Top Scholar

Chapter 164 He's Become a Page...

The Zhu Family Mansion.

Zhu Zhang's class went on until dusk, with only a short break in between, allowing the two poor boys a quick bite to eat...

When class ended, Zhu Zihe stared wide-eyed, holding his head and saying, "This thing feels twice the size of usual."

"It's really tiring..." Su Lu agreed. He finally understood why you needed good stamina to take Master Zhu's class; those with poor stamina simply couldn't keep up!

"Come to my house for dinner," Zhu Zihe invited. "My mother and brothers are looking forward to seeing you."

"No, let's do it another day." Su Lu shook his head: "I need to take advantage of this opportunity and quickly go back to organize my class notes."

"Yes, yes, this is important! Hurry up and get ready, I won't keep you any longer..." Zhu Zihe immediately saw him to the door, hoping that Qi Ji would give him some guidance, so he couldn't hold him back.

Zhu Zihe wanted to call a car to take him home, but Su Lu declined, saying, "No need, I prefer to walk home after school."

He waved goodbye to Zhu Zihe, had Xiaoyuer lead the way, and left Zhu Family Mountain on foot.

~~
The county government office was located in Zhuzi Lane in the eastern part of the city, less than two miles from Zhujia Mountain. Su Lu, who had developed iron legs, arrived before he even broke a sweat.

The street was paved with bluestone, the environment was quiet and peaceful, and the shops sold jewelry and silverware, so the security was quite good.

It is located just one alley away from the bustling Dahe Street, making it both convenient and quiet amidst the hustle and bustle.

The most interesting thing is that all the government offices in Luzhou are located in the west city, while the county government office is in the east city... so that any special hospitality they might receive wouldn't attract attention.

It's clear that a lot of effort was put into choosing the location.

Little Fish led him to an inconspicuous house in Pearl Alley and knocked on the door knocker.

“Our office is usually kept closed to prevent unauthorized personnel from trespassing,” he explained to Su Lu. “However, there are always people at the gate. Whenever you return, young master, just call the door and someone will open it immediately.”

Soon, a man who looked a lot like Xiaoyuer, but was older, opened the door.

"This is Master Su's beloved disciple. He will be staying at our office from now on," Xiaoyuer said to the doorman.

"Understood." The doorman hurriedly bowed to Su Lu and said, "This humble one, Yu Men, greets young master."

"This is my older brother," Xiaoyuer introduced to Su Lu.

"I'm sorry to trouble Brother Yu in the future," Su Lu said politely.

"Of course, of course." Yu Men let the two in, then bolted the door again, explaining to Su Lu, "The door must be closed tightly, especially when the master is here, otherwise some troublemakers will always break in and cause trouble for the master."

"I see." Su Lu nodded, and couldn't help but think of that old man Yu who couldn't stand seeing poor people...

As Xiaoyuer led him inside, she explained the layout of the guild hall. Simply put, it was a three-courtyard siheyuan with east and west wings.

"No one lives in the front yard; it's where the masters entertain guests. The second courtyard is the main house where the eldest master lives, and behind that are the kitchen, storeroom, and where we servants live," Little Fish said.
"Later, the second and third masters also wanted to have their own residences in the public area. So we bought the two adjacent houses and combined them into an east-west courtyard. That way, when all four masters came together, they all had their own place to live."

"Don't tell the young master all sorts of nonsense." At this moment, Steward Tian appeared at the entrance of the east courtyard, smiling as he greeted Su Lu, "Young master, this way please. Are you satisfied with your and your brother's lodgings?"

"Thank you for your trouble." Su Lu said politely, and then followed Steward Tian to his and his second brother's residence.

This is actually a secluded courtyard with three main rooms facing north and two side rooms, making a total of five rooms!
"Such a big place, and it's just the two of us living here?" Su Lu asked.

"Of course, our guild has no shortage of accommodations," Steward Tian said with a smile. "Besides, it's not excessive... The main room is for receiving guests and dining, and each of the two young masters will have a room in the north-facing room. As for the side rooms, one will be for storing miscellaneous items for the two young masters, and the other will be for their pageboys."

“We don’t have any pageboys…” Su Tai’s voice rang out in the main room. Before he could finish speaking, his forehead slammed against the lintel with a thud.

"Oh dear, my apologies, young master, please be careful!" Steward Tian hurriedly apologized, "We'll raise the door frame a bit tomorrow."

"It's okay, I'll be careful." Su Tai came out, covering his forehead, and said apologetically, "I was in a hurry to pick up my brother just now and didn't pay attention."

"Yes, and it was too dark to see clearly." Manager Tian, ​​with his high emotional intelligence, then asked Su Lu, "How was Xiaoyuer's performance today?"

"Excellent," Su Lu said with a smile.

"Then let him stay with you while you're in Luzhou," said Manager Tian. "I'll also arrange a clever assistant for your brother."

"There's no need for that," Su Tai said, scratching his head. "We're not really young masters."

"That's how it is in the eyes of a petty person," Steward Tian laughed. "Who among those who study at the Luzhou Martial Arts Academy isn't a young master or a prince? Not to mention your younger brother who studies at the Zhu family."

Seeing that Su Tai was about to refuse, he said with a bitter face, "You are new to Luzhou and don't know anyone here. I'm not comfortable letting you run around everywhere. Someone has to go with you."

He then cupped his hands in greeting and said, "If I fail to take good care of you, I will be in grave danger. Please do not refuse my request."

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now." Hearing him say that, Su Tai had no choice but to agree.

"That's right!" Steward Tian said happily. Just then, he saw Xiaoyuer coming over with a food box and said with a smile, "You two young masters must be starving, right? Hurry up and eat."

“Where is my teacher? I need to inform him in person first,” Su Lu said. “The master has a social engagement tonight,” Steward Tian said softly.

"Understood." Su Lu no longer insisted on the requirement of 'informing the emperor upon departure and reporting back upon return'.

~~
In the main room, Steward Tian lit the candlesticks and set out dinner for the two brothers before smiling and saying, "Please enjoy your meal, gentlemen. I won't disturb you any longer."

Xiaoyuer wanted to stay and serve, but Su Tai chased him away, saying, "You should go eat too. It's not comfortable with someone watching me eat."

"Alright then. I'll take my leave." Little Fish also withdrew.

Su Lu saw a bowl of white rice, a plate of steamed sea bass with slits, sprinkled with scallions, and drizzled with hot oil to enhance the aroma; a bowl of braised pork belly; and a dish of stir-fried cabbage with garlic.

The soup was winter melon and meatball soup, sprinkled with pepper...

"Wow. Everyone says the Beijing liaison office is like a grand hotel, but I didn't expect the food at the prefectural liaison office to be this good too." Su Lu couldn't help but salivate, adding, "Of course, it could also be because of the Chinese New Year..."

He then added casually, "But I guess it's usually not much different, haven't you seen people light two candles at a time?"

Candles were lighting tools reserved for the wealthy, and were much more expensive than oil lamps.

"Hey, brother, what's wrong?" Su Lu noticed that his second brother hadn't started eating and realized something was wrong.

"Guess who I saw today?" Su Tai murmured.

"Did you see a ghost?" Su Lu shoved the bowl and chopsticks into his hands. "That doesn't matter, we can talk while we eat."

“That makes sense.” Su Tai then picked up a piece of scallion with his chopsticks, thus beginning the meal.

Su Lu then picked up his chopsticks and asked while eating, "Did you see She Yunluo?"

"Ah, how did you know?" Su Tai had just taken a bite of rice when his mouth started agape again.

"It really is her?" Su Lu said helplessly, "Man proposes, God disposes. No matter how much we hide, we can't escape..."

"Tell me first how you guessed her," Su Tai asked curiously.

"Simple. You went to the Daotai's office today." Su Lu laughed, "You waited quite a while, didn't you?"

"Of course, the master's bladder is about to burst from waiting." Su Tai said, "How did you know? Did Huang Bingxian go to your place?"

"He went to the Zhu family's house. I saw that his guards included Luo Luo warriors, so I guessed there must have been a Luo Luo noblewoman visiting his residence, a young girl. Because Huang Bingxian's daughter was also there, and her sedan chair was in the middle of the three sedan chairs..." Su Lu explained:

"With my second brother's ghost-like expression, I must have run into someone at Huang Bingxian's residence—someone we've both met before, but definitely don't want to see—and the answer is obvious."

"Amazing!" Su Tai said with utmost admiration, "It was her. She scared me half to death when she appeared."

“I can imagine,” Su Lu nodded. “I would have been just as startled… What are you talking about?”

“It’s all her own talk…” Su Tai then recounted their brief conversation to Su Lu, and asked, “Do you think I can get away with this?”

"Of course not." Su Lu shook his head and smiled wryly, "If you go with the county magistrate to pay your respects to Huang Bingxian, he'll be a guest at his house. He'll just ask around and find out who you are, won't he?"

“It really is true…” Su Tai said regretfully, “Then I might as well just admit it openly and let people laugh at me for nothing.”

"Let the Luo Luo people laugh however they want, it doesn't matter." Su Lu scooped a spoonful of winter melon and meatball soup, took a sip and felt warm and content.

Free food always tastes the best.

"Will we be in danger?" Su Tai asked again, this was what he was most worried about.

He remembered his father and Su Lu's instructions and kept the secret, fearing it would bring disaster to his family...

"It shouldn't be a big problem anymore, it's been a year already." Su Lu reassured his second brother, raising an eyebrow as he said, "Besides, we're not what we used to be. Would the Luo Luo people dare to touch martial arts students from Luzhou Martial Arts School? Or the disciple of the magistrate of Hejiang County?"

"You should have said so earlier..." Su Taisong said in a sigh, "You made me worry for nothing all day."

"But it's still best to avoid getting involved with them," Su Lu added. "We're not from the same world."

“Hmm. But I think that girl still wants to meet us.” Su Tai readily agreed, “Then I won’t go out before school starts on the sixteenth of the first lunar month.”

“Sure,” Su Lu nodded. “Anyway, it’s quite comfortable to eat and drink here.”

"Mmm, if I could eat like this every day, I'd live here for the rest of my life." Su Tai was completely relieved and regained his appetite.

"This is all hard-earned money from the people..." Su Lu's quiet remark instantly halved his appetite.

"And what about you?" Su Tai asked Su Lu with concern.

"I have to go to the Zhu family's house for classes every day," Su Lu said helplessly. "But none of her servants have ever seen me, so if I'm careful, there shouldn't be any major problems."

P.S. This book still adheres to the principle of 'major events are true, minor details are flexible'. For example, Huang E's age and Yang Shen's marital status have been slightly adjusted. All of this is to make the story more exciting, so please vote with your monthly tickets and recommendations!
(End of this chapter)