Top Scholar

Chapter 403 He is not alone
The sky was overcast, and the atmosphere inside the Jieyuan Mansion was equally gloomy.

The large round table in the hall was laden with delicious-looking dishes, but the whole family sat around the table without touching their chopsticks.

The old lady asked curiously, "Why isn't anyone eating? Are you waiting for Qiu-ge and his wife? Go call them, why aren't they coming out yet?"

The words made the atmosphere even more suffocating. Su Tai lowered his head in a daze, while his aunt and uncle secretly wiped away tears.

"Chicken soup is here!" Auntie carried a pot of golden chicken soup and strode into the main room.

Seeing that the dishes on the table were untouched, she frowned and said, "Why aren't you eating? Do you think food will just get into your stomach if you just sit there?!"

As she spoke, she placed the soup pot on the table, ladling chicken soup for her parents while encouraging everyone in the room:

"Don't hang your head. Qiu-ge'er has just been taken away, it's not like he's never coming back! Our Su family has been through all sorts of ups and downs over the years, what haven't we been through? This time it's a bit of a hurdle, but if we grit our teeth and put in all our strength, we can get through it!"

“The eldest son’s wife is right,” the old man nodded, then cheered up and said, “Cheer up, everyone, you still have to save Qiu’er!”

“That’s right!” Auntie brought the old man a bowl of chicken soup and said to the family, “Energy comes from food. Only when you’re well-fed and watered can you have the strength to run around!”

"Yes." Su Youcai, Su Youma, Su Man, and Su Tai nodded, picked up their rice bowls, and shoveled rice into their mouths.

"That's right! Eat well, eat heartily! After you're done eating, everyone go out. Those who want to go to Luzhou, go to Luzhou; those who want to go to Chengdu, go to Chengdu; those who want to go to Beijing, go to Beijing! Staying at home and worrying yourself sick won't save Qiu-ge'er!"

“We women will handle things at home, you men don’t need to worry about it. Take all the money with you, and borrow if you need more! People say eunuchs are greedy, but I don’t believe we can’t bribe them!” As she spoke, the eldest aunt handed the key to the treasury to Su Youcai.

"Yes, sister-in-law!" Su Youcai nodded emphatically, gripping the keys tightly. "Let's eat! After we eat, we'll split up!"

The family members stopped staring blankly and all diligently ate their rice.

"That's more like it..." The old lady smiled and wiped the corner of her eye.

~~
After Su Youcai finished eating, he pushed down his rice bowl and began to give orders at the table: "Steward Tian, ​​ride back to Taiping Town and tell my elder brother about his family situation. Tell him to go to Guizhou immediately to inform Master Yangming that Su Lu has been framed and has been taken to the capital by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Please ask Master Yangming to find a way to save him!"

"Yes, sir," Steward Tian replied and immediately went out to deliver the message.

Su Youcai then looked at Su Youma and said, "You go ahead and go directly to Chengdu to send a message to His Highness the Prince of Shu and Governor Du—Qiu-ge'er instructed me that if anything happens to him, we can ask these two important figures for help!"

He then took out two letters written by Su Lu from his pocket and handed them to Su Youma, saying, "These two letters will allow you to see them."

The reason I kept them close to my body was because I was worried about a house raid. It would be a real problem if they took these two life-saving letters…

"Okay." Su Youma took it and asked, "Where do I go after I'm done?"

“We’ll be waiting for you at the state government office. We won’t be a day or two later than you.” Su Youcai displayed a decisiveness rarely seen in his daily life.

"Uncle," the proprietress said, handing him a draft, half a seal, and the agreed-upon secret code, "with this, you can withdraw five thousand taels at Juyuan Money Shop on Fanshu Street in Chengdu."

Chengdu is the birthplace of Jiaozi (paper money), and its financial services were quite developed. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, there were specialized money shops that provided intercity remittance services for merchants, although the commission they charged was very high...

But there was no time to worry about that now; the uncle took it and hurriedly left.

"Brother Xia." Su Youcai glanced at Su Tai, who was munching on rice.

"Oh, Dad." Su Tai quickly swallowed the food in his mouth.

“Take a group of brothers and travel by land, following the Imperial Guards’ ships,” Su Youcai said. “They will definitely take the Yangtze River and then the Grand Canal to Beijing! Stay close to them and don’t put your hopes on others.”

"Okay, I understand." Su Tai wiped his mouth, stood up abruptly, and prepared to go to the liquor store to call someone.

Today, over a hundred members of the Su family reside in Hejiang County. They usually manage the liquor business, and in critical moments, they are the most reliable manpower.

"Father, I'm going too!" She Yunluo stood up. "I still have twenty guards in the county town!"

"Okay, be careful on the road." Su Youcai did not object.

Su Youcai looked at Su Man one last time and said, "Let's go to Luzhou first to ask your father-in-law and grandfather for help, and then go to Chengdu to meet up with your uncle."

"Yes," Su Man replied in a deep voice.

~~
After assigning tasks, Su Youcai and Su Man tidied up briefly and prepared to leave.

In the front yard, a dozen or so members of the Su family were leading their horses, ready to set off.

The whole family saw them off in the front yard. At that moment, the doorman announced:
"The lord has arrived!"

Before he could finish speaking, Magistrate Hou walked in, looking travel-worn. His official robes were wrinkled, and he wasn't wearing his official hat, as if he hadn't had time to tidy up after seeing Su Lu off. "You two can go without worry!" he said without hesitation, getting straight to the point. "The county is looking after things here; everything will be perfectly safe!"

"Thank you so much, dear parents." The uncle and nephew quickly clasped their hands in gratitude. "Please!"

“No need to be so polite! Su Jieyuan’s matter is the county’s matter, and I will certainly not sit idly by! I will go back and write to my mentor and fellow graduate in the capital, detailing the injustice and asking them to intervene and rescue him,” Magistrate Hou said solemnly.

He then took a stack of blank travel permits, a fire token, and an ochre-yellow flag with the words "By Imperial Decree to Take the Examination" from Zhang Sili and handed them to Su Man, saying, "The Provincial Administration Commission sent out fire tokens for taking the examination the day before yesterday. This county has quickly sent them to you so that you can travel more safely."

The fire token was the certificate for a successful candidate to go to the capital for the imperial examination. It was a three-inch square wooden token with the words "By Imperial Decree to Take the Examination" prominently printed in red lacquer on the front, and the edges were decorated with exquisite patterns.

The back of the document is printed with the candidate's name, place of origin, age, physical characteristics, as well as the place of departure, destination, issuing agency, travel authority, serial number, and validity period.

When candidates went to take the imperial examinations, they would tie a fire token to their waist and place a yellow flag on their carriage or boat as a conspicuous identifier.

Vehicles and boats displaying this yellow flag are called 'public vehicles' or 'public boats' and are allowed to pass unconditionally at checkpoints along the way, exempt from all taxes and fees.

Along the way, post stations that see this sign must give priority to providing services. In addition to providing free food and lodging, they must also provide the candidates with a horse and three servants to serve them.

Although the Su family was not short of money, having this fire token would save them a lot of trouble along the way, so Su Man hurriedly accepted it with both hands and thanked them again.

The uncle and nephew then rode away on horseback, surrounded by their clansmen.

Magistrate Hou watched them leave the city gate, then gently comforted the old man before dragging his weary body into his sedan chair to return to the yamen to rest.

Inside the sedan chair, there was a clean set of official robes and a new black gauze hat...

~~
The uncle and nephew hurried as fast as they could and finally crossed the river into Luzhou City before dark, heading straight for Zhujia Mountain.

Zhu Jie was dressed and about to leave when the steward led the uncle and nephew in, panting.

"Father-in-law, something's happened..." Su Manman said anxiously.

"Is it about Hongzhi being taken away by the Embroidered Uniform Guard?" Zhu Jie asked first.

"Yes!" Su Man and Su Youcai nodded in unison.

"Our grandfather has already sent someone to inform us," Zhu Jie said in a deep voice. "He also summoned us to the official residence for a meeting. My virtuous brother and son-in-law, please come along as well."

"Okay." The two hurriedly agreed, and without even entering the hall, they followed Zhu Jie to the prefectural government office.

~~
The back hall of the prefectural government office was brightly lit with candles.

Prefect Lu sat in the main seat, with the Assistant Prefect, Sub-Prefect, and the heads of the seven clans sitting on either side, creating a very somber atmosphere.

After listening to Su Youcai and his nephew recount what had happened that morning, Prefect Lu asked in a deep voice, "What do you all think?"

"This is utterly ridiculous!" the hot-tempered Master Lei exclaimed indignantly. "Two lines of classical Chinese prose, and they've managed to concoct a charge of beheading! Is this a repeat of the 'Wutai Poetry Case'?"

"I never imagined that the fate of your Su family's ancestor would be repeated in Hongzhi! Truly, the heavens are jealous of talent!" Master Bai sighed to Su Youcai. "But don't worry, we will definitely not stand idly by. We cannot allow our top scholar to be framed like this!"

"This is a bit strange," Master Deng frowned. "Who would be so bored as to nitpick over these words to deal with a mere scholar who hasn't even become an official yet?"

"Yes, do the Embroidered Uniform Guards have nothing better to do?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"It's still about Mr. Yangming," Su Youcai said. "That commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard said that Liu Jin wanted to shut Mr. Yangming up, but because of his promise to the Grand Secretary, he couldn't openly deal with him. Sending people to use underhanded methods didn't work, so he wanted to use Hongzhi to smear Mr. Yangming and ruin his reputation."

"Master Yangming promoted education and expounded the way of the sages in Guizhou. He won the hearts of the people and was loved by them. How could this be considered a sin?" Su Man couldn't help but say indignantly.

“Of course. Liu Jin labeled Mr. Yangming a traitor and posted his name all over the world. The more people loved him, the more it slapped Liu Jin in the face, didn’t it?” Zhu Jie said. “Mr. Yangming also opened a lecture hall and had many disciples. Those disciples would spread his views widely, making more people despise Liu Jin. Liu Jin definitely couldn’t tolerate that.”

"Yes." Everyone nodded in agreement, saying, "Su Jieyuan was Yangming's first disciple and co-founded the School of Taoism with him. If he were to smear Yangming, it would indeed severely damage Yangming's reputation; at the very least, no one would believe in the School of Taoism anymore..."

"That's quite a cunning move," Master Bai chuckled. "Su Hongzhi is just a newly appointed top scholar; he does seem much easier to deal with than Mr. Yangming."

"They've probably miscalculated this time!" Zhu Jie snorted. "Hongzhi isn't just any ordinary top scholar; he has us backing him."

“That’s right,” a hoarse and angry voice rang out from outside. “Hiroshi isn’t alone. They’ve picked the wrong target this time, trying to pick on the weak!”

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Pang Shanzhang, supported by his son, appearing shakily at the entrance of the hall.

"Old Headmaster!" Everyone hurriedly stood up to greet him. "It's cold and windy late at night, what brings you here, sir?"

(End of this chapter)