Chapter 2758: I'll Give Her the Guts!

"Empty City Strategy?!"

Hearing Ye Chen's words, Lin Wan'er and Yun Ruge were both full of doubts.

Naturally, they knew the allusion of the "Empty City Strategy." In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," facing the siege of Sima Yi's 150,000-strong army, knowing that he couldn't defend the city with only a few thousand soldiers, Zhuge Liang simply opened the city gates, sat on the city tower, played the zither, and waited for Sima Yi's army. When Sima Yi's army arrived at the city, seeing Zhuge Liang smiling and playing the zither on the city tower, he concluded that there must be a trap in the city, so he led his army to retreat.

However, they couldn't figure out how Ye Chen would perform this "Empty City Strategy" for Wu Feiyan. Could it be that Ye Chen also wanted to be like Zhuge Liang, climbing the city tower and playing the zither calmly?

Yun Ruge was the first to persuade him: "Mr. Ye, the reason the 'Empty City Strategy' can work is because Zhuge Liang made Sima Yi feel

Lin Wan'er also couldn't help but advise: "That's right, Young Master. This servant also feels that what the Earl of Dingyuan said makes sense. At a time like this, the probability of Young Master scaring Wu Feiyan away is almost zero. This servant advises Young Master that it would be better not to take the risk..."

Seeing that both of them were advising him not to take risks, Ye Chen laughed out loud instead. With a mysterious expression, he said: "You two shouldn't doubt my intelligence. I'm not stupid enough to take the initiative to expose myself to Wu Feiyan."

Seeing Ye Chen smile so confidently, the two felt even more puzzled.

Lin Wan'er guessed that since Ye Chen was so confident, he must have a foolproof plan, so she asked: "I wonder what brilliant plan Young Master has? Why not share it so that the Earl of Dingyuan and I can learn something as well."

Ye Chen smiled: "Both of your life experiences are far richer than mine. Learning from me is out of the question; at most, we are just making progress together."

As he spoke, Ye Chen stood up and said: "You two wait a moment, I'll go get something to show you."

The two women could only suppress the doubts in their hearts, watching Ye Chen stand up and take a scroll out of the safe.

Lin Wan'er had already guessed a little and couldn't help but ask: "Could the scroll in Young Master's hand be that portrait of the Master's Master?!"

Ye Chen nodded, brought the painting to the two of them, and spread it out on the coffee table in the middle. A peerless, lifelike painting leaped onto the paper.

Looking at the old man in the painting with his immortal air and crane-like bones, Lin Wan'er couldn't help but exclaim with a face full of reverence: "So this is the true appearance of the Master's Master... Just as my father said, his spirit is extraordinary, and his immortal air is ethereal!"

Yun Ruge, who was on the side, asked in surprise: "This... could this be the Master that Wu Feiyan often speaks of, Meng Changsheng?!"

Lin Wan'er exclaimed: "Wu Feiyan spoke to the Earl of Dingyuan about the Master's Master?"

Yun Ruge said shamefully: "Miss Lin, please don't call me Earl of Dingyuan anymore. That was just a nickname Wu Feiyan gave me. To be honest, I have never liked this title... Moreover, I have now turned over a new leaf and am even less willing to have any connection with those three words..."

Lin Wan'er smiled and nodded, saying: "Since that's the case, I will call you Miss Yun from now on."

Yun Ruge bowed gratefully to Lin Wan'er, then continued: "In front of the four of us, Wu Feiyan often mentioned Senior Meng and the past events of how she became his disciple. She said these things actually to dangle a carrot in front of us, letting us know that one can attain eternal life through the Dao, so that we would follow her even more wholeheartedly."

Lin Wan'er nodded and sighed: "If she cannot obtain the Hundred-Turn Thousand-Cycle Pill, Wu Feiyan can live for at most another hundred years. She must be feeling anxious by now."

Yun Ruge smiled and agreed: "Miss Lin is absolutely right. In the last two years, Wu Feiyan has been noticeably more anxious than before. For the past few decades, Wu Feiyan never worried about aging, after all, her appearance hadn't changed a bit in hundreds of years. But in the last two years, she has actually started to pay attention to skincare. Sometimes when passing by her, one can clearly smell the scent of skincare products. It seems she is also afraid of aging."

Lin Wan'er sneered: "What is meant to come will come eventually. What use is there in being afraid?"

After saying this, she pulled her thoughts back to the painting in front of her and suddenly understood Ye Chen's plan.

So she instantly widened her eyes and asked Ye Chen with great joy: "Young Master, could it be... could it be that you want the Master's Master to perform this 'Empty City Strategy' for you?"

Yun Ruge, who was on the side, listened in confusion, not yet understanding the key to this.

Seeing that Lin Wan'er was indeed clever and understood at once, Ye Chen couldn't help but say excitedly: "Miss Lin guessed correctly! I just want to trouble Ancestor Meng to perform this 'Empty City Strategy' for me!"

Yun Ruge felt that her brain couldn't keep up with the two of them and asked anxiously: "Mr. Ye, what exactly do you and Miss Lin mean? Hasn't Ancestor Meng passed away for hundreds of years? How can you let him perform a play for you?"

Ye Chen looked at Meng Changsheng in the painting and asked Yun Ruge: "Miss Yun, in your opinion, why did Wu Feiyan send the three great elders to Jin Ling?"

Yun Ruge thought for a moment and replied: "Earl Changsheng self-destructed, my life or death is uncertain, and the An family is unharmed. Wu Feiyan is not sure who the enemy is, not sure how many enemies there are, not sure how strong the enemy is, and not sure if the enemy is dead. These are all things she wants to figure out. Besides that, she definitely still wants to continue attacking the An family."

Ye Chen nodded and said: "Miss Yun is right. These are all matters of extreme urgency for Wu Feiyan right now."

As he spoke, Ye Chen pointed to Ancestor Meng in the painting and asked her: "Miss Yun, how many people in this world do you think can recognize that the person in this painting is Ancestor Meng?"

Yun Ruge's pupils shrank suddenly, and she exclaimed: "Besides us, I'm afraid there is only... only Wu Feiyan!"

Yun Ruge did not know the past of Old Mrs. Jiang's family; she only knew that Meng Changsheng had passed away many years ago, and the only person who knew him and was still alive was Wu Feiyan.

Ye Chen did not extend the topic, but followed Yun Ruge's words, nodded and said: "Since, besides us, only Wu Feiyan still recognizes Ancestor Meng, then if this painting suddenly appears in Jin Ling tomorrow, once Wu Feiyan sees it, what will she think?"

Yun Ruge said in horror: "Then she... she will probably be shocked to the point of being struck by lightning?! In her view, she should be the only person in this world who has seen Ancestor Meng and is still alive. If a portrait of Ancestor Meng suddenly appears in Jin Ling, wouldn't she fly over without stopping?!"

Lin Wan'er chuckled and said: "Miss Yun is overthinking. If this painting suddenly appears in Jin Ling, Wu Feiyan will absolutely not dare to come."

Yun Ruge asked in confusion: "Why? This is a portrait of her Master. After hundreds of years, her Master's appearance has reappeared in the world. Doesn't she want to find out who brought this painting out?"

Lin Wan'er smiled: "Of course she wants to, she probably wants to so badly it's agonizing, but then again, the more she wants to figure these things out, the less she will dare to come to Jin Ling!"

After saying this, Lin Wan'er looked at Ye Chen and said with admiration: "Young Master truly has great wisdom. This 'Empty City Strategy'—this servant truly sighs in admiration. Once this painting appears in Jin Ling tomorrow, I'm afraid it will scare Wu Feiyan out of her wits!"

Ye Chen nodded, gave a mischievous smile, and said: "It's quite a coincidence, Jin Ling just happens to be holding a calligraphy and painting exhibition. They are currently collecting excellent calligraphy and painting works nationwide. The Calligraphy and Painting Association and the local authorities have been building momentum in major media outlets for this exhibition recently:"

"Although this painting does not have the author's name, the painting skills are remarkable, and the artistic conception is also very extraordinary. From an artistic perspective, it definitely does not lose to those well-known painters in Chinese history. So as long as this painting is brought out, it will inevitably cause quite a stir in the calligraphy and painting circles;"

"Isn't Wu Feiyan closely watching Jin Ling? As long as this painting appears, she will definitely pay attention to it. At that time, there will definitely be many question marks in her mind!"

"She must want to know who brought out her Master's portrait?"

"And she must want to know even more what relationship the person who brought out the painting has with her Master? Could it be a disciple her Master took before her? If so, then the other party might be over five hundred years old and has already obtained the Hundred-Turn Thousand-Cycle Pill. Their strength is probably far greater than hers!"

"She must also want to know why two of her Earls just died or went missing in Jin Ling, and then the very next day, her Master's portrait suddenly appears in Jin Ling?"

"And she must be very eager to understand whether the person who brought out this painting and the person who forced Xu Changqing to self-destruct could be the same person? If so, why didn't that person die in Xu Changqing's self-destruction?"

"And she must be very eager to understand why the other party was able to survive Xu Changqing's self-destruction and why they immediately made the Master's painting public;"

"Besides that, she probably wants to figure out what the other party's intention is in doing this? Is it to 'beat the grass to scare the snake,' and use this to tell her that the other party has long known her true identity and knows she is Meng Changsheng's disciple?!"

"Once she thinks of this layer, she will realize that the other party has already stripped away all her secrets!"

"At that time, this woman who usually uses a voice changer on the phone will probably be as terrified as an ant on a hot pan, feeling tormented while not knowing what to do."

"And this is not the most troubling problem for her! The most troubling thing for her must be: this person knows all her details; is doing this to lure her to Jin Ling? Or to lure her to send more people to Jin Ling to die?"

Speaking of this, Ye Chen sneered: "I believe that when Wu Feiyan has so many question marks in her mind, she will definitely be wary of Jin Ling. At that time, I'll give her the guts, and you'll see if she dares to come?! Even if those three great elders have already arrived in Jin Ling, she will call those three back immediately!"

Yun Ruge asked with some confusion: "Mr. Ye, I don't understand military strategy, nor do I understand schemes or open plots. I have always had a doubt about the 'Empty City Strategy,' which is: since Sima Yi had 150,000 soldiers and Zhuge Liang opened the city gates wide, why didn't he send 10,000 or even 20,000 soldiers in to test the reality?"

Ye Chen smiled slightly: "Let me put it this way: if you receive a scam call, and the person on the phone says that as long as you transfer all your 150,000 to him, he can make you double it in a day, and you have already firmly believed in your heart that the other party is a scammer, would you take 10,000 or even 20,000 out of your 150,000 in assets and give it to him to try?"

Yun Ruge was stunned, then said shamefully: "I understand... Thank you, Mr. Ye, for your guidance. It seems that I have been focused on cultivation all these years, and my strategy has fallen too far behind..."

Lin Wan'er looked at Ye Chen, her eyes already curved into a smile.

She felt more and more that Ye Chen was a very interesting person—he had capital and was kind, had strength and a sense of justice, was very smart, and what was even rarer, he was also very humorous.

So she smiled and said: "Young Master, if Wu Feiyan finds out one day that Young Master calculated her like this, she might be so angry she'll live twenty years less..."

As she spoke, Lin Wan'er smiled mischievously and said: "Since Young Master has such a good plan, why not write a few words on this painting? The effect might be even better."

Ye Chen asked with a smile: "What words should I write?"

Lin Wan'er smiled: "Just write a brief introduction of Ancestor Meng's life, stopping just at the right point! Meng Sheng, courtesy name Changming, from Chang'an, born in the first year of Linde of the Great Tang, later called himself the Changsheng Hermit, changed his name to Meng Changsheng..."