Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

Chapter 768 Bully
Upon hearing this, Meng Changqing immediately perked up.

"Did he lose it himself, or was it stolen?" This needs to be clarified.

"It was stolen." Hearing this, Cheng Guang felt ashamed.

Although the amount of money stolen wasn't much, it was something that Shangguan had instructed him to do beforehand, yet it still happened. Doesn't that make him seem careless?

Moreover, this trivial matter was reported directly to his superiors, bypassing him. Cheng Guang complained that the thief was brainless, and also blamed the owner of the lost property.

"Have you found out the truth?" Meng Changqing asked only these four words.

Cheng Guanglian blushed. "We've found out. It was a young man from a neighboring house who did it."

Meng Changqing sneered, but in his heart he was thinking: Wow, someone actually dares to run into her trap.

"Young man, how old are you?" Meng Changqing asked.

"Thirteen or fourteen years old, I guess," Cheng Guang said, not entirely sure.

"Is it really clear? Are there all the witnesses, evidence, and testimonies?" Meng Changqing asked again to confirm.

“Yes, the young man himself admitted it.” In such a short time, Cheng Guang had already written the dossier, which he was now presenting to Meng Changqing.

Meng Changqing didn't rush to look, and instructed Cheng Guang: "Bring the person who stole the money here."

After Cheng Guang went to fetch the person, Meng Changqing unfolded the file and carefully read it, noting down all the details written in the file. The child was also brought to her bound.

"Kneel down!" Cheng Guang kicked the child in the back of the knee, and the child immediately fell to his knees, his face scraped and bruised.

There are no human rights to speak of in this era, and people will not be treated any differently just because he is young.

On the contrary, this man made Cheng Guang lose face, and Cheng Guang hated him even more for his lack of backbone. It was only because Cheng Guang did not beat the man up that Cheng Guang showed his good temper.

Meng Changqing looked the child in front of him over; he was fairly clean and dressed in decent clothes.

Meng Changqing asked him, "How old are you this year?"

"Fourteen." The child looked at Meng Changqing, not afraid of him, and answered whatever Meng Changqing asked.

How many people are in your family?

"My parents and three older sisters."

Meng Changqing then asked, "Where are they?"

"I went up north to farm." "Why don't you stay with the students at the academy?"

"What's the point of being together? We can't even have fun together."

Meng Changqing chatted with him for a while, and he admitted that he had taken the money. Meng Changqing then asked him why he took it, and the boy said that he saw it and thought that if he didn't take it, he would take it.

Meng Changqing asked him where he had put the stolen money, and he said he had already spent it, traded it for cooked mutton with someone else, and ate it himself.

The details the child described matched those in the case file, and he always spoke with an indifferent attitude.

Meng Changqing found it interesting; this person had quite a personality.

His so-called individuality lies in the fact that he is different from most people of this era.

Lazy, unable to learn culture, and has nothing to fear.

Since that's the case, Meng Changqing decided to test where his bottom line was and to what extent he would feel scared.

"Come with me." Meng Changqing told him to ride a horse, speaking to him gently along the way. "Are your arms strong?"

The child thought Meng Changqing had taken a liking to him, and spoke even more disrespectfully in front of Meng Changqing.

Cheng Guang, who was standing nearby, got angry and scolded him several times, but Meng Changqing stopped him each time, saying, "Don't scare him. I like bold people like him."

Meng Changqing led the people directly to the south city wall.

It hasn't rained these past few days.

Outside the wall, although the bodies of the nearby enemy soldiers had been disposed of, bloodstains and some small fragments still remained.

Meng Changqing pointed outside the wall and asked the child, "Look at all these things, aren't you scared?"

The child was putting on a brave face, but still stubbornly insisted that he wasn't afraid.

Now that things have come to this point, it wouldn't be fun if he didn't stick to his guns.

Meng Changqing continued, "Aren't you scared if I hung you outside?"

Before the child could react, Meng Changqing immediately called for someone to bring a rope, tie the man's arm, and flung him over the wall, leaving him hanging there.

Meng Changqing said above his head, "Don't worry, I'll hang you up for three days. If the Yan bandits don't come within three days, you're lucky. If they do come, you'll have to fight off the enemy's swords and spears for my Beishan County."