Chapter 740: Unable to Escape

Faced with the dazzling light of lanterns and torches outside the house, Lu Haixian sighed in fear and resigned himself to his fate.

A civil servant over seventy years old neither dared nor had the ability to resist the imperial guards, so of course he let the imperial guards take him away.

In fact, since the publication of "Records of Mountains and Rivers of the Four Seas", Lu Haixian, an old minister with little presence, has frequently received the emperor's favor and rewards, and he has become increasingly uneasy.

Every time he was summoned to the imperial study by the emperor, Lu Haixian had to be nervous for a while, and he had to respond carefully every time.

This time he would be caught, Lu Haixian was afraid in his heart, but it was hard to say that he didn't have a little relief.

In the inner prison, Lu Haixian was escorted here and locked up alone in a spacious cell. The cell was relatively clean, and even the bed was not lacking in bedding.

The sound of locking the prison door came, and Lu Haixian watched the jailer and the imperial guards leave, and sat dejectedly on the bed in the prison with a dead heart.

The footsteps of the crowd were getting farther and farther away, and Lu Haixian slowly closed his eyes.

At the outer part of the prison, the prison boss accompanied the leading imperial guards to the entrance of the prison. It was expected that there would be additional instructions.

Sure enough, when they reached the entrance, the leading imperial guards looked at the prison boss and several jailers around him, and then looked at the direction of the prison.

"You must take good care of the Lord Lu inside. Don't let him have any accidents. This is the will of the emperor, and there must be no mistakes!"

"Yes, yes, we will take good care of him!"

Seeing the prison boss agreed, the imperial guards nodded and led the people out of the prison.

"Farewell, sir!"

The prison boss followed behind and saw him off. After the imperial guards left, some jailers next to him came over.

"Boss, who is this who arrested someone in the middle of the night?" "Yes, the surname Lu, which sir?"

There was a record of the prisoners being escorted in, and the prison boss already knew who was arrested inside. At this moment, he looked at the brothers beside him.

"Who? Hehe, you know that "Four Seas and Mountains and Rivers Records" was written by this Lord Lu!"

"What is it?"

"Oh, it's useless to say it."

The next morning, Yu Ziye had just gotten up to wash his face, and before he raised his head from the washbasin rack, the servant had already hurried out the door.

"Master, Lord Lu has been arrested and imprisoned!"

Yu Ziye paused slightly, and continued to wash his face with clean water, then took the cloth handed by his wife and gently wiped his face, and then looked at the visitor.

"What happened now?"

"It happened last night, probably before four o'clock."

Yu Ziye nodded and sighed helplessly.

"The emperor's temper is still as anxious as ever. I know, let's go."

"Master, do you want to prepare the car immediately?"

Yu Ziye shook his head.

"No, go ahead."

"Yes."

The servant left, but Yu Ziye's wife came closer and reached out to touch one side of his hair.

"My husband, you have a few more white hairs on this side."

"As time goes by, it will happen sooner or later."

"My husband, don't you think highly of Lord Lu? Why don't you go to the emperor to ask for mercy and ask what's going on?"

Yu Ziye glanced at his wife.

"Even if I care about Lord Lu, I must not go to the emperor at this time. I can only wait for the emperor to come to me. Okay, you women should not think too much about this matter."

"If you don't want to say it, then don't say it."

Yu Ziye said no more, wiped the water droplets, and let his wife help him tidy up his clothes. He looked out of the door with an unfocused look, and it was obvious that his thoughts were not on the scene in front of the door.

At noon that day, the news that Lu Haixian was imprisoned spread in various government offices in the court.

It was also about the same time that Yu Ziye was summoned to the imperial study.

Yu Ziye adjusted his state and entered the imperial study. He saw that the emperor was still reading "Four Seas and Mountains and Rivers". The eunuch Zhao who was usually seen on weekdays was not there, but an eunuch Li was waiting on the side.

While frowning slightly and thinking, Yu Ziye stepped forward and saluted.

"Your Majesty, your servant Yu Ziye, pays respect to your Majesty!"

The emperor looked up at Yu Ziye who was bowing and sighed.

"Your Majesty, you don't have to be so polite. You know about Lu Haixian's imprisonment, right?"

Yu Ziye stood up.

"I've heard something."

The emperor walked out from behind the imperial desk and looked at Yu Ziye with a book in his hand.

"Why don't you ask why he was arrested?"

Yu Ziye's eyes followed the emperor's movement and thought for a while.

"Lord Lu was favored by your Majesty before. I think he was arrogant because of his favor and secretly bent the law for personal gain?"

"Humph, I ordered the imperial guards to arrest him directly."

Yu Ziye looked at the emperor with a frown.

"Is it a crime of treason?"

The emperor looked at Yu Ziye, shook his head and flipped through the book in his hand, and suddenly asked Yu Ziye a seemingly irrelevant question.

"Your Majesty, do you think there are really immortals in this world?"

Yu Ziye seemed to speak directly without thinking.

"Your Majesty, there should be immortals in this world!"

"Oh? Why do you think so?"

The emperor looked at Yu Ziye with some curiosity, and the latter said calmly.

"Not only immortals, but also yin and yang, ghosts and gods are also indispensable. This can also discipline the people of the world, so that they respect the law and obey the etiquette, even the most vicious people will have some fear in their hearts."

Yu Ziye continued in a steady and powerful voice.

"Etiquette and law, etiquette comes first and law comes later. The so-called justice is in the heart of the people is also an example. There are ghosts and gods in the heart, and those who have no respect will be severely punished!"

The emperor heard that what Yu Ziye said and what he asked were not the same thing at all, so he replied "should", not "believe".

"In fact, there must be true immortals in this world who can fly to the sky and escape from the earth, who can emerge from Yin and Yang, and who can live forever and look at ease for a long time."

Hearing what the emperor said, Yu Ziye could only smile and asked jokingly.

"I don't know about this humble minister. Your Majesty said so. Could it be that Mr. Lu's matter is related to this?"

No one would dare to say this kind of joking tone to the current emperor, but the emperor smiled and nodded at this moment.

"Ai Qing really got it right."

An expression of astonishment suddenly appeared on Yu Ziye's face. Although he had already made some guesses, his expression at this moment was half true and half false.

"I have also read "Four Seas, Mountains and Rivers". This book uses strange and mysterious things to describe the geography, humanities and mountains, rivers and swamps of the world. There seems to be nothing wrong with it, and there is no hidden meaning in the words. Your Majesty My sage, I never believe that there will be any kind of literary prison!”

Hearing what Yu Ziye said, the emperor smiled and didn't care.

"They say you, Yu Ziye, are smart, but your thoughts are limited to the human world."

As he spoke, the emperor looked in the direction of the open window.

"I sent people to Mingzhou. The things described in "Four Seas, Mountains and Rivers" are not like what Lu Haixian said. They are mostly the dreams and conjectures of myself and my friends."

The emperor's description was also concise. He sent people to Mingzhou, and what they saw and heard somewhat subverted what ordinary people thought.

Although there are many versions of what happened to the Mohist old man in Mingzhou City, it is obvious that the emperor has a clear tendency to believe in something more mysterious.

The dream in the book should be that Lu Haixian and the old man of the Mo family went to Beihai with the immortals, and saw the beautiful scenery that ordinary people could not see.

The emperor's narration later became more and more excited, and he seemed to need to share his emotions at this moment with others.

"Yu Aiqing, do you know that Mo Yiming, the old man of the Mo family, is still more than a hundred years old? He is still in high spirits and has even invented the dishes that Dragon Palace has tasted. Lu Haixian actually deceived you before. It’s just prevaricating, but it’s actually disloyal!”

Is it the crime of deceiving the emperor?

Yu Ziye could actually refute this, because he knew how Lu Haixian responded to the previous conversation with the emperor. In fact, there was room for maneuver. At least it was definitely not a frontal bullying, it could only be regarded as vague words.

But now the emperor has decided that Yu Ziye will not face the emperor head on.

"It turns out that I have such a narrow-minded vision. It is really unimaginable."

"I can't blame you. Who would have thought that a dream could cross thousands of mountains and rivers in one year and follow the immortals to travel between heaven and earth. Who would have thought."

The emperor's face was somewhat excited.

Yu Ziye nodded and quickly showed doubts on his face. When the emperor also noticed this, he spoke carefully.

"But if the dream really lasted for a year, how could Lu Haixian, as the magistrate of Mingzhou at that time, if something happened to the governor of the first state, not report it?"

As soon as these words came out, the emperor was slightly startled.

"Perhaps you have already reported it, but you just didn't pay attention to it, right?"

Hearing what the emperor said, Yu Ziye shook his head again.

"Wei Chen is deeply favored by the Emperor and has been trusted by the Emperor to serve as an important member of the Ministry of Personnel. I dare not forget His Majesty's grace and teachings for a moment and devote myself to the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel."

"Of course, the minister will also be negligent and may miss some things. For example, it is possible that he did not pay attention to a local document. But if a governor really does not ask about government affairs for a year, the Ministry of Personnel will definitely need to appoint another magistrate to handle it. Yes, this is no longer a trivial matter, but Wei Chen doesn’t remember such a thing happening!”

The emperor frowned.

"Maybe Aiqing forgot? Maybe the local officials concealed the report?"

Yu Ziye nodded.

"It is indeed possible, but I will find out what I forgot when I go back and check the files! As for the local government concealing it?"

"Normally, it is advantageous for local officials to temporarily act as magistrates before new officials take office. There may be more complicated reasons. I sincerely request your majesty to issue an order to conduct a thorough investigation of Mingzhou officialdom. I suspect that it may be possible Hiding something big!”

Yu Ziye took the matter to another direction. As long as he ordered a thorough investigation, he would have a way to muddy the matter.

Of course, Mingzhou will inevitably have to sacrifice some people. Yu Ziye doesn't believe that the official pond in Mingzhou's blessed land will be so clear. Some things can be made big and small, and some things can be made small. It's just a matter of time to straighten things out.

But obviously the emperor didn't want to hear this today.

"These officials have their own evaluations and are also supervised by the imperial censor. Yu Aiqing, I would like to ask you, if I intend to seek the blessings of immortality, how to recruit an immortal master is more appropriate."

The emperor's meaning was very clear. He knew that there would be many objections from the courtiers, so he asked Yu Ziye what he thought.

Yu Ziye was not so naive as to think that the emperor was really asking for his opinion. The emperor had basically made up his mind when he said it. He was just asking him for advice, but he seemed a little silent at this time, as if he was thinking.

The emperor looked at Yu Ziye and sighed helplessly.

"My health has been getting worse over the years, and I feel more and more powerless. The imperial doctors in the palace are all mediocre people. Now that I have to hear the news from the immortal, how can I not try it? I don't really want to punish Lu Haixian, I just want him to understand what I mean. He has good intentions, if he is truly a loyal minister, he will naturally do his best for me."

"But if Lu Haixian is unwilling to be loyal, it may be because he is greedy and selfish. It may not be that the immortal is unwilling to obey the emperor's call. What do you think, Ai Qing?"

Yu Ziye looked at the emperor's expression and knew that he had to say something, so he responded.

"In fact, our dynasty has also canonized some immortal masters. The most famous one is the Demon Slayer Qi Tianshi. It is said that the old Tianshi appeared when the previous emperor was alive. The details should be better known by the Si Tianjian than me."

Yu Ziye didn't want to say more, but the emperor smiled and nodded when he heard it.

"My dear minister, you are right! Speaking of the Demon Slayer Qi Tianshi, I was young back then and I also saw him at the grand court. He seemed to be more than 120 years old at that time. He is really a living immortal."

The mention of the old Tianshi seemed to boost the emperor's confidence and make him feel good.

However, when Yu Ziye left the imperial study, his mood was a bit complicated. The emperor's absurd thoughts of seeking immortals and medicine were secondary. Lu Haixian was afraid that he would be sad about this disaster. After all, it was probably not satisfactory to His Majesty.