Chapter 1086

Chen Guanlou coughed and cleared his throat.

"Master Qin, Old Qin, don't get excited yet. This Liu Changrong you speak of, where does he serve? What official position does he hold? I'm not familiar with the court officials; tell me about him first."

"This man now holds the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and with the support of his wife's family, as well as his mentor..."

"Who is his father-in-law?"

"His father-in-law is the Prefect of Pingzhou. The key is that his father-in-law's surname is Cui, a member of the Anhe Cui clan. His mother-in-law's maiden family is even more formidable; it is the Yu family, the same Yu family as Yu Xiang. Such a behemoth, bullying my Qin family for being weak and having no one—I hate it!"

As Master Qin spoke, he began to wail again, looking the picture of regret.

Chen Guanlou picked at his ear.

He discovered that the saying "women are made of water" was incorrect.

Men crying were no less capable than women. Especially these disgraced officials; when they cried, they did so with modulation, speaking as they wept, and their logic was perfectly clear. Unlike women, who only knew how to cry, couldn't speak clearly, and couldn't even file a complaint properly!

"Stop crying for a moment. Did you just say Liu Changrong's mother-in-law is Yu Xiang's sister?"

"It seems to be a cousin or something; in any case, his mother-in-law also has the surname Yu, from the same family as Yu Xiang."

Tsk!

This fellow Liu Changrong, one has to say, his luck is truly not bad.

When he was down and out, he had the Qin family's financial support, and his path through the imperial examinations went very smoothly.

After obtaining the status of a Jinshi, he was first favored by a big shot and became an inner-chamber disciple. Later, he had the help of his father-in-law's family. Along the way, he always had noble people supporting him.

If nothing had happened to his family, he probably wouldn't have met these noble people, and his life's path would have been a completely different scene.

Chen Guanlou was a bit impatient and reminded him: "Old Qin, I'll say it again: this is the Heavenly Prison, not a gang, and we don't provide assassin services."

Master Qin wailed loudly, "But the one surnamed Liu won't stop easily; he will surely exterminate my entire family. Eventually, it will be my turn. Can I just watch my family members pass away one after another?

He has power and influence; he doesn't even need to do it himself to force my Qin family to death. There are plenty of people willing to step up and commit such evil deeds for him. Only by killing him can I end the future trouble once and for all.

Wuu wuu... Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, please have mercy and save my Qin family! It doesn't matter if I die, but my wife, children, and grandchildren—how innocent they are. I have already paid the price of two daughters; why does that Liu fellow still refuse to let my Qin family go?

From beginning to end, my Qin family has been the victim; we have never harmed anyone. Why does that Liu fellow return evil for good!"

Chen Guanlou thought for a moment and comforted him: "How about this: I will find someone to inquire about your family's affairs. The news you have might not be accurate; perhaps there is some misunderstanding in all this."

"It is absolutely not a misunderstanding; it must be the work of that Liu fellow. Otherwise, how could my eldest daughter have been forced to death by her husband's family? Even if my Qin family is unlucky and fallen, it shouldn't have involved a daughter who was already married off."

Master Qin insisted on his own view, having already concluded that Liu Changrong was the murderer.

"That stands to reason! However, I cannot listen to your side of the story alone. In any case, wait for my news. Also, I won't take your silver for now, but you must pay me afterward. The rules of the Heavenly Prison are: take money, do the job. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

Chen Guanlou stated the rules clearly first to avoid disputes in the future.

He left the Jia-block prison and called over Lu Datou: "Go and inquire about the Qin family's affairs, especially the situation with his eldest daughter who was married off. I heard she was forced to death by her husband's family."

As for Master Qin's case, whether it was a precise trap set by that Liu fellow, Lu Datou couldn't find that out. Lu Datou could only inquire about news from the riffraff on the streets. For news from official circles, he would have to step out himself.

He first flipped through Master Qin's case file, which involved corruption and dereliction of duty; the water there was deep. Moreover, Master Qin's case implicated quite a few people. The case was still under investigation and had not been closed.

Afterward, he went to the Ministry of Justice to have tea and chat with Sun Daojing.

Regarding matters in official circles, especially the private dealings of these disgraced officials and who exactly was involved behind the scenes, no one knew better than Sun Daojing.

The most crucial reason Sun Daojing could sit securely in the position of Minister of Justice was that he never took the initiative to expand the scope of a case.

Unlike the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who would want to turn a sesame-sized case into a watermelon-sized one.

Sun Daojing was different; a watermelon was a watermelon, and a sesame was a sesame. Many times, he would show leniency. When the officials saw this, they would think, "Oh, this Sun fellow is quite reasonable." If someone else were Minister of Justice, it would be absolutely impossible for them to do better than Sun.

Master Qin's case—others might not know the inside story, but there was no reason for Sun Daojing not to. Just looking at the people involved, some of whom were still living freely outside, merely suspended from duty, one knew there was something fishy.

He took the case file and went to visit.

As soon as Sun Daojing saw him, his brows immediately furrowed, looking quite displeased.

"What are you doing bringing this case file here? Not on duty in the Heavenly Prison, running to the Ministry of Justice—are you that idle?"

Chen Guanlou laughed heartily: "Old Sun, whether I'm idle or not is up to you. This person in the Heavenly Prison is crying injustice. He says someone framed him and even wants to exterminate his entire family. He screams and yells every day, making the Jia-block prison a mess. I figured this matter must be solved at the source. So, I specifically came to the Ministry of Justice to ask for your advice. Tell me, what is really going on with his case?"

Sun Daojing kept a straight face, imposing without anger: "What else could be going on? It's just as you see. You are a Jiang Jiang Yucheng of the Heavenly Prison; don't take it to heart every time a prisoner cries injustice. Those disgraced officials are best at spouting nonsense to deceive people; you must not be fooled."

"But he speaks with such detail, and he even knows exactly who framed him. The grievances between the two sides are truly dramatic. One couldn't even make up such a complete story if they were lying; it's full of the helplessness of life. Old Sun, stop hiding things—is there really something to the case of the one surnamed Qin?"

Sun Daojing looked slightly annoyed and rubbed his brow: "Even if you knew the truth, what could you do? Surely you aren't thinking of helping him overturn the case."

"I wouldn't help anyone overturn a case. I just want to know the truth. Old Sun, tell me. You aren't busy right now anyway."

Sun Daojing stared at him suspiciously: "Just out of curiosity?"

Chen Guanlou nodded repeatedly, appearing especially sincere.

Sun Daojing took a sip of tea: "I'll just say it casually, and you just listen casually."

"Eh, don't worry, I'll forget it as soon as I hear it." He even specifically moved his chair forward to be closer, so he could hear more clearly.

Seeing the other person's curious, gossipy look, Sun Daojing was furious.

He suppressed his impatience and said slowly: "The one surnamed Qin did indeed offend someone and was trapped and buried by them. However, we handle cases based on evidence. The evidence is complete; even if we know he was framed, this case must proceed. Not only must it proceed, it must be handled thoroughly. Do you understand?"

"I understand!"

Chen Guanlou truly understood.

Officials' backsides are never clean.

Why Liu Changrong could precisely dig a trap to frame him was naturally because Master Qin himself wasn't clean, which gave the other party the opportunity to plot against him—one plot, one success. The case couldn't be overturned; that was a fact!

But, one cannot implicate the innocent, and even more so, one cannot return evil for good, right!