Top Scholar

Chapter 417 Shameless Scoundrel (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
The Imperial Guard's prison.

Inside the torture chamber, a brazier burned fiercely, the smell of rust and blood mingled together, and heart-wrenching screams filled the air.

Xiao Chong's arms were outstretched, tightly bound to the rack by iron rings, his clothes were striped in dark red, and his body was already covered with shocking whip marks!

Seeing that he had been beaten unconscious, the shirtless strongman stopped and poured a bucket of ice water over his head to wake him up.

"Speak! Who ordered you to spread the seditious text? Who are your accomplices? Tell me all of them!" The interrogating officer asked repeatedly for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

Xiao Chong gasped for breath, blood dripping onto the floor tiles, yet he still held his head high and stubbornly resisted.

"I've said it many times, you've arrested the wrong person, and I have no accomplices. Even if you beat me to death, I still wouldn't know what to say..."

"Still dare to deny it?" The captain kicked the rack violently, making the chains rattle. "You used your position to spread that Su guy's wicked writings throughout the province! You even boasted that you would fight Eunuch Liu when you returned to the capital. Did you do all this? Did you say all this?"

"It was I who spread it. But Su Hongzhi's writing wasn't demonic; it was a gentleman's work. I merely wanted all the scholars in the province to study it," Xiao Tixue said, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

“When I said I was going back to the capital to fight Liu Jin, I meant to do what my predecessors did: write memorials to impeach him myself. How could I possibly hide behind my students and stir up trouble? That’s not the behavior of a gentleman…”

"You dare to do it but not admit it? What a lousy gentleman!" the captain roared. "Beat you to death! Let's see how long you can keep up this stubbornness!"

"Crack! Crack! Crack!" The leather whip, soaked in salt water, lashed out again, and Xiao Tixue's screams echoed through the prison once more.

~~
In the other two interrogation rooms not far apart, although the two Lord Lius had not yet been tortured, they both turned pale upon hearing Xiao Tixue's heart-wrenching screams, feeling as if they were experiencing the same pain as him...

There is currently no evidence linking the two individuals, and the Imperial Guards cannot directly torture the two high-ranking provincial and ministerial officials. Their arrest is mainly to prevent collusion.

"Once we get that guy surnamed Xiao to talk, it'll be your turn!" Of course, interrogation is a must; if the two of them confess something, wouldn't that save us trouble?
Moreover, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not only skilled in torture, but also adept at the method of exhaustive interrogation—interrogating the two old officials day and night while subjecting them to mental torture, gradually breaking down their will until they couldn't hold on any longer...

~~
Forbidden City, Wenyuan Pavilion.

This two-story palace covered with green glazed tiles is the famous central government building.

In the main hall, beneath the plaque inscribed with "A Bright and Lofty Advisor" by the late emperor, four Grand Secretaries sat around discussing matters.

Seated in the central position was Grand Secretary Li Dongyang, with the Second Grand Secretary and Minister of Personnel Jiao Fang to his left. Opposite Jiao Fang was the Third Grand Secretary Wang Ao, while the Fourth Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe sat with his back to the door.

The afternoon sun slanted across the desk, which was covered with memorials pleading for leniency for Xiao Chong and the other two.

"He's been locked up for three days now, and he's probably in a terrible state." Li Dongyang was thin, with a slightly long face and prominent cheekbones, looking distressed. He was completely different from the legendary dashing Li Chaling.

"We have to think of a way to save them."

Upon hearing this, the three cabinet ministers displayed varying expressions, and none of them responded.

"Say something," Li Dongyang frowned, looking at Yang Tinghe across the table. "Shizhai, Xiao Chong is your student, and that child is also your fellow townsman. It's not appropriate for you to remain silent."

"Replying to Lord Yuan, I only taught him at the Hanlin Academy, it was just official business, I can't be considered a teacher and student." Yang Tinghe and Yang Shen looked quite alike, with three long beards and charming demeanor, and he was much better looking than Li Dongyang.

He lowered his eyes and said, "Moreover, I am not involved with any of my students or factions, and having been away from Sichuan for decades, I have no right to comment on matters in Sichuan."

"You really got rid of him cleanly!" Second Grand Secretary Jiao Fang snorted. His face was longer and darker than the Grand Secretary's. He mercilessly mocked Yang Tinghe, saying, "It seems that 'a hundred words from a person are useless, but an action teaches a person to understand once.' He learned his lesson after being sent to Nanjing once."

"..." Yang Tinghe ignored him completely and looked down at his memorial.

"No matter what, they have been framed and their innocence has been exposed, so we must help them!" Wang Ao, the King of Sanfu, was a man from the south with the appearance of a northerner. He was handsome, tall, and had a dignified bearing.

Wang Ao was closest to Li Dongyang in terms of stance, but he always felt that Li Dongyang was a disgrace to the Grand Secretary, so he never responded to him.

“Wang Zhenze, you’re being too hasty. You’re saying they’re innocent before the investigation is even over.” Jiao Fang, Liu Jin’s mouthpiece in the cabinet, immediately corrected him: “Besides, it has been confirmed that Xiao Chong was dissatisfied with the court and used his position to spread seditious articles. He’s courting death. Why implicate the cabinet? Eunuch Liu is furious.”

“If he has a sore throat, he should take some Coptis chinensis and Sophora flavescens. If you want to help him cool down, do it yourself. Don’t use the cabinet’s name. I can’t afford to lose face like that!” Wang Ao used passive-aggressive tactics on Li Dongyang, but physical violence on Jiao Fang.

He paused for a moment, then stated, "No matter what the outcome is today, I will submit a memorial to defend them."

"Submitting a memorial is useless," Yang Tinghe said calmly. "The Emperor won't even read it, and we can't even see him. What's the point besides showing that we tried?"

"That's better than you doing nothing!" Wang Ao started criticizing Yang Tinghe again.

"..." Li Dongyang's head was throbbing from the noise.

He didn't know if the previous cabinet was the most united in the Ming Dynasty. But this cabinet was definitely the most disunited...

Moreover, he must be the most miserable prime minister in history.

Seeing that the argument was proving fruitless, Li Dongyang sighed and waved his hand, saying, "Let's call it a day."

Upon hearing this, Yang Tinghe immediately packed his things, got up, and went home after get off work...

Wang Ao shook his head and went back to write his memorial. Jiao Fang was about to leave when Li Dongyang stopped him and pleaded softly, "Brother Shoujing, please help me out."

"..." Jiao Fang was a full twelve years older than Li Dongyang, but in the cabinet, rank determined seniority. Since Li Dongyang, as the Grand Secretary, was making such a request, he was naturally quite pleased.

"Sigh, they all cherish their reputations, and it's always Yuan Weng who gets involved in this mess." Jiao Fang sat down again and even spoke up for Li Dongyang.

But Li Dongyang knew that he didn't mean any harm by those words. If he dared to go along with him, he would turn around and complain to Liu Jin.

This old black donkey is already seventy-three years old this year, and he's practically driven mad by his desire to become the prime minister.

“The Cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs are two sides of the same coin, and should be of one mind and one heart,” Li Dongyang said seriously. “How can this be called wading into muddy waters?”

"Hehe..." Jiao Fang chuckled listlessly. Finding something wrong with this old white donkey was proving incredibly difficult. "How does Master Yuan want me to help you?"

"Please, Brother Shoujing, plead for them." Li Dongyang then cupped his hands and said, "This matter should have been discussed between me and Eunuch Liu. But Eunuch Liu has already given me enough face by not touching Wang Yangming. If I were to push my luck any further, I would be being unreasonable."

"Sigh..." Jiao Fang sighed noncommittally, "I really envy Master Yuan. He has people to ask for help when he encounters problems, but when I encounter problems, I don't even know who to ask for help."

"What in this world could possibly be difficult for Brother Shoujing?" Li Dongyang asked hastily.

"What else could it be? Even heroes fall at the hands of their children." Unlike Li Dongyang, Jiao Fang wasn't still troubled by his reputation. He had long since come to terms with it. Since being coy wouldn't salvage his reputation, he might as well be shameless to the end!
He then said bluntly, "My son will take the imperial examination next year, but the chief examiner will be Wang Zhenze. As you can see from our relationship, he really doesn't treat me like a human being."

“Wang Zhenze is so arrogant and has never given me a kind look,” Li Dongyang said with a smile. “As for your son’s examination, Brother Shoujing, you can rest assured. Wang Zhenze is the greatest writer in the land; he will definitely judge the papers fairly and would never ruin his own reputation!”

"..." Jiao Fang couldn't help but roll her eyes. What I fear most is his impartiality.

Seeing that Jiao Fang remained silent, Li Dongyang knew that she wanted him to help his son get a job through connections.

The Grand Secretary couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. This was how it was when making a deal with the devil; you always had to get your hands dirty to achieve your goal.

After repeated exposures, I had become utterly filthy.

One more time won't make a difference...

After mentally preparing himself, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll talk to Wang Zhenze and guarantee your son will get into high school."

"What place?" Jiao Fang pressed her luck, truly shameless.

"..." Li Dongyang said helplessly, "The ranking in the provincial examination isn't that important, is it? Anyway, the palace examination will be re-ranked, and in the end, won't it be up to Eunuch Liu to decide?"

Jiao Fang was Liu Jin's mastermind, and Liu Jin's decision was practically equivalent to Jiao Fang's decision.

"It's not good to have such a big difference in rankings between the provincial and palace examinations," Jiao Fang said. "Besides, we've already gone all out, why are we still being coy? Just give the top scholar title to my son directly."

Li Dongyang was almost spitting blood, and could only mutter, "This request is a bit excessive. I'm not confident I can persuade Wang Zhenze."

“Then I’m not confident I can persuade Eunuch Liu.” Jiao Fang turned her head to the side, as if to leave.

"Come back, come back..." Li Dongyang had no choice but to stop him, and sighed, "I'll do my best, okay?"

"Then I'll do my best," Jiao Fang said.

"You..." Li Dongyang's face was even longer than Jiao Fang's in anger.

"Hey, what's wrong with me? You're asking me to help you save three high-ranking officials, and all I'm asking is for you to help my kid get a top scholar title. I'm clearly the one who's losing out!" Jiao Fang said unhappily in her hometown dialect, "And what are you doing, talking to me like this and that?!"

"Nothing much..." Li Dongyang, a southerner, was even starting to sound like he came from Henan. "How about you rescue another Su Jieyuan for me?"

"No way." Jiao Fang shook his head and replied in Mandarin, "I've already suffered a huge loss, and I have nothing to do with that kid's business!"

Actually, he didn't dare to get involved... Eunuch Liu was clearly determined to fight those people and get to the bottom of that kid. He dared not get involved in this mess...

~~
Since it concerned his son's future, Jiao Fang was quite efficient. The next morning, she replied to Li Dongyang, "I spent the whole night trying to persuade him, and finally got Eunuch Liu to relent and agree to let the two Lord Lius go."

"What about Supervisor Xiao?" Li Dongyang asked.

“We have to leave Eunuch Liu a scapegoat, right? Let’s not release Supervisor Xiao for now, let’s save him for Eunuch Liu to vent his anger.” Jiao Fang then said, “Don’t worry, I’ve already asked Commander Shi to spare his life.”

"Ah, thank you very much, Brother Shoujing." Although Li Dongyang was not very satisfied, he could only express his gratitude.

"Then I'll trouble you with my son's matter, Elder Yuan?" Jiao Fang said with a smile.

"Mm." Li Dongyang nodded with difficulty.

P.S. This is a post I'll edit later. Please vote with your monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)