Chapter 637: Chapter 637: Don’t Know Which Lotus
The Emperor moved swiftly, managing to completely divide the Aristocratic Clans, laying a solid foundation for the later scenario of the clans fighting among themselves like dogs.
Speaking of which, at this ti, Xue Ping was extrely anxious, having sent out his n and waiting nervously in his mansion, constantly praying in his heart that Xue Changgui would be slow with his hands and feet and that it was still possible to stop him.
However, things did not go as he wished. By the ti the people he sent arrived, it was too late. Xue Changgui had cleanly killed Zhao Zhong’s son and buried the body, and as for Xia Lei’s relatives, it was unclear whether they sensed the impending crisis or sothing else, but they were nowhere to be found before Xue Changgui arrived.
At that ti, Xue Ping still did not realize that from the very mont Xue Changgui left the mansion with his n, he was being followed by soone who had been watching him secretly for a long ti.
Soon after, a mother and son were brought into the Punishnt Bureau.
The Xia Lei, who was exposed by Xiao Shunzi and sent a ssage to Xue Ping the next day but was captured cunningly and refused to surrender, saw this mother and son and his expression changed dramatically.
He finally betrayed them, his jaw slackening in the crucial mont, confessing all the spies in the Harem that he knew about, and also confessing all the acts Xue Ping had made him commit in the Harem over the years, all in exchange for sparing the lives of that mother and son.
With this, the Emperor unearthed all the spies that Xue Ping had been hiding deep within the palace for many years and gained possession of much evidence of the cris Xue Ping had committed in the Harem.
Let’s set aside these matters for now.
Returning to the incident on the street with the strange man Lian Musu t.
This odd, thin old man, brimming with excitent and trembling with glee, expressed his admiration excitedly.
When Lian Musu asked who he was, the thin old man suddenly ca back to his senses and responded incoherently, “No, no, no, I recognize you, but you do not recognize , that day, outside Shanxue Square, I saw your portrait. Today, the results were announced, congratulations, congratulations, I have read your ‘Public Opinion’; truly, it is a peerless masterpiece, peerless, absolutely peerless!”
Upon finishing, the old man started dancing and gesticulating excitedly, exclaiming his luck, and began to enthusiastically discuss the admiration and thoughts he had about that examination paper endlessly.
After much discussion, Lian Musu finally understood that, strictly speaking, the old man did not know him.
The old man had visited Shanxue Square just once during Lian Musu’s repeated examinations, arriving just as the event was ending, and had recognized him by the portrait he had seen by chance. His eager and confused words arose from his excitent upon recognizing him.
Lian Musu felt a sense of helplessness within, as he had specifically chosen a less crowded path; yet, he had heard that his reputation had beco significantly acclaid in the Capital, with many people wishing to et him, so even calling him the Top Scholar.
The common folks were sowhat better; they were just looking for excitent and so were attracted by his appearance, greeting him.
But scholars were a different story altogether. According to Liang Qi, his examination papers had sparked a fervor among the scholars, being repeatedly read and recited, and if they saw him, they would undoubtedly chase after him.
Liang Qi also warned him that the students from Taiyuan Prefecture who had caused trouble with rumors could not take exams for twenty years, almost certainly ending their careers, and they might transfer their resentnt to him, advising him to be particularly careful.
He also had to watch out for the relatives of these people in the Capital, who might attack and slander him.
Patience listening to the thin old man’s long talk, Lian Musu gradually beca interested.
So of the old man’s views coincidentally matched his own.
The two began talking on the street.
Lian Bingcheng was very excited; when he first went to Shanxue Square, Lian Musu had already handed in his papers early, and he had not seen him in person, which he felt was a great pity.
The second ti, which was today, he received the news late and only learned about the significant event when he whimsically decided to take a stroll outside. By the ti he had read the papers and, with restrained excitent, headed to the exterior of the Imperial Academy, the crowd had already dispersed; it had just dispersed, and he had missed the mont when Lian Musu ca out to persuade the people.
It seed he was fated not to et this extraordinary young man.
Feeling utterly disheartened, he found it exceedingly regrettable.
Unexpectedly, as he was on his way back ho, luck turned in his favor, and he t the person. How could he not be thrilled?!
People of talent often possess a certain haughtiness, but the man before him not only lacked any pedantic pretension, he was also approachable and engaged in conversation with him, and even occasionally humbly asked for his advice, filling him with a sense of springlike warmth.
He joyfully exclaid that the man was not only talented and had an outstanding character but that it made sense for him to produce such writings. His Majesty had acted rightly in severely punishing those troublemakers from Taiyuan Prefecture, barring them from taking imperial exams for life to prevent those with ill intentions from becoming officials and causing harm to the common people.
Lian Musu shook his head and chuckled, without comnt.
He looked at the sky and took leave, saying, “I felt an instant rapport with you, sir, and greatly enjoyed our conversation, but it is getting late, and I need to head back ho. Let’s talk more another day.”
Lian Bingcheng was left wanting more. He looked up at the sky; it was indeed not early.
He solemnly perford a standard Confucian salute, “Talking with you today is better than reading thousands of books. I apologize for the intrusion. I am rely a Scholar and not deserving of the title ‘sir’ like a Jieyuan. You are just a bit older than …”
At this point, Lian Bingcheng beca sowhat embarrassed. His old habit of forming connections whenever he t soone he got along with kicked in, alike to how he had beco acquainted with Lian Changhe in the past.
He hesitated for a mont but couldn’t suppress his inner desire. Finally, he brazenly asked, “Perhaps… perhaps you could call Brother Lian?”
After all, “Lian” sounds quite similar to “Lian”; perhaps they were from the sa family five hundred years ago.
He had a reason for this thought; his family lineage originated from the surna Lian.
“Talent is not judged by one’s official rank.” Lian Musu smiled faintly and returned the gesture, feeling a fondness for the elderly man before him.
He said, “Your surna is Lian, may I ask which Lian you are?”
This address as “Brother Lian” delighted Lian Bingcheng, who hastily responded, “From the lines ‘No one visits the waterside pavilion on a windy day, leaving the lotus to bloom freely.'”
Upon saying this, he thought of his niece Xiao Hua and could not hide his smugness.
This introduction cleverly included his niece Xiao Hua’s full na; it was a poem chosen specifically for her, intending to show off when he eventually t Xiao Hua.
Lian Musu suddenly froze, the smile disappearing from his face as he stared, taken aback, at the thin old man before him.
The surna Lian was extrely rare, with very few people bearing it in the world.
Very long ago, his ancestors had borne the surna Lian, not Lian.
The family records noted that during a severe drought when the land was littered with corpses from starvation, his ancestors had to migrate. Blinded by hunger and barely able to hold on, they stumbled and fell in a dry pond.
At the brink of death, the ancestor discovered that what had tripped him was a piece of a lotus root, protruding slightly and resembling dead wood, overlooked by all as if fate had a hand in it, waiting to save his ancestor’s life.
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