Chapter 58 In the Garden:
"Thank you so much for today." Rong Xie said to Lu Yinglin as they walked away.
"Oh? What is it that makes Junior Brother Rong want to express his gratitude?" Lu Yinglin asked, shaking his folding fan in surprise.
"Yes... about speaking up for me, Young Master Lu hasn't met that young lady, has he?" Rong Xie said.
Lu Yinglin smiled but remained silent.
"When I return to the Spirit Mirror Sect another day, I will treat Young Master Lu to dinner at the Yingbin Town Restaurant. I hope Young Master Lu will do me the honor." Rong Xie couldn't think of a better idea for the moment, so he could only make the invitation to dinner first.
Lu Yinglin laughed and said, "It's nothing big, just a casual remark. Besides, to see someone, that person has to exist first, right?"
Rong Xie was taken aback, but immediately understood that Lu Yinglin had already guessed that there was no wealthy young lady who was in love with Rong Xie.
"Young Master Lu is too kind." Rong Xie did not want to say more about the matter.
Lu Yinglin glanced at Rong Xie with a knowing look on his face and dropped the subject.
As they spoke, the two entered the Shen family garden. This garden was renovated after the Shen family rose to prominence, and it was decorated with great care. First, a small pond was dug in the middle of the small garden, and then the ground around the pond was paved with blue bricks. A small four-cornered pavilion was built by the pond, and bright hydrangeas were planted around the pavilion. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that the flowers were artificial flowers made of velvet, which were not very conspicuous under the cover of night.
At this moment, the young ladies and gentlemen of the Shen family gathered around the Four Corner Pavilion, poured wine from the wine jars on the ground, and drank and laughed loudly.
“Ah, young man. It’s so good to be young,” Lu Yinglin sighed, gesturing for Rong Xie to enter.
Rong Xie preferred that Lu Yinglin leave first, as he really had nothing to say to these young people.
Rong Xie took the lead and walked towards the four-cornered pavilion. The young ladies and gentlemen who were drinking and talking all turned around. When they saw Rong Xie, their eyes lit up at first, and then their expressions showed some indescribable meaning.
Rong Xie had seen such expressions many times before, especially on the faces of his parents' generation. He simply smiled and nodded, considering that he had met everyone in the group.
None of the young masters and ladies in this group were people Rong Xie recognized. Judging by their ages, they should be a generation younger than him, and their parents were his peers.
People in the cultivation world often don't feel the passage of time, and this is especially true in places like the inner sect of the Spirit Mirror Sect. Most of the inner sect disciples around are those who have successfully established their foundation, and the years don't show on their faces. Moreover, they have the powerful tool of secluded cultivation to kill time.
Since entering Huanxue Manor, life has become more comfortable, and Rong Xie has become even less aware of the hardships of life. He only has a vague concept of age and doesn't have a real sense of it.
Returning to the Shen family manor now, I find that the children of my peers have all grown into elegant young men and women. This contrast is even more striking than seeing my peers in person.
If he hadn't met Shen Bingsi, he might have married and had children much earlier, and his children would be this old now... That's really a bit scary.
Lu Yinglin observed Rong Xie's expression and seemed to find it quite amusing. He picked up the wine jar from the ground, asked the young master who was watching the wine dishes for two wine dishes, used his spiritual power to fix them in the air, and filled Rong Xie's and his own wine dishes.
“Junior Brother Rong, we’re late, so we should offer you a dish of wine.” Lu Yinglin handed the wine dish to Rong Xie and winked at him, “Don’t let the young man look down on us.”
Lu Yinglin was a master at enlivening the atmosphere. His words instantly dispelled the previous tension, and the young masters and ladies cheered, demanding that "Uncle Lu" be punished with ten dishes.
Lu Yinglin was a businessman who frequented drinking establishments, and he drank alcohol as easily as drinking water. He wasn't afraid of the sweet drinks these young people were drinking. He downed three plates in one go, and the young masters and ladies cheered louder and louder.
Rong Xie, holding a wine dish, felt like he'd been tricked and shouldn't have come with Lu Yinglin.
After finishing three dishes, Lu Yinglin pretended to be unable to hold his liquor, repeatedly refusing and even staggering a step. He waved his hand and laughed, "I can't, I can't. Uncle is getting old and can't drink so much. Can you let Uncle off this time?"
Seeing this, the young masters and ladies couldn't stop laughing and kept pulling him to drink more, completely forgetting about Rong Xie.
Rong Xie secretly breathed a sigh of relief, turned the wine dish around, pretended to pick it up and drink it, and then secretly poured the wine into the flower bed behind him.
He put down the wine dish, considering it his punishment for drinking a dish of wine, and was about to leave this place of trouble when Lu Yinglin suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
"How about this, since you insist I drink, I'll drink the remaining two dishes for your Uncle Rong, okay?" Lu Yinglin said with a smile. Before Rong Xie could agree, he took Rong Xie's wine dish, told someone to fill it up, and amidst the cheers of the young masters and ladies, he downed two dishes in a row. Then, he swayed and bumped into Rong Xie.
Rong Xie frowned slightly, feeling a little awkward, but considering that Lu Yinglin was a businessman who frequented drinking establishments, he probably wouldn't care too much about the details. In any case, he wouldn't use the same wine dish that Lu Yinglin had used.
But to get drunk after only five dishes is a bit much, isn't it?
Rong Xie disliked close contact with people and was about to push Lu Yinglin away when Lu Yinglin tugged at his sleeve and a deep voice reached his ears: "Come on, help me to the artificial hill."
Rong Xie glanced at the artificial hill. There was no one there, but if he helped Lu Yinglin over there like that, would these young masters and ladies let him go?
The next moment, Lu Yinglin "woke up" and smiled as he begged the young masters and ladies for mercy, saying that he couldn't drink anymore. He had drunk so much right away and was feeling dizzy. He needed to go to the side and rest for a while.
"Let your uncle catch his breath, and then I'll tell you about the grudges and feuds between the Hehuan Sect and the Xuantian Sect—" Lu Yinglin deliberately pretended to speak incoherently, laughing and joking as he pushed Rong Xie to leave quickly.
Hearing that Lu Yinglin had such explosive gossip, how could those young masters and ladies resist? Naturally, they let him go. A sober old hand was definitely more interesting than someone who was completely drunk.
In this way, Rong Xie "helped" Lu Yinglin to retreat to the side of the artificial hill. Once they reached the shade of the artificial hill, Lu Yinglin straightened up and sat down on a step as if nothing had happened.
Rong Xie's initial unease vanished with Lu Yinglin's expert maneuvering. He stood to the side, hesitated for a moment, and then chose to sit on the bench under the eaves on the steps.
Lu Yinglin tucked his folding fan into the back of his collar, rested his arm on his leg, one leg bent and the other straight, and sat there casually, looking at the lively young people in the four-corner pavilion with a longing expression on his face. He couldn't help but slap his knee again: "Youth is so wonderful."
Rong Xie didn't know how to respond. He felt that now was the right time to talk to Lu Yinglin about his preferences so that he could give him an appropriate gift in return and repay the favor.
“By the way,” Lu Yinglin turned around, supporting himself on his knees, and looked at Rong Xie with a smile, “Junior Brother Rong, you’re not good at drinking, are you?”
"Hmm... I didn't drink much," Rong Xie said.
"No wonder, the wine spilled into my shoes just now," Lu Yinglin said with a laugh.
When Lu Yinglin suddenly said this, Rong Xie's face immediately flushed. Could it be? He clearly fell into the flower bed!
"Hahaha, just kidding. If I'd known you didn't like these kinds of occasions, I wouldn't have invited you." Lu Yinglin laughed, then turned back to look at the four-cornered pavilion.
"..." Rong Xie didn't know what to say, but suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind, "Young Master Lu, do you really like drinking?"
"Yes, what, are you going to give me some wine?" Lu Yinglin laughed. "I have very good taste, I won't accept anything but fine wine."
"That's natural."
"Okay! I'll be waiting."
Having found his way, Rong Xie felt there was no need to keep Lu Yinglin drinking any longer. He was still concerned about Shen Yan's report and was about to get up to leave when he suddenly heard Lu Yinglin say, "Are you really willing to leave Huanxue Manor?"
Rong Xie was taken aback.
In fact, the two traveled together along the way. Although they rode in their own carriages and their speeds differed, they would chat together during rest breaks. Lu Yinglin didn't pry into Rong Xie's private affairs, but he knew that Rong Xie was a person close to Shen Bingsi and the steward of Huanxue Manor. Given Rong Xie's actions of selling off his property and transferring his household registration, Lu Yinglin could easily guess that he was leaving Huanxue Manor. Moreover, he was leaving voluntarily, not for any excuse such as getting married.
"Although I rarely come to the Spirit Mirror Sect, I have heard rumors about Huanxue Manor. Shen Bingsi and you are good friends, right?" Lu Yinglin continued without waiting for Rong Xie's reply.
"..." Rong Xie fell silent. Although Lu Yinglin had helped him a lot, he was not so relieved about his relationship with Shen Bingsi that he could bring it up and chat with anyone.
“Shen Bingsi became famous at a young age and is well-known. The fact that he has always taken you with him shows that he cherishes the relationship between you,” Lu Yinglin sighed.
Just when Rong Xie thought Lu Yinglin was going to advise him to cherish this friendship, Lu Yinglin changed the subject, "You must be very good for him to cherish you so much. It's a pity that you are leaving. You must have suffered a lot of grievances while you were with him."
Upon hearing this, Rong Xie's throat tightened. Annoyed that his secret had been exposed, he stood up from the bench in the corridor, his fingers clenching his sleeves tightly: "Young Master Lu, please have some self-respect and don't make wild guesses about the relationship between me and Shen Bingsi."
Lu Yinglin also stood up, abandoning his casual attitude, and repeatedly bowed to Rong Xie, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I was presumptuous."
Rong Xie sensed that people in the pavilion were looking this way. Not wanting to end things on bad terms with Lu Yinglin, he softened his tone and said, "Young Master Lu, you seem to be drunk. You should go back and rest early."
"Maybe I'm drunk, but let me say one more thing while I'm still feeling the effects of the alcohol," Lu Yinglin sighed. "Junior Brother Rong, the outside world isn't that scary. You don't need to be afraid. Someone as outstanding as you will find your place wherever you go."
"..."
Rong Xie felt a void in his heart. He hadn't expected Lu Yinglin to say such things to him. Was Lu Yinglin actually trying to encourage him? Did he sense his nervousness and try to comfort him? But why would Lu Yinglin do this? Wasn't this beyond the scope of his duties?
As Rong Xie was still in a daze, a brilliant golden light suddenly streaked across the night sky, like a falling meteor, crashing into the ground with a deafening roar, shaking the entire Shen family manor.
"Oh my god!" "Bang!" "Thud!"
The garden was in complete chaos. The young ladies and gentlemen in the four corner pavilions were falling over and tumbling, bowls, plates and wine jars were scattered all over the ground, and screams and running sounds filled the air.
"The earth dragon has turned over! The earth dragon has turned over!"
"Quickly find an open space and lie down!"
Among the noisy crowd, there were some who had seen a bit of the world, who shouted, "What earth dragon turning over? It's a flying sword! It's a flying sword!"
"The Second Young Master is back!"
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