Chapter 1518: He Is So Ruthless That He Even Killed Me

Chen Chen Guanlou returned to the Sky Prison with his assignment.

Chen Quan reported, "Someone from the Six Doors came by once, asking if we needed their cooperation. They said that once a man is put in the interrogation room, he will confess to anything — even peeping at a widow bathing when he was a child."

Chen Chen Guanlou shook his head.

Qiu Gui's current state clearly showed he was unafraid of death, even eager to die quickly, so he could take his secrets to the grave.

"Pass word to the brothers at the Six Doors — thank them for their kind offer. When the need arises, I will invite them over to help."

"Yes, my lord!"

Chen Chen Guanlou first went to the first-class cell block and took a look at Qiu Gui's condition.

He asked Mu Yiguan Mu, "No major problems, right?"

Mu Yiguan Mu nodded. "He won't die for the moment. However..."

He frowned again. "This old man observes that he seems to have resolved upon death! This condition is not conducive to healing. Once a man no longer wishes to live, his bodily functions will decline accordingly. Conversely, with a strong will to live, even when on the brink of death, there is a chance to find a sliver of life. What has happened to him? Why has he suddenly lost the will to live?"

Chen Chen Guanlou smiled knowingly and said in the direction of Qiu Gui, "He fears death by a thousand cuts!"

Qiu Gui's body, as expected, trembled twice at those words.

He had guessed correctly.

Chen Chen Guanlou clicked his tongue in admiration — there really was a great secret.

"You treat his wounds. I will go question Lady Chu."

"Why do you question her? She knows nothing." Qiu Gui suddenly turned his head, staring fixedly at Chen Chen Guanlou. "Does Warden Chen admit he is no match and can only take it out on a woman?"

Chen Chen Guanlou laughed in spite of himself. "You think everyone is as base and petty as you. You are so terrified — could it be that the young master you killed had an unusual identity? Could there be other hidden circumstances, and it was not simply a case of murder for money?"

He stared fixedly into the man's eyes.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Gui suddenly lowered his head, refusing to meet his gaze, refusing to let him see the slightest change in expression.

Chen Chen Guanlou reached out and forcibly lifted the man's head. "Look at me. Feeling guilty? When you killed Dou Anzhi, it was probably not a sudden murderous impulse but premeditated and planned, wasn't it?"

"Nonsense! Everything that should be confessed, I have already confessed. Warden Chen is not an investigator — what are you trying to do?" Qiu Gui suddenly stood in the victor's position and mocked him viciously.

Chen Chen Guanlou laughed in spite of himself. "You fear death by a thousand cuts, yet I will not do as you wish. I will nail you down — sooner or later, you will be cut to pieces."

Qiu Gui's face instantly frosted over, his eyes filled with rage. He gnashed his teeth. "I have no quarrel with you, no grudge against you — why must you target me? Even if I am a petty man, an executioner, how I should be sentenced is for the court to decide. It is not for a mere warden to point fingers and meddle!"

Chen Chen Guanlou burst out laughing.

He was very pleased — truly very pleased.

Because he had seen fear in the man's eyes!

Fear was good!

What he feared was fearlessness!

He leaned close to the man's ear and whispered, "You want a clean beheading? Dream on! Having done evil, you must pay the corresponding price!"

Having said that, he decisively rose and left.

Qiu Gui first fell into immense terror, then suddenly erupted, straining his throat to roar, "Chen Chen Guanlou, I curse your eighteen generations of ancestors! Who told you to meddle in other people's business? Come back here — I have money, I really have money..."

After leaving the first-class cell block, Chen Chen Guanlou suddenly instructed Chen Quan, "Arrange a few gambling men to go gamble with Qiu Gui."

"Does my lord mean..."

"I want to know whether he truly is a gambler. What Lady Chu said is one-sided — most of it is her own speculation. The truth of the matter, only Qiu Gui himself knows."

"I understand."

If Qiu Gui was not a seasoned gambler, not an old gambling fiend, then the motive for the murder back then would be very much open to question.

Next, he went to the neighboring women's cells.

He went to see Lady Chu — he had a few questions to ask.

Lady Chu did not know him personally, but had heard of his name. She knew that whether her family would be safe and sound in the Sky Prison, or living a life worse than death, all depended on a single word from the man before her.

She had no choice but to brace herself and deal with him.

"Greetings, Warden Chen. May I ask what Warden Chen wishes to know?"

Chen Chen Guanlou was very satisfied with her attitude — this was just right.

"I have a few questions. Answer truthfully. As long as you conceal nothing, I will instruct the women's side to make your final days more comfortable."

"Many thanks, Warden Chen! As long as it is something I know, I will hold nothing back."

"When did you and Qiu Gui pledge your love? Before Dou Anzhi's death, had you ever met him?"

"Reporting to Warden Chen — this commoner woman and Qiu Gui are from the same village, neighbors. He got along very well with my younger brother. Over time, I became familiar with him too. As for the exact time we pledged our love... actually, he and I never truly pledged anything. But we both knew each other's feelings; neither of us ever pierced that thin layer of paper. He went to work at the Dou household, and I had silently accepted in my heart that I would marry some other man in the future — I never imagined I would marry him. It was not until the Dou family finished the funeral that he suddenly had my younger brother find me and said he wanted to marry me! As for that young master of the Dou family, I never met him."

"Why was there never a formal pledge?" Chen Chen Guanlou was very surprised. He had always assumed the two had pledged themselves to each other since childhood, their love unbreakable as gold and stone.

"His family was too poor — a sickly mother, a weak father, a string of younger siblings waiting to be fed, and relatives skilled at freeloading. My father could never have agreed to let me marry him. Besides, he could not produce a betrothal gift. In our area, I was considered quite good-looking. To marry me, without a betrothal gift of ten taels, my father would absolutely never agree!"

Lady Chu concealed nothing and answered truthfully.

"When he came to see you, was it as Qiu Gui or as Dou Anzhi?"

"I recognized him at a glance as Qiu Gui, even though he was dressed up like a young master."

"You wouldn't mistake him?" Chen Chen Guanlou was a little curious how she distinguished between the two.

Lady Chu showed a hint of pride. "Even if he turned to ash, I would not mistake him."

"By what do you tell them apart?"

"I can't say — it's just a feeling. Looking at his face, his eyes, I knew he was Qiu Gui, not the Dou family's young master."

"After you met, did he confide in you the news of Dou Anzhi's death?"

Lady Chu shook her head. "He did not. He only said he had already recovered his status as a commoner and wished to marry me as his wife. He also said he would give my father fifty taels as betrothal gift, and would never make things difficult for me."

"You didn't ask him why?"

"After I went back and thought it over, I arranged a second meeting with him and pressed him. Only then did he reluctantly tell me part of the truth. However, that time he only confessed half of it — saying the Dou family's young master had caught a chill on the road and died. So the Dou family had him impersonate the Dou family's young master to maintain the Dou family's wealth and status."

Chen Chen Guanlou let out a sound of surprise. "You believed it?"

"At first I believed him. It was only after the young mistress of the Dou family passed away, and he sought to marry me in the identity of the young master of the Dou family, that I realized something was amiss. After repeated questioning, he finally revealed the truth."

"You still decided to marry him?"

"What else could I do!" Lady Chu gave a bitter smile. "Now that I know the truth, there is no turning back. Besides marrying him, I have no other path. Moreover, I must help him conceal the truth. Otherwise, in his ruthlessness, he would kill even me. Even if not for my own sake, I must consider the safety of my family. He is a gambler who has gone red-eyed; he allows no one to defy him."