Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 139 The Proud One of Heaven
"Young Master Yang, if you don't know these four words, do you dare to answer?"

Lu Zheng held the "Haoran Zhengqi" treasure and looked at Yang Heng calmly.

Yang Heng was in a complicated mood. How should he answer?
He had something to hide from the beginning, so how could he dare to accept such a treasure?

Besides, even if those things had not happened, Yang Heng didn't think he could bear these four words.

Don’t think that Lu Zheng picked up Wen Bao so easily. If it were him, he would not be able to hold it down even if it weighed a thousand pounds.

If he reached out to take such a treasure, he might end up making a fool of himself.

He couldn't accept this piece of "Haoran Zhengqi" treasure...

Yang Heng took a deep breath, bowed, and said, "In this competition, Yang is inferior in skill, so I admit defeat!"

After saying that, Yang Heng turned around and went back to his own ship without looking back.

The other Wu people also hurriedly followed suit.

Upon seeing this, all the students from Anguo cheered and felt very happy.

Lu Zheng's eyes flickered. He didn't even dare to take it. Was he giving up so quickly?

He thought that Yang Heng came with great momentum, determined to compete with him.

I didn't expect the other party to admit defeat so easily, and even seemed not to care about winning or losing?

Lu Zheng looked at Yang Heng's back, unable to guess what he was thinking.

After Yang Heng disappeared, he turned to look at Zhang Bo next to him and said with a smile, "These four words are even better. I'll give them to Brother Zhang."

"Okay, okay, thank you, Brother Lu!"

Zhang Bo was overjoyed when he heard this. Wasn't this the kind of cultural treasure he had asked Lu Zheng for before?

With this thing, perhaps he can also cultivate righteousness and then cultivate it into great righteousness.

Zhang Bo happily stretched out his hand to solemnly take the paper treasure, but this seemingly light paper treasure felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in his hand, and he almost couldn't hold it firmly.

He bowed and said to the maid not far away: "Please bring me a good sandalwood box!"

Using a sandalwood box to store cultural relics can prevent them from being damaged by other auras and can also reduce some of the impact.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Let me hold it for you!"

Zhang Bo shook his head firmly and said, "No need! I can do it!"

After a while, someone brought the box.

Zhang Bo rolled up the treasure with great difficulty and put it into a wooden box, then held it in his arms as if it were a treasure.

Even so, he felt the wooden box was heavy.

Li Zhao and his companions immediately gathered around, extremely curious.

Only now did they understand that Lu Zheng had actually cultivated righteousness.

Li Zhao looked at the wooden box in Zhang Bo's arms and said, "Come on, Brother Zhang, take out the things and let us take a closer look!"

"You? I'm not kidding, you're not qualified." Zhang Bo said, "It would be a waste to show it to you, but I can let you try the portion."

After saying that, Zhang Bo handed the wooden box to Li Zhao.

Li Zhao took it out of curiosity, and suddenly his hand felt heavy, as if he was holding a huge rock.

If Zhang Bo hadn't grabbed part of it, it would have fallen to the ground.

"It's so heavy!" Li Zhao exclaimed in surprise, "No wonder Brother Lu wouldn't let me touch the treasure he gave my father."

"You think you are upright and righteous!" Zhang Bo said with a smile.

The students present had never seen the great righteousness before, but they knew how extraordinary it was to be able to cultivate the great righteousness.

Some students came over out of curiosity, but some students were too guilty to dare to get close to Lu Zheng.

It is said that there is a great scholar who has cultivated a righteous spirit, and even the emperor dare not get close to him, for fear that any negative reaction may occur due to contact with his righteous spirit, which would then lead to criticism.

After all, those emperors themselves had a rough idea of whether they were clean or not.

Although no one knew how much righteous energy Lu Zhengxiu had developed, and whether he could really sense anything, some students felt that it was better to avoid it if possible.

What if... then my reputation will be ruined.

But in fact, such worries are a bit unnecessary. Lu Zheng cannot always release his righteous energy. He is not a perpetual motion machine.

A guard came up to Lu Zheng and said respectfully, "Mr. Lu, the county magistrate wants to see you!"

Everyone made way when they heard this.

Lu Zheng followed the guards up to the third floor.

Seeing the people on the third floor, Lu Zheng saluted and said, "Junior greets the county magistrate and the gentlemen!"

"Good good!"

The county magistrate smiled broadly and reached out to support Lu Zheng. "Our Anguo is full of talented people! Without you today, our Changchuan County Qixi Festival Literary Festival this year would be a disaster!"

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and didn't say anything.

The county magistrate turned to look at the servant beside him, "Those Wu people came to visit suddenly and caught us students off guard, but losing is losing. Go and give them the prizes they deserve! Besides, that young man is good at classics. There are students in our county who are familiar with classics. Invite him to come to the county school on a certain day to have a formal competition with other students!" Just now, Lu Zheng took out the ancient poem to minimize the impact of the poetry competition and save some face.

And Lu Zheng's subsequent performance really earned them enough face.

If it weren't for Lu Zheng, this year's Qixi Festival literary gathering would have become a joke, and they would have lost face in front of the Fengcheng County Lord...

Thinking of this, the county magistrate couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

However, in the poetry competition, the Wu people won after all, and the county magistrate was not so shameless as to say that his side won.

You have to deal with it the way you want.

"Come to think of it, a few days ago a case was brought to me. It was about a wild god. It was also done by you, right?" The county magistrate said with a smile.

He had previously taken on a major case, which involved something about Lu Zheng. At that time, he was very curious about Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Well, how did the county magistrate deal with those people?"

"We must follow the law and execute those who should be executed. I have also sent people to investigate that village and punished some people. Those barbarians are difficult to manage and it is a real worry for you!" said the county magistrate.

Lu Zheng replied, "As scholars, we should act in this way. It is our duty to eliminate evil and uphold morality, not to mention wasting time and energy."

"Well, well, well, no wonder you've cultivated such righteousness at such a young age. Rare, rare!" the county magistrate said with a smile, "I asked you to come here just to see you, but I can't keep you waiting for too long, so we'll have to talk later. If you encounter any difficulties while studying in Changchuan County, just let me know!"

"Thank you for your kindness, County Magistrate!" Lu Zheng bowed.

The county magistrate smiled and helped Lu Zheng straighten his clothes. "Go! Perform well in front of the county lady. I don't know that person very well, so I dare not say anything rashly. Just don't lose the demeanor of our Hongzhou students."

Lu Zheng blinked. How come he suddenly represented the students of Hongzhou?
"Okay, I'll take my leave!" Lu Zheng said goodbye and slowly walked down the stairs.

The county magistrate looked kind as he watched Lu Zheng leave, wondering why there were no such outstanding students in his county.

I heard that the Kaiyang County Magistrate treated Lu Zheng as his own nephew, so it was too late for him to get closer to him.

……

Yang Heng sat in the room with a gloomy face. He drank a few sips of cold tea before he could barely calm down.

I originally thought that it was just a small county town’s Qixi Festival literary gathering, and I could easily take advantage of it and humiliate the Anguo students here.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zheng suddenly appeared and let the other party steal the limelight, and even became famous in front of a county lady.

"Lu Zheng..."

Yang Heng muttered to himself. When he first came here, someone told him about Lu Zheng's situation, but it was not detailed and he didn't take it seriously.

A scholar of heaven and earth may be rare in a remote county, but there are many of them in the world.

However, after witnessing Lu Zheng's abilities with his own eyes, Yang Heng felt that this boy would definitely become a pillar of Anguo.

Not to mention anything else, just that terrifying mathematical talent is enough to make Yang Heng astonished.

Lu Zheng could give the correct answers to various math problems without blinking an eye.

Even the difficult questions given by the Lord of Fengcheng County were easily answered.

Although Yang Heng did not see the question himself, he did not think that the Fengcheng County Lord would casually ask a question to build momentum for Lu Zheng, but rather that Lu Zheng really solved a very difficult question.

Of course, the term "difficulty" is for them.

It only took Lu Zheng a moment to solve the problem.

"Inhuman..."

Yang Heng shook his head. Although he didn't want to admit it, there were indeed many gifted people in this world who had terrifying talents in certain areas.

In addition, Lu Zheng also cultivated a righteous spirit, which made Yang Heng feel extremely uncomfortable.

At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the door.

Yang Heng glanced at him and said calmly, "Come in."

The courtesan Yu'er pushed the door open and walked in, quickly closing it behind her. She whispered respectfully, "Sir..."

Yang Heng's eyes turned cold as he interrupted, "What did you call me?"

"Young Master Yang..." The courtesan Yu'er quickly corrected herself, "Someone from Anguo invited you to choose a date to attend the county school for a Confucian classics competition. They also sent a prize, saying it's the reward for winning first place in the poetry competition."

Yang Heng's eyes flickered. He didn't come here really for the Qixi Festival literary gathering.

"Let's postpone the competition. I'm not interested. As for the prizes, you deserve them. Take them!" Yang Heng paused and added, "By the way, have someone pick some things and send them to that Lu Zheng."

"Him? Will he accept it?" Yu'er couldn't help but ask.

Lu Zheng is a scholar with a righteous spirit. How could he accept gifts from the Wu Kingdom?
Yang Heng said calmly, "Whether he accepts it or not is his business. We have to give gifts. We need to make the person who gives the gift lower his attitude. If he can give it away, that's the best. If he can't, it's no loss. We must accept it with full sincerity."

"I understand..." Yu'er nodded, "Then what gift should I give him?"

Yang Heng thought for a moment and said, "There's a painting of green bamboo on the boat, give it to him! Plus a set of elegant stationery... Oh, and I have a set of annotations to Mencius on my desk, so I'll give that to him, too!"

Yu'er was surprised. Although she was sure that Lu Zheng would not accept gifts, the things he gave her were not cheap.

Yang Heng added, "Send someone to Anguo to keep an eye on Lu Zheng's news. If there's any important information, report it back to Wuguo immediately!"

He didn't know this person before, but now that he knows him, Yang Heng will naturally send people to keep a close eye on him. Whether he tries his best to win him over or... that depends on how things develop in the future.

(End of this chapter)