Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

That night, the palace was brightly lit and filled with joy and happiness.

"Sister, you must not have eaten well on the way. Come and try this roasted lamb. Lamb is warming and nourishing, and it's perfect for winter."

Wang Ding ordered the servant to bring a small oven to the table, picked up a piece of thinly cut meat with chopsticks and put it on the iron plate, and started to grill the meat for Zhang Mo with his own hands.

Zhang Mo felt a little embarrassed and stood up to do it herself, but Wang Ding gently separated her and said, "This iron stove is very hot. Be careful not to hurt yourself."

Wang Gai said with a smile, "Sister, just sit down and eat. If you don't let him roast it, he won't be able to eat tonight."

Zhang Mo had no choice but to kneel down and sit down. Seeing that Wang Yun had not returned yet, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to wait for father to have dinner together?"

Wang Jing said, "Father has made great contributions in suppressing the bandits. His Majesty will host a banquet tonight to honor him. We will use it for ourselves."

Throwing him a banquet to honor him? It's good enough that he didn't go to jail!

Zhang Mo sighed inwardly. The favor towards eunuchs by Emperor Ling of Han had reached an outrageous level. Not only did he confer titles of nobility and favor on them, but as an emperor, he actually compared the two eunuchs, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, to his own parents. Later, he established the Eight Commandants of the Western Garden and let the eunuch Jian Shuo be the commander.

It was nothing but a pipe dream for Wang Yun to think that he could bring them down with just a few letters.

……

At that moment, Zhang Rang knelt on the ground in Chongde Hall, weeping bitterly. "Your Majesty, I am a loyal and devoted minister, wholeheartedly seeking your help. I would never collude with the enemy. I do not know where Wang Yuzhou found this letter, but it slanders me. I beg you to bring the author of this letter to the court for confrontation."

Emperor Lingdi asked angrily, "Isn't this letter written by a guest of yours?" As he said this, he threw the cloth in front of him.

Zhang Rang picked it up and gave it a mock examination. "The handwriting is indeed familiar. It seems to have been written by my guest, Du Cun. Your Majesty, please send it over for interrogation."

Emperor Ling snorted and called on the imperial guards to capture the man.

A moment later, Du Cun was escorted up. After reading the letter, he first cried out that he was innocent. Emperor Ling then ordered people to go to his house to get the handwriting for comparison. Sure enough, they were exactly the same. He could no longer argue and had to bow his head and plead guilty.

Even though Emperor Lingdi favored Zhang Rang, he could not help but be enraged by the evidence of his collusion with bandits. He was about to have Zhang Rang imprisoned when Du Cun said, "Although I wrote this, I was blinded by greed and deceived by Wang Yuzhou. It has nothing to do with the eunuchs."

"What nonsense! When did I ever deceive you?" Wang Yun was so angry that he almost jumped over and strangled the man.

"Before you left for Yuzhou, you sent a retainer to see me with a large sum of money, trying to trick me into writing a letter to Chang Shi Zhang, declaring him a traitor to the enemy. Unfortunately, my mother was seriously ill at the time, and I needed money urgently to buy medicine. In my moment of confusion, I wrote this letter."

Du Cun bowed and wept, "Your Majesty, I have slandered loyal officials. I know my guilt is grave, and I dare not ask for forgiveness. However, I cannot sit idly by and watch treacherous officials persecute loyal officials. I will die to atone for my sin."

As he said that, he stood up and rushed towards the golden pillar next to him. Wang Yun's heart skipped a beat and he hurried forward to stop him, but he was still a step too late. There was a loud bang, and Du Cun's face was covered in blood. He fell to the ground staggeringly, twitching twice and then stopped moving.

Emperor Lingdi frowned in disgust. The eunuch beside him hurriedly called the guards in to carry away Du Cun's body, and the palace maids brought water to clean the pillars and floor.

Emperor Ling said, "Master Prince, do you have anything else to say?"

Asking this question clearly shows that he believed what Du Cun said.

Wang Yun was so anxious that his face flushed and his neck thickened. "Your Majesty, I didn't know Du Cun before. He didn't even wait for me to question him before he rushed to the pillar and died. It's obvious that he was in collusion with someone."

Before Emperor Ling could ask, Zhang Rang cried out, "Your Majesty, this is nonsense. I had no prior knowledge of Wang Yuzhou's complaint, so how could I have colluded with him?"

Then he looked at Wang Yun and said, "Since you don't know him, why would he slander you?"

"This..." Wang Yun was speechless for a moment. In order to prevent Zhang Rang from trying to escape the crime, he kept the letter secret after receiving it and only revealed it today. There was indeed no possibility of collusion between the two of them. He didn't understand why Du Cun said so. Did someone leak the secret?

"Your Majesty, I request that Peng Tuo, the leader of the Yellow Turbans of Runan, come up to confront us."

Emperor Ling waved his hand, and soldiers immediately went to take the people away.

Peng Tuo was brought up, bound and tied up. Zhang Rang coughed softly under his sleeve and gave him a look. Peng Tuo understood and recanted his confession in court, saying that he had been tortured by Wang Yun and had been forced to slander the eunuchs. He then said with great righteousness, "I am a disciple of the virtuous teacher Da Liang. I disdain to associate with the court. How could I have colluded with eunuchs?"

The physical evidence was false and the witness changed his testimony. Emperor Lingdi was biased towards Zhang Rang. Zhang Rang cried and expressed his loyalty. Not only did Wang Yun fail to overthrow him, but he also got himself involved.

Emperor Lingdi imprisoned Wang Yun that night for framing a loyal and honest person.

Although Wang Yun was imprisoned, Emperor Lingdi did not blame him too much because he had made great contributions to the suppression of the rebellion. The cell he lived in was very spacious and bright, and there was a like-minded companion in the room next to him.

"Did you also offend the Ten Eunuchs? Did you not bribe them, or did you kill their relatives when you suppressed the rebels?"

In the cell, Lu Zhi put down the letter and looked at the angry Wang Yun with interest.

"The eunuchs are going too far, too far!"

Wang Yun was furious. Seeing Lu Zhi, he treated him like a close friend. He told him how he had found the letter and how Zhang Rang had colluded with the bandits. After he finished scolding him, he asked, "Why were you imprisoned?"

Lu Zhi rolled up his sleeves, sat there calmly, and said jokingly, "I didn't bribe the eunuch Zuo Feng, so Your Majesty sent someone to bring me back from Guangzong in a prison cart."

When Wang Yun heard this, he immediately understood the reason.

He also knew that His Majesty had sent Zuo Feng to Guangzong to inspect Lu Zigan's military affairs. It must be that Zuo Feng failed to get a bribe and returned to the capital to falsely accuse Zigan of being ineffective in suppressing the bandits.

Seeing Wang Yun's rage, Lu Zhi tried to comfort him, saying, "Master, don't be angry. You can't kill him by scolding him like this. Why bother?"

Wang Yun snorted angrily and sat down cross-legged.

The two brothers were bored in prison, so they talked about their experience of suppressing the rebellion. Finally, they moved the table in front of the prison bars and sat on the ground facing each other as if they were having a banquet.

When Zhang Mo and others came to visit, they saw this scene. They also saw that the prison was fully equipped with all the necessary items. They thought that His Majesty still took into account the two men's contribution in suppressing the bandits.

Wang Yun and his two sons had not seen each other for a long time, so they naturally chatted about family matters. After that, Wang Gai comforted him, "Don't worry, father. Before I came here, I visited the general, and the general promised to plead for your father."

Wang Yun sighed, "Nowadays, the court is not afraid of eunuchs, but only the general."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Mo, who was standing at the side, and beckoned her to come closer. Turning to his three sons, he said, "I regret not listening to A-Mo's advice. Now, not only am I imprisoned, but I may also implicate you. Although A-Mo is young, she is intelligent and resourceful. Don't look down on her because of her humble background. You should protect her as a brother. I'm afraid Zhang Rang won't let this go. You must be extremely careful. If you encounter any difficulties, you can ask her for advice."

"Don't worry, father. I understand!" Wang Gai replied.

Zhang Mo was deeply moved, especially by Wang Yun’s last words, which invisibly improved her status in the Wang family.

"Father..."

She had just cried out with emotion when Lu Zhi's voice came from the cell next to her, "Master Prince, is this little girl the reincarnation of the Military Saint who helped you defeat the bandits in Runan?"

"Exactly!" Wang Yun said to Zhang Mo, "This is the great scholar of our time, Lu Zigan. Come and meet him."

In fact, when she first entered the cell, Zhang Mo had followed her three brothers to pay her respects to Lu Zhi. However, at that time she did not know that the old man who was more than eight feet tall and had a resolute face was Lu Zhi. Now that Wang Yun specially introduced him, she knelt down again, lowered her head to the ground, and performed the ceremony of bowing her head.

"Baby, get up!"

Lu Zhi didn't care much about these etiquettes. After calling Zhang Mo, he looked at her through the prison bars. Seeing that her face was as pretty as a boy in a painting, his impression of her improved a little. He then tortured her with a few more sentences about military strategy. When he heard that she answered fluently, he was even more shocked.

Lu Zhi said with great emotion, "This girl is extraordinary! Master Zi, you have found a treasure."

Wang Yun joked, "You can take her as your disciple. Once a teacher, always a father."