Chapter 175

Eldest sister Chen Xiaolan was confirmed to be pregnant, and the whole Su family was overjoyed; they wouldn't let her do any work, fearing there might be a mishap.

As the brother-in-law, Chen Guanlou very generously gave a gift of twenty taels to the Su family. Su Pozi was so happy she could die, wishing she could give birth to a daughter to betroth to him.

Privately, he gave another fifty taels to his eldest sister, telling her to keep it as private money and to buy whatever she wanted to eat or use.

Eldest sister Chen Xiaolan refused to accept it no matter what.

"You save your money; settling down and starting a family as soon as possible is better than anything."

"I don't have plans to start a family yet. Even if I were to, I'm not short of this bit of money. Sister, you must accept this money, otherwise, I won't come to the Su family again."

Chen Xiaolan glared at him, "I know you have money, but money isn't used like this. Giving two or five taels would have been enough; giving fifty taels in one go, what do you expect me to do? Wouldn't I become that kind of greedy person who scrapes from her maiden family's brothers? If this gets out, how can I face people?"

"What are you thinking? I am willing to give it to you; just accept it boldly."

Seeing Chen Guanlou insisted on giving it, Chen Xiaolan said, "Fine, fine, just consider it me saving it for you. When you start a family in the future, I will return it to you."

"Don't! I have plenty of ways to make money; I don't rely on you to save money for me. I am a squad leader now, managing a dozen or twenty people under me; I don't care about these fifty taels."

"Look at you, don't you go doing anything reckless."

"Rest assured, my money comes from very proper sources."

Chen Xiaolan beamed with joy; with the pregnancy, her brother's job was stable, and he had saved quite a bit of money. If her brother could start a family soon, she would truly have no regrets.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, they welcomed the God of Wealth.

The Heavenly Prison set up an incense table, and the prison guards lined up in turns to burn incense, praying for prosperous wealth in the new year so that everyone could get rich.

The Heavenly Prison's holiday was over, but the imperial court officials were still on a long break.

The palace, however, was not peaceful, and a piece of news that made people feel slightly uneasy spread.

The old Emperor publicly scolded the Crown Prince, calling him unworthy of being a son. These words were quite harsh and made people extremely nervous.

Immediately following this, the old Emperor issued an order for the Crown Prince to close his doors and reflect, forbidding him from taking a single step out of the Eastern Palace without an imperial decree.

During the New Year, grounding the Crown Prince—what was the meaning of this?

The court officials who were on break couldn't sit still and submitted memorials one after another. The two Prime Ministers and several high-ranking department heads requested an audience with the Emperor, but all were rejected by the old Emperor one by one.

On the very day the Crown Prince was grounded, the number two figure in the Taiji Palace, Eunuch Wei, the great eunuch second only to Qiu Defu, was suddenly sent by the old Emperor to guard the imperial mausoleum without any warning.

That night, more than a hundred palace maids and eunuchs disappeared from the palace for no reason. If nothing went wrong, these people were likely all dead!

This series of movements made people feel fearful.

Everyone was watching and speculating about the old Emperor's intentions.

During this period, Qi Wuxiu came to find Chen Guanlou, saying that he was as accurate as a god and that people had indeed died.

Chen Guanlou reminded him that this was likely just the beginning and that it would be better to wait and see how things developed and wait for subsequent movements.

Qi Wuxiu was startled and asked, "Are more people going to die? More than a hundred have already died; isn't that enough?"

Chen Guanlou snorted coldly, "Those who died were all insignificant small characters; the biggest one was just sent to guard the imperial mausoleum. The Crown Prince caused such a big stir—could it really just be for the sake of one Eunuch Wei? Even if it was truly aimed at Eunuch Wei, the battle has already started, and it's no longer his turn to call for a stop."

Qi Wuxiu left, filled with worry.

Early in the morning, Chen Guanlou rushed to the Heavenly Prison and saw Chen Quan running over in a hurry, saying anxiously, "Chen Tou, something big is wrong! The Brocade Uniform Guard is here, saying they want to interrogate Master Yu."

"Yu Zhaoan?"

"Exactly."

"Did the Brocade Uniform Guard give any notice before coming? Do the two Master Fans know about this?"

"They didn't give any notice at all; they just barged in. We have already sent someone to notify Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan, but Master Xiao Fan is not at home, and we have already gone to look for him."

Chen Guanlou gritted his teeth and ordered, "Send someone to the brothel to find Master Xiao Fan; make sure to bring Master Xiao Fan back before Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan arrives. I will go down first to see the situation and see if I can delay them for a while."

"Chen Tou, you must be careful. The Brocade Uniform Guard who came this time is an official, wearing the brocade uniform; he looks like he has high status. And he is very difficult to talk to."

Chen Guanlou couldn't care about that much; he couldn't let the Brocade Uniform Guard take away people from the Heavenly Prison at will, especially since it was Yu Zhaoan, who came from the Jixia Academy and was also the junior fellow apprentice of the Prince of Jin.

While arranging for someone to notify the Yu family so they could quickly find a way to rescue him, he rushed down to the Heavenly Prison.

The prison guards, who were usually lively and unrestrained, were now as quiet as chickens. Seeing Chen Guanlou arrive, it was as if they had found their backbone.

"Chen Tou!"

"Chen Tou is here!"

"The Brocade Uniform Guard has already gone in."

"Chen Tou, be careful!"

"What are you afraid of! Follow me to see the situation. Don't forget, this is the Heavenly Prison, not the Imperial Prison."

Chen Guanlou took the lead, guiding a group of prison guards toward the depths of the prison.

Before they even reached the place, they heard Yu Zhaoan's roar, "You Brocade Uniform Guard want to interrogate this official—do you have a warrant? Do you have an imperial decree from His Majesty? Do you have documents from the Ministry of Justice? You have nothing, interrogating me with empty words—do you take this official for a soft persimmon? Xiao, others may fear you, but this official does not; just based on what you have done today, I can impeach you."

Xiao?

The only Brocade Uniform Guard official surnamed Xiao that Chen Guanlou could think of was the one who secretly broke into the Heavenly Prison and killed the murderer Duan Tianlin, Qi Wuxiu's direct superior.

This person was a close minister of the Emperor, a ruthless and cruel official, with extremely cold methods.

"If Master Yu wants to impeach this official, feel free to do so; this official will never stop you. Today, the Brocade Uniform Guard is interrogating you, and it is settled. I advise Master Yu not to make futile struggles, lest things get noisy and it is you who ends up losing face."

Master Xiao's voice was cold; in the early spring season, it carried the chill of the dead of winter, like ice shards that could freeze a person to death. Emotions? There were certainly none.

As a Brocade Uniform Guard, what need is there for emotions! If they don't submit, just kill them.

The eagle and hound of the Son of Heaven, killing a person or two is a small matter!

"Xiao, unless you kill me today, otherwise..." Yu Zhaoan roared, but was unexpectedly interrupted.

"Everyone..."

Chen Guanlou suddenly appeared. He coughed lightly, signaling everyone to look over, "My superior will be here shortly. Regarding whatever the matter is, can we wait until my superior arrives before speaking?"

Xiao Jincheng turned his head sharply, his gaze staring fixedly at Chen Guanlou like a falcon.

Chen Guanlou lowered his eyes slightly, his heart secretly startled.

The first time he saw the one surnamed Xiao, the other party was only a third-rank martial artist.

The second time they met, during a night curfew, the one surnamed Xiao had just entered the fourth-rank realm.

And now, he had actually already stepped into the fifth-rank martial artist realm.

This was the only fifth-rank martial artist Chen Guanlou had met so far.

The one surnamed Xiao had such high martial arts talent; his progress was too rapid, which was astonishing.

His heart panicked for a brief moment, but he quickly calmed down. With the Longevity Dao Fruit and the "Ascension Record," he didn't believe the one surnamed Xiao could see through his true nature.

"Have we met before?" Xiao Jincheng asked.