Great Sui Guoshi

Hearing Lu Liangsheng's questioning voice, Yang Su came back to his senses, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I just remembered something, and I lost my mind just now, making Fellow Daoist Lu laugh."

"It's okay."

Here, Lu Liangsheng didn't care, he made a gesture of please, and the two walked back to the village at the foot of the mountain. Yang Guang, who had been waiting for a long time, rushed to meet him, wanting to continue persuading, but was stopped by Yang Su, and then he said goodbye. The purpose of their going south is to conquer the entire Chen Dynasty.

"Those who care about the world should not be confined to one corner."

After leaving Lujia Village, Yang Su instructed the inexperienced Highness, who pursed his lips and looked back at the outline of the mountain village that was gradually going away.

"This king understands all these things, but why, Lord Qinghe won't let this king speak again and again?"

Amidst the sound of trampling horseshoes, Yang Su wiped the tip of his beard and looked at an old donkey gnawing grass on the side of the road.

"The purpose is to prevent His Highness from finishing his speech. If Lu Liangsheng refuses again and again, he will never have the chance to invite him out of the mountain again. Why don't we save the words until the next time? If you can't do it, His Highness also impresses the other party with sincerity, even if you don't leave the mountain, you have formed a good relationship, and you are afraid that he will not help you in the future?"

Yang Guang blinked his eyes. He was smart at first, and immediately understood the meaning from the words. He bowed his hands to Lord Qinghe, who was half a horse's head behind, and then glanced in the direction of Lujia Village. He raised his whip and slapped it in the air. .

"Then finish the Chen Dynasty first, come back when I have time, please!!"

With a flick of the reins, Yang Guang galloped his horse to the front. Behind him, a group of guards followed closely, galloping wildly, creating a long smoke, and headed towards Fushui County.

......

As the daylight faded, after having dinner at home and taking the exams for three apprentices, Lu Liangsheng took a bowl of food and went up to Qixia Mountain. Taoist Toad, who had been waiting for the food, let go of his flippers, hurriedly climbed onto the desk, and put on his apron , pick up the chopsticks and sit on a book and watch the food put in front of you.

Da da da, the chopsticks quickly planed the bottom of the bowl.

Taoist Toad chewed with puffed cheeks, pointing his chopsticks into the bowl.

"Next time, I will change to a bigger bowl for my teacher, and... put more salt, the taste will be a bit worse."

Watching the master planing the food for a while, Lu Liangsheng turned to look at the picture scroll on the wall. There was a faint green smoke from the green ink painting of beauties, and the beauties on it spoke words.

"Young master..."

"what?"

In the painting, Nie Honglian's voice is weak.

"Hong Lian...I want to go home and have a look."

Chapter 232 Home

After the spring sowing, the news that Lu Liangsheng was going to build a new temple broke the tranquility of the village. Taigong Lu was sometimes sober but confused, standing on the mill of the drying dam with a cane, mobilizing all the people in the village.

Over the years, the village has become much richer, but most of the people still maintain their original industriousness. Some even went to the city or went to learn some crafts from the craftsmen around them.

Villagers who know how to make bricks and tiles gathered together, and after discussing with Lu Laoshi, they chose the new temple on the site of the original dilapidated mountain temple. Once the original foundation was in place, it would be much faster to re-lay bricks and plaster without too much effort. It is time-consuming and saves money, and secondly, it is because of Lu Liangsheng's request to build a temple as soon as possible.

The original mountain temple just echoed.

The spring day was getting warmer, and when Lu Liangsheng passed by, the ground had already begun to be broken there. The original desolate old temple was demolished, only the foundation piles remained, and the weeds around were trampled down.

"Cut down a few trees over there too!" "There are two more over there, to block the rising sun!"

"It's muddy over there, hurry up!"

Amidst the clamor and noise, the women and children in the village not far from the old site were chatting and laughing as they mixed mud and water to pick up the sling. The old man with a strong body could easily carry the tens of kilograms of mud, but fortunately the distance was not too far , Ten feet will arrive.

Those who know how to work as a craftsman built mud bricks bit by bit, pointing around with a brick knife from time to time, Lu Laoshi and a group of villagers cut off the tops of several felled trees and rolled them to the temple. , planing out the shape of the wooden beams, repainting and painting, the whole scene is in full swing.

After giving everyone a small magic spell to relieve fatigue, after watching it for a while, Lu Liangsheng returned to the village and walked back to the fenced courtyard. The bookshelf had already been prepared, and there was only Hong Lian's scroll on it except the Moon Misty Sword.

Hong Lian's hometown is not far away, it's just a village twenty or thirty miles north of Hegu County. If you drive hard, you can reach Hegu County in half an hour, so you don't talk about it with your parents, master, or apprentices.

He took out the old donkey and put the bookshelf in place. There was a muffled sound from inside. Lu Liangsheng frowned. He creaked and opened the small door of the compartment, only to see the toad man's face against the wooden wall, and then quickly sat back , Pick up the tobacco stick and put it in your mouth.

Exhaling a puff of smoke, Toad glanced at his apprentice.

"The old man is just tired of staying, and wants to go out to get some air, not to accompany you, don't think too much."

Next door, Hong Lian's weak voice came from the picture scroll: "Thank you, Master Toad."

"Hmph, what are you doing, Mr. Xie?"

Taoist Toad lay down on his side, propped his face up, and waved his frog webs: "Close the door for Master."

Outside, Lu Liangsheng smiled, closed the small door, led the old donkey and walked out of the yard. The jingling bells rang in the mountain road, and he went to the other side in the blink of an eye.

Passing through Fushui County, I went to the original Chen Mansion. The gate was bleak. There was a pair of majestic stone lions, one of which had lost an ear. Lu Liangsheng used wall-penetrating and blinding techniques to enter. After Chen Yaoke's death, Chen Yuanwai also died of fright and grief. Because of the haunting, no one moved into this house again.

Lu Liangsheng came to the side yard, and under the guidance of Hong Lian, he took out the corpse from the soil. A white bone was wrapped in a tattered costume. Several bones were smashed, and there were also broken bones on the forehead open mouth.

Hong Lian turned her face away, sounded like sniffling, and said:

"They were afraid that I wasn't completely dead, so when they buried me, they smashed it a few more times..."

Lu Liangsheng fell silent, spread out a white cloth to wrap Hong Lian's bones, cast a shrinking spell, and put them on the bookshelf.

"Let's go..."

Not long after, I left the county and went along the official road to Hegu County in the north. The original Li family troupe was still there. Unfortunately, after that incident, the business was not as good as before, and the people in the troupe left one after another. Ben things.

In the market where people come and go, among the pedestrians, Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey and stood in the distance looking at the troupe leader Li Yunxiu who was sitting in a daze at the entrance of the troupe.

"He also counts, does Hong Lian want revenge?"

"No, it's good to let him look like this, what's the point of revenge..."

Hearing Hong Lian's voice, Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey and squeezed through the crowd to leave. Li Yunxiu, who was far away at the gate of the troupe, seemed to feel something, and looked blankly at the market. The crowd passed by, only the tinkling of copper bells disappeared. Pedestrians coming and going.

Walking through Hegu County, the distance of [-] to [-] miles is not long, even if you deliberately slow down your pace, you will arrive at the village where Hong Lian lived when he was a child at noon.

After so many years, the small mountain village has become even more dilapidated. Most of the young and strong went to the nearby towns to seek a living. The elderly, women and children left behind were a little surprised to see Lu Liangsheng, who was dressed in blue and white robes, leading the old donkey into the village. from afar.

"This young man is so handsome, what are you doing in our village?" "I don't know...maybe I have a crush on some girl."

"What are you talking about, those clothes are very expensive at first glance. Will a rich man fall in love with a wild girl in the village?"

"What if someone likes big hands and feet, and has a strong waist?"

"Hey, look, what is he doing with an umbrella? Hey, he also put a toad on his shoulders. I'm afraid this book is not normal."

......

Watching from a distance, in the sight of the crowd of villagers whispering, Lu Liangsheng took out the oil-paper umbrella from the bookshelf and opened it, let the old donkey go for a walk by himself, took Master, and walked in the direction pointed by Hong Lian.

The old house that once collapsed is now gone, and a new owner built a small courtyard here, and the family of three ate lively in the courtyard.

"It's really like sitting in the yard with my parents when I was a child, son, let's go, from here is the grave of my parents and brother."

"Ah."

Holding an umbrella, Lu Liangsheng turned away from the low mud wall, walked through fields not far away, and came to a forest on a small slope, with grave flags planted on the tombs.

Most of the villagers' funerals are buried here, and the sooner they die, the more they stay inside. Passing through several earth-covered tombs, Hong Lian floated out of the paper umbrella, and knelt down in front of three graves, two large and one small. .

"Father, mother...Yun'er came back to see you."

The sun was hard to shine through the dense branches and leaves, Hong Lian knelt in front of the tomb, gently kowtowed his forehead, the ghost had no body, and there were no tears, but he could still hear the choked up crying.

What I wanted to say, Hong Lian finished talking in front of her parents' graves when she came back for the first time before her death, and now she just knelt down and cried, while Lu Liangsheng held an umbrella for her and watched quietly.

The toad on the scholar's shoulder stretched out its web quietly and wiped it on his face, and when he saw the apprentice looking over, he hurriedly turned away.

"What are you looking at, I have sand in my eyes for the teacher."

"Let's go out and wait, let Hong Lian spend more time with her parents here."

Lu Liangsheng sighed, hung the paper umbrella over the crying figure with his magic power, went outside and sat down on the ridge of the field. He also has parents, so seeing such a scene inevitably made him feel uncomfortable.

However, after only sitting for a while, Hong Lian held up a paper umbrella and looked at the surprised Lu Liangsheng, and smiled.

"It's good to have seen it, there is nothing to miss here, son, take me home."

The home she mentioned was Lujia Village.

"Okay, I'll take you home."

Lu Liangsheng nodded softly.

Birds streaked across the bright sunshine, grass blades caressed, tinkling bells were ringing, villagers standing chattering in the village saw from a distance on the back of the donkey, a man and a woman cuddling each other with paper umbrellas, in the old The donkey's leisurely hooves slowly moved towards Qixia Mountain.

Chapter 233 Sitting and Lying on Qixia Mountain

The green forest covers the foothills, and the birds fly across the acres of fields, and land on a certain house in Beicun, chirping and combing their feathers, blinking their eyes, looking at a woman in a plain dress, who is carrying a meal. , Gently pushed open the door.

squeak~~

In the unique crooning sound of the old old wood, in the house, the lights were dim, Chen Jing sat behind the small table in a daze, and the woman next to him put the food on the table, and then slowly turned his face.

"Mother, you said that Mr. Lu hasn't seen us for so long, will he never see us again?"

"Probably not, Jing'er, don't think about it, eat your meal soon."

The old house in the countryside, the room was dark, Zhang Lihua took the oil lamp and moved it, and passed the chopsticks over: "Mother knows that you are not feeling well, after all, from being an emperor to..."

"Mother, it's fine."

Chen Jing shared half of the food in the bowl and ate it with his mother, "Actually, I am more worried that my mother is not used to it."

"Mother, what is not used to." Zhang Lihua picked the fish in the bowl to his son's bowl, put a chopsticks of vegetables into his mouth, and chewed slowly with his red lips, remembering the embarrassment before, and said with a smile: "It's better than just leaving the capital." , it’s much better for us girls to run around in the mountains.”

He paused while speaking, then spoke again.

"By the way, Li Zheng said that Mr. Lu has been very busy recently. Not long ago, a high-ranking official from the Sui Dynasty came. Fortunately, we didn't go there at that time, otherwise it would have been difficult for Mr. Lu. Now he is busy building a temple. Jing'er can rest assured. You just have to wait, the food lady will make a fuss, so I can't let you go to work..."

The mother and son lived in Beicun for a few days, and they were not used to it at first, especially when going to the toilet. Most of the huts in mountain villages have a hole dug, surrounded by rotten mats, and a horizontal board is put on the hole. The mother and son, who were well-clothed and well-fed, felt uncomfortable for a long time.

In terms of food, although I brought some gold and silver from the palace, in such a small place, gold and silver are not only unusable, but also easily aroused suspicion by others. Zhang Lihua gritted her teeth, rolled up her sleeves and followed a group of women and children in the village to do some work. Begging for some millet and food, and Sun Yingxian waved some delicious rice from time to time, the mother and son gradually got used to this place.

However, lighting oil lamps during the day is a bit extravagant.

The chopsticks touched the side of the bowl, and the mother and son were eating quietly. When they were talking a few words, there were footsteps coming from outside.

bang bang——

Before the door was closed, Li Zheng stood at the door and knocked on the door, pointing to the outside: "There is an old man outside the village looking for you, you two might as well come out and see if you know him."

Chen Jing and his mother looked at each other, put down the bowls and chopsticks, and hurriedly walked out of the house, passing through the dirt road separating the houses in the village, and saw an old man in a dusty robe walking back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking into the village from time to time glance.

"It's Uncle Huang..."

For the mother and son who came over, Chen Jing recognized the old man outside the village at a glance, Zhang Lihua nodded, hurriedly combed some messy hair, and hurried over.

The old man over there also saw the mother and son coming over, and thanked Li Zheng who was on the side. After waiting for the person to leave, he shook off his cuffs and bowed to Chen Jing's mother and son.

"Veteran Chen Fu, I pay my respects to Your Majesty and Imperial Concubine."

"Uncle Huang, there is no need to be like this. The Chen Dynasty is gone, so don't call him Your Majesty, let's go to the house where we are staying first, and then we can talk."

After all, there were many villagers going in and out around, and seeing such a scene was probably inconvenient, so Chen Jing immediately led the old man to the dilapidated house where he was temporarily staying.

The furnishings inside were simple, and many places were covered with dust. When the old man saw the two chipped bowls on the table, he looked away in distress.

"Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager, do you only eat this kind of food?"

Zhang Lihua went over to put away the bowls and chopsticks, put them aside, raised her cuffs and wiped the sweat on her face.

"Temporarily living in a mountain village, it would be nice to have a place to live. I dare not imagine anything else."

"Oh, your majesty and the imperial concubine have fallen into such a situation, and the old minister feels uncomfortable." Chen Fu closed his eyes and stood for a while, then opened them again, and looked at Chen Jing.

"Although the capital is now in the hands of the Sui people, the Chen Dynasty is a big land, and there are still many officials and people in the Chen Dynasty who have hearts for us. Your Majesty lives in embarrassment here, and there is no way out. It is better to go to other places with the veterans and regroup the troops to restore the capital."

In the final analysis, Chen Chao belonged to Chen Jing, he took it from his father, but threw it away from himself. After all, there is some dissatisfaction in the young man's heart.

But when he thought about his escape and his purpose, he hesitated.

"Jing'er."

Zhang Lihua squeezed the hem of her clothes tightly, she knew her son's inner struggle, but if she stayed in this place, the chance of recovering Chen Chao would no longer exist.

In the dim light, Chen Jing sat on the bench, clenched his fists and pressed his knees trembling slightly, until his mother's voice called him, then raised his face and slowly got up.

"let's go."

He said it twice in a low voice. Seeing his mother wearing an old dress with a sallow face, Chen Jing took a deep breath, looked at the old man, and arched his hands: "I listen to Uncle Huang."

Soon, he packed his bags and left the house, stepped on the dirt road outside the village, and a figure riding a donkey passed the mountain road in the distance, and disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye.