Chapter 855: Pulling This Way and That

Chen Quan had not yet brought the person back when the cause of death of the prisoner Liu Liu Qinghuan was reported up first.

"You mean, out of three hundred and fifty cuts, one was placed in the wrong spot, and with slightly too much force, it severed the prisoner's aorta, causing death from excessive blood loss?"

The jailer nodded affirmatively.

"Reporting to you, my lord, several coroners at the execution ground examined the body together, and after repeated verification, that was their conclusion."

Chen Chen Guanlou furrowed his brow, seemingly unwilling to believe it. "There was no problem with the ginseng soup?"

The jailer nodded. It had already been checked; the ginseng soup was fine.

"The prisoner had no other ailments?"

The jailer nodded again.

At this moment, Mu Yiguan Mu cleared his throat lightly. He had no choice but to step forward and say, "My lord, I personally examined the body of prisoner Liu Liu Qinghuan. Young and strong, aside from the injuries sustained in the punishment chamber, he had no other ailments. Five hundred cuts of death by a thousand cuts—under normal circumstances, given the prisoner's physical condition, he should have been able to endure it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Chen Guanlou clicked his tongue at once.

"That fellow Wang Youfu is down on his luck! His first public appearance, his first time presiding over a death by a thousand cuts, and he botched it. He severed the aorta and didn't even notice?"

The jailer lowered his head, not daring to speak.

It was still Mu Yiguan Mu who stepped forward to say a fair word for Wang Youfu. "A first public appearance—nervousness is unavoidable. A slip-up is inevitable. Fortunately, prisoner Liu Liu Qinghuan is not an extremely important figure, so there's still room to maneuver. Besides, the prisoner only died after three hundred and fifty cuts, which means he still suffered the torment of the extreme punishment. Viewed this way, Wang Youfu can be considered to have barely completed the task."

After a pause, Mu Yiguan Mu added a reminder: "Cultivating an executioner capable of presiding over the lingchi punishment is no easy matter. It's absolutely impossible without a dozen or more years of training. Now, in the entire Heaven Prison, only Wang Youfu knows how to perform lingchi. If we give up on him, certain assignments in the future will be difficult to handle!"

The implication was that, from the perspective of talent reserves, Wang Youfu should be kept on and given a chance.

Chen Chen Guanlou waved his hand. "I know all the reasoning. I never said I was giving up on Wang Youfu. This fellow lacks steadiness. Hopefully, after this lesson, he can make some progress. I'm just afraid he'll go all in on being a lost cause, never recover from this setback, and waste all the effort I've put in."

"It's only right for you to have such concerns, my lord. Once the matter is settled, send someone to give him a nudge, help him pull himself together, and don't let him fail to live up to your high expectations."

Chen Chen Guanlou nodded. Now that was loyal counsel!

"Old Mu, forget being a medical officer—come be my private advisor instead."

Mu Yiguan Mu stroked his beard and laughed heartily. "I'm honored by your regard, my lord. When this old man can no longer carry on one day, serving as a private advisor wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Teach that nephew of yours, Mu Qingshan, well. If he had even thirty percent of your ability, I wouldn't have to worry about him day in and day out."

Once Chen Quan brought the person back safe and sound, Chen Chen Guanlou prepared to set off for the Ministry of Justice.

A jailer reported that Wang Youfu was outside requesting an audience.

Chen Chen Guanlou didn't feel like seeing him at the moment. "Go tell him to set his mind at ease and reflect on himself properly. Since his skills aren't up to par, he should practice more. Instead of coming here to beg forgiveness, he'd be better off thinking carefully about his late master's teachings."

After sending the man away, he headed straight to the Ministry of Justice.

The supervising executioner had long since finished filing his complaint, demanding that the Heaven Prison be punished. Especially Chen Chen Guanlou—a charge of mismanagement, lax supervision, and dereliction of duty could not be escaped.

Chen Chen Guanlou had been cultivating connections in the Ministry of Justice for years and naturally had his own informants. After hearing the charges against him, he picked at his ear and headed straight for Sun Sun Daoning's office.

He couldn't be bothered to argue with the small fry outside—it was a waste of time.

He went straight for the head of the Ministry of Justice.

Naturally, Sun Sun Daoning gave him no pleasant look.

"Look at the job you've done. You can bungle even a small matter. I think you're getting lazier and lazier. The Heaven Prison under your management is getting more and more chaotic."

"Old Sun, that's not how you pin labels on people. Old Zhang just died a few days ago, and the Ministry of Justice was in a rush to lingchi the prisoner. Where was I supposed to find a suitable executioner on short notice? If I went to the neighboring Zhao Prison to borrow someone, I could afford to lose that face, but could the Ministry of Justice afford it? Wang Youfu was, after all, Old Zhang's hand-trained disciple—he just lacked the chance to work independently. Don't say it, but this lingchi, he barely pulled off beautifully. He managed over three hundred cuts—rounding up, you could say he completed the task satisfactorily."

Chen Chen Guanlou always had the ability to make black sound white.

It was clearly an accident, but under his silver tongue, it somehow became a satisfactorily completed task.

If this fellow were willing to set aside his scruples, he could certainly become a favored minister before the Emperor, compete with Xiao Xiao Changsheng, and bewitch the sovereign into foolishness.

He might even be able to match wits with Jiang Tu of those days, to see who was the most favored sycophant before Your Majesty.

Unfortunately, he had too much integrity—looked down on such things!

What a fine opportunity wasted!

"Is that how you round up?" Sun Sun Daoning laughed in spite of his anger. "If everyone rounded things up the way you do, where would we end up? It's sheer nonsense! As Warden of the Heaven Prison, you were responsible for this execution—you chose the executioner. And the result is you picked this kind of character, who killed the prisoner after a mere three hundred-plus cuts. Now the whole world outside is saying the Ministry of Justice has no talent, that it can't even produce a decent executioner. As the Minister of Justice, I've lost all face."

Hearing this, Chen Chen Guanlou could only keep arguing, pulling out cartloads of circular reasoning. "I've told you, it was his first time working independently—nervousness was unavoidable. His hand trembled, he cut too deep—it's understandable. The prisoner is dead anyway, so the task is done. Stop harping on this trivial matter and refusing to let go.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to train an executioner capable of independently performing lingchi? This work, even we martial artists can't do it. It's delicate work—impossible without ten or twenty years of diligent study and practice. Old Zhang is dead, and now only this single seedling remains. Give him a few more chances, and he'll be able to do it."

He earnestly and persuasively urged Sun Sun Daoning to turn a blind eye.

Sun Sun Daoning was furious. "You're good at playing the good guy! But you let the Ministry of Justice take the brunt of it, becoming the laughingstock of all Jingcheng. People outside are saying that the great Ministry of Justice can't even produce a decent executioner."

"Why do you care what outsiders say? The key is the long view—you need perspective. Old Sun, you're just too concerned about what others say, which is why you're always a step slower than everyone else. Slow this one step, and every step after is slow. We can't have that this time."

Sun Sun Daoning laughed coldly. "Then tell me, how am I a step slower this time? Come on, give me one, two, three clear reasons. If you can't explain clearly, I'll convict you of dereliction of duty."

Chen Chen Guanlou really could give him one, two, three reasons.

And they weren't nonsense.

Before coming, he had already organized his words and analyzed the court situation. Anyway, it was all nonsense—pulling things this way and that—the more high-sounding he made it, the more he could fool people.

"Old Sun, think carefully. This time, catching the Zhuabu Sect rebels, the Brocade Guards have been at the forefront the whole time. Why is it that the Ministry of Justice is the first to execute the prisoners? Over at the Zhao Prison, from what I can see, there's not a peep. They can't have killed off all the Zhuabu Sect rebels locked up in the Zhao Prison, can they?"