Top Scholar

Chapter 397 There is Yan Ruyu in the book

Now that they were back in Taiping Town, Su Lu and Su Man naturally wanted to visit their alma mater.

After a grand luncheon, the two declined the company of Commander Ma and others, and instead took only their wives to Taiping Academy at the foot of Guanshan Mountain.

Looking at the white walls and black tiles nestled among ancient cypress and banana trees, Zhu Yin couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "When Zihe mentioned his days here, he always said how hard it was. I thought Taiping Academy would be quite dilapidated. Isn't this place with its clean blue tiles and snow-white walls?"

"Thanks to the two gentlemen, the place has just been renovated." Zhang Yanqiu, along with Vice Headmaster Zhu and others, came out of the mountain gate to greet them.

"Sir." Su Lu and Su Man quickly bowed respectfully. "We've caused the academy trouble."

"Hey, if the top scholar doesn't even come to the academy when he's visiting his family, how can we possibly use your name to fool people in the future?" Zhang Yanqiu laughed loudly.

"Greetings, sir." Zhu Yin and Huang E also curtsied.

"Haha, please come in, ladies." Zhang Yanqiu warmly invited.

Upon arriving at the academy's entrance, one sees an exquisite pavilion leaning against the east wall. The pavilion has only three pillars, while the other side blends seamlessly into the academy's pink wall, as if it were growing out of the wall itself.

A plaque hangs above the pavilion, bearing the three powerful characters "Timing Pavilion," and the signature is none other than Huang Ke!

A wooden couplet also hangs on the pillars—

"Having passed the imperial examinations with flying colors, I now surpass all others in my ambition and become the top scholar!"

In the lower center of the pavilion wall, there is a gilded mahogany frame with four ordinary Yan style characters in the middle: "Erlang Su Lu".

"Why did you write Uncle San's name on the wall?" Zhu Yin asked curiously.

Huang E was even more curious and looked at Mr. Zhang with a questioning expression.

Mr. Zhang then smiled and said, "Please, Mr. Zhu, tell us the story behind this."

"Hahahaha..." Mr. Zhu burst into laughter, recounting the story for what seemed like the umpteenth time: "That was in the sixteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, on the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, during our academy's entrance examination. Don't let our remote location fool you; our academy's academic level was extremely high. Our headmaster at the time later passed the imperial examination with top honors..."

"Ahem, Madam Zhu is Headmaster Zhu's niece." Zhang Yanqiu coughed, signaling him to stop exaggerating.

"My apologies, my apologies." Mr. Zhu and the others quickly clasped their hands in respect. "Headmaster Zhu is the pillar of our academy."

"Thank you, please continue," Zhu Yin urged.

"In short, our academy is notoriously difficult to get into. That year, 1,200 children applied. After a day of elimination, only 60 were accepted." Mr. Zhu then cut to the chase, adding, "I happened to be in charge of posting the results, and I posted the red list right here."

As he spoke, he gestured to the upper right corner of 'Erlang Su Lu' and continued, "However, after the candidates finished looking at the list, they asked, 'Why are there only fifty-nine names?' When I went over to take a look, I found that the people looking at the list were jostling and had torn up the last name."

"I hurried inside to check, but there wasn't enough time to write another red list, so I simply took my pen and ink and filled in the missing child's name in the missing place—" Mr. Zhu pointed to the Erlang Su Lu on the wall and said proudly, "This is the origin of these four characters."

"Good heavens, Uncle San actually came in last place once?!" Zhu Yin exclaimed in shock. "I thought you were always number one."

"What do you mean? I was called Sun Shan for a long time after I enrolled." Su Lu couldn't help but laugh. "The first place at the time was always Zihe. He even cried because my essay was ranked first in moral principles."

"This is what they call a hidden dragon in the abyss, destined to soar to the heavens!" Mr. Zhu praised enthusiastically, "I told you before that having your name pushed to the ground was a great omen, foretelling that you would pass the imperial examination in the future! What do you think?"

As he spoke, he raised an eyebrow at Su Lu with a smug look, "I was one of the first to have faith in you."

"Yes, thank you for your kind words, sir." Su Lu also cooperated by bowing deeply. "I still keep the wolf-hair brush that you gave me that day."

That thing is mainly for writing large characters; we don't need it for everyday use...

"Don't listen to Mr. Zhu's nonsense." Su Man whispered to Zhu Yin, "Hongzhi only took a hundred days from the start of his studies to the exam. Who doesn't have high hopes for him?"

"Pfft..." Zhu Yin covered her mouth and chuckled, her gaze fixed on her groom. How could he be so handsome? This man is mine now, hehehe...

No, no, what am I thinking? It's not that no matter how much his younger brother achieves, even if his brilliance overshadows his own, his husband will only feel genuine joy, never a trace of jealousy. That magnanimity is truly captivating…

"As a result, after being exposed to wind, sun, and rain, all the other people's names, along with their red papers, disappeared, but these four characters remained unchanged, as fresh as ever!" Mr. Zhu concluded excitedly, "It's clear that there is a divine will at work; this is the miracle of the Wen Kui descending to earth!"

“After Hongzhong became the top scholar in the imperial examination, the villagers raised funds to build this pavilion to shelter these four characters from the wind and rain,” Mr. Zhang continued. “They also set up an incense table to worship them.”

The characters were surrounded by a half-person-high redwood fence. In front of the fence was an offering table, with incense smoke curling from the burner and many fruits and other offerings on it, which were clearly the result of many people making offerings.

"These are all... students who come to pray before their exams, hoping to absorb some of the scholarly aura of the top scholar," Mr. Zhu explained.

Upon hearing this, Su Lu waved his hand shyly and said, "The villagers have shown me too much kindness. I am ashamed and do not deserve it, nor can I protect their studies."

Mr. Zhang stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Hongzhi, there's no need for that. The villagers are not only showing their respect for you, but also expressing their own hopes and aspirations. This pavilion can inspire so many young people to study diligently and persevere despite setbacks. So just accept it with equanimity."

"Since you say so, sir, I can only obey." Su Lu said with a smile, "Hurry up and go in, it's embarrassing to look at you like this."

~~
The academy still retains its original appearance from when the two brothers studied there.

The plaque above the mountain gate that reads "Beautiful Scenery of the Coastal Region," the couplet that reads "The wind carries elegant charm from the Central Plains, and the clouds transform into sweet rain from the remote border," and the straight passageway leading to the ceremonial gate are all exactly the same as they were back then.

As Su Lu walked through the academy, memories of his student days flooded back. He couldn't help but take Huang E's hand and recount those memories. Seeing this, Mr. Zhang tactfully led Mr. Zhu and the others away first…

The young couple entered through the ceremonial gate and stopped in front of the notice board displaying the children's monthly exam results.

“Back then, every sixteenth of the month, we would arrive at school early and wait here for the results to be posted. The headmaster’s method of ranking students was very cruel; if you didn’t do well in the three months of exams, you could be eliminated, so everyone was very nervous…” Su Lu sighed softly.

“Every time the results came out, it meant a farewell. The whole class would cry as they saw off their departing classmates. That’s when I truly understood the cruelty of the imperial examination system. Later, when I embarked on the path of the imperial examinations, I realized the headmaster’s good intentions…”

As they spoke, the two arrived outside the Sheng Shen Zhai (a school for students studying in the south). Children were reading aloud, but the desk in the back row by the window was empty, its surface spotless, and a wooden sign stood there—

'The place where the top scholar studied.'

"I'd like to go in and sit for a while," Huang E said softly.

Su Lu nodded and appeared through the back door.

The teacher giving the lesson was Mr. Feng from Mingzhizhai. He saw Su Lugang about to stop teaching so that the children could warmly welcome their senior.

Su Lu waved his hand, signaling him not to make a fuss, and then pointed to his seat. Mr. Feng quickly nodded.

Su Lu then quietly pulled Huang E to his seat, silently brought out an equally spotless chair, and gestured for him to sit down.

Huang E smiled sweetly, gathered her skirt, and sat down gracefully. Her fingertips gently brushed across the polished tabletop. Watching the children's innocent backs and listening to their clear reading voices, she finally formed a clear impression of little Su Lu, the boy from a poor family who was eager to learn.

This is important because when she first met Su Lu, he was already the most outstanding young talent in Luzhou.

This has always been a source of regret for Huang E... He doesn't know how his beloved transformed from a naive boy from the mountains into such a dazzling person.

Today we finally filled in this gap...

Before I knew it, the sound of the blackboard signaling the end of get out of class came from outside the window.

The children then noticed that a very pretty older sister was sitting in the seat of the top scholar.

"Hey, who told you to sit down? Get up!" the children shouted. At their age, they still loved the top student more than the older sister.

“I let her sit,” Su Lu said with a carefree smile, standing behind Huang E.

"Who do you think you are?!" The children were even more rude to him.

"How dare you be so rude!" Mr. Feng quickly rebuked, "This is the top scholar you've all been longing for!"

"Really? Are you really the top scholar?!" The children jumped up as soon as they heard this.

“I did sit in this seat before,” Su Lu nodded with a smile.

"Wow, the top scholar is here!" The children cheered and rushed forward, vying to kowtow to him. "Greetings to the top scholar!"

"Get up quickly, just call me senior." Su Lu reached out and pulled the child in front of him up, smiling kindly.

"Hey! Senior Jieyuan!" The children excitedly scrambled to their feet, asking all at once, "Are you really the last one to enter the school? I just can't believe it!"

"It's true," Su Lu said with a smile and a nod.

"Then how did you become the top scholar in the provincial examination?"

“Studying hard every day is one thing, but of course, you also need to pay attention to the methods. Didn’t Headmaster Zhang tell you about my study methods?” Su Lu asked.

"We've talked about it! The Pomodoro Technique! Mind Mapping! The Teaching-Study Method! And the Memory Palace!" the children eagerly answered.

"These are the methods that made my learning twice as effective with half the effort." Su Lu nodded, then changed the subject, "But the methods aren't the most important thing. The most important thing is whether you have the determination to get out of the mountains and see the world."

"Yes, some senior students do!" the children exclaimed in unison.

"The sound was too soft, I couldn't hear it!" Su Lu laughed.

"Yes!" the children shouted in unison, shaking the roof and sending dust flying.

"Very good, that's spirited!" Su Lu waved his hand with satisfaction and said, "Then study hard!"

Just then, a boy tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Senior scholar, is this pretty lady your wife?"

“Yes.” Su Lu nodded.

"Was it issued by Xie Yuanfa?" The child's innocent question amused everyone in the room.

Huang E was amused and nodded, saying, "Yes, that's right. So little brother, you should study hard too, for beauty can be found in books."

"Yes!" The boys nodded vigorously, their determination to learn now ten times stronger than before.

(End of this chapter)