Chapter 576

Sun Daoning ultimately took Chen Guanlou's advice, did not change the verdict, and returned all the appeal documents from the Xu and Wei families.

He put on the full airs of a Minister of Justice: "When does the Ministry of Justice's judgment of a case need outsiders to point fingers? Presumptuous! Anyone who dares to interfere in the Ministry of Justice's handling of a case will be thrown into the great prison."

He had finally been tough for once.

Outsiders would only curse at the great official authority.

The Ministry of Justice was very satisfied and praised him. Only when the superior is tough can the people handling the affairs be tough. If the superior is spineless, no matter how tough the people handling the affairs are, they eventually have to give in.

Looking at the admiring gazes of his subordinates, Sun Daoning silently puffed out his chest, very satisfied.

Although Chen Guanlou's mouth was poisonous, many of the things he said made sense. As the Minister of Justice and spiritual leader, he had to toughen up.

Thinking of the gift of thanks, he had his secretary prepare a calligraphy copybook by a famous master to send to Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou received the gift, a bit confused.

What's the meaning of this?

Not sending gold or silver, but sending a copybook instead—who thinks his handwriting is ugly?

How unreasonable!

His handwriting had improved greatly over the past few years; compared to when he first started practicing martial arts, it was like heaven and earth. Especially as his martial arts cultivation progressed, it was reflected in his calligraphy: the characters had integrity and momentum. They might not be that pretty, but they were definitely not ugly.

In a word, it had its own style!

Compared to imitating others' calligraphy, it was clearly much stronger.

He still accepted the copybook; it was a famous master's work, after all, and worth quite a bit of money.

He instructed Mu Qingshan, "Every five days, you send an official document to the Ministry of Justice, demanding the overdue grain and salary. After a month, if they still haven't given it, change it to a reminder document every three days. Occasionally, go to the Ministry of Justice and show your face; don't do anything, just ask them for money."

Isn't it required to follow the procedure? He would follow the procedure every three to five days.

When the procedure was almost done, it would be time for him to personally come forward and ask Sun Daoning for money and grain. He was not like the previous prison wardens, all of them cowards.

"Is Master not afraid of offending people?" Mu Qingshan asked.

"Afraid of a fart! You must remember, Heavenly Prison people fear neither heaven nor earth. If the Ministry of Justice doesn't give money or grain, they are the ones who are in the wrong. You just ask them for it righteously."

"We definitely won't get it."

"Whether we get it or not is not important; what's important is the attitude. We must show our attitude and finish the procedure. You don't need to worry about the subsequent matters; I have my own plans. The key lies in the word 'attitude', understand?"

"Master means to let everyone know that the Ministry of Justice is in arrears with the Heavenly Prison's money and grain."

"More or less. Understanding it that way is not wrong."

"Student understands. Student will handle this matter well."

"That is very good!"

Chen Guanlou carried a wine pot, went down to the prison, and found the third Xu son to drink.

"Congratulations, Third Master Xu; you will be able to get out in three months."

Xu Lin had an indescribable expression. "The Ministry of Justice didn't change the verdict?"

"Why would they change it?" Chen Guanlou asked back with a smile. "Three months in prison is the regulation of the 'Great Gan Code'. Does Third Master Xu think he can be above the law? It's a pity you are not an official! Your official status was gone half a year ago."

Xu Lin's expression became even gloomier. "So, if I had official status, I wouldn't have these three months."

"Officials have officials' verdicts, and commoners have commoners' verdicts. If you had official status, it would be impossible for you to be locked in here."

The officials imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison are those who have genuinely committed crimes. No one is locked in for sleeping with a woman or fighting in the street.

They can't afford to lose that face!

Xu Lin:...

His mood continued to be terrible.

Chen Guanlou sent the wine pot into the cell. "To congratulate you on being able to get out of prison in three months, I specially brought you a pot of wine."

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, are you sure you are congratulating me, and not mocking me?" Xu Lin stared at the wine pot, wishing he could stare a hole through it.

Chen Guanlou looked at the other party with a smile. "Third Master Xu might not know, but among those locked in the Heavenly Prison, those who can get out in three months—although you are not the first, you are definitely a rarity. Back then, the second son of the Prince of Jin's mansion was locked in and stayed for half a year before he could get out. You are luckier than the Prince of Jin's son, so I am right to say congratulations, am I not?"

Xu Lin bared his teeth. "I didn't expect I was still a lucky one. If I had known, I shouldn't have resigned from my official post."

"Indeed, you shouldn't have resigned. Although it is easy for you noble children to become officials—just say a word and it's done, without having to study hard for the imperial examinations—if you want to accumulate prestige and connections, you still need to sit honestly in the government office. After a long time, you will have everything you should have. Fishing for three days and drying nets for two, not only is time wasted, but you get nothing, which is a pity."

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen has quite a lot of insight."

"Anyone who stays in officialdom for a few years will understand these principles."

"That's not necessarily true." Xu Lin picked up the wine pot and drank directly from it. He drank very urgently, his mood very irritable. Clearly, at first, he thought he would be locked up for at most a few days and could get out, so he endured everything. Now, knowing he had to sit in prison for three months—a full ninety days—his mood was incomparably irritable, and he couldn't endure it. Everything he saw was displeasing.

"Is the third Wei son very proud?"

"I haven't seen the person, so I'm not clear. However, the Wei family's steward ran to the Heavenly Prison twice, wanting to deal with you. Unfortunately, the price wasn't negotiated, and it fell through!"

Hearing this, Xu Lin's mouth twitched. "Listening to you, it seems that if the price had been negotiated, you would have dealt with me."

Chen Guanlou did not deny it, but instead frankly admitted, "That's for sure. Who can go against money, you say right? Our Heavenly Prison's tenet is to take money to get things done, and we treat everyone fairly. But rest assured, your fourth brother knows how to behave and is generous with money. I have already accepted his silver and promised to take good care of you. I won't accept the Wei family's silver to target you again. We have principles; we only eat from one family, not two."

Xu Lin was so angry he laughed, gritting his teeth. "Not eating from both sides, that's truly rare."

Chen Guanlou pointed at the other party, sneered, and said disdainfully, "Don't speak so sarcastically! Blame only yourself for being arrogant for so many years, and this time you finally hit a nail. You are lucky; the nail only pricked you once. However, your luck won't be this good every time. Also, I take money, and I am only responsible for taking care of you; I didn't say I would be your grandson. You had better be polite to me, otherwise, my ways of taking care of you are many."

Xu Lin wanted to mock him back, but when the words reached his lips and he met Chen Guanlou's gaze, his heart was startled, and all the words that hadn't been spoken were instantly swallowed back.

He suddenly remembered that the person before him was not just a prison warden, but also a martial artist, with unfathomable martial arts cultivation.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his emotions, and said, "Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen is right; it was I who didn't know what was good for me. Thank you for your wine; when I get out, I will definitely invite you back."

"I will remember those words. I'll wait for your invitation." Chen Guanlou smiled, instantly diluting the rather heavy atmosphere from before. The surrounding prison guards also secretly wiped the sweat from their foreheads, thinking to themselves: Boss Chen's face when he's stern is so scary!