Volume One: The Overseer and the Candidate Chapter 24: It Takes a Villain to Deal with a Villain

Zhang Pan remained seated in the wide sour jujube wood chair, but it was no longer out of disdain for Huang Ming; rather, his body had gone limp with fear, and he simply could not stand. He had never imagined such a turn of events—Huang Ming, ruthless and cold-blooded, left him utterly unprepared and helpless. Zhang Pan’s only recourse was to bark feebly, his bluster masking his terror, “What do you intend to do? Do you know I am from the Marquis of Jianchang’s household? If anything happens to me, you will surely—”

Before he could finish, a crisp slap landed hard on his face, already twisted with fear, stunning Young Master Zhang. And this was just the beginning. Huang Ming followed up with another slap on the opposite cheek, then another. One slap, two, three—under the gaze of the assembled crowd, the sharp sound of slaps echoed relentlessly on Zhang Pan’s face. At first, he was dazed, but soon his cries turned to pitiful groans and pleas for mercy: “Stop… please, spare me…”

But Huang Ming was unmoved. Alternating both hands, he delivered nearly twenty slaps before finally halting, sneering coldly, “This is me disciplining you on behalf of your elders!

“For every time you called me ‘little eunuch’ since yesterday, you deserved a slap!”

At this moment, Zhang Pan looked utterly wretched. Both cheeks were swollen high, the corners of his mouth split and bleeding, and likely even his teeth had been knocked loose by the barrage. His spirit was utterly crushed; his mind could barely function as he tried to defend himself instinctively, “I… I didn’t call you that so many times…”

Indeed, since yesterday, he had only sneered ‘little eunuch’ at Huang Ming about a dozen times. But as soon as the words left his lips, Huang Ming delivered another slap, “Still dare to talk back? The rest are interest!”

He bent down, fixing Zhang Pan with a chilling gaze, his tone grim: “I don’t care how arrogant you were before. What you need to know now is, times have changed!”

“From now on, you and your cronies had better behave. If I catch you bullying our fellow students at the Imperial Academy again, I’ll beat you every time I see you—until you learn obedience!”

Finishing, Huang Ming didn’t wait for a response. He kicked out, sending Zhang Pan—chair and all—toppling to the ground. Zhang Pan lay there, moaning in pain, but dared not utter another word.

Only then did the other students recover from their shock, staring at Huang Ming as he turned away with composure. Their faces were filled with amazement, even fear; none dared meet his gaze.

Huang Ming seized the moment to raise his voice, “Fellow students, my name is Huang Ming. You have all witnessed today’s events—if Zhang Pan ever again abuses his power to bully others, come to me…”

“What is going on here! How dare you brawl and injure others in front of the Imperial Academy? This is a disgrace to scholarship, an outrage!”

Suddenly, several officials hurried out from within the Academy. Seeing the three fallen figures on the ground, especially the weeping, groaning Zhang Pan, the leading lecturer’s face darkened with fury, “Who dared behave so outrageously? Step forward!”

“It was me!” Huang Ming replied, unflinching, turning to face him.

Before the official could erupt, Huang Ming continued, “Are you an official of the Imperial Academy?”

“I am Wen Zhen, registrar of the Imperial Academy. Since you are a student here, you must obey its rules. You have dared to cause such trouble and injury—there must be punishment!”

The crowd anxiously watched; everyone knew the registrar was the one in charge of discipline—much like a modern dean. Huang Ming had just stood up for everyone, but now he faced censure, perhaps even expulsion.

Yet Huang Ming, the man at the center of it all, showed not a trace of fear. He looked back, sneering, “I’ve never heard of such rules in our Academy.”

“Impudent… Guards, seize him!” Wen Zhen shouted in rage.

“Who dares!” Huang Ming strode forward, sweeping his gaze over the attendants, who shrank back, too intimidated to approach.

It wasn’t merely the aura he carried from his past life as a detective; it was the blood on his clothes, lending him a murderous air. Moreover, even if they didn’t know his background, these attendants understood that every student at the Academy was a scion of noble families—it wasn’t worth offending him.

Huang Ming fixed his eyes on Wen Zhen, “Registrar Wen, I have a question. If the Academy has rules, why have you allowed Zhang Pan to bully his classmates unchecked? When he abused others, you turned a deaf ear; now that I discipline him, you rush out as if on cue. Is the Academy owned by the Zhang family, or are you a lackey of the Marquis of Jianchang?”

Wen Zhen’s face flushed and paled, trembling with anger. He wanted to retort, but for a moment, words failed him. Huang Ming’s accusation was harsh, but not without truth—the Academy had always tolerated Zhang Pan’s misconduct, fearing the power of the Marquis of Jianchang and choosing to ignore his actions.

Now, this student dared to strike Zhang Pan so hard—could it be his backing was even greater than the Zhang family’s? If Wen Zhen punished him, would that not spell trouble?

After a moment’s calculation, Wen Zhen made up his mind, looking at Huang Ming, “Your name is Huang Ming?”

“Yes.”

“I will remember it. I will report everything faithfully to the Chancellor, and let him make a decision. Attendants, quickly take these three to the infirmary for proper treatment.” Wen Zhen gave his orders, then strode away, somewhat flustered.

This sent a wave of bewilderment through the students. As the attendants helped the injured away and arranged for their transport, a cheer erupted among the crowd.

Everyone had long resented Zhang Pan, but had never dared voice their anger. Now, Huang Ming had avenged them, and they bore no responsibility—it was a liberating feeling.

Zhang Han, Xu Qingzhi, and others hurried forward to befriend Huang Ming, but he sidestepped their enthusiastic advances, moving first to the dazed young page at his side, “Hey, wake up.”

“Young Master, this…” Yu Mo was still shaken, full of worry.

“Listen to me: go find a carriage immediately and hurry to the Commandant’s Office of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Find a captain named Huang Bingkun, tell him Huang Ming needs his help, and to bring all his men here to the Academy at once.”

Huang Ming gave the order solemnly.

It was exhilarating to strike, but dealing with the aftermath was never so easy.