In the evening, a mule cart drove slowly through the mountains.
From time to time, a few flying birds were startled, spreading their wings from the forest, and outlined several long white lines under the late red sky.
"Laifu, stop the car."
"Okay, Master."
"You are already old, how can you still have a young master?"
Following a few brief words, a middle-aged man with gray hair walked out of the mule cart.
"As long as Laifu is alive, the young master will always be the young master."
Laifu, who was also middle-aged, looked at Jiang Jun getting out of the car and said with a simple and honest face.
Jiang Jun smiled and stopped talking. He just slowly raised his head and looked at the mountains and plains.
Under the setting sun, the maple forest in front of you is as bright as fire.
"Another autumn has arrived."
Looking at the maple forest rustling in the mountain wind, Jiang Jun's eyes couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
In this trance, he seemed to see the youth of these ten years of struggle again.
The Douhao clan rose up in the remote countryside, entered the court, and competed with the Na'ao family.
Now, although the Ao family has declined, he has been feared by the new king, deprived of all his positions and reduced to a commoner.
"Laifu, let's go home."
After a long time, Jiang Jun waved his sleeves and robes, got on the carriage again, and headed south.
"According to the orders of the Dragon Emperor Daluo, the Southern Wind Tribe is invading, so Jiang Jun can go there."
On this day, Jiang Jun, who was over fifty years old, was painting in the backyard. Suddenly a group of soldiers broke into the house and took out the decree of the Dragon Emperor.
Looking at the descendants in the garden, Jiang Jun was unwilling to accept the order, but looking at the frightened eyes of everyone, he finally compromised and agreed.
Even though he was already old, Jiang Jun's name was once again spread all over the world.
"According to the order of the Dragon Emperor, Prime Minister Jiang has served the country all his life and has worked hard and made great achievements. From now on, Prime Minister Jiang is specially ordered to return to his hometown to take care of himself."
If you call it, it will come, if you wave it, it will go. When it falls, it will fall into the dust again.
Outside the imperial city, a carriage replaced the old and dead mule carriage and slowly headed south.
"Jiang Jun, no matter how outstanding your achievements are, you are still not reduced to a commoner like me.
In this Daluo territory, you and I are just chess pieces that others can come and go at a moment's notice."
Jiang Jun opened the door curtain and saw the eyes of an old man looking over at the hillside where the Ao family used to be.
"When you leave, and someone dares to take you away, even though the carriage is now replaced by a mule carriage, it is just a new cage added."
Snapped!
Jiang Jun shook his head and lowered the door curtain.
Returning to my hometown, it’s time for the annual results release again.
"I won, I won, I am a high school student."
In the market, a young man shouted loudly, feeling high-spirited among the crowd.
Along with a loud shout, passers-by sent envious congratulations to the young man.
"Congratulations, sir, congratulations, sir
Sir, I have a red carp that was just caught ashore. Do you want to buy it back to celebrate?
Look, this carp has golden scales between its eyebrows. If you buy it and make soup, you might become a high school leader next time."
In front of the fish stall, a vendor pointed at the red carp in the basin and shouted loudly to the young man who was a high school scholar.
"Laifu, do you feel that the scene in front of you seems to be similar?"
In the restaurant, Jiang Jun, who was already gray-haired, looked at the scene on the street and said with a smile.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Jun's hand holding the cup paused slightly.
Opposite him, there is no luck.
The servant who had been with him all his life, the person who should have been sitting next to him, was already empty.
"Boy, let me ask you, do you know where the fish from the fish seller is caught?"
In desperation, while sighing, Jiang Jun looked at the waiter serving the dishes and asked.
"It should have been fished out from the carp lake twenty miles away."
"Carp Lake?"
Hearing this, the elderly Jiang Jun followed the waiter's hand and looked into the distance, recalling the dream he had in his mind.
"Maybe you can go and have a look."
The green hills that have just experienced a heavy rain are still covered with a light layer of mist. Looking from a distance under the gentle sunshine, it feels like a dream.
Snapped!
On the shore, the white-haired Jiang Jun swung his hook, and as the fishing line flew away, a ripple appeared in the blue lake.
"Old sir, are you here to fish again?"
After a long time, a boatman rowed a fishing boat and came slowly from a distance.
"I see that you have been fishing here for more than half a year, but you have never caught a fish, right?
Fortunately, I got a good harvest today, so I gave the old gentleman a fish."
With that said, the boatman parked the fishing boat on the shore.
Jiang Jun took advantage of the situation and saw that inside the net in the fishing boat, there were lively and plump carp trapped deep in it.
"What, the old gentleman doesn't want it?"
Seeing that Jiang Jun didn't speak, the boatman smiled and put the red carp he took out into the lake.
"The old man fished slowly, and someone took the first step."
As soon as he finished speaking, the smiling boatman was ready to paddle away.
But just as he was leaving, he saw that the carp that had been released before actually bit Jiang Jun's fishhook after wandering around in the lake for a while.
"Old sir, why is this fish so stupid? It has obviously escaped from the fishing net, but it has bitten your hook again.
Maybe I felt that this blue lake was so big and there were fishing nets everywhere, so I simply stopped struggling."
The boatman who was sliding the oar simply stopped, looked at the carp biting the hook, and laughed and said.
"No, it's not stupid, it may be asking me for help."
Jiang Jun put the bitten fish into the water again, shook his head and said.
"Mr. Fish, please help me?"
The boatman was stunned for a moment and shook his head.
"Sir may have a kind heart, but he is not a fish. How do you know this fish is asking for help?"
Halfway through saying this, the boatman suddenly became happy and pointed at the water and shouted again.
"In my opinion, this fish is just stupid. Look at it, it actually bites the hook again."
As he said these words, Jiang Jun saw a red carp under the blue water surface, biting his hook again while swinging.
It's not like an ordinary fish that takes the bait, and once bitten, it will struggle and swing around.
The red carp that was hooked for the second time in front of him followed the white fishing line and looked at him at this moment.
His eyes were clear, not like he was asking for help as he said before, but more like curiosity.
While the man and the fish were looking at each other, the white-haired Jiang Jun heard the boatman's voice coming again.
"This fish is not asking for help. It is clearly enjoying Mr.'s hook."
Hearing this, Jiang Jun looked up at the boatman and asked.
"You are not a fish, how can you know the joy of fish?"
"If I am not the sir, how do you know that I don't know the joy of fish?"
The boatman smiled and said loudly.
"According to me, this fish likes to throw itself into a trap, and it should be a trap for itself, haha."
As he finished speaking, Jiang Jun looked at the fish biting the hook, who happened to be looking at it at this time.
As the man and fish looked at each other, Jiang Jun's mind suddenly shook.
…
(Thank you fellow Taoists for your support. As long as your book performance improves steadily, you will be very happy⊙▽⊙)