Meng Lie asked this question as soon as he came up, without any greetings or preparation. Chang Kuo was stunned and subconsciously looked at the token in Meng Lie's hand.
——Why did His Highness's things appear in Sui Ning's hands? ——His Highness's own things appeared in his own hands... Isn't that normal?
Chang Kuo answered himself in his mind, thought for a moment, and shook his head: "I have never seen this thing..."
This is the truth, he didn't lie.
As for more... since His Highness hadn't spoken, he couldn't say anything more.
Chang Kuo only asked in confusion: "However, if it is in Sui Ning's hands... then why is it in your hands now?"
Meng Lie looked at Chang Kuo and said, "She had someone send it back to the capital and give it to me."
Chang Kuo raised his eyebrows and told the truth again: "I don't know anything about this matter... I haven't heard Sui Ning mention it at all."
He didn't know in advance that Meng Lie would come to Jiangdu, nor did he know why His Highness gave this token to Meng Lie... But, maybe it was because he was short of money?
"It's strange that you don't know anything." Meng Lie looked at the token in his hand and said, "When Your Highness left the capital, Sui Ning was still just a little kid. Your Highness can't just hand this thing over to her. I think at least someone you can trust needs to keep it and pass it on—"
Chang Kuo shook his head: "I don't know about these...just go ask Sui Ning directly!"
"If she was in the camp now, why would I come to see you?" Meng Lie always spoke concisely and politely in private, and never made unnecessary rounds or greetings.
"Then just wait for her to come back." Chang Kuo sat down nonchalantly, "It's not an urgent matter anyway."
Meng Lie raised his eyebrows and said, "This is an old item of your Highness. How can it not be considered urgent if it reappears now?"
Chang Kuo was helpless: "You can't swim to the sea to find her, right? Or should I send someone to the sea to find her right now? And forget about all military affairs?"
Meng Lie frowned and said nothing for a while. He was not the kind of person who would make a fuss. He naturally knew that military affairs could not be disrupted just because of his eagerness to confirm the truth.
"Come on, come on, sit down and have a drink of water first." Chang Kuo raised his hand to pour tea for Meng Lie.
Meng Lie was so anxious that he turned around and saw the big words "Generous Man" hung in the tent by Chang Kuo.
Meng Lie took a few steps closer, looked at it again and again, and clenched his hands slightly at his sides.
Although his attainments in calligraphy and painting were not high, as the head of the Intelligence Building, distinguishing the authenticity of His Highness's handwriting was once an indispensable task.
He couldn't quite make out the tiger picture, but Master Chu had mentioned the word "similar", and in his opinion, the handwriting of the letter Chang Suining sent to the capital was also about 70% similar...
But the large characters in front of him are 90% similar.
Did he really just copy His Highness's handwriting? "Old Chang..." He suddenly asked, "Do you think Sui Ning and His Highness have many similarities?"
Chang Kuo raised his eyes and looked at Meng Lie's thin back.
There is no doubt that Meng Lie is a smart man, but it is easy to understand why this smart man only noticed this abnormality until now.
Meng Lie is different from him. Sui Ning's surname is Chang, and he grew up in the Chang family. He has not had much contact with Meng Lie, so Meng Lie cannot say that he knows much about Sui Ning in the past.
After His Highness came back, he never had any interactions with Meng Lie worth mentioning. Therefore, Meng Lie was unaware because he had no chance to notice.
This is just one of them.
The second reason is that Meng Lie has always kept his eyes on the magic circle of the Heavenly Maiden Tower. According to that magic circle, His Highness's chance of survival will appear in the body of someone with a blood relationship... Furthermore, he subconsciously believes that if there is any "progress" worth mentioning, Wu Jue will definitely tell him.
Therefore, before seeing the half token sent by Chang Suining, he had thought about it in his mind, but it was destined to be limited.
"Yes." Chang Kuo said in a normal tone, "Didn't we always say that Sui Ning and His Highness have a great affinity?"
Meng Lie did not comment. If being saved by His Highness meant fate, then there were too many people in this world who were destined to be with His Highness. Therefore, he had no reason to pay special attention to the Chang family girl before.
But at this moment...it's different.
Hearing Chang Kuo asking him to sit down and talk, Meng Lie didn't know what he was thinking of. He suppressed his urgency, walked over, and sat down cross-legged for a while.
“Your hair…” Chang Kuo pushed the tea bowl towards Meng Lie, his eyes falling on Meng Lie’s graying temples again: “Is it because of Wu Jue?”
Meng Lie didn't answer, he just picked up the tea bowl and drank the water.
Looking at the man in front of him, whose face was covered in dust and whose clothes were stained with mud, Chang Kuo was troubled.
Arriving at this hour, it was obvious that he had traveled all night from Jiangdu, and his urgency was evident...
But if the white hair was simply because of Wu Jue's "pass away", Chang Kuo felt that it was somewhat inconsistent with Meng Lie's temperament.
Lao Meng, because of his different experiences from ordinary people, was particularly cold and alert. When His Highness was here, they were all laughing and playing, but Lao Meng always stood beside His Highness without saying a word. He never had close contacts with anyone, and only maintained an ordinary colleague relationship.
I remember one time after drinking, they walked back holding Meng Lie's shoulders, laughing and sighing, saying that if His Highness asked Meng Lie to kill them, Meng Lie would probably not even blink and would immediately draw his sword to kill them.
At that time, Meng Lie, who was embraced by them, said without any hesitation: [Of course.]
And he said to them: "It is not just me, but we should all be like this. 】
They then cursed Meng Lie for being completely unkind.
So, Meng Lie's white hair now...
If one of them was for the little bit of humanity that had been cultivated with Wu Jue over the years, then the rest were probably for that formation, the formation that could help His Highness return home.
Chang Kuo sighed in his heart at this moment. It seems that His Highness can put aside his worries and doubts about Lao Meng.
But the details will have to wait until His Highness returns.
As soon as Meng Lie put down his tea bowl, he asked, "When will Suining come back? Has the war started at sea?"
"We have fought three or four battles, but they were all small movements made by the Japanese army to test them." Chang Kuo did not reveal too many military secrets in detail, but only roughly stated: "The main force of the Japanese army has not appeared. Sui Ning's trip is to go and spy on the location of the main force of the Japanese army."
Meng Lie asked seriously, "How many people did she bring with her?"
"Since we are spying, we can't make too much noise." Chang Kuo said, "One thousand naval forces, divided into several routes."
Meng Lie suddenly frowned: "...If we run into the Japanese army, wouldn't it be dangerous?"
Chang Kuo comforted him, "Don't worry, Sui Ning has always been alert enough. If he senses danger, he will respond in advance and try to escape."
"We are at sea. Has she ever been to sea?" Meng Lie frowned even more tightly. "Why don't you go on such an important matter? Instead, let her, a child with no naval combat experience, take risks?"
When Chang Kuo heard this, he felt that it was quite similar to the words in his son's letter to him when he anxiously asked him "Why doesn't father go to Bianshui, but instead asks your sister to go and fight Xu Zhengye?"
He replied to his son at that time, "You know nothing", but this statement obviously did not apply to Meng Lie. Looking at Meng Lie's white hair, Chang Kuo said in a very friendly manner, "How can I go? My legs can't be tossed around in the sea, and I took half a pound of medicine soup last night."
He added: "Besides, Sui Ning is the commander of this battle. Don't worry, she is bringing with her the best navy and fishermen to lead the way. She also has the most detailed map of the sea..."
Meng Lie looked at him with an ambiguous expression: "Are you so confident?"
Chang Kuo raised his eyebrows high: "...Now everyone knows that my daughter is the reincarnation of a star general, of course I believe her!"
As his fingers gathered together, Meng Lie's knuckles, which were worn by the reins, tightened slightly - General Star, reincarnation? Chang Kuo sensed the temptation behind Meng Lie's words, so he changed the subject: "Sui Ning only brought half a month's worth of supplies this time. She won't wait until all the food is used up before returning. It is expected that she will be able to land in three to five days at most. You just wait a few days."
Seeing that Meng Lie didn't answer and was still staring at him, Chang Kuo felt very uncomfortable and could only change the subject casually: "Before Sui Ning set out to sea, he got some information from two Japanese spies... Do you know who the commander of the Japanese army is this time?"
Meng Lie finally spoke: "How can I know?"
"It's Fujiwara."
Meng Lie: "Fujiwara no Maro?"
Chang Kuo nodded: "That's the person."
Meng Lie had a deep memory of this man: "More than ten years ago, he was the one who killed Hao Feng... How could he still be alive?"
After many years, Chang Kuo's eyes were still a little dim when he mentioned his old comrades and friends. He and Hao Feng joined the army together when they were young, and later became the most trusted right-hand men of His Highness.
More than ten years ago, in the battle with the Japanese army, Hao Feng accidentally fell into the hands of the Japanese army in order to protect him... Afterwards, Fujiwara tortured Hao Feng to death in order to force him to reveal military secrets, but Hao Feng never uttered a word.
During the battle that day, they saw from afar Hao Feng, whose body was riddled with holes and incomplete, like a rag, with a spear piercing his body and erected high above Fujiwara's warship to vent their anger and demonstrate. The Japanese soldiers on the deck raised their swords, shouted, laughed, and tried to provoke them.
It was also in that last battle that Fujiwara was hit by two arrows, one in the chest and the other in the left eye.
They saw with their own eyes that Fujiwara was shot and fell, the Japanese army's formation was in chaos, and after a fierce battle, the Japanese army fled and retreated.
At that time, they all thought that Fujiwara was dead, but they didn't expect that this man was so lucky that he lived to this day and led his army to attack again after more than ten years.
"It seems that he has come here to avenge his humiliation." Meng Lie said at this moment: "This person is treacherous and vicious. It is difficult to deal with him. Now he has the intention of revenge... You must be more careful."
Chang Kuo clutched the tea bowl and said in a muffled voice, "This man is determined to offend Dasheng, so I will make sure he never returns."
Fujiwara was indeed not easy to deal with. More than ten years ago, it was His Highness who led the Xuansaku Army to force the enemy back.
Moreover, Fujiwara has rich experience in fighting against the Dasheng Navy, and after more than ten years of waiting, it is obvious that he is determined to win this trip...
Fortunately, Your Highness is here to fight this battle.
It was because His Highness learned from the two Japanese spies that Fujiwara was the commander-in-chief of this battle that he decided to go out to sea in person to spy on the location of the enemy's main force.
After all, in this sea area, the one who knows Fujiwara's way of fighting best is Your Highness.
At this moment, Yuanxiang's voice came through the curtain.
Yuanxiang was one of the first group to set up camp here. He is busy every day and does his job very diligently. Now he is one of the most useful people under Chang Kuo.
It was already bright in the sky, and Chang Kuo still had many military affairs to deal with, so he said to Meng Lie, "Old Meng, you go and rest first, and wait for Sui Ning to come back in the camp."
Meng Lie could only nod, then get up and leave.
Outside the tent, Yuan Xiang was a little surprised when he saw Meng Lie passing by so quickly. Why did this guy look so much like Mr. Meng from Dengtai Tower in the capital?
Yuan Xiang didn't look at it any further and quickly walked into the tent to report military affairs to Chang Kuo.
Meng Lie was taken to a tent to rest, but even though he was exhausted, he was not sleepy at all. He tried to walk out of the tent and met Adian who was passing by.
Ah Dian's eyes widened in surprise, but he also looked around cautiously before walking towards Meng Lie and asking in a low voice, "Uncle Meng, why are you here too?"
He knew that Uncle Meng and Uncle Chang were different. His Highness had said that Uncle Meng was a secret and everyone had to keep it a secret. If they met him on the street, they had to pretend not to know him.
But secretly, he liked Uncle Meng very much, because Uncle Meng opened a restaurant with many delicious dim sum! Meng Lie smiled at him gently: "I'm here to see Ah Dian."
Ah Dian's eyes lit up, and he followed Meng Lie into the tent and said, "Uncle Meng, did you bring any delicious food?"
As Ah Dian spoke, his eyes fell on a bundle and he pointed at it excitedly and asked, "Is that food?"
Meng Lie looked in the direction of his finger and his face changed: "...Adian, don't talk nonsense!"
Adian withdrew his hand angrily and looked at Meng Lie, who had suddenly become serious, with some grievance.
Meng Lie came back to his senses and said in a slow voice, "That's not food... Tomorrow I'll have someone go back to Jiangdu and buy you a portion of the most delicious snacks in the city, okay?"
Ah Dian immediately put aside his previous grievances and nodded happily and expectantly.
Meng Lie poured him a glass of water, and he happily sat in the tent and talked with Meng Lie.
During the chat, Meng Lie looked at the innocent Adian in front of him with gentle eyes: "Our Adian's mind is so simple, I wonder if there is something you can't let go of?"
"Yes!" Ah Dian said seriously: "Chopsticks!"
The thing he couldn't put down the most was chopsticks. Once he picked them up, he couldn't put them down! "..." Meng Lie was silent for a moment, and changed the way of asking to be more suitable for Adian's physique: "Then Adian, do you want to see His Highness again?"
Ah Dian nodded without thinking: "Yes, of course!"
Looking at those clear eyes with no sadness or longing, but only pure happiness and brightness, Meng Lie seemed to feel the sound of surging waves in his chest.
He then asked: "Do you want to know where you can go to see His Highness?"
This time, he clearly saw Adian's expression hesitate for a moment.
Meng Lie's eyes trembled slightly - on this issue, Adian shouldn't hesitate! Adian nodded hesitantly: "I want to."
But he didn't rush to ask for the answer.
At this time, a voice came from outside the tent: "Where is General Adian?"
"I'm here!" Ah Dian answered loudly, and hurriedly stood up and said to Meng Lie, "Uncle Meng, I have to go to practice with Coach Fang and the others. I'll come talk to you later!"
Meng Lie nodded slowly, his voice a little hoarse and suppressed: "Go ahead."
Watching Adian leave without hesitation, Meng Lie slowly withdrew his gaze, turned his head little by little, and looked at the bundle that was placed respectfully.
Adian is very obedient and would never say anything he shouldn't say...but those reactions cannot be faked.
When Ah Dian heard the word "Your Highness", he was still happy and respectful, but he was no longer eager to find His Highness... Why could this be? Meng Lie sat there motionless, like a tree, withered and silent on the surface, but the roots and heartstrings buried deep in the soil were extending rapidly and silently.
Outside the tent, it went from light to dark, and night fell silently.
That night, at some unknown time, there was a commotion outside the tent, and a soldier faintly said, "...It seems that the commander has returned!"
Meng Lie, who was lying on the couch inside the tent, suddenly opened his eyes, immediately lifted the thin quilt, grabbed his coat in the dim light, and walked out of the tent.
(I can feel everyone's eagerness, but my typing speed is really terrible. I worked so hard today and only managed to write 4,400 words. The groundwork is done. See you tomorrow! I will definitely finish this paragraph tomorrow! Good night! Please give me some more monthly tickets. I still need 300 to make up for the 4,000 tickets. Love you all (づ￣3￣)づ
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
