Chapter 392 Routines and Anti-routines (Two in One)
"The assassin entered the Nanqing camp!!!"
As roars came from the North Camp in the distance, in the unusually quiet Qing Camp, Mei Cheng'an and Fan Xian watched as Haitang, dressed in black, emerged from the entrance of the camp and quickly ran to them and stopped.
Everyone knew something about Haitang's identity from the conversation between Mei Chengan and Fan Xian just now, so no one made any unusual moves.
Haitang didn't say anything after she stopped. She just stared at the two people sitting in the middle with her big eyes exposed above the black scarf. Her meaning was very clear: do you want to help or not?
Mei Cheng'an looked at Haitang's eyes with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He raised the wine glass in his hand slightly and greeted her silently. He took a sip of the wine and looked at her with a smile, as if he didn't understand what she meant at all.
The corners of Haitang's mouth twitched under the black mask. She rolled her eyes speechlessly, not wanting to pay attention to him, and her gaze shifted directly to Fan Xian.
Fan Xian looked at her speechlessly, then turned his head slightly to look behind her, and breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't matter if someone saw him running this way, as long as they didn't bring anyone here directly. He retracted his gaze to look at her again, raised his finger and pointed behind him and spoke concisely.
"There's no one in the back tent."
Haitang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, left a word "thank you", glanced at Mei Cheng'an, then walked around the fire and quickly passed between the two of them, running straight to the rear tent and went in.
After watching Haitang's figure disappear in the tent at the rear, Wang Qinian and Gaoda looked at each other. Wang Qinian looked towards the Beiqi camp to observe the situation, while Gaoda asked in a low voice.
"Sir, let's..."
Fan Xian raised his hand to interrupt his question and spoke softly.
"It's okay, don't talk nonsense, just pretend you don't know."
Gundam glanced at Mei Chengan who was drinking by himself, said "oh" and shut his mouth.
After Mei Cheng'an finished the remaining wine in the glass, he placed the glass on the small stool beside him, picked up a peanut from the small plate and put it into his mouth. He hugged his arms on his knees, chewed the peanut, squinted his eyes and looked towards the entrance of the camp, waiting for people from Northern Qi to come.
"coming."
Wang Qinian whispered.
Before he finished speaking, the sound of chaotic yet orderly footsteps emerged from the entrance of the camp and quickly approached them. It was the Jinyiwei.
The delegation was also quick to respond. The six guards except Gaoda and the six members of the Supervisory Council of the temporary Qi Nian team quickly gathered in front of everyone to block. Even Zhao Da and his group, who were a little further away, arrived a little later and joined the interception team.
Mei Cheng'an looked at them with interest. It was the first time he saw them dressed like this since Fan Xian incorporated them into the diplomatic envoy's guard. He found it a little novel for a moment.
At this time, they had changed into black clothes and their weapons were long swords, which looked exactly like the Tiger Guards. Although they were of different heights, weights and bodies, and were obviously different from those Tiger Guards, they no longer had the lazy temperament of country idlers, and the bravery of old soldiers was revealed.
The slightly more complicated group of envoys' guards and the Northern Qi Jinyiwei group, each holding their weapons, confronted each other silently.
Shen Zhong, who had not been seen since Haitang attacked the camp, finally showed up. He was a step late and walked hurriedly. He was stunned for a moment when he saw the confrontation between the two sides, and quickly started to scold his own people.
"What's going on? Put your weapons down. It would be terrible if there was any misunderstanding."
Upon hearing this, all the Jinyiwei put down their scimitars, put away their enemy-ready postures, and stood up straight.
Shen Zhong glanced at the delegation's guards and saw that they still had no intention of putting away their swords, so he looked at Mei Chengan and Fan Xian helplessly.
"Master Fan, Master Mei, look at this..."
Meeting his gaze, Mei Cheng'an smiled without saying anything. Fan Xian looked slightly unhappy and waved his hand and gave a faint instruction.
"Let's all go back."
Upon hearing this, the guards of the delegation put away their swords and stepped aside.
Shen Zhong smiled when he saw this, stepped forward and stood in front of the two of them, bowed slightly and nodded towards them, and spoke in a gentle voice.
"Master Fan, Master Mei, sorry to bother you."
Turning around and pointing to the Northern Qi camp, he explained.
"The assassin attacked by surprise and the man was not captured. Please excuse me for making a fool of myself."
Fan Xian didn't even look at him. He bent down, picked up a small branch and threw it into the fire in front of him, clapped his hands and replied lightly.
"Lord Shen, you are too kind. I wonder why Lord Shen is not here to catch the assassin but to come to our place?"
Compared to his polite and solemn tone and gesture, Fan Xian's tone was a bit dry and stiff, and even mixed with a hint of sarcasm and ridicule, which made people know that he was not in a very happy mood.
Hearing this, Shen Zhong frowned, his face looking a little ugly. He had been very polite, but he didn't expect Fan Xian to express his emotions so obviously, which made it difficult for him to continue.
Mei Cheng'an glanced at Fan Xian in a reproachful manner, shook his head, looked at Shen Zhong and spoke softly.
"He is in a bad mood, please don't mind it, Lord Shen."
Shen Zhong's expression looked better and he waved his hand.
"No, no."
Mei Chengan asked with a smile.
"Is Lord Shen here?"
Shen Zhong uttered an "oh" and looked around.
"Look, I saw... the assassin ran this way. Did you see him?"
Mei Cheng'an was surprised when he heard this.
"Running towards us? Didn't you see..."
Before he could finish his words, Fan Xian suddenly interrupted him.
"Saw!"
"..."
Mei Cheng'an's expression froze, he closed his mouth and turned to look at Fan Xian with a look of disbelief.
"you saw it?"
Fan Xian glanced at him with an unhappy tone.
"Can't I see?"
"..."
Mei Chengan was confused.
Wang Qinian, Gaoda and Teng Zijing, who had already stood up and stood aside, looked at each other calmly, with a strange expression on their faces.
The two team leaders often quarreled with each other in private, but this was the first time they did it in front of the enemy. It felt weird.
Mei Cheng'an looked at Fan Xian speechlessly. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but Shen Zhong at the side spoke to Fan Xian first.
"May I ask, Lord Fan, the assassin..."
Hearing the voice, Mei Cheng'an looked at him and closed his mouth.
Fan Xian glanced at Shenzhong, his tone still stiff.
"It's in the tent behind me!"
Shen Zhong was startled when he heard this, his eyes quickly looked towards the tent behind them, then flickered again. He did not move nor did he order his men to search, he was quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
It's not that he is suspicious by nature, but the main reason is that searching the diplomatic mission's camp is no joke, and the words of these two people are true and false, false and true, so he can't tell who is telling the truth and who is lying, and it's even possible that they are just speaking in anger.
If what Fan Xian said was a lie and there was no assassin in the tent, then this move would not end well for him. If what Fan Xian said was true and the assassin was really in the tent, then he... couldn't really send someone to catch him. What would he do after catching him? Assassinating Sean, who the royal family didn't like, wasn't a big crime. He was about to go to the capital, so if he broke off relations with the envoys at this time... could he bear the consequences?
While Shen Zhong was hesitating and thinking, Fan Xian and Mei Cheng'an looked at each other calmly, then tilted their heads and looked at Shen Zhong, urging him in a very sarcastic tone.
"What are you standing there for? Go in and search."
Upon hearing this, Shen Zhong withdrew his gaze. A trace of embarrassment and helplessness appeared on his face, as he felt like he was in a dilemma. He smiled awkwardly.
Fan Xian stopped pretending and said angrily.
"Aren't you just trying to pin the crime of assassination on the Qing Kingdom's envoys? Go ahead, Lord Shen. Or are you going to arrest us as well?"
When Shen Zhong heard this, he wanted to back down even more. He sighed and quickly tried to comfort her.
"Oh, Lord Fan, please don't say anything angry. I definitely don't mean that. If the assassin was one of yours, he wouldn't run here. How can I not understand such a simple truth?" Mei Cheng'an smiled and gave Shen Zhong a thumbs up.
"Lord Shen is still sensible."
Shen Zhong smiled bitterly and pointed at Fan Xian.
Mei Cheng'an glanced at Fan Xian and curled his lips, shrugged at Shen Zhong, and spread his hands, indicating that he could do nothing to help.
Shen Zhong sighed helplessly.
Fan Xian pushed Mei Cheng'an and rolled his eyes at him. "I'm mad right now, can you please stop being so petty? You have no sense!"
Pointing at the murderous Jinyiwei, Fan Xian spoke to Shen Zhong in a bad mood.
"Since Lord Shen understands everything, why do you still allow your men to charge into our Qing Kingdom camp without warning and point knives at us? This is not the right attitude to ask questions properly."
Shen Zhong looked back at his men, took the opportunity to formulate his words in his mind, and began to explain.
"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding. The assassin killed many of their colleagues, all of whom were their brothers. They were too eager to catch the assassin and forgot the etiquette and rules. If there has been any offense to Lord Fan, I, Shen, would like to apologize on their behalf. Lord Fan, please don't take it personally and forgive them. I will definitely teach them the rules later, and this kind of misunderstanding will never happen again!"
Shen Zhong's words were spoken in a very humble tone, so humble that Fan Xian felt embarrassed to continue to make use of the topic, and his expression was forced to look much better.
Mei Chengan spoke up at the right time to smooth things over.
"Alright, alright, it's just a misunderstanding, what's the point of talking about it, Lord Shen, we really didn't see the assassin, if we did we would tell the truth..."
Fan Xian interrupted again.
"Who said no? I really saw it!"
As he said this, he pointed in a direction.
"Run that way."
"..."
Mei Chengan turned his head and looked at him speechlessly. Still coming?
"..."
Shen Zhong also looked at Fan Xian speechlessly. Coming again?
When Fan Xian saw the expressions on their faces, he suddenly became anxious.
"This time it's true!"
Mei Cheng'an looked at Shen Zhong doubtfully, and Shen Zhong looked behind him doubtfully, in the direction Fan Xian pointed. He raised his hand and scratched his chin, and hesitated again, but this time the point of hesitation was not so serious. It was just that he was wondering whether he would be fooled and his trouble would be in vain.
Fan Xian chuckled.
"I still don't believe it."
After saying that, he stood up and walked towards the tent behind him.
"Come on, come on!"
Everyone looked at him in unison.
Arriving in front of the tent, Fan Xian lifted the door curtain, turned around to look at Shen Zhong, and pointed inside the tent.
"Master Shen, are you going to search in by yourself?"
Mei Cheng'an curled the corners of his mouth calmly, shook his head and retracted his gaze. Wang Qinian, Teng Zijing and Gao Da all stared at Shen Zhong subconsciously, not daring to breathe.
Fortunately, Shen Zhong's eyes were always on Fan Xian, and he didn't notice their expressions. Looking at the tent with the door wide open, Shen Zhong was indeed tempted for a moment, but he quickly came to his senses. It didn't matter whether the assassin was inside or not. He absolutely couldn't search. Not only could he not search, he couldn't hesitate.
Shen Zhong, who had sorted out his thoughts in a flash, waved his hands repeatedly.
"No, no, how can I not trust you, Master Fan?"
As he said this, he turned around and waved at one of his men.
"Okay, let's all go back."
The Jinyiwei left as requested. Wang Qinian and Gaoda looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. Fan Xian let out a tut and lowered the tent curtain. Mei Chengan waved to his own guards, indicating that they could also call it a day and leave. The guards immediately turned around and left.
After watching his men leave the camp, Shen Zhong turned around and looked at Fan Xian, bowed slightly and nodded to express his apology again.
"Master Fan, look at what happened today. I'm really sorry for ruining your mood. Sorry, sorry."
Fan Xian glanced at him, ignored him, and walked straight to his seat.
Shen Zhong smiled and didn't take it seriously. He turned around and was about to leave, but his eyes seemed to catch something inadvertently and he suddenly stopped.
"Hey, Master Mei, you like sweet potatoes too?"
Mei Cheng'an was just reaching out to take the roasted sweet potato that Sweet Potato was handed to him. Hearing the voice, he turned his head to look at him and smiled.
"Yes, Master Shen... would you like some?"
"Okay."
Shen Zhong actually agreed immediately.
Mei Cheng'an was not surprised at this. He raised his finger and pointed at the roasted sweet potato in Fan Xian's hand and hooked his finger. After all the sweet potatoes were handed to him, he whispered an order.
"Go eat yours."
Sweet Potato nodded, stood up and left.
Shen Zhong did not treat himself as an outsider and sat down directly in the seat vacated by Hongshu, which was next to Mei Chengan.
Mei Cheng'an handed the wooden stick with Fan Xian's roasted sweet potato to Fan Xian, who was staring at Shen Zhong in silence. Seeing his eyes and expression, he couldn't help laughing and touched him with his arm.
Fan Xian retracted his gaze and looked at him. He stretched out his hand to take it, thought for a moment, then waved to Teng Zijing, Wang Qinian and others on the other side, pointed to another bonfire in the distance, and signaled them to go there for a while.
He realized that Shen Zhong had insisted on staying because he must have something to say to them.
Teng Zijing shrugged and stood up to leave. Wang Qinian followed closely behind him. Gaoda picked up the long sword on the ground and followed him.
Mei Cheng'an reached out and touched his sweet potato. Feeling that it was still a little hot, he raised it to his mouth and blew gently.
"This is good stuff, sweet and delicious."
Shen Zhong took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the blood that had stained his hands at some unknown time, while speaking to Mei Cheng'an with a smile.
Mei Cheng'an glanced at his hand calmly, smiled, looked away, and continued blowing to cool the roasted sweet potatoes.
Fan Xian directly picked the roasted sweet potato off the branch, tossed it left and right in his hands with a hissing sound, and glanced at Shenzhong.
"Master Shen is not pursuing anymore?"
There was a hint of carefreeness in Shen Zhong's words.
"I didn't stay just now, and now I can't catch up."
As he said this, he observed his hands, made sure that the blood was wiped clean, and then tucked the handkerchief back into his sleeves.
Feeling that the temperature was acceptable, Mei Cheng'an took the sweet potato off the stick, broke it in half, handed one half to Shen Zhong, and asked casually.
"Is the blood on Lord Shen's hand from that assassin?"
Shen Zhong took the half-baked sweet potato, was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, looked down at his hands, and exclaimed when he realized what was going on.
"No, no, Sean, I was just communicating with Senior Xiao when the assassin attacked the camp."
Mei Cheng'an said "oh", nodded and said no more.
He didn't ask any further questions, but Shen Zhong was a little surprised. He thought they would be interested in his interrogation of Sean, but he didn't expect that they were not as interested as the roasted sweet potato in his hand. He became more alert to Mei Chengan. People like this who should be curious but are not, and who do not act according to common sense are the most difficult to deal with, because you can never guess what they are thinking.
Mei Cheng'an didn't know that just because he didn't ask, Shen Zhong had imagined so much and even raised his danger level. If he knew, he would probably be amused and confused. What kind of common sense is this? He didn't ask simply because he knew and had no interest in asking.
……
(End of this chapter)
