"What are you four still doing standing there? Come in and pour wine for the Imperial Master!"
The light flickered, illuminating the four people who were bowing outside the doorway. Wang Feng gritted his teeth and said, "Yes." Looking at the young man sitting over there, he took a deep breath. The moment the light hit his face, it was filled with smiles, and he shook his head a few times as if bowing.
"So it's the Imperial Master. No wonder I felt a sense of peace enveloping my soul tonight, and was full of energy without even realizing it. Now I know it's the Imperial Master..."
As he complimented him shamelessly, the other three brothers behind him immediately imitated him and bowed.
He said a few words repeatedly: "Yes, yes." He walked to both sides of the round table and sat down one by one. Ma Liu snatched the wine pot from the maid and waved his robe to let her step away.
"You don't know how to mix the wine. Go away and let me do it."
The maid rolled her eyes and handed him the wine jug. The scholar named Ma Liu hugged his baggy cuffs and diligently poured wine for Yang Su. He then walked out of his seat and filled the cup for Lu Liangsheng on the other side.
"National Master, please."
The few people were not familiar with Lu Liangsheng, but they had met many times. He raised his hand to let Ma Liu, who was pouring wine, stop, and said with a smile: "I really have a destiny with you. I didn't expect to meet you in the mansion of Duke Yue."
"Oh? It turns out that the Imperial Master really knows these four of my retainers?" Yang Su changed his solemn expression and took a sip of wine with a smile. His eyes swept over both sides of the round table. Four people of different heights and weights were picking up food with chopsticks and stuffing them into their mouths. When they saw Duke Yue looking at them, Zhang Ti, who was sitting closest to them, nodded repeatedly and chewed the food in his mouth hard.
"Hmm... Yes, I saw the Imperial Master once when he went to Hegu County to take the imperial examination..."
Wang Feng, Ma Liu, and Zhao Tang, who were sitting around the table, put down their chopsticks and wiped their greasy mouths. Wang Feng said quickly, "Duke Yue, we also encountered a fox demon the night we met the Imperial Master. Her seductiveness was very alluring! Fortunately, the four of us only read the books of sages and only spoke the words of sages, so we didn't get their way and saved our reputations."
"Brother, you forgot... In fact, later on, we even lived on a boat with the Imperial Master at the ferry!"
"The time when we went to Brother Chongwen's house?"
“… It’s my turn to speak, it’s my turn to speak!”
When the conversation got excited, the four of them rushed to speak. You pulled my sleeve, I stepped on your instep, and glared at each other as they told the old man about the past during the Southern Dynasties.
Lu Liangsheng held the wine glass and sipped it slowly, listening quietly to them talking about their encounters in the past. He couldn't help but smile. He looked at the four people carefully. Their faces were much more mature than before, their hair was combed neatly, but their temperament and speech were still the same as before.
The wind blew over the eaves and into the window, causing the lamp to sway slightly. A maid came over to add some vegetable oil and fiddled with the wick. The light rose and the room became a little brighter.
The laughter and chatter around the round table paused for a moment, and Lu Liangsheng suddenly spoke up and talked about what he had just mentioned.
"Duke Yue has assisted Your Majesty for two years. How do you feel about that?"
The four people on both sides who were holding wine glasses and urging each other to drink or playing drinking games suddenly became quiet. They glanced at both sides, lowered their heads and pricked up their ears to listen.
"… Your Majesty, you are a little impatient in handling government affairs."
The old man's smile faded, he put down his chopsticks, took the wine glass in front of him and took a sip. He didn't care that there were four people around. He simply raised his hand and asked the maids and servants around to leave.
The hall door closed gently. Yang Su calmed down, stood up, put his hands behind his back, walked to the window where the porcelain vase was placed, and looked at the night scene in the courtyard outside.
"Friend Lu came to drink with me today. In fact, I know what you are going to say. Your Majesty is still too young compared to the late emperor. I am worried. I am afraid that the kingdom I have built with great difficulty will be shattered if I am not careful."
Lu Liangsheng pursed his lips, without even looking at the four people sitting on both sides, he stood up and walked to the side of the old man. Yang Su's words made him feel a lot more at ease. After all, what was said outside gave him the impression that the old man was going to control the entire court.
Following the old man's gaze, Lu Liangsheng looked at the courtyard and nodded.
"I feel relieved that Duke Yue can say this, but I don't agree with you saying that you are worried about Your Majesty. Just like a child learning to walk, everyone grows up with bumps and bruises. Duke Yue is interfering too much. Aren't you afraid of retribution and a bad ending?"
In the eyes of monks, the words "karma" are not actually cruel, but to ordinary people, they inevitably have a threatening meaning. The four scholars sitting over there buried their faces, glancing back and forth at the old man and the young man in front of the window. The four of them looked at each other and swallowed their saliva.
"Who just said that auspicious light shines upon the heavens?"
"... Which... Big Brother, you said it yourself."
"Did you tell me that? How come I don't remember it?"
"...Brother, if we listen to something we shouldn't, will Duke Yue and Lu Lang silence us?"
"Don't talk, just focus on eating."
Wang Feng scolded, but he couldn't help but glance at the two figures on the other side of the window. His mouth trembled and he muttered silently: "Don't look over here, don't look over here..."
Over there, Yang Su turned around and glanced at the figure with his face buried beside the table. He didn't pay any attention to these people and stroked the exquisite porcelain vase on the shelf.
"Grandmaster, you don't get involved in government affairs, and you can't understand the hardships I went through with the late emperor to build the country."
Her fingertips paused on the porcelain bottle, and she turned her head to look at Lu Liangsheng who was also looking at her.
"What the Imperial Master said before is not without reason, but I also have my own experience. Emperor Wu of Han was able to have great talent and strategy, defeat the Xiongnu in the north, conquer the Baiyue in the south, and promote the prestige of the Han Dynasty. It can be seen that he was slowly honed under constraints. Without Empress Dowager Dou, there would be no Emperor Wu of Han with great military achievements."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the old man whose beard was shaking, and was silent for a moment: "So the Duke of Yue wants to be Empress Dowager Dou to temper Your Majesty?"
"It's possible."
The old man put his hands behind his back, snorted and looked at the screen. He was quite annoyed at some civil and military officials in the court. For two years, his actions had been slandered and defamed.
"Friend Lu, I'm afraid people out there are saying that I'm no different from Cao Mengde, right?"
"Not really."
The scholar brushed aside his robe sleeves, stretched out his hand, and moved the two chairs in front of the table smoothly in front of him and invited the old man to sit down. Seeing his gentle appearance, Yang Su could not get angry, and still sat on the chair with a stern face.
Seeing the old man sit down, Lu Liangsheng smiled and added more tea and sat aside.
"Cao Cao at the end of the Han Dynasty was too much slandered, but I know that Duke Yue is not Cao Mengde, but he owes a favor to the late emperor, which is difficult to repay, so I want to do my best to make the Sui Dynasty go further."
Steam was rising from the teacup as the old man leaned back in his chair and stared silently out the window. The lanterns under the eaves were swaying as moths fluttered and hit the paper of the lanterns. After a long while, his beard trembled slightly and he made a sound.
"It was not easy for my brother to build this foundation. I dare not be careless. Although His Majesty is very smart and courageous, I am afraid that he will be too eager to achieve the achievements of the previous emperor and act too hastily."
Lu Liangsheng sat there, closed his eyes, listened to the sound of flying insects hitting the lantern outside, and looked at the old man next to him.
"Then how will Duke Yue escape unscathed?"
"The emperor's ministers are not blinded by the truth, and simplicity is in the emperor's heart."
The old man murmured eight characters softly, his beard trembling, and he laughed loudly. At this time, footsteps were heard coming from the eaves outside, and the voice of a servant was heard outside the door.
"Master, the eldest son is back."