Li Shi was surprised and thought to himself: "It's a coincidence that people who have left their hometown have met the flower of homesickness?" Du Tingfang took out a handkerchief and handed it over, Li Shi felt indecent, and hurriedly took the handkerchief to wipe it. Du Tingfang smiled, walked to a flower and asked, "Do you know what this begonia is called?" Li Shi rubbed his eyes, but seeing that the flowers were extremely beautiful, he trampled and said: "The villain is ignorant, listen to the teachings of Miss!" Du Tingfang pursed her lips and smiled, but said with an adult appearance: "I don't dare to teach you, let's tell you a story first." Our founding emperor, Gaozu, once asked a few young courtiers who had not yet married to go to the back garden to enjoy the flowers, and specially placed a pot of begonias on the side of the road, and then said to the courtiers: "This flower was planted by one of my princesses, and today as long as any courtier can take it away, it will be my concubine, but I have to answer one question." The courtiers wanted to know what the emperor wanted to ask, and Gaozu Zhengse said: "In ancient times, there was a general who was brave and good at fighting, and the son of the general also served in the army. On this day, the generals were discussing in the army, and the general's son walked into the tent, knelt down and said: General, my father has just come from the capital and wants to serve the country and join the army, and he is now outside the tent. The ministers were confused, and Gao Zu laughed twice and asked, "Do you know who the general's son is referring to?" After saying that, Li Shi pondered for a while and said: "The general and the 'father', one of them is his own son, and the other should be his father-in-law or stepfather." Du Tingfang smiled softly: "It seems that the horse is really not easy to do, most of the courtiers at that time also replied like this, Gaozu just shook his head, and was disappointed, there is a humane: 'My father is my father, and the general is the general.'" 'Gao Zu clapped his hands and laughed, and gave the pot of begonia flowers to this person, do you know which princess Gao Zu chose the horse for?"

Gaozu Li Yuan has twenty-one sons and nineteen daughters under his knees, Li Shi couldn't guess, so he had to shake his head, Du Tingfang said: "It's for Princess Pingyang!" Li Shi muttered: "Princess Pingyang, Princess Pingyang......" suddenly clapped his palms and sighed: "It turned out to be a female general, not bad, yes, my father is my father, and the general is a general." Wonderful!" Laughing, Princess Pingyang has been fighting horses all her life, and her military exploits are great, everyone knows it, Du Tingfang smiled: "This is the same species as the pot of begonia flowers back then, and later Gaozu gave it the name 'female general'." ”

Li Shi looked down at the female general in the pot, but saw that the petals were straight as carving, and the branches and leaves were also standing straight up, and sighed: "This flower is gorgeous and arrogant, it is indeed like the princess of Pingyang." Li Shi was full of interest in these flowers at this time, and after watching them for a while, he suddenly said: "Hey, it seems that there are no tears!" Du Tingfang smiled: "As long as you are happy in your heart, the thought of the perch will have no effect." Li Shi realized, Shi Li said: "I see, thank you for your advice." ”

Du Tingfang took Li Shi to introduce the other begonia flowers in the courtyard one by one, each with its own characteristics, some are named after verses, some are named after myths, and some are even named after celebrities. However, there are sixty or seventy kinds in one corner, and Li Shi is difficult to remember, and secretly thinks: "I am a flower worker, loosening the soil and watering is my job, and it doesn't matter if I remember the name of the flower." Scratching her head and asking: "What is the peculiarity of these begonias that are usually cultivated?" Du Tingfang raised her eyes and pointed to some begonias in the south and said: "These are red begonias, which usually apply the most water, less fertilizer, and the most sun exposure time." These begonias in the north are called femme fatales, which like shade, and should be watered more, not more exposed to the sun, and are placed under the maple vines. Li Shi heard that these begonias were gorgeous and dazzling, not a single color, and said: "Snake and scorpion flower, why is such a beautiful flower called such a name, could it be highly poisonous?" Du Tingfang said: "That's not it, my father once said that this flower is a metaphor for people, let alone women, I don't know the reason for this." Li Shi was stunned when he heard this, femme fatale, metaphor for women, does it mean that the more beautiful a woman is, the more femme fatale-like she is? couldn't help but shake his head, suddenly remembered Yang Zhiqing, and secretly thought: "Zhiqing's sister is very beautiful, and she doesn't necessarily know how to be a femme fatale, but on the contrary, she is extremely pure." Then he thought, "I don't know where Zhiqing is at this time, he has returned to Hengshan, or he is still staying in Youzhou." Du Tingfang observed her words, pursed her lips and said, "Remembered your sweetheart?" Li Shi's face turned red, and he didn't know how to answer. Du Tingfang smiled lightly, bent down and pulled out a wisp of grass from the flowers, and changed the subject: "This is Lotus." Li Shi looked down and saw a few sparse plants hidden under the broken intestine flowers, Du Tingfang said: "This grass has the purpose of killing insects, and there are some begonias in the courtyard. He pointed to some next to him and said, "This is called the seven-leaf lotus, and like the lotus, it is used to kill insects." ”

The two of them taught and received, and before they knew it, it was almost noon. The door sounded, Du Shuming took Yuan Guotian back from nowhere, after lunch, Li Shi went to the courtyard alone to take care of those begonias, occasionally Shi Taiping and Zhang Qianduo came over to teach Li Shi some ways to raise flowers, the two of them are familiar with the name of the flower, and the habits and characteristics are all understandable. Li Shi smiled secretly: "It turns out that everyone here is a master of raising flowers, maybe to be a subordinate of Du Mansion, this is the way to be refined." ”

After about three or four days, Li Shi had a general understanding of these begonia flowers, and it took half a month to memorize the names, habits, and cultivation methods of each flower. At this time, the weather is gradually warm, the sun is shining, butterflies are flying back and forth in the begonia flowers, Du Shuming occasionally paced in the courtyard to read a book, and chatted with Li Shi for a few words, which was also comfortable.

On this day, Li Shi took a broom to clean the sundries in the yard, and when he went to the study, he saw that there was no one inside, the door was not closed, and there were some confetti scattered on the ground, so he went in to clean. There were bookshelves on three sides of the room, and when I swept to the desk, I saw a few thin scriptures on them, written in Chinese and Sanskrit. Li Shi picked up a book, the famous "Diamond Sutra", opened it to Sanskrit on the left and Chinese annotations on the right. After reading a few pages, I was bored, put the "Diamond Sutra" aside, and picked up another one, but it was a thin document, a page book: Hubu Shangshu Du Master Xunjian. Li Shi was taken aback: "Could it be that Master Du was originally the secretary of the household department of the court! I heard that Brother Yuan said that the master had resigned from the government and served the people, but this letter was still titled as an official title, which shows that the master still has prestige in the court. Then he thought again: "This document may be an important thing, or don't look through it randomly." Just about to put it back on the table, a piece of paper suddenly fell out of the book and spread it on the ground, Li Shi looked down, but it was a map, and there were some places circled in the picture. Li Shi picked it up and took a look, and more than a dozen states in the picture, including Yingzhou, Pingzhou, Youzhou, Luozhou, Qinzhou, Suzhou, Yuezhou, and Jiangzhou, were dotted with red ink, and some Xiazhou also had some arrows crossed, which was difficult to know.

Since Li Shi went to Shicheng, he has heard about the Five Elements Sect several times, and at the gate of Shicheng County, the Five Elements Sect has also fought with the Jingfeng Dao Elder Brother, the reason for which is still unknown, and he couldn't help but open the paper, only to see that the text reads: Henan Province Yanzhou Don't drive the king's advice: Zi Yuan Yuezhou Zhongzhang Lord mourns, Yu Zun's life, day and day to visit the Five Elements Sect. In the fourteenth year of the opening of the previous dynasty, Ye Shixiang of Yongzhou created the Five Elements Sect in Jiuzhi Mountain, which was famous all over the rivers and lakes, and the Mawang Gang of Panzhou, the Donghu Gang of Chenzhou, and the Chenzhou Exorcism Sect were all attached to it, and moved to the Baiyun Peak of Baiyun Mountain in the eastern capital in 18 years, and the Vermilion Bird Seat of the Yongzhou Branch, the seven years of the great cause of the previous dynasty taught the left protector Chen Zhou to rebel, led the Sui army to attack the stream and seek a great victory, and awarded the right Guanglu doctor, Ye Shixiang missionary master Yu Zizhen, the master of the Qinglong Seat, and fled. In the fourteenth year of the great cause, Yu Zizhen killed Yu Xuyi for Wang Shichong. The Five Elements Sect of Wuzhen Guannian reached its peak, Suzhou, Yongzhou, Qinzhou, and Pingzhou were divided into four, and the twelve branch halls were widely distributed all over the country.

Li Shi read this and opened the map, found four places and thought secretly: "These four are divided into four directions, southeast, northwest and northwest, Luoyang Baiyun Peak is in the middle, and the Five Elements Sect is really spread throughout the country." Then he thought again: "I don't know who this Lord Zhang who died in the letter is, he must have a lot to do with the master, and the cause of death is related to the Five Elements Sect, so he ordered this king to visit." Li Shi put down the map and continued to read: In the second year of Tianbao, Zhang Daguan worshiped the history of Yongzhou's assassination, killed thirteen sectarians in the Vermilion Bird Constellation in three years, and migrated to Yanzhou in five years. The admonition is attached to the former Taishi Ling, Li Chunfeng, the Baiyun Peak, and the "Six Yin and Yang Sutra".

Li Shi turned the second page of the document, and sure enough, there was a map of the pattern of Baiyun Peak, and after looking at it for a while, there was nothing special about it, and under the original document on the table was a copy of the "Six Yin and Yang Sutra", so he picked it up and flipped it roughly, the book was full of some Yin and Yang Five Elements Theory, the ancient mystery was difficult to solve, and he was about to put it back, when he suddenly heard a cough, and looked back, Du Tingfang came slowly. Li Shi hurriedly put down the book and gave a salute, and at this time Fang felt that it was really disrespectful to rummage here. Du Tingfang walked up to her, and when she saw the "Liuren Yin Yang Sutra", she was slightly stunned, and said in amazement: "Li Shi, do you understand this?" Li Shi shook his head and replied: "The villain is curious for a while, and he doesn't understand the words in it. Du Tingfang sighed faintly and said, "You go out!" Li Shi listened to her sad voice, and was puzzled, but he just answered twice, turned around and retreated.

After dinner in the evening, Li Shi was just about to go back to the house, but saw Zhang Qianduo limping over, Li Shi said: "Brother Zhang, what's wrong with your leg?" Zhang Qianduo sighed: "Don't mention it, I hugged some firewood with Taiping in the morning, and I accidentally fell and was knocking on the steps, hey!" Li Shi carried Zhang Qianduo to the house and said, "Brother Zhang, you take your clothes away and take a look." Zhang Qianduo gently rolled up the long shirt, only to see that his knees were bruised, swollen and a finger high, it seemed that it was indeed not lightly touched, Li Shi said worriedly: "How can this work, have you found a doctor?" Zhang Qianduo said: "The doctor prescribed medicine, and it is useless to eat it, and it will be fine after a few days." ”