Chapter 411

Every word Master Du said was very reasonable, and he was genuinely thinking of Chen Guanlou.

However, Chen Guanlou did not intend to accept these suggestions and had never thought of changing himself.

He had money, and every year he handed over a significant sum to the clan; this was his attitude toward the clan. He would repay the clan with money, not any specific individual.

He told Master Du not to worry, that things were not that bad.

Seeing that he was impervious to reason, Master Du could only give up on persuading him, "Forget it, forget it, you have your own ideas, I won't force you."

"You are just worrying unnecessarily," Chen Guanlou said with a smile.

The physician also chimed in, "Master Du, you are just worrying blindly. Since Chen the Prison Clerk could make a name for himself in that man-eating place called the Heavenly Prison, surely he can handle a few clansmen. At the very least, the Chen clansmen will still follow rules and reason a bit; that place, the Heavenly Prison, is a typical jungle where the strong prey on the weak, and it's much harder to survive there than outside. To be honest, Chen the Prison Clerk being able to make a name for himself exceeded many people's expectations."

Master Du was stunned for a moment, pondered it, and nodded; the physician's words did have some truth to them. When it comes to difficulty, it has to be the Heavenly Prison.

Chen Guanlou laughed, "I didn't expect everyone to be so pessimistic about me at the beginning. Did you all think I wouldn't be able to survive in the Heavenly Prison?"

"Normal people wouldn't be able to survive in the Heavenly Prison," the physician said objectively, "A place like the Heavenly Prison tests human nature too much."

Chen Guanlou crossed his legs, "Actually, the Heavenly Prison isn't as scary as you think."

"But it's not as good as Chen the Prison Clerk says either. The 'good' in your eyes is only in your eyes, because it's the 'good' you can only see from your position. Normally, ordinary prison guards cannot sail smoothly. Being bullied by seniors, being blackmailed, being humiliated—this is the normal state of life for a prison guard. You are an exception."

"I was also bullied when I first started," Chen Guanlou said shamelessly.

Master Du and the physician both scoffed in unison, clearly not believing what he said.

People who are truly bullied are definitely not like Chen Guanlou. Do they really think they haven't seen the world?

After dealing with the injuries, Chen Guanlou personally saw the physician out. Afterward, he bought some tonics and sent them to Master Du, instructing the old servant to take good care of him and to come find him if anything happened. He also instructed Master Du not to overthink things, to rest well, and that he would handle the matters.

Master Du suppressed the urge to nag, hesitating several times.

Finally, it turned into a word of concern, "When you can't make up your mind, you can come and ask me."

"I will."

Chen Guanlou rushed home and learned from Sister Chunxiang that his eldest sister had quarreled with the gossips in the clan because of him, and if it hadn't been for Sister Chunxiang stopping them, the two sides would have almost fought.

Chen Guanlou chuckled, "My sister's combat power is still okay; I haven't seen it decline in all these years."

Chen Xiaolan was not a soft persimmon, definitely not the kind of weak woman who stayed at home and relied on men for everything. Otherwise, after their parents passed away, she wouldn't have been able to live alone with the young Chen Guanlou, get married successfully, and still bring her younger brother, this burden, to freeload at the Su family.

Hearing her brother being gossiped about, Chen Xiaolan naturally couldn't hold back and retorted on the spot. Arguing inevitably led to fighting. With the combat experience and combat power Chen Xiaolan had accumulated over the years, she didn't fear any gossip at all. It's just that, after all, it was the Hou Fu hosting today; if they really fought, it would be too ugly.

Fortunately, Sister Chunxiang pulled over a few Hou Fu matrons and stopped them in time, so the conflict did not escalate.

"It's a wonder you can still laugh. Your sister was worried to death, and she had to rush back to look after the children, so she didn't wait for you. When you have time, go see your sister; don't let her worry too much. You too, on such a great day, you had to resort to violence, giving people a reason to gossip about you."

As a fixed temporary worker in the Hou Fu, Sister Chunxiang's news from the inner courtyard was incredibly well-informed.

Chen Guanlou kicked Chen Guanqing flying in the front, and in no time, the news reached the back courtyard. The female relatives of Chen Guanqing's family were furious. If Chen Guanlou had been on the scene, they would have definitely scratched and clawed, using the style of a shrew's fight to let Chen Guanlou know why flowers are so red.

Chen Guanlou laughed, not caring in the slightest.

That night, Chen Guanqing and his sons were all bagged and beaten up. Chen Guanqing was even hung at his own gatehouse, and it wasn't until the servants opened the door in the morning that he was discovered.

"It must be Chen Guanlou; he is retaliating. There can be no second person besides him."

"I want to file a complaint! Chen Guanlou acts recklessly; the clan must give an explanation."

Just as Chen Guanqing's family was shouting in front of their neighbors about going to the clan to file a complaint, Chen Guanlou was already filing a complaint.

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

If the clan didn't accept the case, he would ask the government to intervene.

"I am an orphan, without father or mother, but that doesn't mean I can be framed and bullied at will. Whoever tries to destroy me, I will destroy them. If the clan doesn't give me justice, I will seek justice myself."

His attitude was exceptionally firm, a posture of wanting to cause trouble and have a big showdown. It didn't matter who tried to persuade him.

He even pointed out that Chen Guanqing's family was definitely a thief crying 'stop thief'. The purpose was to get their hands on his antique business in the Heavenly Prison.

Dream on!

There would be absolutely no compromise on this matter.

"If the clan doesn't care, I will ask the Prince of the Hou Fu to come forward. He is the clan head; if there is a dispute in the clan, he should come forward to handle it and give everyone an explanation. If the clan intentionally tries to smooth things over and shield Chen Guanqing's family, I think it is necessary for the Clan Elders' Council to be liquidated and to check if everyone's backside is clean."

Chen Guanlou roared angrily, but in his heart, he was thinking that he had already cleared the way for his clan uncle. If his clan uncle were sensible and good at seizing opportunities, he should take action now and cooperate with him to blow the matter up. Blow it up to the point where the Clan Elders' Council must be re-elected.

His clan uncle had already started taking action, organizing connections.

The Prince of the Hou Fu also heard scattered news and just said, "Let him make a scene. Let's see how big he can make it. Some rules in the clan should indeed be changed, and some people should indeed be moved."

"Does the Prince mean to take this opportunity to rectify clan affairs?"

"We'll see." Chen Guanfu had an indifferent attitude. The Hou Fu was certainly above the clan, and as the Prince and clan head, he was also above the various clan elders. Whether the clan rules were changed or not didn't affect his interests, but it would affect the development of the clan, affect the family style and clan customs, and affect the cultivation of talent.

As a clan head with ambition and aspirations, he naturally didn't want to see the young people of the clan degenerate and indulge in pleasure, nor did he want to see talent wither away.

The decline of many families started with internal strife in the clan and ended with no successors.

The Master had no interest in managing the clan and had a completely laissez-faire attitude. It was a very casual mindset of 'if they die, they die, and if they don't, forget it.'

Chen Guanfu was young, strong, and full of energy; his ideas were naturally more proactive and progressive than the Master's, and he was willing to do things. Taking advantage of the fact that his court duties hadn't been assigned yet, he didn't mind taking the time to handle clan affairs. The premise was that the people below must build a ladder, and the ladder must be high enough for him to intervene in a justified manner.