Top Scholar

Chapter 390: The picture shows the dagger
After slamming his hand on the table, Qian Ning stared intently at Su Lu's face, trying to glean some useful information from his changing expressions.

However, to the disappointment of the emperor's adopted son, Su Lu remained unfazed and resolutely said, "I don't know what Commander Zhu is talking about. We are a respectable family of scholars, and no one in our family has ever broken the law. How could we possibly commit crimes?"

He chuckled and said, "We'd need to have the ability to intercept and kill the imperial envoy."

"Still playing dumb! Let me make this clear—last year on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, at Simian Mountain in Yongning, I led a team to capture the wanted criminal Wang Shouren, and we had already surrounded him! Your brother Su Tai disguised himself as the head of the Chengdu barbarians and led a group of accomplices to break out and rescue Wang Shouren!"

As he spoke, he took a step forward, his wolf-like eyebrows raised and his eyes blazing, as if he wanted to devour Su Lu. He growled in a low voice, "I even came face to face with him back then, do you know that?!"

“Then Commander Zhu must have mistaken me for someone else.” Su Lu shook his head decisively and said, “That’s completely untrue. Last year on the Laba Festival, my second brother was still at the martial arts school in Luzhou and hadn’t had a holiday. His teacher and classmates can all testify to that.”

"Then was the Su Tai I saw with my own eyes a ghost?!" Qian Ning sneered, with an expression of complete control, and said, "He has confessed that he was the one impersonating the Chief Commander that day! He also said that you ordered him to do it in order to save your teacher!"

Upon hearing this, Su Lu was not alarmed at all; on the contrary, he felt much more at ease. He knew that his second brother would never betray him, so this 'traitor' must not have obtained his second brother's confession and was trying to trick him!
Qian Ning was the adopted son of the eunuch Qian Neng, so Qian was not his original surname...

“I don’t believe my second brother would slander himself.” Su Lu shook his head firmly and said, “If he did confess, it must have been through torture.”

Seeing that Su Lu still wouldn't fall for it, Qian Ning grabbed him by the collar and said angrily, "You've been caught red-handed and you still dare to deny it? You think you can't torture me just because you're the top scholar in the imperial examination?"

"You've miscalculated!" Qian Ning sneered. "If you don't believe me, look at your official certificate. Doesn't it say 'No arbitrary detention or torture is permitted except in cases handled by imperial decree with special consideration?' Sorry, our Northern Garrison is the one that handles imperial cases, and this commander is asking about cases handled by special consideration!"

"Even if you beat me to death, I can't admit to something that didn't happen." Su Lu spread his hands.

"Then don't blame me for being ruthless!" Qian Ning gritted his teeth and said, "I've used torture on even fourth-rank officials in the capital, let alone a mere top scholar like you!"

Before he could finish speaking, a bright yellow jade pendant was thrust in front of him.

"Huh? How come you have something that belongs to the emperor?!" Qian Ning, as expected of the emperor's adopted son, recognized at a glance that the jade pendant was from the palace and that only the emperor and the crown prince could use it.

"This was bestowed by the late emperor," Su Lu said calmly.

"Ah..." Qian Ning was so frightened that he quickly released Su Lu and retreated hastily. "Impossible, absolutely impossible. You've never even been to the capital, how could you possibly have received a gift from the late emperor?"

"Who said this was bestowed upon me by the late emperor?" Su Lu sneered, cupping his hands in the direction of Chengdu and saying, "This was a gift from the late emperor to His Highness the Prince of Shu. His Highness lent it to me temporarily for protection when I go to the capital for the imperial examination." As he spoke, he raised his voice and said, "His Highness has made it clear—with this jade pendant of the late emperor, anyone who dares to lay a finger on me will report to the emperor!"

"..." Qian Ning's eyes flickered, and his expression changed several times. He never expected that this little Sichuan provincial graduate would be able to produce such a divine artifact.

An ordinary member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard might not have realized the gravity of the situation and wouldn't have taken the jade pendant too seriously. But he was the emperor's adopted son, and he knew how much the late emperor meant to Emperor Zhengde—he was practically the emperor's sworn brother.

If I didn't take this jade pendant of my grandfather seriously, and tortured Su Lu, and then let the Prince of Shu report it to my godfather, then I can forget about calling him father again.

The emperor's godfather insisted on sending him to see his grandfather...

"Alright, alright, I know. Quickly put the treasure away, it's making me dizzy." Qian Ning quickly waved his hand, telling Su Lu to stop showing off.

Su Lu then carefully put the jade pendant away from his body and said in a deep voice, "Commander Zhu, why must you hold my brother accountable for this?"

"Because this debt originally belonged to you!" Qian Ning angrily tried to poke Su Lu, but stopped abruptly before his finger could even touch Su Lu's robe, and said in a fit of rage, "Why won't you admit it?!"

Su Lu thought to himself, "Why is he talking nonsense in anger? Of course, I absolutely refuse to admit it..."

He said with a helpless expression, "It was clearly not us who did it, so why do you insist on making us admit it?"

"Because it was you who did it!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Hmph..." Seeing that the two were completely at odds, Qian Ning suddenly sneered. "You really think you can be fearless with just this jade pendant? You really underestimate the methods of our Embroidered Uniform Guard."

He pointed out the window with a sinister look and said, "Even if I can't torture you, your whole family is outside. Can I bring your father, mother, and grandfather here and serve them one by one? Aren't you a filial and incorruptible official? Answer me, can I or can I?!"

He suddenly raised his voice at the end, a smug look on his face as if he had finally regained control. "No," Su Lu said without hesitation, "If you dare lay a finger on them, I'll cut off one of my own fingers, and of course, I'll hold you responsible!"

"How could you, a top scholar, frame someone?" Qian Ning was dumbfounded.

"It was only to protect myself, and I have a clear conscience." Su Lu said, bending his left little finger perpendicular to his palm. "Try it if you don't believe me."

"Damn it..." Qian Ning spat fiercely. He had seen scoundrels and top scholars, but he had never seen a scoundrel among top scholars.

"..." He glared fiercely at Su Lu, and when one plan failed, he came up with another: "Fine, if I can't deal with you, then come with me to the capital. There must be someone there who can handle you!"

"I'd like to see if you have an iron neck, capable of walking four thousand miles wearing a yoke weighing several dozen pounds!" he said with a sneer.

"Even if you manage to survive and reach the capital, once you're imprisoned in my Northern Garrison Command's jail, you'll still die! If you die because of your poor health, the Prince of Shu can't blame me, can he?"

"..." Su Lu fell silent, seemingly finally frightened.

Qian Ning walked around Su Lu for half a circle with a smug look on his face, then stood behind him and said in a low voice, "Actually, I have no grudge against you. What do I care if you live or die? But your life is your own. You've already passed the provincial examination and haven't even started to enjoy life yet. You've already paid your respects to Miss Huang today but haven't even consummated your marriage yet. If your life is ruined like this, don't you think it's a pity?"

Su Lu was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Of course it's a pity, but if you ask me to admit to a non-existent serious crime, I will not only ruin my own future and happiness, but also my own future. So I have no choice at all."

“No, you have a choice.” Qian Ning suddenly changed the subject.

"..." Su Lu remained silent, listening to what he would say next.

Qian Ning then put his arm around Su Lu's shoulder and said in a gentler tone:

"As you know, your second brother and I were classmates and close friends. I admire him very much and even wanted to recommend him to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

“So I can put this case on hold and never investigate it again.” Qian Ning said more gently, “Believe me, as long as I don’t make a fuss, no one will ever know that your brother did this. That way, you will still be the enviable top scholar, and he will still be the promising martial arts top scholar. You two can still go to your bridal chamber tonight, just like nothing ever happened.”

"Just say what you want to say. Why are you beating around the bush even more than us scholars?" Su Lu said coldly.

"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point." Qian Ning nodded, finally revealing his true intentions: "I want you to write an article."

"What article?" Su Lu asked warily.

"As you know, your teacher Wang Shouren has been very arrogant lately—he's been lecturing and running an academy in Guizhou, and he's even taken the Guizhou provincial education commissioner as his student. He's become famous overnight, and I heard that even scholars from Huguang and Sichuan are going there to study under him at that damned Longgang Academy."

"What is he trying to do? He's deliberately showing off to Eunuch Liu!" Qian Ning said angrily. "Last year, it was only after Prime Minister Li pleaded with him that Eunuch Liu reluctantly let him off the hook! But Eunuch Liu told him to stay quietly in the mountains of Guizhou, not to keep causing trouble like this!"

"Don't forget! He's the eighth most notorious traitor on the list of villains, yet he's so popular in Guizhou. Isn't that a slap in the face to Eunuch Liu?!"

“My master didn’t mean to show off to anyone; it’s just that gold shines wherever it is,” Su Lu said calmly. “I also don’t have the power to overthrow the Heavenly Gang or stop my master from accepting disciples and lecturing. So coming to me is useless.”

"The problem is that going to find your master will get you killed..." Qian Ning said with lingering fear, "Damn it, those barbarians are too scary. I don't know who told them that we had chased after Wang Shouren. As soon as we revealed our identities, they drew their swords and started slashing at us without any reason."

"You think you can reason with me?" Su Lu sneered. He thought to himself, "Of course we said it, who else could have said it?"

“Sometimes it depends on the person,” Qian Ning smiled, then said seriously to Su Lu, “Anyway, I will not go to Guizhou again, but I have to give an explanation to Eunuch Liu. So please write an article for me to explain to the world on behalf of your teacher, saying that the reason he opposed Eunuch Liu was firstly because he was young and ignorant and was deceived by others, secondly because he wanted to take a shortcut to gain fame, and thirdly because it was purely out of loyalty to his friend.”

"But your teacher calmed down during his year in Guizhou and realized the hardships Eunuch Liu had endured. He also saw that the new policies implemented by Eunuch Liu benefited the country and the people, allowing them to live and work in peace and contentment—completely different from what those treacherous cliques like Liu Jian and Xie Qian had slandered him with. Therefore, he has now repented and wants to seek Eunuch Liu's forgiveness." He paused, then continued shamelessly:

"But your teacher was put on too high a pedestal in the early stages and couldn't bring himself to do it, so he asked you to submit a memorial to Eunuch Liu on his behalf... That's roughly the idea. As a top scholar, you can definitely write something reasonable and moving."

After saying that, he personally ground ink for Su Lu, spread out the letter paper and said, "Write it now. Once we get the letter, we'll leave. You can get married, and Eunuch Liu can guarantee that you'll pass the imperial examination next year and be selected as a junior official."

"I thought Eunuch Liu could make me the top scholar in the imperial examination right away," Su Lu chuckled.

P.S.: Posted first, edited later. Please vote with monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)