Chapter 201: Finding Xiao Houzi

Xie Yingmian was very surprised when he saw the final signature.

The signature is the old imperial chef's name.

The name of the old royal chef is very strange, and most normal people would not be called by this name.

His name is Xiao Houzi.

"Is this the Xiao Houzi that Fufu mentioned?" Xie Yingmian asked, "It should be a homonym, right?"

Xie Yingmian felt that it was more likely that they had the same name.

"Fu Fu said that we should take the token to the palace to find Xiao Houzi."

"Xiao Lingxi's parents disappeared in recent years, and the old imperial chef was executed more than ten years ago. It's impossible for Xiao Lingxi's parents not to know about this."

"Xiao Houzi is dead, and Xiao's parents shouldn't leave any wrong information for Fu Fu."

"So I think this Xiao Monkey is not the Xiao Monkey we are looking for."

Yu Lingye: "Is the token here?"

"Here." Xie Yingmian pretended to take it out from her sleeve, but actually took it out from the empty stone space.

Her empty stone space is half a meter in length, width and height, so it is no problem to hide a small stone.

Fu Mo invited the village chief and the lame cook back.

Xie Yingmian asked, "Village Chief, your royal chef's name is Xiao Houzi?"

"Yes," said the village chief, "my grandfather's name is Xiao Houzi."

The village chief was a chatterbox. Without waiting for Yu Lingye and Xie Yingmian to ask, he took the initiative to speak: "My grandfather told me that when my great-grandmother was pregnant with my grandfather, there was a flood and the whole family had to flee."

"When they fled to a mountain forest, my great-grandmother was about to give birth. There was no food at the time, and after much difficulty in giving birth, she had no milk, not even rice soup. Seeing my grandfather about to starve to death, a mother monkey who had lost her child appeared and fed my grandfather until my great-grandmother had enough milk for him to eat."

"My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were grateful to that female monkey and specially named my grandfather Xiao Houzi. They also took the female monkey as their godmother."

"That female monkey also understood human nature. When my grandfather passed away, she gave him a stone."

Xie Yingmian and Yu Lingye looked at each other.

Xie Yingmian handed the token stone Fufu had given them to the village chief and asked, "Is this the stone?"

"No." The village chief was very sure.

"My grandfather's stone is much bigger, very big, about this size."

The village chief gestured with his hands.

"The stone was about the size of a cuju ball. It had no regular shape, was pitch black, had no luster, and didn't reflect light. It looked quite strange."

"That stone was amazing. The escape route was extremely dangerous. They were still asleep when the flood hit. They had nothing at home with them. They had no money, no food, no medicine, and many people died."

"My grandfather was even thinner and weaker. My great-grandmother even thought they wouldn't make it to the next city."

"Everyone who fled with me fell ill or died, but my great-grandfather and great-grandmother's family were all healthy, and even my grandfather was incredibly healthy."

"My great-grandfather quickly discovered that the stone given by the mother monkey was problematic, and he explicitly forbade anyone from revealing a single word. Even so, with that magical stone in hand, they managed to reach Shangjing despite such difficult conditions."

Xie Yingmian narrowed his eyes.

She could almost conclude that the stone given by the female monkey was the stone of immortality.

The energy emitted by the Longevity Stone repairs these people's bodies and keeps them away from illness.

"Where is that stone?" Xie Yingmian asked.

The village chief said, "Grandpa and grandma fled all the way to the capital to seek refuge with our family."

"My great-grandparents were very grateful people. They didn't want to cause trouble for others, nor did they want to owe anyone a favor."

"When we took refuge with our family, my great-grandparents gave us the only valuable thing we had, that stone, in exchange for our family's support. We also received financial support from our family and settled down in Plum Blossom Village, not far from Shangjing."

Xie Yingmian was not surprised by this answer.

A man is innocent if he possesses a treasure.

The fact that the village chief could openly tell the secret of the stone also indirectly shows that the stone is not in their hands.

She continued to ask, "The family you mentioned is the Longyuan General Wang Xiao's family?"

The village chief said, "Yes."

"It's the Xiao family."

"General Wang's great-grandfather and my great-grandfather were cousins, and the one who was in charge of the family at that time was my great-grandfather's second uncle."

The village chief sighed.

The Xiao family was so glorious back then.

Later, the population became increasingly sparse, and until the generation of General Wang, not a single descendant remained.

In the huge Xiao Mansion, there is only a widowed girl.

It's really miserable.

Xie Yingmian and Yu Lingye looked at each other.

The Stone of Longevity was given to the Xiao family by Xiao Houzi's parents.

Xiao's parents disappeared deep in the dense forests of Lingnan while searching for something.

Qin Aoshuang didn't like Xiao Kehan ​​but married him anyway. Qin Aoshuang was also related to what Xiao's parents were looking for. In order to cover up something, Qin Aoshuang even designed the Dead Man's Ridge incident and killed Xiao Kehan.

On the other side, Pang Xuduan deliberately approached Xiao Lingxi in order to get the token from Xiao Lingxi and find the key.

Xiao's parents left the token to Fu Fu.

They had nothing to do with each other, but were forcibly dragged in by Xiao Qingyan.

Each of these pieces is like beads scattered on the ground, strung together with a thread.

"Where is that stone?" Xie Yingmian asked.

The village chief shook his head: "I don't know."

"After the stone was presented to the Xiao family, it has nothing to do with our family anymore."

"But that stone shouldn't be in the Xiao family."

Xie Yingmian: "Why do you say that?"

The village chief said, "That stone possesses divine power. If the stone was in the Xiao family, the Xiao family would not have fallen into such a miserable state. I guess the stone is no longer in the Xiao family."

Xie Yingmian asked, "Since you know that the stone has divine power, why did you give it to others?"

The village chief is sober.

He said "Hi": "To be honest, we are just peasants."

"People like us who are just peasants can be stepped on by anyone. We can't protect the stone. We might even lose our lives for it. Our family is powerful and we share the same roots. Giving the stone to them is the right thing to do."

Almost all the questions that need to be asked have been asked.

After the village chief and the lame cook left.

Xie Yingmian held her chin with both hands and asked Yu Lingye, "What do you think?"

Yu Lingye didn't say a word, and it was Xie Yingmian who asked the questions the whole time.

He pondered for a moment: "The Xiao Monkey mentioned by the Xiao family's parents should be the same Xiao Monkey we are looking for."

Xie Yingmian: "Didn't Xiao Houzi die a long time ago?"

"Even if they couldn't find this person with the token, why did Xiao's parents send someone to the palace with the token to look for Xiao Houzi? This doesn't make sense."

Yu Lingye asked, "Who said we have to find Xiao Houzi?"

"We just have to find the key."

Xie Yingmian said, "Xiao Houzi has been dead for so many years. Where can we find the key?"

Yu Lingye: "It's far away and yet it's right before our eyes."

Xie Yingmian paused and stared at the menu on the table.

"menu?"