Chapter 660: Pretty boy

Early in the morning, Chen Guanlou had nothing to do and prepared to go down to the dungeon to inspect it himself.

For a prison warden who liked to go down to the dungeon as much as he did, in all the years of the Heavenly Prison, he was the only one.

The dungeon was dark, damp, and smelled foul; every previous prison warden had avoided it like the plague and would never go down unless necessary.

Only Chen Guanlou, this big oddity, would go down for a walk whenever he had nothing to do and have friendly exchanges with the prisoners.

He went down to the C-grade dungeon and was very surprised to find a pretty boy locked in a cell.

The C-grade dungeon was filled with a bunch of crooked and mangled prisoners; suddenly having a harmless pretty boy appear was just too rare.

He was very curious, "What is this one here for? Murder and arson, or robbery and theft?"

The pretty boy looked gentle, with an air of a scholar, and didn't have the strength to truss a chicken. He really couldn't imagine why this person was locked in the Heavenly Prison.

"Reporting to my lord, this person is a refined scoundrel who publicly molested a young lady from an official's family. Such a thief must be severely punished."

Chen Guanlou laughed, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

"Is molesting also against the law?"

The prison guard was stumped by the question.

If molesting were against the law, all the hooligans and ruffians on the street should be arrested and thrown into the dungeon to be castrated forever.

Chen Guanlou asked again: "Since when is the Heavenly Prison responsible for detaining 'molestation offenders'?" Even rapists weren't qualified to enter the Heavenly Prison, unless it was a serial case of a flower-picking thief.

The prison guard was bewildered.

"The small one doesn't know the specific situation either. The prisoners sent by the Ministry of Justice are detained directly according to the rules."

"Go and get the case file of this kid. I want to see when the Heavenly Prison became a street sweeper, sending all the dirty and smelly garbage to the Heavenly Prison."

The prison guard received the order and hurried to get the case file.

Before long, Prison Clerk Xu arrived in person with the case file.

"My lord, how do you have time to inspect the dungeon today? Hehehe..."

Chen Guanlou glanced at the other party and didn't expose the fact that he was hiding in the office sleeping early in the morning.

He snatched the case file and flipped through it.

Name: Pang Qizhi, age: 22, academic title: Juren!

"Since he has the title of Juren, why wasn't he locked in the A-grade dungeon?"

Such a young Juren could also be considered a talented scholar. At least his exam luck was very good!

"The Ministry of Justice ordered it, saying there was no need to lock him in the A-grade dungeon, as his title would be stripped sooner or later anyway."

The specific process of the crime and which girl he offended were not recorded in the case file.

Chen Guanlou decisively threw away the case file, walked to the cell door, and asked the pretty boy, "Who did you offend that people not only harmed you by throwing you into the dungeon but also wanted to strip you of your title?"

For the past few days, Pang Qizhi's life had been like a roller coaster. At first, he was also muddled, but gradually he calmed down.

When Chen Guanlou asked, he immediately grabbed the cell door and said loudly: "It must be Pang Qiping and Xiong Fatty who harmed me. It must be them!"

"What's going on? Listening to you, your family members deliberately harmed you?" Chen Guanlou instantly became gossipy. In this day and age, how hard is it to pass the exams? Using the power of the whole family to support a scholar, what they seek is nothing but the title. The title of Juren can already be used to become an official; why would the family members not think of basking in the glory but instead harm him?

How deep must the grudge be to strike such a deadly blow!

"Pang Qiping is my cousin, responsible for escorting me to the capital for the exams. I had some friction with him, so he wanted to harm me."

"Wait! Your crime is molesting a young lady from an official's family; from beginning to end, this has nothing to do with the Pang Qiping you mentioned. First tell me, did you molest her or not?"

"I was framed. I was drugged; it must be Pang Qiping who put drugs in my wine, which is why I was muddled and almost made a big mistake. My lord, I was truly wronged."

Chen Guanlou was half-believing.

Among the prisoners in the dungeon, nine and a half out of ten would shout that they were wronged. The remaining half would be shameless and proud of their crimes.

"Come, listen well: when, where, what time, what did you do, and which girl did you offend? And how did it develop afterward? Explain it clearly one by one. Don't just defend yourself; I want to hear the truth. Do you want to get out? If you want to get out and want to keep your title, don't say a single lie. If I discover a single lie, you can just rot in the dungeon."

Pang Qizhi was half-believing, clearly showing doubt.

A mere prison guard of the Heavenly Prison, what ability does he have to not only let him out but also keep his title? He just didn't believe it.

"Kid, I advise you to be sensible; this is a huge opportunity for you, and you don't even know how to grasp it." Prison Clerk Xu stepped forward and kicked him, "Do you know how capable my Jiang Jiang Yucheng lord is? He can reach the heavens; with my Jiang Jiang Yucheng lord inquiring about your case, your life is saved. Still not getting it! Have you heard of the hero Chen who competed in martial arts with the Jixia Academy last year? That's my Jiang Jiang Yucheng lord!"

"So it is Lord Chen; please accept this student's bow!"

Pang Qizhi, this guy, was indeed very sensible. Upon learning that the Jiang Jiang Yucheng lord in front of him was the young generation's number one hero Chen who was famous throughout the world last year, he immediately knelt and bowed. If it weren't for the fact that scholars still wanted some face, he would have wanted to say: Foster Father is above...

"Can you say it now? Tell me your story from beginning to end, and remember not to say a single lie. This official can distinguish truth from falsehood!"

"Reporting to Lord Chen, this student is a student from Anzhou Prefecture, having studied hard at home for many years, and passed the Juren title the year before last. Thinking that next year is the big exam year, I came to the capital early for the exams. My family was worried about me traveling alone, so they arranged for my cousin Pang Qiping to escort me. My cousin does business and has traveled to and from the capital many times. That Xiong Fatty is a friend he met in the capital. Three days ago, I was invited to go..."

According to Pang Qizhi's confession, three days ago, he went to the residence of the Libationer of the Imperial Academy to attend a literary gathering. His cousin Pang Qiping took care of everything for him and accompanied him.

At first, everything was normal, until he drank a glass of wine handed to him by his cousin, and his whole person became muddled.

"I couldn't distinguish east from west at the time, and my cousin helped me into a side room. I was muddled, and when I woke up, a young lady was pointing at me and cursing me for being a beast in human clothing, saying I had tarnished her innocence.

I swear to Heaven, I really didn't know anything; it was like I had a dream, and when I woke up, I was bewildered. People around were saying all sorts of things, mostly cursing me. Then, muddled, government runners came and took me away, and immediately I was thrown into the Heavenly Prison.

It wasn't until yesterday that my brain cleared up, and I knew I had been schemed against. I thought about it, and I had only been in the capital for two months; I hadn't offended anyone. The only one with suspicion is that glass of wine my cousin handed me."

"Does your cousin have a reason to harm you?" Chen Guanlou asked softly.

Pang Qizhi frowned, lowering his head slightly, "My relationship with my cousin is average; he has been clever since he was a child, but he didn't use it on reading, and started running businesses early. To say I have any grudge with him, that's not the case. It's just that some concepts and ideas are different, and we occasionally bicker a few times. However, these are all small things. If you really want to talk about a big conflict, the only thing I can think of is my marriage."

"Your cousin isn't married? What does your marriage have to do with him?" ===== CHAPTER 661 =====