Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"The concubine won't eat it either." Concubine Di put down the jujube, "It's such a good jujube, it's not delicious to eat alone, and the concubine also learns from the prince. The prince doesn't eat it, and the concubine doesn't eat it either."

Defang looked at Concubine Di and smiled, "Okay, then I will eat one, and Madam will eat three."

The two looked at the lake view, drank tea and talked, De Fang said, "Madam, Zhang Shangshu solved a case today, but he helped His Majesty solve a difficult problem."

"Zhang Shangshu? Master Zhang Qixian?"

"Yes, that's him"

"Isn't Mr. Zhang the Minister of the Ministry of War? How to settle the case?"

Defang told Concubine Di about Zhang Qixian's ingenious sentence in the morning, and Concubine Di laughed when she heard this, "Master Zhang is really a capable minister, and he solved a difficult case with just a few words."

"Isn't it? The matter of the Xu family brothers has troubled His Majesty for several months. Unexpectedly, Mr. Zhang will solve it in a few words. He not only helped His Majesty solve the problem, but also did not offend his relatives. This is a clever sentence. .”

"Although foreign relatives are not official officials or clan relatives, they are indeed not easy to offend. Mr. Zhang is really powerful."

"That's right, Your Majesty is very happy, and rewarded Mr. Zhang very much." De Fang said, "But when we left the palace, Mr. Lu sighed because of the matter of the brothers of the Xu family."

"Lord Lu? Why are you sighing because of the brothers of the Xu family?"

"Master Lu said that he felt very sad and deplorable seeing their brothers turn against each other because of money and disregarding family affection. Master Lu also talked about some past events before he won the first prize." Defang told Concubine Di about Lu Mengzheng , Concubine Di sighed softly, "I didn't expect Mrs. Lu to have such a life experience."

"That's right, although Mr. Lu was born in a family of officials, he didn't get the love of his father. He was kicked out of the house with his mother and suffered from cold and heat in the grotto. After nine years of unremitting efforts, he won the number one prize. Mr. Lu doesn't hate his father at all, and he even receives daily service from the mansion, such a large number, ordinary people can't match."

"That's why Mr. Lu can be the prime minister. The prime minister has a broad mind. This is the blessing of the people of the family and the country."

"What madam said is that I believe Mr. Lu will pay homage again." De Fang took a sip of tea and said, "I only heard about Mr. Lu eating melon rinds before, but I never thought he would have such an experience. Mr. Lu is really It’s not easy, who would have thought that I, the dignified prime minister of the Song Dynasty, would also choose to eat to eat, and was expelled from the cave to suffer.”

"My lord, what do you eat melon rind?"

"Ma'am, haven't you heard about Master Lu?"

"No, why would Mr. Lu eat melon rinds? He also picked food to satisfy his hunger."

"That happened 30 years ago, and I also heard about it later, but at that time, I only knew that Mr. Lu lived in poverty for a while, but I didn't know why he fell into such a predicament after being an official. I only know the reason after hearing what he said today." Defang said, "Thirty years ago, after Mr. Lu and his mother were kicked out of the mansion by their father, they couldn't eat enough or wear clothes every day, and their lives were very difficult. One day , Mr. Lu walked from the grotto to the Yishui River to read a book. When he came to the river, he saw a man selling melons. The melon seller cut the melons. The melons were thin and red. Then, Master Lu was penniless and hadn’t had enough to eat for a long time, so when he saw them swallowing their mouthfuls, Master Lu sat a little far away, reading a book and waiting, Waited until night."

"My lord," Concubine Di asked, "What are you waiting for, Lord Lu?"