Chapter 609: Filing a Vexatious Complaint

The expression on Head Constable Wang's face was one of utter disbelief; it was beyond words.

Chen Guanlou spoke with brazen, righteous indignation: "This official recognizes money, not people. I'll give you one day. If I don't see the money after one day, you can go explain the case of Huang Zhimin's suicide to the yamen runners from the Ministry of Justice yourself. Whether you live or die depends on whether the master behind you is willing to protect you."

Head Constable Wang took a deep breath and bowed slightly. "Please name a figure, my lord."

"Heh, you finally don't deny having a master behind you. As for the specific amount, you decide for yourselves. I won't set a price, lest you think I am insatiably greedy or too cheap."

"This... this isn't appropriate, is it?" Head Constable Wang completely ignored Chen Guanlou's sarcasm; he still hoped for a clear price so everyone could be at ease. "I still ask that you provide a specific figure, my lord."

"Then what do you think that fellow Huang is worth? How much is his death worth? How much is it worth for me to block the Ministry of Justice's investigation for you? Furthermore, if you, Head Constable Wang, were to fall into the hands of the Six Shanmen, could you hold up? If you couldn't withstand the interrogation, what would be the consequences, and how many people would be implicated? Calculate it yourself: exactly how much is my casual help worth?"

Head Constable Wang frowned slightly. "Are you certain you can block the Ministry of Justice's investigation, my lord?"

"We have worked together for so many years; you know my character. I have always taken money to get things done, and I never cheat anyone. Once I take the money, I will block the Ministry of Justice's investigation for you. No matter who comes, they won't be able to find any handle to grab from the Heavenly Prison. If the money isn't enough, then I'm sorry—I only do as much work as I am paid for."

Chen Guanlou adopted an attitude of only recognizing money and not people; he was very firm and completely disregarded their past friendship. In his eyes, Head Constable Wang was no longer a colleague, so there was naturally no need to worry about past sentiments. In his eyes, the current Head Constable Wang was merely a middleman. Sooner or later, he would dig out the person behind Head Constable Wang.

Head Constable Wang sighed. He naturally understood Chen Guanlou's attitude. On one hand, he regretted that their friendship was gone; on the other, he thought that completing the task meant he had fulfilled his duty to those above. As for that bit of colleague sentiment, if it was gone, so be it. Each served their own master; they would not interfere with each other.

He nodded heavily. "I understand your meaning, my lord. If there are no other instructions, I shall take my leave!"

"Go! Do your job well! If you want someone else dead one day, remember to remind me. Next time, I won't be willing to clean up your mess, not even for more money."

Head Constable Wang was not embarrassed and followed the lead: "Your instruction is correct, my lord. Next time there is an issue, I will certainly ask for your guidance in advance and act according to your requirements."

Chen Guanlou rolled his eyes silently and waved his hand to dismiss him.

Mu Qingshan washed up, changed into a new set of clothes, and appeared in the office again, looking brand new. He bowed to pay his respects.

Chen Guanlou found him too talkative and was not happy to see him at this moment. "Why are you here? Is the work done? Have the official documents been written? By the way, hurry up and write the complaint against those officials. It must be delivered to the Ministry of Justice before you get off work today. If they dare to make me their scapegoat, I must report them."

Mu Qingshan looked dazed. "My lord, are we really going to report them?"

"Nonsense! They are riding on top of my head; if I pretend to be deaf and dumb and do nothing, wouldn't I appear incompetent and weak? Taking one step back means having to retreat ten or a hundred steps in the future. They are pushing their luck, yet I keep retreating—this is unreasonable. Your master here has never been so spineless. Write it quickly! It doesn't matter if the wording is intense; you must write down my grievances and the humiliation I have suffered. Although I am a small Prison Warden, I am not someone anyone can bully. Write it now!"

Chen Guanlou urged him repeatedly, and Mu Qingshan, having no other choice, could only take out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone to try to write.

He had never done such a shameless thing, never done something that turned right and wrong upside down and shifted the blame onto others. He was truly in a difficult position and found it hard to put pen to paper.

Seeing this, Chen Guanlou became very impatient.

He simply said: "I will speak, and you will write. Write it well for me."

"Please instruct me, Master!" Mu Qingshan closed his eyes, discarded all the education, understanding, bottom lines, and conscience he had received over the past few decades, and decided to be a thorough tool.

"... humiliating this subordinate, creating something out of nothing, fabricating rumors, believing whatever they hear..."

Chen Guanlou took advantage of the anger burning in his chest to vent all his frustration in one go. He had Mu Qingshan write it down exactly as he said, and after checking it for errors, he had it sent to the Ministry of Justice immediately, without a moment's delay.

He also reminded Mu Qingshan: "When you get to the Ministry of Justice, ignore that bunch of people. Do not answer anyone who speaks to you. Come back immediately after handing in the official document. It is a troubled time; perhaps one slip of the tongue without thinking will give them a handle on you. You are very unreliable and lack experience in official struggles; you don't understand many of the ways of the world. The best way is to keep your mouth shut."

Mu Qingshan:...

Although he lacked experience, he wasn't that clumsy. He considered himself to have some discernment.

Chen Guanlou did not listen to his defense at all and waved his hand to dismiss him.

He also had someone notify the neighboring Imperial Prison to hurry and take the people inside the cells away. Since he was going to have a legal battle with those above, he couldn't have any side issues. He wanted to avoid the Ministry of Justice catching those few prisoners and claiming he was making extra money, which would cause a scene. For a mere eighty taels of silver, there was no need to add a pile of trouble to himself.

The Little Cabinet Minister Yan Shifan was thrown into the grand prison because of a mere eight hundred taels of silver, leading to the downfall of the Yan Faction. With that as a warning, he could not give others a handle for a mere eighty taels.

The Second Imperial Prince had woken up, and the pressure on the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been halved.

The remaining half was to catch the murderer.

The Imperial Prison side happened to have two empty cells, and upon receiving the notice from the Heavenly Prison, they decisively took the prisoners away.

Chen Guanlou was still thinking about the serial killer, the old farmer, and followed along to take a look.

A few days had passed, and the old farmer was holding up; he hadn't uttered a single word. If Tang Jiu hadn't firmly believed in the sense of smell of his own kind, Chen Guanlou would have suspected that something had gone wrong.

The prisoners were taken away by the Imperial Prison, and the subsequent matters were not for him to worry about.

According to the news Lu Datou had gathered, because two female prisoners had died, the remaining female prisoners had received special attention from the Imperial Prison. Except for the young ones, basically all of them had been taken to the torture room; whether they were guilty or not, they had to go through the "three-piece set" of drawing blood first.

Those village women prisoners were truly having the worst luck of their lives.

Fortunately, too many people had been caught this time, and the imperial court was watching closely, so the Imperial Prison didn't want any side issues and had female interrogators handle the questioning of these village women. At least it didn't lead to any mass incidents of people losing their chastity and choosing to die to prove their innocence.

Amidst the chaos, the legal battle between the Heavenly Prison and the Ministry of Justice reached Sun Daojing.

When Sun Daojing saw it, he thought: Good heavens, who is so suicidal as to provoke Chen Guanlou, this fierce god? Even he had to give this person a wide berth, yet the people below were truly brave; they really weren't afraid!

Look at the official document Chen Guanlou wrote—it was called an official document, but it was actually a complaint. Reading through it, one almost developed a sense of shared hatred against the enemy.

Almost!

Sun Daojing wiped away cold sweat.

This shameless Chen Guanlou, he hadn't even wiped his own backside clean, yet he dared to file a vexatious complaint! ===== CHAPTER 610 =====