The Three Spirit Stones

In the first year of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng was a prosperous place with a 10-mile long Imperial Street from Xuande Gate to Nanxun Gate bustling with people.

The streets are full of all kinds of shops, including foot shops, wine shops, cloth shops, restaurants, brothels, music schools...

Merchants from all walks of life make a living in this prosperous place. What a scene of peace and prosperity!

On the second floor of Changping Restaurant, there were four young men sitting. They looked like the children of noble families in Beijing. They must have been childhood friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time and had specially arranged to meet here.

The topic among men is always about women, no matter they are old or young.

……

"Xuzhi, which good girl did your mother arrange for you to marry?"

One of the boys with thick eyebrows asked a handsome boy,

"I don't remember. Anyway, it's up to mom to decide."

The boy's facial expression was somewhat unnatural.

"It's impossible that I don't remember. You don't want to tell me, right?"

"Don't tease him, he has been shy since he was a child. Look, the back of his ears is red."

"Hahaha, really! How come you haven't developed any soldier habits after being in the army for so long? You blush when you talk about girls. It seems that Uncle Baochen is very strict with you."

The other three laughed at him.

"You guys are just teasing me. Are you going to eat now that the food is cold?"

Four childhood friends were chatting and eating and drinking, it was so lively!

……

"Selling gems, selling gems~, Yuanling gems that are rarely seen in a thousand years, can bring the dead back to life, and control yin and yang..."

At this time, a Taoist priest came up from the stairs, holding a palm-sized white pebble in his hand and shouting,

The Taoist priest was in his thirties, tall, and looked relaxed and contented. He wore a lotus hat and had a few long beards on his chin. He looked like an immortal, but his Taoist robe had at least a dozen patches on it, making him look a bit sloppy.

A nosy customer couldn't help but tease the Taoist priest, "Hey, old Taoist priest, why does this gem look so much like the paving stones in my garden? How dare you sell it?"

"But mine looks better than yours. If it were bigger, it could be put in a jar to make pickled cabbage."

"Hahaha……"

Hearing the ridicule, the Taoist priest was not angry. He stroked his beard and said with a smile, "Look at the mountain as a mountain, and look at the mountain as not a mountain. Only those who are destined to know the preciousness of this gem will know it."

"Where is the destined person? Hahaha!"

"It's fate~"

Several young men also looked over, and one of them curled his lips and whispered, "There are too many monks and Taoist priests who are swindling people nowadays. They just pick up a piece of broken stone and come out to cheat people. I wonder who will be fooled?"

"In the underworld, either you cheat or I cheat you," said another.

But the young man named Xuzhi was the only one who couldn't help but stare at it, as if the stone had magical powers. He murmured, "What a beautiful gem! It's translucent and shiny. I've never seen such a beautiful stone!"

A person nearby heard him say this, and swept his hand in front of his face and said, "Xuzhi, is your eyes okay?"

"My eyes are fine,"

The boy pulled his hand away.

"Hey, Taoist priest, don't cheat here,"

At this time, the waiter downstairs came up to drive away the Taoist priest.

"Hey, don't pull me, I'm waiting for the right person."

"Go outside and find someone you are meant to be with. This is a place for eating and drinking."

As the two were struggling, the young man called out to him, "Master, please show me your stone."

"Look, isn't the destined person here?"

The Taoist priest shook off the waiter's hand, held the stone in his hand, and walked quickly to the table of several people. He smiled flatteringly and said, "Hey, gentlemen, are you interested in my gem? You really have good taste."

"Master, how much do you want to sell this gem for?" the young man asked.

"If there is no fate, it's 10,000 taels of silver. If there is fate, it's 10 taels of silver."

The Taoist priest first raised a finger, then made the number ten.

"Hahaha,"

Everyone burst into laughter.

"You need fate to sell a stone? Then tell me, is this brother of mine destined to be with you or not?"

One of them patted the boy's shoulder and said with a smile,

The Taoist stared at the young man for a while, and suddenly his pupils shrank, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he smiled meaningfully and said, "This little brother is definitely the one with destiny!"

"Master, please show me this gem," the young man stretched out his hand.

The Taoist priest gently placed the stone in his hand. The stone was about the size of an adult's palm, with a dent in the middle the size of an egg.

His thumb naturally stroked that place, and as soon as he touched it, he inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity that seemed to come from a distant time and space!

The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He asked, "Master, you can sell it to me for ten taels of silver, right?"

When several childhood friends heard this, one of them immediately glared at him and said, "Really? You spent ten taels of silver to buy a broken stone? Did your money come from the wind? You want me to pick it up by the river for you."

"Hey! Young master, this spiritual stone is not an ordinary stone found by the river."

The Taoist priest shouted in haste, "This is the Yuanling Gemstone, a Lingshan stone that absorbed the purest primordial energy when the world was in chaos. When Goddess Nuwa repaired the sky, three pieces were left, and this is one of them."

The Taoist priest made exaggerated expressions and gestures while speaking. He was clearly a veteran. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Do you believe it or not?"

"I don't believe it, but I still want to buy it,"

Everyone was speechless!

The young man in white took out ten taels of silver and handed it to the Taoist priest. The Taoist priest took it, put his hands together and said

"Infinite Heavenly Venerable,"

"Master, I guess it's hard for you to find someone as simple and kind as my brother!"

A childhood friend patted the boy on the shoulder and said with a naughty smile,

"If you want to say that I'm a victim, just say so, don't slander me here."

The boy shook off the hand on his shoulder.

"Wulian Tianzun! Sir, I have fulfilled my ancestors' trust and handed the Yuanling gemstone to you. I will take my leave now."

The Taoist priest put his hands together, changed his smiling face, and bowed to the young man.

Hearing his words, the young man was very confused, but he quickly stood up and politely clasped his hands together to return the greeting to the Taoist priest, saying, "Take care, Taoist priest."

The Taoist turned around and floated away!

……

It's late at night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse!

In the city of Bianjing, the huge Earl of Loyalty and Bravery's mansion had gone from being noisy during the day to being completely silent, with only the occasional barking of cats and dogs.

In a bedroom in a yard, the young man was lying on the bed, admiring the stones he bought during the day in the moonlight coming in through the window.

This young man is Cheng Yu, the eldest son of the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery, with the courtesy name Xuzhi, and his father is Cheng Xiao, the Earl of Loyalty and Bravery.

Cheng Xiao was a military general. Because of his bravery in battle and his numerous military exploits, he was granted the title of Earl of Loyalty and Bravery. Unfortunately, he died in battle when Cheng Yu was only eight years old.

It should be very difficult for a widow with an only child in this world.

But Mrs. Cheng's family was prominent. Her father was Cao Bin, a famous general of the founding of the country. Although her father had passed away, she still had a powerful brother named Cao Wei, who was the Tongzhi of Weizhou and a powerful figure.

Cao Wei and Mrs. Cheng Cao Shu were born to the same mother, so he naturally took good care of his younger sister. After Cheng Xiao died, he treated this nephew as his own son.

Cheng Yu's character is exactly the opposite of his father's. His father is rough, generous, resolute and decisive, and very manly.

He is gentle and introverted, has a good temper, is always kind to others, and has a handsome and fair appearance.

Mrs. Cheng loved her son like the apple of her eye since he was a child. She held him in her hands for fear of him falling, and held him in her mouth for fear of him melting. This made his character increasingly weak.

When he was ten years old, his uncle Cao Wei finally couldn't bear it anymore.

He said to his younger sister, your Cheng family now only has Xu'er as the only child. He has to become a man to support the Cheng family in the future. How can he become a successful one if he remains like this?

So regardless of whether Mrs. Cheng was willing or not, Cheng Yu was taken to the military camp for discipline.

He had been with Cao Wei for four years, and now he was returning home from the army because he was getting engaged.

……

At this moment, Cheng Yu, who was lying on the bed, was staring at the stone without blinking and muttering to himself,

"How beautiful!...How dare they call such a beautiful stone ordinary?"

Under the moonlight, the gem in his hand glowed with a faint white light, like a crystal clear ice cube, with a vortex of light looming and flowing faintly.

As he watched, he felt the light getting brighter and brighter...

Before he knew it, he fell into a deep sleep, and in his dream he seemed to hear a voice saying,

I've been waiting for you for a long time~~,

Then, a warm feeling surged into the dantian, extended to the limbs and bones, and then entered every meridian in the body.

When he woke up, the sun was already shining on his buttocks. Cheng Yu got up and stretched. He felt very energetic today. He was about to get up and put on his clothes.

Suddenly I remembered the spiritual stone I bought yesterday, and reached out to fumble around the bed.

I picked up the stone and looked at it, but there was no trace of the colorful brilliance I saw last night.

The color turned dead white, just like the pebbles on the river bank.

He cried out in annoyance.

"How could this happen? You looked so beautiful last night."

"I was really cheated,"

"I have really done a great injustice~

……