Chapter 283

Lu Mingchuan could fool so many smart scholars into following him—he truly had some skill.

Just this sincerity in tone and demeanor, this genuine air of superiority, would make anyone with weak willpower feel overwhelming guilt: I'm not even a person, how could I treat the old master this way? The old master is a great Confucian scholar; he came to Tianlaomiao to escape disaster—that's giving Tianlaomiao honor. How could one be so petty, so lacking in magnanimity?

But he ran into Chen Guanlou, a salary slave from his past life who had been repeatedly beaten down by society and was sick of all that fake inspirational nonsense. All this emotional theater? A complete waste of time.

With money, everything's negotiable; without money, get the hell out of here.

Seeing Chen Guanlou wasn't fooled, Lu Mingchuan sighed inwardly: times have changed, the world is hard. No wonder he's only fit to be a jailer—disrespecting great scholars, disrespecting knowledge, doomed to struggle in the mud his whole life.

Chen Guanlou smiled sweetly. "Mr. Lu, are you silently cursing me for being ungrateful?"

"Young Master Chen misunderstands. I feel nothing but gratitude toward you, and not the slightest prejudice."

Chen Guanlou snorted. "The outside world is already in chaos. Let's put other matters aside for now. First, tell me—what exactly happened? Who's rebelling? Why is the Divine Artifact Camp in the capital?"

"As Young Master Chen says, the Divine Artifact Camp appearing in the capital means someone is rebelling. But who ordered its mobilization—I truly don't know."

"You're not being fair, Mr. Lu! You came to Tianlaomiao first thing this morning—dare you say you don't know? I also heard that right after the Lantern Festival, you sent your family out of the capital under the pretense of ancestral worship. Your uncanny intuition, your decisive action—tell me you know nothing. Do you really think I'll believe you?"

Chen Guanlou didn't beat around the bush—he ripped open the man's cards with the most direct approach.

Lu Mingchuan frowned slightly. He was displeased—displeased with Chen Guanlou's attitude, displeased with his tone, displeased with his self-righteousness.

He was a renowned Confucian scholar of the capital, his students scattered across the land, his prestige at its zenith. Everyone who met him spoke carefully, treated him with utmost respect.

No one would dare act like Chen Guanlou—no dignity at all, spouting everything he shouldn't, cornering him like this. It's a disgrace to decency, a stain on his reputation.

"Mr. Lu doesn't want to speak? Then I can only ask you to leave Tianlaomiao."

"You can't do that."

"I certainly can. Tianlaomiao doesn't harbor outsiders—that's the rule. I follow the rules. Who dares accuse me of wrongdoing?"

Chen Guanlou held the upper hand. In Tianlaomiao, he called the shots. An outsider—even a great scholar—on his turf had better kneel. Otherwise, don't blame him for being ruthless. In the current chaos, killing one or two people wouldn't draw any inquiry.

He could easily fabricate an excuse afterward and cover it all up.

"Fine, fine, fine—I'll tell you." Lu Mingchuan, cornered, grew even more disgusted with Chen Guanlou—the lowly jailer was truly unbearable.

"I heard the Divine Artifact Camp was ordered to mobilize into the capital. The order came from inside the palace—that's all I know. Who gave the order? You can guess."

Guess your ass!

Chen Guanlou sneered. "You're not telling the truth, Mr. Lu. Then don't blame me for being uncivil."

With that, he rose and left.

Lu Mingchuan grew anxious. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Chen Guanlou stood outside the door and ordered the jailers: "Guard the entrance. No one enters or leaves without my order. Tianlaomiao has only prisoners—no great scholars. Understood?"

"Understood!" the jailers shouted in unison, voices booming.

"Young Master Chen, what do you mean?" Lu Mingchuan, too weak to rise from bed, shouted at the top of his lungs.

Chen Guanlou ignored him and walked away.

"Chen Guanlou, come back! We can talk this through! Chen Guanlou… you Chen…!"

Chen Guanlou descended from Tianlaomiao to visit Zhao Mingqiao and told him: someone is rebelling outside.

All the imprisoned officials in Tianlaomiao had heard the cannon fire—they realized something had happened.

Coupled with Lu Mingchuan's sudden appearance today, Zhao Mingqiao's sharp mind had no trouble piecing it together.

"My teacher was forced into this desperate move. Young Master Chen, please, on my behalf, treat my teacher well? I'd be eternally grateful."

"Do you still believe him?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Zhao Mingqiao replied without passion, calmly and clearly: "Everything you say is hypothetical. You're forcing me now with hypotheticals—that's wrong in itself, Young Master Chen. Everyone must hold to something. I've held on this long without breaking, only because I carry a fire within me. For that fire to burn, even if there are flaws, I can tolerate them."

"Today you tolerate his deceit and petty tricks—tomorrow will you tolerate him killing, betraying, crawling?"

"You shouldn't speak this way about my teacher," Zhao Mingqiao said, his tone calm, not heated: "Everything you say is hypothetical. You're using hypotheticals to pressure me now—that's fundamentally wrong. Young Master Chen, one must hold to something."

Chen Guanlou laughed. "I understand. I never intended to convince you. You officials always have your grand theories, always acting so lofty, always separating yourselves from the common folk. Otherwise, how would you prove your worth?"

But the common folk only ask for three meals a day. You can't even solve that—what right do you have to talk about holding fast, about ideals? At least Da Ming Wang and Guo Dachun know how to shout slogans—and after shouting, they go seize territory. Whether it's theater or not, whether it lasts long or not, at least those who believe them actually got something real."

What about you? You've been tormenting generation after generation—has the common people gained anything? In my view, you're a bunch of pretentious fools chasing fame and glory. You're foolish enough already, yet you still worship a hypocrite as your leader and forbid anyone from speaking ill of him.

"Stubborn, tyrannical, exclusionary—no progressive ideas, no real action, just empty talk. That's what you are: a bunch of cowards. Truly disappointing!"

Zhao Mingqiao's forehead was slick with sweat, his expression twisted, eyes smoldering with suppressed rage.

He was furious—he wanted to tear the man's mouth apart: Liar! Liar! Liar!

"I'm in Tianlaomiao—how am I a coward?"

"You're in Tianlaomiao only because you're stupid. It has nothing to do with courage. You're merely a pawn, a sacrifice of your cowardly kind."

"Why are you so angry? Why target me? Why target my teacher? We only seek a place to survive."

"Because none of you are honest. Every last one of you spouts lies—using us while treating us jailers like fools. Lu Mingchuan says he doesn't know what's happening, doesn't know who's rebelling—do you believe him? If you say yes, then I've misjudged you completely."