What non-serious illness required such a long diagnosis and treatment process? Liang Shu had been sitting there for half a day. His back hurt, and he became increasingly bored. He wanted to go into the courtyard and play with the bird, but feared that this would lead to the next piece of admonishment, “Be prepared for danger in times of peace, abstain from extravagance and be frugal.” He called to the little maid in front of him and asked: “Is your Old Master actually seriously ill?”

The little maid replied respectfully: “The illness is not serious, but he is old, so the treatment process is a bit more troublesome. The last time Doctor Zhang came to see him, he needed to do acupuncture for three hours.”

Liang Shu knew that Doctor Zhang was well-known for his speed in treating patients. He had fixed his dislocated arm when he was a child, and his technique was nearly comparable to that of a shadowless swordsman. Since even he had to examine him for three hours, wouldn’t it be necessary for his own family’s slow, lazy person to stay for three days?

At this thought, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang immediately had a severe headache. It was fine for that old man to talk a lot when he was a court official, but now that he had resigned, he could still go around causing him trouble. It was simply baffling to death.

But in fact, Old Master Lu was not in an agreeable mood at this time. He believed that he was loyal, benevolent, righteous and upright, and indeed used this as his motto. He had stood upright in the court hall for decades, his soul burning for Dayan, and now that he was old, he was asked by a young man, what have you done in your life for the common people?

He was half stunned and half dumbfounded. Liu Xian’an was not deliberately going against the old man, but besides diagnosing him, he also wanted to explain the truth clearly. A dynasty should naturally have loyal and devoted ministers, but there was no tolerance for any so called “deviant” people to make casual suggestions here and there, which was really troublesome.

Old Master Lu wanted to retort, but at the moment, he didn’t know where to start. In addition, being treated so rudely by a junior, there was even more irritability in his ill heart, so he simply closed his eyes indignantly. He immediately said: “Miracle Doctor Liu, it is getting late. Why don’t I send the doctor back home first?”

Liu Xian’an shook his head. “There is no rush. The acupuncture has not been finished yet.”

Old Master Lu flicked his sleeves and said: “I am in good health these days. There is only a slight pain in my ribs. I will not trouble the miracle doctor.”

A-Ning covertly tugged on his young master’s clothes from behind, indicating that it was best to persuade him. Liu Xian’an said: “Old Master Lu’s lower ribs are swollen and painful, and his diet is reduced, which is caused by long-term depression and anger. Acupuncture can only provide temporary relief, but cannot cure the root case. You still must change your temperament, otherwise, in the long run, you may have poor blood circulation and blocked meridians, and the five internal organs may be affected. By then it would be difficult for the gods to heal you, not to mention a miracle doctor.”

Old Master Liu asked rhetorically: “Could it be that I still fear death?”

These sounded generous and calm to others, but he happened to meet the immortal who was the most indifferent to life and death in this world. Liu Xian’an nodded: “Death is also fine.”

Young Master Lu: “Cough, cough, cough, cough.”

A-Ning patted him on the back sympathetically.

Old Master Lu said coldly: “The miracle doctor seems to dislike this old man very much.”

“The Old Master worries too much.” Liu Xian’an said, “When you are alive, you have dreams but do not understand them. Sometimes you think you have awakened from a dream, not knowing that you have entered another big dream. Life and death in dreams are nothing more than closing your eyes and opening them, so I will never force a patient to live. If the Old Master thinks that death is better, then he can die. This dream will end and another dream will come to life. Isn’t everything in the universe repeated like this?”

Old Master Lu’s lips trembled for a long time, and he spoke a pent-up sentence: “Sophistry!”

“It is the Heavenly Dao,” Liu Xian’an said. “If we insist on talking about the difference between this dream and that dream, it may be that in the next dream, the Old Master might not see his little granddaughter. When I came in just now, I saw her wearing a colorful silk skirt. She was extremely loveable and cute, five years old?”

“Nearly seven years old.” Young Master Liu finally found a chance to interrupt, and stepped forward quickly.

“Seven years old, ah. Then in ten years, she will find someone she likes” Liu Xian’an packed the medicine bag. “If the Old Master wants to drink wedding wine, he must learn to relax his mind and appreciate the beauty in all things. The sunset in the northeast, the vast Eastern Sea, the Baihe River like the mother of the earth, nourishing thousands of acres of fertile plains. There is also the prince, who is brave, resourceful, and has the world in his heart. At a young age, his pacified the northwest and settled the southwest, and is single-handedly responsible for the stable livelihoods of tens of millions of people on the border. The Old Master can take leave to recuperate when he is ill, but when the prince is injured, he can only take a handful of medicine in the trenches. The Old Master turns a blind eye to all his hard work, and only notices his arrogant character, accusing him of being unwilling to be a loyal, obedient, and honest person. How could there be such an absurd truth in the world?”

Young Master Lu looked at his grandfather, scared out of his wits.

Breathing heavily, Old Master Lu said: “His Royal Highness Xiao Wang has outstanding military exploits. Of course I know that, but as a minister, one should…..one should…..cough, cough.”

Liu Xian’an deftly injected a needle to stop his coughing. Old Master Liu wanted to faint, but failed, so he had to continue sitting. Liu Xian’an said: “There should be many rules for being a minister, but the prince was not born to follow rules, so if the country was stable and the common people were prosperous, I would have taken him away long ago to roam freely around the world. And the reason he is currently staying in Wangcheng, the reason he is willing to continue staying in a palace full of rules, what do you think that is?

Young Master Lu answered the question to smooth things over. That is naturally because the prince attaches great importance to the country and its people. Admirable, admirable.

“I like the prince’s temperament very much. If the Old Master doesn’t like it, he doesn’t have to see it. Simply find someone to carry the burden of the military for the prince and allow him to be free in the world.” Liu Xian’an stood up and said, “If you cannot do these two things, I am afraid you can only continue to be angry. Because the prince must continue to stand in court, and the Old Master can only suffer from pain in the ribs to the five organs. In the end, you will collapse in a mixture of pus and blood, and it will be difficult for the gods to save you.”

Old Master Lu thought in a daze, look for another person? But where was there such a person in the world?

Liu Xian’an’s heart said, you won’t find one. He didn’t know if he could convince this pedantic white-bearded old man, but at least he tried. Death was death. Everything died and everything was born. There was nothing wrong with that.

He left a prescription and walked out like an immortal.

A-Ning followed behind with the small medicine box and thought with admiration, ah, no wonder the young master had to eat cold fruit to moisten his throat this afternoon!

Seeing that the master and servant had finally left, the guards in the courtyard all breathed sighs of relief. As for the servants of Lu Manor, they were only able to raise their hands to wipe their sweat after the courtyard door closed with a squeak and look at each other, not daring to say anything out loud.

Liang Shu in the front hall had almost fallen asleep waiting. He was sitting in the Eight Immortals chair, holding his forehead with one hand and closing his eyes tightly. The summer breeze blew a few strands of his hair slightly up, his facial features were deep, and his robes were like water. His entire person looked like the beautiful statue of a war god from the western regions. The little maid blushed and her heart skipped a beat. She thought to herself that if she got married in the future, she would definitely marry such a good-looking man, and definitely not marry someone bad-looking.

As she looked, she suddenly saw the corners of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s mouth rise slightly. The little maid was startled, thinking that she had been caught secretly observing him, and quickly lowered her head.

The next moment, another white shadow passed in front of her eyes. Liang Shu smiled and stretched out his arms, pulling in the person in front of him. “Finished taking a look?”

“Finished.” Liu Xian’an intertwined their fingers. “Let’s go home.”

Seeing that Young Master Lu was still standing outside the door, waiting to see the guests off, Liang Shu didn’t ask any more questions. It wasn’t until they went out and boarded the carriage that he said: “How is the old man?”

“If he does as I said, he will have no problem living for another seven or eight years. If he does not listen, it is hard to say.”

“See, I said that old man is troublesome but looks like he’ll live a long time.”

“En.”

Liu Xian’an had just talked a lot, and was thirsty and tired. When they returned home, he drank two large cups of water in one breath. Liang Shu watched for a long time and then reached out and poked his gurgling stomach, asking in confusion: “The Lu family wouldn’t even give you a cup of water?”

“I didn’t want it, and had no time.” Liu Xian’an breathed out. “I’m going to bathe first.”

When Liang Shu went out, he gestured to the two Imperial guards: “Speak.”

“Answering Your Highness, Second Young Master Liu reprimanded the Old Master.”

Liang Shu seemed to have gone deaf: “What?”

The Imperial guards were all children of noble families and had studied a lot, so their ability to memorize words was much better than that of Lieutenant General Gao. The two said: “Old Master Lu is still up to his old ways, giving the prince’s ears callouses. Second Young Master Liu is not accustomed to it. He first asked the old man what practical things he had done for the common people in his life and also enumerated the prince’s achievements, saying that if he really couldn’t stand the prince, he could…..die? Or find someone to take over the prince’s position.”

Liang Shu: “Pfft!”

“Also, the Second Young Master said that he likes the prince’s arrogant character and wants to elope with him.”

“What elopement, it was just to run away with him.”

“Running away with him is nothing less than elopement.”

“……”

“Ahem.” The Imperial guard continued, “In short, Second Young Master Liu made an impassioned speech, and his words were not outdone. We listened outside the window. The old man didn’t say ten sentences in total, and he even stuttered at the end.”

Liang Shu was in a very good mood, so he tossed them pieces of silver as a reward and went to the bathing room to find a certain person with his hands behind his back, not forgetting to tidy up his clothes before going inside. After all, they were going to elope, so he naturally had to look handsome and charming.

Liu Xian’an was not in the mood to admire him carefully, so sleepy from soaking in the hot water that he didn’t want to talk or even open his eyes. Liang Shu tied his wet hair up and took a cloth to wipe his shoulders, saying with a sigh: “I originally came here to be a frivolous beauty, but now I’ve found hard labor in the bathhouse scrubbing someone’s back.”

Liu Xian’an laughed. He leaned on the edge of the tub and exposed his back to him. A slender waist emerged from the bathwater, and Liang Shu’s hand descended smoothly. His palm slid over two pieces of soft, smooth jade as he drew closer and said: “Shall I come in to accompany you?”

“It can’t fit two people.”

“I’ll hold you.”

Liu Xian’an frowned slightly and felt that bathing in such a way would be too cumbersome. Just when he was about to refuse, the water in the tub was already surging. Liang Shu held his waist and suddenly lifted the person on top of him. Liu Xian’an had nowhere to balance, so he could only place his arms around the other’s shoulders. When he looked down in a daze, his lips were wet and red from the water.

Before Liang Shu could be scolded, he rushed to take a bite of this flash of color.

Although the peaches boiled in sugar water were sweet, they were not sweet enough to enter His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s heart. Now, he was truly marinated in honey and sugar, making his bones soft and tender.

The water in the bathtub rippled all over the floor, and the cold fruit eaten in the afternoon had no effect on soothing his throat. Liu Xian’an buried his head in the other person’s shoulder. He couldn’t take it anymore and begged, but he couldn’t tell the difference between reality and dreams.

Because in his dreams, there was also some slightly hot water and the same mighty person.

In the end, he couldn’t even remember which time and space he fell asleep in.

Liang Shu picked this person up and placed him on the soft wool rug in the bathroom.

He was far from satisfied, and the night was still very long.

. . . . . . .

Dragging his aching body, he moved with difficulty to the table in broad daylight, drank two cups of tea, and lay back in bed. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell back to sleep. This time, he didn’t even see His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in the Three Thousand Worlds. He found a cabin, locked the door, and had a crane carry the cabin to the end of the sky. Wrapped up in a quilt, he slept in such a big dream that he didn’t know how to return…..and he also didn’t want to return, because he would be tired if he returned.

And lazy eggs hated being tired the most.

But Liang Shu was not tired at all. Even Liang Yu felt that the man looked radiant today as he stood among a bunch of officials that morning, simply outstanding and unparalleled. After asking around the court, he found out that Second Young Master Liu was going to elope with his unfortunate younger brother.

“……”

Liang Yu’s brain ached, and he felt that he might as well not have asked. He was happy just because of this feckless thing?

An Imperial guard hurriedly said: “Although Old Master Lu didn’t say a word last night, when I heard Doctor Wang talk about it this morning, he really seemed to have cheered up a bit. Although he still sighs once or twice from time to time, it is much better than his deeply worried appearance before. Doctor Wang took the opportunity to suggest that he go to Beiyang City to rest for a while, and the Old Master seemed to agree.”

“Really?” Liang Yu thought for a moment. “Bah, since he agreed, let us arrange for him to leave as soon as possible, so that my ears will be clean quicker.”

Three days later, the Lu family’s contingent drove out of the city at dusk. As they left, various rumors began to spread throughout Wangcheng. One of the most widely-circulated stories was that Second Young Master Liu had fought three hundred rounds with him and forced that person to leave.

Many court officials were also shocked. After all, Old Master Lu had been an official for many years, and had always been the one to scold others. How could anyone scold him back? What’s more, they scolded him out of the royal city. Did he have such an eloquent tongue?

Therefore, there were some meddlesome people who went around to find out what exactly Second Young Master Liu said.

“What did Second Young Master Liu say?” The female entertainers also gathered around and asked curiously.

A junior official lowered his voice and said: “It is said that Second Young Master Liu told Old Master Lu that if he dared to scold His Royal Highness Xiao Wang again in the future, he would die immediately!”

The female entertainers said: “…..Sir, listen to yourself, is this human speech?”

The official said: “It was something like that. Anyway, that is what is said outside.”

“We don’t believe it.” The female entertainers sat back in their respective seats and continued to drink tea and eat melon seeds. What kind of person was Second Young Master Liu? He had passed by on horseback yesterday on the main street, wearing an unknown rare material. His whole body sparkled, and his appearance was like that of an immortal. How could an immortal say such words to scold someone?

Moreover, Old Master Lu was known for being a stubborn person. He would bang his head against a pillar to remonstrate with his blood at every turn. How could he have the temperament to run away with his entire family just after being scolded by others to go die? Fake, extremely fake.

Therefore, rumors continued to circulate indiscriminately. Although the common people knew that their credibility was worrisome, they did not hesitate to seize them and discuss them in the streets and alleys for fun. 

Liang Shu sent people to scout the city for several days, but they found no harsh rumors, so he stopped searching and asked: “Where is Xiao An? Still in the ancient book tower?”

“Answering Your Highness, Second Young Master Liu has returned.” The servant said, “He should be in the study now, discussing the renovation drawings with the craftsmen.”

Liang Shu then stood up to seek him out. Before he entered the door, he saw a group of craftsmen gathered together in the courtyard with troubled expressions. It was unknown what they were whispering about, so he asked, “What, can it not be repaired?”

“Your Royal Highness.” Everyone saluted, and then someone said hesitantly, Second Young Master Liu has not expressed his thoughts yet, but just now we took a look at the diagram spread out on the table and it seemed…..it seemed to be a house that could fly.

Heavens, who could create this?

Liang Shu raised his eyebrows slightly, then pushed the door open and entered the study. Liu Xian’an was still lying on the table, drawing a diagram carefully without looking up. Liang Shu stood behind him and looked to the side to see an exquisite pavilion floating above the layers of clouds, the moon and the sun hanging not far away. It really could fly. He said with a smile: “Can it be built?”

“It is not possible now, but perhaps in the future.” Liu Xian’an explained all the detailed parts. It was not too troublesome.

Liang Shu nodded and kept him company for a while, watching. There were tables, chairs, a qin, and snacks in the flying pavilion. It was comfortable and leisurely, pleasing to an immortal. Naturally, it did not lack the most important thing, a bed. Liu Xian’an drew the bed according to the style of his waterside pavilion. Liang Shu was dissatisfied, and pointed out: “This is too small, make it a little bigger.”

Liu Xian’an agreed perfunctorily with an “En, en,” but his drawing did not change. It was still a narrow bed. One person could feel comfortable lying on it, but two people would find it too cramped.

Liang Shu grabbed his hair tie: “Then where should I sleep?”

Liu Xian’an muttered something unclearly.

Liang Shu frowned, thought for a moment, and then realized: “You don’t intend to leave me alone on the floor, do you?”

Liu Xian’an responded unclearly: “Wu.” It is fine for you to stay here for a while. Anyway, I won’t be flying in the sky forever.

Liang Shu was very dissatisfied: “Why!”

Liu Xian’an replied: “No reason.”

Since they were always together in this world and in the Three Thousand Worlds, then by building a pavilion in this world that could only be found in the Three Thousand Worlds, couldn’t he take a vacation? Liu Xian’an felt very tired when he thought about his backache that night. And it was foreseeable that there would be many nights like this, so he refused to make the bed bigger. Without you, I can sleep alone.

Liang Shu asked: “Then if your pavilion is blown away by the wind, where should I go to chase it?”

Liu Xian’an thought for a while and made a concession: “Then let me draw you a rope.”

“Good, you draw it.”

Liu Xian’an really drew a line as thin as a kite string.

“It’s too thin!”

“It won’t break.”

“Who says it won’t break.”

“I say it won’t!”

Liang Shu: “…..Okay, okay, okay. You have the final say.”

Being able to annoy the all-capable Sleeping Immortal to this level was indeed His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s unique ability.

Liu Xian’an traced the length of the line and drew a dashing man on the ground, holding the other end of the line in his hand.

Liang Shu gave a soft light and said in his ear: “Then I must hold on tighter.”

Liu Xian’an warned: “Don’t always pull me down.”

“I won’t pull you.” Liang Shu said, “You can sleep up there, but if I really want to, I can just climb up along the line and look at you. I will only look from a distance and leave when I’ve seen enough, and never bother you, okay?”

Liu Xian’an gave an “En.” Okay.

But I won’t sleep for long. I will take a short nap and then go home.

The two of them simply leaned together and drew a flying pavilion, speaking of things that others would not know or comprehend, until they finally filled up the entire paper. Liu Xian’an dried the ink and carefully placed the drawing into a box. It didn’t matter if it could not be built. In any case, in his mind, the pavilion was already swaying amongst the clouds, floating very freely.

When Liang Shu left the study, the circle of craftsmen outside hurriedly gathered around and asked: “Did the prince revise the drawing with Second Young Master Liu?”

“Yes, the changes have been completed,” Liang Shu said. “But you don’t need to build that pavilion.”

What a joke. Even if they were asked to build it, would they be able to? The craftsmen all laughed together and inquired: “Then…..I wonder which skilled craftsman should be invited to build it?”

Liang Shu said, calm and relaxed: “Me.”

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