Top Scholar

Chapter 395 Selective Hearing Loss
As the sun rose, its light filled the main hall, where the elders of the Su family gathered together.

The old man and woman sat in the seats of honor, while Su Youjin, Su Youcai, Su Youma, and their sister-in-law sat on either side.

The younger generation stood beside their elders, with Fu Bao'er being held in their arms.

"Grandpa and Grandma, the new brides have come to serve tea to the elders!" Steward Tian called out joyfully at the door.

The three brothers then helped their brides into the hall and bowed to their elders.

Then the eldest aunt stood up and said with a hearty laugh, "Come, come, let me introduce my three daughters-in-law to everyone."

He then walked to the seat in the center and introduced, "These are your grandparents."

The brides then bowed in unison and said, "Greetings, Grandpa and Grandma."

"Good, good, good!" The old lady was so happy that she wiped away tears, and her hearing improved.

"Well, good boy, no need for formalities." The old man was so happy that his beard stood on end.

At this moment, Erni brought out a vermilion lacquered tea tray with two cups of tea on it.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, please serve tea to Grandpa and Grandma first," the eldest aunt said with a smile.

"Yes." Zhu Yin then held the cup with both hands, bowed, and handed it to the old man, saying gently, "Grandpa, please have some tea. I wish you a long and healthy life."

"Okay." The old man took the teacup and took a sip with relish.

"Grandma, please have some tea." Athena Chu brought another bowl to the old lady. "Wishing you health, happiness, and peace year after year."

"Okay, okay." The old lady smiled kindly, took the drink, and took a big gulp.

Then She Yunluo and Huang E served tea to the two elderly people in turn. The old lady drank three large bowls in a row, burped, and said, "It's really good."

The eldest aunt then chimed in with a laugh, "Is it the tea that's delicious, the words that's pleasant, or the granddaughter-in-law that's so good?"

"That's all good!" the old lady said happily.

"Mom, why aren't you hard of hearing today?" Uncle asked with a smile.

"Oh, what did you say? Are you hungry?" The old lady immediately retorted, "No, no, haven't you heard people say, 'Love makes even water taste sweet'?"

"Hahaha!" The whole family burst into laughter. The younger uncle said awkwardly, "So it turns out that Mom's hearing loss means she's judging people based on their appearance."

"Of course, you're already past your prime, just like us," Su Youcai joked.

"Since Mother likes her granddaughter-in-law so much, how should we give her the money for the 'change of address' ceremony?" the eldest aunt asked with a smile.

"Give them more." The old lady's hearing had indeed returned. She beckoned her three granddaughters-in-law to come forward, took out three very old red silk pouches from her bosom, and opened them one by one. Inside were three white jade bracelets.

"This is your grandmother's dowry from back then." The old man said with emotion, "Back then, our family suffered a lot and we couldn't even afford to eat, but she couldn't bear to part with it. She said that when her grandsons got married in the future, she had to leave something for their wives."

"Sigh..." The Su family sighed upon hearing this, feeling as if those days had passed for a long time, yet they were still as vivid as yesterday.

“Oh, sister-in-law, look at Mom! We didn’t even have her when we came in,” the eldest aunt said, trying to lighten the mood.

"There's nothing we can do, grandparents are always more affectionate towards their grandchildren," the aunt said, playing along with her husband's older sister, before finally asking, "But Mother, do you know any daughters-in-law for Dong-ge?"

"Yes, Dong-ge'er is enjoying a good life." The old lady smiled and called to her three granddaughters-in-law, "Come, Grandma will put them on you."

"Yes, Grandma." The three of them stepped forward one by one and had the old lady put the family heirloom jade bracelets on their wrists, each of them treasuring them immensely.

The old man then rewarded each of his three daughters-in-law with ten gold ingots as a "change of address" gift.

The eldest aunt sat back down in her seat and said with a smile, "Eldest daughter-in-law, these are your parents-in-law. Second and third daughters-in-law, these are your eldest uncle and aunt."

The three daughters-in-law then greeted each other and served tea in turn.

The eldest uncle was very happy and rewarded each of them with eight gold ingots as a "change of address" gift and a set of pure gold headdresses.

The eldest aunt walked over to Su Youcai and his wife and said with a smile, "Eldest daughter-in-law, this is your second uncle and aunt. Second and third daughters-in-law, this is your parents-in-law."

"Greetings, Second Uncle and Second Aunt." Athena Chu gave a graceful curtsy.

"Greetings, Father and Mother." She Yunluo and Huang E bowed deeply, and then the three women served tea in turn.

Su Youcai accepted the teacups offered by his two daughters-in-law, his eyes reddening again, and he quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears.

He has been experiencing too many emotional shocks lately, and he is easily reminded of painful memories, which makes him burst into tears.

The proprietress gave his three wives money and jewelry as a reward for changing their address to each other.

The three new brides then paid their respects to their third uncle, third aunt, and younger sister-in-law. After serving tea, each received fourteen ingots of gold as a "change of address" gift. In total, each of them received forty ingots of gold as a "change of address" gift.

These are five-tael gold ingots, not one-tael gold nuggets... The Su family has collected tens of thousands of taels of silver, and they are now extremely wealthy.

Of course, they didn't just take without giving. After Tian Tian, ​​Jin Bao'er, Xi Bao'er, and Dong Ge'er changed their address, the sisters-in-law also gave them quite a bit.

~~
After breakfast, the whole family boarded cars and sedan chairs and set off in a grand procession to return to Erlangtan to pay respects to their ancestors at their graves.

Now, returning to Erlangtan no longer requires traversing mountains and valleys as in the past. They arrive at Shuidongmen Wharf, board five crooked boats, and can go straight home.

Once everyone was seated on the boat, the boatmen began to pole and row, slowly leaving the shore and heading upstream along the Chishui River.

It was late autumn, early winter, and the river had calmed down from its summer turbulence. Various buoys on the river indicated safe passage. The boatmen were experienced and navigated the waters with remarkable stability, turning the journey home from an ordeal into a pleasure.

The brides sat in the cabin, drawing back the curtains to admire the stunning scenery on both sides of the river. The cliffs on both sides were ablaze with autumn colors, with the red leaves of tallow trees, the gray cliffs, and the lush bamboo forests blending together perfectly, like a flowing autumn landscape painting.

"I never expected the scenery of the Chishui River to be so beautiful." Huang E exclaimed with regret, "It's a pity I didn't bring my painting tools, so I can only keep this beautiful scenery in my heart for now."

"..." Upon hearing this, Su Lu's first reaction was that long-term exposure to mineral dyes such as cinnabar, vermilion, realgar, and azurite might affect fertility.

But he's not the kind of person who would burn the zither and cook the crane; he wouldn't say something so jarring. There will be plenty of time later, and he can say it at a suitable opportunity.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Huang E asked softly, "What's wrong? You don't like my painting?"

"How could that be?" Su Lu shook his head and smiled, "I was just thinking about something else."

"About the Four-Sided Mountain?" Huang E misunderstood this time.

"No," Su Lu said softly, "That matter is completely in the past, just forget about it completely."

"Really?" Huang E was pleasantly surprised to hear this. That was a case that could cost him his head; it would be a lie to say he wasn't afraid.

"Yes." Su Lu then leaned close to her ear, seemingly whispering something, but actually discussing a momentous topic...

"When Qian Ning first met us, he didn't make a move. I secretly thought to myself that he probably didn't come for the matter of Simian Mountain—otherwise, he should have taken us down as soon as he met us. Why would he have let us leave the city?"

Huang E intertwined her fingers with his, her bright eyes filled with thought, and said softly, "Perhaps it was because Second Brother accidentally stumbled upon it, and in his haste, he didn't bring enough men, so he didn't dare to alert the enemy."

"Yes, that's why I wasn't too optimistic back then." Su Lu nodded and said in a low voice:

"But he only brought four people to the wedding banquet, which made me completely certain that he wasn't there to arrest anyone—in his eyes, we were vicious criminals who dared to intercept and kill the imperial envoy. Wouldn't bringing so few people be suicide?"

"So no matter how he tried to probe with his words, my husband didn't fall for it?" Huang E chuckled admiringly and asked.

“Yes, he was just trying to bluff me… When he interrogated me, there wasn’t even a third person around, which shows he didn’t want this to escalate.” Su Lu nodded.

Huang E then pressed, "Why is he doing this? He's not arresting anyone, but secretly testing us?"

“There are only three reasons,” Su Lu said slowly. “First, at Simian Mountain, they weren’t proper imperial envoys; they were just doing dirty work for Liu Jin. Although Master was demoted, he was still an official of the court. It was impossible to talk about intercepting and killing him openly.”

"That makes sense." Huang E nodded gently, her voice filled with admiration. She followed her mother-in-law's lead in valuing emotional support.

"Secondly, Liu Jin has already assured the Grand Secretary that he will let my master go. Therefore, this matter should not be pursued any further." Su Lu, as if getting more and more excited, continued:

"Thirdly, for Qian Ning, this is truly shameful—he was actually scared off by our little trick of pretending to be a Chengdu Zhang Man. And it wasn't a case of collapsing at the first touch, but rather collapsing at the first sight of them. They ran away before we even exchanged blows, and we couldn't catch them."

Huang E covered her mouth and laughed, "Actually, we should thank them for being so sincere, otherwise things would have been really serious."

“Who says otherwise?” Su Lu also laughed. “If this gets back to the capital, where will he put his face as the emperor’s godson and a newly promoted nobleman? He’ll be unable to shake off the reputation of a coward and a money runner.”

“The Embroidered Uniform Guard is the Emperor’s personal army. Being cowardly is indeed more dangerous than being corrupt.” Huang E deeply agreed.

"Since we didn't hurt or kill anyone, he naturally wanted to erase the whole thing and pretend nothing happened." Su Lu sneered, "But he was being clever and wanted to make use of me, a naive young scholar, and cheat me out of my life."

"I see." Huang E nodded slightly, then asked, "But why would he want you to submit a memorial to smear Master?"

"When I went to Chengdu for the imperial examination, Governor Du told me that Liu Jin is now indulging in personal vendettas, and he doesn't intend to let any of the people on that so-called list of treacherous officials go... The two Grand Secretaries, Liu and Xie, had their homes confiscated and were driven to the brink of suicide. Minister Han was framed and imprisoned, and had to send grain to the border to atone for his sins, almost bankrupting himself." Su Lu's voice deepened:

"And that Leader Li, if it weren't for Scholar Kang's rescue, he would have lost his life long ago. My master, as the eighth most important figure after Leader Li, although he was demoted to Guizhou, he took on disciples and taught, and was loved throughout the province. His reputation even spread to Sichuan, Huguang and Yunnan, and he was poised to become a great Confucian scholar of our time. How could Liu Jin tolerate this?"

“Indeed, it’s a real slap in the face.” Huang E nodded and smiled. “Everyone said his list of treacherous officials was a list of honors, and now it’s completely confirmed.”

"Liu Jin, bound by his promise, cannot kill his teacher, so he wants to silence him. Or a better way is to ruin him, to discredit him, so that the world no longer believes what he says... This would be more satisfying than killing him," Su Lu asserted.
"Qian Ning is here to handle this matter."

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

(End of this chapter)