Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 312 Guests

At the city gate, Zhao Ming spotted Lu Zheng and the other man and hurried forward to greet them. "You two are finally here. Please follow me to the Mi Mansion as my guests!"

Not far away, Linglong, who was ignored, had a strange look on his face.

She was surprised that Judge Zhao seemed very familiar to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng felt a little surprised when he saw Zhao Ming waiting in person at the city gate.

Zhao Ming whispered, "There are some things that cannot be said here. Please go to Mi Mansion."

Hearing this, Lu Zheng couldn't help but nodded, "Then I'll trouble Judge Zhao."

"What about me?" Linglong came closer.

After all, she was a relative of Mi Chenghuang, and was also familiar with Zhao Ming, but Zhao Ming seemed not to see her.

When Zhao Ming saw Ling Long, he immediately bowed and said, "Zhao Ming pays homage to the Water God of Jingshui!"

"Ah……"

Ling Long said quietly, "If you brought Master Lu to the Mi Mansion in public like this, and word got out, not to mention what some people in Chu would think, I'm afraid some people in An would not be happy to see it either, right?"

Lu Zheng is now quite famous in Yongzhou, and Zhao Ming is here to welcome Lu Zheng to visit Mi Mansion.

It is hard not to let others speculate about the relationship between Lu Zheng and Mi Chenghuang.

Zhao Mingdao: "This is what the City God wants."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Since it is the will of the City God Mi, please lead the way. I don't care about rumors."

It is better to visit Mi Mansion openly than to meet Mi Gu secretly and be known by others.

Besides, there is nothing shameful between them.

Seeing that Lu Zheng understood, Zhao Ming hurriedly led the way.

Ling Long was surprised and puzzled, but followed him.

When they arrived in Yongzhou City, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan suddenly felt a sense of oppression. It was the suppression brought by the power of Shintoism, which originated from the Shintoism aura that enveloped the entire city.

This kind of pressure is most evident when directed at outsiders, especially those who are practicing cultivation.

As for the local people, they don't feel anything.

"There's something strange about this city!" Qing Wan couldn't help but whisper.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ming couldn't help but explain in a low voice, "This is due to the pressure created by the divine aura in the city. You two don't need to be nervous, it's a normal phenomenon. You'll get used to it after a while..."

"Oh." Qing Wan looked at Zhao Ming and asked, "Don't you know how to control your energy?"

Zhao Ming smiled and said, "This is mainly to protect Yongzhou City. With the pressure of the divine aura, ordinary demons and ghosts will not dare to enter the city, which can protect the safety of the people."

Qing Wan nodded, and suddenly said, "I see! Doesn't that mean that the demons and ghosts that can enter the city must be extraordinary? They say that the most dangerous places are the safest. Could there be powerful demons and ghosts in this city?"

Zhao Ming thought that Qing Wan had guessed it right. There really were some hidden demons and ghosts in this city. They were very powerful and often hurt people.

Even if there were gods guarding Yongzhou City, the city was too large and had too many people to guarantee complete safety.

In addition, the city's public security is mostly under the jurisdiction of government offices, and clergy will only step in when there are cases that cannot be solved.

"Anyway, it still has some effect." Zhao Ming had to say.

After hearing this, Qing Wan stopped asking questions and looked around curiously.

Zhao Ming called for the prepared carriage, but there was only one carriage. Fortunately, the space inside the carriage was spacious enough, so the four of them rode in one carriage to go to Mi Mansion.

Through the car window, Lu Zheng and his friend looked at the scenery along the way.

Qing Wan whispered, "The houses here are different from those in Hongzhou..."

"Everyone has their own style." Lu Zheng said with a smile.

Qing Wan took a look and found that many shops along the street had small statues of gods on the incense tables.

She couldn't help but wonder, "Can those statues really work? They're so small..."

Ling Long said softly, "No, they are just statues without gods."

Qing Wan asked curiously, "Then it's useless to pray. You don't have any incense, so isn't it a waste of effort?"

Ling Long explained with a smile, "These statues come from temples. Furthermore, Yongzhou City is blessed by Shinto formations. When they worship these statues, their incense offerings can be collected continuously."

Qing Wan asked, "What benefits will the people get?"

"Well..." Ling Long thought for a moment and said, "Under the protection of the gods, they can live like this. Isn't this a good thing? Occasionally, the gods will appear and help them solve their problems."

Although Ling Long had no control over the affairs of Yongzhou City, he still said some good words to the gods in the city.

Qing Wan smacked her lips and said, "I don't think they live that well. They're even worse off than the people in Hongzhou City."

Just looking at the mental state of these people, Qing Wan felt that Yongzhou City was not as good as the Hongzhou City she had been to, and that was the Hongzhou City she had visited with Lu Zhenggang.

As for the current Hongzhou City, it is definitely better than before.

Ling Long and Zhao Ming didn't know what to say when they heard this.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "The child is speaking frankly, so don't take it to heart."

Ling Long, Zhao Ming: ...

Isn't it obvious that the people under the rule of the Chu gods are not living well? It is hard not to let these gods in charge take it to heart.

Zhao Ming said, "It's a pity that I'm an official in Chu. Otherwise, I could go to your Anguo and see what it's like there." Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Judge Zhao, follow the Mi City God and manage Yongzhou well. You will naturally see it."

Ling Long blinked and looked at Zhao Mingdao, "Does the City God of Mi have any plans recently?"

"What?" Zhao Ming didn't understand what he said.

Ling Long then said bluntly: "I heard from Master Lu what you are going to do."

Zhao Ming's expression changed slightly, and he whispered, "The City God has ordered me to make plans and notify everyone after the Double Ninth Festival. I'm afraid I'll need the help of the Water God Jingshui by then."

When building water conservancy projects, the local water god is indispensable.

Ling Long smiled. It seemed that Mi Cheng Huang had made up his mind, and it was difficult for her to stop him.

She then said, "That's not a problem. After all, Mi Chenghuang is my uncle. We're all family, so why shouldn't we help each other? But, I think I should have a share in the naming thing, too."

As a god, it is natural for him to promote his own reputation.

Linglong didn't want all the benefits to be taken away by Mi Chenghuang, so he had to get the naming rights for a few places.

All the projects in Yongzhou are named after Mi Gu, which is not very appropriate.

Isn’t it nice that several places are named after her?
If she could really leave her name behind for posterity, Ling Long would be willing to make some contribution.

"This one……"

After hearing Ling Long's words, Zhao Ming suddenly hesitated.

He thought for a moment and said with embarrassment, "I can't make the decision on this matter. I'm afraid you, the Water God, need to discuss it with the City God."

How could he dare to make decisions on his own regarding such matters?

Ling Long smiled and said, "Okay, but you need to tell me how much it will cost so that I can have an idea of it before I go and talk to the City God of Mi."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ming took out a cost sheet and roughly wrote down the costs required for various projects.

Linglong took a closer look and started to make plans in his mind.

Lu Zheng standing next to him felt strange when he saw this. He had been somewhat opposed to this matter before, but now it seemed that he felt that the benefits were not enough.

Lu Zheng looked at Zhao Ming and said, "Perhaps Judge Zhao could propose to Mi City God that they compete for the naming rights. This way, some gods will definitely be interested."

Zhao Mingdao said, "I'm afraid it will take Master Lu to persuade him. As a lowly official like me, it's hard to persuade him..."

In fact, Zhao Ming had this idea before. He wanted to get more support from gods by naming some places, but he was rejected by Mi Chenghuang.

Because there are too many things involved, it will probably take a long time to get a name, which will definitely delay things. It is better to unify the naming.

Zhao Ming expressed some of his concerns.

Lu Zheng felt that there was some truth in what he said.

Ling Long couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said, "So, the City God of Mi may not agree with me?"

Zhao Mingdao said, "This... how could I possibly know? Perhaps you two can persuade the City God to change his mind."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Let's just give them a unified name."

Anyway, what he cares about is the benefit of the people, and he doesn't care about other things.

Ling Long couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng with a gloomy gaze.

Lu Zheng noticed Ling Long's gaze and smiled slightly, saying, "If the young lady really cares about reputation and wants to gain popularity, she can do other things. It's not just these things that she can do."

"For example?" Linglong became interested.

Lu Zheng said calmly, "We're going to adopt orphans and set up a school. What the school is going to be called is up to you, girl. And..."

Lu Zheng gave several examples. It was simple, but not easy to do, because it would easily compete with other gods for incense.

As for how Linglong would operate and respond, that was not his concern.

There is no reason to only think about the benefits without solving the problems.

After a while, Lu Zheng and his group arrived at Mi Mansion.

As soon as they entered the mansion, a tall figure came to greet them. It was Mi Gu himself, wearing a white suit with gold edges.

Mi Gu looked at Lu Zheng and the others with a smile on his face, "Lu Zheng, you're here, and Ling Long, and Qing Wan..."

The two sides greeted each other and went into the mansion.

Mi Gu smiled and said, "Don't blame me for asking Zhao Ming to pick you up. I was worried about you. Looking at you like this, did you encounter any problems before?"

Lu Zheng shook his head when he heard this. "Nothing happened. What happened?"

Mi Gu looked at Lu Zheng suspiciously, "Really? You've lost weight in the time we haven't seen each other."

Lu Zhengdao: "I've been studying a lot lately and forgot to rest, so this happened..."

"Yeah, young people should take care of their bodies!"

Mi Gu paused, then lowered his voice and said, "Recently, my subordinates heard some news that someone was plotting against you. I haven't seen you for a few days, and I thought something had happened to you. It made me worried for a while!"

If something unexpected happened to Lu Zheng on his territory, and if An Guo put pressure on him, it would be difficult for him, the City God of Yongzhou, to explain to An Guo.

Mi Gu explained: "I asked Zhao Ming to bring you here to make it clear to some people that you are my guests, Mi Gu, and no one is allowed to mess around on my territory."

(End of this chapter)