Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 143

Chapter 143 Yang Conspiracy Blocked at Both Ends
Lu Zhen was planning to use Lin Lie to find out about county magistrate Lu Tu, but the other party acted earlier than him. Two days later, Zeng Guang entered Lu Zhen’s palace with several documents in his hand. “Lord county magistrate, these are the three cases that the previous county magistrate Li had not solved. Please take a look and make your decision.”

“Oh?” Lu Zhen glanced at the other party in surprise. Obviously, this person had been ordered by Lu Tu to deliver these documents. Then what exactly was his intention?

One had to know that in Guangling County, the way his subordinates dealt with the county magistrate was very routine. That was, they didn’t report anything, making Lu Zhen, the county magistrate, a sealed official who had no real power. This was also the action of some subordinates in the county government when they were targeting their new boss. Often, because he was a newcomer, he was really toyed with by others.

However, they were lucky that they actually did the opposite and brought the matter to the door. As long as he thought about it carefully, Lu Zhen could guess that there must be some kind of trap hidden here. But since everything had been delivered, it was not easy for him to push it out as a county magistrate. Otherwise, they would have a good reason not to report the official documents in the future.

Lu Zhen smiled as he took over the few documents that weren’t thick and quickly opened them to look at them. With a glance, his eyebrows gradually wrinkled. These fellows really dug a big hole for him!

It turned out that what Zeng Guang had given him was the three cases that had happened in Daxing County on the first day of the seventh month. That former county magistrate Li was unable to find out the truth of these three cases, so he could only be sadly removed from office. It was Lu Zhen’s turn to sit in this position. Now that he had only been in office for two days, they had already taken out these three cases to let him solve them.

In fact, these three cases were all closely related to Lu Zhen, so he didn’t need to investigate them carefully to know the truth. But can we really bring the murderer to justice on a regular basis?

Of course not. Not mentioning that two of the cases were related to the factory guards, the murder in that house alone could not tell the truth, because it was Lin Lie who killed them!

Seeing Lu Zhen’s silent expression after reading the three documents, Zeng Guangxin was secretly pleased. Sure enough, county magistrate Lu still had the ability to capture the weakness of the other party. Since these three cases could trap one county magistrate, then naturally, they could also trap the other.

To be on the safe side, he even “kindly” pointed at Lu Zhen and said, “Lord county magistrate, the people under these three cases have also found some clues. It is said that they have a lot to do with Dongchang and the Royal Guards, so if we want to investigate, I’m afraid there will be some conflicts with them …”

Lu Zhen waved his hand and interrupted him, “This official has already noticed that this case is really tricky. By the way, how did County Magistrate Li deal with the three cases before?”

“At that time, County Magistrate Li only used the word dragging technique … Your Excellency, you used to be a county magistrate elsewhere, so you know some of the tricks in the bureaucracy. When we encounter difficult cases, we most likely drag them out. As long as we drag them over, everything will no longer be a problem.” Zeng Guang only said half of what he said, and the other half was that if he couldn’t drag it out, his fate would be the same as your predecessor’s.

Lu Zhen thoughtfully glanced at the other party, “So you mean for this official to use this move as well? Do you want this official to follow in the footsteps of County Magistrate Li?” As he spoke, a trace of displeasure flashed through his eyes.

Being swept away by him, Zeng Guang felt a burst of nervousness for no reason. He didn’t expect this young man to possess such a powerful aura. But very quickly, he said, “Your Excellency, please calm down. I don’t dare to harm you like this. There is another explanation.”

“Tell me.” Lu Zhen put down the last document in his hand, picked up his teacup and drank a sip of tea, as if he was listening respectfully.

“Thinking about it now, County Magistrate Li’s actions at that time were indeed inappropriate, because this happened during his term of office. This is Beijing City, so how many eyes are on him? If County Magistrate Li can’t give the court an explanation for such a big murder, the court will naturally deal with him. But … Your Excellency, you are different.”

“What’s different about me?”

‘”You only took up your post after the case happened. This case had nothing to do with you before. At this time, if you use this dragging tactic again, no one will dare to say anything about you. Do you think so, Your Excellency?” As he spoke, he quickly raised his eyes to glance at Lu Zhen before lowering his head.

Lu Zhen pondered for a moment. According to the other party’s logic, things could really be settled this way. After all, he was not the son of his predecessor, so there was no need to wipe his butt for him to pay off his debts. Moreover, it was well known in the capital that these three cases were not easy to handle. It was only natural for him to use a dragging tactic. It was indeed not easy for others to blame him.

However, after thinking deeply, he felt that there seemed to be some hidden problem. It was just that he couldn’t grasp the main point for the time being. Moreover, judging from Lu Tu’s character, it was impossible for him to be as considerate as he had said. There must be some sort of conspiracy hidden within.

Since he couldn’t figure it out for a while, Lu Zhen didn’t make a decision immediately. He just smiled and said, “Let me think about it before making a decision.”

Zeng Guang didn’t expect him to have such an attitude. He was obviously stunned for a moment. But in the end, he still agreed and carefully retreated. For some reason, when facing Lu Zhen, who was much younger than him, he always felt a lot of pressure. He didn’t even dare to meet his four eyes and only dared to secretly look at him. To be honest, this county magistrate in front of him gave him even more pressure than Lu Xiancheng.

However, after all, Lu Tu had been an official in the county government for many years and had already subdued Zeng Guang. Therefore, in this secret battle, Zeng Zhubu could only choose to stand on the side of Lu Xiancheng.

After leaving Lu Zhen’s residence, he immediately rushed to Lu Tu’s residence not far away. After knocking on the door and entering, he closed the door again.

Lu Tu, who was reading a book, did not raise his head when he heard the voice, but asked softly, “How is it? Did he agree to your proposal?”

“County magistrate Lu said that he had to consider it before making a decision.” Zeng Guang looked at the other party worriedly and replied. Obviously, he was afraid that the other party wouldn’t get the answer he wanted, so he blamed himself for being incompetent.

Luckily, Lu Tu was still calm. Although his face was unhappy, he smiled again, “Although this county magistrate Lu is young, he is a knowledgeable person. But no matter how smart he is, there is no way to solve this matter. Whether he chooses to drag it out or pursue the case, there is only one outcome, and that is to lose his official position!”

This was not Lu Tu talking to himself, but it was true. This time, he was using an unavoidable Yang scheme, which was much more powerful than ordinary schemes.

If Lu Zhen sees the problem and resolutely investigates the case, just as Zeng Guang reminded him earlier, he will make a grudge with the factory guards. The Eastern Chamber of the Royal Guards was a terrifying existence. Even though its status was inferior to before, there was still a way to deal with such a small grade seven county magistrate. At that time, without Lu Tu’s help, Lu Zhen would be in prison for various reasons.

What if Lu Zhen really used the drag-and-drop technique according to their intentions? It probably won’t end up much better than his predecessor. Because Lu Tu had already made preparations. Once he really did, he would use his familiar Yan Guan to create a huge momentum. At that time, Lu Zhen would also be attacked by others and scolded by them as County Magistrate Li, who was eating a corpse meal. At that time, he would naturally have no choice but to follow in his footsteps.

As for the reason why the three cases that Zeng Guang had mentioned earlier had happened before he assumed office, in the eyes of those officials, it was simply not a reason at all. This was just a bait to make Lu Zhen feel relieved and lure him into the bait.

“Then let him think about it slowly. I won’t give him too much time anyway.” Lu Tu chuckled and waved his hand to order the other party to retreat.

Zeng Guang bowed respectfully before retreating. He looked even more cautious than he did with Lu Zhen, his real boss. He couldn’t help but be careless. The schemes that Lu Tu displayed this time were enough to make him feel terrified, and he didn’t dare to offend this county magistrate anymore.

However, both of them had apparently missed out on one. These three cases were actually only two difficult ones for Lu Zhen. He knew the identity of the murderer in the courtyard. As long as he was willing to apprehend Lin Lie as the murderer, it would be enough to give the Imperial Court an explanation. The other two cases were no longer too troublesome.

Lin Lie thought of this as well. Therefore, after knowing about this matter, he put forward a method of surrendering himself in exchange for Lu Zhen’s safety. However, after hearing this, Lu Zhen shook his head, “Brother Lin, do you think I’m someone who relies on betraying friends to protect myself? Are you looking down on me, Lu Zhen? You know, the reason why you killed me was to help me. In order to save Chu Yunrong and the others, how can I do such a thing?”

“Sir, don’t misunderstand. This subordinate definitely doesn’t have such thoughts. However, this is the current situation. If you don’t do this, I’m afraid your situation will be very bad.” Lin Lie hurriedly waved his hand.

‘”I know that you have good intentions. You want to sacrifice yourself to help me. But have you ever thought that I will feel at ease after doing so? Also, once you are convicted, I will really be left alone in the county government. When that time comes, I will not be able to resist at all.”

“This” Lin Lie was stunned for a moment. After thinking about it carefully, it was really like this: “What does Sir mean?”

“A living person can still suffocate to death? Although this conspiracy is vicious, I don’t think it can really make me surrender. There’s always a way to solve it. I just can’t think of it for a while.” Lu Zhen smiled and said, “But I believe that if you give me time, I will find a way. I just need you to stop messing around at this time.”

“Yes, this subordinate will remember.” Lin Lie replied gratefully, but at the same time, he felt heavy in his heart.