Chapter 1013: Heatstroke

A few days later, Chen Chen Guanlou indeed received definite news from the Ministry of Justice: the Prince of Chu was about to be escorted to the capital and locked up in the Heaven Prison.

The Heaven Prison had a fine reputation—good order, good conditions, guards who followed the rules, very little in the way of arbitrary behaviour.

As for jailbreaks, every major prison in Jingcheng had experienced them; it happened every year, and couldn't be used as an argument.

The rebel Prince of Chu was, after all, a member of the imperial clan, and had to be given a certain measure of respect and dignity. Even if Emperor Jian Shi was unwilling in his heart, the Biao Mian Gong still had to be done. So, since Emperor Jian Shi did not object, the Prince of Chu smoothly fell into the Ministry of Justice's pocket, and into the Heaven Prison.

After receiving the notice, Chen Chen Guanlou ordered Chen Quan to prepare a cell far from the other prisoners, to be sure to clean it thoroughly, disinfect it repeatedly, and replace the wooden bars on the door with fine iron ones. Everything was to be prepared to the highest standard.

Chen Quan asked for instructions: "Should we buy new furniture, or use the leftovers from Prince Jin and the others? I went to the storeroom to look—the furniture Prince Jin used is fine in every respect, just a bit old."

Chen Chen Guanlou rubbed his brow and said to him, "The higher-ups approved silver. If you don't use it, how am I supposed to account for it? Get it?"

Chen Quan instantly grasped the essence. "I'll go buy it personally right now—new in, old out, and the new pieces go into the storeroom for keeping."

"Don't buy anything too good, but the price has to be high enough. For the specifics of how to handle it, go find Qian Xu Fugui. In short, not a single coin of what the higher-ups approved can be left over."

"Understood! I'll spend every last coin, I guarantee not a single copper will remain."

"Go!"

The rebel Prince of Chu was a big shot.

Chen Chen Guanlou specially picked a group of elite guards, trained them for several days, and assigned them from then on to watch over the Prince of Chu exclusively.

The weather grew hotter day by day, and the price of ice soared. All manner of heat-relief goods rose in price along with it—even cattail fans went up by two coins.

The nobility flocked out of the city to escape the heat.

Common folk in the markets and alleys had nowhere to escape to, so they shortened their daytime work hours, trying to finish their tasks in the early morning. The rest of the time they lay still, not moving, to sweat as little as possible.

In the broad daylight, hardly a soul could be seen on the streets—everyone was hiding indoors in the shade!

It was in this sweltering weather that the rebel Prince of Chu was escorted to Jingcheng. After finishing the paperwork at the Ministry of Justice, he headed straight for the Heaven Prison.

Chen Chen Guanlou stood in the courtyard with the men of Prison Jia, waiting to receive him.

The sun climbed higher, scorching hot; everyone was hiding under the eaves for shade.

The kitchen had prepared chilled mung bean porridge, and Medical Officer Mu had prepared cooling tea to prevent heatstroke. Everyone drank, but it did little good—they were still hot all over.

"Why hasn't he arrived yet?"

"The Ministry of Justice isn't far from the Heaven Prison. Even if he crawled, he should have arrived by now."

The guards muttered and grumbled, full of complaint and dissatisfaction.

Chen Chen Guanlou signalled Chen Quan to arrange for someone to go out partway to meet them and find out what was going on.

The man sent to inquire soon returned. "My lord, the situation isn't good. I heard the Prince of Chu seems to be ill—apparently heatstroke, and it's rather serious. Halfway here he couldn't hold out, and the Six Gates were afraid of taking the blame, so they sent him back to the Ministry of Justice."

"Really got heatstroke?"

In this weather, heatstroke was perfectly normal.

After the exhausting journey by boat and carriage, and being a prisoner besides, he certainly hadn't eaten or slept well, and his mind was heavy. Add the sweltering weather, and finally reaching Jingcheng, it was quite possible he had collapsed from being unable to endure any longer.

"The brothers from the Six Gates spoke with great conviction—he should have heatstroke. Even if not heatstroke, it's some other ailment. In any case, the man passed out and was sent straight to the Ministry of Justice. I went to the Ministry's gate to have a look, and several Physicians had been called in."

"Since the prisoner is gravely ill, we won't send him to the Heaven Prison for now. Everyone, dismissed. Get on with your business!"

Chen Chen Guanlou was the first to dismiss the formation.

He wasn't hot!

He was impervious to heat and cold!

But the guards below him were each and every one stewing into idiots, and hurried off to the prison to cool down.

There was no place cooler than a prison cell.

A prison cell was essentially a large cellar—cold air rose up through it, making it a natural freezer in the sweltering summer.

Chen Chen Guanlou did not go crowding around the Ministry of Justice. He didn't care at all about the Prince of Chu's physical condition—even if the man died at the Ministry, it was no concern of his. The Prince of Chu was a hot potato; although he had agreed to take him on, he wouldn't mind if the other party died sooner and reincarnated sooner.

Later he learned that the Prince of Chu had not only heatstroke but also acute gastroenteritis—vomiting and diarrhoea at both ends—which had terrified everyone.

Sun Sun Daojing personally stepped forward, invited an Imperial Physician to treat him, and finally pulled him back from the brink.

With his body so weak, they didn't dare send him to the Heaven Prison either.

What kind of environment was the Heaven Prison? It certainly wasn't conducive to a patient's recovery. If a life just snatched back from the jaws of death were to give up the ghost upon arriving at the Heaven Prison, that would really be… a great big black pot crashing down, with consequences too dreadful to contemplate.

No one could pin down Emperor Jian Shi's Di De Xiang Fa.

If the Prince of Chu dropped dead suddenly, and Emperor Jian Shi flew into a rage and took it out on everyone, they would all suffer.

Therefore, until the Prince of Chu recovered, he was settled at the Ministry of Justice, with men assigned to guard him around the clock, twelve shichen a day.

Chen Chen Guanlou went to the Ministry of Justice to take a look, but didn't get to see the man. The watch was tight—without Minister Sun's personal order, no one was allowed to approach.

He turned and went to Sun Sun Daojing's office, and casually asked, "Is he going to die?"

"What talk of dying or not dying—say something auspicious." Sun Sun Daojing was very displeased.

These past days, for the Prince of Chu's health, he had worried himself to pieces. When his own father and mother fell ill, he hadn't fretted this much. It was like serving an ancestor—more attentive than if he were actually serving an ancestor.

The man himself was visibly haggard.

"So you're saying the man is definitely going to pull through, and his condition won't relapse later?"

"The Imperial Physician said he must rest well and eat lightly. If it weren't for preserving the rebel prince's life, I would have given the order at first light to have him sent to the Heaven Prison for confinement. Keeping him at the Ministry is purely making trouble for me."

Sun Sun Daojing was full of grievances.

Had he known it was a hot potato, he never should have taken the assignment in the first place.

"Old Sun, stop complaining. Things have come to this; we can only take it one step at a time. Once he's recovered, it'll be the Heaven Prison's turn to worry. Just don't let him die in the Heaven Prison."

"You with your crow's mouth—can't you say something nice?" Sun Sun Daojing said, exasperated. He was genuinely worried Chen Chen Guanlou's crow's mouth would prove prophetic.

"I'm telling you—before the autumn sacrifices to Heaven, no matter what, keep the Prince of Chu alive for me. Absolutely do not let him die in the Heaven Prison."

"From the sound of it, is the Emperor planning to use the Prince of Chu for the sacrifice? Not worried about a repeat of the altar explosion?"

"Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo…"

Sun Sun Daojing was furious. Fortunately the door was shut, and none of this had been overheard.

"Could you say something nice for once? Do you think my life is too long?"

He clutched his chest, looking as though he were having a bout of heart palpitations, nearly fuming himself to death.

Chen Chen Guanlou laughed and said, "Old Sun, stop being as jumpy as a bird startled by a bowstring or mistaking a bow's reflection in a cup for a snake. You are a distinguished Minister of Justice—show some of your official authority. No matter how sharp my crow's mouth is, it cannot compare to your official power. Use your authority to suppress it, and the crow's mouth will surely vanish. May all be peaceful, safe, smooth, and successful!"