Top Scholar

Chapter 555 Fortune Turns Around

The three Grand Secretaries rushed forward to check on the condition of the officials and found that they had all suffered from heatstroke to varying degrees. Among them, twenty or thirty seriously ill patients had flushed faces and had fallen into a semi-comatose state. Li Dongyang ordered the Imperial Hospital to treat them together.

Those with mild to moderate symptoms were also prescribed medicine and went home to recuperate with the help of their servants.

Although the scene was horrific, for the three Grand Secretaries who were used to Jin's tyranny, the result was already more than satisfactory—a storm that almost caused a major disaster was thus averted without any real danger, what more could they ask for?

The three Grand Secretaries were both relieved and quite surprised. They had originally hoped that Su Lu would use the "As If the Emperor Were Here" gold medal to resolve today's predicament. Unexpectedly, he didn't use the gold medal at all. He simply called Zhang Cai aside and whispered a few words to her, and then casually resolved the deadlock that even Li Dongyang was at a loss for.

That's unbelievable!

Back at the Wenyuan Pavilion, Yang Tinghe exclaimed sincerely, "Truly, the student has surpassed the teacher! It's no wonder my son lost to him."

“That’s right,” Wang Ao stroked his long beard and said proudly, “Hongzhi is much better than me, his master.”

Li Dongyang laughed along, "Haha, yes. Even I, your grandmaster, have to admit defeat."

"You're taking advantage of me again!" Wang Ao turned his head and glared at him.

"Didn't we agree to each stick to their own version of events?!" Li Dongyang grinned shamelessly, then asked seriously, "Speaking of which, who do you think wrote this anonymous letter?"

"It's hard to say." Yang Tinghe shook his head: "But I suppose Eunuch Liu already knows, otherwise he wouldn't have backed down so readily."

Wang Ao took a sip of tea and asked, "Could it be... that Hongzhi told Zhang Cai who wrote this letter? Is that why Liu Jin called for retreat?"

"Who knows?" Yang Tinghe said in a low voice, "But none of that matters anymore. In any case, it could never have been done by us civil officials! Otherwise, Liu Jin would never have let the officials off so easily."

As he spoke, he slammed his fist heavily on the table, veins throbbing on his forehead:
"The key point is that Liu Jin, based solely on an anonymous letter of dubious origin, detained all the officials and forbade them to leave the court, forcing us to kneel outside Fengtian Gate and suffer this great humiliation—such an arrogant eunuch is probably unparalleled in history!"

"Sigh, who can argue with that?" Li Dongyang sighed, recalling how he was publicly reprimanded by Liu Jin that morning and couldn't lift his head, feeling a surge of shame and indignation: "But we just couldn't do anything about it."

Wang Ao said helplessly, "Yes, Liu Jin has monopolized the channels of communication. Even if we write ten thousand memorials, they will not reach the emperor. Instead, we will only bring trouble upon ourselves like we did today."

"The key issue isn't whether the Emperor can see it or not!" Yang Tinghe's voice rose even higher, filled with impotent rage. "The anonymous letter was delivered to the Emperor today, wasn't it? But he simply ignored it! In the end, it's because the Emperor has long lost trust in us civil officials!"

Upon hearing this, all three fell silent.

After a long pause, Li Dongyang said sadly, "We can't entirely blame the Emperor. The actions of Liu and Xie were indeed too forceful. I advised them to leave room for maneuver in everything and not to push the Emperor too hard, but they looked down on me instead."

He gave a bitter laugh and said with great frustration, "Well, that's great. Those two just packed their bags and left, leaving us here to suffer the consequences for them."

“That’s all in the past, there’s no point in talking about it.” Wang Ao waved his hand and said in a deep voice, “Let’s think about what to do next. Right now, there are uprisings in various provinces, and there are powerful eunuchs in power in the court. If things continue like this, the country will really perish.”

“Right now, we only have two paths before us,” Yang Tinghe said, unusually speaking up: “either we try to bring down Liu Jin, or we regain the Emperor’s trust.”

“Until we regain the Emperor’s trust, it’s just wishful thinking to bring down Liu Jin,” Li Dongyang said helplessly. “Besides, even if we could get rid of Liu Jin, as long as the Emperor’s mind doesn’t change, there will be Wang Jin and Li Jin in the future. It’s just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.”

“Actually, His Majesty has not lost trust in all civil officials,” Yang Tinghe said quietly.

Li Dongyang's heart skipped a beat, and he whispered, "You mean... Hongzhi?"

“Exactly.” Yang Tinghe nodded emphatically, his tone complex. “The Emperor’s favor towards Scholar Su is so great that, not to mention all the civil and military officials, even Liu Jin could not compare. In the future, if we want to check and balance Liu Jin, our hopes will most likely still rest on him.”

Li Dongyang pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense."

Wang Ao glanced at him and said irritably, "Then, Yuan Weng, you should try to trick Hongzhi less often in the future."

Li Dongyang spread his hands, looking completely innocent: "Mr. Zhenze, what are you saying? When have I ever tricked him?"

"Still pretending to be confused." Wang Ao snorted. "On the very first day of the Dragon Tiger Lecture Hall, you almost caused him to lose the Emperor's favor. No wonder he never wanted to visit your house again after that."

"That incident was a turning point for the Emperor's recovery, how can you call it a trap?" Li Dongyang blushed, knowing he was in the wrong, and quickly joked, "So, he does visit your residence quite often?"

Wang Ao straightened his back and said with a hint of self-satisfaction, "That's natural."

That's true, but what Wang Ao didn't say was that Su Lu's frequent visits were because his idol was living in his house.

Seeing Wang Ao's smug expression, Li Dongyang felt a surge of jealousy. He secretly pondered, "It seems I need to figure out a way to repair my relationship with Hongzhi."

~~
Meanwhile, Jiao Fang did not return to the cabinet with Li Dongyang and the others, but went straight back to the Ministry of Personnel. He was now filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it, and all he wanted to do was give Zhang Cai a good beating.

"Your Excellency, you called me?" Zhang Cai quickly responded to the summons.

After he entered the room, Jiao Fang did not invite him to sit down, but said in a sarcastic tone, "Lord Zhang is really in the limelight today. Now you have become the savior of all the officials. When the court recommends you to the cabinet, won't it be as easy as a dog peeing?"

Zhang Cai bowed slightly and said with a smile, "Your Excellency is too kind. I was merely following Eunuch Liu's orders to pass on a message. I dare not claim any credit, much less seek the limelight or repay any life-saving favor."

"Damn it!" These words only fueled Jiao Fang's anger. He slammed his hand on the table and pointed at Zhang Cai's nose, yelling:
"You know it's a matter of imperial decree? Such a big deal, and you dare to overstep my bounds, only caring about showing off! Don't forget, I am the Minister of Personnel, your superior! Everything should be reported to me first, how dare you make decisions on your own?!"

Seeing this, Zhang Cai was not annoyed. He quickly lowered his head and bowed, saying, "Yes, yes, Your Excellency is right! It's all because the matter was urgent at the time, and I was so flustered that I thought it wasn't my department's business and forgot to report to you first. I will not do it again, I will not do it again!"

Jiao Fang stared at him for a long time, then snorted heavily, "If there's a next time, see if I'll let you off the hook!"

Having said that, he suppressed his anger and pressed on, "What exactly did that brat surnamed Su say to you? How could he make Eunuch Liu's attitude change so drastically, and let all the officials off the hook for no reason?"

“This…” Zhang Cai looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Your Excellency, Eunuch Liu specifically instructed that this matter must not be leaked. I really dare not say it.”

"Look at you, you're being disobedient again!" Jiao Fang glared at Zhang Cai with a long face, looking like an old black donkey.

“It’s not that I deliberately disobeyed Your Excellency,” Zhang Cai said, adopting a submissive attitude. “It’s just that Eunuch Liu has given strict orders. If word gets out, he’ll know it came from me, and I’ll be in real trouble. If Your Excellency is really angry, please give me a beating to vent your anger.”

"You think I wouldn't dare hit you?!" Jiao Fang suddenly raised her hand and cursed viciously, "I'll slap you to death, you little bastard!"

Zhang Cai was a tough character; she actually stuck her neck out, neither dodging nor flinching, and waited for the slap to fall.

Jiao Fang's slap stopped abruptly just inches from his cheek, and she withdrew at the last moment...

He angrily withdrew his hand, flicked his sleeve, and growled, "Get out!"

As Zhang Cai bowed and turned to leave, a victorious smile appeared on his face.

~~
At this time, Su Lu had returned to Donggui Hall in the Leopard House. After a short rest, he threw himself back into his busy statistical work.

It wasn't until he finished a period of intense focused work that he noticed the whispers of his colleagues around him.

"What's wrong? Are all the officials still kneeling outside Fengtian Gate?" Su Lu picked up the chilled plum juice that Eunuch Zhang had specially brought and took a sip, instantly feeling refreshed.

"They stopped kneeling a long time ago!" a colleague laughed gleefully. "Now it's Eunuch Liu's turn to kneel!"

Another colleague chimed in, "I heard from the eunuchs that Eunuch Liu was shirtless, wearing only a pair of trousers, and kneeling outside Tengxi Hall with a bundle of thorns on his back—good heavens, this is him pleading guilty with thorns on his back!"

"Really?" Su Lu couldn't help but chuckle.

"Of course it's true!" His colleagues crowded around, excitedly saying, "We just went to take a look out of curiosity, and it's absolutely true! Why don't you go see for yourself? Such a sight is a rare treat!"

"What's so interesting about an old eunuch?" Su Lu scoffed. "He's not a young lady, why would he need to make a special trip?"

So after get off work, he went to Tengxi Palace on his way home...

From afar, one could see many eunuchs and guards outside the palace, all huddled in the shade, peeking out to watch the spectacle and whispering and laughing.

The Leopard House is basically full of Zhang Yong's men; they're bold enough to watch the spectacle.

Su Lu glanced at the crowd and was surprised to see his uncle mingling among them, chatting enthusiastically.

He stepped forward, patted his uncle on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Sir, what brings you here?"

When his uncle turned around and saw it was him, he laughed and said, "I just wanted to see something interesting! This morning I heard that Eunuch Liu was showing off his power outside Fengtian Gate, forcing all the officials to kneel for most of the day. How come he's kneeling here by himself this afternoon? This change is too fast!"

When the others saw that Scholar Su had arrived, they quickly bowed and stepped aside so as not to disturb the conversation between the father and son.

"What else can we do but save ourselves?" Su Lu chuckled and whispered, "Uncle, was 'serving a ruler is like serving a tiger' just a casual remark?"

"I don't understand all these intricate power struggles in the imperial court. Forget it, I'm not going to watch anymore. I'll just go back and feed my panda. It'll save me the trouble." Su Youjin shook his head. The level of infighting in the capital was too high for him to handle.

(End of this chapter)