Chapter 1076: I

Three days later, Su Xuezhi brought all his silver to see Chen Guanlou.

Su Xuezhi was a poor official, barely scraping together three or five thousand taels of silver. Among local officials, this was truly not something to show off!

Chen Guanlou asked him curiously, "You came to the capital to report on your duties; how much silver did you spend to grease the palms at the Ministry of Personnel?"

"I've already spent two or three thousand taels."

"In other words, you have no money left? What do you plan to do later? You came to the capital this time, wasn't it to get a middle-to-upper-class county? If you have no money, you can only go to a lower-class county to waste your life. After a few years, you won't be able to save much money."

Look, a local chief administrator who can't even take out ten thousand taels of silver these days is truly rare. You don't even need to ask to know he must be an official in a poor place.

Because being a parent official in a middle-to-upper-class county, even without corruption, various gifts and filial piety offerings can easily amount to several thousand taels a year, and for a better one, ten thousand taels is easy.

If one actively seeks money through corruption, the income is even more impressive.

The Great Gan Dynasty's Ministry of Revenue having no money doesn't mean the local areas have no money.

There are plenty of wealthy local landlords and powerful families in the local areas.

Whenever a new official takes office, during festivals, these local landlords and powerful families will send gifts to the parent official together, and you can't refuse. This isn't called corruption; this is called gift money, called human relationships and worldly wisdom.

When the imperial court investigates corruption, it usually doesn't check this money.

Su Xuezhi had no family burden and had been an official for many years, yet he had only saved this little bit of money; it was clear his official career was not smooth, and he had been spinning his wheels in poor places.

"Saving people is urgent. My future can wait."

This was Su Xuezhi's attitude.

Chen Guanlou nodded, indicating approval. "If you are truly short of money, you can borrow. Don't go to outside banks to borrow; the interest is high enough to make you bankrupt. You can handle loans at our Heavenly Prison; for a high-quality client like you, we are very happy to serve you."

Su Xuezhi was dumbfounded and didn't react for a long time.

"Handle loans at the Heavenly Prison?"

"Is it very surprising?" Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows and smiled. "The Censorate manages heaven and earth, but it can't manage the Heavenly Prison. Tomorrow, when people from the Censorate commit crimes, they will also have to come to the Heavenly Prison to sit in jail.

Besides, the Heavenly Prison only lends to high-quality clients, not just anyone. The interest is very low. Let me tell you, there are plenty of officials outside who want to borrow money from us, and we didn't lend it to them.

If it weren't for seeing that you have upright features, a sense of justice, and some responsibility, I definitely wouldn't give you this opportunity."

Su Xuezhi really wanted to say, I've learned something new!

The capital is worthy of being the capital; even the Heavenly Prison has started a loan business. From this, one can see that the imperial court is truly broke, and the capital officials are truly poor.

He asked in a low voice, "The imperial court has been in arrears with salaries for a long time, right."

Chen Guanlou's mouth twitched.

These officials who came out of the imperial examinations are all smart people. He said one sentence, and the other party already understood ten. Hearing the string song and knowing the elegant meaning!

"Yes! State affairs are difficult, the imperial court is short of money, and the Heavenly Prison can only think of ways to generate income to earn some living expenses for everyone. Having said that, I went to see Lady Lu, and I will tell you clearly: overturning the verdict is impossible. But getting someone out isn't just about overturning a verdict. Official Su, how low is your bottom line?"

Su Xuezhi was a bit dazed; in fact, with his intelligence, he had guessed it long ago. It was just that he was unwilling to say it out loud. He was afraid that once he said it, he would also become a criminal.

His expression changed constantly, and finally, he made up his mind. "My bottom line is not a problem; the key is my junior sister's thoughts and Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen's bottom line. I will pay, only asking to save my junior sister's life; other things can be left unquestioned."

Chen Guanlou nodded repeatedly; he liked dealing with smart people—words don't need to be spoken clearly, and both sides understand each other.

"Leave the money and wait for news. Don't come looking for me if there's nothing else, remember?"

"When can I see my junior sister?"

"If there is fate, we will meet. If there is no fate, don't meet in this life; living well separately is also a life attitude." Chen Guanlou hinted at the other party implicitly.

An official and a person with a criminal record—what kind of meeting is that! It only adds trouble.

Knowing that each other is doing well is enough.

Su Xuezhi opened his mouth. "Then can I go see her now? Please, Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, grant this. Now, at least I can go see her as a relative, reasonably and legally."

Chen Guanlou accepted the silver and pondered for a moment. "Fine! Arranging for you to meet once isn't a difficult matter. Prepare the money for greasing palms; the people in the female prison only recognize money, not people. Thirty or fifty taels should be enough. Is half an hour enough for you?"

"Enough, enough." Su Xuezhi was extremely excited.

Chen Guanlou sent someone to the female prison to make the deal.

Prison Clerk Hu gave him face.

Afterward, a prison guard led Su Xuezhi to the female prison to visit the prisoner.

It was agreed to be half an hour, and it was only half an hour. When he came out, Su Xuezhi had red and swollen eyes; he had cried miserably!

He bowed to Chen Guanlou. "Everything is entrusted to Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen."

"Easy to say!"

Turning back to the office, he invited Medical Official Mu over, and the first thing he said was tiger-wolf words: "Give me a portion of fake-death medicine."

Medical Official Mu was so shocked he shivered! He hurriedly closed the doors and windows. "Master, you can't mess around."

"When have I ever messed around?" He always came with a plan.

Medical Official Mu looked distressed. "Everything can be done once or twice, but not a third time. People who should die will die sooner or later; why must the master do this? It's nothing more than the difference between dying early and dying late."

"Lady Lu shouldn't die, but her case cannot be overturned. Just let her fake her death and live out the rest of her life under an assumed name; this is very reasonable, right? She didn't kill the entire Wen family, proving she has a compassionate heart. Is there a problem with a compassionate person living a few more years?"

Chen Guanlou looked righteous.

Medical Official Mu only saw unreasonableness. "A life for a life; this is the bottom line of the law. If she killed someone, she should pay with her life!"

"Don't tell me the Wen mother and son didn't deserve to die. Don't forget, everything the Wen family currently possesses was robbed from the Lu family. The house, servants, fields, shops, even Lady Lu's dowry is still stored in the Wen family. The Wen family ate the estate and still wanted to kill; don't they deserve to die? Only the Wen family is allowed to kill wives and daughters-in-law, but others aren't allowed to kill back—what kind of logic is that?"

Chen Guanlou was very angry.

Everyone has female relatives; imagine if one's aunt, little aunt, sister, niece, or daughter were eaten out of their estate and had to pay with their lives—what would one think?

Just killing the Wen mother and son was truly letting this family off lightly.

Medical Official Mu couldn't refute; he also had a daughter and a granddaughter. If anyone dared to eat his family's estate, he would also exterminate their entire family! Not even leaving a dog guarding the door alive.

He rubbed his eyebrows. "But... can this matter be done this way? There is still a noble young lady outside eyeing it covetously."

"I'm not afraid of her! If she doesn't cause trouble, I'll treat her as non-existent. If she causes trouble, I'll make her regret coming into this world." Chen Guanlou sneered; a mere noble young lady wanting to threaten him was the biggest joke of the year.

"Don't be impulsive! Everything can be discussed." Medical Official Mu was truly afraid, afraid that Chen Guanlou would be angry for a moment and really rush out to kill someone.

"Fake-death medicine!"

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll give it to you! Still the same words: use this medicine with caution!" ===== CHAPTER 1077 =====