Heterochromia!
Besides being similar in gender and age, Yuan Hong and Da Pu have another thing in common: they both have heterochromia, which is different from ordinary people.
The only difference is the color of their eyes.
Su Ruojin thought of the time when the Taoist priest Tianyi of Tianning Temple refined pills. Could it be that someone in Xiaoyue also knows how to refine pills, and that it is an evil technique that requires a child with heterochromia to refine pills?
Su Ruojin told Xiao Yanchu her speculation.
"It is rumored that the Grand Preceptor of Xiaoyue Kingdom is a Gu Master. Is it possible that some peculiar Gu techniques require special materials?" Xiao Yanchu added.
Su Ruojin's understanding of Gu techniques was only superficial, but she knew how powerful Gu techniques were because she had been poisoned by them herself.
What Xiao Yanchu said was not without reason. If that were the case, it would be reasonable for a national advisor to be able to kidnap Yuan Hongda Pu without making a sound.
However, all of this is just their speculation. The most urgent task is to find the whereabouts of Yuan Hong and Da Pu.
The four disguised themselves slightly and entered Dragon Sky City.
As soon as they entered the city, they found that all the people in the city were rushing in one direction.
The four of them exchanged glances, found a wonton stall by the roadside, sat down, and ordered four bowls of wontons.
While eating wontons, Hu Qing chatted with the uncle selling them, "Uncle, where are these people going?"
The uncle sighed, "The four of you are probably not from Dragon Sky City, are you? You're all here to see General Wu off on his final journey. Sigh."
"Uncle, four more bowls of tofu soup, please. What happened to General Wu?" Hu Qing asked curiously.
The uncle ladled out two bowls of tofu soup and brought them over. "Last month, General Wu killed the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Tsk tsk tsk, the two families were originally related by marriage, but I never expected this to happen. They've become enemies. Sigh."
"Why is this happening?" Xiao Yanchu was also puzzled. It was rare for a family related by marriage to commit murder.
"The son of the Vice Minister of Justice kept a mistress. General Wu came to our door to demand an explanation for his daughter, and in a fit of anger, he killed the Vice Minister of Justice. Alas, General Wu was a great hero of Xiaoyue. If it weren't for him, we would have been bullied by Bei Li long ago. Now that General Wu is gone, what will we do if Bei Li attacks?" The uncle sighed and turned around to scoop out two bowls of tofu soup.
Xiaoyue borders Beili, but it is the smallest of the several countries in the Nine Provinces and is often bullied by Beili.
Even princes are subject to the same laws as commoners, let alone General Wu, who killed the Vice Minister of Justice in front of everyone, so there's no need to solve the case.
Then a group of guards appeared, escorting seven or eight boys aged six to ten, whose mouths were stuffed with strips of cloth.
Behind the procession followed the children's parents, who cried and begged the guards to release them, but were kicked away by the guards.
"Get out of the way. If you dare to obstruct us again, don't blame us for being impolite."
"This is your good fortune, don't take it for granted!"
The guards were grumbling and cursing.
"Uncle, what's going on? Where are these children being taken?" Xiao Yanchu could tell at a glance that these guards were dressed differently from ordinary yamen runners.
"They're going to be the emperor's study companions, how pitiful." The uncle looked at the children, his eyes filled with pity.
To be the emperor's study companion?
Xiao Yanchu knew that the former emperor of Xiaoyue Kingdom had recently passed away, and the seven-year-old crown prince had ascended the throne, with the empress and the national advisor assisting in governing the country.
Such young children certainly needed companions to study with, and those who served as companions to the emperor were usually from aristocratic families.
The scions of noble families could leverage their childhood friendship with the emperor to their advantage in both their careers and that of their families.
But the children's clothes were tattered and ragged, and they didn't look like children from a wealthy family at all.
There's no way an emperor would choose a commoner's son to be his study companion.
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