In March, Mount Zhongnan is covered with flying catkins and clusters of flowers.

In the mountains, the country nurtured by the spiritual beauty of Zhongnan Mountain has gradually stabilized after experiencing the disputes and turmoil between the two top forces in the country last year.

Last spring.

The new head of the Lanxi Lin family who had returned from Siqi Academy attacked the then National Master Zhongnan on the day of the king's spring suburban sacrifice.

The scene at that time is still vivid in the minds of many Chinese people.

The struggle that lasted for more than half a year was finally settled after a debate between Confucianism and Taoism that attracted national attention.

The Chongxu Temple, which had served as the emperor of Zhongnan Kingdom for thousands of years, collapsed.

The fire on Mount Taibai burned for three days and three nights, but failed to burn away all the remains.

The new head of the Lanxi Lin family took the helm and assisted the monarch in governing Zhongnan.

The Zhongnan New Deal reforms, which had previously been hindered by the power of the imperial teacher, are also being steadily implemented.

But for many Chinese people, these things are both close and far away.

Now it is early spring again.

Last year's turmoil and bloodbath seemed to have been buried and washed away by the heavy winter snow.

However, there was a gentleman who passed by Zhongnan and helped the Lanxi Lin family to participate in the Confucianism and Taoism debate like a nobleman sent from heaven, and won the third debate which was of extraordinary significance.

It is still talked about by people in Zhongnan, and is often thought of and discussed.

After Lin Wenruo took the helm, many old matters and grudges were not pursued.

However, the new hatred and grudges were punished quickly, with powerful and merciless means.

Therefore, although he did not block the channels of speech within and outside the government, or tighten the standards of public opinion among the people.

But most Chinese people still dare not talk about things that may cross the line.

The reforms of new forces are bound to be accompanied by conflicts and contradictions, and the new prime minister Lin Xianggong seems to be a cold-blooded and decisive character.

And the Chinese people love to discuss and converse.

Therefore, the hottest topic among people about last year's events was, without any prior agreement, Mr. Zhao, who hurriedly passed by Zhongnan Kingdom, leaving only his back.

Moreover, this was tacitly approved by Lin Wenruo, and there was nothing wrong with it.

A song titled "What is There in Zhongnan" is respectfully sung to bid farewell to Mr. Zhao.

It is still sung by the passionate women in Zhongnan who admire talented men.

At this time, anyone who often goes to the outskirts of Luojing is familiar with this folk song and can often sing a few lines of it.

The original debate between Confucianism and Taoism.

It was performed right before the eyes of 100,000 Zhongnan people who loved elegant conversation and debate, as well as the hermits and celebrities.

In the third conversation, Mr. Zhao, who wears jade, debates with a Taoist gentleman on the issue of "action and inaction".

It is generally recognized by people in China today as the most wonderful and mysterious conversation in Zhongnan Kingdom in the past hundred years.

Afterwards, for some time after the young master left, the handwritten copy of this conversation was circulated enthusiastically in Luojing City, and famous people in the country vied with each other to copy it.

Lin Wenruo, the young patriarch of the Lanxi Lin family, said with a smile that Brother Yu had made Luojing very expensive.

After the news spread, a phrase "paper is expensive in Luojing" was even coined.

It was regarded as an elegant event and became widely circulated in the literary circles of several neighboring countries.

For the people of Luoyang who witnessed and experienced these events firsthand, there is much more they can tell to future generations.

On that day, the streets of Luojing were deserted, cars were filled with thrown fruits, and women from Zhongnan competed to throw sachets.

Later, when he left, the king and his people lined the streets to see him off.

The ten-mile long pavilion is a grand scene with all the willow branches broken.

The remnants of these grand events still remain in my heart.

Today, fireworks are all over Luojing City.

Another spring is here.

According to past practice, the King of Zhongnan once again held a spring sacrifice in the eastern suburbs.

But the figure of the tall Confucian scholar who ruled the country was missing.

Last year, it was he who stood on the stage as a small imperial censor.

He suddenly attacked the imperial teacher, his father-in-law.

The official road from Luojing City to Lanxi is no longer as beautiful as it was last year.

No one gets married today...

There is still incense burning in Taibai Mountain today.

The fire that burned for several days that day destroyed the Chongxu Temple on Mount Taibai along with its thousand-year history.

But later on, the Lin family of Lanxi did not kill all the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple.

Not all of them were dismissed.

Instead, they arranged several specific places to maintain the incense of Taoist temples and moved the Taoists there to gather.

Everything remained the same, except that the privileges and the name of Chongxu Temple were cancelled.

It is the same treatment as Taoist priests in Taoist temples in other neighboring countries.

This is the situation in Taibai Mountain today, with new Taoist temples and new Taoists.

New people in old place.

Right now.

On a remote path on the back hill of Taibai Mountain, a tall scholar appeared.

This was exactly the path that Zhao Rong took when he went up the mountain to get the furnace that day.

The tall scholar in white clothes walked on the bluestone steps, slowly waiting for the mountain.

He was empty-handed and alone.

Not long.

It is the osmanthus forest on the back mountain of Taibai Mountain.

Lin Wenruo stepped in again.

His expression was calm, and he walked straight to a special osmanthus tree tied with a red rope as if he was familiar with the place.

Winter has just passed, and most of the branches of the osmanthus trees are bare.

However, at this moment, new buds were sprouting and new leaves were growing on the branches of the osmanthus tree tied with a red rope.

Lin Wenruo stared at the tender buds, slightly absent-minded, and remained silent.

At a certain moment, he rubbed his face, turned around, and looked at the geese flying home in the sky.

Lin Wenruo raised his hand, reached into his sleeve, and prepared to take out something.

But suddenly, he stopped and turned to look at the entrance of Guilin.

Soon, a burst of childish conversation was heard.

"Xu Qing, why are you walking so slowly? Hurry up. This bluestone is not high. What are you afraid of? Just jump down like me. You are a man. Pah, you nerd."

"Yuniang, wait, wait, I'd better be steady, otherwise I'll tear my clothes again."

Soon, two children jumped into Guilin.

In the distant woods, under the red osmanthus tree, Lin Wenruo watched silently.

The two children were a boy and a girl.

They all looked to be about eight or nine years old.

The boy was wearing a fitted little suit, like a child of a wealthy scholarly family in Luojing City.

The girl was wearing a simple but clean Taoist robe that had been washed to a pale color. She was a little Taoist nun.

Appearing here, it is obvious that she should be a Taoist nun who has become a nun in the new Taoist temple on Mount Taibai.

At this moment, the little Taoist nun, who seemed to be named Yu Niang, glanced at the young scholar named Xu Qing beside her.

"What took you so long to come to me?"

Xu Qing said with a bitter face, "My family has been busy recently, and my parents haven't come up the mountain to burn incense. How can I find you?"

Yu Niang looked back at the Taoist temple rebuilt on the top of the mountain and said with a curled lip:

"Can't you come by yourself? We agreed to watch the fireworks together in the first month of the lunar year. I secretly saved a firework for you without telling the Taoist priest. Humph, you never come. It's over. It's gone."

Xu Qing scratched his head. "The teacher in the school said that men and women should not touch each other and should maintain etiquette. How can I come to see you alone?"

In the distance, a tall scholar saw this scene, paused as he was about to raise his foot, and watched quietly.

Yu Niang broke off a branch and casually brushed the dust off the ground, not looking at the stupid and timid Xu Qing.

"Oh, it's not appropriate to touch, then why are you following me here?"

Xu Qing blushed, "I, I..."

He avoided the narrow gaze of the young Taoist nun of the same age whom he met when he first entered the Taoist temple.

He looked around for a moment and changed the subject:

"Oh, Yu Niang, where is this? Why don't we go back to the Taoist temple? If my parents find out that I'm missing..."

Yu Niang interrupted:

"Your parents are burning incense and praying for you. It will take a long time. I know the procedures of the Taoist temple. Let's play for a while. When the time is up, I will take you back on time. Don't be afraid."

She dropped the branch and clapped her hands, looking arrogant as if everything was under control.

"oh."

Xu Qing finally felt relieved and looked around at this remote osmanthus forest.

Seeing this, Yu Niang explained:

"I don't come to this osmanthus forest on the back mountain very often, so there are usually no outsiders. Well, let's explore it today. Don't worry, there's no one else here..."

Just the next second.

She paused.

As he was speaking, he looked around with curiosity and saw the figure of a man standing silently in the woods not far away.

Not long after, the little boy named Xu Qing also saw it.

The two children looked at each other and then stopped at the same time.

Seeing this, Lin Wenruo raised his eyelids slightly and came back to his senses.

He pursed his lips, quickly raised his foot and walked straight forward.

Soon, Lin Wenruo arrived not far from the couple, who seemed to be playmates who they met while burning incense.

Keep moving.

When they are about to intersect.

Yu Niang took a step forward and stood in front of Xu Qing. She mustered up her courage and said to Lin Wenruo:

"You, who are you? Why did you break into the back mountain of our Taoist temple without permission?"

Facing this tall strange man, she had a ferocious expression on her face, but her eyes kept turning away and dodging from time to time.

The young nun looked a little timid, suggesting that she was not as bold and domineering as she appeared.

Lin Wenruo's gaze lingered on the face of the little Taoist nun.

He looked a little dazed.

But immediately, after hearing her words.

Lin Wenruo lowered his head and said nothing. He walked straight past them and left towards the entrance.

Xu Qing and Yu Niang saw the strange man leave without saying a word.

They looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, Lin Wenruo seemed to be walking away.

The two childhood friends continued to explore Guilin.

Lin Wenruo walked straight forward without looking back.

As he walked, he could vaguely hear the voices of the young scholar and the young Taoist nun behind him.

"Yu Niang, that person looks so weird."

"Yeah, he...he seems like a wandering ghost."

"Yu Niang, you are not allowed to speak of people like that."

"Oh, you're the only one who cares too much. You're skinny and have no strength at all, and you still like to lecture people."

“This is the most basic principle of being a human being and doing things.”

While the two were talking, the tall scholar, who looked like a lonely ghost, kept walking.

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. Who told you to marry me in the future?"

"I, I, you forced me to agree. It's been such a long time, how come you still remember it?"

"Humph, I have a very good memory. I can easily remember it for a lifetime. What, you still want to deny your debt? Be careful, I will tell your teacher in the school that Xu Qing does not keep his word."

"No, no, no, can't I marry you? But, I have to wait until I finish my studies and come back to marry you, right?"

"No, you are not allowed to continue reading. If you read too much, eight out of ten men will become bad, one will become stupid, and the last one will become both bad and stupid."

"???"

"I heard from the pilgrims that Lin Wenruo from Lanxi read too much and after he came back..."

"Yu Niang, don't say that about Mr. Lin from Lanxi. Although many people criticize him, I think..."

"Hmph, it's not about what you think, it's about what I think."

"Yu Niang, there are already so many powerful seniors in Zhongnan Mountain. The new policy is going so well now, and the country is peaceful and the people are safe. There is no need for me."

"Wow, you are so small, but you are so arrogant. But what you said is true. Our temple is doing well, and we are doing well. Lin Wenruo has a conscience. So, there are no natural disasters or man-made disasters for you to save. If there are, it is not your turn to worry about them... Then, why are you still studying?"

"I think it's the same as Mr. Zhao, the bandit gentleman. Last year I went outside the city to pick willow branches to send him off."

"Yu Niang, I heard that he is a scholar at Linlu Academy. Mr. Zhao's demeanor is something we admire as high as a mountain. Although we cannot reach his level, our hearts aspire to him."

"When I grow up, I will also go to Linlu Academy in the northernmost part of the continent to study. I don't know if he will still be there by then. Besides, I heard that the world outside is still very big, and reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Can you take me with you?"

"No... Ouch, why are you hitting someone?"

"Let me rub your shoulders. By the way, Xu Qing, Xu Ergou, you need to think this issue through carefully before you speak."

“…”

"Well, brat, can we go together? Give me a promise?"

"Okay, okay..."

"That's more like it. Hey, why is there a red string tied to that osmanthus tree? I've heard of this before. It's really beautiful. But who tied this red string?"

“I don’t know…”

The voices of the two children gradually became smaller and were blown away by the mountain wind, becoming another story on Mount Taibai that no one knew about and was witnessed only by the mountain wind and the osmanthus trees.

Outside the osmanthus forest, the figure of a tall scholar gradually faded away.