Chapter 64

Two days later, Liu Guanshi made a trip to the Heavenly Prison, met with Yu Zhaoan, and chatted secretly for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. He even specifically chose a time when Chen Guanlou was not on duty.

By the time Chen Guanlou learned of this, the other party had already finished their business.

He wouldn't go to Liu Guanshi to get to the bottom of it, but he would take the opportunity to find Yu Zhaoan and fish for information.

Yu Zhaoan dismissed him, "You are just a child; don't meddle in the affairs of adults."

Chen Guanlou was so angry! Before, he called him 'Chen Tou', but now he dismissed him for being young, treating him like a child. Why didn't he think about him being a child when he was scolding him?

He raised his middle finger again.

Yu Zhaoan returned a middle finger to him and said, "I'm not telling you for your own good. You, a prison guard, how broad do you think your shoulders are, and how hard do you think your head is, to be able to handle such matters? Don't think that just because you share a surname with the Hou Fu and passed a message in between, you are something special. You don't even count as a pawn; at best, you are cannon fodder."

Chen Guanlou was speechless, stopped asking, and left decisively.

"It's all for your own good; don't be ungrateful," Yu Zhaoan shouted at him.

Chen Guanlou accepted the sentiment, but he had no intention of getting involved. At this moment, he just wanted to stay far away.

At first, he thought this matter was very simple: the Hou Fu wanted to resolve the conflict with Inspector Zhang and end the matter as soon as possible. The Hou Fu asking him to bridge the connection with Yu Zhaoan was nothing more than the Hou Fu being unable to lower its noble head and not wanting to beg Inspector Zhang to show mercy. Instead, they wanted to use a "drawing the firewood from under the cauldron" method, using Yu Zhaoan to deal with Inspector Zhang, leaving Inspector Zhang with no power to target the Hou Fu. Thus, the goal of turning a big matter into a small one would be achieved.

However, when he finished listening to Yu Zhaoan's warning, his heart skipped a beat. It was over; the matter was by no means as simple as he had thought.

What "dealing with Inspector Zhang"?

Now it seemed that Inspector Zhang might just be a side dish. The real goal was hidden behind a thick fog.

No wonder Liu Guanshi would share a carriage with Zhang Yushi Su in the middle of the night. The two factions had actually been in contact for a long time. Because he was an outsider, he didn't understand the inside story, so he hadn't connected these things.

Now, once connected, he suddenly felt that it was unfathomable, and it seemed he had been unwittingly dragged into an extraordinary affair. A little scary!

Thinking about it more carefully, was Liu Xiao Chuan leading people to beat up Young Master Ye and accidentally injuring Inspector Zhang's second son really just an accident?

Feeling restless, he took a pot of wine and a bag of spiced meat to the Grade-C prison to drink with Lu Datou.

Only by returning to the Grade-C prison did he feel that he was still a simple person, without burdens, needing only to be on duty, with nothing else to worry about or fear.

Lu Datou looked very excited to see him.

He chased all the prison guards who were gambling in the side room out, "Get out, get out! Gambling during duty hours; sooner or later, I'll deal with you all."

When he said this, he didn't blush at all.

After chasing the people away, he placed the spiced meat on the table, found two wine bowls, and began to drink and eat happily.

"It's rare for you to have time to drink with me. Come, come, come, our brothers haven't gathered together for a long time; let's have a drink."

Chen Guanlou picked up the wine bowl and downed it in one gulp. A large mouthful of yellow wine went down; with his alcohol tolerance, it was like drinking a beverage, with no reaction at all.

In contrast, Lu Datou smacked his lips, feeling very satisfied.

He discovered that people in this era generally didn't have as high an alcohol tolerance as people in modern society.

Whether it was yellow wine, distilled spirits, or rice wine, the alcohol content was very low, only twenty or thirty percent, or even ten percent. How could it compare to later generations, where on a dining table, if you didn't have a bottle of liquor over fifty percent, it was as if you hadn't drunk at all.

Low-alcohol beer was drunk straight from the bottle, one crate after another.

Any modern person could easily outdrink these natives.

He drank alcohol like a beverage, earning him the reputation of "Little Brother Chen, the Thousand-Cup-Unintoxicated."

Lu Datou greeted him, "Don't just drink; eat the food, eat the food. Everyone is happy for you that you were able to gain a firm foothold in the Grade-A prison! A while ago, I heard people say that Prison Clerk Wan was going to deal with you; I didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, you would turn the tables. Amazing! We were all worried for nothing."

"Zhang Yushi Wan does things with a method; most of the time, he values rules. It is precisely because of this that I was able to turn the tables."

It was precisely because Prison Clerk Wan followed the rules that he could use Private Secretary Li's connection to befriend Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan and suppress Prison Clerk Wan. If Prison Clerk Wan had been a hoodlum who didn't follow the rules, the card of Jiang Jiang Yucheng Fan might not have been played well.

Following the rules is good!

Everyone shows their skills within the rules. Whoever can fully utilize the rules is the winner.

People who follow the rules are most afraid of encountering a rogue or scoundrel who doesn't.

Just like a regular army is most afraid of encountering roving bandits who act recklessly.

Roving bandits have no food, they rob! No clothes, they rob! No weapons, they rob! No people, they abduct!

A regular army has no food, they send gifts to beg their superiors to transport grain, and even if it's skimmed, they still have to smile. No pay, they send money to beg their superiors to transport silver. When encountering a battle opportunity, they cannot act rashly; they must ask for instructions from above and can only move after receiving approval.

Everything is about rules, which is to say, constraints. Rules make people feel tied up, but they ensure that everyone won't act recklessly, and there's no need to worry about behaviors like assassination or ambush that don't follow the rules.

You can backstab, you can shoot cold arrows, you can report others, you can even turn your face on the spot. You just can't use low-class, rogue, despicable, and terrifying means like assassination or ambush to do things. Those who break the rules are shouted at by everyone.

Lu Datou looked strange, "You're still praising him?"

"I'm stating a fact."

"He wanted to kick you out of the Heavenly Prison, and you're still praising him?" Lu Datou couldn't understand.

Chen Guanlou said, "Only by facing the opponent's strengths and weaknesses squarely can one shoot with a target in mind and achieve a hit with one strike."

"Don't understand."

Chen Guanlou laughed, "Let's not talk about him. How has Brother Datou been lately?"

"Same as always. Oh, I forgot, I haven't returned the money I borrowed from you; next time, definitely."

"No rush to return the money." Chen Guanlou didn't care about that bit of silver. Recently, he had his eye on a small courtyard and wanted to buy it under a pseudonym as a second "cunning rabbit's burrow."

"Does Brother Datou know anyone in the Household Department of the Nancheng County Yamen?"

"What's wrong? Did you run into trouble?"

"I have a friend from out of town who wants to set up some property in the capital. Worried about being made things difficult for, he asked me to help introduce him to someone in the Household Department. Having more friends means more paths."

Lu Datou slapped his thigh and shouted, "That's simple! Don't look at our Heavenly Prison as a filthy place; any yamen in the capital has to give our Heavenly Prison some face. No one can guarantee they won't end up in jail in their lifetime, right? Prison guards are all one family!

For the Nancheng County Yamen, you look for Sun Datou; our families lived next door when we were kids. He studied well and used connections to get into the county yamen to work; I heard he's already become a clerk. When your out-of-town friend sees Sun Datou, just mention my name; he won't refuse to give me face."

"I knew Brother Datou had wide connections and knew people everywhere. I thank Brother Datou on behalf of my friend. Let's not mention the money; tomorrow when we have time, let's go to Zui Xiang Lou to drink."

"Oh, as expected of someone on duty in Grade-A, now you're even drinking the wine of Zui Xiang Lou." Once Lu Datou heard that the money didn't need to be mentioned, he was overjoyed. Originally, he only had thirty percent intoxication, but in the blink of an eye, he was eighty percent drunk, feeling wonderful!