Inside the Golden Palace of the Imperial City, Min Changwen closed his eyes and listened to the soft and soothing sounds of stringed instruments and chimes played by the musicians. In the middle of the palace, beautiful singing girls danced with their long sleeves flying and twisting their bodies into beautiful dance moves. Occasionally, they glanced back with an indescribable charm that drew applause.
During the banquet, amid the clinking of glasses and the sound of drinking games, Min Changwen refused the wine glass handed to him by his colleague next to him, opened his eyes, looked at the emperor who was chatting and drinking with the two concubines on the imperial steps, spread his sleeves, stood up and walked over.
"His Majesty!"
A majestic and loud shout caused silence to fall on all sides. The emperor withdrew his hands from the concubine and placed the jade cup on the dragon table.
"Min Qing, what do you want to say? But if it's about what happened just now, then you don't have to say anything."
One sentence can stop the conversation.
Min Changwen gritted his teeth and said:
"But what Lu Liangsheng said is true. In Heliangzhou, there are countless starving people and cries of grief, and yet Your Majesty still wants to build the Great Emperor Temple..."
Chen Shubao frowned and narrowed his eyes.
"Min Qing, I'm afraid you've drunk too much. It seems that the wine in my palace is a bit intoxicating. That Lu Liangsheng has been living in the residence of Minister Chang. You two have a close relationship, so it is reasonable for you to speak for him."
The address changed from Min Qing to his official title. Min Changwen sighed inwardly and didn't know what to say next.
"Your Majesty, I have some friendship with Lu Liangsheng... Alas, I am indeed a little drunk and feel unwell, so I will take my leave first."
"allow!"
Chen Shubao looked at the back of the figure walking out of the hall after the ceremony. These days, he had been advised by the local people, saying this and that, and he was already fed up with it. Now that he had rebuked the other party firmly, a smile appeared on his face.
"Should."
The emperor stamped his feet excitedly and waved his sleeves, "Let the music begin again."
The sound of the chimes could be heard outside.
Outside the palace, white clouds were like cotton wool and birds were flying across the sky. Coming out of the palace gate, Min Changwen stopped the carriage, ignored the coachman, and walked along the street in his official robe, occasionally looking back at the distant outline of the imperial city.
"Your Majesty, how could you be so foolish..."
With a whisper, he waved his sleeves and continued to move forward. He turned the street corner ahead and saw more and more pedestrians. Outside an inn not far away, a waiter who looked like an innkeeper was running back in a hurry with two jars of wine and almost bumped into Min Changwen.
"Sorry, sorry, can the person in front let me pass..."
Then, we entered the inn and saw two guests coming out chatting and laughing.
"This store has only had one sale in a few days."
"This Tianzhi, business is not good right now. If I were the shopkeeper, I would also buy wine from other places to keep the customers."
"Ah... But that scholar can really drink."
"He's so drunk, he must have encountered some kind of setback. Forget it, this world is not easy for anyone..."
When he passed by Min Changwen, he saw that he was wearing an official robe, so he stopped talking and hurried away.
Scholar? Drunk
Min Changwen raised his head and looked at the second floor of the inn. He vaguely heard the waiter's voice shouting, "Sir, the wine you ordered is here."
Could it be Lu Liangsheng...
Frowning and thinking for a while, Min Changwen lifted the hem of his robe, stepped over the threshold and walked in. Without waiting for the shopkeeper behind the counter to speak, he waved his hand and went straight upstairs.
The shopkeeper saw that he was dressed in an official robe and had a serious face. He was startled. Would something go wrong? He put down what he was doing and hurriedly followed him. After a moment, he heard the official shouting.
"Lu Liangsheng!!!"
Sure enough, the drunk scholar over there knew the official.
Min Changwen stepped over a pile of chopsticks and saw Lu Liangsheng sitting at the dining table. Several empty wine jugs were overturned on the table or fell not far from the table legs. The chopstick cage was overturned and hanging on the edge of the table.
"You want to drink yourself to death, don't you?!"
Hearing this loud shout, Lu Liangsheng raised his drunken eyes and dimly saw who the other person was. He staggered to his feet and bowed.
"The street magician who drinks will never die..."
Min Changwen kicked away several wine jugs at his feet, flipped them aside with a clang, and looked at the staggering scholar with an angry look on his beard and hair, and his voice became louder.
"You've lost your will. You drank like this after suffering such a small setback. Are you worthy of your mentor Uncle Hua Gong?!"
hehe…
Lu Liangsheng grinned, chuckled, and shook his head: "Minister Min, you don't understand... You don't understand... I studied diligently for four years, and always... treated people kindly, but when I got to the Golden Palace... How did I become a magician... In fact, I don't understand it myself..."
On the opposite side, Min Changwen seemed to be hesitant to speak, and pursed his lips as he looked at the scholar who was not sure whether he was crying or laughing.
"Your Majesty was a little bit rude this time..."
"Minister Min, he is right. Liangsheng is actually a magician."
As he spoke, Lu Liangsheng also spoke at the same time, grabbed the brush from the mess, took two staggering steps, and suddenly waved his wide sleeves.
On the second floor, more than ten chairs made a creaking sound and moved horizontally towards the guardrails on both sides, leaving a large empty space.
The shopkeeper and the clerk cried out in fear and dodged to the left and right.
"What's going on?"
In his sight, he saw the scholar over there muttering something, holding a pen and walking unsteadily. Suddenly, he picked up a jar of wine at his feet and drank it in big gulps. The wine stains covered the corners of his mouth, flowed down his neck, and wet his lapels and hanging hair.
In an instant, the wine jar was moved away, thrown aside, and fell heavily to the ground.
"Sir, wine is actually a good thing... The wine is strong... I am drunk..."
Water stains spread along the cracks in the floor. Lu Liangsheng used the ink that had not been used up from the palace examination to vaguely recite drunken poems while dotting the floor with thick ink. The ink marks flew along the tip of the pen, outlining a fat head, big ears, and angry eyes.
Seeing this angry bald man, Min Changwen looked at the somewhat crazy scholar and asked worriedly:
"Liangsheng, what are you doing..."
“… Three cups and you won’t fall, six cups and you won’t get drunk… Every cup will take away the sorrow in your heart…”
Lu Liangsheng ignored him, the brush in his hand glowing faintly, the dark green ink outlined the figure's broad shoulders, thick waist, and heroic figure, the tip of the brush embellished the figure with dark green pants and bare feet, and the belt around the waist was like a giant snake.
“… the emperor’s painstaking efforts to build a legacy for eternity…”
The pen stopped, and a large wine jar took shape in the hands of the giant statue. Lu Liangsheng picked up the wine jar on the ground with one foot and hooked it in his arm.
Hahaha-
“… Why not ask God to get drunk with me!”
He raised his head and drank wildly. After a moment, he sprayed the wine towards the giant painting on the ground. The wine mist filled the air and slowly descended.
"Liangsheng, I have already drunk. Come with me back to the mansion and meet your mentor first."
Min Changwen avoided the descending alcohol mist and when he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a panicked shout from outside the building.
"What is that?!"
"… That is, run—"
boom!
The wooden building of the inn shook suddenly, and Min Changwen felt that the sunlight dimmed in his sight. A feeling of uneasiness arose in his heart, and it seemed as if a dense swarm of ants were crawling up to his neck, and his hairs stood on end.
Turning his head with difficulty, he saw from the second floor that an unimaginably large human calf stepped past the building, followed by another dull sound and then it landed heavily on the ground.
Min Changwen ran behind the wooden fence and what came into view was a huge body walking across the street as if connecting heaven and earth.
“This… this…”
Shocked by this scene, he took two steps back and fell to the ground, too shocked to utter a word.
The innkeeper and his waiter squatted on the ground, hugging each other, their faces turned pale and they forgot to scream.
After a moment, the shopkeeper crawled tremblingly towards the scholar over there and begged:
"Sir, please put away your magical powers."
Lu Liangsheng was already drunk, but he was still writing with a pen in his hand.
…
The streets and countless streets in the distance were in chaos.
People were running and dodging like ants under the huge feet. The people in the house heard the noise, opened the windows and looked out, then quickly retracted their eyes and slammed the windows shut.
The tiles on the roof were shaken and slid down. The moment the broken tiles spread on the ground, a huge foot seemed to have eyes. It landed close to the people who had no time to dodge, pressing down the broken tiles on the ground, leaving a footprint about ten feet long, and continued to move towards the direction of the outline of the city wall in front.
boom!
boom!
boom!
In the distance, on the top of the imperial city wall, the guards felt the vibration, which then became more and more intense. People began to lose their balance, and the rows of swords and spears were all toppling over.
"The earth dragon turned over?"
"Go and report... What's over there?"
The soldier who was pointing to the market outside the city then widened his eyes and his lips trembled.
"Giant...Giant..."
In the direction of the sight, between the densely packed houses, a huge figure comparable to a city wall strode towards them carrying a jar of wine. Each step was several feet long and it arrived in the blink of an eye.
"Run—"
“Go!!”
Rows of soldiers ran away, and the moment they left the city wall, a giant came over, raised his foot, and slammed the city wall.
There was a loud sound of earth collapsing and rocks cracking.
The city wall collapsed and cracked. Bricks and stones bulged inward and flew out, hitting the palace road and the red wall. In the air, smoke and dust filled the sky. The soldiers who reacted in time and dodged got up from the ground covered in dust. In their field of vision, they saw a huge heel walking past.
“Hehe…hahaha…”
The soldier laughed with his face flushed. He looked at his companions around him, then looked at his crotch, which was already wet.
Horns were blown at the city gate, and fast horses galloped to deliver the message.
"Jianchun Gate was breached!"
"A monster has broken into the palace. Quickly notify His Majesty!!"
At the Donghua Gate of the Eastern Palace, a group of officials and guards of the Eastern Palace felt the violent vibration and escorted Chen Jing out. Then, they watched in amazement as a figure walked past the high palace wall.
Woo—
The desolate sound of ox horns continued. Inside the Chengyun Hall, on the imperial steps, the emperor was talking to Zhang Lihua, but his eyes were looking at the singing and dancing in the middle.
"Do you have any history with that Lu Liangsheng?"
The imperial concubine leaning beside him was extremely intelligent. How could she not see the jealousy of the man beside her from what had happened before? She held the back of his hand.
"Your Majesty, I have said before that I was assassinated when I came back, and was saved by a gentleman. I also mentioned the name of this gentleman, but Your Majesty did not remember it."
"Then why did he give Jing'er the jade pendant?"
"That's not clear, maybe it's because I like Jing'er."
At this point, Zhang Lihua was a little worried: "Mr. Lu is a really capable person, is Your Majesty willing to let him go?"
Watching the exquisite beauty speaking for others, Chen Shubao felt jealous again and pulled his hand back, his sleeves rustling.
"Humph, who among the civil and military officials in this court doesn't have any ability? If he really had the ability, he would have smashed my throne room—"
Just as the word "smashed" came out, the buttocks of the person sitting on the dragon throne suddenly shook and almost fell to the ground. The civil and military officials below, and even the singing girls with long sleeves dancing, staggered and huddled together.
"What's going on?"
When Chen Shubao was holding the crown on his head and being helped up by Zhang Lihua in an embarrassed manner, people from outside had already run into the hall in panic.
"Your Majesty... There's someone outside..."
The guard gestured frantically, trying to express himself clearly, but he didn't know how to describe it. Chen Shubao led a group of civil and military officials and walked over. Just as they reached the palace gate, a figure more than ten feet tall turned his head and glared at them from far outside the square.
Then, he ran wildly towards Chengyun Palace. The guards and soldiers who came from all directions were staggered by the shock of the running.
Boom boom boom…
At the entrance of the palace, some people shouted, some cried out in fear, and many more stood there in amazement. Chen Shubao felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, his eyes wide open, his mouth opened with difficulty closing, and he uttered, "Protect the emperor!!"
Holding the crown and dragging the dragon robe, he ran into the hall.
"Go and ask the Protector of the Nation—"
Outside the hall, the giant raised the wine jar.
…
White clouds are moving slowly in the sky.
On the second floor of the inn, the pen stopped writing. The chaotic and noisy sound of the street could be heard. Lu Liangsheng held the pen and looked at the huge human figure on the ground. He picked up the wine jar and took a sip of wine.
**The rippling wine was quiet, as if it brought back the light and shadow of the past and flooded into my mind.
"Liangsheng, you want to be the top scholar." Mr. Lu was sitting at the entrance of the village basking in the sun. The sunlight was shining on his open mouth, which didn't have many teeth.
The gentle man sitting by the stove making fire had his face flushed by the flames.
"Our family can't afford to support a scholar."
"Brother, your handwriting is beautiful! Write another one." My sister was lying on the edge of the table. Her big eyes were also very beautiful.
A female ghost in a red dress floated down the night sky and bowed: "My concubine Nie Honglian greets you, sir."
Under the paulownia tree, an old man holds a book in his hand and looks at the falling leaves in autumn.
"Liangsheng, you are treating the people well and creating a good cause here, but it is only a small place. Entering the court to serve as an official, or being a parent, is the greatest virtue and great cause."
"This world is just a few hills."
The toad in the cotton-padded jacket turned over and sneered.
"Goody-goody!"
The barren land of Heliangzhou stretched for thousands of miles, with corpses lying like dust. Figures knelt down one after another, kowtowed continuously.
"God, please save us."
The majority of voices are saying: "I don't want to die, I want to live."
In Liyang City, the fat prefect drew the sword from his waist and swung it down to chop off the enemy: "Today, I will kill my wife and eat her with you all!!"
The light and shadow turned, and the scholar stood on a high platform, "I just want to save the lives of people here."
Amidst the heavy snow, we walked step by step into the capital city that seemed like a different world.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
In the hall, there was singing and dancing, and the lights were warm. Sitting on the dragon throne, the man raised his chin and looked over.
"Come, show me a trick."
At a certain moment, Lu Liangsheng dropped the wine jar and threw the brush in his hand violently, hitting the giant painting and splashing a ball of blue ink.
"—Fuck you!"
…
As his voice rang out.
The moment the giant's figure disappeared, a huge wine jar smashed heavily on the hall.
boom!
There was a loud noise, and the whole palace shook.
The terrified emperor was so frightened that his body froze, twitched a few times, and fell on the imperial steps with his eyes rolled back.
The entire palace and city were in chaos this afternoon.