Kong Weishan was utterly dazed by the whipping, his heart torn by conflicting emotions.
He refused to admit defeat in his bones and could not bear the humiliation of being whipped in public. But he was only a Hanlin Academician, and a junior of the Kong Family at that. He did not dare use Literary Qi to resist. Using Literary Qi against Kong Yingshi would be an act of outrageous insubordination, and the Kong Family would skin him and tear out his tendons.
He sank into confusion, not knowing what to do. All he could do was keep defending himself and hope the other man would let him off.
Yet when Kong Yingshi heard the words "descendant of Sage Kong," his fury became uncontrollable, and his whip struck even harder and faster.
As he whipped him, Kong Yingshi roared, "You little beast! You still have the gall to call yourself a descendant of Sage Kong? Does being a descendant of Sage Kong mean gathering a pack of useless fools to storm the Sacred Academy? Does being a descendant of Sage Kong mean secretly conspiring against a Half-Sage? Does being a descendant of Sage Kong mean disgracing the Kong Family on the very day Sage Fang first presides over the Imperial Examination? A descendant of Sage Kong? Because of you lot, Sage Fang came to our door to demand an accounting, and our old patriarch admitted his guilt in public!"
Everyone around them froze. The patriarch of the Kong Family had admitted his guilt? What had happened?
Covering his head, Kong Weishan protested, "Impossible! How could the patriarch admit his guilt to Fang... to him! Impossible! We did nothing wrong! Countless scholars support us! What right does he have to make the patriarch admit his guilt?"
Kong Yingshi grew still more