Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 242: Clear Stream in Turbid Times
"This governor is really..."

Su Ming didn't know what words to use to describe it.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Master Su, if you have any questions, you can discuss them with him. After all, you will be working together in the future, so you should communicate more."

Su Ming blinked and whispered, "I feel relieved when you say that."

After saying that, Su Ming also left.

After a while, the head of the Gao family was taken there.

When Patriarch Gao saw that Lu Zheng was the only one in the room, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"why you?"

Before coming, Patriarch Gao thought it was the governor or the new provincial governor who wanted to see him, but it turned out to be Lu Zheng.

He really didn't want to see this young man at all.

Lu Zheng said, "Is Patriarch Gao surprised? You look a little more haggard than before."

Upon hearing this, Patriarch Gao's mouth twitched, and he said in a cold tone, "What do you want from me?"

Lu Zheng handed some evidence to Patriarch Gao, "Take a look?"

The head of the Gao family's expression changed slightly. He took it and took a look. His face suddenly changed, "This is slander! Our Gao family has never done these things!"

Lu Zheng said slowly, "I heard there are witnesses and physical evidence. It's hard to say that your Gao family hasn't done these things."

"You!" Patriarch Gao glared angrily, "You want to punish our Gao family this way? I will not plead guilty!"

Lu Zheng smiled faintly, "Why is Patriarch Gao so angry? The matter is still under investigation... Not only your Gao family, but also the Yang and Song families..."

Lu Zheng also showed the other evidence to the head of the Gao family.

The head of the Gao family was horrified. "This, there must be someone behind this, trying to frame us! At least my Gao family is innocent. I want to see Lord Su, I want to see the governor!"

Lu Zhengdao: "Whatever Patriarch Gao wants to say, just tell me."

Patriarch Gao looked at Lu Zheng and frowned, "Who are you?"

"Ok?"

Lu Zheng immediately reacted and said with a smile: "I'm just an ordinary person. I'm from Kaiyang County, everyone knows it. Why does Master Gao have such doubts?"

Patriarch Gao was unconvinced and asked, "If that's the case, then why are you in charge? Just because you received a divine gift?"

Lu Zheng said slowly, "Everything started with me, so I think I still have a say. Patriarch Gao, do you think the higher-ups are deliberately suppressing you?"

"Isn't it?" Patriarch Gao glared.

"No." Lu Zheng shook his head, "At least I haven't heard of it."

The expression on the head of the Gao family's face changed constantly. "How is this possible? The provincial government is so cooperative with you, and there's also that new governor, who's a member of the royal family..."

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Some things are coincidental. For example, I received the Holy Gift and the new governor came... Even if I didn't receive the Holy Gift and the provincial government refused to cooperate, I would still do the same. Lord Su did this simply to follow the trend. Without their help, things would just be a little more complicated."

Patriarch Gao couldn't help but take a few steps back. Did they just scare themselves?
"Why are you doing this?"

Patriarch Gao still didn't understand Lu Zheng's thoughts.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "I think I told Patriarch Gao about this before? You guys committed a crime, shouldn't you be punished? For justice, for the people... If I were to pursue fame, wouldn't it be easier to become famous by befriending wealthy families like you?"

The Gao family took a deep breath. "For the sake of a few common people, you want to wipe out all of our big families. My Gao family's hundreds of years of foundation..."

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "It's a legacy that has been built over hundreds of years, and you've exploited others to build up your fortune. You're saying this as if you're being wronged."

A hint of displeasure flashed across the Gao family's face. "It's their fate. It's been like this since ancient times. If our Gao family doesn't do those things, will others not do them? Young man, you think the world is too beautiful."

"It's always been this way, so it's right?" Lu Zheng said calmly, "Since Patriarch Gao thinks there's nothing wrong with it, and judging you according to national law is even more reasonable, then don't complain. This is fate."

The corner of Gao's mouth twitched, and he was speechless for a moment.

Lu Zheng added: "I didn't come here to talk to you about some great principles. After all, we have different philosophies, so some things don't make sense.

I asked you to come here so that I could show you the evidence."

"You can take these things back and show them to others. I'll give you a chance to write letters to your tribe members outside and ask them to cooperate with the investigation. Wouldn't it be better to close the case as soon as possible?"

"So as to prevent your people from becoming panic-stricken and doing something out of line even though they haven't colluded with the enemy or betrayed their country."

"As for you, I don't know if you can get out of the cell. If you can get out of the prison and still hold a grudge against Lu, I will accompany you to the end at any time."

Patriarch Gao was silent for a moment, then looked at Lu Zheng deeply. "This time, you win. Young people act without regard for the consequences. Sooner or later, you will fall flat on your face."

There are some clear streams in this world, but in this turbid world, how many people can have a good ending?

Patriarch Gao looked at Lu Zheng, and there was even a hint of regret in his eyes.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Don't worry, Patriarch Gao. At least I'm fine now. Doing the things at hand well is more important than anything else, isn't it?"

Patriarch Gao said nothing more and turned to leave.

Not long after the head of the Gao family left, Su Ming appeared.

He chuckled and said, "That guy surnamed Gao used to be very arrogant when he saw me, but it was you who managed to make him submit completely."

Lu Zhengdao: "The situation is different. He is a prisoner now. How can he be so arrogant?"

"That's right." Su Ming nodded. "Now that another governor has arrived, Hongzhou City is much quieter today than it was the past two days. The families have shut themselves up and dared not venture out." "Last night, I heard that some students wanted to gather together to put pressure on the provincial government, but there's been no movement today..."

In the past, the provincial government did not dare to arrest people with meritorious service.

The situation is different now. With so many cases happening, people can be locked up and interrogated for any reason.

Naturally, those students did not dare to take the lead.

Su Ming said leisurely, "After this incident, the public security in Hongzhou City will be much better in the future."

Lu Zheng asked: "Is there anything difficult now?"

Su Ming thought for a moment and said, "There aren't any difficult problems. It's just that there are too many things happening at once, and the provincial government is understaffed. As a result, some assassins and spies from the Wu Kingdom seem to have escaped from the provincial capital. We can only issue a wanted notice, and it's probably difficult to find them."

"The officials in Hongzhou City are barely managing to maintain peace in the city, and they don't have time to go out and clean up..."

"Those families have a lot of businesses outside, so they're busy."

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll go for a walk outside."

"Are you alone? It might be dangerous." Su Ming couldn't help but say.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "It's better to be dangerous. Instead of letting me go find them, wouldn't it be better for them to come find me? I'm just worried that they will really run away and won't dare to deal with me again."

Su Ming pondered and said, "Okay, with your ability, they shouldn't be able to do anything to you."

Lu Zheng walked out of the room and saw An Dingyuan appear not far away.

An Dingyuan approached excitedly, "Sir, are you done with the discussion?"

Lu Zheng asked, "How many people did you bring with you to Hongzhou City?"

An Dingyuan whispered, "Just count my people, twenty or so. I could have brought a hundred, but we were in a hurry, and we wanted to keep a low profile when entering the city, so...what's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "Hongzhou City is short-staffed. Please ask those who haven't come yet to come earlier. You stay at the provincial government office to help with official business. I'll be out for a while."

An Dingyuan nodded and said quickly: "No problem, I'll listen to you, sir!"

After saying that, An Dingyuan waved to a soldier and said, "Go and send a message, have my men come over!"

The soldier received the order and left in a hurry.

Lu Zheng spoke a few more words to An Dingyuan, then left the government office and headed out of Hongzhou City.

Along the way, Lu Zheng discovered that not only were there fewer pedestrians, but many shops were also closed, and it no longer had the bustling and lively atmosphere it had when he first arrived.

Of course, this is only temporary. Lu Zhengzheng believes that after a while, Hongzhou City will be more popular than before.

Walking on the wide and flat road, there is no one in front or behind.

Lu Zheng quickened his pace, casually made a hand gesture, and suddenly his feet became like the wind, and his whole figure left a shadow.

Feeling his body lighten, Lu Zheng couldn't help but think that the little spell he bought from Yun Xiao was really good.

Soon, Lu Zheng's figure quickly disappeared into the mountains and forests.

In a forest, birds were singing happily.

Soon, many birds gathered together, standing next to each other, chirping and making a lively scene.

In the sky, there are big birds hovering and monitoring the surroundings.

Lu Zheng took out some pills and fed them to the birds.

When targeting the major families, Lu Zheng sent a message to the birds in the city, asking them to leave the city as much as possible to avoid being affected.

And let them pay more attention to some situations outside the city.

After some communication, Lu Zheng actually got some useful information from a few birds.

Lu Zheng integrated the information he had looked up in the past few days and decided to go to the nearest place first.

So Lu Zheng let the birds disperse, and then, led by one or two birds, walked quickly in the mountains.

After crossing mountains and rivers, we arrived at a village.

This is a large village relatively close to Hongzhou City, with several gentry families.

A family in Hongzhou City has property here.

There was also a relatively famous squire in the village who often helped poor families. His name was Wu Fu and he was known as the great good man Wu.

When we arrived outside the village, we saw some villagers still working in the fields.

Obviously, the events that happened in Hongzhou City have not affected the daily lives of these people.

"Hey, is it Mr. Lu?"

When a man saw Lu Zheng, he couldn't help but exclaimed.

Lu Zheng touched his face. He had originally wanted to enter the village in a low-key manner, but he was recognized so quickly.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng smiled back, "Does this big brother recognize me?"

The man said excitedly, "Of course I don't recognize you. I even went to the Astronomical Temple Ceremony a few days ago. Everyone in our village knows you now. They say you are a very lucky person, the incredible Wenquxing! How did Master Lu come to us?"

(End of this chapter)