Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 250 Unparalleled in the limelight
"So many! These families are really rich!"

An Dingyuan's eyes sparkled and he couldn't help but feel surprised.

In the spacious warehouse, there were mountains of gold, silver, jewelry, and spiritual objects, almost filling up the entire room, and there were countless of them.

An Dingyuan smacked his lips. Even his own treasure house didn't contain so many things.

The foundation of these Hongzhou families is really rich.

Su Ming, who was standing aside, whispered, "Master An, this is only a part of it. Some family private property has not yet been confiscated and put into the warehouse."

"Tsk tsk..."

An Dingyuan came to a box, reached out and grabbed a handful of spirit stones, took a deep breath, and felt refreshed.

After a while, An Dingyuan collected his expression and said calmly, "Pack up all the valuables here and send them to Tai'an! I will write another memorial to His Majesty, reporting the situation here! I'm afraid someone is impeaching me right now... What do you think, Lord Su?"

It would be too much trouble if all these valuables were left in the provincial government office.

At least we have to hand over a portion of it to Your Majesty as a sign of loyalty!
An Dingyuan narrowed his eyes and made some calculations in his mind.

Upon hearing this, Su Ming couldn't help but say, "Your Excellency is wise!"

An Dingyuan waved his hand and asked his men to start working.

He himself was writing documents quickly on the side.

In a short while, the huge warehouse was emptied.

An Dingyuan sent someone to take the property and memorials to Tai'an as soon as possible.

Looking at the empty warehouse, An Dingyuan said sadly, "Ah, it's gone in an instant..."

Su Ming whispered, "Don't worry, Master An, this place will be full soon."

An Dingyuan walked out of the warehouse slowly with his hands behind his back, sighing, "It's full, and there's no place for me! Don't let me come over next time. Out of sight, out of mind."

With An Jing and Lu Zheng paying attention to this matter, he didn't have the courage to take any treasures here and keep them for himself.

Even if Lu Zheng didn't teach An Jing a lesson, An Jing would probably be beaten so badly that he wouldn't be able to get out of bed for half a month.

Thinking of some past events, An Dingyuan couldn't help but shiver.

Su Ming lowered his head and followed silently behind. He had met some people from the royal family before, but this one was really a little different.

……

An Dingyuan's subordinates arrived at the provincial prison.

The officer walked into the prison, inspected the cells, and asked, "Where is Zheng Yu?"

An officer quickly led his subordinates to the cell where Zheng Yu was.

When the official saw Zheng Yu, he said calmly, "The affairs of the Zheng family have been thoroughly investigated. You can leave now!"

The official took out an official document and signaled the officers to release the man.

The officer checked the document and saw that it was indeed the approval from above, so he quickly looked for the key to open the door.

At this time, the people in other cells looked sideways when they heard this. They didn't expect that Zheng Yu was the first to come in and the first to be released.

However, some people think that this is reasonable when they think about the relationship between Zheng Yu and Lu Zheng.

Zheng Yu has put himself in this situation, and now that the matter is about to be settled, it is time to let him go.

Zheng Yu couldn't help but ask, "I'm not guilty?"

The official said calmly, "You are not guilty, but some of your relatives and servants are, and have been convicted and sentenced. By the way, one of your sons has been sentenced to a year in prison, with corvée labor, and is currently imprisoned in the state jail. Would you like to visit him? It would save you the trouble of making another trip later."

Zheng Yu was stunned for a moment, and then the stone in his heart fell to the ground.

He quickly bowed and said, "Please lead the way, sir."

The official nodded slightly, turned around and left slowly.

Zheng Yu hurriedly followed behind to visit his son and other relatives.

The other people in the cell were in turmoil. It turned out that this was really a case of sacrificing one's own family for the sake of justice.

They couldn't help but worry about what charges the county government would bring against them.

Zheng Yu visited a few people and then left the provincial government office.

When we left the government office, Madam Zheng had been waiting outside in a carriage for a long time.

Seeing Zheng Yu coming out, Madam Zheng couldn't help wiping away her tears.

Zheng Yu took a deep breath and said calmly, "It's not proper to cry so much! Come home with me, I'm not dead yet!"

Zheng Yu pulled Madam Zheng into the carriage.

Madam Zheng finally spoke up, "You're fine, but Ling'er has been sentenced and is in jail. The county magistrate just informed me... You have to think of a solution!"

Zheng Yu sat there expressionless. "What can I do? I've already met with Ling'er and told him to serve his sentence well and not overthink it."

Zheng Yu understood that with such a result, the state government had given him a lenient punishment.

"Don't think too much. What will happen to his reputation if he goes to jail?" Old Madam Zheng said quietly.

Zheng Yu said coldly, "When he was doing his awful deeds, did he ever think about his father's reputation? He even cared about his reputation? Some people today want to go to jail, but they don't even have the luck to do so!"

He was in prison, and knew little about the outside world, but he did learn something from the occasional conversations among the guards. Several families were found guilty of treason, and anyone who resisted arrest was executed on the spot, without mercy.

Zheng Yu paused and asked, "How is things at home now?"

"How is it? You went to the county government office to turn yourself in, so I had to ask for help everywhere, but no one could help. I had to pay money to atone for my crime. It cost a lot of money. I gave away many of the paintings in your painting house, but it still didn't make up for the crime. Those officials insisted on sentencing them and locking them up..." Madam Zheng said, "The house is a mess now. You can go back and clean it up. I can't take care of it anymore."

Zheng Yu said, "They didn't have their house confiscated? That's still a bit of a face-saver for me, Zheng. Just sentence them. They should reflect on their actions, especially those from your mother's family... By the way, where's Brother Lu?"

Madam Zheng raised an eyebrow and said, "Lu Zheng, you're still thinking about him. I heard that it was he who brought up those charges and forced you to go to the provincial government office... He's on good terms with Lord Su and the new governor now, so there's no need for you to worry about him."

Zheng Yu frowned and said, "What are you talking about? You've been out there these days, haven't you seen the situation in Hongzhou City clearly? If it weren't for Brother Lu, do you think our Zheng family would be safe?"

Madam Zheng remained silent. It wasn't that she couldn't see the situation clearly, she was just a little angry.

Seeing this, Zheng Yu sighed and said, "I know what you're thinking. But as a person, you can't be short-sighted. I'm lucky to be able to befriend someone like Brother Lu..."

Just then, there was a commotion in the street.

"Old Li, stop setting up your stall. Come on, come on, let's go see what's going on!"

"what happened?"

"Master Lu is back from outside! I heard he captured a group of traitors and rescued some people from monsters..."

"Who?"

"Lu Zheng, who else could it be!"

"Hmm? Then I have to go take a look. Lao Zhang, can you help me keep an eye on the stall?"

"Who can help you check it? I want to go and take a look too. Just leave it there. Is there anyone who dares to steal or rob on the street now?"

"That's right, let's go!"

Nowadays, all the wealthy and powerful families in Hongzhou City have been imprisoned as examples. Now the petty thieves in the city dare not hang around outside. It has reached the point where no one picks up things on the streets, and the public security is very good.

After hearing this, Zheng Yu quickly asked the coachman to stop the car and went to take a look himself.

On a street, Lu Zheng and two constables led about a hundred people to the provincial government office.

Many of the victims among the hundred or so were in poor physical condition. Lu Zheng was worried about them, so he escorted them all the way back.

Because the journey was quite long, it took them nearly two days to reach Hongzhou City.

Nearby, some passersby watched curiously.

Lu Zheng saw many people walking on the street. It was obvious that these ordinary people had returned to their normal lives.

When some people saw Lu Zheng, they all started to greet him.

One man clasped his fists in gratitude and said loudly, "Thanks to Master Lu, we, the common people, have a way to redress our grievances and make the evildoers suffer their punishment!"

When everyone heard this, they all praised it generously, and the atmosphere became very lively.

Seeing this, the patrolling guards rushed over to maintain order to avoid any conflict.

Seeing the people's enthusiasm, Lu Zheng smiled in return.

On a pavilion, Ruyu saw this scene and said leisurely, "Mr. Lu is truly worthy of close friendship. Go and find out when he's free. I'll go visit him in person later."

"Yes." A maid next to her responded.

Ruyu looked at the hustle and bustle outside and remembered that a few days ago, someone from the provincial government came to the study and took a look around, but did not do anything. She then understood the government's attitude.

In another teahouse, several people saw this scene and their eyes flickered.

Someone whispered, "The case at the state government office seems to be almost over, but those families haven't been... Moreover, the officials at the state government office seem to be looking for the source of the charges. It seems our plan has failed."

"You didn't get fooled, or you just don't dare? Well, we don't have to do anything, this guy's reputation is already at its peak." Someone said.

"He is very powerful now. Even the governor who came is close to him. It may be difficult to deal with him." said one person.

"Lord Yang has left, and there are no new instructions yet. We'll just have to watch and wait, lest we get caught up in it ourselves..."

Lu Zheng was on his way to the provincial government office when he suddenly caught sight of Zheng Yu standing on the side of the road.

When Zheng Yu saw Lu Zheng looking at him, he couldn't help but smile and nodded.

Lu Zheng walked forward and said with a smile, "Old Zheng, you're out now. You look haggard. Is the food in the state government office not good?"

Zheng Yu smiled and said, "That's not the case. I'm just not used to living here... I heard you were assassinated. Is it okay?"

He even admired Lu Zheng a little. He had encountered an assassination attempt before, but he still dared to go alone to arrest the criminals and rescue the people. He was even more dedicated than those officials.

Zheng Yu didn't take what happened to him seriously at all and felt it was nothing.

If his descendants had even a little bit of Lu Zheng's talent, why would he go to jail at such an old age?

"I'm fine." Lu Zheng said, "I've been busy outside these days, so I don't know how your Zheng family is doing..."

Zheng Yu said, "I just came out of the state government office and need to go home to take care of things. When you have some free time, can we have a drink together?"

"No problem!" Lu Zheng smiled and nodded.

"Then I'll go back, you're busy too!" Zheng Yu waved his hand and turned to leave.

Seeing Zheng Yu walking away, Lu Zheng withdrew his gaze and continued to follow the crowd.

(End of this chapter)