Chapter 880 – Northern Overlord (Seventeen)
The audience in the live stream had a decent impression of Tang Yao. Seeing him avoid Jiang Pengji’s gaze, they thought this young man had a crush on their cool and charismatic host. Just half a minute ago, they were optimistically misinterpreting Tang Yao’s intentions as a confession.
But then… after hearing his words, many viewers were furious.
【Great Tang Glory】: So mad! Who does this kid think he is?
【Mo Lingyin】: He actually called the little angel by our host a “lowly person.” Just wait until a bunch of bun-filling dumplings teach him a lesson!
【Li Family’s Mo Chou】: This kid is way too naive. No one’s wealth comes from thin air. The reason he can wear fine silk and talk face-to-face with the host is because he was born into a good family along with a striving ancestor!
【Freshly Squeezed Blueberry Juice】: Is this the so-called “aristocratic view”? Seriously, it’s quite annoying. If we go back tens of thousands of years, weren’t all ancestors monkeys climbing trees? Go back a few hundred years, and weren’t our ancestors just farmers facing the brown earth and backing the sky? If you can boast about having a good ancestor, why not work hard so your descendants can have something to show off too?
【Illusory City】: Everyone knows this, but ancient folks don’t listen to such things. Otherwise, where would social classes even be?
While the live stream audience debated, Jiang Pengji’s face darkened.
She retorted, “Why should we be mocked?”
Tang Yao’s lips moved, staring into Jiang Pengji’s bright eyes, momentarily forgetting how to speak.
By the time he realized what he had said, Jiang Pengji’s expression was already one of disappointment.
Tang Yao exclaimed, “As a governor, how can you lower yourself? Look at the people you govern: one’s a tattooed criminal, another’s the child of a courtesan, and another’s a mixed-blood mongrel. The others are all uncultured and brawn-over-brain fools. If we’re talking about uplifting the world, why should we work with such lowly and immoral people? If this gets out, the scholars across the land will undoubtedly feel ashamed.”
Jiang Pengji let out a cold laugh.
A chill crawled down Tang Yao’s spine; he instinctively took a small step back as an unspoken coldness flooded his mind.
Jiang Pengji sneered, “Oh? I don’t see anything worthy of mockery; on the contrary, it’s you who invokes laughter.”
Tang Yao’s complexion drained of color, as if a nail had been driven into the spot.
Mr. Yuanjing understood Tang Yao’s flaws and had tried to correct him, though with little effect.
This time he brought him along to open his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t be such a frog in a well.
Tang Yao’s background wasn’t as high as Feng Jin’s, but he wasn’t weak either—he was a young noble born with a silver spoon in his mouth. The people around him instilled the idea that noble blood was above that of commoners, and he gradually accepted this indoctrination, believing those from commoner backgrounds were lesser beings unworthy of his association. His admiration for Yuanjing led him to study at Langya Academy, marking his first shift in perspective.
Mr. Yuanjing upheld the principle of educating without discrimination, always emphasizing teaching based on individual aptitude, so his students came from various backgrounds.
Tang Yao never interacted with students outside the aristocracy.
Though it seemed rude, such behavior was completely normal among nobles.
“You—” Tang Yao sputtered in anger.
He initially wanted to befriend Jiang Pengji, not knowing she mingled daily with all sorts of people. As if that wasn’t enough, it was clear that she had picked up unhealthy habits such as revelry and gambling, behaving rudely without the slightest hint of noble decorum.
Jiang Pengji’s icy gaze fixed on Tang Yao, “The ‘tattooed criminal’ you refer to, his mother was harmed by a domineering local tyrant. As his son, how can he remain indifferent? A common man’s anger can spill blood, and for a son, is it wrong to stand up for his mother?”
Tang Yao was left speechless.
To remain indifferent as a son when one’s mother is killed is the utmost filial disrespect.
The unfilial are as good as beasts.
“And as for the child of a courtesan? Without those immoral traitors, how could women of the brothel become pregnant? Parents’ faults do not burden the child. You say Wen Zheng is a mixed-blood mongrel, but ultimately isn’t this a result of Dongqing’s local aristocrats being weak and incompetent, leading to their land being invaded by foreign tribes and their commoners suffering? If we are to speak of shame, don’t those noble fools lounging around without purpose deserve to take their own lives in remorse? Tang Zu De, if you criticize them based on talent, I might still listen. But using such excuses to attack others is truly the act of a petty person.”
Tang Yao stood frozen, his ears ringing.
He wanted to refute her, but the words got stuck in his throat.
Jiang Pengji continued, “You say my military generals are unworthy of teaching and have courage but no strategy? That’s a grave mistake! Without them battling across the south and north, suppressing the calamities caused by the Green Garment Army and the Red Lotus Sect, Wanzhou today would merely be a hell on earth. Tang Zu De, have you ever seen the horrors of white bones laid bare in the wild, with not a single chicken crowing for miles? I don’t want to hurt you; with your build, you might not even withstand one of my fingers.”
In summary, what qualifications does Tang Yao have to comment on her little princesses, who are both scholarly and martial?
Jiang Pengji delivered a final blow, “As the saying goes, don’t forget the well-diggers when drinking water; though words may be crude, they hold truth. All the rice you eat, the clothes you wear—each grain and every stitch—how much of that have you earned through your own labor? Everything comes from the hard work of the common people. Have you ever lifted a finger or even broken a sweat for any of it? In this light, can you not be seen as an ungrateful person?”
With that, Jiang Pengji scoffed and turned, leaving Tang Yao standing alone.
Tang Yao followed Mr. Yuanjing out of Langya, traveling while studying.
Living in his ivory tower, he finally witnessed the harsh realities outside.
Starving wolves and wild dogs were so emaciated that their bones stuck out; they had to scrounge for human bones on the ground to stave off hunger.
Dismembered white corpses lay half-hidden across the wilderness, and in the blur, one might hear the anguished wailing of lonely souls.
The beggars along the road had lost their humanity under life’s pressures, capable of committing the most heinous acts.
Such a grim sight filled one with dread.
Upon entering Wanzhou, however, it was another kind of paradise.
With careful questioning, Tang Yao discovered that the common people worshiped those “lowly individuals” as deities, and some even erected memorial tablets for them at home. Feng Jin, Wei Ci, and Feng Zhen were understandable, as they were from noble backgrounds, but what about others—what merit did they have?
Thus, Tang Yao was conflicted upon seeing Jiang Pengji.
What he witnessed clashed violently with his ingrained beliefs.
Caught in a standoff, Tang Yao suddenly felt an impulse, trying to seek answers from Jiang Pengji.
Unsurprisingly, he was met with a fierce retort.
Tang Yao returned home in a daze, where Mr. Yuanjing and Cheng Cheng were chatting and laughing.
“Zu De, how was it?”
Tang Yao pursed his lips, not saying a word.
Although the teacher often rambled, he surely knew what had transpired moments ago.
Mr. Yuanjing sighed and remarked, “You, what is it you don’t understand? Just listen, look, and think for yourself. Why bother provoking her?”
Foolish child, offending a person with such imperial fortune—be careful not to end up in a tight spot later on.
