"This is utterly absurd!"
The paper containing the intelligence was clenched into a ball in Mei Meng's palm.
The above content kept swirling and flashing through her mind.
Mei Meng would rather the enemy be more skilled and have a sharp eye to discover the spies planted by her side than admit that the spy's whereabouts were exposed because of that one glance! She closed her eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples to calm her aggrieved emotions—according to the information from the investigation, the spy had been well hidden before Cui Hui appeared, without any flaws, and had not been discovered by the guards of Fugu City.
When Cui Hui appeared, the spy glanced at her with surprise.
One glance was all it took to expose him.
The men around Cui Hui sent people to investigate his spies.
If an investigation is conducted, the informant will inevitably be exposed.
Up to this point, if it were just a simple questioning and investigation, the informant could use his rich experience and superb acting skills to get away with it. But the person investigating him was no ordinary person! As the Grand Secretary of the country, how could the level of protection around Qi Shan be so easily fooled?
Caught off guard, the spy was briefly controlled by the power of words, revealing a great deal of confidential information. Although the spy reacted immediately, desperately breaking free of control and severing his own heart meridian, it was too late.
This covert operation has been detected.
The latter also disguised himself as an informant to ambush the supplier who was making the contact.
If it weren't for the quick reaction and keen intelligence of her upline, Qi Yuanliang might have actually been able to trace her back to her. Mei Meng wasn't afraid to confront Qi Yuanliang; what pained her was that the carefully constructed network of connections had been ruined, and the root of it all was just a coincidence.
This realization made Mei Meng quite unhappy.
Even if things aren't going well, all you can do is regret it.
She hardened her heart and said, "Close the net and clean it up."
Make a decisive decision!
Things that have no value should be discarded as soon as possible.
The subordinate felt a pang of heartache and hesitated before saying, "The parents..."
Mei Meng's expression was icy: "If we don't clean up the mess now, are we going to wait for them to come knocking on our door with evidence and demanding answers?"
His subordinates worried, "In that case, we shouldn't stay here any longer."
Mei Meng sneered, "Where are you going?"
Leaving hastily after the covert operation was exposed would only make her appear guilty and make her easier to catch. Besides, she hadn't had time to do anything yet, and she could always find excuses for what she had already done. Mei Meng mentally went over the whole plan a couple of times.
Think about where there might be any oversights.
She sipped her tea, murmuring to herself.
"I never expected it to be Qi Yuanliang."
The subordinate asked curiously, "Does the patriarch know him?"
Mei Meng smiled enigmatically: "We met many years ago."
Back then, I only thought he was a down-on-his-luck young scholar.
On their way back from a spring outing that year, the head guard noticed unusual activity in the roadside bushes. Initially mistaking it for poisonous insects or wild animals, he approached to find a young scholar covered in mud. His face was deathly pale, his breathing weak, his chest barely rising and falling, and his clothes clung to his skin, soaking wet. The guard judged that the young scholar had been unconscious for over a day and a night, and ants and insects were crawling near his wounds.
If it weren't for the torrential rains of the previous two days diluting the stench of blood, the young man, in his condition, would have been devoured by wild beasts while still unconscious. The head guard came to ask Mei Meng how to deal with this man.
Mei Meng was no naive or simple young lady.
What kind of good person could an injured man lying unconscious on the roadside be?
She lowered the carriage curtain: [Ignore it.]
As long as you're lucky enough, you won't die.
The head guard hesitated: "This person should be a scholar with a literary mind."
Mei Meng lifted the carriage curtain again.
The head guard, a man of considerable experience, leaned close to Mei Meng's ear and whispered: "...Although this man doesn't wear the Wenxin monogram, judging from the damage to his meridians, it seems to be a backlash from the Path of the Scholar. There aren't many Wenxin scholars with the Path of the Scholar; Your Majesty might as well save him, do him a favor, it won't take much effort anyway. Judging from the recovery of his dantian, he'll be awakening soon..."
Simply picking someone up is enough to save a life.
If you're lucky, you might not even need to call a doctor.
Mei Meng was somewhat reluctant: "This is inappropriate."
A truly accomplished scholar wouldn't easily find himself in a predicament, unless his opponent is far more powerful, or he himself is embroiled in significant trouble. In either case, rashly rescuing someone would only cause him trouble; it's better to pretend he didn't see anything.
The head guard can only obey the master.
As luck would have it, the young scholar woke up ahead of time.
It wasn't that he timed it perfectly; rather, the presence of a stranger would trigger the self-protective mechanism of his dantian, causing his body to wake up prematurely. The young man did wake up, but his body, weakened by the backlash, was still very weak, barely able to move his eyes. Mei Meng didn't have time to leave, so she had someone pick him up and put him in a carriage, where they swayed back to the city.
After all, he was a scholar with a literary mind, so his recovery speed was indeed fast.
When he entered the city, the young man was barely able to get up.
Mei Meng arranged for him to stay at the guest house.
After recovering from his injuries, the young man came to thank her. Only then did Mei Meng learn his identity: his surname was Qi, his given name was Shan, and his courtesy name was Yuanliang. Mei Meng felt a sense of familiarity upon hearing his accent and asked him where he was from. When Qi Shan answered truthfully, Mei Meng exclaimed: "...You're actually a member of the Qi family?"
The surname Qi is not very common.
There is indeed a branch of the Qi family in the place Qi Shan mentioned.
Going back two generations, the two families still had some contact.
Once it was confirmed that the Qi in Qi Shan was the Qi clan she had mentioned, Mei Meng's attitude towards Qi Shan was no longer so cold—she had followed her brother far from her homeland, and hearing news of her familiar place here was surely a joyous occasion. During the few days that Qi Shan was recuperating, she had also sent people out to inquire about literary scholars who met Qi Shan's criteria, but she had not heard any rumors. Furthermore, Qi Shan had personally admitted that his injuries were not caused by enemies but by a backlash from his cultivation, so she had lowered her guard considerably.
We abandoned the idea of sending him away and let him stay a few more days.
Nevertheless, the two did not have much interaction.
Until the housekeeper led Qishan to her.
Mei Meng thought he had come to say goodbye, but to her surprise, the butler said that Qi Shan had accepted the task of refining the painting: [Qi Jun can even refinish paintings?]
A sudden downpour a while ago caused the roof tiles to crack and the room where the paintings and calligraphy were kept to leak. Although the servants tried to salvage the situation immediately, several paintings were still damaged. One of them was her most prized possession.
Take it wherever you go, and open it to admire it at any time.
She tried to repair it but didn't know where to start.
Out of desperation, they sought out a professional painter specializing in restoring scrolls.
However, the painting was severely waterlogged, so the artist dared not take on the job.
She refused to believe it and posted a notice offering a large reward.
The notice was posted for several days but no one came to take it down.
Finally, I got some news, and it was from someone I knew.
To be honest, Qi Shan was also surprised.
He was penniless and still recovering from his injuries, so he was looking for some work to earn some extra money. He went out for a walk and found a job doing mending paintings. As he walked around, he became more and more familiar with the place, and it turned out the person he needed mended was Mei Meng. He didn't dare to make any promises too easily.
I know a little bit about it.
Mei Meng knew about the bad habits of the literati.
Saying you have a little knowledge is very likely an extremely humble way of putting it.
She had the old painting delivered, and Qi Shan glanced at it before giving a positive answer: "It's not too serious; it can be repaired."
Qi Shan spent three days repairing the old painting.
He was itching to try his skills, so he offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
Besides the original old painting, there was also an identical new painting. The only difference between the two paintings was the paper; everything else was a perfect one-to-one reproduction. Even though Mei Meng had looked at the painting countless times, with every detail deeply etched in her mind, she still couldn't tell at a glance which one was the original. She carefully put the painting away.
He gave the manager a meaningful look, signaling him to hand over the full amount of the reward.
Qi Shan did not accept the gift, but declined: "I dare not, I dare not. Not to mention that Your Majesty saved my life, for which I have no way to repay the debt of life-saving grace, the value of this painting alone, if I may be so bold, is not worth such a generous reward. I am truly unworthy of it..."
[Please don't refuse, Qi Jun.] Because the old painting was perfectly restored, Mei Meng was in a great mood and became much closer to Qi Shan. [To outsiders, this painting is indeed ordinary; it could be painted for twenty or thirty coins. However, its value lies elsewhere.]
Qi Shan asked curiously, "Because of the people above?"
Mei Meng readily admitted: "Yes."
Qi Shan thought of the incantation poems on the old painting and asked no more questions.
But he eventually learned the identity of the person in the painting.
It wasn't that he deliberately inquired, but rather that this matter wasn't unusual in the city. Perhaps because of that painting, Qi Shan stayed at Mei Meng's residence until his injuries healed, and the other party even helped him with something.
Overall, both Qi Shan and Mei Meng had a positive impression of each other. However, neither of them expected that their next contact after so many years would be like this.
Mei Meng naturally regretted it.
"As expected, the man on the roadside cannot be saved."
If I had known this would happen, I should have killed him back then.
To avoid making things difficult for myself now.
When she learned that the body had been switched and the stolen corpse was a fake, she had a premonition that she would meet someone she had never seen before. This premonition soon came true. Mei Meng did not choose to sit and wait for her fate, but took the initiative. She quickly washed up and went out.
His subordinate asked worriedly, "Parent, where are you going?"
Mei Meng said, "Naturally, I'm visiting a friend."
At this very moment, in the main camp.
Lu Jue's expression was completely blank, his wooden look as if his soul had left his body. Qi Shan raised his hand and gestured several times in front of him.
He sighed and said, "General Lü, snap out of it."
When one shout didn't work, he leaned close to the other person's ear and shouted again.
This time it finally worked.
As if a bomb had been dropped on his butt, Lü Jue jumped up in shock, grabbed Qi Shan's wrist, and asked repeatedly, "Secretary Qi, Secretary Qi, are you... are you sure—are you sure it's really her? Is she in He Yin County right now?"
Qi Shan said helplessly, "Yes, yes, I'm sure."
Lü Juexi suffered from a language disorder.
He could only relieve his inner emotions by pacing back and forth and nervously rubbing his hands, circling around Qi Shan again and again.
Seeing his reaction, Qi Shan felt her eyes roll back so hard she almost felt like she was going to roll back to the top of her head, and she even regretted telling Lü Jue about Mei Meng.
I thought that after all these years, Lü Jue wouldn't be the same Li Li he used to be, and Mei Meng's influence on him wouldn't be so great. Turns out I was wrong. Lü Jue is still the same Li Li, his mind filled with thoughts of Madam Mei Meng. Won't this guy cause trouble?
Qi Shan prepared to test the waters.
He raised his hand and pressed down on Lü Jue's shoulder, pouring cold water on him.
"General Lü, don't be too happy yet."
Lü Jue countered, "Why can't I be happy?"
Qi Shan: "This lady you've been so obsessed with isn't friendly; she's very likely our enemy. Think about it—"
Lu Jue interrupted him: "I know."
Now it was Qi Shan's turn to be clueless: "You know?"
Lu Jue remained calm and composed, saying knowingly, "If that weren't the case, why would Qi Zhongshu need to come in person? If she were just an ordinary woman, you would most likely have sent someone to inform her and do her a favor."
Qi Shan: "..."
He reorganized his words: "In that case, General Lü, what are your plans? From the information we have so far, it seems that the lady you are so concerned about holds a high position in the southwest. I'm sure you are familiar with the situation in the southwest."
The only question left was whether Lü Jue would be seduced by the other party using a honey trap.
Lü Jue nodded: "This subordinate understands."
Qi Shan waited for a while but heard nothing more.
Lu Jue understood his expression and quickly added, "Whether Secretary Qi believes it or not, this humble general will not, and could not, betray his lord for the sake of the lady. To say something that Secretary Qi might not believe, my first thought upon hearing news of the lady was to seize her. Regardless of whether she has remarried or not... I will seize her!"
He just wanted to get the person back.
However, upon learning of Mei Meng's extraordinary status, he changed his strategy. He couldn't seize her now; he could take her back later after winning the battle. Qi Shan was worried about him leaving with Mei Meng, a choice he hadn't even considered.
Qi Shan's mouth muscles seemed to be out of control.
He said irritably, "What are you robbing? Do you think you're a bandit? You're a general, think before you speak."
Anyone who didn't know better would think he was a habitual criminal who abducted women.
Lu Jue's expression changed, and his brows and eyes seemed to show worry.
He said, "Qi Zhongshu, you don't understand."
To outsiders, Lü Jue had kept his wife in his heart for so many years and loved her so deeply that he might betray his lord at the slightest beckoning of her finger. But Lü Jue knew perfectly well that he could not do such a thing.
It wasn't out of loyalty to the emperor, but because he knew clearly that this was only a temporary solution. By abandoning his principles and initiative to be with his wife, he would only end up losing her forever.
To truly win over the lady—
The only solution is to imprison him.
Yes, imprisonment.
But not imprisonment that deprives her of her freedom, but rather a powerful way of bringing her into their territory, where outsiders have no right to interfere with her fate! Neither worldly gossip nor her brother will do! Only in this way can they truly stay together.
Qi Shan: "..."
He really doesn't understand these love-struck people.
Lu Jue calmed himself down and asked the question he most wanted to know: "Qi Zhongshu, do you know where the lady is right now?"
It would be great if we could just take them away now.
Qi Shan didn't really want to answer.
"It's still under investigation, but it should be done soon."
Qi Shan thought it would be good enough if Mei Meng's whereabouts could be found after the main force arrived, but he never expected that there would be movement that very night.
However, the source of the information was not one of his people.
Instead, it was someone sent by Cui Hui.
Because Mei Meng is currently a guest at her place.
Lü Jue was present when the soldier came to inform him.
He jumped up, his face flushed with excitement.
"Please, Zhongshu!"
Qi Shan: "..."
He still can't understand it.
How did Lü Jue, with his love-obsessed mind, manage to get in? Among the founding ministers of the Kang Kingdom, each more aloof than the last, Lü Jue alone was refreshingly unconventional.
Despite their excitement, Lü Jue did not appear.
Qi Shan also did not allow him to use force to kidnap people.
If Lü Jue were to use force to restrict the other party's personal freedom before obtaining evidence, the situation would escalate from a private matter to a matter between two countries.
"Lady Mei, it's been a long time."
(～￣▽￣)～
I climbed Yandang Mountain today, and to be honest, I kind of regret it... Why did I go hiking instead of staying home during the Chinese New Year holiday?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
