Chapter 543

The prison guard did not drag Zhu Ruhai back to his cell, but waited for Chen Guanlou's instructions.

Zhu Ruhai suddenly became anxious.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you must keep your promise."

Chen Guanlou suddenly grinned, "Master Zhu is right, of course I will keep my promise." With a glance, the prison guard instantly understood his meaning, and thus dragged Zhu Ruhai back to his cell.

Returning to the familiar cell, Zhu Ruhai finally truly let out a sigh of relief.

The cell he had previously despised so much had now become his sanctuary, and he refused to leave no matter what.

The world is unpredictable!

Zhu Ruhai rested and regained a bit of his confidence.

He gritted his teeth, controlling his temper, "Does Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen treat other prisoners with this same mix of soft and hard tactics?"

"Other prisoners don't have Master Zhu's stubborn attitude, nor do they have Master Zhu's firm willpower. Let alone three days of starving nine meals, other prisoners would have already compromised after two days of starving six meals, obediently cooperating and following the rules of the Heavenly Prison. Look at you, Master Zhu, after making a scene for so many days, aren't you still going to cooperate in the end? You tell me, why bother?"

Chen Guanlou's sarcastic remarks made Zhu Ruhai so angry he almost couldn't keep his composure.

He had been arrogant for decades, never expecting that in his middle age, he would fall into the hands of a young man.

He took a deep breath, staring at the other party, "They all say the nobility are all connected..."

"I am not a noble." Chen Guanlou mocked, "I am just a clansman beyond the fifth degree of kinship. If the Marquis Mansion gives an order to split the clan one day, I will even lose my status as a clansman."

Zhu Ruhai was so angry his beard flew; in his eyes, Chen Guanlou had become a stone in a latrine—stinking and hard.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you want so much money, aren't you worried about having the life to earn it but not the life to spend it?"

"Are you threatening me?" Chen Guanlou asked with a smile.

Zhu Ruhai, however, felt goosebumps all over his body. Because he heard excitement in the other party's tone—the kind of excitement that says, 'Oh, finally someone has the guts to threaten me, come on, come on, make it so I don't have the life to spend it.'

He looked at Chen Guanlou as if he were looking at a monster. The other party, however, smiled at him even more brightly.

"Master Zhu, are you threatening me?"

Chen Guanlou was truly excited.

Let the threats come more; his hands had been itching lately, and he couldn't find a suitable person to practice on. Zhu Ruhai had the Earl Mansion behind him and deep pockets; the hired thugs should be quite strong. If he could hire eighth or ninth-rank martial artists as thugs, it would be a real treat to fight them.

"I am not!" Zhu Ruhai denied it flatly.

"But I think you are threatening me. If you don't take concrete action, I will have to take action."

"Chen Guanlou, don't be so crazy." Zhu Ruhai scolded angrily, "No one is threatening you, and I won't take action."

Chen Guanlou was very unhappy, his face gloomy.

Zhu Ruhai took a deep breath, "From now on, I will cooperate well with the rules of the Heavenly Prison, and not a single cent of the money that should be given will be missing. I also ask Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen to follow the rules and not go crazy."

Chen Guanlou chuckled, very disappointed.

He had hoped Zhu Ruhai would be stronger, not be threatened by the dark side of the Heavenly Prison, and persist to the end, like a warrior. Alas, there are always more people in this world who know how to adapt to circumstances.

Boring.

Chen Guanlou snorted coldly, "Fine! As long as you cooperate well with the rules of the Heavenly Prison, the Heavenly Prison will naturally not treat you poorly, and the services that should be provided will not be missing. If there is nothing else, I will go first."

He had lost interest in Zhu Ruhai.

Prison Clerk Zhang, however, was exceptionally excited.

He was flattering him the whole way, "No matter how arrogant that Zhu fellow is, in front of my lord, he still had to obediently submit. He said thirty thousand taels, and not a single cent less would do. I am incompetent, having worked for many days and only getting two thousand taels. Once my lord makes a move, even someone as arrogant as Zhu Ruhai has to lower his head and submit. No wonder my lord can be a Jiang Jiang Yucheng, while I am only fit to be a prison clerk for life."

The prison guards were also beaming with joy.

With these thirty thousand taels, this month's bonus would double. Everyone had won big.

Chen Guanlou, however, was uninterested, only instructing: "You go to the Zhu family yourself. From now on, serve that Zhu fellow well with good food and drink."

"Will the Earl Mansion retaliate when they find out the Heavenly Prison went to take the money?" Prison Clerk Zhang had only been happy for a moment before he started worrying again.

Chen Guanlou swept a glance at him, "If you want to make big money, you have to take risks. Wanting no risks while wanting to make money—there is no such good thing in the world. Besides, even if the Earl Mansion retaliates, so what? No matter how long the Earl Mansion's reach is, they cannot interfere with the Ministry of Justice or the Heavenly Prison. Because the imperial court does not allow them to do so. If they dare to reach out, there are people who will come forward to chop off their hands."

"There is also the Princess Mansion." Prison Clerk Zhang reminded him in a low voice.

The Earl Mansion cannot interfere in the Ministry of Justice's cases, but the Princess Mansion can. It is said that before Princess Qingyang married, her relationship with Emperor Emperor Jian Shi was quite good.

If Princess Qingyang were to stand up for the Zhu family and take the lawsuit to the Emperor, the Heavenly Prison would certainly have to sacrifice a batch of heads.

Chen Guanlou snorted coldly, "Are you afraid?"

Prison Clerk Zhang shook his head slowly; as time passed, the frequency of his head-shaking became faster and faster, "My lord, rest assured, I am not afraid."

"As long as you are not afraid. I said, if something happens, I will stand in front, and I won't use you to take the blame. To avoid long delays, hurry to the Zhu Mansion to get the money, and put it in your pocket for peace of mind."

Prison Clerk Zhang received the order and immediately gathered a group of trusted prison guards to head to the Zhu Mansion to get the money.

Chen Guanlou returned to the office to drink tea.

Medical Official Mu came over, "I heard you are looking for a private secretary; how about I introduce one to you? A nephew of my clan, who failed to learn medicine and is idle at home. If you don't mind, let him be your private secretary. Rest assured, he has no problems with his scholarship. He has been influenced by the ways of officialdom since he was a child, and he is not a bit worse than the private secretaries outside. It's just that for official documents, he might need a little time to adapt."

"Sure! Old Mu, I certainly trust the person you recommend. Have him come tomorrow for a three-month probation period. After three months, if there are no problems, I will officially hire him as a private secretary."

"Three-month probation period? Fine! I'll bring him over tomorrow. Aren't you going to ask about his specific situation?"

"I'll understand when I see him tomorrow; I'm not in a hurry. Who is who between us? You certainly wouldn't harm me, right? If you really wanted to harm me, you wouldn't have utilized so many opportunities, and it wouldn't be worth it to let your nephew charge into the fray."

Medical Official Mu really didn't know whether to be grateful for Chen Guanlou's trust or to complain about the other party's sharp tongue.

However, he still expressed his attitude, "I certainly have no intention of harming you. My nephew, regarding the path of medicine, can be said to have opened six out of seven orifices, but is completely ignorant. He has some talent in reading, but compared to the scholars of the world, he can barely be considered a reader. He has taken the imperial examinations for more than ten years, and now he is only a scholar. A man in his thirties, having achieved nothing, it makes people anxious just looking at him."

"Has he given up on the imperial examinations?"

"He needs a livelihood. Coming out to do some things and broaden his horizons might be helpful to his scholarship."

"Makes sense."

Studying books to death has no future.