Chapter 506: Please Follow the Rules of Officialdom

Chen Chen Guanlou had always had a clear self-awareness, never parading himself as a good man, and considered himself sufficiently black-hearted and ruthless.

But today he finally realized he was nothing but a little brother.

He only wanted to earn some money from Jiang Tu, since it was all just the usual officialdom tricks—no good or evil to speak of, all of it grey. So he took the money with a clear conscience to run errands for Jiang Tu.

He never expected Sun Sun Daoning to be a fellow black from head to toe—not only wanting money, but also wanting a man's life. Not content with eating the meat clean, he wouldn't even leave the scraps.

Chen Chen Guanlou forced an unnatural smile. "my lord is joking. I don't do murder and robbery, I don't take jobs that involve killing."

"Chen the Prison Clerk, you need to be flexible! Just tell me, does this official speak reason? Isn't this Jiang Tu fellow looking a bit superfluous?"

Chen Chen Guanlou said nothing.

Sun Sun Daoning didn't mind, continuing: "The Three Judicial Offices are jointly investigating the altar explosion case. Let me put it this way—everyone wants Jiang Tu dead. Whether or not the explosion case has anything to do with him, he must take the blame. The tune of this matter has already been set by those above."

Chen Chen Guanlou frowned. "my lord should understand—if anyone least wished the late Emperor harm, it must be Jiang Tu. With the late Emperor alive, he could enjoy wealth and status for a long time. With the late Emperor gone, he's a prisoner. The explosion case definitely has nothing to do with him."

Sun Sun Daoning snorted with laughter, mocking Chen Chen Guanlou for being too young and not understanding officialdom.

He said: "No one cares what he thinks. If those above say he's involved, then he definitely is. Even without investigating the explosion case, all those years of public outrage Jiang Tu caused, all the money he embezzled—you think he can really survive? Your Majesty definitely wants his family fortune, and also wants his life.

Go back and tell Jiang Tu—if he wants to live a little better before dying, he should hand over more money. This official can ensure he doesn't have to enter the Imperial Prison for trial; this official can even promise him a cup of poisoned wine, sparing him the executioner's block."

After a moment of silence, Chen Chen Guanlou pointed at the petition on the desk and asked: "What about this?"

Sun Sun Daoning picked up the petition and tossed it straight into the wastebasket. "No need to break court rules for a treacherous official. The explosion case must have deaths, and not just one or two. Jiang Tu can't escape—he's already on the death list."

Chen Chen Guanlou nodded. "Fine, I understand."

"If you can get him to talk, to confess a bit more, this official will note it as a merit for you."

"I don't need that merit."

"Really don't want a promotion?"

"If I wanted a promotion, I'd have long since taken the Hou Fu route—why would I stay in the Heaven Prison?"

"True enough. Apart from the poor environment and bad reputation, the Heaven Prison's income isn't low. You covet money, want to stay in the Heaven Prison—understandable. Only, you are after all a martial arts expert; the Heaven Prison can't afford someone of your caliber."

"I haven't even complained about the Heaven Prison being terrible, yet my lord is the one looking down on me." Chen Chen Guanlou found it funny. "If it weren't for me, the Great Ming King couldn't have ascended the altar alive, and my lord would have long been stripped of your official robes."

"But the Grand Tutor was lost right under your nose."

"Wrong! He was lost right under the eyes of the Eastern Palace guards—nothing to do with me." Chen Chen Guanlou snorted coldly.

"But Your Majesty hopes to find the Grand Tutor." Sun Sun Daoning dropped a bombshell.

Chen Chen Guanlou furrowed his brow. "He knows perfectly well—the grass on the Grand Tutor's grave is already waist-high by now. Where would you even look? Besides, what does finding someone have to do with my Heaven Prison? my lord has got the wrong person."

"Your Majesty said: alive, I want to see the person; dead, I want to see the body."

"What does that have to do with me?" Chen Chen Guanlou asked again.

Sun Sun Daoning sighed. "In this matter, Your Majesty doesn't wish to alarm others, doesn't even wish to alert the Brocade Guards. Once the Brocade Guards move, the whole court watches. Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and doesn't want to deploy the Brocade Guards for now. So Your Majesty privately instructed this official to secretly arrange people to search for the Grand Tutor's whereabouts."

"So?"

"You help this official find the Grand Tutor, and this official will agree to transfer Lei the Prison Deputy away. From now on, the Heaven Prison won't have a Prison Deputy. You'll act as Prison Deputy yourself—all three great prisons of the Heaven Prison will be under your command."

"I won't be Prison Deputy." Chen Chen Guanlou refused.

"Just acting." Sun Sun Daoning coaxed patiently. "Don't you want to change the Heaven Prison's environment? Don't you want to rebuild the Heaven Prison's order, make all the jailers follow the rules? As long as you act as Prison Deputy, you can handle all these matters with full justification. The Yi-class prison and the Bing-class prison will both answer to your orders. From now on, apart from logistics, the entire Heaven Prison will be at your sole word. Money will also be distributed at your discretion. How about it?"

Quite tempting.

Chen Chen Guanlou remained silent, weighing the options.

"With your abilities, finding the Grand Tutor's whereabouts shouldn't be any difficult matter. For this, you only need to answer to me. Also, regarding Jiang Tu's side—some dirty work you don't want to do, this official can have others handle it."

"What dirty work?"

"Jiang Tu must confess certain things—without torture it won't work." Sun Sun Daoning said as much. "Money can't solve this. Throughout the court, those who hate Jiang Tu are as numerous as carp crossing the river. Without giving him a taste of pain, the whole court won't be satisfied. To quell everyone's fury, Jiang Tu inevitably has to make a few trips to the torture room."

"A few trips?" Chen Chen Guanlou raised an eyebrow. The battles of officialdom were indeed kill-or-be-killed, with no mercy at all.

Chen Chen Guanlou smiled. "Your tricks, I won't take part."

It was right for him not to enter officialdom. With his temper, encountering the old schemers of officialdom, he might not be able to hold back and kill someone.

Yet officialdom absolutely does not allow anyone to kill in private to vent their anger. Everything must go through procedure—use officialdom's methods, borrow the law to kill.

As hated as Jiang Tu was, no one wanted to hire assassins to secretly kill him. Jiang Tu himself never hired assassins to secretly kill any official either. Everyone followed the rules of the game—using officialdom's rules to finish off the opponent. If you can't finish them off, wait for their retaliation.

Secret assassination, poisoning, killing in private to vent anger—absolutely forbidden. Anyone who dares break the rules of the game is going against the entire bureaucratic system, cutting themselves off from officialdom.

"So, the matter of finding the Grand Tutor—will you handle it for me?"

Chen Chen Guanlou thought for a moment. "I want money."

"No problem."

"Jiang Tu's family fortune."

"I'll give you one share."

"You said five shares before."

"Times change."

Damn—now that's what truly black-hearted and ruthless looks like.

Chen Chen Guanlou forced a smile. "Find someone else. I don't want this money anymore." He rose and left without lingering.

Sun Sun Daoning barked: "Hold on. Name your price sky-high and haggle down—that's not how you do things. If you're unhappy with the price this official offered, you can counter-offer. This official is very willing to haggle with you. We'll inevitably have a lot to do with each other in the future—if you just walk off at the slightest disagreement, how do you expect this official to get things done?"