Top Scholar

Chapter 218 Ma Zhaizhang: What use do I have for this silver?

After lunch, the afternoon's schedule included inspecting the city's defenses and the granaries, which fell within Huang Bingxian's responsibilities.

Magistrate Lu's original plan was to ask the two officials to rest for a while and then set off after 11 PM. By then, the sun would be less intense, and after a brief inspection, they could head back to their residence for the banquet.

Huang Bingxian had no objections at the time. But today, for some unknown reason, as soon as the luncheon ended, he immediately began strolling around the city wall with his hands behind his back...

"The Military Commissioner is truly diligent in his duties." Prefect Jia secretly groaned. He had just eaten two meat dumplings and was still dizzy, but he had no choice but to keep him company.

"Yes, he is truly a role model for us all!" Magistrate Lu and the others had no choice but to follow...

Su Lu decided not to accompany him. It wouldn't be appropriate for him to go along on such a matter as inspecting the city's defenses and grain reserves; it would only cause trouble for Huang Bingxian.

He then quietly apologized to Magistrate Lu, who asked in a low voice, "When are you leaving?"

"I'll head back as soon as the ceremony ends tomorrow." Su Lu said with a wry smile, "It's a two-day journey back, and I can't afford to waste any more time."

“Indeed.” Magistrate Lu nodded and said, “Studies are important, so I won’t keep you any longer. Come over tonight; we haven’t had a proper chat yet.”

"Okay." Su Lu replied and then slipped away.

~~
Su Lu wasn't trying to avoid Huang Bingxian; he simply had guests at his home.

After descending from the city wall, he hurried back to his new house. As soon as he entered, Little Jinbao jumped out of the doorway, baring its teeth and claws and hissing at him.

She had a "king" character drawn on her forehead with realgar, and her ears and hands were also dotted with realgar, making her look like a cute little tiger... This is also a Dragon Boat Festival custom, using realgar to ward off poison and using a fierce tiger to suppress evil.

Su Lu let out a mischievous scream, picked up Xiao Jinbao, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and laughed and joked with her for a while before asking, "Are there any guests at home?"

"Yes," Little Jinbao nodded. "A teacher brought a group of students, and several of them even visited our house."

In Xiao Jinbao's heart, the stilted house in Erlangtan is home, and any other place, no matter how big, is just a house.

"Let's go take a look." Su Lu carried her around the screen wall and saw Qian Shanzhang of Taiping Academy and his classmates sitting in the main hall.

"Hongzhi!" Seeing that Su Lu had finally returned, the people of Sheng Shen Zhai cheered and rushed out. Among them were Su Dan, Li Qiyu, Ma Zhaizhang, Lin Zhihong, Qiao Feng, Cheng Wanzhou, Cheng Wanfan, and others.

Tomorrow, the academy will be holding the unveiling ceremony for the headmaster's memorial archway, and of course, the academy will send representatives of teachers and students to attend.

"Hahaha, you're all here!" Su Lu was overjoyed. He tossed aside his little Jinbao and hugged his classmates, jumping and skipping with happiness. "We've finally met again!"

In his heart, these people were his true classmates...

"Hongzhi, I've missed you so much!" Li Qiyu hugged him excitedly and said, "I dream about you all the time!"

“Then you don’t have to act like a woman.” Su Lu laughed loudly.

"Hongzhi, how are things going in Luzhou?" Ma Zhaizhang asked with concern.

"So-so, I could barely manage to get first place," Su Lu said smugly.

"Haha, that's amazing?!" The classmates were thrilled. Lin Zhihong asked, "What about Zhu Zihe?"

“Still the eternal runner-up!” Su Lu said.

"So, Heshan Academy isn't so scary after all. We can get by there just as well," Li Qiyu said arrogantly.

"Save your breath. Hongzhi and Zihe ranked first and second in our academy only because there weren't any higher rankings for them. Just because they can do it doesn't mean you can." Su Dan remained true to her sharp-tongued nature.

"How do you know I can't do it?" Li Qiyu asked, glaring at him.

"You should get into the top ten first," everyone laughed.

"Try your best to get into the top ten, and then come to Luzhou next year to try it out for yourself. You'll then know if you can do it," Su Lu encouraged him with a smile.

"That seems a bit difficult," Li Qiyu said, quite self-aware. "Unless you come back and continue to tutor me."

"Dream on!" the classmates laughed. "If Hongzhi comes back, we'll all improve together, and you still won't stand a chance."

"That seems to be the case." Li Qiyu scratched his head helplessly, and his classmates burst into laughter.

Young people reunited after a long separation and had endless things to talk about, able to chat excitedly about even the most mundane topics.

We stood in the courtyard and chatted for half an hour...

~~
"Ahem!" After being ignored for half a day, Qian Shanzhang finally couldn't help but cough twice to remind himself of his presence.

"Greetings, Headmaster." Su Lu then remembered Qian Huai Ren and quickly bowed with a smile.

"No need for formalities." Headmaster Qian smiled amiably, looking Su Lu up and down, and said, "You've grown so much taller? It seems the rice in big cities really does nourish people."

"I've just reached the age where I should be growing taller." Su Lu smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, "I haven't congratulated the headmaster yet, he's finally going to be officially appointed."

"Hehe, it's hopeless." Qian Huai-ren shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I was hoping that if the headmaster passed the imperial examination, he could take over the position naturally. But who would have thought that the headmaster would do so well, the best ever in Luzhou's history."

"Indeed, first place in the second class is really amazing!" The students nodded and laughed, "It feels unreal to think that our headmaster is actually a Yellow-Clad Scholar."

“That’s the problem.” Headmaster Qian spread his hands and said, “The previous headmaster was a Huangjia Chuanlu (a high-ranking official), so how can the next headmaster be a Jiansheng (a student of the Imperial Academy)? Even if the garrison agrees, the master here won’t agree.”

"Has the master already made a decision?" Su Lu asked softly. "He hasn't dealt with that yet, but the master is negotiating with the garrison to move the academy to the county town." Headmaster Qian whispered, "The academy where Huang Jia Chuanlu once taught is indeed not suitable for this remote mountain village."

“If we really move here, it will be a good thing for the teachers and students, but we will definitely have to invite a scholar to be the headmaster…” Headmaster Qian said, smiling with a self-awareness, “But I would be content even if I were just the deputy headmaster.”

“Then the children in our area won’t be able to go to school?” Su Lu frowned slightly.

"How could that be? Not only would the three commanders disagree, but we gentlemen wouldn't agree either!" Headmaster Qian shook his head and laughed.

"Don't worry, the number of places for you will remain the same. There will just be a few more classes allocated to the county... Besides, the students already live on campus. Moving from Taiping Town to Hejiang County is just a matter of changing their place of residence."

"That's true." Su Lu nodded and sighed softly, "But it's inconvenient nonetheless."

“Yes, that’s right,” the classmates agreed wholeheartedly. “It was quite a hassle for us to come here; we spent two whole days hiking in the mountains.”

"If only it were winter, we could have come by boat," Li Qiyu thought to himself. "Then we could have met yesterday."

"It's a pity that no one dares to sail on the Chishui River in this season." The classmates also said with great regret, "Even if someone dared to pull us, we wouldn't dare to ride on it."

"What's going on? We're right on the riverbank, but we can't navigate through it," Li Qiyu said, frustrated. His classmates also felt annoyed.

This is the same feeling shared by all the mountain people along the Chishui River... except for those who carry salt.

"Master Zhu said that if he passes the imperial examination, he will submit a memorial to the court requesting the dredging of the Chishui River." Su Lu said expectantly, "Perhaps he has already submitted his memorial by now!"

"That would be wonderful!" Even Master Qian couldn't help but dream, "If the Chishui River could be navigable all year round, it would only take half a day to get here from Taiping Town. Although it would take longer to go back, it would be great not to have to go through the mountains."

~~
After forcibly joining the conversation for a while, Qian Shanzhang finally realized he was superfluous and went out to visit friends.

The students weren't staying at home anymore; they finally got a chance to go to the county town, so of course they wanted to go out and explore.

Su Lu, being a landlord by trade, led everyone out for a stroll.

The county town was much more fun than the small town. Today was a festival, and the streets were especially lively. There was food, games, acrobatics, storytelling—it was dazzling for all the students. Many of the things were new and exciting, things they'd never seen in Taiping Town before…

The open space in the middle of the street was crowded with men, women, and children, watching the troupe leader, who was selling horse racing and horse racing. He climbed up a ladder of sharp knives and then slid across a red-hot iron plow, but his bare feet were unharmed, which drew cheers from the crowd, who threw him money as tips.

This kind of real skill, capable of "climbing mountains of knives and wading through seas of fire," is something you would never see in a town.

Even the stalls selling Buddha statues have them made of gilded wood, silver, bronze, camphor wood, and other different materials, and the eyebrows and eyes are all very lifelike.

In the town, you can only see small clay bodhisattvas, most of which have very abstract expressions.

The boys enjoyed the sights, chatting and strolling around until evening fell. Seeing a grand restaurant by the roadside, Ma Zhaizhang exclaimed, "Let's eat here tonight! I refuse to believe I can't afford this in the county town!"

The crowd cheered and followed Ma Zhaizhang into the restaurant.

There weren't many of them today, just enough to fill one table. Looking at the price list on the wall, the classmates couldn't help but gasp in surprise: "The food in the county town is so expensive! One dish could buy a whole meal in town..."

"Don't worry, just order!" Ma Zhaizhang patted his waist pouch and said gruffly, "I brought plenty of money!"

However, the classmates were relatively restrained, ordering only eight dishes and a soup, and not ordering anything too expensive.

After eating and drinking his fill, Ma Zhaizhang went to the counter to settle his account, but the shopkeeper smiled and said, "Young master, no need, the account has already been settled..."

"Hiroshi, did you do this?" Ma Zhaizhang turned around with a displeased look. "Can't you let me spend money just once?"

Su Lu shook his head and chuckled, "How could I? When have you ever seen me offer to pay the bill?"

The classmates laughed and said, "Hongzhi should say, when have we ever seen you pay the bill?"

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Su Lu glared at them angrily, then couldn't help but laugh, "Even if I wanted to grant the headmaster's wish, I wouldn't be paying the bill this time."

Ma Zhaizhang then looked at the other classmates, and they all shook their heads: "Don't look at us, we're the same."

"Then who paid the bill?" Ma Zhaizhang had no choice but to ask the manager.

"I'm sorry, sir, I have no comment." The shopkeeper smiled apologetically.

"That's strange..." Ma Zhaizhang scratched his head, ultimately deciding not to spend the money...

Leaving the restaurant, Ma Zhaizhang couldn't help but sigh and say, "What use is this silver to me?"

~~
When I came out of the restaurant, it was already completely dark.

Su Lu escorted his classmates back to the inn, then went to the yamen to pay his respects to Magistrate Lu.

Upon seeing him, You Muyou asked with a smile, "How is the food at Qingyunlou?"

Su Lu suddenly realized, "Did you pay the bill, sir?"

"Do I need to pay the bill? I'll just have someone ask." You Muyou smiled smugly, then quickly explained:

"Hongzhi, don't misunderstand. I'm not following you. It's just that the master wants to see you tonight, and I need to keep track of your whereabouts."

(End of this chapter)