Chapter 044: Wise man! Young Master Chang!
On this day, Zheng County, where a nobleman came, also welcomed a sinner.
This sinner was special.
He was sitting in a carriage, and even had some retainers accompanying him.
This person is Peng Yue.
Liu Bang did not kill Peng Yue, nor did he arrange a prisoner carriage for him, because he was seriously ill and he was afraid that he would die from the fatigue of the carriage. At the same time, he arranged for several retainers that Peng Yue trusted to serve him by his side, giving him the respect that a prince should have. Along the way, although the soldiers did not communicate with him, they did not deliberately humiliate or beat him.
Peng Yue coughed softly. Liu Bang's pardon finally brought him back to life. Although he still felt aggrieved, he walked in front, and his family and clan followed behind. They were all going to a small county town in Shu, where they would spend the rest of their lives.
Peng Yue sighed helplessly. The local officials had already known about his arrival and quickly handed over to the soldiers who were escorting him. These officials did not dare to see Peng Yue or communicate with him. Peng Yue was a traitor. It was not a good thing to have anything to do with traitors. Moreover, he was a special traitor who had a good relationship with the emperor.
This is very troublesome. One cannot be too close to him, lest he be considered to be related to the rebels; nor can one be too harsh, lest he be punished by the emperor.
In addition, Peng Yue was in poor health, and everyone was very worried. If Peng Yue died here, no one knew how the emperor would react.
Therefore, local officials did not meet with Peng Yue, but directly arranged him in an inn in the county, hoping that he could get a good rest and leave quickly.
Peng Yue sat calmly in the courtyard of the post house, with a glass of steaming wine and a sumptuous meal on the desk in front of him. The soldiers did not allow him to go out, so he asked his servants to keep the door open so that he could see the world outside through this window. He looked outside while eating and drinking, as if his former comrades were sitting on the other side of the door.
Just as Peng Yue was commemorating his old brothers who died in battle because of him, suddenly, a round head poked in from the door.
The head looked left and right, then stared at Peng Yue.
It was a young boy. He swallowed and asked, "Are you eating meat?"
Peng Yue nodded, but before he could say anything, the child walked in and sat down in front of him without restraint. The guests around him were furious and stood up one after another, but Peng Yue shook his head at them.
Now, in the eyes of others, he is a poisonous snake. No one dares to talk to him, no one dares to pay attention to him. It is better to be a child, who is not afraid of anything and does not have the thoughts of an adult.
"If you can't finish all the meat by yourself, wouldn't it be a waste?"
"Hahaha, you really can talk!"
The originally angry retainers couldn't help but cry out when they heard this.
Peng Yue smiled and pushed the meat in front of him slightly towards the child. The child was really rude and grabbed the meat and started to tear it into pieces. He kept muttering while eating, "The meat is overcooked and has no toughness. After all, this is a small place..."
"Kid, did you run away alone? Where are your family members?"
"Don't mention it. I finally managed to shake them off, but I don't know when they were captured... Hmm... Xiang..."
"Why don't you eat?"
The naughty boy looked at Peng Yue in front of him and suddenly asked.
“I can’t eat.”
"What ca n't you eat? You are so hypocritical. You can't eat meat?"
"The food is tasteless..."
"Then you should go out more often. You know, I was the same at first. I looked down on my own food. Later, I traveled to various places, including Zhao, Dai, Qi, Chu, and Yan. There was no place I hadn't been. Along the way, I met all kinds of people."
"The meals I usually look down upon are luxurious meals that some people dare not even think about in their entire lives. I saw people who had no land to farm and had to sell themselves into slavery. I also saw people who had no food and had to exchange their children for food... Think about all those poor people. How wonderful it is that we can still eat meat."
The child's words shocked everyone around him, "Don't brag, kid! I see you are only five or six years old, how could you have traveled to so many places? Selling yourself as a slave is common to us, but exchanging children for food, how can there be such a terrible thing? "
“Who’s bragging?!”
"Then tell me, who was in charge of those places you just visited?"
"Liu Ruyi was supposed to be in charge of Yan and Dai, but Liu Ruyi was too young and behaved very badly, so Zhou Chang and Chen Xi were appointed. The leader of Qi was Liu Fei, the leader of Chu was Liu Jiao, the leader of Jing was Liu Jia, the leader of Liang was Peng Yue, the leader of Huainan was Ying Bu, and the leader of Yan was Lu Wan..."
The guests were even more surprised. It was amazing that a child was so familiar with all these things.
Peng Yue also looked at the child in front of him in amazement, and said with emotion: "Seeing this child, I realized that I am really old."
The child continued, "I have traveled all over the world and experienced a lot. I was once surrounded by a group of people. I stole a sword and killed one person. As a result, I vomited for several days and nights and almost died. I was so scared that I couldn't sleep at night... But now I feel much better..."
Peng Yue and his followers were stunned and were stunned. You said he was fake, but what he described was very realistic. He talked about the various feelings after killing someone. They also knew that the first time he killed someone, it was indeed like that. But if you said he was genuine, what he said was very outrageous.
As they stared in amazement, the naughty boy blew the meat and ate at the same time, and soon finished all the meat on the table.
If Peng Yue hadn't stopped him, he would have almost eaten the wine jug and the bowl and chopsticks.
The naughty boy burped and said loudly: "People, you have to learn to be content. People who have vegetables always envy those who have meat. People who have meat always envy those who can eat meat three times a day... Isn't it better to live your own life well?"
"I once went to Qi State to meet a famous scholar named Gai Gong and discuss academic matters with him."
"You... you really met Mr. Gai?"
"Of course I have. He wears the same robe all year round and likes to read books. He doesn't care about anything else, right?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! It's him!"
"He once told me that the reason why people are unhappy is because they pursue too many things. Only those who are content can be happy!"
After boasting so much, the naughty boy finally left. When he stood up to leave, Peng Yue's followers all stood up to see off the young sage. The naughty boy returned the greeting carelessly, walked to the door in a cool manner, and stopped to look at Peng Yue.
"Don't think I'm here to eat your flesh."
"I don't really like this either. I just saw you looking so sad, so I came in to advise you. I hope you can listen to me. Next time, remember to eat meat with peace of mind !"
The naughty boy said this and strode away.
"You really can't judge a person by his appearance!"
"It turns out there really is someone like Gan Luo!"
The guests were chatting excitedly, and Peng Yue was stunned for a long time. Finally, he shouted: "Give me more meat! I want to eat meat!"
On this day, a smile finally appeared on Peng Yue's face after a long period of depression. He followed these guests in eating meat and drinking happily, just like usual, extremely happy.
Liu Chang was picking his teeth at the moment. He was captured by the county lieutenant and others and walked towards the county government office. He smiled foolishly and muttered: "Gao Xian, hey, I am Gao Xian!"
…
For some reason, as soon as Liu Chang returned to the county government office, Empress Lu asked him to pack up immediately and took him away from Zheng County. However, Empress Lu did not take him to Luoyang, but went back, which made Liu Chang very depressed. But Empress Lu sternly told him not to say anything and not to ask anything.
Liu Chang naturally agreed and left with his mother overnight. They walked back for a while and then stopped, waiting for the next day.
The next day, Peng Yue left Zheng County and was heading towards his destination. Halfway there, he suddenly encountered the queen's carriage.
The soldiers escorting Peng Yue saluted hurriedly. Peng Yue, with the support of his servants, slowly stood up and then went forward alone to pay his respects to the queen.
Empress Lü was filled with worry and asked sympathetically, "Why have you become like this?"
Peng Yue expressed all the grievances in his heart, tears streaming down his face.
Empress Lü sighed and said, "It is wrong for the emperor to do this. You clearly did not commit treason, so how can he treat you like this? Why don't you just follow me back? I will take you to see the emperor and persuade him. I will definitely make him change his mind and change the punishment for you."
Hearing Empress Lü's words, Peng Yue was extremely excited. He wiped his tears and said, "Your Majesty will not believe me..."
The two were chatting, and when Peng Yue asked about the purpose of Lu Hou's visit, Lu Hou smiled and pulled a little guy out of the carriage.
"My child and I haven't seen Your Majesty for a long time. The child missed Your Majesty very much and cried all day long. So I took him with me and prepared to go to Zhao to see Your Majesty. We traveled all night and arrived here today... He is my favorite child. I call him Chang. He has been obedient and well-behaved since he was young..."
Empress Lu hugged Liu Chang with difficulty and kissed him on the face several times.
But at this moment, Liu Chang had no intention of accepting the love from his mother. He looked at the familiar old man in front of him, stunned and dumbfounded.
A hint of surprise flashed across Peng Yue's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.
"Empress... Although I have not made any mistakes, when my subordinates advised me to rebel, I failed to dissuade them. This is my fault. Now that Your Majesty has pardoned my death sentence and asked me to be a commoner, I should be content. Why should I trouble Your Majesty again?"
The smile on Empress Lu's face froze.
Hmm?? Why is this different from the plan?? What went wrong??
