As he spoke, he flipped his wrist, truly about to take action.
But the old man suddenly shouted, "The improved rice seeds!"
Yun Qi couldn't help but hesitate.
Noticing Yun Qi's reaction, the old man didn't have time to confirm Yun Qi's identity again. He quickly said, "I'm Ge Zhang, the former grand agronomist under the Ministry of Revenue of the Great Yin. I was taken away by the Holy Master and others during the plague fourteen years ago. I'm the one who developed the improved rice seeds. After all these years, I finally managed to return to the Great Yin. Please take me away quickly!"
"Ge Zhang, the grand agronomist?" Yun Qi was truly startled.
He walked around to the front and carefully examined the old man who claimed to be Ge Zhang. The suspicion in Yun Qi's eyes didn't fade. "You claim to be the former grand agronomist of our dynasty. What evidence do you have? Moreover, the improved rice seeds are of such great importance. As the most crucial person in developing them, how could the king of the Ying State let you return to the Great Yin so easily? Isn't that like setting a fish free into the sea?"
Anticipating Yun Qi's doubts, Ge Zhang hurriedly explained, "It's because I told them that I recently discovered a way to double the yield of the improved rice seeds again, but I'm missing a crucial item. That item is in the manor where I used to research rice seeds within the territory of the Great Yin. I can only develop it after I get my hands on it."
No wonder Zongzheng Fengyi was willing to offer the improved rice seeds as a betrothal gift. It turned out that they were about to have seeds with even higher yields!
Yun Qi raised his eyebrows but still didn't move.
Having spent years in the military camp with his father, Yun Qi knew very well the consequences of blindly trusting others.
Ge Zhang briefly explained the reason, then looked around furtively like a thief. Seeing that Yun Qi still seemed not to believe him, he stamped his foot in frustration and said, "Why would I lie to you for no reason? If I were from the Ying State, what good would it do me to go with you? Let's not talk here anymore. Wait until you take me out, and then I'll explain it to you in detail. Otherwise, if we delay any longer, the Ying State soldiers guarding me will come soon. I finally managed to put some croton in the snacks to make him eat them and distract him for a while. If you don't take me away, we'll both be exposed!"
This was indeed true.
The sound of somewhat hurried footsteps was already coming from afar. Yun Qi gritted his teeth, thinking that his grandmother knew the real Ge Zhang. Once they were on their own territory, they didn't have to worry about being deceived.
So he grabbed Ge Zhang's belt and flew out of the window.
Yun Weisheng and Qiao Yan, who had come with him, had been waiting outside impatiently. As soon as they saw Yun Qi come out with an old man in his hand, they were both extremely puzzled.
Yun Qi didn't have time to explain. Once the soldiers guarding Ge Zhang discovered his disappearance, they would surely inform their comrades to look for him.
To avoid being exposed, the best thing to do now was to leave quickly.
Hastily throwing out a sentence, "I'll explain in detail when we get back," Yun Qi led the two of them quickly towards home.
Just as they had left, there was a commotion at the post station.
Fortunately, the people from the Ying State were worried about exposing Ge Zhang's true identity, so they didn't dare to make a big fuss and alert the government to search. They could only wait nervously for the Holy Master to return before taking action, which made Yun Qi and the others return extremely smoothly.
They didn't manage to capture the Holy Master, but they unexpectedly found the former grand agronomist.
For a moment, the group didn't know whether they should be happy or frustrated.
It was too late at night, so it wasn't appropriate for them to disturb Old Lady Yun. They just kept a close eye on Ge Zhang and waited until the next day to invite the old lady over to identify him.
Ge Zhang was indeed the real one.
When he saw Old Lady Yun, both of them couldn't help but have red eyes.
They chattered on about many old memories, truly feeling as if they were in a different world.
Along with Ge Zhang, there was also good news. That was -
It was true that the yield of the improved rice seeds could be doubled again!
However, the so - called crucial item was fake. It was just used to deceive the king of the Ying State so that he could have a chance to return to the Great Yin.
This was extremely good news, and everyone was very happy.
Yun Qi immediately thought that they could use the improved rice seeds as an excuse to enter the palace to meet Emperor Zhaohuan. As long as they could meet him, everything would be easy to handle.
This idea was immediately unanimously approved by everyone.
Just as the two of them were about to leave after getting ready, an imperial edict from the palace arrived at the gate of the Yun Mansion.
The general meaning of the edict was:
The bandits in the southwest heard that Yun Weisheng's family had returned to the capital. Without anyone to suppress and manage them, their actions had become even more rampant recently. Several strongholds had formed an alliance, and their forces were growing day by day. They massacred villages and looted property, doing all kinds of evil. Yun Weisheng was ordered to immediately go there to lead the army to suppress them and return to the capital after dealing with the bandits.
Yun Weisheng received the edict. After the whole family saw off the imperial eunuch who delivered the edict, they started to discuss this edict that had come extremely "timely".
"Has Uncle Hu sent any news about the bandits in the southwest?" Yun Qi asked in confusion.
Yun Weisheng shook his head. "I haven't received any."
Liu Jingyue stared at the bright yellow imperial edict, her gaze as if she wanted to burn a hole in it. She continued, "Even if there are bandits, with Uncle Hu's ability, he should be able to handle them. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of his years of fighting on the battlefield with your father? This imperial edict didn't come early or late, but it came at a time when there are problems everywhere. Humph - if there's no trick behind this, only a fool would believe it!"
"What A Yue said is very reasonable," Yun Weisheng agreed, a trace of exhaustion appearing between his eyebrows. "Uncle Hu is in the southwest. Now, at least on the surface, the Ying State is in an alliance through marriage with the Great Yin. They definitely won't invade in the short term. Instead of sending someone nearby, they're asking me, who's far away, to go. There must be someone behind this who said something. As for this person behind the scenes, it must be that old man Shen Zhai without a doubt. But..."
The worry in Yun Weisheng's eyes almost overflowed. "His Majesty has always been wise. He can't fail to see the purpose of the instigator. But he still issued the edict for me to go and suppress the bandits at this time. It shows that he has doubts about our Yun family. Now that I've received the edict, I have to go to the southwest. Xiao Qi..."
Turning to Yun Qi, whose brows were deeply furrowed, Yun Weisheng exhorted earnestly, "Once I'm gone, you'll be the pillar of this family. Your mother, your little sister, and the dozens of people in the Yun family will all be in your hands. You must protect them well. Your father will check when I come back. Do you hear me!"
These words sounded rather inauspicious, like someone was making a will.
Yun Qi's nose felt sour, and his eyes were teary. His fingers were clenched into fists. But the words that came out of his mouth didn't agree with what Yun Weisheng said. Instead, he said, "No, Father, I'll go with you. Since the Shen family deliberately instigated His Majesty to send you to suppress the bandits, they must have made full arrangements there. If you really lead the army there like this, you'll surely fall into their trap. I can't just watch you walk into a dead end. I'll go with you!"
"Nonsense!" Yun Weisheng stared sternly at Yun Qi, his tone solemn. "Prince Yu'an is now in prison, and your little sister has been in a coma and hasn't woken up yet. The Holy Master and others are eyeing that strange gu in her body covetously. If you're not in the capital, who will protect them!? Moreover, I'm going to the southwest. There are all our Yun family's troops there, our own people. At the very least, there's still Uncle Hu. Even if something really happens to me then, will they just sit back and do nothing? In the past, when I took you to suppress bandits and march, I was your backup. Xiao Qi..."
Patting Yun Qi on the shoulder, Yun Weisheng's eyes were filled with reluctance and trust. "This time, it's your turn."