Top Scholar

Chapter 186 Try Again!
In February in Luzhou, the river tide begins to rise.

Before the morning mist had dissipated, Su Lu and Zhu Zihe had already arrived at the riverbank. The two climbed onto the oddly shaped, dark brown rocks. The cold river wind made their noses red, but they were in high spirits.

Looking out, the wide river stretches out in a misty expanse, with distant boats appearing and disappearing in the haze, seemingly floating above a sea of ​​clouds. Along the banks, kapok buds are about to bloom, adding a touch of brightness to the otherwise serene river scene.

"Look!" Zhu Zihe suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "The sun is about to rise!"

Following his pointing finger, Su Lu saw a faint golden-red tinge appearing at the edge of the clouds where the water met the sky.

Soon, the faint light quietly spread, dyeing the mist on the river a light pink, and igniting the layers of clouds, which changed from crimson to orange-red, creating a magnificent spectacle that made people forget to breathe!

When the water and sky were dyed crimson gold, a red sun peeked out from where the water and sky merged into one color!

As the sun rose higher, the red grew increasingly intense, turning even the white sails on the river and the mountains on the banks amber. The kapok flowers bloomed in the morning light, as if the riverbanks were ablaze!

Su Lu and Zhu Zihe gazed at the magnificent spectacle with rapt attention until the sun rose high in the sky and the world returned to normal brightness, at which point they snapped out of their daze.

"How magnificent are our mountains and rivers! How majestic is the Yangtze River!" Zhu Zihe shouted excitedly.

"The old abbot is absolutely right. To live by the river and never have seen such a sight is truly unacceptable! No, it's unforgivable! How can a bookworm confined to his study write such magnificent and awe-inspiring articles?!"

“Indeed, the beauty of heaven and earth is so great that it remains unspoken!” Su Lu, having seen and experienced much, was not as excited as Zhu Zihe, but he was still deeply moved and said, “Even if such a spectacular sight happened around you every day, you would never see the magnificent beauty of the river tide supporting the sun and the sky and earth merging into one color if you didn’t get up early and go out!”

“Yuan Jiu said, ‘Once you’ve seen the ocean, other waters are nothing.’ If the Yangtze River is so magnificent, I wonder how beautiful the ocean can be?” Zhu Zihe couldn’t help but dream.

"Want to see the sea? It's easy! Just hop on any boat, and tonight you'll be 'lightly sailing past ten thousand mountains.'" Su Lu pointed to the sails on the river and laughed, "In two more days, we'll be able to see the mighty Yangtze River flowing into the sea."

"It's just that after watching it, I won't be able to come back for two months." Zhu Zihe said with a bitter face, "If only it were as fast as rowing against the current."

"Haha, we're just waiting for you to invent it!" Su Lu laughed and turned around, saying, "Hurry back, don't be late for class."

"Wait for me!" Zhu Zihe quickly followed him off the reef and ran towards the city gate.

~~
After enrolling and becoming an apprentice, Su Lu busied himself with his studies step by step.

He gets up before dawn every day, eats breakfast, and then rushes to the academy to listen to the old headmaster's teachings.

Although the old abbot spoke haphazardly, sometimes repeating himself or even contradicting himself, the profound insights of this old scholar still enlightened Su Lu, making him feel that his writing had improved significantly in all aspects of his life.

Moreover, the old academy master required them not to be confined to their studies, but to actively go out, see the beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers, experience the hardships of the people, and taste all the flavors of life... This morning's visit to the Yangtze River was also one of the old academy master's lessons.

The old abbot originally wanted to come along, but Headmaster Zhou firmly stopped him. What a joke! The old abbot is over eighty; what if he gets sick from the river wind?
The patriarch of the academy cannot afford the slightest mishap...

The old mountain chief stopped in disappointment, and could only let Su Lu and Zhu Zihe read it and then come back to tell him about it.

When the two returned to class, they first listened to Mr. Liu talk about the Four Books, and then listened to another Mr. Liang talk about the Great Ming Code... The children's examination required a test on the Great Ming Code, and also a test on the ability to write judgments.

The judgment in the table judgment means the word of judgment. How could one write it without understanding the "Great Ming Code" and various related judicial interpretations?

During breaks, the students would surround Su Lu, asking him for advice on various essay writing methods and seeking his guidance on their problems. Su Lu was always very patient, sharing his knowledge generously, which often enlightened them, leaving them deeply grateful!

The classmates never imagined that after half a lifetime of wandering… well, half a chaotic life, a selfless savior would descend upon them in the spring of the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, illuminating their bleak future. They knew no other way to express their gratitude to Su Lu except by calling him "godfather"…

In less than a month, they developed a deep father-son relationship... The more the "orphans" of Taiping Academy missed him, the more they respected and loved him.

Su Lu also learned from the adopted sons why Mr. Liu was so depressed...

"When he was young, he was considered a child prodigy. He took the county examination at the age of fifteen and came out on top. He then came in second in the prefectural examination and third in the provincial examination, almost achieving the legendary feat of winning the top three places in the imperial examination!"

"At that time, he was riding high, everyone praised him as a genius, and thought that passing the imperial examinations would be a piece of cake for him! He himself thought so too. Who knew that half a century would pass in the blink of an eye, and he still hadn't passed the imperial examinations..."

"I feel that Mr. Liu's scholarship is very good, isn't it?" Su Lu asked, puzzled. "Even if he was unlucky before, he should be able to pass the imperial examination based on his own abilities now, right?" "That's where the problem lies. It would have been fine if his scholarship wasn't good enough at first, but later his scholarship had long since reached that level. But then he just kept having bad luck... First, his father went into mourning, then his mother went into mourning, which delayed him for three exams. Four years ago, when he had no more mourning to attend, he fell ill during the exam and had to be carried out of the examination hall..."

"Last autumn, he finally passed the imperial examination without incident, thinking that his luck would finally change. Unexpectedly, the chief examiner only liked to promote young people and thought he was too old at fifty… In the end, even though the other examiners had recommended his paper, he was still rejected." Deng Dengying sighed repeatedly.

"Now he knew he had no chance at all, and his master's wife couldn't withstand the pressure any longer, so she went back to her parents' home..."

"I heard that Tang Bohu's wife divorced him after he was no longer a star," a classmate interjected.

"No, Tang Bohu divorced his wife because of a disagreement." Deng Zhaizhang, as expected of a son of an official, knew a lot.

"Hmph, couples are like birds in the same forest; when disaster strikes, they fly away separately! Xu Tingrui married his daughter to Tang Yin because he valued his talent and believed he would surely pass the imperial examinations. Now that he has no future, of course he'll abandon him..." the classmates said indignantly. "How pathetic..."

“No, you are wrong.” Su Lu shook his head and said, “Xu was Tang Bohu’s first wife, and she passed away in the seventh year of the Hongzhi reign. The one who left him was his second wife… Speaking of which, Tang Bohu’s father, mother, son, and sister also passed away in the last year or two.”

He grew up reading the story of Tang Bohu.

"That Tang Bohu was indeed much more miserable than our teacher." The classmates naturally believed their godfather's words without a doubt, and they all sighed, "It's true that a hemp rope always breaks at its thinnest point..."

"And then Mr. became like this?" Su Lu asked softly again.

"Alas, that's the main reason, but not the direct reason..." Deng Zhaizhang sighed again, and the classmates looked gloomy. If their godfather hadn't asked, they would never have wanted to reopen their wounds.

"The results of the provincial examination were announced on the fifteenth of September, and the teacher returned at the end of September. He seemed fine at the time... Of course, it's also possible that we were too careless." Deng Zhaizhang said, his eyes reddening.
"Later we learned that the master had divorced his wife after returning. After that, he was all alone and devoted all his energy to us, giving his all to each of us... Unfortunately, after failing to ascend to the fast several times before, we had become somewhat self-destructive."

"It's not just our fault! During the three months our teacher was in Chengdu, the substitute teacher, Mr. Gou, was completely irresponsible. He even made sarcastic remarks about us, saying that we were useless to the academy..." The classmates said indignantly, "Who wouldn't feel discouraged working under that person all day?"

"The students at Chengxinzhai are already better than us, and Headmaster Zhou gives them extra tutoring every day. He even sets the exam questions. It would be strange if we could beat them!" The classmates were all full of complaints.

"Sigh, there are all sorts of reasons, and as a result, when the dormitories were reorganized at the end of last year, none of us from Zhengyi Dwelling were promoted..." Headmaster Deng asked Su Lu and Zhu Zihe with a thick nasal tone:

"When you two came here, did you ever wonder why there were two empty seats in the classroom? And why there were only twenty-eight of us?"

"Because two people are missing?" Su Lu asked softly.

“Yes.” Deng Zhaizhang nodded and said in a low voice, “One of them saw no hope and went elsewhere…”

“The other one was our best student. He studied day and night, hoping to be promoted to Chengxin Zhai. But he couldn’t bear the blow and suffered a hysterical attack after seeing the results…” He paused, his voice choked with emotion.
“Mr. Liu and I took him home. His family was naturally both heartbroken and furious, and they took it all out on Mr. Liu. They not only verbally abused him, but also threw dirty water on him…”

“I was so angry that I argued with them, but the master wouldn’t let me speak, and…” Deng Dengying finally burst into tears, “and I even had to kneel in front of them, letting them vent their anger on me…”

Su Lu and Zhu Zihe were both shocked, never expecting such a tragedy to have occurred behind the scenes.

"Now the other party stopped retaliating and started crying bitterly in front of the gentleman," Deng Dengying said, sniffling.
“During the holidays, we visited him several times and even spent the Lunar New Year with him, but he became increasingly depressed and blamed everything on himself…”

"How can this be the teacher's fault? It's all our fault for giving up on ourselves..." The classmates also shed tears, saying:

"We've turned over a new leaf this year and are studying diligently, not for any other reason than to help our teacher cheer up!"

At that moment, the window next to Su Lu's desk suddenly opened!
The students were startled to see Mr. Liu standing outside the window, tears streaming down his face, the teardrops trembling slightly on his white beard.

He said to his disciples with tears in his eyes:

"It's all my fault, all my fault. If I hadn't been so obsessed with fame and fortune, Shufen wouldn't have been so disappointed in me. If I hadn't left for three months and had taught you properly, none of you would have failed to advance, and Ming'an wouldn't have developed hysteria..."

"Master, we don't blame you..." The disciples also shed tears, the teacher and students weeping on opposite sides of the wall. "Master, let's pull ourselves together and try again!"

The disciples' sincere hearts gradually melted the ice in Mr. Liu's heart, turning into two streams of hot tears. He slowly nodded and gave his disciples a long-lost smile, saying, "Alright, let's try again."

(End of this chapter)