Chapter 103

Chapter 103

The middle-aged man was taken aback. Was this young man merely spectating, or did he actually intend to run him over? Why were his thoughts always so unconventional? On one hand, he seemed ruthless yet remembered to offer compensation; on the other, he appeared kind-hearted yet was willing to run people over.

Since this young man intended to pay up, the middle-aged man decided to go for broke. He thrust out his hand and demanded, "Pay me five hundred taels of silver! Then we can consider this matter settled!"

Meng Shuping was astonished. "Holy crap! Five hundred taels? He might as well have just mugged me outright instead of putting on this whole act. Is he really that passionate about acting? Forget it, forget it—I’m not going through with it. I don’t have that kind of money to compensate him."

The middle-aged man smirked to himself. He refused to believe that, after all this, the young man still wouldn’t lose his temper or hit him. If he got struck, he could go straight to the authorities and accuse Meng Shuping of bullying regular folks—with the injuries as clear evidence! Let’s see how Meng Shuping would explain himself then!

Seeing the man boldly demand money from them, Xing Lai glared furiously. "Who hit you? Clearly, you’re trying to shake us down! Do you even know who our young master is? Don’t you believe he can have you arrested?"

The middle-aged man slammed his hand on the ground. "What does your status matter? Does that give you the right to bully others? If you don’t pay, don’t think I won’t report this to the authorities!"

Xing Lai sneered. "Go right ahead! Be my guest!"

How dare someone trying to extort them threaten to go to the authorities? Wasn’t he afraid of being arrested himself?

He turned to Meng Shuping indignantly. "Young Master, please go inside first. Since this fool has no shame, we’ll show him what's what!"

Meng Shuping quickly stopped him. "No, no, that wouldn’t be right."

"I’m not a violent person!"

Xing Lai looked at him in disbelief. "What’s not right about it? He’s trying to extort us—beating him up would be going easy on him! Young Master, don’t be soft-hearted. These kinds of troublemakers are experts at pushing their luck."

The middle-aged man was equally astonished. How could Meng Shuping still not be angry after all this? Was he really such a pushover? Why was it so difficult to provoke him?

Meng Shuping said calmly, "Since he’s already attempted extortion, wouldn’t beating him be too lenient? Report him to the authorities! We must report him! Tell them he robbed an imperial official!"

"After all, there’s no one else around—my word is law. Besides, look at his build and that fierce expression—claiming he’s a robber is quite convincing, isn’t it?"

"Yes!" Xing Lai’s face broke into a grin. He looked disdainfully at the middle-aged man. "Don’t you dare run away!"

The middle-aged man was floored. He never expected Meng Shuping, who looked so clean-cut and proper, to be so cunning. But he quickly collected himself and snorted coldly. "I’m not going anywhere! Do you think I get intimidated that easily?"

All his acting had paid off—things were finally going according to plan. Once the officers arrested him and took him to the government office, word would spread throughout the capital: Meng Shuping, as an official, had not only refused to compensate after hitting someone but had also abused his power to falsely accuse an ordinary citizen!

Just as he began to smirk triumphantly, he heard Meng Shuping’s voice again. "Honestly, his act is full of flaws. Look, even if age isn’t on his side, he could at least put on a better performance. And if he can’t act well, why doesn’t he at least fake some injuries? Who would believe him without them?"

"Besides, professional con artists don’t look this robust—they have the injuries, the acting skills, and they choose crowded places so people can see. No disrespect, but is he just not committed enough?"

"Never mind. How about we have the officers march him through town later and publicly expose his scam? It’ll serve as a scam prevention demo and prevent other innocent people from being deceived."

The middle-aged man was stunned. Not only was his acting criticized, but he was also going to be publicly exposed and paraded through the streets? How could this young man be so ruthless? If it were revealed in public that he had no injuries, wouldn’t all his efforts be in vain?

At that thought, the middle-aged man jumped up. Xing Lai and Jia Yue were startled and immediately assumed defensive postures. But to their surprise, the man turned and ran. Fine, he’d come back better prepared next time!

Meng Shuping was surprised. Why did he run? Weren’t you all tough earlier? Scared now?

Xing Lai snorted unhappily. "He ran fast! If we see him again, we won’t let him off!"

They thought that was the end of it, but the next day, as Meng Shuping was returning from the government office in his carriage, the carriage suddenly came to a halt again.

At the same time, Meng Shuping heard a cry of pain. "Aiya! This old man has been run over!"

Meng Shuping lifted the carriage curtain and saw an elderly man with graying hair lying in front of the carriage, clutching his thigh and moaning loudly.

Xing Lai was clearly irritated. Was this ever going to end? Were these troublemakers targeting their carriage specifically? He said impatiently, "Hey, old man, our carriage didn’t even touch you. Why are you screaming?"

The old man wore an expression of agony. "Yes, yes, sir, your carriage didn’t hit this old man at all. The old man fell on his own. Please wait a moment, sir—the old man will get up now. Please don’t hold it against me."

Despite his words, he struggled for a long time without moving an inch.

Meng Shuping was at a loss for words. "First you said you were hit, now you say you weren’t. What’s wrong? Is your memory failing you in your old age?"

Seeing the commotion, other bystanders quickly gathered. "Eh? Didn’t he just say he was hit? Why is he changing his story now?"

"He’s afraid of offending these nobles, isn’t he? Us common folks dare not confront them directly."

"True, better to keep their heads down. Just accept the bad luck and move on. Better not to provoke them."

"Whose carriage is this?"

"I think it’s Vice Director of the Board of Punishments Lord Meng. They say he’s from the Earl of Anyang’s household."

"So it’s him. I thought he was a good official after seeing him discipline Young Master Dong, but it turns out he’s no different from the others! Ugh! I was wrong about him!"

Meng Shuping finally understood. "So this is a performance for the audience. Tsk tsk, what an act! An old man has the nerve to act like this—isn’t he disgusted with himself?"

The middle-aged man from the previous day looked down from the teahouse on the second floor of a nearby building. Hah! Didn’t he say age wasn’t an advantage? Well, now he’d found someone who had that advantage. Let’s see how Meng Shuping would talk his way out of this one.

Noticing the crowd turning against them, Xing Lai was furious. How could this old man be so deceitful? It was as if they had bullied him.

He glared at the old man unhappily. "First you said you were hit, now you say you weren’t. Can’t you even get your story straight?"

The old man pretended to be terrified. "Yes, yes, this old man is confused and misspoke. No hit, no hit. Please, spare this old man!"

Seeing the old man so frightened, the onlookers started whispering among themselves. "How arrogant to act like this after hitting someone! This is too much!"

"Exactly, these stuck-up nobles don’t care about us common folks at all."

"Ah, even if he was hit, what can we do? Can we really make them pay? Let me tell you, even if they have money, they won’t bother with us ordinary people!"

"Is there no one to hold them accountable? So what if he’s an official? Does that give him the right to run people over?"

Xing Lai was seething. This old man, how could he be so cunning? Xing Lai hadn't even threatened him, so why put on such an act? Just as he was about to lose his temper, Meng Shuping called him and Jia Yue over. He hurried over. "Young Master, what is it?"

Meng Shuping instructed, "One of you, go find a physician. The other, go report this to the government office. Make it fast!"

Xing Lai and Jia Yue immediately replied, "Yes!"

Seeing the two about to leave, the middle-aged man grew even more pleased. He took a leisurely sip of tea. Hmph, even if the officers came, he wasn’t afraid. If Meng Shuping had the old man publicly arrested, it would give the capital’s residents plenty to gossip about.

After sending Xing Lai and Jia Yue off, Meng Shuping awkwardly climbed out of the carriage. With so many people around, he was so nervous he nearly tripped. Nervously, he approached the old man and tried to help him up. "Uncle, I’ve sent for a physician. He’ll be here soon. Let me help you up first."

But as soon as he reached out, the old man shrank back. "No, no, I’ll get up on my own. No need to dirty your hands."

Meng Shuping muttered to himself, "Then hurry up and get up! You’ve been saying you’ll get up for ages, but you’re still on the ground. If you don’t get up soon, it’ll look even faker!"

"And does he really think I actually want to help him up? Don’t flatter yourself—I’m just putting on a show for everyone else! If he can act, so can I! If he wants people to think I bullied him, he’ll have to see if I allow it!"

He put on a sincere expression and said, "It’s fine, my hands aren’t clean either."

"Heh heh, perfect for wiping my hands on his clothes."

The old man was taken aback. Was this young man being too familiar? He had expected Meng Shuping to lose his temper or expose him, so why was Meng Shuping being so polite? Could he actually believe the act? How was he supposed to continue like this?

But seeing Meng Shuping about to wipe his hands on his clothes, the old man had no choice but to support himself against the carriage and shakily rise to his feet.

Meng Shuping was blown away, "Wow, wow, wow! Today's performance is way better than yesterday's. Just look at what was that performance yesterday even about?"

Noticing that Meng Shuping had actually gone to help the old man, the middle-aged man upstairs frowned deeply. When he had encountered a similar situation yesterday, things hadn’t played out like this. Could it be that the old man’s acting was just that convincing? Or did the old man simply appear more vulnerable?

The onlookers, who had initially expected Meng Shuping to drive the old man away, were surprised to see him treat the elderly man with such courtesy and even offer to get a doctor. They began talking among themselves, "Seems like we misunderstood—this official is quite approachable."

"Ah, we really wronged him earlier."

However, someone in the crowd started stirring up trouble, "What do you mean, 'wronged him'? These officials are all hypocrites. They put on a polite front, but who knows what they’re really up to behind the scenes?"

As soon as these words were spoken, some people started having second thoughts again. "That’s true. You can’t trust people like them."

Noticing that someone kept trying to steer the conversation, Meng Shuping couldn’t help but suspect that this whole situation was a setup targeting him.

Before he could figure it out, the local magistrates arrived.