Chapter 72 Flowers in April That Year

When Lu Yuan left the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the ground was already blurred, and the number of civil officials in the court was reduced by half.

After killing people, Lu Yuan left without leaving a single extra word, nor did he set any rules.

Today's deterrence alone is enough. As for how the court and the rivers and lakes will develop in the future, he did not say much, because he had no good solution for this problem in a short time.

Of course, this time, in addition to solving the subsequent troubles, it is also to avenge Master Lu.

After all, he once promised Master Lu that "only traitors will be eliminated, and people's livelihood will not be harmed." Although the old man did not say it clearly at the time, how could he not understand what the other party was thinking.

Because of this, Lu Yuan only killed half.

Don't think it's too much. The problem of too many officials in the Ming Dynasty has begun to appear since the earliest Hongwu period.

From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the Zhengde period, the number of officials in the country increased from more than 27,800 to more than 100,000. Although the early Jiajing period carried out a rectification of the officialdom, the number of officials did not decrease significantly. In the Wanli period, the number remained at around 80,000.

The phenomenon of "multiple officials for one post and multiple officials for one matter" is common in the court and local areas, and the job setting is even more chaotic.

Of course, the formation of this phenomenon is not accidental. It involves issues of centralization, financial system, social roots, etc., which will not be discussed in detail here.

Before leaving, Lu Yuan took a deep look at Emperor Zhu Yijun. Although the other party concealed it well, Lu Yuan still captured the excitement in his eyes.

According to historical books, Emperor Wanli did not attend court for more than 20 years in the later period. A big reason came from the constraints of civil officials. Now Lu Yuan broke the situation violently. I wonder if he can seize the opportunity.

After Lu Yuan left, a new storm swept the world again.

Although the court intended to cover it up, such a big event could not be covered at all.

There are even those who are not afraid of big things and adapted it into a small tune of Jianghu, "The wandering fairy is angry and goes to the court! The killing is so dark..."

For a time, Lu Yuan's reputation in the world has soared again.

Related discussions can be heard in teahouses and restaurants across the country.

Under this kind of voice, Wudang Shaolin announced that it would seal its gate for 50 years, which undoubtedly boosted the momentum again.

Just as the outside world was making a fuss about this.

Lu Yuan and Lu Huaer stayed in the palace to study Taoist scriptures and history, and rare secret books, including the famous "Wanshou Daozang" and "Yongle Encyclopedia".

The former is a Taoist masterpiece, and the latter is an encyclopedia.

It took Lu Yuan more than two months to read them all.

The accumulation of a large amount of knowledge allowed Lu Yuan to integrate what he learned and understood into his own martial arts.

"Changsheng Gong" version 6.7.

This method has now been pushed to the extreme that this body can achieve by Lu Yuan. There are higher ideas and thoughts for tempering the body, practicing qi, and keeping healthy, but the body cannot achieve them, so naturally there is no way to practice them.

At this point, it is no longer a matter of pure understanding.

The level of life limits the stage of blooming.

Lu Yuan can only wait silently for the completion of the second stage.

On the day before Lu Yuan left, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun came to meet him alone.

In fact, Lu Yuan and the others did not deliberately hide their existence. When the palace first discovered it, they were a little nervous, but after a long time, they even took the initiative to provide meals.

The content of the meeting was nothing new. It was nothing more than using Master Lu to talk about things and asking Lu Yuan to stay and help him.

At the end, Zhu Yijun even choked and cried, and told all the frustrations of having ambitions but being unable to display them.

Lu Yuan was annoyed to hear it. He had already helped him slaughter half of the civil officials, but he couldn't handle it.

Lu Yuan didn't know much about the history of the Ming Dynasty, but he had heard a sentence, "The Ming Dynasty fell, and it actually fell during the Wanli period."

It was okay when Zhang Juzheng was alive. After ten years of painstaking assistance, Zhu Yijun was still very motivated and had very good performance in military and economic aspects. After Zhang Juzheng left, this guy began to neglect his duties and attended court less and less, until he didn't attend court for decades.

Of course, it was also related to the fact that he took Zhang Juzheng as an example, but later found out that he was not as perfect as he imagined, and his mentality collapsed.

But more of it was this guy's character. He was really weak and could be bullied. He would get angry at any time and escape when he was angry.

In the end, Lu Yuan was too lazy to listen to the other party's complaints, so he knocked him out to shut him up.

He took Lu Huaer away from the palace.

"Where are we going next?"

On the top of the mountain outside the city, Lu Huaer asked as she did before every action.

Looking at the distant sky, Lu Yuan took a deep breath and smiled happily.

"Next, of course, we will go to places we have never been to, then see the scenery, feed the animals, eat some delicious food, get married, and have a child."

Lu Huaer agreed subconsciously, but then looked at Lu Yuan fiercely.

"Why? You don't want to!" Lu Yuan smiled evilly and pinched the other's face. "No one will dare to hunt us anymore. That story of Jianghu is over. Now we can live our own lives and go wherever we want!"

Lu Huaer seemed to realize it later. Her smile gradually became brighter. Finally, she shouted and threw herself on Lu Yuan's back.

"Let's go! Let's go to places we haven't been to! Husband!"

Lu Huaer shouted excitedly, and accidentally said the last two words. Then she suddenly reacted and immediately lay down without saying a word.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Lu Yuan raised his head and laughed. After a while, he replied, "Okay, my wife!"

On the top of the mountain, the boy was carrying the girl on his back, and the two figures entered the rivers and lakes again. The situation was different from before.

In the next few years, the two of them traveled around the world. They went out to the sea, climbed snow peaks, entered deserts, and lay on grasslands...

They have left legacies in various places, and have also appeared to guide young boys and girls who longed for the world.

The reputation spread outside has become more and more legendary.

The stars and rivers rotate, the snow falls silently, the rivers and lakes are far away, and the years are urging people. Looking back, the spring and autumn have changed the world several times.

Sixty-five years later.

In 1649 AD, the 22nd year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil.

History has gone awry here, perhaps as a result of interference that year. The Ming Empire, which was supposed to end in the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, managed to survive until the 22nd year, but it also entered the final countdown.

Compared with the last years of the dynasty, Jianghu is much better. The sparks set in the early years have finally started a prairie fire. The Five Mountains Sword Sect has become the new Taishan Beidou, surpassing Shaolin Wudang and becoming a first-rate force. Follow-up Emerging sects are springing up like mushrooms after a spring rain, with five of them ranking second-rate with Shaolin and Wudang.

However, everyone in the world knows that above these major sects, there is a special place that is revered as the holy land of martial arts in the world.

There is the best family in the world, the best secret library in the world, and the best master in the world.

Jiangsu, Lu family.

The head of the family, Lu Yuan, and the mistress, Lu Hua'er, are both over 10 years old, but they still look like they are in their twenties or thirties.

They are pregnant with a son named Lu Yun, who is now in his sixties and looks like a young man as well.

Further down the line, Lu Yun has two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.

It’s April again.

In the courtyard of the Lu family, Lu Yuan, dressed in a plain green robe, was sitting by the pond in the courtyard fishing with a fishing rod.

The clear eyes are still the same as before, without any trace of the turbidity of the years.

Next to her was Lu Hua'er, who was wearing an off-white robe. Her appearance had not changed much from before, but her temperament had become more pampered and luxurious. She was stroking the strings of the piano and playing a minor tune.

"Hua'er, who did you see playing the piano while fishing? Is he playing it for people to listen to, or for the fish to listen to?" Lu Yuanyuan complained.

When Lu Hua'er heard this, she just smiled and ignored him. The light and lingering melody blended her affection into the breeze and then reached her sweetheart's ears.

Lu Yuan smiled and smiled, occasionally tapping the fishing rod with his fingers to the beat. He was enjoying the moment.

Fast forward more than sixty years, a lot has changed, but a lot has remained the same.

Forty years ago, Lu Yuan saw Feng Qingyang for the last time. The old man smiled strangely on the top of Mount Hua and used his last sword. It is still unforgettable. Thirty years ago, Yue Buqun and Zuo Lengchan passed away one after another, leaving the martial arts world without two innate talents. Ten years ago, Dongfang came once, and there was no trace of her again. No one knew whether she had taken that step.

Oh, and Linghu Chong, the former protagonist, could not be with Ren Yingying after all. Lu Yuan swore that he had no intention of cheating him by leaving behind the skill book.

As for himself, the previous "Eternal Life Technique", "Martial Arts", "Swordsmanship", "Immortality Viewpoint", "Psychic Confusion" and "Wandering on the Clouds" were also unified into one by him five years ago and renamed "The Secret of Immortality".

Boom~!

When the last note of the song fell, Lu Yuan raised his hand to praise.

Lu Hua'er had already hugged Lu Yuan from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder, and said as playfully as before: "Lu Yuan, I want to go out for a walk."

Lu Yuan raised his hand for a moment, then immediately smiled and said, "Okay!"

Saying goodbye to the children at home, Lu Yuan drove the carriage himself, and the two of them entered the world again just like before.

The sound of horse hooves clattering all the way from Suzhou to the west.

On the way, Lu Hua'er seemed to have returned to that flower season again, pulling Lu Yuan along the way, pointing out the places they had been and counting the things they had done.

Listening to her talk, Lu Yuan added from time to time, vividly restoring the scenes of that year.

The two of them seemed not to notice any tiredness.

The whole journey passed through Xuancheng, passed through Chizhou, and crossed Hankou until we arrived at the place where we first met that year, Xiangyang City.

Helping Lu Hua'er get out of the carriage, the old house where the three of them once lived as a wanderer was long gone.

In its place is a pink peach orchard.

"Lu...Lu Yuan, I...I want to go in and have a look..."

"Okay, let's go see it!"

He hugged Lu Hua'er and flew into it.

The wind blows the scattered petals, as if a pink gauze covers the earth, welcoming the new life. The sun is dappled, through the sparse clouds, shining on the peach blossoms that are in full bloom but seem to be parting. Every day Every petal seems to be soaked in the tenderness and reluctance of the sunset.

The two of them landed gently, and the breeze seemed to be unwilling to disturb the petals on the ground. He hugged her softly and sat down on the ground covered with petals.

Lu Yuan held the other person in his arms, and the warm energy slowly flowed into the other person's body, not daring to disturb him at all.

"Lu, Lu Yuan..."

"Here, I'm here, Hua'er!"

"Remember, when we first met, you... how you greeted me while holding the buns?" Lu Hua'er had a sweet smile on her pale face.

"Haha, how could I forget!" Lu Yuan took a deep breath and said with a forced smile:

"If you come here for the first time, you may not understand that Lao Li's Steamed Bun Shop has been a century-old shop on Tanxi Ancient Street. It is like the soul of Xiangyang, the old city, and contains unique memories.

Look at this bun skin..."

Speaking of this, Lu Yuan's voice trembled a little.

Lu Huaer smiled and continued: "White... soft, just poke it gently... it will... overflow with juice..."

"Okay, Huaer!!" Lu Yuan interrupted with a trembling voice.

"Lu Yuan..."

"I'm here!!"

"I'm leaving..."

"Blame me! Blame me!"

Lu Huaer shook her head gently, "It's... my fault. I still couldn't do that... I know you could have done it a long time ago... I'm the one who held you back..."

"No! Huaer, you're not wrong, you're not wrong at all!"

"I actually... don't want to leave, Lu Yuan..." The deep reluctance in Lu Huaer's eyes almost melted away. She tried hard to raise her hand, but Lu Yuan took the initiative to grab it and put it on her face.

"After I leave, you have to... take good care of yourself, you must... take good care of yourself..."

"I know, I will, I swear!"

"Also, the diary in the box in our room... must be buried with me." Lu Huaer's face was slightly flushed, "Seven, seventy years... I remember... it's all you."

"Okay, okay!"

The hot tears finally fell when she said "it's all you".

One hundred and fifty-six diaries in seventy-two years, love letters written in a lifetime.

The fierce emotions hit Lu Yuan like a tide, but he didn't dare to use any force on his hands.

When the other party practiced martial arts and reached the dark power, he couldn't break through.

Lu Yuan knew that this day would come.

He had tried his best to delay, but it came after all.

Lu Huaer gradually entered the last moments of his life, "Lu Yuan, I... I don't want to become... ugly..."

"Okay!"

Lu Yuan's voice was hoarse, biting his lips tightly, sealing the other party's internal energy.

"I...I..."

"It's okay, it's okay, I will wake you up, Hua'er, I will still carry you on my back, we will go out to explore the world, to peek at the secret book, to steal delicious food, to set off fireworks, to..."

Lu Yuan couldn't say any more, the person in his arms was smiling, but he was already dead.

The suppressed low cry was finally released at this moment.

"Hua'er, sleep...sleep, wait for me to wake you up..."

......

April 17, the 22nd year of Chongzhen.

The wandering fairy Lu Yuan, who had dominated the world for 70 years, ascended to the right path of the Lu family in Suzhou with his wife Lu Hua'er.

No one knew that the "poison fairy" of that year had died.

In the same year, the children of the Lu family reformed and revolted, and were suppressed by multiple forces at the same time. However, when the Lu family secret library was opened.

A large number of weapons that spanned the times poured into the battlefield, and it took only one year to sweep the world and establish the country as "Yuan"!

Someone asked where those weapons came from later?

The children of the Lu family replied: "The ancestors did it casually back then."