Chapter 234: Everyone is Watching the Neighbor's Joke

Knowing that cult rebels would break out of prison, Chen Guanlou ordered iron chains to be put on Zhang Daohe.

The prison guards couldn't understand and had various opinions. The Jia-type prison rarely put iron chains on prisoners; one was that there was no need, as imprisoned officials wouldn't be stupid enough to break out of prison. Generally speaking, imprisoned officials locked in the Heavenly Prison had a much greater chance of rising again than those in the Imperial Prison next door. Breaking out of prison was equivalent to cutting off one's personal future and the lives of nine generations; it was too uneconomical, and the cost-performance ratio was low to the point of being outrageous.

Secondly, the Jia-type prison didn't have this tradition. Even for death row prisoners, there was no need to put on iron chains. For a mere cult rebel, why go to such lengths?

Chen Guanlou's order made the prison guards feel surprised.

Chen Guanlou explained, "That bunch of cult rebels are crazy and manic; we must prevent the unexpected."

"Does Chen Tou mean that cult rebels will break out of prison?"

"We have to guard against it. Have you heard of the Medicine King Temple case? It is said that it was done by cult rebels."

The prison guards were taken aback; this was the first time they had heard this statement.

Chen Guanlou continued, "Rumor has it that cult rebels gathered in the capital just to break out of prison. Whether they are breaking out of the Imperial Prison next door or our Heavenly Prison, we must guard against the unexpected; one more measure is one more layer of insurance. You also don't hope that the prisoner Zhang Daohe will be broken out, right?"

"That bunch of cult rebels are really that crazy!"

"Even crazier than this! I have relatives in Dongzhou; they have the most serious cult rebel trouble there; each one is not afraid of death, abandoning their homes and businesses, donating all their family property. If someone in the family doesn't obey, they are killed directly. Some people, in order to join the cult, kill their children, kill their daughters, kill their wives, doing all kinds of evil. They have become completely crazy."

The prison guards let out one 'wow' after another; it was truly eye-opening. Cult rebels, cult rebels, every ten years or so they always make trouble once. But this is the capital; cult rebels are rare, and on weekdays, they basically can't be seen. The rumors about cult rebels are mostly hearsay, too far from everyone's life, so it's no wonder they would be startled by 'wow's.

As the saying goes, good things don't work, but bad things do.

In the middle of the night, Chen Guanlou was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly woken up. The courtyard gate was slapped with a 'pa-pa' sound.

"Coming, coming, stop knocking."

The courtyard gate opened, and Liu She was so anxious that his speech was tangling.

Chen Guanlou comforted him and gave him a cup of water.

Liu She drank the water before straightening out his thoughts. "Chen Tou, it's not good; someone is breaking out of prison."

Chen Guanlou was stunned for a moment; so fast. Then he sighed; this matter had been expected long ago, and it finally happened.

"What is the situation now? Is it cult rebels breaking out of prison? Was Zhang Daohe broken out?" He asked while putting on his padded jacket, locking the door, and taking Liu She to rush back to the Heavenly Prison.

"Zhang Daohe was... was broken out." Liu She said, lowering his head, afraid of being blamed.

Chen Guanlou glanced at him. "How are the brothers? Any casualties?"

Seeing that Chen Tou didn't blame him, Liu She's courage suddenly grew, and he said loudly, "Reporting to Chen Tou, a few were injured, all minor injuries."

"As long as no one died."

Chen Guanlou felt relieved upon hearing this.

The prison guards of the Heavenly Prison all had a heart that sought good fortune and avoided disaster; when encountering something like breaking out of prison, no prison guard would really rush up to fight the thieves to the death, at most just putting on a show. The prison guards of the Jia-type prison were even more agile than those of the Yi-type and Bing-type prisons; as long as they hid fast, the thieves couldn't kill them.

The thieves were busy breaking out of prison and escaping; the prison guards didn't run out to block them, so they were too lazy to kill people to vent their anger, not to mention wasting time, and in case they attracted soldiers, it would be troublesome. Escaping was the first priority.

Chen Guanlou asked Liu She, "Zhang Daohe was locked with iron chains; did those thieves manage to do it?"

"Reporting to Chen Tou, there are people among the thieves who are good at picking locks; the iron chains couldn't stop them at all."

Forget it, wasted effort.

Chen Guanlou rushed to the Heavenly Prison, only to learn that the Heavenly Prison side was just a small fuss, and the Imperial Prison side was the big movement, even 'palm thunder' had appeared.

Chen Guanlou stood at the government office gate, watching the Embroidered Uniform Guards going in and out next door, scouts going out, the whole capital shaken in the middle of the night, the situation very severe.

It was estimated that no one would have thought that cult rebels would have the courage to run to the Imperial Prison to break out of prison.

"The last time the Imperial Prison had a jailbreak was fifty years ago." Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu suddenly appeared.

Chen Guanlou immediately bowed and saluted. "Seen the Warden. A prisoner escaped from the Jia-type prison, and I ask the Warden to punish me."

"It's not your fault. Even that bunch of agents in the Imperial Prison couldn't stop the cult rebels; it's only natural that we couldn't stop them in the Heavenly Prison, and the people above won't blame us. It's just that I didn't expect this bunch of cult rebels to cause such a big mess, actually daring to rob the Imperial Prison."

"Does this count as poking a hornet's nest?" Chen Guanlou said softly.

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu chuckled. "More than just a hornet's nest. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has plenty to be busy with. You find two clever ones, go next door to show concern, and incidentally find out exactly how many cult rebels escaped from the Imperial Prison."

Chen Guanlou understood; Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu was busy watching the Embroidered Uniform Guard's joke.

As long as the number of prisoners who escaped from the Embroidered Uniform Guard was greater than the Heavenly Prison, everyone in the Heavenly Prison would be safe and sound, and perhaps they could even ask for a reward.

Chen Guanlou followed along. "Warden, rest assured, only one person escaped from the Heavenly Prison. No matter what, the Imperial Prison side can't possibly have fewer than the Heavenly Prison."

"Hahaha..." Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu was very happy. The neighbor's government office was unlucky, and everyone in the Heavenly Prison was happy to watch the joke.

Chen Guanlou learned that Lu Datou was on duty tonight, so he sent someone to call Lu Datou.

Lu Datou associated with all kinds of people; letting him go next door to show concern and inquire about news was the most appropriate.

Lu Datou patted his chest. "Chen Tou, rest assured, this matter is on me. I know quite a few people on the Embroidered Uniform Guard side; they are all gambling buddies at the same table. Before dawn, I guarantee to bring you an accurate number."

Chen Guanlou gave him twenty taels of silver directly. "Don't be afraid to spend money. Go boldly."

"Understood!"

With silver, Lu Datou was even more confident, taking two little brothers and running towards the Embroidered Uniform Guard side. He wore a prison guard uniform and was a familiar face, so he didn't get blocked at all, successfully entering the Imperial Prison.

Chen Guanlou went down to the Heavenly Prison; the Jia-type prison that had experienced the jailbreak was in a mess, and the imprisoned officials had no heart to sleep, all inquiring about the situation.

He came to Zhang Daohe's cell door; sure enough, it was a lock-picking master, not wasting any effort, not causing any damage to the cell, and easily taking Zhang Daohe away.

He asked Xiao Jin, "Do you know how the thieves got in?"

He observed it when he came in; both gates were fine, and there were no traces of sword hacking or axe chopping.

Xiao Jin pointed to a window in the distance. "The thieves came in through the window."

Chen Guanlou looked in the direction of his hand, and his eyebrows immediately frowned. "How did the thieves know that the window was closest to Zhang Daohe's cell?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jin's face changed immediately. "Does Chen Tou mean that there is an insider among us?"

"Definitely."

Chen Guanlou had one more question. The Imperial Prison side made such a big movement, but the Heavenly Prison side was quiet. Many prison guards said that the thieves came in and they didn't even discover it. By the time they discovered it, Zhang Daohe had already walked out of the cell door.

He suspected that the thieves were making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. Breaking out of prison was true, but the real target was not the Imperial Prison next door, but the Heavenly Prison. In order to cover up Zhang Daohe's true identity, they made a big fuss in the Imperial Prison. ===== CHAPTER 235 =====