Great General Tie Liuli of the Northern Border Cavalry left the military camp through the night. Apart from Guo Leiming, nobody knew he came by. However, this burden and difficulty was shouldered by Guo Leiming himself. The great general told him to use non-military methods to deal with the problem at hand. What was it exactly?

And why did the great general bring up Meng Changan’s incident in Yanta Academy? As well as the young man named Shen Leng?

As of now, Guo Leiming’s mind was full of questions. He wanted to be clear about the great general’s purpose in visiting him, as well as the meaning behind his words, and lastly, how he should handle the matter at hand in order to make everybody satisfied.

However, it was impossible – it was impossible for him to make anyone satisfied.

Pei Xiao was Pei Tingshan’s nephew. Pei Tingshan did not have a son, and hence, he regarded his nephew as one. He managed to become as thick-skinned as he could for Pei Xiao’s sake and sent three memorials to the emperor. The last one was sent in his capacity as the east border’s great general to vouch that Pei Xiao was definitely not a fraud.

He was forcing His Majesty – which was sufficient to say that Pei Tingshan was already muddled; he felt that his achievements were so significant that he was allowed to do whatever he pleased. That also proved how important Pei Xiao was in Pei Tingshan’s eyes.

Even if that was the case, what could His Majesty do about him? Pei Xiao was still promoted to a Class A Fourth pin General, and Pei Tingshan was still a great general of the east border, who was a man of his word.

Before Great General Tie Liuli left, he said something thought-provoking – he said that Pei Tingshan and him were like blood brothers who had been through life and death situations.

Guo Leiming sat there, deep in thought. The affection between these great generals and His Majesty was beyond that of a counselor and his master. In some sense, even though His Majesty was not the oldest, he was their big brother. Their brothership was forged through a sea of blood and mountains of corpses.

This was the reason why His Majesty was so tolerant towards Pei Tingshan, which was also why Pei Xiao was more and more shameless.

It was rumored that Pei Tingshan had once said to His Majesty before that when he died, he hoped that His Majesty would make Pei Xiao east border’s great general, passing on his legacy to Pei Xiao.

At that time, His Majesty avoided answering his request. All he did was pat Pei Tingshan on the shoulder and told him that he would not let him down.

If Pei Xiao were to die in the northern border, what would Pei Tingshan do?

And how would Great General Tie Liuli be affected?

What about himself?

Guo Leiming felt that his head was pounding. Even though in that defense area, he was the commander-in-chief, Pei Xiao did not obey him at all. Because he knew that Pei Xiao had a strong backer, Guo Leiming did not have an absolute authoritative power over a good portion of the tens of thousands of troops in that area.

Offending Pei Xiao and a great general because of Meng Changan – was it worth it?

If he could not touch Pei Xiao, then…

Guo Leiming was shocked. He thought to himself: how can I have such a scary thought?

The military needed a young man like Meng Changan. Several years of ongoing conflict with Heiwu had made the troops in the southern border weary, causing them to gradually become apathetic. The arrival of Meng Changan made the young troops burn with desire again. Furthermore, apart from Meng Changan, who else was able to enter Heiwu that many times, surveying the area and drawing the map?

Guo Leiming stood up and paced back and forth within the room. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Guo Leiming told the person to enter. After the door opened, his facial expression changed…the person who entered turned out to be Pei Xiao.

Pei Xiao was someone who was always smiling. He was in his thirties; he was in his prime and was full of vigor. He had an air of arrogance that made people detest him. Hence, it made people feel that the smile on his face was very fake.

Appearance wise, Pei Xiao was a rather handsome man. He was the type of man who could casually win girls over with sweet nothings. Furthermore, he was not an idiot – apart from the fact that he had personality issues, he had several capabilities…Every four years, the Ministry of War would hold a great martial arts competition across the entire military, including every single garrison and combat soldier, as well as local soldiers, including the troops of the four borders and depositories. The most outstanding young man in each force would be selected to take part in the competition.

In the great competition, Pei Xiao came in second. In the final round of the competition, he lost to Wu Xinyu. The latter was currently in the northern border as well, and he was also a Class A Fourth pin general.

By coming in second in the great competition in the entire military, it was sufficient to prove his abilities.

Pei Xiao chuckled at sat across from Guo Leiming. He place the box in his hands on the table. “Two days ago, my uncle sent someone to pay me a visit. He brought with him some specialties from the eastern border. I thought about you and how you probably have never seen this before, so I decided to bring it over for you.”

He opened the box. It was a red coral tree that was a foot tall. It was complete and it had a nice shape. A beautiful thing like that was rare. It was hard to tell how invaluable it was in Great Ning, but it was definitely something that could not be bought with a large sum of money.

“It’s too valuable. General Pei, it’s better for you to take it back.”

Guo Leiming’s eyes lit up but very soon they became dim again. He fancied it, and he also knew the value of the item. However, it was an item that was hard to accept.

“It is only but something small. General Guo, if you like it, keep it. In the future if they send any interesting things over from the eastern border, I will take bring them over to you first. It is not a gift – you also mentioned that it is too valuable. Naturally, I wouldn’t bear to part with it. Since you expressed interest in it, I decided to leave it with you for a few days. You still have to return it to me.”

Guo Leiming laughed. “Alright, in that case I shall play with it for a few days.”

Pei Xiao laughed out loud. “As long as you like it. Right…there’s one more thing…is…Military Officer Meng Changan back? I’m guessing this time he did not make any progress, right? Even though that fella is my subordinate, every time he comes back, he reports to you instead of me. Alas…sometimes I want to lose my temper, but when I think about how we should not be too calculative between us, the anger would dissipate.”

His gaze seemed to drift towards the table. There was a roll of kraft papers. It must have been the latest map that Meng Changan drew.

Guo Leiming was taken aback. He looked at the fire coral and looked at the rolled up map. His facial expressions kept fluctuating.

“Can I take a look at it?” Pei Xiao laughed.

When he noticed Guo Leiming’s facial expression, he quickly continued, “Regardless, Meng Changan is my man, taking a look at the map is not too much to ask for, right?”

Guo Leiming gritted his teeth, “You can take a look at it, but don’t take it out of this room.”

Pei Xiao cupped his fist. “Thank you, General Guo.”

He took out a roll of silver banknotes and placed them on the table. “I heard that you are renovating your residence, this is a little something from me. Don’t stand on ceremony, it’s a congratulatory gift for your new residence.”

Guo Leiming did not look at the silver banknotes. Instead, he got up and walked to the window and stood there. He placed his hands behind his back and looked out of the window without saying a single word.

Pei Xiao sneered. He placed the silver banknote down. After that, he opened up the roll of kraft papers. After he took a look at it, he was completely taken aback.

“What is this!”

He threw the kraft papers onto the ground. His face was livid with rage.

Guo Leiming turned around and looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

Pei Xiao bellowed, “General Guo, don’t tell me you don’t know.”

Guo Leiming asked, “Don’t know about?”

Pei Xiao glared at Guo Leiming before taking big steps, leaving. “See for yourself.”

He opened the door abruptly before slamming it hard. It was so loud that it shocked everyone.

Guo Leiming turned around and looked at the kraft papers on the ground. He slowly walked over and picked them up before dusting the dirt off. His lips curled upwards. “You were the one who wanted to see them, it’s not my fault.”

When he opened up the kraft papers, there was only one word written on the first paper…’idiot’.

On the second paper, there was also one word…’scum’.

Guo Leiming placed the kraft papers on the table. He looked at his brush holder – the ink on one of his brushes had not been washed off. A drop of black ink dripped from it.

After Guo Leiming sat down, he sighed. “Meng Changan, your words are sure ugly.”

Of course, Meng Changan was not the one who wrote those words, but naturally, neither would Guo Leiming admit that he had written them.

Pei Xiao took a dozen soldiers with him and went straight to Meng Changan’s barracks. He kicked the door open. Meng Changan who was laying on his bed did not open his eyes. It was not the first time, and it would not be the last.

Pei Xiao entered the door and swept his gaze around the room once. His room was still as shabby as before. There was not a single presentable decorative item.

The setup of Meng Changan’s room was extremely simple; there was only a wooden bed, a chair, a desk, a washstand, a clothes rack, and a wooden bucket used for showering. He also had two suitcases for clothes. Apart from those, he had nothing else. He did not even any decorative item on his desk.

Pei Xiao seemed to be put off by his chair, as it was too old and shabby. He stood at the door and looked at Meng Changan who was laying in bed and not moving at all. “Where is the map that you brought back?”

Meng Changan turned around and looked away. He did not utter a single word.

Pei Xiao took two steps forward. Suddenly, he kicked the clothes rack, toppling it. “Meng Changan, you should know your place. I can let you live, and I can make you die. Even more so, I can make you wish they you were better off dead. As my subordinate, you did not report back to me once you returned, and you did not hand over the map. I can punish you according to the military laws of Great Ning. Nobody can say anything about it, including the great general. That is because I am completely handling this matter justly.

Meng Changan sat up. He looked at Pei Xiao and said, “The map is imprinted in my brain. If you want it, you have to cut it out and see if you can take a look at it.”

“You are impudent!”

Pei Xiao said in a cold voice, “If you think that I am joking with you, let me give you a piece of advice – it’s better to live…hand the map over. Or else, the consequences will be dire.”

Meng Changan stood up and looked into Pei Xiao’s eyes. “I entered the enemy’s territory six times in total. Once my map is complete, it is sufficient to change the entire situation and our confrontation with them. It can potentially even lead to glorious military successes that Great Ning has never experienced before. You know that I’m almost done with the map, hence you no longer care about being civil anymore.”

“Not handing it over?”

Pei Xiao bellowed, “Take this maniac away! Remove his clothes and make him kneel outside in the wind and snow to reflect. He disrespected his superior and did not obey military rules and ways. Let me see who can protect you today!”

A dozen soldiers, akin to beasts, squeezed into the room and charged towards Meng Changan.

Meng Changan’s eyes looked up slightly. “First person to get here dies.”

The dozen of soldiers immediately stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. They had fear in their eyes.

At this moment, the sound of hooves could be heard on the outside. Immediately after, a neigh was heard. Moments later, a person, who was wearing an armor, entered the door. A young man stepped into the room.

“Who is Meng Changan?”

Meng Changan looked at him. “I am, and general, you are?”

That person was decked in a general’s armor. His rank was equal to that of Pei Xiao’s.

“Wu Xinyu?”

Pei Xiao’s pupils constricted.

Where Wu Xinyu was stationed at was at least sixty miles away. Why did he pay them a visit in the windy and snowy night?

The person who came was tall and slender, yet he was not feeble. Even though he was wearing an armor, people could still tell that he had an inverted triangle body shape. He had a determined face, yet cold, and his eyes were exceptionally bright. He was not particularly handsome, in comparison with Pei Xiao, but he was very manly. He had a distinct pair of eyebrows and when he spoke it was loud and clear.

“Why are you here!”

Pei Xiao glared at Wu Xinyu.

“Meng Changan, get fully dressed and leave the camp with me.”

Wu Xinyu tossed the cardboard in his hand towards Pei Xiao’s feet. “I requested the great general to get Meng Changan transferred over to me to complete some tasks. Once we’re done, I will send him back to you.”

Pei Xiao glared at Wu XInyu as hard as he could. “Why are you transferring him?!”

Wu Xinyu looked at him. “Your rank is not that high to the extent that I need to report to you.”

He took off his own overcoat and tossed it towards Meng Changan. “ Drape this over and we’ll leave. We will give you another set of armor when we get to my camp. The matters at hand are urgent, we must not delay!”

Meng Changan draped his overcoat. It was an unlined garment. He took out the small hunting knife from under his pillow and gripped it in his hand. He took large strides and walked into the windy snow.