Top Scholar

Chapter 424 Liu Jin, You Must Be Magnanimous

In the inner chamber.

A gust of wind rushed up and startled the fluffy, round creature, which immediately burrowed into Zhu Houzhao's arms.

"Second companion, don't startle me like that, you'll frighten my little darling." Zhu Houzhao glared at Zhang Yong, who immediately stopped talking and froze.

"Oh, there's no need to be so careful." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile, "Thank you for this gift. I misunderstood you before. Please don't take it to heart."

Zhang Yong hurriedly said respectfully, "Your Majesty is too kind. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with me. Firstly, that damned Liu Jin, in order to oust this old servant, has been colluding with Wei Bin and Gao Feng to speak ill of me all day long, deceiving Your Majesty. Secondly, this old servant is usually busy with palace affairs and spends too little time with Your Majesty, which gave the bad guys an opportunity to take advantage of me. This old servant will definitely change in the future!"

"Oh, no need to change it. There's already a ton of work to do in the palace—I know what you're thinking, that's enough." Zhu Houzhao laughed, "Look, you've only been gone a few days, and I'm already living in a cold room..."

"Your Majesty has suffered so much..." Zhang Yong's heart ached and tears welled up in his eyes. "This old servant will warm Your Majesty up tonight."

"Hmm. It doesn't matter if I'm warm or not, the important thing is that this little darling doesn't get cold." Zhengde stroked the adorable little thing in his arms and asked with great interest, "By the way... tell me quickly, how did you find this cat... bear? And how should you take care of it?"

"To be honest, Your Majesty, I am not very clear about these matters. You should ask the person who specially delivered this treasure to the palace," Zhang Yong replied honestly.

"Yes, of course I want to see it!" Zhengde nodded repeatedly, eager to know everything about the little thing.

"Summon Su Youjin, commander of the Taiping Garrison of the Sichuan Provincial Military Command, to the palace!" Zhang Yong immediately announced.

Outside the imperial bedchamber, Su Youjin, already uneasy, trembled even more upon hearing the sound. He never dreamed that he, a lowly centurion from a remote mountain village, would actually meet the emperor in his lifetime!

"Go in quickly, don't keep the Emperor waiting," Gu Dayong urged from the side.

"Oh, oh..." Su Youjin came to his senses and walked forward in a daze.

"Not over there, it's over here." Gu Dayong quickly pulled him back, pointed to the depths of the curtain, and gently reminded him:
"It's okay if you're scared and nervous the first time you meet the Emperor. He's used to it. Just don't forget your business."

"Oh, thank you, sir." Su Youjin felt relieved upon hearing this. So everyone was like this, then he wouldn't be ashamed anymore. He smiled gratefully at Gu Dayong and quickly went into the inner chamber.

Upon entering, Su Youjin immediately knelt down and kowtowed, shouting, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Zhu Houzhao waved for him to stand up, casually glancing at him. To his surprise, he was a broad-shouldered, imposing, and robust man. He then asked with a smile, "What's your name? Where are you from?"

So he hadn't heard a single word Zhang Yong said...

"Your Majesty, my name is Su Youjin, and I am a centurion of the Taiping Garrison in Sichuan." Su Youjin hurriedly replied respectfully.

"Good. You have gold. What's the origin of this panda? How did you find it?" Zhu Houzhao asked gently.

Su Youjin hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, this beast is a descendant of an ancient divine beast. Legend has it that it was once the mount of Chiyou and was called the Iron-Eating Beast."

"Ah, Your Majesty, be careful!" Zhang Yong exclaimed in fright.

"Is this Chi You's mount?" Looking at the adorable creature licking him incessantly, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I finally understand why he lost."

"Your Majesty, this divine beast is incredibly strong when it reaches adulthood, capable of killing a wild boar single-handedly. However, the cubs are docile and have no offensive capabilities whatsoever," Su Youjin hurriedly reported.

"I see..." Zhang Yongcai breathed a sigh of relief.

Then Su Youjin continued, arguing:
"Your humble servant sought the help of hundreds of hunters from Miao villages, traversing thousands of mountains and rivers, enduring countless hardships, to finally find this cub, whose eyes were not yet open at the time, deep in the southwestern mountains. It was then chased for hundreds of miles by an angry mother bear before finally escaping..."

Zhang Yong broke out in a cold sweat. He had thought the man was a naive and honest military man, but he hadn't expected him to be so glib and talk such nonsense on his first meeting with the emperor...

Emperor Zhengde listened with amazement and said happily, "Excellent! You have made great contributions. How should I reward you?"

Upon hearing this, Su Youjin kowtowed again, saying earnestly, "Your Majesty, I seek neither official position nor wealth, but only that Your Majesty restore my nephew Su Lu's innocence!"

"Su Lu?" Zhengde raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who is he, and what has he done?"

"Your Majesty," Zhang Yong reported softly, "Su Lu is a sixteenth-generation descendant of Su Dongpo and the top scholar in Sichuan this year's imperial examination. Perhaps out of jealousy, someone fabricated a story about his examination essay and falsely accused him of slandering Liu Jin. Liu Jin's men arrested him without explanation and brought him to the capital."

"This old servant dared to submit this memorial on behalf of the Su family, firstly out of consideration for the panda, and secondly out of respect for His Majesty's appreciation of talent."

"Oh? From a distinguished family, no less." Zhu Houzhao chuckled. "Su Dongpo had the Wutai Poetry Case, and now his descendant has a top scholar case? They really don't change their ancestral ways..."

“Your Majesty, our Su family has been loyal and virtuous for generations. We served the founding emperor, carried the army, and followed the Marquis of Wuding in the conquest of Yunnan. We have guarded the borders for generations. Our ancestors accumulated virtue, and finally produced such a scholarly seed. We are too busy being loyal to the emperor and loving the country to talk nonsense. Waaah…” Upon hearing this, Su Youjin poured out his heart and burst into tears. “Don’t cry, you’re frightening my precious panda.” Zhu Houzhao saw that the panda cub in his arms was also becoming agitated, so he quickly comforted it while saying to him:

"Let me see the article first. Why did Su Jieyuan get himself into such trouble?"

Su Youjin quickly took out the article from his pocket and had Zhang Yong present it to the emperor.

Zhengde stroked the cat in one hand and held the text in the other, glancing at it casually. Then, his eyes widened in amazement as he began to read it carefully, praising it more and more with each reading. He patted the cat and exclaimed in admiration:

"Excellent! Well written! It's like a sage's work, with lofty ideals. No wonder you're a top scholar! Many scholars in the Hanlin Academy couldn't write such an article!"

Despite Zhu Houzhao's eccentricities and apparent lack of imperial bearing, he actually received the most rigorous royal education from a young age, under the guidance of the best teachers in the land, arranged by Emperor Xiaozong.

Moreover, he was exceptionally intelligent and possessed a remarkable memory; he could recite the content taught the previous day from memory the very next day. Although he hadn't touched a book since ascending the throne, his foundation remained, and he could still distinguish between good and bad writing.

He immediately ordered, "Bring Liu Jin in."

A short while later, Gu Dayong and a servant carried the frozen Liu Jin in. The powerful eunuch had bluish lips, snot running down his nose, and even his temples were covered in a layer of white frost.

"Your Majesty... Xiao Jinzi has arrived..." Liu Jin said weakly.

Seeing his appearance, Zhu Houzhao asked in bewilderment, "How did things get to this state?"

Liu Jin hurriedly said, trembling, "His Majesty told this old servant to stay somewhere cool, so this old servant knelt outside the palace to receive punishment, and that's why..."

"What's wrong with you at your age?!" Zhu Houzhao frowned and scolded, but his words were tinged with heartache. He got up, tore off the tiger skin, and threw it at the man. He then ordered, "Quickly, bring ginger soup for the eldest servant, and also bring a charcoal brazier!"

Gu Dayong readily agreed and immediately ordered his men to light a charcoal fire and serve Liu Jin hot soup.

Before long, the hall finally warmed up, and the little dumpling no longer clung to Zhengde's embrace, breaking free to go to the ground to nurse from Su Youjin.

Su Youjin quickly pulled out a baby bottle from his pocket and served the little darling a warm sip. He had used all the skills he had when caring for his daughter to safely transport this little rascal from four thousand miles away to Beijing!

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao stopped being jealous.

Liu Jin, wrapped in a tiger skin and having drunk hot soup, finally recovered and asked respectfully, "What are Your Majesty's orders for this old servant?"

"What did I want with you again?" Zhu Houzhao looked away from the panda and scratched his head.

Zhang Yong quickly presented the article, and Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized what was going on. He gestured for Zhang Yong to hand it to Liu Jin and asked, "What's going on here?"

Liu Jin hurriedly put down the bowl, took it with both hands, and his pupils suddenly contracted. He never expected that this matter had caused him trouble!
He quickly distanced himself, saying, "This old servant is not very clear about this matter. Please allow me to go and inquire before reporting back to Your Majesty."

"You don't know anything!" Zhang Yong retorted mercilessly, "How many high-ranking officials in Beijing have been arrested already?"

"..." Liu Jin had never been exposed like this in front of the emperor before, and he was very embarrassed. He said, "Eunuch Zhang, don't believe everything you hear. This case is very complicated. Su Jieyuan has been used by someone who wants to use him to fight against the court."

As he spoke, he cautiously glanced at Zhu Houzhao, "This old servant is of limited learning, so I ask the Grand Secretariat to help me determine how to classify his writing. The Wenyuan Pavilion hasn't replied yet..."

"No need to investigate further. My father used to say, 'One who is neither deaf nor foolish cannot be a good father-in-law.'" Zhu Houzhao waved his hand impatiently and sneered at Liu Jin.

"Tell me, are you smart or stupid? Why insist on taking credit for something so dubious? I've only ever heard of people patting themselves on the back, never of someone deliberately smearing shit on their face!"

"Oh dear, this old servant is so stupid." Liu Jin nodded hurriedly, accepting the lesson as obediently as an old cat.

"Even if we take a step back and assume they really meant it, what's wrong with saying a few mild, innocuous words?" Zhengde, displaying a clarity and wisdom rarely seen in his courtiers, continued his admonition:

“You can silence the officials, but you can’t silence all the scholars in the world. Otherwise, shouldn’t we also ban the teachings of Confucius, who said ‘Oppressive government is more ferocious than a tiger’, and Mencius, who said ‘If a ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler like an enemy’?”

"This old servant dares not." Liu Jin hurriedly shook his head. Although he really hated Confucianism, he did not have the courage to shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

"As the saying goes, a prime minister's belly can hold a boat; you are, after all, an inner minister, you must have the magnanimity to tolerate others," Zhengde further admonished Liu Jin.
"It is the duty of scholars to express their feelings and criticize current affairs through their pens. If even this is not tolerated and people are not allowed to speak, wouldn't our Great Ming be too suffocating? As long as it is not malicious slander by name, we should not take a little discussion too seriously in the future."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will remember your teachings and will be magnanimous in the future..." Liu Jin kowtowed and accepted the instruction.

(End of this chapter)