Chapter 98

Meng Shuping was quite disappointed. "Alright then."

[He confessed so quickly? I haven't beaten him enough yet! And he's the son of a general—with such a weak spine, what a disgrace to military officers!]

He asked Hong Yucheng, "Then tell me, what wicked deeds have you committed?"

If he weren't being held back, Hong Yucheng would have wanted to punch Meng Shuping right then and there. If he didn’t confess, would Meng Shuping not just beat him half to death? With any other official, he would have held his ground. At the very least, he knew they would show some restraint out of respect for his father. But this Meng Shuping had no rhyme or reason. Knowing he would suffer if he didn’t confess, he wasn't foolish enough to hold out.

Seeing that Hong Yucheng remained silent for so long, Meng Shuping couldn’t help but suspect, [Is he trying to trick me? Just to avoid a few more lashes? The audacity! At a time like this, he still dares to scheme against me? Beat him! Keep beating him!]

Hong Yucheng was taken aback and quickly spoke up, "I admit I seized private homes! I forced them to sell their houses to me at low prices! I also ruined people’s livelihoods! I forced them to send their daughters to me…"

Although he already knew about the many evil deeds Hong Yucheng had committed, hearing him recount them made Meng Shuping angrier and angrier. He couldn’t help feeling regretful—why didn’t he have the chance to land a few more lashes on him?

[No, I still need to find a reason to torment him! Otherwise, I’d feel like he got off too easy. But what reason should I use to torment him?]

Hong Yucheng was on the verge of tears. He truly regretted it—why did he have to show up that day? If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been imprisoned for fighting, and if he hadn’t been imprisoned, he wouldn’t have ended up in Meng Shuping’s hands!

He glared in fury at Meng Shuping, "I’ve already confessed, what more do you want? Before, you had a reason to beat me, but if you beat me again now, there'd be no justification, would there?"

Meng Shuping looked blank and answered honestly, "I still intend to sentence you!"

[Since when did I say I wanted to beat him? Did my expression give me away?]

Hong Yucheng was speechless. Then who was it that said in his mind he wanted to keep tormenting him? If he hadn’t been lucky enough to overhear Meng Shuping’s thoughts, who knows how much more suffering he would have endured!

Seeing that Hong Yucheng had confessed, Meng Shuping began flipping through the legal codes in his hand, [Sigh, let me first study how this Hong Yucheng should be sentenced. Which page is it on?]

Although he had been in the Ministry of Justice for some time, there were too many laws here. To master them all would take years of effort, so Meng Shuping had no choice but to study on the spot.

Hong Yucheng was incredulous, "You dog official! As an official of the Ministry of Justice, you don't even have a grasp of the legal codes?"

It was bad enough that he was unprofessional in handling cases, but he didn’t even know the laws? How did he even get appointed as an official?

Meng Shuping looked up, [Well, well! Even at this point, he still dares to curse me, still dares to mock me? Just watch, I’ll make him suffer to death!]

He closed the book, "Prisoner Hong Yucheng, due to your lack of legal awareness, this official orders you to thoroughly memorize the legal codes in prison. Memorize ten pages a day. If you don’t memorize them, you won’t be allowed to eat!"

Hong Yucheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "Are you out of your mind?"

Locking him up was one thing, but making him memorize legal codes? Is Meng Shuping insane?

Meng Shuping ignored Hong Yucheng and slammed the gavel, "Court adjourned!"

[Ah, whatever, I’ll go back and read slowly. It’s not like there’s any hurry anyway.]

As Meng Shuping left, Hong Yucheng couldn’t help but start cursing up a storm. However, after just one curse, his mouth was gagged and he was dragged away. Not long after he was locked up, a book was thrown in, "Young Master Hong, this book is from Lord Meng. He said you should start memorizing from today."

Hong Yucheng angrily kicked the book away, "I won’t memorize it!"

The guard who delivered the book said, "Then do as you please, Young Master Hong. I’ve delivered the message."

Hong Yucheng plopped down on the ground, fuming. He would rather starve to death or be beaten to death than memorize a single law!

A day later, Hong Yucheng weakly picked up the book. Fine, a wise man submits to circumstances! Why should he starve himself just to stand on principle?

……

After determining Hong Yucheng’s charges, Meng Shuping wrote up the verdict in a memorial and submitted it.

Then he went to Jiang Cihe. When Jiang Cihe saw him, he smiled, "What brings you here? Is the case not going smoothly?"

Meng Shuping looked at Jiang Cihe unhappily, "Can’t you give me more credit?"

"Alright," Jiang Cihe laughed, "It seems I worried too much. Did Hong Da give you any trouble?"

Meng Shuping carefully pulled a piece of paper from his chest, "Your Highness, look!"

Jiang Cihe took the paper and was very surprised, "Where did this deed come from? Did you buy a house?"

If he remembered correctly, this little moneygrubber shouldn’t have much money, right? And this house wasn’t cheap—could the little moneygrubber afford it?

"How could that be?" Meng Shuping quickly denied, "This was given to me by Hong Da. He wanted me to get his son off the hook! Of course, I definitely didn’t agree!"

Jiang Cihe was puzzled, "Then why did he give it to you?"

Seeing that Meng Shuping looked guilty and avoided his gaze, he guessed, "Did you trick him?"

Meng Shuping quickly denied, "I didn’t say anything! He jumped to conclusions himself!"

[I just asked him for money when he tried to bribe me, but I never agreed to get his son off the hook. How can that be called tricking? At most, it’s called duping! If anyone’s to blame, it’s Hong Da for being too naive. What does that have to do with me? How could I have known he would actually give it to me?]

Jiang Cihe chuckled and looked at Meng Shuping, "So you showed this to me because…"

And he said it wasn’t trickery—if Hong Da found out he’d been played like this, he’d go mad with anger!

Meng Shuping grabbed Jiang Cihe’s hand, "Your Highness, protect me!"

[Of course, I came to seek your powerful protection! When the sky falls, the tall ones hold it up! Besides, I’m working for his father—shouldn’t he look out for me?]

Jiang Cihe raised an eyebrow, "So you came to me to ask for protection?"

Meng Shuping quickly said, "Your Highness, I’m your man. If you don’t protect me, who will? Besides, I took such a risk to gather evidence of his attempt to deceive the Emperor! Can you just stand by and let him play your father like this?"

[Not to mention his father! Not only did he force me to become an official, but he also keeps assigning me these thankless tasks. Since I’m destined to offend Hong Da anyway, what’s a little more offense?]

Jiang Cihe turned and sat down in a nearby chair, then deliberately sighed, "Sigh, but this trouble of yours is too big. Hong Da’s influence in the court over so many years isn’t just for show."

Meng Shuping now grew genuinely worried. He hurriedly ran to another chair and sat down, "Ah? Then what should I do?"

[Could it be that a prince can’t handle Hong Da? This is bad, this is bad. I told you Hong Da’s achievements overshadow the ruler! Look, even the prince can’t do anything about him!]

Jiang Cihe laughed—it wasn’t that exaggerated. He pretended to be troubled, "Of course, I can’t just leave you to die. After all, you’re my man now. It’s just that, well, my shoulders have been a bit sore lately…"

Meng Shuping: "…"

[Ugh! This jerk! I thought he was really in a difficult position, but he just wanted to order me around! Does he get a kick out of scaring people to death?]

Jiang Cihe glanced at him sideways, "Maybe I should just rest properly."

Meng Shuping sprang to his feet, [Does he think threatening me like this will make me obey his orders? Well, he guessed right!]

He quickly went behind Jiang Cihe and began massaging his shoulders, asking as he worked, "How is it? How is it? Does it feel good?"

Jiang Cihe held back a laugh, "Hmm, not bad."

Meng Shuping couldn't help but vent, [Of course he's fine with it! He's enjoying himself so much, what more could he possibly want? Honestly, if he dares say it's not good enough, I'll walk off the job right away!]

Jiang Cihe couldn't suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth. Ordering the Little Moneygrubber around was just so delightfully satisfying.

A few days later, when Hong Da learned that Meng Shuping not only failed to exonerate his son but also subjected him to torture during interrogation, he was so enraged that he flipped the table over. "That whippersnapper has gone too far!"

The next day, it was time for Meng Shuping to attend the grand court assembly again. As usual, he made himself small in his usual spot by the door.

After listening to the discussions for what felt like ages, he couldn't hold back a yawn. [Honestly, if I never have any business at these morning assemblies anyway, couldn't I just ask the Emperor to excuse me from attending? Waking up early every day is exhausting, okay?]

Just as he finished the thought, someone stepped forward. "Your Majesty! This humble official has a memorial to present!"

Meng Shuping peeked and saw it was the Minister of Works. He lost interest and pulled his head back. [Why is it him again!]

Emperor Qianyou looked at the Minister of Works. "Beloved Minister, what matter do you wish to report?"

Minister of Works Lord Shi said, "Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Vice Director of the Board of Punishments Meng Shuping for accepting bribes, perverting justice for personal gain, and abusing his power! How can such a person ensure judicial fairness? I implore Your Majesty to investigate this matter thoroughly and dismiss Meng Shuping from his post!"

Meng Shuping jerked his head up. [Why is it him again? Why is he impeaching me? Is he settling a personal score under official pretext? Isn't he being overly petty?]

Emperor Qianyou chuckled inwardly. What did he say? He knew someone would impeach Meng Shuping again—and here it was! And this damn rascal was just thinking about skipping court. See? If he weren't here, wouldn't it just cause more trouble?

He suppressed his rising smile. "Ahem, what is the meaning of this? When did Beloved Minister Meng accept bribes and pervert justice?"

The Minister of Works declared righteously, "Your Majesty, I have heard that Vice Director Meng, while handling the case of General Hong's son, not only accepted a mansion worth over six thousand taels from General Hong but also demanded fifty thousand taels of silver from him. If this isn't accepting bribes, what is?"

Emperor Qianyou looked at Meng Shuping with interest. "Beloved Minister Meng, is this true?"

Meng Shuping had no choice but to step forward. "Your Majesty, I believe he's accusing me of the wrong charges."

The Minister of Works snorted coldly. "The wrong charges? Surely Vice Director Meng isn't going to claim he didn't accept bribes or pervert justice?"

Emperor Qianyou asked Meng Shuping with interest, "Then what crime should it be?"

Meng Shuping lowered his head, his voice somewhat strained. "Your Majesty, I... I only accepted General Hong's mansion, but I did not agree to do anything for him. That shouldn't count as accepting bribes, right? As for perverting justice—I admit to showing favoritism, but to say I perverted the law? That would be a false accusation."

[He can't even get the charges right, and he still has the nerve to impeach me? I mean, does he even know how to impeach someone properly? If he doesn't, he should let someone else take over!]