Shaking his head, William Foster calmed his emotions and was about to step toward the academy when he suddenly heard a sharp, scolding voice in his ear: “You two bastards, when I whip you, it’s an honor for you, a privilege! How dare you resist!”

This voice was familiar to William Foster; it belonged to a daughter of the Marquis of Zhen Guo’s household, known as Lady Grace. In this academy, there were many scholars, and in his previous life, William Foster had only met her a few times, with no significant interaction. The only impression she left was one of arrogance.

Her shrill scolding was mixed in with the noisy crowd, and if one didn’t listen carefully, it would be hard to notice. Just from the sound, William Foster could tell that this Lady Grace was once again bullying some low-born scholars. Such things happened all the time and could never be completely stopped. If it were just this, William Foster wouldn’t have cared and would have simply walked away. But among the cries of pain, he heard a familiar voice.

“Move aside!” William Foster’s expression turned cold as he pushed aside the crowd in front of him with both hands and strode forward. His body was filled with a great amount of heaven and earth energy, giving him immense strength, so he easily parted the crowd and walked through.

Inside the academy, in a large pavilion called “Drunken Fragrance Pavilion,” a young woman in bright red stood with her hands on her hips. She held a long whip in her hand, her brows furrowed in anger, looking utterly domineering. In front of her, two young scholars in Confucian robes knelt on the ground like dogs, their buttocks raised, their clothes torn to shreds by the whip, revealing bloody welts.

The two boys had tears in their eyes, humiliated to the extreme, their bodies trembling from pain, yet they stubbornly refused to cry out. In a place like this, with so many people watching, the humiliation was far worse than the pain. But the girl before them had such a prominent status that, given their backgrounds, they dared not resist.

Henry Bolton, Samuel Carter!

William Foster recognized the two boys at a glance. Henry Bolton was the son of the Marquis of Loyalty and Trust, and Samuel Carter was the son of the Marquis of Divine Archery. However, although they were born into marquis households, they were different from William Foster. Henry Bolton and Samuel Carter were not born of the main wife, nor even of a concubine, but were illegitimate children; their mothers were handmaidens who had accompanied the main wives into marriage.

The Great Zhou dynasty placed great importance on etiquette; a handmaiden could never be equal to the main wife, and a handmaiden who came as part of a dowry had even less status. With mothers like these, the status of Henry Bolton and Samuel Carter in their households was easy to imagine, especially since both marquises had many children—fifteen or sixteen in total.

In his previous life, William Foster had been friends with Henry Bolton and Samuel Carter. Their personalities matched, and none of them practiced martial arts, so they stuck together and formed their own little group.

“Bastards will always be bastards. Don’t think your fathers being marquises makes you anything special. Let me tell you, a commoner marquis is still a commoner marquis—you’ll never be on the same level as us true nobles. Hmph! I’ll teach you a lesson for being so blind as to offend me!” As Lady Grace spoke, she raised her whip to strike again. She had a delicate and beautiful face, but when she swung the whip, her brows were filled with a wild, violent air.

“Stop!” A furious shout rang out from the side. Before Lady Grace could react, she saw a blur before her eyes—the other end of the whip was already in another young man’s hand.

Chapter 7: When Rivals Meet

Lady Grace was stunned at first. When she saw who it was, she didn’t try to snatch the whip back, but only sneered, “Hmph, so it’s you, William Foster. What, you little bastard, want to stand up for them?”

“Pa!”

With a flick of his wrist, William Foster yanked the whip from Lady Grace’s hand, and with a swift motion, lashed it hard across the arrogant girl’s face. Instantly, a red welt appeared, with blood seeping out.

“You—you—you dare hit me!…” Lady Grace clutched her face, stunned for a moment before letting out an incredulous scream.

“Hmph, who did you just call a bastard? Your mother is nothing but a concubine of the Marquis of Pingding, of low status—what gives you the right to act so arrogant here? Henry Bolton and Samuel Carter may be illegitimate, but at least they know proper etiquette and haven’t shamed their mothers. And you? A young lady, instead of learning embroidery or music, you’re here wielding a whip and acting like a thug. If your mother were truly educated, would she have raised such an ill-mannered daughter?” William Foster’s words were sharp and relentless, leaving Lady Grace utterly humiliated.

“What’s going on with William Foster? Isn’t he usually very low-key and never gets into conflicts? Why is he acting so differently today?”

“This Lady Grace is trained—normally, two or three people can’t even get close to her, but William Foster snatched her whip in an instant. Just from that move, William Foster must have some real skills.”

“Heh, this Lady Grace usually looks down on everyone. She’s bullied plenty of people in the academy—looks like she finally met her match!”

…

People around them began to whisper in small groups, their expressions excited, clearly enjoying the spectacle. None of them intended to intervene. Some who had suffered under Lady Grace’s bullying in the past felt especially satisfied watching this scene.

On the ground, Henry Bolton and Samuel Carter exchanged a glance. They knew they hadn’t been particularly close to William Foster before and didn’t understand why he was helping them now. But the fact that William Foster spoke up for their mothers made them even more grateful than his stopping the whip.

“You! How dare you!” Lady Grace pointed at William Foster, trembling with rage, unable to believe that a commoner marquis’s child would actually dare to hit her.