Volume One: The Overseer and the Scholar Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Lady Accompanies the Study of History

In truth, Huang Ming had the most suitable helper right by his side all along.
That was none other than his own father, Huang Jin, the Eunuch Huang.
As the future Controller of the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs, a distinguished graduate of the Inner Study, Huang Jin’s erudition was on par with the best scholars and even the Hanlin Academicians. He was well-versed in history as well.
However, at this moment, the esteemed Eunuch Huang was not at home. He was occupied with a far more important duty—returning to the palace to petition the Jiajing Emperor to change the location of the upcoming imperial lecture.
As an eunuch who drew the attention of all within the palace, Huang Jin had already left the palace several times recently. This time, once he returned, it would not be so easy to come out again.
Did people really imagine the imperial palace was some public place, a latrine that one could enter and leave at will?
Even in later eras, one would need to buy a ticket just to enter the Forbidden City.
Thus, Huang Ming was forced to seek help elsewhere, but his connections and resources were pitifully thin.
Those with whom he had any acquaintance were all rakes and idlers—whether fellow students at the Imperial Academy or men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Clearly, none of them could help him decipher such ancient works as the Book of the Later Han.
As for the teachers within the Academy, perhaps they had the ability, but their status was so lofty that Huang Ming dared not ask for their help.
If he were to pay scholars outside to assist, there would certainly be many such people in the vast imperial city, but such a blind search still carried a risk of leaking secrets. Until the very last moment, Huang Ming could not bring himself to take that step.
Left with no other choice, he steeled himself to tackle the texts unaided, hoping to wrest some meaning from their convoluted passages. At the same time, he asked a few friends to see if they could find assistance.
As it turned out, this last measure proved to be the right one.
On the morning of the twelfth, Xu Qingzhi arrived in high spirits, bringing someone along.
He greeted Huang Ming with, “You should have said so earlier! When it comes to reading history, my… my elder brother is the most skilled. Whether the Records of the Grand Historian or the Book of Han, he’s read them all.”
Ignoring Xu Qingzhi’s boastful tone, Huang Ming turned his attention to the slender, delicate figure at his side.
At a single glance, he saw through the disguise—it was a woman.
Really, this was reality, not a story where a mere change of clothes could fool everyone into thinking a girl was a man.
Though she wore a scholar’s garb, her gentle brows and eyes, her graceful bearing—everything revealed her true gender.
What was more, Xu Qingzhi had already let it slip in his greeting; how could they hope to keep such a secret?
But Huang Ming did not expose her, instead offering a courteous smile: “Thank you, brother, for your assistance. May I know your name?”
The other immediately lowered her voice in imitation of a man and returned the gesture, “My name is Xu Yunzhi, Qingzhi’s… second brother.” She herself seemed ill at ease. “This is but a small favor. You are Qingzhi’s friend, and… anyway, I am glad to help.”
Xu Yunzhi glanced around nervously and asked, “Shall we go to the study in the back?”
Huang Ming instantly grasped her concern. Though she wore men’s attire, she was, in the end, a woman; it was natural for her to be apprehensive about being alone with a man in a room, lest rumors arise.
So he said considerately, “If you don’t mind, Brother Xu, let us stay here in the main hall. I’ll have refreshments brought in, and we can read and eat together.”
Without waiting for a reply, he had the servants carry everything in.
Huang Jin, as a cultured eunuch, kept a house well stocked with books—many works in multiple editions.
For instance, the Book of the Later Han and the Records of the Three Kingdoms, which they were about to read, were present in three or four versions each.
Huang Ming requested three copies, and the three of them each took one. Xu Yunzhi read aloud line by line, providing explanations as needed.
She was clearly well-versed in these texts, immediately turning to the crucial final chapter at Huang Ming’s request—the section covering the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling. She read and translated each line.
Huang Ming listened intently, pausing at times to pick up a charcoal pencil and jot down key points at random on paper.
He had no choice; as a time traveler, he had never learned to use a brush and could only take notes in this crude fashion—writing the simplified characters of his own era, which to contemporaries would appear riddled with mistakes.
Fortunately, his former mentor had trained him to take notes by hand during investigations; otherwise, after years of little practice, he might not have been able to write even half the characters.
Xu Yunzhi and her brother found his method most peculiar but, out of courtesy, said nothing and simply took note of it.
It wasn’t until they were leaving that afternoon that Xu Yunzhi remarked, “It seems Young Master Huang’s lack of erudition stems from his background.
“But even so, he is diligent and eager to learn. You, little brother, should take a lesson from him.”

Xu Qingzhi yawned and agreed absentmindedly. Among the three siblings, he was the youngest and the most careless. His elder sister was the cleverest and the best at managing the household—even their eldest brother listened to her, to say nothing of himself.
He quickly changed the subject: “So, sister, what do you think of Young Master Huang?”
“He’s rather clever. Some of the questions he asked were astonishing for someone reading these books for the first time.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, what do you think of his character…?”
At this, Xu Yunzhi blushed, recalling the teasing words their uncle had spoken that day.
The reason she had agreed to help today was not simply because of her brother; she also wished to repay Huang Ming for helping her family, and she was curious about this young man who had so deftly solved the case of the prison break.
After spending the day working with him and hearing her brother’s question, she was at a loss for how to respond.
After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “He seems a good person, and very astute.”
“Oh? How can you tell?”
“You think he’s as dense as you? He saw at once that I’m a woman. That’s why he so ‘thoughtlessly’ had us read in the hall—so I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.” She shot her brother a glance.
“Really?” Xu Qingzhi gaped in surprise. “You didn’t need to say it directly?”
“Among the clever, much is left unspoken. To state it outright would be inelegant. So, next time, there’s no need to pretend.”
Xu Qingzhi scratched his head in frustration. “You clever people make life too complicated. Wouldn’t it be better just to say what you mean?”
Xu Yunzhi only smiled, but somehow, the image of the earnest, focused youth lingered in her mind.
From that day on, for several days, the Xu siblings visited the Huang residence to help Huang Ming master the requisite historical texts, until the fourteenth of October passed and the fifteenth arrived.