The wind in the courtyard stopped, and the sound of a woman crying could be heard in the distance.
Yang Guang covered his face and stood in the yard at a loss. He didn't understand what the national teacher meant by what he had just said. As an emperor, he was slapped twice and he was angry. He walked under the eaves, gritted his teeth, and squeezed out words.
"Master, what did I do wrong?!"
In the main hall, the fire gradually lit up. Next to the old man, Lu Liangsheng's face was calm and nothing could be seen. He quietly arranged the bloodstained robe, which made Yang Guang outside rush into the room and scream hysterically again: "I have eliminated a threat to the court. What did I do wrong?! He is arrogant and domineering. He obstructed me everywhere. He wanted to be a powerful minister and wanted me to be an emperor who only knew how to play..."
Yang Guang became more and more excited as he spoke. He swung his hand and hit the door, which was made of lace paper and shattered to the ground with a bang. The scholar on the other side didn't even raise his eyes. He ran his fingertips over the old man's chest to clean the blood, then slowly stood up, looked at Yang Su's angry face, and slowly spoke.
"You did nothing wrong... Actually, Duke Yue did nothing wrong either, and it was not wrong for me to slap you!"
The fallen wood chips were still rolling around the emperor's feet. He was stunned when he heard these words. He was not stupid. After calming down, he could figure out some things. His broken and bleeding hands slowly dropped. He stared at Lu Liangsheng and the silent old man. Suddenly, he seemed to understand everything bit by bit. His face turned pale. He stumbled back a step and stopped when he reached the threshold. He sat down on the threshold, opened his mouth slightly, but couldn't utter a word.
The flickering candlelight in the hall seemed like two different worlds from the courtyard at night. Lu Liangsheng sat quietly beside the old man for a long time, then turned his head. The emperor sitting on the threshold stammered and slowly raised his face.
"Is it all true?"
Lu Liangsheng did not answer. He cast his eyes at the old man, patted the back of his cold hand, and spoke in a simple and slow voice: "Do you really think that you can kill him with a sword and a little courage? He just wants you to become a great ruler, with both literary talent and military strategy, and become an emperor like Emperor Wu of Han. But he knows that such an emperor is not born. For example, the First Emperor and Emperor Wu of Han, one had Lu Buwei and the other had Empress Dowager Dou, who honed a great ruler... You have a strong foundation and the potential to be a wise ruler, so he wants to be your whetstone, let you see blood, let you know what an emperor should do, what kind of majesty and what means he should have.
… Duke Yue has done it. Your father has laid down this kingdom for you. The rest depends on you. Your Majesty, both of them have high expectations on your shoulders. Don’t let them down.”
"I... was angry for a moment, I didn't expect..."
Yang Guang slowly stood up by holding the door, tears rolling down his face, his throat ached, and his words became choked. He walked to the table step by step, suddenly knelt down, and kowtowed heavily to the old man lying on the table.
"… I thank my uncle for his help."
The firelight flickered for a moment, and Lu Liangsheng turned his head and looked at the emperor who was kowtowing, "Your Majesty, Duke Yue is gone, and I hope his family will not be implicated again."
"I know."
When Yang Guang raised his face, he wiped away his tears, pursed his lips and nodded: "I will definitely treat my uncle's family well, and let Yang Xuangan inherit the title of Duke, and it will never change!"
"Your Majesty, this is not necessary." Lu Liangsheng looked at the old man for a while, then stood up and helped the emperor up. With a gentle look on his face, he told Yang Guang everything that Yang Su had said to him.
"… Duke Yue no longer wants his family to serve as officials in the court. After this incident, let them leave Chang'an and return to their hometown. He has devoted everything to the Sui Kingdom, including his life, so his descendants should not shed blood again."
Yang Guang nodded silently.
The two men stood in front of the mourning hall for a long time, and called the housekeeper and servants to ask them to take care of Yang Su's funeral. They also sent someone outside the city to notify Yang Xuangan. It was already late at night when they finished everything. Yang Guang stared blankly at the old man's mourning hall, and looked haggard. After being persuaded by Lu Liangsheng, he left. He walked out of the mansion, restrained his sadness, put on the expression that an emperor should have, climbed onto the horse's back, and bowed to the scholar standing outside the mansion gate.
"National Master, goodbye!"
Then, with a loud shout of "Gee", he squeezed the horse's belly with his feet and galloped across the long street to the imperial city.
The sound of horse hooves faded away. Lu Liangsheng watched the servants in the Duke's Mansion preparing things for the funeral. He sighed and walked to the long street. The mist was swirling in the street, and three figures could be vaguely seen from the mist.
The leader in the middle, dressed neatly in robes and with a white beard, bowed solemnly to the scholar who came over and said, "Daoyou Lu... Thank you very much."
It was the deceased Yang Su.
On both sides were the ghost messengers who came to escort the people. The two ghosts naturally knew Lu Liangsheng and did not dare to neglect him. They followed the old man closely, clasped their hands and saluted. Even if the City God was present, they still had to be polite.
"Night patrol, meet the Grand Master."
Lu Liangsheng returned a salute to the ghost messenger, and looked at the old man with a little emotion on his face, "Duke Yue is gone just like that? I have some popularity with the City God, so why not get a good job and continue my cultivation."
"Ha ha!"
Over there, Yang Su waved his hand, thanked Lu Liangsheng for his kindness, looked at the Duke's Mansion in the distance where lanterns were still lit, and sighed.
"Friend Lu, I have completed my life without any regrets. I will go to the underworld with an open mind. I will shoulder all my merits and faults. Maybe I can even meet my brother. Haha... It will be the last pleasure in my life!"
After saying this, he clasped his fists and said, "It's almost dawn, so I'm sorry to bother you two ghost messengers. Fellow Daoist Lu, I'm leaving now!"
In the rising mist, three silhouettes turned around and gradually disappeared into the night. Lu Liangsheng raised his sleeves towards the empty street, clasped his hands together and bowed.
"Send Duke Yue away!"
Oh oh oh… Oh oh oh…
Before the leaden dawn, cocks crowed loudly in the night. Lu Liangsheng returned to Wanshou Temple. In the dark attic, there was still a light on in a window.
When he returned to the room, Hong Lian was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him to come back. When she saw the scholar come in, she knew that he was troubled by something. She didn't say anything, but obediently helped hang his clothes on the rack, and then filled some water and handed him a towel.
"Why don't you ask me why I came back so late?"
Lu Liangsheng wiped his face, washed the towel and handed it to the woman. He looked at his master who was sleeping soundly, then sat down at the desk, staring at the burning candle in a trance.
Behind him, she approached silently with light footsteps, floated over to sit on the table, held him in her arms, and gently stroked his hair.
"If you don't want to talk, I won't ask."
"An old man passed away. He had done what he was supposed to do and passed away peacefully without any worries."
The warm yellow light cast the figures of the man and woman on the window lattice. Leaning in the soft arms, Lu Liangsheng smiled and said softly.