Qiao Yong successfully brought the fleet back home. Strictly speaking, it was not a breach of promise, but in his opinion, he had said that he would bear all the consequences. In the end, he did bear the consequences, but he was not able to keep them.
Although his brothers did not go to jail, they did not receive the rewards they deserved, and lost their jobs regardless of whether they were disabled or not. Although Qiao Yong was imprisoned, he was released later, and his family was safe and his property was still there. He always felt like there was a thorn in his heart, and he could not sleep or eat well.
When Qiao Yong said "doing his best", he was not just saying it. Ji Yuan and the old beggar could see something from the current situation of the Qiao family. Not only did they give away gold and silver, but most of the Qiao family's originally considerable land was also divided up. Although the Qiao family is not starving now, it is absolutely impossible for them to live as luxuriously as before, and they have to rely on working with their own hands.
The process of understanding Qiao Yong is also the process of understanding Daxiu. Generally speaking, although Emperor Daxiu is eager to obtain the elixir, he is not so stubborn that he will not listen to advice.
As for seeking elixirs, if it were done by the previous Emperor Dazhen, it would indeed be considered a waste of time because the way to immortality is so illusory. But Daxiu has its own Heavenly Master after all. Although the common people are mostly ignorant, the upper class still have some understanding of the way to immortality. At least they all understand that there are really immortals in the world who have great power to reach the sky, so seeking elixirs is not just a pure dream.
At this moment, Qiao De, the old servant of the Qiao family, came in from outside and said something in the living room.
"Sir, Madam said dinner is ready. Can you serve?"
Upon hearing this, Qiao Yong looked at Ji Yuan and the old beggar.
"Master Ji, Master Lu, how about we have dinner now?"
The old beggar smiled.
"Hehe, this old beggar has been waiting for you to say this. Mr. Ji and I haven't had a drop of water for many days, and we are starving!"
"Oh, Ade, hurry up and serve the meal. Hurry up and serve the meal. Is the dining hall ready?"
"Alright, alright, I've already packed it up. I'll go to the kitchen first. You can take the two immortals with you!"
After the old servant Qiao De finished speaking, he bowed to Ji Yuan and the old beggar in the living room, took a few steps back, and then turned and left.
Ji Yuan looked thoughtfully at the departure of the only servant of the Qiao family. From his blurry vision, he could see that Qiao De was full of vigor. He turned his gaze to the old beggar and found that he was also looking at the departing old man.
Then the old beggar turned his gaze back and met Ji Yuan's. They smiled at each other and said nothing.
"Please follow me to the dining hall, my two immortals!"
Qiao Yong had already stood up and was extending his hand to invite people in at the door.
A moment later, in the Qiao family's dining hall, the entire Qiao family, as well as the two guests, Ji Yuan and the old beggar, all sat down at a large round table. The only person standing was the old servant Qiao De.
The old beggar swept his eyes around the dining hall and saw some remaining spider webs and other things. Ji Yuan moved his nose and in addition to smelling the fragrance of food, he could also smell a scent of damp dust, which was usually the smell after cleaning.
It seems that the dining hall has not been used for a long time, so it was specially cleaned this time.
There were a total of ten dishes on the round table, and of course there were a lot of fresh vegetables. The most eye-catching one was a large braised fish and two large plates of poached chicken. The rest were things like peanuts and dried radishes, plus a pot of wine. This was the dinner that the Qiao family hosted.
Everyone at the table was paying attention to Ji Yuan and the old beggar; no one picked up their chopsticks. Mrs. Qiao and the eldest son of the Qiao family, who had already grown up, were able to keep their eyes straight, but the two young children were all staring at the two plates of chicken.
Qiao Yong personally filled Ji Yuan and the old beggar's wine cups with wine and said politely.
"Two immortals, please start eating! It is a blessing for our Qiao family that you can come to our Qiao family!"
Ji Yuan looked at the old beggar.
"Well, Mr. Lu, you are starving, so please have some."
"Hehehe, then the old beggar won't be polite! Tsk tsk tsk, these two plates of chicken, the old beggar likes this the most!"
The old beggar was naturally not shy. Under the eager gaze of the two young children of the Qiao family, he picked up a chicken butt, then picked up another one and put it in front of Ji Yuan.
"Mr. Ji, this is a good thing, commonly known as Phoenix Tail Meat in the market. This is for you."
Ji Yuan waved his hands repeatedly.
"No, no, a gentleman does not take away what others like. Mr. Lu, just eat it. I don't like it."
As he spoke, Ji Yuan stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a few pieces of vegetables from the middle soup bowl and put them into his mouth. A delicious taste emanated from his chewing. It was obvious that the soup was made with chicken soup and was very delicious.
"Everyone is eating and entertaining guests, so there is no reason for the host to watch over it."
As Ji Yuan spoke, he picked up two more chicken legs with his chopsticks, but this time he put them in the bowls of the two children. The two children immediately looked at Qiao Yong, and when they saw the latter nod, they smiled and grabbed the chicken legs, dipped them in soy sauce and started to chew them.
"Yes, yes, we eat too. We eat too."
As soon as Qiao Yong spoke, everyone in the Qiao family started to eat. The atmosphere in the dining hall quickly became lively, and the children's laughter added a lot of liveliness.
…
In the middle of the night, the Qiao family had already gone to bed. Ji Yuan and the old beggar sat alone at the stone table in the guest room courtyard, one looking up at the moon, the other closing his eyes to rest.
A lean camel is bigger than a horse. Although the Qiao family is in decline, the house is still good and it would be no problem to clean up a few guest rooms.
At some point late at night, Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze from admiring the moon, and the old beggar opened his eyes, and the two looked at each other and smiled.
A breeze blew by, and the two immortals disappeared from in front of the stone table.
There is a small alley behind the Qiao family mansion. At this moment, Qiao De, like a night owl, lightly jumped out of the courtyard wall and landed in the alley outside the courtyard, tiptoeing on the ground with his body slightly bent. The whole process was silent.
"Nice Qinggong!"
A calm and peaceful voice sounded faintly, startling Qiao De who thought he was unnoticed. He turned around and found Ji Yuan and the old beggar standing against the wall of Qiao's courtyard.
The moonlight cast upon the two of them, allowing Qiao De to clearly see the smiles on Ji Yuan and the old beggar's faces.
"Ji is very curious. If Mr. Lu and I don't come after the Xianyou Conference, what will happen to the Qiao family? How will you, Qiao De, cope with it?"
The old man's expression was uncertain. After changing several times, he raised his head and gritted his teeth.
"I don't know the date of the Immortal Tour Conference. I only know that if no immortals come before next autumn, I, Qiao De, will try to escort the master and his family out of Kyoto, even if I have to sacrifice my life. We will find a place to stay at the end of the world!"
The old beggar laughed and said, “Haha.”
"I didn't expect him to be a double agent, and he still has some loyalty!"
Joad shook his head.
"You are too kind, Immortal. Although I, Qiao De, believe that I have never done anything to harm the Qiao family, I am still unfaithful to the master in the end."
"Humph, you are not a member of the Qiao family, so how can you be disloyal? Where are you going? To the Heavenly Master? You want to hide this little trick from me and Mr. Ji?"
The old beggar asked with a sneer and hooked his finger. A sachet flew out of Qiao De's arms. He pinched it with his fingers and found that there should be a talisman inside.
Joad didn't hide it.
"You two are truly masters, and I will not lie. I did go to the Heavenly Master's place. The master was idle at home, and it seemed that nothing happened. But how could he just ignore it? He just changed from being open to being secretive, but he did not do anything to harm me."
Ji Yuan nodded.
"That's true, but if we don't come before next fall, I don't know what will happen..."
After a sigh, Ji Yuan said to Qiao De.
"Go ahead and do whatever you need to do."
Joad was stunned.
"Uh, those two immortals..."
The old beggar said unhappily.
"Of course we should go back and rest. We haven't slept or eaten for several days and nights. After having a good meal, we are very sleepy. If it weren't for you, you bastard, I, an old beggar, would go to bed early!"
"Hahaha, I have figured it out. A good meal for Mr. Lu is just two chicken butts and a chicken head, plus half a bowl of soup and a few dishes. Next time I invite you to dinner, I will have a standard."
"You, you, you, Ji Yuan, how can you say such a thing!?"
“Hahahahahaha…”
Amid the laughter in his ears, Qiao De found that Ji Yuan and the old beggar were becoming increasingly fainter in front of his eyes, and finally disappeared. He rubbed his eyes hard and looked around, and there was indeed no one there.
After hesitating for a while, Qiao De left quickly and headed towards the direction of the Heavenly Master in the capital.
…
Early the next morning, Qiao Yong got up early and naturally could not go to sell vegetables today. Instead, he took Ji Yuan and the old beggar straight to the Taoist priest.
As an extremely important institution of the show, the Tianshi Institute is located in the extremely valuable imperial city, right next to the imperial palace.
Different from the relatively secretive Tianshi Temples in other places, the Tianshi Temple in the capital is magnificent and as grand as it can be.
On the one hand, it was because basically no common people could come in near the palace anyway; on the other hand, it was also because, if it was a place the emperor had to go to occasionally, you couldn’t build it too simply, right
There were several guards standing guard outside the Tianshi's office. When they saw Qiao Yong and the two people behind him approaching with a very purposeful attitude, they all became alert.
"Stop! Who are you doing? You should know that we cannot allow ordinary people to approach here casually. Get out of here immediately!"
Qiao Yong quickly stopped and bowed to them.
"My two officers, I was originally the admiral of the Western Navy, Qiao Yong, and concurrently the chief envoy of the East China Sea Immortal Seeking Fleet. Back then, I said that I had received guidance from an immortal to lead the fleet back to the court. Now the immortal has arrived as promised, and I have specially brought the two immortals to the Heavenly Master to look for the Imperial Master!"
"Qiao Yong!?" "Commander-in-Chief of the West Town Navy?"
“It seems there is such a person!”
"Are the two behind me immortals?"
There are countless extraordinary people in the Heavenly Master's Office, but not many are qualified to be called "immortals". For others, "immortal masters" are just official honorifics, and for many people, it is actually more appropriate to call them magicians.
"But the Imperial Master is not at the Heavenly Master's place. Why don't you come back tomorrow?"
Ji Yuan smiled.
"Ji knows that the Imperial Master and Emperor Daxiu are in the City God Temple in Kyoto."
"Um!?"
Several guards became alert, but before they could ask anything, Ji Yuan turned to the old beggar and asked a question.
"Mr. Lu, what do you think we should do?"
"Hey, it's too troublesome to go back and forth, let's use a faster method."
Before Ji Yuan and the old beggar came, they had decided that this time the matter could be made a little bigger.
While the old beggar was saying this, his magical power was circulating throughout his body. He pointed his fingers to the sky and the earth, and then wrote spiritual words on the palm of his left hand. The next moment, he lightly slapped the ground and spoke with utmost concentration.
"Daxiu, the City God of Kyoto, come and see me immediately!"
"boom… "
Ripples spread out like water, and a wisp of green smoke brought up a faint whirlwind, which appeared in front of the old beggar as it spun.
He was wearing a black robe and a black veil on his head, with a divine light shining behind him, but his face was filled with horror...
Daxiu, the City God of Kyoto, widened his eyes, slightly opened his mouth, and looked at Ji Yuan and the old beggar in disbelief.