Chapter 188: Scandal

Qufu is located in Yanzhou Prefecture, in the southwest of Shandong.

To the north lies the wealthy Jinan Prefecture; to the south, it reaches straight to Nanjing; to the west, it extends to Linqing; and to the east, it connects to the Yellow Sea. Added to the fact that this place produced the Sage Confucius, the prosperity of Qufu, if not the richest in Shandong, is certainly among the best.

Along the four main streets running east, west, north, and south, shops are scattered and pavilions are connected.

On the main street, the crowd is surging; one can see scholars wearing round-collared robes and merchants traveling from north to south everywhere. Because the Autumn Examination is imminent, not to mention the merchants, most of these scholars have come to pay homage to the Sage.

They are preparing to soak up some of the literary aura of this Sage.

Just as it had passed the hour of Chen (7:00–9:00 AM) this day, in front of the statue of Confucius not far from the Kong Family mansion, hundreds of scholars had already gathered.

Every one of them has a solemn expression and a grave demeanor, kneeling and bowing toward the statue of Confucius.

They look as if they are possessed.

In order to get a step closer to the Sage, clamorous sounds occasionally erupt: "Move aside, move aside! Don't block this young master's path; if you delay me from passing the provincial examination, can you bear the responsibility?"

"Why should I move? I came to this spot first." A rebuttal immediately rings out.

"Exactly, exactly. To serve the Sage, one only needs a sincere heart; what kind of decorum is this from the likes of you?" A middle-aged scholar with a short beard glares with disdain, then takes the opportunity to nudge forward, smiling, "I trouble you, brother, to yield a spot for me."

The scholars on the scene instantly descend into chaos.

At this moment, they cannot be bothered with any decorum; they only want to move a few steps further forward to absorb the literary aura.

In a simple tea shed not far away, three men sit around a table, with some tea and snacks laid out. The leader is about thirty years old, with a face like a knife-cut and a dark, purplish complexion; one can tell at a glance that he has some skills.

He is called Wang Lin.

He is a Banner Chief in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and this time, Han San sent him to investigate the affairs of the Kong Family. Once he arrived in Qufu, he conducted both open and secret investigations, and the further he investigated, the more he felt the terrifying power behind this Kong Family.

Because most of the things he knows are things laid out in the open.

Yet, no one dares to report them.

What does this mean?!

The Kong Family covers the sky with one hand in Qufu, and in all of Shandong, they are even more like a fish in water.

Wang Lin suddenly feels immense pressure.

However, since he has accepted this errand, there is no turning back once the bow is drawn, so he can only bite the bullet and continue staying here.

As he is pondering, one of his subordinates tilts his head and asks with a bit of confusion, smiling: "Boss, are these bookworms crazy? Just to worship this stone, they're almost beating each other's brains out."

Before Wang Lin can answer, the owner of the tea shed nearby is displeased.

He puts down the teapot in his hand, curls his lip, and says with disdain: "This official clearly isn't a local from our Shandong. This statue of the Sage Confucius is imbued with immortal aura. Sigh, forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

The guard is full of resentment, thinking: You, a small peddler, also look down on us officials? If he weren't on official business today, he would definitely overturn this stall.

Wang Lin holds his subordinate back, looks at the man, and smiles: "Brother, looking at your attire, you seem like someone who has read some books. I would like to ask you, brother—you must surely know that the current Senior Grand Secretary has issued a circular saying that he wants to re-examine the scholars of the world. What is your opinion on this?"

"Sigh, what opinion could I have?" The tea stall owner waves his hand and mutters.

"And what about this Kong Family?" Wang Lin takes the opportunity to lead the conversation to the Kong Family.

"What about the Kong Family?" the tea stall owner asks, pretending to be surprised.

"The Senior Grand Secretary is measuring the land of the world, and the land held by this Kong Family amounts to nearly a million mu. They are known as 'Half-City Qufu.' With so much land, they couldn't finish eating it even in ten lifetimes," Wang Lin says with an envious face.

Hearing this, the tea stall owner glances at the three men again.

Seeing that the three of them are all strong and sturdy, it is clear they are not to be trifled with.

The owner does not want trouble, so he just gives a sheepish smile and replies: "That all belongs to them. Even if you are envious, you can't just go and grab it. That was all accumulated by their ancestors over generations."

"Pfft."

The strong man who spoke earlier cannot help but laugh.

The tea house owner feels insulted and asks him with a dark face: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing, just thought of something funny." The strong man waves his hands repeatedly.

He thinks: Bullshit! What "accumulated over generations"? It was clearly obtained through robbery and plunder from the common people. If they relied on farming the land themselves, how many years would it take to accumulate that much? The tea stall owner is unhappy in his heart, but on his face, he can only squeeze out a smile and step away to a small table elsewhere.

Wang Lin is also secretly sneering in his heart.

He turns around and looks at the Confucius statue outside the shed.

Under the scorching sun, the Confucius statue is surrounded by a surging crowd, sweating like rain; the visiting scholars seem completely unaffected by the heat.

"Let's go, let's go worship too." Wang Lin stands up, stretches, and then walks out of the tea shed nonchalantly.

That evening.

Wang Lin meets with Song Ming, who has returned to Qufu, at an inn. Beside Song Ming is a thin, sharp-featured young man.

Wang Lin is secretly suspicious; he does not understand why Song Ming brought this person.

Seeing Wang Lin's expression, Song Ming smiles: "Brother Wang, don't look down on my brother here. Just as fish have fish paths and shrimp have shrimp paths, my brother here might not be as good as you in a one-on-one fight, but when it comes to other skills, no one can compare."

"What skills?" Wang Lin asks.

"As for that, you will know when the time comes." Song Ming strokes his beard, deliberately keeping him in suspense.

Then, Song Ming waves his hand and sends the thin man to a room to the side to rest. Only then do the two pull out stools and sit down to formally discuss the real business.

Wang Lin says first: "Hero Song, the power of this Kong Family truly far exceeds what you and I imagined."

"Indeed, they are the descendants of the Sage after all." Song Ming clicks his tongue, then looks at Wang Lin and asks, "In these few days you've been wandering around Qufu City, have you had any other gains?"

Wang Lin shakes his head.

In these few days, he has simply toured Qufu and has not obtained any explosive news.

Hearing Song Ming ask at this moment, Wang Lin feels ashamed.

Seeing Wang Lin's expression, Song Ming understands in his heart and stops asking, instead saying what he knows: "Brother Wang, I just found out that the Qufu County Magistrate, Kong Lin, has a mistress."

"So what?" Wang Lin asks, puzzled.

"Guess who it is?"

"Who?"

"That new concubine taken by the Duke Yansheng."

"This—this can't be possible!" Wang Lin stood up abruptly, eyes wide as he stared at Song Ming, and continued, "That is the aunt of Kong Lin; this is simply a violation of moral principles and human ethics!"

"The two sons of the Duke Yansheng died young, and if there are no sons, his title of Duke Yansheng should fall to these collateral branches. You tell me, faced with such temptation, could Kong Lin not be moved?" Song Ming said to himself.

After hearing this, a thousand layers of waves were stirred up in Wang Lin's heart.

(End of this chapter)