After the divorce, I became a mountain god

Xu Bo'an briefly surveyed the area above Kaoshan Village and, finding nothing amiss, prepared to withdraw. Just then, he felt a refreshing sensation, and a bubble instantly appeared in his mind. Xu Bo'an focused his attention and looked closely, finding the scene inside the bubble very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Xu Bo'an clicked on the bubble and found himself in a completely new scene. After a quick look around, he recognized the place as the temple where Sun Weiwei had last looked for him.

After recognizing the temple, Xu Bo'an looked down at the small figures kneeling in front of the mountain god statue. He then saw several small figures kneeling on the prayer mats. Upon closer inspection, he recognized them as Li Qingjiang, Sun Weiwei, Lu Zhenyuan, and others.

Then Xu Bo'an spoke up, saying, "I am here. What business do you have with me?"

Everyone was very excited to hear that the Mountain God had arrived, especially Lu Zhenyuan's family, who were so excited that their bodies were trembling.

Although Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er had received help from the Mountain God when they were framed on their way back from Kaoshan Village with Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei, and had even heard the Mountain God's voice, seeing the Mountain God personally visit the temple in Qingyun Dao was extremely exciting. It proved that the Mountain God was indeed there, which gave Lu Zhenyuan, who had recently suffered setbacks, a strange sense of strength.

Although Lu Zhenyuan's wife, Cui Wenying, and their three sons, Lu Yunqiao, Lu Yunmin, and Lu Yunqi, had heard many stories about the powerful deeds of the Mountain God from their father, sister, Sun Weiwei, and Xu Bo'an, and had even had the good fortune to eat some of the Mountain God's divine food, their deep admiration for the Mountain God made them eager to meet him and personally experience his majesty.

This was the first time they had seen the Mountain God appear, which thrilled the three brothers. Their eyes were fixed on the statue of the Mountain God, and their burning desire was palpable.

After everyone had paid their respects to the Mountain God, Lu Zhenyuan and his wife Cui Wenying saw the three brothers staring blankly at the statue of the Mountain God in front of them and said, "What are you standing there for? No manners! Quickly pay your respects to the Mountain God!"

At this moment, the three brothers came to their senses after hearing their parents' words and quickly kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of the mountain god to apologize.

On behalf of the three brothers, the elder brother Dalu Yunqiao said, "Grandpa Mountain God, we three brothers did not pay our respects to you in time just now because we are ignorant and have never seen you before. We were so excited to see you here that we forgot to pay our respects. We hope you can forgive us!"

Xu Bo'an had never met these three brothers before and did not recognize them. However, after hearing Cui Wenying and Lu Zhenyuan's reprimand of them and hearing their appearance, Xu Bo'an immediately guessed that they must be Lu Zhenyuan and Cui Wenying's sons.

The three of them look exactly like their parents; each of them is handsome and dashing, giving people a very pleasant feeling just by looking at them.

Xu Bo'an said to them, "It's alright, I won't blame you for such a small matter!"

The three were overjoyed to hear the words of the Mountain God and kowtowed again in gratitude.

After the three expressed their gratitude, Li Qingshi explained their purpose to the Mountain God, saying truthfully to the statue of the Mountain God, "Grandpa Mountain God, we have indeed come here with something we want to tell you!"

Then Li Qingshi recounted everything that happened between the Lu family and Pei Chengyuan to the Mountain God.
After listening to Li Qingshi's account, Xu Bo'an understood the cause and effect of the matter. He really didn't expect that the emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty would be so incompetent. Someone as loyal to the court as Lu Zhenyuan was framed by the villain Pei Chengyuan, yet no punishment was imposed on Pei Chengyuan. Instead, Pei Chengyuan was promoted to the position of deputy commander, which was half a rank higher than Lu Zhenyuan. Although it was a deputy position, it was still above Lu Zhenyuan and directly under his control. This was clearly leaving Lu Zhenyuan no way out!
Lu Zhenyuan has contributed greatly to the court with his martial arts skills and strong military leadership. However, after being framed by the treacherous Pei Chengyuan, the emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty not only failed to stand up for him, but also promoted the person who harmed him to Lu Zhenyuan's superior. Such actions not only disregard loyal and virtuous officials, but also embolden treacherous villains. With such a foolish and tyrannical emperor, it is no wonder that the Bonsai World is plagued by constant wars and widespread public discontent!
Previously, when Xu Bo'an gave Yan Shouyi advice, he was still a little upset about Yan Shouyi's rebellion due to misunderstanding his intentions. Now it seems that Yan Shouyi's misunderstanding of Xu Bo'an's intentions was justified, and Xu Bo'an now approves of Yan Shouyi's actions even more.

Xu Bo'an asked Li Qingshi, "So what kind of work do you do now?"

Li Qingshi said, "Replying to Grandfather Mountain God, I told you before that when I came here, General Lu would arrange a good position for me, at least a chief constable. But now General Lu is being suppressed by Pei Chengyuan everywhere, and he can't arrange a good position for me at all. I'm just a small constable in Qingyun Road now! Even the silver shops that Weiwei opened in Qingyun Road are not as good as before!"

Some time ago, Li Qingshi told Xu Bo'an that after marrying Sun Weiwei, he planned to move to Qingyun Road with her. At the time, Xu Bo'an thought that Li Qingshi was destined to be a kept man, as he could easily get promoted and have a rich and beautiful wife thanks to Sun Weiwei. However, Li Qingshi had only just arrived in Qingyun Road when the Lu family suffered such a heavy blow. Not only would he lose his kept man status, but he would also face even more severe challenges. It seems that not everyone is destined to be a kept man!

After a moment of reflection, Xu Bo'an asked Li Qingshi, "So, how do you plan to handle this matter?"

Li Qingshi said to Xu Bo'an, "Pei Chengyuan's backer is someone in the palace. After investigating for the past few days, we found that she is the emperor's most favored concubine! However, after further investigation, we found no connection between that favored concubine and Pei Chengyuan!" Xu Bo'an, a modern man, had read many history books, so this small problem was no challenge for him. According to Li Qingshi's description, it was as obvious as a bald man's lice. There must be someone else supporting the emperor's favorite concubine. Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to Li Qingshi, "But a favored concubine can't cause much trouble. There must be someone else backing her up. Haven't you done any further investigation?"

Li Qingshi said to Xu Bo'an, "We have thought of that too, but our current situation is quite difficult, and it will be very challenging to investigate this matter! However, we are still actively investigating this matter, otherwise the current situation will be very unfavorable to us!"

After listening to Li Qingshi's words, Xu Bo'an realized that it wasn't that Li Qingshi and his group didn't know that this favored concubine had someone backing her, but rather that their current situation prevented them from investigating the matter more smoothly. It seemed that he had indeed been too clever for his own good!

Xu Bo'an said to Li Qingshi, "So you've come to me this time hoping I can help you investigate this matter?"

Upon hearing Xu Bo'an's words, Li Qingshi quickly replied, "No, Grandpa Mountain God, I came to see you today to tell you about my situation. I didn't want to trouble you with such a small difficulty. We will investigate this matter as soon as possible. Originally, I came to Qingyun Dao hoping to accomplish something great and better assist you, Grandpa Mountain God. But things are unpredictable, and I never expected to end up in this situation. I feel very guilty..."

Li Qingshi is a kid that Xu Bo'an watched grow up step by step. He is a very capable and responsible person. He encountered such a difficult situation when he first came to Qingyun Dao, but he always thought of himself. He is indeed one of his most loyal believers!
Xu Bo'an said to Li Qingshi, "Little Stone, I am very pleased that you have this intention. Life is unpredictable. Even if you want to find out the truth about this matter, you must remember to save your lives first. This matter should not be rushed!"

After hearing Xu Bo'an's words, Li Qingshi said, "Understood, Grandpa Mountain God, I will do as you say!"

Then Xu Bo'an asked Lu Zhenyuan, "General Lu, what are your thoughts on being framed by treacherous villains this time?"

Upon hearing Xu Bo'an's question, Lu Zhenyuan respectfully addressed the Mountain God, saying, "Mountain God, to be honest, the Emperor's handling of this matter has utterly disheartened me. I have served the court diligently for over twenty years, and was nearly murdered by treacherous officials. I thought the Emperor would give me a fair and just explanation, but this is the outcome. Although you saved me, and I am not dead, Pei Chengyuan harbors murderous intent towards me."

But the emperor actually pardoned Pei Chengyuan based solely on the fact that I wasn't dead, and without any concrete evidence. What's worse, he even promoted him, making him my superior. Even if he's the most incompetent and tyrannical emperor, he should know what kind of fate awaited me after doing this. This only shows that the old dog emperor only cared about his own comfort and completely disregarded my contributions. His actions were tantamount to stabbing my heart with a knife, piercing my sincere heart towards him and the Great Jing Dynasty until not even a trace remained!
"The existence of such a tyrannical ruler in the Great Jing Dynasty is a tragedy for loyal people, and even more so for countless ordinary citizens!"

Lu Zhenyuan was truly heartbroken by the incompetent old emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, which is why he spoke with such grief and indignation.

Hearing that such a loyal and righteous man as Lu Zhenyuan had been treated this way by the dog emperor of the Great Jing Dynasty, Xu Bo'an felt heartbroken for him. Xu Bo'an said to Lu Zhenyuan, "No wonder the people of the entire Great Jing Dynasty are living in such hardship. It turns out that there is such a foolish and tyrannical monarch in power. It is inevitable to feel heartbroken when such things happen, but we must also cheer up and not be misled by the emperor's wrong actions. For our own sake and for the millions of displaced people, we must stand on the side of justice!"

Lu Zhenyuan said, "To be honest, Grandfather Mountain God, I've been an official for so many years, and I've heard about what's going on in the court. The current emperor is incompetent and tyrannical, only caring about his own enjoyment. The entire court is controlled by the Grand Tutor. I suspect that this matter concerning me is related to him. However, many ministers in the court have been bribed by him. I'm afraid that before I can find any evidence, he will frame me and execute me on trumped-up charges. So, in fact, this matter cannot be investigated any further at this time. Qing Shi has only been here for a few days and doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation!"

Xu Bo'an hadn't expected Lu Zhenyuan to be in such a difficult situation. He asked Lu Zhenyuan, "So, what does Lord Lu plan to do next in this difficult situation?"

Lu Zhenyuan shook his head and murmured, "Don't laugh at me, Grandpa Mountain God, but in such a difficult situation, I will be executed sooner or later by them for the fabricated crime of being a treacherous minister. This is not the way I want to die. Even if I die, I will die on the battlefield for the sake of millions of common people. But now, in this court, I have no place to use my talents. To say something outrageous, sometimes I really want to overthrow the current emperor and establish a new one, but my strength alone is too insignificant. I am no match for those people!"
I hope that the Mountain God will hear my rebellious words and forgive my rudeness!

When Yan Shouyi and his group first started their rebellion, Xu Bo'an was worried that Yan Shouyi might misunderstand his words and cause some bad consequences. Now, after hearing Lu Zhenyuan's account of some things happening in the court, he realized that the Great Jing Dynasty was in a situation where the emperor was indulging in pleasure and treacherous officials were in power. Such a ruler would only bring endless suffering to the people.

Xu Bo'an has no regrets about Yan Shouyi's actions. He really wants to tell Lu Zhenyuan directly to start the uprising, but as the mountain god of the bonsai world, he is the protector of all living beings, and it would be inappropriate to speak so bluntly.

However, as Lu Zhenyuan analyzed, at this point, whether he rebelled or not, he was doomed. It would be better to rebel, even though he would be labeled as disloyal and unjust. At least he would have a clear conscience, which would be more satisfying than living in a world of treacherous villains and struggling to survive.

Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to Lu Zhenyuan tactfully, "You are a loyal and righteous official who has served in the court for over twenty years. You understand the affairs of the court and the country better than anyone. Just act according to your own thoughts. As long as you are righteous, don't worry too much!" (End of this chapter)