I served as Li Bai's page.

After the gathering, we returned to the Gaosheng Inn. Li Bai remained deeply moved. He kept praising Lord Li's impeccable character and decisive actions, eagerly anticipating the memorial to the throne to reach the court soon, hoping it would secure official positions for himself, his master, Wu Zhinan, and the group of friends he had just met. However, he also had some worries:

"Master, I always feel that Lord Wang has ulterior motives," Li Bai said.

"Can't you see that? The reason he's holding this gathering is to pave the way for his son's career. He's using this gathering as an excuse to get all the officials to recommend his son for a government position," Zhao Rui said.

Li Yangbing said, "Lord Li isn't very enthusiastic about Wang Yu, but he's taken a liking to my nephew, the twelfth."

Wu Zhinan said, "It's not good for us that Lord Li's memorial has fallen into Lord Wang's hands. It's hard to say whether the memorial will even reach the court."

"Who cares? The fact that our talents have been recognized by Li Ting, the Prefect of Yizhou, is already a great honor for us. Besides, we've made so many friends today, it's all worth it," Li Bai said.

"Now that I've met with Lord Li, it's time for me to return. The four of you can wait here for news. I'll depart first thing tomorrow morning," Li Yangbing said.

"Uncle, won't you stay a few more days? Aren't you going to see how it goes?" Li Bai said.

"I've been out for a while now, and my family is probably worried sick. If you hear anything, just write to me."

"Alright then, you have a journey to make tomorrow, and you've been busy all day, so let's rest. Yuehua, go check on the young master's horses and give them plenty of hay."

"Alright, young master, you should rest first." After saying that, I ran downstairs, carefully checked the horses in the stables, and then returned to my room to rest.

The next day, Li Yangbing got up very early. While we were all still asleep, he had already packed all his things. He knocked on Li Bai's door, and we learned that he was preparing to leave. We quickly got up and said goodbye to him one by one. I went to the stable to fetch his horse and went to the street to buy some food for him to take with him. The four of us saw him off at the end of the alley, giving him a few words of advice before he leaped onto his horse and rode away in a cloud of dust.

Li Yangbing left, and the four of us returned to the inn. Li Bai continued his usual routine of practicing swordsmanship and reading aloud in the morning, while his master meditated. Wu Zhinan and I wanted to go back to our room to sleep a little longer, but we just couldn't fall asleep.

Thinking that Li Bai had invited his friends to drink at Fuchun Winery, I went downstairs and headed towards Fuchun Winery.

When I arrived at the entrance of Fuchun Winery, the waiter had just opened the door and the manager had just gotten up. I went to the counter and asked the manager to reserve a good table for me for lunch. The manager gave me the private room by the window. I went into the room and looked around. It had a table, was spacious and bright, and I was very satisfied. Then I left the restaurant and returned to the inn.

"Yuehua, have you made arrangements for the lunch party?" Li Bai asked.

"I just booked the room," I replied.

"How about we ask Miss Panpan to sing us a couple of songs?" Li Bai asked tentatively.

"Alright, I'll go tell the shopkeeper in a bit and ask him to contact Miss Panpan." I glanced at Li Bai dismissively.

"Don't look at me like that. We just invited her to sing a song, and she actually sings quite well," Li Bai explained.

"I didn't say anything, young master, you're overthinking it."

"What are you talking about?" At this moment, Zhao Rui walked in.

"He didn't say anything, Master. Let's go to Fuchun Wine House for drinks later. I've already booked a room," I replied.

"Today, I've felt uneasy, as if something big is about to happen. I've been like this since I woke up this morning," Zhao Rui said.

"Master, are you sick? Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Li Bai looked up at Zhao Rui and asked with concern.

"No, I just feel anxious."

"Yuehua, go and fetch a doctor to examine my master." Before Li Bai could finish speaking, I had already turned and walked downstairs.

I found the innkeeper and asked where I could find a doctor.

"Turn right at the alley entrance, and you'll find a pharmacy with a doctor there. He's quite skilled, and everyone around here goes to him when they're sick," the innkeeper said.

I ran all the way to the pharmacy at the alley entrance: "Doctor, my master is ill. Could you please take a look?"

"Okay, you lead the way."

When the doctor and I returned to the inn, my master was so panicked that his face had turned pale. I quickly helped him lie down. After taking his pulse, the doctor said, "His heartbeat is a little fast, but it's all within the normal range; there's nothing wrong."

"Doctor, please take my pulse again. My master has been feeling palpitations since he woke up this morning. He's not sick, so why is he feeling palpitations?" Li Bai said anxiously.

"Your master is indeed not sick. The weather is a bit unusual today, the air is stuffy. Is your master feeling unwell because of the weather?" The doctor had just finished speaking when the whole inn started shaking. I looked out the window and the world seemed to be spinning: "Earthquake! Run!" I shouted, helped my master up and ran downstairs. Li Bai, Wu Zhinan, and the doctor were still standing there.

"Are you stupid? Run! If the building collapses, you're all done for!" I shouted anxiously.

The three of them, hearing what I said, also ran out. When they reached the street, a large crowd had already gathered. Everyone was discussing the sudden natural disaster.

Li Bai walked up to me and asked, "What is an earthquake? It's quite frightening."

"An earthquake is a geological movement within the Earth's crust. Simply put, the ground we're standing on has different textures – some parts are tight, some are loose. Over time, the tighter parts move towards the looser parts," I replied. "That's what ancient books call an earthquake."

"That's terrifying! No wonder I felt uneasy when I woke up this morning. It turns out there's such a huge natural disaster," the master said.

At this moment, the houses shook again, the earth seemed to twist and undulate, and in the distance came the sounds of collapsing buildings, shouts of adults, and cries of children. The yamen runners were scattered throughout the streets, herding people towards open spaces.

We followed the crowd to the park in the center of the street next to Hejiang Pavilion. We saw a large crowd gathered in front of Wang's gate. Wang Yu and Lord Wang were among them. Lord Wang saw Li Bai and came over to greet him:

"Qinglian Jushi must be frightened. Don't even mention you young people, I've never seen such a huge earthquake. Natural disasters are beyond human control."

"Lord Wang, Lord Li requests your immediate departure to Dujiangyan to participate in disaster relief work." At this moment, a group of yamen runners arrived before Lord Wang on horseback, and one of them said.

"Why go to Dujiangyan?" Lord Wang asked.

"A messenger just arrived with news that the epicenter of this earthquake is Qingcheng Mountain and Dujiangyan, where landslides are severe and many houses have collapsed. Lord Li has sent you to lead us in the rescue efforts. Please come with us immediately." Before Lord Wang could speak, the leader of the yamen runners handed him a horse rein.

Lord Wang reluctantly took the horse's reins, turned around to give Wang Yu and the others some instructions, and then mounted the horse and rode away with the yamen runners.