Chapter 516: Who Benefits, and Who Is Most Suspect

The formal appointment letter hadn't come down for a day, so Chen the Prison Warden was still Chen the Prison Warden.

But throughout the Heaven Prison, in all three great prisons, every jailer treated him as the Deputy Warden. Xu Xu Fugui in particular took the initiative to invite him to inspect the Third Prison and give work instructions.

Chen Chen Guanlou said bluntly, "No rush on that. Don't believe everything you hear. What if it doesn't happen in the end? Wouldn't that be embarrassing for me? When the time comes, I'll become a laughingstock. Will you compensate me?"

"That won't do!"

"Absolutely not!"

"The position of Deputy Warden belongs to no one but Warden Chen."

"No previous Deputy Warden has done the job as well as Warden Chen. Though Warden Chen has not yet taken up the post, he has long had the reputation of one."

"If the higher-ups go back on their word, we'll go to the Ministry of Justice to petition."

"Right, we'll petition."

"Nonsense! How could we petition? Wouldn't that put Warden Chen on the rack? If the higher-ups truly go back on their word, we should pool money to send gifts on Warden Chen's behalf, to make sure things return to their proper track."

"Well said."

"Why not pool the money right now?"

"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough." Seeing everyone talking more and more absurdly, Chen Chen Guanlou hurried to interrupt, "I don't need anyone pooling money to lobby for my appointment. When the time comes to spend money, I have my own money and I can find the connections myself. Once the appointment letter comes down, I'll treat everyone to a night of wine and flowers—no one leaves sober. I absolutely cannot let everyone spend money recklessly on my behalf. Remember that?"

"Remember, remember."

"Warden Chen is good, caring for us. Unlike the previous Deputy Warden, who demanded money the moment he took office."

"My lord's kindness to us is his mercy. But we cannot be so tactless. When my lord rises in rank and wealth, we ought to chip in for a congratulatory gift. When the time comes, we hope my lord will graciously accept it and not find us too crude."

Damn!

After all that talk, they're still thinking about how to pool the congratulatory money.

This has become standard practice in the Heaven Prison.

Every time a new Deputy Warden takes office, every prison, every warden, and every jailer below—each and every one—pools money to give a meeting gift, congratulating the new Deputy Warden on his appointment.

Chen Chen Guanlou had no intention of going along with this routine.

But judging by the looks of things, if he didn't follow the rule and accept the congratulatory money, probably everyone would feel uneasy and start suspecting he was planning to cut their income and line his own pockets.

So his reputation was limited to the identity of warden, and limited to the First Prison at that.

After years of hard work, this is what he gets—heh!

These wretched bones—once he really becomes Deputy Warden, he'll have to give them a proper dressing-down.

Deputy Warden Lei's departure had no effect on life; he carried on with his duties as usual.

Chen Chen Guanlou left the prison after inspecting it from start to finish, raising any issues on the spot and demanding timely corrections.

Only at the end did he come to the cell where Jiang Tu was held.

Miserable!

Too horrible to look at!

When he left, Jiang Tu had been fine; now, upon return, he no longer looked human.

He had once thought the saying "not a single patch of good skin on his whole body" was an exaggeration; now he knew it was a literal description of reality.

Barely resembling a human, he lay on the ground like a dog, limbs twisted, bones broken but not set. One section of kneecap had pierced through the skin, making anyone who saw it frown in phantom pain—as if one's own bone had burst through. Unbearable.

The left cheek had been scorched over a large area, nearly blinding the eye and completely disfiguring the face. Even if a divine physician came in person, he could not cure such horrific disfigurement.

"What's going on? Wasn't he treated? With injuries this severe, are you trying to let him die of pain? Someone, go invite Medical Officer Mu. This is too absurd! The Heaven Prison has no rule of mistreating prisoners. How is each and every one of you doing your jobs?"

Chen Chen Guanlou flew into a rage, cursing openly.

Never mind what Jiang Tu had done before. He was now the Heaven Prison's proper VIP, a god of wealth. Is this how you treat a god of wealth? Taking money and not doing the job—outrageous. This is corrupting the Heaven Prison's rules.

"Don't… don't treat me!" Jiang Tu hadn't fainted after all. He raised his head in a daze. "Don't treat me. I want to die! Let me die!"

The jailer beside him was also in a difficult position. "My lord, we've been persuading Jiang Da to accept treatment the whole time, but Jiang Da stubbornly refuses. Anyone who tries to give him medicine, he threatens to kill himself. There's nothing we can do."

Chen Chen Guanlou frowned deeply, crouched down, and stared at Jiang Tu. "Jiang Da, why torment yourself like this? Doesn't it hurt? At least let Medical Officer Mu give you some painkiller, numb the pain."

"Let me die! Living now is worse than dying. Warden Chen, Chen Chen Guanlou, do me one last favor, please—let me die, let me die quickly. Wuu… I'm a coward. I don't have the courage to kill myself. I only beg to die sooner."

Jiang Tu, as if seeing a savior, released all his pent-up emotions at once and broke down wailing.

Chen Chen Guanlou waved his hand, signaling the jailer to leave a water jug and for everyone to leave.

He dipped a cotton cloth in water and wiped Jiang Tu's lips. The man's limbs were shattered; he couldn't even drink water on his own, let alone attend to his own bodily functions. Truly, living was worse than dying. Fortunately, it was still spring and the weather wasn't hot. If it were summer, he'd have to suffer more than double the torment.

"Have you confessed everything?"

"They want me to implicate others, but although I, Jiang Tu, am a petty man, I'm a petty man with principles. I refused, so they pushed me to the brink of death. I can't take it anymore. Next interrogation, I'm afraid I won't hold out—I'll really have to do as they wish and implicate others according to their script. Warden Chen, I can't hold on. Let me die. If you're willing to help me, the place at No. 37 Majia Alley—that place has nothing to do with me. No matter how they investigate, they can't trace it back to me. I'll give it to you as payment."

Jiang Tu, whose only movable part was his neck, kept kowtowing, begging only for a quick death to end his suffering.

Chen Chen Guanlou sighed. "Let me ask you a few questions. Answer me honestly. As for dying or not, we'll discuss that later. Deal?"

"Fine, ask. I'll tell you everything I know, holding nothing back."

"The Altar Explosion Case—how much do you know?"

"As far as I know, the cultist bombing case involves the Huangshi Sect's imperial kin, and implicates several important ministers at court. That Zhao Mingqiao, who's been jumping up and down the most, is definitely in on it too. Whether the meritorious nobility got involved I'm not entirely sure, but they were certainly in the know. The people who actually did it came in two groups. One group was the cultists. The other—you can think of them as bandits wearing official skins."

"Cultists were involved in the Altar Explosion Case too?"

Imperial kin and high officials at court being connected to the explosion case didn't surprise Chen Chen Guanlou in the slightest. Even hearing Zhao Mingqiao's name didn't surprise him at all. Only the cultists gave him pause.

How is it that cultists' shadows are everywhere?

Before, they were as good as dead; now suddenly they're this active. Very unsettling.

"Hmph! The cultists haven't been the old White Lotus Cult for a long time. Today's White Lotus Cult—you can think of them as domesticated. Told to go east, they wouldn't dare go west."

"By your account, the late Emperor's death is in question?"

"The late Emperor was murdered. The cultists handled the act, but as for the mastermind behind it—you can suspect the biggest person."

"You mean the new Emperor?"