"Are you Lord Zhou? A deity appeared in Great River Village today and warned us about flooding. My lord requests your presence to discuss the matter."
The guard, Jiang Chun, spoke.
Huh? Another one with something wrong in the head?
That was Zhou Hongyuan's first reaction.
But the moment he saw Jiang Chun produce an imperial token, he could no longer remain calm.
If one person said it, it might be a lie. But a whole group had said the same thing, and now someone carrying an imperial token was saying it too. He had to take this seriously.
"Very well, I understand. Let's set out now."
Zhou Hongyuan responded immediately.
Then he looked at the village chief of Great River Village and the others. After a moment's thought, he said,
"Never mind. You can all go back."
At those words, they all cast grateful looks at Jiang Chun. Who could understand what they had just been through? They had nearly been treated as lunatics!
With that, Zhou Hongyuan followed Jiang Chun to Great River Village. To the village chief and the others' surprise, the county magistrate and this lord who had appeared out of nowhere were taking the same road home as them.
Then they watched Zhou Hongyuan enter Feng Jierui's estate. Only then did they realize that the lord Jiang Chun had mentioned was someone in Jiang Yunsheng's party.
Zhou Hongyuan entered the room and saw Jiang Yunsheng and Jiang Nuan, but he did not recognize them. Jiang Nuan's inner voice, however, gave him a clue.
[He's finally here! Imperial Father and I have had such a long, tiring wait!]
Seeing that he had finally arrived, Jiang Nuan sat up straight.
Imperial Father? That form of address... and the imperial token... could they be...?
"This subject greets Your