[To Become a River of Stars] Dong Xiange - Chapter 60

The man named Chen Da silently endured her blows. The calm stupor on his face gradually twisted, finally transforming into a strange, heart-wrenching smile. He laughed at the crowd, shouting as if breaking down, “He was good to me? He was just a hypocrite seeking fame!”

Madam Pang froze for a moment, then mustered all her strength and slapped him hard across the face, cursing, “Chen Da, you’re not human!”

The slap left five distinct finger marks on Chen Da’s face, but he didn’t dodge or evade. Instead, he let out a piercing, eerie laugh that was truly frightening. His pale fingers touched the red, swollen cheek as he sneered, “Do you think your eternally virtuous husband was really such a good man?”

Madam Pang’s face turned ashen, as if a worm had burrowed under her skin, twisting grotesquely and distorting her originally gentle and refined features.

Seizing her speechlessness, Chen Da seemed determined to vent everything, spitting out words in self-abandonment: “Everyone says he was a good teacher, generous and charitable, aiding poor students. But under this bright sky, what kind of disgusting creature was he beneath that respectable facade!”

Madam Pang seemed to snap back to reality, rushing forward desperately to tear at his mouth while screaming, “You shameless villain! How dare you slander your teacher!”

Unfortunately, Chen Da showed no fear and continued loudly.

“He did help students, but only to seek fame and build his own credentials. His natural talent was mediocre at best, and he hadn’t achieved much scholarly honor himself. But later, he even gained the qualification to recommend talents to the prefecture—wasn’t it all because of this reputation?”

Jin Zhan, unable to stand it any longer, spoke up, “Regardless of Old Mr. Pang’s natural talent, the fact remains that he helped people. You’re narrow-minded yourself, yet you judge others like this!”

Chen Da seemed to hear the biggest joke in the world, laughing uproariously until tears nearly streamed horizontally. Then, his eyes, sharp as swords, pierced toward the memorial tablet in the center of the hall, demanding, “Judge? I wish I were just judging.”

“The students he recruited were no longer limited to poor children. Even those with both parents alive and from wealthy families came here to gild their reputations.”

He then turned his gaze back to the other disciples, venom nearly overflowing.

“But you people, with parents to care for and support you, with roofs over your heads and food on your tables, how could you understand the suffering of someone like me! How could you know what disgusting flesh lay beneath that old man’s golden exterior! How could you know what kind of blood and bones the reputation you admire was built upon!”

His words were so deeply bitter that everyone was stunned. The disciple who had been the spokesperson earlier even rushed forward, disregarding propriety, grabbed his collar, and shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting! You’ve sunk into the mud yourself, and now you want to drag others down with you?”

“I’ve sunk into the mud?” Chen Da laughed instead of getting angry, but his smile was so chilling it made one’s bones feel cold. “I have sunk into the mud, but was I born like this? If I were, then I couldn’t blame anyone. But I wasn’t! I wasn’t!”

“Some of you are exceptionally talented, with bright futures, able to bring honor to that old man. Others have parents who value you, from prosperous families—he didn’t dare mistreat you. But me…” Chen Da’s voice sank for the first time, as if suppressing a beast about to burst from within, barely managing to tremble through the rest of his words.

“An orphan like me, without parents… he would… he would use every despicable method on me. The first time it happened, I was still a young boy. I didn’t even understand what he was doing. Later, even in my dreams, I could smell the stale odor of his decaying flesh and feel the disgust of being pinned under rotting meat.”

His bloodshot eyes wide open, his entire being decadent, worn to the bone, he looked at the senior brother standing before him and asked crazily, “Was I born inherently inferior, deserving to be trampled like this, forced to endure endlessly, with no end in sight?”

The hand gripping his collar loosened. The righteous and upright senior brother stared incredulously, speechless. He wanted to loudly denounce Chen Da for lying, but it was as if his throat had been seized—he could only open his lips foolishly before closing them again.

Even Jin Zhan felt somewhat unbearable and asked hesitantly, “If it was really like this, even if you didn’t report him, why didn’t you just run away?”

“Run? I have no parents, nowhere to run. If I offended him, I’d have no hope of becoming an official. I endured all the way to today not to return to a life of poverty!”

“So, you planned to steal the treasure that could bring wealth, so even if you fell out, at least you’d be financially secure?” Li Xuanci cut in, hitting the nail on the head.

“Yes! This is what he owed me!” By the end, Chen Da was almost crazy, laughing and raging as if he had lost his mind.

But Li Xuanci had no interest in these frenzied emotions. He had endured listening to this tattered rag of entanglements for so long only to ask the following crucial questions.

“You’ve always been poor. How could you afford cold-eating powder? You probably didn’t even have the chance to lay eyes on it. Someone gave it to you, right?” He narrowed his eyes, asking carefully.

Having poured out his long-suppressed thoughts, Chen Da was now like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, spilling everything in self-abandonment. “Yes, initially it was by chance. Someone took a liking to my paintings and exchanged it with me. Later, they even introduced me to a merchant who sold the stuff, but then they disappeared.”

“Who was it? Was it a remarkably beautiful woman?” Li Xuanci pressed.

Chen Da turned, somewhat dazed, and said, “No, it was just an utterly ordinary merchant, the kind you’d lose in a crowd.”

At this moment, Madam Pang, who had been hiding to the side with an ashen face, trembled slightly. Li Xuanci caught it immediately, turned to look at her, assessed the expression on her face, and suddenly felt a spark of interest.

“It seems I guessed wrong. It wasn’t that side, but this side. That’s somewhat interesting.” A faint, ice-cold smile hung on his lips as he muttered to himself.

Shiliu had long since stopped understanding and noisily grabbed his sleeve, asking, “Which side? Which side? Brother, are we going on the seesaw? Shiliu and brother on the seesaw.”

Li Xuanci mercifully turned his attention to her, pressing down her pea-sized head, and instructed, “Behave, or all your snacks will be confiscated.”

Shiliu immediately shut her mouth. Only then did he turn back to Madam Pang, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Time to fulfill your promise. A deal’s a deal, no regrets once the move is made.”

The evil intention in his tone made Madam Pang shudder. Seeing this, Jin Zhan tactfully began to usher the others out to facilitate the questioning.

But Jin Zhan was perhaps a bit too diligent—he even tried to peel off Shiliu, the sticky candy, prompting Shiliu to cling to Li Xuanci’s waist, making a fuss.

Li Xuanci needed only one glance for Jin Zhan to break into a cold sweat, realizing he had likely misunderstood the intention. He quickly left Shiliu behind and escorted the others out first.

When the hall was quiet again, save for the sound of Shiliu blowing spit bubbles, Li Xuanci spoke calmly.

“Your husband’s reputation is likely unsalvageable, but your own reputation might retain a fraction. With the students’ support, you could still get by.”

“However, whether that happens depends on my whim and whether you are… cooperative.” His eyes held the keen interest of a coroner dissecting a corpse as he assessed the trembling woman before him.

Madam Pang’s face was gray as she muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t know? What kind of person your own pillow-mate was—others might not know, but could you be completely unaware?” A faint smile touched the corners of Li Xuanci’s eyes, captivating yet hiding a blade’s edge.

“His preference for young boys is ingrained, incurable. He had no children, probably because he was… ineffective with women. Over more than a decade, he must have gone through who knows how many. Could you not have known?”

“You kept it secret, claiming to protect the students, but in reality, you feared the peculiarities would be exposed, that the facade would be torn away under the bright sky, and you would no longer be the wife of a great benefactor.”

“Unfortunately, the moment you chose to help him conceal it, you became an accomplice. Now, whether he bears this sin alone or you share it depends on your performance.”

Having said this, Li Xuanci didn’t even wait for her response, as if already certain she would comply.

Unfortunately, there was still one disobedient person nearby.

At such a serious moment, Shiliu pulled out candy and insisted on feeding him. “Brother, so sweet. Shiliu eats one, brother eats one.”

Not wanting his hands stained with syrup, Li Xuanci instantly twisted the mischievous child’s wrist, pulling her into his embrace so she could no longer move.

Madam Pang looked at the childish Shiliu, tears welling in her eyes. Finally, a tear fell into the weary grooves on her face.

When she opened her eyes again, she said, “Ask. I will tell you everything I know.”