"Take a look, take a look. This newly woven basket can hold more than 100 pounds. It will be used for four to five years without any problem. If you are not satisfied, you can take a look at the winnowing basket next to it. It was also newly woven last night!"
"Sheep... newly weaned lambs, whether you want to raise them for the New Year or eat their meat, it's up to you!"
"Chuibing! Crispy biscuits sprinkled with sesame seeds, made by my wife herself, hot huibing!"
"Crisp pear..."
The market outside the city was bustling. Yang Jian, Yang Su and Yang Guang felt like they were really walking in Chang'an City. No one around them knew who they were, so they couldn't help but look at the stalls.
There was a sizzling sound of pancakes as the vendor on the stall opened the cage and the aroma wafted into the air. Yang Jian could not resist ordering one. Just as he was about to touch the purse in his sleeve, he found that he was still wearing a dragon robe and had no money. He looked at Yang Su behind him, who was also holding a pancake and chewing it in big mouthfuls.
"Brother, you see I am also wearing an official robe, how can I have money? But don't worry, this is a world in a painting, we don't need it. If you don't believe me, look at the peddler."
Yang Jian turned his head and saw the vendor in front of the stall still busy serving pancakes and ladling hot soup, unaware that two pancakes were missing from the pot.
"Hehe... Mr. Lu's magic is so extraordinary that I thought I was really outside the city of Chang'an."
He bit into the pancake in his hand, and it was crispy. The taste of almonds and oil stimulated his taste buds, which was indescribably comfortable. After swallowing it, he did not feel full. Even though he was the majestic emperor in the court on weekdays, he was in a good mood now that there were no courtiers "eyeing him hungrily" and reminding him about his appearance from time to time.
Yang Guang, who was following behind, also took one and put it in his mouth. He looked around for a while and suddenly became interested. He even reached out to a woman who was passing by. The woman looked quite decent and didn't notice the hand reaching out to her at all.
However, this caused Yang Su to glare at him.
"Your Highness, please be careful. His Majesty is still ahead."
"I know, I know." Yang Guang curled his lips, withdrew his hand, and took a green pear from the bamboo basket of a child passing by and took a bite.
"Look at my father."
Over there, Yang Jian, dressed in a dragon robe, was squeezing through the crowd with brisk steps. He took something to taste, then ran to another stall, leading a donkey along the way. He imitated Lu Liangsheng, covering his chin with a big beard, and walked through the city gate in a swagger.
The soldiers guarding the city gate were all strong and sturdy. After a quick check of Yang Jian and the other two who entered the gate, they waved their hands to let them pass and walked into the city. Only then did the three of them feel the details of the city drawn by Lu Liangsheng.
After entering the city, it is prosperous.
The long blue brick road was clean and tidy, with lanterns hanging from the high eaves. The shop assistants put stools on the ground and blew out the lights inside. When moving the stools away, they did not forget to shout to passers-by. On one side of the street, an old man pushing a wheelbarrow carrying a pile of newly bought rice happily passed in front of a vendor who had just opened the steamer.
The steaming meat pie gave off an enticing aroma. The old man pushing the cart came back, bought one, wrapped it in oil paper and put it in his arms to keep it tight.
Flags with white characters on a blue background were hung on both sides of the long street, fluttering gently in the wind. The restaurants and teahouses were bustling with voices, and from time to time one could hear waiters announcing the names of dishes and drinks, shouting their words out into the street.
"Do you think that the Daxing that will be built in the future will be as prosperous as this?"
Yang Jian looked at the bustling and lively surroundings. People were coming and going, children were chasing and playing with windmills, tired old men were sitting on benches in street shops to rest, and they were chatting and laughing with friends of the same age. In the attic, women were often seen pushing open the window frames and brushing the dust off the bedding, and there were also beautiful girls sitting by the bed looking at themselves in the bronze mirror, supporting their chins, sometimes smiling foolishly, and sometimes sighing with resentment.
Yang Su, who was standing beside the emperor, was also watching all this and nodded firmly.
"Yes, the Sui Dynasty will surely usher in a prosperous era! All nations will come to congratulate us!"
The three of them walked through several long streets, saw the prosperity, went to the government office, and even the imperial palace, where they saw a figure exactly like Yang Jian sitting on the throne, discussing state affairs with civil and military officials. Yang Su frowned and was about to speak when he was interrupted by his brother in front of him.
"The city already has an owner. Mr. Lu is just giving us a more realistic feeling. How could I be angry?"
They walked past the familiar imperial palace and even saw a few familiar eunuchs walking by. Soon, the three returned to the Xuanzheng Hall and saw that the court had been dispersed. A figure in a green and white robe was standing there, holding a brush and writing on a long table, with the toad on his shoulder.
"Mr. Lu!"
At this time, Yang Jian was convinced of Lu Liangsheng's expertise in illusion. No matter whether he had fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, or ascended the throne to rule the world, none of them was as mysterious as today.
The same was true for Yang Su beside him. He was good at military tactics and swordsmanship, but when it came to various techniques, he probably didn't know as much as the scholar in front of him.
After all, cultivation is not magic, and magic requires daily study and accumulation.
Over there, the scholar with his back to the painting stopped, put down his inkstone, turned around, smiled, and raised his hands to the three people opposite him.
"Your Majesty, Prince of Jin, Duke of Yue, are you satisfied with your visit to this city?"
"Satisfied, I am very satisfied."
Yang Jian was not pretending. He had been dealing with government affairs for a long time and he had not felt so happy for a long time. When he stepped into the palace, his face was wrinkled with smile.
"It would be even better if the people in this city could talk to us. I just wonder if the city I build in the future will really be as magnificent as this?"
"Haha." Lu Liangsheng laughed, waved his robe and conjured up a few wooden chairs, and invited the three to sit down.
"Your Majesty, an illusion is just an illusion after all, it cannot become real. I just put Chang'an here in its original appearance. If you really want to make the Daxing City under construction as prosperous and bustling as in the painting, Your Majesty, the Duke of Yue, and the King of Jin will still need to treat the people better in the future."
Yang Jian had just recovered from the excitement of touring the world in the painting. Hearing Lu Liangsheng's words, he stroked his beard and nodded slightly.
"Sir, you are right. The prosperity of the world still needs us to manage it with our own hands, rather than living in fantasy. I understand the meaning of Sir asking us to enter this painting."
"There's more to it than that."
Lu Liangsheng was not afraid of offending the emperor. If the other party was petty, he could just leave and continue on his own way.
"I drew this picture for other purposes as well, as a way of repaying the kindness of your majesty."
He turned around, rolled up his sleeves, took the brush from the inkstone, dipped the edge of it, and continued to write on a piece of paper, while the voice continued to speak.
"Your Majesty, when you build Daxing City, you can place a Feng Shui rock screen in the imperial city. Ask skilled craftsmen to carve all the contents of the painting onto it, and finally place the painting into the stone."
After Lu Liangsheng finished speaking, he stopped painting with the brush in his hand and handed the content with instructions to the emperor sitting on the wooden chair.
"After I finish the work, I will come back to do one last thing."
Yang Su took a sip of the tea and roughly understood what was going on. He put down the teacup and asked, "To protect the country's destiny?"
To stabilize the country's destiny
Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment, then he reacted, shook his head, and said with a smile: "I haven't reached that level of cultivation yet. At most, I can make a city more lively and let the people live and work in peace and contentment."
The work was done, and with a flick of his sleeves, the illusion in the painting was removed.
The next moment.
The eyes of the three people sitting on the wooden chairs suddenly blurred. When their vision became clear again, they saw torches burning in the darkness outside the hall, night insects chirping in the corners outside, and guards and soldiers densely surrounded them with weapons, shouting.
"Your Majesty!" "Duke Yue is back too!" ""
"Protect the emperor—"
There was also a gentle female voice calling out: "Your Majesty?!"
The soft call penetrated into the emperor's mind. The emperor, who had been sitting there in a daze, came to his senses and quickly stood up to look around. Everything became real again.
After a while, he shook hands with the dignified and graceful woman next to him and said, "I'm fine." Then he cast his eyes on the scroll on the table and spoke.
"Put this painting away, no one is allowed to touch it!"
At this moment, he thought of Lu Liangsheng and hurriedly pushed aside the guards and soldiers around him. There was no trace of the scholar anywhere. In the darkness in the distance, only the faint sound of jingling neck bells could be heard.