Heavenly Emperor Punishes Meng Mingde

Meng Xiuchen ran to the entrance of his home and happened to meet Meng Mingde, who was returning.

Meng Mingde looked defeated. That damned Censor Immortal Official dared to block him from entering.

Seeing no one behind Meng Xiuchen, his expression grew uglier. "Where is Meng Anli?"

Meng Xiuchen said indignantly, "She's hiding in the dorms and won't come out. The dorm supervisor won't let me in."

"Rebellious daughter!"

Meng Mingde was furious. He took a step into the mansion, then immediately retreated. With a dark expression, he walked back out.

"Fine, trying to be a turtle hiding in its shell? After skipping school for a year and losing her inner core, will the academy still want her?"

Meng Xiuchen chased after him. "Father, where are you going?"

"To find her supervising teacher. If she doesn't let Wanwan into the academy, then she won't be able to stay in it either."

He arrived at the supervising teacher's residence but was told that the teacher had been invited out for drinks by Lu Zhiyuan.

Meng Mingde cursed Lu Zhiyuan's ancestors in his mind, fuming. He wanted to find the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince had gone out with his eldest son and had not yet returned.

He spent a restless night. The next morning, during the imperial court, all departments reported on the events within their jurisdictions as usual.

The Censor Immortal Official stepped forward. "Your Majesty, this humble servant impeaches Meng Mingde, the supervisor of the student affairs department, for colluding with mortals, violating heavenly laws, and harming others with violence."

"Oh?" The Heavenly Emperor's eyes were hidden behind the bead curtain, making his expression unreadable. "Meng Mingde, is this true?"

All the immortal officials watched Meng Mingde with the air of spectators enjoying a show.

Lu Zhiyuan secretly opened a water mirror for Lu Yao, allowing her and Meng Anli to watch.

Meng Mingde clearly had an excuse ready. "Reporting to Your Majesty, my collusion with mortals happened eighteen years ago, when I was still registered as a demon."

Lu Zhiyuan cursed under his breath, "Damn it, he really knows how to quibble."

Lu Yao was also cursing.

Meng Anli, however, remained quite calm. After all, in her previous life, she had already experienced Meng Mingde's shamelessness and glib tongue in every way possible.

Meng Mingde continued, "As for harming others with violence, does the immortal official refer to me digging out my younger daughter's inner core? That was because she was jealous, bullied her sister, and captured eighty-one mortal women to refine pills. I dug out her inner core to teach her a lesson."

The assembled immortals were in an uproar. "What?"

"Captured mortals to refine pills?"

Meng Anli, however, smiled. She hadn't wanted to reveal this matter, fearing it would implicate those women. He himself had brought it up.

Lu Yao cursed, "He's really spouting nonsense. Anli doesn't even know how to refine pills."

Lu Zhiyuan quickly called out, "As far as I know, Anli does not know how to refine pills."

Meng Mingde retorted fluently, "After she captured the mortals, she had her second brother help her refine the pills."

Meng Anli said, "I don't know how to refine pills at all, so how would I know that mortals can be used for refining pills?"

Lu Zhiyuan repeated her words.

Meng Mingde was speechless.

Meng Anli then sneered, "Could it be that I read my second brother's alchemy books?"

Lu Zhiyuan repeated this sentence, adding, "She's either at the academy or at home. If she didn't see it at home, could she have seen it at the academy?"

Everyone knew that Xuantian Academy was backed by the Heavenly Emperor, and no one dared to say that such evil arts existed within the academy.

Sweat began to appear on Meng Mingde's forehead.

Meng Anli pressed her advantage. "Uncle Lu, please ask Celestial Master Zhang what kind of pills can be refined from eighty-one women."

Lu Zhiyuan immediately called out, "I am very curious. Please, Celestial Master Zhang, enlighten us. What kind of pills can be refined from eighty-one women?"

Celestial Master Zhang, suddenly called upon, hesitated. "This..."

The Heavenly Emperor said faintly, "Hmm?"

Celestial Master Zhang bowed. "I have never seen such alchemy techniques, nor do I know."

"I recall," Lu Zhiyuan looked to the seat to the Heavenly Emperor's lower left, "that Eastern Hua Emperor Lord also knows alchemy and is very learned. Has Eastern Hua Emperor Lord heard of this?"

Eastern Hua Emperor Lord rubbed his fingers slightly, opened his fan, and fanned himself leisurely.

"The heart's blood of eighty-one mortal women can be used to refine an inner core, but this is all baseless talk with no evidence."

At this point, the immortal officials understood.

Those women were used to refine an inner core. Since Meng Anli had an inner core, why would she need to refine one?

Thump~

Meng Mingde knelt. "Your Majesty, my daughter might have been misled into believing she could refine other pills, which is why she captured so many women. A father's fault is in his child's upbringing. I doted on her so much before; if she hadn't made such a grave mistake, why would I have cruelly dug out her inner core?"

Lu Yao scoffed, "Pah! He's out of arguments and resorting to shamelessness."

The calm expression on Meng Anli's face faded. This was probably not mere shamelessness; the key was "a father's fault is in his child's upbringing." He had cleverly turned this into a family matter.

This was the suppression a father wielded over his children.

There was another way out: investigate who captured those eighty-one women. The truth would be revealed with a simple investigation, but this required the Heavenly Emperor's decree.

The Censor Immortal Official also understood his meaning and attacked him from another angle.

"You say you had relations with mortals when you were registered as a demon. Then, when you brought your mortal daughter to heaven, were you registered as an immortal?"

Meng Mingde was once again speechless, and his gaze towards the Censor Immortal Official was venomous.

The Censor Immortal Official let out a disdainful scoff, then turned back and respectfully reported to the Heavenly Emperor, "Your Majesty, bringing a mortal to heaven without permission is also a violation of heavenly laws."

Meng Mingde was about to retort again.

The Heavenly Emperor spoke, "Enough. Meng Mingde, what you did was indeed improper. You will be whipped with twenty lightning lashes and fined a year's salary."

Meng Anli was disappointed. His Majesty overlooked this matter so easily without investigating the captured women.

Why was that? Was the Supervisor of Students' Office too busy to be without Meng Mingde?

Meng Mingde was overjoyed and kowtowed respectfully, "This humble subject accepts the decree."

Lu Zhiyuan felt a bit regretful, thinking the punishment was too light.

But the Heavenly Emperor immediately said, "Lu Zhiyuan, you will supervise the execution."

Lu Zhiyuan became happy. "Yes."

He would definitely make the executioner strike hard!

Meng Mingde's lips twitched slightly. His eyes were sinister, and he kowtowed to the Heavenly Emperor again.

"Your Majesty, my daughter Anli first committed wrongdoings, then caused a disturbance at the entrance examination with her rash behavior. Furthermore, her inner core is destroyed, making her unworthy of the Crown Prince."

Lu Zhiyuan quickly tried to turn off the Water Light Mirror.

Anli deeply loved the Crown Prince and chased after him every day; the entire Heavenly Court knew this.

Meng Anli said calmly, "Uncle Lu, I want to listen."

The Heavenly Emperor tapped his knees a few times with his fingers. "The Crown Prince is grown now, and some matters he can decide for himself."

Lu Yao and Lu Zhiyuan simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Yao said with lingering fear, "That's good. Our Emperor is truly wise and mighty."

Meng Anli played with her fingers, a slight scoff on her lips. What's so good about it?

She wished His Majesty had agreed directly.

In her past life, the Crown Prince was also captivated by Meng Shiwan. To please Meng Shiwan, he often came to the dark chamber to torment her.

On the day he married Meng Shiwan, she was sealed into a treasure bottle and dissolved by him.

This man was the direct murderer.

She couldn't hide the malevolence emanating from her body, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

The next moment, she fell into a warm embrace.

"Little Anli, it's okay. You've been so good to the Crown Prince all these years, and he only allows you near him. Doesn't that prove he cares about you?"

Anli shook her head. The Crown Prince's most frequent scolding in the dark chamber was.

He said she was shameless, following him day after day, impossible to shake off.

He also accused her of driving away the immortals who approached the Crown Prince, calling her jealous and vicious.

But it was clearly those immortals who knew they were betrothed and willingly retreated.

It was clearly Meng Shiwan who was shameless, seducing her own brother-in-law.