The Prodigal Son

The people Qin Yu sent out were very efficient.

The next day at noon, they brought back definite news to Qin Yu.

"Who?"

Qin Yu's eyes widened suddenly, and he wondered if he had misheard.

"Yang Jichun, Compiler of the Faculty of Arts!"

The guard answered again.

"Sure?"

Qin Yu asked again.

"Sure!"

The guard gave a very affirmative answer.

"Okay, I got it!"

Qin Yu gestured for the guards to step back.

Just as the guard was about to leave, he suddenly stopped. "Thirteenth Young Master, your talent has spread far and wide. Now the entire capital is saying that you are the reincarnation of the God of Literature. Even the essays you gave to those people in the Academy of Literature are being circulated everywhere..."

"Okay, I understand."

Qin Yu was not surprised by this result.

Since Yang Jichun's grandson is that Mr. Liu, it's no surprise that word will get out.

Damn it!

He had suspected the Lü family, he had suspected Lü Cheng, the Vice Minister of Rites, and he had even suspected Song Zhuo, but he had never suspected this grandson.

This guy was chatting enthusiastically with me in the peony garden, showering me with compliments that made him blush.

As a result, he turned around and stabbed you in the back?

I was completely taken advantage of by the people from the College of Literature when I was in the Peony Garden, and I haven't even settled accounts with them yet, but this bastard is already jumping around like this.

Does he not know how many eyes Lord Ma has?

Qin Yu became increasingly annoyed, so he took Qi Dachui with him and headed straight for the College of Literature.

I'm going to squeeze the shit out of this bastard's head today!

Throughout the journey, Qin Yu kept thinking about how to torment Yang Jichun.

He felt that Yang Jichun was probably acting under someone else's orders.

We must find out who's behind this today!

"Lord Qin, Lord Qin..."

A somewhat familiar voice pulled Qin Yu out of his thoughts.

Qin Yu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Yang Jichun waving enthusiastically at him with a servant.

What the hell!

This bastard is provoking me!

Qin Yu quickly rode forward, and Yang Jichun also trotted towards them.

Upon arriving in front of Yang Jichun, Qi Dachui immediately jumped off his horse.

"Lord Qin, what a coincidence..."

Before Yang Jichun could finish speaking, Qi Dachui suddenly reached out and grabbed Yang Jichun by the collar, lifting him up.

Yang Jichun was stunned by this sudden turn of events. When he came to his senses, he cried out in a panic, "Lord Qin, let's talk this out, let's talk this out..."

"take away!"

Qin Yu gave Qi Dachui a signal and immediately turned his horse around.

Qi Dachui nodded, then pressed Yang Jichun onto his horse and quickly mounted himself.

"What...what are you going to do?"

Yang Jichun's servant rushed forward in a panic, trying to stop him.

Qi Dachui didn't say anything, but just glared at him fiercely.

The servant's heart skipped a beat, and he was so frightened that he froze on the spot, unable to move.

Only after they had gone far away did the servant realize what was happening and hurriedly run towards the Imperial City Guard Office.

Soon, Qin Yu and Qi Dachui brought Yang Jichun back to the Duke of Wei's mansion.

Qin Yu, too lazy to waste words, went straight to interrogating Yang Jichun: "Speak, who ordered you to do this?"

"no……"

Yang Jichun was dumbfounded. "Lord Qin, is there some misunderstanding between us?"

"Misunderstand?"

Qin Yu brandished his fist, the size of a sandbag, at him. "Mr. Liu, what misunderstanding do you think we have?"

Yang Jichun was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening, and smiled sheepishly, "Lord Qin already knows?"

"You think it'll be hard to trace it back to you?"

Qin Yu sneered, "Now that you know what happened, stop rambling and quickly reveal who's behind it all! Don't think that just because you're an official of the imperial court, I won't dare to torture you!"

"Who's behind this?"

Yang Jichun's mind went blank. "No... Lord Qin, we just wanted to clear your name..."

"us?"

A cold glint flashed in Qin Yu's eyes. "You have accomplices?"

Yang Jichun was both amused and exasperated. "What accomplices? They're just those people from our Literature Department..."

They had already discussed it the day before yesterday and decided to clear Qin Yu's name.

Let people know that Qin Yu is not an idle and good-for-nothing playboy, but a great talent. It will also bring honor to the Academy of Literature!

Besides, didn't they write some sycophantic poems?

It's not a good idea for Qin Yu to threaten them with flattering poems.

But what if Qin Yu were to become a renowned scholar who would be famous throughout the capital!

That's not flattery, that's admiration!

Therefore, they used the little power they had to help Qin Yu build momentum among the scholars.

Because he often used the pseudonym "Mr. Liu" to write manuscripts and sell them to storytellers to earn some money to supplement his family's income, he put his skills to use and wrote some manuscripts overnight the night before last.

In this way, they could both use the storytellers to clear Qin Yu's name and earn some money.

Kill two birds with one stone!

This manuscript, well, it definitely needs to be exaggerated a bit for people to listen!

That's why he made up stories about golden light flashing and the God of Literature descending to earth.

Upon hearing Yang Jichun's words, Qin Yu's face twitched.

So, after all this fuss, this is what happened?

No wonder he became a great talent in just two days!

Those bastards are such a clever bunch!

"You better not lie to me, or I'll castrate you!"

Qin Yu gave Yang Jichun a stern warning.

Why would I lie to you?!

Yang Jichun felt wronged. "I originally came here today hoping to serve Lord Qin, but as soon as you saw me, you forced me onto my horse. My head is still spinning..."

"Serve me?"

Qin Yu asked suspiciously, "Why did you suddenly decide to serve me? Is it just because I wrote some nonsense poems?"

Yang Jichun paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Does Lord Qin want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"nonsense!"

Qin Yu looked over, displeased.

"Ah...this?"

Yang Jichun was stumped. "I know how to say the truth and the lie, but how do I say this nonsense?"

"I..." Qin Yu's face fell. "If you keep pretending to be crazy, believe me, I'll kick you out!"

"No, no!"

Yang Jichun quickly stopped Qin Yu and started showering him with compliments again.

"From Lord Qin's line, 'I will climb to the summit and survey all the mountains below,' we can see that Lord Qin is a man of great ambition!"

"Lord Qin has concealed his talents for many years, but recently he has suddenly revealed them; it seems he is about to make a significant impact!"

"I believe that Lord Qin, having just begun to distinguish himself, is in dire need of capable men!"

"Having accomplished nothing all these years at the Academy of Arts, I've come to want to join Lord Qin's tutelage and secure a future for myself..."

Qin Yu remained silent.

Show your fists what you're talking about!

However, having someone serve you isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Of course, this is on the premise that everything Yang Jichun said is true.

If he wants to play a double agent with me, that's a different story.

After a moment's thought, Qin Yu said again, "Tell me about your situation first!"

"well!"

Yang Jichun nodded repeatedly, "I am from Dengzhou, and I was the top scholar in the second year of the Yonghui era, and my first post was..."

"etc!"

Qin Yu stopped Yang Jichun, looking astonished: "You, the top scholar?"

real or fake?

Shouldn't all top scorers be arrogant and conceited?

He doesn't look like a top scholar at all.

When asked about his status as the top scholar in the imperial examination, Yang Jichun immediately straightened his posture. "Anyone in the court would know this; would I lie to Lord Qin?"

Qin Yu was surprised, "This year is the sixth year of the Yonghui era, which means you've been the top scholar for four years now, and you're still working as a compiler in the Academy of Literature?"

A sixth-rank compiler is not actually a low rank.

But he was the top scorer!

This kind of person only appears once every three years!

Logically speaking, a top scholar should stay in the academy for a year or two, and then either be sent to serve as an official outside the capital or enter a powerful government department!

But he stayed there for four years, which is really unusual!