Chapter Twenty-Two: Brother Chun, the Timely Rain

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“Oh? And why do you think that?” Su Youcai’s interest was truly piqued, for he had never heard such an argument before.

“Because King Xuan of Qi’s ancestors used the very same excuse to exile the original ruler, paving the way for the Tian clan to usurp the throne of Qi,” Su Tai replied, his voice slow and measured.

A masterstroke.

For a moment, Su Youcai was left speechless, able only to raise his thumb in admiration.

He could not help but sigh inwardly—this child undoubtedly possesses great wisdom too… Wait, why did I say 'too'?

After a long pause, Su Youcai asked curiously, “Xia, who told you the story of ‘the Tian clan's usurpation of Qi’?”

“It was Qiu who told me. He said that understanding the historical background makes it easier to grasp the conversations between Mencius and those kings,” Su Tai replied, looking a little embarrassed. “I’m really slow-witted, pondering such a simple truth for so long.”

“That’s not a simple truth at all.” Su Youcai shook his head firmly, then smiled as he tucked in Xia’s quilt. “If Mencius knew that someone in the future would think this way, he’d be very pleased.”

“Why would he be happy when people question him?” Su Tai was puzzled.

“Because that’s the spirit of Mencius,” Su Youcai whispered, not daring to elaborate further. “It’s getting late. Go to sleep.”

“Mm.” And with that, Su Tai obediently closed his eyes.

~~~

In the neighboring room.

Su Lu knocked and entered, only to find Su Man sitting upright behind the table, his expression stern as he looked at him.

Su Lu couldn’t help but feel as if he’d been summoned to the teacher’s office, and grew uneasy. He hurried to explain:

“Brother, you know me—I don’t usually have smelly feet. It’s just from running up and down the stairs these past couple of days…”

“I don’t care whether your feet stink or not!” Su Man’s sword-like brows furrowed as he raised his voice. “Your most important task right now is to study. If you can’t get into the academy, you’ll have plenty of time to wait tables in the future!”

Now it really did feel like being called in by the class teacher…

“Yes, yes.” Su Lu nodded quickly, admitting his fault. “But this is a special case. Tomorrow—no, tonight—I will continue to work hard.”

“I don’t care for your excuses. Just tell me: have you finished memorizing all your books?” Su Man raised a hand.

“Not yet.” Su Lu was troubled by this himself, and with a bitter face said, “I’ve only just finished memorizing the seventh section, ‘Li Lou, Part One,’ of the Annotations on Mencius.”

“So you still have fifty-nine thousand words left?” Su Man’s brows knitted even tighter.

“It’s actually fifty-seven thousand. I managed to squeeze in two thousand words of the eighth section today,” Su Lu replied in distress. “But I haven’t started on the eighteen thousand words of the Doctrine of the Mean yet…”

“So that’s a total of seventy-five thousand words!” A vein bulged on Su Man’s forehead as he said, “The exam is on the sixteenth of the last month of the year. That’s exactly half a month from now—you’ll have to memorize five thousand words a day. Can you manage?”

“Definitely not,” Su Lu answered miserably. “Three thousand a day is already a stretch.”

“That’s a full thirty thousand words you’ll be short.” Su Man rubbed his temple, worrying on his behalf. “So what do you plan to do?”

“If it comes down to it, I’ll just memorize as much as I can, and pray to Confucius at the end, hoping that the parts I don’t know won’t be tested,” Su Lu sighed.

“Nonsense! Is an exam something to take chances with?” Su Man slammed the table in anger. “Besides, the exam is strictly on the classics and their commentaries—there’s hardly any difference in candidates’ performances. If you’re unfamiliar with twenty or thirty thousand words, you might as well not waste the registration fee!”

“What? The competition is that fierce?” Su Lu couldn’t help but click his tongue.

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“What did you expect?” Su Man shot him a look. “Taiping Academy is the renowned lower division of Heshan Academy. All the young scholars from Hejiang County, as well as from Yongning Garrison, Luzhou Garrison, and Chishui Garrison, are all scrambling to get in!”

“Damn…” Su Lu couldn’t help but curse. Truly, the last mile is the hardest—a small shortfall, and all is lost.

This time, however, Su Man didn’t scold him, but merely sighed and said, “Bring me the ‘Annotations on Mencius.’”

Su Lu didn’t quite understand, but hurried back to fetch his elder brother’s set of the Annotations.

Su Man picked up a brush and started flipping through the pages, circling some of the sections.

“Are you highlighting the key points for me?” Su Lu’s eyes lit up.

“No, these are the parts that won’t be tested,” Su Man replied expressionlessly. “I originally didn’t want to help you cut corners, but circumstances require flexibility. This is better than you doing badly and embarrassing me.”

“Yes, yes.” Su Lu nodded at once. “I mustn’t bring shame to you, Brother.”

By now Su Man had moved on to another volume, the ‘Gaozi Chapters.’ Su Lu picked up ‘Wanzhang Chapters’ to have a look, only to see that his brother had cut out about a dozen sections—‘Heaven gives to the worthy,’ ‘Heaven sees as my people see, Heaven hears as my people hear,’ ‘If the ruler has great faults, remonstrate; if he does not listen, change him’—and so forth, eliminating nearly half the content…

“These won’t be tested?” Su Lu asked.

“That’s right,” Su Man nodded. “You can tell Second Uncle as well, if you want. Or not, as you wish.”

“I’m not so petty as to see my clan brothers as rivals,” Su Lu naturally understood his brother’s meaning.

“Who knows?” Su Man sneered. “Maybe someone else will just edge you out.”

“I don’t mind,” Su Lu laughed. “One shouldn’t give up eating for fear of choking—that would be far too cowardly.”

“Let’s see if you still think that way after you’ve seen how harsh the world can be,” Su Man grunted, noncommittal.

Inwardly, Su Lu thought, even if I didn’t think that way, I’d have to say so, lest you look down on me.

Afraid his brother would see through his lip service, he quickly changed the subject: “Weren’t these the sections Emperor Taizu deleted back in the day?”

“That’s right,” Su Man nodded.

“My father mentioned that, but he also said that during Emperor Yongle’s reign, the full text of Mencius was restored, and the official records were altered to erase any mention of Taizu’s deletions?”

“If the records were erased, how did Second Uncle find out?” Su Man countered.

“Uh…” Su Lu thought for a moment, then replied sheepishly, “The truth can’t be kept hidden forever.”

“So do you know what the Ming dynasty truly runs on?” Su Man pressed.

“The Great Ming Code?” Su Lu guessed.

“No, it’s the ancestral laws. More precisely, everything Emperor Taizu established.” Su Man sighed. “Emperor Yongle was indeed a man of great talent, but his descendants—especially the Emperors Tianshun and Chenghua—clearly revered Taizu even more.”

“I see.” Su Lu nodded, thinking that was only natural. Every emperor would despise traitors and usurpers, even if their own throne was handed down by such men…

“So, even though the abridged Mencius is no longer official, the imperial exams have never tested any of the passages Taizu deleted… Everyone understands this, though it goes unspoken,” Su Man said in a low voice.

“But my father says that the current Emperor Hongzhi greatly esteems Mencius—it’s hard to say…” Su Lu said quietly.

“There’s nothing hard to say. Taiping Academy has been open for a hundred years and wants to last another hundred,” Su Man said impatiently. “No more questions. I told you those parts won’t be tested, and that’s final!”

“Yes, yes.” Su Lu quickly nodded. His brother’s cutting of the text was a lifesaver—he could hardly be more grateful. He’d only said so much to defend his father.

With Su Man’s bold and decisive cuts, a full third of the Annotations on Mencius was wiped away!

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As a result, Su Lu instantly had nineteen thousand fewer words to memorize!

Moreover, the pressure of reviewing what he’d already learned was greatly eased, and the time saved could be used to learn more new material.

Now that he saw hope again, Su Lu was naturally overjoyed and said ingratiatingly, “Brother, what about the Doctrine of the Mean? Could you highlight the key points for that as well?”

“Dream on! Not a single sentence of the Doctrine of the Mean can be omitted—you have to concentrate on memorizing it!” Su Man said sternly. “And since it’s the hardest, it’s where the examiners distinguish the best candidates!”

“Understood, Brother.” Su Lu hurried to show his willingness. “I’ll focus on memorizing it.”

“Ay, you’re really a handful…” Su Man said with a look of exasperation. He opened his satchel and handed over a stack of papers covered with writing. “These are the exam questions from previous years. Take a look when you have time.”

“Ah!” Su Lu’s eyes lit up. These were actual past exam papers!

His brother might be strict, but he truly took care of him. Su Lu was full of gratitude. “Brother, you’re so thoughtful.”

“I’m not doing it for you,” Su Man insisted.

“Yes, yes, it’s for your own reputation,” Su Lu replied with a fawning smile.

“My reputation isn’t that important,” Su Man sighed softly. “What weighs most heavily is the family’s expectations of us.”

“Yes.” Su Lu nodded, deeply moved.

“But I’m not giving you these past papers so you can try to guess the questions—you won’t be able to. But you can familiarize yourself with the style of the examiners, see where they like to set questions, focus your revision accordingly, and not feel so lost in the exam.”

“Yes.” Su Lu quickly agreed.

~~~

The next morning, the new daughter-in-law served tea to her parents-in-law, her brothers and sisters-in-law. The old master, beaming kindly, said, “Third daughter-in-law, you’re not in the best health, so there’s no need to kneel.”

“That’s right, you’re with child—no need for wine either,” the old lady nodded.

“Ah…” The young aunt was bewildered—what were they talking about?

“Mother is hard of hearing,” the younger uncle whispered to explain. “Just let her say what she wants, and you say what you want.”

“Yes.” The young aunt lowered her head. With every word from her parents-in-law revolving around her pregnancy, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Then the old master said, “Cui Cui, don’t overthink things. Now that you’re part of the Su family, we’ll all protect you.”

“That’s right,” the eldest brother added with a smile. “The best thing about our family is our unity—no scheming against each other.”

“Exactly, little sister-in-law,” Su Youcai said gently. “As the saying goes, ‘A grand mansion is not as good as brothers joined arm in arm.’ Our family’s circumstances may be modest, but with united hearts, there’s no river we can’t cross, no mountain we can’t climb.”

“That’s right, that’s right,” the young aunt chimed in.

The family’s warm words finally soothed the young aunt’s worried heart. With tears in her eyes, she nodded and said, “Thank you, Father, Mother, brothers, sisters—I will always remember your guidance.”

“Good, good,” the old master nodded, though somewhat embarrassed. “Before you married in, your father must have told you—he’s provided a house for you in the county as part of your dowry. You two can move in tomorrow. The conditions in town are better, and you young couple can have some privacy.”

“Yes, I am unfilial, making both our fathers worry,” the young aunt replied, knowing this was the best arrangement for her and her child.

P.S. A new week is here—please vote for me and keep reading! Brothers, it’s time for the monk to rise!