Chapter 1096: Encountering Lu Tixia and the Arrogant Mr. Zhang
Su Mingzhe went back to the market, ready to find a car dealership, and unexpectedly saw an acquaintance at the intersection:
"Is that Lu Tijie in front?"

"I am Lu Da!"

Lu Zhishen didn't expect that even though he had fled to the eastern part of Hebei Province, he would still be recognized by someone he knew. He had no choice but to clasp his fists and bow, saying:
"What's this young man's name? How do you recognize me?"

Su Mingzhe smiled and clasped his fists in return, saying:

"I am Su Mingzhe from Jeju. When I was traveling in Guanzhong before, I saw Lu Tijie standing up for justice. After someone reminded me, I realized it was Lu Tijie. However, I was not well-known, so I did not dare to approach him to make friends. I never thought that when I met Lu Tijie again, he had become a monk!"

Lu Zhishen was a man of few words, and he immediately told the story of how he killed Zheng the butcher with three punches and was forced to become a monk in Mount Wutai.

Now, because Lu Zhishen was greedy for wine and had conflicts with the monks in Mount Wutai, he was "exiled" to the Daxiangguo Temple in Bianliang by Elder Zhizhen.

Lu Zhishen set out from Mount Wutai, passed Zhending Prefecture, went through Julu and Qinghe, and prepared to go south to Kaifeng.

When he arrived in Qinghe County, he found it prosperous and his craving for wine started, so he went into the city to buy some wine.

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that Lu Zhishen was indeed a drunkard at heart. No matter where he went, he would always have a drink.

Because he wanted to win over someone, Su Mingzhe opened his mouth and invited:

"Captain, if you want to invite me, why don't we just meet by chance? How about I treat you and let's find a place to have a drink?"

"Of course that's good!"

Lu Zhishen was a straightforward man. Seeing that Su Mingzhe was handsome and did not look like a bad guy, he followed him to a restaurant where they could stay overnight.

Su Mingzhe first booked two guest rooms, and then asked for a private room on the second floor. Without waiting for the waiter to announce the menu, he took out a large ingot of silver from his pocket and ordered:
"Brother Xiaoer, please serve me the delicious food and wine in your restaurant. I will not leave until I am drunk with this master today!"

"Please wait, my dear guests. The food and drinks will be here soon!"

When the waiter saw that they were two wealthy guests, he immediately took the money with a smile and quickly left.

Soon, several cold dishes, braised beef with soy sauce and braised donkey meat with soy sauce were served.

With Su Mingzhe's deliberate flattery, Lu Zhishen became talkative after just a few drinks.

Su Mingzhe also talked about some of his own things.

As the two were getting more and more excited about their conversation, suddenly a woman outside the restaurant screamed for help.

Lu Zhishen was a man who loved to stand up for the weak. He glared, slammed the table, stood up, went to the window and looked down, and saw a local rich man's son with an oily hair and powdered face, pulling a pretty young lady on the street. Next to them was an old man who was being kicked and beaten by two evil servants. It was a miserable scene.

Lu Zhishen had a bad temper. He immediately shouted "Stop!" and jumped out of the window.

Su Mingzhe followed closely behind and jumped down.

The local rich man's son and his two evil servants were so frightened when they saw the strong man falling from the sky that they trembled and fled in panic.

Lu Zhishen shouted loudly and was about to chase him, but the old man who was being kicked and beaten shouted:
"My benefactor, please don't chase after him!"

Lu Tingjie thought it sounded familiar, and when he looked back, he also cried out in surprise:

"Mr. Jin, why are you and your daughter here? It took me so long to find you!"

After Lu Tingjie came down from Mount Wutai, he prepared to say goodbye to Jin Cui Lian and her daughter, who had arranged for him to become a monk on the mountain.

As a result, when he arrived at Jin Cui Lian and her daughter's residence, he found that the place was empty.

I thought it would be a long time before we would see each other again.

Who would have thought that we would meet in Qinghe County so soon.

When Jin Cui Lian and her daughter saw Lu Zhishen, they were also extremely happy and greeted him repeatedly.

Back then, Jin Cui Lian was blackmailed by Zheng the butcher and was rescued by Lu Zhishen. Later, she was taken in as a concubine by Zhao Yuanwai who lived in Mount Wutai. She thought she could live the rest of her life in peace.

Who would have thought that Mr. Zhao had an accident while he was out on business.

Jin Cui Lian and her daughter were driven out by Mr. Zhao's wife, and had no choice but to go to Nanjing (now Shangqiu) to seek refuge with their relatives.

As they chatted, they returned to the second-floor box. Lu Zhishen asked who the bully who had just robbed Jin Cui Lian was.

Jin Cui Lian and her daughter also had a look of confusion on their faces.

It was still Mr. Jin who sighed:
"My benefactor, my father and I just arrived in Qinghe County yesterday. Today we were going to find a boat to sail south. Who would have thought that we would run into that bully? Seeing my daughter Cuilian's beauty, he insisted that my daughter was a runaway slave of his family and wanted to capture her! While we were arguing, my benefactor appeared!"

"If you two are going to Nanjing, what a coincidence that you happen to be traveling with me!"

Su Mingzhe finally got a chance to say something:
"I want to transport a batch of porcelain back to Jeju. Jeju and Nanjing are unwilling to do so. You two can follow me to Jeju, and I will send someone to take you to Shangqiu. What do you think?"

In fact, Lu Zhishen was going to Kaifeng, and he was going the same way as the other two.

However, Lu Zhishen was carrying out a mission given by Elder Zhizhen, so he needed to speed up his journey and not delay. So he entrusted Jin Laoer and his daughter to Su Mingzhe.

Everyone had a meal and wine.

Lu Zhishen was in a hurry to travel, so he carried his Zen stick and luggage and left.

Su Mingzhe originally booked two guest rooms, and he just happened to have one available for Jin Cui Lian and her daughter to stay.

After making arrangements for Jin Cui Lian and her daughter, Su Mingzhe went out to find a car dealership or a boat dealership to transport the birthday gift.

Because he was unfamiliar with the place, Su Mingzhe asked a broker for help.

The merchant ship was quickly booked.

Nearly three tons of goods, including three people, the total cost is only thirty taels of silver.

This price is really not expensive.

After all, the captain and his crew, four or five people, need to work back and forth for ten to twenty days.

Su Mingzhe was just about to take the captain to load the cargo when a waiter from the restaurant suddenly came running over to report that the bully who had tried to rob Jin Cui Lian in the morning had actually called the authorities and brought runners to the inn to arrest people.

The innkeeper knew that Su Mingzhe was a wealthy guest, and fearing that he would get into trouble, he ran to report the news.

"Thank you for the message, little brother!"

In order to thank the waiter, Su Mingzhe immediately took out a silver ingot and stuffed it into his hand, then asked:

"Who is that bully? How dare he be so arrogant and domineering that he dares to seize a woman in broad daylight?"

The waiter smiled bitterly and said:

"That man is the son of the local Zhang family. Both Zhang and his son are not very capable, but Zhang's wife, Zhang Yu, is the cousin of the county's head constable Yan! With this relationship, Zhang's family can also bully outsiders in this county by pretending to be powerful!"

Su Mingzhe grasped the key points of the waiter's words:
"Little Second Brother, you said that Mr. Zhang and his son only dared to bully outsiders. What's going on?"

The waiter would chuckle when he talked about gossip:
"Sir, you may not know that Mr. Zhang is afraid of his wife. Since Mrs. Zhang Yu is infertile, Mr. Zhang does not dare to marry a concubine directly, so he can only secretly keep a mistress outside."

"As a result, this matter was discovered by Zhang Yushi, who immediately sold the mistress to a brothel."

"After this incident, no good family dared to sell their daughter to Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang had no choice but to adopt his son to inherit the family line."

"When the second wealthy Zhang family wanted to adopt his son, it caused quite a stir. Everyone in Qinghe County knew about it."

"Originally, Zhang Yu wanted Mr. Zhang to adopt her nephew from her mother's side to inherit the Zhang family business, but was rejected by the elders of the Zhang family. Later, Mr. Zhang found a nephew from the family as his stepson. For this reason, Zhang Yu made a lot of noise at home..."

The waiter said this, and decided to be a good person to the end, and gave instructions:
"Captain Yan is an upright man, and the Zhang family father and son are cowards without balls. They can only bully outsiders by relying on the power of others. If the guests want to solve the problem, they only need to go to the captain Yan, and he will control the Zhang family father and son!"

"Thank you for your guidance, little brother!"

Although Su Mingzhe is not afraid of Zhang and his son, it is good to have less trouble.

The two chatted and returned to the inn.

(End of this chapter)