Chapter 411

Master Du spoke every word with reason and genuine concern for Chen Guanlou.

But Chen Guanlou had no intention of accepting these suggestions, never once considering changing himself.

He had money; each year he paid the clan a substantial sum of silver—that was his attitude toward the clan. He would repay the clan with money, not any specific individual.

He assured Master Du that things were not as bad as they seemed.

Seeing that Chen Guanlou was unmoved, Master Du gave up trying to persuade him: "Fine, fine, you have your own ideas—I won't force you."

"You're just worrying over nothing," Chen Guanlou said with a smile.

The physician chimed in: "Master Du, you're just meddling unnecessarily. Prison Warden Chen has risen to prominence in the Tianlaomiao, a place that devours men—surely a few clan members won't be too much for him to handle. At least the Chen clan still observes rules and reason; the Tianlaomiao is pure survival of the fittest, far harder to navigate than the outside world. For Chen Warden to rise as he has—honestly—it surpassed many people's expectations."

Master Du paused, thought it over, then nodded. The physician had a point—nothing was harder to endure than the Tianlaomiao.

Chen Guanlou laughed heartily: "Didn't expect everyone to have such low expectations of me. Did you all think I couldn't survive in the Tianlaomiao?"

"Normal people can't survive in the Tianlaomiao," the physician said candidly. "That place tests human nature to its limit."

Chen Guanlou crossed his legs. "Actually, the Tianlaomiao isn't as terrifying as you imagine."

"But neither is it as good as you claim. Your idea of 'good' is only yours—it's what you see because you hold that position. Normally, ordinary jailers never have smooth sailing. They're bullied by seniors, extorted, humiliated—that's the daily reality of a jailer. You're the exception."

"I was bullied too," Chen Guanlou said brazenly.

Master Du and the physician both snorted, clearly disbelieving him.

Someone truly humiliated would never carry himself like Chen Guanlou. Did they really think he'd never seen the world?

After tending to his wounds, Chen Guanlou personally saw the physician out. Then he bought tonic herbs and sent them to Master Du, instructing the old servant to care for him well and to come find him if anything arose. He also told Master Du not to overthink, to rest well—he would handle everything.

Master Du suppressed his urge to lecture, opening his mouth several times only to close it again.

In the end, he simply said: "If you're ever unsure, come ask me."

"I will."

When Chen Guanlou returned home, he learned from Sister Chunxiang that his elder sister had gotten into a fight with the clan's gossips over him—had Sister Chunxiang not intervened, the two sides might have come to blows.

Chen Guanlou chuckled: "My sister's still got fight in her—she hasn't lost a step all these years."

Chen Xiaolan was no pushover, not some weak woman who stayed indoors and relied on men. Otherwise, after their parents died, she never could've raised young Chen Guanlou alone, married off successfully, and kept her brother—a burden—as a freeloader in the Su household.

Hearing rumors about her brother, Chen Xiaolan couldn't hold back—she immediately rebutted them. The argument soon turned physical. With years of combat experience and strength behind her, she feared no gossiping woman. But today was the Hou Fu's banquet—fighting openly would be too disgraceful.

Fortunately, Sister Chunxiang held back several Hou Fu maids, preventing the conflict from escalating.

"How can you laugh? Your sister's frantic—she had to rush home to check on the kids, so she didn't wait for you. Go see her. Don't let her worry so much. And you—why ruin a good day by fighting? Now they've got grounds to gossip about you."

Sister Chunxiang, as a permanent temporary worker of the Hou Fu, had the most reliable gossip from the inner courtyard.

When Chen Guanlou kicked Chen Guanqing out front, word reached the back courtyard in moments. Chen Guanqing's female relatives were beside themselves with rage. If Chen Guanlou had been there, they'd have clawed and scratched like shrews, making him understand why flowers are so red.

Chen Guanlou laughed heartily, utterly unconcerned.

That night, Chen Guanqing and his sons were all beaten and stuffed into sacks. Chen Guanqing himself was hung upside down from his own gatehouse, only discovered by the servants the next morning when they opened the door.

"It's Chen Guanlou—he's retaliating. No one else would dare."

"I'm filing a complaint! Chen Guanlou acts without restraint—the clan must give us an explanation!"

Even as Chen Guanqing's family loudly declared their intent to complain to the clan before neighbors, Chen Guanlou had already filed his own complaint.

He demanded the clan investigate Chen Guanqing's family and clear his name.

If the clan refused to act, he would bring in the authorities.

"I'm an orphan, fatherless and motherless—but that doesn't mean I can be falsely accused, slandered, and humiliated at will. Whoever tries to destroy me, I'll destroy in return. If the clan won't give me justice, I'll take it myself."

His tone was unyielding, as if ready to start a full-blown war. No one could dissuade him.

He even claimed Chen Guanqing's family were the real thieves crying "Thief!"—their goal was to seize control of his antiquities trade in the Tianlaomiao.

Not a chance!

This matter was non-negotiable.

"If the clan does nothing, I'll ask the Hou Fu's heir to intervene. He's the clan's rightful heir—the clan must have him mediate disputes and give everyone a fair accounting. If the clan deliberately muddles things and protects Chen Guanqing's family, I believe the clan elders must be audited—let's see whose backs are clean."

Chen Guanlou roared in fury, but inwardly he thought: he'd already opened a path for the clan's eldest uncle. If the uncle was smart and seized the chance, now was the time to act—to help him escalate matters to the point where the clan elders had to be replaced.

The clan's eldest uncle had already begun organizing alliances.

The Hou Fu's heir had also heard scattered rumors and said only: "Let him make noise. See how far he can take it. Some clan rules need changing; some people need moving."

"Does the heir mean to use this to reorganize clan affairs?"

"We'll see," Chen Guanfu replied indifferently. The Hou Fu stood above the clan, and as heir and clan head, he stood above all the elders. Whether clan rules changed didn't affect his interests—but it affected the clan's development, its family ethos, its cultivation of talent.

As a young heir with ambition, he naturally didn't want to see the clan's youth sink into idleness and pleasure, nor talent wither away.

Many families collapsed first from internal strife, then from lack of successors.

The eldest uncle had no interest in managing the clan—his attitude was pure neglect: if you're going to die, die; if not, whatever.

Chen Guanfu was young, strong, energetic, and far more proactive than the eldest uncle—he was willing to act. With no imperial assignment yet received, he had no objection to taking time to handle clan affairs—provided others laid him a ladder high enough for him to intervene with proper justification.