Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Public humiliation.

This was a complete and utter case of public humiliation.

—Though the nosy official didn’t know the term public humiliation, his current feelings were very much aligned with it.

While walking down the road, he encountered a colleague who greeted him with a smile: “Brother, is your hemorrhoid feeling better?”

While fishing by the river, another colleague showed concern: “Brother, with hemorrhoids, you shouldn’t sit for long.”

Even the Emperor heard about the matter and specifically dispatched a royal physician to see if it could be treated.

At this moment, the nosy official was on the verge of shedding tears of sorrow.

The pain! It was unbearable! He swore he’d never involve himself in such things again.

Next time he thought about joining the excitement, he’d—

“Which Kong clan?! Could it be…”

“Of course, the Kong clan from Qufu!”

“They heard about it so quickly?”

“Not exactly. It just so happened that a group of over ten members of the Kong clan were traveling to Liaodong. When they heard the news, they immediately drew their swords and headed over.”

“Let’s go, let’s go! If we’re late, they might’ve torn the house down already!”

The nosy official’s bold resolve faltered.

This…

His eyes darted back and forth.

Should he go or not? Maybe he could join the chaos one last time! He swore—this would be the final time!

The Gu Residence

The Gu residence was bustling with activity.

Throughout history, the Kong Temple and Kong Forest had always been treated with great reverence, giving rise to the thousand-year-old Kong family of Qufu.

The Kong family was undeniably the descendants of sages. Upon hearing that someone was using the name of their ancestor for fraudulent claims, they almost choked on their meals. After a coughing fit, they grabbed their swords and stormed out.

“So, you’re Gu Xian?” The Kong family members sneered coldly. “We heard you’ve been telling people your son is the reincarnation of our ancestor? Should we kneel before you, call you ‘Ancestor,’ and offer you three sticks of incense?”

Gu Xian turned pale.

He had assumed the Kong family, being far away in Qufu, would be out of reach. By the time the news reached them and they sent someone to investigate, he would have already gained enough fame to make his escape.

[This man didn’t just claim Confucius was his son—he also blatantly twisted the meaning of Confucius’ teachings!]

Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts seemed eager for chaos, but his actions were cautious and composed.

The nosy official could hear Xu’s inner voice but couldn’t figure out where he was hiding to watch the drama unfold.

The nosy official’s expression became conflicted. He hesitated for a few moments before succumbing to his desire to witness the commotion. He squeezed into the crowd, pinched his nose, and shouted, “Gu Xian once publicly declared at an academy that the phrase ‘Only the wise and the foolish cannot be changed’ means ‘The noble are destined to be noble, and the lowly are destined to be lowly!’”

Gu Xian’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, like a fish out of water making its final desperate jump.

The next moment, he felt the cold, sharp gazes of the Kong family members. It was no longer the anger of a dispute but a chilling, lethal intent born from having their core interests infringed upon.

It was as if an icy, iron hand gripped his throat, leaving Gu Xian struggling to breathe.

Mocking Confucius was merely an affront to an ancestor from centuries past, but altering the meaning of his teachings struck directly at the heart of the Kong family’s modern-day authority and benefits.

—Most scholars of the current era relied on the Kong family’s annotations for their studies. The Kong family’s authority in Confucian teachings was undisputed. Their exclusive rights to interpret Confucian texts were akin to their lifeblood, a source of wealth and prestige. Anyone who dared to challenge it would be swiftly dealt with.

Gu Xian, who wasn’t armed, instinctively stepped back, his expression wary. “Descendants of sages, are you trying to suppress me with your name? Is the Kong family bullying a humble scholar like me?”

The Kong family members smiled cheerfully. “Why would we do that?”

The smug smile on Gu Xian’s face froze halfway when he saw the Kong family members turn and bow in a specific direction, shouting, “We implore His Majesty to make a ruling!”

The crowd parted, and the old Emperor strode out with the bearing of a dragon and tiger. His steady voice asked, “What ruling do you wish for Me to make?”

The Kong family members quickly recounted Gu Xian’s words and actions, observing the Emperor’s contemplative expression. While their faces betrayed no emotion, they secretly felt a sigh of relief in their hearts.

They weren’t foolish. The Kong family were descendants of sages, not foolish sages. Why not rely on the imperial court when they could? The Sage King had no army, and a pen couldn’t overcome a gun. It was better to serve as loyal subjects and not put on airs as a thousand-year-old family.

—In the face of firearms and cannons, a thousand-year-old family means nothing.

The old Emperor was only pretending to ponder.

After all, he still remembered the phrase “extinct in the second generation,” and he had been looking for an opportunity to completely crush this junzi of women’s virtues. This was truly… the perfect timing.

After two or three breaths, he furrowed his brow and spoke with feigned seriousness, “Gu Xian, first you insulted the sage Confucius, and now you insult his teachings. Such behavior is truly beneath a scholar…”

But how should he be punished to vent his frustration?

[Strip him of his clothes! Make him farm for a living!] Xu Yanmiao’s voice was brimming with excitement, [Since he thinks the lower class are vile, then let him not wear the silk spun by the lower class, nor eat the rice grown by the lower class!]@@novelbin@@

The old Emperor’s eyes lit up at once. He immediately commanded, “Guards! Take this man away and lock him up!”

Gu Xian, who had been filled with hope, felt even more anticipation in his eyes.

However, the Kong family members furrowed their brows in confusion.

Just… lock him up? Wasn’t that a bit too light?

Before the Imperial Guards could take Gu Xian away, the old Emperor smiled and added, “However, since Mr. Gu is so confident in his words, why not live by them?”

“What…?” Before Gu Xian could even process the meaning, he felt a chill rush from his chest to the top of his head, and a wave of dizziness overtook him.

Then, the old Emperor’s face darkened, and he barked, “Strip him of his clothes! Since he looks down on the lower class, let him not wear the clothes made by the lower class!”

In the crowd, Xu Yanmiao was stunned, repeatedly replaying the Emperor’s words in his mind. Then, in shock, he patted his own head.