A traitor

Hearing this, Su Qinglang looked at Mei Liusheng: "I didn't expect that Brother Mei actually has fellow villagers here."

Mei Liusheng was also stunned for a moment, then smiled lightly and replied, "I didn't think of it either..."

As he said that, he looked sideways at Chengying who was standing beside him, and said to him: "Chengying, go out and have a look."

Cheng Ying led the order to leave, and after a long time, she turned back and stood in the courtyard to report to Mei Liusheng: "My lord..."

Mei Liusheng sat upright, and asked, "Isn't it just a fellow villager who is outside the door?"

Chengying glanced at Su Qinglang and replied: "According to what he said, he is a scholar from the same village as the young master. He should be a distant relative of the young master. He came to participate in the scientific examination this time, but he failed in the ranking. Suffering from typhoid fever, I have been staying here to recuperate, so I have delayed some trips, I did not expect to meet you here."

Mei Liusheng hummed, and said with emotion in a light tone: "I have been away from home for many years, and I don't remember many people in my family. It is also a blessing to meet a fellow countryman here. It is time to help him and let him return to his hometown as soon as possible."

Chengying lowered his head slightly, and replied: "Yes, I wanted to bring him to see the young master, but he suddenly remembered that he still had some things to do, so he left without entering the door."

Mei Liusheng was silent for a moment, and said with great regret: "So, we can only wait until we have a chance to see you again in the future."

Listening to their conversation, Su Qinglang didn't say anything, leaned on the stone table and waved the folding fan leisurely.

He silently looked at this guard named "Chengying", who was fourteen or fifteen years old, but had a maturity and ruthlessness that did not match his age. Except for his own son, he had a frosty expression on everyone.

Compared with their family Ruyi, an eagle in the sky and a tortoise in the ground can't help but despise Ruyi to a thousand miles away.

Afterwards, he glanced at the boy standing beside him, and suddenly said, "Brother Mei, after a while, your Huaiyang jujube harvest should be abundant, right?"

Mei Liusheng's expression froze, and he slowly considered: "Indeed, but the jujubes in Huaiyang are not as good as those in Anyang, and there are not many people who plant jujube trees."

Su Qinglang nodded, and the corners of his lips curled up: "I see, it seems that I misremembered, and I thought your dates in Huaiyang were the best."

Mei Liusheng lowered his head and smiled, the expression between his eyebrows seemed to be recalling some past events: "At this time, the daylilies in my hometown should grow very well. If you pick the flowers and dry them, make soup or stir-fry them, The taste is delicious, and it is considered a good dish. When I was a child, my uncle liked to drink day lily the most. Although it is not an expensive delicacy, it is the taste of my hometown."

Holding the folding fan in his hand, Su Qinglang leaned down slightly, smiled at him and said, "It sounds very interesting. If there is a chance in the future, I must visit Brother Mei's hometown. Then Brother Mei will cook by himself. Invite me to eat your day lily with wine."

Mei Liusheng nodded and echoed, "Definitely."

After a pause, he said half-jokingly: "As long as Brother Su doesn't dislike my cooking, it's fine."

The young man stood aside, feeling that the two of them, although their words were ordinary, were like seven aunts and eight aunts moving benches to watch a play.

But he always felt that for some reason, there seemed to be a dark cloud over his head, which weighed down his mind, and seemed to have dark waves.

He looked at the two people sitting at the stone table, and then at Chengying who was standing next to him. The other party noticed the gaze, and shot a sharp gaze over him, which scared him a lot.

Under Cheng Ying's gaze, he stepped back calmly, took two steps back, and broke out in cold sweat, and said: "Guest...Guest officer, if there is nothing wrong, the villain will go down."

Su Qinglang gave a hum with his chin, and upon receiving this response, the boy turned around as if he had been pardoned, and ran away without a trace.

He glanced in the direction the boy left.Afterwards, Su Qinglang looked at Mei Liusheng again.

Ask him: "Brother Mei just said that he is familiar with this place, but I don't know how we should go to reach the border town as soon as possible?"

At this time, Mei Liusheng took out a map from his sleeve, spread it flat on the stone table, and pointed it out to him: "Brother Su, please look, there is a river here, as long as we reach the boundary of Yizhou, we will take a boat to cross it at that time." , can save a lot of travel.”

Su Qinglang nodded, expressing his agreement: "It's true..."

Looking at Mei Liusheng with raised eyebrows, he said again, "It's hard for Brother Mei to find such a remote shortcut."

Mei Liusheng smiled, and said humbly: "I just traveled all over the years and accumulated a lot of experience... However, although this route is good, it also has a disadvantage. After leaving the waterway, you have to walk a section of mountain and country roads to return. On the official road, the process will inevitably be bumpy, I don't know if Brother Su may endure the hardship."

Su Qinglang spread out his fan and sat sideways: "It's just a village road. If you walk, I can walk too. There's nothing to be pretentious about."

Mei Liusheng nodded slightly, and smiled lightly: "That's it, then the rest of the journey is decided like this."

Leaving from the courtyard, Mei Liusheng returned to his residence, he lived very close to Su Qinglang, only a courtyard away.

Stepping into the room, he first came to the window, opened the casement, and saw Su Qinglang sitting in the courtyard for a while, then left with a yawn.

Then, he asked Chengying behind him: "That person, is it solved?"

Cheng Ying hummed, and then heard him sigh: "I didn't expect this scholar to have fellow villagers."

That year, he feigned death in the border town, escaped from the eyes of Xuan Guo's envoys, and traveled all over the world to accumulate power and prepare for future events.

However, due to his lack of official identity, it was quite inconvenient to act. Fortunately, at that time, the people under his command went around and found a scholar with a similar figure to him.

The scholar's name was Mei Liusheng, and his background was consistent with what he could find out so far. He lost his father at the age of four and his mother at the age of eight. At the age of 11, he lived with his uncle, studied and became an official with his uncle's support, and even worked in the He got the honor in the township examination, but unfortunately on the first day, his uncle's family suffered from the plague, leaving him alone and helpless, living in a foreign country.

One day, that Mei Liusheng caught typhoid fever and recuperated in an abandoned temple in the mountains. When his subordinates found him, he was already terminally ill, and finally died of ineffective medicine.

Because at that time, he lacked an identity that would allow him to appear openly in front of people, and that Mei Liusheng was somewhat similar in appearance and figure to him.

So the people below reported this matter to him, and from then on, he replaced the former Mei Liusheng and lived as an ordinary scholar.

I thought that the original Mei Liusheng, whose family members were dead, would not be discovered again, unexpectedly, he met his fellow countryman here.

Cheng Ying said: "My lord, will your identity...will be revealed?"

Mei Liusheng thought it over and said: "Su Qinglang asked me that way just now, obviously he has become suspicious. Fortunately, I have been to Huaiyang. Otherwise... I will definitely show my feet in front of him today."

He paused, frowned again, and looked a little worried: "This person's mind is really extraordinary, but it is only a small clue that he can be keenly discovered... Last time, I found out everything from the palace. The news of Yuzhen's attempt to attack him, I thought the plan had been carefully arranged, but it still made him suspicious, and it's the same this time."

"I already have a hunch that if this continues, my identity will definitely be noticed by him..."

Hearing this, Cheng Ying's expression became a little cold, his fingers clenched the long sword tightly, and the killing intent in his eyes was full.

He was silent for a moment, then immediately turned around, looking like he was about to go out: "I'm going to kill him now."

"Chengying!"

Mei Liusheng scolded, and said slightly angrily: "How many times do you want me to say that this place is not like a border town, don't act recklessly, it is easy to kill Su Qinglang, but he is an important minister of the imperial court, if he dies here, he will only scare the snake, just kill him." It will put you and me in more danger."

"But..." Chengying turned around, looked at him, and lowered her head again: "Chengying only knows that anyone who is not good for the young master will die."

After a long time, Mei Liusheng sighed: "There are thousands of ways to solve problems in this world. Killing people is the most stupid and the most unavoidable way, so you have to use your brain in everything."

"Su Qinglang is only suspicious now, and he doesn't know my true identity. If one day, he finds out. At that time, it's not too late for us to do it..."

Cheng Ying fell silent, and after a while, suddenly asked: "Young Master, why did you save him that day?"

Mei Liusheng was stunned, and under Cheng Ying's gaze, he said carefully, "This person...we will keep it for use."

Hearing what he said, Chengying continued: "Chengying is incompetent, not as smart as the young master, but he also knows how to weigh the pros and cons. For this man, letting him die is obviously more useful than keeping him alive."

As he spoke, he slowly raised his eyes, looked at Mei Liusheng motionlessly, and watched his subtle expressions and actions——

"My lord, why did you save him, why did you keep him?"

Under Cheng Ying's pressing questioning, Mei Liusheng turned around slowly, as if deliberately avoiding his gaze: "His affairs... I have my own arrangements, this is not something you should ask."

Realizing his arrogance, Chengying knew he was being rude, and lowered his head in admission, and said again: "As long as you know what you are doing, Chengying will only follow your decision."

As he spoke, he saluted Mei Liusheng with his sword, turned and left the room.

Only Mei Liusheng was left in a daze, staring blankly at the courtyard outside the window, at the half-closed door beside the courtyard, as if he was staring into his own heart.

Even letting Su Qinglang die is more useful than keeping him alive. Even Chengying can tell the difference between such things, so he naturally knows.

However, when he knew Wan Yuzhen's intentions, even though he was as calm as him, he still panicked for a moment, and then chose to stop it without hesitation.

Even if it makes Su Qinglang suspicious, even if it is very likely to reveal his identity, it is obviously harmful but not beneficial.

So, why save him, why keep him...