Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 9 The Li Family Father and Son
The two men quickly left the house, locked the door, and acted as if nothing had happened.

The shopkeeper, holding the treasure, said, "Mr. Lu, please go back to the inn first. I have to take this treasure home and pack it up. Don't let it get damaged."

Seeing this, Lu Zheng laughed dumbly and said, "Okay."

The shopkeeper walked home happily, carefully protecting the treasure in his arms all the way, for fear that it would be bumped or hurt.

Lu Zheng didn't stay outside for long and went straight back to the guest room.

About half an hour later, the shopkeeper came over again with an exquisite little wooden box in his hand.

The shopkeeper said sincerely, "Thank you for the Wenbao, Master Lu. This is a small gift from me in return. I hope you will accept it!"

"That's not necessary." Lu Zheng refused with a smile.

The shopkeeper quickly opened the wooden box, and inside was a rabbit-hair brush made of the finest purple hair, with a faint hint of spiritual energy.

Although it cannot be considered a spiritual object, it is also a brush of good quality and can be worth dozens of taels of silver.

The shopkeeper explained, "This is something I brought from home. It was given to me by a good friend. I originally wanted to keep it for my own children, but they weren't very motivated and couldn't even pass the imperial examination. This pen has been lying around for years, so I decided to give it to you, young master, so I wouldn't waste it. Please accept it, young master. Otherwise, I'd feel uneasy about possessing your treasure."

Seeing the shopkeeper's sincere words, and the fact that the brush and wooden box seemed to have been put aside for a long time and had not been professionally maintained, it did not look like they had just been bought from outside.

As the saying goes, gifts should be reciprocated. Lu Zheng couldn't refuse the gift, so he solemnly accepted it and said, "Thank you very much, boss."

When the shopkeeper saw Lu Zheng accept the items, he smiled and said, "No, it's me who should thank you, sir... Since you are busy with your studies, I won't bother you any more."

After saying this, the shopkeeper left in a hurry, his steps seeming even lighter than when he came.

Lu Zheng closed the door and took the newly acquired purple-hair brush to write the text.

He found that changing to a better brush made writing smoother, and the quality of the writing was slightly improved.

Lu Zheng was thinking about getting some magical instruments of the study in the future, which could not only be used for writing but also as weapons.

……

Lu Zheng stayed in the inn for another two days, during which he mainly took care of his health.

The method of cultivating the great righteousness that Meng Sheng passed on to him is similar to the immortals' Qi-refining technique, both of which can nourish the body, mind and soul and improve oneself.

With the addition of a whole old mountain ginseng plant sent by Li Yuan, Lu Zheng's previously depleted body was not only restored, but his Qi and blood became more vigorous than that of ordinary people.

Lu Zheng felt that he had stayed here for a long time, so he checked out of the room and returned to his own residence.

When he returned home, he found that the room was the same as when he left, with no signs of being disturbed, and he felt a little relieved.

Lu Zheng cleaned his residence thoroughly and posted his own writings everywhere. Only then did he feel safe.

After doing all this, Lu Zheng changed into clean clothes and went out.

He has been hiding for several days and it's time for him to go out and meet people.

Today happened to be a holiday for the county government, so Lu Zheng went directly to the Li Mansion to visit Li Yuan.

He came to the main gate of Li's mansion and took out the token of proof to meet Li Yuan.

When the doorman learned that it was Lu Zheng, he quickly invited Lu Zheng into the mansion and ordered others to notify the master.

They, the servants, had received orders before that if Lu Zheng came to visit, they should be invited directly into the mansion to receive him.

Lu Zheng walked for a while in the mansion when he saw Li Yuan hurried over, followed by a young man who looked somewhat similar to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan stepped forward with a smile, "My dear nephew, you are finally out of seclusion! You look much better than before!"

"Uncle Yuan," Lu Zheng said with a salute. Li Yuan grinned and patted the young man beside him. "This is my good-for-nothing third son, Li Zhao. He went back to his hometown a while ago and only returned yesterday. Zhao'er, haven't you met your brother yet?"

Li Zhao quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Brother Lu."

"Greetings, Mr. Li." Lu Zheng returned the greeting.

Li Yuan said, "What's the use of calling him Young Master or not? We're all family. From now on, just call him Brother Zhao... Come on, come on, come inside and sit down!"

The three of them soon arrived at an elegant living room, where a maid quickly served them fragrant tea.

Lu Zheng did not take a seat immediately, but took out a scroll of literary treasures. "I have come to trouble you suddenly, and I have come to thank you for your help, Uncle Yuan. I have prepared a small gift. I hope Uncle Yuan will not disdain this humble work."

"Just come, why bring a gift?"

Li Yuan said this, but when he heard that it was written by Lu Zheng, he took it and unfolded it out of curiosity.

Five large characters written in a flamboyant style suddenly came into view.

"Heaven and earth are full of righteousness!" Li Yuan's eyes widened.

He could tell at a glance that this was a piece of literary treasure, which contained Lu Zheng's literary style and was indeed written by Lu Zheng himself.

But the style of this writing was very different from what he had seen before. It was even more extraordinary, with a hint of majestic and uprightness, which was exactly in line with these five words.

Although Li Yuan knew about the righteousness, he had never really come into contact with it, so he did not realize that this was the righteousness.

After not seeing him for a few days, he has improved again... Li Yuan was very surprised.

He even suspected that Lu Zheng was the God of Literature who had descended to earth.

"Is this a cultural treasure?" Li Zhao beside him showed surprise.

He also felt the extraordinary nature of the calligraphy. He had been a scholar for three years and believed that he could not write such a masterpiece.

And how long had Lu Zheng become a scholar? And yet he could produce such a work.

The scholar of heaven and earth is indeed terrifying... Li Zhao couldn't help but think to himself.

Li Yuan said happily: "Okay, okay, I like this thing very much, so I will shamelessly accept it!"

Li Yuan happily put the treasure aside and asked someone to invite the best framer in the city to frame the treasure and hang it in the study.

"My dear nephew, please sit down and have some tea!" Li Yuan invited Lu Zheng to sit down and said, "This is a rare spiritual tea that has the effect of calming the mind and nourishing the spirit. Don't waste it."

Lu Zheng discovered that the tea indeed exuded a hint of spiritual charm. He didn't expect that Li Yuan would treat him with spiritual tea and really treated him with great courtesy.

Lu Zheng was not so polite. He picked up the spiritual tea and took a sip. The fragrance lingered in his mouth and it was very refreshing.

Li Yuan said with a smile: "My dear nephew, now that you have become a scholar, what are your plans for the future?"

"I haven't thought about it yet." Lu Zheng answered truthfully.

He had only been in this world for a few days and had not yet fully adapted to life here, so he had not thought about long-term plans.

Li Yuan heard this and said, "Young people should have ambitions. After becoming a scholar, the next step is becoming a juren. Have you ever considered studying at a college? There are two major academies in the city. If you are willing to join, I can help you waive your annual tuition and living expenses. You just need to focus on your studies. What do you think?"

With Lu Zheng's ability, he can go to the provincial school to study.

But Li Yuan wanted to keep Lu Zheng in Kaiyang County, as there was no shortage of good teachers in the academy.

Later, when Lu Zheng passed the imperial examination, he would be the first juren from Kaiyang County, bringing honor to their county.

(End of this chapter)