Top Scholar

Chapter 147 Do you have an army?

When it was time to apply for a license, after the first day of classes had ended, the old teachers still kept pestering Su Lu with questions. It took Hai Xundao several reminders before he was allowed to leave.

After getting on the bus, Su Lu realized why Hai Han had urged him to hurry up; it turned out that You Muyou was waiting for him.

"How was your first day of class? Are you getting used to it?" You Muyou asked with a smile.

"Qiji isn't a student on his first day of class. Most of our classmates in the lower study of the academy are his disciples..." Zhu Zihe mumbled the last two words, making it unclear whether he meant "adopted son" or "disciple".

"That's good." You Muyou knocked on the carriage, and the sound of a whip rang out outside, and the wheels began to turn slowly.

"What is this, sir?" Su Lu asked softly.

"The county magistrate is back. He originally wanted to see you immediately," You Muyou said. "However, because of your uncle's case, it's best to avoid suspicion for now. We can meet again after the case is closed."

"Yes." Su Lu nodded.

Zhu Zihe snorted: "If you don't want to see me, just say so. What's the point of avoiding suspicion?"

“Zihe…” Su Lu glanced at him and thought to himself, “Well said.”

"However, the county magistrate still sent me to visit your uncle on your behalf, firstly to express his condolences," You Muyou could only pretend not to hear, and said in a deep voice, "and secondly to deter any troublemakers, so that no one will harass you in the future."

"I'm so sorry to have troubled my parents and to have troubled you, sir," Su Lu said hurriedly.

"Of course, of course." You Muyou smiled, took out a folded page from his sleeve, and handed it to Su Lu, saying, "This is the poem you and Dongweng composed together."

"Really?" Su Lu hurriedly and excitedly accepted the book with both hands and began to read Magistrate Lu's masterpiece. After reading it, he was naturally moved to tears.

Zhu Zihe also came over to watch the fun and sneered, "What's written in the poem doesn't count, Qiji, don't believe it."

You Muyou glanced at him helplessly, "Go ahead and mess things up..."

"I can fully understand my parents' love and care for me," Su Lu quickly said, indicating that he was unaffected.

"That's right." You Muyou nodded and smiled.
"Master Dong also told me to tell Hongzhi that the key to learning is focus, and he should not be distracted by other matters. Just leave the case to your elders. With Master Dong here, how could they possibly suffer a loss?"

"Yes, disciple will remember your teachings." Su Lu hurriedly replied respectfully.

At this point, Yu Muyou could still remain calm and composed, believing that everything was under control...

In the eyes of Yu Muyou, who was used to seeing all sorts of things, the "Arima case" was just a minor incident that could be resolved with some mediation and compromise, and Hejiang County could continue to be peaceful.

~~
But from the moment he stepped into the Su family home, You Muyou's heart began to swell with unease. He felt that things might not go as the county magistrate wished…

To be precise, the moment he saw Cheng Xiucai appear at the Su family's house, he felt a chill run down his spine.

I thought to myself, "Is this old litigious lawyer going to stir up trouble again?"
He then cupped his hands in greeting to Scholar Cheng and said with a smile, "I didn't expect to find you here, my friend Cheng."

Cheng Xiucai returned the greeting with a cupped hand, but didn't give him a friendly look, saying, "You Ma is my nephew-in-law, and the proprietress of Erlang Wine is my daughter. Isn't it perfectly reasonable for an old man to come here?"

“That makes sense, that makes perfect sense.” You Muyou chuckled dryly. The good news was that the old lawyer wasn’t hired by the Su family; the bad news was that the old lawyer was a relative of the Su family.

After extending his sincere condolences to Su Youma and his son, You Muyou turned his attention to Cheng Xiucai. There was no way around it; a person's reputation precedes them, and those who could take a case all the way to the provincial level were always the most troublesome type for the government.

"Friend Cheng, may I speak with you in private?" You Muyou asked softly.

Cheng Xiucai nodded, and the two left the Youma family's house and strolled deeper into the alley.

"What do you mean, Friend Cheng?" You Muyou didn't beat around the bush with him, otherwise they wouldn't get to the point by dawn: "Just say it directly. If I can agree to something, I can agree to it right here. If I can't make the decision, I will go back and report to the Master and give you an answer as soon as possible."

In short, never file a complaint...

"It doesn't mean anything," Cheng Xiucai said without any attempt to hide it. "My son-in-law died last time, and you persuaded me to go back. I can't let my daughter and nephew-in-law die too."

"Of course not. We'll do it for your sake, even if we don't care about the monk. We didn't know before, but now that we know about your relationship, we absolutely can't let you suffer any losses," You Muyou hurriedly assured him.

"Friend You, please explain what it means to not suffer a loss?" Scholar Cheng asked, leaning on his dragon-taming wood cane and looking straight ahead.

“From now on, no one will touch the Su family, the Cheng family, or Erlangjiu. Does that mean we won’t lose out?” You Muyou raised his voice slightly.

As the county magistrate's advisor, his primary job was negotiating with all sorts of people, and his negotiation skills were superb. Knowing that he needed to calm the other party down first, he couldn't bring up the matter of "not selling Erlang wine in the county anymore"...

"Anything else?" Unexpectedly, Scholar Cheng was still not satisfied.

"What else would you like, Friend Cheng?" You Muyou asked calmly.

"What else could it be? The murderer!" Cheng Xiucai slammed his cane down and said in a deep voice, "This time, Youma's experience fully proves that my son-in-law's death was not an accident, but because Erlang Wine frightened some people!"

"That's why they warned my son-in-law not to sell Erlang wine in the county town! When the warnings failed, they killed him, leaving no trace of his brother's remains!" Scholar Cheng's old face flushed red. He paused to catch his breath before continuing:
"Now they're targeting Arima again! This is intolerable! We must settle both old and new scores!" Yu Muyou's head was about to explode; he couldn't help but think to himself, 'Misjudgment, misjudgment…'

Both he and Dongweng misjudged the family's reaction. They weren't intimidated by those people at all; on the contrary, they were determined to fight to the death!
After a moment's thought, he realized he couldn't let this family think that with him and the county magistrate as their backers, they could settle scores and seek revenge... The county magistrate certainly valued Su Lu, but there were things he valued even more.

"Who are they? Do they really exist?" With this thought in mind, he asked in a deep voice, "It's all just your speculation, Cheng friend. You can't take it as fact!"

"Of course I know who it is!" Scholar Cheng sneered. The sons of the Su and Cheng families hadn't been idle all day; they had gone to their relatives and friends to inquire about the news.

The Cheng family, in particular, owns a liquor store in the county town. They've been in the wholesale and retail business for years; what in the industry, big or small, don't they know?

You Muyou then heard him say in a deep voice: "The people who warned my son-in-law were from the liquor store in the county; the victim in the horse case was also from the liquor store; and the people who instigated the victim to report the case and implicate Erlang liquor were also from the liquor store!"

"..." You Muyou frowned deeply. This time, the other party had come prepared! After a pause, he asked in a deep voice, "You suspect that it was done by people from the liquor store. What's the evidence?"

"There's only suspicion, no evidence!" Scholar Cheng declared confidently, "but that's enough for me to know who to sue!"

"..." You Muyou thought to himself, "What I feared most has come to pass!" But it's normal, what kind of old lawyer doesn't litigate?

He sighed and said, “Friend Cheng can file a lawsuit, and Mr. Dong and I will definitely pursue the case. It’s just that the case of Arima is relatively easy to handle, since it just happened recently. But the case of the He brothers is more than a year old, and no evidence of murder was found at the time. Now, a retrial will be even more difficult, and Friend Cheng should be prepared.”

It means that you can vent your anger using Su Youma's case, but please don't drag the Ho brothers' case into this anymore.

Scholar Cheng knew perfectly well what case was difficult for the county magistrate to handle. Under Sanmu's protection, what confession couldn't be obtained? The key was whether he wanted to or not...

He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Mr. You. Please also tell the magistrate that we, the people of Erlangtan, will do our utmost to help solve the case. Many hands make light work, and we'll eventually find the evidence!"

"Impossible. Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, let alone a few of you." You Muyou said speechlessly, "Just keep quiet during the New Year. Although the county magistrate will protect you, even the best-laid plans can have flaws."

"It's alright, we can protect ourselves," Cheng Xiucai said confidently.

“Alas, you have no idea how ruthless those people are. Even the county magistrate doesn’t want to mess with them,” You Muyou sighed repeatedly.

"That's because they haven't encountered anything more ferocious yet," Cheng Xiucai said calmly. "How do they compare to the Du Zhang Man?"

"How can you compare them?" You Muyou couldn't help but smile bitterly. One group was a criminal gang, and the other was a rebel group. They were not even in the same league.

"We're not even afraid of the chieftains, so why would we be afraid of a bunch of scoundrels?" Cheng Xiucai said contemptuously.

"You had an army back then, of course you weren't afraid, but do you have an army now?" You Muyou almost laughed. These mountain barbarians really didn't understand the situation...

Before the words were finished, a commotion broke out in the street. The two stopped and looked back, only to see You Muyou's pageboy running over, reporting with a look of utter disbelief:

"Sir, something terrible has happened! An army of unknown origin has entered the city!"

"What? Are you kidding me?" You Muyou's first reaction was disbelief.

“How could I joke about this?” The page pointed behind him and said, “It’s right here on the street, see for yourself.”

You Muyou rushed to the alley entrance, took three steps at a time, and looked out onto the street. He couldn't help but gasp, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"What's going on?!"

More than three hundred people, carrying bedding and weapons, marched in a long procession from the street corner!

No wonder the pageboy said it was the army coming; it's practically the same as the army, isn't it?

The people of Hejiang County quickly moved aside, fearing that they might provoke the armed men, just like they were encountering the army!

The owners of the two inns, "Tongfu" and "Youjian," on the street were the most worried, because these three hundred armed men drove straight towards them!

The two innkeepers were so frightened that they quickly hid inside their shops. The owner of Tongfu Inn even tried to climb onto the bunk, but a guest grabbed him and said, "No, those are guests who have already paid!"

"Huh?" The shop owner's jaw dropped to the floor as he stared blankly at the fully armed, uninvited guests who filed into his shop...

After a while, all three hundred people went into the two inns, and the street finally returned to quiet.

The townspeople looked at each other in bewilderment before daring to return to the streets, whispering amongst themselves:

"What do these people do?"

"I don't know. It's like we're about to attack the county town..."

"Don't talk nonsense. If we're attacking a county town, we should be attacking the county government office. Who would stay at an inn first?"

"Maybe they need to rest for a bit before making their move in the middle of the night?" The more the people speculated, the more outlandish it became.

(End of this chapter)