Top Scholar

Chapter 371 Same Year
The Luzhou Public Office in Chengdu has been bustling with visitors these past two days.

Visitors, gift-givers, and clan members flocked to the public hall, practically wearing down its threshold.

The term "joining clans" refers to people of the same surname but different lineages who unite to form a clan by worshipping each other's ancestors.

Once a scholar achieves success and passes the imperial examination, becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examination), his relatives from different prefectures, counties, and clans all request him to perform ancestral rites, hoping to be recognized as members of the same clan.

The purpose, of course, was to leverage the reputation of the scholar to solidify the family's position in the local area. Naturally, they wouldn't do it for nothing; they would generously reward the scholar with a "recognition of ancestry money" gift, and continue to give him gifts during festivals and holidays.

All the newly appointed scholars received visits from clan elders of the same surname, who offered substantial sums to request kinship alliances, and each person reaped considerable rewards. Even Lin Zhihong, who had the fewest relatives, received a thousand taels of silver as a token of kinship alliance.

All they had to do was kowtow to the other party's ancestors...

The Su brothers were no exception. The heads of the Su clan of Dongshan in Chengdu, the main branch of the Su clan of Meizhou, and the Su clan of Tongshan all prepared generous gifts to invite them to the ancestral worship ceremony.

It was difficult to refuse such an offer, especially since reconnecting with the main branch of the Su family in Meizhou had always been a long-cherished wish of the elders of the Erlang Su family. So Su Man, on behalf of the Erlang Su family, agreed and arranged to bring the elders of the clan to pay respects to their ancestors at a convenient time.

~~
In short, all the newly appointed candidates received so many gifts that they were overwhelmed.

Su Lu received the most gifts, almost equal to the total of the other nine people.

There was no way around it; a Juren (举人) was a Juren, and a Jieyuan (解元) was a Jieyuan, especially one who had defeated Yang Shen. This instantly made him the darling of the entire Shu region.

The most precious of all the gifts was the ten boxes of rare ancient books presented by the Prince of Shu's Palace!

What made him even more grateful was that these were precisely the books he had planned to borrow...

Once Eunuch Song, who had delivered the gifts, left, the group of scholars and officials from Yangjiang gathered around the chest, which held out boxes of antique and rare books. Their eyes widened in amazement, and they practically drooled over the books...

"Wow, this is a butterfly dress from the Tang Dynasty! I've never seen one like it before..."

"Look at my book, it's bound in dragon scales!"

"This is a bamboo slip book..."

"Take care of them, don't get any saliva on them!" Su Lu had to remind them not to damage these precious ancient books that ordinary people would never see!

"Don't worry, it won't cause any trouble." The classmates were actually very concerned; these books were truly precious!
"Senior Brother, the Prince of Shu loves you so much! He's brought you the most precious books from his palace!"

"..." Su Lu was no longer the ignorant man he once was, and naturally understood the significance of these classics. After pondering for a moment, he solemnly said, "Your Highness is mistaken. This generous gift is not only too valuable, but as a precious cultural relic, it should be properly preserved in the Zunjing Pavilion. Therefore, I absolutely cannot accept it."

"Why didn't you say so earlier, Senior Brother?" The classmates felt it was a pity, but also thought Su Lu was right. They said, "It would have been better to just let Eunuch Song take him back. It would have saved us from heartache."

“That won’t do. We can return the books, but we must leave the contents behind.” Su Lu said in a deep voice, “Before we leave Chengdu, we will make a copy of each of these books and take it with us. The originals will be returned to the Shu Prince’s Mansion intact.”

"Excellent! This idea is perfect!" everyone laughed. "But can we hire a scribe this time?"

“Of course not!” Su Lu said resolutely, “Losing or damaging even one of these precious books would be a terrible sin.”

As he spoke, he looked earnestly at his adopted sons and said, "I only trust you all..."

"No!" Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately wailed: "If you have to copy books before you pass the imperial examination, and you still have to copy books after you pass, then what's the point of passing the imperial examination?"

“You’re wrong about that…” Su Lu remained unmoved, still smiling as he said, “You called him ‘godfather’ before you passed the imperial examination, but does that mean you don’t have to call him ‘godfather’ anymore after you passed?”

"..." Everyone was speechless.

"Just copy the book honestly," Su Lu said seriously. "It's a good opportunity to calm down your restless mind these past few days by using pen and ink."

"Yes." Everyone had no choice but to obediently follow their senior brother's orders.

~~
Copying books was indeed a way to cultivate one's character. When it came time to report to the provincial administration office, the candidates from Luzhou were noticeably more composed than their peers…

Early that morning, the newly appointed candidates gathered in front of the Provincial Administration Office.

The government office had not yet opened, but the candidates greeted each other warmly, as if they were long-lost brothers, and soon became one big brother.

As the top scholar in the provincial examination, Su Lu naturally became the center of attention. All the candidates took the initiative to come and greet him, regardless of age, and respectfully addressed him as "Brother Jieyuan".

At this time, Su Lu was only seventeen years old...

Fortunately, Su Jieyuan had excellent emotional intelligence. He was neither naive nor arrogant, and he treated people with kindness and gentleness, leaving a very good impression on his classmates.

"Senior Brother!" Liu Henian and a group of Chongqing scholars came over and greeted Su Lu warmly.

"Haha, that's great! You all passed the exam!" Su Lu patted them on the shoulder with joy to encourage them: "Well done, you're all great!"

"Senior Brother is the best! I never expected you to steal Yang Yongxiu's title of Jieyuan!" Liu Henian said casually.

"Ahem!" The other students quickly coughed, trying to stop this simple-minded young master from talking nonsense.

"Hey, Weixin, you must be mindful of unity." As the top scholar in the provincial examination, Su Lu naturally had to take the initiative to maintain the friendship among the younger generation.

"Oh dear, I forgot we're all the same age." Liu Henian scratched his head and quickly said to everyone, "Just pretend you didn't hear that. I'll treat you to drinks later."

"Haha, it's a deal!" The classmates readily agreed.

The Liu family was a prominent family in the imperial examinations, on par with the Yang family. Liu Henian's uncle, Scholar Liu, was the second most powerful figure in Sichuan. The first was none other than Yang Tinghe…

Everyone immediately felt that they understood.

"By the way, where is Brother Shunyu?" Su Lu asked, changing the subject.

"He was picked up by Brother Yang... as soon as he arrived." Liu Henian said with a sneer, "I haven't seen him since."

"Brother Shunyu and the people from Lizhe Association are in Xindu. They sent word the day before yesterday that they will be here on time today," said several other Chongqing scholars.

"They're here!" someone whispered. Everyone turned to look and saw seven figures walking side by side from the street corner with an air of indifference.
As the sun rose, it gilded the seven people, making them seem like natural protagonists!
In fact, not only the observers, but the seven of them originally thought so too. They had taken six of the top eight spots, so they had the confidence to be arrogant!
Unfortunately, the top scholar was someone else...

Thinking of this, Yang Shen, standing in the middle, felt a pang of pain in his heart and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"Sigh, it's so frustrating..."

The other six men also lost their momentum and obediently bowed to Su Lu, saying, "Greetings, Brother Jieyuan! May your literary career flourish!"

"You're too kind, fellow elders," Su Lu returned the greeting politely. "May your literary fortunes flourish and may you achieve high honors in the imperial examinations."

"Thank you for your kind words, Brother Jieyuan." The six of them straightened up, and Xia Bangmo even winked at Su Lu.

Su Lu smiled and looked at Yang Shen, who was lagging behind.

Yang Shen also looked at Su Lu.

Zila Zila Zhi!

The street was completely silent, save for the mournful sound of the autumn wind.

"Sigh..." Yang Shen sighed softly, lowering his noble head for the first time in his life, and bowed with his hands clasped in greeting:
"I pay my respects to Brother Jieyuan. May your literary career flourish."

"..." Su Lusheng accepted his bow and then returned the bow with a smile, saying, "Brother Yongxiu, you are too kind. Brother Yongxiu, may your literary career flourish and may you pass the imperial examinations one after another."

"Thank you for your kind words, Brother Jieyuan." Yang Shen straightened up and smiled, "I will definitely work harder in next year's imperial examination."

Su Lu also smiled and said, "Then let's work hard together."

At this moment, the bells and drums on the Bell and Drum Tower sounded in unison, and the gates of the Provincial Administration Office slowly opened.

The candidates immediately stopped chatting and lined up in groups of five according to their rankings.

The five champions were naturally in the front row, with Su Lu in the middle, Yang Shen on his left and Shi Tianzhu on his right.

While waiting for the provincial officials to lead them inside, Yang Shen said in a barely audible voice, "I haven't slept for two days and two nights, and I still can't figure out how I lost to you."

"Then keep thinking about it until you figure it out." Su Lu said calmly, his eyes fixed straight ahead.

"Don't be too happy yet. There are still two more matches next year, and I'll win them back then." Yang Shen snorted, clearly still unconvinced.

“You also said you would beat me before the provincial examination.” Su Lu smiled slightly, which made Yang Shen so angry that his liver hurt.

"Say less," Liu Jingyu, who was fifth in line to Yang Shen's left, whispered, "We're too passive."

"..." Yang Shen nodded slightly. He knew that at least until next year's imperial examination, he wouldn't be able to get anything out of Su Lu...

But he couldn't resist teasing Su Lu again after a while: "Do you know? My family studies the Book of Changes, but I chose the Book of Poetry for the provincial examination."

"Oh." Su Lu was slightly surprised. "You can even report an error like this?"

"Pfft..." Yang Shen almost spat out a mouthful of blood, and muttered, "I did it on purpose."

At this moment, a seventh-rank official emerged from the yamen; it was none other than Yan Song, Yan Weizhong. He bowed to the group of newly appointed scholars and said, "Please follow me, everyone."

"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Yan." Su Lu led the group in bowing and then followed Yan Song into the Provincial Administration Office.

Most of the scholars were entering such a high-ranking government office for the first time in their lives, and they were at a loss for what to do with their hands and feet, and were very careful for fear of making a mistake.

Yang Shen, however, acted as if he were at home, and said to Su Lu, "Because I don't want to win unfairly..."

He spoke incoherently, but Su Lu could understand him. He was simply saying that his father was Yang Tinghe, his teacher was Li Dongyang, and he usually studied with Hanlin scholars. His teaching staff was so powerful that it was almost unfair.

He considered himself a gentleman and naturally didn't want others to say that his victory was unfair, so he didn't choose the "I Ching," which he was most proficient in, for the exam...

"You're quite impressive," Su Lu said softly. He knew nothing but the scripture.

“But I’m not underestimating my opponent, because the Book of Songs is my hobby, so I’ve studied both classics since I was a child, and my level is about the same.” Yang Shen sighed and said, “But my family’s scholarship has been passed down for three generations, so I’m sure I can get a higher score.”

"In short, I was careless. I thought I could beat you with the Book of Songs." He said in a deep voice, "But now it seems that the Book of Songs is still too shallow. No matter how well I write, I can't beat you. So next time I will use the Book of Changes. I wonder how you will deal with it?"

"I will remain unchanged in the face of all changes," Su Lu said calmly, thinking to himself that he had no ability to change anything.

P.S. I'll read the next chapter tomorrow morning...

(End of this chapter)