Wen Lao skillfully pushed open the fence, led Liu Ming through the potholed and unrepaired stone path, and pushed the door in.

The light in the house is not very good and the furnishings are very basic.

"Old Wen, your life is ...... It's really simple. Liu Ming looked around and sighed.

Wen Lao smiled indifferently and said: "A porridge and a meal, it is not easy to think about where to come; Half a thread and half a thread, the constant thought of material resources is difficult. Just have enough food and clothing. The old man is a person who likes to be quiet, and he doesn't need anything else to live here. ”

The butcher's face showed reverence, and he said to Liu Ming: "The style of the old man, the mountains and rivers are long, which makes me and other juniors greatly admire. ”

The person dressed as a butcher, Liu Ming looked closely, but he had a sense of martial arts. Liu Ming saw that he was proud and contemptuous of those little officials, and even when he heard the name of Yuezhou Zhizhou, he was not moved, but he was extremely humble and respectful to this old man. Therefore, I felt a little mysterious about the identity of Wen Lao.

Wen Lao took out a few dishes from the stove, put them on the table, and looked at Liu Ming with a slight apology: "Xie Yuanlang, I am quite grateful for your appearance for me in the morning." It's just that the fish in the morning was not sold, and the firewood in the house was not enough, so I could only make a few dishes and add a few bowls of hot porridge, so I don't mind. ”

Liu Ming was greatly moved when he saw that Old Man Wen was a powerful person, but he was so simple. He picked up the porridge and said: "Being high in the temple, but can be so simple, if the officials in the world are like Wen Lao, then what Liao is I afraid of in the Great Song Dynasty?" ”

Wen Lao sighed lightly: "The old man has spent a few years in Beijing, and he wants to do something, but he has encountered difficulties. Don't talk about it, don't talk about it. Recalling the past, his eyes lit up with melancholy.

Halfway through the meal, Liu Ming ran out and paid for a few pots of rice wine, warmed the store, and went to buy a bag of pig's head meat.

Wine is less than a thousand glasses of confidants. Liu Ming chatted with great interest, and for the first time, he was already in the stomach of three pots of rice wine, and his mind was dizzy, as if he had entered a fairyland.

Late at night, when the moon first appeared, a group of sergeants lined up neatly and came to Wen Lao's hut.

Inside the house, the butcher's eyes lit up, he nodded at Wen Lao, and then walked out of the room and communicated with the leader of the sergeant.

Not long after, the butcher came back with a serious face, knelt down on one knee and said, "Report to your lordship, they are here, saying that they have something important to inquire about." ”

Wen Lao's brows condensed: "It's so late, is there anything to say?" ”

"No, they just let Wen Lao go over as soon as possible." The butcher replied.

"Let's go, then." Wen Lao got up and said.

The butcher looked at Liu Ming, who was already drunk on the table, and asked indicatively, "Then what should this Xie Yuanlang do?" Leave him here? ”

Wen Lao pondered, "I don't know where he stayed at the inn, and I can't send him back." I have a lot of political enemies in the DPRK and China, and it is not safe to leave him here, so you can take him with us. ”

"But ......," the butcher said hesitantly, "even the officials of the court and the third rank below the central government have no right to participate in this meeting, so is it appropriate to take him with you?" ”

"This kid, I look very pleasing to the eye. In special times, you need to act cheaply. Let's go. Wen Lao lifted the placket of his cloth suit and stepped directly out of the threshold. The butcher listened to the order, put Liu Ming on his shoulder, and helped him outside.

"Come on, let him get into my sedan chair, and we'll squeeze together." Wen Lao opened the sedan curtain.

The butcher objected: "How can this be made?" ”

"What is the cause, what cannot be done? Hurry up, don't miss the meeting. Elder Wen ordered.

Liu Ming sat in the sedan chair in a daze, and the sergeants were ready to go, all with solemn expressions, lined up in a line, and disappeared into the night......

The crowd walked for half an hour before they reached a pier. At this time, the night fog is hazy, the water is clear, and there are two passenger boats waiting here on the pier.

After getting on the passenger boat one by one, the butcher stood at the bow of the boat with his sword, and Wen Lao closed his eyes and rested in the passenger boat.

Liu Ming held on to the side of the boat, and the wine gradually woke up. When he saw that he was suddenly in the boat, he went to ask the butcher. The butcher only said that Wen Lao was going to a meeting temporarily, so he brought him here, and after the meeting, he arranged for someone to send him back.

Liu Ming saw that the butcher seemed to be talking hesitantly, and there was something unspeakable, so he didn't ask much.

He sat quietly in the stern of the boat, intently admiring the night in the lake.

In the late night, the passenger boat lit a lantern and sailed steadily on the lake.

The moonlight shines brightly in the middle of the lake, and there is also a full moon in the reflection in the middle of the lake.

Liu Ming only felt the sound of a rumbling waterfall in his ears, and saw a large waterfall on the mountain on the left like white silk floating in the air, flying down and pouring into the lake.

This situation and this scene are pleasing to the eye. Liu Ming could see it strangely, and thought that this place where Wen Lao went to the appointment must be beautiful and abnormal.

The butcher stood alone at the head of the ship, his straight and arrogant figure looming in the night. He turned his head to look at Wen Lao, and saw that he closed his eyes and meditated, understanding the importance of this meeting. The other sergeants also had solemn faces and performed their duties as guards. Only that Xie Yuanlang Liu Ming was relaxed admiring the color of the landscape.

This kid's mentality and concentration are so good, the corners of the butcher's mouth are slightly raised.

The two boats sailed to a small island in the middle of the lake, where two boats were also waiting for them. One boat was unpretentious, while the other was richly decorated, with two beautiful women standing respectfully on it.

"Report to the general...... On the order of Lord Fubi, he came to pick him up. A lieutenant arched his hand on the painting boat, "Please come to the boat and rest." ”

When Wen Lao saw the painting boat, he couldn't help frowning and said, "Since it's an emergency meeting, why do you want to make this painting boat?" He glanced at the two young maids on the painting boat, and said with a heavy face, "The old man can't get on this boat." ”

The lieutenant was stunned, then knelt down and said, "My lord, forgive me, the little one is also on the orders of the rich adult, and I hope to take care of the adult." ”

Wen Lao shook his head firmly and said: "Now is the time for the imperial court to use money, and if you have the time to decorate the ship, it is better to send some food to the sergeants in front." ”

The lieutenant bowed down and said, "The crime of despicable duty deserves death." ”

"Well, the meeting is important." Wen Lao said, "I'll get on your ship." ”

"It's empty, it's not good." The butcher on the side persuaded in a low voice, "After all, it is the heart of the rich man and others. ”

"Then let's do it, let's get on this boat together, and I guess we won't be able to sit down. You let Liu Ming go to the painting boat. So be it. Elder Wen commanded.

Before Liu Ming could react, he was put into the painting boat by several sergeants without saying anything.

As soon as Liu Ming stepped onto the deck of the painting boat, the two beautiful maids were all blessed and said softly: "Welcome to the ship." Then, the two of them stood on either side of Liu Ming, one of them took his arm and helped him to walk towards the boat.

The two maids are slender and enchanting, and they are also fresh and beautiful. Liu Ming was supported by the two, only to feel the fragrant breeze on the tip of his nose, and there was a trace of fluttering in his heart.

"My lord, please use tea." The two maids invited Liu Ming to the shipbuilding in the center of the painting boat and soaked in the good dragon well. Two more young women came out from behind the screen and played the zither.

The sound of this silk bamboo is endless. In this dark night boat, you can sit and taste fragrant tea, and there are beautiful women waiting beside you, and the days are like fairies.

Liu Ming also knew that those adults were in a meeting, and it was inconvenient for him to disturb them. It's better for him to stay honest in this boat.

After a few cups of tea, he felt a little tired, and the sound of bamboo was like hypnosis. He slowly lay down flat, his hands resting on his head, his eyes slightly closed, and he snored again.

The boat slowly approached the shore, and the two sergeants helped Liu Ming up and slowly walked to the house on the island.

"My lord, I made a lowly and private opinion, and gave Xie Yuanlang some sweat medicine so that he could sleep soundly, so as not to hear military secrets." The butcher asked Wen Lao on the shore for instructions, "Wait until Xie Yuanlang wakes up, and then make amends to him." ”

"That's all there is to it, it's hard for him. Wait until the meeting is over and immediately give him a wake-up soup. Old Wen said.

One by one, they stepped ashore, and saw four or five houses scattered and built on an island or a peninsula. The house is small and exquisite, and quite elegant.

Wen Lao and the butcher walked briskly to one of the houses, and were greeted by a middle-aged Confucian scholar.

"General Tiger has worked hard all the way." The middle-aged Confucian saluted.

The butcher immediately knelt down on one knee: "I have seen a rich scholar. ”

The person who greeted him was none other than the dignified scholar of the Hanlin Academy.

Fu Bi smiled and helped the butcher up, "General Hu, as the commander of the forbidden army Ma Dujun, it is also hard for you to serve as a bodyguard in this remote Yuezhou. ”

General Tiger knelt on the ground: "My lord said that he laughed, being able to defend Wen Lao in a humble position is a blessing that he has cultivated for several lifetimes." ”

Fu Bi saluted respectfully to Elder Wen and said, "The student has seen the teacher. ”

Old Wen smiled slightly: "In the future, the imperial court will rely on you." ”

"The teacher's words are wrong, the students are dull, everything needs to be discussed with the teacher, please." Fu Bi invited Wen Lao into the inner hall.

I saw that above the inner hall, there were seven or eight people sitting in Jiji, and most of the military attachés were wearing armor, which looked very formal. Most of the civil officials wore official uniforms of scarlet robes of five grades or above, and there were also one or two wearing purple official robes of one or two grades.

Fu Bi introduced one by one,

"This is Master Li, a scholar of the Guanbunden University."

"This is Lord Liu, a member of the Zhongshu House."

Everyone immediately got up, with a respectful posture, and said to Wen Lao in unison:

"Xiaguan pays a visit to Fan Gong."