"Haha, Brother Li, what are you talking about? How could we possibly laugh at your joke? At most, we'll tell everyone about Brother Li's glorious deeds today. After all, repairing the palace walls isn't a job anyone can do! This kind of job is most suitable for someone as capable as you!"
Before Long Junhai could speak, Du Fu walked over with a smile.
"Go away! Do you know how annoying you are?" Li Bai glared at Du Fu. The two had been in love and hating each other for a long time. Nothing good would happen as long as they were together!
"No! Brother Li, you repair your palace walls, and I'll watch my own fun. We don't interfere with each other. When you have time, can you please repair my thatched cottage?" Du Fu said happily.
"You really should look in the mirror now and see how hateful your face is! It's really disgraceful!" Li Bai said angrily.
"Hehe, wouldn't it be less humiliating if you don't look in the mirror? Besides, it's your own elegance that's being humiliated. For a poor guy like me, how can I be polite or not? Can't you satisfy someone who desperately needs to laugh at others?" Du Fu said with a bright smile.
Li Bai narrowed his eyes, glanced at the other person, and then said, "You know sometimes, I really don't want to use a single word to describe you? Because I think describing a person with just one word is too superficial. But now I suddenly feel that word is so appropriate for you. Do you really want to hear me say it out loud?"
"Don't! No need to say it! I know this word is an expression of your deep love for me, but I won't accept it! Because I already have higher pursuits in my heart! So please bury this word in your heart, brother, I'm leaving!" After saying this, Du Fu turned around and left in dejection.
Li Bai only said the two words "I won't see you off", but after the other party left, he gritted his teeth and said, "Bitch!"
Long Junhai was stunned watching from the side. He didn't expect that Li Bai and Du Fu could get along so harmoniously. It was really unimaginable!
"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, General Long. Let's get back to the topic. What do you want to talk to me about?" Li Bai said with a smile again.
"Oh, that's right. I went to the palace to see the emperor today in order to raise some money, but the emperor was not optimistic about my plan, so I had to look for another partner because I was short of money. Moreover, I also felt that Academician Li was a generous person, so I would like to invite you to invest." Long Junhai said with a smile.
"Huh? So you just want to borrow money? Haha, how do you know I'm generous?" Li Bai asked with a smile.
Long Junhai smiled and said, "I have a horse with five colors and a fur coat worth thousands of gold. I will ask my son to go out and exchange it for good wine, so that we can share our eternal sorrows!"
"Hmm! What a great poem! It's so fitting for my poem 'Jiu Jin Jiu'!" Li Bai's literary accomplishments were extraordinary. After just one listen, he knew that Long Junhai's lines perfectly matched his own 'Jiu Jin Jiu'! They were a match made in heaven!
However, Long Junhai was stunned. He wondered if Li Bai had composed this poem himself. Why did the other party seem to have heard of it for the first time?
However, Long Junhai did not show any surprise, so he smiled and said, "Grandmaster, don't you remember? This poem was written by you yourself!"
"Huh? I created it myself? How come I don't remember it? I pondered over "Drinking Song" several years ago, but I only completed the first few sentences. I haven't thought of a reasonable poem for the antithetical part in the back?" Li Bai asked in confusion.
Long Junhai understood a little bit now. He smiled and said, "You recited a poem called 'Jiang Jin Jiu' when we were fighting some time ago. You were drunk at the time, so you may not remember it, right?"
"Oh? Is that so? Maybe I was really too drunk and forgot most of the poem I wrote. But these few sentences are still not complete. General Long, can you read the whole poem to me?" Li Bai asked.
"Of course there's no problem!" Long Junhai was delighted. This was a chance to get close to Li Bai, so he immediately cleared his throat and recited: "Have you not seen the Yellow River's waters coming from the sky, rushing to the sea and never returning? Have you not seen the white hair in the mirror in the hall, which was as black as silk in the morning and turned to snow in the evening..."
Long Junhai recited the entire poem from beginning to end. Li Bai listened attentively, especially the last few lines. After listening, he praised it endlessly, saying, "Wonderful! It's really wonderful!"
Long Junhai smiled awkwardly. The poem was originally written by the other party, and he was just repeating it.
"General Long, I'm determined to make you my friend! Now that this poem has been completely completed, my cultivation can be further improved! If I can create a few more wonderful poems, I should be able to fully step into the realm of the Holy Taoist Ancestor!" Li Bai was extremely excited. Once he stepped into the ranks of the Holy Taoist Ancestor, no one in the entire fairy world would be able to look down on him!
"Brother Li, is it really that simple for a cultivator of the Dao of Literature to just compose poetry? Can one advance as long as one composes poetry?" Long Junhai asked in confusion.
"It's not as easy as you say! Both creation and advancement are extremely difficult. I'm hailed as a rare literary genius, but over the past few hundred thousand years, I've only cultivated to the middle stage of the Profound Immortal Realm, and there's still a long way to go before I reach the peak! After completing the entire poem "Jiang Jin Jiu" this time, I'll almost be able to enter the late stage. I don't know how many more years it will take to reach the level of Saint Venerable Daoist Ancestor!"
Li Bai sighed, then pulled Long Junhai and said, "Brother, this is not the place to talk. Let's go somewhere else to talk. Let's go to my Changlefang!"
"Ah? What should we do here? Didn't the Emperor ask you to..."
Before Long Junhai finished speaking, Li Bai said cheerfully, "Who cares? Whoever wants to repair the palace walls can do so. I don't care. The emperor can't do anything to me. If I'm really pissed off, after a glass of strong liquor, who in this world can do anything to me?"
Long Junhai couldn't help but admire Li Bai. It was really not easy for him to have such a free and easy personality in such a feudal era! He was probably the only one in the entire Tang Empire who could be so free and easy.
So, under the leadership of Li Bai, Long Junhai came to Changlefang.
Changlefang is a brothel opened by Li Bai himself. Although it is not on Chang'an Avenue and its location is a bit remote, its business is much better than many brothels on Chang'an Avenue!
In the final analysis, Li Bai's fame is great enough, and those Taoist monks are willing to come and support him. After all, apart from Li Bai, the rest of the Taoist monks are much inferior, and most of the monks with profound attainments in literature and Taoism live in seclusion and basically have no contact with the outside world. There is only Li Bai, a down-to-earth scholar of literature and Taoism.
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