Miss Mengde tapped her fingers on the table.
“I’m certain for three reasons. First, as Liu Bei just mentioned, local officials always prefer to downplay cases like this—turning major matters into minor ones, and minor ones into nothing. That in itself is suspicious and worth noting.”
“Second, I looked into the trial process for this case. It dragged on for nearly three years. If it were really a simple case of accidental manslaughter with clear circumstances, it wouldn’t have taken so long. There must be complications hidden within.”
“Third, too many officials were involved—starting from the magistrate of Taixiang County, then the governor of Qi Commandery, and finally the inspector of Qing Province. When a single case passes through so many hands, it usually means the issues within are significant.”
“Why is that?” Liu Bei asked.
“Because officials are held accountable when they handle a case,” Miss Mengde shrugged.
“If it were just the county magistrate who mishandled it, that might be written off as a minor mistake. But when an entire chain of officials—from magistrate to inspector—makes the same error, it reeks of collusion and mutual cover-ups.”
“Technically, what they’re doing is forming factions and protecting each other, but as long as no one exposes it, it’s as if it never happened. So, to keep the truth hidden, they band together to fabricate a wrongful conviction. And the act of fabricating a wrongful conviction only deepens their guilt, which in turn pushes them to take more extreme actions.
“Put simply, if they mess up a case, at worst it’s just one commoner dead. No big deal to them. But if their mistake is discovered, several of them could lose their official seals. Do you think a peasant’s life means more to them than their political future?”
“Those corrupt officials…”
Yuan Shao, still a hot-blooded youth, clenched his fists in anger.
Yuan Shu rubbed his chin and said, “I’ve heard my uncle speak of Song Shang, the Inspector of Qing Province. He said Song Shang is selfish and short-sighted. If that’s true, then it makes sense he’d fabricate a wrongful conviction.”
His uncle was Yuan Wei, now serving as the Situ, the head of all administrative affairs in the empire—in other words, the equivalent of a prime minister.
His opinion carried considerable weight.
Liu Bei, however, thought of something else.
His expression turned hesitant as he spoke.
“But if that’s the case, and the Minister of Justice believes that Xu Hao didn’t kill by accident but committed premeditated murder… then wouldn’t that mean—”
“Most of the people in the imperial court today are useless,” Mengde said, cutting him off with a sweeping insult.
“The Xiaolian system—though it still occasionally produces some decent talents—is mostly a way for noble families to promote their own children, or for flatterers to build each other up by trading praise. Can we really expect them to do anything right? Of course not. So in the end, the burden falls on me.”
As she finished, the two Yuan brothers—descendants of nobility—and Liu Bei, who was currently climbing the ranks by networking, all guiltily lowered their heads at her scorn.
Even so, Liu Bei couldn’t help but quietly offer a reminder.
“Miss Mengde… you’re a woman. You shouldn’t refer to yourself as ‘gongzi.'”
At that, both Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu broke into mischievous grins.
As expected, Mengde wasted no time in shooting back with a sharp retort at Liu Bei.
“I’m calling myself this young master, so what? I have gender identity issues—can’t I just live as a man? Seriously, mind your own business…”
After transmigrating and being forced into a female body, Lady Mengde puffed up her cheeks in irritation.
Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu had once tried to correct Mengde’s self-address before.
But just like Liu Bei, they were immediately mocked in return.
After a few rounds of this, the brothers gave up on how Mengde referred to herself.
They certainly hadn’t expected Liu Bei to bring it up again today—walking straight into the lion’s den.
Which was exactly why the two brothers now wore mischievous smirks on their faces.
***
At the same time, Mengde was writing her response on the case file.
She requested the case be sent back for retrial, questioning why the proceedings had taken nearly three years and even required the intervention of a regional inspector.
After jotting down her opinion on the bamboo slip, she picked up a piece of silk cloth and wrote an order instructing the Minister of Justice to discreetly send people to investigate Qing Province’s Qi Commandery and its surrounding counties to uncover the truth.
She then placed the silk inside the bamboo slip, rolled it up, and set it aside.
The girl flexed her sore wrist.
Although Cai Lun had recently improved the papermaking technique, the paper he produced still couldn’t be used for writing.
Mengde did want to improve the papermaking process further and make a fortune selling paper, but the Cao family had already monopolized the steel industry and held significant power in the horse trade.
If they ventured into the papermaking industry as well, they’d be making too much money, which would inevitably attract attention—especially from Emperor Liu Hong.
Liu Hong was a greedy man.
If the rising success of the Cao family drew his suspicion, he might just decide to confiscate all their assets and seize the wealth for himself.
That would spell doom for Mengde.
Right now, she had no power to stand against the emperor.
That’s why the Cao family had to act with extreme caution.
They needed to butter up Liu Hong from time to time—send him gifts and keep him satisfied.
Mengde turned back to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.
“You two still aren’t quite up to par. I know your Yuan family owns a vast collection of books. Even though you both like to goof around, under the supervision of Grand Tutor Yuan, you did manage to finish reading them. But reading a book doesn’t mean you understand it.”
“There are only two real ways to truly grasp the meaning of a book. One, to read it carefully under the guidance of a good teacher, exploring the stories behind the text. Or two, to travel and study on your own, using your experiences to test what you’ve read.”
“Personally, I recommend the second option—but honestly, the first is good too. Look at Liu Bei. It’s only thanks to the patient guidance of his teacher, Compiler Lu Zhi, that he was able to spot the problems behind the case. Compared to Liu Bei, you two still lack real-world experience.”
“We humbly accept your guidance,” the Yuan brothers said, cupping their hands in respect.
Liu Bei, standing to the side, flushed red with embarrassment. Patient guidance from my teacher? Should he tell Lady Mengde the truth—that he had actually run away from the academy to avoid those very lectures and ended up tagging along with the Yuan brothers?
The only reason he noticed the flaws in the case was because he had witnessed similar situations back home.
The corrupt behavior of those officials in Qing Province wasn’t unique to them.
It was the same story across the entire Han Empire.
Forget Zhuo County—even in his own village, someone had once been jailed for three years simply because he offended a local official.
That man was also a descendant of the Han imperial clan.
But being a Liu by blood meant nothing nowadays.
After four hundred years of intermarriage and expansion, there were probably more descendants of Emperor Gaozu than there were stray dogs in the street.
Take Liu Bei himself.
Despite being a Liu, he was still just a commoner—forced to trail behind the Yuan brothers like a tag-along.
‘Forget it,’ he thought, shaking his head.
After what just happened, Liu Bei could tell that Lady Mengde truly cared for the people.
If she ever found out how rotten the bureaucracy of the Han Dynasty had become, she would probably be heartbroken.
And for the first time, Liu Bei finally understood what his teacher had been trying to tell him all those days ago.