Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 266: God’s Will and the People’s Will
The sweet rain from heaven moistens everything silently.

It is the Mid-Autumn Festival and all the grass is withering.

The Wenmiao Mountain has regained its vitality, with grass sprouting, lush greenery, and flowers blooming, creating a vibrant scene.

When the common people saw the change in the scenery and felt themselves being moistened by the rain, they were all excited and could not help themselves.

"The saint has appeared!"

Some people knelt on the ground in excitement.

For a time, many people knelt down and worshipped towards the Confucian Temple with piety in their hearts.

Some people, even if they did not kneel down, could not sit still. They stood up and looked up at the Confucian Temple on the top of the mountain, basking in the blessings.

Ruyu raised her palm to feel the raindrops falling, her eyes sparkling with brilliance. She never thought that even a monster like her could be so lucky as to receive the blessing of the saint.

Yun Xiao looked at the colorful and auspicious clouds in the sky and thought to himself that his trip to Hongzhou was not in vain, as he could encounter all kinds of things.

He couldn't help but glance at Lu Zheng again, thinking that maybe Lu Zheng was really a man of great luck, and unusual things happened wherever he went.

Lu Zheng looked at An Jing beside him and asked in a low voice: "Is this really the grace of the saint?"

This kind of scene was the first time he had personally experienced it, and he didn't quite understand the situation.

"Yeah." An Jing responded softly.

A trace of confusion appeared on Lu Zheng's face, and he asked puzzledly: "So, why is this happening?"

He had never heard of anything like this happening during the Mid-Autumn Festival before. Even when the Confucian Temple held grand ceremonies before, such a scene had never occurred.

Could it be that the saint also paid attention to the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in Hongzhou?

An Jing fell silent upon hearing this. How could she know what her ancestor was thinking?

Suddenly, she looked to the side and found that the person next to her had disappeared without a trace.

An Dingyuan was so excited that he smiled and said, "It must be the sage who saw us. Oh my, the sage's grace is so great!"

"Sir, you are Sir. Let us organize such a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration that even the saints are paying attention to it!"

Apart from this, An Dingyuan really couldn't think of any other reason that could make the saint bestow his grace.

"This……"

Gao Yi had a complicated expression. His weak body was nourished by the spiritual rain, but he felt uncomfortable inside.

He was unwilling to believe what was happening before his eyes or what An Dingyuan said, but it was obvious that a saint would not bestow blessings without reason.

Many people couldn't help but turn their eyes to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng was staring at someone, feeling confused and unable to help but say, "I don't know anything. This is the grace bestowed upon everyone by the saint, not just for me..."

After a while, the colorful clouds dissipated, and the full moon hung in the night sky, illuminating the entire mountain.

Lu Zhengdao: "Continue with the planned arrangements and organize people to go to the mountain to release prayer lanterns..."

An Dingyuan quickly ordered his subordinates to organize activities and maintain order.

Then, everyone went up the mountain first.

On the mountain, there are prayer lanterns purchased by the government, and anyone who comes to watch the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration can get one for free.

Lu Zheng picked up one at random, picked up his pen and wrote the four words "Peace and Prosperity for the Country and the People", then lit the lamp and released the prayer lantern.

Anyang, who was standing nearby, saw this and couldn't help but smile and said, "Why don't you pray to become a great scholar?"

Lu Zheng smiled faintly upon hearing this. "If I work hard on this kind of thing, maybe it will be possible. Why should I pray to the heavens?"

Anyang said with a sigh, "You are quite arrogant."

"It's man-made."

Lu Zheng raised his head slightly, looking at the prayer lanterns rising all over the sky, wondering if God could really see this scene.

……

Tai'an City, Wensheng Mountain.

An Taixuan stood outside the Holy Palace and said leisurely, "Taixuan, come and pay your respects to the ancestor!"

There was a gentle breeze, and in the blink of an eye, An Taixuan disappeared from the spot.

Inside the palace, an old man with white hair sat cross-legged in the center with his back to An Taixuan.

"Ancestor..."

An Taixuan bowed respectfully.

The old man said calmly, "Are you here for the Hongzhou matter?"

An Taixuan's expression changed slightly, and he said, "Yes, I wonder why the ancestor would pay attention to that place?"

The old man said slowly, "I sensed public outcry there, so I went to take a look..."

An Taixuan's eyes flickered. To be honest, the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration had caused quite a stir. If the public outcry aroused the ancestors' curiosity, it was reasonable.

But he was a little surprised that the blessing was bestowed directly.

He knew the old ancestor's condition very well. He had already reached the stage of old age and had lost a bit of his holy power. It would not be easy to make up for it.

The old man said quietly, "How can one govern a country without the support of the people? If one cannot govern a country, how can one maintain one's destiny? In the end, one will be forsaken by heaven."

"Our An family carries the will of heaven and the people's hearts, and has been established for hundreds of years... All things rise and fall, and so do nations. If you want to last forever, as the emperor of a country, you must devote all your energy to it."

Upon hearing this, An Taixuan quickly said, "This generation will definitely not let our ancestors down."

The old man sighed, "It's not easy to govern a country!"

An Taixuan thought that it was indeed not easy, but this was not the time for him to complain.

The old man paused and said, "That young man has great luck, so treat him well." An Taixuan was shocked. Even the ancestor said so. It seems that Lu Zheng is even better than he thought.

"I'll ask An Jing to bring him back and train him?" An Taixuan couldn't help but say.

How could he neglect a young man whom even his ancestors cared about?

The old man said calmly, "There's no need to interfere. Tai'an City isn't a good place. Those who can accomplish great things should have their own paths to follow. Didn't he say he wanted to surpass his predecessors? Let's see what kind of path he can carve out."

"As an old man, I'm also looking forward to it. I wonder if I can wait until that day..."

An Taixuan said quickly: "The ancestor must be longer-lived than the country, he will definitely see it."

"Haha." The old man smiled lightly. "I know my situation well. Just do your own thing and don't worry about me. Go down!"

An Taixuan said respectfully, "Grandfather, please take care of your health. I will take my leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, An Taixuan had already left the palace.

He looked at the Holy Palace in front of him, and a solemn look appeared on his face.

"Lu Zheng..."

An Taixuan whispered softly, thinking carefully about what his ancestor had just said, and ultimately decided not to act on his own.

……

Lu Zheng stood on the top of the mountain, watching the people returning one after another from the foot of the mountain.

"It's finally over successfully." Lu Zheng couldn't help but say.

The Mid-Autumn Festival celebration ended and everything was better than he had imagined.

An Dingyuan beside him said quietly, "Lord Su and I still have a lot to do."

Anyang said with a smile: "Will you still do this for festivals in the future? It's quite interesting. I will come again next time!"

An Dingyuan couldn't help but say, "Of course. But Aunt Anyang can just ask the officials of Fengzhou to organize such an event. Why bother with so much trouble..."

"They?" Anyang raised his eyebrows. "They don't have the mind or ability to do that."

Anyang is younger than everyone else, but he is smart and he knows at a glance that such a celebration is not easy to organize.

The officials in Fengzhou who were just sitting there doing nothing were simply not capable of holding such a celebration, and even the common people might not be willing to attend.

Anyang looked at Lu Zheng and couldn't help but ask, "Lu Zheng, do you want to go to Fengzhou and deal with some people?"

Lu Zheng looked sideways when he heard this. The reason he was able to suppress some wealthy and powerful families in Hongzhou was because of the cooperation of the Hongzhou government.

It will probably be difficult to do the same thing in other places in the future.

Those wealthy families are not fools and will not wait for him, Lu Zheng, to find something to hold against them.

If the powerful families and the government were to collude with each other, it would be even more difficult to deal with.

After all, a person's power is limited.

Moreover, the more people are suppressed and the wider the scope of involvement, the more likely it is that chaos will occur, which will not be worth the cost.

Some things are not as simple as we think.

Otherwise, why would even the imperial court be unable to do anything about those aristocratic families and be unable to eradicate them completely?

Lu Zhengdao: "Let's talk about it later. I'm not that capable yet... Life is tough."

An Jing couldn't help but ask, "What kind of world do you imagine it to be like?"

"I imagined it?" Lu Zheng smiled and looked at the Confucian Temple not far away. "I'd better not talk about this kind of thing, lest you think I'm rebellious and fanciful..."

Upon hearing this, everyone became curious and their interest was piqued.

An Dingyuan whispered, "How about we go back and talk somewhere else?"

Lu Zheng said leisurely: "Actually, there's nothing much to say. It's just a world of peace. You can imagine it yourself."

Seeing that most of the people at the foot of the mountain had left, Lu Zheng also started to walk down the mountain.

The group each took a carriage back to the governor's mansion.

On the way, we also met some common people, who all looked at us with respect from the bottom of their hearts.

An Jing lifted the car curtain and looked outside, whispering, "This place is more popular than Tai'an City."

"Tai'an City..." Anyang thought about it, "It's really not that good there."

When Anyang was young, he also spent some time in Tai'an City. He felt that although it was prosperous, it was depressing and not something that most people could endure.

Seeing that no one was around, Anyang took Anjing's arm and said excitedly, "If you are done with your work, would you like to come over to my place and play?"

An Jing looked at An Yang and said, "I'm busy. If you have so much free time, come with me for a walk in a couple of days."

"Hey? Where are we going?" Anyang became interested when he heard that.

An Jing said: "Let's go to Kaiyang County and take a look."

"Kaiyang County?" Anyang blinked. "Lu Zheng is from there, right? Let him take us there?"

Before, Anyang thought that An Jing and Lu Zheng did not know each other, but she learned from An Dingyuan that they had known each other for a long time, even earlier than her.

An Jing said: "Him? He has his own things to do. It's fine for the two of us to go, without bringing anyone else."

"Hmm? Is that so? That's great!" Anyang said cheerfully, "What are we going to do?"

An Jing said, "Go and see how the people live."

"Huh?" Anyang was stunned, not quite understanding the meaning. "Royal sister, you're doing something like this yourself? You can't send a servant? Why does she have to go there? Why not somewhere else?"

An Jing couldn't help but pinch An Yang's cheek and said with a smile: "You, it seems that you have been spoiled for too long. You need to go with me more often to see the world."

(End of this chapter)