The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 154 Lu, who was not interested in women, was moved by worldly desires.
"The ship has already gone far away and can't be seen anymore, why are you still looking?" Duan Ling, who was standing behind Lu Zhan at some point, said teasingly.

Lu Zhan snapped out of his daze and glanced at him sideways. "What are you doing here?"

“I was standing on the big ship, and from afar I saw a man standing on the shore, gazing longingly at the departing ships. I was afraid he might turn into a 'waiting-for-wife stone,' so I had to come and see him.” Duan Ling’s tone was full of sarcasm. He thought to himself: Ouyang Lei should also come and see how Lu, who is not interested in women, has been tempted by worldly desires.

Lu Zhan ignored his teasing and asked in a deep voice, "Have the officials sent by the imperial court arrived yet?"

"Those bastards, they're so slow, we haven't even seen a shadow of them." Duan Ling was furious when he talked about it.

If those people weren't so slow, he wouldn't have to stay on the boat every day, guarding against those pirates.

Lu Zhan glanced at the sky. "They should be here soon."

"It's still early, would you like to come aboard for a cup of tea?" Duan Ling asked.

Lu Zhan nodded and followed him toward the large ship.

Just then, a figure suddenly rushed over.

"Lord Lu... Ah!"

Whether the person was running too fast or too close to the edge, they fell into the river with a "plop".

"Who is she?" Duan Ling asked curiously, looking at Lu Zhan beside him.

Lu Zhan shook his head, "I don't know him."

"Help, help me... I, I can't swim!" The person in the water struggled and shouted desperately.

"Should we save them?" Duan Ling asked.

Lu Zhan calmly instructed the accompanying guards, "Bring the person up!"

The guards had no choice but to jump into the water and pull the person out.

Zeng Jiayi lay on the ground, spitting out water as she looked up to search for Lu Zhan's figure, only to see that he and Duan Ling had already boarded the ship.

Seeing this, she was both anxious and angry.

She had finally found this opportunity to get close to him, so why did he leave?
She deliberately pretended to fall into the river to gain Lu Zhan's pity and have him take her on the boat, so that she would have a chance to flatter him.

As a result, he didn't even glance at her.

Seeing that Lu Zhan had already boarded the ship, Zeng Jiayi bit her lip and shouted, "Lord Lu, are you going to abandon me after starting this? If that's the case, why did you save me in the first place?"

Her voice was loud, and as soon as she said it, everyone looked at Lu Zhan.

The guard also looked at Zeng Jiayi in astonishment.

"Young lady, don't talk nonsense and tarnish my master's reputation!"

Thinking about the recent events in her family, Zeng Jiayi was overwhelmed with grief at the thought of how she had fallen from a noble young lady to such a state, and she cried uncontrollably.

"I'm not making this up. It was your master who seduced me and then abandoned me, treating me like trash..."

The servant said angrily, "My master was kind enough to ask me to save you, but I never expected you to repay kindness with enmity and slander my master like this. If I had known earlier, I should have let you drown in the river!"

"I'm telling the truth. You want to protect your master's reputation, so of course you won't admit that I have any connection with your master! How cruel you are! Did your master tell you to say this?" Zeng Jiayi asked loudly, wiping away her tears.

She was soaking wet and her face was covered in tears; she looked extremely pitiful.

Seeing this, the onlookers felt sympathy and began to criticize the guards.

"How can you say such a despicable thing? If it weren't true, why would a perfectly good girl joke about her reputation?"

"What kind of corrupt official is he? All he does is ruin good girls!"

"What nonsense are you spouting? My master is always upright and incorruptible, and he would never provoke a woman. It is clearly this girl who has ill intentions towards my master and wants to take advantage of him." The guard was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged. If it weren't for his master's ironclad rules, he would have drawn his sword and attacked these people.

"Just because you say you can't doesn't mean you can't!" someone scoffed.

Seeing that everyone was on her side, Zeng Jiayi's eyes flashed with a glint of light. She deliberately softened her tone and pleaded with the guard, "If you want to abandon me, I have nothing to say. But I came here today just to talk things out with you face to face. Please, guard, be lenient and let me see Lord Lu!"

"Who knows if you're an assassin?" the guard said impatiently. "Get out of here. My master is not someone you can see."

After saying that, he was about to leave, but was stopped by several tall, burly porters. "That young lady meant no harm, she just wanted to talk things out with your parents, how can you be so heartless?"

"Exactly! Bullying a little girl like that, they have no shame at all!"

The guard was furious, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword, when a clear voice said, "She is Zeng Gong's daughter. She went to great lengths to see me, simply to plead for her father."

However, her father, Zeng Gong, was corrupt and lawless, and oppressed the people. The evidence against him was conclusive, and I have already reported this to the court. Soon, the court will decide his fate.

Miss Zeng has truly inherited her father's ways. To achieve her goals, she will stop at nothing. You have distorted the truth, spread rumors and slanders, maliciously defamed this official, and ruined his reputation. According to the laws of Da Chen, your actions have constituted the crime of defaming an official.

"Guards, seize him, give him ten strokes of the cane, and imprison him for ten days!"

Zeng Jiayi's smug expression froze on her face.

She looked at the man standing with his hands behind his back on the large ship not far away. Because he was quite far away, she couldn't see the expression on his face, but from his cold words, she could tell that he wasn't joking.

Moreover, he completely understood what she was thinking.

She did all this just to get him to let her father go.

But he was so heartless, not only refusing to help her, but also hitting and locking her up!
Zeng Jiayi finally felt a little regretful.

She doesn't want to end up in jail!

Thinking of this, she got up to run away, but the guards quickly pressed her to the ground.

"So you're Zeng Gong's daughter! No wonder you're so shameless!" the guard shouted angrily.

The people then came to their senses and began spitting at Zeng Jiayi.

"So you're that corrupt official's daughter! We were almost fooled by you!"

"How shameless and despicable!"

"Catch her quickly!"

For a moment, everyone was spitting as they spoke.

Zeng Jiayi was so angry that her face turned green; this time, she really wanted to jump into the river.

She has never been treated like this before in her entire life.

She was quickly taken to the yamen by the guards.

He was not only given ten lashes, but also imprisoned.

This little incident did not affect Lu Zhan.

Not long after he and Duan Ling boarded the ship, officials sent by the imperial court arrived.

The few officials who arrived were disheveled and looked panicked, as if they had suffered some great calamity.

"...Lord Lu, Vice Minister Duan, we are so glad to finally meet you."

The officials who came were from the Inspectorate. When they saw Lu Zhan and Duan Ling, they looked at them as if they were seeing relatives, and their eyes reddened slightly.

"Why are there only a few of you? Where are the others?" Duan Ling asked anxiously.

"When we were almost to Yangzhou, we were attacked. Those bandits were ruthless and killed all the officials who accompanied us. We were lucky to escape," one of the officials said sadly.

"You reported to the court that all the river bandits in this area have been wiped out, so why are we still being attacked?" one of the officials asked with dissatisfaction.

“Those river bandits are still being held in Xiacang. Are you sure you encountered river bandits?” Duan Ling frowned.

"Not river bandits? Then then..." The official hesitated, looking at Lu Zhan, "What does Lord Lu think?"

“They’re river bandits!” Lu Zhan said in a deep voice.

Duan Ling was taken aback. "You mean, the person behind it all? They deliberately attacked the officials sent by the imperial court to take over, in order to cut off our escape route and kidnap people?"

Lu Zhan didn't speak, but instead ordered in a deep voice, "Pass down the order: the entire ship is on high alert!"

(End of this chapter)