Chapter 1347: This Group of Corrupt Officials Has Lower and Lower Quality

"I'm wronged! This old man is wronged!"

"Don't howl in front of me. This is the Heavenly Prison, not the main hall of the Ministry of Justice. Official Hu, are you senile?"

Chen Guanlou spoke with sarcasm, very unwelcoming to the corrupt officials in the cell.

Official Hu cried to heaven and earth, "This old man is not howling; this old man just wants the world to know the truth. Regarding the river engineering silver, this old man didn't embezzle a single cent; this old man disdains doing such things. It was the people above who, seeing that this old man refused to cooperate, deliberately dragged this old man into the water to let this old man take the blame. If this old man has said a single false word about this matter, may this old man die a horrible death."

Chen Guanlou raised an eyebrow slightly, "Why are you telling me all this? The Heavenly Prison is not responsible for judging cases; your case will be tried by the Ministry of Justice. It won't be too late to cry injustice when you go to court."

Official Hu shook his head repeatedly, "They are colluding and working together. Once I really go to court, I will be unable to defend myself, and the charges will be confirmed. In the end, I will be wrongly executed. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, I have long heard of your reputation; can you help me a little?"

"Asking me for help?" Chen Guanlou looked at him with a half-smile.

Official Hu nodded repeatedly; he needed help, otherwise he would die with grievances.

"It costs money." Chen Guanlou sneered.

"I have money."

"You said you didn't embezzle; where did you get the money?"

"I didn't embezzle, but that doesn't mean my family doesn't have money."

A very reasonable statement.

Chen Guanlou immediately became two parts interested and waved his hand, signaling the other party to come closer.

"Tell me, how did your family's money come about?"

"Part of it was passed down from ancestors, and part of it was earned by my brothers-in-law doing business. This old man's words are all true, without any falsehood. Can Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen help a little?"

Chen Guanlou stared at the other party, seemingly wanting to see the truth from the other party's face.

He asked curiously, "How old are you this year?"

"Fifty!"

Chen Guanlou was startled, "Fifty is this old?"

He looked at Official Hu from head to toe—dried up, thin, and dark, with wrinkles all over his face, layer upon layer; it looked like he was sixty, and no one would doubt it.

Official Hu sighed, "It's the worrying! Being an official like this, I am exhausted. Not to mention the heavy duties, I also have to fight wits and courage with colleagues, with officials above, and with yamen runners below. There is not a single good person in the officialdom."

"That makes sense! If there were good people in officialdom, everyone wouldn't be flocking to it."

"What kind of logic is that? Isn't it good to have many good people?"

"Of course it's not good!" Chen Guanlou said as a matter of course: "You are a good person, I am a good person, everyone is a good person—where does the money come from? Traveling a thousand miles to be an official is only for money, not to be a good person. Official Hu, you are at such an old age, haven't you seen through this yet?"

Official Hu was speechless, looking like he had been hit.

"Don't be in a hurry to kick the bucket. Tell me first how you want me to help."

With money to be made, Chen Guanlou was still very patient.

He now had enough money on hand, and he couldn't spend it all for a while, so much so that his enthusiasm for making money was gone. He reflected on it; this wouldn't do. Not being enthusiastic about making money is a problem of ideology.

You can't treat money like dirt just because you have a lot of it.

This is an immoral behavior and must be seriously criticized!

Now, he cheered up and continued to bow for money.

Whether it's a corrupt official or a good official, as long as they give money, he has to help if he can. People have crimes, so please punish the people who commit crimes. But money is innocent; you can't despise money for not being clean.

On the contrary, money is the cleanest thing in the world and never actively lures people. It's like a beauty; standing there, it's a beautiful landscape that everyone flocks to. Money is the same.

Official Hu gritted his teeth, feeling extremely resentful, "This old man wants to file a petition to the Emperor."

"That won't do; I don't have that much ability. Change to another one."

Chen Guanlou refused very decisively. This group of corrupt officials has lower and lower quality, actually opening their mouths like lions and making unreasonable demands. They are far inferior to the corrupt officials of the late Emperor's time, who were all very sensible, and the requests they made were also reasonable.

Official Hu gritted his teeth, "I demand a joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices."

"Can't do it. Old Hu, don't aim too high; make some reasonable and realistic requests. I am not God, nor am I an immortal; I can't satisfy your daydreaming." Chen Guanlou spoke earnestly, only feeling tired in his heart.

At such an old age, he still needs him, a young man, to teach him. Could it be that his decades of official career were all fed to dogs, without any progress at all? No wonder he was calculated by colleagues in officialdom to take the blame. Serves him right!

Official Hu was dissatisfied and very frustrated, "If there is no joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices, how can my grievances be voiced? Wouldn't I die in vain? Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you are omnipotent; can you help me?"

"You want to voice your grievances, but the premise is that everything you said is true; it doesn't necessarily require a joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices. I ask you, do you have evidence of your colleagues' or superiors' embezzlement?"

"No! If I could catch their evidence, I wouldn't have been framed and thrown into the Heavenly Prison." Official Hu felt very heartbroken; he was heartbroken that he only thought about staying out of trouble and didn't think about keeping a hand to protect himself. Regretting it too late!

"Without evidence, why should I overturn the case? Why should I believe you?" Chen Guanlou laughed in anger; strange things happen every year, especially this year.

"Aren't you omnipotent?" Official Hu questioned him back, his expression very puzzled and slightly impatient.

Chen Guanlou sneered coldly, "Where did you hear that eighteenth-hand rumor? I am merely a Jiang Jiang Yucheng of the Heavenly Prison; how could I be omnipotent? Tell me in detail; I am also very curious."

"Isn't it?" Official Hu was shocked, looking like the sky was falling. It's over, it's over, it's completely over.

Chen Guanlou laughed through gritted teeth, "It's a fart. Do you have no brain? You believe such rumors without any realistic basis; you deserve to be calculated. Old Hu, when you were born, was your brain clamped?" Became brain-damaged!

Official Hu looked like he was mourning, crying and howling: "Your stories are circulating everywhere in the local areas, saying that you can even intervene in the palace and are omnipotent. Everyone says it with nose and eyes; this matter cannot blame this old man for misunderstanding. It is clearly the person who passed the message who exaggerated. What should this old man do?"

Chen Guanlou:...

Never expected that his reputation was so loud. So loud that it had become a legend. Extremely unreliable. This is probably not an eighteenth-hand rumor, but a one-hundred-and-eight-hand rumor! Too outrageous!

He sighed with Official Hu, "You, you, at any rate, you are a proper Jinshi graduate; how can you not have any ability to distinguish? How can you make decisions based on rumors? You are also a big freak."

"Am I dead for sure?"

Official Hu looked at him eagerly, saying pitifully:

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, can you help me think of a way? I am truly innocent. Regarding the river engineering silver, the imperial court's silver, the government's silver, and the people's silver, I haven't embezzled a single cent. I only took the government's share and the filial piety from the people below. These monies had to be taken; this is the standard rule of officialdom!" ===== CHAPTER 1348 =====