The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

Chapter 247 The Master is Missing

When Zilu heard the news, he immediately told Confucius: "Master."

"As expected by the students, the news of your meeting with Nan Zi has spread like wildfire!"

Confucius was furious after hearing this: "When I met with Nan Zi, we only discussed matters of state and family, not any personal feelings."

"If Zilu doesn't believe me, Master, I'm willing to swear by heaven!"

Zilu said, "Master, I have complete faith in your character, but I cannot understand the opinions of so many people."

"Why bother with him? He has a mouth on his face, so let him say whatever he wants!"

Although he said this, Confucius was still very depressed. He came to Zixuan's villa to complain to him about his grievances.

Zixuan had just returned from an outing and smiled faintly after hearing what Confucius said:

"Zhongni, in my opinion, someone is deliberately trying to make things difficult for you."

"It seems they can't tolerate you anymore. If this continues, it will be difficult for you to make progress in Weiguo."

Confucius nodded and said, "Well, I will observe for a while."

"If the King of Wei still refuses to allow me to participate in politics, I will leave Wei and go to Chen."

Zixuan nodded: "Yes, Master, you are wise."

Prince Yujia was bribed and said a lot of bad things about Confucius in front of Duke Ling of Wei.

From then on, Duke Ling of Wei was no longer as enthusiastic towards Confucius as before, and he had no intention of allowing Confucius to participate in politics.

The reason why he treated Confucius favorably was simply that he wanted to use his reputation to build momentum for himself.

A few months later, Confucius saw through Duke Ling of Wei's attitude and approached Zixuan:

"City Lord Zixuan, Duke Ling of Wei has greatly disappointed me. Let's leave Wei and go to Chen."

Zixuan nodded and said, "Well, it just so happens that I have already finished my travels in Weiguo, so we will leave tomorrow!

Everyone bid farewell to Duke Ling of Wei and headed for the State of Chen. In the evening they arrived at Kuangdi, a small city in the State of Wei.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Zixuan ordered everyone to find an inn to stay in.

The innkeeper was startled when he saw Confucius. He hurried to the innkeeper and whispered, "Boss, do you think that guy is Yang Hu?"

The shopkeeper took a few peeks and said, "Yes! That son of a bitch!"

"Damn it! I didn't expect the extortion again this year!"

"Tonight, get some drugs to knock him out, and take him out of the city!"

Good! After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Zixuan went into the room, closed the door, and returned to the space. When the queen saw her daughter come in, she hurriedly asked, "Xuan'er, have you eaten yet?"

"I ate my mother. Have you eaten?"

"Yes, the chef prepared four dishes and a soup for my mother. They are very delicious."

"Well, I won't eat out tomorrow. The food prepared by our own chef is still delicious."

"Hmm! After getting used to the delicious food in Fugui City, everything I eat outside seems bland and tasteless!"

"Yes, mother. Not only is the food unpalatable, but the water is also unpalatable."

Well, the queen came over and whispered, "Xuan'er, Bo Yuan has been gone for three years. You should appoint another queen."

Zixuan shook his head: "Mother, you know Xuan'er's feelings for Boyuan."

"Xuan'er's heart is already filled with him. No one except Bo Yuan can get in!"

"But you are still young, you can't be a widow forever."

"Xuan'er remembers that my mother was less than forty years old when she became a widow. Now I am already sixty. If my mother could take care of me, I can do the same."

"You are different from mother. You are the king. How can a king not have a male favorite by his side?"

"Mother, Xuan'er doesn't have this intention right now. Let's talk about it in a few years!"

The queen shook her head helplessly, and the mother and daughter talked for a while before going back to their rooms to rest.

At three o'clock in the morning, Confucius was already fast asleep. After a puff of smoke, several strong men walked gently to Confucius' side.

They tied him up in a hurry and then dragged him out of the city without anyone noticing.

Since Zixuan was sleeping in the space, he was unaware of what was happening outside.

The next day, when breakfast time came, the disciples saw that Confucius had not yet come out, so they went up to knock on the door: "Knock knock knock, Master, it's time to get up and have breakfast!"

But after knocking for a long time, no one responded. Zilu felt that something was wrong, so he kicked the door open and rushed in.

The room was empty and the teacher was not inside.

He shouted anxiously: "The teacher is missing! Go and find him!"

After saying that, he quickly walked towards Zixuan's room: "Pa pa pa! City Lord Zixuan, are you up?"

Zixuan and his mother had just finished breakfast when they heard someone knocking on the door and hurried out of the space.

When he opened the door, he saw Zilu: "What's the matter, Zilu?"

Zilu asked anxiously, "City Master Zixuan, have you seen the Master?"

Zixuan shook his head: "No, what happened?"

"The master is missing! He was sleeping in the room last night, but no one was there this morning!"

Zixuan was shocked: "How could the Master disappear? Did he go out for a walk too early? Did you send anyone to look for him?"

"We've sent people to look for him!"

"Well, don't worry, if we can't find anyone, we'll find another way!"

An hour later, three thousand disciples searched the entire city of Kuangdi but still couldn't find Confucius.

This time everyone was really scared and asked Zixuan for advice.

Zixuan ordered people to report to the authorities, and asked everyone to go out of the city to expand the scope and continue searching.

Then he asked Zilu, "Do you know if the Master has any enemies in Kuang?"

Zilu thought for a moment and shook his head: "Master, you have never been to Kuang, so where do you get your enemies from?"

At this time, a disciple came to report that the county magistrate had arrived.

When everyone came outside, they saw an official approaching them and asked, "Excuse me, who is the Lord of Zixuan City?"

"That's me."

The county magistrate hurriedly bowed and said, "I, Lu Liang, the humble official, greet City Lord Zixuan!"

"No need to be polite! Has Lord Lu sent anyone to investigate the Master's whereabouts?"

"Your Excellency, the City Lord! We've already sent people to search every household..."

In a small courtyard outside the city, Confucius woke up slowly.

He was immediately shocked to see himself tied up and lying on the floor of a room.

Where, where is this? Why am I tied up and thrown to the ground?

Suddenly the door was pushed open and a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties walked in.

Seeing Confucius wake up, he immediately cursed: "Yang Hu, you son of a bitch! I finally caught you!"

Confucius was stunned. Yang Hu? Who was Yang Hu? "My brave man, you have the wrong person!"

"I am Confucius from Lu, not the Yang Hu you are talking about!"

"Bah! You still dare to quibble! Even if I peel off your skin, I still know your bones!"

"Didn't you occupy all my land last year? How come you don't recognize me after just one year?"

Confucius thought to himself, “What’s the connection? Who is occupying your land?”

"Brave man, you've got the wrong person. I've never been to Kuang before, so how could I possibly occupy your land?"

As the two were talking, the waiter rushed in and said, "Boss, the soldiers are here to search the place and are almost at the door!"

The shopkeeper waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and carry him to the cellar!"

The waiter agreed, and the two of them quickly blocked Confucius' mouth and carried him into the cellar.

As the two of them came up, there was a knock on the door: "Knock, knock, knock... Open the door, open the door! Officers search!"

The guy quickly dusted himself off and opened the door.