503: Pay

Pay

Xie Mangshan could not believe what he had just heard. At that moment, he felt as if there was a gleam pierced into his back. He felt terrible.1

He trembled as he pointed at Xie Pinggang, "W-When your father returns, aren't you afraid that he will beat you to death?!" 

"My Father? Do you think that my Father will help you? Let's wait and see. My Father should return to the city in a few days. If you are lucky, you might even be able to see him before you are locked up in prison." Xie Pinggang did not hide anything.

When he heard that Xie Niushan was about to return, Xie Mangshan's heart was filled with hope.

However, Xie Pinggang was not ready to let him go.

"Seeing that we are relatives, I will tell you directly. According to the amount of bribes you accepted, you'll escape death penalty. However, you've accepted bribes after all. There will still be punishment." Xie Pinggang's face was calm, "You will be imprisoned for a few years." 

The amount of bribes that Xie Mangshan accepted was indeed the least among those people. In addition, he had already packed up and left a while ago, so the impact was slightly less.

The bribes he accepted did not exceed 50 taels of silver.

In addition, he was timid. Although they treated the people who served the corvee differently, he did not dare to go too far. Therefore, there were no deaths under his hands.

Xie Mangshan was also Xie Niushan's biological brother. He could be excused by being fined.

However, Xie Pinggang was not willing.

Xie Mangshan did not have the chance to do anything worse. If Xie Qiao had not asked him to fire him, he would have accepted bribes for a few more years. He would have become even worse!

He could either pay silver according to the law or be imprisoned. The imprisonment would be at least three years so that he would not forget his mistakes!

Xie Mangshan's lips trembled.

"C-Can I spend money to absolve my crimes?!" Xie Mangshan asked anxiously.

"Sure, do you have any silver?" The corner of Xie Pinggang's mouth curled up, "If you have enough silver, you'll escape imprisonment after being beaten up. But Uncle, I heard that you sold your house? Oh my, what kind of good deed did you do with your silver?" 

"I gave you all my silver!" Xie Mangshan said angrily.

"Those silver? Those are mine to begin with," Xie Pinggang flicked his hand, he looked impatient. He looked just like a great villain, "Go home and collect them. Paying ten times the amount of silver in order to pay off the penalty of going to jail. If you don't bring the silver within three days, the official will enter your house to arrest you. Don't blame me. It was all your own doing." 

The reason why Xie Pinggang was able to decide all of this was because he had single-handedly exposed this case.

It would not matter if Xie Mangshan was arrested or not.

However, he did not know that when he heard he would lose ten times the amount of silver. He was already in despair.

If he did not have silver, where would he get the silver?!

He had returned all of it to his second brother's family! This Xie Pinggang. Even after taking their things, he still refused to admit his debt!

However, Xie Mangshan did not dare to take the belongings back. It was because at that moment, he trusted Master Mo's words even more. Although prison was tough, it was still better than being beheaded!

If he had not given those treasures away earlier, would he have been arrested and sentenced to death just like Old Li and the others?

Thinking of this, Xie Mangshan felt a little fortunate.

He was not a fool. Since this matter was handled by Xie Pinggang, he could almost decide the severity of his punishment! He had sent all the gold and silver back to his second brother's house, so Xie Pinggang accepted the benefits and did not kill him!

At least his death was averted…

The remaining calamity…

Ten times the bribes he accepted, that would be five hundred taels of silver...

Could it be that... someone in his family had hidden so much silver that the calamity was not completely solved?!

Who was it?! Who hid the silver?!

Thinking of this, Xie Mangshan went home furiously to settle the score.

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