As soon as Ji Yuan and Lao Long left, the remaining warmth in the garden quickly dropped, and the collision of cold and hot air currents briefly formed a strange scene of white mist covering the entire garden.
Looking at the white mist all around, the emperor became a little excited for a moment. The guests and servants around him also held their breath, believing that a divine being really had responded to the emperor's call and was about to reveal his true form.
At this moment, only Yin Zhaoxian had a calm attitude among all the people, knowing that the so-called "god" would not appear.
Sure enough, the white fog came and went quickly, and it all dissipated in a moment. Some of the fog condensed into dewdrops on the green leaves and red flowers, but was quickly frozen by the cold weather.
After waiting in the courtyard garden for a long time, until his hands and feet were cold, Emperor Yuande seemed to finally admit that no god would appear, and then he sighed.
"Go back, I am tired, I am going back to the palace!"
The disappointment after the intense excitement made the emperor a little tired.
"Your son respectfully sends your father off!"
The King of Jin hastened to express his farewell.
The emperor was about to leave, and the group of people dared not go back to the banquet hall on their own, and followed him one after another. Outside the Prince of Jin's Mansion, the court eunuchs and guards had already prepared the emperor's carriage, and a warm stove and hot tea were already placed inside.
Outside the palace, the eunuchs placed step stools for the emperor, empress, and imperial concubine to step on and step onto the carriage.
After getting in the car, Emperor Yuande looked through the thick leather curtain of the window at the group of people standing outside Prince Jin's Mansion.
"Let's all go back."
"Send His Majesty back to the palace!" "Send His Majesty back!"
A group of people bid farewell in unison and saluted the moving carriage, and only dared to stand up straight after the sound of the wheels faded away.
"Huh..."
Prince Jin breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone else also felt a lot more relieved.
"Come on, let's go back to the banquet hall and warm ourselves up. We must be freezing standing outside for so long!"
"Your Highness is right." "Go, go, go, my hands and feet are frozen!"
A group of people hurried back to the banquet hall. It was warm as spring when they entered. Everyone talked excitedly about the auspicious sign that had appeared before. Even Prince Jin was no exception. He cared more about the auspicious sign appearing in his own palace than the emperor who wanted to see the gods.
Li Mushu was even more polite to Yin Zhaoxian. When Yin Zhaoxian's muttering just now caught his attention, he discovered that among all the people, it was Yin Jieyuan who was calm and composed and unmoved.
A man with such a magnanimous temperament and talent for managing the world, and from the discussion on literature and academics in the afternoon, it was discovered that he also knew how to act in a measured way in dealing with people. So Li Mushu could already vaguely predict what Yin Zhaoxian's future would be like.
. . .
In the city of Gyeonggi Prefecture, the sound of firecrackers could still be heard from time to time. Ji Yuan and Lao Long were walking on the street and could see the popularity rising. There was even a red cloud of gas forming in the sky above Gyeonggi Prefecture. People who were able to observe the energy with their Dharma eyes would inevitably be shocked by the huge momentum. At this moment, even some evil creatures would not dare to come out.
"Mr. Ji, we have already been to this prince's family banquet, and the scholar Yin Zhaoxian has also received some benefits. What are we going to do now? If there is nothing else, we can go to Tongtian River Water Palace, right?"
This old dragon always makes people go into the water in the middle of winter, which makes Ji Yuan feel helpless. Maybe he also has a bad taste and wants to play chess to torture him, but in his words and deeds, he is actually more interested in what he wants to do.
However, Ji Yuan actually didn't have any clear purpose, at least that was the case after he left Prince Jin's Mansion.
"Mr. Ying, don't worry about your water palace tonight. Just think of it as accompanying me for a stroll."
The two of them naturally walked at an extraordinary speed. While they were talking, they had already passed Wenqu Street and crossed the Zhengzhong East-West Avenue. Along the way, they passed Gongshi Lane, which housed the most scholars preparing for the imperial examinations. They also walked past the chess hall that Ji Yuan often visited and a large number of ordinary people's homes.
As the aura was collected, the chess pieces of Old Bai Jiao and the God of Land were finally dyed white. As for the chess pieces of the Zuo family and the one-armed swordsman Du Heng, they were left untouched for the time being.
At dawn, Lao Long thought he had figured out what Ji Yuan had been doing that night. He was clearly practicing at an important juncture of the year. He was extremely curious about what kind of magic he was practicing, but it was not convenient for him to ask.
He went around in this way and returned to Gongshi Lane in the morning. Yin Zhaoxian happened to be sent back by the carriage of Prince Jin's Mansion. Shi Yusheng, who had reported the case to the police to no avail, was greatly relieved.
Seeing this scene at the entrance of Gongshi Lane, Lao Long looked at Ji Yuan beside him thoughtfully.
"Mr. Ji's high hopes for the scholar Yin Zhaoxian are somewhat unusual!"
Ji Yuan looked at Lao Long, this was obvious, so he answered casually.
"Caring about friends is one thing, and what Master Yin does in the future is related to the great trend of humanity, which is the second."
Then Ji Yuan thought: "It can even affect the situation of heaven and earth, which is the third one."
"It is indeed rare to have a noble and upright character. Yin Zhaoxian is a good minister. He is a man of outstanding talent and learning. Now that he has a backer in the capital, it is reasonable for him to fail the exam."
Lao Long glanced over there and saw Yin Zhaoxian, who naturally looked a little sleepy. He didn't pay any attention to Shi Yusheng at all. Then he suddenly turned around and asked a question.
"After the Spring Examination, Mr. Ji will not disappear again, right?"
"Mr. Ying, please let me go. Goddess Jiang was just lucky that time. If I hadn't controlled her well and let her mind collapse, you would have chased her out of the Water Palace. Your Highness Longzi, I really can't do anything about it!"
Ji Yuan finally blurted out what he had been holding back all night. Lao Long felt as if his secrets had been exposed, and it was a rare moment of embarrassment for him.
"Uh, hehehe... Mr. Ji is joking..."
Ji Yuan didn't dare to embarrass Lao Long, so he quickly changed the subject.
"I really can't hide it from Mr. Ying. After the incident in the capital is over, I want to find a quiet place to practice for a while. Before that, there is one more thing I need to do."
"But what's interesting?"
Lao Long asked with interest, and saw Ji Yuan said helplessly.
"It's not an interesting story. When I was traveling, I met a Taoist priest from the mortal world who insisted on telling my fortune. As a result, he lost half his life. I have always been a pauper. Apart from the medicine that barely keeps me alive, I don't have any magic medicine to use. Now I have ambergris, which can help him replenish his vitality."
Lao Long also widened his eyes.
Even Ji Yuan could barely maintain that Taoist's life, the backlash from that heaven-defying event was so severe.
After experiencing some recent events, Ji Yuan's abilities have been recognized by Lao Long and he can be considered a capable man.
"That's not right. How could that Taoist possibly predict your situation?"
When Lao Long went to find Ji Yuan, he had no idea where Mr. Ji was. How come this Taoist could have almost lost his life
Ji Yuan smiled "haha" a little awkwardly and said no more. Lao Long was confused and thought that Ji Yuan was not in a position to say more so he stopped asking.
"Anyway, when I decide where to practice, I will definitely let Mr. Ying know, so you don't get lost in finding me!"
"That's good!"
Lao Long smiled. It was very rare for him to have a friend with a good temper, a good appetite and great abilities. The main reason was that there were too few people he could look up to.
At this moment, in Bingzhou, five or six thousand miles away, a Taoist who had just set up a stall for interpreting marriage fortunes outside the City God Temple suddenly felt an itchy nose, and no matter how hard he rubbed it several times, it didn't help.
“Ah, Qiu~~~Ah, Qiu~~~Ah, Qiu~~~”
He sneezed three times in a row, and two streams of crystal clear snot came out of his red, frozen nose.
"It's strange. Is there anyone else who would miss me besides Qi Wen?"
Taoist Qingsong was waking up with snot and shaking his hands while muttering to himself.
"Oh, that's disgusting!" "Stay away from him!"
"Oh, he's coming this way!"
The pilgrims who were rushing to burn the first incense stick on the first day of the lunar month or to burn the morning incense were all walking around the stall, except for the little Taoist priest who was anxiously looking for a handkerchief.
. . .
Half a day later, a dragon-shaped figure sneaked out from the Tongtian River Water Palace and transformed into an old man outside the hall. It was the real dragon Yinghong.
Long Zi Ying Feng hurried out to greet him.
"Dad, are you alone? Where's Uncle Ji?"
Looking at his son looking around, Lao Long snorted coldly.
"Don't look, it's not coming!"
"Ah!? You don't even give me your respect? This..."
The old dragon shook his head and walked straight into the palace. At first, he was fine with his son knowing that his sister had gained benefits, but later, when he heard his own guess and learned that Chunmujiang Baijiao seemed to have an opportunity as well, he became a little impatient.
"Humph, you keep mentioning your 'Uncle Ji' all the time. How can Ji Yuan not notice your thoughts? Stop it!"
After leaving these words in a bad mood, the old dragon no longer paid any attention to his son and went back to take a nap in the sand pool in the water palace at the back.