Chapter 447

The Great Ming Prince had never been as desperate as he was today.

Chen Guanlou advised him to think more openly.

"The imperial court is adept at manipulating people's hearts. With hundreds of years of experience, how can a person of only a few decades like you resist it? If you hadn't just focused on burning, killing, and looting when you rebelled, and had looked a little further ahead, you wouldn't have ended up in this situation today."

This was half advice and half stabbing into the heart.

The Great Ming Prince wished he wouldn't advise him; it only made him feel worse.

"In the end, it's just that I am incompetent and lost to the imperial court."

"And you lost to the same person twice. Tsk tsk..." Chen Guanlou watched the spectacle, "Actually, you don't need to worry too much. Now the North is under the control of Marquis Pingjiang. I know a little bit about Marquis Pingjiang. Although he doesn't value the common people, he won't wantonly exploit or abuse them. He is a person with a bottom line."

Meeting someone with a bottom line is a stroke of luck.

The most terrifying thing is a person who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals and has no bottom line.

The Great Ming Prince was not comforted.

Chen Guanlou mocked him, "The Brocade Uniform Guard scared you with a few words, and you're already afraid. You're also a coward! You are already locked in the Heavenly Prison and will be on the execution ground next year; what do you have to be afraid of? It's just death! If life is truly miserable, what's wrong with dying? Maybe it's a good thing; you won't have to suffer so much."

"These words shouldn't come from your mouth." The Great Ming Prince looked at Chen Guanlou, "You come from a wealthy family; although your family was poor, at least you could study and grow up safely. Now you have a job, and everything is smooth sailing. You haven't had any setbacks, no overly convoluted life experiences, and you haven't even seen many big scenes. Where do you get so many life insights and so many life principles?"

"Can't I learn them from books?"

"Why can't I learn these from books? Are we not reading the same books? Is the content taught in your school different?"

The Great Ming Prince was full of doubts.

"Just like the one-two-three of rebellion you mentioned—can this be thought of by a young person with a smooth life? You are a very strange person; you have too many secrets."

"It looks like you're fine." Chen Guanlou laughed, "If you have the energy to care about the secrets on me, you definitely won't die. You keep pondering; I'll go get busy."

"Don't go. Prison Clerk Chen, you are a talented person; can you help me?"

"What is it?" Chen Guanlou asked casually.

"Can you send some money to the people in my hometown? Say a word to the local government not to make things difficult for those innocent people. Just consider it as me owing you."

Chen Guanlou pointed at the other party and then at himself, "Do you think I am omnipotent!"

"You just need to say a word to Marquis Pingjiang, and the matter can be solved."

"Who do you think I am? You overestimate me too much. Great Ming Prince, I will report your request to the Ministry of Justice and see what they think. Don't count on me; I am not the Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves the world."

Chen Guanlou finished speaking and turned to leave.

These people have too big an appetite and love to freeload too much. No wonder they lost halfway through the rebellion! Relying on just a mouth, not even willing to paint a picture, yet still wanting to freeload—keep dreaming.

There are too many pitiful people these days.

The people in the Great Ming Prince's hometown are pitiful, but aren't others pitiful too?

Who isn't struggling in the mundane world?

Off work and heading home.

Eldest sister was waiting early.

Sister-in-law Chunxiang told him that eldest sister Chen Xiaolan had already been there for half a day, helping him tidy up the house inside and out until it was spotless.

As soon as Chen Xiaolan saw him, she pulled him over for a full-body check, fearing he might be injured.

He repeatedly emphasized that he was fine and didn't have a single scratch, and only then did eldest sister Chen Xiaolan stop. Yet she remained worried.

"Everything was fine, so why did the Hou Fu and Jiang Fu start fighting? And it even cost lives. My heart is in a panic. When will this matter be resolved? Is there any news from the clan?"

"The Hou Fu doesn't have the final say in this, and Jiang Tu doesn't either."

"Then who does?"

"The old Emperor has the final say." Chen Guanlou bluntly pierced through the truth.

Chen Xiaolan was startled immediately, "How did this get involved with the Emperor? Don't talk nonsense."

"With such a big matter, could I be talking nonsense? Jiang Tu isn't a fool; why do you think he targeted the Hou Fu for no reason? If it weren't for orders from the palace, could he be this crazy? Doesn't he know that this is a stupid act of hurting the enemy by eight hundred and damaging oneself by a thousand? With the foundation of the Hou Fu, ten Jiang Tus wouldn't be enough to fight. But he still has to fight. Because if he doesn't, he will lose his life."

Chen Guanlou was also a bit irritable.

He also hoped this would end soon; he couldn't even eat a meal in peace. He gave a sum of money to Sister-in-law Chunxiang as food expenses. Recently, he hadn't been cooking and was eating and drinking at Sister-in-law Chunxiang's place.

Boss Qu across the street was afraid of being implicated, so his whole family had been living in the shop recently, not daring to return. A small fish in a pond, not daring to show its head.

Chen Xiaolan became more and more uneasy and terrified.

"Then what should we do?"

"With the Hou Fu here, there's nothing to fear. Eldest sister, don't come here recently. You stay well at the Su family, and I won't have to be distracted worrying about you. If you come here and happen to run into that group of lunatics, I'll have to worry for you too."

"I'm just worried about you."

"I'm fine! Your brother has a big life; no one can hurt me."

"But..."

"No buts. While it's still light, I'll send you back. In short, don't come until the matter is over. If something really happens, spend a little money and send a boy to deliver a letter."

"If I leave, what will you do?"

"If you don't leave, that's when I really don't know what to do. If you aren't here, I can do things boldly. If you are here, I easily get distracted, and once distracted, things easily go wrong."

Hearing this, how could Chen Xiaolan not understand? Concern is concern, but she couldn't hold her brother back.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll go. But you must be careful too; don't rush to the front in everything, let others do it. You hide a bit further back. They all say you are very capable and have killed many people, and they all praise you. But when I hear that, I only worry. You didn't even dare to kill a chicken in the past, but now you've started killing people. How can this be?"

"My good eldest sister, have you forgotten that I work in the Heavenly Prison? People dying in the Heavenly Prison is such a normal thing. Even if I didn't dare to kill a chicken back then, I've been tempered in the Heavenly Prison for so many years; what's difficult about killing a person or two? You just worry too much."

Chen Guanlou sent his eldest sister out the door and personally sent her home. He also gave her a few ingots of silver, telling her to spend money boldly and not just focus on saving.

He sent his eldest sister to the gate of the Su family, "Sister, I'll watch you go in."

"Aren't you coming in?"

"I won't go in. It's an extraordinary time, so I won't add trouble to the Su family. In case they find me unlucky, you'll be caught in the middle and it will be hard for you. Alright, hurry in. I still have to go back to patrol."

"Then you be careful!"

"I won't have any trouble!"