Chapter 215: Brothers in Adversity

Inside the military tent, a man wore dark blue narrow-sleeved Hu clothing of light silk, his waist bound with a black ink-colored brocade belt bearing a broken-branch bamboo pattern; seen from behind, he had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and stood tall and straight like jade.

He was toying with a board of military chess on the table, his long forefinger lightly tapping the board, showing a touch of cold aloofness.

"I understand."

Meng Chengping ran over a few steps, "Ah, besides saying 'I understand,' what else can you say?"

"Huachi Du Cun! Those medicines were made by Huachi Du Cun, Gu Xixi's family, and Gu Xixi's master, Jiang Lao Langzhong!"

Mu Nan Zhao picked up a piece with a red flag inserted and the character "West" carved into it, while staring at the board and thinking, he said, "The medicine is what I ordered; I don't need you to babble on about its origin."

Meng Chengping didn't get the reaction he expected, and he lamented, "Huachi Du Cun, Gu Xixi!"

"Don't you want to ask a couple more questions?!"

After a moment, Mu Nan Zhao's fingertip released the piece, and he finally lifted his eyelids to look at Meng Chengping.

Just as Meng Chengping waited eagerly, thinking he was about to say something,

Mu Nan Zhao shifted his gaze back to the board, "No."

Meng Chengping swayed, grabbed the table edge, and shouted, "Just keep pretending! When the end comes, your fiancée will be opening a couple's shop with someone else, and then you'd better not come crying to your brothers for drinks!"

Mu Nan Zhao's hand, which had been about to place a piece, froze in midair.

The air inside the tent seemed to freeze as well.

Meng Chengping inexplicably felt guilty and tactically retreated three steps,

This bastard Mu Nan Zhao, ever since he detoxified, his body has been gradually recovering; lately Meng Chengping has realized he can no longer beat him.

After pulling back to a safe distance, Meng Chengping dared to continue, "What, did I hit a sore spot?"

"But what I said are facts! You can't lie to yourself and pretend it doesn't exist."

"Don't forget, the one who's truly been staying by Gu Xixi's side is that Hu person, not you!"

Mu Nan Zhao shot him a sharp glance.

The air seemed to swirl with frost and snow, stinging Meng Chengping's face.

He warned, "Now is the time for employing people; if you dare to kill to silence, the great general will never agree!"

Mu Nan Zhao looked at Meng Chengping, snorted, and his brows and eyes were full of contempt.

"General Meng, you'd better worry about yourself first."

"After all, on the list of candidates for the husband of the He family's legitimate daughter, there's never been someone like you."

Meng Chengping staggered, his whole body wilting and sinking at a visible speed.

"Ah... you're... right..."

"I can't even make the candidate list; I'm not as good as your nominal fiancé."

"Nominal... fiancé?"

Mu Nan Zhao's brow tightened; he never expected the dagger he thrust out to turn into a boomerang and stab himself again.

The two stood facing each other, each silent.

After who knows how long, Meng Chengping spoke up dejectedly, "All I know is that Jing Lan has been living at Boss Gu's house; everything seems fine, even a bit too content to want to leave Shu."

Mu Nan Zhao gave him a disdainful sideways glance, "You wouldn't think she'd waste away for love, would you?"

Meng Chengping said, "I just hope she thinks of me a little; otherwise, if she forgets me, I'd have no hope at all."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face again, his gaze seeming to fix on that unattainable person. "But if she can find a place she likes and be happy every day, I'm naturally happy for her."

"I've long realized that when she lived in the capital, no one could accompany her in carefree play."

"So I must strive, hoping to soon stand beside her, so she can spend her life playing however she wishes."

Mu Nan Zhao sighed and shook his head speechlessly.

Gu Xixi seemed to have said before, what's this symptom called again?

"Love brain," right, that's the name.

Meng Chengping turned to Mu Nan Zhao, "I can't know what's happening in the village; didn't you send Shadow Guards?"

"Seeing you receive secret letters all the time, do you know a lot and keep it from me?"

Mu Nan Zhao heaved a deep sigh, looking at Meng Chengping with a "you're hopeless" gaze.

"Do you think I'd use the chance to pass secret messages to gossip about village trifles?"

Meng Chengping retorted, "Can't I?"

Mu Nan Zhao choked, closing his eyes.

He usually only calmly angers others; Meng Chengping's degree is far from enough to provoke him.

But for some reason, he's feeling irritable now.

It's like a pile of dry grass heaped in his heart; just a little more spark could ignite loss of control.

"Anyway, I won't inquire what He Jinglan does daily at Gu Xixi's house; if you want to know, don't get ideas from me."

Meng Chengping remained emotionally steady, "Why, wouldn't Master Liu casually write a few idle words?"

"Aren't you at all curious about Boss Gu's recent situation?"

"Especially that Hu person; I heard I'm supposed to go into business with him someday."

"......"

One sentence after another, finally, Mu Nan Zhao heard the thread named "reason" in his mind snap with a twang.

"She thinks my concern is just surveillance and control! She hates that, so before I left I promised her I'd no longer have Shadow Guards lurking around her house, nor let anyone record her situation and send it to me!"

"Now you know the reason? Satisfied?!"

Meng Chengping felt his heart lighten instantly, "Turns out Boss Gu also dislikes you."

"Not just me feeling this miserable; I'm relieved."

At this moment, looking at Mu Nan Zhao, he felt a sense of kindred spirits, like brothers in hardship sympathizing with each other.

Mu Nan Zhao could no longer judge Meng Chengping's thought process.

He then asked, "You just said Gu Xixi wants to partner with someone surnamed An to open a shop—how did you know that?"

Meng Chengping's smile at the corner of his mouth slowly froze, "Well..."

Under Mu Nan Zhao's icy gaze, Meng Chengping realized he couldn't stall any longer and said:

"Among those escorting this batch of medicine, don't you have your own people?"

"I saw the brothers were working hard, so I gave them something to eat and chatted with them a bit."

Mu Nan Zhao raised an eyebrow slightly, "If you work under me, the first rule is no loose tongue."

"Tell me exactly who it is, and I'll go deal with him."

Meng Chengping broke into a cold sweat; to avoid dragging in the innocent, he forced himself to say, "I merely hinted to them that you wanted to know Boss Gu's recent situation and his family's, especially any important developments. But you felt awkward asking yourself, so as a brother I had to do it for you..."

His voice grew softer as he spoke, until all that remained was a faint hum from his lips.

Mu Nan Zhao's face was now as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Good," he snorted in anger, his stunning face like a gorgeous blooming poison flower.

"Meng Chengping!!!"

Meng Chengping saw things were turning bad, he slipped away early, and as he ran he shouted, "I don't regret it! I did this all for your own good—you're so obsessed with saving face that you'll suffer, and they'll undermine the wall!"

"Get lost!!!" a roar came from inside the military tent.

The summer harvest in Huachi Du Cun has begun.

The whole village was busy, and with patrol rotations added, they were busier than ever.

This year's prospects are good, and though everyone faces an imminent harvest, there's little joy in the air.

Because the village chief said the surrounding bandits also had their eyes on this grain, and nearby villages had already been looted.