Injured in the line of duty, on paid leave.
During his leave, he attended several funerals and paid his respects.
These colleagues had died for nothing. Although his relationships with them had been mediocre, with some friction even, Chen Guanlou couldn't help but sigh at how these perfectly fine people had suddenly become cannon fodder. The little guys had no rights, unable to even decide their own life or death.
Lu Datou wasn't dead. He was alive and in one piece, which was a pleasant surprise.
On the night of the incident, Lu Datou was broke and in gambling debt, so he didn't join in the gambling. Out of sight, out of mind, he had snuck off to the duty room to sleep and be lazy, and was thus lucky enough to escape the disaster.
Lu Datou came to visit Chen Guanlou, carrying two catties of meat.
His older sister, Chen Xiaolan, was delighted and warmly welcomed him in.
Ever since Chen Guanlou was injured, Chen Xiaolan had been acting as if the sky had fallen, rushing back to the Chen residence to care for her wounded brother. If Chen Guanlou hadn't stopped her, she would have simply moved in.
After much persuasion, he finally managed to stop his overanxious sister, convincing her to just come over during the day to help out and return to the Su Family's home at night.
Chen Guanlou knew his own situation best. His injuries weren't serious, they just looked gruesome—which was precisely the effect he wanted. He couldn't let his sister get into a difficult position with the Su Family because of him.
His brother-in-law was actually a decent person, but unfortunately, the Su Family hadn't divided the household, and Old Lady Su had the final say in all domestic matters. Old Lady Su was the archetypal vicious, snobbish mother-in-law straight out of a novel.
Back when the master and mistress of the Chen family died within two years of each other, Old Lady Su had wanted to break off the engagement. But it was Su Dacheng who made the final decision. He said they couldn't be the sort of people who kick someone when they're down, and insisted that his youngest son marry Chen Xiaolan. As a result, Chen Guanlou also ended up living off the Su Family for two years.
Fortunately, his sister and brother-in-law had a good relationship. Otherwise, with Old Lady Su's constant fault-finding, life would have been truly unbearable.
"Just you coming is enough, why bring a gift? You're too kind. Xiaolou is waiting for you in his room; he's been looking forward to your visit. You two take your time and chat, I'll go make a couple of dishes to go with drinks. But, Xiaolou is injured, so you can't let him drink."
"Don't worry, Big Sister, I know my limits."
Lu Datou entered the study and saw Chen Guanlou engrossed in an old copy of the official gazette.
"Brother Datou, you're here! Please, sit." Chen Guanlou stood to welcome his guest, picking up the kettle to pour some tea.
"Don't trouble yourself. You're injured, how can I let a wounded man serve me? I'll do it myself."
Lu Datou snatched the kettle and downed two cups of tea.
Sigh!
Lu Datou put down his cup and sighed heavily. "Jiang Yucheng is gone."
Chen Guanlou was startled, utterly astonished. "Gone?"
"They say he drank too much, fell into the river, and drowned." After saying this, Lu Datou sneered, "Do you believe that?"
Chen Guanlou opened his mouth, but of course, he didn't believe it. The excuse was so ridiculous; those people were too lazy to even bother with a proper cover-up. They might as well have tattooed "silenced by murder" on their foreheads.
He sighed as well. "Too many people have died. I wonder when it will end. How are the higher-ups handling the prison break?"
From the night of the incident until now, he had never once mentioned the name "Guiyu Sect." From the very beginning, the yamen's official stance was that this was a vicious prison break, a case of martial artists from the jianghu defying the law with force.
The words "Guiyu Sect" were nowhere to be seen, neither in writing nor in speech. In everyone's eyes, the Guiyu Sect Hall Master who escaped from Tian Prison was just an audacious bandit.
Chen Guanlou wasn't sure if the higher-ups knew the truth, or if Jiang Yucheng was innocent. But analyzing it with the knowledge from his two lifetimes, a dignified Hall Master of the Guiyu Sect hiding his identity to pose as a master bandit, robbing tax silver, only to be captured by the Six Doors, thrown into Tian Prison, and severely punished... No matter how he looked at it, the whole affair was bizarre and highly unusual.
It seemed more like a statement, or to be more precise, a pledge of allegiance.
As for who this pledge was for, the waters ran too deep. Chen Guanlou couldn't fathom it.
The big shots up top were fighting, and as a result, innocent Prison Guards were implicated and died for nothing. Who could they seek justice from? Those who died, died in vain. Who said Tian Prison was safe? With prison breaks happening every now and then, who could stand it?
Chen Guanlou secretly resolved to be more vigilant in the future. He had only narrowly escaped this time thanks to his quick reaction. He also had to seize the time to cultivate his martial arts and improve his realm. Even if he couldn't defeat those powerful martial experts, he could at least create a chance to escape with his life.
Only by living could he have a future.
"Since they're using Jiang Yucheng as the scapegoat, will the higher-ups continue to investigate?" Chen Guanlou asked.
As a wily old hand, Lu Datou had many sources of information. He said, "What happens next is not something people at our level are qualified to be involved in. The bigwigs at the Ministry of Justice will have their hands full. Who knows how many will fall and how many will climb up."
Hearing this, Chen Guanlou breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the investigation didn't dig deeper and implicate Tian Prison, he was reassured. He decided to end his leave and return to work in a few days. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
"You're a decent fellow. I heard you sent a gift to the families of all who died." Lu Datou's relationship with Chen Guanlou had previously been limited to that of drinking buddies and colleagues. It wasn't until now, when he learned that Chen Guanlou had even sent condolences for those he barely knew, that he began to see him in a new light and decided to treat him as a true friend.
Chen Guanlou said sincerely, "We were colleagues, after all. I just help where I can."
"Now I see it, you're genuinely a good man. Unlike the others. Damn it, we've been colleagues for so many years, and when someone dies, they don't even show their faces, let alone send condolences. It's truly disheartening. If I die one day, I won't expect anything from those bastards. I'll have to rely on you, little brother, to handle my affairs."
"Pah, pah, pah! May we all live to be a hundred."
Chen Guanlou suspected Lu Datou had been deeply shaken, which was why he was speaking so pessimistically. To talk about death when they were perfectly alive—it was so tactless.
"Alright, I won't talk about life and death. Good brother, if anything good comes my way in the future, I definitely won't forget you."
"As long as you don't come asking to borrow money when you lose at gambling, I'll be thanking the heavens."
"I don't lose every time. I'll win it all back next time."
Chen Guanlou: ...
He and gambling were mortal enemies.
After recuperating for half a month, Chen Guanlou officially ended his leave and returned to work.
There were new faces at the gate; the old ones had been implicated and died senselessly. He arrived at the familiar duty room, which was as smoky and chaotic as ever, a mix of new and old faces.
During the noon meal, Xu Fugui, whom he rarely saw, sought him out, saying he wanted to talk.
Since his first day, Chen Guanlou had rarely seen Xu Fugui. They didn't work in the same area, so meeting required a deliberate effort.
This time, Xu Fugui had taken the initiative to find him. Chen Guanlou thought to himself that with his recent string of bad luck, this probably wasn't anything good.
And sure enough.
"Xiaolou, someone has reported that you're not following the rules. That you not only bring food and drink to the prisoners, but you also help them pass messages to the outside."
Proofreader: Peter Pan