Chapter 35: Disaster is imminent

After a round of patrolling, without the threat of Duan Tianlin, Chen Guanlou felt exceptionally relaxed.

He hummed a tune as he walked toward the office, and just as he was about to arrive, he suddenly stopped his steps.

Inside and outside the office door stood two rows of burly Six Shanmen constables, each with a long face, like ox-headed and horse-faced demons patrolling their territory.

Seeing this situation, Chen Guanlou immediately gasped.

The officials above were so insidious, taking advantage of everyone's relaxation to launch a sudden attack. It just so happened that tonight the staff was incomplete; half of the people were not at their posts, either having gone to the Jia-block prison to participate in the gambling game or having gone to the office to sleep.

Those who remained in the office were no better, gambling, caught in the act.

It's over!

Chen Guanlou felt a bit fortunate, yet a bit worried; he was afraid of being implicated. He could only take a deep breath and walk into the office, biting the bullet.

The office was quiet, not even a person breathing heavily.

As soon as he entered, he saw the prison guard Li Hu kneeling in the center. The gambling game in the office tonight was organized by him. Other prison guards were kneeling on both sides, all trembling with fear.

In the front position, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, named Sun Daoning, sat upright in a chair, holding a white porcelain teacup in his hand, the tea in the cup steaming. As the mist rose, ethereal and hallucinatory, Vice Minister Sun's face also became somewhat blurred.

Regardless of whether he was wrong or not, Chen Guanlou didn't say a word and immediately knelt down to plead guilty, "Greetings to the official! Please forgive me for not welcoming you in time."

Damn it, these knees are really soft! Kneeling is really uncomfortable!

However, who made him a low-status prison guard, without even the right to speak loudly?

"You are the only one on duty."

"Reporting to the official, it just happened to be my turn on duty."

Vice Minister Sun smiled, "I have long heard that the management of the Heavenly Prison is chaotic, and the prison guards are full of all five vices. No matter who it is, as long as they enter the Heavenly Prison, regardless of whether they are guilty or not, they have to be skinned. Among all the government offices, the most vicious people are none other than the prison guards."

Hearing this, Chen Guanlou curled his lips in secret, feeling very disgusted inside.

How could Vice Minister Sun have the face to say such shameless words? It was breathtaking.

No matter how bad prison guards are, they are only bad on the surface. How can they compare to officials, who destroy families and clans at every turn? Moving their lips means tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people lose their heads. Moving their selfish hearts means thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of taels of silver enter their pockets. Moving the power in their hands means all the people of the world have to work like oxen and horses, never to turn over.

Compared to officials, the badness of prison guards is simply too cute. As long as they are given money, prison guards will take good care of them with food and drink, and even help them find doctors and medicine.

No matter how bad prison guards are, they don't even reach one percent of the officials.

Of course, he only dared to think about these things in his heart. At this moment, Vice Minister Sun was the greatest; if he said the sun rose from the west, everyone could only agree and say "The official is wise!"

"In such a large Heavenly Prison, only one prison guard is diligently on duty and patrolling, which really makes this official marvel."

Chen Guanlou instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

He didn't need praise; the more he was praised, the more dangerous he felt.

Please, hurry up and go investigate the case.

"You all eat the court's salary, yet you gather to gamble during duty hours, and the important matter of patrolling the Heavenly Prison is left to only one person on duty, it's simply absurd! Do you know your crimes?"

"We know our crimes! Please give us another chance, we will definitely correct ourselves." Li Hu took the lead, trembling, his voice shaking.

"This official has always believed in punishing the past to prevent the future, punishing those who have erred, and rewarding those who have merit. But one must also give those who have made mistakes a chance to correct themselves."

Upon hearing this, Li Hu and the others were pleasantly surprised; was Vice Minister Sun going to let them off?

"However..." Vice Minister Sun made a turn, making all the prison guards' hearts rise again, "You prison guards are the most vicious and lowly, with only money in your eyes and no gratitude. If thunderous means are not applied, you will never know what is good or bad. Moreover, as far as this official knows, there is more than just you on duty tonight; at least half of the people are not at their posts. Among those on duty, only one person is observing their duties. This scene is truly breathtaking!"

The prison guards were sweating profusely, almost fainting.

What did Sun Daoning mean? Was he going to finish off all the prison guards in the Bing-block prison?

He didn't even think about it; in the eyes of the world, the job of a prison guard is how lowly, and decent families wouldn't come to do this job. It was they who were willing to take on this lowly job to share the worries of their superiors and the court.

As for money, if prison guards didn't collect 'protection money', relying on the court's meager funding, the Heavenly Prison would have gone bankrupt and closed down long ago.

There were hundreds of mouths to feed in the Heavenly Prison; relying solely on funding from above, the prisoners in the Heavenly Prison would starve to death, nine meals in three days.

The Heavenly Prison could operate well all because of the prison guards supporting it, relying on the prison guards disregarding their reputation to collect money.

The prison guards of the Heavenly Prison could be said to have paid an unprecedented price for the stability of the court and the good operation of the government office. Isn't it a matter of course to get some money?

Why do they enjoy the benefits brought by the prison guards while despising them? When something goes wrong, they use them as scapegoats.

Every prison guard present was unconvinced.

Sun Daoning was a martial artist and didn't fear the cold.

But the prison guards were just ordinary people; in mid-winter, in the cold Heavenly Prison, if they didn't close the doors to gamble and drink, were they supposed to freeze to death?

All the older prison guards had illnesses. This illness was given by the Heavenly Prison, given by the job of a prison guard.

"Why, are you unconvinced?"

"We dare not!" Li Hu was extremely obedient. At this time, one could only bow and admit defeat; one could never reason with an official. The official didn't care about the thoughts of a small prison guard at all, nor could they sympathize with the difficulties of a prison guard.

How can a lowly person be compared with a high-ranking official of the court?

Chen Guanlou's heart was as still as ancient water, without a ripple. No matter what Sun Daoning said, he treated it as going in one ear and out the other, with no activity inside.

He had seen the strength of a Second-Rank martial artist.

If he got excited, the other party could feel it instantly. If they were in a bad mood, a finger point, and he would lose his head tonight.

He was very grateful for Li Hu's tact; serving an official naturally meant being humble and acting like a good grandson.

"Compared to those prison guards who are absent, you are barely worth something."

Was this tone going to let them off?

The prison guards rekindled hope.

"What is your name?"

Vice Minister Sun raised his chin slightly, his gaze fixed on Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou was a bit confused, confirming the other party was asking him, he hurriedly replied: "Reporting to the official, my name is Chen Guanlou."

"Surname Chen! This official heard before that there is a clansman of the Marquis Pingjiang Prefecture working in the Heavenly Prison, could it be you?"

"Reporting to the official, my branch left the Marquis Prefecture five generations ago." Chen Guanlou didn't rush to climb the family tree with the Marquis Prefecture.

His situation was registered in the government office; since Vice Minister Sun asked, he must have known clearly. If he dared to climb the tree randomly, he might bring disaster upon himself. It was better to tell the truth.

"Unexpectedly, a descendant of the Marquis Prefecture has fallen to the point of being a lowly prison guard. However, you can observe your duties, which is very good."

"Thank you, official! I am just observing my duties." ===== CHAPTER 36 =====