Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 241: Something Not to Do
An Dingyuan saluted Lu Zheng with a serious look on his face.

He would not dare to call Lu Zheng his brother in the future, but it would be more appropriate to call him master.

After all, Lu Zheng is truly talented and learned. Even people like his aunt and Grandmaster Xu have to ask Lu Zheng for advice.

It’s not a loss for him to worship Lu Zheng as his teacher!
Lu Zheng said, "Why is the Governor so angry? I am still pursuing my studies. I am not qualified to accept any students, nor do I have the time or energy to teach them well."

An Dingyuan said solemnly, "Teacher, you have great talent and can be my teacher! I don't ask for anything from you, but if I can occasionally serve you and learn from your words and deeds, it will be a blessing for me as a student!"

"If you want to learn, then learn. There's no need to do this." Lu Zheng couldn't help but say.

An Dingyuan said solemnly: "As you deserve! Please don't look down on your students!"

Lu Zheng shook his head slightly and said nothing more.

When they arrived at a guest room, Lu Zheng said, "Please go back, Governor."

An Dingyuan smiled and said, "Okay, sir, go to bed early!"

After saying that, An Dingyuan left briskly.

Lu Zheng returned to his room, washed up, and lay on the bed, recalling the previous discussion and memorizing some important information.

"Governing a country and ensuring its people's safety... Even a powerful sage or emperor, even if they can establish moral laws to restrain the people, can hardly achieve long-term peace and stability."

Lu Zheng muttered to himself, "Isn't it strong enough? Could it be stronger than a saint..."

While thinking, Lu Zheng was exhausted and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, the sky was just getting light.

Lu Zheng sat up from the bed and went outside to read.

After a while, there was a knock on the door.

Then, Andingyuan came in with hot water for washing and tea.

"Please wash up, sir!" An Dingyuan said with a smile.

Lu Zheng looked at An Dingyuan for a while before saying, "Whether you are sincere or not, you don't have to do this again. I don't like this."

An Dingyuan quickly said, "I will obey you, sir. But this time, I will serve you."

As he spoke, An Dingyuan handed over a hot towel.

Lu Zheng accepted it calmly, and then drank the fragrant tea offered by An Dingyuan.

An Dingyuan watched with lowered head and his mood fluctuated.

A young man who is younger than him, respected as "Sir" by people like him, can still be so calm. His spirit is incomparable to ordinary people, like those extraordinary masters and grandmasters.

This kind of person can accomplish great things... An Dingyuan thought to himself.

"Just go and take care of your own business." Lu Zheng said.

An Dingyuan couldn't help but ask, "Breakfast is ready. Would you like to eat alone, or with us?"

Lu Zheng asked, "Is Miss An up?"

An Dingyuan whispered, "Gu hasn't slept all night and is still in the dining room thinking about things."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "There aren't many of you royal family members involved in politics, right?"

An Dingyuan thought for a moment and said, "Not many. Women are even in the minority. My eldest aunt is an exception. She is very outstanding and is valued by His Majesty..."

Lu Zheng nodded, "What about you?"

"Me?" An Dingyuan scratched his head. "Father wanted me to establish myself in a prestigious position, but there haven't been any major wars in recent years, so there haven't been any opportunities... My eldest aunt approached me a while ago and asked me to become a provincial governor to gain some experience."

"I heard you're an earl. Don't you have your own fiefdom to manage?"

"No, having a title doesn't necessarily mean you have a fiefdom. I've always been in Tai'an City and rarely went out before."

"I see. Take me to dinner."

"Sir please!"

……

An Dingyuan happily took Lu Zheng to the dining room, "Aunt, I brought Mr. Lu here. Do you want to have breakfast now?"

An Jing raised his head slightly, "Sir?"

An Dingyuan excitedly explained, "I've become Mr. Lu Zhengwei's apprentice! I'm going to learn from him!"

An Jing looked at Lu Zheng in surprise.

Lu Zheng smiled helplessly and shrugged.

Seeing Lu Zheng's expression, An Jing quickly guessed what was going on.

She couldn't help but nod and said, "That's good. You should learn more. If you make a mistake in the future and make the teacher angry, don't complain even if he beats you to death."

"Uh……"

An Dingyuan's expression changed slightly, and he thought to himself, this can't be the case, right?
An Jing smiled and said, "Lu Zheng, if you have time, you can discipline him more. If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful object."

Lu Zheng said, "I can't stay in Hongzhou City for long."

An Jing heard this and said, "I know you're someone who can't sit still. When will you go back to Kaiyang County?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "This... I don't have any plans for now."

Kaiyang County doesn't need him to do anything now, so he plans to travel outside for a while.

An Jing said, "Really? I was thinking of going to Kaiyang County with you to check out the situation. Since you're not going back right now, I'll go there myself... After all, as you said, only by personally investigating can I know the specifics and be qualified to speak."

"Aunt, are you leaving?" An Dingyuandao said.

An Jing said, "No rush. Let's wait until the Mid-Autumn Festival is over and things are settled here. Now that you have taken office, you should also go and handle official business."

An Dingyuan said quickly, "I'll go to the provincial government office in a minute!" Lu Zheng said, "I'll help out too. If there are any difficult issues, or if there are any difficult people, ghosts, or monsters to deal with, I'll lend a hand."

An Dingyuan blinked and whispered, "Sir, you are very powerful, but you also like fighting and killing?"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I still like to reason with people, but if I encounter someone who doesn't understand reason, or someone who has committed heinous crimes, then there's no need to do that."

"That makes sense..."

An Dingyuan nodded and agreed with it.

After the three of them had breakfast, they went about their business.

An Dingyuan took Lu Zheng out of the governor's mansion and rode in a carriage to the provincial government office.

Outside the governor's mansion, someone was secretly investigating the situation.

Many people knew yesterday that Lu Zheng went to the Governor's Mansion and did not come out all night, but today they saw Lu Zheng and An Dingyuan riding in the same car.

Some people can't help but feel that the situation in Hongzhou City is becoming increasingly wrong.

When they arrived at the gate of the provincial government, An Dingyuan lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, "Sir, please..."

Lu Zheng got off the carriage with a calm expression, and An Dingyuan followed him.

At the door, the two guards rubbed their eyes, thinking that they had not rested for several days and their eyes were blurry.

An Dingyuan brought Lu Zheng and a team of armored guards into the provincial government office.

Su Ming and a group of trusted subordinates were sorting out evidence when they heard footsteps and soon saw An Dingyuan and others coming over.

An Dingyuan said, "Master Su, how is the matter going? Do you need my help? I have brought some more people with me."

"This one……"

Su Ming thought that it would be wrong not to let An Dingyuan help, after all, the other party was now the governor of Hongzhou.

Let the other party help, he doesn't know An Dingyuan's true intention yet.

He couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng who came with him.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng said, "Master Su, please speak directly if you have anything to say."

Hearing this, Su Ming felt relieved and said, "The provincial government is indeed short of staff right now. The most important thing now is to convict those major families... There are some things I would like to discuss privately with the governor and Master Lu."

Su Ming waved his hand, and the other officials tactfully withdrew.

An Dingyuan also waved his hand and said, "You guys go out too!"

The soldiers left quickly without saying a word.

After the others left, Su Ming whispered, "Someone sent us some evidence of several families collaborating with the enemy and committing treason. However, after our investigation, we found that it might be slander, but we can't rule out this possibility..."

As he spoke, Su Ming took out some evidence and showed it to the two of them.

Lu Zheng took a look and found evidence of crimes committed by several large families, including the Gao family and the Yang family, but not the families that had attempted to assassinate him before.

Su Ming's eyes flickered as he asked, "Do you think this is true or false?"

An Dingyuan blinked his eyes. Given the current situation in Hongzhou City, this fake could become real with just a word, which was a perfect reason to punish these wealthy families.

He couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng next to him and asked, "What do you think, sir?"

Sir? Su Ming's eyes widened. What's going on?
He looked at the expressions of the two men and was surprised. How come Lu Zheng became the teacher of Governor An just by meeting him once?

He was busy in the provincial government. Did he miss something important?

Lu Zheng read it carefully and thought for a while, "It might be a spy from Wu who is interfering."

If a false accusation is made for a crime as serious as treason, the consequences will be severe.

Apart from people from other countries, other families in Hongzhou City are probably not stupid enough to fabricate such evidence.

"Then, is it invalid?" An Dingyuan asked, "This is a good opportunity to suppress them."

Lu Zheng looked at Su Ming and asked, "Without this evidence, can't we crush them?"

Su Ming said, "It's hard to say. We're still collecting evidence. For a large family like the Gao family, if there's no such evidence of genocide, at most they'll confiscate some of their property, detain some people, and execute them. It's a serious injury, but not fatal."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "A true man has his ways and his ways. If we use perjury to eliminate the core members of those families, we will only play into the hands of the people behind the scenes. How could they do such a thing with good intentions? We still need to investigate carefully."

An Dingyuan nodded when he heard this. "Sir, you are absolutely right. How can we allow outsiders to interfere with the affairs of our An Kingdom? Lord Su, please investigate further and don't be fooled by others."

Su Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, he really didn't hear it wrong...

He said, "Since both of you think so, I will send someone to investigate."

Lu Zheng asked, "Master Su, have you asked those families about this matter?"

"No, even if they did, they would definitely not admit it." Su Ming said.

Lu Zheng nodded. "Please, Lord Su, bring Patriarch Gao here. I'd like to speak with him. He should still be in jail, right?"

"He's here. After they provided evidence against each other yesterday, the core members of the family have been put in solitary confinement. I'll have someone bring him here." Su Ming said.

As he spoke, Su Ming walked out of the room to give orders.

An Dingyuan smiled and said, "Sir, I'll go around the state government office and get familiar with the environment."

After saying that, An Dingyuan left slowly.

Seeing An Dingyuan walking away, Su Ming asked curiously, "How did you become his husband?"

Lu Zheng said helplessly: "He insisted on worshipping me as his master, and I had no choice but to let him do it."

Su Ming opened his mouth and was speechless for a moment. How come you don't seem happy when a royal noble worships you as a master?

(End of this chapter)