Chapter 1570

Once the serious business was finished, Xie Changling left early under the escort of his guards.

Chen Guanlou remained on the pleasure boat, living it up for the night, and everyone was very happy.

When the sky was fully bright, he left the pleasure boat with the scent of powder and rouge all over him.

When he reached the shore, he ran into several acquaintances, all drinking buddies who frequented brothels, and they greeted each other.

The other party teased him, "Official Chen has made it big; you're willing to throw away several thousand taels of silver in one night."

"More than just a few thousand!" Chen Guanlou laughed loudly, "If you're short on money, how about we pool our money for a night of fun tomorrow?"

"No, no!"

Pooling money to have fun on the top-tier pleasure boat was too embarrassing to say out loud.

This Prison Warden Chen really had no standards.

After teasing each other a few times, they each went home.

Chen Guanlou went straight home to wash up, scrubbing away the scent of powder and rouge.

He sent someone to deliver a message to the Hou Fu's head steward, Chen Chengzong, asking him to arrange a banquet that evening, as he wanted to have a serious talk with Chen Guanfu about serious matters.

The implication was for Chen Chengzong to notify Chen Guanfu to cancel all evening arrangements and save the time for him.

Chen Chengzong wanted to ask what had happened and ran to the Chen family's small courtyard to block him, but Chen Guanlou had already gone to the Heavenly Prison for duty.

"He is certainly diligent about his duty." Chen Chengzong complained bitterly, "He didn't find his way home all night last night, and this morning he came back to wash up and change clothes before going to duty. Is the job at the Heavenly Prison that important?"

He really couldn't understand.

What was there to worry about in the Heavenly Prison? Those prison clerks weren't just for show.

The young servant beside him took a bold guess, "Perhaps it's because the Heavenly Prison is crowded and lively, with people to chat with. Master Guanlou just likes the liveliness."

"That makes sense!" Chen Chengzong didn't delve into this question but instead went to the Yamen to find Chen Guanfu and convey Chen Guanlou's meaning.

Chen Guanlou sat in his office, resting with his eyes closed, but his mind was constantly thinking about the current situation and the conditions Xie Changling had offered.

If one were to say the conditions were good, they were truly good!

But if one were to say they weren't enough, one could also pick bones out of an egg!

The key was the attitude of the Hou Fu!

Did they want to be loyal ministers, treacherous ministers, or rebels!

Marquis Pingjiang was old and didn't have many years left to live. Chen Guanfu could indeed support the Hou Fu, but how should the path ahead be walked? After Marquis Pingjiang passed away, the imperial court would definitely take major actions; could Chen Guanfu handle it then? Did the Hou Fu have that kind of strength?

After thinking for a long time without coming up with a plan, he simply gave up.

He was only responsible for drifting through life; let the profiteers worry about brain-racking matters.

After work, he went home, changed his clothes again, washed away the smell of the Heavenly Prison, and headed to the Hou Fu.

The gatekeeper servant had been waiting for a long time; seeing him was like seeing an ancestor, and he was enthusiastic and attentive.

"Master Guanlou is here! The Young Master returned early and told me that when I saw you, I should lead you over directly. The Young Master has arranged a banquet in the front courtyard study; it's very sumptuous, just waiting for you."

Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows, looked at the fawning servant, and threw a piece of broken silver to him. The gatekeeper servant was so happy he couldn't see his teeth!

"Master Guanlou is generous! Please this way, Master Guanlou!"

"It's been a long time since I used the main entrance; when did the gatekeeper change?"

"To let Master Guanlou know, it's been a while."

"The gatekeeper job at the Hou Fu is very competitive; how did you get it? Whose connections did you use?"

"Nothing can be hidden from Master Guanlou; I used the connections of the Eldest Young Master."

So he used Chen Mengzhao's connections; that was fine, the path was proper.

He encouraged the servant, "Work hard, read more books, and in the future, you might have a chance to be sent out to be an official."

"I don't care about being an official; I just want to be a gatekeeper at the Hou Fu." The servant chuckled happily.

Chen Guanlou was very disdainful, "Look at your lack of ambition."

"Master Guanlou is my role model; I'm learning from you, Master Guanlou."

Chen Guanlou was speechless. In the eyes of others, he was the one with the least ambition, hiding in the Heavenly Prison all day, without grand aspirations, and not thinking of making progress. The face of the ancestors was almost completely lost.

He felt a bit embarrassed for setting a bad example for the younger generation.

Therefore, he solemnly warned, "Don't take me as a role model; you can't learn from someone like me. Listen more to the opinions of your family and strive to climb higher!"

While the Hou Fu hadn't fallen yet, those who could be officials should go be officials, those who could find money should go find money, and those who could lead troops to fight should go fight.

He had a way out!

As a Grandmaster, he could go anywhere in the world, survive anywhere, and survive very well. He wouldn't treat himself poorly anywhere.

The Chen clansmen didn't have his confidence; they should seize the time to enjoy themselves while the Hou Fu was at its peak. In case one day the mansion collapsed, they wouldn't have gained anything and would still be implicated by the Hou Fu and have their nine generations executed. It would be quite pitiful.

The servant didn't understand his implication and just thought he was being modest.

Chen Guanlou gave an awkward laugh; forget it, forget it, everyone has their own fate.

Led by the servant, he was taken to the study.

Chen Guanfu was appreciating a painting.

An official below had found a treasure and offered it to the Hou Fu as a tribute.

Chen Guanfu brought the mansion's guest advisors to appraise this treasure, judge its authenticity and value, and appreciate its artistic conception, as well as a particularly special seal on it.

"Guanlou is here! Come over quickly! You've handled so many treasure paintings; take a look for me, how is this one? Is it worth looking at?"

Chen Guanlou didn't notice the specific content of the painting at first glance; he was attracted by a seal in the middle of the left side.

"As if I were personally present!"

Was it the "As if I were personally present" he was thinking of?

The seal that Emperor Jian Shi had given him as a reward was lying in his house right now, kept together with the ominous treasure sword "Wu Gou," based on the idea of fighting poison with poison.

"What is the origin of this seal?" He asked, pretending to be curious.

"You noticed it too. Let me tell you, the author of this painting isn't very famous, and many of their works have been passed down. The most valuable one is this one right here, just because it has this extra seal." Chen Guanfu said with a hint of excitement: "If I remember correctly, this seal was ordered by Emperor Renzong to be supervised by the Imperial Treasury and was used for a period of time. For several years, Emperor Renzong liked using this seal very much. It was used on all edicts given to his trusted ministers. If you flip through the mansion's warehouse, you can definitely find several imperial edicts that used this seal."

What was this called?

This was heritage!

The Hou Fu preserved imperial edicts from the Renzong reign.

They might even be able to dig out imperial edicts from the time of the founding ancestor.

There was nothing more profound than this heritage.

This was the history of a dynasty, and also the history of a family.

"Does the Young Master mean that Emperor Renzong played with this painting? Did it flow out of the palace? Are imperial gifts bought, sold, and given away so casually?" Chen Guanlou asked with a smile.

"Whether it's an imperial gift is hard to say. There are quite a few people in the palace who steal from their own storehouses. If examined carefully, I don't think Emperor Renzong ever appreciated this painting. Renzong had quite an accomplishment in calligraphy and painting; he shouldn't have looked favorably upon this painting. If I remember correctly, in the first few years after Emperor Taixing ascended the throne, he liked to imitate Emperor Renzong in being refined and also liked to appraise calligraphy and painting. It seems Emperor Taixing also used this seal. Did I remember wrong?"

Chen Guanfu looked toward the elderly guest advisor standing on the side.