Chapter 108: Painting within a Painting, Second Mood

  The soldier responsible for guarding the fort looked at the person below the city gate, and the golden plaque hanging from his hand was shining brightly in the sunlight. Just as the soldier was staring blankly, the person below suddenly spoke up, his tone controlled just right, able to send his voice up to the fort without showing any signs of shouting. The man said: "What? Staring blankly? Don't you hurry and open the door to inform your general?"

  The soldier suddenly blinked his eyes, then stared at the golden plaque with a rounded gaze. This time he could see it clearly and couldn't pretend to be fake. The person who came was indeed under Tong Guan, the secret envoy of Xuan Zhong. Since one man and one horse rushed over quickly, there must be an urgent matter. The soldier didn't know what it was all about, but he knew the pros and cons in his heart. He didn't dare to delay for a moment because of confirming his identity. The soldier turned around and shouted loudly towards the camp "Open the gate!", as soon as the words fell, he immediately let the visitor in.

  That mysterious white-robed man lightly hummed a tune, put away his dazzling golden token, clamped his legs around the horse's belly, and immediately galloped into the camp, shooting towards the central command tent of the main army like a meteor.

  When the white-robed messenger arrived at the central army tent, Fang Yusheng was already waiting at the door. Seeing the arrival, he hastily made a bow and without saying a word, lifted the curtain of the large tent to let the visitor in.

  Bai Pao arrived at Meng Du's bedside under Fang Yu Sheng's guidance.

  Although Bai Pao knew that Meng Sen had such a greedy and eccentric personality, it was already late in the afternoon, where was the reason for sleeping soundly? When Bai Pao entered the door, he had noticed Fang Yu Sheng's cautious expression, now thinking about it, something big must have happened.

  Fang Yusheng whispered something in Meng Sen's ear, and only then did Meng Sen turn around, lying sideways on the couch and weakly saying: "Are you from Xuan Xu's secret envoy?"

  The man in white nodded and immediately took off his deep white hood, answering: "That's right, I'm Zhu Ning. My master has sent me to assist the general."

  "Oh?" Meng Du listened to this conversation, his heart suddenly jumped up, and those dull eyes immediately filled with spirit as if they had returned to their soul.

  Meng Sen knew that Xuan Shu's secret envoy, Tong Guan, was always cautious in his actions and would not easily offer assistance. However, whenever he made a big move, it must be because something major had happened or was about to happen, and this matter would definitely be directly related to the interests of the entire party. So, this time, sending someone to assist me, could it be that something has happened in the imperial court, or have they received news that someone is secretly planning to attack my military? And what kind of assistance can this person provide?

  Meng Sen was once again filled with even more doubts, and he forced himself to gather his spirits to listen to what the messenger had to say.

  Zhu Ning saw that Meng Du was in high spirits and began to listen seriously, so he started speaking fluently: "That day at court, Prime Minister Zhao Zhe, Policy Advisor Wen Yanbo and others launched a planned and organized attack on you, sir. Although my father came forward to counterattack, he was still outmaneuvered by that old fox Zhao Zhe, who moved the Emperor to send an envoy to investigate the crime of General Meng's unsuccessful military campaign."

  Meng Sen's heart sank as he listened, the bandits in Huayin County had not been eliminated, the city had not been recovered, and on that imperial court, the opposing party led by Prime Minister Zhao Zhe launched a fierce attack. And now he was injured and bedridden... Meng Du Jian knew the situation was serious, his heart was anxious, but after all, he was a man with great composure, his face remained unchanged, asking slowly: "Then which minister did the emperor send this time?"

  "Zhao Ding, a high-ranking official." Zhu Ning paused for a moment before responding firmly.

  "Zhao Ding..." Meng Sen pondered in his heart, suddenly enlightened, and indignantly said: "Isn't that someone from the Zhao faction! Calling him to investigate, what's there to investigate? Clearly he's here to directly deal with me!"

  "General, don't worry, my master has sent me here this time with a plan that can ensure your safety and make the other person speechless and helpless!"

  Meng Sen's eyes lit up again as soon as he heard it. He immediately beckoned Zhu Ning to come over and said, "Quickly tell me, what clever plan does Master Tong have?"

  Zhu Ning mysteriously smiled slightly and leaned in close to Meng Du, whispering something in his ear.

  Only to see Meng Du's face first darkened, halfway through the conversation, his complexion slowly recovered, and finally he was overjoyed, until Zhu Ning finished speaking. Meng Du then repeatedly said: "Wonderful, wonderful! Everything depends on you, only I have suffered serious injuries, I'm afraid it won't be convenient to respond. Fang Yu Sheng!"

  "Yes, sir!" Fang Yusheng immediately stood at attention with his fists clasped together upon hearing Meng Du's summons.

  Meng Dujuan looked at Fang Yusheng and said: "From now on, all orders will be followed by General Zhu Ning!"

  Fang Yusheng stole a glance at this so-called General Zhu Ning, and immediately respectfully said: "Yes!"

  Zhu Ning couldn't help but secretly smile as she looked at Fang Yusheng.

  Shi Jin re-entered the study of Li Bai Cao, and his first glance was still at that portrait of Master Men Wuguan.

  This time, Shi Jin looked at the ancestor in the painting and hurried over to pay his respects. Even if he didn't give face to this god-like figure, he had to respect the dignity of the Lei Bai Cao sect. Because what they were going to do here wasn't something trivial, and it was possible that they would have to make a big move in front of the ancestor, so it was better to be more respectful, lest they lose their manners.

  After the grand ceremony, it was not suitable to delay, Shi Jin immediately fell to the ground, pressed his ear to the ground, and pounded his fist fiercely. Shi Jin carefully distinguished the changes in tone caused by each pounding falling on different places, then took over the brush handed over from left and right, and drew the first ten characters on the ground.

  Just as Shi Jin had just detected the first mark and was about to stick his ear to the ground again, Li Bai Cao strode in from outside the door and came to Shi Jin's front, saying in a low voice: "Master, the brother who went down earlier has come back!"

  "Oh?" Shi Jin's fist, which had been clenched with great force, halted in mid-air as he turned his gaze upwards to look at Li Bai Cao and asked, "What's the situation?"

  "Those few returns said that the end of the tunnel is a dry well of the Huang family, the mouth of the well is not big, and it can be climbed up with four limbs supporting the wall." Li Bai Cao looked at Shi Jin answering clearly word by word, but saw Shi Jin's eyes wandering away from his face, looking at something unknown, even after he finished speaking, he didn't notice.

  "What's so special?" Lí Bǎi Cǎo turned his head to look, and behind him, apart from the offering table and the painting hanging above it, there was nothing else worth paying attention to. Afraid of delaying the cleanup of the Huang family's battle, he opened his mouth to remind him carefully. But unexpectedly, Shǐ Jìn didn't respond to him, still staring blankly at a certain place behind him, as if he were a statue, crouching on the ground, in an eerie posture, quietly enjoying something, exploring something.