Chapter 37: A Big Forest
Great Xuan inherited the ancient system, dividing Luodu City into wards and neighborhoods. Usually, five households formed a neighborhood, five neighborhoods formed a lane, and twenty lanes formed a ward, with the entire city divided into 108 wards. Thirty-six wards were in North of the Luo River, corresponding to the Heavenly Spirits, and seventy-two wards were in South of the Luo River, corresponding to the Earthly Fiends.
Wide streets separated each ward, and every ward was enclosed by walls with ward gates that opened during the day and closed at night. Inside the ward, a cross street divided it into a grid pattern, and Congshan Ward was no exception.
Lu Xiang’s fifty tables of flowing banquet filled the cross street of Congshan Ward, and all the clan members from the ward attended. Other clan members also came to join the fun, and fifty tables were not enough, so they had to add another twenty to thirty tables from elsewhere.
Halfway through the banquet, Lu Xiang became extremely drunk and vomited on the spot. He was helped home to rest, and Lu Xin had to continue hosting his father’s friends and relatives. He was a highly popular figure now, and his clansmen from South of the Luo River treated him with great courtesy. This made the few people who came from North of the Luo River very uncomfortable. A peer named Lu Ren, fueled by alcohol, held up his wine cup and toasted Lu Xin with a forced smile, saying, “Cousin, your fame has spread far and wide, and you’re soaring to success. I truly envy you, little brother. Here, I’ll toast you!”
As soon as he spoke, the crowd instantly quieted down, and Lu Xin’s expression turned cold. His notoriety, of course, stemmed from the fire ten years ago, a stigma that ordinary people couldn’t bear!
But ten years had passed, and times had changed; no one was dwelling on that incident anymore!
As for soaring to success, there was no need to explain, it was clearly a taunt that he had attached himself to the Xiahou Clan!
It’s bad manners to bring up someone’s past mistakes or to hit someone when they’re down, especially at Lu Xin’s banquet!
“Lu Ren, you’ve had too much to drink!” A clan member from Congshan Ward quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, “Come sit down and have some sour soup to sober up!”
“I’m not drunk, I just want to have a drink with my cousin,” Lu Ren retorted righteously. “What, did I say something wrong?”
The atmosphere became even more awkward, and everyone looked towards the clansmen from North of the Luo River, hoping they would say something. However, those people acted as if nothing had happened, and some even chuckled with schadenfreude.
Seeing that Lu Xin was reluctant to raise his cup, Lu Ren felt smug but feigned displeasure, saying, “Cousin, do you look down on me?” He then placed his wine cup on the table and acted as if he were leaving, saying, “Then we don’t need to drink this wine!”
Lu Ren expected Lu Xin to stop him, but to his surprise, Lu Xin didn’t say a word. This genuinely angered him, and he stormed away from the banquet, muttering profanities, “What kind of rubbish is this…”
Lu Xin’s expression turned furious upon hearing this and he was about to retaliate, when he saw Lu Ren stumble before he finished speaking, lurching forward!
On the ground was Lu Xiang’s large pool of vomit, a yellowish-brown color with traces of red and white, emitting a strong odor!
Everyone stared in stunned silence as Lu Ren plunged headfirst into the mess! With a splat, his face landed squarely in the vomit, perfectly positioned, and completely covered…
The cross street fell into complete silence, everyone’s mouths agape, staring dumbfounded at Lu Ren, who had face-planted into the vomit…
Lu Ren shot up from the ground and was about to curse, but he forgot what was all over his face. As he opened his mouth, sticky matter flowed into it. The taste was indescribably sour and refreshing!
Lu Ren’s stomach churned violently, and he vomited again… This time, not only his face but his entire body was covered…
Let alone him, even the guests next to him were gagging, it was truly disgusting!
Lu Ren, covered in vomit, felt his heart shatter into powder. He fiercely wiped his mouth, flicked away the substance on his hands, and roared at the top of his lungs, “Who did this? I’m going to kill them!”
The North of the Luo River clansmen who came with him also looked grim, and they stood up abruptly, saying, “Whoever did this, step forward immediately, or don’t blame us for disregarding our kinship!”
“…” The clansmen from South of the Luo River stopped laughing. Although it was satisfying to watch, if they were found out to be the culprit, they would surely be dragged to the Ancestral Hall and face Family Law.
“Nobody move!” Several clansmen from North of the Luo River went to the scene of the incident, intending to investigate and find the culprit!
But upon inspection, they were dumbfounded… They saw a clear green trace on the ground, with a flattened watermelon rind at the end of the trace.
Looking at Lu Ren’s shoe sole, it was covered in red and white juice, with a few black seeds stuck to it…
Therefore, there was no need for deduction; the conclusion was obvious—this fellow had slipped on the watermelon rind himself and fallen…
As for the watermelon rind, guests had eaten watermelon during the banquet and casually thrown the rinds on the ground. Who knew who had thrown it?
Lu Ren, naturally, could not accept such a conclusion. He flailed and roared, “I am a Yellow Rank expert, how could I slip on a watermelon rind?!”
“Are you not embarrassed enough?” A senior from North of the Luo River glared at him with disdain and said, “Go wash yourself off quickly!”
Seeing that the people who came with him didn’t support him either, Lu Ren knew it was useless to make a scene. He fiercely dropped a sentence: “This matter isn’t over, we’ll see!” and left in a furious rage. As he passed by, everyone covered their noses and dodged him, afraid of being contaminated.
“Alright, it was just an accident, let’s continue,” the elder concluded. Although the division between South and North of the Luo River was clear, they were still of the same clan, and a major incident would be embarrassing for everyone. Now that they had a reason to explain it away, they were happy to let it go.
However, this incident greatly soured the atmosphere at the banquet. After sitting for a short while, the people from North of the Luo River took their leave. The neighbors from Congshan Ward also lost their appetite from the unpleasantness, and the banquet dispersed before sunset…
The restaurant’s shop assistants and servants would clean up outside. Lu Yun helped his slightly tipsy father into the courtyard house. All the courtyard houses in Congshan Ward belonged to the Lu Clan, and they were all the same size, allocated for collateral lineage clan members to reside in. The courtyard had two sections: the front yard contained the hall and servants’ quarters, and the back yard was the inner residence, with a main house of three rooms and two side rooms each in the East and West Wings.
Lu Yun helped Lu Xin towards the west main room, which was his and Madam Lu’s room. Lu Xin, however, said, “Go sit in your room for a bit…”
Lu Yun helped Lu Xin into the East Wing Room. After taking off his shoes and entering, he served Lu Xin, who sat down by the low table. Lu Yun then proceeded to prepare tea to help him sober up. At the same time, he casually asked, “What’s the recent news from the Capital City?”
“It’s different from what you expected; the Emperor and the Xiahou Clan did not come into conflict. After my return to the Capital City, it was just a formality; the Emperor has no intention of pursuing it further,” Lu Xin said, rubbing his slightly aching temples as he explained to Lu Yun. “Firstly, neither side was confident. Secondly, it’s said that the Heavenly Master Dao sent Heavenly Master talismans to both sides, hoping they would put the greater good first.”
“The Heavenly Master Dao has quite a lot of influence!” Lu Yun raised an eyebrow. Those Taoists were indeed a lot of trouble.
“The Heavenly Master Dao already has considerable influence, and I heard that True Person Bu Er also vouched for them,” Lu Xin said softly. “In this world, no one dares to disrespect Zhang Xuanyi.”
“Zhang Xuanyi?!” Hearing that hypocritical name, Lu Yun’s anger surged. That old Taoist priest personally set the rule that the Heavenly Master Dao must not interfere in politics, yet he brazenly participated in the Baoen Temple Incident! According to Uncle Bao, if Zhang Xuanyi hadn’t suddenly intervened, the victory or defeat would still have been uncertain!
It is said that after this old Taoist priest returned to the mountain, he resigned from his position as Sect Leader and went into seclusion in the back mountain to reflect on his mistakes! Now it seems that was just to deceive people! And yet, as soon as there was an issue in the court, he couldn’t wait to jump out and assert his presence!
“Good! Very good!” Lu Yun’s expression turned slightly ferocious, and he let out cold laughs repeatedly. “Let me add a bit more fuel to the fire; I don’t believe Zhang Xuanyi can still control them!”
“Don’t do anything reckless,” Lu Xin said, frowning deeply. “This is the Capital City; it’s hard to keep things secret!”
“That’s not necessarily true!” Lu Yun snorted coldly. Realizing he had lost his composure, he quickly lowered his head and continued to fiddle with the tea set.
Lu Xin watched him crumble the compressed tea, place it in the bowl, pour boiling water into the tea bowl, and rhythmically stir it with the tea whisk, causing tea foam to rise.
Cicadas chirped outside the window, while inside the young master prepared tea, and the moment felt like eternity.
Lu Xin watched for a while, then suddenly chuckled and said, “That melon rind was thrown by you, wasn’t it?”
