Ji Yuan and the old beggar were having a heated discussion in the yard. During the discussion, the old servant of the Qiao family brought breakfast and they ate together in the yard.
While the two were discussing the refining of magic weapons, an old eunuch came to the front yard of the Qiao family. It was Gong Shun, the eunuch who was a close confidant of the old emperor.
Qiao Yong led the Qiao family to the front yard to pay their respects and receive the imperial edict.
"I have received the mandate from Heaven. I know that the former Admiral of the Western Navy, Qiao Yong, is a loyal and righteous man. You have returned home to rest for several years. I originally wanted you to rest more, but the affairs of the court and the country are busy, and it is rare to find a loyal and patriotic minister. I hope you will return to the court to help the country... From today on, you will be reinstated..."
Not surprisingly, he was reinstated and even allowed to recall his old subordinates.
Although it was expected, it still made the entire Qiao family, including Qiao Yong, very excited. It was like truly returning to the upper class. Although the Qiao family could endure hardships, who doesn't want to live a better life and bring honor to the family
The old eunuch read it aloud, and until the last word fell, everyone in the Qiao family thanked him loudly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Qiao Yong's breathing trembled slightly. He looked up at the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict. The latter gently closed the imperial edict and thrust his hands forward.
"Hehehe... Master Qiao."
Qiao Yong quickly accepted the gift, approached the old eunuch, and also took the imperial edict with both hands.
"Thank you, father-in-law. Qiao, my family is in a very poor situation now..."
When eunuchs in high positions convey imperial eunuchs' orders, they usually have to be paid bribes. Such eunuchs can sometimes play an unexpected role, especially those like Gong Shun who are extremely favored by the emperor.
Gong Shun was also a smart man. He naturally knew Qiao Yong's embarrassment and quickly refused with both hands.
"Alas, Master Qiao, you worry too much. I am just doing my job impartially and have no other thoughts. By the way, before I came here, His Majesty asked me to bring a message to Master Qiao."
"Please speak, sir!"
The old eunuch looked in the direction of Qiao's backyard and whispered.
"The two immortals are still here, right? Your Majesty wants to see the two immortals again sometime to learn about the immortal way."
Qiao Yong understood what the emperor meant and naturally nodded in agreement.
"Please go back and tell His Majesty that I will definitely pass on your message, but the actions of gods are hard for mortals to predict, so I can only do my best."
"Hey, Master Qiao, don't worry. The emperor is very fond of you now."
"Uh hehe, I still need the support of my father-in-law!"
"Haha, no problem..."
Qiao Yong is now very clear that being upright and incorruptible is naturally an excellent quality for an official, and it is also extremely rare, but being too upright is easy to break, and unless the emperor and important ministers are very tolerant, it is not a way to last long.
As soon as the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict left, Qiao Yong hurried to the guest house in the backyard. His voice had already been heard before he arrived.
Before, they always called him Immortal Master, but later Ji Yuan told him to just call him Mr. Ji, and naturally the old beggar could be called "old beggar", but he could be called Mr. Ji, as the title "old beggar" was too disrespectful, so the Qiao family didn't dare to do that, so they compromised and called him Mr. Lu.
"Mr. Ji, Mr. Lu, Mr. Ji, Mr. Lu, Qiao is here to bother you again, both of you..."
Qiao Yong's voice suddenly stopped. When he turned the corner of the courtyard, he saw that Ji Yuan and the old beggar were no longer in the guest house. When he came a quarter of an hour ago, the two were still chatting about the country and the water.
"Did he leave?"
Qiao Yong was startled. He had just promised to bring the message, and he had already left room for maneuver. He couldn't say for sure it would succeed. Now he might not even be able to bring the message.
He walked quickly towards the courtyard and first looked at the guest houses on both sides. The doors were closed tightly. Then he looked at the stone table in the courtyard. The breakfast bowls and plates were neatly placed. The rice porridge and dried radishes on them had been eaten up.
Qiao Yong did not give up. He first walked to Ji Yuan's house and opened the door. The bedding inside was neatly arranged and clean, and the room was very airy, with nothing left that was not there originally. He then quickly walked to the old beggar's room, which was also as if no one had ever lived there.
"Alas... the two immortals are gone... How can I explain this to the Emperor?"
Qiao Yong walked to the yard somewhat dejectedly, preparing to clean up the dishes, but when he got closer he found that there was something blocked by the dishes and trays due to the perspective. It turned out to be a small jade bottle and a piece of paper with words written on it.
Qiao Yong was overjoyed. He ignored the jade bottle and carefully picked up the paper. After reading it carefully, he breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had an explanation to the emperor.
After putting down the paper, Qiao Yong carefully picked up the small jade bottle on the stone table. The small jade bottle was about half a palm long and two fingers thick. When shaking it, he could feel liquid inside, about the amount of a cup.
"Is this the immortal wine ambergris mentioned in Mr. Ji's letter?"
Seeing that there was no one around, Qiao Yong secretly pulled out the stopper from the small jade bottle. Immediately, a strong aroma of wine wafted out, which was much stronger than the wine that Ji Yuan poured last night, and it made Qiao Yong's heart waver.
After shaking his body, Qiao Yong quickly put the small jade bottle back in place, fearing that he would not be able to resist the temptation and drink it directly.
Half an hour later, in the imperial study of the palace, there were only the old emperor, the old eunuch Gong Shun, Qiao Yong and the imperial teacher Men Yutong.
The old emperor had read Ji Yuan's letter several times, and only put it down after reading it for the third time and making sure that there was nothing missing.
"Hey, Immortal Master Ji and Immortal Master Lu left without saying goodbye. Although Immortal Master Ji said that he would help inform Xianxia Island about our desperate search for them, I wonder how the immortal masters of Xianxia Island will react... And this immortal wine... Imperial Master, what do you think?"
The old emperor had a complicated expression. Immortal wine was naturally good, but it was not something he had not drunk before. The imperial master once cast a spell to transform spiritual energy into wine, turning ordinary human wine into immortal wine. It was indeed comfortable to drink, but that was just comfort.
Men Yutong was observing the small jade bottle at the moment. When he heard the old emperor's words, he knew that he was thinking wrongly, so he quickly moved closer to explain.
"Your Majesty, I dare not make a final judgment on the matter of Xianxia Island, but with Immortal Ji's words, I believe there is more hope. As for this wine, this is real immortal wine, which is very different from the crude method of converting spiritual energy into wine. The real immortal wine, from the collection of materials to the refining method, and then to the care of the finished wine, can be called a unique and wonderful method. To some extent, it is like refining an elixir, not to mention..."
As he spoke, Men Yutong reached out, pinched the stopper of the small bottle, and carefully pulled it out.
The unique aroma of ambergris wafted out, and those present were intoxicated and fascinated.
"Besides... the sentence in the book left by Master Ji, 'The Lord of Rivers and Lakes carefully refined it'... Your Majesty, Master Ji used 'Lord' instead of 'God'..."
"Uh, what's the difference?"
The old emperor subconsciously reached for the small jade bottle, his expression slightly nervous and expectant.
"Of course there is a difference... the difference is huge..."
Men Yutong carefully handed the jade pendant to the old emperor and nodded to explain.
"Nowadays, the dragon clan is the most respected in the water. The term "Lord of Rivers and Water Marshes" is qualified. It can only refer to a real dragon! Your Majesty, this wine is carefully refined by a real dragon. It is called ambergris. Perhaps it means that when a real dragon sees this wine, he will drool! In other words, this is the real wine of immortality!"
The old emperor's body trembled, and he tightly grasped the jade bottle in his hand, restraining the strong urge to drink it immediately, while not forgetting to ask a question.
"Master, does this wine require any medicine? If I drink it directly, it won't be a waste of medicine, right?"
"Your Majesty, rest assured. If Immortal Ji did not give any special instructions, then it must be drinkable directly. Uh, if Your Majesty is convenient, can you please leave some for me to study? It doesn't need to be much, just a few drops will do!"
The old emperor could no longer hold back and just nodded to the imperial teacher. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth first, then put the small jade bottle to his mouth and drank the wine in the bottle with his head tilted up to the sky. During the drinking process, the aroma of ambergris seemed to become several times stronger.
"Gurgle...Gurgle..."
This is the sound of the old emperor swallowing ambergris.
"Gurgle..." "Gurgle..."
This was the sound of Qiao Yong and the chief eunuch Gong Shun swallowing their saliva. Even Men Yutong on the side had a slight movement in his throat.
As soon as he took a sip of the wine, the old emperor felt a hot current flowing from his throat into his stomach, and then merged into his body in an instant and rushed to his limbs and bones. The heat continued all over his body and his muscles and bones seemed to be burned, but it was not painful. Instead, it was very comfortable. But at the same time, his mind began to become confused and his head became dizzy.
"Good... wine..."
As soon as he uttered these two words, the exaggerated effect of Ambergris' alcohol took effect. The old emperor staggered twice and fell to one side.
"His Majesty!"
Qiao Yong and the old eunuch each took a step forward, supporting the fallen old emperor on the left and right, while Men Yutong quickly reached out to catch the small jade bottle that fell from the old emperor's hand.
After carefully looking through the bottle, Men Yutong just sighed slightly. He said he would leave a few drops, but now there is only a little lingering fragrance left...
But even so, Men Yutong quickly sealed the jade bottle with a soft stopper, as he was reluctant to waste the remaining fragrance.
"Master Imperial Master, is His Majesty okay?"
The old eunuch asked worriedly, and Men Yutong smiled.
"It's just drinking. He's drunk. What can happen? Send His Majesty to the palace to rest. He will wake up in a day or three to five days."
"yes!"
The old eunuch and Qiao Yong felt relieved.
…
Ji Yuan and the old beggar left because they realized that Tu Siyan had woken up. It was purely because of the heated discussion about refining magic weapons that the backyard of the Qiao family was no longer a suitable place, and the most suitable place was actually Jiufeng Mountain.
But before that, the two of them naturally had to go to Pozi Mountain. Although there was no sign that Tu Siyan would wake up immediately, this fox demon could not be judged by common sense, so they naturally had to go and take a look when they passed by.
Sure enough, the closer they got to Pozi Mountain, the more Ji Yuan and the old beggar felt that the fox had awakened.