"Lei Chongmo will come to ask for forgiveness in a few days. He will not only take some of the treasures from the bet, but also a batch of magical objects, including three great Confucian treasures, as compensation. He seems very sincere." Fang Yun said with a smile.
Kong Delun sneered and said, "How can they be sincere? I think they just think you won't live for more than two years, so they'll talk about it after these two years. It sounds a bit harsh, but they must be thinking so."
"Fang Yun, what do you think about the Lei family's taking the blame this time?" Yan Yukong asked.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "I will listen to whatever they say. Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway."
Yan Yukong and Kong Delun smiled and understood what Fang Yun meant.
Fang Yun smiled and said, "However, I have a bad reputation in the eyes of the Lei family anyway, so I added some interest to the compensation this time."
"Oh? What do you want?"
"You will know later."
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he took out the official seal and contacted Ao Qingyue.
"Wen Xing Long Jue's order! Gather the power of the East China Sea Dragon Palace to find the location of the Lei family's secret place. Do not reveal it to outsiders!"
"Yes, sir!"
Ao Qingyue answered seriously at first, then said: "It's just that... the Lei family is the descendant of Lei Zu, and what we are doing is somewhat against the laws of the Dragon Clan. Of course, it is you who issued the decree, so the county magistrate is better off managing it now. However, in the future, if the Grand Supervisory Council imposes punishment or appears to have blessings, everything will be on you."
"All the blessings from this matter should be bestowed upon me," Fang Yun said.
The so-called theory of blessing and retribution means that what you do will have a response. It originated from the theory of the five blessings and six calamities in the "Book of Documents", and can be seen in the "Book of Changes" written by Confucius: "A family that accumulates good will surely have good fortune, and a family that accumulates evil will surely have suffering." Later, the semi-sage historian Sima Qian used it in "Records of the Grand Historian".
"Since you said so, you must be confident. We will do our best to find it now." Ao Qingyue said.
Fang Yun said: "Let's go. Continue to visit the Holy Court. After visiting the Holy Court, go to other places to pick up the jade ring."
Yan Yukong and Kong Delun nodded slightly. It was of no use for Yang Yuhuan to visit the Holy Courtyard, but if she was taken by Fang Yun to Kong City to visit the head of the Kong family or other important figures, it would definitely help Yang Yuhuan to open up a network of contacts, so that she would have someone to take care of her when Fang Yun was not around.
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, it is the day when the Lei family has to apologize.
At dawn, countless scholars gathered in front of the main gate of the Holy Temple.
Almost everyone in Kongcheng who was qualified to enter the Holy Court came, and even a few elderly people who were too old to walk sat in wheelchairs and watched. Some relatively free scholars from various countries also traveled here for days, just to come to the Holy Court to see the Lei family apologize for their crimes.
There were also historians who posted the news on the discussion board and kept recording the situation of the day so that people who could not come to the Holy Academy could understand this grand event.
"Before the sun rises, the Holy Court is already bustling with people."
"There are more than ten thousand good people."
"Corrections are not made by those who do good things. They are made by people with aspirations."
"The sun is rising, the breeze is blowing, and the number of people with lofty ideals is increasing."
"There is a great scholar who is standing here without even having breakfast. He is idle. After saying this, the great scholar left. For the sake of respecting the venerable man, his name will not be mentioned."
"The sun was getting higher, but there was still no sign of the Lei family. There were many different opinions."
"A few young scholars were so bored that they held a 'Literary Meeting' and wrote poems to mock the people. They did their best to ridicule the people, and later selected some of the poems and published them on the discussion board."
…
"The great scholar came back after having breakfast..."
…
The main gate of the Holy Academy was unprecedentedly grand and packed with people. Even some scholars who worked in the Holy Academy could not contain themselves and stood not far away, looking at the main gate and waiting to watch the excitement.
Seeing that the time for Lei Chongmo's arrival was getting closer, people from Dongsheng Pavilion came to persuade them again and again, hoping that everyone would leave, but basically no one paid any attention. Instead, they were scolded by several straightforward Confucian scholars or university scholars, and left in embarrassment.
Some people from Jingguo gathered together and kept talking about this matter.
"What do you think? Are the Lei family really admitting their mistakes, or are they just enduring the humiliation and waiting for an opportunity to strike?"
"It is a great honor to know one's mistakes and then improve them. This is what a saint said. Of course, the Lei family can make the same mistake again even if they have corrected it."
"Don't think that the Lei family is so bad. The Lei family is also human. Humans may make mistakes again and again and never repent."
There was a lot of discussion at the scene and the environment was noisy, but suddenly, some places became quiet.
Everyone immediately realized something and looked towards the main gate of the Holy Temple.
More than ten people appeared at the main gate. Among them was an old man wearing dark blue coarse cloth trousers, his upper body naked, and carrying a whip on his back. Many people behind him were dressed similarly, and no one was wearing official clothes.
When everyone looked carefully, they realized that they had seen it wrong. The man was not an old man, but his hair and beard were mostly white. If you ignore the hair and beard, this man is no more than 40 years old. He is the current head of the Lei family, Lei Chongmo.
Those who knew Lei Chongmo were shocked and felt a little sympathy, but then they sighed in their hearts that there must be something hateful about a pitiful person.
More than ten people from the Lei family looked straight ahead and, led by Lei Chongmo, walked towards Chongwenyuan.
Except Lei Chongmo who was a Grand Secretary, the others had low academic rank, most of them were Hanlin and Jinshi, and only Lei Yigu was a scholar.
The expressions of these more than ten people were either solemn or ashamed, but none of them was arrogant, and they seemed to be truly repentant.
More than ten people from the Lei family walked in front, and tens of thousands of "people with lofty ideals" followed behind them.
Some members of the Kong family had strange expressions, but other than that, everything was normal.
Not long after, Lei Chongmo arrived at Fang Yun's residence in Chongwenyuan, and the door of the Fang family was closed.
Lei Zhongmo didn't care. He took out a whip from his back, held it horizontally in front of him with both hands, and then bowed deeply towards the gate. The other members of the Lei family also bowed with whips in their hands.
"The sinner Lei Chongmo, carrying a whip on his back, comes to your door to apologize. I hope that Saint Fang Xu will punish you severely." Lei Chongmo was full of energy and spoke sincerely.
Some people in the ceremonial hall nodded slightly. The Lei family's actions showed the generosity of a wealthy family and were polite.
The door of the Fang family was wide open, and Fang Daniu walked out with a smile. He first bowed to Lei Chongmo, then bowed to the others, and said, "I, Fang Daniu, greet the head of the Lei family. It's really unfortunate that my master and his wife stayed at the Kong family last night. I'm afraid they won't be back until they have breakfast at the Kong family. Please wait for a moment."
Everyone present was stunned, but they were relieved after thinking about it carefully. There was news yesterday that Fang Yun brought Yang Yuhuan to meet the head of the Kong family, which aroused the envy of many scholars. Although the head of the Kong family did not have the foundation of the saintly way and was not a true half-saint, he had the power and might of a half-saint. With the treasures of the Kong family, he could definitely defeat any half-saint.
However, many people could see clearly that Fang Yun was leaving the Lei family out in the cold.
The rest of the Lei family were older and their expressions remained unchanged, only the young Lei Yigu gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and looked ashamed and angry, knowing that Fang Yun was taking revenge. The Lei family delayed handing over the treasure on the pretext of not being able to open the Lei family's secret place, and Fang Yun delayed the meeting on the pretext of meeting the head of the Kong family, which was obviously a way of giving the other person a taste of his own medicine.
It was already extremely humiliating to ask for forgiveness while carrying a thorn stick on one's back. Now Fang Yun was just leaving the Lei family hanging, which further increased the humiliation suffered by the Lei family. This would surely go down in history and become a topic of conversation for many scholars. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they would be infamous for thousands of years.
(To be continued.)