There is a deep valley in the southwest of Yuzhou, with steep cliffs on three sides and only a gorge on the west side for entry. It is the site of the Kuangwei Battle between the two kingdoms of Jin and Xiao in the past. It is a good place for killing and robbing... no, ambushing and burying treasures.
No matter how many people come, once they get in, even if there are only dozens of people blocking the entrance, they can be killed.
In other words, as long as we can lure people into the valley, everything else will be easy.
Chu Lu's mission was completed quickly and easily. Now it all depends on how many of King Jingning's men Yan Jie can attract. Based on his understanding of this former subordinate, he will surely not let him down.
…
Chu Lu was in a teahouse in a nearby town at the moment. Drinking tea was secondary. He wanted to hear the extent of the rumor that "a group of bandits were roaming nearby" that had been spread in the past few days. He would then decide whether to add fuel to the fire or suppress the rumor, preferably keeping it at a level that would attract people's attention but not cause panic.
…
The teahouse he chose was in a good location and had good business. The storyteller in the teahouse had excellent ventriloquism. Even the peddlers on the street corner were willing to spend a penny or two to rest in the teahouse outside. There were often some young people in formal clothes inside. They must be scholars but their family background was not very good. Their clothes were washed white and old, and occasionally one or two of them would reveal the patched lining when they raised their sleeves, but their friends beside them would considerately pretend not to see it.
Although their clothes are shabby, there is a bright spirit in their eyes that is unique to young people. Looking at them makes people feel full of vitality and expectation, which is much more pleasing than gorgeous clothes, gold, silver and jade pendants.
It is also because of this that even if there is occasional noise caused by the young people's uncontrollable liveliness, people can still laugh it off. What's more, this group of young people are indeed well-mannered and have never done anything to disturb others.
After meeting them more often, Chu Lu thought about it for a while and easily remembered where this place was. Even his gaze towards these young people became much softer.
This feeling is probably like planting a seed one spring, not knowing whether it will sprout or not, and revisiting the place many years later, only to find that the seed has not only sprouted, but has also grown into a graceful sapling. It is an unexpected surprise and also a relief.
…
As spring turns to summer, the weather changes from cold to hot the next day, and you will catch a cold if you are not careful.
The storyteller on the stage was replaced that day. The owner, who obviously knew the signature of his teahouse, smiled and explained, "Mr. Sun caught a cold the other day and his voice is so hoarse that he can't speak a word. It's really bad for him to come."
Most of the people who come here for Mr. Sun's reputation are regular customers, and they won't make a fuss about this matter, or even be a little concerned for a while.
So, not long after, the shopkeeper was holding an egg in his hand, a chicken in his arms, a barracuda hooked by his left little finger, and some green onions and vegetables in his armpit. He nodded and bowed with difficulty to thank the shopkeeper, and promised, "I will definitely deliver the things to you--"
The young men in shirts were obviously not locals, so they had no place to raise the chickens or to take out the eggs. But they scraped together a small bag of copper coins, and one of the young men was ordered by his companions to run over and give the copper coins to the shopkeeper.
"No, no, this is not allowed!"
The shopkeeper was covered in stuff and didn't dare to raise his hands. He could only shake his head desperately and back away. "You are going to be great officials in the future. It's an honor to be able to rest in our teahouse. How can I accept your stuff? If I really accept it, Mr. Sun will blame me when he comes back..."
Anyone who could run a teahouse that welcomed and saw off guests naturally had to be eloquent, and the shopkeeper's few words left the young man speechless.
The young man was not used to such politeness, but he did not retract his outstretched hand. "Please take it. We usually eat and live in the academy, and we don't have much else to spend... Mr. Sun has given us a lot of guidance. He said, 'A little advice is a reward for the teacher.'* Since the teacher is seriously ill, we are ashamed that we cannot come to him in person. If we don't even have any intention, then aren't we just pigs and dogs?"
Even though the shopkeeper was an eloquent man, he had never argued with anyone in such a literary way, and was speechless for a moment. Unexpectedly, before he could say anything else, the young man simply reached out and stuffed the purse into his sleeve, then turned around and ran, bypassing the crowd and returning to his previous seat.
It was not convenient to chase after the shopkeeper with all his stuff on him, and there were also customers nearby who were watching the fun and blocking the road.
He was angry and amused at the same time, and glared at the young man who was leaning over from the other table, but he finally accepted it.
The young people at that table were also laughing and hugging the returning young man like a hero.
The young man also stiffened his neck and raised his chin, saying with pride: "This is called 'A gentleman is not an instrument'."
Someone beside him laughed, and someone else stood up and pressed his shoulder to sit down: "If the teacher knew that you misinterpreted it like this, I'm afraid he would give you more than ten beatings. You will definitely remember this lesson."
…
…………
The young man's lively spirit really made people feel gentle. Even Chu Lu couldn't help but smile knowingly when he saw him in the private room on the second floor.
After the audience quieted down a bit, the storyteller who was invited from the neighboring city after the shopkeeper walked ten miles to invite him finally knocked on the board and started talking, "Today, I will tell you a story - 'The General Scolds the Traitors'."
Chu Lu's hand holding the teacup paused, ripples appeared in the cup, and the host gently placed it on the table.
Chu Lu blinked twice slowly——
Could it be that this is what he was thinking?
Storytellers do not want to cause trouble, so they usually do not talk about things in the current dynasty. Even if they do, they will either talk about the previous dynasties or just talk about ancient times, and they will not mention the names of the protagonists.
But when Chu Lu heard the beginning, there was a corrupt official named "Lu" who was omnipotent and stirring up trouble in the court, and he knew it was probably right. The scholars in Dayan mostly called each other by their courtesy names, and those who called each other by their first names meant contempt, if they were not elders.
In order to increase the sense of integration of employees, the Space-Time Bureau asked employees to choose a code name, and most of the non-special tasks were named after this. Although Chu Lu felt that whether this method could increase the sense of integration was really debatable, he still abided by the regulations and chose his own name - "Lu".
Therefore, Prime Minister Huo’s name also consists of a single character, “Lu”.
However, when he was in this mission world before, after he was given a courtesy name, few people called him by his name.
However, now that "Huo Lu" died, more people are calling out.
If we just use the word "Lu", it would be too specific. "Lu" is homophonic to "Lu". Those who curse Huo Ning, whether they are storytellers or book writers, all call him "Lord Lu". Chu Lu thought that maybe in a few years, this "Lord Lu" would become a synonym for "treacherous and treacherous".
He didn't expect that what he did in this world did not ruin the reputation of the "Huo" family, but instead brought unprovoked disaster to the "Lu family".
Chu Lu silently apologized in his heart, thinking that if he met someone with the surname "Lu" in the future, he must be nicer to the other person.
It’s not like Chu Lu had any special feelings about these books and stories that insulted him in a roundabout way.
Before he left this world, he knew what his reputation was. After returning this time, what he saw and heard along the way confirmed it.
After all, he did it on purpose, so it's hard to say that he was "angry". If I had to say it, he was just a little curious at most.
He had already heard about the version of the story about the immortal being "with eight eyes on the head and six arms on the body", and the final ending of "being cut off by a real dragon, the eyes rising to stars, and the body declining to a pillar". Even the most trivial content would not shock him.
At this moment, there were both sunflower seeds to satisfy his hunger and tea to quench his thirst. Chu Lu rubbed the teacup he had put down twice and was in no hurry to leave. He listened with great interest to the story of the gentleman who was hired for a large sum of money.
Although Chu Lu felt that ordinary content could not shock him, this gentleman who was hired with a large sum of money was indeed unusual. After listening to what the gentleman said, Chu Lu couldn't help but slightly raised his eyebrows.
It’s not that the content of this story is too outrageous. On the contrary, three or four points of what he said are actually true.
This is not just a "mere three or four" matter. You have to know that in this era of inconvenient transportation and very limited means of information transmission, the affairs of the court are like a fight between gods in the sky to the common people. They may be affected, but if they want to know why the gods are fighting... that is basically impossible.
It would be good if at least one of the stories Chu Lu heard along the way was true.
For example, the story of "eight eyes and six arms, who was beheaded by a real dragon" is only true in the part about beheading. The other various rumors, although they sound closer to reality, are not much different from the unreliable myth in terms of their authenticity.
So these three or four points are really...
Chu Lu thought that perhaps one of his former colleagues had started a side business in private.
You know what, as expected of a colleague who has passed the scientific examination, this colleague is really capable. If I didn't put myself in his shoes, it would be quite satisfying to listen to him.
The reason why Chu Lu guessed which colleague it was was because there were so many allusions in the story. The peddlers and hawkers who were resting in the teahouse were not very sensitive to it, but the young men in formal attire obviously heard something. From their suddenly solemn expressions, it was clear that they did have some thoughts about what the storyteller said, and they also guessed who the "general" and "Mr. Lu" in the story were referring to.
The gentleman at the head was talking about how the general angrily denounced Lord Lu's crimes and how the emperor sentenced him to beating in court. He also imitated a few words of the treacherous man's cries and pleas in a very lifelike manner, which made everyone in the teahouse laugh and some even applauded.
Chu Lu: "..."
He raised his hand and touched his nose, feeling that the scene was quite subtle.
He lowered his eyes slightly, but saw that the young men in shirts that he had noticed before didn't react at all and were still sitting there quietly.
He couldn't help but sigh that the young people were really patient. Since they knew the inside story, they should be even happier to hear that the treacherous people were punished. But they still sat upright in the same posture as before, calm and composed. I believe that they will have some good fortune in the future.
Chu Lu had just finished praising them in his mind when he saw one of them suddenly stand up. It was the one who had just stuffed the purse into the shopkeeper's pocket.
"Bang——"
The chair that was knocked over by the young man made a loud noise.
The originally lively atmosphere in the teahouse suddenly stagnated, and the cheers stopped.
Doubt, confusion, frowning and vigilance, all eyes fell on the young man who stood up.
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