The temple stands beside the Hibiscus Pond, the water of the pond is rippling, the lotus flowers are in bud, the green leaves are floating, a green carp is swimming below, and occasionally a dragonfly flies over and touches the water surface, then as if frightened, it scurries out with its tail wagging, and swims past the stone tablet in the water that is engraved with "Wanshou Temple".
**The ripples of water pushed aside, and the distorted water surface reflected the small table by the pool, the curling incense burner, and the toad crawling on the table scratched its belly, turned over, and fell asleep with its legs spread out.
Know, know, know…
Know~~
From the lush green forest came the annoying chirping of cicadas. Lu Liangsheng, dressed in a green robe, sat at a desk with several bamboo slips at hand, all of which contained theories about celestial phenomena from past dynasties.
Unfortunately, there is no record of the falling of red stars from outer space. Most of them are "jinx stars". According to mythology, it was the deity that Jiang Ziya conferred on his wife after he conferred the title of deity on her during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It has nothing to do with this matter.
Turn the page and rub the corners of your eyebrows with your fingertips.
... the great catastrophe of heaven and earth... Master Wuyuan... and now Master Zhenhai has also been captured.
"Oh, what a headache... I wonder if Lao Zhu, Sui An, Yan Chi Xia and the others received the paper crane I sent them."
Lu Liangsheng sighed, closed the book he had just read, and cast his eyes towards the Toad Taoist who was soundly sleeping at the corner of the table.
"Master, if we gather everyone's strength, do you think we can defeat that Master Wu Yuan?"
At the corner of the table, Toad half-opened his eyes, turned sideways, and said, "What are you afraid of? I will lend you a helping hand when the time comes. Let me sleep for a while, Woohoo..."
He scratched his white belly, yawned, and fell asleep again in the sound of cicadas.
Well.
Lu Liangsheng laughed, it seemed that his master was not optimistic either.
He got up and walked to the pond, watching the dragonflies flying across the water. A carp jumped to the lotus leaf and slowly swam out from the other side, as if it had forgotten its previous panic. With a hook of his finger, a line of water rolled up on the water surface, condensed into water droplets, and bounced to that side with a snap. The fish was so scared that it swung its tail to sweep up a circle of mud and dust, and flew out.
"But we have to give it a try. If we can convince him, we can save the old monk Zhenhai."
As he was thinking, the sound of horse hooves came from the mountain gate outside the long steps behind him, and then stopped. Li Yuan, wearing the armor he wore for guarding the palace, ran up the stone steps, the armor leaves clanging. He did not forget to bow to an old donkey that poked its head out from the woods on the side, and then ran into the temple.
"National Master!"
Hearing a shout from afar, and seeing a figure standing in front of the pool at the end of the square, Lu Liangsheng retracted his spell, turned his head slightly to see the figure running up the stone steps, smiled, turned around and stretched out his hand to invite him to come over.
"How did Shude have time to come here?"
Li Yuan slowed down his pace, pressed the hilt of his sword and walked forward, about two feet away, and bowed: "Grandmaster, His Majesty invites you to the palace to talk."
"oh?"
Generally speaking, the Imperial Master does not get involved in state affairs, but only in the feng shui and fortune of the dynasty. Sometimes he also gives advice on political affairs. Now it is not a big meeting in the morning court, so it is a bit strange to suddenly ask him to enter the palace. After thinking for a moment, Lu Liangsheng looked across and asked, "Do you know what it is?"
"I don't know, but..."
As a Qianniu attendant, Li Yuan was sometimes well-informed. After thinking about the news he heard outside the palace today, he said softly, "... But it seems to be related to the hometown of the Imperial Master."
"Qixia Mountain?"
"No, it seems that there are people causing trouble in several prefectures near Tianzhi, and they want to restore the Chen Dynasty."
Hearing this, Lu Liangsheng naturally thought of the heavy snow before the New Year and Chen Jing's visit to Lujia Village. He hoped that it was not him, but even if it was him, such a thing should be handled by the generals leading their troops all the way south...
However, for the details, I'd better meet Yang Jian first.
After thinking about it, he went upstairs and changed into the imperial teacher's robe. He had to be more formal when meeting the emperor. Afterwards, he instructed Old Sun, who was discussing something with Monk Fajing in another room.
"I'm going to the palace to meet His Majesty. Please look after my uncles..."
"I know, I know. Hurry and go to the palace. I still have some important matters to deal with!"
The red-faced Taoist pushed him out of the attic, slammed the door shut, and pulled the fat monk with him. He put one foot on the stool and continued to argue about Buddhism and Taoism. He also took out a yellowed book from his arms and slapped it on the table. When he saw that he had taken the wrong book, he immediately put it back and replaced it with a new one...
Listening to the shouting and stammering arguments in the room, Lu Liangsheng straightened his collar and then left Wanshou Temple.
"You go ahead, I'll be there soon."
Li Yuan nodded, jumped on the horse, cracked the whip, urged the horse to run, and could not help but look back to see how Mr. Lu was catching up, but there was no one behind him.
"Hey, just now I was..."
There was a sudden whistling sound in his ears, and with a "clang" the sound of a sword being unsheathed passed over his head. Li Yuan turned around and saw a light blue light flying into the air in front of him.
Below, in the bustling streets and alleys, some people looked up out of boredom, then suddenly sat down on the ground in shock, pointing at the sky.
"What is that?!"
"Ouch, a beam of light flew by!"
Amid the sounds of exclamations, the streak of light that was seen shot towards the imperial city. Soldiers on the city wall were patrolling past, and a soldier standing on the parapet suddenly opened his eyes wide, stepped back a few steps, and pointed into the distance.
"That... that is..."
When he heard the last three words of "what is it", he saw the light blue light directly passed over the city wall and fell on the White Tiger Gate farther behind.
With a light bang, Lu Liangsheng stood steadily on the ground. He drew the Yuelong Sword in his hand back into the scabbard and strode towards the palace gate. The palace soldiers who had heard the noise, holding their long weapons, swarmed around him and shouted "Ah!"
"Wait a minute!" someone shouted.
Seeing the figure walking into the palace gate, the soldiers who were rushing over immediately put their weapons on the ground and stood straight.
"Greetings to the Imperial Master!"
The general guarding the palace gate waved his hand, asked his men to retreat, and quickly came forward, whispering: "Master, flying around like this is a waste of mana. I have a carriage here, take you in."
"Thank you."
Lu Liangsheng bowed to him, and a soldier drove a carriage over. He lifted his robe and walked inside. A soldier waved his whip and shouted, "Go!"
The carriage rolled slowly along the wide road leading to the deep palace. It passed through and saw that Yang Jian's palace was not the main hall for the court meeting. There were eunuchs waiting there. When they saw Lu Liangsheng's carriage coming, they trotted over and helped him get off the carriage with a flattering smile.
"Master, be careful, His Majesty is waiting in the study."
"You lead the way."
Lu Liangsheng was not too arrogant. He stretched out his hand and let the eunuch walk in front. There were long-eaved and high pavilions around, with many elegant potted plants. It was early summer and the plants were lush and green, which looked very beautiful.
However, this is not an ordinary family. Most of the maids and guards encountered in the past were silent and vigilant, giving a feeling of a strict and guarded compound.
The eunuch walking in front suddenly said, "Master, we are here."
Lu Liangsheng looked over there and saw the door panels were carved with hollow lattices and surrounded by gold edges. In the middle of the two doors, there were a pair of copper rings with animal faces. The eunuchs and guards standing on both sides saw the imperial teacher, who was dressed in a robe with the sun, moon and stars, striding towards them, and hurriedly pushed the door open to invite him in.
…
In the study, the smoke from the hollow incense burner created a tranquil atmosphere. On the desk covered with yellow silk, Yang Jian was reviewing memorials. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he raised his head, put down his pen, and stood up to greet him.
"National Master, you're here so quickly."
Lu Liangsheng returned the greeting with a bow and then laughed, "Your Majesty has summoned me, so I have no choice but to hurry over."
At the emperor's invitation, he went to sit at a seat on one side. After a palace maid came in, poured tea and left, Lu Liangsheng put down his mouth and started asking about business.
"I wonder why your majesty wants me to enter the palace?"
Over there, Yang Jian, who had returned to his desk, placed a letter of urgent military intelligence on the table, his voice low and deep through his tightly pursed lips.
"Master, the remnants of the Chen Dynasty have deceived the local military and civilians and raised the flag of rebellion."
"Chen Jing?"
"Well, there is also an old guy named Chen Fu... He knows magic."
The study room became dead silent. Lu Liangsheng stared silently at the carpet on the floor. Sure enough, what Old Sun said was right.