Chapter 383: One Day of Rest (Two in One)
"Why is he here?"
On the way back to the camp, Fan Xian looked back at Guo Baokun who was following behind the team, and asked curiously.
Mei Cheng'an was riding a horse parallel to him at the front of the team. Hearing this, he turned around to glance and said "oh" calmly.
"Coming to kill you."
"?"
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, then looked back, focusing his eyes on Zhao Da and his group.
"Those idle guys from the countryside are...his hired assassins?"
Mei Chengan smiled.
"Old soldier who retired from the front line, how are you doing? Are you okay?"
The corners of Fan Xian's mouth twitched. These people were really powerful.
"really!"
He then looked away.
"He is reliable for once, but why didn't they kill me but went to kill the Northern Qi people? How did you persuade him?"
Mei Chengan shrugged.
"It's an equal exchange. You help save his father in exchange for him giving up killing you to vent his anger."
Fan Xian was stunned and then laughed.
"He trusts you so much, he believes whatever you say."
Mei Chengan glanced at him.
"I only gave him a general idea without discussing the details. If you have any other conditions, you can talk to him later."
Fan Xian smiled and nodded.
"Let me think about it, yeah..."
As he said this, he suddenly stopped smiling, stared at his fellow villager's profile, and asked in a low voice with a very serious tone.
"Did something happen to the Black Knights?"
Mei Cheng settled down and glanced at him.
"Why do you ask?"
Fan Xian glanced back and lowered his voice even more.
"What do you think? Shangshan Hu and Yan Xiaoyi were able to lead their cavalry so easily and march straight in. And I asked Lao Wang, it wasn't the Black Cavalry who killed the support team on the other side of the border, but your Blue Bird and Green Ant. We fought fiercely with masters from all sides in the stone forest for most of the day, and there were many dangerous situations, but the Black Cavalry never showed up! They didn't do any of the work they were supposed to do. Is that right?"
Mei Cheng was happy and said with a smile.
"That doesn't sound right."
Fan Xian glanced at him.
"Don't play dumb. I won't tell you that you didn't know something was wrong with the Black Knights. If I'm not mistaken, you knew it last night. Otherwise, you wouldn't have sent Bluebird and the other girl to the border to stop them. Tell me the truth. Why did the Black Knights suddenly disappear?"
Mei Chengan shrugged and stopped pretending to be stupid.
"Withdrawn to Kyoto."
"When?"
"last night."
"Who ordered the withdrawal?"
"What do you say?"
"…What the hell is this old man Chen Pingping doing?"
"Why do you think I know?"
"do not you know?"
"know."
Fan Xian couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Just tell me if you know!"
Mei Cheng calmed down and grinned.
"I can't tell you yet."
"..."
Fan Xian was unhappy.
"Brother, you and I are connected, you have a secret, right? Let me go, don't force me to kill you!"
Mei Cheng'an sneered and glanced at him with contempt.
"If you have the ability, then come on."
“…Ugh~ You’re so disgusting!”
"?"
Fan Xian thought for a moment and said.
"Okay, I won't ask him about his specific plan, but I can at least ask him who he is targeting, right?"
"That can."
"...You can tell me."
"You and Sean."
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment.
"I can understand targeting Sean, but why is it my business?"
"How can I act without one more person to act with?"
"..."
"Then why don't you act?"
"The director likes you."
"…Thank the director for me."
"I'm busy. Go and thank them yourself."
"..."
"You don't have to feel too burdened. You are just a tool in the play. The protagonist is Sean. You just need to cooperate with the performance."
"Damn, I'm still just a supporting role?"
"Be content, I didn't even get a supporting role. At most, I'm just a bit player, doing odd jobs for you guys, and occasionally being a background board or something. Have you ever seen me complain?"
"Emm...Aren't you just complaining?"
"..."
Fan Xian chuckled and patted his fellow villager on the shoulder.
"After hearing what you said, I feel much better. It turns out that happiness comes from comparison. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"So now can you tell me the script?"
“There is no script.”
"?"
Mei Cheng'an thought about it and changed his wording.
"To be precise, you don't need a script."
"..."
Fan Xian spread his hands.
"Then how do I act?"
Mei Chengan smiled.
"The script has been automatically generated in Sean's mind. He will actively guide you. You don't need to deliberately perform anything. Just follow his guidance and react normally."
"..."
Fan Xian's eyes flashed.
"Does Chen Pingping have the ability to implant a script into his mind?"
Mei Chengan shook his head and said softly.
"Sean is a smart man, not just ordinary smart. It's too difficult to instill something in him. Chen Pingping won't do such a thankless task. Smart people like him are best at imagining things. You just need to give him some specious clues, and he can follow them to make a complete and reasonable story line for you."
After a pause, he gave his final conclusion.
"So there is no need for implantation, just a little guidance will do the trick."
Fan Xian frowned.
"It's not that easy, is it? Sean is very vigilant."
Mei Chengan smiled.
"Of course. This kind of thing is a long and arduous process and cannot be completed overnight. I don't know how much energy Chen Pingping has spent on this and how many brain cells he has lost."
Fan Xian was silent for a moment.
"In Chen Pingping's script, I am a supporting role. So what role am I in Sean's script?"
In fact, he already had the answer in his mind. Naturally, he would not appear in Sean's script. Since he was required to cooperate in the performance, he would naturally be the protagonist. He had inexplicably become the protagonist of a false story without his knowledge. This feeling made him very uncomfortable, or very unhappy. Moreover, judging from the difficulty of operating this matter, he should have been the protagonist for a long time, which made him even more unhappy and felt gloomy.
Mei Cheng'an thought about it and shrugged.
"Still a supporting role!"
"?"
Fan Xian was a little stunned, and the emotion that was about to become emo came to an abrupt end because the starting point of all emotions was cut off.
"Ah? Who is the protagonist then?"
Mei Chengan glanced at him with a smile.
"Sometimes don't be too dramatic, it's easy to be jaded."
"..."
Fan Xian's old face turned red, and he became angry out of shame.
"Yu, your uncle, hurry up and tell me!"
Mei Chengan glanced at him with disdain.
"Who else could it be? Chen Pingping. This is a psychological warfare between two spy bosses. In their respective scripts, of course, the protagonist is the other. What are you thinking?"
"..." A hint of realization and embarrassment flashed across Fan Xian's eyes. Okay, it seems to be true. It seems that I am not qualified...
Mei Chengan saw through his thoughts and struck back in time.
"You are just a little Karami, don't take yourself too seriously."
Fan Xian's face turned red again, and he became angry and embarrassed again.
"Stop barking! Do I need you to tell me?"
"What are you in a hurry for?"
"I, I'm not in a hurry."
"Oh, then I was wrong. The dog was anxious."
“… you fucking muaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…”
Fan Xian's body suddenly flew high up, drew a parabola in the air, and then fell into the reed marsh and disappeared.
Mei Chengan smiled and turned back, reaching out his hand to calm the people behind him who were looking at each other in amazement.
"It's okay, it's okay. Team Leader Fan has gone to the reed marsh to pick herbs for himself. Just leave a horse for him, and let's keep moving forward!"
Everyone: "..."
……
Back at the camp, Hongshu opened the tent in advance. Mei Chengan glanced at Si Lili who was standing at the entrance of the tent next to him, smiled and signaled to her that he was fine, then walked in.
After a simple wash and change of clothes with the help of Hongshu, Mei Cheng'an sat down on the soft couch. After Hongshu put several layers of thick cushions behind him, he leaned on it. The soft touch against his back seemed to dispel all his fatigue, and he squinted his eyes in comfort.
Hongshu poured him a cup of hot tea and brought it to him.
"Master, have some tea first. I'll go prepare the meal."
Mei Cheng'an opened his eyes slightly, reached out to take the teacup, and hummed lightly.
"Go."
Sweet Potato got up and went out.
The tea was hot but not scalding, just right for drinking. Mei Chengan drank one cup and still felt unsatisfied, so he drank three cups before he felt almost satisfied. He felt warm all over, leaned back on the cushion, and held a soft pillow in his arms. Mei Chengan just felt sleepy.
Just when he was about to fall asleep, Fan Xian suddenly opened the curtain and strode in. He glanced at him and said immediately.
"Sleep, wake up and have fun!"
Wang Qinian followed closely behind.
"Master."
Hearing the voice, Mei Chengan's eyes flashed open, he glanced at the two of them, and waved his hand lazily.
"Here you go, sit down."
Fan Xian was not polite at all and sat down directly on the other side of the couch. He even forcibly took the cushion from Mei Cheng'an's arms and put it behind his back.
"Here you go, you're taking up so much cushions by yourself, how can you be so greedy, you shameless bastard!"
Although he was not seriously injured after falling into the reeds, his whole body was covered with wet mud, so his tone was still unhappy.
Mei Cheng'an smiled and didn't care. He sat up a little straighter and glanced at Wang Qinian who was sitting opposite the coffee table.
"Tell me, who are they?"
Wang Qinian was pouring tea and put down the teapot immediately after hearing this.
"The person who opened the car door is from Xinyang. The spies in the courtyard should also be related to Xinyang. As for the army responsible for picking up Sean at the border, although they were disguised, they have been verified to be the private soldiers of General Lu Jing of Northern Qi..."
"wait."
Mei Chengan interrupted him with a raised eyebrow.
"Lü Jing? Not Uesugi Tiger?"
Another name I've never heard of!
Fan Xian followed up with a puzzled tone.
"Yeah, how come another general named Lu Jing showed up? What's his relationship with Shang Shanhu and Xiao En?"
Wang Qinian heard this.
"I haven't heard of any relationship with Sean, but this guy named Lu Jing worked in Uesugi Tiger's army twelve years ago, and his position has been promoted very quickly since then."
A glimmer of realization flashed across Mei Chengan's eyes.
Fan Xian cried out in fear.
"They are Uesugi Tiger's men, so it's okay."
After saying that, he suddenly frowned and turned to look at his fellow villager.
"It's not surprising that Shangshan Hu and this person named Lu Jing are here, but as for Xinyang... I'm a little confused. Sean's release from prison was originally a trick of the eldest princess. She is obviously cooperating with the Northern Qi royal family. Then why is she suddenly doing this now, willing to sacrifice a few hidden players to save Sean? Is she cooperating with Shangshan Hu as well?"
Mei Chengan shrugged.
"It's obvious. We can tell from their action plan that the Princess is responsible for finding an opportunity to release the people, while Lu Jing is only responsible for the support."
After a pause, he continued speaking thoughtfully.
"The most dangerous and difficult part is the one that the princess is responsible for. It seems that this is her token of loyalty and the premise for Shangshan Hu to agree to cooperate with her. However... what does she want to do by cooperating with Shangshan Hu and Xiao En? Overthrow the Northern Qi regime?"
After thinking for a while without any result, Fan Xian was too lazy to think any further and curled his lips.
"Who cares? As long as she's not targeting us, let her mess around with Northern Qi. They're an enemy country anyway. But, what I'm more curious about is that now that their plan to rescue Sean has failed, can the cooperation between the Princess and Uesugi Tiger continue?"
He said this with a hint of gloating.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Uesugi Tora's life or death is still uncertain. He may die at any time. Our partner is about to be gone. What's the point of cooperating with him? Hahahahaha..."
Actually, what he said was not very funny, but his laughter was hearty. As we all know, laughter is contagious, so Mei Cheng'an and Wang Qinian also started laughing, and the atmosphere in the tent became cheerful for a while.
As they were laughing, Hongshu came in with the food. Wang Qinian had met her on the road and had informed her before, so the food she brought was quite large, and the three of them ate together.
Fan Xian said with a beaming expression as he spread mushroom sauce on the pancake with chopsticks.
"Hey, I just summarized this operation for the princess in my mind. I was shocked when I did. Look, the nail she planted in the Overwatch Council is gone, the mission to rescue Sean failed, the partner almost died, and even the target of revenge was killed..."
He took a bite of the pancake and continued talking while chewing.
"My plan also failed. Not only did I not get hurt at all, but my trusted commander Yan Xiaoyi was almost killed by an axe, and even all his cavalrymen died. Hulu~"
He took a sip of porridge.
"To sum it up, not only did the princess fail to accomplish anything she wanted to do, she also suffered various casualties. Even the cooperation plan was shelved. What is this? This is a typical example of a fierce operation, but the damage is . Hahaha, it's so funny. Hey, do you think the princess will be so angry that she will curl up?"
Wang Qinian said with a chuckle.
"I think so! According to what you said, the princess is not just injuring 1,000 enemies but also losing 800 of her own. She has not even come close to the enemy, but has lost 10,000 of her own. It is really a case of losing more than gaining. It is a huge loss."
Fan Xian burst into laughter when he heard this.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…"
Mei Cheng'an put down the bowl of porridge, took the sweet potato pancake smeared with chili sauce and handed it to him, folded it, and glanced at Fan Xian before eating.
"Don't be happy too soon. Uesugi Tora won't die so easily, and the princess won't give up so easily. I have a feeling this matter won't end so easily, and there should be a sequel."
Fan Xian stopped laughing, but the smile was still there.
"Follow-up? What follow-up? We are now only a hair's breadth away from the border. Shangshanhu can no longer cooperate with her. It is estimated that she will not be able to organize a rescue in a short period of time. When we hand Sean over to Northern Qi, she can save him or not. It has nothing to do with us anyway. What is there to worry about?"
Mei Chengan shook his head slightly.
"I'm not talking about now."
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
"You mean... after arriving in Shangjing City?"
Mei Cheng'an took a bite of the pancake and nodded.
Fan Xian was a little confused.
"What's the difference between then and now? Sean is not in our hands, so she can save him if she wants. Do you think...she will involve us in this matter?"
Mei Cheng'an thought about it and shrugged.
"I can't explain it specifically, it's just a hunch."
Fan Xian cried out in fear.
"Why think about it if you can't figure it out? We'll deal with it when the time comes. If the enemy comes, we'll just fight him with our troops and if the water comes, we'll just block it with earth."
Mei Chengan thought about it and quickly threw all the messy guesses and thoughts out of his mind. After finishing, he felt his brain was clear and he felt much more comfortable. It really is more comfortable to be a foodie without using your mind. Grunt, I chew, chew, chew~
"Hey, I suddenly thought of a question. Yan Xiaoyi is now a border soldier. Can border soldiers leave the camp without permission?"
Fan Xian suddenly asked while eating.
Wang Qinian on the opposite side waved his hand, and spoke after swallowing the pancake in his mouth.
"It is a serious crime for border troops to leave the camp without permission and cross the border!"
Fan Xian's eyes lit up.
"Hey, Yan Xiaoyi has committed more than one crime by coming here to kill me. No wonder he wants to kill me. All right, I will list his crimes when I return to the capital and report him to Your Majesty. It's a pity that the bodies of his cavalrymen cannot be preserved for that long, otherwise they would be ready-made evidence of his crimes, old king."
"Sir, please speak."
"If I want to find out the specific identities and positions of those soldiers, can I find them out?"
Wang Qinian nodded.
"It's not difficult. Do you want to investigate? If so, we have to hurry up. Otherwise, once the princess receives the news, she will definitely take some action. She might even erase all traces of these people."
Fan Xian said immediately upon hearing this.
"Check, check, check! And make a list for me after you're done."
"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible."
"Well, but having a list alone is not enough. It would be better if we could find a witness... Hey, Lao Mei, let's go talk to Mr. Guo after dinner."
Mei Cheng'an had no interest in this matter and shook his head decisively.
"Don't go."
Fan Xian was stunned for a moment.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Yes, sleep, I'm sleepy!"
"..."
Fan Xian was speechless. This reason was indeed very powerful.
In fact, he was also very sleepy. After all, he hadn't slept all night and had fought several fights. He was already exhausted. However, he was still thinking about something and he couldn't sleep well until he finished dealing with it.
"Okay, then let's rest here for another day? Many of us have been busy all night and need to rest."
Mei Chengan had no objection.
"can."
……
(End of this chapter)
