Chapter 125 Dismissal
“In that case, I’ll trouble Dean Su to settle the ten taels for the consultation fee,” Song Yushu said naturally, since Zhou Chengyu’s injury was indeed caused by them.
Hearing her matter-of-fact tone, Dean Su was momentarily annoyed, but still gave Doctor Wu the money with a stern face.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, all the witnesses related to this matter have arrived," Shen Xiuyuan said, bringing them all as expected.
"Well, now that everyone is here, let's start the interrogation with Hu Xuan. Who is Hu Xuan?" Prefect Liu nodded to Shen Xiuyuan and got down to business.
"My lord, I... I am Hu Xuan. May I ask why you summoned me here?" Shen Xiuyuan had not revealed the reason for summoning them, so Hu Xuan did not know why he had come.
Do you know Miss Zhou? Are you interested in taking her as a concubine?
Hu Xuan felt a little uneasy when he heard Prefect Liu's words, but he thought that although he was interested in Miss Zhou, he had not threatened or bribed her, so he did not deny it: "Sir, I am interested in Miss Zhou, but I heard that she has been sent back to her hometown to recuperate, so I did not pursue her further."
"Since that's the case, have you asked your elders to propose marriage to the Zhou family?"
"Well... I did ask my elders at home, but Zhou Chengyu didn't agree, so I didn't press the matter further. Sir, I didn't break the law, did I?"
Hu Xuan stammered in defense of himself, completely unaware of the wink Hu Fuzi gave him beside him. By the time he finished speaking, Hu Fuzi had already turned pale.
Prefect Liu did not stop the interrogation. He asked a few more questions to several other students who knew the truth. It was basically confirmed that Teacher Hu had called Zhou Chengyu out to do hard labor. With Hu Xuan's instructions, the outcome of the matter was obvious.
"What else do you have to say?" Prefect Liu's eyes were cold as he looked at Master Hu.
Knowing that his attempts to argue were futile, Mr. Hu turned his pleading eyes to Dean Su.
"My lord, it was my negligence that led to this accident. I am willing to bear the consequences and compensate Zhou Chengyu," Dean Su had no choice but to come out and admit his mistake.
Master Hu followed suit, saying he knew he was wrong, and then lowered his head to await Prefect Liu's judgment.
Hu Xuan finally understood why he had been summoned. Seeing that his two biggest backers had already admitted their mistakes, he dared not say anything more and shrank back, pretending that he did not exist.
"As a teacher, you persecuted your students for your own selfish reasons, and even tried to cover up the truth by distorting the facts. If I hadn't been here today, wouldn't this mother and son have been framed by you?" Prefect Liu was clearly not going to let this go easily. Once this matter fell into his hands, there was no way he could fool him.
"I failed to discipline him properly, please forgive me, sir. This person will no longer be allowed to serve as a teacher in the academy. I will strictly discipline the teachers in the academy from now on, and such a mistake will never happen again!" Dean Su could only admit his mistake again.
“This person is unfit to be a teacher and should no longer serve as a teacher. Dean Su, you were unaware of this matter, so it is not your fault. It was just that some people with ulterior motives were causing trouble, and you were temporarily misled. Get up.” Prefect Liu naturally would not touch Dean Su, after all, he had not done anything too wrong, and in fact, many outstanding students came from here.
"Thank you, sir! Why don't you go and apologize to Zhou Chengyu right away!" Dean Su hurriedly thanked him, then turned around and scolded Master Hu.
Since becoming Dean Su's son-in-law, Master Hu had never suffered any mistreatment at the academy, and could get whatever he wanted. But now he had to apologize to Zhou Chengyu in front of so many students, which was a complete loss of face and dignity. How could he maintain his former dignified and respectable appearance?
“It was wrong of me to make things difficult for you out of selfishness,” Master Hu said, bowing his head and apologizing to Zhou Chengyu with a flushed face.
“What you did was indeed wrong. First of all, your son frequents brothels, bullies others and acts tyrannically at the academy. I could never marry my daughter to such a person, let alone make her a concubine. Secondly, as a teacher, you took revenge after being rejected and tormented your students in private. This shows your narrow-mindedness and despicable character. We have heard your apology, but we do not accept it. Also, after I made this scene today, I have no intention of keeping my son at this academy. I would like to trouble Dean Su to help him withdraw from the academy.”
Song Yushu's words completely humiliated Master Hu, and the students watching immediately turned their attention to Master Hu.
“Madam, Zhou Chengyu has not done anything wrong at this time, there is no need for him to drop out of school…” Dean Su had no choice but to speak up to persuade him to stay. If Zhou Chengyu were to leave, wouldn’t it prove that he was intolerant of people? This would also be detrimental to the reputation of the academy.
“Dean Su is not such a narrow-minded person. Since Zhou Chengyu has done nothing wrong, let him stay at the academy to study. This will never happen again, right, Dean Su?” Prefect Liu said, trying to persuade Dean Su.
"Yes! I guarantee with my integrity that I will never allow anyone to falsely accuse Zhou Chengyu in the future, nor will I allow this matter to have any negative impact on Zhou Chengyu," Dean Su solemnly promised.
This promise earned him a lot of goodwill from the surrounding students. After all, it was already quite remarkable that a highly respected person like Dean Su was willing to severely punish his son-in-law for the sake of a student and even lower himself to persuade the student to stay.
Seeing this, Song Yushu didn't press the matter further. After asking Zhou Chengyu's opinion, he didn't mention dropping out of school again. After all, if they refused again, they would be labeled as intolerant and heartless.
"Alright, from now on you can focus on your studies here and prepare for next year's exams. If you encounter any problems, just go to the government office and I will definitely give you justice," Prefect Liu said before taking his leave of Dean Su and the others.
Dean Su knew perfectly well that he was reminding him, so he could only smile wryly and see the person out.
The rest of the people quickly dispersed, leaving only the Hu family father and son and Dean Su in the courtyard in an awkward atmosphere.
"Fool! I originally married my daughter to you without expecting you to amount to anything, but I never thought that you would spoil Xuan'er so much and make him so stupid! It's my fault for not teaching my daughter properly and choosing a stupid and useless person like you as her husband!"
Dean Su always cherished his reputation, which is why he was highly regarded by many scholars in the prefectural city. He had hoped to get closer to the prefect today, but he didn't expect to be thwarted by Song Yushu and his mother. The trigger for this was none other than his own son-in-law and grandson, which really made him furious.
“Grandfather! How can this be our fault? Zhou Chengyu is just an ordinary person. Who knows why the prefect insisted on helping him? That’s why we couldn’t cover it up,” Hu Xuan had been raised to be fearless since childhood, so he was naturally not afraid of angering Dean Su. Instead, he used his own twisted logic to argue his point.
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