949 The New Commander-In-Chief (2/2)
Meng Mingshu was also amazed. He had merely sent a visitor card to this new Central Plains official by convention. Unexpectedly, he was the first one to be received.
Fortunately, the Bodhi Garden was not far away from the mansion, so Meng Mingshu arrived soon. He was panting heavily, but mostly due to nervousness.
Pointing at his face, Pang Jing laughed. ”I'm so sorry. Originally, I was too embarrassed to meet people, but given the fact that the Meng family's relationship with the Central Plains, especially with the Pang family, is special, I think that there's no need to regard you as an outsider.”
Organizing the small countries in the Western Regions and paying tributes to the Central Plains on a regular basis had been one of the core businesses of the Meng family. The value of the reward that the Meng family received from the Central Plains was always far higher than that of the tributes, so it was a very lucrative business. To keep this business, the Meng family had spent a lot of money broadening their contacts, which was why they were on good terms with a lot of officials. As the most powerful family related to the Empress Dowager, the Pang family had naturally benefited a lot from this.
Meng Mingshu never expected that the Pang family would value their relationship so much. Though he was overwhelmed by this unexpected favor, he was still vigilant. After incoherently thanking Pang Jing, he started talking about the decline of the Meng family as well as the poverty he was in, bemoaning it repeatedly.
Pang Jing indeed didn't regard him as an outsider. Like an old friend, he tried to console Meng Mingshu and was especially interested in the robbery that the Meng family had suffered. ”It is theoretically impossible to keep an operation of that scale secret. How haven't you identified the culprit yet?”
Meng Mingshu was unwilling to talk about this issue, so he answered perfunctorily, ”As the saying goes, 'When the tree falls, the monkeys will scatter.' The Meng family has declined and all of its servants have left. I can't even defend myself, so how am I supposed to investigate this? Besides, Jade City is different from the Central Plains, and it's even more different from the other countries of the Western Regions. It could literally be deemed as unruly. Strength is everything here. Given the current situation the Meng family is in, I'd rather not know who those robbers are.”
Pang Jing laid his right hand on Meng Mingshu's shoulder in a cordial manner. ”Things are different now. I came here with the most important task of selecting the Lord of Jade City and bringing order and rules to this city. I'll find out who robbed the Meng family and then bring them to justice. You have my word.”
Meng Mingshu awkwardly thanked him for his kindness, feeling that this new official was too young and inexperienced.
Pang Jing walked Meng Mingshu to the gateway of the mansion and then whispered into his ears, ”Please remember my words, Young Master Meng. The Meng family is very important to the Central Plains. I won't let the one who bullied the Meng family get away. As long as you give me a clue, then no matter how powerful that person is, and no matter where he's hiding the Meng family's wealth, I'll muster all of the Central Plains troops stationed in the different areas of the Western Regions to get it back for you.”
Meng Mingshu nearly knelt down in public, his eyes brimming with tears when Pang Jing expressed his support for him.
After returning home with a mixed expression on his face, he immediately wrote a letter and had one of his henchmen deliver it to Xiao Fengchai, who was living in southern Jade City, asking her to report it to the Dragon King. He had entrusted the Dragon King with the future of the Meng family, so he didn't want that white-faced young man with a suspicious mind to misunderstand him.
However, sitting in his room alone, Meng Mingshu was slightly regretful. If he had known that the Central Plains valued the Meng family so much, he wouldn't have cooperated with the Dragon King…
The second person that Pang Jing received surprised Jade City even more. He didn't even wait in the mansion of the Governor for the guest to come. Instead, he directly went to the Essence Pavilion in Retention Alley himself to meet the Master Commander of the Waning Moon Hall.
It had been only less than a month since the Waning Moon Hall had made its existence known to the public. Nobody knew why Pang Jing put so much store by this organization.
This meeting lasted for almost two hours. Nobody knew the details of it. The disciples of the Waning Moon Hall all kept it a secret, and all Pang Jing's attendants were ordered to stay outside the building. None of them went inside with the general.
After the meeting, Pang Jing didn't stay in southern Jade City. He went back to northern Jade City and received a few more visitors. It was not until night fell that the mansion of the Governor quieted down.
Large numbers of related intelligence reports were delivered to the camp of the Dragon Army, waiting for the Dragon King and Zhong Heng to analyze them. But one of those visits was covert and no inside information had been disclosed, so the Dragon King naturally had no idea what it was about.
Having been waiting in the bedroom for a long time, Luo Qikang respectfully bowed to the new commander-in-chief.
Pang Jing was very excited. The smile pulled on his frostbitten face again and he grimaced, which made his face look a little weird, but the pain was nothing compared to his heartfelt enthusiasm. He strode to the swordsman of the Luo family in two steps and gave him a big hug.
It was them who truly were old friends.
”It's time we made some achievements,” said Pang Jing with an ardent look in his eyes.
By comparison, Luo Qikang was much more composed. ”I just want to know whether we're to let loose now. I've been waiting here for too long. My sheathed sword is growing rusty.”
Pang Jing walked to the doorway, looked around, turned around, and then said in a low voice, ”To our enemies, we can do whatever we want. To our friends, we must offer our full support.”
”Who are our enemies? And who are our friends?”
”You will find out tomorrow.”