Chapter 397 Bribery

Chapter 397: Bribery

The bearded patrol officer's gaze swept back and forth between Meng Wan and the triangular-eyed man a few times. With a wave of his hand, his patrol soldiers immediately understood and, under the pretext of "maintaining order," began shoving Meng Wan's attendants, shouting, "Obstructing official business—detain them all!"

"Chi Yu, break the legs of anyone who dares to step forward!"

The moment Meng Wan finished speaking, Chi Yu had already kicked a lackey who was trying to sneak close to Meng Wan. A sharp crack of bone breaking accompanied a heart-wrenching scream, stopping the officers and archers in their tracks.

Seeing this, the bearded patrol officer's eyes hardened. Knowing Chi Yu was a trained fighter and not easy to handle, he rallied his men, "What are you all standing around for? These ruffians dare to assault officials! Seize them at once and haul them to the prefectural office for the magistrate to judge!"

He had clearly seen the canal transport clerk speaking with Meng Wan moments ago and must have known Meng Wan was no ordinary person, yet he still recklessly ordered an attack.

His officers were more obedient than the triangular-eyed man's underlings. The archers fell back a few steps while the officers, wielding batons, charged straight at the Shijian Post Station crew.

The station crew, already boiling with pent-up anger, saw Meng Wan signal Chi Yu to act and found their courage. They didn't foolishly wait to be captured but fought back fiercely.

The triangular-eyed clerk saw the prefectural patrol butting in and inwardly cursed, though he dared not speak up. The Yangzhou Prefectural Office and the Water Transport Office had always kept to their own lanes. These prefectural officers were like jackals that won't let go once they scent blood. Now that they were entangled, things would only get harder for Meng Wan's side.

His eyes darted beneath his heavy lids as he tried to slip away in the chaos. But Chi Yu, seeing these men were clearly provoking trouble, stood in front of Meng Wan and kicked another careless officer who rushed in—the man flew and landed right at the triangular-eyed clerk's feet.

The clerk swallowed hard. So this tough guy had been holding back when he'd dealt with him earlier?

Both sides were now genuinely enraged. The triangular-eyed man's clueless underlings got swept into the fray as well.

The dock exploded into chaos—the sharp crack of crates splintering, the dull thud of clubs striking, screams and curses mingling together. Fine silks and expensive tea sets were knocked over, either smashed or stained with grime.

"Brother Yong! Our goods!"

"You bastards! Are you blind?"

"Whoever you are—even if you're the Jade Emperor himself—destroy our goods and you'll pay with your lives! Charge!"

"Brother Yong, they're all government men, we—"

"So what if they're government? Who cares? If something goes wrong, the big shots up top will cover it!"

"All of you, attack!"

Normally, when officials were conducting business, everyone else would scatter far away. But somehow, goods from one of the other three merchant ships got hit, and the dockhands had formed their own gangs. Quite a few of these men were no strangers to bloodshed and were even more reckless than the triangular-eyed man's underlings. They charged in without distinguishing friend from foe, and some even carried knives.

When chaos erupts, blood is bound to spill—it just depends whose blood snaps everyone back to their senses.

The triangular-eyed clerk clutched his stomach and collapsed at Meng Wan's feet. At this point, the chaos now revolved around him. A torrent of curses caught in his throat, never to be spoken. His small eyes rolled back, and he was dead.

Meng Wan gripped the blood-stained dagger, flustered at first, but he quickly steadied himself. His voice turned savage as he ordered Chi Yu, "Dump him in the river."

The bearded patrol officer and the gang leader Brother Yong, who had joined the fray later, both stopped. Seeing the man on the ground was the triangular-eyed clerk, they froze in unison.

How had one died before they even made a move?

They'd prepared three men to take the blame—should they continue or not?

This young man was so ruthless. He'd personally stabbed someone before they could even react?

Word had it he ran a massive business in Lingnan—could he be a cold-blooded killer behind closed doors?

The gang leader was still lost in wild conjecture when the bearded patrol officer snapped to his senses first. They'd already planned to frame someone, so wouldn't Meng Wan acting on his own suit the Headman even better? They absolutely couldn't let the body sink into the river.

He hurriedly ordered the archers to shoot and block Chi Yu. "How dare you! You've killed a man in broad daylight—an official at that—and you think you can dump the body in public..." Not if he could help it.

Before he could finish, a splash sounded. Chi Yu nimbly dodged the arrows and, without a blink, hurled the corpse from under his arm into the surging, boundless river. The water churned, and a large patch of blood surfaced.

"I killed him, and I dumped him. What are you going to do about it?"

The ground at Meng Wan's feet was already stained crimson. Blood beaded on the dagger's blade, trickling back down to stain his slender fingers red, along with a large, clear gemstone ring.

His gaze fell to his hand. The emerald, which had just shimmered with iridescent light, was now sullied by a spot of blood at one corner. A slight frown creased his brow. He casually tossed the priceless blade to the ground, pulled out a silk handkerchief, and leisurely wiped the blood from his fingers.

He had strikingly gorgeous features—features that should have been breathtakingly radiant—but now carried an almost cruel coldness, as if a human life mattered less than the gemstone ring on his finger. Every move he made inspired awe and sent chills down one's spine, quashing even the faintest thought of disrespect.

The men from both government offices stood not far away, yet he had killed and disposed of a body before their very eyes. Not only did he show no fear, he remained utterly composed. His bearing was so arrogant it bordered on contempt for everything—as if the rules of Yangzhou Dock and the law of the land were nothing but dust under his feet.

The bearded patrol officer's heart jolted at the sight, and a chill crept up his spine. For a moment, he forgot to issue orders. The officers behind him were equally cowed by Meng Wan's presence, their hands trembling slightly on their clubs, all their earlier ferocity gone.

"You... do you realize what a heinous crime you've committed!" the bearded patrol officer blustered, trying to reclaim some authority, but his voice faltered. "Killing an official, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace—each is a capital offense! Today, you won't get away!"

Meng Wan didn't pause in wiping his ring clean. His gaze swept coldly over the bearded man as if he were looking at a clown. "Capital offense?" He let out a light scoff, tossing the now-bloodstained handkerchief to the ground, where it landed in the dust and grime. "I'd like to see who dares to kill me today."

Yangzhou Prefectural Office—

"Meng Fulang, you... you're putting me in a difficult position!" Cao Jinfang, clad in his official robe and black gauze cap, shook his head with a troubled look.

"What's so difficult? These ruffians struck first. If I don't reclaim our standing, my post station might as well shut its doors in Yangzhou." Meng Wan sat on an old elmwood chair in the back hall, as arrogant as if he hadn't just killed someone, even finding time to threaten Cao Jinfang. "Lord Cao, Shijian Post Station counts as a semi-official relay station. Postmaster Bao holds a rank-nine imperial title as a court-appointed official. To have him arrested by a few petty clerks—don't you owe me an explanation?"

Even Cao Jinfang was exasperated into a laugh by this audacious young man. He glanced at the evidence the bearded officer had retrieved—a blood-stained dagger on a rosewood tray—and said meaningfully, "Meng Fulang jests. The matter of Postmaster Bao should be taken up with the Water Transport Office. What I'm handling today is the murder case at Qingzhang Dock."

He skipped straight past the charge of public disturbance and went straight to Meng Wan's killing, making his stance clear: he intended to "handle it by the book."

Meng Wan's eyes narrowed with menace. "Lord Cao refuses to let this slide for my husband's sake?"

Cao Jinfang had been waiting for exactly those words. He nearly laughed aloud but kept his face tight and solemn. "Meng Fulang, Lord Song and I serve the same court and should support each other. Had this been a mere brawl or scuffle, I could look the other way. But this is a living, breathing human life!"

Meng Wan slammed the table and rose abruptly, looking down at the seated Cao Jinfang with unrestrained arrogance in his eyes. "So the Prefect wants my life in exchange for his? I am a first-rank Mingrui Fulang personally appointed by His Majesty, with a court-granted fief. The dead man was nothing but a nameless thug. How dare he be compared to someone like me!"

Cao Jinfang, though no saint himself, was still shocked by Meng Wan's blatant disregard for human life. Others had done such things, but none with Meng Wan's sheer nerve.

"Meng Fulang, you're wrong! Do you think your title places you above the law? All under heaven is the king's land; all who tread it are the king's subjects. Official or commoner, all are equal before the law. Even if the deceased was a thug, he should have been dealt with by the authorities per the statutes—not by private vengeance! Your actions have violated national law. Even if Lord Song himself came to plead, I would not bend the rules!"

Cao Jinfang spoke with righteous indignation, his words full of righteous zeal, as if he'd rush to the front lines at any moment.

"One hundred thousand taels of silver," Meng Wan said flatly.

"Rip—"

Cao Jinfang's sleeve, flailing dramatically, caught on a crack in the elmwood chair back, producing a sound of tearing fabric.

How much?!

Meng Wan twisted the prominent gemstone ring on his finger and gave a faint smile. "I didn't expect Lord Cao to hold money in such contempt. What if I throw in two thousand taels of gold?"

Cao Jinfang: "..."

In all his years of lining his pockets in Yangzhou, he'd never amassed one hundred thousand taels of silver plus two thousand taels of gold.

If he took this money, he might as well confess everything to Meng Wan and retire with his family to the countryside.

That thought flickered briefly through Cao Jinfang's mind before vanishing. His greed wasn't about material desire—it was the pure thrill of wielding power. He needed to hold this position to keep the money flowing endlessly. Why trade that for a moment's pleasure?

Still, when something was handed to him on a silver platter, why refuse?

“Meng, the husband, truly puts me in a difficult position,” Cao Jinfang said, putting on an act.

Meng Wan sensed the softening in his tone and, without another word, summoned Chi Yu. “Have you had the gold and silver delivered? If so, bring them in through the back—make sure no outsiders catch sight of them.”

Cao Jinfang was instantly moved by his thoughtfulness, letting go of his earlier arrogance entirely.

Naturally, Meng Wan had long prepared the bribe, the sum precisely calibrated.

When Chi Yu hauled chest after chest of gold and silver into the inner hall, Cao Jinfang’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Even though he intended to use Meng Wan’s murder case to leverage Lord Song Tingzhou, he couldn’t help but be fiercely tempted—if Song Tingzhou truly were willing to abandon his ravishingly beautiful husband, Cao Jinfang certainly wouldn’t part with these riches.

“Since the corpse—no, the missing clerk Liu Hu—simply fell into the river by accident, then Meng, the husband, may leave after signing the confession,” Cao Jinfang said, his expression shifting to a beaming smile.

Meng Wan grumbled, clearly annoyed, “Why must I still sign a confession?”

Cao Jinfang coaxed gently, “With so many people having seen it, we have to silence the wagging tongues. I ask for Meng, the husband’s, understanding.”

He had never spoken this gently even to his own month-old son. Cao Jinfang treated Meng Wan like one of those Yangzhou merchants—cold, greedy, and wealthy beyond measure, yet even more generous and easier to fool than they were.

“Fine.” Meng Wan casually signed his name beneath the sparse lines of text on the paper Cao Jinfang handed him, not noticing that only a few lines were written at the top, leaving a large blank space below.

Cao Jinfang was greatly relieved and carefully stowed away the confession, then threw in a few free flattering words. “Meng, the husband, rest assured—as long as Postmaster Bao of Shijian Station is within Yangzhou Prefecture, I, this official, will find him and return him to the station unharmed. From now on, for cargo ships docking at Shijian Station, aside from the mandatory imperial vessel tax, all other miscellaneous levies can be ignored.”

In other words, he would look after Shijian Station from now on—truly, money talks.

But Meng Wan’s hundred thousand taels of silver and two thousand taels of gold were more than enough to cover taxes for every dock in all of Yangzhou.

With matters settled, a rare flicker of embarrassment crossed Meng Wan’s usually supercilious face. “Killing is an ugly word. Since it’s resolved, there’s no need for my husband to know.”

Cao Jinfang stroked his beard and nodded, wearing a knowing look. “Naturally. Meng, the husband, rest easy—what happened today stays between heaven, earth, you, and me. No third soul will breathe a word of it to Lord Song.”

Having both secured leverage over Song Tingzhou and swindled such a fortune, Cao Jinfang’s polite smile turned genuinely warm, the crow’s-feet at his eyes crinkling with newfound cordiality.

Within the inner hall were only Cao Jinfang’s secretary and trusted confidants, along with Meng Wan and Chi Yu. The matter should have ended there, with both parties preparing to leave one after another, when—unexpectedly—a refined male voice drifted in from the doorway.

“Quite the gathering here at Lord Cao’s. Since this is a murder trial, why not hold it publicly in the main hall, instead of convening privately in the inner chamber?”

Meng Wan raised an eyebrow and paused mid-step. From the front hall emerged a man and a woman. The man was around forty, lean of frame, with a handsome, scholarly face, clad in a white robe and holding a folding fan—exuding the bearing of a cultured gentleman.

The young woman behind him was no more than twenty, standing tall and straight-backed. Chi Yu studied her briefly and whispered to Meng Wan, “A second-rate martial artist—about on par with Brother Xuesheng.” Slightly inferior to him.

The instant Cao Jinfang heard that voice, his body moved faster than his mind. He slammed shut the wooden chests of silver with two muffled thuds.

“Lord Shen—what wind blows you here? I still have a case to close. Why not have a seat in the flower hall first?”

He had posted guards at the front—how had those useless fools let someone slip through?

Damn it—why wasn’t Shen Chongshan staying put at the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commission? Why had he come here? And at such a critical moment!