Chapter 753: Today, he is the black-hearted Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen

Sun Daojing was hesitant, his old habit of indecisiveness flaring up again.

Chen Guanlou stoked the fire for him, "Old Sun, don't hesitate. Sometimes it's better to do nothing than to make a mistake. Regarding this case of the cult bandits, it's better not to touch it at all than to foolishly dream of earning merit. The Embroidered Uniform Guard has been tracking these cult bandits for so many years; have you seen them earn any merit? It's a stroke of luck if they haven't been cursed or hacked to death yet."

Sun Daojing nodded secretly.

Chen Guanlou continued to add fuel to the fire, "This Xiao Jincheng is a bit sinister; two generations of emperors have relied heavily on him. Take this opportunity to simply add a little help to him."

"Are you sure it's help, and not looking for trouble?" Sun Daojing asked.

Chen Guanlou put on an expression of 'that wouldn't happen, I'm not that petty,' "Old Sun, you don't understand me at all. The relationship between me and Lord Xiao is a friendship between gentlemen. I don't pit him, he doesn't pit me, and we coexist peacefully. The matter of the Heavenly Prison roof collapsing is related to the cult bandits; I was the one who leaked this news to him."

"You leaked it to him, but not to this official. This official learned of this matter from someone else's mouth. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, you are turning your elbow outward; this is outrageous!"

Sun Daojing began to settle old scores.

"My Lord Sun, how can you not distinguish between good and bad? Am I turning my elbow outward? I am sharing your burdens. Look at you, how exhausting it is to haggle with the Ministry of Works; how can you let the cult bandit case affect you? This kind of troublesome matter should be dumped on the Embroidered Uniform Guard. They are so capable, let them do more. Speaking of the Ministry of Works, when will the collapsed prison cells be repaired? It won't do for all the prisoners to keep being squeezed together; if people die again tomorrow, don't come looking for me for trouble."

Sun Daojing snorted coldly, "Rest assured, the Ministry of Works will start construction by next month at the latest. At the very least, we have to wait for the weather to warm up a bit; the craftsmen are human too. Next time there is something, you must tell this official immediately. This official does not wish to learn of Ministry of Justice news from other people's mouths."

"Old Sun, rest assured, I will keep your reminder in mind at all times and will definitely take your words to heart. Regarding the transfer of prisoners, since you have agreed, hurry up and have someone issue the official document to coordinate with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I have already prepared everything on my end and can take the prisoners out for transfer at any time."

"For this matter, go back and wait. Coordinating with the Embroidered Uniform Guard must go through official procedures; it cannot be done just by flapping your upper and lower lips."

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll wait for your news."

Chen Guanlou left the Ministry of Justice with a beaming smile.

A few days later, the Imperial Prison side came with official documents to take the prisoners.

He could finally heave a sigh of relief.

He packed up all the personnel involved in the cult bandit case—regardless of whether they were innocent or not—and dumped them all on the Imperial Prison, leaving not a single one behind.

When those prisoners learned they were to be transferred to the Imperial Prison, they wailed and howled, clinging to the prison cell bars for dear life, refusing to step out of the Heavenly Prison no matter what.

One could guess with their toes that going to the Imperial Prison meant certain death; what they feared most was suffering inhuman torture before dying.

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, Chen Guanlou, you are not acting like a human, screw your eight generations of ancestors!

Chen Guanlou gave an order, "Plug all their mouths and drag them out for me."

Today, he was going to be a pure villain; his conscience had long since been eaten by dogs.

Even that turtle-grandson Zhang Daohe didn't care about the lives of these people, so why should he, an outsider, care?

The prison guards received the order, each looking fierce and malicious, forcibly dragging the prisoners out of the cells. If they couldn't drag them, they simply broke the prisoners' hands. As long as they didn't die, it was fine.

Ghostly wailing and wolfish howling!

After a long while of commotion, the Heavenly Prison finally quieted down.

Medical Official Mu muttered, "A sin!"

"Less nonsense from you!" Chen Guanlou retorted, "You're standing there talking without feeling the pain. Open your eyes and look, the roof of the C-grade prison is still collapsed; it was all done by that bunch of cult bandits. Do they really think the Heavenly Prison is a soft persimmon, stirring up trouble here every three days, not putting this official in their eyes? If they don't put this official in their eyes, this official naturally won't speak of conscience or morality to them. The way people get along is mutual. Don't be sarcastic with me, or I'll deduct your bonus."

Medical Official Mu was so angry he blew his beard and stared; he couldn't win an argument so he deducted the bonus, what a thief!

"You are the official, you have the final say. Actually, if you want revenge, there's no need to be so troublesome. Hand them over to this old man; I happen to have a few new medicines that need people to test them."

"You didn't say so earlier."

"You didn't say so earlier either!" Medical Official Mu blamed him.

Chen Guanlou chuckled twice, "The Imperial Prison is the final destination for cult bandits. If you want to test medicine, have Xu Fugui pick a few martial arts scum for you; test them as you please."

"You don't care about the death quota?"

"It doesn't matter! In extraordinary times, if a few more people die, the higher-ups will surely understand."

Looking at the dilapidated C-grade prison, Chen Guanlou was full of anger. Let them die! If more die, the Ministry of Justice will urge the Ministry of Works to speed up the repair of the prison cells.

At the beginning of spring, the Emperor was to offer sacrifices to Heaven, praying for favorable weather.

Sacrificial offerings were needed!

Death row prisoners were the best sacrificial offerings, followed by the three sacrificial animals!

Some court officials stood up and said that when the late Emperor offered sacrifices to Heaven, he used the Great Ming Prince as a sacrificial offering, which resulted in the sacrificial altar explosion case, causing a series of serious consequences.

The Son of Heaven should learn a lesson and not use living people as sacrificial offerings to Heaven. It is better to follow tradition and use the three sacrificial animals to express sincerity.

Where there are supporters, there are opponents.

Death row prisoners were already headed to the execution ground to be put to death; being executed as sacrificial offerings was a fitting end. It even elevated the post-mortem status of the death row prisoners.

Absurd!

Death row prisoners are people whose crimes are unforgivable. How can one use such filthy, dirty people full of sin as sacrificial offerings to Heaven? This is blasphemy! Blasphemy against the Dao of Heaven!

Why did the sacrificial altar explosion case happen?

It was because the wrong sacrificial offering was chosen.

From the very beginning, the Great Ming Prince should not have been used as a sacrificial offering.

The Great Ming Prince's crimes were monstrous, his hands stained with blood. If such a dirty person is used as a sacrificial offering, see if Heaven accepts it?

Since it is a sacrificial offering, it should be pure and clean, unpolluted. The three sacrificial animals are very suitable.

Both sides engaged in a fierce debate over the sacrificial offering, spitting at each other, throwing stinky socks, and tossing stinky shoes. They resorted to fists and kicks, staging a full-scale martial arts brawl in front of the Son of Heaven.

Emperor Taixing was about to be angered to death.

These are the court officials who govern the world; where is their decency? Where is their cultivation? Do they want their faces or not?

Angered, Taixing flicked his sleeves and left.

Wang De hurried to catch up, not forgetting to cast a glance at Xie Gechen. The Secretariat must quickly quell this dispute and not delay the grand ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven.

Xie Gechen didn't care whether the sacrificial offering was a death row prisoner or the three sacrificial animals.

He was pondering who was behind this, stirring up trouble, and who would benefit.

Why would such a small sacrificial offering trigger such a large-scale discussion, to the point of staging a martial arts brawl?

"Go and invite the several lords of the Imperial Observatory. Regarding the sacrificial offering, one should ask the Imperial Observatory. Hmm, also invite the Pure Yang Zhenren into the palace; this official has some questions to ask him."

With Xie Gechen's order, there were naturally subordinate officials to run errands for him.

The Secretariat held a meeting, and Sun Daojing was among them. After dumping the cult bandit case on the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Ministry of Justice did indeed heave a sigh of relief. As for whether the sacrificial offering was a person or the three sacrificial animals, was it really that important and mysterious?

He thought, if Chen Guanlou were here, he would definitely say: It's all bullshit! ===== CHAPTER 754 =====