Chapter 1170

"Does Song Gui have any descendants or relatives?"

Emperor Jian Shi thought that since the person was already dead, it didn't matter if he didn't know, but since he did know, he had to ask.

Wang Defa had already inquired clearly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Song Gui had a son and a daughter. The son has already passed away, leaving behind a posthumous child who has not yet reached adulthood. The daughter is married, and her life is relatively smooth."

"Is that all that's left of his family? Does the Deposed Crown Prince have any other descendants?"

Wang Defa shook his head.

Originally, there were some.

Emperor Renzong was quite ruthless in killing off noble families, but he wasn't ruthless enough in killing the bloodline of the Deposed Crown Prince. After all, it was his own bloodline too.

But the late Emperor was narrow-minded and could not tolerate the descendants of the Deposed Crown Prince. The late Emperor reigned for fifty years. Over those fifty years, the descendants of the Deposed Crown Prince were killed off one after another.

There were no natural deaths! Basically, they all died unnatural deaths!

Emperor Jian Shi complained again, "What a mess... Just let that posthumous child collect his grandfather's body. Instruct the Imperial Household Department and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to provide the proper dignity; do not be stingy with money.

Furthermore, I will issue an edict to restore Song Gui's status within the imperial clan and add him to the generational ranking. The late Emperor was so petty in his dealings, and now I have to make up for it. Not even giving him a generational ranking—it's preposterous!

If he had been expelled from the imperial clan and demoted to a commoner, that would be one thing, but there was no such edict! Yet they didn't give him his proper generational ranking—it's utter nonsense."

Emperor Jian Shi took the opportunity to fiercely criticize the late Emperor, which at least allowed him to vent some frustration.

The world said he was not as good as the late Emperor.

Look, everyone come and look; this is the kind of thing the once wise and martial late Emperor in people's minds actually did. A normal person wouldn't even think of it!

He finally felt vindicated.

With the edict restoring his imperial clan status, things were much easier to handle.

The next day, officials from the Imperial Household Department led Song Gui's grandson to the Heavenly Prison to collect the body.

Song Gui's grandson was named Song Shi, living as hard as a stone. One could see how simple and plain his family's expectations were.

Now, his family had restored their imperial clan status, and his name had been added to the generational ranking. From Song Shi, with the generation added, he was changed to Song Hongshi. The 'Hong' generation was very junior; seeing any imperial clansman, he would have to call them uncle, grandfather, or even great-grandfather.

But he was happy inside, and fortunate; "vindicated" wasn't even enough to describe it.

His family had suffered grievances for decades, living cautiously for decades, and with the family members almost all dead, they finally waited for the dawn. Although the dawn was exchanged for his grandfather's death, it was still worth being happy about.

Chen Guanlou personally received their group.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea first?"

"No! The weather is hot, let's finish the business as soon as possible. Things are waiting to be handled over there, and the venue is already set up."

"Fine! I'll lead you over. The body is in the morgue, there's ice, so you don't need to worry too much. Both the Heavenly Prison's coroner and the Ministry of Justice's coroner have examined it; he died of old age. He was of age, and in that kind of environment, he didn't tell the servants when he felt unwell, missing the chance for treatment. Otherwise, he might have dragged on for three to five months."

"Whether he dragged on or not, it's about the same."

Locked in the Heavenly Prison year-round without seeing the sun, this kind of life—the sooner one died, the sooner one was liberated. No one wanted to live three to five months longer.

Moreover, Song Gui's death exchanged for their family's status restoration was also a happy event.

Actually, Song Gui was very young, not even fifty years old. Sigh, this damn life, most of it was wasted in the Heavenly Prison; living really had no meaning at all. No wonder Song Gui didn't alert the servants when he was dying, passing away silently. If he had made any noise, he might have been saved.

Song Hongshi was a half-grown boy, looking like a bamboo pole, very thin and weak, his frame as thin as a piece of paper. Anyone could see that he had lived a very bitter life since he was small. At such a young age, his forehead wrinkles were deeper than an old man's!

Clearly a young lad, yet he lived like a little old man.

Leading them to the morgue, Chen Guanlou said, "He's on that bed board. Kid, do you want to go closer and take a look? If you're afraid, just say so, no one will laugh at you. Not everyone dares to look at a dead person up close; it's normal to be afraid."

Song Hongshi shook his head, "I'm not afraid!"

He paused, seemingly explaining: "I've been used to seeing dead people since I was small!"

Hearing this, Chen Guanlou couldn't help but sigh, patting the other's shoulder, "Everything will get better, it's all in the past. Pull yourself together and live well."

Song Hongshi gave a hum, slowly walking forward to lift the white cloth. This was the first time he had seen his grandfather; he didn't expect it to be a separation between heaven and earth.

"He doesn't look much like him!"

"What?"

"There's a portrait at home. In the portrait, Grandfather is very young and high-spirited. But now..."

The current Song Gui had gray-white, messy hair and beard, no better than a beggar on the street. His body was thin and gaunt; not even fifty years old, yet he looked like a seventy or eighty-year-old man.

Life was bitter indeed!

Truly, the sooner one died, the sooner one was liberated!

The cruelty of the imperial family could be seen from this.

Song Hongshi's mouth twitched twice, and he silently covered Song Gui with the white cloth again.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, what procedures need to be handled?"

Chen Guanlou observed carefully, seeing the other's expression was calm without much sadness, so he beckoned, and the coroner presented the documents.

"Sign and press your fingerprint on the documents, and you can take the body away."

Song Hongshi nodded, picking up the brush, seemingly a bit hesitant. Finally, he wrote his own name. The handwriting was a bit stiff but still neat, not to mention good or bad. It was clear he hadn't held a brush to write in a long time, feeling somewhat rusty.

Chen Guanlou took back the documents, "You can take him away. If you don't have enough manpower, we provide a delivery service; the price isn't expensive, just one tael of silver."

"Then I'll trouble Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen to arrange it."

"Fine! Go call someone to escort the body home."

The Imperial Household Department official remained silent throughout, basically not making a sound. The duty of the Imperial Household Department was to pay the money and supervise and record the funeral rites throughout, in preparation for inquiries from above. The Court of Imperial Clan Affairs appeared even more indifferent; except for appearing once when restoring Song Gui's family status and making a registration, they remained invisible throughout.

Flattering the high and trampling the low happened often! It was just that it was expressed more nakedly within the imperial clan!

Song Gui's branch, even though their status was restored, could only be marginal figures until the day the Great Gan dynasty perished!

Having handled this case, Chen Guanlou was completely relieved.

The roof of the neighboring Imperial Prison that had been struck by lightning hadn't been repaired yet, and the Brocade Uniform Guard began making mass arrests.

He sent someone to inquire.

"The Brocade Uniform Guard is arresting cult bandits! It seems they are saying the fire has an inseparable connection with the cult bandits. Now it's a city-wide search, causing a huge commotion. My lord, won't it implicate us?"

"Why would it implicate the Heavenly Prison? No matter how long the Brocade Uniform Guard's reach is, they wouldn't dare extend it to the Heavenly Prison. If they dare to reach out, I dare to slaughter them. Wait, where did the news come from? Is it confirmed? Was the fire really set by cult bandits?"

"Everyone outside is saying so."

"A few years ago, there was a cult bandit incident, making a big show of arresting people, and it had been quiet ever since. I thought there were no more cult bandits in the capital. Why is it suddenly making a fuss again? Are the cult bandits making a comeback?"