Top Scholar

Chapter 406 Tears of Regret
After leaving the Prince's residence, Su Youcai dared not delay and went straight to the Prince's Office Street to pay his respects to Governor Du.

Governor Du also warmly received them, and after Su Youcai explained what had happened, he stated his position firmly:

"Rest assured, gentlemen. This matter concerns the survival of Sichuan's cultural heritage, and there is absolutely no reason for us to back down! Otherwise, where will the face of Sichuan's civil officials be? Where will the writings of our scholars be preserved? Our department will do everything in its power to argue for Su Jieyuan's rights and fight to the bitter end!"

"Thank you very much, Your Excellency!" Su Youcai and the other two said excitedly.

~~
After taking his leave from the provincial governor's office, Su Youma remarked with emotion, "Hongzhi, that top scholar, is really useful. Everyone rushes to help him when something happens."

"Of course, otherwise why would everyone study so hard?" Su Youcai said with pride.

With so much heartwarming support, he is no longer as fearful as he was at the beginning.

He then said to Su Man, "Yingzhi, you should go back to the government office to rest first. I'm going somewhere with your uncle."

"Where?" Su Man asked.

"Don't ask so many questions," Su Youma said, thinking he knew better. "You just got married, it's not suitable for you to go."

"Oh." Su Man nodded and left.

As soon as Su Man left, the younger uncle said excitedly, "I didn't expect my second brother to be a kindred spirit. I thought it was just my eldest brother and me..."

"What are you thinking about? I'm going to pay my respects to Eunuch Wei." Su Youcai rolled his eyes at him and said, "Yingzhi, it's best to avoid dealing with eunuchs."

"Hey, I thought it was that kind of place," the uncle said sheepishly. "What a disappointment."

"What time is it? Why are you still going to places like that?!" Su Youcai glared at him again.

"It's all about balancing work and rest," Su Youma chuckled. "Actually, I can go alone, I mean to Eunuch Wei's place."

“You’re not important enough…” Su Youcai said, “As the father, I have to go in person.”

"Alright then." Su Youma, having been rebuffed again, asked, "But with so many people helping us, is it still necessary for us to ask the eunuch for help?"

“Yes.” Su Youcai nodded and said, “We’ve already asked around, what if we don’t ask him? What if he gets upset and causes trouble? We’ll just consider it a loss to avoid disaster.”

“That makes sense,” Su Youma praised. “Second Brother is quite well-rounded.”

"To save my son, how can I not be thorough?" Su Youcai said matter-of-factly.

~~
The Garrison Eunuch's Office was located between the Prince of Shu's Palace and the Provincial Administration Commission. As an extension of imperial power, it had a strong function of supervising the princes and local officials.

A pair of imposing stone lions squatted at the entrance of the government office, and the four large characters "The Emperor's Grace is Vast" on the screen wall were dim and unclear in the setting sun.

Beneath the slanted wall stood eight fully armed guards, their gazes fixed on the two brothers with somber expressions.

Su Youma presented a large door bag, and only then did the gatekeeper eunuch smile.

"Wait."

He then took the visiting card and went in with small, quick steps to announce his arrival.

A moment later, the eunuch came out again and smiled at the two of them, saying, "Come in, Your Excellency has some free time."

The two thanked him and followed him into the garrison office. The office was paved with blue bricks, and ancient cypress trees provided shade. It was dusk, so the atmosphere was rather gloomy.

The two brothers dared not look around, and followed the eunuch through the passageway to the back hall corridor.

"Godfather, the person has been brought," the gatekeeper eunuch reported softly.

"Come in," came a young, hoarse voice from inside.

Su Youcai and his brother bowed and entered. They saw that the hall was paved with shiny gold bricks, furnished with exquisite rosewood furniture, and decorated with antiques and corals, making it extremely luxurious.

Beneath the plaque inscribed with "Loyalty and Prudence," a plump old eunuch dressed in a bright red python robe sat upright in a grand chair. Beside him stood two servants dressed in blue robes and wearing steel-forked hats.

"This is the eunuch Wei you're to pay your respects to. Hurry up and bow!" a young fire spirit reminded them in his previous hoarse voice.

"Greetings, Eunuch Wei." Su Youcai and Su Youma hurriedly bowed deeply.

"No need." Eunuch Wei casually toyed with a mutton-fat jade thumb ring, his voice remaining relatively normal. "Please take a seat."

"Thank you, sir." The two then sat up straight on the official hat chairs against the wall at the lower end.

After serving the tea, Wei Xing slowly said, "I have already heard about Su Jieyuan's matter. I am very pleased that you two have come to me for help."

As he spoke, he remarked, "Unlike some people, who seem to have picked up some foul stench just by coming to our eunuch's office."

"Not at all, my grandfather often said that Eunuch Wei was always eager to help others and protect the people. I have always admired him greatly." Su Youcai realized that when he was shameless, he was... quite shameless.

"Hehe, whether it's true or not, we'd love to hear it. We'd love to hear it even more from the scholar's father," Eunuch Wei chuckled.

“I know what you’re asking for, but I’ve been away from the capital for a long time. Out of sight, out of mind. Even if we have some old friends, the relationships aren’t as strong anymore.” “We only ask that you, sir, act as a go-between, so that we won’t be completely lost when we arrive in the capital.” Su Youma said, presenting a Juyuan note with a face value of one thousand taels. He had broken it open half a day earlier.

Eunuch Wei glanced at the bank draft, his tone becoming noticeably more serious as he said, "I can arrange for you to meet my elder brother."

The two brothers thought to themselves that their husband Zucheng hadn't lied to them; Eunuch Wei was indeed the kind of person who would do things for money.

"But I have to be frank with you both—to be honest, my eldest brother is also in a difficult situation. He is the battalion commander, named Zhang Yong, and he's not getting along with Eunuch Liu right now."

"..." The two brothers were speechless upon hearing this. Eunuch Wei was a very honest man; he simply told them that the money had been wasted.

"You two need not be surprised. It's easy for people to share hardship, but difficult to share wealth. Eunuchs are people too, so of course they are no different." Having a VIP account really makes a difference; Eunuch Wei made his point very clear.

"As far as I know, the eight sworn brothers who were once sworn brothers are what the civil officials call the 'Eight Tigers.' They are now fighting fiercely. Eunuch Qiu Ju, who is in charge of the Eastern Depot, first fought with Eunuch Liu and ended up being demoted to Nanjing. Eunuch Liu has now taken full control of the Eastern Depot."

"Eunuch Gu Dayong wanted to promote Shao Qi, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but Eunuch Liu rejected the proposal. This shows that Eunuch Liu was determined to seize power and would not allow anyone to interfere even with the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"My elder brother is an upright man, so naturally he wouldn't get along with Liu Jin." He sighed and said to the two brothers.

"So all we can do is act as a go-between, arranging for you to meet my elder brother in Beijing and learn about the details of this case. But as for how we can actually help, it's very difficult..."

"Just being able to meet Eunuch Zhang would be very helpful," the two brothers forced a smile.

It's infuriating! A single meeting costs a thousand taels of silver—that's enough to buy countless bottles of wine! And the worst part is, it's practically useless...

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. If eunuchs were truly useless, wouldn't that be troublesome?

At this moment, Eunuch Wei gave a low instruction, and Xiao Huozhe put away the draft and went into the inner room. A little while later, he took out another draft with a face value of five hundred taels and placed it on the small table between the two brothers.

"What's wrong, Father-in-law?" the two asked, puzzled.

"They're here to see you." Eunuch Wei said matter-of-factly, "You get paid for whatever you do. My brother isn't that precious."

"No need, no need, just consider it our way of showing respect to your father-in-law," the two quickly declined.

"The five hundred taels we received already included a tribute," Eunuch Wei said casually. "Going to the capital is very expensive, so don't be so polite with us."

“Yes, stop talking nonsense.” The little fire-wielder beside him also said, “Our godfather never charges a penny more or less.”

"We can't exhaust the resources of the people," said Eunuch Wei, who was also proud of his principles. He sighed, "It's a pity that Eunuch Liu doesn't understand this principle. His constant pressure year after year is almost driving the people to rebellion!"

~~
Meanwhile, the Imperial Guard's official ships had already passed Chongqing and were approaching Kuizhou.

The ship sailed for several days, and the time aboard was quite peaceful. The Imperial Guards, under Qian Ning's control, did not harass Su Lu.

Hai Han also brought two Hejiang officials to guard the door for the couple, preventing outsiders from approaching. Su Lu and Huang E were able to sit comfortably in the cabin, either reading books or composing poems, making the most of their time and feeling quite content, without finding the journey boring at all.

Qian Ning, on the contrary, became uneasy and paced back and forth at the bow of the boat with his hands behind his back. The river wind made his nose turn red, but he didn't stop.

"Godfather, what's wrong with you these past few days?" The bearded man draped a cloak over him and asked softly, "You've been like a lost soul."

"Sigh." Qian Ning sighed, tightened his cloak, and muttered, "I feel like I've been tricked by that bastard."

The bearded man hurriedly asked, "Who dares to cheat my godfather? I'll kill him!"

"Who else could it be? That bastard who anonymously reported Su Jieyuan!" Qian Ning spat angrily.

"That son of a bitch, he really screwed me over! Without his letter of denunciation, at worst I would have failed my mission and been sidelined, but I would still be the youngest commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Now look what's happened. Getting stripped of this official robe is the least of my worries," Qian Ning said dejectedly. "They might even end up in jail..."

"Ah, how could this be?" The bearded man was so shocked he couldn't close his mouth.

"My mistake was that I misjudged Su Jieyuan's reputation," Qian Ning sighed. "I thought that even if he was a mountain boy who had just passed the provincial examination and was somewhat famous in Hejiang, no one outside of Luzhou would recognize him. I thought that arresting such a kid would be fine, and there wouldn't be any trouble."

“As you saw yesterday in Chongqing,” he said with lingering fear, “the Chaotianmen Wharf was packed with people, and the sound of gongs and drums was deafening. From the prefect to the county magistrate, from the gentry to the common people, at least tens of thousands of people came together to welcome that little… Su Jieyuan.”

He meant to say "that kid," but the words stuck in his throat and came out as Su Jieyuan.

"Yes, what magic does this Su Jieyuan possess? He actually managed to get the prefect to personally greet him with the entire town's gentry. The spectacle was almost like welcoming an imperial envoy." The bearded man was incredulous.

He speculated, "Is it because the two places are so close? They also treated Su Jieyuan like... their own child?"

"You're welcoming your child like an imperial envoy?" Qian Ning said impatiently. "Even if he were the top scholar in the imperial examination, let alone a mere provincial graduate, you shouldn't be making such a big fuss!"

"But it's such a big deal, isn't that weird..." he said with a sigh of dejection.

"Does a fourth-rank prefect have nothing better to do? Why make such a big fuss to welcome him?"

As he spoke, his voice trembled with tears, and he covered his face with his hands, saying:
"I think Su Jieyuan's reputation is no less than his master's! He's caused Eunuch Liu so much trouble, do I even want to live? I might as well just die..."

(End of this chapter)