"Brother Jing, is this the residence of Li Zongguan?"
The flower gardens and waterside pavilions are elegant, and the tall and low buildings are decorated with openwork carvings. Zhang Chuchen, who grew up in the Duke's Mansion, feels that they are not luxurious, but relatively simple and rustic. The bearded man beside him nodded in agreement, but Li Jing, who was asked by the woman, did not say a word. He looked around calmly and lost interest. He followed the steward who led the way into the living room.
Not long after, the maid put down the teacup and left. A man in a black robe with cloud patterns walked out. His hair was neatly bunned. He looked over here with a smile, raised his hand, and greeted the three people who stood up to return the greeting.
"Haha, the pharmacist is here. No need to be polite. Come and sit down."
"Li Jing greets the Grand Steward." Li Jing clasped his fists and replied, then sat down again with his companions. "My two companions and I passed through Taiyuan and came to visit. I wonder if we have disturbed the Grand Steward."
"Haha, what are you talking about, pharmacist?"
Li Yuan took the teacup handed to him by the servant and laughed. Although he and Han Qinhu were ministers in the same palace, the latter was a meritorious minister of the previous emperor. Logically speaking, he, Li Yuan, was also a junior and should be of the same generation as Han Qinhu's nephew. However, in terms of age, he was much older than Li Jing.
"By the way, how was Han Zhuguo's health when you came?"
This question stumped Li Jing. It had been several years since he left Chang'an, and his memory of the situation there was still lingering on the time when he fled overnight with Hongfu.
Over there, Zhang Chuchen looked over worriedly, but saw Li Jing pondering for a moment, then smiled: "Uncle is in good health and can still shoot arrows."
"As long as Han Zhuguo is in good health, I will be relieved. The old ministers of the late emperor are passing away one by one."
Li Yuan nodded and sighed, while Zhang Chuchen and Qiuxuke, who followed Li Jing, frowned. They tilted their heads and looked at each other. While they were talking, the big man leaned slightly towards Hong Funu and spoke softly in a voice that only the other party could hear.
"What's wrong with Li Jing recently? He has also learned this trick. It's so annoying."
"Maybe Brother Jing can deal with this chief steward." Zhang Chuchen knew Li Jing best. She had noticed all the changes in him over the past half month. In particular, he had originally planned to return to Chang'an, but suddenly changed his mind. His behavior was completely different from his previous style. He came all the way north to Taiyuan. He was so close to her in the past, but now he kept his distance from her on the way. Now, looking at the man talking to Li Yuan, she felt even more suspicious.
"Haha, it's quite pleasant to talk to the pharmacist. Well, it's almost noon anyway. If you don't mind, you can have dinner in the mansion today."
"The delicious food in the mansion, the pharmacist will naturally try it."
The two men had almost finished talking. After checking the time, Li Yuan called the steward who was waiting outside and told him to prepare a banquet. Then he sent someone to call his son. At this time, a servant came running outside and whispered something in the steward's ear. The steward hurried into the living room, walked around to the main seat, and whispered in Li Yuan's ear:
"Master, General Qu has sent someone to deliver a letter, saying that he wants to come over for a visit."
"Haha, you came at the right time. We can have dinner together. Go wait at the door. When Qu Lang comes, bring him here directly."
"yes."
After the old steward left, Li Jing was a little curious, but he didn't dare to ask, so he followed Li Yuan with Hong Fu and Qiu Xuke and went to the side hall.
At the same time, on the long street outside the mansion, a carriage came from the downtown area of the city, swaying slightly along the road, and arrived at the mansion gate. The coachman slowly stopped with a "whoosh". The steward guarding the gate waved his hand hurriedly, and a servant moved a footstool to put down the carriage. Qu Yuanfeng lifted the curtain and came down, bowing respectfully towards the curtain.
"Master, we're here."
The curtain was gently stroked, and Lu Liangsheng, who was sitting inside, opened his eyes slightly. When he heard the urging voice of Toad Taoist from his sleeve, he shook his head and looked at the Li Mansion outside the curtain.
"Sure enough, it's here... Master, it looks like we can't have this banquet."
As he spoke, his figure slowly turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.
Qu Yuanfeng, who was waiting outside, couldn't help but repeat it without getting a response.
"Master?"
He lifted a corner of the curtain, and there was no sign of Lu Liangsheng inside. There was only a piece of paper left in the curling smoke. He carefully took it in his hand and looked at it, then crumpled the note into a ball and stuffed it into the gap in the carriage.
He turned around, straightened his collar with a solemn expression, and strode towards the mansion as if nothing had happened. He was soon invited in by the steward.
"General Qu, this way please."
On the gravel path leading to the front yard, the old steward of the Li Mansion walked diligently in front, constantly extending his hand to point the way. This general had seen him many times before and was quite familiar with him. "General, you came at the right time today. An old friend from Chang'an just happened to come to my place..."
As Qu Yuanfeng chattered, he smiled and nodded. He glanced around and saw a blurry figure quietly drifting away to the side yard through the skylight.
In the scorching sun and gentle breeze, the cicada shed its heavy shell and stretched its wings, making its first hoarse cry. Then, a stone flew over, and the cry stopped abruptly, breaking the bark, and the whole body was shaking slightly.
Under the eaves of a corridor not far away, a child with a pointed mouth, shrunk cheeks and a tuft of yellow hair on his head was sitting on the fence, looking very bored. He was holding a stone in his hand and throwing it around in a depressed mood, scaring the guards and servants around so much that they didn't dare to come near.
"I failed to become your disciple... When there are guests, they all call you big brother or second brother, and never call me, and they don't let me go out to play... They want to suffocate me to death, I already know the importance of this, but who can blame me for being born with supernatural powers..."
Know, know, know~~~
Cicadas chirped hoarsely from several old trees in the side yard. Li Xuanba became annoyed and shouted, "Shut up!" He raised his hand and threw another stone. There was a "crack" sound from a tree over there, and it broke abruptly. The tree cage fell down with a crash and hit the roof of a nearby house, causing the surrounding guards and servants to rush over to check.
"Everyone has something to do, but I don't..."
Li Xuanba said something sullenly, threw the last stone, jumped off the fence and prepared to go back to the room, when suddenly he heard a sound from the ground. He turned back and lowered his eyes, and the stone he had just thrown was rolling near his heels.
Um
He picked it up again, flipped over it in his hand, and tentatively threw it towards the bushes in the distance. The next second, a black shadow flew over, hit his leg, and fell to the ground.
It's still that stone.
"who?!"
Thinking someone was teasing him, Li Xuanba shouted over there, picked up the stone and was about to go over when he suddenly felt something strange with his fingertips. He looked down and saw a few tiny words carved on the stone.
—Come to see me at the land temple.
“… Wow, who is so talented to write such small words on the stone? It would be great to use them for reading. It’s such a waste to write on the stone.”
He turned around and threw the stone out. However, before he took a few steps, he turned around again, picked up the stone on the ground, and rushed directly to the courtyard wall. When the guards around reacted, they saw Li Xuanba had already climbed over the wall and jumped out.
"Young Master!"
"Tell the master!"
A group of guards screamed and rushed to the front yard. Seeing the steward guarding the door, they told him what had just happened. The steward's eyes widened, and he was afraid that delay would lead to trouble, so he pushed the door open and walked in quickly.
Li Yuan, who was drinking and talking with Li Jing, Qu Yuanfeng and others, frowned.
"What is it?"
The old steward looked around at the people looking at him, approached his master, and whispered in his ear: "The young master has climbed over the wall again."
"This evil beast!!"
Li Yuan's eyes glared with anger, and he slapped the table with a loud bang, causing the wine to spill. Noticing the looks from Li Jing, Qu Yuanfeng, and his two sons, he waved his hands.
"I'm not talking about you."
…
The sun shone through the dilapidated streets. The running children stopped at the collapsed land temple and shouted over there breathlessly.
"Old man, here I come!"
As the words came back, a flock of sparrows in the weeds were startled and flew away in panic. Some of them stayed on the eaves that had not yet collapsed, chirping and jumping as they looked at the ugly child below.
"Old man!"
Li Xuanba shouted again. When he approached the ruined temple, a gust of wind blew and the surrounding grass leaves swayed slightly. He seemed to see a figure out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his eyes and saw the old man he had seen before, standing in the grass not far away with his hands behind his back and his back to him.
"Xuan Ba, come here."
The wind ruffled his snow-white beard, and his voice was old and kind.