miles away, packed in with the convicts.
Occasionally, when with Wushi, Ji Xia would recount these past stories. When Wushi asked what the longest prison sentence "Master" had served was for, the usually gentle Ji Xia uncharacteristically put away his smile and gave a simple answer: for taking the fall for someone else.
Wushi couldn't imagine how someone of Ji Xia's ability could be forced to serve someone else's sentence, but Ji Xia quickly clarified—he wasn't forced; he volunteered. When Wushi tried to inquire further, Ji Xia returned to his usual relaxed demeanor: "You're still too young. Some friends in this world are worth giving your life for, that's all."