Chapter 997: Human hearts are hard to fathom

Meng Laoda's corpse was sent back to the capital.

The sky had fallen for Meng's family.

The Six Shanmen contributed people and effort to handle the funeral for Meng Laoda.

Chen Guanlou personally went to send a funeral gift and offered three sticks of incense. He handed the two seals to Meng Laoda's wife.

"Before Meng Laoda left the capital, he found me and said that this trip was very dangerous and there were some things he didn't have time to explain, asking me to pass them on for him. These two seals are for withdrawing money from the bank. He asked me to tell you all: take the money, take the whole family back to your ancestral home, don't linger in the capital, and don't be reluctant to part with the glory and wealth of the capital."

Meng Zhangshi held the seals, feeling somewhat at a loss. "He, he, could it be that before he left the capital, he knew..."

Chen Guanlou said vaguely: "Perhaps! Sister-in-law, take good care of your health and don't wear yourself out. This family still needs you to support it!"

Meng Zhangshi wiped her tears, looking haggard and gloomy. "Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, can you tell me the truth? Did he cause a huge disaster outside and provoke someone he shouldn't have?"

Chen Guanlou shook his head. "It was all an accident."

"I knew it! I had warned him long ago to be gentler in doing things, to be kind to others in everything, and not to take shortcuts. He just wouldn't listen, and he wouldn't listen to me no matter what." Clearly, Meng Zhangshi didn't believe the so-called accident explanation.

She understood her husband and knew well that the line of work of the Six Shanmen easily offended people and easily cost one's life. She just didn't expect it would fall on her own man.

"Since he had no way out and even lost his life, he must have offended someone we can't afford to provoke. I'll listen to his words; after the funeral is over, I'll take the whole family and escort the coffin back to our hometown. We'll never come to this capital again!"

Chen Guanlou sighed secretly. "Sister-in-law, if you have any difficulties, just speak up. I'll help if I can! Even in the future, if you encounter trouble you can't solve, the Six Shanmen and the Heavenly Prison will always be the strong backing of your Meng family."

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, I believe you. Every time Old Meng mentioned you, it was with sincere admiration. As for the Six Shanmen, forget it! I'm afraid Old Meng's death has something to do with them."

"Why does sister-in-law have this thought? The Six Shanmen is Old Meng's maiden home."

Meng Zhangshi sneered, her eyes turning cold. "I know Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen has good intentions, but we can't afford to provoke the Six Shanmen. Old Meng wouldn't want to have such a maiden home either."

Clearly, there was some inside story here. Even though Meng Laoda didn't say anything while he was alive, Meng Zhangshi, through what she heard and saw, had inferred a bit of the truth from his fragmented words.

When dealing with smart people, don't tell lies.

Chen Guanlou nodded. "In short, sister-in-law, if you have any difficulties you can't solve, just come to the Heavenly Prison to find me."

"I appreciate Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen's good intentions. I only have one request: when we escort the coffin back to our hometown, can Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen see us off for a stretch?"

"This is a small matter; just tell me once the departure time is set."

Hearing this, Meng Zhangshi led her children to bow in heavy gratitude.

Chen Guanlou accepted the grand ceremony and left after lingering for a moment.

Five days later, the Meng family left the capital, leaving in a great hurry; they didn't even have time to sell their house. They only had time to hand over their large luggage to the carriage firm, which was responsible for sending it back to their hometown.

The whole family took their light luggage and escorted the coffin back to their hometown.

Chen Guanlou went out of the city early in the morning to see them off, escorting them for ten miles before returning.

He knew very well why Meng Zhangshi asked him alone to see them off for a stretch. It was nothing more than worrying that someone would make things difficult or that someone would harbor evil intentions and intercept and kill them halfway.

Asking him to escort them for a stretch was to show certain people; the deterrence of a Ninth-Rank warrior had to be weighed. If anyone truly dared to come forward to make things difficult or dared to intercept and kill them halfway, they would have to see if they could withstand the retaliation of a Ninth-Rank warrior.

The world only knew he was obsessed with money, but only his peers knew he had a bottom line. Anyone who bullied the weak, especially orphans and widows, had to die!

Since Meng Laoda was already dead, the matter should rest. He didn't believe in collective punishment.

The war of words between the Ministry of Justice and the Grand Court of Revision continued.

Afterwards, two more groups of people came to the Heavenly Prison to examine Ma Liu's corpse. Fortunately, the corpse was preserved properly, and with the daily drawings recorded, they could still clearly distinguish some physical features, thereby proving that the one who died was the real Ma Liu.

As for the fake Ma Liu, the corpse was gone, so there was no way to investigate.

Afterwards, Chen Guanlou sought Sun Daoning's opinion and gave an order to drag the real Ma Liu's corpse outside the city for deep burial.

From top to bottom, the Heavenly Prison breathed a sigh of relief. They finally got rid of the lingering stench of the corpse and could be normal people again.

The happiest person was Xu Fugui; once the real Ma Liu's corpse was buried, this case was finally closed for him. Feeling relieved, he came back to life.

Given that everyone had been very nervous before, Chen Guanlou decided to treat everyone to a meal with public funds. He booked an ordinary restaurant and held a running banquet; everyone in the Heavenly Prison, regardless of whether they were on duty or not, took turns to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves.

Everyone was crazy with joy.

Those who changed shifts changed shifts, and those who calculated time calculated time. Whether to go eat at noon, in the evening, or for a midnight snack, it all depended on their duty time. Anyway, it was a running banquet, and there was food to eat whenever they went. They weren't afraid of no one being there; there were so many people on duty together, they made appointments to go together, and the atmosphere was lively enough.

Only the prisoners complained: "Eating delicious food and drinking spicy drinks, and we don't even get a share. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, share the joy with the people! Why not open a small stove for us too."

"Want to open a small stove? Fine, give money!"

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen is too stingy. We give enough money on weekdays; can't you make an exception?"

"There are no exceptions; it's impossible to have exceptions in this life. The money in the Heavenly Prison is all counted, and every transaction must be reconciled. If I open a small stove for you, where am I going to balance the accounts?"

Chen Guanlou smiled.

"Lord Bai, don't be stingy. You've embezzled so much money; taking a little out won't make you poor. Instead of being raided by the Six Shanmen, why not make a contribution to the Heavenly Prison."

Lord Bai was a local chief administrator. His backing fell, and he was also thrown into the Heavenly Prison by his political enemies. His case was being investigated, and the charge was nothing more than corruption and breaking the law.

Lord Bai was white, fat, and very wealthy. After being in the Heavenly Prison for a month or two, he had only lost half a circle of weight. It could be seen that the food was good, and he was used to enjoying himself on weekdays and couldn't endure hardship.

"Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, don't talk nonsense; how can you speak casually without evidence. I am clean and white, and I have no corruption. At most, I just received a little filial piety from the people below. It's hard for us officials; if we don't receive filial piety from the people below, the people below are suspicious and don't dare to do things. If we receive filial piety, the higher-ups say we are corrupt. It's hard to be a good official!"

Chen Guanlou lowered his head and sneered. "Lord Bai, it's meaningless for you to say that. What kind of place is this? This is the Heavenly Prison. The thing we lack the least is criminal officials.

I have many capital officials here, and there are also many local officials. Whether you are corrupt or not, heaven knows, earth knows, and you know; I am not the chief judge of the Ministry of Justice, so you don't need to defend yourself in front of me. You can rest assured that we don't have the habit of reporting here. As long as you don't break out of prison and don't kill anyone, no matter what you say, even if you scold the one in the palace to his face, you don't have to worry about it spreading outside." ===== CHAPTER 998 =====