Chapter 102: Trap

The atmosphere in the room immediately became tense and depressing. Zhao Renxian observed Yu Zheng's expression, swallowed his saliva in a cowardly manner, and dared not to speak.

Even though he was far away from the capital, he knew that the court was divided into two factions: the Prince's Party and the King Jing's Party. It was

obvious that Meng Jingfan was a member of the Prince's Party. This statement clearly meant that he wanted to take all the credit and win fame for the Prince.

But how could King Jing be so easily fooled? Moreover, people had already come in person, and Meng Jingfan still wanted to take all the credit, which was like pulling the tiger's whiskers from its mouth.

He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid!

After a tense confrontation for a moment, Meng Jingfan bowed and said, "Constructing the river embankment is extremely dirty, and the workers are all uncouth people. I am afraid it will offend Your Majesty."

"Besides, Your Majesty is of noble status. If you come to supervise the work in person, the workers will panic, which is not good for the work."

As expected of a former court official, his words were well-reasoned, beautiful and respectful. Zhao Renxian admired him very much.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Yu Zheng's expression softened. He frowned and said thoughtfully, "Lord Meng has a point, but it was I who proposed to build the river embankment, and I came here in person. If there is any mistake, I will be to blame."

"Besides, Lord Meng has a lot of things to do, and there will always be times when he is not careful. Just in case, let Lord Zhou assist Lord Meng in supervision, and it will be foolproof."

"But Lord Zhou is a martial arts master, and he was specially sent by the emperor to protect the prince. If he leaves the prince's side, the prince's safety..." Meng Jingfan looked worried.

Yu Zheng put his hands behind his back and raised his eyebrows: "I have guards to protect me, Lord Meng, you don't have to worry. Besides, Lord Meng holds an important position, and I am afraid that someone will harm him. Lord Zhou can also protect Lord Meng."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration." Having said this, Meng Jingfan could not find a reason to refuse, so he could only bow and thank him.

In the name of protection, they are actually monitoring, and Zhou Boxu doesn't have to do anything, but he can share half of the credit. In this competition, King Jing is one step ahead.

Zhou Boxu stood quietly aside, without saying a word from beginning to end, and without the slightest surprise, as if he had already expected the outcome.

"Master Meng doesn't need my help, so I won't disturb Master Meng." Yu Zheng said and walked away without any hesitation.

Meng Jingfan looked at Yu Zheng's retreating figure, his mouth tightened and his expression was complicated and difficult to explain.

He suspected that he had fallen into Yu Zheng's trap, but there was no evidence.

"Mr. Meng, is there anything I need to do?" Zhao Renxian also wanted to leave.

Meng Jingfan glanced at him and said solemnly: "Master Zhao has summoned the workers and construction will start tomorrow."

"Yes, I will go and make arrangements now." Zhao Renxian agreed and left.

Only Meng Jingfan and Zhou Boxu were left in the room, staring at each other with big eyes.

Meng Jingfan took a deep breath and said, "This is the official residence. I am safe. Lord Zhou can go back and rest."

"It's okay. I'm not tired. Lord Meng, start quickly. Just pretend I don't exist." Zhou Boxu dragged a chair to the corner and sat down, closing his eyes to rest.

Meng Jingfan glanced at him, and with a lot of anger, he sat down at the desk and planned the construction according to the river bank drawings.

After Yu Zheng returned to the house, he asked Zhuiyun to find the secret guards and understand Jiang Shu's movements.

Looking at Yu Zheng with a smile on his face, Zhufeng tilted his head and asked, "Master, do you really not care about the river bank construction?"

Zhufeng didn't understand. Yu Zheng always put politics first. Why was he so abnormal today?

Yu Zheng glanced at him, and the corners of his lips twitched slightly: "Meng Jingfan is the Minister of Works. Building river embankments is his duty and forte. I don't know how to do anything else except supervising the construction. Does it matter whether I supervise or not?"

"He has taken all the power to gain credit, so if something goes wrong, he will also be solely responsible. Therefore, he will certainly be extra cautious and dare not slack off or cut corners."

"Besides, isn't Lord Zhou keeping an eye on him? Don't forget, we have other important things to do here."

"Master is wise." Zhu Feng was full of admiration after hearing this. As

the sky gradually darkened, Yu Zheng stood in front of the window and looked into the distance, hoping that Zhuiyun would return soon.

Protecting her safety was also one of the important things on his trip.

After seeing off the shopkeeper Liu, Jiang Shu and Tan Yu returned to the guest inn for dinner.

Tan Yu puffed up her cheeks and ate while asking: "Boss, shall we continue to go shopping tomorrow?"

Jiang Shu swallowed the food in his mouth and shook his head: "I heard that there is a Lingyin Temple in Lin'an Prefecture that is particularly effective. I want to go and worship."

"Boss, do you want to ask the Buddha to bless you?" Tan Yu was inspired.

"Yes, and mother and Jiang Ning, I hope they are all safe." Speaking of her family, Jiang Shu's face was gentle and smiling.

Family is her soft spot, and she is willing to do anything for them.

The next morning, Jiang Shu and Tan Yu took a few guards and took a carriage to Lingyin Temple.

Lingyin Temple is located in the direction of West Lake. The road up the mountain is very lively. Some people ride in horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts, and some walk with incense candles.

Some people were talking in groups of three or four, some were alone with sad faces, some had greedy faces, and some were calm and admired the scenery along the way...

No matter what kind of people they were, they were all pious and respectful when they knelt down to pray in front of the Buddha.

Everyone knew in their hearts that the Buddha could not bless all the people in the world and could not satisfy everyone's wishes.

But the worship in front of the Buddha can give people faith and hope, and can give people the strength to persevere when they are desperate and helpless. This is the true meaning of worshiping Buddha.

The carriage drove to the mountain gate. Jiang Shu and Tan Yu got off the car, holding a basket full of incense candles, looking up at the long stone steps, and prepared to go up.

However, they had only taken two steps and just arrived at the stone steps when they were hit hard by a thin boy who came out of nowhere, and the incense candles were scattered all over the floor.

Tan Yu hurriedly helped Jiang Shu to steady himself, and raised her eyebrows to scold him: "You..."

"Ouch, my legs hurt so much, help me!" Tan Yu just opened her mouth, and the boy who bumped into them lay on the ground, holding his legs and crying loudly.

The master and servant were stunned, and they didn't understand the situation for a while.

"Ouch, it hurts so much..." The boy with tattered clothes and dirty clothes cried louder and louder.

Tan Yu's eyes widened in disbelief: "Boss, it was clearly him who bumped into us just now. We are fine, how could he be hurt?"

"So he was pretending, deliberately, to trick us." Jiang Shu looked at the boy on the ground with his almond eyes, thinking about how to deal with it.

Perhaps because he was guilty, the boy didn't dare to look at them, and turned away and yelled.

"Come and see, I'm in so much pain when you don't admit it after hitting someone..." The young man acted very realistically.

Jiang Shu sneered in his heart, and just as he was about to speak, someone came over.

It was a young and beautiful woman with a big belly, who walked slowly with the help of her maid.

"You rascal, how dare you lie to people in front of Lingyin Temple, aren't you afraid that the Buddha will blame you?"

The beautiful woman seemed to know the young man, and her tone was familiar with helpless reproach. When

the young man saw her, he was stunned at first, and then said nonchalantly: "If the Buddha is really spiritual, he should reward me with food, and shouldn't let me starve to death."

After hearing this, the beautiful woman shook her head sympathetically and ordered the maid to bring him a string of copper coins.

"Get up, this money is enough for you to eat for a few days."

The boy took the money, stood up neatly, smiled and thanked the beautiful woman, then quickly hid in the bushes beside him and disappeared.

Jiang Shu and Tan Yu were stunned.