Ming Dynasty: I am truly not the Emperor of Longevity

"What does my brother mean?"

Lu Wei thought for a moment,

"Should we just pretend we know nothing and ignore Lu Chen?"

"Very well, what does a mere illegitimate son in charge have to do with the master!"

Fan finally showed a slight smile.

"When the master was dying, his mind was already confused. That was just a rambling remark, and there's no need to pay attention to it."

. . .

Midnight, inside the mourning hall.

"Brother, are we really going to ignore Father's dying wish?"

Lu Wei stood up, stretched his legs which were sore from kneeling, and walked to Lu Bing's side.

Lady Fan was old and physically unable to keep vigil all night. She had been helped back to her room to rest by the servants.

Only the two brothers remained in the mourning hall.

"This is my father's dying wish. As his son, how can I ignore it?"

Lu Bing looked at his younger brother and sighed softly.

"Second brother, as you just noticed, Mother still harbors resentment towards that Wang woman."

It is clear that the father had indeed taken a liking to that maid back then.

Based on my understanding of my father, it's unlikely that Wang Shi, after being given to Steward Lu Kun as a concubine by my mother, would still be so attached to him after all these years.

Moreover, he is the son of Wang and Lu Kun!

I'm at least 90% sure that Lu Chen is my father's illegitimate son with that Wang woman, and our own younger brother.

Unfortunately, Lu Kun and Wang Shi had both passed away, and his legal wife, Chen Shi, knew only limited information and could not get any details out of her.

Even so, we can't really ignore Lu Chen.

Since Father wants us to take care of him, it would be best if we kept it from Mother and arranged a position for him in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"But we already told Mother that we wouldn't get involved with Lu Chen."

Lu Wei looked worried.

"My mother is the Emperor's wet nurse, Lady Yousheng. Even within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there are plenty of people willing to serve her."

If we secretly secured a position for Lu Chen in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it would be difficult to keep it from her.

"I've thought about it carefully over the past two hours."

Lu Bing said in a deep voice,

"If we arrange a position for Lu Chen in the Imperial Guard in the capital, it will be almost impossible for us to keep it from Mother."

The only solution is to prevent Lu Chen from entering the capital!

"Does my brother mean to send someone from the capital towards Chengtian Prefecture to intercept Lu Chen along the way?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Wei's eyes lit up.

"This is a good idea. Why don't we find a prefecture or county far from the capital and send him there to take up his post?"

In this way, he would have no chance to appear in the capital, and his mother would have a hard time finding out.

We can say that we have given an explanation to our father's spirit in heaven.

"That's right, that's the method I was just thinking of."

Lu Bing chuckled softly.

"I plan to go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters tomorrow and find him a lucrative post in a prefecture or county far from the capital."

Once found, send someone with the official document and my personal order as the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately set off south.

We must stop Lu Chen before he arrives in the capital and order him to take up his post immediately, without having to go to the capital.

As for the position, let Lu Chen inherit Lu Kun's general banner; just say that Lu Kun designated him to be hereditary before his death.

Lu Chen knew that Lu Kun was a hereditary captain. Although the appointment process was illegal, he had always been in his hometown of Chengtian Prefecture and had never served in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so he probably couldn't see anything wrong with it.

I will privately inform Lu Kun's eldest son that after his mourning period ends, I will also give him the position of captain.

"Brother's insight is brilliant."

Lu Wei's face showed admiration.

"We arranged a lucrative post for Lu Chen in another region, which can be considered as fulfilling Father's dying wish for us to take care of him."

He also wouldn't appear in the capital, lest he displease his mother.

. . .

The next morning, at the Nanhe Ferry.

Lu Chen stood at the bow of a small, covered boat that could only hold seven or eight people, sailing downstream along the Nanhe River.

This travel permit really worked; at least I'm no longer an unregistered resident in the Ming Dynasty.

After leaving the shady shop yesterday, Lu Chen walked for almost two hours and finally arrived at a small village by the river before the sun had just set and it was not yet completely dark.

It's actually just a small settlement with only a few dozen households and two or three hundred people.

Lu Chen easily found out the exact time and location.

This place is located at the border of Fang County, Yunyang Prefecture, and Gucheng County, Xiangyang Prefecture, Hubei Province. This small river is called the Nanhe River, a tributary of the Han River.

By taking a small boat downstream along the Nam River, you can reach Goseong County on the banks of the Han River.

Once you reach Gucheng County, you can transfer to a large boat and head to Xiangyang Prefecture, a hundred miles downstream on the Han River.

As for the timing, it basically matches the judgment Lu Chen made based on those copper coins and road signs.

It was the second day of the fifth month of the seventeenth year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty. Converted to the Gregorian calendar, it was roughly the end of May or the beginning of June, which was already early summer.

There was a small dock by the river, where several inspectors dressed in government uniforms and carrying waist knives stood guard.

There were only a few people, and Lu Chen was confident that even if the travel permit in his hand was exposed, these people wouldn't be able to stop him.

Therefore, he went directly to the dock, showed the patrol officer his travel permit, and asked to take a boat to Gucheng County downstream.

Sure enough, after inspecting the travel permit, the patrolmen not only did not make things difficult for Lu Chen, but also addressed him as "Young Master Lu" repeatedly.

However, Lu Chen's request to travel by boat to Gucheng County overnight could not be fulfilled.

There are many reefs on the Nanhe River, and at night navigation was very risky in those days, so boatmen only dared to sail during the day.

Since objective conditions do not allow it, Lu Chen has no choice but to stay here for one night.

Several inspectors personally led Lu Chen to the only inn on the dock and asked the innkeeper to give him the best room.

This inn was certainly not a shady place. After transmigrating to this world, Lu Chen was finally able to get some sleep in bed.

Early the next morning, an inspector came to the inn and informed Lu Chen that the ship bound for Gucheng County was ready to set sail and invited Young Master Lu to board.

Choosing to impersonate the illegitimate son of the Jinyiwei commander was indeed a wise move.

If I had chosen the student from Zhangzhou Prefecture back then, I wouldn't be enjoying this kind of treatment.

. . .

In the capital, within the palace walls, at the office of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

"Grand Ancestor, Commander Xu secretly reported to me that Lu Bing left Lu Song's mourning hall early this morning and made a special trip to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters."

A eunuch dressed in a dark blue casual robe reported in a low voice.

According to Xu Baihu, Lu Bing stayed in the storeroom for almost two hours, looking for something, and didn't come out until the afternoon.

"Lu Song just passed away yesterday, and Lu Bing should be at home keeping vigil today."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Mai Fu, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and concurrently the Director of the Eastern Depot, gave a soft snort.

"The fact that you're rushing to the storeroom suggests that there's something urgent that must be done."

"Reporting to the Ancestor, after Lu Bing came out of the cabinet storehouse, he personally wrote a warrant and used the seal of the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

The eunuch in blue replied,

Xu Baihu didn't know exactly what was written on the warrant.

After writing the warrant, Lu Bing immediately found a trusted captain and left the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters with the warrant.

Xu Baihu found the matter very strange and secretly sent men to follow him from a distance. They discovered that the captain had left the city through Xuanwu Gate, gotten a horse at the post station in the south of the city, and headed towards Daming Prefecture.