Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 465 Sacrificing to the River God
Lu Zheng felt that the Chu emperor had given him too much power, allowing a man from Anguo to hold a judicial post in Chu.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "What does the Chu Emperor mean?"

The Moon Goddess did not answer. The current Emperor of Great Chu was unpredictable and his true thoughts were beyond her comprehension.

The Chu Emperor may have acted on a whim, and he might forget about Lu Zheng in a few days.

Or perhaps they are genuinely a little interested in this young man, Lu Zheng.

The moon goddess's figure gradually blurred and soon disappeared from everyone's sight.

She has already said what she needed to say and brought what she needed to bring; there is no need for her to stay here any longer.

Beside them, Yang Wan and Ju Sheng stared at Lu Zheng, their hearts churning with shock. This person had such a powerful background? How could he even attract the attention of the current emperor?

Lu Zheng looked inside the storage bag; there were quite a few things inside.

That complete set of writing implements and the Four Books and Five Classics were all extraordinary, full of spiritual energy, and could be considered high-quality writing implements, more than enough to suppress demons and ghosts in the three realms.

However, Lu Zheng already possessed many treasures, so he didn't need these two sets of items.

He inspected the items with righteous indignation, and after confirming that there were no problems, he gave them to Qingwan.

Qingwan put in a lot of effort in cultivating the bean seeds, so she should rightfully receive a share of these items.

Qingwan didn't stand on ceremony and happily accepted the money.

She was also carrying a Confucian classic as she walked, and noticed some notes left in the book.

"Hey, this is a copy made by a high-ranking scholar from the State of Chu, and his surname is Meng..."

Lu Zheng took a look and said, "It should be the classics copied by that Meng family from Yingdu when he was still a Grand Scholar."

Although it is not a classic that the author painstakingly copied, the text still contains the air of a Confucian and Taoist scholar.

That great scholar Meng possessed a righteous spirit, and the copies he casually made were not something that ordinary people, gods, demons, or ghosts could touch.

"It's him..."

Qingwan remembered the old man she had met before.

Although Yang Wan and Ju Sheng lived in a small place, they had heard of the important figures in Yingdu.

A handwritten copy of a classic text by a great Confucian scholar was a rare find for them, and they couldn't help but look at it with curiosity.

Lu Zheng and his group soon arrived at the next village.

Before even entering the village, the group noticed something strange about it.

The entire village was eerily quiet; there wasn't a soul in the fields.

Lu Zheng looked around at the situation; the disaster was quite severe.

Ju Sheng quickly went to investigate and returned to report, "Nobody's here, not a soul. There's a mountain god temple on the opposite hill, but I didn't see anyone there either. I don't know where they went..."

Lu Zheng glanced sideways and vaguely heard a distant, indistinct sound.

He turned and headed toward the source of the sound, and the others quickly followed.

After walking for a while, Ju Sheng twitched his ears and heard the joyous sounds of gongs and drums.

After crossing two more mountains, you'll see a long, dragon-like procession walking through the mountains and fields.

It was a group of ordinary-looking villagers, leading a celebratory procession, beating drums and gongs, playing musical instruments and singing, with some carrying gifts and leading livestock.

There was also a sedan chair in the procession, where a young girl dressed in red and covered with a red veil sat, swaying slightly with the steps of the sedan chair bearers.

Ju Sheng stroked his chin and murmured, "Is this a marriage alliance?"

Yang Wan's eyes flickered, and he said in a low voice, "The whole village is mobilized for the marriage ceremony? This is..."

Yang Wan looked into the distance and vaguely saw shimmering waves in the mountains; it was a river.

"What is it?" Qingwan asked.

Yang Wan hesitated and said, "Well, it's hard to say..."

Lu Zhengdao: "Are you saying they're going to perform a sacrificial ceremony?"

"Cough cough..." Yang Wan coughed lightly, "I didn't say anything, who knows what they're doing, I don't care about this place."

Ju Sheng, standing nearby, rolled his eyes and said, "It seems so. Judging from where they're going, they're probably going to worship the Yu River God."

Yu River is a major river in this area, guarded by a river god who controls a hundred miles of waterway.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng followed behind the villagers.

The team traversed mountains and valleys, finally arriving at a large river.

The people stopped by the river and respectfully placed the offerings they had brought on the bank, preparing for the sacrificial ceremony.

Even the girl who was carried there was placed on the riverbank.

Even though the girl's face was covered by a red cloth, Lu Zheng could still see the timid expression on her face.

"It's true."

Seeing the villagers' actions, Qingwan couldn't help but frown.

Lu Zheng looked at the two gods beside him, "Using humans as sacrifices is against the rules, isn't it?"

Humans are the most primates, and sacrificing living people to deities can enable them to receive more incense offerings and spiritual power. This is a method of practice and sacrifice in the tradition of incense offerings and deities.

This practice was abolished long ago, and even in the state of Chu, it was explicitly forbidden for righteous gods to receive such sacrifices. However, while the prohibition was stated in writing, not all righteous gods necessarily complied with it in practice.

Seeing Lu Zheng looking at him, Yang Wan whispered, "It is indeed against the rules... but the people do it this way..."

"If the people are like this, how can the righteous gods not refuse?" Lu Zheng said calmly. "Is it that the people like this, or are they forced into it?"

Lu Zheng said quietly, "Will sacrificing living people to the gods to pray for rain bring down rain? I think it would be more effective to use the gods to worship heaven and earth."

Yang Wan and Ju Sheng felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.

Seeing Lu Zheng heading towards the river, Yang Wan hurriedly said, "Immortal Master, you mustn't! This Yu Shui River God..."

"What?" Lu Zheng turned around and looked at him.

Yang Wan lowered his voice and said, "This god is the son of the city god of this state, and the city god is from the royal family of the Great Chu. Even the current emperor has to call him the royal uncle."

Lu Zheng remained calm upon hearing this, "I've heard that the Great Chu royal family is so powerful that you can easily find a connection to the imperial family with any of the righteous gods..."

Just because the other party has royal blood, does that make Lu Zheng afraid?

He wasn't afraid of the Moon Goddess herself, so why would he care about the background of a River God?
Lu Zheng said calmly, "Since he has royal blood, he should know the laws of Chu and should not accept such a sacrifice."

Upon hearing this, Yang Wan quickly said, "Perhaps these people acted spontaneously and he was unaware of it... Immortal Master, please do not act rashly!"

Although he had just seen Lu Zheng receive a reward from His Majesty, Yang Wan felt it would be unwise to offend the powerful Yu Shui River God at this moment.

Lu Zheng looked at the flowing river, his eyes slightly cold. "I don't know, but I saw him see it clearly in the river!"

Others might not have noticed, but he saw a divine aura emanating from a spot in the river.

Lu Zheng took a step and disappeared from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Yang Wan and Ju Sheng were startled; following them was one thing, not following them was another.

Qingwan then strode quickly toward the sacrificial site, lest those people actually push a living person into the river as a sacrifice.

At the bottom of the river, on a jade platform, a man in brocade robes sat languidly.

On either side of the man were a pretty man and a woman serving him.

Upon seeing the commotion above, the man's lips curled into a smile.

He secretly instructed the villagers to hold this sacrificial ceremony.

In a year of severe drought, the man thought he could take advantage of the opportunity to gain more benefits from offerings.

If we want him to help alleviate the local drought, how can we do it without offering him any benefits?
As for the ban on human sacrifice, he did not take it seriously.

Even if other gods discover it, they will only turn a blind eye.

After all, when it comes down to it, not many of the local deities are truly clean.

Suddenly, the man felt a flash before his eyes, and a figure appeared in front of him.

The man was slightly startled, not even noticing that someone had arrived.

He was surrounded by divine light, his eyes gleaming with golden light as he stared intently at Lu Zheng, only to discover that he was a stranger.

"Who are you?" the man asked in a deep voice.

Lu Zheng said unhurriedly, "A passerby saw someone performing a sacrifice, so he came to take a look. Now that the area is suffering from a severe drought, shouldn't you, the river god, do something? It's one thing not to help with the disaster, but to just stand by and watch the people sacrifice living people to you? Is that what you're asking for?"

Upon hearing this, the man narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Who are you? Is this any of your business?"

Lu Zheng spoke up: "I am not from Chu, and what happened here has nothing to do with me. But we scholars should stand up when we see injustice and unfairness. This is a principle taught by the sages."

Upon hearing Lu Zheng's words, the man scoffed, "What a scholar you are... But do you even know who I am?"

Lu Zheng said calmly, "This river god, I've heard your father is the city god of this prefecture? Both of you are from the royal family of the Great Chu?"

The man, seeing that Lu Zheng knew his background, was filled with surprise and doubt. "Since you know, why are you meddling in other people's business?"

He thought Lu Zheng knew nothing about his situation. Since he knew his identity and background, how dare he come and say such things?

Lu Zhengdao said, "I would like to trouble you to stop the sacrificial activities above and alleviate the drought in the surrounding areas."

Upon hearing this, the man couldn't help but chuckle and asked, "What if I don't? What will you do then?"

Seeing that Lu Zheng had arrived silently in front of him, he figured he must have some skill, so he didn't try to intimidate him directly. He wanted to see what the other party could do to him.
Lu Zhengdao said, "From a moral, logical, and legal standpoint, what you have done is inappropriate. Please reconsider."

The man chuckled lightly, "You scholars just love to talk big. Go away, this is none of your business."

The man paused, then said coldly, "If you attempt to obstruct the ritual, don't blame this god for taking action..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng shook his head slightly and sighed, "Someone like you is unworthy to be the god of water in this region. It is truly a misfortune for the people and a disgrace to the Chu Kingdom."

"presumptuous!"

Upon hearing this, the man flew into a rage, shouting, "How dare you insult the gods and my Great Chu!"

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding water surged wildly, sweeping towards Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng stood motionless at the bottom of the water, the surging river water around him unable to get close at all.

Lu Zheng looked at the man with cold eyes and said, "Those who insult the Chu Kingdom are you incompetent officials who hold positions without doing your jobs..."

Lu Zheng slowly raised his hand, and a gold and jade belt appeared in his palm.

The golden jade belt lashed out, carrying a terrifying aura, and struck the man directly.

(End of this chapter)