When he returned to the countryside with Meng Sui, Meng Zhong saw Meng Hu standing on the side of the road waiting for him.

Different from the unreliable Menghu in the past, today's Menghu wears leather armor and a portable sword hanging from the hook on his waist, which is already decent and has a bit of martial spirit.

"Ah Zhong."

Walking forward a few steps, Meng Hu hugged Meng Zhong and Meng Sui, and then said with a smile: "I've been waiting for you here for a long time, how is it, Master?" ”

Hearing this, Meng Zhong couldn't help but think of the bamboo slips in his arms again, and said in a somewhat moved and excited tone: "Luckily, the master did not expel me from the master's sect, but recognized me as a disciple. ”

"Really?" Meng Hu's eyes widened, and he was happy for Meng Zhong in his heart.

Regarding Zhuangzi's admission of himself as a disciple at this time, Meng Zhong naturally guessed the intention, which was nothing more than that the master wanted to use his reputation to protect him as much as possible - not to mention far away, let's just say that the Meng clan, whether it was the young sect master Meng Hu or the family Sima Mengqing, did they dare to let Meng Zhong, who was a disciple of Zhuangzi, get into danger? Still not protected well?

This heart of licking calves touched Meng Zhong doubly.

Since he had received the support of his mother Ge and the tacit approval of his mentor Zhuangzi, Meng Zhong told the two elders Meng Jian and Meng Yan of his decision, but they were resolutely opposed by the two elders.

Elder Meng Jian is the most opposed to Meng Zhong serving in the army, after all, there is only one heir left in the old Meng Shu family, if there is any accident in this son, how will he face Meng Zhong's grandfather, that is, his former friend Meng Shu?

What's more, Meng Zhong had already been recognized by Zhuangzi and was already a veritable disciple of this Zhuangzi, so what reason did he have to send this sage's disciple to the battlefield?

But in the end, Meng Zhong still persuaded the two elders, Meng Jian and Meng Jin.

In the end, Meng Yi said with emotion and guilt: "Ah Zhong, your mother and son can't bear to set foot on the battlefield at a young age, and this heart is remembered by the old man. After that, he told his grandson Menghu and told him to protect Mengzhong.

In this regard, Meng Hu patted his chest and swore that he would agree.

After returning home that night, Meng Zhong told his mother Ge Shi and his sister Meng Yan about the incident.

Ge had already decided to support his son's decision, but Meng Yan never accepted it, and when it came to the excitement, he ran to the inner room and cried alone.

It's no wonder, after all, in the last war, this girl had already lost her biological mother Xiao and her brother Meng Chun, and was finally adopted by the Ge family, and she had the brother Meng Zhong, how could she watch this brother set foot on the battlefield again?

It's a pity that she can't change it.

In the blink of an eye, on the day of the departure of the clan soldiers, Ge and Meng Yan got up early to prepare dry food for Meng Zhong, which could be eaten on the road.

During this period, Meng Yan begged Meng Zhong again: "Brother, can't you not go?" I heard my mother say that you are a disciple of Master Zhuang, so you can not go. ”

Meng Zhong touched her head and said comfortingly: "If I don't go, Meng Fu will have to go instead of me, he is two years younger than me, he is not as good as me in martial arts, and he doesn't know anything about the art of war, if he is allowed to go to the battlefield, this is the danger." As for me, I have been practicing martial arts and studying military books in the past few years, and I have already been prepared, even if I go to the battlefield, I will not be at a loss. Speaking of this, he saw that Meng Yan pouted, and still refused to accept it in his heart, so he said: "I promise you that as soon as the war is over, I will return home immediately, and when I am away, I will ask you to take care of my mother." Also, my donkey, you have to help me take good care of it. ”

Meng Yan nodded in frustration.

Later, with the help of his mother, Meng Zhong put on leather armor.

This leather armor was worn by his father Meng Qu and his brother Meng Bo, who originally felt a little unlucky and wanted to beg the clan to issue a new armor, but Meng Zhong refused.

He smiled and said to his mother: "Mother, the child is a Taoist disciple, and he has his own righteousness in heaven and earth, and all evil cannot be violated. This garment is a relic left by my father and brother, and if my father and brother have a spirit in heaven, they will protect it. ”

Ge Shi felt that it made sense, so he listened to his son's advice and just repaired the damaged parts of his armor.

After the family had eaten, Ge and Meng Yan sent Meng Zhong to the east of the township, where the clan soldiers gathered.

Because "Master Zhuang has recognized Meng Zhong as a disciple" was told to Meng Jian and Meng Ji by the big-mouthed Meng Hu, and Meng Jian and Meng Ji relayed it to the sect master Meng Qi and the young sect master Meng Ji, so when Meng Qi and Meng Ju father and son saw Meng Zhong's family coming, they immediately came over with Meng Jian, Meng Ji and other elders.

"Meng Zhong, it's too late to regret now."

Sect Master Meng Qi said to Meng Zhong euphemistically, thinking that he didn't want Meng Zhong to encounter any accidents, after all, this son was the only disciple recognized by Zhuangzi in the past twenty years, and his value could not be measured by a clan soldier?

"Back to the sect master, Meng Zhong has no regrets."

Meng Zhong hugged his fist towards Meng Qi and said firmly: "I want to see it with my own eyes and experience this war firsthand, which may help me in pursuing the Dao Zhi Zhi in the future." Besides, I also hope to avenge my brother with my own hands. ”

Meng Qi nodded slightly, turned his head to his son Meng Que and said, "Ah Que, this son will be handed over to you." ”

Meng Yu looked at Meng Zhong's calm expression and nodded solemnly, thinking that he also understood the stakes.

After a while, the children of the clan who went out on the expedition arrived one after another, saying goodbye to their relatives, and during this period, Meng Zhong also asked Meng Sui and Meng Yan here, asked Meng Sui to take care of Zhuangzi and his family, and asked Meng Yan to take care of his mother Ge Shi and his donkey Ash.

And at this time, I heard the young sect master Meng Hu shouting not far away: "Meng Zhong, Meng Hu, come to my car!" ”

In the surprised or envious eyes of everyone, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu boarded Meng Hu's chariot and stood on the latter's left and right.

This treatment is undeniably higher than that of the original Mengbo.

After standing on the chariot, Meng Zhong looked around, looking for Ge Shi, Meng Yan, Meng Sui and others in the crowd, and after saying goodbye a little bit, he turned his eyes to the army he was in.

This time, his Mengshi clan sent troops, which is also a ten-times army, that is, seven hundred and fifty soldiers, I have to say, this is already the last strength of his Mengshi clan, and about seventy percent of the young and strong men of the Mengshi clan are all here.

"Let's go!"

With Meng Hu's order, ten chariots moved slowly, and seven hundred and fifty clan soldiers, including two hundred Meng clansmen, slowly left the countryside under the escort of a group of people.

During this period, Meng Zhong looked back from time to time, and vaguely saw Ge Shi following the team with the support of Meng Yan and Meng Sui, and the feeling of parting made him quite reluctant.

"Now that you've made a decision, don't look back, it's only sad."

Meng Yu noticed Meng Zhong's movements and reminded lightly.

"Yes."

Meng Zhong nodded, feeling that the young sect master's words were very reasonable.

About an hour or so, the clansmen who were following the clan soldiers to see each other off gradually disappeared, thinking that they should have been persuaded to go back by the sect master Meng Qi and the elders such as Meng Jian and Meng Jin, which allowed Meng Zhong to finally put away his sadness and experience this journey carefully.

Unlike the previous time, the clan soldiers of the various families in the last time converged in the Shangqiu area and then went to Pengcheng.

But this time, Meng Hu directly took this group of clan soldiers to Pengcheng.

As for the reason, it is nothing more than that the families are resistant to Song Wangyan's re-conscription, and the action is delayed, and Meng Hu does not want to be dragged down by them.

From Jingbo to Pengcheng, counting the factors such as road twists and turns, there are about six or seven hundred miles away, and it took them more than two months to arrive at Pengcheng at the beginning, because it was a cold winter, the weather was cold, and the road was full of snow, and now it is June and July, naturally it does not take so long, and it will be almost ten days after a full fight.

And Meng Zhong and Meng Hu, as the armor soldiers on the Menghu chariot, were even more relaxed during the journey, just sitting on the car, unlike those clansmen who rushed on foot, who needed to rely on their own legs to work hard.

It is worth mentioning that during this period of travel, Meng Hu taught Meng Zhong and Meng Hu to drive the chariot.

After Meng Hu's explanation, the two of them understood that it was only a march now, so Meng Hu, as the "soldier" of this army, it didn't matter if he personally drove the chariot, but if he was on the battlefield, Meng Hu had to look at the battlefield, and when the time came, Meng Zhong and Meng Hu would have to be one person responsible for driving the chariot and the other person responsible for protecting Meng Hu - of course, with Meng Hu's identity, there would basically be no need for Meng Zhong or Meng Hu's protection.

In view of Meng Hu's interest in driving the chariot at the front of the procession, the matter of driving was entrusted to Meng Hu, and Meng Zhong took advantage of his free time to read the letters sent to him by his brother and recorded his journey on a new cloth, so that he would later be sent to the countryside and handed over to his mother and sister, so that they would not be remembered.

On the 12th of July, after a full fourteen-day journey, the Mongol soldiers finally arrived in Pengcheng.

As Meng Bo said in his previous letter to his family, as the current capital of the Song Kingdom, Pengcheng has a scale no less than Dingtao and Shangqiu, and even if you look at it from a distance, you can feel the majestic city wall of Pengcheng.

After arriving outside Pengcheng, the officials sent from the city received the Mengshi soldiers, during which the city sent some dry food, wine and meat, and young women, so that the army could be set up outside the city and renovated.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Meng Zhong made a plea to Meng Yu to enter the city: "Young Sect Master, while the clan is resting, I want to visit a virtuous brother in Pengcheng, which is also what the master meant. ”

Of course, Meng Yu would not stop it, after all, he could also guess who Meng Zhong was going to visit - that is, Huizi's clan, the important minister of Song Wangyan's side, Hui An.

Although Hui Ang has now been replaced as the prime minister by a Zhao man named Qiu He, no one can deny that Hui Ang is one of the most trusted ministers of Song Wangyan, and he is by no means an outsider like Qiu He can replace him.

If Meng Zhong can establish a relationship with Hui An, this will be a good thing for both Meng Zhong and the Meng family.

So Meng Hu immediately called five clansmen and asked them to protect Meng Zhong and Meng Hu, and went into the city to pay a visit to Hui An.

"Hui An, the important minister beside Song Wangyan, what kind of person is that?"

During the passage into the city to meet Hui An, Meng Zhong secretly thought to himself that he had a great curiosity about Hui An, whom he had never met.

After all, Hui Ang was the only one who had been able to persuade Song Wangyan to give up his military brutality so far, and probably the only one who had a huge influence on Song Wangyan today.