"Hey, have you heard? The Shu family son-in-law has an unknown origin. I wonder which backwater swamp he crawled out of."
"His real last name isn't even Lin. He has elderly parents back home."
"He is a notorious bandit. I also heard he was caught cheating on the imperial examinations, clinging to the rich and powerful."
"Miss, young master, the streets are filled with rumors about your background. They have spread through every street and alley in the capital."
"I know. It is just idle gossip. No need to pay attention to it. An innocent person has nothing to fear. It won't be long before these rumors collapse on their own."
At first, I didn't take it to heart. But I underestimated the sinister intentions of the mastermind behind this.
Two days later, an old man and an old woman were kneeling at our gate, wailing loud enough for the whole street to hear.
"My poor unfortunate child. How could you forget the parents who gave you life and raised you? We traveled thousands of miles to find you, and you won't even let us through the door."
I knew these malicious rumors, along with the ridiculous scene before him, stabbed him deeply. He has been an orphan since childhood, and yearned for family affection more than anyone else.
They couldn't ruin my business, so they came to ruin my husband. They want to make our Shu family the laughingstock of the entire world.
Who is it? Who is pulling the strings from behind?
Put on a show, then. Let's see how long you can keep acting.
"You say you are his parents."
"That is right. He is my unfilial son."
"Since you are biological father and son, there is one thing that absolutely cannot be fake. Uncle Fu, go fetch a physician and prepare a bowl of clear water and a silver needle."
"Yes, eldest miss."
"A blood bond test?"
"Whether it is true or false, we will know with one test. If it is true, I, Shu Ji'er, will kowtow and apologize to you both on the spot. With a grand eight-bearer sedan chair I will welcome you into our manor, to support you for the rest of your days. But if it is false, the two of you pretending to be relatives of the imperial family, what should your punishment be? I believe I don't need to say more."
The old woman was already backing toward the gate.
"Want to leave? Too late. Guards, take them down. Send them to the government office. Let's see who ordered them to do this."
The crowd was still there when I turned to him.
"Zikuan, let's go home. Zikuan, I don't care about your past or your background. I only know that you are my husband, whom I have wedded before heaven and earth. The one I am to spend my life with. Anyone who dares touch you, I will make them pay tenfold. A hundredfold."
"Ji'er. Thank you. I am sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"I did indeed take the imperial examinations. And I was banned from the examinations for life. It wasn't because of cheating. It was because I offended someone. Someone I couldn't afford to offend."
"Zikuan, tell me what happened. Who is this person you couldn't afford to offend?"
"Three years ago, I passed through every level of the examinations. I arrived at the feet of the emperor, preparing to take the palace examination. The chief examiner that year was Zhang Pu, the Minister of Rites. Zhang Pu was a student of the crown prince's grand tutor, and a core member of the crown prince's faction. At the time, I knew nothing of these political relationships. I only knew that while he appeared virtuous on the surface, secretly he was committing the filthy act of selling exam questions."
Three years ago, in an inn room the night before the examination, he had heard them at it through the wall. Buying the questions. Selling them. And so, in the examination hall, he had written into his paper an acrostic poem mocking Zhang Pu for leaking the questions.
"Your Majesty, please look. This is Lin Zikuan's exam paper. He actually showed such outrageous disrespect. What use is there in keeping a scholar who insults his sovereign? Drag him out of the examination hall immediately. Strip him of all his scholarly honors and ban him from the examinations for life."
"If you know what is good for you, get out of the capital immediately."
"Zikuan, you did nothing wrong. What is wrong is this unjust world, and those vile people who twist right and wrong. Don't worry. What Zhang Pu and his people owe you, I will make them pay back a thousandfold, ten thousandfold."
"Ji'er, you must not. I don't want to drag you or the Shu family into this muddy water."
"Zikuan, we are husband and wife. We weather the storms together. Your business is my business. Don't think this can destroy us."
Little did they know that this move has just given us the perfect opportunity to strike back from a desperate position.
"Since they are using your past as a weapon, we will make everything public and report it to His Majesty."
"Ji'er, what do you plan to do?"
I told him. He was quiet for a long moment, and then he nodded.
"All right. We will do exactly as you say."
This time, as husband and wife joining forces, we will definitely uproot them once and for all.