Mutated Tao

Chapter 584: Shangjing

Lu Zhuangyuan was holding his grandson, Lu Tongsheng, as he sat inside a sedan chair that traveled down the streets of Shangjing. Lu Zhuangyuan swept his gaze across the shops along the streets.

The luxurious decorations inside the sedan chair told him that the sedan chair had to have been expensive to hire. Someone like him couldn't possibly afford to hire one.

Delighted, Lu Zhuangyuan kissed his grandson’s face; his white beard scratched the baby's face, making him cry.

“Tongsheng, my little ancestor! Look! Our Lu Family is about to make a fortune!”

“I, Lu Zhuangyuan, have been dreaming about riding a sedan chair throughout my entire life, but I truly hadn't expected that one day, I'd end up riding in one! Hehe, so this is what riding a sedan chair feels like,” Lu Zhuangyuan said, patting his bottom with a pleased look.

“Bleeeck!”

Lu Zhuangyuan frowned upon hearing someone vomiting outside the sedan chair. He pulled back the curtain and looked out to see Lu Juren's head sticking out of the sedan chair.

Lu Juren was vomiting his breakfast, making it splatter on the ground.

Lu Zhuangyuan winced in pain upon seeing the minced meat and white noodles that Lu Juren had vomited out. “What are you doing?! Juren! Look at the ground! Look at what you wasted! Do you not have any idea just how expensive the food that you just vomited?”

Lu Juren’s face was pale as he turned to his father and said, “Father, the sedan's swaying is making me feel nauseous. Can I get out of the sedan and just walk?”

“You can't even recognize a blessing when it's right in front of you, so shut your trap! You better not vomit again, or I’ll make you eat what you've vomited!”

Lu Juren nodded bitterly, and then he covered his mouth as he retreated into his sedan chair.

Fortunately, Lu Juren's torment didn't last long, as the sedan chairs carrying the Lu Family members eventually came to a stop.

Lu Zhuangyuan carried his grandson out of the sedan. A three-story green building appeared before him. There were three large characters written on the prominent red plaque above it—Guangde Garden.

Lu Zhuangyuan’s eyes widened as he walked in slowly. He dared not blink as he swept his gaze across everything before him.

The roof, walls, beams, and windows...

He was dazzled by the exquisite reliefs, carvings, and paintings. There were even some parts that were gilded and silvered.

Lu Zhuangyuan was completely overwhelmed. He had never seen such a beautiful place before.

Lu Zhuangyuan fixed his gaze on the stage in the courtyard while an eunuch approached them and said cautiously, “Sir Lu, this is the theater that the emperor has bestowed upon you.”

“This... this… this is mine?” Lu Zhuangyuan stuttered, seemingly by Gao Zhijian.

“Yes, are you satisfied with it? Otherwise, you can take a look at the other places throughout Shangjing until you're satisfied.”

Lu Zhuangyuan couldn't even hear the latter part of the eunuch's words. His eyes reddened, and he stuttered out a bunch of gibberish as he rushed toward the stage.

He circled the pillars and inspected the stage; he touched the tiles over and over again. If there were no one else here, he would definitely stick out his tongue to lick the tiles.

“Father, Father! Stop this, will you?!” Lu Juren exclaimed, pulling the crazed Lu Zhuangyuan away with Lu Xiucai's help.

Lu Zhuangyuan still looked bewildered.

Lu Xiucai spat on his palm and slapped Lu Zhuangyuan several times across the latter's face.

Lu Zhuangyuan finally came to his senses, and he looked at Lu Xiucai in astonishment. “You dare hit me?”

“Hmph! Shame on you, don’t say that you’re my father whenever you’re outside,” Lu Xiucai replied with a look of disdain.

"How dare you hit me?!” Lu Zhuangyuan rolled up his sleeves and raised his tobacco pipe.

In the end, he didn’t start a fight with his youngest son, as a group of people surrounded them from all sides of the theater.

“The Feng family troupe pays respects to the master!”

A series of dull thuds echoed as a group of hundreds of people—comprised of men, women, and children—knelt down to Lu Zhuangyuan.

“Oh, please don't do this... you're shortening my lifespan,” Lu Zhuangyuan said in disbelief. He pushed his two sons away and tried to pull them up.

“Sir Lu, please accept it. A theater isn't enough; you need a troupe as well. With them, the entire Guangde Garden will make a fortune every day.”

Lu Zhuangyuan resisted the idea at first, but upon realizing that the other party was sincere, he finally stood in front of them with a nervous expression.

“The Feng family troupe pays respects to the master!” the group shouted.

Lu Zhuangyuan stood steadfast before them, and a tingling sensation spread all over him as he muttered, “Uh... friends... Can you please say that again?”

Although they were a little confused, they saw the eunuch waving his hand gently under his whisk, so they shouted, “The Feng family troupe pays respects to the master!”

“Hehehehe~” Lu Zhuangyuan laughed like a fool, and he felt like jumping for joy. “Don’t... don’t... don’t stop!”

“The Feng family troupe pays respects to the master!”

“Hehehehe~”

“The Feng family troupe pays respects to the master!”

“Hehehehe~”

Lu Juren remained calm as he watched from the sidelines. He was fine, as this theater belonged to his father. He'd have nothing to do with the theater until his father was dead. Of course, Lu Juren was still extremely excited.

The large-framed simpleton actually became the emperor. Lu Juren still couldn't believe it, and he also couldn't believe that Gao Zhijian would bestow upon them such a boon.

It was so unbelievable that Lu Juren felt like he was dreaming.

He turned to look at his brother Lu Xiucai and saw the latter picking his nose with an impatient look.

Lu Xiucai felt Lu Juren's gaze.

He turned and flicked his snot in Lu Zhuangyuan’s direction.

“I'm leaving if there's nothing else. Stay here and accompany that old lunatic," Lu Xiucai said. Then, he turned around and walked toward the exit of the theater with the bronze coin sword on his back.

“Hey! Where are you going, Xiucai?”

“The others are preparing to enter the palace to see my master. Of course, I have to go and take a look. My master has become very powerful. Perhaps he can bestow upon me a great power,” Lu Xiucai said, running toward the palace gate.

Lu Xiucai ran as fast as he could until he finally caught up with the sedan chairs at the palace gate. It was a good thing that the sedans were slow-moving vehicles.

“Hey! Lu Xiucai! Why are you here? You look like a wet dog,” Puppy teased. He was draped in silk and was leaning out of the sedan chair.

“Damn you! Anyway, only you guys are entering the palace?” Lu Xiucai asked, looking at the other sedan chairs. He only saw Chun Xiaoman, Zhao Wu, Yang Xiaohao, and Puppy.

“Why? Are we not allowed to enter the palace? I don't think you know, so I'm going to tell you this. Being able to enter the palace is a big deal. That simpleton wasn't looking for you, so you shouldn't cling to him in such a shameless way.”

“Hmph, I’m not going to find him. I’m going to look for my master,” Lu Xiucai said. Then, he hopped into Puppy’s sedan chair.

“Hey, get off! This sedan chair can only fit one person!”

“Don’t be so stingy, all right! If it hadn't been for me saving you on that night, that Daoist would have killed you. You still owe me a favor!”

“It was the other way around, so get lost!"

The sedan chairs swayed as they brought their passengers through the wide-open palace gates.