Chapter 529: Paying Money to Seek Death

"Does Master Zhu think I should go to the Ministry of Justice to serve?"

Chen Guanlou asked with a look that was not quite a smile.

Zhu Ruhai had wanted to say "of course," but as the words reached his lips, he looked at the other man and shook his head. "For you, it seems serving in the Ministry of Justice is not the best choice. Although I don't understand the operations of the Heavenly Prison, I imagine the 'oil and water' there must be extremely abundant.

With your ability, you could make a fortune even without being greedy; but if you were even a little bit greedy, that place, the Ministry of Justice, would instantly become like a chicken rib—tasteless to eat. The only bad thing about the Heavenly Prison is its poor reputation and low status.

However, now that you are a Prison Warden, you can barely be considered to have stepped into the ranks of petty officials, and plus, you are a son of the Chen family. Haha, indeed, you staying in the Heavenly Prison is the right choice."

Zhu Ruhai laughed heartily, his interpretation quite insightful. He deconstructed Chen Guanlou's idea of staying in the Heavenly Prison and refusing to move his nest with perfect clarity.

Chen Guanlou smiled. "Listening to Master Zhu's words, I realize Master Zhu is a man of great wisdom. With your ability, I imagine you could make a fortune doing any business. Why did you insist on starting the trade of human trafficking?"

"What I do is a legal business." Zhu Ruhai heard the dissatisfaction and malice in Chen Guanlou's tone and immediately cried out, "Every transaction under my hand has evidence to be checked; it's not the same as that gang of kidnappers. I have a record with the government; I buy and sell people on behalf of the government and the imperial court.

Even inside the palace, when they need people, they purchase half-grown children from me. Every person sold cannot be said to be entirely voluntary, but they all had the consent of their families and signed legal contracts. Master Chen, I can understand you looking down on kidnappers. But my business is not the same path as theirs. You must not wrong me."

Chen Guanlou laughed and mocked, "I actually didn't know this business was still legal."

"If you are legal, how do you buy maidservants and old women? Do you think the house-born servants of the Marquis's Mansion are born that way? Master Chen, everyone is a sensible person; why must you play the fool?"

"Are you saying the Ministry of Justice arrested you wrongly?" Chen Guanlou was expressionless. Zhu Ruhai was clearly an old slicker who had mixed in the Jianghu, with money, status, background, and backing. This kind of person is the hardest to deal with.

"Whether they arrested me wrongly or not, I believe the Ministry of Justice will definitely give me an explanation. Anyway, after the matter is investigated clearly, I believe they will surely restore my innocence."

"It is said that your business also involves several murder cases, and even involves massacres."

"These matters have nothing to do with me. Some people committed crimes and, in order to avoid government pursuit, simply sold themselves. The people working under me are no match for these Jianghu old slickers; it is inevitable that they were deceived. It really is a disaster falling from the sky; doing business properly, yet getting involved in a major case."

Zhu Ruhai wore an expression of being extremely unlucky, completely innocent and wronged by others, which was very realistic.

"If you are truly wronged, why doesn't the Earl's Mansion help you appeal or help you run connections?"

"Master Chen, you also come from a large family and should understand that people in large families, especially clansmen like us without official positions, are often unable to act according to their own will. Running for an official position is easy; I'm just afraid of being targeted by censor officials, ruining the reputation of the Earl's Mansion, and implicating the Princess. Then I would truly become a sinner. Sigh, let's wait; wait for the limelight to pass."

"So, Master Zhu, for the sake of the family and for the sake of the Princess, you gave up planning for yourself? I really didn't expect Master Zhu to have such high moral integrity, sacrificing so much for the family." Chen Guanlou directly used sarcasm against the other party.

Zhu Ruhai actually took it seriously and sighed repeatedly, "As a clansman of the Earl's Mansion, having enjoyed the grace of the Earl's Mansion, naturally I must repay it. Does Master Chen not repay the care of the Marquis's Mansion?"

Chen Guanlou finally understood; Zhu Ruhai was just a tough nut to crack. Thinking about it, it made sense; only a tough nut could manage such a large business. Even the legal part is licking blood from the edge of a blade, and who knows how much darkness and bloodshed is hidden inside. His business must be accompanied by kidnapping, imprisonment, beatings, human lives...

Thinking deeper, no matter how dark it is, it wouldn't be surprising.

He did not continue chatting with Zhu Ruhai.

After leaving, he instructed Prison Clerk Zhang, "I don't care what method you use; I want you to continuously squeeze the one surnamed Zhu. How much money you can squeeze out depends on your ability. I permit you not to put it into the public account; one-third stays in the Grade B prison. Do you have any problems?"

He hated human traffickers most in his life, regardless of whether it was legal or illegal. The Ministry of Justice arresting him must be targeted. This guy Zhu Ruhai must be hiding major cases behind his back. Not just murder cases and massacre cases.

No reason, just a kind of intuition. Intuition told him that Zhu Ruhai was the most vicious and malicious person he had ever seen in his life; he must not be deceived by this person's appearance.

Zhu Ruhai's evil is the evil of the loss of human nature, which is different from the evil of officials.

It is very worth digging into.

Prison Clerk Zhang whispered, "Zhu Ruhai is after all a member of the Zhu family; we shouldn't use means. If you want to extort his money, this matter still needs Master's guidance."

Chen Guanlou kept a straight face. "I permit you to use some means on him, as long as there are no external injuries. Choose reliable people and manage the mouths of all the prison guards in the Grade B prison well. If you really can't manage them and the news leaks out, it doesn't matter if the Zhu family knows. As long as there are no external injuries, if the Zhu family comes to investigate, I will cover for you. With me standing in front, no one dares to touch anyone in the Grade B prison."

"Really?" Prison Clerk Zhang was half-believing. The Zhu family is an Earl; even if they don't have much power, a thin camel is bigger than a horse. And the Zhu family is also implicated with the Princess's Mansion behind them. Princess Qingyang and the current Emperor are said to have a pretty good relationship.

He thought about the one-third share and was eager to try. He was also worried that if the matter blew up, it would implicate himself. Chen Guanlou's guarantee could not dispel his concerns.

Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows slightly. "Do you know why I want to extract two-thirds of the funds? Do you think I am very greedy and all two-thirds of the funds fall into my own pocket?"

Prison Clerk Zhang felt the embarrassment of being seen through, not daring to lift his head, his lips moved a few times, but he dared not argue.

Seeing this, Chen Guanlou snorted coldly, "Why can I protect you? Of course, it's because I will take this money, run the connections of the Ministry of Justice, and nail the one surnamed Zhu to death. Now you know why I want you to use all means to squeeze out the money of the one surnamed Zhu, right? As long as the one surnamed Zhu is nailed to death, who will investigate his encounter in the prison? The Earl's Mansion is not without things to do, standing up for Zhu Ruhai all day long."

Prison Clerk Zhang opened his mouth wide, never expecting that things could be handled this way. Squeezing funds from the prisoner, then bribing the case-handling personnel to make the case an ironclad case, thereby getting the prisoner killed. It is equivalent to the prisoner paying money to get himself killed?

He had only heard of taking money to bribe connections to escape punishment; he had truly never seen taking money to seek death.

He asked again, "Master, can this matter really be handled this way? Is it feasible?"

"I say it's feasible, so it is. If you don't dare, I will offer a reward in the Grade B prison; there will always be someone bold enough..."

"I dare! This matter is on me. As long as Master fulfills the promise afterwards and protects us to be safe." ===== CHAPTER 530 =====