Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 264 The visitor is a guest

Lu Zheng looked at the man in front of him. He saw that he was extraordinary. He seemed to have some confidence to be able to say such words.

After all, everyone knows that people who can sit in the first row must be famous and powerful.

If he were just an ordinary cultivator, he wouldn't be so obsessed with the first row seat.

Lu Zheng turned to look at the registration officer and asked, "Is there any room in the first row?"

"Yes." The official said quickly.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Then give this big brother a seat! You are a guest from afar, and I hope you have a good time in Hongzhou City."

A guest comes from afar... A hint of unnaturalness flashed in An Taixuan's eyes. He actually became a guest.

Upon hearing this, the official quickly took a sign and handed it to An Taixuan.

An Taixuan took a look, changed the seat card, and took out a small bag, "One hundred spirit stones, consider it as the seat I bought."

Lu Zheng waved his hand to signal the official to accept it, and said with a smile: "Lu thanks you on behalf of the people of Hongzhou."

"Hmm?" An Taixuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

Lu Zheng explained, "The money earned from selling seats must naturally be used to benefit the people."

"Of course?" An Taixuan chuckled. "I've seen many officials trying every possible way to collect money for their own selfish desires. But I've rarely seen anyone collecting money for the benefit of the people. How can this be natural?"

Lu Zheng said slowly, "The Way of Heaven is to reduce the excess and provide for the deficiency. This is the way of nature. The Way of Man is to reduce the deficiency and provide for the excess. This is caused by greed. There are indeed not many good officials in the world, so I hope that the officials of Hongzhou can set an example."

An Taixuan narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that Lu Zheng was so insightful at such a young age, which was truly extraordinary.

An Taixuan looked at the officials beside him and asked, "What if they can't do it?"

Lu Zhengdao said, "Strengthen ideological education. If that doesn't work, replace the people. There are so many people in the world, and we can always choose someone to govern the people... Of course, this is not something I can control. Your Excellency seems very interested in this aspect. Are you a renunciate cultivator?"

Lu Zheng felt that the person in front of him looked a bit like an official, perhaps an official like the censor who came from the court to investigate the situation in Hongzhou.

An Taixuan smiled faintly and said, "I'm just a little curious about you."

"Me?" Lu Zheng smiled. "There's nothing special about me. I just get a lot of compliments from others."

An Taixuan said quietly, "To be respected by the people and officials of Hongzhou is not something that everyone can do."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "It's just a small number of people. I don't know how many people are cursing me behind my back."

At this moment, Lu Zheng glanced sideways at a place not far away.

Several people in fancy clothes walked over.

The middle-aged man in the lead saw Lu Zheng's gaze, his expression paused, and he bowed and said, "Mr. Lu."

Lu Zheng smiled and replied, "Master Gao, why did you want to visit Wenmiao Mountain?"

Gao Yi said calmly, "I heard there's a celebration on Wenmiao Mountain tonight, so I brought my wife and daughter over to take a look."

He had sent his servants here before to reserve a few seats, but the government insisted that he register in person.

As a last resort, he had to bring his wife and daughters here early.

The reason for coming here is not to show support or take sides, but to let others know that even if their Gao family encounters a disaster, they can still stand firm in Hongzhou.

Gao Yi took out a storage bag and placed it on the table, then said, "Five people, fifty thousand taels of silver."

The registration official couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng.

Speaking of which, now that the Hongzhou government and the Gao family have almost become enemies, should they give them this position or not?
Lu Zheng noticed the official's gaze and just smiled slightly.

The official understood the meaning and decided that it would be a waste not to accept the silver.

He quickly took out the silver from the storage bag and gave the bag, seat card, and some small gifts to Gao Yi.

The official pointed to a place and said, "Your seats are over there. Don't make the wrong one."

Mrs. Gao next to her raised her eyebrows and looked over, the corners of her mouth twitching unnaturally.

There are only a few chairs. If you go to a teahouse to listen to a play, you can spend a few cents and get a table of your own, with someone serving you tea and water.

They could have just gone and grabbed some, but they were still given a few chairs to sit on.

"Master, this is too..." Mrs. Gao couldn't help but speak out.

A lot of the Gao family's property had been confiscated, and they had to squeeze out these 50,000 taels of silver with great difficulty.

Is it really worth it just for a little face?

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Everyone is the same. The Gao family can withdraw if they dislike it."

Gao Yi waved his hand and said, "It's fine. Let's go to the mountains and take a walk to relax. Mr. Lu, see you later."

After Gao Yi finished speaking, he walked away with his family and servants.

An Taixuan was watching with amusement from the side. How could the Gao family be saved and not be beaten to death?

An official whispered, "I didn't expect him to actually come. With fifty thousand taels of silver, the Gao family is indeed quite wealthy."

"Even a centipede dies, its legs remain stiff," said a nearby person. "The Gao family has some assets in the name of others, so our government can't confiscate them... He even wants to spend hundreds of thousands of taels to redeem his sons, but the elders disagree."

Soon, another group of wealthy people came over.

A middle-aged man said with a smile: "Master Lu is here!"

Lu Zheng looked at the middle-aged man and said with a bow, "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Li Mao, I am Li Yuan's uncle. Li Yuan often mentioned you in his letters before. Everyone has been busy recently and I really can't spare the time to come and see you... I heard that the government is going to hold a celebration here, so I brought my family to have a look and have fun together..." Li Mao greeted warmly.

Because of the Li family's wise choice, they took the initiative to deal with some people and things. Although they suffered a heavy loss, fortunately, no fundamental damage was done.

Moreover, the suppression of so many wealthy and powerful families actually improved the status of the Li family.

Lu Zheng and Li Mao chatted for a while, then asked the officials to arrange the seats according to regulations.

Li Mao had someone find out the details beforehand and generously paid a sum of money.

Lu Zhengdao said, "You can all walk around the mountain, or you can go sit down first. I won't disturb you."

"Okay, okay, go ahead and do your thing!" Li Mao said with a smile.

Lu Zheng turned to look for the officials who were organizing the celebration to see how the specific arrangements were made to avoid any omissions.

Yun Xiao walked around the mountain, looking for his destined person.

An Taixuan looked at the mountain, then walked down and went to other places for a walk.

……

At the governor's mansion, a luxurious carriage was parked outside the gate.

A charming maid emerged from the carriage and approached the door, inquiring, "The Princess of Fengcheng County has arrived. Is Governor An at home?"

Upon hearing this, the guard quickly said, "The master is in the mansion. I will go and report to him!"

In the governor's mansion, An Dingyuan was training with several subordinates. When he heard the report from the visitor, his expression froze.

"What? The Fengcheng County Lord is here?"

An Dingyuan glared. That one hadn't left yet, so why did another one come?
He hurried over in a hurry and tidied his appearance in a panic.

When he arrived outside the mansion and saw the carriage and horses, An Dingyuan walked over with a smile on his face.

A beautifully dressed young girl lifted the carriage curtain, looked at An Dingyuan who was striding towards her, and said leisurely, "Dingyuan, it really is you!"

An Dingyuan laughed, "Aunt Anyang, why did you come all the way here?"

Anyang stood up and got off the car. "Fengzhou is not far from Hongzhou. I heard that you came to Hongzhou to serve as the governor, so I came to see you. I was worried that you would be lonely spending the Mid-Autumn Festival alone."

"It's rare that Aunt Anyang still cares about her nephew." An Dingyuan couldn't help but say.

Anyang smiled and said, "You guys in Hongzhou have been causing a lot of trouble recently, and it's all spread around. It's hard for me not to know about you."

Anyang walked into the governor's mansion, and An Dingyuan followed closely beside him.

Anyang asked again: "Where is Lu Zheng now?"

"Ok?"

An Dingyuan's eyes moved slightly. Could it be that Anyang was also here to see Lu Zheng? He had heard that Anyang and Lu Zheng had met before.

He quickly replied: "Sir, he went outside."

"Sir?" Anyang couldn't help but glance at An Dingyuan, "You became his student?"

She had previously wanted to invite Mr. Lu Zhengzheng, but was rejected.

An Dingyuan grinned and said, "He didn't accept any students, so I shamelessly respected him as a teacher."

"Tsk tsk." Anyang said in amazement, "Why do you want to worship him as a teacher?"

An Dingyuan said seriously: "Sir, you have great talent!"

Anyang thought that she had already discovered that Lu Zheng was involved in the recent series of events in Hongzhou, so she came to watch the fun.

As soon as she entered the city, she heard that Lu Zheng had published a masterpiece that would be passed down through the ages, which surprised her greatly.

Anyang nodded and said, "He is indeed quite talented. I wanted to recruit him before, but he didn't want to."

"Really?"

An Dingyuan thought that even An Jing couldn't recruit Lu Zheng and could only treat him with courtesy, without even the slightest airs of a princess. How could An Yang possibly win over Lu Zheng?
At this time, An Jing walked over and said with a smile: "Anyang, you are here."

Anyang looked at An Jing, his expression stunned for a moment, then he said happily: "Sister An Jing, why are you here? It's been a long time since we last met, I missed you so much!"

Anyang was sure that he had not made a mistake, so he pounced directly into Anjing's arms and laughed happily.

An Jing rubbed An Yang's head and said lovingly, "I haven't seen you for a while. You've grown up a lot."

Anyang buried his head and said in a muffled voice, "The emperor's sister is more beautiful than before!"

Anyang turned and looked up, wondering, "It's Mid-Autumn Festival today, why is my sister here?"

She didn't expect that she would meet this eldest imperial sister when she came to Hongzhou.

"I have some things to do." An Jing smiled.

"Oh!" Anyang couldn't help but say, "So the emperor sister isn't going back home for the festival? Why don't you come to my house to celebrate the festival? It's not too late to rush to Fengzhou now."

An Jing smiled and said, "Don't bother. Why don't you stay and celebrate the festival? I heard that the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hongzhou this year is a little different."

"Hmm?" Anyang asked curiously, "Is there any difference?"

An Jing said, "I'm not sure either. Come on, let me change my clothes and go for a walk."

"Okay, okay, it's been a long time since I played with my royal sister!" Anyang said happily.

(End of this chapter)