Before Meng Linyu spoke, he held a cultural treasure in his hand, and the power of his talent isolated the sound of the conversation from the outside world.
When Fang Yun heard him talk about fur, he was shocked. He didn't expect that the Meng family would target him so quickly.
The Mengsheng family is different from most semi-saint families.
The origin of the Mengsheng family is Meng Tian, a great general of the Qin Dynasty. He was revered for improving the writing brush, but he was not a half-saint. His status was equivalent to that of a virtual saint, and some people called him the Saint of Writing.
More than a hundred years ago, an ordinary collateral descendant of the Meng family suddenly rose to power and gained the support of the main family of the Meng family. He obtained the relics of many great generals and even semi-saints of the Qin State, such as Meng Tian, Bai Qi, Lu Buwei, Shang Yang, etc. He comprehended various saintly principles from them, and later became a great Confucian scholar and strived to become a semi-saint.
Later, he failed in his attempts to become a semi-saint many times, and his temperament became more extreme. He even monopolized the things of the Meng family, came into conflict with the main family, abolished the main family, established his own direct lineage of the Meng family, and drove the original main family to the edge of the desert.
Finally, realizing that there was no hope of becoming a saint, he led his troops to kill the enemy and fought on battlefields in Jing, Qing, Qi and the barbarians. He used the enemy countries and the barbarians as his whetstone, Bai Qi's military strategy of killing as his essence, and the techniques of Lu Buwei and Shang Yang as his aid. He fought all the way and finally walked out of his own holy path of bravery and was successfully canonized as a saint.
Because of his strong character, tough methods, and vicious strategies, both enemies and friends alike feared him and he was known as the "Evil Saint." However, he did not care and gladly accepted the title.
Meng Sheng built the foundation of his sainthood with despair and military killing, which posed a great threat. Soon after he became a saint, he realized everything, became introverted, and practiced in silence. Finally, he disappeared without a trace. The Saint Academy did not announce any news about him, and he was listed as a missing semi-saint.
Later generations analyzed that Meng Sheng's mistake was that he killed too many people, and his character was too extreme. It was a taboo for him to focus on the equally extreme way of bravery. Confucius' disciple Zilu was also reckless and brave. In the end, he was instructed by Confucius to cultivate righteousness and courage, and only then did he become a half-saint.
After his canonization, he rarely appeared in public again. He did not even write his own canon of the Way, so that his works were not included in the imperial examinations, and occasionally he would be asked about the time of his canonization.
The Mengsheng family also fell silent because they had too many enemies. Some semi-saint families even did not acknowledge Mengsheng's semi-saint status.
Because many of Meng Sheng's words and deeds conflicted with orthodox military strategists, military families such as Sun Tzu's family and Sun Bin's family never interacted with Meng Sheng's family.
It was not until fifteen years ago when the new genius of the Meng family, Meng Lintang, emerged that the Mengsheng family once again appeared in everyone's vision.
Meng Lintang, who called himself the Crazy Student of the Northwest, swore when he became a Hanlin five years ago that once he became a Grand Secretary, he would seize the position of the Four Great Talents of this generation, and was known as the Evil King.
The Evil Lord is a second Evil Saint, but he is more rational than the Evil Saint. Fang Yun has heard of the arrogant name of Meng Lin Tang, which has offended many famous and wealthy families and even destroyed a clan, but he has never heard of offending a semi-saint family.
Fang Yun knew that Meng Linyu should be a brother of the same generation as Meng Lintang, and said, "I wonder where Brother Meng got this news from."
Meng Linyu smiled and said, "Ji family."
Fang Yun glared angrily, and couldn't help but think of the three people that day. He said angrily: "Despicable!"
Fang Yun's expression was very direct, but countless thoughts flashed through his mind. The power of his plan to conceal the truth was involuntarily activated. At the same time, he felt that the other party was secretly mobilizing military forces.
Meng Linyu sighed softly. "The Ji family has been declining and has been cautious. They don't want to conflict with you, but they hate you for getting the fur before them. So they spread this news secretly, trying to get rid of you with the help of other families or our Meng family. Although Lin Tang has a bad reputation, it is mostly slander by enemies. He is just a straightforward person, and he is afraid that you will misunderstand, so he sent me to explain it to you."
Fang Yun still had anger in his eyes, and said, "The Ji family doesn't dare to take the fur directly. Are they afraid of Lord Dong Sheng?"
Meng Linyu pretended to think, shook his head and said, "I don't know about that." Then he shut up.
Fang Yun's anger gradually dissipated, and he said, "Thank you, Brother Meng, for reminding me. If Brother Meng hadn't come, I would have been deceived by the Ji family."
Meng Linyu sighed and said, "Your only problem now is that your foundation is not deep. If you had a foundation, who would dare to provoke you?"
"I understand, this is my shortcoming." Fang Yun said sincerely.
"In fact, your mentor is not a half-saint." Meng Linyu suddenly said.
Fang Yun said helplessly: "To be honest, I don't know if he is or not. He never said anything. I am not a Jinshi, so I have no right to know his identity."
Meng Linyu said: "Recently, the saintly families have reached a conclusion that your mentor cannot be a half-saint, so the people of Qing and Wu are ready to make a move. I shouldn't have said this to you, but in order to show the sincerity of my Meng family, I should tell you about this."
Fang Yun said frankly: "I have never used the name of my mentor to deceive others, so I don't care what others think. I think Lord Dongsheng helped me kill the great scholar of Qing Kingdom not for my mentor."
Meng Linyu didn't say anything, but nodded. After a moment of silence, he said, "As expected, you are Fang Maocai, who is famous in all ten countries. You are so courageous! I heard that after you pass the state examination, you will fight a war in the state; after you pass the imperial examination, you will fight a war in the state of Qing to recover a state. Is that true?"
"I'm tired of Qing's endless suppression of Jing. In order to be able to study peacefully in Jing in the future, I have to get rid of the mosquitoes around me, don't you think?" Fang Yun looked at Meng Linyu with a smile.
Meng Linyu nodded and said, "That makes sense. If Lin Tang heard it, he would definitely like your approach. Well... I came here not only to talk about the Ji family, but also to exchange something for the fur. Of course, I will never force you. Wait for me to tell you what we are going to exchange. If you refuse, I will pretend that I have never asked, so as not to hurt the relationship."
"If the Meng family is sincere in the exchange, I will definitely return the favor." Fang Yun said.
Meng Linyu asked: "Do you know the military review platform?"
Fang Yun's expression became stern, and he asked solemnly, "Is it the thing of Han Xin, the Marquis of Huaiyin, who was called the God of War by later generations?"
"It is Han Xin's reviewing platform. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, Han Xin was highly meritorious and was suspected by the emperor. Later, he colluded with the traitor Chen Xi. When Emperor Taizu of Han attacked Chen, he pretended to be sick and was finally executed by Empress Lü. Han Xin was a military strategist after all. Before he died, he asked to inject his talent into the official seal and turn it into a reviewing platform. It became an extremely powerful cultural treasure, far superior to ordinary cultural treasures of great Confucian scholars."
"I know about this, too. It's a pity that a great god of war, who suffered humiliation under the crotch, secretly crossed the Chencang Pass, fought a desperate battle, and was an unparalleled warrior for the country, but ended up like this. If he were born now, without the suppression of the powerful Han Dynasty, he would probably have successfully become a new military saint." Fang Yun felt sorry for Han Xin. If judging by his military achievements, military merits and military tactics, Han Xin would surely have become a saint.
"It's a pity indeed. He was such a great man." Meng Linyu said.
Fang Yun asked: "Han Xin's review of the troops, the more the better. It is said that this Han Xin review of the troops platform has a magical effect. Is the Meng family really willing to exchange it?"
Meng Linyu said, "We in the Meng family are reluctant to part with it, but to show our sincerity, we will use the military parade platform to exchange for the fur. How about that compared to the Ji family's offer?"
"Far higher than the Ji family." Fang Yun said.
"Then do you agree to the exchange?" Meng Linyu asked.
Fang Yun asked: "I will think about it for three more days. Brother Meng, are you willing to wait for three more days?"
"It's only three days. I can wait! However, if you don't agree after three days, I will have to leave. Han Xin's reviewing platform is a treasure of military strategists, with extraordinary power. No one can exchange such a treasure for that piece of fur."
Fang Yun said: "The Ji family said that the fur is worth at most an ordinary great scholar's treasure, but why is the Meng family willing to exchange it for a top great scholar's treasure?"
"Well, it's actually nothing, but please don't tell anyone else." Meng Linyu said.
"Don't worry, if the Meng family is sincere, I will not mention this matter to outsiders regardless of whether there is an exchange in the end."
Meng Linyu said, "Not long after my ancestor was canonized as a saint, he found that his foundation in the way of sainthood was unstable, so he sought ways to make up for it, and finally disappeared. Based on various signs, our Meng family deduced that my ancestor might have entered the Saint Ruins from the demon world, and that fur might be related to my ancestor."
"So you are here to trace the traces of our ancestors. Oh, now that you mention it, I really want to make the exchange right away. By the way, since the Ji family has told your Meng family about this, other semi-saint families must have known about it too."
Meng Linyu said: "Everyone in the two worlds is watching the Holy Ruins. Of course, this matter cannot be concealed. However, many people do not know the purpose of the fur and do not care. After all, the Holy Ruins has many secrets. I'm afraid that each family has some knowledge of it, and they are not short of a piece of fur."
"Is that so? It seems that if I don't exchange with the Meng family, I will be under a lot of pressure. Okay, let me think about it." Fang Yun said as he stood up.
Seeing Fang Yun was about to send him away, Meng Linyu also stood up and said, "Then I'll come back in three days."
"Brother Meng, take care." Fang Yun helped Meng Linyu out.
After Meng Linyu left, an old man with a straightforward temper said sullenly, "Fang Yun, Meng Sheng massacred two of my cities back then, and there is a deep blood feud between us and Jing State. Don't forget it."
Another old man said, "You may not know this in Yuhai City, but I have traveled around the world over the years and have heard and seen many things. The talent of Meng Lintang is even greater than that of Meng Sheng, and he also practices the art of killing. After becoming a Jinshi, he used his status as a semi-saint family to seize wealth and power, and continued to expand the Meng family. The semi-saint family originally only had one town, but their Meng family occupied the entire Meng County, and disciples from all over the Meng family studied there, and it was prosperous."
"The Wu royal family doesn't care?" Fang Yun asked.
"It's not worth falling out with a semi-saint family for the sake of a county. You must be careful. Meng Lintang practices the way of the saint Meng. Although he is more restrained than Meng Sheng, he is still extremely cruel. It is said that he originally majored in "The Art of War" and wanted to become an orthodox military strategist, but later he was stimulated by something and vowed to prove the way of the saint Meng again, wash away the shame of his ancestors, and make sure that "The Art of War" appears in the invitation to the saint."
"I really don't know. After all, this place is tens of thousands of miles away from Meng County of Wu State." Fang Yun said.
The old man looked serious and said, "We all dislike Meng Lintang, but he is really vicious. He is plundering and expanding the Meng family by any means necessary. He may restore the Meng family to its former glory. A few days ago, an old friend of mine from Wu State sent me a letter saying that Meng Lintang actually forced the wealthy Han and Zhang families to hand over the "Three Chapters of Han Xin" and other cultural treasures. Later, someone from the Sun family spoke up for this, and Meng Lintang had to restrain himself temporarily." (To be continued...)