Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 1052 Yang the Madman, how dare you bully me like this!

As Kong Xixue held the official documents and imperial edicts delivered overnight by the Ministry of Justice, a single tear unknowingly rolled down his cheek.

Then, tears fell into the wine glass, and the wine flowed into my sorrowful heart.

This is fucking miserable...

Kong Xixue glanced at the empty wine glass in his right hand, then at the official documents and imperial edict in his left hand. Suddenly, he stood up, smashed the wine glass, threw down the documents, and grabbed the table with both hands, flipping it over violently.

"what!"

"Yang the Madman!"

"How dare you bully me like this!"

The steward of the Kong family hurriedly picked up the official documents and imperial edict, and looked at Kong Xixue, advising, "Master, calm down, calm down! This city of Nanjing is full of Imperial Guards, if..."

Before the steward could finish speaking, Kong Xixue shoved him aside and shouted with red eyes, "So what if they're the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"What good will it do to call him 'Crazy Yang'?"

"They are forcing me to become an enemy of all the officials, local gentry, and scholars in the world!"

"They are trying to completely eradicate the lineage of the Duke Yansheng!"

Kong Xixue appeared as if he had gone mad, his face displaying an expression that was both crying and laughing. Suddenly, he staggered two steps and stared intently at the steward, saying, "Now that I have accepted this imperial edict, I am a lackey of the court. If I dare not accept this edict, I will be disobeying the imperial decree."

There was no way forward or backward, and deep ravines on both sides.

"I cannot live, nor can I die."

"Tell me, what should I do?"

Before the butler could respond, Kong Xixue chuckled again, then choked out a curse: "Ruthless, damn ruthless!"

The steward glanced at Kong Xixue, who was almost completely insane, and tentatively asked in a low voice, "Then what does the Duke mean?"

Kong Xixue glanced at the steward, then at the imperial edict in the steward's hand, and instead of answering, asked, "Then let me ask you, if your Jun-ge'er and Yang Dianfeng's son were both captured by bandits, would you save your Jun-ge'er or Yang Dianfeng's son?"

The butler thought Kong Xixue was probably completely out of his mind with anger—my Jun-ge'er and Yang Dianfeng's son had both fallen into the hands of thieves at the same time?

Not to mention that Yang the Madman doesn't have any rich kids in his family.

Even if he were, he would be the eldest grandson of the current emperor and empress, the eldest nephew of the crown prince, and a proper young master of the Duke of Yingguo's mansion.

Given Yang the Madman's favor with the emperor, even if we don't know how many Imperial Guards would accompany and protect his young master, he would at least have plenty of people to take care of him.

My Jun-ge'er is nothing more than the son of a steward in the Kong family. What virtue or ability does he possess to get involved with the young master of the Yingguo Duke's mansion, and even fall into the hands of thieves at the same time?

If that day ever comes, my Jun-ge'er will finally be considered successful!

While secretly complaining, the butler tentatively said, "If it is Jun-ge'er and the young master of Yang Dianfeng's family, then I will naturally save Jun-ge'er."

Kong Xixue grunted in agreement, then said irritably, "Isn't that settled then?"

"You must save your Jun-ge'er."

"Of course, I must also save the Duke Yansheng's mansion."

"Accepting this imperial edict will only ruin my reputation. Even if I am assassinated, it will only be for me alone."

"Moreover, after I die, my family may still have a good reputation, and the new ruler cannot really watch the Duke of Yansheng's family line die out."

“But if we don’t accept this imperial edict, the destruction of our entire family is imminent. The higher-ups can tolerate Yang the Madman, but they cannot tolerate a Duke Yansheng who dares to disobey the imperial decree.”

The butler immediately realized what was going on.

So no matter how crazy, insane, or how much you curse in your mansion, you can only obediently serve as a lackey for your superiors in the end.

So what exactly are you trying to achieve by all this fuss?

In terms of martial arts, you can't beat those murderers from the Grand Commander's Mansion.

In terms of academic papers, you can't outwit Yang Dianfeng, nor can you outmaneuver Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen.

So, if you had just honestly pledged your loyalty and surrendered earlier, you wouldn't have ended up like this today.

Just as the butler was secretly complaining, Kong Xixue had already composed himself and instructed, "Just say that I lost my composure after drinking and accidentally knocked over the tables and chairs. Have someone come and clean them up."

"Also, send someone to the south to inquire and see if they have also appointed inspectors like our family."

The steward bowed slightly and accepted the order. Kong Xixue then snorted coldly and said, "Also, you should personally go back to Qufu and select some capable people from your home, especially those who are good at gathering information, good at accounting, and good at persuading people. Take them directly to Xinghua County to meet me."

"From today onwards, our house will be closed to visitors."

"No matter who comes, they will say that I am currently in seclusion, focusing on writing a book."

"It's the same whether it's the maternal uncle's side or the madam's family side."

"I will explain things to the old lady and the madam later."

"If anyone dares to break in, report it directly to the Yingtian Prefecture and the Five Cities Military Command."

……

Kong Xilu of the Southern School made the same choice as Kong Xixue of the Northern School.

Anyway, it's better for a fellow Daoist to die than for me.

Faced with the choice between Shihlin's reputation and family legacy, both Kong Hsi-lu and Kong Hsi-hsueh tacitly chose family legacy.

They were even prepared to risk their lives for the opportunity to pass on their family legacy.

Then, many officials and gentry who had just raised the banner of "purging the emperor's inner circle" were inexplicably stabbed.

The knives from the Dukes of Yansheng in the South and North are far more ruthless than those from Yang Shaofeng.

"Local officials who fail to fulfill their duties as subjects are disloyal; those who fail to act in the interests of the people are unbenevolent; those who allow local gentry to exploit the people are unjust; and those who go against the tide of history are unwise."

"Whether they are officials or local gentry, all those who exploit the people are contrary to the teachings of the sages."

"The Imperial Son-in-Law is here to inspect Xinghua by imperial decree, which is to uphold justice for the people."

"To remove those who uphold the people's rights from the emperor's side is disloyalty? Inhumanity? Injustice? Unwiseness? Or even filial impiety?"

"Therefore, it was actually a plot to rebel!"

"..."

When Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu's articles were published in the "Da Ming Baobao" (Great Ming Newspaper), officials, local gentry, and even all scholars in the entire Ming Dynasty almost went mad.

Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu, you two bastards, I'm going to work at 8 AM!

You two were the ones who tricked everyone into coming to the capital and ended up suffering.

It was you two who instigated everyone to deal with Yang the Madman.

Now look what's happened! It's you two who are cursing the local gentry and elders to death, and it's you two who are singing praises to Yang Dianfeng!

Can you two even be considered human beings?

In fact, it wasn't just the officials, gentry, and scholars of the Ming Dynasty who were bewildered.

Because Lao Deng and Li Shanchang deliberately didn't send a message to Xinghua, even Yang Shaofeng and Heizhima Tangyuan were completely dumbfounded.

"This isn't right."

Yang Shaofeng, looking completely bewildered, asked, "What's wrong with Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu?"