Chapter 181

Chapter 181

Emperor Qianyou and the assembled ministers were stunned. They had initially dismissed any connection between the two matters, but after Meng Shuping's explanation, it suddenly made perfect sense.

Hong Da's face flushed crimson with anger. He fumed, "Meng Shuping, stop making baseless accusations! How have I indulged my clansmen?"

Meng Shuping recoiled in disgust. "He’s the one spouting nonsense—ugh, that's repulsive, his spit even landed on my face!"

He continued, with a hint of tension, "If you hadn’t indulged them, how would your clansmen, holding no official positions, dare to defy the imperial court? Isn’t it all because they leverage your influence?"

Just as Hong Da was about to speak, Meng Shuping's inner voice interjected, "No way! Is he really going to claim he knew nothing about what his clansmen did? Is he trying to fool idiots?"

Hong Da was momentarily speechless. After a pause, he retorted, "I’ve been in the capital all along—how could I possibly know what they’ve been up to? For all I know, you’re just fabricating this!"

Before Meng Shuping could respond, the Minister of Revenue stepped forward indignantly. "Who are you trying to fool?"

Concurrently, several other officials also spoke up. "General Hong, are you suggesting that since your arrival in the capital, you’ve had no contact with them? Or are you claiming they acted entirely behind your back?"

"Since General Hong pleads ignorance, then he should demonstrate integrity by severing ties with them to prevent further implication!"

"How hypocritical! Utterly hypocritical! Even General Hong’s own son has been running wild—how can we possibly believe General Hong has any control over his clansmen? If he hasn’t been neglectful, then he must be deliberately indulging them!"

"Precisely! In my opinion, the court’s failure to collect taxes is entirely General Hong’s fault! Having committed such a grave error, how dare he shirk responsibility? You are unworthy of being an imperial official!"

Hong Da’s face turned ashen with rage. How could everything be his fault? While his clansmen’s actions might be somewhat linked to him, what did the wrongdoings of others have to do with him?

Just then, several officials stepped forward to defend Hong Da. "General Hong is completely devoted to serving the court—how could he possibly keep an eye on everyone constantly? Can any of you guarantee that your own clansmen have never done anything harmful to Great Chu?"

"Moreover, this is merely Meng Shuping’s one-sided account. How can we be certain he’s telling the truth?"

Meng Shuping mused inwardly, "Why does this sound so familiar? Hmm... I remember now—didn’t Hong Da use this exact excuse when pleading for his son last time?"

"Not to criticize him, but is he bragging again about how the Emperor can’t do without him? Look—he’s the only one too busy to discipline his son, the only one too busy to restrain his clansmen. Meanwhile, the rest of us colleagues are so idle we have all the time in the world to liaise with our clansmen!"

Hearing this, the Minister of Justice and others were reminded of the previous incident. They angrily retorted, "Are you implying we have nothing better to do than stay in touch with our clansmen? Every official here is dedicated to serving the court! Precisely because of that, we should all the more restrain our clansmen to avoid causing trouble for the court!"

"Hmph! I wonder what keeps General Hong so busy. There’s no war going on now—surely he can spare a moment to write a letter to his clansmen?"

"If you ask me, I don’t believe for a second that General Hong isn’t deliberately indulging them!"

Hong Da snorted. "You accuse me of indulging my clansmen—where’s the evidence? Meng Shuping, aren’t you just acting out of personal spite?"

Meng Shuping replied honestly, "Yes!"

"So you admit—" Hong Da started, then caught himself. "You admit you’re acting out of personal spite?"

Meng Shuping nodded. "I admit it!"

"What's wrong with admitting it? I am acting out of personal spite. After all he’s done to harm me, am I not allowed to retaliate? I’m not like him—secretly hating me to death but pretending to be righteous and impartial. How utterly hypocritical!"

Hong Da was so angry his beard bristled. He turned furiously toward Emperor Qianyou. "Your Majesty, since Meng Shuping has admitted to acting out of personal spite, what more is there to say?"

Emperor Qianyou also found it completely unbelievable. "Beloved Minister Meng, you truly admit to acting out of personal spite?"

Meng Shuping answered earnestly, "This subject admits it, Your Majesty. But among all the colleagues I’ve had conflicts with, why did I single out General Hong for revenge? It’s precisely because he is at fault! If he weren’t, even if I wanted to settle a personal score, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity!"

Emperor Qianyou: "..." So he does know how many people he’s offended!

The other ministers were initially equally baffled by Meng Shuping’s frank admission. But upon hearing his explanation, they suddenly understood. They looked at Meng Shuping with admiration. "Director Meng is so forthright—we can't compare to him!"

"Yes, yes, although I have also offended Director Meng, why didn't he retaliate against me officially? It must be because I walk the straight and narrow! Even when Director Meng uses his position for personal revenge, he does so with principles!"

"It seems General Hong should seriously reflect on why he became the target of a personal vendetta. Not to criticize General Hong, but in this matter, your faults are significant. Instead of reflecting on yourself, you blame others for targeting you—how utterly shameless can you be?"

Meng Shuping egged on, "Exactly, absolutely shameless!"

Hong Da shot a furious glare at the speakers. What benefits had Meng Shuping offered them to make them flatter him so openly? How could admitting to a personal vendetta be considered upright and honorable?

Meng Shuping once again took out an imperial memorial from his robe. "Your Majesty, please see this. These are pieces of evidence showing General Hong's clansmen engaging in tax evasion, land grabs, fabricating auspicious signs, falsely reporting natural disasters, and colluding with bandits to create chaos—all to secure tax exemptions from Your Majesty. These are acts of deceiving the throne!"

"This is practically making a mockery of Your Majesty! Evading taxes openly is one thing, but fabricating reasons to secure exemptions—how could Your Majesty have remained unaware all these years? Without Hong Da's backing, how would this group have dared to show such disregard for Your Majesty?"

After reading the imperial memorial presented by Meng Shuping, Emperor Qianyou was already furious. Hearing Meng Shuping's words, his face darkened further. How audacious! These people had truly overstepped, making a mockery of him!

He flung the memorial at Hong Da's head. "Look at the fine work you’ve done!"

Seeing that Emperor Qianyou was genuinely angry, Hong Da was startled. With trembling fingers, he picked up the memorial and saw the long list of evidence. Terrified, his knees gave way, and he knelt. "Your Majesty, please see clearly—I truly had no knowledge of these matters! Moreover, how could Meng Shuping, based in the capital, have uncovered all this? It couldn’t be that Prince Zhao assisted him, could it? I beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

He refused to believe that the Emperor would permit Prince Zhao to privately share intelligence from the Military Hall Department with other officials. Even if Meng Shuping and Prince Zhao had that kind of relationship, surely the Emperor would feel some resentment?

But just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard Jiang Cihe say, "Father, please discern the truth. The evidence of these crimes was uncovered by Lord Shi. It has nothing to do with your son."

Emperor Qianyou asked in disbelief, "You mean Shi Yue?"

Weren’t he and Meng Shuping bitter enemies? Why would he suddenly assist Meng Shuping?

Jiang Cihe nodded. "Yes, Lord Shi was demoted to General Hong’s hometown. Although he holds a grudge against Director Meng, in this matter, he put state matters first."

Hong Da choked for a moment but quickly retorted, "Your Majesty, I truly had no knowledge of this! Besides, other officials’ clansmen might have done the same!"

Meng Shuping couldn’t help but remark, "Oh, oh, oh! Trying to implicate others again? Does he think if everyone’s guilty, no one gets punished? Well then, why not investigate everyone?"

The other officials grew anxious. They weren’t entirely unaware of their clansmen’s actions. If they drew the Emperor’s attention, wouldn’t they face the same backlash as Hong Da?

The only way out now was to agree with Meng Shuping—that Hong Da had led the corrupting of court conduct, and others had simply followed his example. That way, they might bear less blame.

They stepped forward one after another. "General Hong, don’t be so shameless! You claim ignorance of your son’s misconduct and your clansmen’s deception of the sovereign—so you bear no responsibility at all?"

"Exactly! Whose influence did they rely on to act so arrogantly? Dare you say you didn’t know? I think Vice Director Meng is right! It’s because you led the corrupting of court conduct that others followed suit. The court’s inability to collect taxes is entirely your fault!"

"Absurd! Utterly absurd! How can you deny it when the evidence is so clear? My eyes may be old, but my mind is not!"

"His Majesty has placed such trust in you, and this is how you repay him?"

Faced with these accusations, Hong Da wanted to refute them but couldn’t find a moment to interject. Just as he was overwhelmed, a few more officials stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I accuse Hong Da of embezzling public property…"

"Your Majesty, I accuse Hong Da of breaching ministerial protocol, showing disrespect to Your Majesty, and committing acts of usurping authority…"

"I accuse Hong Da of embezzling funds and grain stores…"

"I accuse Hong Da of maintaining extravagant habits even during military campaigns, demanding dozens of courses for a single meal daily…"

Meng Shuping couldn’t help but think to himself, "I know about this. I heard that back then, even His Majesty practiced frugality, diverting funds to the front lines. Yet Hong Da lived more lavishly than the Emperor! Honestly, His Majesty’s temper is truly remarkable—he didn’t even reprimand him for it!"

"But his audacity is truly something. I’m an imperial official, yet he would have me killed without a second thought. What, does he think the court is his own household? He clearly holds His Majesty in contempt!"

By now, if Hong Da still didn’t realize that all of this was a setup to bring him down, he would be a fool! But the situation had escalated too suddenly, leaving him completely unprepared. He could only kowtow fervently and plead, "Your Majesty, I am wronged!"

Meng Shuping couldn’t resist commenting, "Is he implying that His Majesty is blind? With mountains of evidence right before him, he still denies it. Does he really think the Emperor is a fool?"