CDJMM – Volume 3 – Chapter 8 Compassion of the Buddha (8)

In just a short span of ten days, Su Jian’s life had undergone a series of earth-shattering changes.

His father had been imprisoned on charges of corruption and would soon be executed. The Su family’s property had been confiscated, and the whole family was now forced to stay at his mother’s maiden home. His mother was gravely ill, his grandparents passed away one after another from the shock, and the entire Su family was on the verge of collapse.

Overnight, Su Jian fell from a high-and-mighty young master to the despised son of a criminal.

For the first time, Su Jian tasted the despair of having nowhere to turn.

He believed firmly that his father was innocent. His father had lived upright all his life—there was no way he would do such a thing! Su Jian visited his father’s old acquaintances, hoping they could help clear his father’s name, but he was met with endless closed doors:

“Sorry, my master is not home.”

“Young Master Su, please go back.”

“Our master has gone out.”

For three days, Su Jian knocked on every door he could think of. Every one of them gave him cold, indifferent refusals.

For the first time, he understood the coldness of the world—how quickly people forget you once you fall.

Just as despair consumed him, his muddled mind suddenly flashed with clarity as he thought of the boy who had told his fortune on Antique Street.

Back then, the boy said he would be rejected from his engagement in ten days. He had scoffed at it. Thinking back now… perhaps it wasn’t impossible.

Like a drowning man grabbing his final straw, he ran toward Antique Street.

Fate disappointed him once again.

The boy had vanished. Everyone said he had left two days earlier, destination unknown.

Su Jian walked home in a daze, hearing the whispers of passersby drifting around him:

“Isn’t that Young Master Su? Why does he look so miserable?”

“Hah, you didn’t hear? He’s no young master anymore. That Su County Magistrate is a big corrupt official—he’s about to be beheaded! The Su family is done for!”

“Hahaha, serves him right for looking down on everyone when he was still a young master. Retribution has come! Let’s see how arrogant he’ll be now!”

“I heard Magistrate Su embezzled several million taels of silver!”

“Tch, that much? He deserves to be torn apart by five horses and executed by lingchi!”

Su Jian’s face grew paler and paler. He wanted to tell these people that his father was a good official, that there must be a misunderstanding. He wanted to explain, but didn’t know where to begin—nor whether it mattered anymore.

He returned home, dispirited.

He stumbled inside… only to receive another blow.

His fiancée’s family had sent someone to break off the engagement.

Back then, he had laughed off the boy’s words, thinking they were nothing more than a child’s nonsense. Who knew the prophecy would come true?

At least Su Jian had some self-awareness. Without the Su family, he was just a good-for-nothing young master. A breakup was expected.

What enraged him was that his father’s sworn brother of decades didn’t even bother to see him personally. He only sent a servant to deliver a breakup letter and five hundred taels.

Seeing the servant’s gloating expression, Su Jian felt the urge to burst into laughter.

“Your master underestimates me. A mere five hundred taels—I can’t even be bothered with it!” He threw the letter and silver back and laughed coldly. “Tell your master this: even if I fall, I still have some backbone. From now on, he walks his sunny road, and I’ll cross my single-log bridge. Our families are severed—completely!”

The servant spat, “Your family is already finished, and you’re still putting on the airs of a young master? Who do you think you are? Go piss and look at your own reflection.”

Su Jian laughed wildly, tears spilling out. “Yes… who do I think I am…”

To live sixteen years, only to realize it was all an illusion. Without his father, he was nothing.

He laughed until he could hardly breathe, until his tears almost dried up.

Suddenly, a painful coughing fit erupted from the inner bedroom. Startled, Su Jian wiped his face and pushed open the door, seeing his mother’s face flushed red as she coughed as if trying to hack out her organs.

His heart tightened. He rushed over and gently supported her. “Mother, are you alright?” His hand touched her back—it was burning hot. Alarmed, he touched her forehead, which was scorching as well.

“Mother, you have a fever! I’ll get a doctor!”

His mother forced herself to stop coughing and rasped, “No… no need. I’ll be fine if I lie down. Don’t waste money…”

Su Jian froze mid-step.

All their assets had been confiscated. If not for his uncle lending them a room, they would be homeless. His grandparents’ funeral had drained the last of their money—the coffin was purchased by selling his mother’s jewelry.

And he… had just thrown away five hundred taels for pride.

He bit down hard, then turned back to his mother with a soothing smile. “Don’t worry, Mother. We still have money. I’ll get the doctor.”

In the end, Su Jian never got the money back.

He caught up with the servant, but the man claimed he had already given the money—accusing Su Jian of trying to extort more. Annoyed, the servant beat him violently.

Spoiled since birth, Su Jian was no match for a strong servant. He was beaten black and blue, left lying on the ground unable to move.

The servant spat on him. “Tch! What kind of useless trash dares cause trouble for me? Who do you think you are?”

Lying there, surrounded by mocking voices, Su Jian felt dizzy. For a moment, he even felt he had lost the will to get up again.

Never in his life had he been so humiliated.

Someone crouched beside him and asked softly, “Are you alright?”

Su Jian blinked slowly. After a few seconds, his vision refocused—and he saw who it was.

That thin face, those strikingly bright heterochromatic eyes. He closed his eyes briefly and said wearily, “It’s you.” Oddly enough… he had wanted so badly to find him earlier, but now that the boy appeared, he didn’t want to see him at all.

He covered his face and curled up slightly.

“It’s me.” The boy asked, “Can you stand?”

Su Jian was silent for a moment. Then he lowered his hand, endured the pain, and slowly pushed himself up. “I have to. My mother is sick.”

He staggered away.

The boy’s calm, clear voice rose behind him: “Do you know why your father was imprisoned?”

Su Jian froze. He spun around, eyes bloodshot, grabbing the boy’s arms and shouting, “Why? What do you know? Tell me!”

The boy gestured with his eyes. “Are you sure you want to talk here?”

Su Jian regained some clarity. This was a busy street—people were already crowding around to watch.

He wiped his face. “Come to my house.”

—

The moment the door closed, Su Jian blurted out, “What do you know? Tell me!”

Le Jing looked at the pale, disheveled youth before him. In his eyes burned a desperate, feral flame—he was a lone wolf driven to a dead end.

Le Jing’s gaze flicked once more to the jade pendant hanging at Su Jian’s waist.

He admitted it—he was deeply interested in this youth.

So after Su Jian’s father was jailed, Le Jing had slipped some small tricks to persuade a guard and looked at the imprisoned father from afar.

Just one look—and he confirmed something crucial, something that even inspired his own future path.

“Your father was indeed imprisoned for corruption. The evidence is solid.”

“What?” Su Jian shouted in shock and anger. “My father would never embezzle! He’s a good man! A good official! Our family has money, but it’s my mother’s dowry! We’re well-off, not wealthy! How could we have several million taels? After the confiscation, everything we had totaled only four to five hundred thousand taels!”

The boy’s lips curved into a faint, inexplicably eerie smile. “Exactly. So where do you think those several million taels your father supposedly stole ended up?”

Something flashed in Su Jian’s mind, but he couldn’t grasp it. “I told you—my father didn’t steal… even if he did, it wouldn’t be that much!”

The boy shook his head, complex emotions flickering in his eyes. He tapped Su Jian’s forehead lightly. “Fool. Your father didn’t hoard silver for himself. He was paying tribute to someone else.”

Su Jian wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood. “You mean… he was giving money to his superior? They forced my father to ‘embezzle’?”

Le Jing smiled. “A poet once wrote: Raise a hen and feed it well—when fat enough, slaughter it. A fine plan for the master, though best kept from the hen.”

His eyes sharpened, his aura turning chillingly fierce. A mocking smile tugged at his lips. “Tell me—who do you think is the master fattening your father the ‘hen’ for slaughter?”

Su Jian was confused at first… then his eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpoints. His face turned ghostly pale as he mouthed silently, afraid even to voice it:

“…The Emperor?”

Le Jing nodded approvingly. Not too stupid after all.

“No! Impossible! His Maj— he—he’s wise and divine—he wouldn’t—he couldn’t do such a thing!”

The boy’s gaze was piercing, his voice calm and clear: “Why can’t he? Think about it—this way, he gets money without taking any blame. When the time comes, he executes a batch of ‘corrupt officials,’ fills the national and private treasuries, calms public anger, and gains the people’s loyalty. Killing countless birds with one stone. Why wouldn’t he do it?”

Su Jian’s mind went blank. He seemed to think of many things and nothing at all. His whole body felt frozen, as if submerged in icy water.

A dynasty’s collapse always came from within—external invasions were never the root cause.

Le Jing had touched upon one of the core reasons.

Seeing that Su Jian couldn’t digest this right away, Le Jing said simply, “Think it over. I’m leaving.”

He turned toward the door but glanced back. “If you want to learn how to slay dragons, come to the Tongfu Inn. I’ll wait two days at most.”