On the way to the Nanchen ferry, there is a noisy crowd, merchants and pedestrians coming and going on the winding or straight official roads, the sound of carriages and horses, and pot-bellied merchants bargaining with the boats crossing the river. In the distance on the river, a fishing boatman rowed a covered boat and shouted at his son to pull up the net. The white fish scales reflected the dim light, and made a rustling sound in the net.
"Waiter, check out!" "... bring a few more pancakes and a bowl of herbal tea!"
“Here it comes!”
The roadside teahouses were bustling with noise, as many travelers crossing the river stopped here to rest and quench their thirst. The waiter responded, "Coming!" He passed a piece of firewood to the stove, dusted it off, picked up the teapot and the cakes, and hurried over.
Ding ding ding... the sound of a bell came from outside. The waiter was settling the bill for a table of guests. He turned his head to look outside and saw a scholar in a green and white robe bringing an old donkey over and tying the reins to a wooden stake outside.
He immediately smiled and said, "Sir, please take a seat first. I will come after I settle the bill for this table."
Lu Liangsheng tied the rope tightly, patted the donkey's head lightly, and whispered:
"There are too many people here, so you can't run around."
Then he sat down at the empty seat at the table and nodded to the waiter: "You go ahead."
After a while, the waiter came over and pulled down the rag on his shoulder, wiped the table, and asked, "Sir, what would you like to order? Tea is one cent, and you can refill it after you finish it. There is no extra charge. In addition, we also have pancakes with minced mutton, which I guarantee you will enjoy."
"Well, then a bowl of herbal tea and two mutton patties."
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment."
The waiter picked up the rag and turned to go to the stove. Lu Liangsheng took a pair of chopsticks and placed them in front of him. In front of them was the ferry. Passengers were coming and going on the road. There was no sign of the bleakness of the approaching war.
"Sir, your herbal tea and mutton pancakes are good. The weather is getting colder, so you should eat the pancakes while they are hot."
The waiter put the things the scholar ordered on the table and was about to leave when Lu Liangsheng called him back.
"Wait a minute, little brother."
"What else do you want, sir?"
Lu Liangsheng picked up the bowl, raised his chin, pointed to the busy scene on the road outside, and asked him.
"I heard that there's going to be a war, why are there so many people here?"
When the war broke out, there should have been a panic-stricken scene all around, but the situation was quite different from what was described in the book.
"Hey... They are fighting against the Southern Dynasty, what does it have to do with us? Besides, the dynasty has changed, and we are all Sui people. Soldiers can't bully their own people, right?"
The conversation started, and seeing that there were no customers coming into the store at the moment, the waiter pulled out a bench and sat down on one side.
"From your accent, you should be from the south of the Yangtze River. To be frank, what's so good about the south? The previous emperor wrote poems and built buildings. He was not an emperor at all. He even had an affair with the wife of his general. This emperor deserved to die! Now, a younger one has been replaced... Tsk tsk..."
The man made a few "tsk" sounds and shook his head, saying, "How can you resist the fierce army of the Great Sui Dynasty? Sir, I advise you not to go back. With your looks, it will be easy for you to find a wife. Isn't it good to stay here?"
On the opposite side, Lu Liangsheng took a sip of tea and swallowed the meat pie. Seeing that the guy was talking excitedly, he smiled.
"It seems that you like the emperor of the new dynasty very much."
"Hey, look at what the guest said, who doesn't like the new ones?"
The guy looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he picked up the rag and wiped the table gently a few times.
"Your Majesty is much better than the previous emperor. Moreover, he granted amnesty to the whole country when he ascended the throne. My brother-in-law was arrested for drinking and fighting on the street. He was thinking about how much money he would have to pay to get him out. Now the time has come. My wife has been burning incense and kowtowing to Your Majesty every day..."
squeak…
"Hey, man, the water on the stove is boiling!"
A customer at a table near the stove started shouting. The waiter, who was about to say more, stood up and put down a dishcloth: "Sir, please take your time. I have to go mix the tea."
"you busy."
Lu Liangsheng replied politely, his eyes sweeping across the teahouse full of guests, as well as the traveling merchants and travelers who were coming in from outside to rest and eat something. As there were no seats left, he squatted at the door with a bowl of cold tea and a cake, eating and drinking while chatting and laughing with his companions, laughing heartily when they talked about something funny.
"Yang Jian seems to be a wise ruler."
When he met the other party that day and night and left, he actually heard the invitation to be the national teacher of the Sui Dynasty. Unfortunately, Lu Liangsheng had some concerns about the teasing during the Chen Dynasty. If a Taoist practitioner stood in the court and met an ignorant monarch, he would easily be suspected. Then he would be called a "magician", which would be ridiculous.
"Forget it, forget it. I will practice my Dao well and teach those three disciples first."
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng shook his head and smiled, then drank the tea.
After greeting the guests, the waiter wanted to chat with the kind scholar, but when he turned around, there was no one sitting there, only a few copper coins left on the table.
"This scholar is really strange... How could he disappear in the blink of an eye?"
…
The scholar who was thought of, led the old donkey along the official road south for less than half a mile, stepped onto the ferry, and sailed out on the river. The bow of the boat was unstable, but the view was excellent. Looking into the distance in the direction of the river flowing eastward, his eyes, which were filled with magical power, seemed to see the water fort with flags fluttering in the distance.
"Sir, if you've seen enough, get off quickly. The bow of the boat is shaking, be careful not to fall into the water."
Boatmen are most afraid of carrying this kind of literati and elegant guests. When they get excited, they will stand at the bow of the boat. They have never been seen reciting poems or composing essays, creating articles that will be passed down through the ages.
"I'm not trying to scare you. Last time, there were four guys who were dressed like scholars just like you. They insisted on squeezing onto the bow of the boat to recite some poems. As a result, a wave hit and all four of them fell into the water. Fortunately, I and my son are good swimmers and were able to pull them out!"
At the stern, the young man rowing the boat also nodded in agreement.
"What my father said is true. But come to think of it, those four are regular customers. We also ferried them through the heavy rain before. Moreover, my father and I even met a god that day."
Lu Liangsheng didn't want to make things difficult for the boatman and his son. He went down to the bow and stayed next to the old donkey, listening to their chattering as they talked about crossing the river on that rainy night. The other three or four passengers also stayed quietly by their side, just to kill time.
"You don't know that the immortal was just like the scholar, leading an old donkey. That night, there were lightning and thunder..."
By the time the fishing rod was covered with crab roe, the boat had reached the other side.
Lu Liangsheng took the old donkey and said goodbye to leave. The boatman's son was still talking when he was suddenly pulled by his father. Seeing that other passengers had already got off the boat, the old boatman took out a stick of incense from somewhere and lit it.
"Dad, what are you doing? Why are you lighting incense for no reason?"
"Did you notice the scholar leading the donkey just now?"
The boatman lit the incense, raised it above his head, bowed three times respectfully towards the shore, and when he inserted the incense into the gap between the planks, he spoke the following sentence.
“… Does that scholar look like the one I met that night?!”
When the boatman mentioned this, the young man's eyes widened and he slapped his thigh.
"No wonder I felt so full of energy as soon as I got on board. It turns out that the immortal is on our boat again."
"You should come and worship as well, and leave quickly after you're done. Things are getting uneasy on the South Bank."
The boatman urged his son on for a while, and when he saw that his son had finished his worship, he took up the pole and pushed the boat back into the river, heading back to the ferry where they had come from.
The sky gradually darkened.
Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey and looked at the sky. There were not many stars and moon in the autumn. In the dark night, there were still a few houses around with lights on.
"At a time like this, I guess other families won't let strangers stay overnight."
We walked up to the foot of the mountain and followed the mountain path for a while. In front of us, we saw a dilapidated little temple standing in the dark forest.
"Master, Hong Lian, please make do here tonight."
Walking into the temple, there are not too many signs of decay. The statue in the middle has ferocious fangs, holds an iron fork in his hand, and steps on a big green snake. It should be a mountain god. There are still ashes of burning incense and paper in the incense burner in front. It seems that more than ten families nearby often come here to clean and offer sacrifices.
"Excuse me, Lu Liangsheng from Qixia Mountain would like to stay here for one night."
When visiting a temple and paying respects to the mountain god, no matter if the god is conscious or not, you should still be respectful and remember to be polite.
The old donkey was led to one side, and the bookshelf fell to the ground. The Toad Taoist pushed open the small door, walked out yawning, and stretched out his webbed feet to warm himself by the fire.
"Cook quickly, I'm hungry."