Chapter 228 Traitors in Chaotic Times (Part 4): How to Become a Super Strategist...

Upon hearing this, Lu Ying's expression immediately changed.

"Ambition?" Lu Ying paused for a moment, then asked, "What are your ambitions, sir?"

Song Ce paused, then calmly said, "I am but a commoner, and my heart is set on the countryside. Besides, I am used to a leisurely life and I am afraid I would not be able to adapt to the rules of the Meng family army."

Lu Ying tapped her fingertips lightly on the stone table, then suddenly laughed and said, "Sir, you are joking. A talent like you is definitely not someone who would be content to live in the countryside. Now that the court is weak and the world is in turmoil, if you want to make a name for yourself, I'm afraid no one except my Meng family army would dare to venture deep into our main force to invite you out of seclusion."

At this point, he tapped his folding fan on his palm: "Pingzhou County is currently under the protection of our army, and although it is temporarily peaceful, it may become a battlefield one day. If you insist on staying here, I wonder how long you can remain at peace?"

Song Ce looked up at him and said calmly, "What does Young Master Lu want to say?"

“What I wanted to say was,” Lu Ying suddenly stopped smiling and spoke very seriously, “that my Meng family army is in dire need of talent like you, sir. As long as you are willing to stay, you can name your price for military pay and salary. Even becoming a first-rank official or a king or marquis in the future will not be difficult. Why don’t you give it a good consideration?”

“No need.” Song Ce straightened his clothes and smiled. “I am but a common scholar. How could I possibly understand the current state of affairs? My elderly mother is waiting for me to fetch medicine to treat her illness. If Young Master Lu has nothing else to say, I will take my leave now.”

Lu Ying's face gradually darkened, his left hand gripping the fan ribs tightly, and he said coldly, "Sir, are you unwilling? You refuse me so bluntly, aren't you afraid I'll force you to stay? Or do you have someone backing you, thinking you can leave here safely?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Meng Tianxi, the man in black, strode over and said sternly to Lu Ying, "Shut up! Even King Wen of Zhou was respectful and courteous when he visited Duke Jiang. Now that we have something to ask of you, how dare you be so rude?"

After saying this, Meng Tianxi bowed deeply to Song Ce and earnestly said, "I am Meng Tianxi. Please, for the sake of the countless suffering people in the world, give my Meng family army some guidance. Now the court is in decline, and various princes and nobles have raised their own armies and established their own rule, making life difficult for the people. In my life, I only wish for peace and prosperity for the people of the world. I hope you will not hesitate to give me your guidance."

Song Ce paused for a long time before shaking his head with a smile: "Commander Meng, I am not knowledgeable enough to deserve your guidance."

Upon hearing this, Meng Tianxi straightened up and personally picked up the teapot on the table to refill his tea: "Then I will pay a hundred gold pieces to ask you to cast a divination. Now that there are many warlords vying for power, I wonder who will become the future ruler of the world?"

Song Ce was silent for a moment, then asked, "I wonder if General Meng has seen the weeds in the fields?"

Meng Tianxi frowned slightly: "Weeds?"

"Yes. They come in all shapes and sizes, springing up and withering away, seemingly following the will of Heaven, but in reality, some are strong and some are weak, some are tall and some are short. Therefore, the master of the world is not who, but what path."

Lu Ying sneered from the side, "Why bother with such mystery, sir? It's as if you said nothing at all."

Song Ce didn't look at him, but said to Meng Tianxi, "I once read a story in a book. It tells of a year when there was a great drought. The Li family, a wealthy man in the east of the city, dug a well and found water after digging five zhang (approximately 10 meters). He was overjoyed and immediately irrigated his own fields. Zhao, a rich man in the west of the city, heard about this and became jealous. So, he secretly took his servants and filled in the well, saying, 'Why should the Li family dig the well and occupy the water vein?' As a result, the two families went to court and fought a lawsuit for nearly three months, which directly caused all the rice seedlings in the fields to wither and die. General Meng, do you know what this means?"

Meng Tianxi was taken aback, and after a long while, he said, "Sir, are you saying that even if the situation is temporarily in my favor, we should not be short-sighted and forget ourselves for the sake of gain?"

Song Ce smiled, neither nodding nor shaking his head, and simply said, "Farewell."

“Sir!” Meng Tianxi stepped forward and suddenly said, “I can assure you that even if you cannot serve me in the future, I will never make things difficult for you, nor will I force you to do anything you do not want to do. If you wish to leave today, I will not stop you. Lu Ying, you should personally take a hundred taels of gold and present it to you to show the sincerity of my Meng family army.”

Lu Ying pursed her lips and snapped her folding fan shut in her palm. "Sir, you still refuse to tell the truth. Fine, please."

Song Ce reached out and picked up some herbs from the side, then nodded slightly to Meng Tianxi: "General Meng's kindness is appreciated, I won't see you out." Before he finished speaking, he turned around leisurely and walked slowly towards the outside of the pavilion.

Lu Ying stared at the thin, frail figure and let out a cold snort: "This poor scholar certainly knows how to put on airs. Why should Tianxi be so polite to him?"

Meng Tianxi raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder, saying calmly, "Lu Ying, regardless of whether this person has real talent or not, your actions today have greatly disrespected him, and you must never do that again. His words just now seemed irrelevant, but in fact they contained hidden meanings. You might as well think about them carefully."

"Hmph! I think Tianxi, you're just too hesitant! I've seen plenty of scholars like this. Most of them are just trying to raise their status by showing off because they think our Meng family army is powerful. In my opinion, we should just tie him up and bring him to the army, then use his family to blackmail him. I doubt he'd dare disobey!"

"Foolish!" Meng Tianxi's voice suddenly turned stern as he said heavily, "Lu Ying, you must not act recklessly! Such a talented person must not be treated rashly! If anything goes wrong with you, I will hold you responsible!"

Lu Ying was taken aback, and after a long silence, she reluctantly replied, "Yes."

When Song Ce returned to the village alone, it was already evening. He pushed open the courtyard gate, walked quickly to the east room, put down the medicine bag, and said gently, "Mother, I'm back. The doctor said this medicine is very effective; you'll be cured after three doses."

"A-Ce, are you serious?" Wenxiu put down the hot soup in her hand with a look of surprise, picked up the medicine packet and examined it carefully. "Then I'll go to the kitchen to brew the medicine for Mother right away!"

"Yes, thank you."

Song Ce helped his mother sit up against the headboard. Looking at her youngest son's travel-worn appearance, she felt a lump in her throat and said, "Ce'er, it's all my fault for making you suffer."

"Mother, what are you saying?" Song Ce handed the hot soup to his mother. "Just focus on getting better and don't worry about anything else."

After Song's mother finished taking her medicine and fell asleep, Song's father sat on a wooden chair, looking at Song Ce with a worried expression: "Son, did anything happen to you in the county? I heard from people in the next village today that the Meng family army was guarding the city gate and checking people everywhere. Several teenagers were forcibly taken away by them!"

"It's nothing," Song Ce said with a light smile, avoiding the main point. "Father, you don't need to worry."

"Good, it's good that you're alright." Mr. Song sighed. "You've been up all day, go home and rest!"

"Yes, Father."

After returning to his room, Song Ce recounted everything that had happened that day from beginning to end.

Meng Tianxi appears calm and collected, but he harbors considerable ambitions and desires to seize power from the court. Lu Ying, on the other hand, is impetuous and lacks shrewdness, making him unlikely to achieve great things. Although the Meng family army holds considerable influence in the Qin Prefecture area, establishing themselves in this chaotic world will likely be fraught with difficulties… It remains to be seen whether Meng Tianxi and Lu Ying have any connection to the original owner of this body.

As he was pondering, Song Ce was suddenly overcome by an unfamiliar dizziness, which caused him to faint.

A moment later, Song Ce "saw" the original owner of this body standing respectfully outside the pavilion, his face stern, saying: "Since ancient times, scholars have always pursued fame and fortune, but I am different. I have witnessed officials oppressing the people and exploiting the local populace, so I am determined to become an honest and upright official, working for the benefit of the people. Now that the world is in turmoil, I voluntarily become a guest advisor to the Meng family, dedicating my life to the Meng family's army, and fully assisting the Meng family in seizing power and creating a peaceful and prosperous world."

The scene shifts, and the original owner is thriving in the Meng family army, becoming increasingly adept at navigating social situations. With his silver tongue, he is highly valued by Meng Tianxi and becomes one of his most trusted advisors.

With the original owner's strong encouragement, Meng Tianxi eventually declared himself king in Qinzhou. The original owner, from a scholar with no official rank, rose to become the first-rank prime minister of Qinzhou.

...

When Song Ce woke up, it was already getting light.

He currently has very limited information. Since he is unsure about the person making the wish and the task at hand, he might as well go and learn more about this world.

Over the next month, Song Ce secretly infiltrated the Pingzhou government office and various bookstores in the county, spending a considerable amount of time immersed in books, and finally gained a general understanding of the area.

The Great Li Dynasty in this world is similar to the ancient Zhou Dynasty. After three generations, the feudal lords and princes under its rule began to fight amongst themselves, leading to the decline of the Great Li imperial family and the loss of power. Although the emperor remained the nominal supreme ruler, he had no real power and could only rely on the various feudal lords and princes to survive. These feudal lords and princes were all personally appointed by the previous rulers of the Great Li Dynasty. After the Wu army in the south rose in rebellion, they disdained even the pretense of civility, successively declaring themselves kings in their respective territories and announcing it to the world, directly breaking ties with the Great Li Dynasty.

The world today is like a piece of fragrant jerky, and everyone wants to take a bite out of it.

In the north of the Dali Dynasty, the Yan cavalry was stationed, while in the south, the Wu army held sway over a region. In the west, Qin Prefecture was occupied by the Meng family army, and in the southeast, the Liang King, claiming to be a legitimate descendant of the Dali Dynasty, emerged in Qi. The various forces fought each other for control, resulting in years of war that seemed destined to end in a fight to the death.

A year ago, Emperor Zhonghe of the Dali Dynasty was assassinated by thieves. Since he had no children, the throne was inherited by his younger brother, Prince Yu, who became Emperor Qingyuan.

Of course, the new emperor's ascension to the throne did not bring any respite to the Dali Dynasty. On the contrary, it made the local kings and nobles oppress the Dali Dynasty even more, and there was a hint of encirclement and extermination.

In addition, Song Ce carefully checked the original owner's household registration and unexpectedly discovered that the original owner was not the biological son of the Song family, but a child that Song's father had accidentally picked up outside.

Could it be that there are some hidden secrets about the original owner's background?

Song Ce paused for a moment, but instead of taking the household registration documents directly, he copied them in the original handwriting. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he carefully folded the original documents in his sleeve and then quietly left the county office.

As night fell, the moon shone coolly like water.

Song Ce looked at his father, who was chopping wood with his back to him, and remained silent for a moment before finally stepping forward and asking softly, "Father, there's something I want to ask you."

Father Song was taken aback, then put down the axe and said with a simple smile, "Ce'er, what do you say?"

"Dad, I'm not actually your and Mom's biological son. You picked me up from outside, right?"

Mr. Song's hands, which were gathering firewood, suddenly stopped. After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice, "How...how did you know?"

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Author's Note: [Starry-eyed]