Chapter 5: The Great Calamity That Fills Heaven

  Lu Biao had been kneeling for two hours already, and earlier when he came in, Lu Song Zheng saw him, but thought the two brothers had gone out to play, so didn't pay attention, turning a blind eye, not wanting to be too strict with discipline.

  Who would have thought that a glance would reveal a bloodstain on Zhu Houzhen's clothes, and his heart would be shocked to know that his son Lu Bing had definitely gone astray with Zhu Houzhen. Originally, Zhu Houzhen was quite playful, and the last time he fell into the water, he had to pull Lu Bing along, and Lu Bing couldn't refuse him, so he did it for him. Zhu Houzhen saw that the ice on the water had already frozen, and he wanted to go up and play, but unexpectedly, the ice cracked, and Zhu Houzhen fell into the water. Lu Bing used all his strength to rescue Zhu Houzhen, and then he was exhausted and sank to the bottom. Fortunately, a fisherman saved Lu Bing, and Lu Bing was safe and sound, and has now recovered.

  After that, Lu Bing's personality changed greatly. The original honest and kind Lu Bing was gone, replaced by someone even more mischievous than Zhu Hou Chen. He would often say strange things and do strange deeds. Although his reading and writing skills had regressed slightly, he had a strong ability to learn and could remember everything he read. His martial arts skills also improved rapidly, leaving Lu Song feeling both worried and happy.

  All parents in the world hope their children will become dragons, and seeing Lu Bingfei not only didn't become stupid from drowning but instead became smarter, Lu Song was more tolerant of Lu Bing's mischievousness. But today's matter he couldn't tolerate, as a father even if his son stirred up trouble that shook the heavens, he would still want to cover for him, as long as it could be covered. However, Lu Song's duty was to protect King Xing, and it seemed like Lu Bing had clearly taken King Xing out to play, with blood on King Xing's hem, which wasn't a small matter!

  Lu Song naturally did not dare to scold or interrogate Zhu Houzhen, even though he was just a child, but also a vassal king. Lu Bing received double punishment, kneeling until the matter was settled.

  Lu Bing's heart was clear that his mother was already pregnant, and as long as his mother begged for mercy, his father would definitely forgive him. Now he couldn't afford to loosen up, after all: confessing and showing leniency is better than resisting and being strict, going home for the New Year is just this kind of principle.

  Just as he was thinking about this, Lu Song quickly walked in and pulled up Lu Bing, then scolded: "You little brat, do you know who you've offended?"

  Lu Biao thought his father was teasing him, so he remained silent. But Lu Song didn't press the issue and instead said: "The young master of the Jiang family is also someone you can afford to offend? You even broke his leg! You're really talented! The Jiang family's power is overwhelming, with Uncle Jiang Bin in the imperial court. Do you know who Jiang Bin is? He's a powerful eunuch, the emperor's adopted son, responsible for the emperor's personal bodyguards, and he controls the Embroidered Uniform Guard. What kind of people are they? You've offended them, how can your father protect you? Forget it, forget it, son! Run away as far as you can, change your name and hide, never come back again!"

  Lu Bing knew that things had already been exposed, but he didn't expect to have caused such a big trouble. Jiang Bin and Qian Ning were famous treacherous officials in history books, and now he had actually offended one of them. In Lu Bing's impression, treacherous officials were usually powerful and seemed to live by the motto "good people die young, bad people live forever". So when Lu Bing heard his father's words, he started sweating.

  Xiao Rui walked over with a bundle, inside were dry rations and clothes, Lu Song took it and handed it to Lu Bing. After thinking for a moment, he ran back into the house, grabbed a waist knife and gave it to Lu Bing. Lu Bing recognized that it was an ancestral knife, its steel edge was extremely sharp, able to cut hair with just a blow, it had already been passed down for several hundred years. The hilt of the knife was a ferocious tiger head, although its appearance was ancient and rough, but it perfectly matched the Lu family's ancestral "Thirteen Killing Knives". Although this set of knife techniques only had three moves left, its power remained undiminished.

  The scabbard was paired by later generations, it can be seen that the family situation was not bad at that time, made of shark skin, with various precious stones inlaid on it. Lu Bing did not hesitate, he knew that this time he would be fleeing for his life, and he needed a sharp weapon to rely on. The good days had not been enjoyed enough, but they had fallen into such a situation, making Lu Bing sigh.

  Lu Biao took the knife, and Lu Song gave him a stack of paper notes and a small package. The package contained silver ingots and fine silks, while the stack of paper notes was the Da Ming Tongbao, one of the stipends issued by the imperial court. Although it had already depreciated in value and many merchants refused to accept this kind of money, on the road to escape, there was no room for such pickiness, so it was better than nothing.

  Lu Bing did not shed tears, nor was he sorrowful. He only held back the tears that wanted to burst forth and said to Lu Song: "Father, I will definitely make a name for myself and return home in glory."

  Lu Song nodded his head in approval of Lu Bing's carefree attitude, saying: "My son must be careful, on the road there is no father to take care of you, you have to make your own way, don't be reckless and impulsive again."

  "My son will remember your teachings." Lu Bing bowed with his fists, then knelt down and kowtowed three times.

  When he got up, Lu Bing's legs were really uncomfortable. He had been kneeling for two hours earlier, and his legs had long since gone numb. Now he could only walk out the door like a cripple. Lu Bing turned to Lu Song and said, "Father, I want to go see Mother again."

  Lu Song shook his head and said, "Your mother is pregnant and can't take the shock. You'd better leave now, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Wait until everything has calmed down, then sneak back home."

  Lu Biao nodded, thinking his father was right. He then took out a small wooden box from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Rui, forcing a smile on his face: "This is for you, Xiao Rui. I'm sorry about what happened this morning." After finishing speaking, he quickly walked towards the gate, Lu Song standing in place, not seeing him off, but only watching his son's back, then letting out a deep sigh: Ah, my son, whether it's good fortune or bad, it's all up to your destiny.

  Lu Biao walked out of the courtyard, Xiao Hui chased after him, and from behind, she hugged Lu Biao tightly, sobbing quietly. Just then, Zhu Houzhen's voice rang out: "What time is it now? Where do you have the leisure to indulge in romantic feelings? Brother Biao, hurry up and mount your horse."

  Zhu Houxi led a sorrel horse, personally helping Lu Bing to mount the horse. Lu Bing didn't hesitate anymore, pried open Xiaorui's tightly clasped hands, slung the bundle diagonally across his body, and then said: "Houxi, this time I don't know when we'll meet again. If the government investigates today's matter, just push everything onto me. Anyway, I'm leaving, they can't catch anyone."

  Zhu Houzhe nodded: "Don't worry, no matter what I am a vassal king, I'm not afraid of that little Jiang Bin. Hmph, one day I will kill him." As he spoke, Zhu Houzhe's eyes flashed with a hint of murderous intent again, but quickly calmed down and handed Lu Bing a package.

  Lu Biao took over and found that there was not much silver inside, the poor family's wealth had changed. Lu Biao didn't say anything, he slanted it across his chest, although his heart was a bit flustered, but his face still smiled calmly: "This money isn't stolen by you again, is it?"

  Zhu Houxi smiled and replied: "That's right, but it's not stealing from your dad, your dad gave you all the money, he really loves you, this is stealing from our own family, haha." As soon as these words came out, Lu Biao almost shed tears, and quickly looked up at the sky, forcing his tears back.

  Zhu Houzhen said: "I will take good care of Lu Niang and your father, Biao Ge, take care of yourself more, we'll meet again!"

  "Take care!" Lu Bing immediately made a fist, put the new package in front of his chest, whipped the horse and galloped away. The sky is vast and the earth is wide, where is Lu Bing's home?

  Looking back at the increasingly distant home, and Zhu Houzhi and Xiao Rui becoming two small dots, thinking of his mother who was six months pregnant and his father who was stern but protective like a mountain, Lu Bing couldn't help but burst into tears. As the saying goes, "A man has tears that he doesn't easily shed", only because it hasn't reached the point of heartbreak yet.

  This gallop was a night's journey, until the second day dawned, and the sorrel horse had foamed white. Lu Bing reined in his horse, asked an early-rising old farmer, and found that he had already arrived at Dongqiao Town. Lu Bing slightly calmed down, gave the horse water to drink, pulled some fodder from the roadside, and slowly led the horse towards the town.

  Dongqiao Town was not small, but it didn't have a city wall, just a natural gathering place surrounded by many residential houses. At this time, it was still early, and there were not many people on the street, only a few shops were open for business, but there were quite a few food stalls. Lu Bing found a mutton restaurant and sat down, ordering a bowl of mutton soup. Just as the soup was boiling hot, the waiter asked: "Sir, what would you like to eat?"

  "Bring a bowl of mutton noodles." Lu Bing was exhausted and said weakly, the waiter poured a pot of hot tea with great presence of mind, then said: "You wait for a moment, first drink some hot tea to warm up your body."

  "Thanks," said Lu Bing politely, and the waiter called out to the kitchen staff to make a bowl of mutton noodles. Then he stood beside Lu Bing and chatted idly, not because he wanted a tip, but simply because there were no other customers at this hour, and the idle waiter had nothing better to do.

  "This shopkeeper is a chatterbox: 'Sir, you really know how to eat! This mutton noodles must be eaten in the first bowl. The soup and meat below are not cooked in the same pot. The one below was simmered overnight, while the meat is old broth. The freshly simmered mutton soup from last night, boiled this morning, that fatty flavor... oh my, I almost drool! Why do I say the first bowl is good? Because the later bowls have more flour in the soup, making it thinner. Only those who know how to drink dare to take the first bowl. Today, you're really in a hurry, aren't you? Where are you from, sir? You look like you've been traveling far and wide.'"

  Lu Bing was at a loss for words, thinking that even in that era there were gossipy people. Lu Bing knew he was fleeing and couldn't tell the truth, so he had to come up with an excuse to get by. Just then, the noodles were done, and the cook called out to Xiao Er, who ran off, thus avoiding a lot of unnecessary talk.

  The young waiter carried a bowl of mutton noodles and held a small seasoning bowl, walking over with a smile. As he walked, he couldn't stop swallowing saliva, his eyes fixed on the corner of the waiter's mouth, afraid that he would accidentally drip a few drops of saliva into it.

  When Xiao Er was halfway through carrying the bowl, a loud and clear laughter came from outside: "Haha, it smells so good! It looks like it's the first bowl prepared for me, Summer Uncle!" A burly man with a thick beard walked in, wearing only an open chest and exposing his hairy chest. He had a butcher knife hanging from his waist, clearly showing that he was a butcher, a standard and pure one.

  The big man walked over quickly, first sniffing the nose, and his whiskers almost reached into the bowl. He then took the bowl with one hand, without fear of scalding, and inserted his dark hands into the bowl, completely ignoring Lu Biao. The man put the bowl on a nearby table, pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, wiped them on his dirty clothes, and was about to eat. Lu Biao frowned, wondering how he could encounter such a bully everywhere, it was really unlucky.