Volume Two: The Noble and the Mean, Chapter Thirty-Five: The Rat’s Son and the Bastard

Under the scrutiny of countless eyes, Huang Ming hesitated only for a moment before calmly stepping out from the crowd, one pace at a time.

Seeing him take the lead, Xu Qingzhi and Zhang Han also, after a brief struggle with themselves, shuffled out with slow, reluctant steps and stood behind him.

Lin Jinyan fixed his gaze on Huang Ming’s face. “You are Huang Ming?”

“I am.”

“I hear you are the son of the eunuch Huang Jin from the palace?”

“That is correct.” Huang Ming nodded without a trace of shame. There was nothing to hide; everyone knew it.

Yet Lin Jinyan gave a cold laugh. “No wonder. As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the sons of rats know how to burrow. A son of a eunuch like you, lacking in honor and decency, consorting with the dregs of society—well, that is hardly surprising.”

At those words, many faces in the crowd changed, especially Xu Qingzhi’s and Zhang Han’s. They nearly lunged forward on the spot.

Not to defend Huang Ming, of course, but to stop him from losing his temper and striking someone.

Everyone still remembered clearly how Zhang Pan had once insulted Huang Ming’s origins, only to be beaten senseless in public. The scene had been pitiful beyond words... and after that, he had never once returned to the Imperial Academy.

Now this Inspector Lin’s words were even more outrageous. If Huang Ming flew into a rage and lashed out, the consequences would be severe.

But just as they moved, they were shocked to find that Huang Ming had not so much as twitched a finger. He only stared steadily at Lin Jinyan and said with composure, “Then by that logic, Lord Lin must come from a family steeped in scholarship? Your father, your grandfather, your great-grandfather... all of them were scholars and officials?”

That reaction... was not at all like Young Master Huang...

The two friends froze there, utterly unable to guess what Huang Ming would do next.

Even more astonished than they were was Lin Jinyan.

He had spoken so harshly for two reasons: first, to provoke Huang Ming and force the boy to reveal a greater flaw; second, to give weight and justification to the blow he was about to strike.

Yet the other man not only failed to lose his temper, but countered with a question like that. How was he supposed to answer it?

Of course he had to respond, or else his momentum would be weakened from the start.

“Of course my household cannot be called a family of letters,” Lin Jinyan said. “At best, we are a line that has lived by farming and study. Still, we are far stronger than a eunuch’s household like yours. My father merely passed the provincial examination, and my grandfather did not even pass as a licentiate.”

As soon as he said this, one of his colleagues chimed in smoothly, “Lord Lin is indeed extraordinary. Your family rises higher with each generation.”

Just as Lin Jinyan was about to modestly demur, he heard Huang Ming ask again, “And your great-grandfather?”

Frowning slightly, he still answered offhandedly, “I never asked much about him either. He was probably never educated.”

“Mm.” Huang Ming nodded. “Then your family’s line has actually undergone many abrupt changes in the generations before you. From ordinary farmers, to people who could enter the examinations and earn the title of licentiate, then to a provincial graduate, and finally to someone like Lord Lin, who can enter the Censorate as a metropolitan graduate.”

After a pause, he suddenly broke into a grin and raised his voice sharply. “But that doesn’t fit the rule you just spoke of.”

“How so?” Xu Qingzhi, adept at playing the straight man, promptly asked from the side.

“Think about it: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes. How could a farmer who digs in the earth produce descendants like licentiates, provincial graduates, and metropolitan graduates?

“I can only think of one possibility: his grandfather was not his great-grandfather’s own son at all, his father was not his grandfather’s own son, and he himself was not his father’s own son either. They must all have been outsiders—perhaps scholars from the area helped bring them into the family.”

As Huang Ming spoke, he fixed his gaze on Lin Jinyan, whose face had already gone a mottled red and white. “To put it even more plainly: your whole line are bastards, mongrels!”

“You...” Lin Jinyan was so furious smoke seemed to pour from every one of his seven apertures. His face turned the color of pig liver as he flailed and tried to lunge at Huang Ming, yet he still clung to his dignity and status. It was truly agony.

The others quickly recovered from their shock.

Then the officials all wore strange expressions, wanting to laugh but only barely suppressing it, while the students of the Imperial Academy had far fewer scruples and burst into laughter at once.

A few of the bolder ones, like Jin Kan and the others, even clapped and cheered. “Hahahaha... well said! In my view, this fellow really is a mongrel!”

“Brazen!”

“Silence!”

After several consecutive rebukes, Wen Zhen led a number of instructors forward and managed to suppress the uproar, finally quieting the laughter.

But looking at the expressions on everyone’s faces, it was likely that by the end of the day this story would be known throughout the capital.

“This is utterly outrageous. Shameless, lawless behavior.”

“He has brought disgrace upon scholarship. Utter disgrace!”

At last the other officials recovered themselves and stepped forward, glaring at Huang Ming with faces full of righteous indignation, as though they shared Lin Jinyan’s outrage. One of them then called out to the official standing nearby with an equally grave expression, “Master Li, with a student so stubborn and unrepentant, does your Imperial Academy still mean to shield him?”

The Vice Director of the Imperial Academy was the highest-ranking official beneath the Academy Superintendent.

Unlike the Superintendent, whose post was held concurrently by a Vice Minister of Rites, the Vice Director was the one permanently stationed within the academy, the man truly in charge of all its affairs.

To make an imperfect comparison, this Master Li was the equivalent of a modern-day executive vice principal.

Li Kejian wore a bitter, helpless expression. Glancing at Zhang Bi nearby, who was already pale with anxiety, he then looked at Huang Ming. “Huang Ming, how can you be so rude? Why do you not apologize to Lord Lin? To insult a man’s ancestors like this is truly unbecoming of a gentleman.”

“It was he who first insulted my father, so I merely repaid him in kind!”

“And listen to him, listen to him! This is a student from your Imperial Academy!” Lin Jinyan finally came to his senses, his face full of pained indignation. “A shameless rogue, with not a single trace of the bearing expected of a scholar!”

Then, drawing a deep breath to suppress his anger, he looked at Huang Ming and said, “I will not waste words with you. I am here today to tell you that the court has already verified your dealings with those lowly brothels, and your confusing the people of the capital. This official and many of my colleagues in the Ministry of Rites have already submitted memorials impeaching you. You can wait to be charged!”

Without waiting for Huang Ming’s reply, he turned sharply to Li Kejian. “Master Li, do you really intend for your Imperial Academy to harbor and instruct such a man—one so wanton in conduct and so completely without reputation? Are you not afraid the world will laugh at you, and that all scholars will despise you?”

These last words were far too severe. Even Li Kejian, who had long since surrendered all worldly ambition, changed color.

He glanced again at Zhang Bi, whose face had gone deathly white: Brother Zhang, this time I truly cannot protect your student anymore...

Then, when his gaze settled once more on the real subject of all this, Huang Ming, he found that the boy was actually smiling. Huang Ming raised his head and looked at Lin Jinyan with contempt. “So all that bluster was just for this? You should have said so sooner...”