Chapter 1231: Looking Down on Everyone Equally

"May I ask whether, after being promoted, he made any effort to study and improve himself? His valor earned him the promotion. But his valor is clearly not enough to fully handle the position of general. Even when they were rank-and-file soldiers, they knew they had to work hard and advance to live well. Why did he forget that once he became a general?"

Chen Chen Guanlou would not indulge the other party.

When his mouth turned venomous, it could even poison himself to death, let alone unrelated people.

He looked down from the bottom of his heart on the other's operation of seizing grain. Even this got caught red-handed and sent to the Heavenly Prison. Heh… If it were him, no witnesses would exist, and he certainly wouldn't be caught with the goods and the man together. Moreover, the officials wouldn't even get the chance to reach the military camp.

If you do evil, don't talk about conscience.

If you talk about conscience, don't do evil.

If you both do evil and talk about conscience, whose head should be chopped if not yours!

Evil deeds not done thoroughly, conscience not plentiful enough, twisted to death!

The Marquis running into these stubborn fools must also give him a headache. If he wants to protect them, looking at these idiots is vexing. If he doesn't protect them, military morale will shake. Simply toss them to Jingcheng and let the court judge. Walk the open road openly and honorably, so no one can say a word against it!

"On what grounds do you say he made no effort to advance? Without knowing the full picture, how can you so lightly draw conclusions?" Bai Yushu angrily retorted.

Chen Chen Guanlou gave a contemptuous snort, looking down on them greatly. "Then do you know that when people judge a person or a matter, they never know the full picture. The same goes for how the government handles affairs.

The vast majority of people in this world only look at results, not the process. The result is that you've entered the Heavenly Prison, and your heads can hardly be kept. Working backward from that, is it wrong to say Wu She is not a qualified commanding general?

If he were qualified, there would be no witnesses. If he were qualified, he wouldn't have been caught by the authorities with the goods and the man together! I only see your arrogance, your conceit, and your misplaced conscience. Doing evil while talking about conscience — you really are something!"

Bai Yushu was so angry he went mad, yet couldn't lash out.

The next cell's Wu She started yelling again, "Chen Prison Deputy, what kind of skill is bullying us? If you've got the guts, fight me!"

"Fight? Bullying you? Does that even count as bullying? Heh!"

Chen Chen Guanlou wore a half-smile.

"It seems the people who settled you in didn't make things clear. I am a ninth-rank martial artist. Are you sure you want to fight me?"

What?

Wu She and Bai Yushu, along with the other two vice-generals, all wore expressions of shock. Clearly it was beyond their expectations.

"You're actually ninth-rank? How could you be serving in the Heavenly Prison? Impossible, impossible…" Wu She shook his head repeatedly, refusing to believe it no matter what.

In his understanding, ninth-rank martial artists sat on high — how could they hole up in a filthy Heavenly Prison as a mere prison deputy.

Chen Chen Guanlou gave a contemptuous snort. "You've seen too little of the world. I won't blame you."

The moment his words fell, the four of them actually all left the ground at once, pinned in mid-air unable to move.

"Believe it now?"

The four nodded in unison. They believed, they believed! They were already floating in the air — how could they dare not believe.

Chen Chen Guanlou nodded in satisfaction, smiled slightly, and the four crashed down to the ground together.

"Jingcheng is full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers — don't be ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. I'm wasting my breath and time arguing with you only out of respect for the Marquis. If you don't know what's good for you, and spout nonsense during the trial, don't blame me for being ruthless — I'll kill you outright!"

"You…" Bai Yushu was left speechless.

Chen Chen Guanlou wore a beaming smile. "Surprised? The Marquis wants to protect you and arranged me to look after you. Did you think that from then on you'd live well, and I'd think of you in everything?

It's not that it can't happen — first it depends on whether you have any value. But from what I see of you four, you're either stupid or dim, or else self-important with muddled heads.

Apart from valor, I see no value in you at all. You don't even have the basic soldier's quality of 'all's fair in war' — that's a fundamental quality of being a soldier. Truly disappointing."

He was disappointed from the bottom of his heart!

"Remember, speak properly. Think before you speak. You all know I'm the Marquis's nephew from the same clan — as the saying goes, we rise and fall together. If you dare hold back the Marquis's legs, I'll dare to slaughter you. Ugly words spoken up front — think it through carefully."

Bai Yushu finally found his voice. "Does Prison Deputy Chen despise us so much?"

"And only now you know?"

It's good to lean against a big tree for shade.

Leaning on the great tree of Hou Fu, holed up in the Heavenly Prison, never short of money, living a sweet little life. He wasn't a fickle person, nor one keen on change. He preferred this kind of unchanging, blissful single life.

Once Hou Fu fell, he being surnamed Chen would probably have to leave the Heavenly Prison and wander the jianghu. Or find some small place to live.

He rather liked the Flower World of Jingcheng, and hoped Hou Fu would try harder — to keep its own wealth and rank, and to keep the clan members' stable lives.

Of course, if one day it truly came down to a fight to the death, he could let go too. But that would be a passive letting go, not an active choice.

He liked being the one in control, not being controlled.

So if these people dared to drag down the Marquis, and thereby drag down Hou Fu, he wouldn't mind playing the executioner once.

Someone like him, who could be a good man and also do bad deeds, was truly the right candidate for seizing grain. When being a villain, do evil thoroughly. When being a good man, send people to the west.

Bai Yushu's expression turned slightly dejected. "We understand! Many thanks to Prison Deputy Chen for his care. Rest assured, I'll coach them — they won't spout nonsense at the trial, and absolutely won't drag the Marquis in."

"You coach them?" Chen Chen Guanlou's contempt for the surnamed-Bai military advisor was plain as day — completely unqualified. "What worries me most is that because of your coaching, a good thing turns bad. I've said it — without the diamond drill, don't take on porcelain work.

Think about it yourself. All these years as military advisor — were you qualified? Has your coaching ever made things better? A person must have self-knowledge. When your ability doesn't match the position, learn to step aside for the worthy — don't just sit on the latrine and not do the work!"

That remark was vicious enough.

Not a single dirty word, yet it struck straight at the vital point. Inner self and outer face, dignity and decorum — all gone. A wholesale denial!

Bai Yushu was so angry he clutched his chest, nearly exploding!

From childhood on, who didn't praise him for being clever, who didn't praise him for being capable, who didn't praise him for winning battles from afar. For the first time, someone had torn off his skin without mercy, humiliating and denying him in every way. For someone who had always had smooth sailing, this was a strike like a nuclear weapon.

"You're really going too far in bullying people!"

"You can't even curse properly — you, military advisor, better just rest." Chen Chen Guanlou despised him once more.

The Prime Minister cursed Wang Lang to death, and the surnamed Bai is nothing. With a mouth like that, in court, who knows what will happen. The Three Judicial Offices joint trial — the people who appear are the elite of the elite, talkative, quick-witted. Some remark might just be a trap.

The brains of these four, pitted against the elites of the Three Judicial Offices — Chen Chen Guanlou could already picture the terrible outcome. Even he couldn't handle it, so how could they handle the Three Judicial Offices.

They're done for!