Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Young Clan Head
Magistrate Huang’s face went cold. He lifted his cup, took a few measured sips, and then slammed it down with a bang.
He looked straight at Li Wen Gang. “Li Wen Gang, you claim you know nothing at all about what Li Wen Cai’s household has done. Is that right?”
“Li Wen Cai is in Little Li Village,” Li Wen Gang stammered, sweat beading on his forehead. “This one—”
“Then I’ll ask you again.” Magistrate Huang’s voice stayed sharp. “When Licentiate Li placed high this time, did you expect it, or not?”
“I… didn’t… didn’t expect it,” Li Wen Gang said, words catching.
“Licentiate Li is an orphaned household,” Magistrate Huang said, each sentence landing like a weight. “Three elder sisters, one younger sister, only him as the lone male. He is seventeen this year—still a child. I’ll ask you: on his trip to Hang Zhou, who in the clan went with him?”
Li Wen Gang lifted his head, opened his mouth, and couldn’t force out an answer.
How would he know?
He’d only learned Li Xue Dong had passed after the good news arrived.
“Then in April, for the prefecture exam,” Magistrate Huang pressed, voice rising, “who went with him to Ping Jiang City?”
Li Wen Gang bent down until his forehead nearly touched the ground.
“Then I’ll ask you this.” Magistrate Huang’s tone eased only slightly. “In February, when Licentiate Li passed the county exam, did you know?”
“Yes, yes!” Li Wen Gang straightened in a panic and nodded again and again. “This one knew.”
“When did you know? How did you find out?” Magistrate Huang asked.
“It was two days after he passed the county exam,” Li Wen Gang said quickly. “His Eldest Sister pushed him here in a little cart. Right at the ancestral hall—right there. We were all there. He said he ranked third in the county exam and wanted to take the prefecture exam, and he came to ask for copper coins…”
His voice died.
They hadn’t given a single coin.
“Mm.” Magistrate Huang’s eyes flicked sideways as he lifted his cup. “He came to ask you for money. And then? Go on.”
“Well…” Li Wen Gang swallowed. “In our clan, people have taken first place in the county exam before and later still didn’t pass. These past years the clan hasn’t been well-off either. It wasn’t just me. It was everyone. Everyone said the clan was poor, and we should wait until Xue Dong earned the licentiate, wait…”
Under Magistrate Huang’s cold gaze, his words dissolved into a mumble and then into nothing at all.
“Yes,” Magistrate Huang said. “I understand.”
He slammed his cup down hard and pointed at the people kneeling across the ground. “And you? Do you all understand?”
His finger swept, his voice carrying over the crowd. “Your Li clan’s clan head claims he knew nothing while Li Wen Cai’s household plotted against their own clan, let their children commit violence, and swallowed another household’s property. Yet when your clan had a promising scholar seed like Licentiate Li—a prodigy—he ignored him. He even made things hard for him, insisting the boy should first earn the licentiate before the clan would lift a finger.”
Magistrate Huang let out a long sigh. “With a clan head like this, it’s no wonder the Li clan’s household style is rotten and its young men amount to nothing.”
He pointed around the gathered crowd. “How many branches does your Li family have? Are the household heads of each branch here? If you’re here, step forward.”
The household heads, faces tight, edged out from the mass.
Magistrate Huang looked from one to the next. “I’ll ask you: do you want to let this man continue as clan head, continue harming your Li clan until he ruins you all? Or do you want to cut out the rot and restore your family name?”
“Naturally we want to restore our family name,” Clan Elder Li Shi Kuan of the Wang Branch answered at once, straightening and speaking loudly. “Please, Magistrate, guide us.”
“You all agree?” Magistrate Huang asked, looking from branch to branch.
The household heads nodded quickly, like men afraid their throats might be seized if they hesitated.
“If you want to restore your family name, you must choose a new clan head and clan elders.” Magistrate Huang’s tone softened, but his gaze did not. “I say do it now. First put forward a clan head. Then let that clan head lead you in deciding a plan and reselecting the clan elders. I’ll serve as witness.”
A middle-aged man from the Man Branch bowed slightly to Magistrate Huang, then turned and cupped his hands toward Li Xue Dong. “This one thinks our licentiate should be our clan head.”
Li Xue Dong’s eyes went round. His hands flew up and waved like windmills. “Ah? Me? No, no, no! I can’t! I can’t, I can’t!”
“Cultivate yourself, regulate your household, govern the state, bring peace under heaven,” Magistrate Huang said, voice gentle and expression solemn. “That is a scholar’s duty. Licentiate Li cannot only protect himself. Your clansmen are your support—and they are also your responsibility.”
“Yes,” Li Xue Dong said at once, as if the word had been forced out of him.
A hat that big left no room to dodge.
But his stomach churned. Clan head? He’d never even been a household head. He was terrified.
“In your clan,” Magistrate Huang continued, “there are withered branches like Li Wen Cai, and muddle-headed people like Li Wen Gang. But there are also many who are reasonable, wise, kind, and well-behaved. These clan elders are not all muddle-headed. As clan head, the first thing you must learn is how to recognize people and use them.”
Li Jin Zhu stood to the side, eyes wide, blinking hard at Li Xue Dong as if she were trying to set his brain on fire through sheer force of will.
Li Xue Dong looked at her, froze for a breath, and suddenly understood. He spoke in a trembling rush. “This student… this student often heard elders say that the Wang Branch’s clan granduncle is extremely fair. Teacher also said the Wang Branch’s clan granduncle is rare—truly fair—and that…”
Old Master Kuan stood among the clan elders, head slightly bowed, a faint smile tugging at his mouth.
The boy was quick. Too young, poorly taught, shoved onto a platform before he’d even learned to stand. Yet even now, under pressure, he could catch a hint and turn it into sense. Given time, he would become something.
That would be good fortune for the Li family—and even more for the Wang Branch.
“Great Uncle is indeed fair and just!” the Man Branch middle-aged man called out. “Our Man Branch respects Great Uncle the most!”
“Right, right!” voices chimed in. “In all these villages, who doesn’t say Uncle is a good man!”
Third Uncle Li Wen Hua hurried to add his own loud agreement, and a chorus rose around him.
“Which one is it?” Magistrate Huang leaned forward slightly, studying the cluster of elders.
“This one is Li Shi Kuan,” Li Shi Kuan said, stepping out and bowing in salute.
“Don’t refuse.” Magistrate Huang’s smile was faint. “Licentiate Li is young, and more importantly, he must focus on studying. He should decide the clan’s major matters, but the daily chores are tedious. You will shoulder more for your grandnephew so he can study in peace. That benefits the Li family and the Li clan.”
“Yes.” Li Shi Kuan bowed again, deferential to the bone. “This one respectfully accepts Magistrate’s order.”