Top Scholar

Chapter 382 Going Home
On that day, Wen Jieyuan was carried back to Jin Guixuan by Wu Jieyuan.

Su Lu actually had a pretty good alcohol tolerance, after all, he grew up smelling the smell of wine lees, but he couldn't resist the toasts from all the officials and gentry in the city!

Normally, he wouldn't be so honest and would have already asked his adopted sons to help him fend off the drinks. But today is a celebration banquet, and the elders and villagers are sincerely toasting him. It wouldn't be appropriate to be cunning or lazy at this time.

Besides, one should enjoy life to the fullest when things are going well. Su Lu is going all out today, accepting all comers and getting drunk...

Then he really did collapse.

Actually, his second brother drank even more than him, but Su Tai's stomach seemed to be an insatiable black hole; a few pounds of liquor was nothing more than a quick rinse for him.

Prefect Lu originally intended to send Su Lu back in his own sedan chair, but Su Lu waved his hand dramatically, drunkenly saying, "No, no, I'll throw up all over your sedan chair..."

"It's alright, I'll just absorb some of the scholar's literary flair." Prefect Lu was also quite drunk. This year's provincial examination in Luzhou was unprecedented, and he, as prefect, would surely receive praise from the court. Even if he wasn't promoted, he'd at least be given a promotion in his minor rank—wouldn't it be wonderful to be appointed a Fengzheng Dafu (a high-ranking official)?

"Hehe, then I won't sit. I need to stretch my legs and get some fresh air." Su Lu shook his head. No matter how drunk he was, he still knew what he was doing. If he really vomited all over the prefect's sedan chair, wouldn't he become a laughing stock?

"Alright, alright, whatever you say." Lu Zhaoye patted his precious treasure. "Then I'll be going. Come to my place for tea later; I've saved some tribute tea for you."

"See you there!" Even though Su Lu was so drunk, he still helped the prefect into his sedan chair.

"Lift the sedan chair!" Lu Zhizhou's attendant shouted, and four sedan chair bearers steadily lifted the sedan chair, which trembled as it moved forward.

After walking a few steps, a sound of retching was heard from inside the sedan chair...

This completely dispelled Su Lu's idea of ​​riding in a sedan chair, and with the help of his eldest and second eldest brothers, he slowly walked home.

As for Yu Cai, he was already brought down in the middle of the game and had to be carried back by Yu Ma and Yu Peng.

Su Man and Su Tai had barely left Xuegong Street when they saw that Su Lu had already fallen into a deep sleep with his head down.

Su Tai then carried Su Lu on his back and walked home, just like when they were children...

~~
Jin Guixuan, the whole family is waiting for the three brothers to come back.

The landlady was quite uneasy, as it was her first time being the mother of two top scholars...

"Don't be nervous," her aunt comforted her. "They just passed the imperial examination with top honors, it doesn't mean they've been promoted in the seniority. They still have to call you 'Mother' just the same!"

He patted his chest and gave a personal account, saying, "Just like Brother Chun, he's a master in front of others, how dare he act arrogantly towards me? If he dares to make me angry, I'll deal with him without hesitation!"

"Sigh..." The landlady nodded, thinking to herself, "Of course it's okay since you're my own flesh and blood. But Xia Ge'er and Qiu Ge'er aren't my children, so I, as their stepmother, don't really care."

“Sister-in-law, you’re wrong. My father said that the scholars are all celestial beings descended to earth, they just came out of your womb, so we should still respect them.” The aunt said seriously, “If you curse him, you’ll get mouth ulcers.”

"Really?" The eldest aunt's expression tightened, and she stammered, "Then we have to treat him with respect from now on?"

"Of course." The aunt nodded, secretly pleased. Lately, her aunt had been getting too arrogant, bossing her around all the time. Now she finally had a chance to get a little revenge.

"Alright..." Auntie sighed dejectedly, "Then from now on, I can only leave you alone."

"You..." Auntie was speechless with anger. Looking up, she saw Dong-ge and his two older sisters playing cat's cradle in the courtyard, and she angrily said:
"Su Run! You've run off to play again! Aren't you going to study with the teacher? You want another beating, don't you?!"

"Oh..." Dongge'er reluctantly put down the flower rope and went to the backyard dejectedly.

He originally had a carefree childhood, but misfortune struck after his two older brothers passed the imperial examinations.

His aunt hired an old scholar from Hejiang County as his tutor, who taught him to read and write every day. He brought the old scholar with him to Luzhou, and he never wanted to stop his studies for even a day.

She personally checked Dongge'er's homework every day, and if he didn't finish, she'd spank him! She'd beat the child until he cried loudly every few days…

Even the usually quiet aunt couldn't stand it anymore, "Sister-in-law, Dong'er is only four years old. Isn't it a bit too early to let him start school?"

“We had no choice when we were poor, but now that we have the means, we have to start learning as soon as possible!” Auntie insisted, “His brothers have all passed the imperial examinations, and he has to follow suit in the future.”

"Sigh..." The aunt sighed, thinking to herself, how could it be that all four brothers passed the imperial examination?
"Third daughter-in-law, that's not right of you. The child's schooling depends entirely on his own will; when it's time to study, you can't stop him," the eldest aunt said smugly.

"From the time Chun-ge was old enough to understand, he would pester his second uncle to teach him to read every day. At night, when the house was dark, he would read by the fire pit. He was just a tiny little boy then."

"Qiu-ge'er was a late bloomer, but one day he suddenly made up his mind to study, and no one could stop him. As a result, he passed the entrance exam for the academy in a hundred days and became the top scholar in the provincial examination in four years!" After a pause, his aunt shared her advanced experience:
"So you have to wait until your child comes to their senses and starts wanting to study on their own!"

My aunt has heard these words countless times, but every time she hears them, she feels envious and jealous.

“Sigh, Chun-ge’er and Qiu-ge’er are both reincarnations of the God of Literature; they’ll naturally blossom when the time comes.” But she didn’t believe her aunt’s foolish ‘child-rearing methods’ and sighed, “What if Dong-ge’er is just an ordinary mortal and never blossoms? So he should start studying early…”

As the sisters-in-law were chatting idly, they heard Old Yu, the gatekeeper, announce loudly, "The three young masters have returned!"

The four sisters-in-law then surrounded the old man and woman and hurried to the door to greet them.

Then they saw Su Tai carrying Su Lu on his back, with Su Man following beside him as they entered the house.

"Grandpa and Grandma!" Su Man and Su Tai immediately knelt down and kowtowed when they saw the old man and woman. Su Tai was truly amazing; carrying the soundly sleeping Su Lu on his back, his movements were not affected at all.

"Oh, good grandson, get up quickly." The old man happily helped the two brothers up and asked with concern, "Is Qiu-ge drunk?"

“Yes, Grandpa, today the whole of Luzhou is paying tribute to this top scholar.” Su Man laughed, “This is the first time Qiu Ge’er has ever been this drunk.”

"What?" the old woman exclaimed in surprise, "All the women in Luzhou are harassing you?"

"Grandma, I'm telling you, Jieyuanlang, I'm not being a hooligan!" Su Man shouted.

"A woman can't act like a hooligan!" the old lady said anxiously. "You're about to get married, you can't betray Miss Zhu..."

"Let's send Qiu-ge'er in first," Su Man said helplessly.

"Go, go." The old lady understood this.

The two brothers escorted Su Lu back to his room, which was spotless and the bedding had all been washed and dried.

They placed him on the bed, took off his official boots, covered him with a quilt, and seeing that he was fast asleep, the two brothers then closed the door slightly and quietly withdrew.

~~
As dusk fell, Su Lu finally woke up, feeling dizzy and with a dry mouth.

Just as he was about to call out for help, the door was gently pushed open, and the proprietress came in carrying a bowl of soup.

"Mother," Su Lu called out without hesitation.

"Oh..." the landlady replied in a trembling voice, almost bursting into tears. Although Su Lu had been calling her "Mom" for several years, she finally felt at ease after hearing this.

"How did you get so drunk?" She sat on the edge of the bed with a bowl in her hand.

"I've passed the imperial examination with top honors!" Su Lu chuckled.

"I know, Mother has been happy for days." Seeing that Su Lu wasn't at all distant, the proprietress finally realized she had worried unnecessarily. She regained her composure and complained, "Those people, really, don't they know your brain is the most precious thing? Can't they get you drunk?"

"Hehe, I wanted to drink it myself." Su Lu chuckled, rubbing his temples. "It's just that my head hurts so much after drinking it."

He gave a wry smile and said, "It's making us a laughingstock in front of others."

"Yes, even if our wine is good, you can't drink too much," the proprietress said with concern for her son. "Aren't you going to take the imperial examination next year?"

"Hmm, drinking hurts the brain, I'll quit drinking starting tomorrow!" Su Lu made up his mind, but then another headache hit him, and he frowned.

The proprietress then ladled soup and fed it to him, saying, "Drinking this hangover soup will make you feel better."

"I can do it myself." Su Lu quickly took the spoon. He's such a grown man; even his own mother wouldn't let him feed him...

The proprietress then helped him hold the bowl and watched as Su Lu drank the bowl of olive and tangerine peel soup.

After drinking the sour hangover soup, Su Lu felt much better and said with a smile, "I haven't seen Xiao Fu Bao'er yet."

"Quick, Tiantian, bring your little sister over so her brother can see her!" the proprietress hurriedly called out to the neighbor.

A short while later, Xiaotiantian brought in a baby in swaddling clothes.

"Oh, so cute with its chubby and fair skin." Su Lu wanted to hug the little baby, but remembering that he was covered in alcohol, he only reached out and gently stroked the baby's delicate face.

Little Fu Bao was woken up by his poking, and opened her big, dark eyes to smile silently at him.

Su Lu's heart melted at that smile. He quickly took off his round collar, which was stained with the smell of alcohol, leaving only his white undershirt underneath, and took Xiao Fubao from Xiao Tiantian's hands.

The mother and daughter were initially worried that he wouldn't know how to hold a baby, but they found that he held the baby quite well, and then they remembered that Jinbao'er was someone he had watched grow up.

Su Lu then asked Xiao Yu'er to bring out an exquisite gold lock, which he then put on Xiao Fu Bao's head, saying, "Longevity Gold Lock, may you live a long and healthy life, free from disasters and misfortunes, and may your blessings continue!"

"Little Fu Bao is so lucky. She was born into wealth and privilege, unlike her older brothers and sisters who had to suffer first," the proprietress exclaimed.

"Mom, I'm not so bad off," Xiao Tiantian said with a smile. "If you suffer a little when you're young, you'll appreciate what you have when you grow up."

"Right, brother?" She has grown into a well-educated and sensible young lady, just like a miniature Huang E.

“Yes, yes.” Su Lu nodded and smiled, then took the pair of white jade bracelets and handed them to Xiao Tiantian, saying, “These were bestowed by the Empress Dowager. You and your sister-in-law each have one.”

"Brother, you should give it to my sister-in-law first." Xiao Tiantian shook her head and refused, covering her mouth and laughing, "Let her do this favor."

“Uh…” Su Lu was taken aback, but couldn’t help but laugh and said, “That makes sense. My sister is so thoughtful.”

(End of this chapter)