Although it was already dark, the teahouse where Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui were staying was still bustling. The guests had already changed several times, and only a few tables of guests had not moved. A storyteller was telling a story in the center of the hall, attracting most of the tea drinkers in the building, including Ji Yuan.
However, Zhang Rui was not in the mood to listen to the book at this time. She had just heard Ji Yuan talking about Wang Li, and she felt a little flustered.
"Mr. Ji, do you mean that Wang Li will be in danger?"
Zhang Rui's Taoism skills were not very high. If she wanted to see Wang Li's aura, she needed to have a certain prayer relationship, such as Wang Li going to the temple where she lived to burn incense. Otherwise, she could only see superficially. Before that, she didn't see that Wang Li would be in any fatal disaster.
"The person Wang Li alluded to in his book was the Xiao family, the imperial censor of the dynasty. Their job was to supervise all officials. To some extent, their power was second only to the emperor. If the Yin family hadn't interfered, Wang Li would have died long ago."
Zhang Rui knew that the Xiao family was a high-ranking official, but she also knew that Yin Zhaoxian was at the peak of his career.
"But, but Lord Yin is here. All ghosts and gods know that Lord Yin is a great scholar of the time, with a righteous spirit, who can distinguish between loyalty and treachery and right and wrong. He has cleared the air of the two capitals within a hundred miles. Since the Yin family has asked about it, Wang Li should be fine..."
Having said that, Zhang Rui suddenly remembered something and her expression changed.
"No! I heard that Lord Yin is critically ill! Could it be that Lord Yin is about to..."
What is going on? Zhang Rui is obviously too concerned. Ji Yuan quickly interrupted her.
"Don't let your imagination run wild. Even if there's a big mess, we can just grab Wang Li out. Can we just watch him die?"
Zhang Rui was stunned for a moment but then reacted immediately.
"Yeah, just grab it. Why do you care so much when your life is about to be lost? I thought Mr. Ji was the kind of immortal who would not interfere in the affairs of the mortal world..."
Ji Yuan smiled.
"There are so many injustices and deaths in the mortal world. I really can't take care of it all. Sometimes it's inconvenient to intervene. But it doesn't mean that immortal cultivators won't intervene. Among the masters I know, there are many people with good temperament."
Zhang Rui became a little eager after hearing this.
"How about I bring Wang Li out tonight?"
Ji Yuan couldn't help but shook his head, thinking about Wang Li's situation, and then extended his thoughts to the situation of the Xiao family and the Yin family.
"Let's first ask Wang Li what he thinks."
…
As the night wore on and the teahouse closed, Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui walked on the empty street towards the Changyang Mansion Prison. At this moment, Zhang Rui was not too worried about Wang Li, but was more curious about Mr. Ji beside her. She lagged behind him and observed Ji Yuan carefully from time to time.
As Ji Yuan was walking, he suddenly turned around and looked at Zhang Rui, which scared the goddess in white.
"What do you want to say?"
Zhang Rui grinned sheepishly.
"I once asked Judge Wen of Changyang Prefecture indirectly, and learned that the method you used to ask the water god to purify the water was actually an extraordinary supernatural power. I also understood that the Dragon King mentioned by the water god was actually the real dragon in Tongtian River. Mr. Ji, how high is your Taoism?"
Zhang Rui is just a minor god with great virtue and achievements. He is not considered a land god nor belongs to the underworld, so he naturally doesn't know much. What happened on the flower boat that year left a great shock in the hearts of the Water God and Tu Siyan, but the commotion was not big. However, Zhang Rui and Wang Li felt almost the same. They just knew that Ji Yuan and the Water God had the upper hand in the brief confrontation.
But over the years, as Zhang Rui learned more, she gradually began to understand how powerful Mr. Ji was, probably no less powerful than the City God of a prefecture.
"What? Are you still worried that you can't save Wang Li?"
Hearing Ji Yuan ask this, Zhang Rui quickly waved her hands.
"No, no, uh, haha, I'm just curious. Sir, you must be very advanced in Taoism. I heard that some immortal masters who play in the mortal world actually seek the truth and talk about their hearts. Did you know about Sister Bai's love tribulation a long time ago?"
Ji Yuan was slightly stunned, and suddenly remembered that in the story of "White Deer Fate", the white deer was actually the mount of the "old immortal", and nominally he had a master-disciple relationship with the white deer.
After thinking about it, Ji Yuan felt that it would be wrong to say more about this matter, so he smiled and replied "I don't know", then continued walking forward without saying anything more.
Zhang Rui was stunned by Ji Yuan's answer. She had already thought of a long list of questions, but Mr. Ji just said "I don't know". After standing there for a while and seeing Ji Yuan walking away, Zhang Rui hurried to catch up.
But the more she thought about it, the more something seemed wrong. She always felt that Mr. Ji's smile was very unfathomable. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly wondered if he already knew what she wanted to ask and said that on purpose because he felt it was troublesome
The yamen area was very quiet at night. The guards outside the Changyang Prefecture prison yawned frequently. Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui walked past the two guards at the door and entered the prison. Before they came to Wang Li's cell, the patrolling guards and sleepy jailers along the way ignored them, while the prisoners in other cells slept even more soundly.
Only the little paper crane on the roof of Wang Li's cell noticed that its master had arrived, and it flapped its wings and flew out of the cell and landed on Ji Yuan's shoulder.
“Pah-la-la…Pah-la-la…”
The little paper crane flapped its wings quickly, creating a breeze and a sound, and then stretched out one wing and pointed it at the floor of the cell. Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui followed the direction of its wing and saw a pool of liquid that had not yet dried up, as well as a few pieces of porcelain debris that had not been cleaned up.
"I see, well done!"
When Ji Yuan praised it, the little paper crane twisted its body a few times, looking very comfortable.
Zhang Rui moved her eyes away from the wine on the ground and then looked at Wang Li who was sleeping.
"Wang Li, Wang Li, wake up, Mr. Ji is here!"
Ji Yuan was also looking at Wang Li. With his divine eyes, he vaguely felt that his aura seemed a little unusual. Before he had time to take a closer look, Zhang Rui had already walked through the prison door into the cell and grabbed Wang Li's ear very naturally.
"Wake up, Mr. Ji is here!"
Under the stimulation of intense pain, Wang Li suddenly woke up.
"Ouch, hiss... Auntie, please be gentle, be gentle..."
"Keep your voice down! Mr. Ji is here!"
"ah?"
Wang Li didn't care about the pain at all. He searched in the cell and then looked outside the fence. Sure enough, he saw Ji Yuan standing there. It seemed that Wang Li felt that he had become more and more vicissitudes of life over the years, but Mr. Ji was still exactly the same as in his memory.
"Wang Li meets Mr. Ji!"
Zhang Rui didn't let go of her hand until Wang Li saluted. Ji Yuan couldn't help but frown when he saw Wang Li being woken up by Zhang Rui in such a physical way. Wang Li's ears were pulled red, and it seemed that the goddess had really hit him hard just now.
Ji Yuan also returned a slight salute to Wang Li and looked at Wang Li with some emotion. The storyteller was not young at all, with white frost on his temples. However, Wang Li's figure was clearer than Ji Yuan had expected.
"It's been years since we last met. Your ability as a storyteller has not fallen behind. You even talked about the prison."
Wang Li thought Ji Yuan was teasing him and scratched his head embarrassedly.
"I am really ashamed to meet you in such an occasion, but I have not been idle. I have already compiled many of the stories you told me back then, and have carefully polished them many times. Many of them have been widely circulated, so I have lived up to your trust."
"Yeah, I heard about it."
Wang Li looked at Zhang Rui beside him, knowing that she must have said that, and subconsciously rubbed his ears. Fortunately, Zhang Rui always pulled a different ear each time, otherwise he would suspect that one of the ears would be twisted off, or the two ears would be one bigger and one smaller.
"I won't talk about the book for now. There is one more thing that concerns you."
"Yes, Wang Li, you have been in a bloody disaster recently, so you should leave with me. I tell you..."
Zhang Rui couldn't wait to tell Wang Li everything she knew, and also added about the wine on the ground. The more Wang Li listened, the more wrong his expression became, and finally he looked in surprise at the place where the wine pot was broken on the ground.
"Is this poisoned wine?"
"It may not be poisoned wine, as it would be too obvious if it was poisoned, but it is definitely not a good thing, otherwise the paper crane would not have broken it."
"Paper crane?"
Wang Li was stunned for a moment, and suddenly found a white paper crane on Ji Yuan's shoulder. Recalling the white light, Wang Li couldn't help but salute.
"Thank you, Mr. Ji, and thank you, Paper Crane!"
"So what are you waiting for, let's go?"
Zhang Rui urged again, and Wang Li was about to agree, but suddenly frowned again.
"But if I leave like this, wouldn't that be escaping from prison? Wouldn't that be absconding from the crime? Lord Yin has spoken up for me. If I leave, how could my political enemies in the court let go of this opportunity?"
"You idiot, Lord Yin is a high-ranking official in the court, and he is also the son of Lord Yin. What can happen to him? At most, he will be scolded and lose face, but you will lose your life!"
Wang Li looked at Ji Yuan who had a calm expression, then at Zhang Rui who had an impatient look, and said hesitantly.
"The jailer mentioned in casual conversation that Lord Yin was critically ill. At this time..."
"Oh, then you..."
Zhang Rui anxiously approached Wang Li, who reflexively covered his ears and took a step back, which made the former both angry and amused.
"Even if I stay in jail, with you here, Miss Zhang, they definitely can't do anything to me!"
It’s not that Wang Li is not afraid of death, but he knows that Zhang Rui will not ignore him. Zhang Rui was amused by this shameless attitude.
"Even if I were a ghost, I couldn't stay here forever. I would be careless sometimes. What if you got hurt when I wasn't here? What contribution can you make to the Yin family? You are just a nobody. Why are you talking about being noble and upright?"
Originally, Wang Li had always been timid in front of Zhang Rui, but when he heard what Zhang Rui said, the more he listened, the angrier he became. Finally, after Zhang Rui finished speaking, Wang Li put down his hands, stood up straight, and said to Zhang Rui with clenched fists.
"So what if I'm just a nobody? I have my own backbone too! Lord Yin is a great scholar, and the Yin family is a loyal family. Who among the scholars in the world doesn't look up to them and admire them? The Yin family is in danger now. I, a nobody, can't help much, but I don't want to hold them back!"
"you!"
As soon as Zhang Rui approached, Wang Li's momentum immediately lost, and he was so scared that he covered his ears and took two steps back.
"Well, you two have completely forgotten about Ji..."
Ji Yuan spoke helplessly. Zhang Rui and Wang Li in the cell were both stunned. They had indeed ignored Mr. Ji just now.