However, Ji Yuan thought about it and probably understood what was going on. The eunuch Li Jingchun probably didn't carry any copper coins with him, and he didn't even have much small change. He didn't have to spend any money in the palace for a long time. Even if he had to spend money occasionally, he would spend it on luxurious things with a lot of silver. The tea stall would definitely not be able to make change for the large denomination silver coins it took out.
"Alas, with the emperor and the chief eunuch around, I can't even get a cup of tea."
Ji Yuan had no choice but to take out his purse from his sleeve, take out two five-cent coins and two one-cent coins and give them to the shopkeeper.
"The store owner keeps it. Twelve cents."
Yang Hao said quickly.
"Don't worry, sir. I will treat you to all kinds of delicacies!"
"Yes, sir, don't worry."
When Yang Hao and Li Jingchun made a promise to Ji Yuan, the shopkeeper who was smiling cheerfully before collecting the money spoke again.
"Uh... Sir, your copper coin..."
The tea stall owner took the copper coin, frowned, picked up the large and heavy one and looked at it carefully.
"This... Yuande Tongbao?"
The Dangwu Tongbao of Dazhen refers to copper coins equivalent to five cents. Not only the face value, but also the weight must be equal. Each generation of emperors would change a set of text molds. The earliest one Ji Yuan got was Hongyuan Tongbao, and Yuande Tongbao was printed during the previous generation of emperors. Now it should be Hongwu Tongbao, but they can all be circulated.
"You three are foreigners, right? These copper coins are of good quality and heavy, but they are not the currency of our dynasty. I am just a small business owner, and I will suffer some losses if I ask someone to exchange them. How about you give me two more coins?"
Ji Yuan didn't say anything, but took out two cents from his purse and gave them to the shopkeeper.
"Here, there are two more. We should go."
"Thank you for your understanding!" "Hey!"
Ji Yuan nodded to the owner of the tea stall, then stood up with Yang Hao and Li Jingchun, walked around the table and left the tea stall. After walking a few steps, Ji Yuan looked back in the direction of the tea stall. The owner seemed to be weighing the copper coins with a silver scale, which made Ji Yuan frown slightly.
The chief eunuch Li Jingchun thought he had guessed Ji Yuan's thoughts and whispered to the side.
"Sir, even if the copper coins are of sufficient weight, it is a serious crime to mint coins privately. Most ordinary people will exchange them with others, so there will be some price difference."
"Well, that's not what I was thinking. All right, both of you follow me, let's find a secluded place first."
Ji Yuan put aside the thoughts in his mind and walked quickly with Yang Hao and Li Jingchun. This was a town that looked quite large, but the streets and houses were not very tidy. There were more old buildings than new ones. Overall, there was a great lack of planning, resulting in a disorderly distribution of buildings. Except for the main streets, there were almost no stone paved roads in other places.
The three of them walked through the town for a while, and soon they avoided the crowd and came to a very remote corner. When Ji Yuan stopped, Yang Hao and Li Jingchun naturally did not dare to walk any further, but waited curiously for Ji Yuan's next words.
Ji Yuan looked Yang Hao and Li Jingchun up and down, then said to the former.
"It must have been a long time since the Third Young Master went on a tour incognito. At this age and with this appearance, it is not appropriate to call him Young Master, and it is not suitable for him to travel around here. I will use some tricks."
After Ji Yuan finished speaking, he stretched out his sword finger and pointed it at Yang Hao through the air. The latter only felt a slight heat on his forehead, and then a warm current hit his purple palace and instantly flowed through his body. Suddenly, he felt numb and itchy in his muscles and bones.
Li Jingchun, who was standing by, opened his mouth slightly, watching the scene in front of him, and even forgot to pay attention to the address.
"Your Majesty..."
Yang Hao's slightly hunched body became straight, his originally gray hair turned black, his bones became firm, his body became strong, the age spots and wrinkles on his face faded away, and in just less than two breaths, Yang Hao in front of him had regained his appearance as a young man.
Before Yang Hao could react, the change was over. He saw Li Jingchun's stunned look and felt full of energy. He looked down at his hands and could clearly see that they were a pair of young hands, not to mention that the hair on his temples had already turned black.
"Li Jingchun, tell me quickly, what do I look like now?"
Li Jingchun finally came back to his senses, still looking shocked.
"You look like you are only in your twenties now. No, this is what you looked like when you were in your twenties! Your magic is indeed mysterious and magical!"
Ji Yuan felt very satisfied looking at Yang Hao's appearance at this moment, and nodded and smiled.
"Yes, Third Young Master, you look so young. I have never seen you before. When I first saw you, you must have been almost 40 years old."
There was a time when Ji Yuan was obsessed with studying the art of transformation, but perhaps the art of transformation he got from Lao Long was very "anti-human", or perhaps Ji Yuan had no talent in this area. His most successful time was when he turned into Taoist Qingsong, but he still used some sleight of hand. Because Ji Yuan himself was very special, he could fool some people, but not necessarily his acquaintances. Ji Yuan was obviously not satisfied. Unfortunately, there was no progress after that, and his energy was also diverted by other things.
It's just that Ji Yuan has never given up on the way of transformation. However, this method is one of those that there are many flowers blooming but few can catch Ji Yuan's eye. Most of them are not much different from sleight of hand in Ji Yuan's eyes. The most magical one is the Painted Skin that Tu Siyan performed back then.
But Ji Yuan suddenly realized that he combined the art of dream travel with the principle of the transformation of heaven and earth. In this transformed world, Ji Yuan half-truthfully performed the art of transformation that he liked, and he did not use it on himself, but on others, and it worked directly. This is different from the deception of the senses. Yang Hao can be regarded as having temporarily restored his youth to a large extent, although this youth depends on the magic power of Ji Yuan.
So Ji Yuan was actually not as calm as Yang Hao and Li Jingchun looked. After transforming into Yang Hao, he looked at Li Jingchun again.
"Eunuch Li should also make some appropriate changes."
As he said that, Ji Yuan pointed at Li Jingchun, and the latter immediately began to age again, but not as exaggerated as Yang Hao's, he just recovered to about forty years old.
"Hahahaha... Li Jingchun, you're younger too, you're younger too!"
Yang Hao patted Li Jingchun's shoulder, seeming to be more excited than Li Jingchun himself. The latter was equally overjoyed, and he felt more comfortable when trying to circulate his Qi. At this moment, he was afraid that his chances of winning against his original self might be 20% higher.
Then Li Jingchun quietly turned sideways, reached under his crotch at a hidden angle, and immediately showed disappointment.
Ji Yuan saw it all but did not reveal it. It was true that he had figured out the technique, but he was still not very proficient in it. Strengths came with limitations, and he could not even regenerate a broken chicken. So what was the point in conjuring one up
"Haha, it's more appropriate to call you Third Young Master now. Let's go and find a clothing store to change your clothes."
Ji Yuan turned around and left first, and Yang Hao and Li Jingchun, who were in excitement, quickly followed. Yang Hao seemed to have regained his youthful mentality as well, and he even ran and jumped as he walked. He only regained his composure after walking for a while and seeing outsiders.
About a quarter of an hour later, Ji Yuan and others went to a large clothing store in the town and bought a few sets of clothes. When they came out, Ji Yuan had not changed, but Yang Hao had changed from his luxurious clothes to a scholar's outfit, and Li Jingchun had also become much simpler.
The mentality of the master and servant also changed greatly in a short period of time. Even Ji Yuan could feel their youthfulness, but their experience and calmness were still there. Knowing what to do next, he followed Ji Yuan and observed the world in the book leisurely.
"Mr. Ji, it's getting dark!"
Yang Hao watched the flow of people on the town streets gradually decrease and the sky began to darken. With a little excitement, he whispered a reminder and Ji Yuan nodded at him.
"Well, the time is right. We should go to the Hedian Inn."
After it got dark, the wind became stronger, and there was dust on the road. Sometimes Yang Hao had to raise his sleeves to shield his face. As fewer and fewer people appeared on the streets, the town gave people a faint sense of desolation in the dim light of the setting sun.
Hedian Inn is located on the edge of the town. It is a shabby but very cheap inn. When Ji Yuan and others arrived at the inn, it was already a little dark outside. Compared with the dim lights in the inn, it was almost night outside.
Ji Yuan and others were standing somewhere on the street outside the inn. They had no intention of going in to stay in the inn. They seemed to be waiting for something.
"coming!"
Yang Hao subconsciously let out a low cry. In the direction of his sight, a scholar carrying a book box on his back was running towards him quickly. When he saw the Hedian Inn, his face suddenly showed joy and he quickly ran inside.
"Hey, sir, please come in. Are you the only one here?"
The innkeeper at the door warmly welcomed the scholar in.
"Yeah, yeah, it's just me, is there any spare room?"
The scholar wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeves as he walked. The shopkeeper over there obviously heard his question and said with a smile.
"Yes, of course, there are still a few upper rooms left."
"Okay, okay, how much is one night?"
"Hey, our store looks old, but it's clean and comfortable. A room costs thirty-five copper coins a day."
The scholar, who was wiping his sweat, paused when he heard this.
"Three, thirty-five cents? For this store?"
When the scholar came here, he had seen this inn from outside. It was very shabby. How could the rooms in such an inn be so expensive
The shopkeeper's smile faded when he heard this.
"Sir, as you said, this is the best room in our hotel. Of course, there are cheaper rooms in the lower grades. The cheapest one is only fifteen cents a night, but they are no longer available."
"Well, boss, please be flexible. How about this? Five cents, I'll stay in the woodshed for one night?"
The scholar knew that he had said something wrong just now, and he smiled and discussed with the shopkeeper. The shop assistant on the side had already left to do other things. He could also hear that this was not a rich man, so he was too lazy to serve him.
"Five cents? The woodshed?"
The shopkeeper looked at the scholar and said after making two "tsk tsk" sounds.
"Give me ten cents and I'll let you sleep in the woodshed tonight and I'll also lend you a quilt. No bargaining!"
"Okay, okay, thanks for your leniency, boss. Ten cents is ten cents!"
The scholar breathed a sigh of relief. It was cold at night and it was nice to have a place to sleep that was sheltered from the wind and sky, and to have bedding to cover himself with.
But when the scholar reached into her arms and fumbled a few times, his expression suddenly froze, sweat broke out on his forehead, and his back felt hot.
'Where's the money? Where's my purse? Where's my purse?'
"Why? Do you have no money, or do you want to bargain again?"
The shopkeeper was looking at the scholar from behind the counter.
"Hey, I think you shouldn't stay in the hotel anymore. Go ahead and follow the north road before it gets dark. There's an old river temple there. It's free!"
The originally flustered scholar suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked up at the shopkeeper.
"really?"
The shopkeeper grinned.
"Of course it's true, but the road is a little far, and it might be dark by the time we get there."