Chapter 430

After finishing the clan affairs, the Hou Fu's Young Master Chen Guanfu immediately received an imperial assignment and was appointed as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Works?

Chen Guanfu smiled.

The old Emperor asked him, a military general who had been leading troops in battle for over a decade, to serve in the Ministry of Works, and as a Vice Minister at that, sitting in the same hall as the treacherous villain Jiang Tu. The intention behind this is self-evident.

"The Young Master is a military general; logically, if not the Ministry of War, he should go to the Five Armies Governor's Office, or at the very worst, the Court of Imperial Stud. I never expected that His Majesty would arrange for the Young Master to enter the Ministry of Works, and as a Vice Minister sitting in the same hall as that treacherous villain Jiang Tu. What exactly is His Majesty's intention?"

The Chief Steward frowned deeply, subconsciously concluding that the old Emperor had ill intentions.

"The Ministry of Works has money; there is nothing wrong with me going there. However, the thought of being a colleague with Jiang Tu, seeing him every day, is indeed a bit difficult for me."

The Chief Steward hurriedly said, "The Young Master has never dealt with Jiang Tu; that man is a shameless villain with no learning or skills. He relies entirely on flattering his superiors and bullying his subordinates to get where he is today. His being in the Ministry of Works is just to rake in money for the old Emperor.

If the Young Master goes to the Ministry of Works, it is inevitable that conflicts will occur. If it reaches His Majesty, without surprise, His Majesty will definitely protect Jiang Tu and rebuke the Young Master. Once this happens too often, I dare not imagine the consequences. Could this be the purpose of His Majesty appointing the Young Master as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works? Just to suppress him?"

The Chief Steward couldn't help but frown, beginning to worry about Chen Guanfu's future.

Chen Guanfu's expression appeared very calm, "What is suppression? Military power is the most critical thing. Transferring me away from the Ministry of War and not arranging for me to go to the Five Armies Governor's Office is just to keep me away from military power. Just like how he dealt with my father back then; my father was crippled and had to resign from his post and stay away from military power, living a life of leisure.

The same purpose, just different means. After all, my status in the military is far inferior to my father's. My influence among the nobility is also not comparable to my father's back then. In this way, I should thank the old Emperor for showing mercy and not leaving me crippled. Heh!"

Chen Guanfu gave a cold laugh, his eyes gloomy.

His mood could be described as extremely bad.

This move by the old Emperor is a proper open conspiracy.

Chen Guanfu cannot resist, and must even obediently take office and serve well in the Ministry of Works. Even if he wants to do something, he must wait at least a year or a half.

He gritted his teeth, and in the blink of an eye, he smiled again, "Going to the Ministry of Works is fine; treat it as recuperation. Wait until next year's Heaven-Offering Ceremony..."

Speaking of the Heaven-Offering Ceremony, the Chief Steward hurriedly reported, "News from the Heavenly Prison: in order to prevent outsiders from acting recklessly, Chen Guanlou actually took the initiative to poison the Great Ming Prince."

"Really?" Chen Guanfu looked slightly surprised.

"This matter is absolutely true."

Upon hearing this, Chen Guanfu was silent for two seconds, then burst into loud laughter, "This Chen Guanlou is truly wonderful; I can't believe he came up with the idea of poisoning him himself. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!"

"Does the Young Master approve of his approach?"

"Why not approve? It's very clear that Chen Guanlou taking the initiative to poison him certainly won't kill the Great Ming Prince. But it releases a signal to some people who are eager to make a move: don't act recklessly! There are already people in the court planning to take the Great Ming Prince's life. The Great Ming Prince cannot die too early; he must die at the right time. Heh, I can't believe he thought of that."

Chen Guanfu's mood seemed to have improved a lot.

"Send another sum of silver to the Heavenly Prison and tell Chen Guanlou to give the Great Ming Prince more good things to eat, and try to keep him plump and healthy. He is the Heaven-Offering item designated by His Majesty, and there can't be the slightest mistake."

"What if Chen Guanlou capsizes in the gutter and accidentally poisons the Great Ming Prince to death first? What should be done?"

"That would be his fate. He has served in the Heavenly Prison for many years; if he can't even master the dosage and safety of poisoning, then his ability is clearly limited, and he is not worth the Hou Fu's continued investment."

Chen Guanfu said these cold words with a smile.

The Chief Steward nodded, "This subordinate understands."

Ever since the Great Ming Prince was poisoned, the prison guards have been terrified every day watching him gasp for breath with every step. They are afraid that he won't be able to catch his breath and will just die.

Xiao Jin ran to Chen Guanlou to complain, "How about we go back to the previous medicine and let the Great Ming Prince lie on the bed like a vegetable? The way he is now, everyone is on edge every day, unable to relax for a moment; it's truly too agonizing."

"You should know why Medical Official Mu and I had to poison the Great Ming Prince. I told you long ago that the Heavenly Prison is a giant sieve, with eyes and ears everywhere. If we don't poison him, others will. We won't have such good luck as last time every time. If we poison him, outsiders will hold back. If we poison him, we can at least control the dosage and ensure safety. If outsiders poison him, they will be aiming to kill the Great Ming Prince."

Xiao Jin:...

Unable to refute.

Because it was all the truth.

Chen Guanlou's expression softened, and he continued, "Tell the prison guards below that everyone has worked hard during this period, and the bonus will be increased by thirty percent. Working under me, there is no reason for hard work without pay. The amount of money is linked to everyone's degree of hard work; the harder you work, the more money you get. I believe everyone will understand."

"Fine, we'll listen to you, my lord. As long as there is money, the little brats below will definitely have no complaints. Even if they have complaints, they will swallow them all. Whoever dares to gossip, you don't need to worry, I'll beat them to death first."

"Beating them to death is not necessary. Taking money to do work is only right and proper. Taking money and still complaining is not following the rules. For those who don't follow the rules, transfer them directly away from the Grade A prison."

"Understood!"

Xiao Jin received the order, full of energy, and went to the prison with his head held high to lecture the prison guards.

The tradition of lecturing also started with Chen Guanlou. Now several team leaders are following suit, with all sorts of lectures and meetings.

In the dead of winter, it was truly cold.

Early in the morning, two stiff corpses were carried out of the Grade A prison; they had frozen to death, stiff as boards.

The neighboring Grade B and Grade C prisons were even more miserable; in one morning, over a dozen corpses were carried out, all frozen to death.

Medical Official Mu followed the rules, inspected them, determined the cause of death, and issued the documents.

The Heavenly Prison then wrote official documents and reported them to the Ministry of Justice.

The corpses were all temporarily placed in the morgue.

Not enough space?

In such cold weather, just pile them all together; when the family members come to claim the bodies, then separate them one by one.

There's no other way; the Heavenly Prison only has these conditions. The weather is cold, many people are dying, and the procedures must be followed. They can only pile the corpses together to save space.

The Grade A prison is considered lucky; the monthly death quota hasn't been used up yet. Chen Guanlou is a conscientious prison clerk. Regardless of whether the clothes are tattered, as long as they can keep warm, he gives them all to the imprisoned officials.

You can't light a fire basin in the cell to keep warm; there's no ventilation!

You can only rely on shivering, bedding, and cotton-padded jackets to keep warm.

It was so cold last night, and the temperature dropped suddenly. By Chen Guanlou's own feeling, the temperature dropped by at least ten or twenty degrees in just a few hours last night. As a result, two people also froze to death in the Grade A prison.