Chapter 96

"Life hasn't been easy for everyone lately!"

When Chen Guanlou was patrolling the cells, Yu Zhaoan, who couldn't stay idle, pretended to be profound and came to talk to him.

Chen Guanlou originally didn't want to pay attention to him and continued walking forward.

"Someone is going to be unlucky; to be precise, they are about to die."

A shocking statement.

But this trick was really effective; Chen Guanlou stopped his steps and looked back at the other party, "Are you about to die?"

Heh!

Yu Zhaoan sneered, "Even if all the prisoners in this prison died, it wouldn't be my turn. As for the others, it's hard to say."

Chen Guanlou pondered for a moment and decided to play the straight man, cooperating with the other party to satisfy his desire to show off, "Tell me about it. If what you say makes sense, I'll be convinced by you."

Yu Zhaoan leaned against the cell door, looking lazy and bored. Having been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison for so long, even the most ingrained habits would be forced to change. The once neat, clean, and powerful Yu Zhaoan had now begun to adapt to the filthy life of the Heavenly Prison, learning to blend into the prison and accept the gifts of fate.

He took a deep breath, "You prison guards are making a huge fuss over money. Guess who would be so insane as to touch the Heavenly Prison's money?"

"A greedy person?" Chen Guanlou tried to guess.

Yu Zhaoan shook his head and smiled mysteriously, "Wrong. It's someone who wants to do big things. Greedy people usually won't actively change their surrounding environment. Because a familiar environment is convenient for them to accumulate wealth. Only those who attempt to do big things and make big moves will make drastic changes."

Chen Guanlou raised his eyebrows; he had learned something. This statement seemed to make some sense! Before this, he had never thought about problems from this angle. He was indeed a Right Assistant Zhang Yushi-in-Chief, with a thorough understanding of all aspects of human nature in the imperial court and government.

He was just suffering from never having mixed in officialdom; he was half-knowledgeable, a half-bucket of water. Once it involved deep-seated problems, his past experience was no longer so effective. Even in the information age of later generations, the disclosure of inside stories of officialdom was extremely rare; they just gave a result, and as for the process, if one wasn't an insider or a party involved, there was no way to know.

Netizens could only use their own shallow knowledge to speculate whether the Emperor used a golden hoe to dig the ground, or whether he ate one bowl of soy milk and poured out another.

"Do you mean that there will be big moves from above soon?"

"There will definitely be big moves. You might as well go out and inquire whether the treatment of low-level yamen runners and clerks in other yamen has also been lowered."

"If so, what would the situation be?"

"If so, then it's not an isolated incident in one yamen, but a grand connection of all yamen in the imperial court. Heh, it looks like someone can't hold back anymore and wants to force the palace!" Yu Zhaoan laughed out loud.

Chen Guanlou, however, was so shocked that his eyebrows jumped.

"Force the palace? Don't talk nonsense." He lowered his voice, signaling the other party to keep his mouth shut, and not to think that he could talk nonsense just because he was in the Heavenly Prison.

Yu Zhaoan sneered, his expression very disdainful, "Do I look like I'm talking nonsense? Have you seen the imperial court? Have you seen the Emperor? What is the biggest official you have seen in your life? Is it as high as the seventh rank? Have you dealt with those big shots in the imperial court? You, a tiny prison guard, what qualifications do you have to question my judgment? I tell you, this is a big move that has been planned for a long time; you should be careful."

Chen Guanlou kept a straight face and suppressed the anger in his heart, "Even if what you say is true, what should I be careful about?"

Yu Zhaoan said with a smile, "Soon, this prison will be overcrowded, and many officials of the third rank or above in the imperial court will be locked in. You say, shouldn't you be careful? It's even possible that members of the imperial family will be locked in. For those people, no matter how you serve them, you won't satisfy them, and them crushing you to death won't be harder than crushing an ant."

Chen Guanlou suppressed the unease in his heart and asked with a straight face, "Are you so sure that someone will force the palace?"

"I know the nature of that group of people too well, because I was once one of them. How long has it been since the higher-ups allocated funds or distributed rice and grain? It's been almost a year, right?"

Yu Zhaoan looked at Chen Guanlou triumphantly.

He walked back and forth in the cell with his hands behind his back, looking like he was pointing out the country and waving his arms. He had the demeanor of a high-ranking official of the imperial court. He was indeed the former Right Assistant Zhang Yushi-in-Chief, full of airs.

He continued, "No one cares about the life or death of low-level officials. However, when there is a need, it doesn't hinder them from using the needs of low-level officials and clerks to add a little weight to the scales.

His Majesty is addicted to cultivating immortality and longevity, spending money like water, ignoring the suffering of the people, ignoring natural and man-made disasters, and even the increasingly fierce rebellion in Jinzhou cannot shake His Majesty's determination to pursue longevity. They are anxious! Everyone is very anxious!

How can the high-ranking officials of the imperial court let power fall into the hands of that group of swindling Daoist priests? If it were you, you couldn't agree either. If I were still in the imperial court, I would have beaten a few stinking Daoist priests to death on the spot. Look, I've been locked in the Heavenly Prison for almost a year, and it still hasn't allowed me to truly calm my anger. How can the high-ranking officials in the imperial court tolerate a few villains riding on their heads and acting wildly?

There must be remonstrance, there must be forcing the palace. His Highness the Crown Prince is an excellent target for solicitation. Unfortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince is a bit anxious. I truly hope that His Highness the Crown Prince will be smarter this time, not be solicited by this group of ambitious conspirators, and just be a bystander watching the show."

"I didn't expect you to support the Crown Prince. I heard people say that you used to impeach the Crown Prince often, saying he didn't cultivate private morality and other such trivial life matters."

Chen Guanlou was very surprised. This person, there is no consistency; it's all about interests.

Yu Zhaoan chuckled, his expression a bit triumphant and a bit reminiscent.

He held his head high and said, "What do you know? That's called strategy. His Majesty is old, and the Crown Prince is in his prime; this is extremely dangerous. If you want to protect the Crown Prince, you have to impeach the Crown Prince. You must never let the Crown Prince become a perfect person. There are no saints in this world.

Impeaching trivial life matters, for the Crown Prince, won't touch his fundamental interests at all, and it can also give His Majesty the impression that the Crown Prince doesn't form cliques. Truly smart people all understand the principle of suppressing before raising; there is truth in falsehood, and falsehood in truth. Love is hate, and hate is love. In officialdom, if you truly support someone, never support them openly; you must do it secretly."

"Why are you telling me this? You tell me such private matters; you aren't trying to harm me, are you?" Chen Guanlou looked at the other party suspiciously.

Yu Zhaoan's words were a bit more than usual today, which was a bit abnormal.

When something is abnormal, there must be a demon.

He didn't believe that Yu Zhaoan had suddenly changed, becoming someone with a strong desire to confide and a willingness to share inner secrets. He speculated about the other party with the greatest malice; this person had no conscience.

"Stupid! I am teaching you how to do things. In the future, when you mix in officialdom, these will all be useful."

"I don't mix in officialdom." Chen Guanlou denied it firmly. He would have to be crazy to mix in officialdom. The Heavenly Prison is so good; there's little to do, lots of money, and no need to worry about people discovering the secrets on his body.

Mixing in officialdom, being colleagues with that group of top human elites and the gods among the top students—even if he had the insights of later generations, he would sooner or later be played to death by playing conspiracies and tricks.

Just the resources held in the hands of those people were beyond his imagination.