Chapter 386: If a tiger doesn't show its might, they take me for a sick cat

"What kind of fire is Prison Clerk Chen losing? Xie does not recall having offended you."

Xie Changling maintained an attitude of righteous indignation and high moral standing, intending to suppress Chen Guanlou with his attitude and aura.

Chen Guanlou showed a look of mockery and gave a cold laugh, instantly breaking the other party's aura. "Are you sure you haven't offended me? You bunch of imprisoned officials, even after being locked in cells, you don't know how to repent, making waves all day long.

Because of you, two of my prison guards lost their lives. Of course, in the eyes of you people who are high and mighty, the lives of prison guards are like leeks in the field, harvested batch after batch, worthless, not even as good as ants. You don't care, but I do. You've touched my taboo."

Xie Changling frowned and said righteously, "The death of the prison guards has nothing to do with me."

"Whether it has anything to do with you is not important; what's important is that you people don't follow the rules and have touched a taboo. I'm unhappy, so no one gets to be happy. This is my territory, and I have the final say. From today on, no meat, no rice or flour; you will all eat slop and drink swill. If you can't stand it, then go die. The set meals are suspended, and the handymen are on leave to return home. All of this is your own doing."

Chen Guanlou dropped the ultimatum, and with an order, the gate to the Jia-block prison was closed, leaving only a small door for one person to pass through for the handymen delivering food. All prison guards left the duty room, and all handymen responsible for cleaning the night-soil buckets were paid to go home and rest.

Furthermore, they were only given one meal a day and half a ladle of water.

He was determined to stink, suffocate, and starve this bunch of arrogant imprisoned officials to death.

Passing messages was one thing, but daring to kill was something else; don't blame him for striking back hard.

It only took one day for the imprisoned officials in the cells to be unable to take it anymore.

They could endure being hungry, and they could endure eating slop and swill once a day. What they couldn't endure was that the handymen weren't coming in to dump the night-soil buckets, and after a day, the entire prison was filled with the foul stench of feces and urine. It felt like living in a cesspit, so uncomfortable it made one want to scratch their whole body.

The key was that in this weather, the night-soil buckets had to be dumped and cleaned every day. Previously, the handymen would come in early every morning to clean, sweeping what needed sweeping and disinfecting what needed disinfecting.

They hadn't realized how important this was.

As a result, after one day, they realized that the prison couldn't function without the handymen.

By the second day, they were hungry, and the air was foul, as if they had been soaking in a cesspit for years.

By the third day, some had already set aside their dignity and started eating the slop and drinking the swill. To survive, it wasn't shameful.

By the fourth day, someone couldn't hold on and fainted, only to receive a small cup of water, just enough to ensure they wouldn't die.

The Jia-block prison had turned into a giant cesspit.

The imprisoned officials were going crazy.

Chen Guanlou was showing his might to stand up for the dead prison guards, and naturally, the entire Jia-block prison supported him.

But as time went on, some inevitably had second thoughts, fearing that if something went wrong, they would become collateral damage. Thus, they secretly reported it.

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei hurried to the Heavenly Prison and called Chen Guanlou to the duty room.

"Prison Clerk Chen, what exactly are you trying to do? What kind of madness are you in? That is the Jia-block prison, where court officials are imprisoned; how can you allow yourself to act so recklessly? Open the gate immediately and let the prison guards in. If someone dies, let's see how you handle it. This official will not take the blame for you."

"My lord, there is no need to panic!" Chen Guanlou said unhurriedly. "I have a sense of proportion in what I do."

"You call what you're doing having a sense of proportion? Do you even know how to write the words 'sense of proportion'? Hurry up, open the gate. By the end of the day, the Jia-block prison must return to normal. We cannot afford to offend the people locked in there. You understand this better than anyone; don't be a fool."

Chen Guanlou lowered his head and smiled. "My lord is right; we cannot afford to offend the people inside. That is why I sealed the Jia-block prison, allowing only the handymen delivering food to enter and exit, ensuring no news leaks out. My lord, rest assured, the families of the imprisoned officials will never know about this."

"They don't know now, but won't they know in the future? Once those imprisoned officials get out and remember what they encountered today, you'll lose your life."

"That's perfect; I also want to see exactly which imprisoned official has such long arms that killing one wasn't enough and they had to come kill me too."

"The two prison guards who died were all accidents; how can you vent your anger so arbitrarily?"

"Lord Lei has walked over more bridges than I have eaten salt. Do you believe those were accidents?"

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei froze, then his expression darkened. "Even if they weren't accidents, so what? The lives of prison guards are worthless; you're not a prison guard for the first day."

"That's why I don't intend to make those imprisoned officials pay with their lives; I'm just letting them suffer a little, to understand the principles of being a person, to keep to their duties and follow the rules, and not to kill whenever they feel like it and touch taboos."

Chen Guanlou said this lightly, not taking Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei's rage to heart at all.

"You, you, you... what will it take for you to restore order in the Jia-block prison?"

"Wait another two days; once they have suffered enough, the Jia-block prison will return to order."

"Wait another two days, and people will be dead."

"If they die, they die. The Heavenly Prison has a monthly death quota, so my lord need not worry. Besides, those imprisoned officials have a strong desire to live; normally, they won't die. It's not like I haven't given them food."

"You call that giving them food? That's humiliation."

"Is it humiliation? I don't feel it."

"Chen Guanlou..." Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei was so angry his beard was smoking. Ever since the incident with Private Secretary Fu, Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei had discovered that his control over the Heavenly Prison had declined. Then, an inexplicable official document had Chen Guanlou take people on a long-distance mission to escort prisoners; he went out, didn't bring the prisoners back, and then he found he couldn't control Chen Guanlou.

No one could touch Chen Guanlou's position as a prison clerk.

Even if he wanted to remove him, the official document would be reported up and then sent back.

Chen Guanlou was like a nail, firmly nailed to the territory of the Jia-block prison; no matter who came to be the prison warden, they shouldn't think about pulling this nail out.

Just like the logistics group of the Heavenly Prison that stuck together, no one could move them.

Chen Guanlou had silently become the leader of the second interest group in the Heavenly Prison. No one would speak of such things; it all depended on personal understanding, and everyone had a tacit understanding.

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei had pondered whether the Hou Fu had intervened and taken the initiative to endorse Chen Guanlou. But would the grand Hou Fu bother staring at the small position of a prison clerk?

The Hou Fu didn't stare at the court; what use would staring at the Heavenly Prison be!?

That meant someone else was protecting Chen Guanlou, wanting him to sit in the position of prison clerk forever.

What could Jiang Jiang Yucheng Lei do? He could only accept his fate!

It was a recognized fact that money was easy to earn in the Heavenly Prison. But this place, especially the position of prison warden, was truly not a job for a human; one received grievances from both sides.

Ever since Chen Guanlou took the lead, this bunch of prison guards had become increasingly arrogant. One by one, they were rebelling against heaven.

"My lord, you'd better go home and drink tea! I have a sense of proportion in this matter; there's no need for you to intervene, lest you dirty your own hands. If those above ask about this, I will take full responsibility and will never cause you any trouble. My lord need not worry about this month's income; I guarantee it will be handed over without a single cent missing."

Chen Guanlou dropped the ultimatum and stood up to leave. ===== CHAPTER 387 =====