What is the crime? The crime is that he intended to bribe a court eunuch. When the emperor found out, he ordered that Frank Bolton be pardoned and declared innocent. Charles Green, disregarding the imperial pardon, still executed Frank Bolton and slaughtered over two hundred members of his clan and guests! The entire Zhang family was wiped out! And all this just for intending to bribe a court eunuch? At the same time, the Prefect of Taiyuan, James Clark, arrested the local Huangmen, Jason Hill, and, charging him with failing to do good deeds, actually exterminated his entire clan!

These two men instantly became famous throughout the land. Whether scholars or commoners, everyone regarded them as paragons unafraid of powerful nobles. Even if these nobles merely intended to bribe eunuchs, or the Huangmen was simply notorious for not doing good, they were directly wiped out. The officials of the late Han were madmen. Under the bizarre system of recommending filial and incorrupt candidates, countless strange paragons of filial piety and upright officials were born!

In this era, there were sons who killed their own children to feed their mothers, upright officials who killed their concubines to reward the army, and thousands upon thousands of officials like Wade Young, whose eyes were set only on empty reputation. For this, they kept a close watch on all the powerful and noble families, and at the slightest mistake, would slaughter them without mercy. Thus, throughout the annals of the Han, how many upright and famous officials are there? The “unyielding magistrate,” the “unyielding magistrate”—the biographies of famous officials all say the same thing: punish the powerful, win the people’s admiration, divorce their wives and resign from office, swear to oppose the mighty to the death!

And Wade Young, at this moment, was using this very matter to mercilessly rebuke the Marquis’s household. Young Lord was only nine years old—he knew this, but did the world? They only knew that they were mere ministers, while Lord was a noble and imperial kinsman. To stand up to his tyranny and rebuke him face to face! The more Wade Young spoke, the more pleased he became, even dragging in Henry Clark’s deceased father.

What Wade Young most hoped for at this moment was for Donna Smith to submit a memorial to His Majesty, so that the emperor would become furious and throw him in prison. In this way, he too could become famous throughout the land like Charles Green and James Clark, and for a time be hailed as a virtuous minister and renowned scholar, leaving his name in history!

But Donna Smith was just a woman—how could she match Wade Young in eloquence? She listened in anger, but could not out-argue him, trembling all over with rage, biting her lip and looking to her elder brother. David Smith had read a few books, but compared to a scion of a great family like Wade Young, he was no match. He opened his mouth, but could only sigh helplessly. Wade Young’s lips curled into a smile as he said to Donna Smith, “Where is Young Lord? May I see him?”

Donna Smith turned her head away, ignoring him.

Wade Young then looked at David Smith, who could only sigh and bow, saying, “My lord, please follow me.” He led him to the study. When they reached the door, they found it tightly closed, with the sound of reading coming from within. Wade Young was taken aback—since when did imperial kinsmen’s children study as well? There were outstanding members among the imperial clan, such as William Clark, who made the list of the Eight Talents at a young age—a true talent of the clan.

But among those of the imperial clan close to the emperor, like Henry Clark, few ever studied or entered officialdom!

He stood at the door, motionless, listening to the sound of reading from inside.

A household servant said, “My lord, shall I knock and inform them?”

“Gongyang is most refined; I cannot bear to disturb him.”

David Smith had no choice but to stand there and wait with him. They waited for more than an hour, until everyone was swaying from fatigue, before the door was finally pushed open. An old man strode out quickly. Seeing the disgruntled faces of the young servants, and then noticing the official seal hanging from Wade Young’s waist, the old man stopped, hands behind his back, and looked up at them, exuding an air of boldness.

“Greetings, elder!” Wade Young bowed respectfully, and everyone else followed suit.

The old man didn’t even acknowledge them, just waved his hand casually and looked up again. A chubby boy came bouncing out. Seeing the old man standing at the door, his expression changed; he immediately straightened his clothes and assumed the manner of a refined young gentleman. Wade Young, receiving no return salute from the old man, was neither discouraged nor angry. He looked at the chubby boy at the side, smiling as he sized him up.

At this moment, the chubby boy was also sizing up these uninvited guests. Seeing his uncle’s displeased face and the servants’ hostility toward them, he couldn’t help but regard Wade Young with a bit of hostility as well. He straightened his back and asked boldly, “Who are you?”

“I am the great-grandson of Minister Yuan Zhao, grandson of Yuan Gaoshi, son of the late Grand Commandant Tang, and Chancellor of Hejian, Wade!”

“Since you, young marquis, have studied and now meet a high official, why do you not bow in greeting?”

His words were forceful, leaving the chubby boy a bit confused. What was all this about offices and great-grandsons? Was his surname Yuan, with the given name Wei? He’d never heard of him! He straightened his sleeves and replied:

“Henry is a descendant of the Grand Ancestor, Emperor Gao, great-grandson of Emperor Xiaozhang of the Suizong line, grandson of King Xiao of Hejian, and nephew of the current emperor!”

Comparing backgrounds, are we? All my ancestors above my great-grandfather were emperors! And you want to compare with me? If I go back further, my ancestors can be traced to the Red Emperor! And you, surname Yuan? Even if you go back ten generations, what are you? A monkey keeper?

No one knew what the chubby boy was thinking, but his forceful reply astonished everyone. Even the old man looked at him with interest, curious to see what else he could say.

“What is your rank? I am the Marquis of Jiedu Pavilion! Why should I bow to you?”

…