Chapter 997

Meng Laoda’s body was sent back to the capital.

The Meng family’s world collapsed.

The Six Ministries provided personnel and resources to handle Meng Laoda’s funeral.

Chen Guanlou personally delivered a mourning gift and lit three incense sticks. He handed the two seals to Meng Laoda’s wife.

“Before Meng Laoda left the capital, he came to me and said this trip was extremely dangerous, that he hadn’t had time to settle some matters, and asked me to pass on his message. These two seals are for withdrawing money from the bank. He told me to tell you: take the money, bring your whole family back to your ancestral home, don’t linger in the capital, don’t be reluctant to give up the glory and wealth of the city.”

Meng Zhangshi held the seals, utterly bewildered, “He, he, did he know all along before leaving the capital…?”

Chen Guanlou evaded, “Perhaps. Sister, take care of your health, don’t wear yourself out. This household still needs you to hold it together.”

Meng Zhangshi wiped her tears, her whole figure haggard and dull. “Chen Yucheng, can you tell me the truth? Did he get into serious trouble out there? Did he anger someone he shouldn’t have?”

Chen Guanlou shook his head. “It was all an accident.”

“I knew it! I warned him time and again—be gentle in your actions, treat others kindly, don’t take shortcuts. He never listened, wouldn’t hear a word I said.” Clearly, Meng Zhangshi did not believe the accident explanation.

She knew her husband well; she understood that working for the Six Ministries invited enemies and risked death. She just never imagined it would happen to her own husband.

“If even he couldn’t survive and lost his life, the person he angered must be someone we can’t possibly confront. I’ll follow his words—after the funeral, I’ll take the whole family and carry his coffin back home. I’ll never set foot in this capital again!”

Chen Guanlou sighed inwardly. “Sister, if you face any difficulties, don’t hesitate to speak up. I’ll help if I can. Even in the future, if you run into trouble you can’t resolve, the Six Ministries and the Heavenly Prison will always be your strong backing.”

“Chen Yucheng, I believe you. Old Meng always spoke of you with genuine admiration. But as for the Six Ministries—forget it. Old Meng’s death is surely tied to them.”

“Why do you think that? The Six Ministries were Old Meng’s own family.”

Meng Zhangshi snorted coldly, her gaze chilling. “I know you mean well, Chen Yucheng, but we can’t afford to tangle with the Six Ministries. Old Meng wouldn’t have wanted such a family.”

Clearly, there was some hidden truth. Even though Meng Laoda had said nothing in life, Meng Zhangshi, through years of observation and fragments of conversation, had pieced together part of the truth.

With a clever person, don’t tell lies.

Chen Guanlou nodded. “In short, sister, if you ever face an unsolvable problem, come to the Heavenly Prison and find me.”

“I appreciate your kindness, Chen Yucheng. I have only one request: when we carry the coffin back home, could you see us off for a stretch?”

“That’s a small matter. Just tell me the departure time.”

Upon hearing this, Meng Zhangshi bowed deeply with her children.

Chen Guanlou accepted their profound thanks, lingered a moment, then left.

Five days later, the Meng family departed the capital in haste, with no time to sell their house. They could only entrust their bulky luggage to a transport firm to deliver it back to their hometown.

The whole family traveled light, carrying the coffin home.

Chen Guanlou left the city early to see them off, walking with them until ten li outside before returning.

He knew exactly why Meng Zhangshi had asked him alone to escort them. She feared harassment, feared malicious intent—someone might ambush them on the road.

Asking him to escort them was a signal to certain people: even a ninth-rank martial cultivator must think twice. If anyone dared interfere or attempt an ambush, could they bear the retaliation of a ninth-rank martialist?

The world only knew he was greedy for money; only his peers knew he had a moral line. Whoever bullied the weak—especially widows and orphans—would die.

Since Meng Laoda was dead, the matter should end. In his eyes, there would be no collective punishment.

The verbal battle between the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review continued.

Later, two more groups came to the Heavenly Prison to inspect Ma Liu’s corpse. Fortunately, the body had been well preserved, and daily drawings recorded its condition, allowing clear identification of physical traits to prove it was the real Ma Liu.

As for the fake Ma Liu, the body was gone—no trace to investigate.

Afterwards, Chen Guanlou consulted Sun Daoning and gave the order to bury the real Ma Liu’s corpse deep outside the city.

From top to bottom, the Heavenly Prison collectively exhaled. Finally, the faint stench of death was gone—they could be normal people again.

The happiest man was Xu Fugui. With the real Ma Liu’s body buried, this case was finally closed for him. Relieved, he came back to life.

Considering everyone had been under such tension, Chen Guanlou decided to treat everyone to a meal using public funds. He rented a modest tavern and set up a continuous banquet. Everyone in the Heavenly Prison—on or off duty—took turns eating and drinking freely.

Everyone went wild with joy.

Shifts were swapped, schedules adjusted. Whether to eat at noon, evening, or midnight depended entirely on duty hours. Since it was a continuous banquet, you could show up anytime and always find food. No fear of lack of company—so many were on duty together; they’d gather in groups, the atmosphere lively and boisterous.

Only the prisoners complained: “You’re feasting on fine food and wine, but we get nothing. Chen Yucheng, share the joy with the people! Why not give us a special meal too?”

“Want a special meal? Fine—pay up!”

“Chen Yucheng, you’re too stingy. We’ve paid you plenty every day—can’t you make an exception?”

“No exceptions. Not ever. The Heavenly Prison’s funds are strictly accounted for—every coin must be balanced. If I give you a special meal, where do I get the money to balance the books?”

Chen Guanlou smiled pleasantly.

“White Official, don’t be so stingy. You’ve embezzled so much money—spending a little won’t make you poor. Better to contribute to the Heavenly Prison than have the Six Ministries confiscate it all.”

The White Official was a local governor. His patron had fallen, and his political enemies had thrown him into the Heavenly Prison. His case was under investigation, the charges nothing but corruption and abuse of power.

The White Official was plump and prosperous. After two months in prison, he’d lost only half a circle of fat—clearly, the food was excellent, and he was used to luxury, unable to endure hardship.

“Chen Yucheng, don’t speak nonsense. You can’t just say things without evidence. I am clean and upright—I have never embezzled or corrupted. At most, I accepted a little token of respect from subordinates. Being an official is hard—without these tokens, subordinates grow suspicious and dare not act. But if you accept them, your superiors call you corrupt. It’s hard to be a good official!”

Chen Guanlou chuckled softly under his breath. “White Official, that’s meaningless talk. What place is this? This is the Heavenly Prison. The one thing we never lack is corrupt officials.

I have more than enough imperial officials and local bureaucrats here. Whether you embezzled or not—Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know. I’m not the chief judge from the Ministry of Justice; you don’t need to defend yourself to me. Rest assured, we don’t encourage snitching. As long as you don’t escape or kill anyone, no matter what you say—even if you curse the Emperor himself to my face—you needn’t fear it reaching the outside world.”