As an official, what's wrong with raising a few monsters?

Chapter 16: Unworthy of a Man

"Brother, are you full?"

"It's still early, why don't we go for a walk?"

After eating and drinking, Mingchen glanced at the diners leaving the table and asked Ling Yu.

"Uh...okay!"

Mingchen is a very special person.

He was reinterpreting the world from a perspective that Ling Yu could never imagine.

Ling Yu could feel that the other party was giving her something, something that would be worth her lifelong enjoyment.

She wanted to go with him.

"What about now? Brother, now that we have changed our perspective, what do you think of Mr. Zhang?"

The two were walking on the street.

Mingchen brought up the topic that had been ended at the dinner table with Lingyu.

Ling Yu shook his head honestly: "I don't know."

From the time they met until now, the answers she gave to Mingchen seemed to be wrong.

"Brother, we hit it off right away. We're about to become sworn brothers. Just say whatever comes to your mind!"

Mingchen weighed the jade pendant and said to Lingyu, "Brother, let me tell you a story."

"Five years ago, a scholar and a beautiful woman fell in love. They were so sweet and loving that they made a vow to each other for life and death."

"The scholar was born into an official family, but he wasn't extravagant or a playboy. He had lofty ambitions and kept making promises to the girl: he would one day become the top scholar in the imperial examination, become a pillar of the country, clean up the dynasty, leave his name in history, and live with her forever. The girl, who spoke frankly, gave her heart to him completely."

Mingchen felt the small characters on the jade pendant and said with a smile, "The scholar is quite knowledgeable and even wrote a poem as a gift!"

love……

Ling Yu had never thought about this.

Practicing, studying, killing enemies, and taking revenge... this is all she has.

The young man beside her said this with a smile on his face, but she didn't really understand it.

Even though she felt the story was a bit boring, she still preferred to discuss those wonderful truths and human nature with Mingchen.

However, the female ghost who had been following them in the gusts of cold wind bit her lower lip.

"but……"

Mingchen's voice gradually deepened. "Reality is always unpleasant. The scholar took the exam for years but couldn't pass. The beautiful girl was spotted by a notorious bully and was kidnapped. The girl refused to endure the humiliation and jumped into a well to die."

"what?"

"This……"

The turning point came too quickly and Mingchen's story was so concise that Lingyu was a little overwhelmed.

"and then?"

she couldn't help but ask.

"And then? The woman died, the scholar was furious, but the bully continued to act with impunity. The magistrate hastily closed the case due to insufficient evidence, and the matter was closed."

Ling Yu: ...

Mingchen casually threw the jade pendant in his hand to Lingyu: "This is their token of love."

"what?"

"what?"

"what?"

Ling Yu was a martial artist, so his hands were steady and he caught it.

But I was still scared and was afraid that the jade would be broken.

However, after hearing what Mingchen said, his eyes widened, and he froze in place, asking several strange questions in succession.

First there was doubt, then realization, and then doubt again...

Mingchen looked back at her and said, "You've met all the characters in the story."

"The magistrate is the magistrate here, the scholar is the magistrate's son, and the bully is Li Lao Er, whom I met in the tavern earlier."

In fact, she had also seen the woman in the story.

But she didn't know. "This... this..."

Mingchen shrugged. "The enraged scholar saw his lover tragically killed, with the murderer at large. His father, a local official, accepted bribes and refused to uphold justice or help him seek revenge. He's since grown resentful of his father and has been spreading the story throughout the city, revealing a lot about his family's affairs."

"This is what is called 'killing one's relatives for the sake of justice.'"

"His beloved died, leaving him with unfulfilled ambitions. He never recovered from this devastation, hating the heavens and the earth, blaming his fate for its injustice. He indulged himself in a life of luxury, failing to pass the imperial examination for five years."

"What do you think, brother?"

Ling Yu: ...

"Forehead……"

Ling Yu was tongue-tied and didn't know how to describe it.

She felt something was wrong, good and evil, seemed to be reversed.

The image of that righteous Confucian scholar in her eyes also underwent a drastic change.

"Brother, what do you think of my foolish brother's evaluation?"

"Mr. Zhang is definitely not the person you say he is!"

Ling Yu didn't say anything, but the female ghost beside him was still stubborn.

"Humph!"

Mingchen snorted coldly and suppressed the smile on his face.

"If a loved one is killed by an enemy, and he can abandon everything and shed blood to avenge his love, then I will still look up to him and consider him a man."

"And yet?"

"He is just a scholar, how can he avenge me?"

"If revenge is unattainable, true love is hard to let go. After all efforts, what if we die and meet again in the underworld? Would he dare?"

"If he's truly furious, then why does he ignore his main enemy and only lash out at his powerless father? He's already reached the age of independence, yet he's acting like a giant baby. In the past five years, what has he done besides complain about everything?"

"If you resent your father and disdain to associate with corrupt officials, why do you still live at home and accept support from your father? A man in his twenties with arms and legs, can't he support himself?"

'...'

Mingchen's voice became louder and louder, as if he was questioning something.

And in the corner where Ling Yu couldn't see,

The beautiful woman's face became more and more ferocious. She opened her mouth to defend herself, but no one knew what to say.

"If true love doesn't work, how can you give away a token of love that is more important than life?"

Until the end, Mingchen said a word.

The female ghost's whole body shook violently, as if struck by lightning. She turned around and stared at the jade pendant in Ling Yu's hand in a daze.

'Mandarin ducks and wild geese fly together, never abandoning each other, regardless of life or death.'

These were the sweet words the scholar said to her when they were cuddling each other by the lake.

She carved it on a family heirloom jade and gave it to the other person.

After her death, her soul remained here, wanting only to accompany him day and night.

Such an important jade pendant, which contained her heavy feelings, how could she...how could she just give it to a stranger?

Mingchen looked at the ghost girl in a trance and said, "You are smooth-talking but lack the courage to take responsibility. Your words and promises are meaningless. This is dishonesty!"

“Thinking about beautiful things every day but not taking action is laziness.”

"Fearing the powerful and only knowing how to vent your anger on your family is bullying the weak and fearing the strong. This is unfilial."

"He started several times higher than the average person, yet he's ignorant of the rules of the world. He's arrogant and wants the world to revolve around him. When he fails, he blames fate and the times. He doesn't understand his father, and only causes trouble. This is foolishness."

"When he saw the powerful, his first reaction was not to take revenge on his enemies, but to report his father. Tsk tsk tsk... I don't know how to comment on this. Even an ungrateful person would call him ancestor when he saw him."

"You are unworthy of being a man!"

"Am I wrong in my assessment of him?"

"From a filial perspective, he's not even as good as the playboy. Even if the playboy Li Lao Er has many faults, he's not a traitor."

Even though he had such lofty ambitions, he ended up being compared to a mere playboy.

Then he has already lost.

(End of this chapter)