It's really ironic that there are a few people in a foreign country who make him feel inexplicably warm when he thinks about it, but there is no such person around him.

Xiao Diyuan smiled bitterly.

He had an inexplicable feeling about Zhaoguo, which he had had for many years, and now he had found some of the roots of this feeling, so he was even more determined to go to Zhaoguo.

You can't register with your real name to get out of the customs, otherwise there will be endless troubles. As long as he can get out of the customs smoothly, he doesn't worry much about what the people on Zhaoguo's side will do to him.

He had to secretly send a letter to the Empress Dowager of Zhaoguo, saying that he wanted Zhaoguo to meet her alone, and that he had to give a good reason.

As for the reaction of the Empress Dowager Zhaoguo, that was later.

Ding Cong saw that Xiao Diyuan was thinking about things, so he and the guard stepped aside and chatted quietly.

As the sun began to set in the west, the snow began to grow heavier again, so the three of them got up and went to the farmhouse in the valley.

Mr. Xiao wore casual clothes, so no one knew his true identity, so he could relax and chat with the residents.

The residents have lived in the mountains for a long time, and it is rare to see a few people from outside all year round, so they are very enthusiastic about Xiao Diyuan and his party.

People have memories of taste, and he has been obsessing about that little fish soup since he drank it here four years ago, which is one of the reasons why he came this time.

The inhabitants of the valley still recognized him, saying that he had grown much taller and stronger, and at the same time, they were also subtly probing into his family background to know more about him.

Whenever he became aware of their intentions, he skillfully diverted the subject, and after a few rounds of back and forth, the inhabitants knew that he did not want to speak more about himself, so they all stopped wittily and moved on to something else.

During the conversation, Xiao Diyuan learned that there was a 14-year-old child with dementia in a farmer's family, so he said that he wanted to see him.

It was almost the poorest of the inhabitants, because the couple had only this demented child, and for them who had worked with the land all their lives, this demented child could not even match half the labor force, so that no matter what they planted, they could not compare the yield with other people's families.

This demented child was sitting at the door of the house at the moment, looking at his parents and Xiao Diyuan who were walking towards him and smiling stupidly.

He was strong, dark-skinned, and had a goofy expression.

Xiao Diyuan stared at him for a long time, and then asked the couple, "Has he been like this since birth?"

"Well," replied the woman of the house, "I paid as much attention to my pregnancy as other pregnant women, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this." ”

"Did you think of a way to heal him when he was young?" asked Xiao Diyuan.

"I thought about it, we also took him down the mountain to find a lot of people to see, and people said that this was from the mother's belly, and it couldn't be cured. The man replied.

Xiao Diyuan was thoughtful.

Xiao Hong and Liu both told him that when he was a child or two years old, he was still a little slow to react, but he didn't have this memory himself, maybe he was too young to remember it in his mind.

But one thing is very doubtful - if more than one person in the palace thought that he was somewhat demented as a child, why did he not become demented later?

If his suspicion was correct, then where was that demented child placed by Xiao Hong and the Liu family, and was he still alive?

The more he thought about it, the more apprehensive he felt, and his brow furrowed. The couple frowned at him and were silent.

On the way back, Xiao Diyuan beckoned Ding Cong to come closer, and commanded in a low voice: "From tomorrow, help me pay attention to the queen's every move, especially when she travels, but whenever she travels, you will send someone to follow her quietly, and then inform me of the tracking results in time." ”

Ding Cong pretended to look at him with a confused expression and said, "She went out to visit the jewelry store, and then went to the teahouse in the garden on East Street to have a cup of tea, and then came back, do you also want to send someone to follow?"

"Yes. Xiao Diyuan said without hesitation, then looked at Ding Cong and said, "If you don't follow to see it in person, how do you know if it's as simple as going to the jewelry store and drinking tea?"

Ding Cong saw that he was debunked, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, the slave obeys the order." ”

In the past year or so, Xiao Diyuan has doubts about his own identity, as his personal father-in-law, even if he can't fully understand his mind, he can still be more or less aware of the purpose of his actions.

After returning, Ding Cong sent someone to quietly monitor the Liu family every day.

Xiao Diyuan, on the other hand, quietly sent a letter to the Empress Dowager of Zhao in mid-December. He didn't go through the normal mailing method, but handed it over to Dong Zhi, who usually helped him deliver letters to Jiang Yuetang, and asked him to get in touch with Zhong Wen, the connector on the Zhaoguo side, and then find a way to secretly hand over the letter to the Empress Dowager of Zhaoguo.

Dong Zhi and Zhong Wen are both people he carefully selected, and he is very relieved that these two people do things.

Even if he asked Dong Zhi to help deliver the letter, Xiao Diyuan didn't miss the opportunity to write a letter to Jiang Yuetang, so he also wrote a letter to Jiang Yuetang.

This time, his letter was full of words of concern and encouragement for her, and he did not say a word about himself.

Regardless of whether the Empress Dowager Zhaoguo will agree to see him or not, it will be a year later, because it is now very close to the end of the year, and it may be difficult for him to receive a reply from the Empress Dowager before the Spring Festival.

Of course, it is also possible that she will forget it after reading the letter and has no intention of replying to him, which is also possible.

In any case, he has taken another step, and for himself it is always something to celebrate.

On the afternoon of December 23, Liu hurriedly left the palace accompanied by two palace maids and two guards, and when the person sent by Ding Cong to monitor informed Ding Cong of the incident, he immediately sent someone to quietly follow Liu not far behind.

Although he probably knew where the Liu family would go, since it was Xiao Diyuan's order, he naturally had to carry it out seriously.

In the evening of the same day, when the sky was about to darken, the Liu family and his party returned, and the person who was sent by Ding Cong to follow him immediately went to Ding Cong as soon as he entered the palace, and whispered in Ding Cong's ear as if he had discovered a new world: "Father-in-law, she neither went to the jewelry store nor the teahouse to drink tea today, but went to a farmhouse on a hillside on the outskirts of the city. ”

Ding Cong was shocked and hurriedly asked her what she was doing there.

The man looked around before cautiously replying, "It's to see a demented child." ”

Ding Cong's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Does that demented child have a family?"

"Yes, there is Daddy. ”

"What did the queen tell them?"

She asked about the demented child's recent health, about this autumn's harvest, and about giving them a little money when she left. ”

Ding Cong asked again: "Has she spoken to that demented child?"

Yes She seemed to care about him, and he seemed glad she went, smiling at her the whole time. ”

"Well, I see, you go down. ”

The man immediately stepped back quickly.

Ding Cong stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands and pondered for a while, and then strode to Xiao Diyuan's study to find Xiao Diyuan.

This news was so useful that even Ding Cong was too excited to notice the road when he was on the way to the study, and almost hit his head on a big wooden post.