Chapter 1768: My Lord, There Is a Grievance

In the Heavenly Prison, prisoners enter every three days, but few leave.

Wanting to leave the Heavenly Prison easily is a delusion. Even for royalty, prison time starts at half a year.

Huang Ye, a prison clerk in the Bing-character prison, wouldn't leave after reporting his duties.

Seeing that he seemed to have something left unsaid, Chen Guanlou asked, "Is there anything else?"

"My Lord, there is a case here. The prisoner is about to be sentenced to immediate execution, but I believe he shouldn't die. I want to help him, but I have nowhere to start."

Chen Guanlou frowned, very dissatisfied. "You haven't been a prison guard for just one day; you should understand that in the Heavenly Prison, the most useless thing is random kindness. Among those prisoners in the cells, who doesn't have grievances, who doesn't have injustices? Can you sympathize with them all?"

"But this case is really different. My Lord, why don't you look at the file first."

Looking at Huang Ye's eager and expectant appearance, Chen Guanlou reluctantly agreed. "Bring the file, and we'll talk after I finish reading it. Has Li Shuan been honest lately?"

Huang Ye suppressed his joy and said, "Reporting to My Lord, since Prison Warden Li took office, he has been diligent and conscientious, eating and living in the Heavenly Prison. He hasn't dared to slack off for a day."

"You have a good impression of him?" Chen Guanlou was a bit surprised. Huang Ye didn't get along with Xu Fugui, but got along well with Li Shuan?

Huang Ye didn't deny it. "I am indeed quite satisfied with Prison Warden Li."

Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows, and suddenly understood the key point.

Li Shuan was best at winning people's hearts. When he was in the cell, he relied on this skill to win over people to be his lackeys. Later, when he was outside leading a group of people responsible for clearing accounts, he also relied on this skill.

This kind of person was someone who, as long as he wanted to please someone and wanted to be friends with someone, there was nothing he couldn't handle. He could package himself into the type of person the other party had the least defense against at any time.

This skill was extraordinary!

It was just that he met Chen Guanlou, who was impervious to oil and salt, and Medical Official Mu, who was full of hostility toward him, so Li Shuan's trick didn't succeed.

"Has he overstepped his boundaries and interfered with your duties?"

"Reporting to My Lord, no. Prison Warden Li handles things with a sense of proportion, and even when hitting people for money, there's less of a bloody smell. Medical Official Mu knows this best; in the past two months, the medicinal materials consumed in the Bing-character prison have significantly decreased compared to when Prison Warden Xu was there."

Oh?

There was such a good thing.

Chen Guanlou hummed in response. "You go down. I will verify what you said."

"Yes!"

A moment later, the file was delivered to his desk.

The case was very simple, a human life lawsuit caused by a fight. The victim was dissatisfied with the verdict of the Jingzhao Prefecture and directly sued to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice took over the case, and it looked like they intended to sentence the murderer to immediate execution, as the saying goes, a life for a life.

However, the cause of this murder case had some points to it.

The murderer's surname was He, named He Shouzhang, originally a Sixth Rank capital official. Because he was involved in a case, both husband and wife were sentenced to exile. The couple had a daughter, and the imperial court showed mercy, not involving the children. So, He Shouzhang entrusted his daughter to his brother-in-law to take care of.

He Shouzhang's crime was not heavy, sentenced to ten years of exile.

It's just a pity that his wife couldn't survive ten years and died in the place of exile in the first year.

He Shouzhang, alone, survived ten years and returned to the capital. After settling down, he went to his brother-in-law's house to pick up his daughter, only to be told that his daughter had already married. As for who she married, the servants at his brother-in-law's house were vague.

He Shouzhang realized that his daughter's marriage was likely unpresentable.

Moreover, his brother-in-law avoided seeing him, clearly feeling guilty.

He didn't rush to flare up, found his old connections, spent some effort, and finally found out his daughter's news.

It turned out that after the He family was exiled, his brother-in-law's family also began to go downhill.

At the same time, his brother-in-law had several businesses that suffered serious losses, and hearing that someone won money, he thought about gambling to turn things around. As a result, the more he gambled, the bigger the hole, and it couldn't be filled!

The creditors forced him to pay, threatening to break his hands and feet if he didn't give money.

Driven to a dead end, the couple actually had the idea of using their niece. For a generous dowry, they betrothed their niece to an old man nearly sixty years old as a concubine.

A sixteen-year-old girl and a sixty-year-old man, could this be something a human would do?

It was clearly worse than a beast!

After He Shouzhang learned the truth, he rushed to the old man's house to demand his daughter back.

The other party wouldn't give her up, and the reason was legitimate.

There was a formal concubine document and a dowry list. The person had already entered the old man's house and was the old man's person. Even if the biological father came, he shouldn't think about taking her away. Unless the dowry was returned and compensation was made, the matter could be discussed.

He Shouzhang, a person who had just finished his sentence and returned, had used up all his resources to settle down in the capital, so where would he have money to redeem her.

So, he decisively rushed to his brother-in-law's house and demanded his brother-in-law pay money to redeem her.

His brother-in-law complained bitterly, and his sister-in-law said there was no money, only a life.

The two sides fought on the spot, and He Shouzhang gave the other party three days to raise the silver.

Three days later, the two sides met again.

His brother-in-law still said one thing: no money!

He Shouzhang couldn't bear it anymore, and the two fought again, both of them trying to kill each other.

His brother-in-law was idle all day, delicate and expensive, naturally not the opponent of He Shouzhang who had run back from the bitter cold place after ten years of labor.

Because both sides tried to kill each other, his brother-in-law was beaten unconscious.

That night, his brother-in-law died.

The next day, his brother-in-law's wife sued He Shouzhang. The lawsuit went to the Jingzhao Prefecture, and the Jingzhao Magistrate pitied He Shouzhang for beating someone to death without intention, which could be called excusable, so he sentenced him to ten years in prison and exile.

The place of exile was the same place as the last time. It was equivalent to saying He Shouzhang returned to where he came from.

His brother-in-law's wife was unconvinced, and under the guidance of an "expert," she actually ran to the Ministry of Justice to complain.

There was a grievance here!?

Someone at the Ministry of Justice who liked trouble took the complaint and took the case from the Jingzhao Prefecture. He Shouzhang was directly thrown into the Heavenly Prison.

Looking at the Ministry of Justice's intention, they wanted to catch He Shouzhang as a typical example and sentence him to immediate execution.

Chen Guanlou frowned after reading the file.

The brother-in-law in the case deserved to die and should have been beaten to death long ago. If he wanted to pay off debts, why not sell his own daughter, but insist on selling his niece. He didn't inform the He couple before or after the event.

Even if Mrs. He died, the child's father was still alive. And originally, it was agreed that it was just for care, and silver was left. How could he sell her in the blink of an eye.

What's more, selling her was selling her. Selling her to a sixty-year-old man as a concubine was truly ruining a person. A sixteen-year-old girl and a sixty-year-old man, were they a match?

Vicious!

The brother-in-law couple was purely bad!

He pondered for a moment and went directly to the Bing-character prison to find He Shouzhang.

He Shouzhang had been tortured and was covered in wounds, with only a face that could barely be seen.

Chen Guanlou frowned and asked Huang Ye, "How did he get the wounds on his body?"

"Reporting to My Lord, he was even worse when he was sent to the Heavenly Prison. Thanks to Medical Official Mu's trauma medicine, otherwise he would have been disabled."

"The prison guards of the Jingzhao Prefecture are so ruthless?" Chen Guanlou was very disdainful.

Huang Ye secretly explained, "I heard that the people of the Jingzhao Prefecture are crazy with poverty. The superiors are investigating corruption, and the Jingzhao Prefecture is digging for silver everywhere to fill the arrears in the account book. Even the prison guards' silver wasn't spared."

Hearing this, Chen Guanlou tutted twice, very disdainful, a bunch of poor misers! ===== CHAPTER 1769 =====