Chapter 465

Chen Guanlou found the injured Chen Guanfu among the collapsed ruins and dragged him toward the outside.

Chen Guanfu, however, did not cooperate, "There are still people underneath; you must save them. It is very important."

"It couldn't possibly be the old Emperor down there, could it?" Chen Guanlou said this just in passing.

"It is not the old Emperor. If nothing goes wrong, the old Emperor has already been rescued by someone."

"With such a severe explosion, the old Emperor actually didn't die."

"Whether he died or not is unclear; right now, everything is too early to tell. You go save people first; I need to show my face as soon as possible and bring people into the palace. Go quickly. There will definitely be a heavy reward afterward."

As long as there is a heavy reward, that is fine.

Chen Guanlou resigned himself to saving people.

Surrounded by the Hou Fu's guards, Chen Guanfu killed several waves of assassins blocking the way and successfully left the explosion site. He left in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to treat the injuries on his body.

Following the list given by the Head Steward, Chen Guanlou successively rescued several of the people on it.

Seeing a large number of troops arriving, he decisively withdrew. This place would soon be surrounded by court officials and soldiers, and by then, not even a fly would be able to fly out.

As for the Great Ming Prince who was being tortured, he found the torture rack, but the person was already dead. Someone had cut his throat with a single blade, and he died from excessive blood loss.

Having completed his mission, the Great Ming Prince was clearly of no further use to the person behind the scenes; death was the best destination.

He did not collect the body for the Great Ming Prince; there would be government soldiers to collect the body.

He left quickly, staying far away from this chaos of sin.

He returned to the Heavenly Prison once, instructing the people below to guard the Heavenly Prison well and not to be curious about the storms outside. When the capital is in chaos, the Heavenly Prison can block all the storms outside and ensure everyone's safety.

Don't say the Heavenly Prison is bad here or there anymore; just speaking of saving one's life, there is no government office more reliable than the Heavenly Prison.

He returned home, closed the door, and took a bath to wash away the dust on his body.

Then he gave some money and asked Dawang from Sister Chunxiang's family to send a message to his eldest sister, telling her not to go out starting today. He told her father-in-law, Su Dacheng, to find any excuse not to go on duty at the city gate recently and to seize the time to hoard supplies. For a period in the future, the capital will definitely not be peaceful, and fighting will definitely be unavoidable.

If nothing goes wrong, a large number of government soldiers will flood into the capital.

Once these government soldiers leave the military camp, discipline will be equivalent to a display, and sooner or later, they will bring disaster to the capital. It will be just like the time of the deposed Crown Prince last year, and perhaps even more severe than that time.

At the same time, he asked Sister Chunxiang to take the money and hurry to the street to buy food, buying as much as she could, and not to be afraid of not having enough money.

"I will provide the money; don't be reluctant to spend it. Call a few porters, rent a cart, and pull as much as you can. In short, before most people have reacted, hurry and snap up food. Even if the grain merchants take the opportunity to raise prices, it doesn't matter. If the money is gone, it can be earned again, but if there is no food, then it is really over."

Sister Chunxiang took the money and brought along the boys in the family; they were all half-grown lads who could handle physical labor and were very easy to command. She went out. She didn't ask why, and she didn't ask what that roar that sounded like an earthquake actually was, fully embodying the excellent qualities of a temporary worker at the Hou Fu. At critical moments, she would perfectly follow orders and would not ask questions about this or that.

Chen Guanlou hurried toward Master Du's house again.

Master Du's eldest son and eldest grandson were both there, and Chen Guanlou told them to hurry and buy food, buying as much as they could, and not to care about the price. If the money was not enough, he had money here.

Master Du's eldest son still wanted to ask questions, but was stopped by a scolding from Master Du, "If you are told to buy food, then hurry and buy food. Don't ask questions and delay the time. The capital is different from the provinces; you listening and doing things is better than anything else."

Master Du's eldest son stopped talking nonsense, took the money, brought his son, found a cart, and hurried out.

Only then did Master Du have time to ask Chen Guanlou, "What happened? From far away, I heard a very loud movement and thought it was an earthquake, but the houses didn't move."

"The sacrificial altar was blown up by someone, and there was an assassination at the scene; it was too horrible to look at, and many people died. Specifically which people died, it is not clear for the moment. There must be court officials who were ambushed."

"Oh my, oh my, oh my..."

Master Du shouted "oh my" several times in one breath, so anxious that he was spinning in circles. This really was the first time since the creation of the world that someone dared to blow up the sacrificial altar, and it was on the very day of the sacrifice to Heaven.

"How did they do it? Who exactly did it?"

Chen Guanlou shook his head, "Who did it is not clear; everyone is a suspect. Anyway, there must be an inside man at the scene. Next, the capital will be in chaos for a while.

Although the Hou Fu's territory is definitely safe and there shouldn't be any blind guys running over to cause trouble, right now is the season when the old grain is exhausted and the new grain has not yet ripened. Food prices have already risen by a chunk, and next, food will definitely be in short supply, and prices will soar.

Before most people have reacted, we should seize the time to hoard a batch, and life will be easier.

Don't count on the Hou Fu's relief grain. The Hou Fu's Young Master will be very busy next and will have no time to care about the clan's affairs. The grain from the fields outside the city may not be able to be transported in. Even if it is transported in, we must guard against it being snatched by government soldiers. In short, having it yourself is better than anything else."

"Yes, yes, yes, hoard supplies; having it yourself is better than anything else." Master Du called the old servant, gave him a sum of money, and asked the old servant to hurry to the street to buy dry food that could be stored, such as air-dried meat, air-dried chicken, and air-dried fish. Oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar should also be bought back.

"And firewood. Let the merchants send a few carts over first. Buy some charcoal too. Once the government soldiers enter the capital, I'm afraid the firewood from outside the city won't be able to get in. By then, don't have rice and meat but no firewood to cook."

Master Du considered things very thoroughly.

The old servant did not hesitate and went out immediately after taking the money.

Master Du busily asked Chen Guanlou with concern, "Don't you need to buy any?"

"I have food and drink in the Heavenly Prison; it doesn't matter whether I hoard it or not. The Heavenly Prison's food and grass can at least satisfy the needs for half a year."

This is the benefit of backing a government office, and only a government office that keeps prisoners will ensure that there are supplies that can be eaten for half a year at any time. Moreover, when he brought back the news that the sacrificial altar had been blown up, the logistics people in the Heavenly Prison had already started arranging for people to purchase extensively in the city.

As a Heavenly Prison person, one might lack everything, but the only thing one doesn't lack is food and drink. The only thing to worry about is the fear of the gates being sealed.

The Heavenly Prison's territory is limited, and the garbage and waste produced by eating, drinking, and excreting cannot be cleared out in time; that environment and that smell... last year it was already suffered once, and this year it's happening again.

It really is a bad year, offending the Grand Duke.

The people of the capital are too miserable.

Chen Guanlou chatted with Master Du and then notified his clan uncle. He told him to hurry and arrange for the clansmen to snap up supplies; if it's late, not only will prices rise, but there might also be hoarding and shortages. The grain merchants in the capital are not great philanthropists; with such a good opportunity, if they don't take the opportunity to hoard a wave, they wouldn't be worthy of the status of a merchant.

The clan uncle was extremely grateful. Before hearing the movement, he had sent people out to inquire, but there had been no reply until now. There was also no news from the Hou Fu side.

Fortunately, Chen Guanlou notified them in time, otherwise, the whole clan would still be in the dark, unable to figure out the situation.