Changgeng calmly replied, "Wait a moment."
After speaking, he expressionlessly slammed the wooden door and leaned his back against the door. He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down. He gestured to Gu Yun, "Godfather, the rebel army leader wants to see you. What should we do?"
Ge Pangxiao's heart jumped and he unconsciously held his breath. Soon, his face turned into an eggplant.
Gu Yun's reaction was very strange.
Changgeng saw that after being stunned for a moment, he actually laughed. It was a kind of smile as if victory was within his grasp and he had a tacit understanding with someone.
"Someone really gave me a pillow just as I was about to doze off," said the Marquis of Stability, who craved for the world to be in chaos. "I haven't seen a rebel army leader alive in many years."
Ge Pangxiao was very easy to fool. Seeing that Gu Yun did not take it to heart, he immediately relaxed without any vigilance. It was as if he was about to see not a rebel army leader but a rare treasure!
However, Changgeng refused to listen to his nonsense. His face was taut and all the doubts that had accumulated in his heart for the past few days all came out in an instant. He silently gestured, "Where are the Jiangnan Navy and the Black Iron Battalion?"
At this time, even someone as blind as Gu Yun could see the livid expression on Changgeng's face.
Although Changgeng did not know what "Linyuan Pavilion" was, everyone knew about the enmity between Marshal Gu and Huguo Temple. If Gu Yun had people in his hands, why would he bring the monk Liao Ran to be an eyesore?
Last time at Yanhui, there was a secret edict from the Emperor. This time, Gu Yun came to Jiangnan purely because he left his post without permission. It was already amazing that he had a few Black Eagle Imperial Bodyguards by his side. Where did he get soldiers?
Also, why did Gu Yun pause for a moment before speaking before rudely interrupting Liao Ran?
It was as if she was purposely making life difficult for the Liao Ran. Although Gu Yun was quite hateful in private, she should not stir up such unnecessary trouble when it came to business.
For a moment, Changgeng even had a terrifying guess in his heart. Could it be that Gu Yun wasn't pretending? Could she really not hear what they were saying? Could she have inferred what they were saying after seeing Liao Ran's sign language?
As this thought flashed through his mind, Changgeng felt incredulous at first, but then all sorts of strange details over the past few days surfaced in his mind.
First of all, Gu Yun was not a person of few words. However, in the past few days, regardless of whether they were in private or together, Gu Yun had never 'spoken' to him. All the necessary communication was through sign language. Were the Japanese so heavily guarded along the way? That's right, unless that monk who could only use sign language was present.
Second, Gu Yun used the identity of an incense burner to sneak onto the merchant ship. There were many low-class incense burners in the world. Why did he have to pretend to be a 'Mr. Incense'? Thinking about it carefully, not only did this not have any good effects, but it also added a lot of trouble. It was very likely that he would expose himself. Changgeng did not believe that Gu Yun was just honing his acting skills.
Third, there was another detail. The monk Liao Ran did not knock on the door when he entered Gu Yun's room. Was it because the monk was extremely daring and did not know etiquette … or did Liao Ran know that knocking would be useless?
Changgeng should have thought of these suspicious points long ago. However, Marshal Gu had been in charge of the central army for a long time. He had an indescribable temperament that made people inexplicably believe that everything was under his control. Everyone else only needed to be ordered around by him. Unknowingly, he overlooked many unnatural aspects.
Ge Pangxiao noticed that Changgeng's expression was strange. He looked at him in confusion.
Outside the door, Di Song gently knocked on the door again and said loudly, "My general is waiting. Please hurry up, Mr. Zhang."
Gu Yun patted Changgeng's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "The Black Iron Battalion is here. Don't be afraid."
After saying that, he took out the black cloth to cover his eyes and handed it to Changgeng, indicating that he should put it on for him.
Changgeng took the cloth. His expression was uncertain for a moment before he covered Gu Yun's eyes.
At a place where Gu Yun could not see, Changgeng first shook his head at Ge Pangxiao.
Before Ge Pangxiao could react to what he meant, Changgeng said in his direction, "Godfather, if you continue to be like this, I won't recognize you anymore."
Ge Pangxiao widened his eyes, "Ah?"
Gu Yun smiled and waved in Ge Pangxiao's direction, "You two, stop chatting. Follow me. Don't leave my side later. It's not bad to come here and gain some experience."
Ge Pangxiao was once again stunned by this irrelevant conversation.
Changgeng's heart sank. He really could not hear. He only knew that he was talking to Ge Pangxiao through some method. Then, were his eyes also …
But they were clearly fine a few days ago.
Without waiting for him to think carefully, Gu Yun had already pushed open the wooden door and walked out.
Chang Geng's heart skipped a beat, and he rushed forward to support him in a panic. This time, he couldn't care less about his shyness and awkwardness. He nervously grabbed Gu Yun's arm with one hand and wrapped his other hand around Gu Yun's back, half carrying him forward in fear.
Gu Yun thought that the sudden change made Changgeng uneasy. He casually patted Changgeng's arm.
Changgeng, "…"
In view of the fact that Gu Yun's method of dealing with his own people was also a mixture of truth and falsehood, he already could not tell whether his little adoptive father was sincere or just pretending to have nothing to fear.
Di Song, who was waiting at the door, saw Changgeng and Ge Pangxiao beside Gu Yun. He smiled and said, "Mr. Zhang, this way, please. Eh? Is the master and the girl not here? "
"The girl is not acclimatized. The master stayed behind to take care of her." Changgeng swept a glance at Di Song. He focused all his energy on Gu Yun. He even took the time to smile like a needle in a silk floss. "What, does the general want us all to be here for him to inspect?"
Di Song said politely, "What are you saying, young master?"
These were originally a few desolate islands that were scattered on the surface of the East Sea like sheep dung. The largest island was so large that one could walk around it once in a day. The smaller island was only about one mu square. The Sea Serpent Warships were parked all over the place. Iron ropeways that were emitting white steam were connected to each other, extending in all directions. From afar, it looked like a city that was suspended on the surface of the sea.
As Changgeng walked, he briefly wrote down some information on Gu Yun's palm. At the same time, the youth couldn't help but have a question in his heart. The location of this island was indeed hidden. It was probably not easy for people to discover that some purple gold was smuggled here. However, a Mount Penglai was about to be built here. Was the Jiangnan navy dead?
Or did they have people in the Jiangnan navy?
Just as his thoughts were running wild, Di Song, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.
A group of people who looked like dancers walked past them with light steps. They walked on the iron ropeway leisurely as if their feet didn't touch the ground. Amidst the white smoke, they looked like a group of fairies.
The leader was a woman in white with a zither in her arms. When she saw Di Song, she stopped and curtsied. She wasn't very good-looking. Her facial features were faint as if covered by a layer of gauze. There was nothing eye-catching about her body. She looked very comfortable. However, when he turned his face, he couldn't remember what she looked like.
Di Song said, "I don't dare. Miss Chen, please go ahead. Don't make the general wait."
The woman didn't decline. She nodded in greeting. Holding the zither, she curtsied and floated away. The smell of calming incense hit them in the face.
Changgeng saw the corners of Gu Yun's mouth curl up slightly as if she was smiling.
At the same time, Cao Niangzi, who was disguised as a Japanese youth, ran all the way to a very inconspicuous boat. The guard was sleeping. Cao Niangzi put his hands behind his back and held an iron rod in his hand as he approached.
He was thin and small, and his hands and feet seemed lighter than others. When he approached the guard, the other party didn't react. Cao Niangzi looked at the person snoring with the help of the moonlight on the sea. Seeing that the saliva was all down his neck, he felt relieved and thought, "How unsightly."
A wave gently brushed past, and the boat trembled slightly. The guard turned over and almost fell off the wooden chair. He smacked his lips and woke up. Only then did he realize that there was someone beside him. The guard turned over and sat up. He saw a Japanese youth standing in front of him, and greeted him in Japanese.
The guard relaxed and rubbed his eyes. Just as he was about to take a closer look at the person in front of him, Cao Niangzi had already swung the rod down and hit the back of his head.
The guard fell to the ground without a word.
The assailant patted his chest and said, "You scared me to death. You scared me to death."
Cao Niangzi's face was frightened, but her hands were not careless. She quickly took a bunch of keys from the guard's waist and turned around to enter the ship's cabin. Sure enough, just as the person who led her here said, there was a prison cell with twenty to thirty people who looked like craftsmen. As soon as Cao Niangzi appeared, a startled cry came from inside, "Wokou pirates!"
"Shhh …" Cao Niangzi said in a low voice, "I'm not a Japanese. I'm Marshal Gu, the Marquis of Stability, and I'm here to quell the rebellion. I'll let you out first."
The night grew darker, and a thin layer of fog rose from the waves on the sea.
Liao Ran and a nimble man in black entered the cabin. There were dozens of steel armor neatly arranged in the cabin.
Liao Ran carried a bag and took out a bottle. He turned around and threw it to his companion. The two of them looked at each other and began to spray ink ink on the steel armor at the same time.
Di Song brought Gu Yun and the others all the way to an inconspicuous sea serpent.
Before they reached the end of the cableway, they could faintly hear laughter and music in the cabin. The moment Di Song stepped on the deck, something strange happened.
A roar that Chang Geng was very familiar with suddenly came from the corner. Then, white steam burst out, and an iron puppet hidden in the darkness suddenly stepped out, brandishing its blade and slashing towards Gu Yun.
Even Di Song was caught off guard. He was so frightened that he screamed and sat on the ground.
Changgeng reflexively wanted to draw his sword, but his hand was pushed back by someone who was caught off guard.
The next moment, his arms were empty. Gu Yun, who couldn't see or hear, had flipped over from behind the Iron Puppet's blade. His figure was almost casual, and the back of his foot tapped lightly on the monster's shoulder. In a split second, the snow-white blade in the Iron Puppet's hand illuminated a slender line of his face.
Changgeng's pupils shrank. Wait, isn't he blindfolded and can't hear?
The sword light disappeared in an instant. The next moment, Gu Yun disappeared behind the iron puppet. Screams rose in the night sky and stopped abruptly.
Di Song trembled fiercely.
The iron puppet's actions froze in mid-air. Then, a Japanese corpse was thrown over. Gu Yun's robe fluttered up and down in the sea breeze. He stood on the deck and held the Japanese's waist sword in his hand. He took out a handkerchief and wiped it in disgust. Then, he raised his head slightly and stretched out his hand as if there was no one around.
Changgeng's throat moved slightly. His heart was beating like a drum. He immediately went forward to support him.
Gu Yun said, "If this is General's sincerity, we really didn't come."
Di Song wiped the sweat on his cheeks. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Yun stopped him.
"No need to explain," Gu Yun said indifferently. "Deaf people can't hear."
With that, he turned to leave. At this moment, the cabin door suddenly opened.
Two rows of private soldiers came out side by side and made a path. Changgeng turned his head and saw a middle-aged man with a white face and no beard in the cabin. He stared at Gu Yun's back and shouted, "Mr. Zhang, please wait!"
Gu Yun turned a deaf ear. Changgeng wrote on his palm, "The chief thief is out."
Gu Yun thought, "Son, he's not the chief thief."
The middle-aged man stood up and cupped his hands. "I've heard of Mr. Zhang's name for a long time. That dog Emperor has such a talent, but he doesn't use it well. He's really done for."
Ge Pangxiao became more confused as he listened. He thought, "Isn't Mr. Zhang an alias that Marquis casually gave? How did he hear of his name? His polite words are too fake. "
Gu Yun didn't avoid people. He turned his head and asked Changgeng, "What did he say?"
"He said I've heard of your name for a long time. If the Emperor doesn't use you, he's courting death." Changgeng wrote briefly. In a flash, he connected the cause and effect.
That's right. Gu Yun pretended to be an incense burner to sneak onto the merchant ship.
The incense burner was the same as the boatmen and the Japanese guards. Although he needed his own people, he was still a small figure. Why did the chief thief want to see him?
Either their identities were exposed, or the monk's people used some method to forge a fake identity for Gu Yun!
Immediately, Changgeng thought of Gu Yun's smile after being stunned for a moment when he heard that the chief thief wanted to see him. He felt upset again. Did he know at that time?
After a year, he didn't need to raise his head to look at Gu Yun. The youth's specially made iron wrist buckle couldn't be worn anymore. He even felt that Gu Yun, who wasn't wearing armor, could be held with one hand.
However, the long distance that he couldn't catch up to surfaced in the youth's heart again.
Gu Yun didn't look back and nodded coldly.
The middle-aged man cupped his hands and said, "Although the Japanese barbarians didn't know etiquette just now, I don't know Mister Zhang. Moreover, I saw that it was inconvenient for you to hear and see. Although I've already received the recommendation letter, I still don't know the brilliance of an expert. Haha, I've learned something new this time. Qing Xu, quickly pour some wine for Mister Zhang and apologize on my behalf."
Changgeng briefly conveyed the middle-aged man's nonsense to Gu Yun. Before he finished, he saw a person stand up. It was the woman in white he met on the way.
She poured a bowl of wine expressionlessly. It wasn't a cup, but a bowl.
The woman walked over slowly. She didn't say anything and directly handed it to Gu Yun.
The calming incense that he smelled just now and the sea breeze came to his face. Although she was just a geisha, there was no seduction in her appearance and behavior. Instead, there was a hint of indifference and coldness.
Gu Yun reached out and took the wine from the woman's hand. He seemed to sniff it in a low voice.
Then, a smile appeared on his face and he thanked her in a low voice. Before Changgeng could stop him, Gu Yun had already picked up the bowl and drank it in one gulp.
The woman lowered her eyes obediently, bowed slightly, and retreated to the side. Seeing this, the middle-aged man laughed and said, "Mister Zhang is so straightforward. I like straightforward people like this."
Changgeng was anxious on the spot. He grabbed Gu Yun's hand and wrote on his palm, "What if it's poisonous?"
Gu Yun thought that it was the ignorant head of the bandits who asked. He calmly replied, "If you want to poison Mister Xiang who can't see or hear, I'm afraid you'll have to spend some effort to find some tasteless medicine."
Changgeng, "…"
Fortunately, Gu Yun's attitude was very arrogant. Although this sentence sounded a bit clumsy, it didn't seem to be wrong.
At the same time, he was even more certain that Gu Yun really couldn't hear. He wasn't pretending at all.
The middle-aged man said, "Quickly, please take a seat."
This time, Changgeng didn't dare to cause any trouble. He conveyed the message to Gu Yun in full detail.
The group of people walked into the cabin. The indifferent girl began to play the zither.
The middle-aged man said, "Fortunately, that fatuous emperor lost his virtue and allowed us to gather the heroes of the world. It's truly a blessing."
Gu Yun sneered and said, "I don't think it's a blessing to be in the same room with a bunch of Wokou pirates."
Every word of his was sarcastic. This sarcastic remark inexplicably brought out a bit of otherworldly popularity.
The middle-aged man didn't take it to heart. It was obvious that he was going all out to meet all the freaks in the world for the sake of rebellion. He laughed and said, "Those who achieve great things don't bother about trifles. Mister's words are biased. Ever since the Imperial Emperor opened up the sea trade, how many barbarians have entered Daliang? Just this batch of farming puppets from Jiangnan alone has a foreign influence. As long as they can succeed, who cares if they're Japanese or Westerners?"
As he spoke, he began to sigh with emotion. He listed out the various abuses of the people since the Yuanhe era. Changgeng and Ge Pangxiao usually dealt with the mysterious monks of Huguo Temple or the contemporary great scholars invited by the Marquis' mansion with a lot of money. At first, when he heard this clear and logical argument, he felt that it was very refreshing. Not a single sentence could withstand scrutiny. It was really full of nonsense. He didn't know what he was talking about.
Gu Yun didn't say anything. He just sneered.
After sitting for about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he suddenly seemed to lose his patience. He interrupted the middle-aged man and said, "This Zhang sincerely came to seek refuge, but Sir found a puppet to brush me off. This is really disappointing."
The middle-aged man's expression changed.
Gu Yun didn't say anything else. He pulled Changgeng to stand up and said, "Since it's like this, let's go."
The middle-aged man shouted, "Stay! Sir Zhang, stay! "
Gu Yun turned a deaf ear.
At this moment, the guards at the door suddenly separated into two sides. A thin and tall man wearing a cloak walked in with large strides. He said in a clear voice, "Sir Zhang, do you think I have the qualifications to speak with you?"
The middle-aged man rushed down in a few steps and came to the side of the thin and tall man. He said to Gu Yun, "This is my family's Huang Qiao, Sir Huang. This is a serious matter. I must verify Sir's identity. I hope Sir will forgive me."
Changgeng frowned. He felt that the two words "Huang Qiao" were somewhat familiar. He was about to write on Gu Yun's palm when Gu Yun gently pinched his finger.
Gu Yun, who was still extremely deaf, didn't know how, but he heard Di Song's words.
"Sir Huang," Gu Yun said in a low voice, "Jiangnan's Navy and Land Commander, secondary second rank … you really surprised me."
As he spoke, he slowly removed the blindfold on his face. His eyes were like cold stars. How could he be blind at all?
He pulled his arm out of Changgeng's hand and waved his hand at the youth with a worried expression. He smiled a little indecently and said, "Sigh, Sir Huang, when I followed Old General Du at his beck and call, you were still a Brigadier General. After so many years, do you still remember me?"
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