Chapter 1007

When a person dies, it is like a lamp going out!

Once a person dies, all the past turns to ashes.

Sun Daoning let out a long sigh of relief, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

When Chen Guanlou handed him the account book and the letters, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"I said I didn't read them, do you believe me?"

Sun Daoning certainly did not believe him.

Chen Guanlou pointed at the other man, "You are a classic example of a small-minded person judging a gentleman's heart. To tell you the truth, I just flipped through a few pages casually. The content inside, to me, is too disgusting to even use as toilet paper. Such a small matter, look at how scared you were. Was it worth it?"

"You, you, you..."

Sun Daoning was so angry he didn't want to speak.

"As long as it's not treason, what do you have to be afraid of."

This time, Sun Daoning was so angry he jumped up, "What treason, you can't just say things like that, do you understand?"

He has no filter on his mouth, saying everything out loud. It's simply fatal.

"Since it's not treason, what are you afraid of. This little thing scared you like this; it's not that I'm criticizing you, Old Sun, you need to be bolder and take bigger steps. You've already entered the Secretariat, yet you can only serve as a pawn for Xie Gechen. Why? Just because you are too cautious and not aggressive at all."

"You don't understand!"

"What is there for me not to understand. You're just worried that I have no filter and will spread your little mess around. You underestimate me too much. I've been in the Heavenly Prison for so many years; have I ever spread gossip about any imprisoned official or reported anyone? I don't even spread the words of prisoners, so would I spread your little mess? You underestimate me too much; it's a pity I consider you part of my interest alliance."

Sun Daoning slowly relaxed.

"No third person saw it?"

Chen Guanlou sneered, "Am I that unreliable in my work? When Jiang Tu was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison back then, did I ever reveal a single word to the outside? So many people wanted to dig up some secrets, who succeeded? You, you, it's a waste that I've cooperated with you for so many years, and you don't even have this bit of trust."

Sun Daoning felt ashamed, but he defended himself: "It concerns my life and livelihood, I have to be careful. I know you have a tight mouth and won't talk nonsense outside. It's just that, in everything, one fears the 'what if'."

"Rest assured, there are no 'what ifs' with me! Your little mess, to me, is just a fart! It's not worth discussing at all."

It's just that I didn't expect that the upright-looking Sun Daoning also had such a sycophantic and bootlicking side back then. Such dark history really shouldn't be discovered by anyone.

Sun Daoning was clearly relieved and put his mind at ease.

He trusted Chen Guanlou's character and knew that what he promised would definitely be done. Over so many years, his reputation had been built up one thing at a time.

He wiped his face, threw the account book and the letters directly into the furnace, watched them burn to ashes with his own eyes, and finally let out a long breath.

The future trouble was completely eradicated, and he could finally sleep soundly.

"Follow the procedures for the subsequent matters. Keep a low profile for a while. If there's nothing else, go back to the Heavenly Prison and keep watch, don't cause any trouble. As for that Xu Fugui in the C-grade cell, if you really find him an eyesore, just get rid of him. There's no need to have two prison clerks fighting back and forth; those prison guards don't know when to stop, and if too many people die, it's hard to explain to everyone."

"I know what I'm doing! Why don't you replenish my grain and supplies first." Chen Guanlou took the opportunity to make a request.

"I can't afford to replenish them! The war in the south is tight, and all grain and money must be prioritized for the south. The wealth in the south is used to supply the army on the spot and simply cannot be transported to the capital. Nowadays, the Ministry of Revenue is so poor that mice can run through its treasury. This year, everyone has to tighten their belts to get by. You should also spend sparingly. If you really have no money, just ask those corrupt officials for more; I fully support you."

Sun Daoning played the role of a hands-off manager, leaving Chen Guanlou to solve the problem of insufficient grain in the Heavenly Prison himself.

Chen Guanlou immediately rolled his eyes; every year they default, every year they cry poverty, there's always an excuse.

He returned to the Heavenly Prison empty-handed.

The sudden death of Master Bai was reported to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice sent people to examine the corpse, mark it off, and notify the family to collect the body; the case was completely closed, and the file was sealed.

Medical Official Mu received his reward, looking very happy, drinking tea, "This case went smoothly. The weather has been unusually hot this year, so I made some heat-prevention soup, and everyone drinks two bowls a day; the effect is quite good. The prisoners in the A, B, and C cells also drink it, which can effectively prevent heatstroke and epidemics. With this weather, I'm afraid this summer won't be peaceful."

"I leave the epidemic prevention entirely to you; I have complete confidence," Chen Guanlou said.

As for whether the capital is peaceful, it is not his place to worry.

Only a few days after the topic of epidemic prevention passed, an epidemic broke out in the county yamen below, and in two or three days, more than a dozen corpses were carried out of the cells. The Governor of the Capital was so angry he erupted on the spot and hurriedly arranged for medical officials to take epidemic prevention measures.

The county yamen below were busy, and something happened in the neighboring Imperial Prison again.

This time it was even more ruthless, with twenty or thirty corpses carried out in one night.

Chen Guanlou immediately ordered a lockdown.

No one was allowed to have contact with the neighboring Imperial Prison.

Everyone had to drink the soup made by Medical Official Mu every day and had to be disinfected daily. The cells also had to be disinfected every two days; for this, he specifically increased the benefits for the laborers.

And he ordered the suspension of all money-making activities and gave the executioners in the torture chamber a holiday.

In this weather, it is unusually hot. In this environment, applying heavy torture to prisoners would result in death nine times out of ten, and they couldn't be saved.

To control the mortality rate and prevent an epidemic, he had no choice but to take extraordinary measures and stop the punishments.

The situation in the Imperial Prison was very serious, and for several days afterward, corpses were being carried out every day.

The environment in the Imperial Prison was a hundred times worse than the Heavenly Prison. And with the weather being so hot, without timely epidemic prevention, it was perfectly normal for a large number of people to die.

The Censorate's censors naturally would not let the Brocade Uniform Guard off, and successive impeachments flew into the palace like snowflakes, landing on the Emperor's desk.

Emperor Jian Shi suffered from the summer heat and was already thinking about going to the imperial villa to escape the heat. Seeing so many impeachment memorials, he felt extremely annoyed and his mood was extremely irritable.

The summer heat did not subside.

He called Xiao Jincheng into the palace, severely criticized him, and kicked him over.

"You can't even manage a small Imperial Prison; what use are you to me! If people keep dying like this, you don't need to work anymore, just go die!"

Emperor Jian Shi's attitude was extremely bad, completely disregarding old feelings. There was no mention of any merit or hard work.

Xiao Jincheng suffered in the palace, and after leaving, he still had to be busy. He focused on rectifying the Imperial Prison.

People dying, people dying, people dying every day. If it were just three or five, he could bluff his way through, but one or two dozen a day was simply impossible to explain.

The Emperor dealt with him, and he dealt with the people below; from the Brocade Uniform Guard to the Imperial Prison, no one on duty could stay out of it. In just a few days, they were either beaten with boards, fined, or even fired!

It made the Brocade Uniform Guard feel as if they were facing a great enemy, and they didn't even dare to breathe loudly! The atmosphere was so tense it felt like it was about to explode.

The situation in the Heavenly Prison was still okay; people had died, but they were those who were weak and couldn't hold on. The overall situation was under control!

Just at this time, Xiao Jincheng came to the door, wanting to borrow Medical Official Mu to help control the epidemic in the Imperial Prison.