Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 143 It’s rude to come and not return.

Lu Zheng couldn't resist the county magistrate's enthusiasm, so he washed up in the mansion and changed into clean clothes.

"Come, drink some hot tea to warm yourself up!"

When the county magistrate saw Lu Zheng coming out of the room, he asked his servants to bring him hot tea, hot ginger tea with some spiritual herbs added.

"Thank you, County Magistrate!" Lu Zheng couldn't help but thank him. "Actually, I'm in good health..."

"Well, young people should take good care of their health!" the county magistrate said with a smile, "otherwise, when you are my age, you will find it difficult to handle official duties."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Then you should take care of yourself, sir! Thank you for your hospitality, sir. I should go back now. Zhang Bo and the others don't know about my trip this time. If they see that I'm not here... I don't want to make them worry."

The county magistrate nodded and said, "Alright, I wanted to keep you here to rest, but since that's the case, I can't force you to stay."

Lu Zheng finished his hot tea and bowed again, saying, "I have to hurry on my way today. I have many things to attend to. I can only come visit the county magistrate when I have time."

"If you are in such a hurry, why don't you stay in Changchuan County for a while longer?" asked the county magistrate.

Lu Zhengdao said, "Zhang Bo is going to the state capital to take part in the Autumn Examination, and Li Zhao and the others are also going back to the academy. I'm studying along the way, and we've already agreed to leave together today and walk a distance together..."

The county magistrate nodded and smiled, "Okay, okay, since you young people can have fun together, it's not for an old man like me to get involved. I wish you success in your studies!"

The county magistrate looked kind and escorted Lu Zheng out of the mansion.

He also specially gave Lu Zheng a piece of his own cultural treasure.

Lu Zheng couldn't refuse, so he gave Zhang Wenbao as a reward and then went back to Zhang's house.

The county magistrate watched Lu Zheng go away with a smile, and curiously opened the cultural treasure Lu Zheng gave him.

Four large characters written in a flamboyant style: God rewards hard work.

"Good, good, what a great example of God rewarding hard work!"

The county magistrate grinned and stroked the treasure with one hand, feeling the righteous spirit contained in it.

Lu Zheng hurried back to Zhang's house along the same route without disturbing anyone.

By the time I entered the room and returned to bed, it was almost dawn.

Qing Wan woke up not far away. Seeing that Lu Zheng had just returned, she asked curiously, "What were you doing?"

"I went to talk to the county magistrate about some things." Lu Zheng said.

Some things are hard to tell this little guy, otherwise he will have to spend a lot of time and effort explaining them.

He didn't have the energy to give Qing Wan any scientific explanation at the moment.

Lying on the bed, Lu was thinking about things and couldn't fall asleep.

After a while, some noises were heard from Zhang's house.

Some servants in the mansion began to get up and get busy.

After a while, Zhang Bo knocked on the door and whispered, "Brother Lu, are you up yet? Some people from Wu are looking for you!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng quickly got up, and Qing Wan also jumped onto Lu Zheng's shoulder, wanting to go out and see what was going on.

When I opened the door, I saw Zhang Bo standing outside with a smile on his face.

"What's wrong?" Lu Zheng asked.

Zhang Bo said, "The steward in the palace said that some people from Wu found their way here and wanted to see you. They seemed to have brought gifts."

Zhang Bo paused, then whispered, "Those Wu people might want to make friends with you, but they have bad intentions. Do you want me to have them driven away?"

If it wasn't related to Lu Zheng, he would have asked someone to reject it directly.

However, since the other party came to see Lu Zheng, Zhang Bo had to inform Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "They always deal with people from other countries. Take me to see what they are doing."

"Brother Lu, that makes sense!" Zhang Bo nodded. "How can they act so arrogantly on our territory? Let's go!"

Li Zhao and others in the guest room next door heard the noise and asked curiously. After learning what happened, they also wanted to go and take a look.

So a few of them came to a side door of Zhang's house and saw four people waiting outside the door.

The leader was a woman, one of the courtesans who appeared at the literary gathering last night.

The remaining three people were dressed like servants, each holding a gift box in their hands, and it seemed that there were quite a few things in it.

When the courtesan saw Lu Zheng and the others, she quickly bowed and said in a soft voice, "My humble servant, I am honored to meet you gentlemen."

"Are you looking for me?" Lu Zheng said calmly.

The courtesan smiled and said softly, "Young Master Yang admires Mr. Lu's talent and wishes to make friends with you, so I've asked you to give me some small gifts..."

Next to him, a servant stepped forward and opened a wooden box. Inside was a set of books, exuding a strong literary atmosphere.

The courtesan said, "Young Master Yang knows that Young Master Lu cultivates a righteous spirit, so he must be interested in studying the Mencius. This set of Mencius belongs to Young Master Yang, and it also contains some handwritten annotations from our Wu scholars..."

The courtesan carefully turned one of the pages and saw a lot of tiny handwriting next to the classic passages in the book. It was these notes that contained a special literary flavor.

Zhang Bo and the others all had surprised expressions on their faces.

How could the annotations of the classics of sages by a scholar-level figure be seen by the general public?

The value of this set of "Mencius" is inestimable and can only be said to be priceless.

When Zhang Bo and the others saw this, they even felt a little tempted.

Lu Zheng's expression remained unchanged at this point.

Bachelor? His noble spirit was instilled in him by the sage Mencius himself. Does he need anyone else to teach him about the Mencius?

Moreover, even if he wanted to learn, he would only read the original text. Reading other people's annotations would affect his own understanding of the words of the sages. The courtesan saw Lu Zheng's expressionless face. Although she had expected it, she did not expect Lu Zheng to be so indifferent.

Seeing this, the courtesan waved her hand again.

Another servant opened the wooden box, took out a scroll and unfolded it.

A picture of bamboo and rocks appeared before everyone's eyes.

At just one glance, everyone felt that this painting was extraordinary.

The green bamboo in the picture is so lush and lifelike that it seems real.

Several people even felt a powerful vitality emanating from the picture.

I also smelled the fragrance of bamboo.

After taking a closer look, everyone discovered that the green bamboo leaves in the painting were still swaying slightly, as if floating in the wind.

The quality of paintings that have entered the real world also varies.

These green bamboos appear like living creatures in the scroll, almost to the point of being completely realistic.

Zhang Bo's eyes lit up as he knew that none of the calligraphy and painting collections in his home could reach such quality.

Such paintings are also priceless.

The courtesan smiled and explained, "This painting was created by a master painter from the previous dynasty. The green bamboo represents the spirit of a gentleman. You can carry it with you to cultivate your gentlemanly spirit."

When scholars exchanged paintings, they often gave each other paintings of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum.

Plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are called the Four Gentlemen.

Giving each other such paintings can also be called a gentleman's friendship.

It has to be said that just with these two gifts, Yang Heng was already full of sincerity and had spent a lot of money to make friends with Lu Zheng.

If he didn't know Yang Heng at all before, Lu Zheng might have thought that the other party might be sincere.

However, after having contact with him, Yang Heng's behavior may not be so well-intentioned.

Before, the other party didn’t even dare to accept his own righteous Wenbao. Is his heart right?

In Lu Zheng's arms, Qing Wan moved.

She could feel that the green bamboo painting was very special and contained a power that drew her close.

Seeing that Lu Zheng still had a calm expression, the courtesan wondered if this man was really so determined that these treasures couldn't shake him in the slightest?
She had no choice but to say, "Young Master Yang is sincere in wanting to make friends with you. Please accept these small gifts..."

Zhang Bo and his companions did find these gifts very tempting, but they also knew they couldn't accept them.

Otherwise, if the news gets out, it will definitely be criticized.

Lu Zhengben didn't want these things either, but after thinking about it, he felt that this was an opportunity.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "Thank you, Young Master Yang, for thinking highly of me. It's just that these things are too valuable."

The courtesan quickly said, "These gifts are nothing compared to Master Lu. Master Yang only wants to make friends with Master Lu..."

The courtesan spoke a lot of good things, and even Zhang Bo and others beside her praised her, and said that she had brought some gifts for them.

Zhang Bo and the others couldn't help but feel their ears soften at what they heard.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng smiled and said, "In that case, Young Master Yang, since it is so kind, I like this painting very much and will accept it. Please take the rest of the gift back with you, young lady..."

Everyone was surprised when they heard this. They didn't expect Lu Zheng to actually accept the gift!

The courtesan was surprised. Lu Zheng actually wanted a painting and nothing else? Not even the scholar's annotated classics? Was this a hobby for calligraphy and painting?

Lu Zheng added, "It's impolite to come without returning the favor. Brother Zhang, please help me greet a few guests. Wait a moment, and I'll return the gift to Young Master Yang."

Originally, Zhang Bo and others didn't quite understand why Lu Zheng accepted the gift.

But after hearing what Lu Zheng said, he knew that Lu Zheng had other plans.

After all, Lu Zheng had previously rejected the reward from the Lord of Fengcheng County, so how could he really be interested in these gifts sent by Yang Heng?
"This, there's no need for that..." the courtesan said hurriedly.

She had seen Lu Zheng's treasure before. Even Yang Heng didn't dare to take it, and it was difficult for others to hold it.

Is the gift Lu Zhenghui gave really something worth accepting?
Lu Zheng said sternly, "What are you saying, young lady? Are you going to make others think that people from An country don't know etiquette?"

Zhang Bo, standing aside, smiled and invited them into the mansion.

The courtesan quickly declined and wanted to just put down the gift and leave, but was stopped by Zhang Bo and his men.

For a moment, the courtesan was a little panicked. She didn't expect things to turn out like this.

After a while, Lu Zheng returned with an exquisite wooden box in his hand.

He handed the wooden box to the courtesan and said, "Please give this gift back to Young Master Yang and tell him that I like this painting very much."

"well……"

The courtesan took the gift box with trepidation, only to find it wasn't very heavy and didn't exude any righteous aura.

She felt a little relieved.

Afterwards, Lu Zheng went to get the green bamboo painting and put it away.

As for the other gifts, Lu Zheng refused them sternly and asked them to take them back.

Seeing this, the courtesan had no choice but to hold the wooden box and hurriedly leave with her people.

(End of this chapter)