Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 163 Everyone has his own ambitions
Li Zhao was standing on a rooftop. Seeing the people coming from outside, he couldn't help but look surprised.

He turned to look at Lu Zheng and the others and said, "It's Bai Fei. Those monkeys are coming."

The county magistrate came to the gate of the village with his personal guards. When he saw the monkey demon outside, a hint of curiosity appeared in his eyes.

Bai Fei and the other monkeys lowered their heads slightly and looked at these people out of the corner of their eyes.

Lu Zheng came to the county magistrate and explained in a soft voice.

I was busy with other things before and had not mentioned the monkey matter to the county magistrate and others.

After listening to Lu Zheng's story, the county magistrate's expression did not change much.

He had been through a lot recently, and in his opinion, these monkey monsters were not a threat.

The county magistrate said with a smile, "Since this is the monkey demon you have seen, Lu Zheng, then let it in!"

The county magistrate was very clear about the character of people like Lu Zheng. If these monkeys were evil monsters, they would have been killed by Lu Zheng long ago.

Upon hearing this, the officer guarding the village gate hurriedly opened the heavy door.

Bai Fei quickly led the monkeys in bowing again, saying, "We pay our respects to the County Magistrate!"

"This is a jar of spiritual wine and a live deer given to you by our... leader."

The county magistrate stroked his beard with one hand and said, "Your leader, why don't you come to see me?"

Bai Fei explained in a low voice: "The boss..."

Bai Fei wanted to find an explanation, but he couldn't think of a reasonable excuse for a moment.

The county magistrate smiled and said, "Did he have anything to say to you?"

The county magistrate knew that some monsters were afraid and therefore did not dare to come to see him, so he did not keep asking the reason.

Bai Fei said, "We live in the mountains to cultivate and have no intention of harming anyone. The world belongs to the human race, and we little demons only seek to make friends with them."

"Very good." The county magistrate nodded. "You are quite sensible."

Bai Fei continued, "We dare not disturb the County Magistrate's rest, so we will take our leave now."

The county magistrate said calmly, "Alright, remember what you said. If it gets out that you've harmed others, I will not forgive you."

"Don't dare."

Bai Fei bowed again, then put down the gift and hurried away with the monkeys.

Bai Fei only breathed a sigh of relief after he was far away from the mountain stronghold.

He could feel just now that if Lu Zheng hadn't said something there, it wouldn't have been so easy for them to leave.

Fortunately, they were able to leave safely and also tested the county magistrate's attitude.

It seemed that as long as they stayed in the mountains quietly, the government wouldn't care.

When the county magistrate saw the monkeys coming and going in a hurry, he ordered his men to take away the wine and the deer.

The county magistrate curiously checked the spiritual wine, which was in a sealed jar. He could faintly smell a strong aroma of wine and a hint of special spiritual charm.

"This is monkey wine!"

The county magistrate laughed and said, "What a pity! It needs to be aged for a few more years before it can reach its best flavor."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "I still have a small half jar here, which was given by those monkeys yesterday. I can ask the county magistrate to taste it later."

"Oh?" The county magistrate said with a smile, his expression excited. "Then I'll have a few drinks with you young people."

Then, the county magistrate had the monkey wine put away and the deer slaughtered for cooking.

Lu Zheng and his group returned to their room and had their meal together.

During the banquet, the county magistrate drank some spirit wine and was in a good mood, so he told everyone a lot of news about the world and the court.

He also uses the experiences of the elders to tell everyone how to deal with some human relationships and how to serve as an official, govern the people, and investigate cases and eliminate demons.

Lu Zheng and his companions listened attentively. There was indeed a lot worth learning from the experience shared by their predecessors.

After a long conversation, the county magistrate looked at Lu Zheng and asked with a smile, "Lu Zheng, after you finish your study tour in one county, what are you going to do next?"

Lu Zheng said slowly, "The world is vast, there are many things to see and many places to go. My destination is not yet determined, but I will not stop."

The county magistrate couldn't help but ask, "Don't you want to go to academy to study? Take the imperial examination and become an official to govern the people?"

Studying abroad can certainly broaden one's horizons, but it is difficult to concentrate on studying, and few students will travel abroad for a long time.

"I never had such plans." Lu Zheng shook his head.

The county magistrate was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "In these chaotic times, it's hard to stay out of trouble, and it's not easy to stick to your original intentions. The chaotic officialdom is indeed not suitable for someone like you. Well, well... as long as you have your own goals, then it's fine."

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Your Excellency is right."

"What about you? What are your ambitions?"

The county magistrate looked at the other young men.

Zhang Bo said, "My elders at home all want me to take the imperial examination and become an official. I also want to be an official and serve the country and the people."

His family has already made plans for him. If he passes the imperial examination this autumn, he will be able to become an official next year.

Li Zhao scratched his head and smiled, "I'm not as talented as Brother Lu and Brother Zhang, so I'm afraid it'll be difficult for me to pass the imperial examination. I don't have any ambitions, but I would like to travel around like Brother Lu, but I don't think my parents would agree. I should stay in the academy for a few more years and try to pass the imperial examination. If I can't, I can help my father with some of his affairs."

The other two students also said that they did not have any lofty ambitions, and if they failed to pass the imperial examination, they would have to return home and inherit the family business.

After hearing their responses, the county magistrate smiled and said, "No matter what you do in the future, it's good enough if you can maintain your original intentions now!"

The county magistrate then shared some life experiences with the group, and then the banquet ended.

Lu Zheng and his companions went to a courtyard to rest. Zhang Bo walked beside Lu Zheng and whispered, "I thought Brother Lu wanted to become an official."

These days, Lu Zheng’s actions show that he cares more about the people than those officials.

As a result, Zhang Bo now discovered that Lu Zheng had no intention of becoming an official.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "You don't have to be an official to serve the people... I don't have the family background that Brother Zhang has, so being an official would actually restrict my own abilities. Don't follow my example. You have a future as an official."

Zhang Bo had a complicated expression when he heard this. He had a promising future, but that was more because of his family background rather than his own abilities.

Lu Zheng saw through Zhang Bo's thoughts and couldn't help but say, "Brother Zhang, since you have such a background, you should work harder to prove to everyone that you rely on yourself, not your family elders."

Zhang Bo took a deep breath and nodded heavily, "Brother Lu is right!"

He raised his hand and released a literary aura, which contained a hint of righteousness.

Zhang Bo received a cultural treasure from Lu Zheng, and combined with his observations and insights over the past few days, he was finally able to cultivate a bit of righteousness.

"Brother Lu, I have cultivated righteousness, but compared to you, it's still far behind."

Li Zhao and his companions watched out of curiosity, and indeed felt that Zhang Bo's literary aura had changed.

Lu Zheng said, "This is a good start. I hope Brother Zhang can keep it up."

Zhang Bo smiled, subsiding his literary tone, and asked curiously, "Come to think of it, I don't know how much righteousness Brother Lu has cultivated? If you're not comfortable telling me, just pretend I didn't ask."

"About ten." Lu Zheng said calmly.

Several people stared when they heard this. Doesn't that mean he is full of righteousness?
Lu Zhengwen's aura was restrained, and they couldn't sense it at all, but it turned out that he had cultivated a righteous aura?
Zhang Bo was surprised and said, "It's not easy to maintain a righteous spirit. Brother Lu's practice is probably much more difficult than ours."

Lu Zheng smiled but said nothing. Some things are really hard to say out loud so as not to hurt others.

Li Zhao couldn't help but ask, "What does Brother Lu's Wen Palace look like?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "If there's a chance in the future, I'll let you see it."

The Wen Palace is not suitable for display to outsiders.

In the ordinary scholar realm, the Wen Palace is just a very small house, or even just a foundation.

However, Lu Zheng's Wen Palace is a grand hall, filled with righteousness and strange phenomena of heaven and earth.

If it were revealed, it would probably cast a shadow on Zhang Bo and others.

For the sake of several people, Lu Zheng chose to keep a low profile.

Lu Zheng said, "It's getting late. Go to bed early. We have to travel tomorrow!"

……

Early the next morning, the whole village was in an uproar.

The county magistrate, along with a group of officers and soldiers, escorted the bandits, the victims, and various supplies back to the county seat of Changchuan County.

However, Lu Zheng and his companions had to go north, in the opposite direction, and did not follow the county magistrate.

Then they watched the county magistrate and his entourage walk away in a mighty procession.

Lu Zheng and his companions also started to move and continued on their way.

When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, they heard a noise not far away.

But a blue figure appeared in front of them, it was Lan.

A group of monkeys followed behind him.

Lan looked at Lu Zheng, clasped his fists and said, "Mr. Lu."

Lan's tone of voice was much more polite than before.

Lu Zheng smiled and asked, "What are you doing here? Do you want to occupy this village?"

Lan shook his head and said, "This location is not good. I'm here to see you off... I've already sent a monkey to the Jiguan Mountain you mentioned. If the environment there is really good, we will move some of our people there."

Lan went to the nearby mountains last night and wanted to tell Lu Zheng his decision.

But he didn't want to humble himself before the county magistrate, so he never showed up.

Lan felt more comfortable talking with Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "That's good."

Lan looked at Lu Zheng and said, "You are from Kaiyang County. We should meet again in the future, right?"

Lu Zhengdao: "Perhaps, there may be something else I need to trouble you with."

Lan grinned and said, "As long as it's not difficult, I will definitely help!"

"Then, see you later!" Lu Zheng bowed.

Lan clasped his fists and said, "See you later!"

The two sides said goodbye and left.

After walking for a while, Zhang Bo whispered, "They showed up so early in the morning to see us off. They should have come here last night."

Lu Zheng disagreed and said, "They must be afraid that the government will attack them, so they have been on guard for a long time. I understand..."

Li Zhao laughed and said, "I thought the Monkey King was fearless, but he's actually afraid of us!"

Li Zhao paused, then asked excitedly, "Where are we going next?"

Lu Zheng said, "We've already deviated from our original planned route. If we continue, we should reach Kaiyang County. I'm not familiar with the area ahead. Let's just walk around and find the way to Yao Town. We can't keep you too long."

(End of this chapter)