The night clouds float by, the cold crescent moon, the brightly lit palace, the glazed tiles are covered with silver frost, the lotus leaves in the pond, the frogs kick their legs and jump into the water with a "plop", creating a circle of ripples.
"I have seen your majesty."
Lu Liangsheng smiled at the figure that came in, stood up and stretched out his hand, "Your Majesty, please come this way."
The emperor walked past the stone table and paused, staring blankly at the young and handsome scholar. After hearing his words, he quickly reacted. Now that he has been in power for more than 20 years, he has his own boldness and courage. He hugged his single coat and walked to sit opposite. The surprise he had when he first saw him gradually subsided. He waved his hand to let the old eunuch who followed him outside the pavilion stay away.
"National Master!"
Without the others around, Yang Guang's face showed a different expression. He quickly stood up and raised his hands to the scholar opposite him. "I am indescribably happy that the Imperial Master is back."
Outside the pavilion, a patrolling palace guard heard the sound and came over here. The old eunuch hurried over to greet them, fearing that he would disturb the reunion between His Majesty and the Imperial Master. "Everyone, everyone, everyone, we are here. His Majesty is talking to the Imperial Master over there."
The team of guards that came over were no longer the old people in the palace, but they knew something about the imperial master in the legend. They subconsciously looked towards the pavilion over there, their hearts filled with horror.
… Is the Imperial Master back? We need to tell the other patrolling brothers not to go this way.
The thought flashed through his mind, and he quickly waved to his companions behind him with his weapon in hand, "Let's go to the next place." When more than a dozen guards left, Lu Liangsheng also stood up in the pavilion over there, laughed, bowed in front of the emperor to return the greeting, and then sat down together, took the teapot and filled a cup, and handed it to the other person.
The aroma of tea and hot steam wafted into Yang Guang's mouth and nose, creating a refreshing fragrance. However, Yang Guang had no intention of tasting it. He had been away as the imperial teacher for twenty years that day, and now that he was back, he was so excited that he wanted to pull the late emperor out of the coffin.
"His Majesty."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the faint smile on the emperor's lips and sighed in his heart. He came here late at night today just to tell Yang Guang that he could no longer be the imperial teacher. Seeing Yang Guang's expression, he was afraid that if he told him, he would disappoint him.
On the opposite side, Yang Guang was listening to what was going on. For a long while, the Imperial Master just looked at him in silence. As an emperor, how could he not guess what was going on? His heart skipped a beat and he hesitated for a moment before opening his tightly pursed lips.
"When did the Imperial Master come back? Did he pass through three sections of the canal on the way? Since I took this throne, I have been thinking about the instructions of the late emperor and the Imperial Master every day. I am walking on thin ice, afraid that I will mess things up and fail to live up to expectations. Now, twenty years have passed, Imperial Master... How are the people of the nine provinces doing? Do you have any complaints?"
Lu Liangsheng looked at him, knowing that he was avoiding what he wanted to say, so he decided to talk more with His Majesty.
"Your Majesty is wise and wise, which is a blessing for the people. If the late Emperor Wen knew about this, he would be happy. However, Your Majesty should remember that if the emperor is unkind, it will be the beginning of the change of a country. You should keep it in mind. Along the way, I have seen that the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the business is thriving. This shows that Your Majesty has worked diligently for the past twenty years."
As he said this, he stood up and bowed to Yang Guang: "I thank your majesty for your kindness to the people."
"National Master, there is no need to do this!"
Yang Guang stood up and held out his hands to support Lu Liangsheng, with some reluctance in his eyes. He could hear the meaning behind these words, but it was not what he wanted. He took a deep breath, walked out of the stone bench, and was about to bow, but his waist suddenly became stiff and out of control, unable to bend.
"Master, you are..."
"Your Majesty, please listen to me."
The moonlight was reflected in the lotus pond, and frogs were croaking. In the pavilion, Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to interrupt the emperor's words, walked to the red lacquered fence, looked at the distorted half moon on the surface of the pond, was silent for a while, and then talked about the way of heaven.
“These twenty years have passed in a flash for me. It feels like the last time we said goodbye was just a few days, but to Your Majesty and many others, it feels like a long time… When I came to see Your Majesty, I passed by the city, in the Min Mansion, and a woman I once knew died of a serious illness with gray hair. Such a separation between life and death is somewhat painful… Besides, the way of heaven is already forcing me to leave, and staying a little longer is already the limit… However, I have forcibly borrowed the national destiny from the Kongtong Seal to continue my Great Sui Dynasty for a hundred years. What happens next will be decided by Your Majesty and your future descendants.”
The scholar turned around with a smile on his face.
"I, your Majesty, trust you, just as your Majesty trusts me."
Yang Guang clenched his fists, pursed his lips, looked down at the hot steam curling around the cup on the stone table, his body trembling slightly. To outsiders, he was a majestic emperor, dominating the lives of millions of people in the world, but in front of this scholar, he was just like the young Prince of Jin who first went to Mount Qixia to pay homage to his teacher.
His clenched fists were pressed against his legs for a while before they were loosened. Yang Guang looked up at the carved beams of the pavilion and suddenly laughed.
"What the Imperial Master said is... Speaking of which, I... suddenly thought of another happy event. One of my concubines is pregnant. I just found out today that it is my first child. Perhaps this is what the Imperial Master said about the continuation of the country's prosperity... I am very happy... I am very happy in my heart."
Lu Liangsheng was still smiling. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder, then walked over and went out of the pavilion. Behind him, Yang Guang closed his eyes, turned around and looked at his back as he walked out.
"Once the Imperial Master leaves, I will be completely alone, without anyone to talk to."
In the light of the swaying lanterns in the pavilion, the departing figure trembled, his heart filled with complexity. He turned his head slightly and looked at the figure that was bending down and burying his head.
He turned his head back and sighed, "Your Majesty, you are the emperor."
He closed his eyes, took a difficult step, and the moment he landed on the ground, he walked quickly into the night. Yang Guang chased out of the pavilion, without shouting, but just looked at the empty space around him and laughed out loud.
Hahaha…haha!
"Master, you are right. I am the emperor... the emperor of a lonely family..."
He turned around slowly, and with some weariness, called for the eunuchs to follow him. One in front and one behind, they slowly walked away in the countless dim lights of the palace.
…
The night gradually deepened. Outside the city under the moonlight, Lu Liangsheng walked in the silver light, hearing the tinkling of copper bells in his ears, and turned around to look at the familiar huge city.
The toad lying on the donkey's head sat up, then turned around and took a look.
"Liangsheng, are you really willing to do this?"
"I can't bear to leave."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the city wall with torches burning, then retracted his gaze and pulled the old donkey westward along the official road under his feet. The sounds of insects and frogs mixed together in the fields, with the unique tranquility of a moonlit night.
"But I have to leave eventually. The human world is the human world. After all this journey, I suddenly realized that I have stepped out of the scope of the human world. If I stay any longer, I am afraid I will anger the heavens."
The scholar looked at the ground covered with silver frost and smiled.
"In fact, I suddenly realized why the Heavenly Dao wanted me to go. The gods returned to heaven, and the demon stars were suppressed by me. But I can't let them be suppressed one day. Maybe taking them away will be the last thing I do in this world."
The voice echoed slowly on the empty official road. Soon, the sky gradually brightened. The road became unfamiliar, and the sky and the earth became barren. It was probably that we had arrived somewhere in the northwest.
Lu Liangsheng raised his head and saw a fat and strong man with black hair all over his body sitting under the shade of a tree on the official road ahead, carrying a rake. When he saw the scholar and the old donkey, a smile appeared on his fat face amid the chirping of cicadas.
"I, Old Pig, knew you would pass by here, so I waited... and saw you off."