Chapter 819: No one dares to owe the Heavenly Prison money

The prisoners paid the money and were all released.

The few remaining ones were truly unable to come up with the money; they were penniless and had nowhere to borrow from. They belonged to the type of people who were poor, fierce, and lowly; they had no connections, so they couldn't find anyone to borrow money from.

Xu Fugui asked for instructions: how to handle these people? Should they be released?

"If they don't pay, why release them?"

"Then continue to keep them imprisoned?"

"Wasting food. Just chop them all up and make them into flower fertilizer!"

"Really, really kill them all?" Xu Fugui was a bit stimulated, his speech stuttering. "This isn't good, is it?"

Chen Guanlou gave a cold laugh. "You also know it's not good! Then why don't you think of a way? As a grown man, I don't believe you can't find a place to earn money. Throw them out to be sold; they could sell for two hundred taels, right? Throw them to the docks to do hard labor, squeeze them to death, and they can earn two or three taels of silver a month. In ten years, they'll have two hundred taels. Just ask them, how do they want to be sold? Sell themselves to pay off the debt, or sell their physical strength to pay off the debt; let them choose for themselves."

"Will this work? They look so sorry; who would take a fancy to them?"

"Cover their faces; it's all the same when the lights are off." Chen Guanlou said without the slightest emotion, completely transforming into a black-hearted official who didn't care about the lives of others.

Xu Fugui was dumbfounded, thinking that Warden Chen must have eaten gunpowder today; his temper was so big.

"Then I'll go ask and make a debt repayment plan for them."

It wasn't like they had to sell themselves.

This group of people specialized in low-life tricks; they definitely had ways to scrape together the silver. If they dared to deceive the Heavenly Prison, the next time they were caught, they would be chopped up directly.

No one dared to owe the Heavenly Prison money.

Those prison-break prisoners were fierce and bold enough, right? Before breaking out of prison, they would all honestly pay enough silver.

Even prison-break prisoners didn't dare to owe the Heavenly Prison money, because no one could guarantee they wouldn't be arrested a second time. Once arrested a second time, they were dead! The prison guards had one hundred and eight ways to kill them.

This group of low-life things couldn't possibly be more powerful than prison-break prisoners!

Yes, no one dared to owe the Heavenly Prison money, not even low-lifes. One by one, they racked their brains, thinking of plans to earn money in exchange for freedom.

Two hundred taels, for a rich person, wasn't even enough for a meal. For an ordinary person, this was ten years of income.

A few thugs discussed it and came up with an excellent plan: steal!

Only stealing was the fastest way to get money, and the crime wasn't heavy. As long as they weren't caught, after paying off the debt to the Heavenly Prison, they might even have some left over.

Xu Fugui:...

Should he indulge them, indulge them, indulge them?

This group of people discussed their stealing plan right in front of him, completely disregarding him, a government official; it was outrageous.

He couldn't make up his mind for a moment and could only ask for instructions again.

"Stealing money? Where are they planning to steal? Why don't I give them an idea: if they dare to go to Xiao Changsheng's house to steal money, even if it's not enough for two hundred taels in the end, I'll release them. If they get caught, if they are imprisoned in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison, I'll have people handle it. If they are imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, this matter is even simpler."

Ah?

Xu Fugui was dumbfounded again; he couldn't understand, couldn't understand at all.

"My lord, does it have to be like this?"

"Is my plan not good?"

"It's not that it's not good. It's mainly the Xiao mansion; that's the mansion of Imperial Consort Xiao's younger brother, and Lord Xiao is a favorite in front of the Emperor. This, this, this, provoking the Xiao mansion isn't appropriate, is it."

"It is indeed inappropriate. Therefore, let those few people try. It doesn't matter if they succeed or not."

"In case they can't hold up and confess that it was the Heavenly Prison that instigated them..."

"Hahaha... even if they say it was instigated by the Heavenly Prison, who would believe it? Which official would believe their words? If they want to live, they know they must keep their mouths shut. If they dare to utter a single word, they are dead. There's no need for the Heavenly Prison to come forward to defend itself; when the case is tried, twenty sticks will be given directly, and they will die on the spot in the hall."

Chen Guanlou wasn't fear-mongering.

The Heavenly Prison was nothing!

These words were correct.

But even if it was just nothing, it was still a government office of the imperial court, a subordinate unit of the Ministry of Justice.

The major government offices in the capital were of one mind, especially the judicial offices, which were all in the same boat as the Ministry of Justice.

A few thieves 'slandering' the Heavenly Prison—what difference was that from seeking death? A sensible hall official, the moment the thieves mentioned the Heavenly Prison, would order them to be beaten severely! Beat them to death on the spot and be done with it. Anyway, they were thieves; if they died, they died in vain, no one would ask, and no government office would pursue accountability.

Xu Fugui didn't dare to disobey and gave orders to those few penniless people: they must steal from the Xiao mansion, nothing else would do. Steal, and they could live. Don't steal, and they would be flower fertilizer tonight.

There was no choice!

They could only bite the bullet and steal!

After some planning, scouting, finding opportunities, and bribing servants, they racked their brains and finally launched the operation on a dark and windy night.

The Xiao mansion was heavily guarded and spent a lot of money to raise a group of martial artists in the mansion; how could they let a few petty thieves succeed? Just as they were stealing, they were caught red-handed and tortured on the spot.

The few thieves confessed that they had just come out of prison and had no money to spend, so they risked entering the mansion to steal. They didn't dare to mention the Heavenly Prison, let alone that they were still prisoners.

After being tortured, they didn't extract any useful information, so they reported it to the officials directly, letting the government handle it.

The Jingzhao Prefecture took the case and soon passed judgment. This group of petty thieves dared to run to the Xiao mansion to steal; they should be beheaded immediately. However, they were tipped off, and later the sentence was changed to exile three thousand miles away.

Afterwards, the hall official asked the Private Secretary: "Why not kill them?"

"My lord, you don't know. The few petty thieves came out of the Heavenly Prison. Actually, they were originally prisoners of the Imperial Prison; it was because the Imperial Prison didn't have enough space that they were transferred to the Heavenly Prison. They still owe the Heavenly Prison silver, so they can't be killed!"

"The Heavenly Prison is so kind, they can be released from prison while owing silver?"

"That's why they went to steal."

Cause and effect, a logical closed loop.

"It's simply..." The hall official didn't know how to complain; that group of people in the Heavenly Prison played like this, and no one managed them.

"My lord, it's not like you don't know, those people in the Heavenly Prison recognize money and not people. If my lord were to behead the few petty thieves, the Heavenly Prison would have to come to us for money. If the two sides make a scene, it won't look good for anyone!"

That makes sense.

No one wanted to deal with that person in the Heavenly Prison who recognized money and not people. For the sake of money, they would disown their own relatives, and yet they had profound cultivation, and no one could do anything to them.

It was truly outrageous.

The imperial court should fire that Chen person from the public payroll. That Chen person's profound cultivation was no longer suitable for the officialdom, not even the Heavenly Prison. It made his colleagues timid and unable to perform.

"Forget it, forget it. Exile is fine, don't let them come to the door to ask me for people later."

"Exile can be done in a year, or in ten years. Regarding this matter, the student will communicate well with the Heavenly Prison to ensure it won't trouble my lord."

"Be sure to communicate well. Regarding the Xiao mansion, there must also be some reservations. They don't need to know about internal government office matters."

"My lord, rest assured, the Xiao mansion won't ask."

The matter was satisfactorily resolved.

The few petty thieves returned to the Heavenly Prison again, in the name of a transfer.

Xu Fugui:...

It's going to cost my life!

A few low-life things, why couldn't they be released? ===== CHAPTER 820 =====