"By the way, Mo Xi, there's something I want to tell you."
"What?"
Gu Mang said, "I just saw Murong Lian in the main tent. He was rehearsing the army."
Mo Xi was scooping the soup with a porcelain spoon, and then he heard the words and said, "Is that right..."
"Well, I saw his battle situation. It was totally different from what he did in the daytime. He had a very good idea, but he didn't seem to want to say it. He was just rehearsing it."
Mo Xi again scooped the soup with his eyes down, but he didn't send it to the entrance. At last, he put the spoon down.
Gu Mang asked, "Don't you feel surprised?"
"To be honest, it's not that unexpected," Mo Xi said. "In fact, I think Murong Lian has been acting strangely in recent days."
"For example?"
"When Zhou He was going to take you to the black devil testing, he stopped you. After that, he put a ring on you, saying that he could know your situation at any time. Then he came to the school to tell me."
"..." Gu Mang heard him mention this matter in a cold way. For some reason, his eyes suddenly dodged.
Mo Xi didn't expose it, but looked at his expression in his eyes. Then he said, "I learned later that the reason why Murong Lian stopped Zhou He from taking you away was that he also wanted to do black devil testing."
"...Uh huh.
"I'm afraid there wouldn't be such a coincidence in the world."
"..."
"And even if the black devil testing was indeed a coincidence, he and Zhou He needed a person at the same time, so why didn't he continue to ask you to be the test body after you got away from Zhou He?"
Gu Mang bowed his head and drank the soup in silence. After several sips, he said, "Maybe he didn't want to offend you again?"
"Then how to explain why Murong Lian gave you that finger trigger so he could know your situation through it. I didn't think it was very important before, but after thinking about it carefully, this one I couldn't explain. Zhou He would take you away for trial. If Murong Lian didn't plan to fight with you, he couldn't stand in your way no matter what your situation is."
As he spoke, Gu Mang drank his soup again. He even started to drink the soup with a spoon.
And Mo Xi knew very clearly that Gu Mang never liked to drink soup with a spoon, unless Gu Mang just wanted to borrow some action to avoid his own gaze.
Gu Mang could keep a secret in front of many people, but in front of Mo Xi, many times these little details would reveal his mentality.
"So he gave you that trigger. I think there are two possibilities. First, if you were really dying, he would turn and face the emperor to stop the testing, even if I didn't interfere."
Gu Mang slowly swallowed a mouthful of soup, looked up and said with a smile, "What do you think, little brother? He hated me before it was too late, and you don't know what he did to me in Luomei Garden Villa. How could he turn against the emperor?"
"Then there is a second possibility. Murong Lian is lying. That ring is not for tracking at all, but for other purposes."
As he spoke, Gu Mang's face changed a little.
After a while, Gu Mang said, "Well… When he lent me the ring, I really felt a strange feeling, but I can't say what it was. I had a headache, and my heart beat suddenly… Is there any magic spell attached to his ring?"
"It's hard to say." Mo Xi shook his head. "I'm afraid that he is the only one who knows this. Then we'll come back. After Zhou He took you away, Murong Lian came to the Xiuzhen school to find me. At that time, he left a few words for Jiang Yexue. He didn't mention anything else. The most important thing was to inform me that you were taken to the black devil test by the Shishu platform. If his ring could really track your situation, why did he come to me? He would report to the emperor in time of crisis. It would only lead to one result when he came to me, and he knew that result."
"He was sure that I would stop Zhou He…"
The soup was gone. Gu Mang looked as if he was playing with a spoon carelessly.
Mo Xi said, "I thought about this before. The more I thought about it, the more I kept thinking about it. Murong Lian had only one purpose at that time. He just didn't want the black devil test to be carried out. Apart from that, no motive was tenable. "
Gu Mang didn't say a word. His soft long lashes were drooping, and he cast a thin light and shadow on his eyelids.
After a long silence, Gu Mang said, "Mo Xi, I Between me and him, in fact... "
He seemed to want to speak again and again, as if he wanted to reveal some secret that had been suppressed for a long time, but when it came to his mouth, it disappeared with his lips.
Mo Xi said, "If you have any difficulty saying hidden words, then don't say them."
"..."
"You lived in Wangshu mansion for such a long time, it's normal that there are some things that can't be said. I have nothing else to say to you today. I trust you, and you don't have to explain it to me. I just want to ask you - what do you think of Murong Lian?"
Mo Xi originally thought that Gu Mang would carefully consider and then answer, but this sentence Gu Mang answered very quickly.
Gu Mang said, "I don't know."
Mo Xi looked at his eyes. Those blue eyes were clear and bright, not half inch hidden.
"What I remember in my mind..." Although he didn't want to mention this, he could not avoid it. Gu Mang said, "It's not complete. I don't know if I can recall all the important information about him, so I dare not say it."
"Then judging by what you remember, do you think it's normal for him to smoke the floating life like a dream?"
Gu Mang said, "Not normal."
Mo Xi sighed and nodded, "I think so too. When I just returned to the imperial city to see him, I thought that it was disgusting that he had fallen to this level. But after all kinds of experiences, I always felt that what I see may not be true. The emperor once said that he wanted to abolish his Luomei Garden Villa, and the former emperor once moved to abolish the reserve to make Murong Lian the prince. Maybe he had no choice but to protect himself."
Gu Mang shook his head this time and said, "You are not right."
Mo Xi was slightly surprised, "What's wrong?"
"Murong Lian was the closest to be the reserve, which is well known. It seemed that he was the biggest threat to the throne, but he wasn't. He was so closely watched that he didn't have a chance to make any waves. And just because he didn't have the chance to turn over the storm, it was not necessary for the emperor to punish him at all. Even in order to show mercy, the emperor will be the most generous to him."
Gu Mang paused for a moment and continued, "Do you remember Murong Lian's situation before he was a dreamer?"
Mo Xi sighed and said, "He was not good then either. A dandy, dissolute, and aggressive."
Gu Mang nodded. "The last one is the most important. Yes, Murong Lian was very competitive, but didn't he want to protect himself at that time? At that time, he didn't have to worry about what the emperor thought of him? Before and after he smoked the floating life like a dream, there was no change in the situation of court hall. So he doesn't smoke to relax his vigilance. There must be another reason."
He puffed up his cheeks, then slowly let out a breath, and said, "It's just that I don't know what that is. I also thought about whether Murong Lian has encountered some secret changes that we don't know about, so his mind has changed greatly and he is willing to degenerate. But when I saw him practicing the art of war in the military accounts, I knew that he was still the combative Grandmaster Murong in his bones. He didn't change. Do you know what he said in the army account tent?"
"What?"
"He said - am I really not as good as you?"
"..."
"You see, he's still taking a breath to compete with you."
He didn't know what to say.
But just at the moment of the conversation, there was a sudden uproar outside. The sound of footsteps accompanied the quarrel of several people. They could vaguely hear, "I just spoke casually. Why are you so strict? Don't drag me so tightly, you are not a slave-born garrison officer." Then came the sound of scuffle and struggle. A guard outside the tent said, "General Mo! Someone in Chiling camp is strictly against military discipline. Rumors before the battle! All three of the first offenders have been committed. Please take charge of it!"
A rumor before the battle?
The people of Chiling camp?
Mo Xi and Gu Mang looked at each other. Mo Xi said, "Wait a moment." He waited for Gu Mang to wear the gold cover again, then he let the outsiders in.
Chiling camp was different from the northern army. They only received pureblood aristocrats, and their military uniforms were embroidered with totems representing their own clan identity. Mo Xi looked at the three people one by one. One had the lineage of the Lin family, the other had the lineage of the Zhou family, and the other was quite unexpected. Because that was a distant cousin of Mengze. When he was at the end of the year sacrifice, Mo Xi also met him.
Mo Xi frowned and said, "How to return the responsibility…"
"Xihe Jun!" said the guard. The three Chiling cultivators talked about the commander's personal affairs in the army, spread rumors, and talked about you everywhere!"
"What did they say about me?"
The guard was so awed that he couldn't find the right words to explain it for a long time. At this time, he heard the Murong family's distant relatives say, "What's the rumor I've spread? General Mo and my niece have the same mood. It's known all over the world! They meet and talk in private. This uncle is happy to listen and talk a little more. Is there any way he can't do it?"
The guard said angrily, "Bah! Don't you stop?!"
"Let me stop? You don't have a little noble blood. How dare you order me? Do you know the relationship between me and the emperor? If I'm not happy, I can make your family pack up and get out of the Chonghua capital!"
Mo Xi started to understand this time. He interrupted this cousin's quarrel and said, "Senior, I'm afraid you're misunderstanding."
"What?"
"Mengze and I were alone in the account tent of the Chonghua army only to talk about public affairs, not private affairs. The elder is also a senior cultivator of Chiling. You should know clearly what to say and what not to say. The battle between Chonghua and Liaoguo is about to start. I will not investigate this matter for the moment. I hope you will be careful and don't commit it again."
My cousin was ungrateful. He stared like a bullfrog. After a while, he gnashed his teeth and said, "Ok! Xihe Jun, you really have another face behind the scenes, yes! You are a good manager, but you are also my junior! You have just slept with my niece, and you are so irreverent when you turn around, believe me or not -- "
Mo Xi raised his hand and interrupts him. "When did I sleep with your niece?"