The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 245 The Gao Family in Black Robes (4k)

The boatman didn't quite understand Du Yuan's meaning, but still answered with a smile:

“Young master, you’re right. There are definitely more people in the county town.”

Du Yuan nodded and said:
"That's good, that's good!"

I love it when there are lots of people!
The boatman couldn't decipher this riddle. Seeing that the question from before was still unanswered, the old boatman rubbed his bamboo pole together and picked up the subject again, his tone tentative:

"Young master, what do you think of the matter I asked earlier?"

Du Yuan pointed in the direction the boatman was heading and said:
"You'll find out when we get to the county town."

Having said all that, the boatman, though full of doubts, could not press further. He could only suppress his curiosity, grip the bamboo pole tightly again, bend over and exert force. With the sound of the bamboo pole breaking the water, the small boat steadily rowed towards the county town.

The large bluefish naturally followed beneath the boat, supporting it as it moved forward.

With the help of the big bluefish, the trip was much faster.

Before long, Du Yuan saw the Hexi County that the boatman had mentioned.

Perhaps due to its proximity to the Lan River, the originally small Tianshui River has widened here, with many fishing boats coming and going on it in a continuous cycle.

Having arrived in his hometown, the boatman became increasingly talkative, his words tinged with a rare sense of pride.
“Our Hexi County, although it is classified as a middle county, should actually be considered an upper county. When I was young, I traveled to many places and visited several prefectures. I have never seen one or two places that can compare with our Hexi County.”

Du Yuan followed his gaze to the town that was becoming clearer—the gray rooftops stretched out in a continuous line, and the bustling atmosphere of daily life seemed to be carried on the wind.

Even though there was a waterway between them, and his Confucian eyesight was only so-so, he could still see the remarkable aura lingering over the county town.

Clearly, the boatman's words were not unfounded.

He nodded in response:
"You're right, it is indeed a good place. But I wonder if there's anything I should be aware of in this county town?"

Upon hearing this, the boatman, who had been all smiles, suddenly lowered his voice and said to Du Yuan:

"Young master, you look very young and are from out of town, so you probably don't know this. I must remind you. There are some taboos involved!"

"Oh, a prosperous county town is a good thing, what's there to hide?"

The boatman first let out a heavy sigh:
"Normally, that's how it should be, but things are a little different in Hexi County. And this matter even involves the Emperor!"

"What do you mean?" Du Yuan asked, slightly curious. How could a county be involved with the emperor?

"Before the Tianbao era, our Hexi County was not even considered a middle-class county, let alone a lower-class county. In the first year of Tianbao, the year the emperor ascended the throne, a new magistrate came to our Hexi County. He was also exceptionally young, and judging by his appearance, he was probably about the same age as you."

"His lineage is even more distinguished; this county magistrate is..." The boatman lowered his voice further, almost whispering in Du Yuan's ear, "He comes from the Gao family! And I've heard he's from the most prestigious group within the Gao clan!"

"At first, we didn't believe it. We thought, why would such a distinguished person come to our dilapidated place? But in fact, not only did they come, but they did a great job that everyone applauded!"

"In just three years, the entire county was completely transformed! Later, he spotted the spectacular scenery of the confluence of the Lan River and the Linglong River and wrote eight timeless masterpieces in one go. This not only attracted tourists from all over the country, but also, with this momentum, completely revitalized the foundation of our Hexi County!"

Du Yuan suddenly realized. It turned out that the county magistrate had seen through the fundamental advantage of Hexi County, which was precisely the spectacular sight of the confluence and collision of the rivers.

In addition, his own literary talent was outstanding, and he used his poetry and prose to create a "scenic spot", thereby boosting the livelihood of the entire county.
"If that's the case, then it should be a wonderful thing, so why should we avoid it?"

These words startled the boatman, causing him to pause as he used his bamboo pole. He looked at Du Yuan as if she were some rare and unusual object.
"Young master! Our county magistrate, he... he's from the Gao family! The Gao family, the Gao family of Wuyi!"

The Gao family of Wuyi? Du Yuan frowned slightly, trying to recall what she had heard people talking about along the way, but she couldn't remember the name at all.

He shook his head honestly, his tone tinged with apology:

"Forgive me, Mr. Du, for being so oblivious to the world around me that I was unaware of the name of the Gao family in black robes."

The boatman first muttered under his breath, "How could he not know that?" Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he slapped his thigh and exclaimed in understanding:
"No wonder you look so scholarly, young master; you've been engrossed in your studies all this time!"

As he spoke, his voice unconsciously lowered further:
"The Gao family, known for their black robes, once held immense power in the court! The current emperor was able to ascend the throne thanks to the personal assistance of Gao Huan, the head of the Gao family. There's even a more frightening rumor circulating among the common people—"

The boatman stopped abruptly, quickly glancing left and right at the river. Seeing that no one was around, he finally leaned close to Du Yuan's ear, his voice so low it seemed a gentle breeze could carry it away:

"Back then, everyone was saying that the late emperor, who is also the current emperor's uncle, was killed by that treacherous minister Gao Huan!"

People generally love to hear stories that reveal royal secrets. As the boatman got to this point, his eyes lit up, and his voice unconsciously rose a little:

"Otherwise, think about it, how young and healthy was the late emperor back then? How could he have fallen ill from just a fall? So everyone guesses that it was that old scoundrel Gao Huan who resented the late emperor for opposing him at every turn and getting in his way, so he secretly took action!"

"And that's precisely why the Gao family rose rapidly in those years,"

He moved closer to Du Yuan and said:

"I still remember that back then, about 30% of the officials in the country were either surnamed Gao or related to the Gao family. Even many nobles in the capital privately lamented that if things continued like this, in less than ten years, all the nobles in the country would probably come from the Gao family!"

"Moreover, the country was in chaos back then because of the Gao family. People were suffering and everyone was cursing the Gao family for being inhuman! But there was nothing that could be done. After all, the emperor was gone, so what could we, mere mud, do?"

At this point, the boatman suddenly stopped, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes:
"But guess what?"

Before Du Yuan could speak, he revealed the answer himself, his tone filled with a sense of cathartic satisfaction:

"This old scoundrel, with connections to the heavens, was actually executed by His Majesty himself in the palace in the sixth year of the Tianbao era! Only after that did the court finally return to order, and the world was at peace! At that time, the whole street was filled with applause and cheers. The only pity was that our good magistrate of Hexi County was gone."

As he spoke his last words, the boatman's voice trailed off, and he gently tapped the water with his bamboo pole, splashing up tiny droplets. His tone was full of regret.

"His Majesty is truly wonderful! Not to mention this old man, even my father's generation says that they've lived most of their lives and have never seen such peaceful days. But the county magistrate is also wonderful, so how did he become like this?"

Du Yuan nodded with a similar sigh.

This is indeed a difficult thing to explain.

What happened to this county magistrate afterward?

Upon hearing this, the boatman shook his head heavily.
"There was no news at all. I just remember that day, just as dawn was breaking, a special squad of fierce soldiers from the capital came. As soon as they entered the county town, they went straight to the county government office without hesitation." "But our county magistrate seemed to have known all along." The boatman's voice lowered further, with a hint of inexplicable melancholy. "Someone saw him first thing in the morning: he had his official hat neatly placed on his desk, his official seal carefully wrapped in red silk and placed beside it, and he was sitting quietly in the chair in the government office, waiting for someone to come and take him away."

Du Yuan remained silent, listening quietly, while the boatman sighed even more deeply:

"When those fierce soldiers went in, they only said, 'We are here by imperial decree to arrest him,' and the county magistrate got up and left with them. After that, we, the people of Hexi County, never heard a word about where the man was taken or whether he was alive or dead."

"It's like this person has never been here before, but the bridges, shops, and tall viewing platforms that were personally overseen by the county magistrate are clearly still there."

At this point, the boatman suddenly raised his hand to wipe his eyes, his gaze fixed on a distant point. Noticing his unusual behavior, Du Yuan asked curiously:

"what happened?"

"N-nothing! I...I just thought I saw our county magistrate." But as soon as he said that, he laughed self-deprecatingly and shook his head decisively, "Young master, please don't take it to heart. It must be that my old eyes have finally failed me."

Du Yuan didn't reply, but instead gazed thoughtfully in the direction the boatman had just looked. It was deserted, with no pedestrians or other sounds; it was just a desolate, uninhabited dock.

Just then, the boatman remembered what had happened earlier and asked again:

"Young master, we've arrived in Hexi County now. What do you think of the matter I asked you earlier?"

Du Yuan turned around and smiled, saying:
"No rush, no rush. Didn't you just say you wanted to have a few drinks? Let me treat you to a good drink first! Where's the nearest restaurant? Could you please show me the way? Don't worry, it's no trouble at all!"

Upon hearing such good news, the boatman was overjoyed and hurriedly said:

"Oh, that's wonderful! Please wait a moment, young master, I'll moor the boat right away!"

Du Yuan nodded, disembarked first, and then leaned down to whisper to the bottom of the water, "Go, go."

The large bluefish didn't surface; it only blew a few bubbles in response before swimming away.

Before long, the boatman, having finished tidying up the fishing boat, happily led Du Yuan to the nearest restaurant.

When the two arrived at the foot of an inn, Du Yuan suddenly looked up at the top of the building and then raised her hand to cup her hands in a gesture of respect to the person upstairs.

The other party was taken aback at first, then laughed loudly and raised his hand in a gesture of respect in return.

As Du Yuan and the boatman gradually walked away, their contact ceased.

Upstairs, behind the person who had previously exchanged greetings with Du Yuan from afar, a beautiful young woman of about sixteen or seventeen walked in at that moment.

The woman had a gleaming silver sword hanging at her waist, and she stood tall and straight; behind her followed an equally handsome young man, who held an ebony dagger in his hand.

The two complemented each other perfectly in appearance and temperament, and even the weapons in their hands looked like a matching set, revealing an indescribable tacit understanding.

As soon as she entered, the woman bowed respectfully to the middle-aged scholar standing by the window:

"Sir, I have already asked my master, and the sword is indeed at the confluence of the Lan River and the Linglong River. Its exact location is roughly in front of the Guanlan Pavilion!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged scholar immediately turned around and bowed deeply to the woman, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, young lady!"

“Sir,” the woman stepped forward, her tone slightly coquettish, “I’ve told you so many times, you can just call me by my name, there’s no need to be so polite.”

The middle-aged scholar smiled and waved his hand, his tone humble: "How could I dare to be so presumptuous as to a beautiful lady?"

"What's so abrupt about this?" The woman frowned slightly. "You're always so distant; it just makes you seem like a stranger."

Seeing the woman's enthusiasm for the middle-aged scholar, the young man behind her coughed lightly and glanced at her, subtly implying that she should not get too close to an "outsider".

But the woman seemed not to hear her, and continued to move closer to the middle-aged scholar with her eyes full of respect and a hint of something that she herself could not quite explain.

Seeing this situation, the middle-aged scholar felt somewhat helpless and had no choice but to change the subject and steer the conversation toward the main matter:
“Just now I saw a young gentleman by the window, and he seemed to have an extraordinary bearing. Since you all say that the sword is no ordinary thing and involves many things, could that young gentleman be the ‘other family’ you’ve been mentioning who has finally arrived?”

These words immediately perked them up. The young man quickly walked to the window, took out a lustrous jade, and carefully scanned it against the street below.

A moment later, he put the jade away, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Sir, you are not a proper cultivator, so you have misjudged him. Just now, there was indeed a scholar who could barely be considered to have entered the path of cultivation."

At this point, his tone became somewhat sarcastic.

"But that scholar looks like a bookworm. He doesn't have a trace of righteousness about him, and his cultivation is negligible. How can he be worthy of the title 'someone from another family'?"

His tone was brimming with undisguised arrogance as he said this.

Two unparalleled masters from the Buddhist and Taoist lineages challenged the will of Heaven one after another, forcefully disrupting the great era that should have remained sealed away, causing it to arrive ahead of schedule.

Riding this wave of opportunity, these disciples of major clans, who originally needed to lie low for a long time before they could truly show their abilities, not only became active early on, but even their elders were able to step in at crucial moments without having to hold back.

No longer do I feel stifled like before, forced to watch helplessly as a bunch of clowns wreak havoc and cause trouble, without even a chance to refute them.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged scholar slowly nodded, but his deep eyes remained fixed on the end of the street where Du Yuan had disappeared, as if deep in thought, unable to look away.

The woman, pleased with him, added:
"As long as you can get that sword, even without our help, you can take it and confront that foolish emperor yourself!"

But gradually, the woman noticed that the middle-aged scholar didn't seem excited about it.
"Sir, don't you want to confront that tyrannical ruler?"

At this, the middle-aged scholar simply shook his head and said:

“I have done right by him, but he, the pharmacist, is also worthy of the name of the emperor.”

"Sir!" The woman exclaimed anxiously, taking half a step forward. Her voice was urgent. "If you take control of this sword, you can use it to request a legitimate name from the Confucian Temple! Then you can suppress the Pharmacist family so that they can never rise again. Isn't this what you've always wanted to do?"

The middle-aged scholar neither affirmed nor refuted, but simply said quietly:
"I will indeed hand him a sword once, a sword that will decide life and death!"

(End of this chapter)