Chapter 1142: They Want to Slap His Face

Cao Juren almost died of anger and replied, "The fact that the Gu Jin’an’s family does not support Elder Gu is a solid matter. Great Chu governs the nation with filial piety, and a person without filial piety is no different from a beast. As a scholar of Great Chu, how can I not accuse such an utterly heartless and unfilial poisonous grandson?"

Scholar Shang laughed and retorted, "Do you know that the reason Gu Jin’an’s grandmother died was because Granny Gu gave Elder Gu poisonous blood vine, which he took back for Mrs. Fei to eat, and that’s why she was poisoned to death? And the poison of that blood vine does not kill immediately, it takes a month or two to slowly poison one to death... So Cao Juren, do you think Elder Gu was not at fault for Mrs. Fei’s death? The Gu Jin’an’s family has already shown the greatest filial piety to him by not accusing him of murdering his original official wife, and yet you still want the Gu Jin’an’s family to continue supporting the grandfather who killed his grandmother and abused them since childhood?"

"Besides, the Gu Jin’an’s family has long broken ties with Elder Gu’s family, and the severance document was personally written by Tenth-rank Scholar Qi and registered at the government office. Now you want the estranged Gu Jin’an’s family to continue showing filial piety to Elder Gu, what does that mean? Are you questioning Tenth-rank Scholar Qi’s fairness?"

He continued, "The case of Granny Gu poisoning Mrs. Fei was judged by the He’an Prefecture Government and approved by the Da Li Temple, with the entire case clearly judged. Do you dare to question it? Are you dissatisfied with the court’s decision? Moreover, Elder Gu has a biological son, Gu Youfu, and their family left He’an Prefecture long ago, receiving one thousand taels of silver from Third Grandpa and his wife before they left. One thousand taels of silver, enough for Elder Gu to live comfortably for the rest of his life!"

Scholar Shang pointed at Cao Juren and said, "These matters have both witnesses and evidence, and the He’an Prefecture Government and the people of He’an Prefecture can all testify. What grounds do you, Cao Juren, have to accuse Gu Jin’an of being unfilial? To accuse his family of secretly harming Elder Gu? Is this the way a scholar should conduct himself, trying to ruin someone’s life with baseless accusations?"

Finally, he sharply questioned Cao Juren, "Given all this, I sincerely suspect that you, Cao Juren, have received benefits from others, purposely coming to ruin Gu Jin’an’s future!"

Scholar Shang’s words were like a thunderclap, striking Cao Juren significantly. Cao Juren was visibly flustered, but after calming down, he pointed at Scholar Shang and said, "Don’t you dare throw false accusations; I have received no benefits. Instead, it’s likely you who are desperately defending him because Gu Jin’an is your student!"

Scholar Shang laughed, countering again to Cao Juren, "I only mentioned that I was a scholar in the twenty-sixth year of Jingwu, but I never stated my name, nor did I say I was Gu Jin’an’s teacher. How exactly do you know my identity? And you claim you weren’t bribed, focusing on targeting Gu Jin’an to destroy him!"

Scholar Shang’s words were reasonable and well-founded, and the crowd, having heard them, agreed and said, "This scholar is right. We’ve also heard of the Three-surname Poisonous Woman. Neither Granny Gu nor Elder Gu are good people, and this case was approved by the Da Li Temple with concrete evidence. There’s nothing more to say."

Today, Cao Juren brought students to accuse Gu Jin’an, partly because he received silver from the Tong Family and partly to boost his reputation, to show those who mocked him for not becoming a top scholar and having students who also didn’t become top scholars that he, Cao Xiaolian, is not an incompetent old man but a man of high principles who would denounce injustice.

Moreover, as Gu Jin’an was Jianghuai’s second Small Three-Yuan Scholar, if he could bring down a Small Three-Yuan, it would surely be recorded in the Jianghuai Prefecture Records, leaving a legacy for future generations!

But he did not expect Scholar Shang to be so assertive, directly accusing him of falsely charging Gu Jin’an and speaking so soundly. Even those watching the excitement supported Scholar Shang, causing him to cough violently in anger, "Cough, cough, cough!"

"Sir, please don’t get angry, have some water." Cao Juren’s students patted his back and gave him a water pouch to help him drink water to calm down.

But one student stood up, pointing at Scholar Shang and cursed, "You, a mere scholar, lack even a small amount of compassion for your elders, making an elderly man nearly pass away from anger. You have no private virtue, and we will accuse you and have the court strip your scholarly title!"

Seeing Cao Juren cough violently, Scholar Shang initially felt a bit pity for him. However, upon hearing what Cao Juren’s students said, he burst out laughing, pointing at them and said, "Am I the one lacking in private virtue? Well then, who’s really lacking? Fine, you want to accuse me, right? Then let’s go to the government now, and let’s make everything clear!"

Scholar Shang grabbed that student and dragged him towards the government office.

The student was scared, sweat pouring from his brow despite being in his thirties, clinging to the drum’s stand and refusing to move, shouting to Cao Juren, "Sir, this villain is harming students, please save me!"

"Pah, who is harming whom?" Scholar Shang was livid and determined not to let these people go today, but to drag them into the government and settle things clearly.

Seeing Scholar Shang relentless and realizing Cao Juren couldn’t help him, the student panicked and quickly shouted to Academic Administrator Kong, "Lord Xue Zheng, I am also a scholar and just a student, please save me and restrain this madman!"

Academic Administrator Kong looked at him and Scholar Shang, and at Cao Juren sitting on the ground, as well as Cao Juren’s students and the onlookers, his face looked very displeased. After a moment of silence, he said, "Cao Juren, since you want to accuse Gu Jin’an, let’s go inside and clear things up to avoid any misunderstanding, and so as not to harm you and not to harm a talented Small Three-Yuan that Jianghuai rarely produces."

Cao Juren was shocked upon hearing this, as it seemed like Academic Administrator Kong was inclined to side with Gu Jin’an. If they went into the government and he lost, what would happen then?

However, at this point, there was no room for maneuver, and Squad Leader Song had already come out with people, taking everyone into the government office.

They were not made to kneel, as all were scholars, and the government office gracefully provided chairs for those with official titles like Cao Juren and Scholar Shang, while those without such titles stood and listened.

Academic Administrator Kong said, "Everyone, wait here for a moment; I will summon Magistrate Shi, who has just returned. Today, we will adjudicate this matter clearly, and in the future, no one will speak nonsense anymore."

Saying so, he went into the back office, found Magistrate Shi, and explained the situation to him.

Magistrate Shi was already aware of the matter, originally thinking that with Academic Administrator Kong handling it, it would surely be settled. Not expecting it to escalate into needing a court session, he was so furious he almost shattered his teacup, cursing Cao Juren several times in his heart.

Good old Cao Fangshan, do you think I’m not busy enough? You just have to bring trouble to me at this time? Gu Jin’an is Jianghuai’s second Small Three-Yuan Scholar we’ve had in decades, and instead of supporting him, you seek to destroy him.

Is this to ruin Gu Jin’an? No, it is to destroy the reputation of Jianghuai’s scholars and to slap me, the Magistrate, in the face!

Academic Administrator Kong also realized that Magistrate Shi was very angry, advising, "Lord Shi, since it’s already been brought to the government office, we can’t ignore it and should resolve it thoroughly this time. Otherwise, if it reaches the Capital, we will be ridiculed."