38: Chapter 38 Unique to China - Imperial Censor

The suspicion value of the patrolling soldiers before them had reached a terrifying 91, and at this moment, a look of despair appeared on Xiao Zhenghong's face.

Just then, Chen Aoyun gritted his teeth, quickly determined an 'identity' for himself, and spoke to the patrolling soldiers in front of him:

"I am an 'Imperial Censor' traveling incognito! The military discipline of the West Mountain Camp is lax, and there are rumors of unauthorized women being brought into the camp. I am fulfilling my duty to investigate this matter in secret. Why have you not yet withdrawn!"

When Chen Aoyun spoke these words, it was as if he had suddenly touched upon something between heaven and earth.

Time and space became viscous at this moment.

He could hear no sound, and there was nothing wrong with his body, yet Chen Aoyun felt a sudden urge, as if an invisible will was prompting him:

"What kind of 'Imperial Censor' are you?"

"Why is it forbidden to bring unauthorized women into the army?"

Chen Aoyun couldn't help but reflect on his understanding of the Huaxia Civilization military system.

He didn't need to explain out loud; Chen Aoyun simply recalled his personal understanding of the Huaxia Civilization military system silently in his heart...

It seemed to have been a long time, yet it also seemed like only an instant.

Something in Chen Aoyun's heart let out an "Oh." It was as if it had acknowledged what Chen Aoyun was thinking.

The air became less viscous, time ceased to slow down, and everything returned to normal.

The only difference was that the patrolling soldiers, who had been ready for battle, instantly became less aggressive and even wore flattering expressions.

"So it is the Imperial Censor conducting a secret inspection of military discipline! A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, it is all a misunderstanding! Why are we still pointing our weapons at you, my lord? Quickly, quickly, put the weapons away. Imperial Censor, we have offended you; please do not blame us. Please continue your secret inspection; we have seen nothing..."

[Suspicion Value - 10... Suspicion Value - 10... Suspicion Value - 10...]

The suspicion value, which had already soared to 91, had actually been cleared to zero after just a few words from Chen Aoyun!

It wasn't just Chen Aoyun's suspicion value that was cleared; even the patrolling soldiers' suspicion value toward Xiao Zhenghong had dropped to zero!

This scene left Xiao Zhenghong completely dumbfounded.

Still confused about what was going on, Xiao Zhenghong then heard Chen Aoyun ask the patrolling soldiers.

"I am conducting a secret inspection of military discipline. I had clearly already walked around you patrolling soldiers; how could I still be discovered by you?"

This question was quite abrupt, just like asking, 'I am causing trouble, why did you discover me?'

With such an abrupt question asked, was he not afraid that the patrolling soldiers he had just appeased would become suspicious again?

No! Far from having any suspicions, the patrolling soldiers in front of them replied respectfully:

"It is normal that you did not discover us, my lord. Recently, assassinations targeting the generals of the West Mountain Camp have been very frequent. We are acting under the orders of our Commander to lie in ambush, guarding against any petty thieves who might appear."

So they had set up hidden sentries in advance; no wonder he hadn't noticed them earlier. After pondering this for a moment, Chen Aoyun waved his hand and told these people to withdraw.

After the patrolling soldiers respectfully withdrew, Xiao Zhenghong immediately leaned in, looking curious.

"Strategist, you are amazing! How did you make the suspicion value return to zero with just a few words? And how did you make those patrolling soldiers so respectful of you?"

Chen Aoyun explained:

"Wasn't my identity always in a 'pending' state? The situation was urgent just now, so I thought quickly and selected my identity as 'Imperial Censor'."

Xiao Zhenghong was even more confused,

"Imperial Censor? The identity you can select cannot exceed mine or Zhao Hongxiu's. Both of our identities are merely minor generals, and our status is not high. If your identity cannot exceed ours, it means the so-called 'Imperial Censor' is not a high-ranking position. Among those patrolling soldiers are the Commander's elite guards; they don't even fear me, a general, so why would they fear an Imperial Censor like you?"

"Also, your excuse was very strange. Secret inspection? Unauthorized women? Isn't an Imperial Censor only responsible for supervising battles and preventing deserters? Why can your Imperial Censor role manage military discipline too? Managing discipline is one thing, but isn't bringing women a matter for other generals to decide for themselves? Why would an Imperial Censor have the authority to overstep so much?"

While signaling for Xiao Zhenghong to head to the next military tent, Chen Aoyun explained,

"Because I am utilizing the 'skin of Huaxia Civilization'! Combining this with what Zhao Hongxiu told me—'the skin of a civilization can also be utilized'—I have a bold hypothesis: just like how Heroic Spirit skills can create 'concepts' as long as they don't violate the 'Grand Rules'. In the plot walkthrough, as long as I do not violate the main storyline or rules strongly associated with the plot, I can use the 'skin of Huaxia Civilization' to make the unreasonable reasonable."

"That's right, the status of an 'Imperial Censor' is not high, and in terms of rank, it might not even surpass you, a minor general. But under the interpretation of 'Huaxia Civilization', the identity I 'molded' for myself is 'Imperial Censor'! In Huaxia Civilization, 'Imperial Censor' is not a fixed official position with a unified grade; it could be first-rank, ninth-rank, or even have no rank at all. Molding such an official position first complies with the hard constraint that 'my identity cannot be higher than yours or Zhao Hongxiu's'."

"Secondly, while this 'Imperial Censor' does not have a high rank, its status is extremely high! 'Imperial Censor' is a 'delegated mission' position, and its core is representing the Emperor in supervising the army! I represent the Emperor; in terms of managing military discipline, I am a walking Imperial Sword! Never mind the Commander's elite guards; even if the Commander himself came, if I used this identity as an excuse to wander around, he should not raise his suspicion value toward me!"

"As for the question of whether or not one can bring women into the camp, it is the same principle. By pulling over the skin of Huaxia Civilization and using ancient Huaxia military discipline to constrain the West Mountain Camp, bringing women naturally becomes a violation of discipline, a matter that requires me, the 'Imperial Censor', to supervise!"

Xiao Zhenghong listened, feeling completely lost in the clouds; although he had many questions, he understood the general idea.

After understanding, Xiao Zhenghong's admiration for Chen Aoyun deepened even further.

Chen Aoyun felt a bit embarrassed and replied sheepishly, "Actually, this was a desperate risk on my part. If I hadn't thought of a way in that situation, there would have been big problems. If you really want to admire someone, I should be the one admiring Zhao Hongxiu; if it weren't for her words earlier, I wouldn't have thought of this."

Arriving at another military tent, Chen Aoyun said, "Alright, it's getting late; attending to business is more important!"

They searched for the token in the tent, and not finding it, the two immediately headed to the next tent.

With the identity of 'Imperial Censor', they no longer needed to sneak around, nor did they need to avoid the patrolling soldiers, and their efficiency improved significantly.

But even so, after the two had searched through all the tents of the deceased generals, they still hadn't found the so-called 'token'.

"We didn't find it; what should we do?" Xiao Zhenghong asked.

Glancing at the nightfall, the night was already deep. Chen Aoyun said, "Perhaps Zhao Hongxiu has had some success on her end. Regardless, if we don't go back to sleep at this hour, it will be troublesome!"

[Plot Rule 4: Must return to the camp before nightfall and go to sleep punctually at midnight.]

Xiao Zhenghong returned to his tent and lay down, and Chen Aoyun squeezed in with him.

Without any sleepiness, yet after lying down, the two quickly entered dreamland.

To be precise, after the two closed their eyes, their consciousnesses seemed to arrive at a strange space.

In this space, Zhao Hongxiu was already waiting, and after Chen Aoyun and Xiao Zhenghong appeared here, Fan Ling's figure soon appeared as well.