No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 633: A formation covering Jiangnan? [Please give me a monthly ticket!]

"Why did you suddenly ask this question today, Senior Brother?"

Xunyang Palace.

Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang returned from Xunyang Grottoes. After arriving at the palace, they went straight to Li Guoer's boudoir, Meiyingzhai.

Passing a waterside promenade on the road, Xie Lingjiang suddenly turned his head and asked.

"What's the problem?" Ouyang Rong asked curiously.

"Ask me if I know about your family's previous child brides?"

Ouyang Rong pursed his lips, remained quiet, and said softly:

"My aunt gave me a piece of my mother's belongings a while ago. I flipped through it these past two days and found a wrinkled red paper with my birth date written on it. But next to it was another old red paper with another birth date written on it. It seemed to be that of a girl...

"Her name seems to be Xiu Niang. She should be the child bride I had when I was a child. She is from the same clan as my mother. When my mother returned to her parents' home to take her in, the elders made a rough marriage contract. Later...

"My aunt may have told my junior sister about what happened next. This girl called Xiu Niang has been driven out of the house by my mother and aunt. This rough marriage agreement made by the elders is no longer valid. But if you think about it carefully, there was a connection after all. I wonder if my junior sister has any grudges against it."

The two were originally walking side by side, and Ouyang Rong subconsciously slowed down his pace when he spoke.

Xie Lingjiang walked a little ahead. After Ouyang Rong finished speaking, he waited for a while, but there was no reply from the front, and his heart couldn't help but rise.

Lady Xie walked forward for a while, and it was unclear whether she had listened carefully just now.

The two were approaching Meiyingzhai.

At this time, Xie Lingjiang nodded gently: "I heard from Aunt Zhen."

Ouyang Rong glanced at her sideways without making any expression. All he could see was the loose ponytail on the back of her head that bounced with every step she took, but his precise expression was unclear.

Before he could even think of opening his mouth.

"We're here. Senior Brother, go in first. I'll go back and change my clothes. It's all your fault. You weren't honest just now and pulled the wrapping loose..."

Xie Lingjiang suddenly turned around and said something to him shyly. The blush that had appeared on her pretty face when they were being affectionate in the carriage not long ago had not faded much.

Ouyang Rong saw that her eyes were still sparkling, and nodded slightly:
"it is good."

……

Xie Lingjiang changed into a loose, body-covering men's Confucian robe. In fact, he also changed into a bellyband and underwear, as well as a piece of wrapping cloth. As for why he changed into these things... it was all because of the eldest senior brother.

She bit her lower lip lightly, climbed up the red building, and chased away the man who wanted to stick to her again on the way.

When Xie Lingjiang arrived at the study on the third floor of the red building of Meiyingzhai with a black and white folding fan in his hand, the atmosphere on the scene was in silence.

She looked around the room.

Sister Guo'er was standing by the bookshelf flipping through a book, holding the volume in one hand and the other hand behind her back.

There were two armchairs in the middle of the study. They must have been moved in not long ago. The eldest brother and fellow Daoist Lu sat on them facing each other.

Fellow Daoist Lu sat upright, with a sword across his knees, and a familiar expressionless face as he looked at the senior brother opposite him.

The eldest senior brother relaxed a lot. He leaned back in the armchair, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrests of the chair, and lowered his head slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

Sister Guo'er, who was sitting by the bookshelf not far away, turned her head from time to time to glance at the senior brother who was in deep thought.

Xie Lingjiang walked to the back of the armchair where Ouyang Rong was sitting, and the latter turned his head and looked at her.

After receiving the look from the eldest senior brother, Xie Lingjiang understood, stood quietly and listened silently.

"What Fellow Daoist Lu meant is that Yunmeng Jianze is determined to stop the Donglin Buddha."

Ouyang Rong asked, having just finished listening to Lu Ya's brief account of the information.

"That's right, but it's unclear when the action will be taken."

Lu Ya nodded seriously.

Ouyang Rong nodded slightly, his face showing no surprise, and spoke slowly:
"Your Senior Brother Yuan Xiuzi overlooked one point. In fact, Yunmeng Jianze may already know of my existence, that I am the one in charge of the statue-making at Xunyang Grottoes, and that I have an ambiguous relationship with the Xunyang Palace."

Lu Ya raised his eyelids: "What do you mean?"

Before Ouyang Rong could explain, Li Guoer, who was reading a book by the bookshelf, spoke for him:
"What I mean is that the condition proposed by the Lady Yunmeng not to harm our palace is a trap in itself. Right now, in Jiangzhou, Ouyang Lianghan is in charge of the construction of the Donglin Buddha, and my father is nominally the Jiangnan Construction Supervisor, helping my grandmother build the statue. At the same time, our palace also needs this credit, because my grandmother is watching from above, so how can we back down so easily?

"In the end, this lady directly told us to stop and step aside... Regardless of whether she abided by the agreement of not offending anyone, she used the strategy of dividing and conquering very well. If our Xunyang Palace had listened to her, there would be one less force in Xunyang City to protect the Donglin Buddha's smooth landing, which would also reduce the pressure on them.

"In fact, they won't lose anything anyway. It's hard to say. They originally had no intention of targeting our Xunyang Palace. Now they are just bargaining for the price, an empty bargaining chip."

Li Guoer curled her lips. After saying this, she could no longer look at the book in her hand. Her mind was not on it. Li Guoer stood on tiptoe and stuffed the book back into the gap on the top row of the bookshelf.

Lu Ya nodded thoughtfully, then shook his head again after a while:
"But Yunmeng Jianze is determined to do it this time, and they do have the strength to propose this condition. At that time, if the court can't hold on, the situation in Xunyang City will be temporarily controlled by their people. In the midst of chaos and war, the safety of the palace cannot be guaranteed. We still have to prepare for a rainy day..."

Xie Lingjiang listened quietly for a while, glanced at the senior brother who lowered his head and said nothing, and she spoke in a crisp voice:
"So Yuan Xiuzi stayed there by himself and asked Fellow Daoist Lu to come to Xunyang City immediately to inform the palace and tell Yunmeng Jianze the bottom line. He wanted the palace to bet on both sides and maintain a good relationship with the Jiangzhou Supervisory Council, while not completely offending Yunmeng Jianze. It's like sitting on the fence. When the conflict comes, he will hide low and wait for the situation to settle before making a decision?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Lu Ya said seriously:
"The Patriarch Hall has roughly the same idea, so they sent Senior Brother Yuan Xiuzi and I down the mountain to contact Yunmeng Jianze and intercede in advance. They are afraid that the prince will be implicated. No matter which side wins between Yunmeng Jianze and the Qigong practitioners of Luoyang Sitianjian, the prince's palace cannot take the slightest risk. This is a foolproof plan."

After a pause, he added:
"When I participated in the Taogu Sword-asking Competition, I met these Yue women. They attach great importance to promises, so there is no need to worry about their credit."

"Brother Lu."

Ouyang Rong suddenly spoke up, chuckled and asked another question:

"When you went to Yunmeng Jianze this time, did you see any members of the Southwest Kuangfu Army in their base?"

"People from the Kuangfu Army? Who?" Lu Ya couldn't help but ask.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Ouyang Rong shook his head gently and stopped asking questions.

Li Guoer reacted, frowned immediately, and said coldly:
"The eldest lady only agreed that if we abide by the conditions, she would not let the Yue woman harm our palace. But what if Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing and others from the Kuangfu Army want to do something bad to our palace?

"There are precedents for these rebels stealing my father's flag. Wang Junzhi's incident is still fresh in our memory. How can anyone believe it?" "This time, the Tiannan Jianghu's hostile action against the Donglin Buddha is inseparable from the figures of these rebels of the Kuangfu Army. It is possible that the Yunmeng Queen will use our palace as a bargaining chip and exchange it for the Kuangfu Army. It is not impossible."

Lu Ya frowned and said nothing.

Ouyang Rong sighed softly, attracting everyone's attention, and then he said softly:
"This is just one of them."

Ouyang Rong turned around and said to Lu Ya calmly:

"The Donglin Buddha is no longer just the matter of the saint in Luoyang. It is closely tied to the situation in the southwest and involves the entire Jiangnan Road.

“If the Donglin Buddha is destroyed, it will most likely indicate that the forces deployed by the imperial court in Xunyang City will be temporarily destroyed. At that time, Xunyang City will fall into the hands of those Qigong practitioners in the Tiannan Jianghu who use force to break the law. The Jiangzhou Hall alone cannot control them and it is difficult to force them to stop.

"Especially with Wei Shaoqi, Du Shuqing and others mixed in, it is impossible for them not to do something or instigate something. Capturing Prince Xunyang and arresting me is a small matter, but I am afraid that the entire Xunyang City will be paralyzed.

"Xunyang City is the most important logistics base for Marshal Qin's expeditionary army. Once it is lost, the war on the southwest front will inevitably be unfavorable, affecting the lives of thousands of soldiers.

"Once the front line is breached, Hongzhou and Jiangzhou will fall into enemy hands, the southeast gate will be open, and the entire Jiangnan Road will be in danger."

Ouyang Rong turned to the crowd and asked, "When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact?"

After listening to this, Lu Ya sighed: "I understand."

Li Guoer left the bookshelf and paced in front of everyone, looking at them coldly and said:
"This is the second one, and there is the third one."

She raised a slender index finger:
"If my father and Ouyang Lianghan give up on the Donglin Buddha and become cowards, our return to Beijing will be hopeless. The Donglin Buddha must be completed. Even if it has to fall, it must fall after it is completed and after we return to Beijing with the credit."

There was silence.

Ouyang Rong suddenly said, "Not necessarily. There is another way to return to Beijing, but it should not be used unless it is absolutely necessary."

"What method?"

Ouyang Rong shook his head and said nothing, as if he was still considering the pros and cons.

Li Guoer glanced sideways frequently, wanting to get clarification.

This is when Lu Ya spoke:
"I came here mainly to inform you of this matter. It's enough for the little princess and Mr. Ouyang to know the details. I am not good at weighing the pros and cons. I will stay here for a few days. Just tell me what needs to be done."

Ouyang Rong, Li Guoer, and Xie Lingjiang looked at each other and nodded:
"it is good."

The meeting in the study ended and everyone dispersed.

Xie Lingjiang was a step slower. After Ouyang Rong and Lu Ya walked out of the study, he suddenly grabbed Li Guoer.

The two girls stopped and stayed.

Ouyang Rong and Lu Ya didn't pay attention to this and went downstairs together.

Lu Ya suddenly said:
"Master Ouyang, have you ever seen a thing called Yunmeng Ling?"

Ouyang Rong remained calm: "Brother Lu, why are you asking this?" After a pause, he said: "The Supervisory Council has confiscated this item. I have seen it."

Lu Ya hesitated for a moment, then said directly:
"There is something fishy about this item. Yunmeng Jianze is distributing it widely. It may be related to the action against the Buddha. Since you are inclined to assist in the construction of the Buddha, you must make preparations early.

"We must go to Yunmeng Jianze this time, without reservation. Hey, no matter what, I and the Patriarch Hall of this mountain will do our best to take good care of the prince."

Ouyang Rong asked: "What is the story behind this thing?"

Lu Ya groaned:

"The secret I found out from the Patriarch's Hall is that the Yunmeng Order can only be issued by Yuan Jun or the first heir, Yue Chuzi. This item is vaguely related to a legendary formation, and this formation seems to involve the entire Tiannan land."

"What kind of formation is this? It has such a wide range. What is its use?"

"I don't know. According to some ancient books collected by the Maoshan Patriarch Hall, there are fragments of words on them that reveal that this formation was set up by a very early group of Yunmeng Yue women. It may be traced back to the first generation of Yue Chuzi... and Yue Chuzi, as the first heir of Yuanjun, seems to be the most important part of this formation... I just don't know if this formation still exists after so many years."

Ouyang Rong's pupils shrank slightly, "Does it involve Yue Chuzi?"

The two looked at each other speechlessly.

After bidding farewell to Lu Ya, Ouyang Rong immediately returned to his residence in Huaiye Lane.

As soon as he entered the Yinbingzhai study, he immediately took out a bronze dagger. After sitting down, he lowered his head and looked at the object carefully.

At some point, Ouyang Rong suddenly had an idea and tried to inject some spiritual energy into this bronze object.

The deep blue spiritual energy, which was close to the eighth level of perfection, was smoothly absorbed as soon as it touched the bronze dagger.

Ouyang Rong was surprised: "It really works..."

He immediately closed his eyes, and the blue light of spiritual energy flashing on the back of his hand became more and more intense and sank into the bronze dagger.

Time passed by minute by minute.

The bronze dagger did not move.

His brows, as he closed his eyes, gradually wrinkled.

Finally, he opened his eyes reluctantly and put down the Yunmeng Order.

No matter how much spiritual energy was injected into it, the bronze dagger did not move at all, just like a stone thrown into an abyss, without any movement.

Ouyang Rong stared at the bronze dagger on the table, and a line of engraving came into his sight again.

"If I fight with the evil dragon for too long, I will turn into an evil dragon... If I stare at Meng Yuan for too long, Meng Yuan will stare back at me?"

he muttered to himself.

……

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(End of this chapter)