Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 120

Chapter 120 First Arrival in Dijing (1)
Seeing Lu Zhen’s silent and thoughtful appearance, Eunuch Qin was not in a hurry as he leisurely sat there and slowly tasted the tea. He did not think that the young man in front of him would reject this olive branch thrown over by Eunuch Wang. Although they had always had a bad reputation in the official circles, they were different now.

As His Majesty’s trust in Eunuch Wang grew deeper and deeper, the power of their Supervisor of Rites gradually rose. Even some officials in the court had changed their attitudes much more than before.

Although the things that Lu Zhen had to do this time were likely to provoke opposition from the crowd and the officials in the Imperial Court might decline, how could he, a rank seven county magistrate, not know how to seize this opportunity? Moreover, sending him to the capital this time was already a display of his strength. In addition, he could tell his intentions from his previous words and deeds, so Eunuch Qin was sure that even if Lu Zhen hesitated, he would still accept it.

Sure enough, after being silent for a long time, Lu Zhen finally raised his eyes and said slowly, “Since Eunuch Wang thinks highly of Xiaguan, this matter will be of great benefit to our Great Ming Imperial Court. Xiaguan naturally does not dare to shy away from it. However, Xiaguan is still at a loss as to what to do. I hope Eunuch will teach me.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll let you know what to do and say when the time comes. But before that, you have to stay in the capital for a few days.” Eunuch Qin, however, continued to sell.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen could no longer continue to ask, so he could only nod and answer. Seeing that he had agreed, Eunuch Qin stopped staying and said a few words of encouragement before taking his leave.

Lu Zhen’s expression sank slightly when he sent the other party out of the door. Sure enough, there was no such thing as a piece of pie falling on him in this world. He thought that he would have a chance, but in the end, he discovered that he had actually become a chess piece in the hands of some people.

Moreover, Lu Zhen knew very well that with Wang Zhen’s character, his chess piece could become an abandoned piece at any time. Therefore, it was a rather unwise choice to cooperate with them, both in public and in private. However, in this matter, what should he do to obtain benefits under the premise of protecting himself?

At least for now, Lu Zhen has no idea about this. He only hopes that he can adapt to the situation at that time.

Lin Lie and the others couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled when they saw the heavy-handed look on his face when he turned around. However, they didn’t know what to ask, so they could only stay silent with him. When he walked out of his thoughts, Lu Zhen saw this scene and unconsciously laughed, “What’s wrong with everyone? The food is going to be cold, why don’t we use it first?”

With his words, everyone agreed to eat. That meal just now wasn’t enjoyable, so I have to make it up to you now. Only Chu Yunrong still frowned slightly and looked at Lu Zhen worriedly. She wanted to say something, but she temporarily endured it.

It was almost two shifts away when they had enough to drink and eat. Everyone rushed back to their rooms to rest, but Lu Zhen was still pacing slowly in the backyard, thinking about what he should do next because he had something on his mind.

At this moment, Chu Yunrong walked over and said, “What did you talk to that guy about? Why did you always look so sullen after that?”

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Zhen explained his difficulties. At this moment, he needed someone to listen to his own thoughts, so that he could share some of the burden for himself. As his nominal wife, Chu Yunrong was obviously a good candidate.

After hearing those words, Chu Yunrong was also slightly absent-minded. “So it was because of this that you were transferred to Beijing? It seems that this matter is really difficult to handle.”

“Who said no?” Lu Zhen curled his lips, “Regardless of whether this matter is successful or not, once I really do as they say, I’ll have to be labeled as a castrated party from now on. This name is very unpopular in the current court …”

“Although you haven’t been an official before, you still know quite a bit about the situation in the Great Ming Dynasty Hall.” Chu Yunrong teased him and then looked into his eyes, “But why do I not feel that you are entangled in this?”

“Did you see this?” Lu Zhen was slightly stunned and shook his head with a smile, “If I didn’t know that you would definitely not harm me, I would have killed you to silence you, so that you wouldn’t see through too much.”

“You … being able to say this at this moment proves that you are actually still calm.” Chu Yunrong angrily glared at the man in front of her who was looking somewhat tired and lazy.

After laughing, Lu Zhen’s face turned solemn. “Of course, I’m not wondering if I should work for them. I’m thinking about whether I should destroy their plans and what kind of trouble this will bring us.” As he spoke, he looked at the woman in front of him and said, “There are some things that have serious consequences.”

Chu Yunrong stared at Lu Zhen and her expression became very serious. “So you still have some hesitation? Although I am a woman, I still know one sentence.”

“What is it?”

“Where is the righteousness? Although there are millions of people, I will go!”

Hearing this, Lu Zhen suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment. Yeah, since he had already distinguished between right and wrong, why bother looking back and forth? This was just trying to provoke chaos in his heart!

“I understand. Since I have decided to destroy their plans, I will deal them the most serious blow and make it difficult for them to do anything about it!” As he said this, Lu Zhen’s eyes shone brightly, and all of his worries had disappeared.

Looking at his appearance, Chu Yunrong also laughed. She liked to see this man in front of her so full of fighting spirit. Back then, in Guang Ling, she was attracted to him like this.

But then she asked herself, “When is the most critical moment?”

“Well, I’m not sure for a moment. But I believe that when they transfer me to the capital, they will definitely let me speak up for them. It’s time for me to fight back!” Lu Zhen said. He believed that it was impossible for the opponent to transfer him over regardless of the trouble. He could only wait quietly and not know when and what kind of effect this chess piece of his would have.

@ @ @ @

Having made up his mind, Lu Zhen finally didn’t have to struggle to fall asleep that night because of the entanglement. He slept all night until dawn before he was called out, and then he set foot on the last leg of the journey to the capital again.

The other guests in the relay station were also like them. They were already prepared to stop in the morning. Afterwards, they rode their horses and rode their carriages. They continued to head towards their respective paths, including the people from Duke Wei’s Mansion who had interacted with them last night.

Like all the rich children, this Xu Chengzong’s eldest young master also had the appearance of swarming forward and backward, his nostrils facing the sky. The few companions beside him dispersed all the pedestrians who were blocking them in a few moments, and then the young master rode his horse and galloped.

However, he didn’t run for a few steps before suddenly stopping his castration. He turned his head and looked at Lu Zhen and the others, who happened to be avoiding him. He said excitedly, “Hey, are you really going to the capital as well? What do you think, are you going to report your work, or are you going to be transferred to the capital as an official?”

“This lowly official doesn’t know either.” Lu Zhen shook his head gently.

“Hmph, do you think I won’t be able to find out without mentioning Yours Truly? We will meet again.” After leaving this sentence, Xu Chengzong added a whip and urged the horse to run in the direction of Beijing City as fast as possible.

Seeing this, Lu Zhen could only laugh bitterly. This kind of noble disciple could not be provoked by his own actions. Fortunately, Beijing City was different from other places. It was big enough, and the rules were heavy enough. Thinking about it, this dandy should no longer come looking for trouble for him.

Putting aside this worry, Lu Zhen greeted, “Let’s set off now.” As he spoke, he shook his reins and headed forward. Everyone behind him quickly followed him.

The closer we get to Beijing, the more people and carriages there are on the road. Fortunately, the official road was also broadened considerably. Although there weren’t as strict traffic rules as in later generations, they had their own set of rules. Thus, although there were many people, they weren’t messy. Sometimes, when a luxuriously decorated carriage passed by, many pedestrians would consciously avoid it. Perhaps this was the beginning of the road closure in Beijing in the future.

Moreover, this place was under the feet of the Son of Heaven. No matter how arrogant a person was, they would restrain themselves. Therefore, other than that young master Xu, no one else dared to run wildly along the way. Everyone pressed their bridges and walked slowly. This way, there would be less trouble and friction on the road.

In addition, Lu Zhen was happy that along the way from Tongzhou to Beijing, there were many villages on both sides of the road, and there were yellow and green rice and wheat growing in the fields. As soon as the wind blew, a wave of wheat rolled. It was really a beautiful scenery.

Looking at all of this, Lu Zhen felt more and more that his previous decision was so correct. If Wang Zhen was allowed to act recklessly, once the Mongol army went south, everything here would be destroyed, and countless civilians outside the capital would be buried under the Mongol butcher’s knife. Didn’t he want to save these innocent people?

Since that’s the case, then let’s do it! As for how Wang Zhen and the others would retaliate afterwards, they could no longer care about it at this moment. Still that sentence, where the righteousness lies, even though there are thousands of people I will go!

Along the way, they watched, and very quickly, the distance of twenty li passed. In the afternoon, they had arrived outside Beijing.

Looking at this ancient, ancient, and noble city from afar, especially at the city wall that was more than ten zhang tall and stood like a cliff on the plain, Lu Zhen’s heart suddenly jumped violently.

He had finally arrived!

After traveling to this era for almost a year, he finally arrived at the most important center of Daming-Beijing City! What was he going to do here, and could he change that sighing history?