Chapter 295: They Are All a Bunch of Softies

"Wait until the Crown Prince is deposed, then it won't be too late to open the main gate." Chen Guanlou said lightly.

"You can't talk nonsense!"

"The Crown Prince is fine; why must he be deposed?"

"Forget about the Crown Prince; think about ourselves. Locked in the Heavenly Prison for half a month, you can stand it, but I can't. Hurry up and vote by show of hands: should we open the main gate or not?"

Those who held onto beauty and craved a normal life ultimately gained the upper hand; according to the vote by show of hands, most people agreed to open the main gate and restore order.

The Heavenly Prison wasn't an important location in the capital; those troops had no reason to stare at the Heavenly Prison, and even less reason to come and rob the Heavenly Prison.

"If they really wanted to rob it, they would have robbed it long ago."

"Right now, the order in the capital is restored; there must be progress in the palace."

"Whether the Crown Prince is deposed or not has nothing to do with us prison guards."

"Not to mention anything else, the Heavenly Prison should also be cleaned. Otherwise, an epidemic will break out sooner or later."

The last reason spoke to everyone's heart. The sanitary conditions in the Heavenly Prison were worrying, not because of laziness, but because there was no extra place to dispose of garbage and feces. With hundreds of people eating, drinking, and defecating, the garbage and feces produced in a day were by no means a small amount. If they weren't cleaned up, as the weather warmed, an epidemic was almost inevitable.

Another thing, although the prison guards didn't go hungry, they had been eating steamed buns and pickles every day for half a month, without a single bite of fresh meat or vegetables; it was uncomfortable!

Everyone couldn't wait to go out to improve their food, and the logistics department also needed to purchase supplies.

Rumble!

The main gate, which had been closed for half a month, finally opened.

The prison guards laughed and talked; they could finally go home, work normal shifts, and go to gambling dens and brothels to be carefree.

Chen Guanlou couldn't stop everyone, and he didn't want to. He only reminded the people in the Grade A prison: "The matter isn't over yet; everyone should be more careful when going out, and don't linger outside at night. During this period, whoever gets beheaded by the troops deserves it; there is no place to seek justice."

"Don't worry, my lord, we all cherish our lives."

"As long as you know to cherish your lives!"

Chen Guanlou walked along the street and returned home.

Order was restored, and the Wucheng Military Command was back on the street, maintaining the cleanliness and hygiene of the huge city and the operation of shops. He witnessed with his own eyes the scene of the Military Command confronting the troops, and in the end, the Military Command took a step back. The troops showed off their power and swaggered away.

Chen Guanlou sat at a snack stall to finish a meal, went home to wash, and lay down for half a day before taking meat, vegetables, and wine to Master Du's house to share a meal.

Seeing him, Master Du's old servant's eyes narrowed with joy; he hurriedly took the meat and vegetables from his hand, pointed toward the study, and went to the kitchen to get busy.

"Master Du, I've come to see you."

"Little Chen is here! I haven't congratulated you on your promotion; you are now a dignified prison clerk, amazing!"

"A mere prison clerk, what's so amazing about that."

"Relying on your own ability to be promoted to prison clerk—do you know how difficult this is in any government office? Many people have worked as prison guards for a lifetime and haven't touched the edge of a prison clerk. You've only worked for a few years and were able to be promoted; it shows your ability."

Master Du didn't spare any praise, praising Chen Guanlou again and again, saying he was born to be in officialdom. Now that he was promoted to prison clerk, with some effort, it wouldn't be impossible to become a prison warden in the future. If he had the heart, he should take time to earn a degree. With a degree, he would have the opportunity to formally enter the sequence of Ministry of Justice officials. Relying on the advantage of the surname Chen, it wouldn't be impossible to achieve something.

Chen Guanlou was speechless and couldn't help but laugh. "I've only just been promoted to prison clerk; Master Du, you're thinking quite far ahead, actually thinking about me serving in the Ministry of Justice."

"Think further ahead, and you will have goals in doing things. With goals, you will have plans. You have advantages that others cannot compare to: you have the Hou Fu as your backing. I believe the Hou Fu is also very willing to support a capable clansman. The key is that you must take the initiative to speak; you can't expect others to take the initiative in everything."

Master Du's heart for fame and fortune hadn't been extinguished for many years; instead, it had a trend of burning more and more vigorously.

Chen Guanlou shook his head with a smile. "I haven't thought that far; as long as I have food to eat, drink to drink, and money to earn, that's fine. I'm afraid of trouble; the Heavenly Prison has a lot of money and little work, which is stronger than many places. Except for the bad reputation and the poor office environment, there are no other problems."

"You really aren't picky." Master Du complained, very dissatisfied with his passive slackness.

Chen Guanlou spread his hands. "I used to be very picky, and in the end, I almost couldn't even eat. It's better to be realistic; if there is money to earn, don't dislike the office environment or the bad reputation. I am not a member of the literati, nor am I a person in officialdom; my reputation doesn't have much influence on me."

"You, you are still too young and have shallow knowledge. Fame during life and after death—what does a person live for? Isn't it just for fame?"

Chen Guanlou didn't argue. In the current social structure and social reality, fame is indeed greater than everything. From rural villagers to court dignitaries, everyone wants fame.

Look at that Emperor, tossing and turning, actually still wanting face. He only wants to do it but doesn't allow people to talk about it, wanting to cover his face by covering his ears to steal a bell, causing public anger.

"I've been locked in the Heavenly Prison for so many days; what is the situation in the Hou Fu now? Are they still training?"

"Training! They are training every day, at least half a day of training; many people can't stand the hardship and use illness as an excuse to be absent. The Second Master has been angry twice, but it's of no use. Don't look at the Second Master being glorious on weekdays; in fact, most of the people in your clan don't obey him. If the First Master were here, with one order, no one would dare not to listen, and no one would dare to be lazy."

"Status and prestige, both are indispensable. The Second Master, apart from a status, has nothing; of course, everyone doesn't obey him, and I don't obey him either." Chen Guanlou said so.

"However, the Second Master entered the palace yesterday and hasn't returned yet. I guess there will soon be a result on the matter of deposing the Crown Prince."

The matter of deposing the Crown Prince was no longer a secret. Half a month of covering up and private dissemination was enough for those who should know to know about it. But anyone with a brain could see where this chaos in the capital came from, just that no one dared to discuss it publicly. As for outside the capital, wherever the news reached, the old Emperor had already been cursed into the ground!

"Muddled ruler" wasn't enough to describe the old Emperor's madness.

He was simply a ruler who brought disaster to the country and the people; he didn't deserve to sit on the dragon throne. As a result, the rebellion suppression war in the north was fought half-heartedly, and the blades were softened by a notch.

"The old Emperor insisted on deposing the Crown Prince, and the court officials fought for such a long time without getting any actual turning point. It looks like the matter of deposing the Crown Prince is already a settled fact."

"That bunch of people in the Political Affairs Hall are just trash." Master Du cursed. "In the reigns of past emperors, none of the Political Affairs Halls were as weak as the current one. If it were during the reign of the previous Emperor, let alone mobilizing troops into the capital, the decree to mobilize troops wouldn't have been able to leave the capital. And they wanted to depose the Crown Prince? The Political Affairs Hall could have made the Emperor hide in the harem and not dare to come out." ===== CHAPTER 296 =====