Volume Two: The Noble and the Knave Chapter Eleven: A Fortunate Misstep Reveals the Past

“How dare you! You’ve actually dared to throw Young Master Huang into the cells again without cause—who gave you the guts for this?”

After helping Huang Ming out of the cell, Huang Bingkun immediately barked these words, his fierce gaze falling upon the night jailers and clerks, none of whom held any rank, rendering them utterly silent with terror.

It was the holiday season, and no official from the Southern City Garrison was present in the hall. Faced with the furious Hundred-Household Captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, these minor figures did not even dare to breathe.

All they could do was hurriedly bow and apologize: “It’s a misunderstanding, all just a misunderstanding…”

“It was the night patrol outside who made a mistake and wrongly took Young Master Huang. Please, Young Master, be magnanimous and don’t hold it against us small folk.”

Huang Ming looked at the row of men bowing their heads in repentance, his tone devoid of much anger or joy. “A misunderstanding? I don’t think so. This is clearly someone seeking private revenge.

“I saw it with my own eyes—those officers who arrested us ignored others who also broke curfew. How do you explain that?”

Now, the men truly had nothing to say and could only kneel and beg for mercy: “Young Master Huang, we truly didn’t know anything about this. We weren’t the ones who offended you…”

Huang Ming’s gaze settled coldly on one of the jailers. “You’re Feng Wu, aren’t you?”

The middle-aged jailer, called out by name, shuddered. “Yes… yes, I am.”

Huang Bingkun’s heart stirred; he immediately understood. He waved to the others, “All of you, leave us.”

Though they didn’t know what would become of Feng Wu, none dared to speak up for him, each with the hope that misfortune might spare themselves, so they quietly filed out of the small room at the cell entrance.

The door was closed behind them, with two Embroidered Uniform Guard captains standing watch outside.

Seeing that only four people remained in the room and that he was the only outsider, Feng Wu grew even more frightened and immediately kowtowed again: “Young Master Huang, please spare me… I never meant to offend you. With your status, even with eight hundred lives, I would never dare target you.”

Huang Ming let out a cold laugh. “Is that so? You seem to have quite the short memory for a man of your standing. Have you forgotten? Just a few months ago, you arranged to have me killed in this very cell by that thug Niu Si!”

Indeed, Huang Ming had kept Feng Wu behind because he recognized him as the very jailer who had arranged for him and the criminal Niu Si to be imprisoned together months ago.

At the time, with more pressing matters at hand and relying on his status, Huang Ming had not sought immediate revenge. Instead, he had instructed Huang Bingkun to investigate quietly and gather more evidence.

Tonight, having once again been thrown into the cells by these men and running into Feng Wu, he felt it necessary to address the matter.

Feng Wu wanted to deny everything, claim he had never done such a thing, but as he looked up and saw Huang Ming’s face in the dim light, his expression froze and the words caught in his throat.

In that moment, his eyes bulged with terror. After a long pause, he could only utter, “Young… Young Master, have mercy…”

This plea for mercy was far more heartfelt and sincere than any before, coming from the depths of his soul.

For now he realized that the other truly might exact revenge—and take his life.

At this, Huang Ming fell silent, and Huang Bingkun spoke for him: “Feng Wu, it seems you understand what you’ve done, which saves us some effort.

“If you wish for Young Master Huang to spare you, it’s not impossible. But you must tell the truth. Who ordered you to put Niu Si in Young Master Huang’s cell? And who killed Niu Si?”

Having his past deeds so openly exposed by Huang Bingkun made Feng Wu shudder again, his face full of hesitation. “Well…”

“What, you still want to deny it, or bear it all yourself?” Huang Bingkun said coldly. “Let me make this clear: Niu Si’s family is under my control. If I give the word, they’ll accuse your garrison of his death. Just think what will become of you then!

“Of course, you might not even live to see that day, because soon I’ll take you to the Provincial Surveillance Office.

“In the imperial prison, I have a hundred methods to make you wish for death. By then, answering will not be so easy as here.”

These were not empty threats. As a man who served in the capital, Feng Wu knew all too well how terrifying the Provincial Surveillance Office’s prison could be.

The immense pressure and fear caused him to tremble like a leaf, and soon he lost control of himself, stammering, “I…I’ll talk… It was Liao Kui who ordered me to put Niu Si in Young Master Huang’s cell, and told him to do it…

“Afterwards, it was also his men who killed Niu Si and made it look like suicide.”

“Liao Kui?” Huang Ming glanced at Huang Bingkun. He was not familiar with many of these officials, especially those at the lower levels of various departments.

As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and having paid special attention to the Southern City Garrison, Huang Bingkun gave the answer: “Liao Kui is a censor at the Censorate. He’s essentially one of the head officials of the Southern City Garrison.”

In the Ming Dynasty, civil officials commanded the military, especially in the capital. Offices like the Five City Garrison sounded like military police, but were actually under the jurisdiction of the Censorate, and most of the officials were censors of the sixth or seventh rank.

That was precisely why Huang Ming and his companions had clashed with a censor like Zhou Huang previously.

Seeing that Huang Ming still seemed puzzled, Huang Bingkun lowered his voice and added, “Liao Kui is also from Sichuan. I’ve heard he’s taken part in several of Yang Shen’s poetry gatherings.”

Huang Ming’s eyes flickered. Could this be connected to Yang Shen, or even to Yang Tinghe?

Impossible.

Who was he at that time? How could he have drawn the attention of such powerful figures?

Even now, Yang Tinghe likely wouldn’t spare him a glance, much less take action against him with such underhanded means.

Their conversation reached Feng Wu’s ears, making him all the more terrified—he wished he were deaf.

How could a nobody like him be privy to such matters?

Huang Ming seemed to notice his panic and lowered his gaze. “If you want to save your life, you must forget everything you’ve heard—take it to your grave. Otherwise…”

“I didn’t hear anything, I know nothing…” Feng Wu blurted out.

“Who says you know nothing?” Huang Ming said calmly. “Wasn’t it you who reported to Captain Huang of the Embroidered Uniform Guard that the Zhang family’s men had bribed your garrison for personal gain?”

Tonight’s incident would serve well to cover up the matter he truly wished to investigate. In a way, the mishap of the evening had played right into his hands.