Chapter 58 Humiliation
Several months had passed since the birthday banquet of the Zheng family matriarch, and this was the first time Meng Guanqi had met Lu Weifu.
The incident at the Zheng family's birthday banquet caused quite a stir, and news of Lu Weifu's homosexuality also spread. Although Lu Jingli reacted quickly, cracking down on the teahouses and restaurants spreading the rumors and arresting a number of people, the matter somehow spread directly from the prefectural school. Even the intervention of Prefect Song could not cover it up. Lu Weifu's wife was so angry that she went back to her parents' home. Although she was later coaxed back, and the Lu family's public explanation was that they were framed by servants, those who knew Lu Weifu, recalling his frequent appearances with friends at various brothels in the prefectural city, knew that the matter was true. It was just that they had tried to cover it up before, but now it was common knowledge.
Lu Weifu took a long leave from the academy and didn't dare to go out for several months. Meng Guanqi never expected to meet him here.
When enemies meet, their eyes are filled with hatred. Lu Weifu hates Meng Guanqi for making him lose face, while Meng Guanqi hates him for being too arrogant and daring to come forward when he sees him.
Both were only children, each with their own temper. When it came to matters of pride, neither was willing to admit defeat. Their eyes locked in a fierce battle, neither willing to look away.
Magistrate Meng smiled and stood up with his wine cup in hand: "Minister Lu, you are mistaken. I see that Lord Song is busy and has no free time. I was just waiting for him to have some free time before I went over to offer him a toast. So how could I have any opinion about Lord Song?"
He seemed oblivious to the subtle tension between Lu Weifu and Meng Guanqi, and said to the side, "Qi'er, come here too, let's go and toast Lord Song."
Meng Guanqi then looked away, took his wine cup, and followed Magistrate Meng to Magistrate Song's table.
At the table where Prefect Song was seated were the Vice Prefect, the Education Commissioner, the Registrar, the Tax Commissioner, the Inspector, and the Magistrate of Lu and the Magistrates of the other three counties. When they took their seats, there was no place for Magistrate Meng. The table was filled with the clinking of glasses and the clinking of glasses when Magistrate Meng came with his wine. The table immediately fell silent.
Of the four county magistrates, three were seated at the main table, leaving Magistrate Meng to sit in a corner. Apart from Prefect Song, who seemed quite at ease, the other officials were all somewhat embarrassed.
Prefect Song didn't even bother to put on a facade, which shows how bad their relationship was.
Magistrate Meng stopped in front of Prefect Song and raised his wine cup: "This humble official toasts Prefect Song and congratulates Lin'an Prefecture on its favorable weather this year and all officials on their smooth careers."
Everyone else raised their glasses, but Prefect Song, who was being toasted, seemed to be deaf, not even turning his head, let alone raising his glass in response.
The room fell silent once again. Noticing the commotion at this table, people at the nearby tables also stopped talking and peered over to see what was happening.
The atmosphere was almost suffocating. Magistrate Meng's hand was still raised in mid-air, and Prefect Song did not turn his head. He slowly picked up a piece of fish and began to eat it.
Meng Guanqi's face flushed red, and he trembled with anger. His father had been humiliated time and time again, and he didn't want to stay in this place for another second.
He grabbed Magistrate Meng's hand, intending to lead him away. Magistrate Meng shook his head slightly and gave him a reassuring look: "Lord Song must be unable to hold his liquor. Consider this a toast from me."
He downed the wine in one gulp, bowed respectfully, and took his son's hand to head back.
“Lord Meng, why are you in such a hurry to leave? We haven’t seen each other for a long time. I recently heard something interesting about Magistrate Meng, and I think it’s too outrageous. I would like to verify it with Magistrate Meng in person.” The portly Lu Jingli led Lu Weifu over.
Magistrate Meng turned around and looked at him.
Lu Jingli smiled smugly: "A few days ago, my uncle's pawnshop in Biyang County received a gold necklace. The shopkeeper said that this veiled lady had pawned her jewelry at the shop several times, and each time she said she would redeem it, but she never came to redeem it when the time came. The shopkeeper was always curious about who this lady was and why she would come to pawn her jewelry several times a month. Guess what happened?"
He smiled and looked at Magistrate Meng without saying a word, and the smile on Magistrate Meng's face disappeared.
Lu Jingli reached behind him, and a servant handed him an exquisite jewelry box decorated with flowers and grass. He opened it in front of everyone and took out a gold necklace.
This heavy gold necklace was carved with an exquisite swastika pattern and set with a ruby in the center. It looked very valuable. Magistrate Meng and Meng Guanqi recognized it at a glance. It was Liu's most beloved possession.
Seeing the drastic change in their expressions, Lu Jingli was extremely satisfied: "Well? Does Lord Meng find this bracelet familiar? There's a 'Liu' character engraved on it. Could it be part of Madam Meng's dowry?"
Magistrate Meng was ashen-faced. Why would Liu pawn her favorite necklace? Had her family fallen into such dire poverty?
But she never mentioned to him that the family was short of money. In secret, she pawned her favorite necklace. Could it be that she had already started to rely on pawning her dowry jewelry to support the family?
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The magistrate's wife's privately pawned items were exposed in front of her husband, superiors, and colleagues, as if her outer garments had been stripped off in full view of everyone, leaving her completely naked inside.
For a moment, everyone present had a variety of thoughts. Some felt that it was a disgrace to the magistrate that he had to rely on his wife to pawn her dowry to support his family. Others felt that Madam Meng was indeed a virtuous and righteous woman from a scholarly family, and that she had readily offered her dowry to share her husband's hardships without hesitation. There were also many who felt that Prefect Song and Clerk Lu, the brothers-in-law, had gone too far. Prefect Song, as a fifth-rank official, was so narrow-minded, doing everything he could to ostracize and make things difficult for Magistrate Meng. Not only did he ignore them, but he also allowed an eighth-rank clerk to publicly humiliate a seventh-rank magistrate, and the magistrate even brought his son with him. How could the son feel after his father was humiliated like that?
Prefect Song was a high-ranking official, so it was naturally difficult for them to say anything to him. However, the Prefectural Magistrate and the Prefectural School Director were already looking at Lu Jingli and Lu Weifu with hostility.
Everyone present knew that Magistrate Meng had been convicted and demoted, and that he had defied public opinion by accepting refugees from Yizhou and distributing porridge for over a month. How could a poor county like Biyang, which was chronically in deficit, have any surplus grain? It's likely that Magistrate Meng had personally funded the distribution. Although the court reprimanded him, it was a lenient punishment. For two major offenses—privately releasing grain from the granary and allowing refugees to settle locally—anyone else would have been dismissed and exiled long ago, but Magistrate Meng was only fined half a year's salary. The deficit was covered by disaster relief funds, and the refugee settlement was not investigated. He was practically innocent. Yet, Prefect Song, still clinging to their past conflict, acted arrogantly and made things difficult for him at every turn.
Not all officials in the prefectural government were supporters of Prefect Song; there were also officials from other factions. Although they did not speak up for Magistrate Meng, their expressions revealed their dissatisfaction.
Prefect Song saw it clearly, his heart skipped a beat, and he knew things were going badly. He was about to tell Lieutenant Lu to stop while he was ahead.
"Ah Sheng, this is strange. I remember that pawnshops are not allowed to disclose customers' personal information. Am I mistaken?" A clear voice suddenly came from the doorway.
"Hmm, okay, that seems to be it." Another boy's voice, a hoarse husky voice, rang out.
A clear voice said, "If that's the case, how did this Mr. Lu know that Madam pawned the necklace? Has he been keeping an eye on our family all this time?"
The man with the hoarse voice seemed a little timid, stammering and not daring to answer.
The clear voice said, "When I get back, I'll tell Constable Shi to shut down this pawnshop. They dare to leak customers' privacy so easily, and they spread jokes about other people's hardships everywhere. They're probably suspected of being spies. Who would dare to pawn anything at their place in the future?"
Ah Sheng trembled with fear as he watched Li Xiaoxiao speak louder and louder, wishing he could disappear on the spot.
But Li Xiaoxiao was completely oblivious, and continued to talk to herself, "Who doesn't know that our lord has poured all his savings into saving those more than a thousand refugees? Although the court has replenished the grain reserves, the money our lord lost hasn't been recovered at all. He saved so many people and still got a bad review, and his salary was even deducted. If Madam doesn't sell some of her dowry to help out, are you going to let our young master starve to death?"
The room was completely silent. Many people looked at the Meng father and son with pity, but their glances at Lu Jingli were filled with dissatisfaction.
Lu Jingli's face immediately turned a deep shade of liver color, and he angrily said, "Which servant is talking nonsense outside? Come in here!"
Li Xiaoxiao had been waiting for him. As soon as he finished speaking, she stepped in: "It's me! Does Lord Lu have any instructions?"
When Lu Jingli looked at the servant dressed in a light yellow-brown shirt, who stood ramrod straight with bright, piercing eyes and showed no self-awareness as a servant, he immediately flew into a rage: "The master is speaking, how dare you, a lowly servant, interrupt?! Master Meng has truly excellent upbringing, raising such an audacious servant. Such a lack of manners is simply outrageous."
Lu Weifu, standing behind him, blurted out, "They're nothing but stray dogs who've been kicked out of their homes. What rules do they have to follow?" These words shocked everyone present, and even Prefect Song's forehead veins bulged.
Although everyone knew that Magistrate Meng's family had been forcibly separated by Minister Meng, Magistrate Meng was, after all, a graduate of two imperial examinations and a seventh-rank official appointed by the court. It was not up to a junior with only the title of Xiucai to comment on him.
The prefectural school administrator looked at Lu Weifu with nothing but dissatisfaction.
Prefect Song couldn't help but curse Lu Weifu in his heart. What a fool! He's been spoiled rotten since childhood. He doesn't even know what to say or not to say in this kind of situation!
He was about to reprimand Lu Weifu when Lu Jingli spoke up first: "Since Magistrate Meng doesn't know how to teach manners, let me teach him. Guards!"
Immediately, a burly follower walked in from the door. Lu Jingli pointed at Li and said with a smile, "Slap his mouth!"
The attendant responded and slapped Li Xiaoxiao's face with his fan-like hand.
His size was almost twice that of Li Xiaoxiao. Everyone was shocked. If that slap had landed, the servant boy would probably have lost all his teeth.
A cold smile appeared on Meng Guanqi's lips: "Xiaoxiao, no need to be polite."
Li Xiaoxiao chuckled and said, "Yes, young master." He then reached out and grabbed the attendant's hand.
The attendant was startled and hurriedly tried to pull his hand away, but found that his hand was stuck in the wall and he couldn't move it at all. He quickly kicked him.
Li Xiaoxiao dodged his attack with a quick movement, and in a flash, she swept her right leg across his other leg while releasing her grip on his hand.
With one leg still in the air, the follower was swept away by the other leg, and the support in his hands suddenly disappeared. He fell to the ground in a split.
The sounds of tearing fabric and shifting bones rang out simultaneously. The follower screamed and rolled on the ground, clutching his torn testicles.
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