Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 226: Destroying Friends for the Sake of Justice
Lu Zheng? An Dingyuan's eyes flickered slightly. An Jing had told him about this man quite a lot along the way. He sounded very powerful.

Lu Zheng was actually bestowed with the sage's cultural spirit by his ancestors. He had never had such an honor.

When An Jing heard the idle chatter outside, he felt a little strange. Lu Zheng had caused a lot of trouble in the past few days.

Originally, she just wanted to arrange An Dingyuan to Hongzhou first and had no plans to come here herself.

However, the official document that Su Ming recently submitted talked about the policy of governing the country, so An Jing wanted to come and see it in person.

And An Dingyuan, who was enjoying his last leisure time at home and had not yet completed his term, was forced to come to Hongzhou early.

Soon, a group of people entered the city in a low-key manner.

An Dingyuan whispered, "So, should we go to the provincial government office or the governor's residence to take over?"

An Jing said calmly, "I have a yard in Hongzhou City. Let's live there first."

"Oh oh..." An Dingyuan nodded repeatedly.

……

After leaving the provincial government office, Lu Zheng was escorted back to his residence by a carriage.

When we arrived at Zhang Bo's residence, we saw many carriages parked on the street, many people gathered around, and piles of gifts placed at the door.

For a time, the place was packed with people.

These people all came to visit Lu Zheng and wanted to invite Lu Zheng to their home to get closer to him.

Zhang Bo and a few others were standing outside the door, rejecting these people one by one.

Seeing this scene, Lu Zheng couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

Although these people are so enthusiastic now, I'm afraid they will look completely different in a few days.

"Hey, Master Lu is back!"

"Mr. Lu, I am the steward of the Wang family. I have come here specially..."

……

When everyone saw Lu Zheng appear, they stepped forward and handed over invitations with an extremely respectful attitude.

Zhang Bo quickly sent his attendants to protect Lu Zheng to prevent anyone from bumping into him.

Lu Zheng looked at these people and smiled, "Thank you for your kindness! I accept the invitation, and I will visit you one by one later. As for these gifts, please take them back!"

Upon hearing this, some people smiled and hurriedly stuffed the invitations into the hands of the attendants.

As for the gifts? They are not ignorant of the ways of the world, so why would they take them back?

If they really take it back, the master at home will poke their noses and scold them.

Some people gave gifts and invitations, but were afraid that Lu Zheng would refuse them, so they left quickly.

The once bustling streets were now much less crowded.

Zhang Bo asked his servants to help pack up the things, and then took Lu Zhengxian back to the yard.

“These people…”

Zhang Bo shook his head, not knowing what to say.

He also benefited from Lu Zheng's influence and received many invitations and gifts, but these were not what he wanted.

Zhang Bo whispered, "I'll have someone return these gifts later, so Lu Zheng doesn't need to bother."

Lu Zheng looked at the gifts in and outside the courtyard and smiled, "It's okay. If that's the case, then don't send them back. It's too much trouble."

"Ok?"

Zhang Bo was a little puzzled. He didn't think Lu Zheng would be greedy for this money.

Lu Zheng said leisurely, "They gave me gifts openly, so why can't I accept them? I'll just go give them gifts in return later."

Zhang Bo was stunned for a moment and still didn't understand Lu Zheng's thoughts.

Return gift? He thought about Lu Zheng returning gift to Wu people, it didn't seem like a good thing...

"I'll listen to Brother Lu." Zhang Bo nodded.

The two came to the living room and saw Zheng Yu and a young man there.

"Hey, Brother Lu, you're back. I thought the governor and others would invite you to have lunch." Zheng Yu said with a smile.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Not really, I just went to the state government office to get some things."

Zhang Bo looked at the young man and introduced him, "This is Li Zhao's cousin."

The young man stepped forward and bowed, saying, "My name is Li Da, and I'm honored to meet you, Mr. Lu. My elders in my family asked me to invite you to our home."

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "I'll go when I have time."

Are you free? Li Da couldn't help but ask, "When? Mr. Lu, can you give us a date so we can prepare the etiquette and wait for you to come?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I have a good relationship with County Magistrate Li. Since you are relatives, you don't need to be bound by these formalities. As for the date, I am really busy and cannot set it."

"This……"

Seeing Lu Zheng's attitude, Li Da didn't know how to respond.

Before coming, the elders asked him to try to invite Lu Zheng to their home, but judging from the situation, Lu Zheng didn't seem to care about their Li family.

Lu Zheng said again, "Mr. Li, please go back! And give me a message."

"Mr. Lu, please speak." Li Da said.

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "I have one flaw, which is that I love cleanliness. I hope that before I come to visit, your Li family can clean up well and not make things difficult for me."

Li Da didn't understand the deep meaning for a moment, and nodded and said, "I'll make a note of it."

Lu Zhengdao said, "Let's go back. Did you have a carriage when you came here? Do you want someone to take you back?"

Li Da waved his hand and said, "No need, I came here by car, and there are servants waiting outside."

Li Da said goodbye and left.

Zheng Yu, who was standing next to him, looked at Lu Zheng and said in surprise, "When did Brother Lu become so fond of cleanliness? What he said just now..." When Lu Zheng was at his house before, he didn't realize that Lu Zheng cared much about cleanliness.

Lu Zheng looked at Zheng Yu and said, "I want Brother Zheng to do something, but it may be difficult for you."

Zheng Yu heard this and said, "What's the matter? Can it really stump me?"

Lu Zheng took out some papers and handed them to Zheng Yu.

Zheng Yu took it and looked at it, his face suddenly turned ugly.

Zhang Bo, who was standing by, was curious, but he didn't dare to go over to see what was going on.

Zheng Yu's face flushed red, and his hands were shaking. "These...are they true?"

Lu Zhengdao: "There shouldn't be any problem. Perhaps there are more things that no one knows about."

Zheng Yu's expression changed. "Brother Lu, I didn't know about this. They are simply lawless. It's my fault for not disciplining them properly..."

Zheng Yu finally understood what Lu Zheng meant by cleaning up.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "Even saints make mistakes. Brother Zheng, there's no need to blame yourself so much. Of course, I want a good outcome."

Zheng Yu took a deep breath, put the paper in his arms, and said seriously: "Don't worry, I will take care of it. If I can't do it, I will be ashamed to see Brother Lu again."

After saying that, Zheng Yu bowed and said goodbye, then left quickly.

Seeing Zheng Yu like this, Zhang Bo couldn't help but ask, "Brother Lu, what did you show Master Zheng?"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "The Zheng family has committed some illegal and criminal offenses, including seizing other people's shops and farmland, assaulting and injuring people, and forcing women into slavery..."

Zhang Bo was shocked and showed an expression of disbelief.

He thought about it a lot. What was this? Sacrificing friendship for the sake of justice?

If even Zheng Yu was treated this way, what about the other wealthy families in Hongzhou City...

"Brother Lu, what are you going to do..." Zhang Bo hesitated to speak.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Just do what you want to do. Brother Zhang, don't worry about me. Now that you have become a juren, you should plan more for your future. I'm going to take a rest. Please keep those invitations for me."

After saying that, Lu Zheng went back to his room.

Zhang Bo watched Lu Zheng leave, his heart restless. He thought that things were about to change in Hongzhou City.

……

Zheng Yu sat in the carriage with a gloomy face.

"This Lu Zheng..."

Zheng Yu suddenly thought of some old things and couldn't help shaking his head and laughing.

He once thought that Xiao Shan was too upright, so he was squeezed out of the officialdom.

Now that I see Lu Zheng, I find that this young man is even more upright.

But in the end, he was still given some face and allowed to handle his own household affairs.

Zheng Yu said quietly, "My old face... is so embarrassing!"

When he returned to the Zheng family, Zheng Yu's face became extremely ugly again.

When the servants in the mansion saw this, they didn't know what had happened.

Logically speaking, today should be a good day, why is my master like this?

Zheng Yu looked at a servant and asked, "Where is Butler Wu?"

"Butler Wu is out shopping and not at home," the servant replied.

Zheng Yu said coldly, "Call him back! Now! Immediately!"

"Yes."

The servant was startled and quickly agreed and ran to find the housekeeper.

Zheng Yu returned to the hall and sat down, still furious.

Madam Zheng came over and saw Zheng Yu in such a state. She couldn't help but ask, "What happened? Look how angry you are!"

Zheng Yu looked at his wife and said nothing, "It's none of your business. Don't go out and visit people recently. Stay at home. We won't receive guests at home."

Madam Zheng frowned slightly. "It's almost Mid-Autumn Festival, and it's time to exchange gifts. How can I stay at home and not go out to visit relatives and friends? In the past two days, many people have come to give gifts and invitations."

Zheng Yu said, "Let's all go. I'm busy! I just got home and need to clean the house."

Madam Zheng was surprised and asked, "I'm the one who usually takes care of your painting studio. When did you think of cleaning it again? What's the matter that you can't even tell me?"

Zheng Yu closed his eyes and said calmly, "Let's wait until Butler Wu comes back."

Not long after, Butler Wu hurried back from outside.

"Master, what do you want to talk to me about?" Butler Wu asked respectfully.

Zheng Yu slowly opened his eyes and said in a cold tone, "Kneel down."

Butler Wu was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and finally knelt down.

"Do you know why I asked you to kneel?" Zheng Yu said, "Think about it, then answer me."

Butler Wu's expression changed when he heard this.

After a while, Butler Wu whispered, "I don't know, but since the master asked me to kneel, I must have done something wrong. Please tell me clearly so that I can correct it."

Zheng Yu chuckled, "You've done so many bad things, don't you know which one to talk about?"

Butler Wu's expression changed slightly, and he quickly said, "Master, I have always been loyal and have never done anything to offend the Zheng family, but who is spreading rumors..."

Zheng Yu stood up angrily and slapped Butler Wu in the face, sternly saying, "Who do you think you are? Do you need someone to spread rumors? You're relying on my reputation to collect money everywhere, and you still say you're loyal? You've completely disgraced me, Zheng Yu! Go to the state government office and turn yourself in, and don't say I didn't give you a chance!"

Butler Wu's face turned red and then pale. He was stunned and didn't dare to argue or turn himself in.

(End of this chapter)