The clouds were sparse and the moon was high. The sound of dogs barking could be heard from the dark alleys. The figures of a man and a donkey were visible in the thin mist on the long street. After leaving the imperial city, Lu Liangsheng was not in a hurry to leave. On a nearby street, there was a night stall with lanterns lit.
An old man was setting up the stall, busy scooping noodles out of the pot. He heard the sound of a bell approaching, raised his head, and saw a gentleman in flowing robes leading an old donkey towards him.
He quickly put down the colander, wiped the water stains on his hands, and put up a bench.
"Sir, I only have noodles in soup here. If you are not picky, you can sit here."
Lu Liangsheng smiled and tied up the old donkey, took the master's tray from the bookshelf compartment and handed it over to him: "If you are not picky, give me four bowls."
"Okay... eh?" The old man was stunned for a moment, looked at the street, turned around and looked at the scholar who had sat down, "Sir, don't think I'm nagging, four bowls of noodles are a bit too much, you can't finish them by yourself."
"One bowl, give me this toad, and someone will come over later for the other two bowls."
"Toad... Toad?"
When the old man saw a toad in a small jacket being put on the table by the scholar, he shook his head and sighed, saying that as long as the customer paid, he could eat the toad.
He scooped the bowl of noodles from the pot, added seasonings and soup, and brought it to the guests at another table. He said, "Eat slowly," and then returned to the stove, just about to put a handful of noodles in it.
A faint fragrance wafted past my nose.
Looking up, he saw a woman in a black dress walking briskly into the stall. She was lightly made up, with her black hair tied up high and a jade hairpin inserted in it, revealing her fair neck and collarbone. The old man forgot to put the noodles in his hand into the pot, and even the three guests at the table just now stared at him.
Without waiting for the old man to speak, the woman walked to the scholar's table with a smile and sat down, then moved closer and rubbed his shoulder intimately.
"Old demon, is there anything delicious here?"
Mu Qiyu was pushed back with her forehead pressed, still smiling and supporting her chin, her beautiful eyes blinking as she stared at Lu Liangsheng opposite her.
The latter glanced at the old man over there, and the old man also reacted and shook the noodles in his hand with a smile.
"That young man will treat you to a delicious meal."
After saying that, he didn't look at it any more and went about his own business.
At the square table over there, Lu Liangsheng added to the old man's words: "Soup noodles, just fill your stomach."
"Oh." Qi You supported her chin and responded simply. Seeing Lu Liangsheng looking at her with a smile, she bit her lower lip and blinked her eyes playfully.
Lu Liangsheng felt as if he was electrocuted. He felt a slight numbness all over his body and subconsciously turned his eyes away.
…Where did this tree demon learn this? Even Hong Lian is not as good at provoking people as her.
Cough cough!
The Toad Taoist sitting on the table coughed twice, slightly opened his toad eyes, glanced at the man and woman in front of him, and tapped his round webbed head lightly on the table.
"Be more restrained, your master is still here..."
Smelling the aroma of hot oil poured over the noodles in the bowl and the chopped green onions, Toad Taoist was too lazy to say a single word. He stared at the old man as he brought the bowl of noodles and placed it on the table.
In order not to scare others, he coiled it there and urged, "Liangsheng, quickly pick one for me and bring it to the bowl."
"Master, slow down."
Using words that only the three of them could hear, Lu Liangsheng picked up a piece of noodle and let it hang outside the bowl. The Toad Taoist stretched out his long tongue and rolled it into his mouth, then sucked it into his stomach. Qi You instinctively opened his mouth and imitated the toad, splitting his tongue into several parts and ready to stick it out, but was hit on the head with chopsticks by the scholar next to him.
"You're a dryad!"
"Is there any difference?" Qi You tilted his neck and blinked his big eyes at Lu Liangsheng.
At the side, the toad, who had eaten a few noodles, rolled his tongue over the oil stains at the corners of his mouth and smacked his lips.
"Liangsheng, who is the other bowl for?"
The fourth bowl of noodles was also served. After the old man left, Lu Liangsheng picked up a bunch of noodles in his bowl and blew on it. As the steam rose, he whispered something.
"Come over here quickly!"
Sure enough, not long after, footsteps were heard on the long street in the dark night, and the figure who was walking towards them was a man in an official robe, with a thin face and a long beard. It was none other than Yang Su, the Duke of Yue in the palace.
Seeing a man and a woman eating noodles at the stall, his eyes swept over Toad who was slurping noodles calmly, walked straight over, sat opposite Lu Liangsheng, picked up the bowl of noodles in front of him without hesitation, and slurped it into his mouth.
"The food in the palace is exquisite, but sometimes it is not as refreshing as these hot noodles. Thank you, Daoist Brother Lu, for treating me to noodles."
Lu Liangsheng swallowed the noodles in his mouth, laughed too, and looked at Yang Su opposite him.
"Duke Yue, what are you talking about? Didn't you ask His Majesty to confer a title on me? How can a bowl of noodles justify such a favor?"
"Oh, Mr. Lu also knows how to tease people." Yang Su on the opposite side raised his face and said this with a smile. However, the two of them had a relationship after all, so they naturally would not take the joke seriously.
Putting down his chopsticks, he stroked his beard and after a while, expressed his thoughts.
"It's difficult to invite Fellow Daoist Lu, so I have to resort to this method to force you to come here. Besides, are you going to waste your studies like this? Entering the court as an official, no, not talking about being an official, just talking about the position of a national teacher, you can pray to the heavens and ancestors, and use your knowledge, both of which can help the people of the world to receive grace."
"I can't do it. All I have learned in my life are military and swordsmanship. Others either focus on cultivating the Dao or only know how to govern the people. There are many people who can do both. But my brother and I know only you, and we are so familiar with each other. Moreover, you don't have much selfishness, which is what my brother likes most."
Lu Liangsheng listened to the words with a smile and did not refute. After all, he had already promised Yang Jian in the palace before, and he also knew his own character. Since he had promised, he would naturally come to help. As for staying in Chang'an for a long time, it might be a bit difficult.
All the family belongings are in Qixia Mountain, and parents and relatives are also there. The entire Lujia Village has made it gradually prosperous and life peaceful. If you leave, you will be reluctant to leave.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Liangsheng put down his chopsticks.
"How could I not know what the Duke of Yue said? I am grateful to His Majesty for his appreciation of me, but my cultivation is shallow. I am afraid that if I serve as the Imperial Master, I will be ridiculed by my peers. They will say that a mere Yuanying Realm person dares to serve as the Imperial Master. Then His Majesty and the Duke of Yue will also lose face."
The Toad Taoist beside the bowl wanted to speak, opened his mouth, looked at his disciple's expression, then closed it again and continued to suck his noodles.
"That lady's... the delicacies from the palace."
On the other side, Yang Su didn't think that way. He shook his head and said, "What are you talking about, Brother Lu? Look at me? What's my cultivation level?"
"That's different. The Duke of Yue is the younger brother of the emperor, and he also made contributions to the conquest of Northern Qi and the destruction of Southern Chen. Who can criticize him? But Lu Liangsheng has no merits and virtues. He only killed one or two evil monsters and took a high position. It's not right."
Lu Liangsheng had his own thoughts. He tapped the table with his fingertips and suddenly laughed: "I will put aside the position of national teacher for the time being. I want to walk around and hone my skills. It just so happened that I found a rare item by chance a few days ago."
As he spoke, he told Yang Su about the Fire Praying Sect. The latter had also pursued this sect before, but unfortunately gained little. Now, after hearing the whole story, he could not help but praise it. Yang Su hated those who endangered the Sui Dynasty and his brother's country.
Seeing the scholar walking to the bookshelf to get a book and coming over, he quickly reached out and held down the other person's hand as he was about to turn the page.
"You got this thing, why let others see it?"
"Is the Duke of Yue someone else?"
Lu Liangsheng felt guilty and opened the book, letting the painting of Zishan Temple fall into Yang Su's sight. However, when he opened it, he saw that Zishan Temple, which originally occupied a large page, had shrunk to a corner at some point. The surrounding mountains were rolling, the forests were lush, and the blue ink was clear and lifelike.
The lights in the night stall were dim, and the lanterns cast shadows on the scholar's face.
Between light and dark, Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly. He had never painted any other scenery on it.