Chapter 734: Catching People

Two days before sealing the office, the palace issued an edict.

The Six Fan Sect moved out in full force, surrounded the Marquis of Nanshan Mansion, and entered the mansion to catch people.

Sun Daoning came to the scene personally to supervise the catching and copying of the house!

This matter came out, shaking the whole capital!

Except for those who knew the news in advance, most didn't expect that just before the New Year, the palace would clean up the Marquis of Nanshan Mansion. They couldn't wait for a few more days, waiting until after the New Year.

This is how much hatred, how urgent!

The nobles ran to the Marquis of Pingjiang Mansion one after another.

The civil officials ran to the Xie Mansion one after another.

They were all afraid of being implicated, and this New Year wouldn't be good!

Chen Guanlou didn't have a chance to be idle, he directly took the prison guard and went to the Marquis of Nanshan Mansion, handing over the prisoners with the Six Fan Sect on the spot.

In the severe cold of the three nines, water turned into ice, and he shivered with cold.

In such cold weather, catching people into the Heavenly Prison and locking them up, not even letting them pass the New Year, Emperor Jian Shi didn't pay attention to anything. He was more shameless than the late emperor.

If it were the late emperor, he would at least wait until after the New Year to catch people.

He leaned to Sun Daoning's side. "Does His Majesty have any instructions?"

"His Majesty issued an imperial edict, the Marquis of Nanshan Mansion is guilty of heinous crimes, and the whole family is imprisoned for strict interrogation."

"What crime?" Chen Guanlou asked curiously.

Sun Daoning bared his teeth, his back teeth hurt.

He was worrying about this matter.

Because, there was no specific crime written on the imperial edict, only saying heinous crimes. It was simply absurd! It was the first time he saw such a groundless imperial edict. It must have been concocted by that group of people like Xie Changling, and the Government Affairs Hall also stamped it, which was even more absurd.

He simply told the situation. "What do you think His Majesty means?"

"What else can it mean. It's asking you to hurry up and help find the crime. Find one and record a merit for you. I said, this time the Embroidered Uniform Guard didn't show up, it turned out that this matter fell into the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and in the blink of an eye, it became a forced confession. Old Sun, you should be careful."

"Pay attention to the occasion!" Sun Daoning scolded, "With so many people watching, what do you call this official?"

"Master Sun!" Chen Guanlou changed his mouth in time,

Sun Daoning suddenly felt his head go bald!

It was indeed a hot potato.

"The Nanshan Marquis Prefecture is to be detained directly in the Grade-A prison. You keep a closer eye on it for this official; it would be best if you could dig out something real. After the New Year, whether we eat well or drink well depends on your ability."

Sun Daoning looked at Chen Guanlou with eager expectation.

Chen Guanlou was immediately displeased, "My lord, I also want to celebrate the New Year and need to rest. Making people work during the New Year—do you not want people to live? Besides, if I, as a Jiang Jiang Yucheng, am working during the New Year, can the prison clerks and guards below be idle? With this move of yours, it is equivalent to saying no one in the Heavenly Prison will have a New Year."

"It is the same for everyone. The entire Ministry of Justice, including the Six Sects, should not expect to have a proper New Year; everyone must be busy. Now that the task has come down, what other way is there? Instead of complaining about working overtime during the New Year, you had better think about how to handle the task well."

"This task cannot be handled. I have said it before: whatever could be interrogated has already been cleared up; it wouldn't wait until now. The ancestors of the Nanshan Marquis Prefecture are not fools either; in order not to bring disaster upon their descendants, they would certainly take their secrets to the grave. Instead of interrogating the living, it would be better to dig up the ancestral graves of the Nanshan Marquis Prefecture; perhaps we could find some clues."

Chen Guanlou spat out flowery language, suggesting the Six Sects act as grave robbers.

Sun Daoning hurriedly stopped him, "Such words must not be spoken recklessly. If this reaches the Emperor's ears and he truly develops the intention to dig up the graves, we will all be sinners."

"Do you think the palace hasn't had this thought? Do you think the ancestral graves of the Nanshan Marquis Prefecture haven't been touched by others?"

Naive!

Childish!

Sun Daoning was left speechless, then he slapped Chen Guanlou's shoulder hard, "Shut up! Look at the occasion; don't blabber blindly!"

Sweat appeared on his forehead, and his heart felt hollow.

If the palace had truly secretly touched the ancestral graves of the Nanshan Marquis Prefecture, did they find some clues, or did they find nothing? What exactly do they want to do by arresting people?

After arresting the people, they were thrown directly into the Heavenly Prison.

The subsequent matter of confiscating the property has nothing to do with Chen Guanlou; that is the work of the Six Sects. It is their turn to get rich.

The Heavenly Prison has its own channels for getting rich, and the Six Sects naturally have their own channels for getting rich as well.

For the sake of money, everyone reluctantly braced themselves to work overtime.

The Nanshan Marquis, reaching middle age and suddenly encountering a great disaster—how bitter!

Chen Guanlou went down to the prison to visit him in person.

The Nanshan Marquis looked gaunt and thin, his eyes filled with red bloodshot veins, appearing completely exhausted and hollowed out. It seemed he had been living very unhappily all these years. Living in fear every day—who could be happy?

He probably wakes up from nightmares even when sleeping at night!

"Is the Marquis still getting used to things? Have the bedding and cotton-padded clothes all been provided?"

Although the Marquis was middle-aged, his body was like that of an old man. He rose tremblingly, looking sorrowful, and bowed slightly, "Many thanks to Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen for your concern. The bedding and cotton-padded clothes have all been provided; I imagine I will not suffer from the cold at night."

"That is very good! Since the Heavenly Prison has received your money, we will naturally take good care of you. The Marquis need not be overly worried; we in the Heavenly Prison follow the rules and will not act recklessly, nor will we use torture unless specifically ordered from above. The women and children of your household are detained on the women's prison side, guarded by Prison Clerk Hu. Prison Clerk Hu came out of the palace, so you can rest assured that they will not be bullied by anyone."

Upon hearing this, the Nanshan Marquis thanked him again, feeling a sense of relief. His expression remained sorrowful.

"Does the Marquis know why the Emperor ordered your arrest and the confiscation of your property?"

"This old man does not know; I ask Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen to enlighten me."

"What else could it be for? It has always been for the two characters 'Great Yu'. To put it in detail, it is for money."

"But the Marquis Prefecture truly has no money, let alone treasure. Regarding all the records of the Great Yu Dynasty, as early as the time of the Founding Emperor, our ancestors handed everything over; not a bit remained. For so many years, generation after generation, whenever an Emperor asked, our family answered the same way. By my generation, my understanding of the Great Yu Dynasty is no better than that of the common people. My father and grandfather passed nothing down!"

The Nanshan Marquis felt only grievance, his heart full of bitterness.

Just because they were involved with the Great Yu Dynasty, their family had to suffer hardships generation after generation. The only difference was whether one ended up in the Heavenly Prison or not.

Don't look at the fact that his family holds a marquis title; they truly live worse than commoners.

If it were anyone else, three hundred years would have passed, and all grievances and rights and wrongs would have long since vanished like smoke. But his family was watched to death, interrogated, questioned, and searched generation after generation.

If he had known this would be the result, his ancestors should not have surrendered back then. It would have been better to just die. His descendants would not have to suffer such great crimes.

Chen Guanlou nodded in complete agreement, "That is exactly what I think. If your family really had something, it would have been confessed eight hundred years ago; there would be no need to wait until your generation."

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen has insight; that is exactly the logic. Inside and outside my home, the Brocade Uniform Guard knows better than I, the Marquis, do. This time it is truly an unprovoked disaster. The higher-ups want me to confess, but what can I confess? I know nothing at all; how am I supposed to confess? Should I confess what I eat, drink, excrete, and sleep every day?"