Leng Ningyun was startled. He opened his eyes and looked around, only to see a young man in his early thirties coming in. He was wearing a snow-green robe, a net scarf on his head, and three strands of clear beard under his chin. He was elegant and elegant.
He bowed out of habit and said, "Sir, sir..."
"My surname is Le." The visitor said simply.
"Mr. Le." No matter which time and space he was in, what Leng Ningyun did the most was deal with people, and he had a very good eye for recognizing people. At this moment, it seems that he is young, his posture is chic, and he has a somewhat fairy-like demeanor. However, if you look closely, his demeanor is somewhat deliberate.
"I don't know what you are doing by inviting me here, sir?"
"Mr. Le" smiled faintly, sat down minding his own business, and said, "Mr. Leng, stay calm. Originally I didn't want to show up, but the current situation is such that I have to ask Mr. Leng to come."
Leng Ningyun always felt that this person was a little weird, but he couldn't explain it. It took him a moment to realize that the accent and tone of voice of the "Mr. Ji" in front of him looked too much like a "senior".
Since arriving in Lingao, the Senate has been sparing no effort to promote Mandarin for almost ten years. However, there are still very few naturalized people who can speak Mandarin well. The best level is just "Guangpu" or "Fujian Mandarin". , although I can communicate, my accent is quite strong.
The best people to say it are naturally the children of the "new generation" of Fangcaodi who start learning from childhood. Their standard of speaking Mandarin is very close to the level of the elders. Including consciousness, thinking, habits, behavior...
The problem is that there are very few such people, and the oldest ones are only in their early twenties. There is absolutely no one as old as Mr. Le in front of me. Moreover, the tone and tone of his speech were completely different from those of naturalized people...
Leng Ningyun was stunned: Could it really be...
In fact, he had already had this idea when he saw the first letter, but the "Mr. Le" who appeared in front of him looked more like... a "senior"!
Leng Ningyun broke out in a cold sweat. To be honest, the Foreign Intelligence Service had already made similar speculations. That was the first time that the existence of "Shi Weng" was known from the interrogation of prisoners and the captured written materials after the umbrella and sun umbrella case was solved. The Foreign Intelligence Agency said at the time that the infiltration techniques, contact methods and action plans contained too much knowledge that transcended the times. In that era when secret operations were basically limited to people in the world, it was beyond their expectations.
At that time, the big bosses of the "center" suspected that in addition to them and the "looming Japanese", there were other people who had traveled through this time and space, and wrote a report to the executive committee on the intelligence collected.
No more than twenty people have read this report, and Leng Ningyun is one of them. Of course, he knew this situation because he was going to be the person in charge of the foreign station - all the veterans in charge of the foreign station must read this report to let them know about possible threats.
Such suspicion reached its peak in the Hangzhou Station incident, especially the appearance of Hao Yuan, which made the Senate almost crazy for a time. Although Hao Yuan died in the end, Hale, the "fish that slipped through the net," still caused a thorn in the back of the Senate. Based on the intelligence collected, the Foreign Intelligence Agency raised its suspicion on the origin of "Shi Weng" to a new level.
However, Hale's suspicion that this "stone man" might be another person dropped significantly after the "witchcraft case" at Guangzhou Station. Because it is difficult for the elders to imagine that a 21st century "talent" who can plan Operation Parasol and the riots in Hangzhou, and has excellent organizational and incitement abilities, would believe in the theory of witchcraft and invest such a huge amount of manpower and material resources into various things. Feng Shui Secrets and Spells. To be honest, wouldn't it be better to use these manpower and material resources on other means?
In addition, Shi Weng's activities have been decreasing recently, and even clumsy means such as "counterfeit money" have been used. The Foreign Intelligence Agency judged that with the basic scientific literacy of the people of the old time and space, they also knew that such a strategy would be difficult to succeed in the face of quasi-modern currency.
In short, Hale's actions are in line with his thinking logic as a time traveler, but Shi Weng's actions are unconstrained, with very high upper and lower limits, making it difficult to summarize logically.
Therefore, Shi Weng is unlikely to be the second Hale. At best, he is a genius of this time and space who has a little understanding of modern knowledge. Therefore, the field bureau speculated that Shi Weng was probably not a single person, but an organization brought together by certain people.
He had never seen the person in front of him in any relevant reports from the Foreign Intelligence Agency. But the Mandarin accent and way of speaking of the man in front of him, as well as the strange letter, seemed to indicate that he was inextricably linked to the old time and space...
"Mr. Leng, I know what you are thinking," the man smiled, "But, I am not."
Leng Ningyun trembled and said: "You are nothing..."
"I am not the person you thought," Mr. Le said leisurely, "I am also the person the Senate is most afraid of."
"Bah, the Senate is not afraid of anything." Leng Ningyun suddenly felt courageous.
"The Senate has strong ships and powerful guns, and is rich all over the world. Of course, it is not afraid of anything but this..." He pointed to his head as he spoke, "Otherwise, why must we kill all Hao Yuan?"
Cold sweat broke out on Leng Ningyun's back. He knew very well about Hao Yuan. The Hangzhou incident and the looming presence of Hale and Shi Weng behind Hao Yuan had always been a serious concern for the Senate. When he learned that Hao Yuan had been killed, He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and presumably the other elders also felt the same.
"So, your Majesty is a stone man?"
Mr. Le laughed and said: "That's not wrong. It's just that it's biased..."
Leng Ningyun was convinced that yes, it was the Shi Weng Group who kidnapped him. What he wanted to find out most now were two things: first, why he was kidnapped; second, whether there was Hale in Shi Weng's group.
The "Mr. Le" in front of him spoke and behaved in a manner that was familiar to Leng Ningyun, but he was not sure.
After thinking for a moment, he asked: "What about the impartial ones?"
"There is no such person as Shi Weng in this world." Mr. Le said with regret, "But he is everywhere."
These incomprehensible words made Leng Ningyun savor it for a while. The meaning behind his words seemed that there really was a person like Shi Weng in the past, but now this person no longer exists.
"Mr. Le, what do you want to do by kidnapping me?"
"There are at least two to three hundred people in Beijing who know where Delong is."
Leng Ningyun nodded: "This is not a secret."
"Yes, this is indeed not a secret." Mr. Le said with a smile, "However, we are probably the only ones who know who Mr. Leng is."
Leng Ningyun remained silent. Unless he was tortured to extract a confession or his life was threatened, he could not admit that he was a veteran. This was the outermost layer of the multi-layered confession given to all veterans by the Foreign Intelligence Service.
Seeing that he remained silent, Mr. Le smiled enigmatically, came up to him and whispered:
"Odd changes to even, unchanged, symbols look at the quadrants."
Leng Ningyun's eyes widened. Although he had been mentally prepared for such a situation before seeing the anonymous letter from E = mc, the impact on his heart was still severe when this moment actually came.
After a while, he said: "You are indeed..."
"Same as you guys, right?"
"Isn't it?"
"No." Mr. Le smiled, with a bit of nostalgia and a bit of sadness in his smile.
At this time, Leng Ningyun's mind was completely confused. Regardless of whether Shi Weng is another time traveler or Mr. Le is another student of Hale, he cannot understand their motives for kidnapping him at all.
"The reason why I invited Mr. Leng here is to ask you to be a peacemaker." Mr. Le made his purpose clear.
Leng Ningyun laughed: "Mr. Le is joking: Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been any talk of land indemnity and marriage. How can Leng be the peacemaker? Even if the Senate agrees, can the emperor agree?"
"As long as the conditions are right, the Emperor will do anything." Mr. Le said, "You are a senator, one of the distinguished five hundred people. The senators will never sit back and watch your life in danger."
"So, you are going to use me as a hostage to force the Senate to agree to your terms."
Mr. Le smiled slightly and said nothing.
"This is wishful thinking..."
"Not necessarily. After all, the Senate also stationed many elders in the Ming Dynasty, such as the Elder Zhao in Hangzhou... In fact, even in the boundaries of Guangdong and Guangxi, the elders are scattered all over the country, and they may not be able to protect them in a watertight manner. In terms of people, "I, who can guarantee that I will always be safe?" Mr. Le followed the lead.
Leng Ningyun was breaking out in a cold sweat at this moment. Mr. Le looked pleasant, but his words were full of murderous intent. The fear of life he was talking about was probably not simply a house raid and beheading, but a "death penalty" that was more ornamental and deterrent, such as execution at Ling Chi.
Compared with Zhao Yingong, who had a deep connection with the Jin gentry in Jiangnan and existed almost like an independent kingdom, he was indeed the weakest link among all the elders stationed abroad. It is no wonder that Shi Weng and his group would jump over the wall in a hurry and attack him.
He broke out in cold sweat, knowing that he was in great danger. Now he probably understands: Shi Weng Group is not a simple anti-Kon bureaucracy group. Their vision is broader than that of ordinary bureaucrats and gentry, and they have a deeper understanding of the Senate. What is certain is that there is a time traveler who is "guiding the way" for them - but it is not clear whether this person is Hale or someone else.
There is no point in continuing to argue with him. The only thing to do now is to delay time and wait for rescue. He immediately pretended to give in and said: "Since you insist on thinking this way, I can't help it. What do you want me to do?"
Mr. Le nodded: "He who knows the current affairs is a hero." As he said this, he pushed the Four Treasures of the Study from the table and said, "I would also like to ask Mr. Leng to write a letter."
(End of chapter)
