After having dinner, Yuan Qi carved jade talismans in her room. She still had ten pieces of Kunlun jade and a few small scraps left, which she planned to finish and sell to someone destined to find them in the future.
Qian Jin and his wife lived next door, and neither of them could sleep.
A rapid knocking sounded at the door. Yuan Qi opened the door and saw a middle-aged woman, slightly overweight, standing anxiously at the door.
"Little Taoist priest, I've finally found you!" As soon as Madam Dai saw Yuan Qi, she felt that she had found the right person. Her husband had sent someone to tell her to find a female Taoist priest who was about ten years old to save him.
"You must be Madam Dai. I've been waiting for you for a long time." Yuan Qi ushered her into the house.
Qian Jin and his wife had already heard the commotion and followed them in.
Things went smoothly, and the two were looking forward to seeing their son soon. Seeing that the visitor was kind and gentle and not a mean or mean person, they felt even more at ease, knowing that their son had been doing well all these years.
Madam Dai was somewhat skeptical of Yuan Qi, as he was too young. However, her husband had instructed her to seek out this young Taoist priest, so she had no choice but to give it a shot.
"Young Taoist priest, can you really save my husband and son?"
Before Yuan Qi could speak, Madam Qian couldn't wait to speak up. Although she couldn't see what Madam Dai looked like, she felt that Madam Dai was an easy person to talk to: "Yes, yes, of course you can, little Taoist priest is very capable."
Madam Dai stared intently at Yuan Qi. The young Taoist priest was exceptionally handsome and intelligent, clearly a child with a special talent. This gave her more confidence: "Young Taoist priest, I beg you, I'm willing to pay any amount of money as long as you can save my husband and my son."
Mrs. Qian couldn't wait to bring up her son's matter: "Madam Dai, your husband five years ago..."
Yuan Qi felt it wasn't the right time to bring this up, so he interrupted Madam Qian, saying, "Madam Qian, it's getting late, you should go and rest."
Qian Jin understood Yuan Qi's meaning perfectly. He helped his wife walk out and reminded her outside the gatehouse, "Didn't the young Taoist priest say that our matter isn't urgent? The important thing right now is to resolve the Dai family's issue first. Why are you getting impatient again?"
Mrs. Qian sighed, "I just wanted to ask when I saw them coming. Can't I just leave it at that? You go ahead and don't worry about me."
Qian Jin instructed the maid to take good care of Madam Qian, and then returned to Yuan Qi's room.
Madam Dai was explaining the Dai family's situation: "I only have one son. Although he's a bit spoiled, he would never do anything like murder or arson. Young Taoist priest, I swear on my life, my son will never kill anyone. The son of Prefect Feng has been sickly since childhood, always carrying a medicine pot. As soon as I received the news from my husband, I sent people to inquire about any hidden illnesses Prefect Feng's son might have, but we haven't found out yet. Young Taoist priest, you must save my son! My son is definitely innocent."
Yuan Qi blinked his big eyes, very confident: "Don't worry, I know your son is innocent. Let's do this: you go back now, and we'll go to the Yangzhou government office together tomorrow. There's still a chance for things to turn around. But after all, people died because of your son, and your son will probably have to suffer imprisonment and exile."
Madam Dai's expression was complex. On one hand, she was happy that her son would not die, but on the other hand, she felt sorry for him because he would have to suffer.
Qian Jin comforted her from the side: "Madam, don't worry. The suffering of imprisonment and exile are not the same. Some are lighter and some are heavier. If you have someone in power, your son will just go through the motions and won't really suffer."
Although Lady Dai was not an official's wife, she was still quite discerning. Upon seeing Qian Jin, she immediately sensed that he was no ordinary person and possessed an extraordinary bearing.
"Who are you...?"
"Marquis Shouchang," he thought for a moment, then revealed his purpose for coming, so that the other party could be mentally prepared, "I have come to Yangzhou to find my son."
Although the other party did not say it explicitly, Madam Dai had already vaguely realized something, and a trace of reluctance flashed in her eyes.
The next day, just as dawn broke, Madam Dai arrived at the inn early with her maids and servants. She found Yuan Qi alone and said, "Young Taoist priest, I have prepared breakfast at the restaurant next door. Shall we go there after we have eaten?"
Yuan Qi smiled slightly and teased crisply, "Don't panic, Madam Dai. Going too early won't help."
Madam Dai disagreed. She argued that since the prefect's son had died because of her son, his son was surely suffering in prison. The sooner she went to rescue him, the sooner her son would be free from his misery. How could she say it was useless?
She sighed anxiously to herself, "I brought quite a few silver notes with me. If the young Taoist priest needs any money to bribe, let me handle it."
A glint flashed in Yuan Qi's eyes. "Why let the good stuff go to outsiders? You should bribe me instead."
She smiled sweetly: "There's no need to bribe anyone. Money isn't necessarily useful right now. Think about it, if someone wanted to buy your son's life, how much would you be willing to pay?"
Madam Dai was troubled again. She knew this principle, but her family had nothing but money.
"Then let it be as you say, young Taoist priest."
After having breakfast, the group went directly to the Yangzhou government office.
Anyone could go to the yamen (government office) gate; if they had a grievance, they could simply strike the drum.
Yuan Qi stepped forward to a yamen runner and took out a talisman that could open the eyes of the dead from his cloth bag: "Tell the prefect's wife to keep this husband on her person, and she will be able to see her son. If she sees her son, she should come to see me."
The constables didn't take the young Taoist priest, who looked to be about ten years old, seriously and impatiently chased him away, saying, "Go away, go play somewhere else, don't cause trouble."
Yuan Qi snorted, put his hands on his hips, and angrily pointed at the yamen runner: "You don't believe me, do you? I'll show you right now."
She formed a hand seal and made a sweeping motion in the air. The constable's face immediately changed. He was seeing a ghost. His colleague, who had died a few days ago while capturing river bandits, was now grabbing his ear and demanding, "I asked you to take care of my mother, why didn't you go? Are you still my good brother?"
The constable was terrified and immediately knelt down, begging for mercy: "Brother Li, I was wrong, I was wrong! I'll go see your mother as soon as I finish my shift today. Please don't come looking for me, please don't be angry, I mean what I say..."
Yuan Qi patted Constable Li on the shoulder: "Alright, get out of the way, he knows."
Seeing the golden light surrounding Yuan Qi, Constable Li dared not disobey and immediately stepped aside, saying, "Hurry up and do as I say. Have your wife come to see me."
The constable took the yellow talisman from Yuan Qi's hand and ran away as fast as he could.
Madam Feng was weeping beside her son's body in the mourning hall.
The bailiff ran in and reported the matter.
Madam Feng took the talisman with some skepticism, and sure enough, she saw her son, Feng Zhizhang, squatting beside her, looking at her with heartache: "Mother, don't be sad, I'm all better now..."
“My son…” Madam Feng reached out to touch her son’s face, but her hand passed right through his face and missed.
Feng Zhizhang was overjoyed: "Mother, you can see me now?"
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