Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 281 Focus on the heart
Hearing Song Ming's suggestion, Lu Zheng couldn't help but nodded slightly, "Let's follow County Magistrate Song's words. I will go and tell them."

Lu Zheng brought these people here just to build momentum, not to really attack the city or kill officials.

If a crowd gathers to kill an official, even if nothing happens to him afterwards, these people will probably not have a good outcome.

Thousands of people have been exhausted from the journey and have been exploited too harshly before, so they really need to settle down and rest.

When Song Ming saw Lu Zheng agreed, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as we can delay time, there is a chance that things will turn around.

He said quickly, "Thank you for your help, Mr. Lu. Once those people are settled, I will welcome you back home!"

Lu Zheng smiled faintly, "Why bother with so much trouble? Let's talk about it later."

"Okay, okay!" Song Ming nodded repeatedly.

After saying that, Lu Zheng flew directly to the foot of the mountain and asked Zhao Ping and other team leaders to take their men to camp at a suitable location at the foot of the mountain.

Lu Zheng looked at everyone and said sincerely, "Everyone, rest assured. Within two days, I will give everyone a satisfactory result and ensure that everyone can live in peace from now on."

These people had followed Lu Zheng all the way and already trusted him very much. After hearing what Lu Zheng said, they didn't ask any more questions and went to rest with peace of mind.

Then, Lu Zheng instructed Qing Wan to do some things separately.

Qing Wan carefully took note of Lu Zheng's arrangements, and then sneaked into the city alone.

But after a while, Lu Zheng felt relieved when he saw that these people were acting in an orderly manner.

He went to Qianshan City alone again, jumped onto the city wall, and entered Qianshan County.

Lu Zheng looked around and saw that Song Ming had disappeared.

Someone said, "The county magistrate has already returned to his residence. Mr. Lu, please follow me."

When Lu Zheng learned that Song Ming had gone back first, he already had some guesses.

Then, the guards led Lu Zheng to the county magistrate's residence and took him to a living room to wait.

The housekeeper came forward and said respectfully, "Mr. Lu, please wait a moment. The master has gone to undress and will be back in a moment."

The steward paused and then asked, "Mr. Lu, you've been traveling all the way here. Do you need to take a shower or change clothes? We always have hot water and clean clothes in the mansion..."

Lu Zheng waved his hand and said, "No need to bother. I'm perfectly clean."

"Yes, yes." The steward nodded repeatedly.

After a while, Song Ming came in after changing his clothes.

"Oh, thank you for keeping Mr. Lu waiting! I thought it would take you a long time to resettle those people, so I came back first..." Song Ming said with a smile, "Let's drink some spiritual tea. This is a spiritual tea produced in Shu Kingdom. It has a unique flavor. Try it..."

Song Ming gave them a warm welcome and showed no sign of worry at all.

Lu Zheng restrained his expression and said, "Lu wants to talk to the county magistrate alone."

Upon hearing this, Song Ming waved his hand to dismiss his attendants, then whispered, "Mr. Lu, please feel free to speak. As long as I can do it, I will do my best."

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Since County Magistrate Song has said so, I will not beat around the bush."

As he spoke, Lu Zheng took out a stack of white paper and pen and ink and handed them to Song Ming's tea table.

He began to explain, "Could you please, Magistrate Song, please write down all the crimes you've committed in the past, along with the people involved... It would be best if you could include those in Maozhou City. Be as detailed as possible, and if you can provide solid evidence, that would be even better."

Song Ming's expression changed when he heard this. "Mr. Lu, what do you mean? Why don't I understand?"

He knew some of Lu Zheng's deeds. Was he trying to learn how to deal with the wealthy and powerful families in Hongzhou City?

But he wouldn't be stupid enough to write a confession to himself.

After all, the things he had done were enough to get him stripped of his official title and even executed immediately.

Song Ming is not a person who is so depressed that he will confess his guilt and provide various evidences.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "At this point, why is County Magistrate Song playing dirty with me? Everyone knows what you've done... Do you think we can't punish you without sufficient evidence?"

"As an ancient sage once said, 'The net of heaven is vast and wide, nothing can escape it!'"

When these words were spoken, even though they were not directed at Song Ming, Song Ming still felt a sharp and righteous spirit, which made him feel creepy.

Lu Zheng subsided and said in a low voice, "I asked County Magistrate Song to write it himself to save everyone's time."

"And if you don't write it, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to write these things in the future."

Song Ming said with an unpleasant expression: "What do you mean?"

Lu Zheng said with a smile, "Did Magistrate Song send a letter to Maozhou just now?"

Song Ming's face changed again when he heard this. He didn't expect that Lu Zheng would see through the arrangements he made in a hurry.

Lu Zheng said slowly, "It seems that it was delivered? Actually, it doesn't matter whether it was delivered or not. Because before Lu brought people here, he had already sent a letter to the Maozhou government office."

"According to the time, the letter I wrote should be arriving soon."

"By then, Maozhou should send officials to investigate the situation. County Magistrate Song, do you think the officials who come here will target Lu and those thousands of people, or you?"

Hearing this, Song Ming's face became even uglier, and even his breathing became heavy.

Lu Zheng said in a deep voice, "If it were me, I would naturally have to choose a suitable scapegoat to put an end to this incident. Who does County Magistrate Song think this scapegoat should be?"

Song Ming's ears suddenly buzzed and he felt dizzy. Who was the scapegoat? It obviously couldn't be Lu Zheng, the man who had received the divine gift and was so popular.

If that’s the case, then it must be him, the county magistrate.

He is just a county magistrate. If he is gone, he can be replaced. It doesn’t matter. He can also take all the blame.

Thinking of this, Song Ming's lips turned pale and he felt weak all over.

"Of course, this is just my wishful thinking. Perhaps the officials in Maozhou will side with Lord Song and challenge me, Lu, to a duel."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "If that's the case, I'm happy to take over. I'm willing to fight for the people and I'm willing to sacrifice my life. In the end, even if all the fish are dead, the net won't necessarily break. I just don't know what County Magistrate Song thinks and what he's planning..."

"You still have time to write down some evidence. It's better for them to go down with you than for you to bear it all by yourself. Do you think you can handle it?"

"You don't have to give it to me now that you've written it. When things turn out as you expected, you can ask someone to give it to me..."

"If you really die, Lu promises that I will send those people to see you when I have the chance. I won't let them go unpunished. They will all receive the punishment they deserve."

"That's all I have to say. Time waits for no one. County Magistrate Song, please make up your mind as soon as possible..."

"I heard that Qianshan County is an ancient city. I'm going out for a walk and won't bother County Magistrate Song any more."

After saying that, Lu Zheng stood up, bowed, and left in a leisurely manner without any delay.

Song Ming covered his head with one hand and felt a splitting headache.

With shaking hands, he poured himself a bowl of tea, but still couldn't calm himself down.

"I knew that doing something like that would bring retribution sooner or later..."

Song Ming's lips turned pale and his eyes were wandering.

In a trance, Song Ming recalled his childhood studies and then his imperial examinations to become an official. He didn't know when he had fallen so deeply into it.

"When you are in the officialdom, you have no choice!"

Song Ming sighed sadly, "Lu Yanwang, what a Yanwang! No wonder those people call him that. This guy is truly terrifying!"

Lu Zheng's words were so piercing that he was completely speechless.

He also thought that Lu Zheng would explain the crimes of the officials in Qianshan County and seek justice for them.

Unexpectedly, Lu Zheng didn't want to waste energy on playing around with him. He had already reported the matter to Maozhou and brought people to create momentum.

There wasn't even a chance to use Tai Chi to resolve the situation.

Will the officials and families in Maozhou stand on his side?
Song Ming found it hard to believe that those people would be willing to do so.

Song Ming couldn't help but feel sad and angry. He looked at the pen and paper beside him, and his breathing became heavy.

After a while, Song Ming picked up a pen and paper. He wanted to make a bet with Lu Zheng. No matter what, he didn't want to be the only loser.

……

When Lu Zheng left the county magistrate's mansion, there were still some people guarding outside.

Lu Zheng glanced sideways and saw the county lieutenant personally leading his troops on an inspection tour.

When the county lieutenant saw Lu Zheng, he couldn't help but greet him, "Mr. Lu..."

Lu Zheng nodded and smiled. "As the county lieutenant, you must be very familiar with the county. Could you take me to a few places?"

Upon hearing this, the county lieutenant asked curiously, "Where does Mr. Lu want to go?"

Lu Zheng looked around and said slowly, "When I entered the city, I smelled the stench of demons and ghosts. I think there are some demons and ghosts hiding in the city. I don't have any special skills, but I am good at killing demons and ghosts. I can help you clean it up. You need the county lieutenant to bring people to maintain order."

Upon hearing this, the county lieutenant and others couldn't help but change their expressions slightly.

There were many people among them who knew about the existence of demons and ghosts, and the county lieutenant was one of them.

Lu Zheng didn't say anything and went straight to a place.

When the county lieutenant saw this, he had no choice but to follow.

Soon, Lu Zheng came to a gambling house and pulled out several demons in skins from it.

Some demons and ghosts wanted to escape and resist, but they were all suppressed by Lu Zheng on the spot.

A group of officials also helped to kill the demons, pretending not to know these demons and ghosts, and just wanted to kill the demons to silence them.

Lu Zheng didn't say anything. He would have the opportunity to deal with these officials in the future. Letting them do something now would save some time.

As long as Song Ming admits his crimes, none of these people will be able to escape.

As to whether Song Ming would plead guilty, Lu Zheng was not very sure.

But what he was sure of was that after this incident, the Qianshan County government would undergo a major reshuffle.

……

In the county magistrate's mansion, Song Ming came out of a secret room, holding a storage bag with a serious expression.

In just a short time, Song Ming's face was full of worry, and he seemed to have aged more than ten years.

He found a confidant in the mansion, gave him the storage bag, and said, "Keep the contents carefully. Someone might come from Maozhou in the next two days. If anything happens to me, give the bag to Lu Zheng."

(End of this chapter)