Font Size:
Lu Desheng understood. His daughter knew why he was sick this time. It wasn’t simply a matter of being angry and then catching a cold. Doctor Zhou said he was emotionally agitated and depressed, and he was right. Lu Desheng realized the danger of his situation.
To prevent Fan Quan from entering the civil service, he disrupted the debate competition hosted by Zhang Yong at the Hongsheng Restaurant. This caused a major event to end with no one entering the civil service. Whether it was the scholars throughout the land who thought he was unwilling to accommodate talent and deliberately blocked their path to advancement, or the officials of the Ministry of Personnel who followed suit, resulting in more poor students unable to enter the civil service, the blame would ultimately fall on him.
When the Emperor passed away, he would face the criticism of the entire world.
It was embarrassing to admit, but he was truly worried. He thought it over and over again, but couldn’t find a solution. The anger and depression in his heart couldn’t be released, and then a chill triggered his illness.
Everything his daughter did was to build a golden body for him. She even brought in so many people: the Emperor, the great scholar Zhang Yong, and the heads of the Bailu Academy and Songshan Academy. As long as the Four Virtues continued to shine brightly, he would be protected.
Lu Desheng turned around and hugged his wife, sobbing. He kept telling her how good his daughter was, how she had grown up and could now protect her old father.
He was truly a man of deep affection.
Lu Songli sighed. She knew her father was intelligent. She and Xie Zhan could see the danger beneath the surface, but he might not have noticed it himself. Moreover, he often accompanied the Emperor, and apart from Wei Zili and others, there was probably no one among the officials who knew the Emperor’s health better than him.
Madam Jiang comforted him for a while, then took the hot towel handed to her by her youngest son and wiped his face.
Lu Desheng muttered, “Zhang Yong and the others are right. The Four Virtues are indeed a great saying. It’s a waste to use them on me.” Having been immersed in officialdom for so many years, Lu Desheng naturally understood the value of the Four Virtues.
It could be said that even a small association with them would be enough to dispel the dissatisfaction of all the scholars in the world towards him, enough to keep him safe.
If they hadn’t used them, with those Four Virtues in hand, with proper management, even if they couldn’t produce a sage, they could still produce a great scholar or a great sage.
“Father, it’s not a waste. You are the most important person in our family. Any resources used on you are not a waste.” Lu Songli said earnestly. Talent is always the most important and precious resource.
These words moved Lu Desheng to tears. When he accidentally saw his two sons oblivious to the situation, he paused, and his tears flowed even more violently.
Lu Mingzhi muttered to himself, “My second sister’s mouth is truly a liar. In this family, the one who is most like our father is my second sister. No, my second sister is probably better. Didn’t our father almost get tricked by her?”
Lu Zhiyuan, who was watching, was dumbfounded. He leaned toward Lu Mingzhi and nudged him with his elbow, whispering, “Little brother, when did your second sister become so eloquent? So good at flattering our father and mother?”
“You’ll see this kind of situation often in the future.” Lu Mingzhi replied gloomily.
Lu Zhiyuan choked. He didn’t need to see the future, he was already deeply feeling the pressure of the food chain.
“By the way, daughter, who is this Zhang Zai?”
Lu Songli thought for a moment and said, “Zhang Zai? He is a great scholar with a grand vision, a vast mind, and a broad chest.” He was actually a great philosopher and educator. “He calls himself Master. Hengqu.”
Master. Hengqu? Could he be from Hengqu in Ximei County, near Chang’an City?
“I’m not sure about that.” Actually, it was true, but this place was too close to Chang’an City. If they admitted it, countless people would go there to investigate.
The consistent explanation they gave to the outside world was that Lu Desheng had a chance encounter with Master. Hengqu Zhang Zai and was fortunate enough to have a night chat with him. Even more fortunate, he heard Master. Hengqu talk about his life and tell him about the life aspirations he had proposed in his fifties based on his own life experience and journey. The Four Virtues were a brief summary of Master. Hengqu Zhang Zai’s lifelong pursuit of value. Master. Hengqu shared it with him and didn’t mind it being known to more people, inspiring more people in the country.
Xie Mansion, Conference Hall
This meeting was headed by Xie Zhan, with Xie clan elders and core officials of the entire Xie faction in attendance. Xie Mingtang was one of the former, while Zhao Wenkuan, Ji Yongqing, and others were among the latter. These people were all decision-makers of the Xie faction.
But at this moment, there was a somewhat silent and meaningful look among everyone in the entire council chamber, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
As soon as Zhang Zai’s Four-Character Sentences were spoken, all the scholars were silenced in an instant.
The youthful blood and grand ambitions in those words were enough to shake people to their core.
Even Xie Zhan was momentarily lost in thought.
In the council chamber, someone let out a soft sigh.
“Have you found out where this Zhang Zai person is?”
“No relevant information can be found. It’s as if Zhang Zai exists only in the tales of Lu Desheng.”
“The town of Hengqu in Ximei County has been turned upside down by several waves of people, but still no clues have been found.”
“Da Li is so big, he calls himself Master. Hengqu, it might not necessarily be a place name.”
“Could this person be fabricated?” If their people couldn’t find him, and even the ones sent by the emperor couldn’t find him, it’s a bit hard to believe.
“That’s impossible!” Otherwise, where did these Four-Character Sentences come from? There must be such a person, they just haven’t found him yet. Rather than this result, they were more reluctant to believe that Lu Desheng had such great talent. It’s possible that as the Lu family said, Lu Desheng happened to meet Zhang Zai and had the privilege of conversing with him by candlelight.
“What kind of luck is Lu Desheng having!” Such a great sage, to be encountered by him.
Everyone couldn’t help but marvel at Lu Desheng’s good fortune, everything seemed to fall into his lap.
Watching Lu Desheng advance triumphantly, winning all the way, they were somewhat at a loss. They had been watching the thief eat meat, when would they see the thief get beaten?
“He is indeed lucky, his luck lies in having a good daughter to plan for him, rather than just sheer luck.” Xie Zhan’s hand unconsciously tapped lightly on the table as he spoke slowly.
No one can keep winning just by luck, beneath luck, there must be efforts unknown to outsiders.
What does this mean? Everyone looked at him.
It was rumored outside that these Four-Character Sentences of Zhang Zai were passed on by Lu Desheng to Lu Mingzhi and then handed over to several mountain elders. But upon closer inspection, Xie Zhan found something amiss. If that was the case, why would Lu Desheng turn pale with fear due to a speech disorder caused by illness? This clearly showed a form of fear. At that time, both the Lu family and the current Lu family did not have any visible crisis that would make him so fearful.
Furthermore, the internal cause of his illness this time was liver failing to reach the meridian, emotional stagnation, and restlessness.
These pieces of information were all gathered through Xie’s network of informants, so they should be accurate.
What value do these Four-Character Sentences hold, he believed Lu Desheng would understand. Under the premise of instructing his youngest son to pass them on to the three major mountain elders, he should not have had such a reaction. This did not seem like the mindset one would have when holding a winning hand or being confident in victory.
Unless, Lu Desheng himself was unaware of this matter. That would make sense.
In addition, Lu Desheng’s high-profile behavior and his way of sharing profits with everyone did not seem to fit his style.
Also, after Emperor Kang Cheng and the ministers left that day, Lu Songli waited on the second floor for Lu Mingzhi.
All these signs indicated that these Four-Character Sentences were not handed over by Lu Desheng to Lu Mingzhi, but by someone else, and that person should be Lu Songli.
When Xie Zhan shared the conclusion he had deduced, everyone present gasped in shock.
“Impossible, right? Where would she get the Four-Character Sentence?” Compared to this guess, they were more inclined to believe the explanation given by the Lu family.
“Does it really make a difference?” Whether Lu Desheng gave it up or Lu Songli gave it up, the ultimate impact is the same, isn’t it? What difference does it make?
The one speaking was an elder of the Xie family, and most of the core members of the Xie faction remained silent in thought.