Chapter 610: Lying Through One's Teeth

Chen Guanlou stepped into the gate of the Ministry of Justice with his head held high and his chest puffed out. He even found time to chat with the gatekeeper for a few sentences and rewarded the gatekeeper with a tenth of a tael of silver.

The gatekeeper grinned and chuckled. "Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you are a frequent visitor. What is it for this time?"

"The Ministry of Justice is wronging me, accusing me of dereliction of duty. Naturally, I have to argue this out properly."

"You are right; this matter must be argued out."

Chen Guanlou took his leave of the gatekeeper, successfully entered the yamen, found someone to announce him, and was invited into the Minister's office a moment later.

"Old Sun..."

"Cough, cough!" Sun Daojing was very dissatisfied. "This time it is for official business. Since it is for official business, there should be the appearance of handling official business."

Chen Guanlou:...

It sounded as if he had only come to the Ministry of Justice for private matters in the past.

"I have already heard about your matter, and I have also read your respective statements. Tell me honestly, is there anything suspicious about Huang Zhimin's death?"

"Suspicious? Where would there be anything suspicious! My lord, you cannot be biased just because of the one-sided words of the Ministry of Justice officials. The Heavenly Prison is in my hands, and it is becoming increasingly orderly. It is fine for everyone to earn a little pocket money on weekdays, but we would never dare to touch money involving human lives."

Sun Daojing sneered; he didn't believe a single word.

"Then tell me about Huang Zhimin swallowing gold to commit suicide."

"That never happened." Chen Guanlou denied it flatly.

Sun Daojing picked up his teacup. "Huang Zhimin was involved in an extremely important case, and this case has huge implications. If it were proven, I fear a string of heads would fall. I should have thought long ago that many people would be hoping for that fellow Huang to die. Your Heavenly Prison, this big sieve, is simply lawless. For a bit of money, you actually dared to kill an imperial prisoner, and afterwards, you dared to fake the truth and fabricate stories. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you are doing a fine job as a Jiang Jiang Yucheng! I am almost impressed!"

Facing the sarcasm, Chen Guanlou's expression did not change.

When it came to thick-skinnedness, he was not much different from the old foxes in the officialdom.

"My lord, you have said so much, but do you have evidence?"

Chen Guanlou made it clear that he was a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.

No matter how much was said, without evidence, it was all fart.

Human testimony alone was not enough; there had to be physical evidence.

"Do you think I cannot deal with you just because there is no evidence?"

"My lord, you know me; I am a person who acts with great discretion. I take the money I should take, and I don't touch a single cent of the money I shouldn't take. Do I look like someone who eats dead people's money? Such a thing could never happen under my watch."

Upon hearing this, Sun Daojing sneered immediately. "It is a pity you still dare to speak so brazenly. The person is already dead, and you are telling me it couldn't have happened. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, have some shame!"

"This matter has nothing to do with shame. The key issue lies in the word 'suicide.' Even if you talk until the sky falls, Huang Zhimin committed suicide! Presumably, the Ministry of Justice's coroner has already examined the body, and the marks on the body will not lie. Is there any evidence of homicide? If it wasn't suicide, why didn't he struggle? Why didn't he resist? Since the body has no signs of struggle and no signs of resistance, on what grounds can you say there is anything suspicious about Huang Zhimin's suicide?"

Chen Guanlou picked up the shield and directly blocked Sun Daojing's spear.

The reason he dared to pat his chest and cover for Head Constable Wang, blocking the Ministry of Justice's investigation, was because there were no signs of homicide on Huang Zhimin's body.

Homicide?

You have to produce evidence!

If there had been even thirty or fifty percent resistance, it would inevitably have left enough marks on the body for examination. An experienced coroner could tell at a glance.

Huang Zhimin's body had not been tampered with. Except for that silver ingot, it was the same as it was when he died, and the same as it was when the Ministry of Justice examined it. There were no signs of resistance.

In broad daylight, a homicide without signs of resistance was fundamentally impossible!

Coerced?

I'm sorry, please produce evidence of coercion.

On the day that fellow Huang died, it was clearly recorded in the book that no outsiders entered the Grade-A prison. Where would the coercion come from?

What ability would a prison guard have to coerce a high-ranking prisoner?

Don't think of prison guards as being that capable. If prison guards really had the ability to coerce high-ranking prisoners, why would they need to stay in the Heavenly Prison and suffer that hardship?

Sun Daojing chuckled. "I have served in the Ministry of Justice for decades, and I know the methods of the Heavenly Prison better than you do. Don't try to fool me."

"My lord, the Heavenly Prison is wronged!" Chen Guanlou ignored everything and simply cried out about the injustice.

"You are wronged? The Ministry of Justice is even more wronged! A perfectly good case, and because of Huang Zhimin's death, the trail is broken. How do you expect me to explain this to the people below?"

"That is their own fault! They were incompetent in handling the case and scared the person to death; what does that have to do with the Heavenly Prison? The Heavenly Prison is innocent! You can't hold the Heavenly Prison responsible just because it is weak, right?"

"Hand over the murderer, and I guarantee this matter will not implicate you." Sun Daojing was expressionless, like an emotionless official machine.

Chen Guanlou blinked. "What murderer? The person committed suicide; where would there be a murderer?"

"That fellow Huang committed suicide—do you believe that?"

"I believe it!" Chen Guanlou looked calm.

Sun Daojing was furious. "Could it be that you killed him?"

"My lord, you really know how to joke. If I were to kill someone, would I let the Ministry of Justice see anything suspicious?" Chen Guanlou was extremely confident; if he killed someone, he could do it completely without anyone knowing, and even the coroner wouldn't be able to find anything.

"Since you didn't kill him, why are you covering for the people below?"

Why else!

He had taken the money!

Head Constable Wang clearly didn't want to die. Presumably, before acting, he hadn't expected Huang Zhimin to be so critical and important, that the matter would blow up so big, and that the Ministry of Justice would hold onto this matter and not let go.

In the past, if one or two people died, the Ministry of Justice wouldn't even ask. It just happened that this time they changed their usual style of handling things.

The next day, Head Constable Wang offered up silver. The master behind him was surprisingly generous, giving three thousand taels in one go, wanting Chen Guanlou to cover for him and settle the matter, preferably shifting the Ministry of Justice's attention so they wouldn't keep staring at Huang Zhimin's case.

All things in the world are actually based on the same principle: they cannot withstand close scrutiny.

Huang Zhimin's case clearly followed this rule.

The people outside were afraid; they were afraid that the Ministry of Justice would hold onto Huang Zhimin's case and not let go. They just wanted to spend money to eliminate the disaster.

"My lord, this matter is purely fabricated. It never happened. You ask me to hand over a murderer, but where am I supposed to catch one? I have repeatedly warned the prison guards under my command, and from time to time, I personally give them lectures and brainwash them, telling them to follow the rules and not take money they shouldn't take. I believe the prison guards under my command have strictly followed my requirements. Huang Zhimin's suicide was indeed very sudden. But there is really no problem with his cause of death. My lord, you cannot be led astray by others just because the case is not progressing smoothly."

Chen Guanlou was heartbroken, and he almost patted his chest to say he dared to guarantee what he said.

Sun Daojing rubbed his temples. His experience told him that Huang Zhimin must have been "suicided," and Chen Guanlou must be talking nonsense to cover up the truth.

But...

The body really had no signs of homicide. At most, there was some hesitation when he committed suicide.

If it had been the previous Prison Wardens, he would have just issued an order and gone straight to the Heavenly Prison to make arrests. Regardless of whether they were involved, he would have arrested everyone on duty that day, from the Head Constable to the prison guards, and interrogated them one by one.

However, since Chen Guanlou became the Jiang Jiang Yucheng, the order in the Heavenly Prison had indeed improved, but things had also become difficult to handle.

Chen Guanlou had a hard backbone, could handle things, and could protect his people. If he refused to hand over the murderer, the Ministry of Justice really couldn't force its way in to make arrests.

A high-ranking Ninth-Rank martial artist could not be bullied!

This was troublesome! ===== CHAPTER 611 =====