Chapter 1184: The Boss and the Second-in-Command

"Two Six Doors runners came, circled the yamen gate twice, then went back."

Damn it!

Xiao Xiao Jincheng knew the moment he heard it — he'd fallen into Six Doors' trap! He'd been played!

He was furious!

"Fool! Utterly stupid. It's perfectly obvious this is Six Doors' scheme — it's called 'Diverting Trouble Eastward.' They don't want to deal with that group of jailers, so they manufactured the illusion of prisoners escaping and pushed the matter onto the Brocade Guard."

"Then what do we do now? Send all of them back to Six Doors?"

"Can't go back!" Xiao Xiao Jincheng was certain. He was sure the Brocade Guard couldn't even pry open Six Doors' main gate. Those Six Doors runners had finally shaken off a hot potato — how could they cooperate with the Brocade Guard and send the people back? If it were him, he wouldn't agree either; he'd toss the hot potato out as well.

"Then…" The second-in-command's heart lurched — over a hundred lives, and they were their own people. He didn't want to act, didn't want to take the blame. He had to rely on the boss.

He promptly showed weakness. "My lord, you know me — I want to share your burden, I'm just afraid of doing more harm than good with good intentions."

He had to find those killers who wouldn't blink at murder — those executioners.

Within the Brocade Guard, ruthless types were everywhere. In short, the second-in-command refused to shoulder this responsibility.

Xiao Xiao Jincheng read between the lines and knew exactly what the other was scheming.

Without showing a thing, he remained sprawled on the bed. "This matter must be dealt with swiftly. However, this official is unwell — I won't be able to get out of bed to handle business for at least seven or eight days. I'll leave this to you. It must be settled within three days. Otherwise, it'll be another disaster!"

"My lord, I truly can't!"

"Can't or not, you must! During this official's absence from the yamen, the entire Brocade Guard is under your full authority. This matter is also yours to decide!"

He decisively pushed the responsibility out.

The second-in-command wanted to cry! In his heart, he started cursing!

Had he known, he wouldn't have come today. And he'd even brought a gift of a hundred taels! What a loss!

"My lord, at least give me a plan. How exactly should this be handled, and who should step forward?"

Xiao Xiao Jincheng gave a cold snort. He hadn't wanted to say it, but seeing the other's foolish look, he finally couldn't help but speak: "Treat them differently, take them down one by one!"

The second-in-command began mulling over those eight characters.

Seeing the other didn't understand, Xiao Xiao Jincheng was absolutely livid!

The second-in-command wasn't his pick — not even his recommendation. He'd have liked to recommend someone he favored, but it was impossible! The second-in-command was there to check his power, personally appointed by the Emperor, and not of one mind with him at all. Moreover, the man carried the heavy duty of monitoring him.

To put it plainly, the second-in-command didn't handle operations — things like investigating cases, catching people, interrogating prisoners — he basically just asked a few questions and never got involved. This had always satisfied Xiao Xiao Jincheng. The other man focused on internal administration!

Usually cheerful and smiling, he looked like a decent sort. But the Emperor wouldn't send a truly decent sort as the Brocade Guard's second-in-command. This man kept a low profile, and even now, Xiao Xiao Jincheng couldn't tell whether the other was truly stupid or merely pretending! He leaned toward the latter — that the man had been pretending all along — and over these years, he'd been guarding against him.

"There are plenty of capable men below — go find them, they know what to do." He offered another reminder.

The second-in-command nodded rapidly. "My lord speaks wisely! I'll head back at once and consult a few of the senior chief constables."

Killing dozens a day, within three days, over a hundred lives vanished without a sound inside the Brocade Guard. This group of Imperial Prison jailers had fled to the Brocade Guard hoping to survive. Yet not a single one walked out alive!

The funeral folk, though, were kept busy! In the dead of night, they hauled away cart after cart of corpses from the Brocade Guard. Every one killed with a single clean cut! At least they died cleanly, without suffering!

Six Doors had been secretly watching the Brocade Guard's movements.

The moment the funeral folk came to haul away the bodies, they knew at once.

"Finally settled!"

"At least we have something to report to Minister."

"The Brocade Guard lot are truly ruthless! I took a quick look at those corpses — every cut was vicious enough. Not a single strike hesitated! Imperial Prison jailers were at least our own people, tsk…"

"What did you expect. The Brocade Guard lot would love nothing more than dead brothers! Unlike our Six Doors, which at least has some human warmth."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration."

"Their boss wasn't around, yet they handled things quite efficiently. Didn't delay at all!"

"Lucky the Heavenly Prison didn't take in that batch of jailers back then — otherwise this job would've fallen to us."

The thought of killing over a hundred jailers in one go — some of whom they even knew — made the Six Doors runners shudder. They had to thank Warden Chen for sparing them that bitter task.

With over a hundred jailers gone in one stroke, the Imperial Prison was severely understaffed. Attempts to recruit replacements weren't going well.

The Imperial Prison's reputation was too foul — vicious, sinister — those were its labels.

Moreover, the mortality rate of Imperial Prison jailers far exceeded that of other prisons.

Even for an iron rice bowl passed from father to son, many Imperial Prison jailers' families and descendants chose to give it up.

Even though the Imperial Prison had relaxed its requirements — taking greenhorn thugs, even reformed ones — it was still hard to fill the ranks in one go. Earning money is earning money anywhere; why go to the Imperial Prison for a half-cooked meal? Being hired muscle is being hired muscle, but at least a gambling den's thugs have better working conditions, a less stinking reputation, and the pay isn't bad either!

Not every thug and rogue can adapt to the Imperial Prison's bloody scenes.

Chen Chen Guanlou, a martial artist himself, still couldn't adapt — let alone greenhorn thugs with nothing but a bit of street-corner flash.

What to do?

The Imperial Prison actually came up with the idea of borrowing men from the Heavenly Prison.

The Heavenly Prison's jailers were overstaffed anyway — so many people sitting on cold benches with nothing to do — might as well lend them to the Imperial Prison. At worst, pay by the head.

Chen Chen Guanlou dug at his ear, thinking he'd misheard. "Company Commander Yang, you're not joking, are you?"

"Warden Chen jests — how could I joke? They're all jailers, they can start as soon as they arrive. Just a temporary loan. Once we're fully staffed, we'll send them back. Don't worry — I guarantee they'll be treated well, absolutely no sending them into the torture chamber. How about it?"

Company Commander Yang had given this idea deep thought before bringing it up.

Experienced hands pick it up fast — they can start working the moment they arrive.

So many prisoners inside the Imperial Prison, jailers rotating shifts, staff short, workload doubled. Add to that the sudden death of over a hundred colleagues — misery loves company — the Imperial Prison jailers had already piled up tremendous grievance, with a sense that a riot could break out at any moment.

If more hands weren't added soon, Company Commander Yang felt his own neck — he worried that one day, while asleep, his head would be chopped off.

So much so that these past few days, he'd been sleeping half-awake, afraid to fall into deep sleep. His waist saber was kept within arm's reach, and a dagger was tucked beneath his pillow.

Call him a startled bird, call him scared of his own shadow — even if it was a crooked path, he had to resolve the matter for now, at least let the jailers vent that pent-up grievance and steady their emotions.

His relations with the Heavenly Prison were usually decent, so he brazenly came to borrow men. At worst, he'd pay a bit more silver per head.