Xiao Yu and Qingxue arrived in front of the restaurant. The waiter, who had been waiting under the eaves for a long time, saw the business coming and hurried forward to greet them, bending down and bowing.
"Master, do you want to eat?"
"Have a meal."
"Oh, my husband and wife have really good eyesight. Our "Qingyangju" is a famous time-honored brand in Jiankang City. The wine is mellow and the meat is fragrant, the dishes and fruit plates are good, and the private rooms are also good?"
"What do you think, ma'am?" Xiao Yu teased.
"Little... little... Master, why do you need to tease me?" A hint of shyness flashed across Qingxue's face.
"Then how about we go try the aroma of the wine and meat?"
"It all depends on the master's arrangement."
The waiter heard what they meant. He was overjoyed and shouted upstairs: "We are two distinguished guests. Someone is waiting for us upstairs!"
Before he finished speaking, he saw a little old man in his early fifties coming downstairs with a shout, nodding and bending to lead the two of them upstairs.
The two of them went upstairs and saw a spacious and transparent lobby in front of them. There were more than a dozen square tables placed at random, half of which were already filled with diners.
The little old man looked at the two people's clothes, manners and conversation, and knew that they were either rich or noble, and was about to lead them to the private room on the third floor.
Xiao Yu had not seen such a lively scene for a long time. He also wanted to know about the current gossip in the capital, so he declined.
It was just that such a mixed place made Qingxue feel a little uncomfortable. She noticed that several drunkards on the side were looking at her with lustful eyes.
If her master hadn't been interested in this place, she wouldn't have been willing to stay here for a moment.
At this time, Xiao Yu didn't seem to notice the change in Qingxue's expression, but the old waiter was experienced and noticed the clues.
He led the two of them to a corner by the window, and quickly asked a few boys to move two screens to separate them from outsiders.
The drinkers felt bored, and their attention left this pair of men and women with extraordinary temperament.
Xiao Yu sat calmly at the table and looked at the scenery outside the window. Qingxue simply ordered a few dishes to the waiter in the shop, and then served Xiao Yu tea.
"Qingxue, rest, we don't differentiate between master and servant outside." Xiao Yu said and poured tea by himself.
Qingxue promised, but the service in her hands did not fall. After the food and wine were served, she only served the master with wine and food, and still did what a slave should do. Xiao Yu could only shake his head helplessly.
Just like what is written in the book, wine shops and teahouses are really good places for gathering and distributing information.
Although separated by a screen, Xiao Yu could still hear the chatter of the drinkers outside.
Some people talked about the recent disputes between Da Qi and Wei on border issues, and the two sides had constant friction in the Zhongli area of Shouyang; others mentioned the Queen Mother Hu in the north who was sycophantic and rebellious. It is said that one of her daughters was Yang. My lover recently defected to Daqi; naturally he is indispensable in the conversation, but... these people either praise him as a god or really treat him as a fool.
Hearing this, Xiao Yu rolled his eyes, causing Qingxue on the side to hide her mouth and snicker.
At this moment, through the gap between the screens, a figure appeared at the stairs, which caught Xiao Yu's attention.
He was a Taoist priest, about fifty years old, with gray hair on his temples, a long beard, and a very kind face.
I saw that the green Taoist robe on his body was a little shabby, with a bun on his head, a Leiyang scarf, and a sword on his back. His clothes were fluttering, and he looked like an immortal.
His arrival also attracted the attention of the drinkers, who found him sitting at an unoccupied table in the lobby.
The second brother yelled and came to the old Taoist. He glanced at the old Taoist's dress, took off the rag on his shoulders and wiped the table symbolically while asking: "This Taoist wants to use something." What?"
The old Taoist smiled kindly, took out two copper coins from his arms, and said, "Little brother, a bowl of clear noodles will do."
The younger brother curled his lips and said: "Sir, we in Qingyangju have delicacies from the mountains and seas, but we don't have two cents worth of thin noodles. If I want to eat noodles, I walked two neighbors south and there is a noodle stall on the roadside. There is a noodle stall. A bowl of noodles costs two cents."
A dry smile appeared on the old Taoist's face, he nodded in agreement, and stood up to leave.
Seeing this scene made Xiao Yu feel a little unhappy. There was no reason for a restaurant to expel people without reason.
"Wait a minute." Xiao Yu shouted.
Hearing the sound, the second brother and the old man both looked towards the screen.
"Master, what do you need to tell me about?" The second brother immediately put on a flattering look on his face and bowed towards the screen.
"Boy, let me ask you, your store is so big and a bowl of thin noodles costs two cents, why don't you sell it to the Taoist priest?"
"This... Young Master doesn't know. It's not a villain who wants to make things difficult for you. It's just that our store is a well-known time-honored brand in the capital. The ingredients in the store are very particular and the prices are clearly marked. But... it's just that our store really doesn't have it. Meals for less than ten cents," the waiter said.
Qingxue on the side also murmured in a low voice: "Master, there have been constant natural disasters in the past two years, and the food harvest has been poor. The fine noodles that cost two cents are inevitably a little cheaper..."
But the old Taoist didn't seem to care. He stroked his beard and smiled kindly: "Haha... In this case, I will no longer embarrass the store."
After that, he stood up and raised his hand in the direction of Xiao Yu: "Young Master, I just spoke for Pindao. Pindao doesn't have to beg for this bowl of plain noodles here, but Pindao pays attention to the word fate. Earlier, Pindao I have learned a lesson from divination for myself, and the divination tells Pindao that if I come here at this moment, I can gain something, and the hexagram can be accurate or not. Since I can't eat this bowl of thin noodles here, Pindao will go somewhere else."
"Wait a minute, Taoist Master! Since the hexagram is like this, why do we have to leave again?"
Xiao Yu saw that the old Taoist was like a fairy, and realized that this person was not a common person, so he said again: "Xiao Er, don't worry about it. Just bring the best vegetarian dishes and keep all the accounts with me."
The waiter bent down to salute, then he asked the old man to sit down again and went to prepare the meal.
The old man didn't refuse. He stroked his beard and said twice: "Okay! Okay!" Then he sat down again, nodded and smiled at Xiao Yu.
People were coming and going in the restaurant, and even though it was already past dinner time, the excitement did not diminish at all.
At this time, Xiao Yu had already had a full meal, and he had to praise the wisdom of the ancients. In an era when seasonings and hard work were lacking, it was not easy to make meals that were delicious, tasty, and tasty.
Looking at Qingxue again, under his insistence, the girl reluctantly moved her chopsticks a few times. The rest of the time, she waited on him politely.
It is not unreasonable for some people to be slim and slim, and they never indulge themselves in front of delicious food.
But for some reason, Xiao Yu suddenly saw Xue Qing, Qing Xue and Xue Qing again. The two similar figures sometimes separated and sometimes overlapped, making Xiao Yu feel like he was dreaming and waking up again. Could this be Zhuang Sheng's Xiaomeng?
Xiao Yu sighed softly. The profound sense of master and servant should have been deeply engraved in Qingxue's body. She and Xue Qing, her childhood sweetheart in the previous life, seemed to be the same person but had completely different personalities.
What kind of world can cultivate such a woman who keeps her duty and knows the etiquette and propriety.
Only the sinful old society... But Xiao Yu likes...
"Young Master, what are you looking at at this slave? What's wrong with your face?"
Qingxue blinked at Xiao Yu with her big clear eyes.
"No...it's nothing..." Xiao Yu quickly turned his gaze, "By the way, Qingxue, why don't you eat? I'm so full again. If this continues, I'll become fat sooner or later."
"Isn't it bad to be fat? I envy those plump sisters. Besides...this is my appetite. I'm already very full."
Looking at Qingxue's flickering eyes, Xiao Yu could only shake his head and smile: "Go to the preserve shop later and buy some preserves to eat!"
Qingxue's eyes immediately sparkled, and the unusual dimples at the corners of her mouth also appeared, but then she pursed her lips again.
He rummaged through his purse and said, "My lord, I don't have much money with you after this meal."
"After you return, this prince will give you... a large gold ingot?"
Xiao Yu grinned, while Qingxue held her cheeks and puffed up her cheeks, but her appearance was particularly cute.
At this time, Qingxue's black and white eyes glanced outside the screen.
"The Taoist Priest looks like he's finished eating too."
I saw that the immortal Taoist had already eaten all the thin noodles in the bowl, and he had eaten cleanly the two plates of vegetarian dishes on the table.
He did not leave. He took out a beige cloth handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his mouth. He still sat there stroking his beard, smiling implicitly at Xiao Yu through the gap in the screen.
Qingxue was thoughtful and said in a low voice: "Little prince, the Taoist priest seems to be waiting for you. I'm afraid it's because the slave is here and he is afraid of disturbing the female family members, so he didn't come to disturb you."
Xiao Yu nodded: "That Taoist priest seems to be a god, what's the harm in getting to know him?"
Qingxue chuckled: "Have you forgotten, the young prince? In the past few days, the nobles and nobles from the court and the central government came to visit one after another. The young prince didn't take them seriously at all, but now he wants to take the initiative to get acquainted with a down-and-out Taoist?"
Xiao Yu waved his hand, "I have my own reasons for not making friends with those people. This old man seems to be down and out, but I think he is very ordinary."
"It's nothing more than the Five Pecks of Rice Tao and the Tao of the Heavenly Master, which are all mysterious, using some talismans and forbidden blessings to confuse people's hearts and deceive people's property."
Xiao Yu shook his head.
In this era, some people, especially those from official families, have such views on Taoism because of their historical background, which vaguely contains class antagonism.
We must know that the early development of Taoism was mainly carried out among the people at the bottom, using treatment and preaching as its means of development. Later, it often became a tool for peasant uprisings to resist tyranny.
The distant ones include the Yellow Turban Uprising in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the more recent ones include the Southeast Coast Uprising of Sun En and Lu Xun in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty.
However, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty more than a hundred years ago, Ge Hong systematically sorted out and transformed the Taoist theory of immortals, integrated the feudal Gangchang Mingjiao with the precepts of Taoism, and integrated Confucianism and Taoism to make it more beneficial to the ruling class. direction of development.
This further divided Taoism into sharply opposed official Taoism and folk Taoism.
No matter which sect the Taoist priest in front of him came from, Xiao Yu had the intention to make friends with him.
"Young prince, would you like me to ask the Taoist priest to come over and talk to me?" Qingxue asked.
"Now that you've had enough wine and food, Qingxue, you go and pay the bill, and I'll go pay him a visit."
Qingxue nodded and left first.
Xiao Yu rubbed his numb feet. After the numbness subsided, he stood up and walked out of the screen.
When the old Taoist saw Xiao Yu arriving, he stood up to greet him.
"Thank you sir for the food. I dare to name you."
"Just call me Xiao Dalang."
The old man looked surprised. He couldn't help but look at this handsome young man again, but he was so informal.
Xiao Yu didn't care about this. How could anyone know his true identity?
He also handed over his hand: "Why should the Taoist priest be so polite? It's just a plain meal. Didn't the Taoist priest say that it comes from fate? How can the Taoist priest come back disappointed? By the way, I haven't asked the Taoist priest for his name yet."
The old Taoist looked Xiao Yu up and down, flicked his fly whisk, and cupped his hands and said: "Tao Hongjing, a poor Taoist, is from Moling, Danyang. His courtesy name is Tongming, and his name is Huayang Hermitage."
He is Tao Hongjing!
Xiao Yu's eyes suddenly widened, and he stared at the thin and easy-going old man in front of him in a daze.
He had seen this name in some historical books. He was the founder of the Maoshan Sect of Taoism, as well as a medical scientist and alchemist.
In the history books of his world, when the Southern Liang was established and Emperor Xiao Yan of the Liang Dynasty was in power, "Every time there was a bad or auspicious conquest in the country, he would be sent to consult, and he would always send letters in the middle of the month. People at that time called him the Prime Minister of the Mountains."
It's just that the "mountain prime minister" in front of him seems not to be doing well in Southern Qi, and has turned into this old man who can't even afford a bowl of thin noodles.
At this time, Tao Hongjing felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by Xiao Yu.
"Xiao Langjun, Pindao...what's on Pindao's face?"
Xiao Yu's eyes gleamed, and he opened his mouth and said: "The Taoist priest has a full heaven, a round earth pavilion, a clear vision, and a high-spirited spirit... He is really the sign of great wealth and great honor."
These words were spoken so smoothly, not like the words a high-ranking young man should speak, but like a fortune teller who travels around the world to ask people for divination.
Tao Hongjing was told that he was sweating on the back of his head, and the hot eyes of the noble young master in front of him showed a look of admiration, which made Tao Hongjing even more confused about what to do.
The divination you gave yourself when you had nothing to do was to let you know him?
But I saw that the other party had an extraordinary bearing. Although his words were arrogant, his temperament also contained an extraordinary stability. He was really a strange person.
When Tao Hongjing didn't know what to say to this young man, the pretty girl happened to walk over.
"Master, the money has been settled. Do you want to leave, Master?"
Xiao Yu glanced at Qingxue on the side: "Qingxue, do you guess who this Taoist priest is?"
Qingxue blinked: "I don't know, slave?"
"This is Tao Hongjing, Mr. Tongming, who is known as the Prime Minister of the Mountains!"
Qingxue looked confused.
Tao Hongjing was also surprised. Although he had been an official for several years during the Yongming Dynasty, he had already converted to Taoism and traveled around the world for many years. How had he ever been called the "Prime Minister of the Mountains"?
Seeing the blank expressions of the two people, Xiao Yu suddenly realized the recklessness of his behavior just now.
He cupped his hands and bowed to Tao Hongjing.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Tongming, I've lost my composure... I've lost my composure..."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, Xiao Langjun doesn't stick to trivial matters, that's his true nature." Tao Hongjing shook his head and said.
At this time, Qingxue reminded: "Young master, you have had enough wine and food, and you have already met the Taoist priest. You might as well say goodbye and talk about it another day."
Xiao Yu looked at the sky outside and saw that it was still early.
Tao Hongjing smiled gently: "Pindao came to Jiankang City today, firstly because of the appearance of this line hexagram, and secondly to visit friends. Today, I hit it off with Mr. Qin, so why not take advantage of this good time to go with Pindao?" Let’s travel and make some friends.”
Qingxue frowned slightly. They had been out for too long and had to return to the palace before the evening drum sounded.
But she couldn't make up her mind for her master, so she looked at Xiao Yu again.
Xiao Yu seemed to understand Qingxue's thoughts.
"Qingxue, we will travel with Mr. Tongming for half a day, and we will definitely be able to go back before the evening drum."
