Top Scholar

Chapter 71 Returning Home Safely

Even someone who isn't blind can see that the army is here to rescue the unfortunate child.

Su Lu then handed the unfortunate child a wooden stick to use as a crutch, saying, "That's great, go and meet up with them quickly."

"Aren't you coming with me?" The unlucky boy took the wooden stick, but saw that none of the three of them intended to move.

"No, we have things to do." Su Youcai shook his head and smiled. "Go quickly, your mother must be very worried."

“Come with me.” The unfortunate child still had some conscience and sincerely invited, “When you see my mother, she will reward you with a lot of money. If you want to be officials, she can also reward you with official positions.”

"Maybe next time," Su Lu politely declined.

"No need," Su Youcai said, shaking his head firmly. "We saved you out of conscience, not for any reward."

"Besides conscience, there is nothing else in this world worth risking our lives for."

Su Lu was dumbfounded. His father's skills in impersonating Boyi were getting better and better; he wondered where he had practiced it...

But the unfortunate kid was clearly unprepared for this; his gaze towards the three of them changed, now filled with admiration.

"Sir, you are of noble character. I should not defile you with such vulgar things. Please tell me your name so that I may worship you day and night!"

“My dad’s name is Hao Ren. You can just call him Uncle Hao Ren,” Su Lu said quickly.

"Yes, She Yunluo thanks Uncle Hao Ren." The unlucky child bowed deeply to the three of them, then looked at them carefully, wanting to engrave their faces in his heart.

But they found that the three of them had already turned around and left, disappearing without a trace...

The unfortunate child could only sigh softly, but would always remember Uncle Hao Ren, who did good deeds anonymously.
Then he limped down the mountain and went to meet the samurai who had come looking for him.

~~
The father and his two sons hid in the mountains and forests, watching from afar as the unfortunate child boarded a sedan chair carried by eight men amidst the cheers of the warriors on the main road.

Then the garrison soldiers and Lolo warriors split into two groups. One group escorted the large sedan chair and headed south towards Lincheng, while the other group continued searching the mountains...

The three of them then walked eastward along the edge of the forest, intending to go further and find another place to descend the mountain.

"They're not going to come looking for us again, are they?" Su Tai asked worriedly.

"Don't worry," Su Youcai said. "They'd love for us to do good deeds anonymously, so we don't have to owe them favors."

“They must be searching for Du Zhangman to seek revenge,” Su Lu also said. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to explain themselves to that Naiye.”

“It’s not just to give an account to Naiye. It’s because the Duzhang barbarians must die.” Su Youcai said, “It is said that forty years ago, the Duzhang barbarians were rampant. They occupied many of the Luoluo people’s mountain strongholds, attacked the garrisons, and even launched a surprise attack on Guizhou, almost killing the Guizhou governor.”

"The war was deadlocked for several years. The court finally realized the seriousness of the situation and ordered Li Jin, the Earl of Xiangcheng, to be appointed as the General Who Conquers the Barbarians and lead a large army to suppress the Duzhang Barbarians. Your grandfather also participated in the war at that time."

"The war lasted for two years, and the main force of the Duzhang barbarians was basically wiped out. The remnants fled into the deep mountains and were difficult to find. After the Earl of Xiangcheng withdrew his troops, the late emperor still issued a kill order to the Imperial Guards, 'For those remaining bandits, the troops must be supervised to devise strategies to capture them, so as not to let the remaining villains cause further trouble for the people.'"

“From then on, whenever there was any trace of the Duzhang barbarians, the chieftain and the garrison would launch an attack. Although it was just for show after a while. But this time, the chieftain’s daughter was almost captured, so they’re definitely going to get serious.” Su Youcai spoke fluently like a taxi driver, leaving Su Lu stunned.

"Dad, you know so much?" Su Lu was surprised. The isolation of the mountains was no joke; he knew absolutely nothing about anything outside of Erlangtan and Taiping Town...

They didn't even know before that Luzhou City was located on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

“If you want to take the imperial examination in the future, you will have to learn all of these things.” Su Youcai said proudly, “If you don’t know military and political affairs, how can you write memorials and make policy decisions? Besides, the Grand Master will also test your knowledge of current affairs.”

"I see." Su Lu suddenly realized that simply being able to write in the eight-legged essay style was not enough. One still needed to be able to "know the affairs of the world without leaving home."

Su Tai's focus was different. Taking advantage of a break in their conversation, he whispered, "Father said the one who was captured was the chieftain's daughter. Could it be that we didn't rescue a boy?"

“Nonsense, she gave you a blessing at the end and said her name was She Yunluo…” Su Youcai said, “Actually, boys are made of stone and girls are made of water. I figured it out long ago after I helped her all the way.”

Su Lu was not surprised at all, obviously having already noticed it. He instructed his second brother, "Whether she is a man or a woman, it has nothing to do with us. Remember, we have never seen this person before, nor have we saved her."

"Why?" The second brother scratched his head. "I feel it's a pity I didn't get a reward."

"I'm afraid you might have the life to receive it but not the life to enjoy it," Su Youcai said calmly.

"Ah..." Su Tai covered his mouth in horror, not expecting the consequences to be so serious.

“Brother, Dad wasn’t exaggerating.” Su Lu nodded and said, “Otherwise, why would I stop her from saying anything more as soon as I heard about her mother’s identity?”

"She said her mother was the Pacification Commissioner of Yongning, what's wrong?" Su Tai asked, not understanding.

“The daughter of the Yongning Pacification Commissioner was ambushed by the long-lost Duzhang barbarians on her way to visit her family. As a result, the entire army was wiped out, and she barely escaped with her life. Don’t you think this is very strange?” Su Lu said.

Su Tai shook his head, not noticing anything.

"Sigh. Qiu-ge'er sees things clearly." Su Youcai sighed and said, "Du Zhangman has been hiding in the deep mountains and forests for decades. How could he have known that the She family's daughter would go to Guizhou to visit relatives? And how could he have ambushed her on the way?"

"Could it be that they just happened to run into a robbery?" Su Tai asked. "Impossible. The purpose of a robbery is to rob, not to commit suicide," Su Youcai shook his head.
"That Su Jia is a commander of a thousand men guarding the Pacification Commissioner, and his men are all elite soldiers. Ordinary bandits would run away as fast as they can when they see them. So he must have come prepared!"

“Indeed.” Su Lu nodded and said, “There must be an inside man involved in this matter, and it would take a lot of money to persuade Du Zhangman to come out of seclusion.”

"Why?" Su Tai asked again, looking rather simple-minded. These topics were indeed too far removed from his own experience.

“Because whether we succeed or not,” Su Lu pointed to the soldiers and warriors covering the distant mountains, “we will all face cruel retribution.”

As he spoke, he looked at his kind-hearted second brother and said, "The other side went to such great lengths and risked everything to plan this, only to have it all ruined by us by some twist of fate. If we dare to show our faces again, we might just bring disaster upon ourselves."

“That’s right. No matter who the other party is, crushing us is as easy as crushing ants, and it might even implicate our whole family.” Su Youcai nodded and said, “So the most important thing is to keep our identities a secret and completely sever all ties.”

"I understand." Su Tai scratched his head, surprised that it involved such a large part of the story. Luckily, he didn't have to use his brain...

"Let's not bring this up again. And don't tell anyone, including the old man. He's getting old, don't let him worry," Su Youcai instructed again.

“I understand,” Su Tai nodded emphatically.

"Yes," Su Lu replied.

~~
The three of them walked several miles eastward before descending the mountain and onto the main road. They then ran all the way back to Erlangtan before nightfall.

Back in the garrison's territory, the three of them finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did they feel waves of exhaustion, their bodies aching all over, and they grimaced throughout the journey.

"Oh, have we run into some bandits?" Commander Zhou was leading his troops on patrol when he spotted the three 'savages' in the distance.

"No, I just got lost." Su Youcai thought to himself, "You guessed pretty accurately."

"That's lucky, they managed to find their way home," Commander Zhou instructed.
"Don't go into the mountains lately. There's a report from above saying that the Duzhang barbarians have started causing trouble again, and we've been ordered to strengthen our patrols. I heard they even attacked the Xuanfu Division's convoy and killed many of their personal guards."

"Yes, thank you very much, we will remember it." Su Youcai cupped his hands, then remembered to ask for an extension of his brother's leave, saying, "By the way, Commander, my brother still needs to stay in Luzhou to take care of Chun-ge for a while."

"Understood." Commander Zhou waved his hand and said, "It's not like I'm paying him. He can come back whenever he wants."

His tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction, mixed with a touch of helplessness...

However, Su Youcai couldn't care less about all that. All he wanted to do now was go home, lie down, and sleep soundly for days on end.

As the three of them walked down the street, they were bombarded with questions from relatives and neighbors. Su Youcai managed to answer them all, but when they got home, he couldn't even climb up the stilted house and had to be helped up by his two sons.

Hearing the commotion, Xiao Jinbao ran out and shouted, "Guoguo is back! Second Uncle is dying!"

"Don't talk nonsense." Su Youcai said with a wry smile, "I'm fine, I'm just tired."

Auntie came out to greet them upon hearing the news, and was startled to see the three of them like this. "Oh dear, what happened? Did you encounter a panda? Where are Chun-ge and your older brother? Why didn't they come back together?"

When it comes to emotional intelligence, my aunt always has it figured out perfectly...

Fortunately, Su Youcai was already used to it and said calmly, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. Chun-ge'er just caught a cold. Eldest brother and third brother are taking care of him in Luzhou. They should have already set off for Hejiang by now."

"Oh? Is he seriously ill?" The eldest aunt couldn't care less about anything else and pressed for details about her son's condition: "Is he in pain? Will he die?"

"Don't worry, sister-in-law. Chun-ge was already better when we left. He just missed you," Su Youcai comforted her.

Upon hearing this, the eldest aunt burst into tears, saying, "I miss him too. Every night when I close my eyes, I see him calling me. I never thought it was real, sob sob..."

"Alright, stop wailing." The old man walked to the door and said unhappily, "Can't you see how your second son and your two nephews have turned into such a mess?"

The eldest aunt wiped away her tears and said, "I did ask."

"Ask them if they encountered a bear?" The old man rolled his eyes at her.

"It's a panda, not a bear," Auntie muttered softly.

"..." The old man ignored him and asked his son, "How did you get into this mess?"

Su Youcai grinned and said, "Oh, don't ask, Dad. Just be glad you're back safe and sound."

"Is it nothing if you don't ask?" the old man asked.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Su Youcai replied confidently.

"Then I won't ask," the old man said in a deep voice.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, quickly boil two pots of water. Their wounds are damp, and their muscles are strained. I need to treat them, otherwise they'll both get fevers tonight!"

P.S. This is the fourth update since I last posted. The next chapter will be a little later; I haven't finished checking it yet.

(End of this chapter)