Top Scholar

Chapter 619 Old Zhang and Old Liu
On the way to the coal yard alley, Su Lu had already thought through the pros and cons of the matter. As soon as he arrived at Zhang Yong's residence, he told him everything.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong slammed his fist on the table and stood up, burning with rage: "Such a huge disaster, and I didn't hear a single word about it!"

He then ordered sternly, "Bring Zhang Zhong here! I'm going to beat this beast to death today!"

"Uncle, please calm down," Su Lu advised, then said in a deep voice, "Zhang Zhong must be severely punished, and the security around the Emperor must be completely overhauled. But right now, the most urgent task is to rescue those fifty-two scholars as soon as possible, not one of them can be lost!"

Zhang Yong took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and patted his chest to assure Su Lu, "Nephew, rest assured! Give your uncle three days, and I will make sure those bandits bring the man back safely!"

"Then I'll leave it to you, Uncle." Su Lu clasped his hands in a deep fist salute.

"You're too kind!" Zhang Yong quickly helped him up, his face full of shame. "Uncle, I haven't managed my subordinates well, which has harmed many of my fellow graduates. I hope my nephew doesn't hold a grudge against me."

"Uncle, what are you saying? You're by the Emperor's side every day and have to manage so many things. How could you possibly know everything your subordinates are doing?" Su Lu quickly comforted him, "Besides, Zhang Zhong usually seems like a very honest person. How could he be so audacious?"

"Alas, of all my godson sons, he is the most brainless," Zhang Yong sighed. "In short, it's all my fault for not disciplining him properly. I'm so sorry to my dear nephew."

"That's all for later. Let's figure out how to get them back first." Su Lu emphasized, "They all came to me for help. If anything happens to any of them, I won't be able to face their families. I'll feel guilty for the rest of my life!"

He pounded his chest hard, making it clear to Zhang Yong of his anger.

"Don't worry!" Zhang Yong nodded emphatically, gritting his teeth as he said, "Leave this to me. Trust Uncle Shi just this once, okay?"

"Alright, when have I ever not trusted you, Uncle?" Su Lu said in a deep voice, "Then I'll leave it to you."

~~
Zhang Yong said all the nice things and apologized profusely as he saw Su Lu off. When he returned to the house, Zhang Zhong was already kneeling trembling in the hall, not daring to raise his head.

"Is that bandit leader Zhang Mao really your sworn brother?" Zhang Yong stared at him intently, as if he wanted to devour him.

“Yes, godfather, we’re from the neighboring village…” Zhang Zhong nodded, trembling.

"Don't call me godfather! You're my living father!" Zhang Yong instantly flew into a rage, grabbed a flowerpot and threw it at Zhang Zhong! He then swung the flower stand back and smashed it down on Zhang Zhong's head, yelling, "I'm going to smash you to death today, you bastard!"

"Godfather, Godfather, calm down!" Seeing this, several godsons rushed forward and held him tightly. "Just beat up the fourth brother to vent your anger, why would you really kill him?!"

"If killing him would solve everything, I'd smash him to death right now!" Zhang Yong's eyes were bloodshot, he wished he could devour Zhang Zhong alive. "How dare you! You actually brought a bandit leader into the Leopard Chamber and even let him watch His Majesty play football! What was I blind to have taken in such a menace!"

"Waaah, godfather... your son is foolish! Your son deserves to die!" Zhang Zhong was so frightened that he raised his hands and slapped himself hard with both hands, his cheeks swelling up after a few slaps.

"At first, I didn't know his background and just thought he was an old friend. If I had known he was a bandit leader, no amount of money would have made me dare to become sworn brothers with him!"

"He's already been arrested, why didn't you report it to me? Instead, you went behind my back to plead with Gu Dayong and Ma Yongcheng!" Zhang Yong was furious. He leaned over and kicked Zhang Zhong twice. This time, no one dared to stop him.

Zhang Zhong was kicked to the ground, but he quickly got up and, with a mournful face, explained, "I always remember my godfather's teachings to keep myself pure and not associate with scoundrels. I was deceived and I deeply regret it. I was just worried about upsetting you, so I wanted to settle this privately..."

"Finished? Finished my foot!" Zhang Yong laughed angrily. "You've started extorting money from them! You call that finishing your business? What a ridiculous joke! You've gone so far as to extort money from bandits! You'll take anything!"

"Son, I really didn't know things would escalate to this point!" Zhang Zhong cried, tears streaming down his face. "I originally intended to shoulder everything myself, but if I couldn't resolve it, I would take full responsibility and never implicate my godfather in the slightest..."

"You? You dare call yourself a hero?" Zhang Yong pointed at him and launched into a tirade of abuse, until Zhang Zhong's face turned ashen and his head drooped so low it almost touched the ground.

Despite the cursing, they still needed Zhang Zhong to negotiate. Zhang Yongqiang suppressed his raging anger and sternly ordered, "You'd better get down the city wall tonight and go back to your hometown to negotiate with those bandits to release the people!"

"Yes, yes, son obeys." Zhang Zhong nodded hurriedly. Then he asked, "What conditions will son offer them?"

"Keep them calm and don't let them harm those scholars!" Zhang Yong said in a deep voice, then added, word by word, his instructions:
"Remember this: not a single one of those fifty-two scholars can be harmed! If even one is missing, you will bring your head to me!"

"Son, I'll remember." Zhang Zhong quickly replied.

~~
After Zhang Zhong left, Zhang Yong did not dare to delay and went to Liu Jin's residence inside Xizhimen that very night to ask to see his old rival.

Given Zhang Yong's deep-seated grudge against Liu Jin, he would never have come here. But this time, to clean up his godson's mess and to give Su Xian's nephew an explanation, Eunuch Zhang had no choice but to swallow his pride and endure the humiliation.

Liu Jin had already gone to bed by then. Upon hearing that Zhang Yong had come to visit late at night, his morning grumpiness vanished. He smiled at the steward Liang Hong and said, "This old rascal finally couldn't sit still." After saying that, he turned over and faced inward, saying, "Let him wait. We'll talk about it after I wake up."

Zhang Yong had no patience. Hearing from Liang Hong that Liu Jin was still sleeping, he barged in and shouted, "Eunuch Liu? Eunuch Liu! Stop pretending to be asleep! How can you sleep?!"

"How can this person be so rude, waking up the whole family in the middle of the night?" Liu Jin sighed and got up, putting on her coat and going out.

The two met in the back hall. Liu Jin smiled insincerely and said, "Oh, Eunuch Zhang, you've come to visit in the middle of the night. What a rare guest!"

Zhang Yong had no time for arguing with him. With a grim face, he cut to the chase: "Eunuch Liu, something terrible has happened! Forty-eight Sichuan scholars and four provincial graduates have been kidnapped by bandits in Bazhou! If anything happens to any of these accomplished scholars, none of us can afford to suffer the consequences!"

"Is this really true?" Liu Jin was taken aback.

"And they are former classmates whom Scholar Su specially invited to help!" Zhang Yong swung his hammer again.

"What?!" Liu Jin finally tensed up and shouted, "Then send troops to rescue them immediately! You are the supervisor of the three major camps, what are you doing talking to me?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Zhang Yong said in a muffled voice, "Those bandits come and go without a trace, they're like rabbits with multiple burrows. Now we have so many hostages in our hands. If we forcibly send troops to rescue them, how can we guarantee their safety?!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Liu Jin plopped down on the floor.

"Agree to their conditions first, and get the people back safely," Zhang Yong said in a low voice.

"Absurd!" Liu Jin immediately retorted, speaking with righteous indignation: "How can our Great Ming Dynasty bow down to bandits? If word gets out, what will become of the court's reputation?"

"Who told you to bow down?" Zhang Yong said patiently, "We can appease them! Once they accept the amnesty, they will no longer be bandits, but people of the court. Wouldn't that make them less shameful?"

"Hehe, second brother, your brain is still as sharp as it was back then." Liu Jin praised him with a smile, then slowly asked, "What's in it for me to help you?"

Zhang Yong plopped down next to him and said in a stiff tone, "I'm here to discuss something with you, not to beg you!"

"Why can't you ask your elder brother for help just this once?" Liu Jin said, crossing his legs and tapping his knee with his fingers. "Let me tell you, that bandit leader Zhang Mao confessed that he had even followed Zhang Zhong into the palace to see the Emperor and watched him play football... What do you think will happen if the Emperor finds out about this?"

“Zhang Zhong certainly deserves to die!” Zhang Yong snorted. “But your godson Li Bin is also guilty—he was in charge of the palace security!!”

"Then let's report to the Emperor and see who he blames more," Liu Jin said confidently.

"..." Zhang Yong knew he couldn't gain the upper hand this time. It was all Zhang Zhong's fault... He could only suppress his anger and sigh, "Eunuch Liu, wake up!"

"I woke up a long time ago. Did you think I was talking in my sleep?" Liu Jin laughed.

"What kind of time is this to be laughing and joking?" Zhang Yong roared. "The world is in chaos now. Even a few dozen scholars traveling together are not safe. You can imagine how badly the world has deteriorated!"

"If we keep focusing on internal strife, something terrible will happen sooner or later! Especially you, Eunuch Liu, you'll be the first to suffer! If we don't quickly quell the unrest and maintain stability, it's all your responsibility!" He first spoke sternly, then leaned closer and lowered his voice:

“I came here in the dead of night not to beg you, but to remind you—when that day comes, the only ones who will speak up for you before the Emperor are Zhang Yong and Scholar Su! How stupid can you be to not see that?”

"..." Liu Jin sat up straight after hearing Zhang Yong's words and began to ponder silently.

In fact, under immense pressure from the current situation, his thinking has changed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have held back his actions after arresting Zhang Mao; he would have already given Zhang Yong a good thrashing, making his New Year miserable.

Moreover, ever since he heard that the kidnapped people were hired by Su Lu, he had been unable to hold back... Zhang Cai had repeatedly warned him that Su Lu was now highly regarded by the Emperor and was meticulous and resourceful. The two sides had finally stopped being hostile to each other, so he must not cause any more trouble.

After a long silence, Liu Jin finally relented: "Fine, fine, I give up. We'll accept the amnesty. But we have to agree that you can't speak ill of me in front of the Emperor again!"

Zhang Yong felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders and nodded, saying, "Alright, you can't say bad things about me anymore."

"Okay." Liu Jin nodded, and Zhan Yan laughed heartily, "Brother, if I wanted to say bad things about you, I would have already reported Zhang Mao's matter to the authorities. The reason I kept quiet was because I was waiting for you to come and make peace."

"Hmph, what a despicable act!" Zhang Yong said with a stern face, "If it weren't for the matter of Scholar Su, you would have been waiting forever."

(End of this chapter)