Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 44 The Pain of Losing a Child
In the morning, the sky is slightly bright.

Lu Zheng brought Miss Zhang Er's body to Qinghe Village and knocked on the door of Landlord Zhang's house.

"Who?"

The Zhang family's doorman opened the door slightly, revealing half of his head.

Lu Zheng displayed his identification and said, "I am a scholar from Kaiyang County. Your second daughter was killed by a demon, and I brought her body back."

The doorman was stunned when he heard this. He looked at the certificate in Lu Zheng's hand, then looked at the girl in Lu Zheng's arms, and his face suddenly changed.

He quickly turned around and ran into the yard, shouting.

"Master, something terrible has happened!"

Lu Zheng carried the girl into the house and closed the door tightly to prevent the neighbors from hearing the noise and coming to see what was going on.

After a while, several servants came hurriedly to greet them, surrounding a middle-aged man with a big belly.

"Where is my Wei'er?"

Zhang Shou came hurriedly, his voice trembling.

When he saw the girl in Lu Zheng's arms, he immediately showed a look of disbelief.

After confirming that it was his daughter, Zhang Shou fainted on the spot.

The servants were in a panic, helping people up and pinching people's philtrum.

Zhang Shou slowly woke up, tears streaming down his face, his eyes dull, and he was muttering to himself.

"I said my daughter had been visiting relatives for so many days, and there was no reply at all. Surprisingly, surprisingly..."

Lu Zheng gently put the girl down and explained the whole story.

When Zhang Shou learned that his daughter had suffered inhuman torture both during her lifetime and after her death, he felt dizzy again.

He was completely drained of energy and seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.

There is no greater pain than losing a child.

Lu Zheng took off the snake demon's head hanging around his waist.

"This is the head of the snake demon. Now that we have concluded our mission, I will take my leave."

Zhang Shou looked at Lu Zheng, who was covered in dust and blood, and hurriedly called the housekeeper beside him.

"Butler, take Master Lu down to bathe and change clothes, and treat him well! Please forgive my grief for not being able to receive you properly..."

Lu Zheng said softly, "That's not necessary. I still need to go to Dalius Village to inform the villagers that the monster is dead, so that they can rest assured."

Hearing this, Zhang Shou wiped his eyes and said, "Butler, go get a hundred taels of silver and send it to Dalius Village to fulfill Wei'er's wish and accumulate merit for our Zhang family. Also, get another two hundred taels of silver and give it to Master Lu. Master, you risked your life to slay the demon and get Wei'er back. This favor must be repaid."

Lu Zheng refused, saying, "I'm studying abroad and can't carry so much money with me. Why don't you keep it for Mr. Zhang to build a charity to help the elderly, the weak, and the disabled in the village?"

"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

Zhang Shou wiped his tears and said, "After burying my daughter, I will go to the town and build a charity hall in your name. I hope you will do more good deeds and accumulate virtue in the future, so that my daughter can be reborn into a good family..."

Lu Zhengdao said, "You don't need to use my name. I didn't do anything wrong. The Second Miss is a good girl, so use her name."

You perform charitable deeds, do not seek fame or gain, and possess the virtues of a gentleman. Your literary spirit +5!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shou just wiped away his tears sadly and said nothing more.

After a while, Lu Zheng and the Zhang family's housekeeper left the Zhang family and headed towards Dalui Village.

Huang Shu appeared at the village entrance, following Lu Zheng, carrying a bundle on his back. The housekeeper was surprised to see the weasel, which was as big as a domestic dog, but he didn't dare to ask.

He said, "Our eldest young master is studying in the county school. His name is Zhang Xu. I wonder if Mr. Lu knows him?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng said, "I've been studying at home for the past few years, so I don't know much about the scholars in the academy, let alone Mr. Zhang."

"Is that so..." the housekeeper continued, "When we get to Daliusu Village, I'll ask Master Lu to come with me and be my guest. Master, you've worked so hard all the way here, and we haven't treated you well enough. It's impolite."

Lu Zheng smiled slightly. "That's really not necessary. I have things to attend to. If I have time and pass by Qinghe Village in the future, I'll come and visit you."

Seeing that Lu Zheng was so insistent, the housekeeper didn't want to invite him again.

The two men and the demon came to Daliu Village, found the families of the victims, explained their purpose, and offered compensation.

Of course, they also concealed some of the truth as requested by Zhang Wei.

The families received compensation and did not blame anyone, but only blamed the evil spirit for harming them.

"Scholar! You're back so soon!"

Lu Zheng glanced sideways and saw Liu San and several young men walking quickly towards him.

"Liu San, are you still here?" Lu Zheng said.

Liu San grinned and said, "I know that the scholar is very capable and will definitely kill the monster and come back soon, so I stayed in the village for one night... Tsk, this blood, is it from that monster?"

When everyone saw Lu Zheng covered in blood, they knew that he must have been in a fierce battle.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "The snake demon is in Qinggang Mountain. I have skinned it and removed its bones. I burned the body and sent the head to the Zhang family."

"Is the scholar hurt?" someone asked with concern.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "The snake demon's bones were very hard, but it hurt my hand."

Everyone smiled when they heard this, feeling inexplicably happy.

Liu San couldn't help but say: "It's a pity that we don't have the ability of the scholar, otherwise we would also go to kill demons and monsters!"

Lu Zheng shook his head slightly. "It's not that easy to slay demons and monsters. Liu San, since you have nothing to do, go and help me with something."

Seeing that Liu San hadn't been to the gambling house for a few days, he decided to find him something to do to help him get rid of his gambling addiction.

Liu San straightened his body, clasped his fists solemnly and said, "Please tell me, Scholar, I, Liu San, am not afraid even if I climb a mountain of swords or descend into a sea of fire!"

Lu Zheng pointed at the bag on Huang Shu's body and said, "There are very important things and letters in it. You and Huang Shu should go to Kaiyang County together and personally hand them over to the county magistrate."

After all, a person's power is limited. Lu Zheng has written a letter, telling about his experience and speculation, hoping that Li Yuan can also help.

After all, the things he encountered were no longer ordinary demonic incidents. There might be a bigger conspiracy hidden behind them, and they had to be taken seriously.

When Liu San heard that it was such an important matter, his expression straightened and he said quickly, "I will definitely take the letter to the county magistrate."

Upon hearing this, the other young men offered to go with them to deliver the letter so that they could have someone to look after them along the way.

Lu Zheng looked at Huang Shu again and said, "I have explained your situation in the letter. The county magistrate will make good arrangements for you and at least have someone teach you how to read and learn etiquette. You can stay in the county from now on. If you feel unhappy, you can leave."

Huang Shu bowed and said, "I will obey your orders, sir!"

Lu Zheng took out a treasure and gave it to Liu San, saying, "Be careful along the way. If you encounter any monsters, use this item to deal with them. If you can't deal with them, just run away. It doesn't matter if you lose the item. Saving your life is the most important thing."

Liu San hurriedly and carefully took Wenbao and put it in his arms to keep it safe.

(End of this chapter)