Chapter 80

"Keep him hungry, and don't give him water to drink." Chen Guanlou instructed the prison guards, "Let's starve him for a few days first."

Prison guard Xiao Jin whispered a reminder, "Chen Tou, from what I see of that Master Jiang, he should be someone who is often hungry. Starving him for a few days probably won't be of much use."

People who are often hungry have their own ways of dealing with hunger and are better at coping with the feeling of hunger than others.

"I believe he can hold out for ten days or half a month on an empty stomach, but I don't believe he can hold out for three days without drinking water." Chen Guanlou had never been hungry, but he was knowledgeable; he had a massive amount of information in his brain. Scientific research proved that people can endure hunger, but they cannot go without water.

"What if, after three days, he still can't come up with the money?"

What to do? How would he know what to do? He wasn't a debt collector in his previous life. Jiang Fengyu was a bachelor, an official serving in the capital all by himself, with his family thousands of miles away in his hometown.

And he couldn't fly thousands of miles away to grab people.

"We'll talk about it when the time comes!"

Prison Wan Zhang Yuli was clearly impatient; after solving Jiang Fengyu, there would definitely be other means to target him later. In the final analysis, his existence had already reached the limit of Prison Wan Zhang Yuli's tolerance. He had to be driven away so Prison Wan Zhang Yuli could catch his breath.

Jiang Fengyu was a beautifully played open card, which was truly disgusting for Chen Guanlou.

He couldn't sit and wait for death.

The A-grade prison had a fixed rule, and that was money; money was the root of everything and the standard for everything. What he said before was true; the higher-ups hadn't provided rice money or salaries for half a year. The salaries and bonuses everyone received every month, and the money for the grain and oil for the Heavenly Prison's food and drink, damn it, were all earned by the prison guards themselves.

Seeing that the Heavenly Prison could solve the silver and money problem on its own, the higher-ups became more and more comfortable not allocating funds.

For the low-level officials in the capital, life had been very difficult over the past six months. They didn't dare to say it on the surface, but in private, they had all scolded the old Emperor for eighteen generations of ancestors; he wasn't doing human things! This was forcing everyone to find ways to engage in corruption and bribery to earn living expenses.

In order to practice Daoism and seek immortality, the old Emperor became more greedy year by year. Any money in the Ministry of Revenue's account was transferred away. Officials' salaries were delayed and not paid, only telling everyone to suffer a little.

Occasionally, when everyone made a big fuss, they would symbolically distribute some rice and grain to block everyone's mouths.

Chen Guanlou was fortunate to be serving in the Heavenly Prison, where he could ask prisoners for money to solve the problem of the yamen having no money. If he were serving in another yamen, he would probably be worrying about having no rice to put in the pot right now.

He invited Lu Datou to eat.

Seeing his worried expression, Lu Datou asked him, "Prison Wan Zhang Yuli is giving you trouble again?"

"Your news is quite well-informed."

"In the A-grade prison, only Prison Wan Zhang Yuli doesn't get along with you. Besides him, who else would make things difficult for you?" Lu Datou threw a peanut into his mouth and took a sip of wine.

"Tell me, what help do you need?"

Chen Guanlou toasted him with a glass of wine and asked the shopkeeper to add two more side dishes, then whispered, "Does Prison Wan Zhang Yuli have any leverage?"

Hearing this, Lu Datou was both terrified and excited, "Are you really planning to make a move?"

Chen Guanlou didn't admit it, only saying, "Better safe than sorry. I can't be held hostage by him forever; I must have countermeasures."

Lu Datou pondered for a while, and the food on the plate visibly decreased, "I haven't dealt with Prison Wan Zhang Yuli, but I have dealt with his brother-in-law; we gamble in the same gambling den."

"His real brother-in-law?" Chen Guanlou suddenly became interested.

Lu Datou chuckled, "Prison Wan Zhang Yuli keeps a mistress outside; his wife is very fierce, so he has never dared to make it public. This brother-in-law is the brother of his mistress's family. He often asks the mistress for money to gamble."

Chen Guanlou's interest grew even stronger, and he asked, "What kind of character is he?"

"Even worse than me; he does everything—eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. Once, he even wanted to 'white-ticket' (get services for free), owed money to a girl in a brothel, and was chased for several streets and beaten up."

Chen Guanlou understood in his heart and could basically sketch out the appearance of this brother-in-law. What surprised him even more was that Lu Datou actually had self-awareness and knew he was very bad! Rare! Rare!

"This brother-in-law must have often used Prison Wan Zhang Yuli's banner to do evil things outside, right?" Chen Guanlou pressed.

Lu Datou nodded heavily, "That kid is greedy for money and lustful, loves to tease decent women, and every time he caused trouble, it was Prison Wan Zhang Yuli who stepped in to smooth things over. That kid doesn't learn his lesson; every time something happens, he's honest for a while, but in the blink of an eye, he commits the same old mistakes."

A vague idea gradually formed in Chen Guanlou's mind, only needing to perfect the details.

"Many thanks to Brother Datou today. I knew that on the ground of this capital, there is nothing Brother Datou doesn't know."

"Hahaha... between brothers, don't mention these things."

Lu Datou had a wide network of contacts, and he was familiar with all walks of life in the capital. If you want to inquire about something, finding him is never wrong. It's just that he's too fond of gambling; he wishes he could kill or be killed on the gambling table for a single coin.

In the A-grade prison, there is Prison Wan Zhang Yuli, and there is no Chen Guanlou. If there is Chen Guanlou, there is no Prison Wan Zhang Yuli. This matter must have a conclusion and cannot continue to be vague. Otherwise, there will be countless troubles later, and he will be exhausted from dealing with them, eventually leaving the A-grade prison in a dejected manner.

Chen Guanlou didn't want to leave, so he could only invite Prison Wan Zhang Yuli to leave.

Prison Wan Zhang Yuli had a weak spot, while he didn't; this was where he was stronger than the other party.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Guanlou came to the cell door where Jiang Fengyu was locked up once again.

"Master Jiang, have you thought it over?"

Jiang Fengyu could endure three days of hunger. But three days without water, Jiang Fengyu felt he was about to reach his limit and could go see the King of Hell at any time.

Chen Guanlou held a cup of water in his hand, a cup of plain water without any flavor. But in Jiang Fengyu's eyes, it was more alluring than any fine wine or delicacy. He almost crawled to the cell door.

"Give me water to drink, give me water to drink!"

"What about the money? As long as you pay, you'll have water to drink every day."

"Give me water to drink, I want to drink water." Jiang Fengyu's mind was full of water, water, water, and he couldn't listen to anything at all.

"The water is right here!" Chen Guanlou gave a wink, and prison guard Xiao Jin took out a piece of damp cotton and gently wiped Jiang Fengyu's lips.

That little bit of moisture was like sweet dew, and Jiang Fengyu's longing for water became even more intense.

He cried out; he really cried.

After serving as an official for so many years, he had suffered all kinds of hardships. He thought he already had an indestructible body, but he didn't expect that the prison guards only used a mere three days, without even using torture on him, to make him collapse and cry bitterly.

All the suffering and grievances he had endured in his life couldn't compare to the torment of these three days.

It turned out that not drinking water was far more painful than being hungry, far surpassing all other torments.

"I really don't have any money! You can ask me to do anything, but I really don't have any money."

"If you don't have money, then borrow it."

"I can't borrow it!"

"No, you can borrow it."

After saying that, prison guard Xiao Jin, as if performing a magic trick, took out an IOU, "Master Jiang, look clearly; we are people of conscience when we do things. Thirty percent interest a year; compared to compound interest, that is a great conscience. You sign and press your fingerprint, and this money will be considered borrowed by you. From now on, you can study in peace in the Heavenly Prison, eat well and drink well, and pay back the money after you get out in the future."

"Sitong Bank?" Jiang Fengyu leaned in to look closely and found that this was a loan note from the bank, missing only the signature and fingerprint.

"Exactly, Sitong Bank, honest to young and old. When the bank heard that Master Jiang was borrowing money to save his life, they agreed very readily. For the sake of the Heavenly Prison, they won't charge you compound interest, how about that? This is much better than borrowing money outside, right?"

Jiang Fengyu tremblingly took the loan note, looked at the teacup in Chen Guanlou's hand, and said painfully, "I'll sign, I'll borrow!"