Chapter 696: Who do you think you are

"For many years, the reason I stayed in the capital and refused to return to my hometown is, first, I don't want to go back and see those annoying faces, and second, to provide protection for my family, pulling the big flag to use as a tiger skin.

I am old, and I have to consider the future; that's why I racked my brains to get my eldest son and eldest grandson to the capital to make a living. When I leave in the future, at least my Du family can continue to cling to the Hou Fu. With the Hou Fu's protection, I expect those pests won't dare to bully my Du family."

Master Du spoke of his hometown, perhaps with three parts of longing, but more clearly with disgust. It was a deep disgust for certain people in the local area.

The mountains and waters of his hometown were good and beautiful. As for the people, forget it. That piece of water and soil couldn't raise any good people.

Chen Guanlou gave an idea and said directly: "Just stay in the capital to retire. When you die, let your son send you back to your hometown for burial. I will arrange it for you, let your son go back to show off his power, and see who dares to be arrogant."

He spoke loudly about the topic of death, and Master Du didn't mind.

"I have really thought about this question, whether to retire in the capital. But this is the Hou Fu's territory after all; if I die here, it's slightly unlucky. If I ruin the Hou Fu's Feng Shui, that would be a sin. The Hou Fu has grace toward me, and I must not harm the Hou Fu."

"This matter is simple; rent a courtyard outside to retire, it won't cost much money. I know you are thrifty and reluctant to spend this money. I will introduce a few more businesses, and the money will be there."

"I am old and my eyes are dim now, and my eye for things can't compare to before." Master Du didn't want to harm Chen Guanlou and spoke the truth. His eyes were dim, and his vision had declined severely. Letting him appraise antiques and calligraphy and paintings, he was afraid of messing up. Once messed up, the loss would be at least hundreds or thousands of taels, and he couldn't afford to pay.

Chen Guanlou didn't care much and said: "It doesn't matter! Even if it really messes up, a little silver is a small matter to me. Besides, the goods taken out of the Heavenly Prison, those criminal officials don't dare to cheat me. If they dare to cheat me, unless they don't want to walk out of the Heavenly Prison alive."

This is not false!

Criminal officials find ways, spend money to eliminate disasters, and ask Chen Guanlou for help; naturally, they don't dare to use fake goods to fool people. The Heavenly Prison has a death or two every month, which is normal. It belongs to the death quota permitted by the Ministry of Justice. This quota is given to whoever it is given to; if you dare to deceive Prison Warden Chen, this month's death quota will be yours.

With the sword of death hanging over their heads, the criminal officials are all as smart as ghosts, so how could they make such a mistake. The antiques and calligraphy and paintings taken out must be real; the only thing that needs to be careful is that the value needs to be weighed more.

Some things are said to be worth three thousand taels, but you can't find a fellow enthusiast in the market, and it's possible that even three hundred taels can't be sold. It's too niche!

The two chatted until the sun was high in the sky before dispersing. Chen Guanlou gave Master Du many ideas, making Master Du start to seriously consider the possibility of retiring in the capital.

Early in the morning, Chen Guanlou went to the Heavenly Prison to work.

Chen Quan reported that Zhao Mingqiao wanted to see him.

After finishing breakfast, he went down to the A-block prison and came to the cell door.

"You are looking for me early in the morning, what's the matter?"

Zhao Mingqiao stood up abruptly, grabbing the cell door, looking a bit urgent. "I want to get out! Help me think of a way; what method can get me out of prison as soon as possible?"

"What's wrong? A few days ago when I saw you, you said it didn't matter if you got out of prison later."

"Someone has targeted the Youth Society, and there is a serious situation inside the Youth Society. I must get out as soon as possible to preside over the overall situation. Otherwise, the Youth Society will have its peaches picked by others."

"This is a matter of time! When you were first thrown into prison, I reminded you. As the leader, you should protect yourself, not charge forward and be caught by others and thrown into the Heavenly Prison. Fortunately, it's the Heavenly Prison, not the neighboring Imperial Prison. Otherwise, your life would have been folded in the Imperial Prison."

Chen Guanlou wasn't surprised at all that the Youth Society was being dismembered and that internal division had appeared. It was something he had long expected; that it only broke out now could only be said that the Youth Society was still solid. But, no matter how solid a fortress is, there is a day when it will be disintegrated.

"Don't worry, I haven't spent this half year in the Heavenly Prison in vain. I have basically listened to what you said, and I have kept it in my heart. The key is that right now, I want to get out; how should I operate? Brother Chen, please help me!"

Zhao Mingqiao took two steps back and bowed deeply, performing a great ceremony.

Chen Guanlou wanted to stop him, but swallowed the words that reached his lips. Just let the other party perform this great ceremony, otherwise the other party would keep nagging endlessly.

"If you want to get out, this matter is very difficult to say, and very easy to say. The people blocking you are mainly the people from the Dali Temple. You contact your former colleagues in the Censorate and let them impeach the Dali Temple to distract the Dali Temple's attention. In this way, I will find someone to smooth things over in the Ministry of Justice. As long as no one from the Dali Temple is watching, once the Ministry of Justice's official document comes down, you can get out smoothly."

Zhao Mingqiao was stunned, seeming very surprised. "Is it that simple? Operating like this, I can get out?"

"You think it can be that difficult. Your case is different from other criminal officials. You were convicted for your words; this kind of charge is mainly based on subjective will. If they say you are guilty, you are guilty; if they say you are not guilty, you are not guilty. It is completely different from other corrupt officials with ironclad evidence." Chen Guanlou said lightly.

"But..." Zhao Mingqiao frowned slightly. "It was the Emperor's oral instruction to throw me into the Heavenly Prison. If I want to get out of prison, don't I have to go through the Emperor's path? What if the Emperor finds out later that I have been released; what will happen?"

"How important do you think you are in the Emperor's heart? How much weight do you have?" Chen Guanlou immediately asked back, which could be called heart-piercing.

Zhao Mingqiao opened his mouth and was speechless.

He couldn't shamelessly say that he had a lot of weight in the Emperor's heart; in the final analysis, he was just an dispensable official in the court. He hadn't really entered the Emperor's eyes. If the Emperor wanted to use people, there were plenty of talented people around him; why use him, a guy with rebellious bones?

Facing Chen Guanlou's interrogation, he could only smile bitterly.

Yeah!

How insignificant he was!

Although he thought he was very important.

"Mobilizing former colleagues in the Censorate to impeach the Dali Temple is easy." After Zhao Mingqiao felt sorry for himself for three seconds, he cheered up again.

So what if the Emperor doesn't value him?

He doesn't need it either.

He wants to change the present, change this world, aiming directly at the Emperor. From the beginning, he and the Emperor were actually in an antagonistic relationship.

"However, my release from prison must eventually be made clear before the Emperor. Otherwise, there will be endless troubles."

"This matter is simple!" Chen Guanlou said confidently: "You prepare a sum of money; you only need to persuade two people."

"Who? Which two people."

"One is the Minister of Justice, Sun Daoning. One is the Minister of Revenue and Secretariat Minister, Xie Changling. I happen to have connections with both of them. For the sake of our brothers from different fathers and mothers, I will take this trip for you."

Zhao Mingqiao opened his mouth again and was speechless; unknowingly, the connections his former brother had made were already not to be underestimated, making people look up to him.

"How much money is needed? You name a price, and I will try my best to gather it." ===== CHAPTER 697 =====