Everyone except Jiang Cihe and Cao Jie found it utterly unbelievable. When Cao Jie had interrogated Lu Sheng earlier, Lu Sheng had stubbornly refused to confess, but as soon as Meng Shuping questioned him, he obediently admitted everything. Could there be some trickery involved?
Imperial Censor Li and the Chief Minister of the Dali Temple frowned deeply, pondering the reason. Suddenly, their eyes lit up—aha! They understood! Lu Sheng must have thought he had Lord Cao's backing earlier, so he wasn't afraid. Now, it was clear Lord Cao couldn't support him anymore, and with a new interrogator, he was probably afraid of being beaten again!
They shot Cao Jie a disapproving glare and shook their heads. Lord Cao, oh Lord Cao, and you still claim you weren't colluding with him?
Cao Jie was furious. "Get lost! If you keep looking at me like that, I swear I'll bite your heads off! It's clearly because of that brat Meng Shuping! You have no idea how vicious he is!"
Meng Shuping was also puzzled. "Strange, why did he confess so easily this time? Ah! I get it! Could it be that he's trying to cover up an even bigger crime?"
Lu Sheng was infuriated by Meng Shuping. Confessing wasn't acceptable, not confessing wasn't acceptable either—what the hell did this lousy official want?
In a fit of anger, he snapped, "Meng! Don't push it! I've already admitted to my crimes. You're not planning to wrongfully sentence me to death, are you?"
Meng Shuping suddenly understood. "Ohhh, so that's it! No wonder he confessed so quickly! Tsk, coward! It's just a sword to the neck. Why didn't he think about others when he beat someone to death? Now that it's his turn, he knows it hurts? Serves him right!"
Imperial Censor Li didn't understand what was so frightening about Meng Shuping—he was just a seemingly introverted young man.
But since Lu Sheng was now cooperating, he didn't overthink it. He sternly said to Lu Sheng, "Describe how you beat him in detail."
Afraid of provoking Meng Shuping again and ending up tortured, Lu Sheng quickly recounted the entire incident step by step when Imperial Censor Li asked. To ensure they believed him, he even provided all the details clearly.
The more Meng Shuping listened, the angrier he became. "Ugh! What a scumbag! Beating someone to death is bad enough, but he remembers the details so clearly. Is he some kind of pervert who savors the memory daily? Eww, what a psycho!"
Lu Sheng took a deep breath. Although he hadn't meant to kill that person last time, he really wanted to kill Meng Shuping now!
After confirming that Lu Sheng hadn't lied about the incident, Imperial Censor Li asked him, "Then I ask you, where did the money from seizing the fertile land go? Was it sent to Prince Cheng's estate?"
Lu Sheng knew Prince Cheng was his only lifeline now. Of course, he couldn't betray him, so he quickly shook his head. "Of course not! I spent it all myself!"
Meng Shuping was surprised. "Huh? He didn't implicate Prince Cheng? Does he not know that Prince Cheng has already decided to abandon him? After all, Prince Cheng can't even protect himself now. If I were him, I'd definitely pin all the blame on Lu Sheng too! Since Lu Sheng can't be saved anyway, why drag himself down?"
Lu Sheng's heart sank. Could what Meng Shuping said be true? Was Prince Cheng planning to abandon him? Impossible! He had done so much for Prince Cheng—how could Prince Cheng just discard him?
Just as he was starting to waver, Meng Shuping's annoying voice rang out again. "Tsk tsk tsk, should I call him foolish or loyal? At this point, he's still counting on Prince Cheng. But it's unnecessary, really unnecessary. Even if Prince Cheng committed the gravest crime, the Emperor might not execute him. How can Lu Sheng compare? He's just a perfect scapegoat!"
Hearing this, Lu Sheng immediately changed his mind. Right, at this point, could he still get away unscathed? Of course, he should push all the blame he could onto Prince Cheng to lessen his own punishment!
Imperial Censor Li noticed Lu Sheng had fallen silent and angrily slapped the gavel. "Accused Lu Sheng, I'm asking you a question. Didn't you hear?"
Lu Sheng snapped back to reality and said resolutely, "That's right! All that silver was sent to Prince Cheng's estate! Those things were all done under Prince Cheng's orders!"
Meng Shuping, Imperial Censor Li, and the others were all astonished. Out of nowhere, Lu Sheng had suddenly changed his story?
Imperial Censor Li said sternly, "In the court, you may not speak recklessly. Earlier, you said you had no connection to Prince Cheng. How did you change your mind so quickly?"
Lu Sheng urgently replied, "I'm not lying! I have account books! They clearly record how much silver I sent him each month!"
Meng Shuping was thrilled. "Aha, we've got proof! I told you Prince Cheng was up to no good! Let's see what he has to say now!"
Although Cao Jie had suffered greatly from Meng Shuping's schemes, at this moment, he couldn't help but gloat. Hahahaha, he wasn't the only one who'd been tricked, and Prince Cheng was definitely going to suffer even more!
Thanks to Lu Sheng's cooperation, the rest of the interrogation went smoothly. After retrieving the account books, everyone went to the palace to report to Emperor Qianyou.
Upon learning that Lu Sheng had pinned all the blame on him, Jiang Cian was incredulous. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I really didn't instruct him to do those things!"
He knelt down in panic and anger. "Father! I'm innocent!"
Meng Shuping scoffed. "Wronged? How wronged? Without his indulgence, how would a mere commoner dare to do such things? Isn't it all because of his influence? I said he was amassing wealth to plot a rebellion, didn't I? And he still denied it! Look, now he's been proven wrong! Tsk tsk tsk, so much silver! I've never seen so much silver in my life! If he doesn't want to rebel, what does he need all that silver for?"
Jiang Cian was furious. "Meng Shuping, shut up! You can say I took money, but why bring up rebellion? Are you trying to get me killed faster?"
Emperor Qianyou's face darkened as he threw the account book at Jiang Cian. "The evidence is irrefutable! And you still say you've been wronged?"
Jiang Cian hadn't expected them to find the account books. Now he truly hated Lu Sheng to the core. Leaving behind such a huge piece of evidence was bad enough, but actually handing it over to Meng Shuping and the others? What an idiot!
He kowtowed repeatedly. "Father, please see reason! I did take a little silver from him, but I really didn't do the other things! He's not even a servant in my residence—how could I possibly keep tabs on everything he does outside?"
Emperor Qianyou's expression softened slightly. That wasn't entirely unreasonable. The brother of a concubine wasn't a proper in-law, so it was unlikely he'd keep a close watch.
But the next moment, he heard Meng Shuping exclaim in shock, "A little silver? He calls tens of thousands of taels a little silver? Sheesh…am I that clueless? Seriously, how much wealth does he have that he doesn't even care about this much silver? Wow, I get it. He didn't marry several concubines just to collect silver from their families, did he? No wonder he didn't notice—with so many concubines' families, who could keep track? But you know what? You have to admit, he's a genius! He's turned mooching off others into an art! Tsk tsk tsk, and he's a prince! Even selling out his own body for his grand plans—he's really willing to go all out!"
"Pfft…" Cao Jie knew it was highly inappropriate to laugh at this moment, but he couldn't help it. Sorry, but compared to Prince Cheng, his grievances were nothing! Tsk tsk tsk, Prince Cheng truly knows how to endure humiliation for a greater cause!
Emperor Qianyou's face immediately turned as dark as ink. What, is the silver I give you every year not enough? A prince, degrading himself like this—how disgraceful! I'd be ashamed to even talk about it!
Seeing Emperor Qianyou's expression grow increasingly grim, Jiang Cian panicked even more. "Father, Father, believe me! I really didn't know what he was doing outside, and I certainly didn't instruct him! I only took the silver!"
Meng Shuping chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. Just give me the silver, and I'll turn a blind eye to what you do outside. When things blow up, it has nothing to do with me! What a master at betrayal!"
Emperor Qianyou was so angry he kicked Jiang Cian. "I'll teach you to take silver! I'll teach you to exploit the commoners! From today onward, you're confined in the Imperial Clan Court!"
Jiang Cian's face instantly turned pale. He pleaded in panic, "I've learned my lesson, Father! Please give me another chance!"
Meng Shuping didn't feel sorry for him at all. "He can still kneel here and beg for a chance, but where can the innocent deceased and the countless commoners go to beg for a chance?"
Emperor Qianyou kicked Jiang Cian away. "Take him away!"
Two days later, the case was concluded. Both Jiang Cian and Lu Sheng received the punishments they deserved. Meng Shuping walked out of the Ministry of Punishments feeling relieved—finally, he could call it a day.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped out, someone stopped him. The person held his head high and said in a shrill voice, "Lord Meng, my master requests your presence!"
Meng Shuping was puzzled. He didn't think he knew this person. Moreover, something felt off about him—he seemed threatening. So he panicked and denied it. "You've got the wrong person. I-I'm not surnamed Meng. Are you looking for Vice Director Meng?"
The man was taken aback and scrutinized Meng Shuping. "You're not Vice Director Meng? But I heard he wears a mask."
Meng Shuping said earnestly, "Of course not. Didn't you know? Since Vice Director Meng arrived, all the officials in the Ministry of Punishments have started wearing masks."
Then he added quietly, "Afraid of retaliation, you know. Okay, okay, I'm leaving now. You keep waiting for Lord Meng."
Meng Shuping walked past the man to leave, but before he could get far, the man quickly realized the trick and yelled after him, "It's him! How dare you deceive me? Seize him and bring him back!"
Hearing this, Meng Shuping immediately broke into a run. But to his surprise, the two men chasing him were clearly more skilled. He hadn't run far when someone grabbed him from behind. Then, a cloth was pressed over his mouth, and he quickly lost consciousness.
Xing Lai and Jia Yue had just gone to fetch something for Meng Shuping. When they returned, they saw Meng Shuping being dragged away. They hurried to chase after them but couldn't catch up. Frantic, they suddenly thought of Jiang Cihe. Xing Lai's eyes lit up. "Let's go! We'll go to the Military Hall Directorate to find Prince Zhao! He can for sure track down fifth young master!"