Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 12 A Gentleman Wears Jade
The girl who was making tea came to her senses when she saw Lu Zheng leaving.

She looked at Xiao Shan beside her and said softly, "Grandpa, are you really willing to let him go on his study tour?"

The girl was not a maid, but Xiao Shan’s granddaughter, named Xiao Qingqing.

She learned that Lu Zheng was coming to visit, so she came over to take a look out of curiosity.

Xiao Qingqing saw that her grandfather even gave away the jade pendant he had worn for many years, which showed how much Xiao Shan valued Lu Zheng.

Hearing this, Xiao Shan smiled helplessly. "He's not interested in studying at the academy, and he's not my student, so how can I stop him? I don't think he's a reckless person, so let him go. Good fortune will come to those who are lucky."

Xiao Qingqing couldn't help but say, "Then I want to go on a study tour and exorcise demons!"

Xiao Shan said with a smile: "Why are you interfering? Just stay at home."

Xiao Qingqing waved her fist and said dissatisfiedly: "I am also a scholar, why can't I follow the example of the ancient sages and travel around the world!"

As she spoke, a hint of literary aura emanated from Xiao Qingqing, which was three feet long.

She was also a scholar who had reached the highest level of both Confucianism and Taoism. She was not promoted through the imperial examination, but achieved breakthroughs through her calligraphy and painting skills. She was also a scholar of heaven and earth.

However, Xiao Qingqing never registered with the court, so there was no official record, and outsiders did not know that she had such talent.

Of course, calligraphy and painting are considered minor arts in Confucianism and Taoism. If one wants to reach a higher level, one must develop one's own school.

In comparison, it is easier to get promoted through studying and taking the imperial examinations.

Seeing Xiao Qingqing like this, Xiao Shan just shook his head and did not agree.

……

After Lu Zheng said goodbye, he went to look for Li Zhao.

Li Zhao saw Lu Zheng coming over and quickly asked, "How is it? Did the dean agree to your admission?"

"The dean agreed that I don't need to enroll." Lu Zheng said with a smile.

"Really? That's great. From now on we can... Hey, wait..." Li Zhao's excited expression paused. He seemed to have misheard a few words just now.

Li Zhao blinked. "What did Brother Lu say just now? I didn't hear it clearly."

Lu Zheng said, "I have no plans to study at the academy yet, so I talked to the dean, and he didn't seem dissatisfied."

To be honest, no one cares whether he enters the academy or not, but as a sign of respect for his elders, he came to see Dean Xiao and expressed his attitude so that he could have an explanation when he returned to Li Yuan.

"Ah, this..." Li Zhao didn't expect that Lu Zheng didn't want to study in the academy at all.

"Let's go back." Lu Zhengdao said.

Li Zhao's mind was a little confused, and he said, "I also have to go and see the dean. Please wait for me for a while."

Lu Zheng doesn't have to enter the academy, he still has to study in the academy. Now that he has arrived at the academy, of course he has to report there.

"Okay." Lu Zheng nodded.

Li Zhao hurried to see Xiao Shan, and then came back after a while.

He said with a bitter face, "Brother Lu, please go back first. The dean is going to give a lecture on Mencius in person, and I have to go to class. Please tell my father for me..."

He just wanted to report, but Dean Xiao asked him to go to the school right away.

Li Zhao also planned to drag Lu Zheng to attend as an auditor, but Xiao Shan said frankly that it was after talking with Lu Zheng that he decided to give this lesson to the students. Lu Zheng was already very good and there was no need to listen to his lectures on "Mencius".

Li Zhao was shocked to see Xiao Shan's approval of Lu Zheng. He was also very curious about what the two talked about that made Xiao Shan praise Lu Zheng so much but agree that Lu Zheng should not come to the academy.

This must be a genius student, who is deeply loved by the teacher and doesn’t even need to go to school... Li Zhao felt sour in his heart and was extremely envious.

Seeing Li Zhao's expression changing constantly, Lu Zheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Okay, brother Li, study hard in the academy. I'll go back first." Li Zhao watched Lu Zheng leave with a hint of envy, and hurried to the school.

Lu Zheng went back alone in Li Mansion's carriage.

He sat in the carriage and took up the jade pendant given by Xiao Shan and looked at it.

The jade pendant was warm and snow-white, without a single flaw. It faintly emitted a hint of neutral aura, quietly warming Lu Zheng's body.

Lu Zheng looked at it for a while, then carefully put it in his arms.

It would be a shame if such a precious jade pendant fell off while worn around the waist.

After returning to Li Mansion and meeting Li Yuan, Lu Zheng briefly recounted what happened in the academy.

"What? You don't want to go to the academy, you want to go study abroad!" Li Yuan was shocked when he heard this. "My dear nephew, you are confused. You are so young, why do you want to study abroad? Isn't it better to study in the academy?"

Lu Zhengdao: "I just want to take a walk around Kaiyang County first."

"That won't work either. It's too dangerous!" said Li Yuan.

As the magistrate of Kaiyang County, how could Li Yuan not know the local situation?

Except for Kaiyang County, which is relatively peaceful, the outside world is not safe at all. From time to time, demons and monsters harm people.

This is not because he did nothing as the county magistrate, but because he really couldn't handle it.

Demons often hide in wild mountains and wilderness and are not easy to eliminate.

Even if people are sent to eliminate the demons in a certain place, new demons will appear soon, just like weeds, which will grow again after you cut them.

Nowadays, countries all over the world are in constant war and the situation is unstable, so they have no time to care about those demons.

Li Yuan looked at Lu Zheng, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Instead of reading this good book, you have to go on a journey to learn how to exorcise demons. What if you lose your life?
Li Yuan didn't want the talented scholar from Kaiyang County to perish because of such a thing.

Lu Zheng took out the white jade pendant and said, "This is the Confucian path of this junior generation. The dean also supports my approach and gave me the jade."

Li Yuan stared at the jade pendant that Lu Zheng took out, but he couldn't think of any words to stop him.

Lu Zheng added, "I also know that traveling to study is difficult, so I would like to ask Uncle Yuan for a favor."

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze from the jade pendant and said, "What's the matter? Just tell me."

Since he couldn't stop it, Li Yuan had to find a way to protect Lu Zheng.

"I want to know something about the geography of Kaiyang County," Lu Zheng said.

As the saying goes, knowing yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without defeat. Lu Zheng would not just go out to study abroad. Of course, he had to learn more about the county's affairs so that he could be prepared.

Upon hearing this, Li Yuan immediately sent someone to find the county magistrate and the county lieutenant, and asked them to go to the county government office to get the map and some files of Kaiyang County.

When the county magistrate and the county lieutenant heard the news, they thought Li Yuan was preparing to handle some official business, so they went to the county government office to get something and hurried to Li's house.

Lu Zheng looked at the information he had brought and only had a vague understanding of the various places in Kaiyang County.

Kaiyang County covers an area of 100 miles, with six towns and 51 villages under it. The places where these people gather and live only occupy a very small part of the area.

Other places are almost uninhabited, either the territory of wild beasts or the area where demons and monsters are active.

The county government does not have much information about these places and does not know much about them.

(End of this chapter)