The Masters Journey to the West

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

The Masters Journey to the West

"You clearly know that Duke Du will be traveling to the Western Regions tomorrow and deliberately come here at this time..."

"You, a humble person, can actually become a doctor of Imperial College..."

The student himself was born into a good family in the Six Counties, and his shouts instantly overwhelmed the noisy discussions around him.

Jiang De's expression changed when he heard this, and he asked loudly: "Is Du Gong going to the Western Regions?"

The student said: "Yes, the General Hussar sent a letter a few days ago inviting Duke Du and other princes from hundreds of families to go to Luntai.

Duke Du sent a letter to His Majesty and the General informing him of this matter a few days ago...Yesterday, His Majesty and the General agreed with Duke Du and his disciples to go westward..."

"Jiang Gong is also a prince of the Han Dynasty, how could he not know!"

Jiang De's face froze when he heard this, and he felt quite bitter in his heart.

Today was indeed the first time he heard about Du Ling's intention to go to the Western Regions.

But what made him feel bad was that no one had told him something so important.

At this time, he turned his attention to Liu Changle. It is impossible that Liu Changle, Doctor Guanglu, did not know about this matter.

When Liu Changle saw Jiang De turning his eyes towards him, he smiled awkwardly and said, "I thought Mr. Jiang already knew about this, and he did it deliberately today..."

Liu Changle said this without hesitation, and the onlookers around him became noisy when they heard what he said.

When Jiang De and other doctors heard this, their faces turned red and they wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.

At this time, I don't know who suddenly cursed at Jiang De and others.

The onlookers then followed up with their words to Jiang De and the Taixue doctors.

Jiang De and others knew they were in the wrong, but Nuonuo did not dare to speak out.

He said a few words casually to the student in charge of reception.

"I will visit you again when Duke Du returns to Chang'an..." he said, then quickly boarded the imperial carriage and returned to Taixue, covering his face with his hands.

Upon seeing this, all the doctors from Taixue also followed and left.

What happened in the library quickly spread throughout Chang'an and the Wuling area.

Jiang De, who played the leading role in this matter, and all the virtuous doctors of Taixue were all made into laughingstocks for a while.

"This doctor from Taixue usually looks sanctimonious, but I didn't expect him to do such a villainous thing..."

"Everything in the world is for profit, and all the noise in the world is for profit... It seems that the princes of Taixue are not exempt from the common custom..."

"This is the kind of virtuous literature that shoots itself in the foot..."

"This has always been the case for all the doctors of Taixue. During the time of the first emperor..."

"The students in the library are indeed good... they will also be talented people in the future..."

"After such a comparison, the library has a better future than the Imperial Academy..."

"I wonder why Mr. Du went to the Western Regions..."

"Yes, yes...I heard that people from various schools of thought have been invited to Luntai..."

"What big thing is Marquis Yunyang trying to accomplish..."

"No matter what big thing he does, it has nothing to do with us, the common people..."

"Let's not talk about Marquis Yunyang... But Hu Ji from the Western Region is..."

After the discussions from various places in Chang'an were introduced to Taixue, everyone in Taixue was filled with resentment towards Du Ling.

It's a pity that their resentment can't hurt Du Ling at all for the time being.

In order to vent their dissatisfaction, the doctors accused each other one after another.

When Jiang De saw this, he wanted to stop it, but instead he got angry and burned himself.

Everyone did not believe that a dignified Qianhuhou, Du Ling and hundreds of scholars were invited to go westward without knowing anything before.

Several young doctors even accused Jiang De in person of being a villain, which had harmed the reputation of Taixue and other doctors.

Jiang De couldn't argue with this. Logically speaking, as the Qianhu Hou Chaotang, he would naturally report the matter to him.

But the fact is that no one informed him about Du Ling's westward journey.

…

Jiang De, who was very angry, immediately called his retainers over after returning home.

"Why didn't you tell someone about Du Ling's journey to the west..."

As soon as the retainer arrived at Jiang De, he sternly criticized him.

Hearing this, the retainer said aggrievedly: "Your Majesty, I only learned about Duke Du going to the Western Regions today!"

Jiang De was surprised when he heard this, "You mean, the court didn't inform a certain family about this before?"

The retainer said aggrievedly: "Indeed not!"

Jiang De already vaguely felt something was wrong at this time. He waved his hand to let the retainer leave, and then fell into deep thought.

The more Jiang De thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Not telling him about this was clearly a warning to himself.

Jiang De thought about it and felt that he should temporarily break off his connection with Xianliang Literature.

On the second day, Jiang De ordered his retainers to announce that he was closed due to illness and thanked guests.

Upon hearing the news, all the doctors and scholars in virtuous literature immediately sent people to the door to find out what happened, but they were turned down.

…

The hustle and bustle of the outside world didn't seem to affect Du Ling.

Almost at the same time as Jiang De closed the door to thank his guests, Du Ling and others were also saying goodbye to relatives and friends in Hengmen and preparing to leave for Luntai.

"After seeing you for thousands of miles, we must say goodbye eventually! Please take care, gentlemen!"

Du Ling bowed to Zhang Anshi, Bingji and others who came to see him off.

"Have a safe journey, Mr. Du, take care of yourself!"

Zhang Anshi and others also bowed solemnly.

Du Ling then boarded the carriage with the help of Zhang Kun.

The accompanying students also boarded the carriage one after another.

Just when the carriage was about to start, there was a sudden shout.

"Duke Du, please stay!"

Everyone turned around and saw that it was General Shi Tian Yannian.

I saw Tian Yannian leading a group of cavalry running out of the horizontal gate, shouting while riding fast.

Du Ling and his party had to stop when they saw this.

Soon Tian Yannian rushed to Du Ling.

As soon as he arrived in front of Du Ling, he first bowed.

"General Du Gong wants to go west, and the general ordered his subordinates to see him off..."

When Du Ling heard this, he quickly got out of the car and saluted: "Thank you, General Ling..."

Tian Yannian pointed at the cavalry behind him and said: "The general is worried about the safety of Duke Du and his party, so he specially ordered his subordinates to bring this group of guards to ensure the safety of Duke Du and his party..."

Du Ling sighed: "How can Ling be so virtuous? He is so favorably treated by the general..."

Tian Yannian said with a smile on his face: "The general said that Duke Du is a sage that we, the Han Dynasty, will rarely encounter in a hundred years..."

Du Ling paid homage again and said: "This mausoleum is enough for me... I also ask Tian Zhang Shi to thank the general for his kindness to the mausoleum..."

Tian Yannian said: "Du Gong said that the subordinates will definitely bring him... Du Gong, please take care of yourself..."

Du Ling said goodbye to everyone again and then officially started on his way.

It's just that this time there were more than a hundred guards arranged by Huo Guang among the people accompanying him.

The group first arrived at Changling, where they met up with people from hundreds of families who were also invited by Zhang Yue, and then continued westward along the Western Road.

What made Du Ling feel strange was that there were dozens of alchemists among the invited people.

However, he didn't ask any more questions. Marquis Yunyang naturally had some use in inviting these people.

Zhang Kun did not continue westward but said goodbye to Du Ling and others and returned to Chang'an City.

However, the hundreds of guards he brought with him stayed behind.

…

In May of the third year of Yuanfeng, Zhang Yue led his army back to Yiwu City.

At this time, the news from Chang'an had also reached Yiwu. Zhang Yue was naturally very happy when he learned that Du Ling and others were on their way.

After resting in Yiwu City for half a month, he led Zhang Xu, Yang You, Feng Fengshi and others to Loulan under the escort of Zhang Zhan and Wu Zheng, preparing to welcome the arrival of Du Ling and hundreds of scholars and alchemists.
Chapter completed!