956 A Be (2/2)
Surprisingly, the sterner Pang Jing was, the calmer Meng Mingshu became. He gradually became even more concentrated on his performance. Pointing at the Dragon King, he said in a dramatic voice, ”The Meng family has been ruined anyway. My life doesn't matter anymore. Today, I must reveal the truth. Dragon King, do you dare-”
Chu Nanping, the attendant that Gu Shenwei had brought here, took a step forward past the Dragon King, his hand on the hilt of his sword. Taken aback, Meng Mingshu hurriedly put his hand down, and with that, his voice also lowered. ”Do you dare to say that the Meng family's money is not in your hands?”
Gu Shenwei gently waved his hand and signaled Chu Nanping to draw back. ”The Meng family's money is not in my hands.”
Meng Mingshu was stunned. He had predicted that the Dragon King would deny it, but he still felt a little strange that the Dragon King had denied it in such a simple and straightforward way. Soon, he understood that it was because there had been a flaw in his question. ”Yes. You don't have the money because you gave it to someone else to hide. Wasn't it you who ordered your subordinates to snatch the Meng family's money in various places?”
”Why don't you just show us the evidence? That will save us a lot of time,” said Gu Shenwei.
The Dragon King's composure made the onlookers feel even more uneasy. A lot of people began to regret their decision. All they had thought about was looking on, and they had completely forgotten that the Dragon King was a devil who could kill people without blinking. Certainly, that ban on killing that he had imposed meant nothing to himself.
”Evidence. Yes. Show us the evidence,” somebody yelled before seriously nodding at the Dragon King, trying to indicate that he was on the Dragon King's side.
”Wait.” Pang Jing walked up to Meng Mingshu, closely followed by Luo Qikang. ”Leaving the evidence aside, Meng Mingshu, do you know who the Dragon King is?”
Things were becoming more and more like what Lü Qiying had described. Meng Mingshu even felt a ghost of excitement pass through him. All of the fear and guilt brought on by his betrayal of the Dragon King dissolved. ”Of course I do. The Dragon King has the 10,000-strong Dragon Army and the 10,000-strong Shule Kingdom Army outside the city at his command. He's powerful. Besides the Central Plains, nobody else is his match. But I think that he became a different man after he imposed a ban on killing. The justice that the Meng family wants is very simple – the Dragon King must give us our money back. That's all. We don't want him to accept any responsibility for the robbery.”
Pang Jing sneered. ”Nobody in all of the whole Western Regions dares to hold the Dragon King responsible for anything, not to mention the Meng family.”
Meng Mingshu raised his head and threw his chest out, his face full of determination and courage to burn his bridge. ”From most people's eyes, I wouldn't dare to resist even if the Dragon King wanted to kill me. But the Meng family's money doesn't belong to me alone. It's the fruit of generations of hard work of my family members. I can't just let it disappear under my watch like this.”
”I can understand your pain, but I can't accept your wild accusation against the Dragon King. This is not how the Central Plains upholds justice.”
Surprisingly, Pang Jing tried to stop Meng Mingshu from presenting evidence. Gu Shenwei knew this was the part where he should step forward and demand the presentation of the evidence so as to prove his innocence, but he instead just stood still in silence, as if the accusation had nothing to do with him at all.
Meng Mingshu waited for a while but there was no response, so he had to stick to the plan. HE said, ”Of course accusing the Dragon King is a very risky thing to do. However, today, I'm ready to risk everything. How about this? If I fail to prove that the Dragon King robbed my family of our money, then I'll give up the claim for it, and the Dragon King can have the money if he manages to find it in the future.”
In front of him was not a closed off alleyway. Gu Shenwei had proof that the robbery had been planned by him and Meng Mingshu collectively, that technically, it was not a robbery at all. That it was actually just a covert transfer of money. But he had no intention of complicating the situation, so he said, ”That's good. You may present the evidence now.”
Things went very smoothly. Meng Mingshu was relieved. Lü Qiying's prophecy came true. The Dragon King didn't dare disclose the truth because he wanted to pocket all of the money. Once he stated the context of the robbery, he would have to keep the false promise and return the money. Meng Mingshu believed that the Dragon King still wanted to turn the tide at the last moment.
Pang Jing began to feel uneasy, but he still decided to continue. He withdrew his serious look and burst into laughter. ”This is very interesting. An accusation has turned into a bet. Meng Mingshu, listen carefully. If your evidence is problematic, then the Meng family's money, wherever it is at this moment, will be the Dragon King's from now on.”
Among all of the details of the whole plan, this was the only one that Meng Mingshu was uncertain of. He had once asked Lü Qiying why he had to make a bet about this, and the answer he had been given was, ”It's impossible for the Central Plainsmen to side with you in public. They have to act impartially.”
That was it. It was too late to regret. He had already offended the Dragon King thoroughly, and there was no more room for maneuvering. ”Governor, please have that murderer named Gao Yang brought here.”
”Eek. You're the one who is supposed to present the evidence. Why are you asking me to do it?” Pang Jing asked in surprise.
”Gao Yang is only one of the witnesses. I have another more important witness to confront him with, which will prove my every word.”
”You may summon your witness here first.”
Meng Mingshu watched the Dragon King, believing that he could endure the look in those frigid eyes, but he overestimated himself. After only a short while, he turned his head aside and loudly said, ”Duan Zihua, come in!”
A skinny old man walked into the hall and knelt down before Meng Mingshu with a thud, his face ashen.
A lot of people recognized him. This old steward of the Meng family had been missing for a very long time. Rumor said that it was him who had colluded with the Dragon King and stolen the Meng family's money.
In fact, Gu Shenwei was slightly surprised. He had thought that the place where he had hidden Duan Zihua was covert enough. Unexpectedly, the opponent had still found Duan Zihua, and he had even totally unaware of it until this moment.