Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 24 Punishment

Three days later, one morning, the school gates had just opened.

Officer Li then arrived with two constables.

The leader, a burly man with a menacing face, held a trembling official document in his hand and spoke in a loud voice:

"County government investigation! Who is Lu Chuan? A tip-off has been filed: Lu Chuan of Lujia Village is suspected of stealing confidential government documents and colluding with bandits. Take him away!"

The school building, which had been filled with morning reading, fell silent instantly. The students huddled behind their desks like startled quails.

"Li Dashan, do you think this school is your county government's jail?"

Master Zhao was dressed in a faded Confucian robe, and instead of a ruler, he held a yellowed copy of the "Great Qian Code".

He walked out slowly, and the aura behind him made the two fierce-looking constables unconsciously put away their swords.

Officer Li's expression changed, his previously ferocious look instantly replaced by an awkward smile: "Old Zhao, what are you saying? It's just our duty as officials handling cases. This Lu Chuan is suspected of..."

"Suspected of what?" Master Zhao interrupted him, his eyes piercing. "When Lu Chuan joined my school, I checked his household registration and examined his character."

"He studies from dawn till dusk every day; where would he find the time to collude with bandits?"

"You can arrest people, but if you can't produce an official document stamped with the county magistrate's seal, I will write to the prefectural school tomorrow and ask if the head constable of Qingyang County has overstepped the imperial court and proclaimed himself king."

These words carried immense weight.

Li Dashan turned pale with fright.

Just then, Lu Chuan, who had been silent, suddenly swayed.

Before Li Dashan could speak again, he suddenly looked up at Master Zhao.

That usually cold and aloof face was now not only deathly pale, but also showed a hint of fear.

"Master! I do not wish to falsely accuse my fellow student in this sacred place, but I am truly afraid."

Lu Chuan's shout was filled with a heavy tremor and a sense of determination.

He leaned against the pillar, his fingernails digging deep into the wood grain.

"Officer Li said that the student was colluding with bandits, but the student has never even left the school since arriving."

"On the contrary, my three classmates, Li Ji, Zhang Fugui, and Wang Lang..." He turned his head and glanced at the three people hiding behind the crowd.

"They have been humiliating the students in every way for the past two days, and they have also been blocking the students in a corner of the dormitory after school every day."

As Lu Chuan spoke, his right hand trembled as he unbuttoned the collar of his blue shirt, revealing a bruise on his shoulder—a bruise he had deliberately bumped into the bed frame during his morning exercise.

Amidst the astonished gazes of the surrounding students, he gave a wry smile.

"Zhang Fugui kept saying that his father was a big shot in town and that he would let the students go out with their heads held high."

"Li Ji even boasted that his father was a constable in the county government, and could easily fabricate a charge of 'colluding with bandits' to ensure the student's entire family's annihilation!"

Lu Chuan turned to look at Li Dashan:

"The document that Officer Li brought today contains exactly the same words that Li Jitong threatened the students two days ago."

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Master Zhao's face turned even more ashen.

If Li Dashan could still be considered to have official duties as a fig leaf before, then now that Lu Chuan has heard these words, this is a blatant abuse of public power for private gain and a false accusation.

"You're talking nonsense! I never said that!" Li Ji screamed in fright, his voice trembling.

"Didn't you say that?"

Lu Chuan sneered and shook a broken piece of wood from his sleeve. It was Zhang Fugui's bed frame that he had casually taken down in the dormitory.

"If you don't believe me, you can go to the dormitory in the backyard to check."

"Zhang Fugui's bed is missing a section of the crossbar. Just now, when they were besieging the students in the backyard, this piece of wood fell into the students' hands."

"Moreover..." Lu Chuan's voice was low, but every word hit Li Dashan's weak spot, "Just now, during the struggle, a piece of paper fell off Li Ji's body."

"The student was poor and wanted to pick it up to practice calligraphy, but when he saw that the red seal on it was exactly the same as the official document in the constable's hand."

"May I ask, Officer Li, why is this blank official document, which hasn't even been stamped yet, in your son's hands?"

Lu Chuan didn't have any blank official approval documents in his hand, but in Li Dashan's eyes at this moment, the stack of papers that Lu Chuan held up was a bomb that could explode at any moment.

"Li Dashan!" Master Zhao roared angrily, "What a fine son you've raised! What a good job you've done!"

"As a head constable, you allowed your son to commit murder and falsely accuse a student. I will personally write to the magistrate and ask whether Qingyang County is truly under the control of your Li family."

Li Dashan was so frightened that he took three steps back, cold sweat dripping from his forehead and onto the ground.

"Old Zhao, you see, this might really be a misunderstanding." Cold sweat broke out on Li Dashan's forehead. He waved his hand awkwardly, "Retreat, retreat quickly! Those bastards down there must have gotten the information wrong. I'll beat them to a pulp later."

Master Zhao turned around and stared at Lu Chuan. He wasn't stupid.

"Lu Chuan, come in with me."

Master Zhao's inner room was decorated in a very simple style.

Rows of slightly worn wooden bookshelves are piled high with well-worn volumes of classics, histories, philosophical works, and other historical texts.

Master Zhao looked at Lu Chuan, who was covered in wounds, and sighed.

"Lu Chuan, what you just said... and that piece of paper..."

Lu Chuan had already put away his pitiful appearance and stood properly to the side.

"Master, I did not lie. The paper is real, the wooden stick is real, and Officer Li's intention to kill me to cover it up is also real."

"If the students weren't pitiful enough, they probably wouldn't have been able to leave this school today."

Master Zhao sighed, his gaze sweeping over the young man before him with complex emotions.

He originally thought Lu Chuan was a student from a poor family who was extremely talented and hardworking.

But in that scene just now, Lu Chuan's behavior was nothing like that of a nine-year-old boy.

"Lu Chuan, was what you just threw out really a blank official approval document?" Master Zhao asked in a deep voice.

Lu Chuan lowered his head slightly and took out a stack of yellowed waste paper from his pocket. The top sheet did indeed have a half-torn red seal, but it was clearly an old page that had been discarded during the settlement of back taxes last year.

"Reporting to Master, the official document is genuine, but the content is incorrect." Lu Chuan's tone was no longer as pitiful as before. "But for Constable Li, as long as the mark is genuine, his heart is uneasy."

"He dared not gamble on whether the student had any evidence, just as he dared not gamble on your anger after you wrote to the magistrate."

Master Zhao stared at the calligraphy for a long time, then suddenly smiled bitterly.

"What a fine excuse for not daring to gamble! You child, your cunning is so deep that even I was manipulated by you." Although Master Zhao's words were reproachful, his eyes showed more deep worry and appreciation for talent. "Although you used the situation to force Li Dashan to back down today, that kind of cunning person will realize his mistake once he leaves the house."

"You ruined his reputation and hit his weak spot. He'll get his revenge sooner or later."