Chapter 34: Your student will surely settle this score for you!

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“Brother Du?”

The middle-aged man smiled. “We haven’t seen each other in years. What brings you here?”

Du Xiu, however, looked somewhat ill at ease.

“Brother Zhou…”

His expression stiffened, and then, as though suddenly remembering himself, he clasped his hands and bowed.

“Your student Du Xiu pays his respects to Your Honor!”

They had once been classmates.

Now, his former schoolmate had become the magistrate of his own county.

The contrast was enough to make anyone sigh.

Yet Magistrate Zhou was exceedingly warm.

“Oh, Brother Du, what are you doing?” he exclaimed. “We were classmates. There’s no need for such empty formalities between us. It has been so many years, but Brother Du’s bearing is as impressive as ever! Come, enter the residence with me.”

He forcibly took Du Xiu by the arm, and the two walked inside side by side.

Outside, the constables began praising their magistrate.

“Our magistrate is truly approachable!”

“Isn’t he just? Though they were classmates, officials and commoners have always been different. For the magistrate to humble himself so far shows what a benevolent man he is!”

“…”

Cheng An could not help shaking his head with a smile.

Gu Xiaoyue followed beside him and asked softly, “What are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at how badly I misjudged him.”

“Misjudged him?”

Gu Xiaorou looked at him curiously. “You mean Magistrate Zhou? But I think he’s quite nice. He speaks so gently and values old friendships. That’s rare.”

“Rare?”

Cheng An gave a faint laugh and lowered his voice. “Just now, he could clearly have helped Teacher Du up, but he merely made a token gesture. Yet after Teacher Du finished bowing, he suddenly became as warm as a brother…”

He was respectful before the bow and arrogant afterward.

Clearly, this was not an upright man.

…

They arrived at the rear hall.

“Lord Zhou.” Du Xiu cleared his throat awkwardly.

He rose, clasped his hands, and said, “This is my student, Cheng An. Had he not been so quick-witted and clever today, none of us might have escaped that calamity…”

After hearing about the assassins, Magistrate Zhou was somewhat surprised.

“Him?”

“How old is this child?”

“Your Honor.”

Cheng An stepped forward without either humility or arrogance. He bowed and said, “This student is Cheng An. I am eight years old.”

“An eight-year-old child who can capture bandits?”

A glint flashed in Magistrate Zhou’s eyes. Then he suddenly smiled.

“Good! As the saying goes, a renowned teacher produces outstanding pupils. The fact that Brother Du could teach such an exceptional student proves that you haven’t wasted these years.”

“Brother Zhou flatters me.”

Du Heng waved his hand with a smile.

“Still, it is rather unfortunate…”

Magistrate Zhou let out a long sigh.

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His tone carried a trace of regret. “Had Brother Du not rejected Lord Fan’s offer all those years ago, I imagine your achievements today would certainly surpass mine.”

“A few days ago, I went to Yao Prefecture to report on my duties. Lord Fan even mentioned you. He spoke with such longing and remembrance.”

The words sounded pleasant enough.

Yet Cheng An detected a hint of mockery beneath them.

He suddenly thought of Cheng Dahai…

Could it be that there truly was some old grievance between Teacher Du and the Prefect of Yao?

“Thank you for Lord Fan’s concern.”

Du Xiu’s expression darkened. Anger mingled with unwillingness in his voice.

“Everyone has his own aspirations. Though my life here in the countryside is somewhat plain, I am content with the peace and leisure.”

“That is true…”

Magistrate Zhou smiled deeply, then said with a faint smile, “But have you really never regretted it, Brother Du?”

“If you had not been so rigid back then, would you really have ended up wasting away in that little town of Qingshui, working as an obscure schoolteacher with neither rank nor reputation?”

From his false courtesy earlier to this blatant mockery now…

Cheng An had gradually pieced together the truth.

It seemed that the relationship between his teacher and this former classmate, the magistrate, was far from as simple as it appeared. Judging by their words, there was even some longstanding grudge between them.

After several exchanges, every sentence seemed aimed straight at Du Xiu’s sorest spot.

“Selling out your master for glory?”

Straightforward by nature, Du Xiu could endure no more. His expression turned solemn.

“Fan Xichun sought glory by selling out his country. He even wanted to cede a third of the frontier to curry favor with the Liang Kingdom! How could I, Du Xiu, possibly follow such a man?”

“You…”

Magistrate Zhou’s expression turned cold.

But before he could say anything—

“Brother Zhou!”

Du Xiu rose to his feet. “We follow different paths and cannot work together. I may have felt unwilling at times over the years, but if I were given the choice again… my decision would be the same!”

Magistrate Zhou’s face grew colder still.

Beside them, Cheng An’s heart gave a violent thump.

That was the county magistrate they were speaking to!

If the man turned against them, the constables outside could rush in at any moment and throw them into prison.

They would not even need a charge.

If I say you are guilty, then you are guilty!

Within Pinggu County, the magistrate was an absolute local sovereign. Let alone a schoolteacher—even an official of equal rank would have to show him considerable respect.

Yet perhaps out of some lingering concern, Magistrate Zhou ultimately chose not to act.

…

After leaving the county office, Du Xiu suddenly turned around.

He looked at Cheng An with an expression of anticipation, almost yearning.

“You must make me proud! If you truly manage to pass the examination and become a licentiate, then at least you will have given your teacher…”

He did not finish.

But Cheng An understood perfectly.

“Rest assured, Teacher!”

He looked up at Du Xiu and said earnestly, “I will certainly help you vent this grievance!”

“You…”

Du Xiu was slightly moved. Then he shook his head with a smile.

“Enough. Just do your best in the examination. Whether you pass or fail, do not burden yourself over it. You are still young. If you fail, you can always try again next year.”

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“I’ll remember that.”

Cheng An nodded obediently.

Then he heard Du Xiu raise his head and sigh.

“Scholars cannot escape fame, rank, wealth, and position. There is nothing wrong with pursuing them. But as human beings, we must still know what we ought to do—and what we must never do.”

The words seemed meant for Cheng An.

Yet they also sounded like self-consolation.

Cheng An raised his head, his gaze innocent.

“Teacher is right! I may be young, but I know that the nation comes before everything else. Those who sell out their country for personal gain may receive as many benefits as they like, but they will still be despised by all!”

He meant every word.

In his former life or this one, selling out one’s country was shameful.

Perhaps you believed your country had many flaws. Perhaps, faced with the tide of events, you lacked the power to turn things around. But none of that could ever justify betraying your country.

That was also why Magistrate Zhou hated Du Xiu.

Fan Xichun, the Prefect of Yao, had sought glory through treachery. Yet the world was full of sycophants who fawned upon the powerful. For the sake of rank, reputation, wealth, and status, who among them still cared about righteousness?

Du Xiu had therefore become an outsider.

He had publicly torn away the fig leaf covering the shame of certain people.

How could those sycophants who pursued fame and fortune ever let that go?

“Well said!”

Du Xiu suddenly smiled. His eyes held a trace of emotion.

“A disciple of mine should indeed speak that way! The future is certainly important, but loyalty to one’s country and people is equally indispensable!”

“That’s right!”

Gu Xiaorou nodded earnestly as well.

She glanced at Cheng An from beneath her lashes, and that hazy feeling in her heart gradually grew stronger.

…

The following day, Du Xiu first took the two sisters to pay respects at their deceased mother’s grave. Upon returning, he immediately brought Cheng An to the prefectural examination hall.

The examination to become a licentiate differed from the examination to become a scholar.

The scholar’s examination was held once every three years. Those who failed had to wait another three years.

The licentiate examination, however, was the entry-level examination for the imperial system, commonly known as the academy examination. It was held every year, and there was no age restriction.

Consequently, the number of candidates taking it each year was also the largest.

Though Pinggu County lay in a remote region, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, where “learning was held above all else,” aspiring scholars flocked to the examinations like carp crossing a river.

A long queue stretched before the examination hall.

By the time it was Cheng An’s turn, it was already noon.

The minor clerk responsible for registering the candidates tilted his head back and yawned.

Then he asked impatiently, “Name and place of origin!”

“Cheng An, from Hexi Village in Qingshui Town. I am eight years old this year.”

He produced the household registration document issued by the village.

“Oh?”

The clerk’s yawn came to an abrupt halt.

He opened and closed his mouth uncomfortably, then cast Cheng An a surprised glance.

“He really came?”

“What?”

Cheng An looked bewildered.

“Nothing!”

The clerk’s expression changed at once. He said coldly, “You’re barely old enough to have hair on your face, and you think you can take the examination? Go on, go on! Is this a place for you to fool around?”