Chapter 165: Whether to starve a few to death

Two days later, the Second Young Master finally left the Heavenly Prison and returned to his life as an Imperial Grandson.

The Heavenly Prison thus unloaded a large burden, and everyone from top to bottom breathed a sigh of relief.

Little Master Fan didn't have a gate on his mouth, or perhaps he was too happy, and said in front of everyone, "We have finally sent this master away; thank Heaven and Earth. This evening, this official will be the host and invite everyone for a drink."

Everyone:...

You'd better not invite us for a drink. You invite us for a drink, and everyone has to pay; it's meaningless.

A clever person secretly ran to Master Fan to lodge a complaint.

Sure enough, Master Fan called Little Master Fan to the duty room and scolded him severely.

"... In the officialdom, you have to understand the rules and know when to advance and retreat, and not show your joy or anger on your face, do you understand? The Second Young Master just left the Heavenly Prison, and you are celebrating with great fanfare; what do you want to do?"

"I am happy for the Second Young Master! The Second Young Master has finally escaped the prison; isn't this a matter worth being happy about?"

Little Master Fan's counter-question left Master Fan speechless.

"You are happy for the Second Young Master, not because you dislike this plague god, the Second Young Master?"

"Wronged! I am too busy currying favor with the Second Young Master; how could I possibly dislike him as a plague god? The Second Young Master didn't hold my mistakes against me and magnanimously let me go; I am deeply grateful in my heart. It's just that I am in a low position and didn't dare to open my mouth to invite the Second Young Master for a drink, so I thought everyone could privately be happy for the Second Young Master and celebrate. Uncle, you know me; I have no bad intentions."

Master Fan was half-believing, with a belly full of frustration nowhere to vent, and waved his hand impatiently, "Alright, alright, stop nagging. You just serve your duty peacefully and get through this year first."

"There are only a few days left this year; Uncle, what else is there to worry about?" Little Master Fan didn't take it seriously.

Master Fan touched his head, feeling uneasy!

"I heard that they are arguing in the court again, and it's about money again. The Ministry of Revenue promised to make up for the salaries of the officials in the capital for a few months so that everyone could at least have money to spend for the New Year. I heard that there have been twists and turns in this matter again. Whether we can get our salaries before the New Year, no one can say for sure now."

"Uncle, we don't rely on that little salary from the imperial court to live; whether we have it or not doesn't affect the Heavenly Prison."

"You know a fart! Is this just a problem of salary? Once it becomes a convention for the superiors to owe money, it will become a rule in the future. What have we all become? If we don't take the imperial court's salary, can we still be considered imperial court officials? Can the waiter in the restaurant who doesn't take wages be considered a proper waiter?"

Little Master Fan was stunned; it seemed this made a lot of sense. Working for the imperial family but not taking wages—then is he still a person of the imperial court?

"Then what should we do?"

"Watch and wait. Wait for the officials above to show a little kindness; otherwise, this job cannot be done."

"Why does the imperial court have no money every day? Since I came to the Heavenly Prison, the thing I hear most is that there is no money. Even if they don't give money, they don't even give the grain and oil that should be allocated. The Heavenly Prison has to find ways to raise money to buy grain and feed the prisoners in the prison. Fortunately, there are some savings in the Heavenly Prison's public account; otherwise, the prisoners in the prison would have to starve to death. If the prisoners starve to death, whose responsibility is it?"

Master Fan had a head full of lawsuits, his thoughts drifting far away, only to be pulled back by Little Master Fan's mention of starving prisoners.

"What did you just say, starving prisoners?"

Little Master Fan was a bit confused, and after coming to his senses, he hurriedly said, "My nephew means that the superiors don't give money, but they can't not give grain and oil. Fortunately, there is some money in the public account; otherwise, if people starve to death, who should be responsible?"

"Starve! Haha, starve! If they don't give money, starving a few people is also understandable."

"Uncle, do you want to starve the people in the prison? This, this is not appropriate, right? If the superiors investigate..."

"You know a fart. You go down first, and by the way, call Chen Guanlou over."

"Call him for what? He is just a Company Commander. Uncle, if you have anything, discuss it with me!"

Master Fan glared, "Discuss what with you? Do you have an elder in the clan who defeated the rebels? Do you have a relationship with the Marquis Prefecture? The most popular figure in the court right now is Marquis Pingjiang. Chen Guanlou, although he is out of the five degrees of mourning, is surnamed Chen after all, and is more useful than all of us combined. Hurry up and call him over. Where is Master Li? Master Li, hurry over and give this official some advice."

Little Master Fan was sprayed with a face full of spit and had no choice but to retreat, calling a prison guard to invite Chen Guanlou.

After Chen Guanlou returned from Hu Village, he gradually realized that his murderous aura was too heavy and easily startled people, attracting others' attention. During this period, he had been cultivating his character and became very Buddhist. Knowing that Yu Zhaoan had a pair of sharp eyes, he didn't dare to appear in front of Yu Zhaoan, and even skipped the daily patrol of the cells.

He slacked off and fished, which had already attracted Yu Zhaoan's attention, and he had asked the prison guards several times.

Chen Guanlou remained unmoved. Before all his sharpness was restrained, he would not take any risks and could not let the cunning Yu Zhaoan see any flaws.

As for the others around him, they were not worth worrying about at all.

In life, let alone third-rank martial artists, even second-rank martial artists were rarely seen. Above the fourth rank, with his current social circle, except for the old pawnshop manager, he couldn't meet them at all.

Fourth-rank martial artists were either in the barracks, kept by powerful families, or in sects and aristocratic families.

None of the three were people he could easily contact with his current status.

Chen Guanlou guarded against Yu Zhaoan, not because of how deep Yu Zhaoan's martial arts were, but because that guy's eyes were too poisonous and his brain was extremely smart. A little bit of clues would allow the other party to grasp the tail of the truth. He didn't want to expose the secrets on his body.

Xiao Jin nagged in his ear, saying that Yu Zhaoan muttered every day that he had unspeakable dealings, otherwise he wouldn't avoid seeing him. Chen Guanlou was annoyed, and just happened to have something to do on Master Fan's side, so he hurried over.

Arriving at the duty room, seeing Master Fan and Master Li both looking serious, he was a bit puzzled. The Second Young Master had left the Heavenly Prison, so they should be happy; why were they still frowning?

"Little Chen is here; don't stand, sit down and talk. Jinzhou won a great victory, and the rebels were wiped out in one fell swoop; this is a great joyous event."

The rebels only retreated and contracted their front line, and were not wiped out in one fell swoop. Chen Guanlou silently said a sentence in his heart. However, these were not important right now. The old Emperor only needed a victory, and the imperial court also needed a victory; having a victory was a good thing.

The Marquis Prefecture could be prosperous for a long time, and even if they, these Chen family members, couldn't share the glory, they could still be happy. When they went out and said they were surnamed Chen, others would look at them with higher regard, and doing things or doing business would be smoother than others. The yamen runners wouldn't look at the monk's face, but they would look at the Buddha's face, and wouldn't deliberately make things difficult.

There were still many benefits to being surnamed Chen, especially some invisible benefits.

If the Marquis Prefecture were to fall, these Chen family members would inevitably be looked down upon and treated harshly by others. ===== CHAPTER 166 =====