Chapter 1171

The fire must be man-made, and there must be a culprit.

An ordinary culprit didn't seem to have enough weight to bear all the consequences. Nor was it enough to highlight the Brocade Uniform Guard's merit and wash away the criticism of the lightning strike.

Then they would fabricate an incredibly powerful culprit, and then count the lightning strike on the culprit's head, thereby adding a heavy stroke to the Brocade Uniform Guard's book of merit.

Who else could have more weight than cult bandits?

Who else could have more ability than cult bandits?

In the minds of the capital's commoners, cult bandits were omnipotent; they had their people everywhere, and there was nothing they couldn't do.

Therefore, when the Brocade Uniform Guard mobilized to make mass arrests of cult bandits, not a single commoner doubted it. Everyone had a mindset: The fire was set by cult bandits? Then that's no wonder.

They accepted the Brocade Uniform Guard's actions very naturally and actively cooperated, taking the opportunity to accuse certain people they didn't like. If the other party was arrested and locked up, that would be for the best.

People's selfishness was being reflected at every moment.

Chen Guanlou was quite concerned about Sun Daoning's situation, so he ran to the Ministry of Justice and asked Old Sun, "The Brocade Uniform Guard is making mass arrests of cult bandits outside; is this the solution you all discussed? When in doubt, let the cult bandits take the blame?"

"What cult bandit taking the blame, stop spouting nonsense." Sun Daoning was furious; it was another day of his reputation being damaged. Could Chen Guanlou's mouth be kept shut, and not say whatever came to mind?

"If it's not cult bandits taking the blame, then what is it? Don't tell me you really found clues pointing to cult bandits?"

Sun Daoning took a sip of tea, "Eh, you really guessed right; the Brocade Uniform Guard did find useful clues. Those two unidentified bodies have already been confirmed to be cult bandits. So, this case is definitely caused by cult bandit arson. Everything has already been reported to His Majesty, and His Majesty is furious, demanding a severe crackdown on cult bandits. Not just in the capital, but across the whole world; all local government offices must take it seriously."

Is handling cases this sloppy?

One can only blame Zhang Daohe and his bunch for being too arrogant in the past; they even dared to burn the imperial palace, and the altar explosion case was also inseparable from them.

"Old Sun, let's be honest, do you believe this case was done by cult bandits?"

"Why shouldn't I believe it?" Sun Daoning retorted, "If you think it wasn't done by cult bandits, then please tell me, who did it? If you can find a second suspect, I will handle it for you, even if I have to bear the pressure from the Brocade Uniform Guard."

Quite arrogant, huh!

With the survival crisis resolved, look, Old Sun immediately became cocky.

Chen Guanlou felt quite nostalgic for the Old Sun who was soft and weak, wanting to die, back on the pleasure boat. Although that night, he had extorted a meal from him.

"Aren't you afraid of His Majesty dealing with you now?" he teased with a half-smile.

Old Sun gave a chuckle and rolled his eyes, "I won't hide it from you, I already know who His Majesty is going to use as a scapegoat for heaven."

"Isn't it cult bandits?"

Old Sun shook his head, lowered his voice, and subconsciously looked around.

"When you said last time that the Eight Characters were hindering, His Majesty might find someone of noble status to take the blame. After coming back, I thought about it over and over. Recently, observing carefully, His Majesty's target is clearly not in the court; if there are no accidents, it should be in the imperial clan!"

"Are you sure?"

"Although I don't dare to be one hundred percent sure, I have seven or eight parts of certainty." After saying this, Old Sun pointed to the sky, "The sky is still in a drought. According to the data from the Ministry of Revenue and the news the Ministry of Justice received from local government offices, this year's drought is extremely severe, covering almost the entire north. Fighting in the northwest, food and fodder have to be transported from the south. For every ten parts of grain transported to the northwest, at least six parts have to be deducted. Plus, officials at all levels take a cut, and the grain that reaches the military camp is not much left. The drought has also affected animal husbandry. The atmosphere in the Ministry of War is very tense. Your Marquis, hehe..."

"What about my Marquis? Lack of food and clothing, he won't be missing his share."

"That's what is said. But with a lack of food and clothing, if the soldiers mutiny, if he suppresses it, he will definitely be held accountable afterward. If he can't suppress it, then the consequences..."

Sun Daoning was a bit gloating.

Chen Guanlou frowned, "Don't be in a hurry to gloat, I'll just ask you, has it reached the point where the court is going to go bankrupt and the world is going to change hands?"

"Nonsense!"

Sun Daoning jumped up in a hurry, rushing to open the door to look around and then closing it.

He pointed at Chen Guanlou, furious, "How can you be so unrestrained in your speech?"

"I told you, no one is eavesdropping. With me here, no third person will hear our conversation, but you just don't believe it. You should at least believe in my strength."

"That's not a reason for you to talk nonsense."

Sun Daoning was furious, "As a member of the court, how can you hope for the court to go bankrupt and the world to change hands? What good does it do you?"

"No good. No matter who is the emperor, I am the Heavenly Prison Warden. No dynasty or generation can do without the Heavenly Prison. The new dynasty will definitely kill people, and by then, it will be overcrowded, and my workload will increase. As for you, you can continue to be the Minister of Justice of the new dynasty, as long as your knees are soft enough and you are sensible enough."

Sun Daoning was amused by the anger.

He shook his head frequently.

"The world says you are rebellious, and occasionally I even make up a few words for you, thinking you still have many serious ideas. I never expected that I underestimated you. You actually publicly... you actually... I have to doubt the position of the Hou Fu."

"Eh, don't mess around. I am me, and the Hou Fu is the Hou Fu. If you want to implicate, at least ask me. You don't want blood to flow like a river, do you?"

Sun Daoning was amused by the anger again, actually being threatened.

That's fine!

At least this kid still has people he cares about. If this kid had no attachments and no one in the world he cared about, he wouldn't dare to stay in the same room with the other party. He would be afraid that the other party would really make blood flow like a river in a fit of rage.

"Don't be poor! I just want to remind you to be safe recently. Because of the drought, His Majesty has a bad temper and is even unpredictable. Who knows, one day, some big shot will fall into trouble and be locked in the Heavenly Prison. Do your job well, and there will be no shortage of benefits for you."

"Old Sun, you are really something, if you want to thank me, just give me real gold and silver directly. You also know I like yellow and white things the most." Chen Guanlou laughed, reaching out for money.

He could reach out without any embarrassment.

Old Sun stared at his hand, furious to death, slapping it away, "No money! Stop watching the Brocade Uniform Guard's jokes. In a few days, the Censorate is going to clear out all the prisons in the capital, so you should handle it well and don't clash with that bunch of sprayers. Their words are unpleasant, but don't take them to heart. Peacefully getting through this disaster is more important than anything."

Hearing this, Chen Guanlou laughed, and sure enough, he guessed it right, "Just because the Imperial Prison was struck by lightning, the Censorate is going to clear out all the prisons?"

"Otherwise? Just clearing out the Imperial Prison, does the Brocade Uniform Guard not want face?"