Top Scholar

Chapter 209 Sailing Together
In reality, Qian Ning's spear only struck Su Tai's shoulder. In a real fight, Su Tai, wearing armor, should have been able to continue. However, according to the rules of the duel, getting covered in white ash meant defeat. Therefore, Su Tai obediently withdrew his spear and conceded defeat.

"I lost."

Qian Ning was considerably older than Su Tai, probably in his early twenties. He was usually secretive and rarely spoke to anyone. Rumor had it that he was to inherit the position of Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Whether it was true or not, no one knew…

"You have a good foundation, but your marksmanship is still lacking. Let's practice until the end of the year and then have another match." Qian Ning praised him for the first time ever, then shoved the white wax spear into the arms of the martial arts student next to him and strode away.

The coach seemed to know something about Qian Ning's background, but didn't dare to interfere much. He gave a few comments and then announced the end of the school term.

Most of the martial arts students didn't leave. Some continued practicing their spears and reviewing their mistakes. Others switched to carrying stone weights to improve their strength, so they could handle the spears more freely and for longer periods.

Su Tai relied on his immense strength; the spear in his hand was as easy as a stick of firewood, and ordinary martial arts students were naturally no match for him.

Today was Su Tai's first defeat in his life, and he was a little depressed, sitting on the stone bench by the training ground, lost in thought.

Suddenly someone sat down next to him, carrying the pleasant scent of plum blossoms.

I knew it was She Yunluo without even looking...

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war; there's nothing shameful about it," She Yunluo said, patting his shoulder like a close friend.

"Besides, you've only been practicing shooting for a few days. That guy surnamed Qian clearly has some virgin skills, and he's so much older than you. It's normal for you to lose to him."

"You know a lot about this?" Su Tai finally asked in a low voice.

"Although my marksmanship isn't great, my family's guards are all top-notch fighters, one in a hundred, one in a thousand. I've watched them practice martial arts since I was a child. What's that saying again... even if I haven't eaten pork, I've seen pigs run." She Yunlu proudly pointed out:
"You call that brute force overpowering skill, but on the battlefield, brute force alone is not enough."

"Yes." Su Tai nodded in agreement, "I really need to find a master to learn properly."

"Looking for me?" She Yunlu patted the lion's head and said, "I'll guarantee you'll surpass him in six months."

"You?" Su Tai looked incredulous. As his partner in the duel, he knew She Yunluo's marksmanship.

“I may not be very good at it, but I can find the best spearman in Sichuan to teach you.” She Yunlu patted his shoulder and asked with a smile, “Want to learn?”

“Learn!” Su Tai nodded emphatically.

“Then I have a condition…” But then She Yunluo smiled slyly.

"I knew it." Su Tai curled his lip: "A weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken is definitely up to no good."

"Who's the weasel and who's the chicken?" She Yunluo grabbed his neck and questioned him.

Whether it was because She Yunluo's hands were too small or Su Tai's neck was too thick, she couldn't even wrap her arms around it.

"Tell me your conditions quickly," Su Tai asked without changing his expression.

"I won't tell you now, we'll talk about it later." She Yunluo reluctantly let go of her hand. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't let you go killing or setting fires."

"Alright then." Su Tai couldn't resist the temptation to become stronger; he hadn't expected to have such a strong competitive spirit.

“Okay, let’s pinky swear.” She Yunluo then extended her little finger.

“Childish…” Su Tai snorted, but still extended her little finger, which was thicker than her thumb, and hooked her fingers with hers.

"Pinky promise, a hundred years without regret, or you'll be... a big turtle!" She Yunluo was as happy as a little fox who had stolen a chicken. She took out a sachet from her bosom and stuffed it into Su Tai's hand.

"I was planning to give it to you later, but I thought I'd comfort you since you looked so pitiful."

"You really finished embroidering it?" Su Tai asked in surprise. "I thought you were just bragging."

"Hmph, you're the only one in this world who dares to look down on me." She Yunlu crossed her arms, not letting Su Tai see her left hand, which was riddled with thorns, and said arrogantly, "This young lady is very skillful, even Huang E praised her as an embroidery expert!"

"Amazing..." Su Tai couldn't help but exclaim, picking up the sachet and examining it closely. "The stitches, the embroidery skills—it must have taken more than five years of experience!"

As the human-shaped blue fat man of the Su family, although he can't embroider, his needlework is quite decent... When conditions were bad, Su Lu and Su Youcai's clothes were torn, and their aunt didn't even have to do the mending.

Seeing that Su Tai actually knew what he was doing, She Yunlu felt a pang of guilt: "Quickly put it away, it would be so embarrassing if someone saw it. Why are you even smelling it, you pervert..."

"Why does your sachet still smell of blood?" Su Tai asked curiously. "Is there blood under these plum blossoms?"

"You have a really good nose."

“Yes, I was born in the year of Gengxu, the year of the dog,” Su Tai said earnestly.

"So, since I was born in the Year of the Rat, does that mean I should know how to dig holes?" She Yunluo was speechless, then emphasized earnestly:
"Remember, this sachet is stained with my blood; there is no other like it in the world! You must keep it safe and don't let anyone else touch it, do you understand?"

"Okay, alright." Seeing how serious she sounded, Su Tai nodded earnestly and said, "I'll remember."

~~
On the fourth day of the fifth month, Su Lu asked for leave from the academy and Mr. Gangshan, and then followed Zhu Jie to the prefectural government office to meet with Prefect Jia.

Now, Prefect Jia had very close ties with the Zhu family. Upon learning that Zhu Jie was also going to Hejiang, he warmly invited him to travel on the same boat. Zhu Jie naturally accepted the invitation and took Su Lu with him on the prefecture's official boat to Hejiang.

Actually, Su Lu would rather go back with his family on the county boat. Being with a bunch of officials, having to keep a respectful distance all the time, how tiring! Besides, Huang E's father was among the officials, which would not only be tiring, but also make him feel uneasy...

Unfortunately, Zhu Jie was someone he had invited, so he had to stay by his side and had to leave separately from his family.

In fact, the two boats were only one after the other, less than half an hour apart...

Manager Tian naturally saw him off at the dock.

After seeing off Su Lu's entire family, Steward Tian suddenly had nothing to do. Back home, he sat dejectedly in the kitchen, drinking alone and sighing:
"Sigh, you see? Young master is almost out of reach... This time he didn't even take the boat I arranged. He accompanied the second master of the Zhu family and boarded the prefect's official boat, and the military commissioner was also on board."

"That's true." Chef Hu clicked his tongue in amazement. "Even I've heard of the young master's great reputation. I've heard that many wealthy families want to take him as their son-in-law."

"Right?" Steward Tian said smugly, "Back then, I kept flattering the young master, and you must have laughed at me behind my back. Now you know how brilliant I was, right? You'd never get a second thought or a fart!"

"Brilliant! Brilliant!" Chef Hu nodded faster than he was chopping meat.

"Alas, I've already started missing the young master since he left..." Steward Tian sighed again, "It's easy to imagine how much the master misses the young master."

"Of course," Chef Hu said, chopping the meat with a satisfying slur, while asking, puzzled.

"Steward, you said the master missed the young master and finally managed to get him to go back. Why did those people insist on following him? Don't they know their place?"

"Alas, that's human nature. I've noticed it lately too. Although Mr. Su and the young master aren't related by blood, they're as close as father and son." Steward Tian sighed and said, "Now I understand why the young master and the master are so distant. Indeed, the kindness of raising someone is greater than the kindness of giving birth."

"Does the steward mean that Mr. Su has become addicted to being the young master's father?" Chef Hu lifted the lid of the steamer, took out the steamed sliced ​​tofu, sprinkled it with chopped garlic, scallions, and white sesame seeds, drizzled it with soy sauce and vinegar, and his secret sauce.

"Could it be that he wants to fight the master for the son?"

“It’s not impossible,” Steward Tian said, taking a sip of his wine and scrunching his face. “If I were him, I would have the same thought. Since the master can’t acknowledge the young master, why not take his place?”

Chef Hu poured a ladle of boiling hot oil over the thickly sliced ​​tofu, which was rich in sauce. The aroma was so enticing that it made one's mouth water!

He served the oil-splashed tofu to Steward Tian as a snack with his drinks, wiped his hands with his apron, sat down to the side, and asked, "Has he got the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard? Isn't he afraid the master will get back at him?"

"Why did the master want to get rid of him? He perfectly followed the master's orders and treated the young master like his own son." Steward Tian picked up a piece of old tofu with his chopsticks and savored the burst of juice.

"This is an unsolvable, overt scheme. When the young master rises to prominence, he will make his own choice! At that time, even the master will be helpless..."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Chef Hu exclaimed in disbelief, giving a thumbs-up. "So, he's the same kind of person as the head steward?"

"Great minds think alike," Steward Tian laughed. "Who knows, we might even have to call him 'Old Master' in the future."

Chef Hu finally understood why Steward Tian hadn't reminded the master, and was deeply inspired:

"Okay, then I'll cook for him for lunch from now on!"

~~
The Yangtze River is much more turbulent at this time of year than it was in early spring.

Amidst the churning waves, a large, two-masted official ship, weighing four hundred li, cut through the waves at a rapid pace.

At the bow of the ship, two official flags fluttered in the wind; the larger one read, "Deputy Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Sichuan, Military Commissioner of Xuzhou and Luzhou, concurrently in charge of patrol duties."

The smaller side reads "Prefect of Luzhou".

Although the Shangbaisha bandit gang was wiped out and this section of the river was temporarily cleared, there were still several warships from Luzhou Guard escorting them – this grand procession was both a display of official power and a way for Commander Han to flatter Huang Bingxian.

Inside the cabin, the carved wooden windows were open, letting in a cool river breeze. Smoke curled from the sandalwood incense burner, where Jiang Qingyun, a famous courtesan from Luzhou, sat gracefully playing the zither. The melody of "Spring River Flower Moon Night" flowed gently, allowing the adults gathered around, sipping tea, to temporarily set aside their studies and chat in leisurely conversation.

Su Lu also sat at the end of the table, responsible for pouring tea for Huang Bingxian, Prefect Jia, and Master Zhu.

Don't let his job as a tea server fool you; it's already quite a miracle that he gets a seat at this table!
In those days, people of different social statuses wouldn't sit at the same table. Not to mention others, even Master Zhu Er couldn't sit at the main table at the Grand View Terrace during the Lantern Festival.

It wasn't until Zhu Liu passed the imperial examination and became the head of his family that he was able to sit at the same table as Huang Bingxian and Jia Zhizhou.

Su Lu was only fifteen years old, yet he was granted a seat, entirely due to the high regard of Prefect Jia and the strong support of Master Zhu.

This piqued Huang Bingxian's interest, and he said to Su Lu with a smile, "Brother Gangshan always praises you as a genius in studying the Book of Rites. Since we have nothing to do on the boat today, how about I test you?"

Su Lu immediately broke out in a cold sweat...

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to the Alliance Leader, the Historian of Jinling...

A new week begins, please vote with monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)