County Magistrate's Office
Su Heng and Su Zhihui, brother and sister, were in Madam Su's yard. County Magistrate Su had just returned from the yamen.
After drinking a cup of tea with Magistrate Su, Su Heng finally spoke: "Dad and Mom, I want to change to another academy to study."
Magistrate Su was not surprised, but still asked, "Why?"
Su Heng was silent for a while, and did not choose to answer his father's question. Instead, he asked, "Dad, why have you been the county magistrate for so many years? Who is blocking you behind the scenes?"
Magistrate Su did not answer him, but looked at him. When it came to such a question, Su Zhihui on the side did not dare to interrupt and could only listen with her ears pricked up.
After a long time, Magistrate Su finally compromised and looked at Madam Su beside him: "Madam, the children are grown up now. It's time to tell them about these things."
Mrs. Su held his hand and said softly but firmly, "Okay."
Magistrate Su returned, holding his wife's hand, and then slowly began to speak: "You all know that your mother and I were childhood sweethearts. When I was young, I was the most neglected by my father. Your mother and I have been childhood sweethearts and were engaged since we were young. Later, your mother's family fell into decline."
Su Heng nodded. He roughly guessed what happened next. Sure enough, what his father said next was just as he thought.
"Later, your grandfather asked me to cancel my engagement with your mother. I disagreed and forced your mother into the palace. Shortly after the marriage, I was demoted to a remote area as a county magistrate. Even though I have made many achievements in the past ten years, I have only been a county magistrate in one place after another."
Su Zhihui was shocked. She didn't expect there to be such a reason and she couldn't believe it.
Every time they went to the capital, her grandparents treated her and her brother very well. How could they do such a thing?
After Magistrate Su finished speaking, he was more like his calm eldest son and his shocked youngest daughter. "Now it has been more than ten years since the incident, and our family is living a good life. Father is content."
"So, Heng'er, can you tell your father why you want to change academies now?"
Su Heng suppressed the anxiety in his heart. "It's not for anything else, I just want to make further progress. Now Lushan Academy can no longer provide me with much help."
Magistrate Su nodded. "If that's the case, then you should go to the capital to study. I have several good friends there, and we've been corresponding over the years. One of them was a top scholar in the imperial examination that year, but he never entered the government. He's a perfect fit to be your teacher."
Su Heng knelt down and kowtowed to Magistrate Su, "Thank you, father, for your help."
When Su Zhihui heard that her brother could go to Beijing, her eyes turned. Could she go too?
"Father and Mother, I think..."
"You don't want to."
Mrs. Su got ahead of her and said, "You have already been engaged. Stay at home and embroider well, waiting to get married."
"No, my eldest brother has gone, I can go and take care of him."
There were four people in the room, and the corners of the mouths of three of them twitched when they heard what he said.
"Father~"
Magistrate Su looked at Madam Su, "Madam, how about..."
"No, if you go, your elder brother will take care of you. Don't delay your elder brother's studies."
Su Zhihui lowered her head, still unwilling to give up, and spoke again: "Then where will big brother live in the capital?"
Su Heng looked at Magistrate Su. He also wanted to know the answer. If he didn't know the reason why his father had been serving as Magistrate, he could still live in the Su Mansion without any grudges. But now...
Magistrate Su did not answer, but looked at Su Heng and said, "Heng'er, what do you think?"
Su Heng lowered his head. If he wanted to enter the officialdom, it would be better for him to live in the Su Mansion and use the Su Mansion's connections to pave the way for him. Only in this way would his official career be smooth.
"I understand, father. I will live in the Su Mansion after entering the capital."
"Um."
Magistrate Su nodded with satisfaction. His son was just like him, quite gifted in learning and knew how to judge the situation. He would achieve great things in the future and he believed that his father would help him.
When Su Zhihui heard that her elder brother was living in the Su Mansion, she immediately became excited. "Then I want to go too. I want to accompany my elder brother. Otherwise, my elder brother will be so bored in the capital alone!"
Madam Su stretched out her finger and poked her forehead, "You think your elder brother is just going out to play, and you're bored."
Su Zhihui turned around and hugged her arms, using her usual coquettish skills.
"Mother, can you please let me go with my elder brother? We can stay together."
"good."
"Mother, you promised!"
Madam Su nodded, "It's conditional."
Su Zhihui patted Madam Su's shoulders, "Mother, please speak."
"When you get to the capital, you must listen to your eldest brother, respect your grandparents, and don't cause trouble. Got it?"
"Yes, Mother."
Mrs. Su nodded. Although her parents-in-law were not kind to her, they were very kind to the two children she had given birth to.
There are always gifts during festivals and birthdays, so this is why she is happy to have her two children respect them.
In the carriage, Pei Yu and Shen Li were playing chess. Mo Qing sat beside them like a big shot, looking at them with displeasure and condemning them with his eyes for what they had said in the county magistrate's mansion today.
Wen Lan was reading a medical book on the side. He was a little annoyed by what he said today, so he ignored Mo Qing.
As Chen Li and Pei Yu were talking, they accidentally mentioned Magistrate Su and went into his arrangements for the plague in the past two years.
"County Magistrate Su has done very well this time. He will definitely be promoted next time."
Pei Yu looked at her and shook his head. "A-Li, do you know how long Magistrate Su has been in this position?"
"Six years?"
The term of office of a county magistrate is three years, and six years is a long time. Unexpectedly, he saw Pei Yu shaking his head.
"He has been the county magistrate for fifteen years."
Chen Li's pupils dilated for a moment, "So long!"
"Is there someone behind this? The fact that County Magistrate Su was able to control the plague so quickly proves his ability. If there wasn't someone behind this, he wouldn't have been able to stay in the position for so long."
"Well, there were some issues between him and his father."
Chen Li understood, so this was done by her father!
This is too, too...
You know, it was very difficult to pursue a career in officialdom in ancient times, not to mention that there were close relatives blocking you.
If it were someone else, it would be a lifelong feud, the kind where they would never talk to each other again.
“That’s too cruel.”
Pei Yu also agreed that it was indeed too cruel.
"But he won't be able to stop it in the future?"
Seeing her looking at him with confusion, Pei Yu explained, "The Emperor is very wary of these things. He caught a few people before, and at the very least, they were dismissed from office, and at the worst, they were exiled. So now he really wants someone to go against the rules and commit crimes."
"fine."
A corrupt court will have many officials with corrupt ideas, and vice versa.
The previous imperial court was extremely corrupt. I believe the current emperor must have put in a lot of effort to achieve the current situation in less than three years.
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