Top Scholar

Chapter 544 Eunuch Liu still couldn't hold back.
Eunuch Liu was caught in a dilemma when Grand Secretary Jiao arrived again.

"Your Excellency, haven't you gone yet?"

"..." Liu Jin shook his head and sighed, "I'm still undecided."

"What time is it? Still hesitating?" Jiao Fang urged anxiously.
"Hurry up! If anything happens to the Empress Dowager, things will be completely out of control!"

"Wasn't it you who gave the instructions behind the scenes?" Liu Jin coldly scrutinized him.

"Oh dear, how could I have such power? To make the Empress Dowager go on a hunger strike with just a few words..." Jiao Fang quickly denied, "It must have been the Empress Dowager who couldn't save face, so she went all out!"

"Sigh..." Liu Jin sighed in frustration. He knew that even though Jiao Fang had fueled the flames, the Empress Dowager herself was the main reason things had come to this.

Using the experience from dealing with the late emperor to deal with the current one is like using an outdated almanac from just a year ago—is it outdated?
"Your Majesty, what are you hesitating about?" Jiao Fang plopped down next to him and instructed the little fire-wielder fanning him, "Give it some effort."

The person with the small fire then increased the speed of pulling the rope, making the fan spin so fast that it looked like a spinning gourd.

Amid the whirring of the fan, Liu Jinfang whispered, "You don't understand. With the Emperor, it doesn't matter if we're a little greedy, a little ruthless, or not. The most important thing is not to let the Emperor think that I'm not on his side."

"But Your Majesty, do you have any other options besides trying to reconcile us?" Jiao Fang asked anxiously, slapping the back of her hand as she pressed on, "Does the only way to stand with Your Majesty is to persuade the Emperor to continue watching as the Empress Dowager gets into trouble? Do you dare to do that?"

"Of course not. How could I stand by and watch His Majesty make such a grave mistake? Wouldn't he be condemned by the world and infamous for eternity?" Liu Jin frowned and shook his head resolutely.
"We servants can tolerate being scolded and getting a bad reputation, but the Emperor's holy name must never be tarnished!"

“That’s why you have to try to persuade him!” Jiao Fang quickly interjected. “Aside from persuading the Emperor to ease tensions, is there any other way?”

"That's all," Liu Jin said dejectedly, shaking his head.

"So the most important thing now is to find a way for the Emperor to save face." Jiao Fang further instigated, "To put it bluntly, it's about finding a scapegoat so that the Emperor and Empress Dowager can vent their anger on him. How would that be considered not being on the Emperor's side?"

"Zhang Yong and Su Lu?" Liu Jin glanced at him and knew that the man surnamed Jiao was up to no good.

"This step, of course, is the one who started it all! If Your Highness is worried that the Emperor won't dare to touch his six top scholars, you can just say it's Zhang Yong for now... Anyway, they're in cahoots, and if you kill the wolf, the jackal won't be a problem anymore," Jiao Fang hurriedly said.
"Besides, it's not like we're going to kill Zhang Yong. We're just kicking him out of the capital and saying he'll be transferred to a local post for a year or two, and then we'll call him back later."

"I've used that method before," Liu Jin said, touching his tailbone with lingering fear. "It doesn't work anymore."

"Even if His Majesty knew that His Highness was targeting Zhang Yong, so what?" Jiao Fang tried her best to persuade him.
“What he needs most right now is a way out and a scapegoat to get through this crisis… The Emperor told the Empress Dowager that the Guanghui Temple incident was all orchestrated by his subordinates. He was kept in the dark and knew nothing about it. Now that the culprits have been dealt with, won't this matter be over?”

Liu Jin remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "Alas, this is indeed the only way..."

There was no time to lose. Once he made up his mind, he ordered a sedan chair to be prepared and headed straight for the Leopard House.

~~
The Leopard House, on the training ground.

The ground was covered with a thick felt, and Zhu Houzhao, wearing only a pair of yellow underpants, was wrestling with three guards who were also shirtless.

The four men's muscular physiques gleamed bronze in the sunlight, covered with a fine layer of sweat, creating a tense atmosphere.

Zhu Houzhao let out a low shout, dodging the guard's lunge, grabbing the guard's wrist with his other hand, and using the momentum to spin around and slam the man to the ground. The remaining two rushed forward, but instead of retreating, he advanced, using his elbow to deflect one of their attacks and his foot to trip the other, throwing him to the ground as well.

Finally, panting heavily, he gripped the last man's neck with his iron arm and slammed his knee into the man's lower back, forcing him down onto the felt!

"Your Majesty is mighty!" The burly generals watching cheered in unison, but Zhu Houzhao's face showed no sign of triumph, only a fierce anger, as he vented all the frustration in his chest into this one act!
After a while, Zhu Houzhao finally stopped, grabbed the handkerchief handed to him by the eunuch, wiped his sweat haphazardly, strode to the dragon-patterned parasol at the side of the field, and threw himself onto the cool couch.

A palace maid fanned him, and Liu Jin offered him a bowl of chilled nectar as clear as glass, saying, "Your Majesty, please moisten your throat."

Zhu Houzhao took it, tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls. The cool and refreshing drink slightly calmed the restlessness in his chest.

He placed the jade bowl on the table beside him, raised an eyebrow at Liu Jin, as if he had expected that Liu Jin had something to say.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager... she's really on a hunger strike." Liu Jin had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "She's fainted from hunger."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao slammed his fist on the table beside him in frustration, causing all the cups and saucers to overturn.

Liu Jin and his palace servants were so frightened that they immediately knelt down.

Zhu Houzhao tried several different positions but couldn't sit still, so he suddenly stood up and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back.

After a long pause, he yelled at Liu Jin, "Why did she come to me if she doesn't want to eat? She has a mouth, I can't eat for her!"

Liu Jin quickly waved his hand, dismissing everyone else, before speaking with utmost sincerity:
"Your Majesty, this old servant knows you dislike the Empress Dowager, and I also feel that the Empress Dowager has indeed gone too far..."

"What do you mean 'have'? She's gone too far!" Zhu Houzhao suddenly raised his voice: "She still considers herself a member of the Zhang family, her maternal relatives are her only family!" "Yes, yes..." Liu Jin nodded hurriedly, forcing a smile, "But even if she has a thousand faults, she is still your birth mother! Filial piety is paramount, even the emperor cannot disobey it. If anything happens to the Empress Dowager, how will the emperor face the people, how will he explain to the late emperor?"

"Sigh..." Zhu Houzhao sighed deeply, like a deflated balloon. Isn't that the truth?

"In the end, the Emperor can't just watch the Empress Dowager starve to death. Mother and son must eventually reconcile," Liu Jin said, mustering his courage.

"How could I not know..." Zhu Houzhao said with resentment, "But I finally managed to break free from her control. If I were to bow down and submit now, wouldn't all my efforts be in vain?!"

"So that's what Your Majesty was worried about." Liu Jin breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said softly, "This old servant has a way that satisfies both sides."

"What method?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Find a scapegoat," Liu Jin said slowly, emphasizing each word.

A cold glint flashed in Zhu Houzhao's eyes as he raised an eyebrow and pressed, "Scapegoat? Who?"

Liu Jin then kowtowed heavily on the ground, speaking frankly and sincerely: "It is this old servant! This old servant is willing to accept the punishment and go to Fengyang to keep vigil for the Chun Emperor, only hoping to bring harmony between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, so that the Emperor's reputation may not be tarnished!"

"Oh?" Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised by his answer and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with you? What crime have you been charged with?"

"This old servant is guilty! How can it be unrelated to this old servant?!" Liu Jin raised his head, his face full of shame, and said with great remorse, "When the Emperor searched Guanghui Temple, this old servant failed to advise him in time; afterwards, this old servant did not advise the Emperor to leave some room for maneuver... This is all due to this old servant's dereliction of duty."

Zhu Houzhao then complained, "Why didn't you say something sooner? Now you're only offering hindsight advice!"

Hearing the hint of regret in the emperor's words, Liu Jin felt relieved, but said with a look of fear, "This old servant is confused! Several times the words were on the tip of my tongue, but I thought that I had a grudge against Eunuch Zhang. If I spoke, it would be seen as trying to sow discord between him and the emperor. I was afraid that he would humiliate me in public again."

He then kowtowed heavily and said, "This old servant is unworthy to be the Grand Eunuch, yet I was frightened by my colleagues. I am truly incompetent and should be dismissed, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houzhao was agitated by what he heard, feeling as if a tangled mess was stuck in his chest. He impatiently waved his hand and snapped, "Enough! I understand what you mean! Step aside and let me think about it!"

"Yes, this old servant takes his leave." Liu Jin hurriedly kowtowed and withdrew, leaving Zhu Houzhao alone to sit back under the parasol, his eyes glazed over, seemingly lost in thought...

~~
As soon as Liu Jin left, Zhang Lin, who had been watching him, quickly ran back to the chief steward's office to report the situation to Zhang Yong.

"Godfather, he's gone!"

While fanning himself with a palm leaf fan and playing chess with Zhang Zhong, Zhang Yong asked in a deep voice, "What did he say to the Emperor?"

Zhang Lin quickly bowed and said, "I only heard the first sentence—Liu Jin told the Emperor, 'The Empress Dowager is truly on a hunger strike; she's fainted from hunger…'"

He wiped his sweat and continued reporting, "The Emperor abruptly stood up and roared at Liu Jin: 'Why is she coming to me if she doesn't want to eat? She has a mouth; I can't eat for her!'"

"Pfft..." Zhang Zhong almost couldn't hold back, but when he saw his godfather's wolfish eyebrows and fierce eyes, he was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head.

"Give me a break!" Zhang Yong snorted coldly, then asked Zhang Lin, "And then what happened?"

"Later, Liu Jin waved his hand, sending everyone else away. After that, we didn't hear a single word he said," Zhang Lin replied.

Zhang Yong pressed on, "What about the Emperor and Liu Jin's actions and expressions? Did you see them clearly?"

"I saw it clearly, I remember it all!" Zhang Lin quickly replied.

"Let's see a demonstration," Zhang Yong instructed.

"Yes, godfather." Zhang Lin nodded and quickly began to imitate the two's conversation. He was quite talented in this area, and he managed to imitate the emperor and Eunuch Liu's movements and expressions with a remarkably similar accuracy—

"After everyone else left, Liu Jin first tried to persuade the Emperor, who was initially very angry, waving his arms as if shouting something like 'Her family is her only true kin'..."

"Then Liu Jin offered some more advice, and the emperor sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped in dejection."

Seeing this, Liu Jin moved his knees forward again, leaned closer to the Emperor and whispered for a while, and then he really didn't hear a word.

"What was the Emperor's reaction?" Zhang Yong's brows furrowed deeply.

P.S.: My family has all caught colds and spread the virus; the old and the young are suffering terribly. There's still a little more to go in the next chapter...

(End of this chapter)