The breeze from the sunset is warm, and the sound of cicadas can be heard from the distant woods.
“It’s coming out! It’s coming out!”
The reeds swayed gently in the wind, and a few lines of sight were cast towards the mountain gate. He looked at the group of people walking out and whispered something.
He moved around with his butt sticking up, thinking about how to get out and talk to the imperial teacher.
Gurgle~~
The sound of bubbling water gradually became louder behind him. Ma Liu, who was squatting behind, felt his shoes wet. Hearing the movement behind him, he was stunned for a moment, frowned and turned around. Ripples on the lake surface pushed the waves to the sand and rocks on the shore, and the flocks of wild ducks disappeared.
Instead, what replaced it in his field of vision was a large mass of water that had risen up out of nowhere, standing on the surface of the lake in the distance, with waves rolling around it. He was immediately frightened and shivered, and almost fell into the water.
At this moment, among the surging waves, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly lit up in the water.
Ma Liu's face turned pale in an instant, his body trembling like a sieve. He raised his arm tremblingly and used his other hand to pull his brother next to him.
"Brother... there are... monsters in the water..."
The words were barely on the tip of his tongue when Wang Feng, who was standing beside him, covered them with his hand. Without even turning his head, he stared at Lu Liangsheng who was coming towards him: "What are you yelling about? Where did this monster come from..."
However, he still subconsciously turned around and followed the direction that Ma Liu pointed tremblingly. The water over there was calm, with circles of ripples coming over.
"Nothing!"
He waved his hand in annoyance and hit the other person. At this time, seeing Lu Liangsheng coming and about to pass them, he threw the reed in his hand in a hurry, lifted up his robe and rushed out. The remaining three looked at each other and pushed each other in a hurry to catch up.
Wang Feng, who was running in front, shouted.
"My benefactor!"
In front of him, Lu Liangsheng stopped to hear the sound of bronze bells ringing. In fact, he had already noticed the four people. When he saw them running over without reeds, he loosened the reins and said with a smile, "Aren't you four serving as officials in the counties and towns in the northwest? Why are you back?"
"The term has expired."
Among the four people, Zhang Ti couldn't help but say something, which made Wang Feng, who originally wanted to save face, glare at him and then clasp his hands.
"Benefactor... us."
Before he could finish his words, Zhao Tang on the other side interrupted him and said, "We are here to make connections, Imperial Master. You are a big shot in front of His Majesty now. Can you please say a few good words for us? The four of us will serve you tea and water and act as your servants."
"You... are so disrespectful. How can you say such things so bluntly?"
Wang Feng was so angry that he wanted to strangle the three of them, "You are talking nonsense. It's a waste of time to read the words of the sages. How can you talk like this?"
He flicked his sleeves, walked up to Lu Liangsheng, and smiled: "Master, don't pay attention to these three idiots, they have no idea of etiquette..." In an instant, his smile disappeared, and he bowed solemnly.
"Master, are you short of boys in your temple? The kind that can serve tea and water!"
Hahaha!!
Yan Chixia and the others laughed immediately, while Wang Feng on the opposite side remained calm, "We are not short of boys, so what about stone lions? The four of us can just guard the two gates."
Ahem~~
Lu Liangsheng was choked by his sudden change of words and coughed twice. He reached out to help him up and said, "It's true that I am the national teacher, but you are officials, different from me, how can you help me?"
"But you're bewitching in front of His Majesty... Ugh!" Wang Feng spat out a mouthful of water and turned back: "But if His Majesty says a few good words, then the four of us will be able to take off."
The other three also came over and stood behind their brother. Except for Ma Liu who was terrified and looked at the lake from time to time, Zhang Ti and Zhao Tang all nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Imperial Master, you see, we are both from the Chen Dynasty, and we are from the same county. You are in Qixia Mountain, and we are separated from each other by seven or eight mountains in Nanxiang. We are not far away. If you count carefully our ancestors, maybe we are related and are our elders."
"Yes, it is reasonable for elders to help younger generations."
Well…
These four people didn't have much righteousness, but they had a lot of fallacies and heresies. Lu Liangsheng was silent for a moment, then looked at the four of them and smiled:
"Okay, but if you can stand my test, this master will support you and recommend you to His Majesty."
"That's right, I'm sure it can withstand that."
"Thinking back to the mountain temple, if the four of us hadn't read the books of sages and had a righteous character, we wouldn't have been harmed by those two vixens."
While the four were talking, Lu Liangsheng turned his head toward the bookshelf on the old donkey's back and shouted.
"Xiyou."
As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind blew, and the dust on the ground flew all over the sky. When Wang Feng, Ma Liu, Zhang Ti, and Zhao Tang covered their faces, they saw a woman's head sticking out from the bookshelf, filled with black smoke, with red lips on her face, and several long scarlet tongues twirling and dancing in the air.
The bad memories of Lanruo Temple came to mind.
The four scholars' hair stood on end and they jumped up on the spot in fear. Without saying a word, they turned around and ran away as fast as they could, holding up their robes.
"Ah... it's grandma—"
The four of them screamed hysterically and ran away to the street outside in the sunset glow.
Lu Liangsheng stood there in a daze. Before he could say what the test was, he turned around to look at the woman who had stuck her head out.
"Why not learn something else? Learning Hong Lian is scary!"
Qi You blinked his eyes, not knowing what had happened. He just came out to yawn. When he heard the old demon's rebuke, he snorted and glared at him, then turned into a puff of black smoke and retracted into the bookshelf, lying quietly inside like a pen.
"A farce."
Lu Liangsheng shook his head, chatted and laughed with Yan Chixia and the others, then walked towards Quchifang holding the reins. In the distance, a graceful figure was standing by the road, looking at him with a smile.
"Grand Master Lu, you look so impressive. What are you going to do?"
Cough cough!
The Taoist priest looked away and coughed. Lu Liangsheng glared at him, turned back to look at the woman, and pointed at the people behind him. "We are all friends. I have something to do in the northwest. What are you doing here?"
"I came to Furong Pond to see the scenery."
Min Yuerou stepped on the instep of the maid who was giggling beside her, turned around and avoided the scholar, and walked towards the lotus pond, "You go and do your work, I'll just enjoy the scenery for a while and then leave."
Seeing her behavior, Lu Liangsheng roughly understood what was going on, but he didn't point it out. "Okay, I'll leave first, but I have to remind you not to get too close to the lake."
"I know, I know."
The woman waved her hand, but saw no reply for a long time. She turned around secretly and saw no sign of Lu Liangsheng and the others. She snorted and kicked a stone under her feet.
"You don't let me get too close to the lake, but I want to!"
Not long after, the water waves rolled back, making a splashing sound, and two shrill screams were heard. The master and the servant lost their restraint and ran away in a panic in the crimson glow, running towards home.
…
At this time, Lu Liangsheng and his group met Zhu Ganglie who came on the street. The latter looked at the people who came out, and was pulled by the Taoist priest in a daze, and turned back the way he came.
"I, Old Pig, just got here and haven't even had a bite of hot food yet, and already I have to leave the city again?"