Chapter 391 Congratulations on your guess (two in one)
After Fan Xian finished speaking, the carriage fell into a strange silence. Mei Cheng'an smiled and said nothing.
Sensing that the atmosphere was not right, Fan Xian looked at his fellow villager on the left, then at Wang Qinian on the right, and scratched his head.
"What's wrong? Is there anything wrong with what I said? Why don't you say anything?"
Mei Chengan smiled and waved his hand, speaking softly.
"It is precisely because there is no problem that we have nothing to say."
Wang Qinian on the side nodded silently in agreement.
Fan Xian was startled when he heard this.
"how to say?"
After considering for a moment, Mei Chengan said with a smile.
"Our Qing Kingdom is strong, and its territory is not small, but that was earned by His Majesty after several wars with the Qing Kingdom. Northern Qi is a direct successor of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Although we have captured a large area of Northern Qi's land in the previous northern expeditions and this year, in terms of territory and population, Northern Qi is still the undisputed number one country in the world. It is because of the long-term civil strife and the disunity of the people that it is no match for us."
After hearing these words, Fan Xian didn't know what to feel for a moment. He came to Beijing late, and learned a lot of things from information and other people's mouths. He didn't have a deep feeling. Although he had seen the territory map when he participated in the negotiations as a member of the delegation, perhaps the person who made the map used the Spring and Autumn style of writing. Just looking at the map, he couldn't see the actual difference between Qing Kingdom and Northern Qi. Now with his personal experience and these words, Fan Xian had a clearer and more real understanding of the greatness of Northern Qi.
It turns out that even the once powerful Qing Kingdom was just a "small" country in terms of territory and population compared to the Northern Qi Kingdom.
Fan Xian's expression was a little strange. He now understood why everyone was silent before, because after the facts were made clear, it was really speechless.
On second thought, with its large territory and large population, Northern Qi naturally has an unrivaled advantage. If this shaky country can really be revived... Fan Xian frowned. That would be a bit troublesome for the country where he had lived since he was a child.
He was just thinking that since he didn't know how to play mahjong and didn't want to learn it and was worried about losing money, he took the initiative to give up his position to make room for Hongshu. Now, Gundam, who was riding a horse outside the carriage window, suddenly interrupted in a deep voice from outside the window.
"In that case, isn't it just as I said before, there is still a huge territory waiting for us to conquer."
Gundam hasn't said much since he was relieved of his job and had some free time, but the short words he did say always had a sense of absurdity and were very funny.
He had said something similar before. Although the content was slightly different, the meaning was basically the same. Mei Cheng'an frowned when Gaoda made the remarks because he felt it was inappropriate.
But now he laughed when he heard this again. This remark was not only not abrupt in the current scenario, but was very appropriate and fitting.
"Yes, yes, yes. Whether before or now, there is nothing wrong with what you said, Lao Gao."
Fan Xian couldn't help laughing at this time, thinking that including Gaoda who was only thinking about conquering cities, all the officials of Qing Kingdom, under the influence of Qing Kingdom's invincible victory in the past twenty years, had indeed developed an extremely terrifying self-confidence.
Everyone laughed, and the slightly weird atmosphere in the carriage immediately disappeared and became cheerful.
Wang Qinian was laughing and suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Gundam outside the carriage, pretending to scold him.
"Hey, Lao Gao, you've said this before, so you should let me say it this time. Are you trying to steal my job of supporting actor?"
Gundam didn't understand and was a little confused, scratching his head.
"Ah? No, I didn't mean to steal... Um, brother Wang, what does 'best actor' mean?"
“Pfft~ Hahahahahaha.”
Mei Cheng'an was not amused by Wang Qinian's pretentious performance, but he was so amused by Gundam's cute reaction that he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Fan Xian also laughed.
Wang Qinian closed his half-open mouth again, and the wrinkles on his face became deeper.
The carriage speeding along the official road was suddenly filled with extremely cheerful laughter, some big and some small. The laughter spread out of the carriage through the windows, drifted backwards with the wind, and drifted very far away.
……
It was not only Mei Cheng'an who hoped that this boring and tedious journey without the company of beautiful women would end early, but Fan Xian also hoped so. After all, he was reluctant to exchange his guaranteed ticket of 500 taels, fearing that he would not be able to keep this last bit of money. Without him as a major player, the Mahjong God Championship was forced to stop. Once the fun of killing time was gone, everyone became visibly irritable and silent.
But that long official road seemed to have no end. The smoke and dust raised by the turning wheels rose on the wide official road, like a yellow dragon firmly bound to the ground in the middle of the road, unable to fly or break free, and could only struggle and roll on the ground.
The trees on both sides of the official road have thick trunks, and there is a tree every few feet. They have lush branches and leaves, and the leaves, large and small, are much wider than those in Qing Kingdom. They can not only provide good shade for pedestrians on the road, but also block the flying of yellow dragons, that is, block the dust.
Mei Cheng'an leaned against the car window, squinting his eyes and watching the trees on the roadside flash past his sight against the wind. Somehow, he suddenly remembered the world that he had not thought of for a long time.
He still remembered that many years ago, he and his classmate Fu Ge drove to BJ for a trip. As they were thinking about the scenery along the way, they did not choose the expressway but the national highway. He remembered very clearly that when they passed Hebei, there were also such trees on both sides of the national highway, which kept smashing back in the same boring and tedious way.
……
Although the long journey is endless, the short journey has an end. As mentioned earlier, although the delegation stayed in the post stations along the way most of the time, they would occasionally camp in the wild, as was the case this night.
Bathed in the bright moonlight, in front of him was the crackling sound of burning firewood, and behind him was the pitched tent. Mei Chengan, Fan Xian and others were sitting around the campfire, roasting sweet potatoes and chatting.
The firelight and moonlight intertwined and reflected on everyone's faces, appearing bright and dim.
The task of roasting the sweet potatoes was naturally done by the maid Hongshu. Mei Cheng'an only held a large glass of burping wine in his hand. The wine was newly replenished when he passed through a big town yesterday. It was a whole barrel. The supply cart that stored the fruits was also replenished with a large amount of ice cubes. The wine had been stored there, so the burping wine tasted icy cold at this moment, and his heart was flying.
"Sweet potatoes baked with sweet potatoes, hehehe, how interesting."
Fan Xian also held a large glass of burping wine in his hand. As he extended the glass in front of Mei Cheng'an, he said with a smile.
Mei Chengan glanced at him and spoke directly to Hongshu.
"Throw his share into the fire."
This shameless guy forced the sweet potatoes to be roasted in order to avoid being lazy. Now he even dares to make fun of his own maid's name. This is intolerable.
"Yes!"
Sweet potato's face turned stern and he pretended to throw it.
Fan Xian quickly reached out his hand.
"Hey, hey, hey, sweet potato sister, I was wrong. I shouldn't have made fun of your name. Don't throw it, don't throw it. I'm still hungry."
Hongshu paused, pursed his lips, and his little face was about to laugh. He glanced at his young master, and saw that he looked at Fan Xian with contempt. He pouted and said nothing, then took his hand back.
She actually didn't mind at all that Fan Xian teased her about her name, she was just pretending to be "angry" to cooperate with her young master.
Seeing that the food rations were saved, Fan Xian breathed a sigh of relief, nudged Mei Cheng'an beside him with his elbow, and raised the wine glass in his hand.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Mei Chengan gently raised his hand and clinked his glass with his.
"It's okay, you apologized quickly!"
Fan Xian rolled his eyes, snorted, raised his glass and took a big gulp, then put it down with a hiss, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and after a loud burp, he squinted his eyes and looked around at the people present, then continued the previous topic.
"Speaking of which, have you noticed that the Northern Qi people look at us strangely? There's an indescribable feeling."
Before this, they had been chatting casually about the customs and culture of Northern Qi. Although they rarely stopped at towns along the way, they always met some ordinary people on the road and had some brief contacts. This question had been in his mind for a long time.
"How can I describe it? Those Northern Qi people don't seem to hate us that much. Instead, they always look at us with a hint of, um... contempt and disdain? Even a hint of sympathy? What's going on? I can't figure it out."
Teng Zijing was puzzled when he heard this.
"Really? Why didn't I feel it?"
Gundam raised his hand.
"I also had this feeling vaguely, but I never understood what their eyes meant. I just thought that was the way they looked when they saw foreigners. Now I suddenly understand what you said."
Wang Qinian had sharp eyes and a sharp mind, so he naturally noticed this situation. However, he didn't understand what was going on. The reason why he hadn't mentioned it before was because it was not a good thing, and he didn't want to spoil everyone's fun. Now that Fan Xian had taken the initiative to mention it, there was nothing to hide.
"It is indeed as you said, and I found that the further north we go, the more serious this phenomenon becomes. I wonder if they mistook us for people from some barbarian land."
Mei Chengan smiled.
"There's no misunderstanding."
After these words were spoken, everyone present was stunned for a moment and looked at him. Fan Xian asked curiously.
"If it's not a misunderstanding, then what is it?"
Mei Chengan said with a smile.
"In the eyes of the people of Northern Qi, our Qing Kingdom is an uncivilized barbarian land. Have you forgotten that the old maid in the palace called us southern barbarians with contempt?"
Of course Fan Xian remembered it, and he was quite surprised.
"I thought it was because that old woman stayed in the palace all year round and didn't understand the situation outside. It turns out that it's not just her, but all the people of Northern Qi look at us this way? That's not right. Northern Qi has been defeated by us more than once or twice in recent years. Are they so isolated from the news? They haven't heard any rumors at all? That's impossible."
Mei Cheng'an asked back with a smile.
"So what if I hear it?"
Fan Xian was stunned.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
Mei Chengan said calmly.
"From the itinerary arranged by Shen Zhong this time, it is not difficult to see that the Northern Qi royal family must have kept the war between the two countries a secret from the people of the country. But as you said, the territory of the North is so large, and there are so many people traveling back and forth, it is impossible for them not to have heard any news. Even if they heard it, they still look at us like this, which means that even though they know that our Qing Kingdom is now extremely powerful, they still look down on us in their bones."
Fan Xian didn't understand.
"No, why is that?"
Wang Qinian seemed to understand what his young master meant, and spoke with his eyes flashing thoughtfully.
"The Northern Qi Dynasty... after all, is the continuation of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Perhaps in their minds, they always believe that they are the legitimate rulers of the world, so naturally they look down on our Qing Dynasty. No, it should be not just our Qing Dynasty, they look down on all other countries!"
Mei Chengan snapped his fingers.
"correct!"
This is the fact. Although the Northern Wei Dynasty perished nearly twenty years ago, the behemoth that dominated this continent at that time, casting its shadow on all the small countries around it, was truly the most powerful country in the world. The invincible might that shocked the world and attracted worship from all directions still remains in the hearts of the people in the north.
People are always willing to live in the past, stubbornly believing that Northern Qi still retains its former glory, and that they are still the people of the most powerful country in the world, and they are proud of it. Therefore, when looking at visitors from other countries, they are always accustomed to looking down on them, slightly raising their chins, lowering their eyes, and being proud, self-pitying, and self-respecting.
Of course, this only applies to the people of Northern Qi. The officials of Northern Qi, who were more clear-headed, naturally knew that the world had long since changed. This was evident from the fact that they were so earnest and cautious when facing the Qing Kingdom delegation, fearing that they might offend them. It didn't matter that the people were ignorant, as long as the officials were sober. Mei Cheng'an thought so, so he remained calm.
Fan Xian was silent for a long time and sighed softly.
"Just ignore it, it's good to live in a dream."
Mei Chengan smiled and said, this is the interesting point.
Wake them up and tell them that the world has changed? Stop it. Qing Kingdom doesn't want it, the Northern Qi court doesn't want it, and even the people themselves probably don't want it!
For the Kingdom of Qing, it is naturally a good thing that the people of the enemy country are ignorant. If they all awaken, although it may lead to civil strife in Northern Qi, it is also possible to give birth to one or two geniuses who can destroy and then rebuild the chessboard of Northern Qi. This is not acceptable!
Waking them up would do more harm than good to the Qing Kingdom, while for the Northern Qi Kingdom, the ignorance of the people made it easier for them to control and enslave them, so naturally they would not think of waking them up.
But for the people of Northern Qi, waking up would only add to their troubles. It was not that they could not, but they just did not want to.
After going around in circles, maintaining the status quo is actually in the interests of everyone at the same time. Tell me, is this interesting?
The crackling firewood was still burning, and everyone fell silent for some reason, drinking wine in silence and staring at the fire in a daze.
Suddenly, two muffled clapping sounds were heard from the Northern Qi camp not far away. Due to the distance, the sound was not loud but extremely clear, like the sound of a whip hitting someone.
Gundam, who was drinking, put down his glass when he heard the sound.
"It starts again."
As he said this, he turned his head and looked at Fan Xian and Mei Chengan.
"Shen Zhong has been giving Sean a lot of trouble along the way. My Lord, I just don't understand. Northern Qi and Northern Wei are of the same lineage. Sean was an important official on their side. Even if they don't plan to re-employ him, they shouldn't treat him like this, right?"
Mei Chengan shrugged and said casually.
"Who knows."
Fan Xian glanced at the Northern Qi camp thoughtfully, not knowing what he was thinking, and did not respond.
Gundam curled his lips and shook his head. He looked down upon Shenzhong's behavior towards his own people. He always believed that it was never too harsh to be cruel to the enemy, but one should not treat one's own people like that, especially in front of other people.
"Hey, I almost forgot. Didn't Haitang say before that she would not give up on killing Sean before we get to Shangjing? We are almost there, why is there no movement yet?"
Fan Xian suddenly turned around and asked Mei Cheng'an.
Hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment and looked at Mei Chengan curiously.
Mei Cheng'an shrugged and was about to say that he didn't know, when suddenly his ears moved and his eyes froze, then returned to normal. He raised the corners of his mouth and smiled at Fan Xian, then moved his lips slightly and said.
"The movement you want is here."
"what?"
Fan Xian didn't react for a moment, and the others were also stunned.
However, before Fan Xian could open his mouth to ask, a loud shout suddenly came from the Northern Qi camp.
"who?"
Everyone looked hurriedly at the sound, and saw a masked man in black holding a long sword suddenly rushing out from the dense forest next to the Northern Qi camp. He killed two Jinyiwei guards to the ground at first sight, and then went straight to the center of the Northern Qi camp. Because of the tents blocking their view, their figure could not be seen. However, soon there was a noisy and chaotic sound, mixed with shouting one after another, which reached everyone's ears from all directions.
"There is an assassin! Catch the assassin!"
"Come here, there's an assassin!"
"There is an assassin sneaking into the camp, surround him there."
"..."
Upon hearing the sound, Gundam subconsciously dropped the branch in his hand, held the long sword tightly and stood up, his eyes fixed on the direction of the Northern Qi camp.
"Sir, there is an assassin, what should we do?"
After asking, he withdrew his gaze and looked at Mei Cheng'an and Fan Xian. However, when his eyes swept across the crowd, he was stunned. He was the only one who stood up in the circle, while the others were still firmly stuck to the stones.
Wang Qinian retracted his gaze upon hearing this and raised his hand towards Gaoda.
"Hey, Lao Gao, the assassins are heading for the Northern Qi camp, not us. Why are you so excited? It's good enough that we don't go over to finish them off. Calm down and sit down and continue roasting sweet potatoes!"
After saying this, he looked at his young master and Fan Xian and asked another question.
"I am right, sir, sir."
Mei Chengan smiled.
"Yes."
Fan Xian gave Wang Qinian a thumbs up.
Wang Qinian immediately waved his hand and looked at Gundam.
"look!"
Gundam said "oh" and sat down obediently. He threw away the long knife, picked up the branches on the ground again, and started roasting sweet potatoes.
While they were talking, the noisy shouting and screaming from the Northern Qi camp continued. The Northern Qi soldiers who were responsible for guarding the Qing camp could not stand it anymore and rushed over there in a group.
Fan Xian glanced at them, with no intention of asking them to stay. He turned his head and asked in a low voice to his fellow villager.
"Do you think she can kill Sean with this wave?"
Mei Chengan replied without hesitation.
“No chance!”
Fan Xian raised his eyebrows.
"How to say?"
Mei Cheng'an raised his hand and pointed at the Northern Qi camp.
"Shen Zhong is such a cautious person. He brought so many Jinyiwei with him, but the protection he arranged was so lax. He let her rush in so casually. This is unreasonable."
After a pause, he added calmly.
"Besides, the Jinyiwei reacted too slowly. Too slowly...too abnormal."
He didn't say everything, but Fan Xian understood his implication in an instant. He looked over there, smiled with the corners of his mouth curled up, and his tone was somewhat gloating.
"It's good that she failed. I hope she can escape from the trap that Shen Zhong prepared safely and not get into trouble."
Mei Cheng'an glanced at him with a smile, shook his head, raised his eyes to look at the large iron cage covered with black cloth in the center of the Beiqi camp, waiting for Haitang to appear.
What is Haitang doing now? She is busy moving through the tents, trying to shake off the many Jinyiwei who are surrounding her.
She was seen running quickly with her arm suddenly, and the sharp sword blade immediately cut some large slanted holes in the tent in front of her. Haitang rushed into the tent. In a short while, two Jinyiwei screamed and broke through the holes in the tent and flew out of the tent. Following closely behind was Haitang's figure, who appeared and ran straight to the next tent.
"Here! Surround..."
A Jinyiwei who was giving a warning had not yet finished his words when Haitang, who suddenly appeared in front of him, cut his neck with a sword and his voice stopped abruptly.
"Surround him! He's in tent number seven!"
Soon, another Jinyiwei took up the task of raising the alarm.
Whether it was chopping, poking, picking, cutting or slicing, it didn't take long for nine out of ten tents in the Northern Qi camp to suffer. Moreover, Haitang had no specific direction when attacking the tents. She just attacked whoever she wanted. This caused great trouble to the Jinyiwei's pursuit and encirclement. As soon as people ran here, Haitang had already rushed there. When people got there, Haitang had moved to another place. The chasing Jinyiwei were soon confused by her erratic attack method.
Seeing that the time was almost right, Haitang easily dealt with two Jinyiwei in the tent, and then cut open the last tent on the right. A large iron cage covered with black cloth in the center of the camp suddenly appeared in front of her. There was no one around at this time. Without thinking, Haitang pointed her toes and rushed forward in the air, heading straight for the prison van.
"It's out, it's out, look in the middle!"
Fan Xian at the Qing Kingdom camp saw Haitang appear at the prison van from afar, slapped his thigh excitedly, and hurriedly reminded everyone.
Mei Cheng'an was watching with great interest, but was startled by his sudden shout. His fist became hard immediately. If the guy had not just reached his climax, he would have really wanted to give him a shock attack. After giving him a blank look, Mei Cheng'an quickly looked towards the big iron cage.
Since the horses had been unloaded and taken away long ago, the prison van was lying on the ground in a tilted position. Haitang put one foot on the edge of the tilted van and the other on the fence of the cage. She grabbed the black cloth on the top with her left hand and pulled it down suddenly. The moment the black cloth was torn off, Haitang's pupils shrank and she subconsciously leaned back to avoid several snow-white steel knives that were inserted from the gaps in the cage. It turned out that there was no Sean in the prison van at all, but several Jinyiwei who were on high alert. This was clearly a trap.
Haitang had no time to be frightened. In a flash, she had just done a backflip away from the prison van. While she was still in the air, the people in the prison van quickly opened the cell door and rushed out, one of them shouting loudly.
"Surround them, don't let them escape, quick!"
At the same time, the Jinyiwei who originally looked stupid and slow to react now quickly surrounded her with stern expressions. As soon as she landed, Haitang was surrounded.
Facing numerous Jinyiwei, Haitang was not panicked at all. She walked through the crowd with a sword in hand. Every time she raised her sword, she could take the life of a Jinyiwei. The seemingly tight encirclement always had gaps, which she cleared by killing or kicking. The reason why Haitang was not in a hurry to escape from the gaps was because she was using her big eyes to secretly observe the surroundings and think about the way to escape.
"Did she just look at us?"
Fan Xian turned his head and looked at Mei Cheng'an suspiciously and asked.
Mei Chengan hummed.
"I saw it, more than once!"
Fan Xian's eyes flickered and he suddenly slapped his thigh.
"Fuck, she doesn't mean to..."
Mei Cheng'an looked at the situation over there and suddenly laughed.
"Congratulations, you guessed it right! Yes, the person is coming."
As he said this, he pointed his chin toward that direction.
"..."
Fan Xian turned his head speechlessly.
……
(End of this chapter)
