Chapter 1169: A Descendant of the Li Crown Prince

"Who died?"

Chen Chen Guanlou flipped through the register, his brows furrowed tight enough to pinch a mosquito to death.

Prisoners dying was a common occurrence.

What gave him a headache now was—who had died?

Old prisoners who had been locked up for ten, twenty-odd years, passed through who knows how many hands along the way. A pile of dust-covered Juan Sect files—when he opened them, the cell numbers didn't even match. Damn it all.

"Go, send someone to the great prison, ask those old undying ones who exactly died."

To quickly identify the dead, just ask the prisoners in the surrounding cells—they know better than anyone. Locked away in the heavenly prison year-round without seeing daylight, even the tiniest bit of movement was an important diversion in their prison lives, remembered vividly.

They might forget their wives and children, forget their former glory, but they would certainly remember who lived in the next cell, what rank they once held, and why they were locked up. Past grievances and favors—crystal clear.

The jailer went down to the great prison, made the rounds, and finally got the dead man's identity.

"My lord, I've found out. The dead man's name is Song Gui."

Chen Chen Guanlou dug Song Gui's file out from a pile of unwanted records.

And then…

He was dumbfounded!

Doctor Mu, seeing him in such a state, leaned over. "What's wrong?"

"Song Gui was actually imperial clan! Locked up in a cell for over twenty years. This…"

This matter was a bit troublesome.

"You said his name is Song Gui?"

"Yes!"

"I know that name. Never thought he'd only just died today!" Doctor Mu was suddenly overcome with emotion, his feelings surging unsettled.

"What's this Song Gui's background? The file has no detailed record, only says he's imperial clan. No specific crime either—just locked up in the heavenly prison for over twenty years without rhyme or reason. What a sin!"

Chen Chen Guanlou sighed repeatedly. This matter still had to be reported according to the rules, to see what the higher-ups meant.

"I wonder if he still has any family in the world. If nothing else works, we'll have the Imperial Household Department come collect the body." Chen Chen Guanlou had a headache—why would imperial clan be locked up in the heavenly prison, unseen for decades?

Doctor Mu gave a meaningful look.

Chen Chen Guanlou caught on instantly, waved his hand, and signaled the jailers to all leave.

"Old Mu, do you know some inside story?"

Doctor Mu lowered his voice. "Do you know the case of the Li Crown Prince during the Ren Sect reign?"

"I've heard of it. They say tens of thousands died."

"More than tens of thousands—half the court had their heads chopped off. The court you see now has been purged at least twice. That scene—though I never saw it with my own eyes, I heard elders speak of it. Too horrifying, too bloody. This Song Gui was precisely a descendant of the Li Crown Prince."

Huh?!

Chen Chen Guanlou was stunned.

He pointed at the morgue, then pointed in the direction of the imperial palace.

"You didn't get it wrong, are you sure Song Gui is a descendant of the Li Crown Prince? Then how did he end up locked in the heavenly prison, unseen for decades? What cruelty is this."

"You know what the late Emperor was like—vengeful to the extreme. Hold a grudge against someone and he'll grind them into dust. Not only must he torment your flesh, but also your spirit, making you completely collapse. When Song Gui entered the heavenly prison, why he entered—I, after so many years in the heavenly prison, actually have no idea at all. The prison warden from over twenty years ago—I only remember his surname was Mao, everything else I've nearly forgotten."

Chen Chen Guanlou clicked his tongue twice.

"Now that Song Gui is dead, does he have any descendants? Does the Li Crown Prince have any descendants left?"

"They should all be dead. Given the late Emperor's temperament, he wouldn't let anyone live. He wanted his reputation, but even more he wanted inner satisfaction. Report this matter, wait for the Ministry of Justice's notice—we shouldn't act on our own."

As it should be!

That very day, Song Gui's death was written up as an official document and reported to the Ministry of Justice, requesting that they send someone quickly to examine the body and mark the records, and notify the family to claim the corpse.

Over at the Ministry of Justice, aside from old-timers from decades ago, who would remember the Li Crown Prince, let alone a prisoner named Song Gui.

The key was, the name Song Gui didn't follow the imperial clan's traditional generational naming convention—very likely the late Emperor had stripped him of that right. So the Ministry of Justice officials treated him as an ordinary prisoner, raising their brushes to mark the records.

Fortunately, the handling official was still somewhat responsible—before marking, he pulled out the file.

One look at the file, and he knew this was serious. Imperial clan!

An imperial clan member with no generational ranking, no crime listed, yet locked up in the heavenly prison for over twenty years—any experienced Ministry of Justice official would know this person's identity was no simple matter.

Reported up layer by layer, it finally reached Sun Sun Daoning.

Sun Sun Daoning saw Song Gui's name and immediately his brows and eyes twitched, the muscles of his cheeks spasming. He shut the door with the private advisor and deliberated for a full half hour. With no other choice, he could only make a trip to the palace in person. Hoping it wouldn't implicate himself.

These troubled times—this person really picked the wrong moment to die!

Xie Changling was young, didn't know any Song Gui, but he knew the case of the Li Crown Prince. He could even recite the top hundred names on the death list from memory. Those who died back then were all pillars of the court—many great families were implicated.

That time, the great families suffered terrible losses!

Having learned the lesson of the Li Crown Prince case, by the late Emperor's time, during the Deposed Crown Prince case, many great families chose to watch and wait or participate only to a limited degree.

The Li Crown Prince case was simply too painful a lesson. How many once-glorious great families vanished like clouds, disappearing completely from the world.

Such a bitter lesson—Xie Changling, as a son of a great family, naturally knew it all too well.

The moment he heard Song Gui had died in the heavenly prison, he began rubbing his brow. Clearly very troubled.

"Does Song Gui have any descendants, any family?"

"That would require asking the Imperial Household Department—they would know. The Ministry of Justice has no records. Even the file was compiled after the fact, very rough." Sun Sun Daoning said with a slight bow.

Xie Changling was silent for a moment. "Write up a memorial, go find Wang De. Have him help submit it! Fundamentally speaking, this matter should be handled by the Imperial Household Department and the Court of the Imperial Clan. It's just very unfortunate that the man died in the heavenly prison. Can we find out who locked him up in the heavenly prison back then?"

"The archives have no record. I asked the old-timers at the Ministry of Justice—it should have been someone from the palace."

"Someone from the palace? This matter really is..." Xie Changling very much wanted to complain about the late Emperor but knew it wasn't appropriate, so he only said half. Everyone present was clever—they understood without words. The late Emperor in his later years did too many rotten things and couldn't bear the criticism!

What a mess this is…

No matter what, Wang De had to give Xie Changling face.

Xie Changling's influence over Emperor Jian Shi—others might not know, but he knew it all too well.

Taking advantage of the Emperor being in a good mood after taking his elixir, he reported the matter of Song Gui's passing.

Emperor Jian Shi froze for quite a while before he recalled who Song Gui was.

"He only just died? This Emperor had thought he was already dead twenty years ago."

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Song Gui had been locked up in the Heaven Prison all these years. He passed away just two days ago. This servant only just learned that the man had actually been imprisoned in the Heaven Prison all these years."

"The late Emperor's handling of this matter…"

At this moment, Emperor Jian Shi's feelings were exactly the same as Xie Changling's — both of them wanted to complain about Emperor Emperor Taixing, that the things he did were too disgusting. How many years had it been? Speaking of seniority, Song Gui was Crown Prince Li's grandson, and could have called the late Emperor 'great-granduncle'!

Two generations apart, and still tormenting a person like this — secretly locking them up in the Heaven Prison without a care, imprisoned for over twenty years.

Too disgusting, too petty, utterly lacking in a sovereign's breadth of mind and bearing. If this got out, everyone would curse Emperor Emperor Taixing for being less than human.

Tormenting the generation of nephews was one thing, but he still had to torment the great-nephews' generation!

Have some shame!