Chapter 351

Chen Guanlou's money did not fall from the sky; it was squeezed out of corrupt officials.

"I'm wronged! I'm truly wronged."

Just as he arrived at the Heavenly Prison, he heard cries of injustice coming from the cells.

Chen Guanlou picked at his ear; he hadn't heard cries of injustice for a long time. The corrupt officials who entered the Heavenly Prison were mostly old hands in the bureaucracy, possessing enough psychological resilience to handle their own circumstances, and they knew very well that crying injustice was useless. Whether they were wronged or not, they knew better than anyone else.

It was only newcomers to the bureaucracy like Zhang Wenfu who would howl all day long.

"I've only been an official in the Donggong for three months, why arrest me? I'm wronged; the Prince Zhong affair has nothing to do with me."

The official crying injustice was truly wronged; he had always worked in a "clean" government office and hadn't even had the opportunity to be corrupt. Fortunately, his family had some assets, which allowed him to study in peace at the office.

The young princes of the Donggong were growing older and needed more teachers. Because of his outstanding scholarship, he was appointed as a companion reader for the Donggong.

A mere three months later, he encountered the mutiny and the deposition of the Crown Prince.

Afterward, he returned to his original "clean" office to continue his studies. He had thought that life would return to how it was before, but he didn't expect that after only a few days of peace, he would be invited to the Six Shanmen for tea, and immediately afterward, he was thrown into the Heavenly Prison. The charge was disrespect.

Damn it, the charge of "disrespect" had become a universal remedy. Whenever they wanted to arrest someone but couldn't find solid evidence of a crime, they would just slap them with a charge of disrespect.

"I really am wronged; I haven't been disrespectful at all!"

He was a coward who didn't even know how to be corrupt; where would he get the guts to be disrespectful to those above? Absurd!

This world is truly absurd.

Chen Guanlou briefly flipped through the file and came to the cell door. "Master Mei, stop shouting. Your throat is hoarse, and it's useless. If you want to blame someone, blame your own bad luck for catching this wave. As for your case... you'd better prepare to stay in the Heavenly Prison for three to five years. Doesn't hearing me say that make you feel a bit better?"

He knew how to strike at the heart.

Master Mei felt stifled. "I really am wronged; I haven't done anything. I just taught for a few days, why arrest me?"

"Because you are an official of the Donggong," Chen Guanlou said coldly. "You should be thankful that you are locked up in the Heavenly Prison, and not in the Zhao Yu next door."

"Didn't His Majesty say he wouldn't pursue it? Why is he now starting to arrest Donggong officials on such a large scale? How can His Majesty go back on his word?"

"It's not the first time His Majesty has gone back on his word. Not keeping promises is the norm. Keeping them is the rarity. Master Mei, you've been an official for so many years; can't you see through such a simple truth?" Chen Guanlou mocked.

Master Mei looked bewildered, as if he hadn't expected to hear such piercing and realistic words from the mouth of a prison guard.

Looking at the other man's foolish appearance, Chen Guanlou realized, "No wonder you've sat on the bench your whole life and now you've been thrown into the Heavenly Prison. Master Mei, how have you survived until today? A naive fool like you, logically speaking, shouldn't have survived the first two episodes in the bureaucracy."

Master Mei didn't understand the other man's words, but he knew there was nothing kind in them and that he was definitely being mocked.

"This official, this official, this official is innocent."

"Whether you are innocent or not is not important. What's important is that you are an Donggong official." Chen Guanlou emphasized the words "Donggong." "Master Mei, do you remember that? Stop shouting; it's immoral to disturb everyone's rest and will cause public anger. Do you understand?"

Master Mei was about to cry. He had spent his whole life studying and really didn't understand the infighting or why he had to encounter all of this. "Is there really no other way?"

Chen Guanlou saw that the other man was truly a naive fool and not pretending. Having stayed in a "clean" office for too many years, far away from political struggles, he was a pure, white official who had never been beaten or polluted by the world. He sighed inwardly, how pitiful!

His tone softened slightly, and he stopped the cold sarcasm. "Accept your fate! Being able to keep your life is already a stroke of luck; don't be greedy for more, or you might face divine retribution."

"But..."

"There are no 'buts.' In exchange for you paying your money so readily, I'll give you a piece of advice: focus on your studies, don't let your mind wander, and don't cry injustice. Sit in prison in peace and seek the Dao. When you have a chance to get out in the future, you might just ascend directly, as if you've had an epiphany and entered a new realm."

Master Mei opened his innocent eyes wide. He understood "focus on your studies," but he didn't understand the talk about "ascending" or "new realms" that followed. Was this kind of talk popular in the Heavenly Prison now? Had he been closed off in his studies for too long and become outdated?

Chen Guanlou coughed lightly. "If you don't understand, forget it; just do your studies. If you are obedient, no one will make things difficult for you, understand?"

Master Mei nodded; he understood that.

Chen Guanlou gave an "mm"; as long as he understood, that was fine.

The old Emperor's erratic behavior had disgusted everyone.

On one hand, he had a sudden change of heart and was compensating Prince Zhong with great fanfare, while ruthlessly attacking the officials who had slandered Prince Zhong in the past. On the other hand, he was sharpening his sword, sparing no effort to suppress and dismantle the former Crown Prince's faction, preferring to arrest the wrong person rather than let one go.

The so-called change of heart and the so-called guilt were just a performance. The old Emperor himself was still immersed in it, feeling quite good about himself.

Truly split-minded!

He had never seen an Emperor who loved to act so much; he didn't even want his face anymore, purely to fool people.

The ignorant masses of the world might be fooled by him, but the court officials and the imperial clan would not be.

Princes of the clan from all over were submitting memorials, whether subtly, implicitly, or bluntly, trying to persuade the old Emperor: Wake up! The sky of the Great Qian has been pierced; can you stop causing so much trouble? Are you worthy of your ancestors?

Among them, the words of the Prince of Chu were the sharpest and most blunt. He directly scolded the old Emperor in his memorial for being muddled and hypocritical. Having been Emperor for fifty years, his methods were still so base and dark, completely lacking the majestic aura of a monarch; he was nothing but a conspirator, as foul-smelling as a rat in a sewer. He even had the audacity to frame others and manipulate public opinion, shifting the responsibility for the deposed Crown Prince onto innocent officials. Utterly shameless!

That such a thing existed in the Song family was a disgrace; the heavens were going to destroy the Great Qian Dynasty!

This wasn't a memorial; it was a manifesto, a manifesto denouncing the old Emperor. It was a scathing and satisfying read.

Once the memorial reached the capital, its contents spread throughout the court in the blink of an eye. With the help of those with ulterior motives, it quickly spread from the court to the common people.

And so, even the commoners in the capital knew that there was a Prince of Chu in the world, and that the Prince of Chu had scolded the old Emperor for being an old thing, muddled and incompetent, and completely lacking the responsibility of an Emperor.

Such a person should abdicate as soon as possible.

A three-year-old child sitting on the throne would do a better job than that old thing.

Hmm!

Well scolded!

It hit the nail on the head for everyone.

If you can scold, then scold more; don't be stingy with your writing, scold boldly.

"Ahhh..."

A roar like a Tyrannosaurus Rex erupted from the Taiji Palace.

Clang, clang, clang...

Tables, chairs, benches, and all sorts of decorative ornaments were smashed to pieces.

The old Emperor drew the sharp sword from the wall and slashed wildly. If anyone was unlucky enough to be slashed to death, they should just blame their own bad luck!