Chapter 7

"Madam Su, the widow of the Su family, did not know that the great magistrate was visiting, and thus failed to welcome you from afar. Please forgive me, great magistrate."

In the main hall of the Su residence, Su Liufu hurriedly led her son, Su Wen, and bowed slightly, apologizing.

"Madam Su, it is I who should apologize for intruding so abruptly," Xu Wenliang clasped his hands and then stared intently at Su Wen behind Su Liufu, unable to resist asking, "Today, the official seal of my county magistrate glowed with a golden light, indicating that a prodigy has been born in Fengle County, one who can open his wisdom with the words of a scholar of the Hanlin Academy or above. I believe it must be your son, who has a bright future ahead! I have come specially to congratulate you... Could you tell me which classic words opened your wisdom?"

"Thank you, great magistrate. This is my son, Su Wen. Wen, quickly tell the great magistrate what words opened your wisdom." Su Liufu was flattered and overwhelmed; it was truly a case of a mother being honored because of her son, as even the magistrate, a distinguished graduate of the imperial examination, treated her with great respect, something she could hardly imagine in the past.

"Great magistrate, I have met you today. I opened my wisdom with the words of our country's Grand Scholar Lu Ji: 'Serving one's parents well is called filial piety; elder brothers being friendly and younger brothers respectful is called fraternal duty.' I now understand the principles of filial piety and fraternal duty." Su Wen answered frankly, neither humble nor arrogant.

However, when Xu Wenliang heard this, he was puzzled and asked, "Lu Ji is only a Grand Scholar. How could the words of a Grand Scholar open one's wisdom and cause my official seal to glow?"

"Madam Su, are there any other young masters in your household who have opened their wisdom?" Xu Wenliang asked again.

"No! No! Today, only my son Su Wen has opened his wisdom." Su Liufu hurriedly replied. But Su Wen stepped forward and said, "Great magistrate, there is also my elder brother, Su Lin, who is fifteen years old and has not yet opened his wisdom. Could it be that my elder brother has opened his wisdom today, as indicated by the official seal?"

"It's impossible! Great magistrate, Su Lin cannot open his wisdom." Su Liufu said.

"Where is Su Lin? Take me to see him quickly." Xu Wenliang's heart stirred, and he said.

"Follow me!"

Su Wen led Xu Wenliang to Su Wen's room, but Su Lin was already gone. However, as soon as Xu Wenliang stepped into the room, his face changed dramatically, and he exclaimed, "This residual holy power, this... this is the power of a holy word opening wisdom! Quickly... quickly find this Su Lin..."

"Zijin, aren't you being a bit too eager? Where have you ever heard of a girl wanting to marry so much? Aren't you ashamed?"

With the holy word opening his wisdom, Su Lin was in high spirits, smiling as he walked down the streets of Fengle County with Dong Zijin.

"Zijin isn't ashamed. My father said that my name was given by your father, so from the moment I was born, I was destined to be Su Lin's wife. What's there to be ashamed of?" Dong Zijin pouted her rosy lips and said.

As the two were walking towards the Dong family's herbal shop, they suddenly noticed the crowd in front of them scattering to both sides. Two burly men were running frantically towards Su Lin.

"Jiang Yang, Jiang Hai, you two have committed countless crimes, killing and robbing, and have harmed the people of our county. Now that I, Xu Lingxiao, have encountered you, where do you think you can run?"

As soon as Su Lin heard the names Jiang Yang and Jiang Hai, he knew they were the notorious bandits who had been terrorizing Fengle County. He immediately rushed forward to block their path. However, these two were strong and muscular, and seeing that a weak and frail scholar like Su Lin dared to stand in their way, the leading Jiang Hai raised his hand to strike Su Lin.

"Brother Su, be careful!" Dong Zijin screamed.

"How dare you, scoundrels! To harm others?"

With a swoosh, a gentle breeze blew, and Su Lin saw a man in a scholar's white robe, holding a silver hook and an iron pen, recite softly, "The gentle breeze is my companion, on the streets of Fengle, I catch the thieves!"

"Enhanced by holy power?"

Su Lin's eyes narrowed. It was the first time he had seen a scholar recite poetry, and he was so engrossed that he forgot about Jiang Hai's imminent strike. He saw that Scholar Xu Lingxiao's wisdom aperture emitted a stream of holy power, which transformed into a gentle breeze, propelling him forward. In an instant, he caught up with Jiang Hai.

Xu Lingxiao's iron pen lightly touched Jiang Hai's chest, and Jiang Hai fell to the ground with a cry, as if struck by a heavy blow.

"Stay here for a moment. I will go and catch your brother, Jiang Yang, to keep you company."

With one stroke, Xu Lingxiao struck down Jiang Hai, and holy power flowed through his body. He then drew a circle around Jiang Hai with his iron pen and quickly pursued Jiang Yang.

"This is... a circle of confinement?"

Su Lin was amazed. Jiang Hai, who was on the ground, tried to escape but could not cross the circle Xu Lingxiao had drawn. This was clearly the holy power skill of a circle of confinement!

Soon, Xu Lingxiao caught and struck down Jiang Yang in the same manner, and brought both Jiang Hai and Jiang Yang back.

"Little brother, you haven't even obtained the rank of a scholar. Next time you see someone catching thieves, stay out of the way! Ha ha! Catching these two bandits, Jiang Hai and Jiang Yang, will surely advance me a few ranks on the merit list!"

Xu Lingxiao glanced at Su Lin, saw that he was wearing a green robe without the mark of a scholar, and laughed.

"Is this the power of holy power enhancement?"

Watching Xu Lingxiao drive the two bandits to the county office, Su Lin felt his blood boil. It seemed that a seemingly weak scholar, once endowed with holy power, could perform great feats, such as drawing a circle of confinement and capturing bandits on the street.

"Brother Su, Zijin believes that you will also become as brave and handsome as Scholar Xu."

Dong Zijin, seeing that Su Lin was silent, thought he was discouraged by Xu Lingxiao's words and pulled his arm, saying.

"Yes! I will, Zijin. Let's go... now to your house to tell your father and elder brother that I have opened my wisdom."

Su Lin did not take Xu Lingxiao's words to heart because he knew that he would definitely obtain the rank of a scholar in the county examination the day after tomorrow. Moreover, he planned to directly participate in the prefectural examination a month later to become a scholar.

After turning two streets, they arrived at the Dong family's herbal shop. Dong Guihua was not there, but Dong Zijin's elder brother, Dong Feng, was managing the shop. Seeing his sister and Su Lin holding hands, he scowled and scolded Dong Zijin, "Zijin, how can you be so shameless? You are still unmarried, and yet you touch a man in public? You have disgraced the Dong family. When Father returns, I will definitely report you."

"Brother, Su Lin is my future husband. What shame is there in holding my own husband's hand?" Dong Zijin said stubbornly. "Moreover, Su Lin has already opened his wisdom and will participate in the county examination the day after tomorrow, soon obtaining the rank of a scholar. You and Father will no longer have any excuse to prevent me from marrying Su Lin."

"He opened his wisdom? What a joke. Little sister, don't let him fool you. He hasn't been able to open his wisdom for so many years, how can he suddenly do it now?" Dong Feng laughed, but in his heart, he already knew why Su Lin couldn't open his wisdom. The Su family sent someone to buy the Wisdom-Blocking Grass every month, and he had always handled it personally.

"It's true! Brother, Su Lin not only opened his wisdom but did so with a holy word." Dong Zijin pouted her rosy lips, but her words only made Dong Feng laugh even harder. "A holy word? There might not be one in the entire Wu Kingdom in a hundred years. Su Lin? What a joke?"

But before Dong Feng could laugh more, two people rushed over. One was the county magistrate, Xu Wenliang, and the other was his deputy, Li Ting. They hurriedly arrived at the herbal shop, not to buy medicine, but the magistrate Xu Wenliang grabbed Su Lin's hand and asked urgently, "You... you are Su Lin? The Su Lin who opened his wisdom with a holy word?"