Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 144

Chapter 144 Countermeasures
Ever since the Yuan Dynasty made Beijing (then known as Dadu) the capital city, this millennium-old city has become the place that people under the heavens yearn for. In the words of later generations, there were countless Northern Drifters heading to this city to seek development. Of course, the vast majority of them were imperial examinees and officials in office.

However, the situation of these ruling class scholars and officials arriving in Beijing was similar to that of the Northern Drifters in later generations, because their food, clothing, accommodation and transportation were far higher than the prices elsewhere. Unless you’re one of the top three freshmen in high school, or a high-ranking official, accommodation alone is enough to cause a headache for the average scholar-bureaucrat.

At this time, Beijing was far from the size of the city, and there was no possibility of high-rise buildings appearing in the residences of the inhabitants. If one wanted to find a shelter there, they would have to pay several times the rental price of other places. By the way, there was no basement, let alone low-rent housing. Those officials with low salaries could only think of all sorts of ways to live in the simplest slums.

However, as one of these low-ranking officials, The sixth grade Daxing County Magistrate, Lu Zhen, was in a much better situation. Perhaps this was the only advantage of the county magistrate-the backyard of the county government was enough for his family to live in. Although the area here was half that of Guang Ling, there was at least a place to live without spending money, wasn’t there?

However, one thing was the same as in Guang Ling City, that was, Lu Zhen was still resting in his study room and gave the bedroom to Chu Yunrong and his servants.

After getting along with Chu Yunrong for the past year and experiencing so many things, the relationship between Lu Zhen and Chu Yunrong seems to be getting closer and closer. However, he was just an ordinary friend, and the window paper on emotions had never been pierced. The two of them had a tacit understanding that they were still a little ambiguous, but there was a feeling that they were separated by another layer. As for the reason, it was unknown.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhen wasn’t active enough? Or perhaps Chu Yunrong was still afraid of her own identity. After all, in a sense, she was now a widow.

However, this did not prevent the two from having more contact and caring for each other on a day-to-day basis. When Lu Zhen returned from his former office this evening, Chu Yunrong personally brought over a cup of sour plum soup.

When Lu Zhen saw her arrive, he slightly restrained the sadness on his face and smiled, “I was just feeling the weather getting hot, so you brought the plum soup. Thank you.”

“It’s just a simple effort. The food was also cooked by Cuimei. I don’t dare to take credit for it.” Chu Yunrong pursed her lips and smiled. Then, he looked at Lu Zhen and said, “Is there anything difficult for you?”

“You can see that. That’s right, something happened in the county government. They want to deal with me.” Lu Zhen didn’t see anyone else and told them about the things that he had felt embarrassed about before.

Chu Yunrong unconsciously felt a little happy. It was not because she was gloating over Lu Zhen’s difficulties, but because she discovered that the other party really regarded her as a trustworthy person. It seemed that the relationship between the two of them had become even closer. But then, she frowned, “It’s really hard to handle.”

“That’s right. No matter how you choose it, it doesn’t seem to be appropriate. This Lu Tu really has some insight and has given me such a difficult problem.” As Lu Zhen spoke, he took the cup of sour plum soup and drank it.

Seeing him put the bowl on the table after drinking, Chu Yunrong opened her mouth somewhat awkwardly. She seemed to want to say something, but she hesitated at the edge of her mouth.

“What? You have something to say?” Lu Zhen saw her reaction and asked curiously.

Only then did Chu Yunrong nod her head and say, “I do have an idea, but it might not be easy to do …”

“If you suggest that I hand over Lin Lie to make amends, then forget it. He is my friend. I, Lu Zhen, will not do such a treacherous thing no matter how useless I am.” Lu Zhen reminded.

“Do you think I’m such a person?” Hearing this, Chu Yunrong glared at him angrily. However, this anger still carried a few fascinating beauties. “Lin Lie killed those fellows to save me and Cuimei. He is my savior. How could I harm him?”

Even Lu Zhen was dumbfounded when he saw this, and then he reacted. He hurriedly cupped his hands and said, “I’ve said the wrong thing. I hope that you don’t blame me for a large number of things. Just tell me your idea. Otherwise, you’ll see that my hair is going to turn white.”

Seeing the man in front of him suddenly say this like a treasure, Chu Yunrong, who was originally still tense, couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I’m not really angry. Actually, I don’t know if this will succeed or not.” As she spoke, she spoke her thoughts.

Lu Zhen listened carefully and lowered his head to think for a while before he raised his head, “This method is really feasible! This time, I really owe it to you. Otherwise, I really don’t know what to do.”

“I just thought about it the other way around. I didn’t expect it to be useful.” Chu Yunrong was also happy to see that she could help Lu Zhen. Previously, Lu Zhen had helped her solve all sorts of problems and even saved her a few times. Now that he had returned the favor, she felt that the relationship between the two of them seemed to have taken a step closer.

After thinking about it, Lu Zhen began to think about how to make things beautiful. Seeing him start to ponder again, Chu Yunrong no longer disturbed him. She tidied up the bowls and spoons and quietly retreated.

When she walked into the courtyard, a voice suddenly came from behind her, “Miss.”

“Ah” Chu Yunrong, who was smiling and thinking about something, was shocked by this voice. While patting her chest, she glared at Cuimei, who was approaching her, complaining, “Why are you silently walking behind me, trying to scare me to death?”

Cui Mei couldn’t help but laugh a little crazily, “I didn’t. Miss, you were too focused to see me. I know, you must be in the room with your uncle …”

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m just sending some sour plum soup in.” Chu Yunrong hurriedly interrupted her and said, “Little girl, why are you always thinking about these things? It’s really strange.”

The two of them were called master and servant, but they were actually more like sisters. Therefore, Cui Mei was not afraid that her young miss would get angry. She continued, “Miss, you are weird. You and your uncle clearly get along very well, but why do you have to sleep separately? Although I am young, I know that husband and wife sleep together.”

“You … I told you not to chew your tongue, believe it or not, I tore your mouth apart!” Hearing this, Chu Yunrong’s face instantly turned red as if a piece of red cloth was covering her face. She reached out in embarrassment and was about to tear Cuimei apart beside her. In response, Cuimei chuckled and quickly ran away, leaving Chu Yunrong here unconsciously startled.

@ @ @ @

Another two days passed, but Lu Zhen did not reply at all. This made Lu Tu’s confidence even stronger. Evidently, Lu Zhen was unable to cope with this problem, so he could only use the drag-and-drop technique first.

However, Lu Tu, who had spent more than 20 years in the officialdom, would not let go of this opponent. Since he had already made a move, there was no reason for him to give up halfway. The Art of Dragging Words might be a tricky trick to deal with the people, but against the officials, the situation was completely different.

He had already made his decision. By tomorrow, he would go find a few officials who had some friendship before and borrow their mouths and pens to disperse the problem first. He wanted to see how Lu Zhen would react when that happened.

Just as he was about to be happy, a servant carefully approached the door and said, “Your Excellency, your Excellency, please come over and say that you have something to discuss.”

“Oh?” Lu Tu was slightly stunned, not knowing why Lu Zhen was looking for him. This time, everything was written by Zeng Guang. Regardless of what choice the other party made, he shouldn’t have called himself. Could it be that there was something else he wanted to order?

Although he was puzzled, he still stood up and walked over. After all, the other party was currently his nominal superior, and there were some rules that he still had to explain. However, he had already made up his mind that he absolutely had to stay out of this matter.

After signing up for Lu Zhen’s residence, Lu Tu saw that Zeng Guang was also among them. Lu Zhen, who should have been worried, looked at him with a bead of wisdom in his hand. He smiled and looked at him with a smile that was not a smile.

Although this young man’s pair of eyes did not have much momentum, the calm and confidence they emitted caused Lu Tu, who had originally thought that everything was in his hands, to feel a little guilty.

After saluting, Lu Tu forced himself to ask, “I wonder why the county magistrate called the lower official here.”

Lu Zhen glanced at Zeng Guang, whose expression was even uglier, and asked curiously, “What? Didn’t Zeng Zhubu report it to Lu Xiancheng?”

He deliberately emphasized the word “report”, causing Lu Tu’s eyelids to twitch. However, he quickly stabilized his mind and forced a smile, “I really don’t know.”

“Since that’s the case, Zeng Zhubu, tell him first.” As Lu Zhen spoke, he picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Zeng Guang was helpless and could only report to Lu Tu what he had been instructed to do, which made Lu Xiancheng feel like a clown being played by Lu Zhen. However, he was angry in his heart, but he couldn’t control his anger anymore, so he could only try his best to control his anger.

After Zeng Guang finished speaking, Lu Zhen said, “What do you think of this matter, Lu Xiancheng?”

Sure enough, he wanted to help him solve the problem? He really dared to think about it. Not to mention that he had no choice, even if he did, he would not say it at this time. Lu Tu laughed in his heart, but he said, “This … Xiaguan doesn’t know how to deal with it at the moment. Perhaps dragging it out is the best way.”

“So this is what you did after county magistrate Li lost his position?” Lu Zhen narrowed his eyes and said in a somewhat gloomy tone, “Are you planning to make this new county magistrate take the blame?”