Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 238 Understanding Current Affairs

An Dingyuan rode his horse back to the courtyard where he lived and started shouting as soon as he entered the door.

"Someone, help me take off this leather. I haven't worn it for a long time. I'm really not used to it..."

An Dingyuan stood carefree in the yard, and several subordinates came forward to help him take off his heavy armor.

"I feel comfortable now."

An Dingyuan stretched his muscles and looked relaxed.

If it weren't for the need to return home early to report, he would have led his troops to raid a house and kill a few people to intimidate Hongzhou City.

An Jing walked out of a house and asked, "Are you back? Did you get the things?"

"I got it. I asked for it from the governor. I didn't see Lu Zheng. I heard he was busy..."

An Dingyuan smiled widely, took out a stack of booklets and handed them to An Jing respectfully.

An Jing took the booklet, turned around and went back to the house, "Read it with me."

"Hey, me?" An Dingyuan was stunned.

An Jing said calmly, "You are now the governor of a state. You can't just think about eating, drinking and having fun like before."

An Dingyuan hurriedly followed An Jing.

The two sat in the room, looking through the new policy plan written by Lu Zheng.

After a long while, An Dingyuan was amazed and sighed, "This Lu Zheng is a talent. There are so many novel policies written here that I have never seen before..."

An Dingyuan had never been involved in court affairs before, but he had received education since he was young and learned a lot.

When he was studying for exams, he wrote many articles and policy papers.

He can tell at a glance whether these policy plans are good or bad.

"These ideas aren't complicated. Why haven't I thought of them before?"

An Dingyuan touched his chin and muttered softly.

If he had been able to write these before, he would have received fewer beatings.

An Jing said, "That's because you don't understand the people."

"You're right. I will learn from him in the future!" An Dingyuan said with a smile.

An Jing said, "You should learn more. There are still some things I don't understand, so I'd like to invite him over and explain it to us."

An Dingyuan said quickly: "I'll send someone to find him!"

An Jing waved his hand and said, "Isn't he busy? Let's wait until he finishes his work and then we'll see."

An Dingyuan blinked and whispered, "Aunt, you think highly of him!"

If An Jing wanted to meet some high-ranking officials in the court, he only needed to say a word and the other party would come without stopping.

Now they want to see Lu Zheng, but they have to wait until Lu Zheng is free?

An Jing said calmly, "Even our ancestors gave him the Holy Gift. Shouldn't we treat him with courtesy?"

An Dingyuan thought that this was too much of a courtesy.

He couldn't help but say, "Lu Zheng dared to contradict the Censor like that. I, a new Governor, probably don't hold much weight in his eyes... I've been busy lately, and if I don't ask him to come, he probably won't pay any attention to me at all."

An Jing thought about it and felt that with Lu Zheng's personality, he would really do so.

"Then let someone go and find out when he's free."

……

Lu Zheng came to a remote place in the west of the city and found the address written on it, which was the entrance of an alley.

He stood at the entrance of the alley and waited for a moment, then saw a young man in ordinary clothes approaching.

"But Master Lu Zheng?" the visitor whispered.

Lu Zheng looked at the person who came and nodded slightly, saying, "It is Lu."

The visitor quickly raised his hand to invite him, "Mr. Lu, please follow me!"

Lu Zheng did not hesitate and followed the young man, walking around several alleys and arriving at a quiet courtyard.

"The host is inside, Mr. Lu, please come in." The young man said from the doorway, "If Mr. Lu is suspicious, we can discuss choosing another place to meet..."

"That's not necessary."

Lu Zheng smiled faintly and pushed the door open.

When the young man saw Lu Zheng come in, he closed the door and then his whole body was on fire. In the blink of an eye, it burned out, leaving behind some ashes.

This person was transformed from a paper man.

Lu Zheng turned his head slightly and continued to walk into the house.

When you open the door, the fragrance of books hits you in the face.

There are many books in the clean and tidy room.

There is a tea table in the center, with a pretty woman sitting upright, burning incense and making tea.

"Mr. Lu has come from afar, and I am sorry for not being able to welcome you in person. Please take a seat." The woman said with a faint smile.

As she spoke, the woman lightly tapped her jade fingers, and an invisible barrier rose in the room.

Lu Zheng felt the operation of the formation, but his expression remained unchanged.

The woman whispered, "I'm afraid there are ears on the other side of the wall, so please don't be suspicious, Mr. Lu."

Lu Zheng came to the tea table, sat down, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

"I understand. As a monster, you have to be careful if you want to survive in the state capital." The woman's beautiful eyes flickered. "I heard that Mr. Lu is a decent man. When he saw a monster like me, shouldn't he take action to subdue it?"

Lu Zheng chuckled, "Since you know I'm a righteous man, there's no reason for me to kill innocent people without considering the circumstances. If you were an evil demon, I wouldn't mind enforcing justice for you, young lady, right?"

The woman covered her mouth and smiled, "If I say no, will Mr. Lu believe it?"

"Not necessarily." Lu Zheng said calmly, "So why did you ask me to come here? Is there something?"

The woman said quietly, "I have something I want to trade with Master Lu."

"What?" Lu Zheng asked.

The woman said slowly, "I've lived in Hongzhou City for many years, and I know a thing or two about the families there. I've seen what Master Lu has been doing these days, and I admire him. So I want to help him out. I'm going to provide him with some information."

The woman paused, then continued, "To show my sincerity, I can show Mr. Lu some of it first..."

As she spoke, the woman flipped her hand and handed several files to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng opened the file and looked through it slowly.

The woman said leisurely, "Besides the affairs of the major families, I also know about the existence of some demons and ghosts in and around the state city."

Lu Zheng looked at it for a while, then closed the file and asked, "What do you want?"

The woman smiled and said, "Your human city is very prosperous. I'm used to living here, but I don't want to be disturbed by the conflicts among you humans... I don't want to go back to the mountains. I just want a place to sleep in peace."

"I believe that if Mr. Lu says a few words to the governor and the provincial governor, they will not care about a little monster like me."

"Don't worry, I've always been law-abiding and honest."

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "This isn't a difficult task. I need all your information."

"All?" The woman's eyes flickered when she heard that. "This..."

She didn't want to make a deal and then have it become worthless.

Who knows if those officials in the provincial government will abandon their jobs after their work has been done?
Lu Zheng said calmly, "The state government has already received some of the information you provided. The state government will close the case in the next few days, so there's not much use for you keeping it."

The woman frowned and thought for a moment, then said quietly, "Well, I'll believe you for once, sir, and wait a moment."

The woman did not get up, but continued to make tea and pour it for Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng said nothing and sipped his tea slowly.

The woman smiled and said, "Aren't you curious, sir?"

"What are you curious about?" Lu Zheng asked.

"You're curious about my background and how I know so much..." the woman said with a smile.

Lu Zhengdao: "If you want to say it, then you can say it yourself. If you don't want to say it, my curiosity is useless."

The woman was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and said, "Mr. Lu is quite straightforward."

After a while, a figure walked out from a corner of the room.

The man who came looked exactly like the woman, except that he was dressed differently.

Lu Zheng's eyes moved slightly, and he realized that these two women were just clones, and their real bodies were not here.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "Young lady, you can cultivate such a clone. Your realm should be much higher than mine. Why are you still so cautious?"

"It's just my own talent." The woman said with a smile, "I'm only at the fourth realm. I heard that Lu Zheng killed many masters of the third and fourth realms this morning. I was really scared. How could I dare to be so arrogant in front of Master Lu?"

In fact, when she first heard about the Yu family, she was as incredulous as many people.

But after making inquiries from many sources, I finally believed that it was true.

As a monster who has been in Hongzhou City for many years, she is good at judging the situation.

At this critical juncture, if she didn't do something, sooner or later someone from the state government would find her.

So she chose to make a deal with Lu Zheng to protect herself.

She knew a little about Lu Zheng and found him easier to talk to than the officials in the provincial government.

Of course, to be on the safe side, she didn't dare to come in person to see Lu Zheng.

"Better? It's just a rumor." Lu Zheng said, "There are also differences between the four realms. The young lady's method is better than theirs."

The woman smiled when she heard this, "Mr. Lu, you are so kind."

The woman who appeared handed a storage bag to Lu Zheng.

"Here is the intelligence I have collected over the years. Mr. Lu, please take your time to read it."

Lu Zheng took out the information inside and looked through it.

Pay more attention to the situation of demons and ghosts.

After a while, Lu Zheng put away the storage bag and said, "I will inform the provincial government of your request. I wonder where the young lady would like to sleep in? Where exactly is it?"

"Ruyu Study." The woman smiled and said, "Mr. Lu, you can call me Ruyu."

There is a Ruyu Study in Hongzhou City, which is a medium-sized library that sells various classics.

Lu Zheng had been there with Zhang Bo and others before, bought some books, and did not find anything unusual.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "Using the fragrance of books to conceal your demonic aura? Does the young lady also enjoy reading? Has she cultivated a literary aura?"

"A little bit." Ruyu said, "I would like to find an opportunity to discuss the classics with Master Lu, but I am afraid that my lack of knowledge will make Master Lu laugh at me."

Lu Zheng then said, "Having a love of learning is a good thing, how can it be a joke? However, I am indeed very busy recently. I will discuss academic matters with you again when I have time."

"Okay." Ruyu looked at the bookshelves in the room. "I heard that Mr. Lu likes reading. You can choose any of the books here. This is my thank you for your trouble."

Ruyu paused, then whispered, "Some are scriptures and books that can't be bought on the market, such as Buddhist scriptures and records of the Shinto traditions of the previous dynasties..."

(End of this chapter)