Liao Daqiu looked at Ji Yuan and Chang Yi excitedly.
"Gentlemen, are you sure? I mean, are you telling the truth? Xiaobao, is he, is he still alive?"
When ordinary fortune tellers tell fortunes, the Liao family just listens. Although their emotions may fluctuate, they are not so exaggerated.
But for some reason, what these two great gentlemen said was surprisingly convincing, as if what came out of their mouths was the truth.
So Liao Daqiu became excited all of a sudden, and not only him, but also the woman on the kitchen threshold. It felt as if they were not asking someone to tell their fortune, but as if the official brought a letter saying that their eldest son was still alive.
The youngest son of the Liao family, who was standing on the threshold, looked at his parents' current state and felt a little overwhelmed. He pulled Liao's mother's sleeve.
"Mother..."
Only then did Liao's mother come back to her senses and rub her younger son's face, but she still paid attention to the direction of Old Liao and the two masters.
Faced with the excitement of the old couple, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi naturally understood. The former nodded solemnly again and replied.
"Yes, your eldest son Liao Zhengbao is still alive. We can help you inquire in the military and maybe we can find your son."
Hearing this, Liao Daqiu stood up suddenly and almost dropped the bowl of porridge in his hand. The precious white porridge for the farmers flowed onto the ground.
After his hand was scalded by the porridge, Liao Daqiu quickly put the bowl of porridge on the stool, and then knelt down in front of Ji Yuan and Chang Yi.
"If you two gentlemen can help us find Xiaobao, I will never forget this kindness, forever!"
The woman on the kitchen threshold also put down her porridge bowl and ran to Liao Daqiu and knelt down together.
"Please help us find Xiaobao, please, sirs!"
The two even wanted to kowtow, but Ji Yuan and Chang Yi held them up with their hands on the left and right. They accepted the greetings of the two without dodging or blocking, but there was no need to kowtow.
"Please stand up quickly, both of you. We will do our best to help you. There is no need to be so polite."
Old Liao raised his head and looked at Ji Yuan and Chang Yi.
"But, how can we repay you two? We have no money and no power, how can we repay you?"
Even farmers like Lao Liao and his wife knew that it would cost a lot of money to find people from the army and take them away. It was said that a lawsuit in the county would cost a lot of money. Half a year ago, two families in a neighboring village went to the government for a dispute over a horse. In the end, neither the winner nor the loser had a horse, and the money was given to the government...
The old Liao couple knew very well that they could not afford anything, but could they let the two masters bear the burden? Not to mention whether Ji Yuan and Chang Yi would do this, even if they really did so, the Liao couple would feel guilty, but how could they give up the opportunity to save their son!
Ji Yuan seemed to see through the couple's thoughts. After thinking for a while, he pointed to the black jade hairpin on his bun and said.
"Mr. Chang and I are not short of money or relationships. Besides, it's worth helping you."
Looking at Ji Yuan's black jade hairpin, even if the couple were not experts in jade, they knew that it was definitely worth a lot of money. If this was really a piece of cake for Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, they would feel more at ease.
"Well, if you really want to repay me, give me another bowl of porridge."
"Haha, yes, Chang will also have another bowl with more pickles. These pickles are delicious and have a fresh flavor!"
The old Liao couple looked surprised.
"Okay, okay, I'll serve you two, I'll serve you two gentlemen!"
The couple hurriedly stood up, not even bothering to pat their trouser legs, and took the empty bowls from Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, and hurried to the kitchen to get porridge, while not forgetting to talk about their own pickles.
"This pickle is made by me using cabbage. It's just the right time to open the jar. It's delicious now. It's also delicious when used to make soup!"
The woman served the porridge while Lao Liao added vegetables to the two bowls. Both of them had happy expressions on their faces but their tears could not stop flowing. However, their hands kept moving and they could only wipe away their tears with the sleeves of their arms.
However, when they walked out of the kitchen, the tears on their faces had been wiped away. They steadily held two bowls of porridge topped with pickles and carefully placed them in front of Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, as if the porridge they were holding was extremely heavy and hot.
Ji Yuan and Chang Yi looked at each other, the former nodded slightly to the latter, and the latter seemed to see the reflection of the warmth and coldness of human nature in the former's eyes.
The two of them just had breakfast at Liao Daqiu's house, and left Maotan Village early under the expectant and anxious eyes of the couple, leaving the old village chief who came to look for Ji Yuan and Chang Yi empty-handed.
…
When Ji Yuan and Chang Yi left, they refused Liao Daqiu's offer to see them off in a ox cart and chose to walk. After leaving the village for a distance, they flew away.
With Liao Zhengbao's information and a wooden sword that Liao Zhengbao played with when he was a child, it was not difficult for Ji Yuan and Chang Yi to find Liao Zhengbao.
The two flew towards the southeast of Yuanzhao Kingdom with a clear purpose. Scanning the land along the way, they found that many farmlands were in panic, and some villages and even towns were empty.
This is very similar to the scene that Ji Yuan saw when he first went to Zu Yue Kingdom. Although the domestic situation in Zu Yue Kingdom is extremely bad, as a country that has been able to fight against Da Zhen for so many years, it still has some foundation and a large land area. But Yuan Zhao Kingdom is much smaller, and it has been plagued by internal and external troubles. This time the plague covers one-third of the land. I am afraid that its luck is really coming to an end.
About an hour and a half later, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi arrived at a barren land in the southeast of Yuanzhao State. This place was already considered the frontier of Yuanzhao State, but the border city seemed a bit dilapidated, and there were not many civilians living around the rear. Although there were some farmlands, they were all planted by the soldiers themselves to alleviate the shortage of military rations to a certain extent.
Ji Yuan and Chang Yi would of course not fly directly to the top of the city, but would land in the wilderness outside the city, and then approach the city little by little along the farmland behind.
"Mr. Ji, Liao Zhengbao should be in the city. How can we take him away? Why not let him fall asleep and then fly back to Maotan Village with him?"
While Chang Yi was walking and asking Ji Yuan, Ji Yuan was looking at this border city. With his special eyes, he could see that there was a strong military aura on the city, and there was an obscure and special aura condensed in the city, which was a bit unlike the aura of a "broken country" like Yuanzhao. After thinking about it, he looked at Chang Yi.
"That depends on what Liao Zhengbao thinks."
Chang Yi frowned and looked towards the city. He didn't quite understand what Ji Yuan meant, but he didn't ask any more questions.
As the two men got closer and closer to the city, they were soon discovered by some sentries. They were still walking on a small path with fields on both sides. After a loud shout of "Stop", five soldiers rushed out from the bushes beside the field.
"Zheng", "Zheng", "Zheng", "Zheng", "Zheng"
All five of them drew their swords and pointed them at Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, looking at them with vigilance. The leading soldier looked at Ji Yuan and Chang Yi carefully, then asked.
"Who are you? What are you doing here in this important border area? Tell me now, and don't hide anything!"
The other soldiers nearby also shouted and repeated.
"Tell me quickly, don't hide anything!"
Ji Yuan and Chang Yi showed no signs of panic. Due to his eyesight problems, the former could see the soldiers' full fighting spirit, while Chang Yi saw that the armors of these soldiers were worn out, and traces of homemade ropes could be seen in many places. There were even gaps on the blades, but apart from the big gaps, there was no way to repair them. The other parts were polished to a bright shine, and the blades were sharp enough.
"My name is Jiyuan, and this is Mr. Chang Yichang. We two have been asked to come here to deliver a letter to a soldier in this city. I hope you can help us."
"Sending a letter?"
The leading soldier was stunned for a moment, and the other soldiers beside him looked at each other.
"Who are you sending the letter to? Do you have any official documents or tokens?"
Ji Yuan thought for a moment, pretended to take something out of his right sleeve with his left hand, and answered hurriedly.
"Official documents are available. Yes, yes, yes. Please wait a moment, sir."
Chang Yi looked at Mr. Ji beside him with curiosity, wanting to know when Mr. Ji got the official document. As a result, he saw Ji Yuan took out a blank piece of rice paper from his sleeve and handed it directly to the leading soldier.
The leading soldier took the "official document" from Ji Yuan and looked at it carefully. Two other soldiers beside him also leaned over to look.
They looked it up and down many times before nodding and returning it to Ji Yuan.
"You do have an official document, but I don't know if it's authentic. Take it first and show it to the military officer when you meet him. Now come with us!"
"Okay, I'll have to trouble you, the generals, to lead the way!"
Ji Yuan nodded slightly at Chang Yi and stuffed the rice paper back into his sleeve. The latter immediately realized that this was just a small trick. The "official documents" these soldiers saw were just what they wanted to see.
When they were approaching the city, even the gate facing the back was only half open, and there were roadblocks outside. After at least two inspections, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi finally met the military officer in charge of the north gate.
In a house near the door in the city, the military officer also carefully read the "official document" and took out several old official documents for comparison. After confirming that the official document was correct, he did not return it to Ji Yuan, but put it in a wooden box together with other official documents.
"Are you here to deliver a letter? That's strange. Those good-for-nothings above us can't even pay the soldiers in full, but they actually approved a document just to deliver a letter..."
The military officer muttered just this, and then asked for advice from Yuan and Chang Yi again with great expectation.
"How many letters are there? Are there any for me? My name is Li Qiuyang, and I am from Neihe County. Do you have any?"
Hearing this, some soldiers in the room looked towards Ji Yuan and Chang Yi expectantly, obviously eager to receive their own letters.
But Ji Yuan could only shake his head helplessly.
"There was no letter from anyone else, only a verbal message from Liao Zhengbao and some keepsakes from his family."
The officer sighed, nodded and said to a soldier next to him.
"Take the two gentlemen to see Sima Liao."
"yes!"
Ji Yuan and Chang Yi followed the soldier through the city and saw many other soldiers. Some were injured, while others were training, and their armor was torn.
"What does Mr. Chang think?"
Hearing Ji Yuan's words, Chang Yi shook his head and said with emotion.
"He is a soldier who has fought many battles and is a real hero. What a pity!"