Thief Emperor

Chapter 989: The Unknown County Magistrate

Good people don't live long, and disasters last for thousands of years.

More than ten years ago, Wang Junping's rebellion swept across the Central Plains and spread across the world. Most people in the Lu family died in that turmoil. However, Concubine Lu's uncle, Lu Zhen, is still alive.

In the early years of the founding of the country, he went to Luoyang to seek an official position but failed, and returned to his hometown in Luzhou in disgrace. Fortunately, the Lu family had a strong foundation at that time, and even if he only inherited a little, it was enough for him to live in Luzhou.

As for why Li Yun did not pursue him, on the one hand, it was because, after all, this was the Lu family's own family affair and it would be better to let Lu Bing handle it. Li Yun could not make the decision on his own and kill this elder of the Lu family.

Another point is that people like Lu Zhen are too young, too young to be qualified to attract the attention of Emperor Li.

If Princess Lujiang hadn't mentioned this, Li Yun would have almost forgotten about this matter. After hearing his eldest daughter's words, Emperor Li did not respond, but just smiled and looked at Concubine Lu.

Today, Lu Huan's status in the entire Li Tang harem is undoubtedly among the top three. Even Concubine Lu of the Fanyang family, who gave birth to a son for the emperor, and Concubine Qin, who gave birth to the emperor's third son, are far from being comparable to her.

With a noble status for nearly ten years, the current Concubine Lu is very different from the poor woman in Luzhou back then. After hearing her daughter's words, she first looked at her sister next to her, then looked at Li Yun, and sighed: "So many years have passed, and Uncle Jiu is already so old, don't bother with him."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "Your Uncle Nine is a man of opportunistic nature. For so many years, he has watched wealth and glory approaching, but he has been unable to obtain it. This can be considered a punishment."

Concubine Lu was different from ordinary concubines. She was not only one of the four concubines in the harem, but also accompanied the emperor all the way from Jiangdong to Luoyang, just like a couple.

What's more, the Lu family had more than just this one concubine. Lu's younger sister, Lu Lang, also entered the palace with the emperor, served him, and gave birth to the seventh prince.

The Lu family alone has two princes.

With these connections, any touch would be enough for Lu Zhen to benefit from, but because of his ugly behavior back then, even though Lu Zhen has bowed his head, he still hasn't gotten any glory at all.

Even the local officials in Luzhou heard that he had an old grudge against Concubine Lu, and did not treat him preferentially.

For ordinary people, this kind of situation would at most make them angry for a while, but for someone like Lu Zhen, it would probably be more painful than killing him.

The younger sister of the Lu family, who was also sitting in the chariot, was only in her twenties at this time, and was in the prime of her life. After hearing what Li Yun said, she reached out and hugged Emperor Li's arm, and said with a smile: "Brother-in-law is right. Uncle Jiu must have been so angry all these years."

She also entered the palace and became a concubine, but privately, she still called Li "brother-in-law". This was a little "interest" between the couple.

Princess Lu rolled her eyes at her sister and said nothing.

Princess Lujiang was still indignant, clenching her fists and saying, "You are all generous, but I can't let him go. When we get to Luzhou, I will teach him a lesson!"

Princess Lu held her daughter's hand and sighed, "On your mother's side, he is the only one left from your maternal grandfather's generation."

Princess Lujiang looked up and saw her mother's red eyes. She dared not speak and looked at Li Yun for help. Emperor Li also sighed and was about to speak when the chariot slowly stopped. Yang Xi outside reported, "Your Majesty, the local officials of Luzhou are kneeling in front to welcome the emperor."

Yang Xi paused, then continued, "It seems that Concubine Shu's uncle is also among them, kneeling in the front row."

Upon hearing this, the emperor looked at his family members around him, then lifted the curtain of the chariot. He saw that not far in front of the dragon chariot, the governor of Luzhou led the local officials and were kneeling respectfully on the official road to welcome the emperor. In front of the officials, an old man in cloth clothes with mostly white hair was kneeling on the ground.

He looked up at the dragon chariot in front of him and saw the curtain of the chariot move. The old man shouted loudly: "Lu Zhen of Luzhou, welcome the Holy Emperor to come!"

"We are looking forward to welcoming the Holy Emperor!"

After saying that, he slammed his forehead hard on the ground. After just two slams, blood started to flow from his forehead.

Li Yun frowned and said in a deep voice, "Yang Xi."

Lord Yang quickly lowered his head and responded, "Yes."

His Majesty the Emperor frowned and said, "Go and deal with it."

If it was a normal time, Yang Xi would not have any hesitation and would have directly carried Lu Zhen away. However, this was a royal relative after all, and the two ladies of the Lu family were in the dragon chariot, so he was in a dilemma and asked with his head down: "Your Majesty, how should we deal with this..."

Emperor Li said in a muffled voice: "Take some people and send him back to his home."

Only then did Yang Xi respond, and quickly took people to subdue Lu Zhen, and then carried him away.

The governor of Luzhou, who was a candidate for the Jinling Literary Society, was also very frightened. He knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I shouldn't have let him come with me to welcome you. I am guilty..."

His Majesty the Emperor just glanced at him, then closed the curtain and said, "Go into the city."

The team advanced slowly.

In the chariot, Princess Lujiang, who had previously claimed that she would teach her great-uncle a lesson, had turned pale. It took her a while to come to her senses, and then she looked up at her father: "Father, he...he..."

Li Yun touched her head and said, "Want to ask why he abuses himself?"

Princess Lujiang nodded.

His Majesty the Emperor shook his head slightly and said, "Because he wants to act pitiful and win your mother's sympathy."

At this point, the emperor paused before continuing. "At his age, even if he is made a minister of the six ministries or a prime minister of the political affairs hall, how many years can he last?"

At this time, the imperial carriage had already passed the officials of Luzhou. The emperor snorted, "You are struggling desperately and making a fool of yourself."

"In the end, it's nothing more than trying to fight for and beg for future generations."

Lu Zhen is already old, but he still has a son and even a grandson.

After hearing this, Concubine Lu was also a little sad. She was about to speak when she heard His Majesty the Emperor say, "Lu Bing is already on his way to Luzhou. If he doesn't arrive today, he will definitely arrive tomorrow."

"After all, this is the Lu family's business. Let Lu Bing make the decision on Lu family matters. It's up to him to do whatever he wants."

Princess Lu then nodded and said nothing more.

Princess Lujiang has been a princess since she could remember. She didn’t know much about the sufferings of the world. At this moment, she was really taught a lesson by her great uncle. She was stunned for a long time before she took her mother’s hand and whispered, “Mom, our family…”

Princess Lu understood what she meant and said softly, "Our family is so powerful."

"Don't say that kowtowing is embarrassing."

Concubine Lu said softly, "As long as it can give my family a future and allow me to see your father, no matter how outrageous the thing is, there are people who will do it."

…………

The next day, the Emperor of Luzhou went to the imperial court.

Lu Bing, dressed in black, bowed to the emperor with great respect.

"Your Majesty, I, Lu Bing, pay my respects to you."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at him and said with a smile, "Did you go to see your sister?"

At this time, because the harem was full, Li Yun already had many "brothers-in-law", but the ones he was really close to were only Empress Xue and the two imperial concubines Liu and Lu. So far, the Liu family only had one relative who had just been found not long ago.

The Xue family consists of two brothers-in-law.

Lu Bing became his only brother-in-law, and Li Yun liked Lu Bing very much over the years because of his down-to-earth nature.

Lu Bing bowed his head again and said, "No, I came to see Your Majesty as soon as I arrived in Luzhou."

Li Yun motioned him to sit down, poured him a cup of hot water, and then asked, "You have been in Jiangdong for several months. Have you gained anything?"

Lu Bing took the tea but did not sit down. Instead, he replied, "I was ordered to inspect Jiangdong before. After Master Xue left Jiangdong, he asked me to lead the Nine Departments to investigate the Zhuo family in Wujun. So I went to Wujun."

"It was only a few days ago that I left Wujun and rushed to Luzhou."

At this point, he looked at Li Yun and said, "The Wujun Zhuo family was still very down-to-earth before the third year of Zhangwu, but after the death of the old master of the Zhuo family."

In the second year of Zhangwu, Master Zhuo passed away, and Zhuo Guangrui returned home to attend the funeral. He should have observed mourning for three years, but at the beginning of the third year of Zhangwu, Zhuo Guangrui was stripped of his position and reinstated, and once again returned to Luoyang to serve as an official.

It was also at this point that the Zhuo family lost its helmsman and began to grow abnormally.

Lu Bing placed the tea on the table beside him, then took out a thick document from his bosom: "Since the third year of Zhangwu, the figures of Jiangdong Salt Administration have been a little wrong."

"In addition, the Zhuo family began to expand their land on a large scale and began to win over the three officials sent by the court to Jiangdong. Perhaps because of the Zhuo family's own influence or because of Mr. Zhuo, the Zhuo family has become more and more powerful in recent years."

"In Wu County, no one knows the county governor."

This last sentence made Li Yun frown severely.

He looked at Lu Bing, then at the document, was silent for a while, and then said, "Are these all evidence?"

Lu Bing nodded in affirmation.

“It’s all evidence.”

Emperor Li nodded silently, then said, "Go see your sister."

"By the way, take care of your family affairs properly."

Lu Bing bowed his head deeply.

"I obey your command."

(End of this chapter)