Top Scholar

Chapter 143 When a scholar takes action, one is worth two.

“Brother, you’re really wrong. City people are different from us country folk.” Su Youma said smugly, “We city people have to drink our fill, or we’ll curse if we don’t get enough. But city people are different; they appreciate elegance.”

"You know what elegance is, right? It's all about being pretentious, showing off, and being arrogant. So don't worry about small amounts. Just tell him that drinking more than three cups is like guzzling milk, and he'll never drink four cups in front of you."

"Then you just need to rave about those three cups of wine, making it sound like it's heavenly and unparalleled, and he'll enjoy it immensely. Not only will he not feel slighted, but he'll also enjoy it and go back and tell everyone that he was impressed by the elegance of yesterday."

"Are city people like this? You're kidding me, I'm not well-educated, don't try to fool me!" Youli said incredulously.

The other brothers looked at Su Youcai and thought to themselves, "Did you figure this out from your second brother?"

"Why are you looking at me? I'm different from them. Back then, I was just poor." Su Youcai coughed awkwardly. "Let's get down to business. Continue."

"In short, we've held several small gatherings at Erlang Market, and the results have been quite good. We've even reached some agreements, but the night before last, the officials came to our door saying someone had died from drinking..." Su Youma recalled the unpleasant memories, his expression turning serious as he said:
“During the interrogation, I remembered that a distillery owner did come to drink that night. He was sarcastic and had a bad attitude all night. But since he was a guest, I couldn’t turn my back on him, so I didn’t pay much attention to him. Later, the man left early, and before leaving, he laughed at me, saying, ‘You’re so poor that you can’t even afford to buy drinks.’”

"You don't recognize that person?" Su Youcai asked.

“I don’t know him. Although my ‘Erlang’s Little Gathering’ is by invitation only, you can bring your friends.” Su Youma said with certainty, “I chat with every guest. He was the first winery owner to arrive.”

"Competitors are enemies, who would come to support you if there's nothing wrong with that?" Su Youjin said.

“Brother, you’ve hit the nail on the head,” Su Youcai said. “If our colleagues come, they’re either here to find out what’s going on or to cause trouble for you.”

“That’s no reason to risk your life to ruin things for him,” Su Youjin said. “It’s just a small stunt like this, not worth it.”

“Indeed.” The brothers wholeheartedly agreed.

~~
Just then, there was another knock on the door in the courtyard.

Tian Tian is a diligent little girl, so she quickly ran to open the door.

"Great-grandfather..." she called out timidly when she saw that it was the eldest son of the Cheng family.

"Oh, Tiantian, you're here too." Grandpa Cheng forced a smile.

At this moment, the aunt also came out upon hearing the noise. Seeing that her father had arrived immediately, her eyes welled up with tears as she said, "Father, you've come..."

"My daughter, you've suffered so much..." Old Master Cheng's eyes also reddened. Regardless of anything else, he was number one in Erlangtan when it came to loving his daughter.

"Uncle..." The proprietress also came out to greet him, and when she saw her uncle, she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

"Hehe, Lanlan's here too." Old Master Cheng chuckled kindly, pulling an old man out from behind him and saying, "Look who's here?"

Cheng Xiucai then awkwardly revealed himself, first smiling at his granddaughter, "Little Tiantian, did you miss your grandpa?"

"I don't want to." As soon as Xiaotian saw him, she turned and ran into the house...

"Dad, what brings you here?" The landlady couldn't just ignore things like her daughter; she had to give her father face in front of so many people.

“Daughter…” Cheng Xiucai couldn’t say that he had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and after a long while he managed to say, “You have suffered too.”

"I just arrived too..." the proprietress said speechlessly.

“I’m talking about the past year or so,” Cheng Xiucai said, his words flowing smoothly as he spoke, “You’ve endured so much all by yourself; I’m such an irresponsible father.”

"What are you talking about? A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl. Her family can only care about her feelings, not her duty..." The landlady's words were harsh, but her nasal tone became increasingly heavy.

"Hey Cheng, stop pretending!" The old man came out at this moment, his eyes blazing with hatred as enemies met. "You said you came to see your daughter, but you're really here to laugh at us, aren't you?"

"Am I crazy? Why would I travel all this way during the New Year to come to the county town to see me make a fool of myself?" Cheng Xiucai said irritably.

"You're definitely sick!" the old man glared at him.

"You're the one who's sick!" Cheng Xiucai glared at him, and the two old men started pecking at each other like fighting cocks.

"Alright, alright," Old Master Cheng quickly intervened, "Don't misunderstand, in-laws. My brother heard that Lanlan and Cuicui were going to get into a lawsuit, so he rushed over to help. At a time like this, let's not fight amongst ourselves."

"Who's in cahoots with him?!" the old man snorted. "Do I need your help?"

Cheng Xiucai snorted and asked confidently, "Do you know how to deal with the county? How to respond to a lawsuit? How to steer a case in your favor?"

"How could I not understand..." the old man said, his voice tinged with guilt and shortness of breath. If he had understood these things, he wouldn't have been stripped of his official robes and lost Langquan Well. Back then, the Su family had a complete and overwhelming advantage; everyone in the garrison was one of their own. Yet, Cheng Xiucai seized the opportunity and took the case all the way to the provincial level, turning the tables on them!

This ability to perform well against the odds is exactly what we need right now.

Moreover, over the years, some people have sought out Scholar Cheng to help them with lawsuits. Once the government sees that the lawyer's name is 'Cheng Piyang,' they generally won't rule against him.

Cheng Xiucai had fought many times and never lost. If he hadn't disliked the reputation of being a "litigation swindler" and hadn't rarely fought, he might have become the top lawyer in Luzhou by now...

This man, who still strikes fear into the hearts of the government, has now voluntarily joined their side. No matter how annoyed the old man is with him, he can't possibly kick him out.

The Su family has always been good at distinguishing between what's important and what's not...

~~
So Cheng Xiucai was invited in as he wished, and sat down in front of his uncle's bed with an air of authority, asking questions about the case on behalf of his uncle and Su Youcai.

My uncle went over what he had just said again, and then continued:
"...Then that foreman Wang interrogated me, asking where Erlang wine came from and what my relationship with Erlang wine was. I thought to myself, shouldn't he be asking me what grudge I had against the deceased? Why does he have to make me admit that I drank Erlang wine?"

"So the more they asked me that, the less I could fall for their trap. So I said, this isn't Erlang wine, we've already finished Erlang wine, this is wine I got from the street..."

"Why won't you admit it?" Cheng Xiucai asked.

"Isn't that obvious?! The livelihood of our Su family of over three hundred people depends entirely on this Erlang wine! If I were to ruin the entire clan's livelihood, wouldn't I become a sinner of the Su family? So I would rather die than admit it!" Su Youma's words, coupled with the injury on his buttocks, made him all the more convincing.

"This kid's not bad, my daughter isn't completely blind after all..." Old Master Cheng, who was listening in, finally started to find this son-in-law a bit more agreeable.

The old man said calmly, "My offspring can't be anything but good."

"They tortured you to extract a confession just so you would admit that you drank Erlang wine that night?" Cheng Xiucai pressed.

“Yes, they insisted that I was lying, saying that if I didn’t admit that I drank Erlang wine, they would beat me to death.” Su Youma nodded and said, “But in the end I didn’t admit it.”

"The situation is alright." After listening to his uncle's account, Cheng Xiucai said, "In this way, at least Erlang Wine is safe. Although some people may still spread rumors, as long as the government doesn't cooperate in issuing notices, there won't be too much harm."

"That's good, that was my biggest worry." The uncle breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, this is very disadvantageous for you. If you admit that you drank Erlang wine, your responsibility will be minimal. But if you insist that you mixed the wine yourself, you will be in big trouble... If the true cause of the victim's death cannot be found out, you will bear the ultimate responsibility."

"Since this happened because of me, I'll take the blame!" the uncle said heroically. "Even if I lose a head, I'll still be a hero eighteen years from now!"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Old Master Cheng shouted. "You want my daughter to be a widow at such a young age!"

"If there were even the slightest hope, I wouldn't want to die!" my uncle said with a bitter smile.

"Alright, stop with the 'setting up a stage at the South Heaven Gate to sing high-sounding tunes'." The old man glared at his third son, annoyed. He knew this guy's temper all too well; he was like someone who would 'grab a trumpet at a funeral and start blowing it as soon as he got his hands on it'.
Then he asked Scholar Cheng, "You little rascal, have you gotten anything out of all your questions?"

"Of course I got the answer." Cheng Xiucai was too lazy to argue with this crude soldier. He lifted the hem of his robe, crossed his legs, and said, "The opponent is indeed quite strong, but not as strong as you think."

"What do you mean?" everyone asked.

"It's very simple," Cheng Xiucai said, stroking his goatee. "If they were truly powerful, they wouldn't need such underhanded tactics. For example, in Taiping Town, if Commander Ma didn't want someone to run a business, would he need to resort to dirty tricks?"

“Of course not.” Su Youjin demonstrated, “I only need to go to their door and say something, and they’ll be kicked out within three days.”

"So their relationship doesn't even reach the level of the county magistrate." Scholar Cheng encouraged everyone, "And Lu Zhaoye, the magistrate of Hejiang County, has been in office for eleven years, and his reputation... is just so-so. Yet they can't even handle him. Isn't that enough to explain the problem?"

"That makes sense." The crowd's morale soared upon hearing this. "So, we don't need to worry too much about those people?"

"Let's not be too optimistic." Su Lu, who had been listening silently, had to speak up to remind them: "Based on my limited understanding of Magistrate Lu, if those people can't get in touch with him, it's either because they're too weak, or there's another possibility."

"Which possibility?" everyone asked.

“They are thugs,” Su Lu said in a deep voice. “Although Magistrate Lu’s reputation is not good, at least he has never given up his pursuit of advancement. Local officials will not get involved with local criminal gangs until they have completely given up.”

"That's absolutely right!" This was the first time Cheng Xiucai had met Su Lu, and he couldn't help but look at him with new respect. "There are no secrets in the world, especially since he's involved with the underworld. He's bound to be in cahoots with them, and the common people will suffer greatly. His reputation must have been ruined long ago."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Hejiang County has a Circuit Intendant, a Provincial Judge, a Governor, and most importantly, an Inspector. So many eyes are on him. He wants a promotion? Dream on!"

P.S. I'm exhausted today, but I still managed to finish 9,000 words! It's the last day of the month, so please vote and subscribe!

(End of this chapter)