Volume 1 Chapter 12: Treading on Spring

  After shaking off Zeng Lang, Lu Yue hurriedly walked towards her home.

  At this time, all things "filial piety" come first. Lu Xuan and Zeng Lang's marriage was decided by both parents, she always knew that it wouldn't be easy to dissolve. But she didn't expect that Zeng Lang, who was clearly dissatisfied with her, would not want to cancel the engagement?

  This change was beyond her expectations. Lu Xuan furrowed his brow.

  A fifteen-year-old little girl, no matter how sharp and clever she is, can't possibly grasp a man's thoughts. Zeng Lang's mind was extremely complicated, how could she see through his calculations?

  Back home, Lu Xuan was busy cooking and stir-frying, having a great time.

  That night, Zeng Lang did not come to Lu's house.

  The next day was a rare rest day for Lu Yun. The sister and brother had been working day and night to sell words, and they had earned quite a bit of iron money. In the past, they could only eat bone soup twice a month, but now it was stewed every day. In the past, they used coarse rice mixed with wild vegetables and a small amount of millet to make rice balls as their staple food, which has been completely replaced by white rice. Even so, they only spent five iron coins a day, leaving eighteen coins left over. Accumulating day by day like this, the sister and brother now have nearly sixty iron coins stored under their bed, plus the gold pastry they unexpectedly received, making them feel that they had never been so wealthy in their lives.

  With a relaxed financial situation, Lu Xing began to think that from now on, she would spend half of her time every day reading books carefully. With her current memory and comprehension skills, even if it wasn't at the level of "read once and remember forever", she could still memorize 80-90% after reading two or three times. She thought that once she had memorized and thoroughly understood all the books in her home, when explaining them to others, she wouldn't need to keep flipping through the pages back and forth. At that time, her efficiency would increase by fivefold, tenfold?

  After making this decision, Lu Xuan planned to have a good rest with his brother on today's rare holiday.

  So early in the morning, she drove her brother out of the house. As soon as her brother left the door, Lu Yue saw a familiar donkey cart appear in the distance.

  It's Zeng Lang's donkey cart!

  Lu Yuwen curved her lips, locked the door with a clang, and disappeared into the alley in three strides.

  Lu Yu had just walked out a hundred or so steps when she heard Zeng Lang's questioning voice behind her, "Auntie, have you seen Ah Yu?" Yang Shu hastily said: "Is that Young Master Zeng? Ah Yu was here just now. Let me take a look to see if she is still around."

  ……

  As she heard the shouting voice behind her, Lu Yue's eyes dimmed slightly, but in an instant, she smiled faintly and quickened her pace.

  After being busy for a whole month, Lu Xuan is now rarely idle, blowing in the spring breeze, looking at the peach blossoms by the roadside, and watching the crowds of people heading to the suburbs to enjoy the spring. Lu Xuan's heart moved, so he followed them from behind, walking along the main road forward.

  Lu Xuan walked for less than a quarter of an hour when he suddenly saw a familiar figure in front of him. The figure was among a group of young people, looking quite happy.

  Lu Xuan quickly walked a few steps and called out: "A Yun!"

  Lu Yun's footsteps came to an abrupt halt, and his eyes widened in an instant. A tall and slender youth beside him looked at him in surprise and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

  "It seems like I heard my sister calling me." Lu Yun furrowed his handsome eyebrows, rubbed his ears and muttered: "Trouble, it looks like my ear problem is getting worse."

  The tall and thin boy next to him burst out laughing and said, "A Yun, you're not deaf, are you? You're just obsessed with your sister, there's something wrong with your mind."

  Lu Yun glared at him for a moment, just about to respond when Lu Xuan hurried over in quick steps, panting and calling out: "A Yun, sister is calling you, why aren't you responding?"

  As soon as Lu Xuan's voice fell, she saw her younger brother hastily turn around. In the instant their eyes met, his pupils suddenly dilated.

  "Ayun, what's wrong with you?"

  "No." Lu Yun's face turned red as she said in a low and husky voice: "Sister, why have you also come?"

  "I was idle and had nothing to do, so I thought of going out for a walk. Ah Yun, where are you all headed?"

  Lu Yun saw his companions constantly turning their heads to secretly measure his beautiful sister, and he hurriedly stepped forward a few steps, blocking the crowd's line of sight. He said in a low voice: "I heard that Master Qiu will pass by here, so everyone spontaneously went to welcome him."

  Qiu Gong? Lu Yuan has heard of him, and it is said that he is a scholar with great knowledge and noble character. What's more, he is willing to promote talented individuals, and his reputation is extremely high in both the imperial court and among the people. A person like this, no matter where he goes, scholars are always eager to welcome him. Especially for poor and humble scholars, if they can gain Qiu Gong's favor, they may be able to leave their farming life behind and enter the "shi" social class.

  The team had walked less than five miles when a joyful shout came from ahead, "They're coming, they're coming—"

  As soon as the shout was heard, a group of young people let out a cheer and rushed forward in a hurry. Lu Yun saw this and couldn't help but follow his companions, rushing forward without saying another word to his sister.

  Looking at the boys' joyful appearance, Lu Xuan's lips curled up slightly and he stopped in his tracks.

  Lu Yun is only twelve or thirteen years old, still young and not well-educated, not yet at the age where she would exhaust her mind to get close to great scholars. So, after smiling, she didn't follow him, but instead turned around and walked in a different direction.

  The place was already in the suburbs, and next to it was a small mountain about 200 meters high. The green mountains were lush, with spring flowers everywhere, and even the grass leaves underfoot were tender and juicy, just like this radiant youth. Lu Xuan walked along the foot of the mountain towards the top, unknowingly smiling with joy.

  The sky is clear, the spring breeze is warm, it's the best time of the year. At this moment, I'm not alone in stepping into spring with Lu Xun and appreciating the vibrant vitality between heaven and earth. So, I don't feel lonely either.

  After playing for a while, Lu Xuan walked back after about two quarters of an hour.

  Just as they were about to reach the foot of the mountain, Lu Xuan suddenly felt that something was off!

  What should have been a dignified gathering was now eerily quiet. In the distance, dozens of armored men with long spears in hand walked back and forth.

  Something's wrong!

  Lu Xuan hastily quickened her pace and rushed forward.

  Before long, she arrived at the outer edge of the crowd. At this moment, there were already thirty or forty spring-welcoming tourists surrounding her. In front of her, a dozen or so young men dressed as Confucian scholars knelt on the ground in a row, their backs against a cold gun! Among these kneeling young men was Lu Yun.

  Lu Xuan's face turned pale, and seeing that no one was speaking around her, she bit her lip and retreated several dozen steps to the back. She came under a tree and approached several Confucian scholars who were chatting idly. With a slight bow, she asked softly: "Gentlemen, what happened over there? Why are the Golden Armor Guards here?"

  Lu Yun's face was beautiful, and those Confucian scholars glanced at her but didn't guard against her. At this point, a scholar in his thirties, slender and slightly tall, sighed: "Qiu Gong is dead! Who knows who did it, and it actually harmed these young people!"

  What?