Hugh Harris looked at him in confusion, and Little Chubby One panicked as well. Not daring to lie to the teacher, he anxiously glanced around but couldn't utter a word. At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. Hugh Harris turned around and called out, "Come in."

　　Donna Smith slowly entered. Donna Smith looked extremely haggard; she hadn't slept for several days—first because of Donald Smith, and now for Wade Young. She bowed deeply and said, "This foolish woman has offended Mr. Harris before. I wonder, may I have a word with Mr. Harris?"

　　"I have nothing to say to a foolish woman like you. You may leave," Hugh Harris said, giving her no face at all and waving his hand dismissively.

　　"Master?" Little Chubby One suddenly called out.

　　Hugh Harris looked down at him. Little Chubby One pondered for a moment and said, "Master has insulted my mother. The Gongyang Commentary says that one must seek revenge. But Master is my teacher, and the rites say to respect one's teacher. The Gongyang also says that a student must avenge his teacher. I do not know what I should do."

　　"Foolish! There are ranks to vengeance. The highest is for the nation, next is for one's father, then for teacher and friends. The vengeance for one's parents comes first. To kill one's teacher is unrighteous. If a teacher insults one's mother, then to kill the teacher is also unrighteous, and you would be condemning yourself!"

　　Seeing the two of them actually discussing such matters, Donna Smith turned pale with fright. Truly, those who study the Gongyang Commentary are all madmen!

　　Shouting about avenging grudges for nine generations, cutting down anyone they see?!

　　"Alang, do not be rude! Silence!!" Donna Smith quickly shouted, genuinely afraid that this old man and the boy would start hacking at each other over some crazy revenge. Little Chubby One still feared his mother, so he immediately fell silent, lowered his head, and said nothing. As for Hugh Harris, though annoyed at having his discussion interrupted, he recognized that a mother disciplining her son was only right and proper, so he said nothing more.

　　He turned to leave, but Donna Smith helplessly spoke again: "Mr. Harris, please wait, there is a matter of great importance that I must inform you of. I hope to have a word with Mr. Harris!" She bowed again. Hugh Harris, helpless, raised his head proudly, not even looking at Donna Smith, and asked, "Speak, what is it?"

　　Donna Smith had Little Chubby One leave, invited Mr. Harris to take the seat of honor, and said, "Mr. Harris is a renowned scholar of the realm. How could my unruly son possibly catch your eye?"

　　"I merely had an agreement with your ancestors..." Hugh Harris seemed to recall something and closed his eyes slightly.

　　Donna Smith hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she still did not speak. She bowed once more and saw the old man out.

　　She did not know whether she should tell this highly respected elder the secret of the goldfish and the heavenly book. If she did, would he help Henry Clark achieve great things, or would he report it to the court? Although the emperor and Henry were close kin, this auspicious sign was simply too great. In the end, Donna Smith dared not reveal it; she was unwilling to gamble with Henry Clark's life.

　　Henry Clark knew nothing of these matters. At this moment, Little Chubby One was in the attic, hugging the thick heavenly book and reading it again from the beginning. This time, he was no longer as ignorant and confused as before. He vaguely sensed that this book of fate seemed to determine the destinies of many people. That Wade Young—would he one day become one of the Three Excellencies? And would he have a nephew named Benjamin Young who would openly rebel against the court?

　　Suddenly, Henry Clark very much wanted to know if he really had a nephew named Samuel Young!

　　At this time, Wade Young's memorial had already reached the Secretariat.

　　At this moment, the Director of the Secretariat, Dean Cole, was reading the memorial in his residence. The memorial needed to be presented to the emperor from the Secretariat. As he read it, Dean Cole felt a headache coming on. The letter was filled with Wade Young's complaints—he lamented the rudeness of the local marquis, the attempted assassination of the governor, that he, as the prime minister of a state, could not command respect, and was bullied by an arrogant youth, and so on. The target of these accusations was the marquis Henry Clark, but Henry Clark was also a close relative of His Majesty. Should he report this or not?

　　After pondering for a long time, Dean Cole grew irritated. In the late Han, the struggle between the great clans and the eunuchs was fierce, but not all clans opposed the eunuchs. The Cao clan of Qiao County had always firmly stood with the eunuchs. Some of their members had even entered the palace, such as the famous Grand Chamberlain Thomas Cole, or those who had always depended on the eunuchs, like Scott Cole, Dean Cole, Chester Cole, and so on.

　　To call them eunuchs was really just to say they were the emperor's house servants, and the eunuchs merely carried out the emperor's will. But the power of the great clans grew day by day—they controlled knowledge, officials, and public opinion. They were not satisfied; they wanted even more. Although a hundred years later, they would succeed and establish an era of "kings and nobles sharing the world," for now, they were not yet qualified.

　　The Cao family did not have a good reputation among the great clans, but they lived safely. The entanglements of the clans were always better than the emperor's wrath, right?

　　Dean Cole thought for a long time but could not come up with a solution. In the end, he decided to seek his elder brother's advice.

　　His elder brother, Scott Cole—though outsiders all said he was mediocre and incompetent, all the affairs of the clan, big and small, were decided by Scott Cole, who was deeply respected by the family. He prepared the carriage and hurried to Scott Cole's residence. The servants quickly greeted him and led him in, where he saw a group of half-grown boys, along with many house servants, riding wooden sticks and playing at military games.