The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

As soon as the gate opened, more than ten soldiers rushed in. A leader asked the servant, "Is there anyone else at home?"

The clerk quickly replied: "Yes, yes! And my boss's!"

"Well! Call him out! Go search and see if there's anyone else!"

"Yes!" the soldiers agreed and began to search. The shopkeeper was called over by the waiter and asked, "Soldier! What are you looking for?"

The leader looked him up and down and said, "Search for people! Are you hiding anyone?"

The shopkeeper waved his hands quickly: "Don't dare!"

After half an incense stick of time, the soldiers came back and reported that they had not seen anyone else.

When the leader saw that no one was found, he immediately led his soldiers away, and the two men breathed a sigh of relief.

Zixuan, the county magistrate and Confucius' disciples waited for a whole day but there was no news from Confucius.

Zixuan was a little anxious. Since the Master had no enemies in Kuang, who was so bold as to kidnap him?

Lu Liang was also very anxious. If something happened to Confucius within his jurisdiction, he would be in big trouble.

He looked at Zixuan and said, "City Lord Zixuan, in my humble opinion, it's possible that someone in the court is obstructing this."

"The great doctor Ning Wuzi is my teacher. How about I write a letter and send one of his students to ask for his help?"

"Teacher, please help me find out who is secretly holding the master hostage!"

Zixuan thought about it and decided that this was the only way since there was no other way.

She looked at Zilu and said, "Zilu, please send someone to Diqiu immediately to deliver the letter to Ning Wuzi."

Ning Wuzi was shocked when he received the letter. Confucius, whom he admired, had disappeared in Kuang.

He had to help, so he sent someone to secretly find out which minister was behind this.

But after two days of inquiries, there was no result. The retainer said, "Master! I don't think the Master is necessarily being held hostage by the doctor."

Ning Wuzi asked doubtfully, "How do you see that?"

"Think about it, the Master has already planned to leave Wei State, so he poses no threat to them."

"There's no need for them to resort to such desperate measures. I think it was Kuang Ren who did it."

"Why don't you send troops to Kuangdi and ask the Kuang people's leader if they did it."

"Well, that's fine too, but I see your students are very well-spoken and must be very knowledgeable!"

"Ask him if he's willing to be my retainer. If he is, I'll send troops to rescue the Master!"

After hearing this, the disciple agreed very readily. As long as he could save his teacher, he would be willing to go through fire and water!

So Ning Wuzi sent a thousand soldiers to Kuang to rescue Confucius.

Inside the post station, Confucius's groom was shivering in the carriage. He had just been beaten up by several civilians.

Just because he said he had been to Kuang with Yang Hu, the people hated Yang Hu and thought they were in the same group, so they attacked him.

When Zilu passed by the carriage, he saw the driver had a bruised face and nose, so he hurried forward and asked:

"Yan Ke, why are you injured? What happened?"

Yan Ke said angrily: "I was just chatting with someone on the street!"

"I said I had been to Kuangdi with Lu Daifu Yang Hu, and these people beat me up!"

"Oh? Who is Yang Hu, and why do the people of Kuang hate him so much?"

Yan Ke wiped the blood from his mouth and said, "Yang Hu was once an official in Kuangdi!"

"He has imposed tyranny and heavy taxes on the people here, and the people of Kuang have suffered greatly from him, so we hate him to the core!"

Oh, so that’s how it is. Zilu didn’t take it to heart and continued walking forward.

After walking a few steps, an idea suddenly popped into my mind.

He hurried to find Zixuan: "City Lord Zixuan, I have made a new discovery!"

Oh? Zixuan was delighted: "Tell me about it!"

"Just now, I saw the driver being beaten and asked him why. He said it was because he had been to Kuangdi with Yang Hu, the doctor from Lu."

"The people of Kuang hate Yang Hu, so they don't let anyone around him go!"

"Yan Ke is the Master's coachman. The people of Kuang wouldn't think that the Master is in league with Yang Hu and arrest him!"

Zixuan thought for a moment and said, "Well, that's possible! Go and invite the county magistrate!"

Well, within an incense stick of time, the county magistrate hurried over. Zixuan asked him, "Lord Lu, do you know the leader of the Kuang people?"

Lu Liang nodded: "I know him, what do you want from him?"

Zixuan told him again what Zilu had analyzed.

After hearing this, Lu Liang thought this was possible, so he ordered his followers to invite the leader of the Kuang people.

When the innkeeper heard that the county magistrate was looking for him, he was shocked. Could it be that they knew that Yang Hu was arrested by me?

After the ceremony, Lu Liang asked, "Chief Qiu, I heard that you captured Confucius. Is this true?"

Chief Qiu was panicked and lost control of his words: "Sir! I caught Yang Hu, not Confucius!"

Ah! He felt that he had said something wrong and immediately covered his mouth.

What! Lu Liang stood up suddenly: "Yang Hu has been killed by Ji Sun! Why did he come to Kuangdi?"

Seeing that the truth had been revealed, Chief Qiu no longer concealed it: "Master Lu!"

"I have already memorized Yang Hu's appearance. He has a tiger-like appearance. I am sure it is him. How could it be Confucius?"

At this moment, someone outside the inn called Ma Si, and a yamen runner came in to report that Ning Wuzi had sent troops.

Lu Liang hurried out to greet them. A leader clasped his fists and said, "Master Lu, I was sent by Doctor Ning to assist you in finding Confucius!"

Lu Liang nodded and said, "General, the teacher has received news that he was captured by this person!"

What! The leader was furious when he heard this: "Come here! Tie this guy up!"

"Here!" Without a word, the soldiers hurriedly tied up Chief Qiu.

Chief Qiu shouted in disbelief, "I caught Yang Hu, not Confucius!"

Zixuan walked up to him and said in a cold tone, "Master, you'll know if it's true or not once you see it! Where is the person? Take us there quickly!"

Chief Qiu puffed out his chest and said, "Go ahead! You won't give up until I see you in person!"

After saying this, he was pushed by the soldiers and walked out of the city. When the people of Kuang saw that their chief had been captured, they hurried home to get their weapons and chased after him.

When they were almost at the gate, the waiter received a report that the shopkeeper had been arrested, and immediately ran over with his men.

When he saw his clansmen coming, he immediately shouted, "Family!"

"We've captured Yang Hu. They're holding the clan leader hostage in an attempt to rescue him! Kill them all!"

"Yes! Kill them! We can't let them rescue Yang Hu!"

So the people of Kuang raised their weapons and rushed towards the officers and soldiers, shouting loudly.

In an instant, the two sides fought each other. Seeing that no one was paying attention, Zixuan hurriedly entered the space.

Using the invisibility technique, he came to the woodshed where Confucius was imprisoned. Although Confucius had been detained for five days, he was still in high spirits.

When he saw Zixuan, he was surprised and delighted: "City Lord Zixuan! How did you know I was here?"

Zixuan was delighted to see that it was really Confucius and not some Yang Hu:

"Master, now is not the time to talk about this, come with me!"

Confucius was not in a hurry. He saw a guqin hanging on the wall and took it down.

"Don't be anxious, City Lord Zixuan. It's not too late to leave after I sing a song!"

Zi Xuanxin thought: "It's already this late, and you still have the heart to sing and play."

But out of respect for the old man, he smiled and nodded: "Okay! Master, please!"

Then Confucius began to play and sing. The disciples outside the door were very excited when they heard the familiar singing:

"It's the Master's voice! He is indeed in there!"

In an instant, everyone seemed to be energized, and their sword-wielding movements became more powerful.