Top Scholar

Chapter 312 When one is in trouble, help comes from all sides.
"What happened? Why are you two so worried?" Upon hearing that Su Lu and Huang E had come despite the rain, Zhu Jie's family hurriedly came out to greet them.

“Uncle-Master, I just saw the official gazette at my father-in-law’s place,” Su Lu said, choking back tears. “The Headmaster…”

"What's wrong with him?" Zhu Jie's heart tightened.

“I was flogged…” Su Lu hissed.

"What? How is that possible? He's a junior scholar!" Zhu Jie exclaimed incredulously.

"Uncle-Master, please take a look." Su Lu took out the official gazette, still warm from his body, turned to that page, and handed it to Zhu Jie.

"At the same time, more than forty people, including Mr. Yangming, were also flogged. They had angered Liu Jin by submitting a memorial to rescue more than twenty people, including Dai Xi, a censor in Nanjing, and were flogged forty times..."

"Forty strokes of the cane..." Madam Zhang's vision went black, and she almost fainted.

Miss Zhu quickly helped her mother up.

Zhu Jie's eyes instantly turned red, and his hand holding the official gazette trembled slightly.

But he didn't forget his identity as the head of the family. After a brief moment of shock, he ordered Zhu Zigong in a deep voice, "Tell your third uncle to come over quickly."

"Yes," Zhu Zigong replied.

"Never mind, I'll go instead." Zhu Jie changed his mind again, thinking it would save some time. As he spoke, he glanced at Su Lu.

Before he could speak, Su Lu followed up: "Uncle-Master, I'll go with you."

"Alright." Zhu Jie nodded, and the two walked quickly through the long covered corridor to Zhu Zhang's place.

~~
Amidst the wind and rain, strong winds continuously blew cold raindrops into Zhu Zhang's study.

Zhu Zhang's son, Zhu Ziyun, wanted to close the window, but Zhu Zhang stopped him, saying, "Don't close it, blowing it out will make you more awake."

Zhu Ziyun nodded and then used a support to hold the window sash in place to prevent it from rattling and interfering with their conversation.

Zhu Jie sighed and said, "Actually, when Prefect Jia made his escape, I felt something was wrong. I asked the third brother to write a letter to the ninth brother, advising him to stay out of it and not get involved in the anti-corruption campaign."

"Master Uncle's insight is brilliant." Su Lu exclaimed in admiration. He had never expected that Prefect Jia would run away; it turned out that 'the cicadas sensed the coming autumn wind before it even stirred.'

Looking back now, Prefect Jia's timing in withdrawing was absolutely brilliant. A month later, and he would have become a complete clown…

Zhu Jie smiled bitterly, "However, even though I guessed the beginning, I couldn't change the outcome..."

“There’s nothing we can do about it, Second Brother. A man of noble character will not seek to live at the expense of righteousness, but will sacrifice his life to achieve it.” Zhu Zhang understood his Ninth Brother and said, “Ninth Brother did the right thing, which has greatly brought honor to our Zhu family.”

"Yes, the Ninth Prince spoke out against the emperor and was honorably flogged, so I will naturally write a big entry for him in the family genealogy." Zhu Jie said worriedly, "But that's all for the future. How do we get through this hurdle? Is he dead or alive? If he is alive, how will he be dealt with? How should we rescue him? These are the most urgent matters!"

"Hmm..." Zhu Zhang had no choice but to nod. No matter how glorious the Ninth Prince was now, it couldn't change his dangerous situation.

However, after much discussion, the two brothers were at a loss. It wasn't that they had no one to turn to; the Zhu family had cultivated connections in Beijing for many years and could contact influential figures from Sichuan such as Yang Tinghe and Liu Chun, the former being Zhu Liu's mentor.

But the problem is that asking for help in this situation is actually harming the other person!

The civil officials who were flogged by the ninth prince were there to rescue Dai Xi and his group. If another group were to be arrested while trying to rescue the ninth prince and Wang Yangming, wouldn't that be like the Calabash Brothers trying to save their grandfather?

"I'll go and ask the old abbot," Su Lu said softly. "Let's see if he can ask the Grand Secretary for help."

"Great idea!" Zhu Zhang's eyes lit up. "The old headmaster and Li Chaling are close friends. Now, only this Grand Secretary can speak for us, so there's no danger!"

"Hmm." Zhu Jie nodded emphatically. He had already thought of this, but he couldn't speak up and had to let Su Lu make his own judgment.

He said to Su Lu, "Hongzhi, ask the old abbot if it's convenient for him to help. If so, I'll pay him a visit right away, but please don't force him... The old abbot has been enjoying his retirement for so long, it's such a sin."

"We can't worry about that now, saving lives is the priority. I know what I'm doing," Su Lu said in a deep voice.

"Alright, then I'll have to trouble you, Hongzhi!" Zhu Jie squeezed Su Lu's shoulder tightly; at this moment, all words seemed inadequate.

"We also need to prepare some silver to make proper arrangements," Zhu Jie said to Zhu Zhang.

Of course, Su Lu didn't need to worry about these things.

Saving lives is like putting out a fire, and every second counts. So Su Lu left early, got on his BMW, and rushed to Bijia Mountain.

~~
When Zhu Jie returned from Zhu Zhang's place, he saw that the Su family had all arrived.

Although we can't offer much help, the attitude of sharing weal and woe is very important.

Zhu Jie said to Su Youjin and Su Youcai with emotion:

"Sigh, I don't know if the next punishment will affect my family. You shouldn't have come."

“Since we are family, of course we should enjoy the good times together and bear the hardships together.” Uncle and Su Youcai both smiled.

"Exactly, as the saying goes, 'True friendship is forged in times of trouble; what good is friendship if one remains aloof?' What kind of friendship is it if someone stays far away during times of trouble?"

"Good, good!" Zhu Jie nodded excitedly, gripped the hands of his two brothers tightly, and shouted to the clansmen who had come upon hearing the news:
"Don't worry, everyone. The difficulties are only temporary. The Zhu family will not be defeated. We will definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel!"

"Yes!" The Zhu family members responded in unison, showing no sign of panic.

This family, which has been passed down for hundreds of years, has experienced several changes of dynasties. This difficulty will not scare them; it will only make them more united!
The Zhu family was about to have a meeting, and the Su family members took their leave after expressing their opinions.

The Zhu family saw them to the door. "Go back and get back to work, we're not here to cause trouble," the uncle said, lowering his voice.

"Second brother is definitely going to spend money everywhere. My sister-in-law said there are still two thousand taels of silver in the account, and she will have Chun-ge and Xia-ge send them over later."

"Too many..." Zhu Jie said hurriedly.

"Saving lives is the most important thing! Nothing else matters," Su Youcai said in a deep voice.

"Okay, thank you." Zhu Jie nodded emphatically.

"Just let us know if it's not enough, and we'll send more from Hejiang," Su Youjin added.

"Okay, okay." Zhu Jie's eyes were red with gratitude.

~~
After returning home, Su Man brought Su Youjin hot water to soak his feet and ward off the cold.

"Sigh, what's going on here?" Su Youjin tentatively stuck his toes into the basin, grimacing as he said, "It's not easy for the country to train a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). The local areas treat him like a treasure, but the emperor doesn't care at all, letting those eunuchs ruin him. Isn't this like 'selling one's father's land without a care'?"

“Your Majesty is too young and does not yet understand the principle that ‘if a ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy,’” Su Man said.

“Chun-ge’er, I think it’s enough for you and Qiu-ge’er to pass the provincial examination and become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination). Let’s not take the exams any further. It would be too dangerous for you to become an official in the capital if you passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination),” Su Youjin said worriedly.

"Let's focus on passing the imperial examination first..." Su Man said helplessly; "Seventy quotas in three years are as difficult as climbing to heaven."

"Sigh, it's not so bad if I don't pass the exam..." Su Youjin dipped his feet into the basin of water and closed his eyes comfortably. "I don't even dare to dream of living like this now."

"..." Su Man did not respond, and after a long silence, she said, "Father, please ask the Zhu family for my hand in marriage."

"Hmm?" Su Youjin opened his eyes abruptly, looked his son up and down, and said, "You don't mind that their family background is too high?"

"Hmm." Su Man nodded and said, "Actually, I know that Miss Zhu is beautiful and generous, and she is somewhat fond of me. I didn't agree before because I didn't want to be seen as a sycophant."

"Then why did you agree now?" Su Youjin asked. "Is it because you don't want people to say you're just looking for an advantage?"

"No," Su Man shook her head and said, "I admire Zhu Chuanlu too much, and I also wanted to take this opportunity to comfort my teacher."

"Pfft..." Su Youjin couldn't help but chuckle, "But what does this have to do with Athena Chu?"

"Not really." Su Man blushed slightly and said shyly, "The way she cried with tears streaming down her face today was quite touching."

"Hahaha!" Su Youjin laughed loudly, "I thought you were just a block of wood, but it turns out you have some tricks up your sleeve!"

"I'll ask someone to act as matchmaker later and get things settled for you two as soon as possible. Your younger brothers are waiting for you." Su Youjin dried his feet, put on his wooden clogs, and went to tell Su Youcai the good news.

"Hahaha, second brother, good news! Our monk has finally fallen in love!"

Su Man was helpless; her father's mouth was so unrestrained...

~~
Su Lu returned in the afternoon.

"Have you eaten, son?" The proprietress quickly handed him a dry cloth to wipe his head.

“Mother, I took Xiumei home and had dinner before coming back,” Su Lu said. “My father-in-law originally said he would invite you all over for dinner tonight, but who knew this would happen.”

"Yes, who could have imagined it?" the proprietress said with deep feeling. "This is what they mean by 'the weather is unpredictable, and life is full of unexpected events.'"

She couldn't help but feel relieved, saying, "Fortunately, it has little to do with our family."

“That’s not right. This is a calamity for all scholars in the world,” Su Youcai said solemnly.

"Yes, I am ignorant, but as long as my husband is tall, that's fine," the proprietress said with a smile.

"What did the old headmaster say?" Su Youcai asked Su Lu again.

"The old headmaster also knows the news. He said that Headmaster Zhu is also his student and he will definitely do his best to rescue him," Su Lu said. "He immediately wrote a letter to the Grand Secretary and asked me to send it to the express courier station."

"Then it shouldn't be a big problem, right?" Su Youjin said, "They've already put it in the Prime Minister's office."

"I'm afraid it'll be too late," Su Lu sighed. "What we've seen is all from half a month ago. Who knows what the situation is now?"

“You don’t need to worry too much. Isn’t Mr. Yangming the son of Scholar Wang? Scholar Wang will definitely do his best to rescue him,” Su Youcai comforted him.

"Yes, Father is right." Su Lu nodded.

“Son, we’re not afraid of anything else, but we’re afraid that someone will use your relationship with Headmaster Zhu to make a fuss.” Su Youcai added worriedly, “Your reputation as a Little Three Scholars is too great; there’s no guarantee that someone won’t try to sabotage you behind the scenes.”

"Let them do whatever they want. At most, they'll prevent me from passing the imperial examination." Su Lu said nonchalantly, "It's my honor to be associated with Headmaster Zhu."

He then comforted his family, saying, "Besides, I believe Liu Jin's perverse actions will not last long!"

"Good, good, it's wonderful that you think that way." The elders said happily, "We don't care if you pass the imperial examinations or become a scholar; your safety and well-being are more important than anything else!"

"Mm." Su Lu nodded, touched.

However, his family was overthinking it. Although Su Lu didn't know the historical details, he knew that getting too close to Wang Yangming wouldn't be dangerous at all; in fact, his elder brother would help him take off...

(End of this chapter)