northernbook Chapter 430 Begging
Chapter 430 Begging
Stir-fried water spinach, stir-fried chives, stir-fried cabbage, egg drop soup, and two chicken drumsticks.
Luo An stared at the food in front of him without moving. So the three-day feast was for entertaining guests? If there were no guests, he couldn't even finish a single meal? Was he only fit to be a money-making tool who couldn't even afford to eat?
Xu Chengyao wolfed down the bowl of rice in front of him and looked at Luo An: "You're not eating? Then I'll eat. Every grain of rice on the plate is hard-earned. The Grand Tutor said that we should not waste food."
Last time, Xu Chengyao at least knew to pour the rice into his own bowl, but this time he simply pushed his own bowl aside and took Luo An's bowl to continue eating.
Luo An watched Xu Chengyao finish eating quietly: "Take the bowl, let's go."
Xu Chengyao didn't say he had class, didn't say he had anything to do, and didn't ask where he was going. He happily followed Luo An with his bowl, step by step.
Luo An went to Xiangguo Temple, located halfway up Fengqi Mountain, to offer incense, and Xu Chengyao followed suit and offered three sticks of incense.
Luo An asked Xu Chengyao to fill a bowl with incense ash, and Xu Chengyao didn't ask why. He filled the bowl to the brim, pressed it down firmly, filled it again, and pressed it down again...
Xu Chengyao waved the bowl in front of Luo An, looking smug: Such a dense bowl of incense ash!
Luo An nodded with a half-smile and walked down the mountain.
Xu Chengyao finally began to have doubts: Going up and down the mountain just to burn incense and collect incense ash?
The two walked to the foot of Phoenix Perch Mountain. Luo An deliberately stood by the roadside, twirling a throwing knife in his right hand.
Xu Chengyao, standing to the side, exclaimed, "This throwing knife... I've seen it before."
Luo An paused, then opened his palm and held it out to Xu Chengyao: "Are you sure?"
Xu Chengyao took the throwing knife, flicked his wrist slightly, and sent it flying at an angle. The knife cut through the bark of a roadside tree, circled around, and flew back.
Xu Chengyao reached out and handed it back to Luo An, showing off with a hint of pride: "It flies diagonally when the throat is cut, and straight when it pierces the flesh. It will turn back when it flies diagonally, and it's very difficult to get it out when it flies straight and pierces the flesh."
Luo An pinched the throwing knife between two fingers, his fingertips turning slightly white from the force: "Xu Sheng taught you?"
Xu Chengyao said with a mix of pride and regret: "Of course. My brother, the prince, is incredibly skilled. Even General Qi Yang can't beat him. Whenever he's in the palace, he teaches me martial arts. It's just a pity he's too busy."
Luo An stared at the fingertip throwing knife without saying a word. His expression suggested he was unhappy. He got upset after being praised a couple of times. To be this arrogant was incredibly petty!
Xu Chengyao nudged him with his elbow: "I'm just telling you the truth, don't be upset. Everyone has their strengths. Although you don't know kung fu, you're a great doctor. Besides, you're the Crown Prince now, and he's just a prince. Compared to him, you still have the upper hand... Hey, what are you doing?"
Luo An pushed Xu Chengyao's shoulder, and Xu Chengyao spun around on the spot. His clothes were slashed all over by Luo An's throwing knife, especially the hem of his robe, which was covered in rips.
Xu Chengyao checked himself over to make sure he wasn't injured, then stared at Luo An in disbelief: "I only praised you a few times, and you treat me like this? I did praise you, you really..."
Too, too, too... even ten thousand "too"s wouldn't be enough to describe how stingy he is.
Xu Chengyao swallowed his saliva, his eyes darted around, and finally landed on the sapling that had just been cut: Thank goodness, Luo An only cut his clothes, not his neck.
He can't stand anyone disobeying him, and he can't stand anyone praising others in front of him? How can someone so narrow-minded be the crown prince? The future of Southern Yue is worrying!
Sigh, I don't know what got into me, actually following Luo An up and down the mountain to collect incense ash?
Wait, what is Luo An doing with the incense ash? Is he offering incense? And carrying a throwing knife? Using a throwing knife to collect incense ash? Is this a plan to kill someone first and then perform a sacrifice?
Who to kill? There's no one else here besides those two?
Xu Chengyao's hair stood on end instantly. Before he could turn around, he felt a numbness in his knees and involuntarily knelt down.
"Ah!" Xu Chengyao cried out in surprise, then forced himself to swallow the other half.
There were newly grown thatch grasses by the roadside. My clothes weren't thick, but they weren't thin either. Kneeling down like this didn't hurt much, it was just terrifying!
Xu Chengyao tried to stand up, but his legs felt numb. He looked up at Luo An in horror. When had he done this?
Luo An took the bowl of tightly packed incense ash from Xu Chengyao's hand, not a single drop leaking out, and smiled slightly.
That laugh was so chilling that Xu Chengyao's teeth started chattering: He didn't want to die!
It's not that I'm afraid of death, it's just that even if I die, I want to die with honor! To die just because I praised Xu Sheng! I truly can't die in peace!
Xu Chengyao decided to praise Luo An: "You..."
You are as handsome as Pan An, as graceful as Song Yu, possess divine medical skills, have an ethereal temperament, are wise and brave, and are unique in heaven and earth...
A bowl of incense ash was poured over his head, covering him completely, and of course, it also got into Xu Chengyao's mouth.
Spitting... Xu Chengyao desperately exhaled fragrant breath, then vigorously wiped his mouth with his hand, instantly dispelling all the praise he had been uttering.
This is intolerable! Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well die a swift and painless death. Xu Chengshu opened his mouth, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse: "You..."
With a crisp clang, the throwing knife struck the edge of the white porcelain bowl, and a sharp triangular shard of porcelain grazed Xu Chengyao's nose as it fell, startling him back from his raging outburst.
What did the ancients say? What did the Grand Tutor teach? What did your parents instruct you with?
Anger towards the country leads to daily warfare; anger towards the family leads to the loss of order and harmony among elders and children.
Forbearance a moment, calm, take a step back, a brighter future!
A true man can bend and stretch!
It is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge after ten years!
……
Xu Chengyao simply stopped looking at Luo An, lowered his eyes to look at the white porcelain shards on his leg, and kept trying to comfort himself.
The white porcelain bowl with a broken corner landed in front of Xu Chengyao and spun halfway around, the chipped edge facing him as if it were opening its big, pointed mouth to mock him.
The anger that Xu Chengyao had managed to suppress burst forth like a wild horse without reins: A scholar can be killed but not humiliated! So be it!
Xu Chengyao suddenly looked up, intending to have a clear discussion with Luo An, but he only saw Luo An's back.
Luo An strolled leisurely to the Zen Heart Tea House, which was about ten feet away across the street, and went up to the second floor to choose a window seat.
Xu Chengyao saw Luo Anren's figure flash past the second-floor window, but no matter how he swayed his body to find the right angle, he couldn't see Luo Anren.
A person kneeling in front of a broken bowl, isn't that a beggar? What does Luo An mean? Does he want him to be a beggar?
Is Luo An out of his mind? Making the dignified prince of Southern Yue a beggar?
As Xu Chengyao was thinking, he heard two clinking sounds as two copper coins fell into the bowl, and one of them jumped out of the bowl.
His pent-up anger exploded instantly, and Xu Chengyao looked up to yell: Are you blind? Can't you see I'm a beggar?
Their eyes met, and the one who dropped the coin was an old woman whose clothes were covered in patches.
The old woman seemed somewhat ashamed: "Child, please don't mind, these are the only two I have."
Thankfully, he didn't utter a curse! Xu Chengyao quickly picked up the coin and handed it to the old woman: "Grandma, I'm not a beggar, I'm... I was just playing around here, take this money."
The old woman assumed the child was just shy: "Just take it. Once is never enough, you'll get used to it. The most important thing is to be alive; everything else has to come later."