Chapter 466

Chen Guanlou arranged everything and returned to the Heavenly Prison that night.

He asked the prison guards under him if their families were all settled. The prison guards all said yes, they were all settled, and some food had been hoarded.

"Fortunately, the Lord brought the news in time, so we were able to hoard a batch before the grain merchants raised prices."

"Just after buying a bag of grain, the grain merchant raised the price. Saved a large sum of money."

"Lord, was the sacrificial altar really blown up?"

"How could this be fake? The Lord saw it with his own eyes; how could such a thing be made up?"

"Alright, alright, everyone don't be nervous. The Great Ming Prince is no longer under our jurisdiction; the hottest potato has been thrown out, thank Heaven and Earth. Secondly, a similar thing was already experienced once last year, so I presume everyone has experience. Several squad leaders, seize the time to formulate a shift schedule, clean out the utility room, and install beds for everyone to rest."

Chen Guanlou gave the orders, and as long as there is work to do, everyone's emotions can gradually stabilize.

Afterward, Chen Guanlou summoned Prison Clerk Zhang of the B-grade prison and Xu Fugui of the C-grade prison for a meeting.

"Prison Warden Lei is not here, so I will shamelessly preside over this meeting. We don't need to worry about the logistics side; the key is the three prisons of A, B, and C. For the next work, both of you, speak your minds."

Xu Fugui spoke first, "What else is there to say? Just follow the time of the deposed Crown Prince last year, close the main gate, and isolate the inside from the outside. Re-enable the watchtowers and arrange for people to patrol. As for the prisoners' food, change it from two meals a day to one meal a day, trying to save as much as possible. Fortunately, the weather is not hot right now, so even if the smell is a bit strong, it won't be smelled."

What he said was all ready-made experience.

Chen Guanlou nodded, considering it approved.

Prison Clerk Zhang, however, appeared very silent.

Chen Guanlou looked at the other party, "Does Prison Clerk Zhang have anything to add?"

Prison Clerk Zhang slowly raised his head, his brows tightly furrowed, appearing very worried. "The sacrificial altar was blown up; are the people who were on the sacrificial altar at that time still alive?"

"Some must be alive." Chen Guanlou personally rescued several people from the ruins. Anyway, the explosives of this era are definitely not as sharp as later explosives, so there is no situation where everyone dies. The people who were on the sacrificial altar at that time still have a high chance of survival. Especially officials with martial pulses and cultivation are more likely to survive.

"Then... what about His Majesty?" Prison Clerk Zhang lowered his voice and asked in a low voice, "When I went out during the day, I heard some discussions saying that it is possible His Majesty is already gone. Is this true?"

"I don't know." Chen Guanlou told the truth; he really didn't know whether the old Emperor was dead or alive. Although Chen Guanfu told him that the old Emperor had already been rescued by someone, he didn't say whether he was dead or alive.

The old Emperor is of such an advanced age and was the main target of the explosion and assassination, so life and death are on the line.

"If, I mean if..." Prison Clerk Zhang got up and walked to the window, took a look outside, then closed the doors and windows tightly, and turned back to look at the two, "Have you ever thought about, if His Majesty is gone, how will this sky change?"

"Then of course it will be inherited by an Imperial Prince; what is there to be nervous about?" Xu Fugui said bluntly.

"Which Imperial Prince will inherit the throne?" Prison Clerk Zhang asked back.

"Of course it will be..." Xu Fugui suddenly choked, his face blank, "Yes, who should inherit the throne? There are so many Imperial Princes."

Suddenly, he also panicked. He looked at Chen Guanlou, "Can the Prince of Loyalty inherit the throne?"

Chen Guanlou slowly shook his head, "Since the deposed Crown Prince, the Prince of Loyalty has lost his orthodox status, which means he has lost the qualification to inherit the throne."

"Then who else is there?"

"Below the Prince of Loyalty, all Imperial Princes should theoretically have the qualification."

"Then it's over. That is the throne. In an ordinary family, in order to inherit the family business, several brothers have to fight several times to get a result. This throne inheritance, the Imperial Princes must fight until the sky turns upside down! It's over, it's over, the capital is completely finished. This is much more serious than the time of the deposed Crown Prince last year. At least at that time, there was the backbone of His Majesty. Now that His Majesty is gone, the court must be in chaos."

Xu Fugui was panicking so much that he didn't dare to imagine what kind of tragedy would happen next.

"Don't shout!" Prison Clerk Zhang scolded with great disgust, "His Majesty's life or death has not been determined yet, and you are shouting that His Majesty is gone. Be careful that the Brocade Uniform Guard next door comes to arrest you and punish you for the crime of spreading rumors to confuse the public."

"I, I was just following your words and saying it casually." Xu Fugui knew he was in the wrong and didn't make a sound again. He could only look at his two colleagues with eager eyes.

Prison Clerk Zhang was upset and confused, "First determine, on the logistics side, enough food and grass have been stored, enough for us to guard the Heavenly Prison for half a year or a year. So, don't worry about the food aspect."

"What about safety?"

"Safety-wise, we shouldn't worry too much. The Heavenly Prison has a reputation outside, and outsiders have no way of knowing the oil and water inside. Even if they rob, they will only think of robbing large households; no one will be unable to think straight and run over to rob the Heavenly Prison. A group of prisoners, nothing to rob." Chen Guanlou said so.

Prison Clerk Zhang and Xu Fugui nodded at the same time; they both approved of Chen Guanlou's statement.

Thank the Heavenly Prison's bad reputation.

The world thinks the Heavenly Prison is a place without oil and water and is lowly; only someone with water in their brain would run over to rob the Heavenly Prison.

Going next door to kill a Brocade Uniform Guard would be more fulfilling than robbing the Heavenly Prison.

After all, the Brocade Uniform Guard has a fierce reputation outside; killing one Brocade Uniform Guard would be a big deal, and one could instantly leap to become a great hero.

"The old Emperor may not necessarily be dead." Chen Guanlou said again, "There were so many people on the sacrificial altar at that time, and I heard the Brocade Uniform Guard was also there. The Brocade Uniform Guard is His Majesty's eagle dog and will definitely protect His Majesty's safety at the first opportunity."

"Yes, yes, yes, His Majesty may not necessarily have anything wrong. We are all worrying about nothing." Xu Fugui wished that nothing had happened and lived a peaceful life every day. He hoped that good news would come out of the palace tomorrow, such as good news that His Majesty is alive and well and not injured. In this way, the situation in the capital could soon stabilize, and the Heavenly Prison would not need to seal the main gate and guard strictly.

Prison Clerk Zhang was not as optimistic as him, "In the current situation, do you think they will let His Majesty continue to live?"

The implication is that even if His Majesty is alive, he must die. Only a dead old Emperor is a qualified old Emperor.

"Don't talk nonsense." Xu Fugui scolded, "You dare to say such things; don't you want your life? Who dares to harm His Majesty."

"Even the sacrificial altar was blown up; you say who dares? Plenty of people dare." Prison Clerk Zhang snorted coldly.

Chen Guanlou took two more looks at Prison Clerk Zhang; he didn't expect the other party to think so far ahead. Yes, now that things have come to this, can the old Emperor still live? Even if he lives, in what way should he live?

He finally knew why the person behind the scenes wanted to blow up the court officials together.

If not blown up, whether the old Emperor was injured, dead, or whatever, the officials would form a small group "council" to discuss together who would supervise the country or who would inherit the throne. Mobilizing troops and generals would also be decided by this group of officials. It is equivalent to the entire court's civil and military operations, the empire's future, the Imperial Princes' future, and the world's situation all being in the hands of these "council" members, controlled by them. Clearly, this does not conform to the interests of the person behind the scenes.