CH 34

Zhao Su thought he was about to die, but it definitely wasn’t due to the lashes but because he was being squished to death by someone. His chapped lips moved a bit, and a hoarse voice was heard.

“Get….” up quickly.

Zhu Yijun was wholly unaware, he cheerfully rubbed his body against Zhao Su, not moving his hands and feet, he looked like an octopus.

“You… are crushing me to death.”

“Susu, Susu, let me tell, you were able to be saved this time, and it was all down to me, father and I went to the palace to see royal grandpa…”

“…..” Zhao Su was already having trouble breathing in, his eyeballs were starting to flip upwards. Luckily at this time Yuan Shu opened the door holding some medicine, seeing this scene, he quickly pulled the child down. Then he carefully helped Zhao Su up, sweeping his back.

“You’re awake?”

“Water…”

After half a cup of water went down, his throat immediately felt better and his thirst relieved, Zhao Su closed his eyes and breathed out slowly.

“Are you okay?” Yuan Shu carefully wiped off the cold sweat from his forehead, and then undid his robes to take a look.

“Your wound has opened, let me re-bandage it for you?”

Zhao Su shook his head, gasped for air, and then asked: “How did I get out, how is everything?”

“His Highness, the Prince of Yu went to the palace to plead on your behalf, and his Majesty agreed to pause the investigation. He said that on the day of the Court Examination, he will test you personally to see if you cheated or not. You’ve been asleep for two days. This morning, Gao da-ren and Chen da-ren both sent someone over to ask about you, his Highness, the Prince of Yu also wants you to recover well.”

“What about my hand…”

He looked at his own right hand which had been bandaged up layer after layer. The bandages were wrapped so tightly that he couldn’t even move. It was still painful but not as painful as before.

Yuan Shu knew what he was asking, he said: “Your little finger and ring finger are both broken, the physician said that you need to rest well, you’ll still be able to write but your handwriting will be a bit ugly.”

Zhao Su smiled bitterly: “As long as I can still write.” He was afraid that by the time the court exam came along and he couldn’t write then he’d have to waste another three years.

“Susu, Susu, father didn’t say much, it was all me—!” Zhu Yijun who had been ignored next to the bed was unwilling to be left out, he stretched out his syllables as he spoke, his bright eyes widened, wanting to go up to Zhao Su again.

Zhao Su wanted to laugh but he really didn’t have the energy.

“If that’s true, little shixiong should be happy, but why are you so sulky?”

Zhao Su smiled slightly: “He’s willing to do this favour for you because you have value. What Secretary Xu did was completely understandable and can’t be criticized so harshly.”

“Yes, you see things clearer than I do.” Yuan Shu looked at him with much focus, and then laughed: “But I have already said to Secretary Xu, that he should arrange to send me out to some remote and scarce location even if the conditions are harsh there it’s still ok.”

Zhao Su stared blankly: “Are you insane?”

He thought that Yuan Shu told him this matter was settled, but he didn’t expect that the other would actually actively seek further distance, and would rather give up the favourable environment and the opportunity for faster promotion to run towards more hardship.

“At first, I was hesitant, because staying in the Capital meant at least I could take care of you, but then after thinking it through, now I am a low-ranking civil official, and if something were to happen, not only can I not help you, but I may even harm you.”

Yuan Shu’s face was pale, “I originally thought that these three years in office outside of the Capital was enough training, but now that I think about it, I was too naive. Compared with these old foxes in Beijing, there’s still a difference between Heaven and Earth.”

“So I want to get stronger, our teacher is now out in the Borderlands, but I have never forgotten what he taught us – improve upon oneself first, then manage one’s family, then govern one’s country; that is the only way to bring justice and virtue to the world2 his dream should be realised through us.”

“Shao Yong, you have always had a calm demeanor, and you handle things with maturity. In the future, with what you can achieve, you will certainly go further than me. Now I have no way of helping you, but this way, I won’t be a burden on you either.” He slowly said these words, and seeing from his facial expression, he had said it after careful consideration, and not on impulse. Zhao Su looked at the person in front of him, at that moment he didn’t know what to say.

Yuan Shu was younger than him by three months, meaning that he was not even eighteen yet.

What was it like to be eighteen years old in modern times, normally, it was when you had just finished high school and would be called a teenager, starting university, being dropped off by your parents at university. Basic needs taken care of in every possible way, soaking in the sweet campus lifestyle, experiencing for oneself, one of the great splendours of one’s lifetime. But this was five hundred years in the future.

Yuan Shu seemed to think of something suddenly: “By the way, there is something else… Zhao Rong is dead.”

Zhao Su hummed in acknowledgement softly, without uttering a word. Originally he still had wanted to ask someone to intercede to see if Zhao Rong could be rescued, but now it seemed that that was no longer necessary. Zhao Rong’s matter was certainly down to him, Zhao Su also had to take responsibility for his own lax discipline, which led to this disaster today.

He was still thinking about this with his eyes closed, and he soon fell asleep.

Seeing him sound asleep, Yuan Shu and Chen Zhu looked at each other and stepped back outside to talk. Chen Zhu sighed out loud: “Shao Yong is still young, but he has a lot to worry about. Spending so much effort on worrying can be harmful to his health, I’m worried that…”

Yuan Shu looked at him, and suddenly bowed solemnly: “May I be so bold to ask you a favour. My shidi is from a poor family, he has suffered enough since childhood, but he has not only not let anyone worry about him but has also spent the last few years worrying about others. Although he is accomplished yet still so young, it is inevitable that he has neglected himself. My teacher and I are not by his side, and there is no way for us to remind him from time to time, so I can only trust you to help us.”

Chen Zhu replied solemnly: “Tongjia-xiong speaks too seriously. I have a close friendship with Shao Yong. This matter, I will of course take care of without remit. Please rest assured, I will take good care of him.”

After he finished speaking, he suddenly felt that perhaps the way he spoke was a little ambiguous and he couldn’t help but blush.

Yuan Shu didn’t notice it, he just nodded gratefully. He was thinking of how weak Zhao Su looked and thought about going to the pharmacy to buy some soups and tonics to aid his recovery.

It was a pity that being smart didn’t equate to being a good Emperor. To be a good Emperor, being smart or not was secondary, because if a person wass powerful and intelligent, he will easily break away from the constraints of the system. Take for example, Emperor Zhengde, he played around his whole life but he still ended up with no heir.

Another example was the current Royal Highness, the Prince of Yu who would become the future Longqing Emperor. He was extremely lustful, not intelligent, and didn’t like attending morning court, but he could fully trust himself to give the Grand Secretariat all the power. Xu Jie and Gao Gong, who were both his trusted advisors, did indeed bring about a new era for the Ming Dynasty. The best Emperors were not clever Emperors, but they were Emperors who put the right people in the right places, Emperors who had trust in the right people to do their jobs.

However, education does not determine everything. Qianlong was personally taught by Kangxi himself when he was a child. When he grew up, he was nurtured by Yongzheng as the Crown Prince. Wasn’t his education good enough? But there were still problems that arose. The Emperor can also overdo it, never taking rest – taking six trips down to Jiangnan, persecuting scholars for the literary work, closing off the country to foreign contact, wasting manpower and resources, squandering the state treasury that had been painstakingly built up by the former two generations.

So in Zhao Su’s view, the root of all of this lay with the Emperor.

To live during the reign of a good Emperor, everyone will live in harmony, to live during the reign of a bad Emperor, well, no one will live any restful days.

No matter how strict and perfect the upbringing and education was, one can only try one’s best to get this person on the right path, but there was no guarantee that he will become a good Emperor.

Ten years from now, because of Jiajing Emperor’s obsession with immortality and his successor, Longqing Emperor’s love for beautiful women, the Grand Secretariat was able to decentralize power from the Emperor, and so much so that sometimes even if the Grand Secretariat did not agree with something, the Emperor was not able to get his own way. This kind of internal democracy ushered in a new era of vitality and blossoming for the Ming Dynasty.

However, all hope came to an abrupt end ten years after Wanli took the throne.

Now, Gao Gong, Xu Jie, Feng Bao, Prince of Yu, Jiajing…. These legendary figures that should have existed in the history books have become flesh and blood characters, and they were appearing vividly in front of him.

And Zhu Yijun in front of him was undoubtedly the one with the greatest influence in the future.

He originally should not have been in history. History did not originally have the meeting between him and Zhu Yijun, history originally did not have their friendship.

Zhao Su thought: If there was a fork in history, does that mean he has become the variable?

Zhu Yijun finished recounting happily. Seeing that Zhao Su didn’t respond, he jumped over and shook the other’s waist gently.

“Susu, can you teach me something else? I want to learn more. If something happens to you in the future, I can save you again!”

This crow beak5… Zhao Su’s mouth twitched, but his heart was actually warmed.

“Ok.”

Translator Note:

Apologies for the delay on this chapter – I’ve had a long week and yeh needed some rest and to catch up with a few things in irl. And as the novel goes on, the chapters get longer. Blah blah blah. Anyway…..

Awww Chen Zhu is such a sweetheart, sadly it’s never going to happen. haha. I always ship Susu x little shixiong when I read this though… haha

Anyway I digress, check below for the author note from the last chap as promised. Not for the faint-hearted but if you want to know more about ancient torture methods please proceed!