"All of you didn't come to Wenshui City to investigate anything. You only wanted to use this matter to display your strength and shake my position in Father's heart. At present, the Li Palace does not support me, Holy Maiden Peak does not support me, Scholartree Manor does not support me, Mount Li does not support me, and now, even the Qiushan clan does not support me. You also say that I colluded with the demons and ruined my reputation. Even if I don't care and no one dares to mention it afterwards, Father will still have to consider these things. "
The Tang Second Master turned to Chen Changsheng and said, "In truth, you're much smarter than the common people and believers believe you to be. And there's also Qiushan and that nephew of mine. Although you're young, your methods are truly not lacking. I consider myself to be shrewd and ruthless, but it seems that I truly have been forced into a rather sorry state by all of you. It will be rather troublesome to resolve the current situation."
Chen Changsheng asked, "Can I understand this as you admitting to colluding with the demons?"
The Tang Second Master laughed, but he still did not make a sound. Then his smile faded and he looked at the crowd like they were idiots. "I naturally won't admit to colluding with the demons, and even if I did, so what? Do all of you really think that you can exterminate the entire demon race? In the end, there will still be a truce. How can you obtain a lasting peace? It's just trade and exchange, and I'm just doing some work ahead of time. "
The crowd fell silent, the old estate once more falling silent.
After some time, Chen Changsheng said, "Your view is actually reasonable, but in the current situation, your actions are wrong."
"What's wrong? My father taught us from childhood that the Tang clan is a merchant, and merchants are merchants. What we want is money. "
The Tang Second Master mocked, "Is there any kind of money that's even dirtier?"
At this moment, a voice rang out.
"There are times when merchants can't just be merchants."
The speaker was the Tang Old Master.
His gaze fell on the snowstorm outside the room, perhaps recalling that snowstorm in Luoyang many years ago.
"There are some things that you might be right to do several hundred years from now, but if you do them now, you are wrong."
… …
… …
The Tang Old Master's words were the conclusion of this matter.
It was obvious that the Tang Second Master had not expected his father to say this.
He calmly gazed at the Tang Old Master, not angry, not despairing, only gazing.
Then he once more gave a noiseless laugh, still brimming with derision and malice, but this time, it was tinged with exhaustion and relief.
The conclusion had been made, so what would be the ending?
What happened next was an internal affair of the Tang clan. Linghai Zhiwang, Zhexiu, and the others withdrew from the old estate. Besides the Tang Old Master and his son, only Chen Changsheng remained.
The Tang Old Master looked at the Tang Second Master and said, "When you were little, I said many things to the two of you, some of which you still remember to this day, such as the words you said just now. Then do you still remember what I once said to the two of you? Why has the Tang clan, the Qiushan clan, the Wu clan, and the Mutuo clan been able to continue for so many years, never once having their path broken?"
The Tang Second Master gazed out at the snowstorm and said, "Because our clans have never experienced internal strife."
The Tang Old Master did not care that his back was to him. "Correct, for clans like ours, no matter how great the storm is outside, we don't need to care, but if it begins to rot from within, then it's very dangerous. Think of those clans of Tianliang County, at their peak like blazing suns in the sky, but now they're all gradually withering away. Only the Chen clan sits on the imperial throne, but because of internal strife, they've almost been exterminated several times. Thus, our four clans are the most wary of this matter, and have thought of countless methods. I once believed that my method was correct. Before Brother Tang took charge of the clan, I would not allow any of your branches to have descendants, so as to cut off your thoughts, and also cut off any spying gazes that might be cast upon you. "
The Tang Second Master turned to his father and expressionlessly said, "But did Sir ever think that this is very unfair to us?"
"Correct, it truly is very unfair, but right now, you have no right to say this." The Tang Old Master also expressionlessly said, "Because I later changed my mind and wanted to pass the clan to you. You now have descendants, so I don't understand why you still poisoned your elder brother."
The Tang Second Master remained silent, saying nothing.
The Tang Old Master continued, "Of course, it doesn't matter even if I poisoned him. Just as you said, our Tang clan is a merchant. For the sake of money, what can't we do?"
The Tang Second Master knew that his father had not finished speaking, so he still maintained his silence.
"But you were in too much of a hurry."
The Tang Old Master looked at him and sincerely said, "Before doing these things, did you ever ask me a single question? Did you even try to test my feelings? "
The Tang Second Master could no longer maintain his silence, because he truly wanted to laugh. Thus, he laughed and asked, "Was there a need?"
Perhaps it was his attitude or his words that infuriated him, but the Tang Old Master's face instantly chilled as he harshly rebuked, "What do you think? Is this your Tang clan or my Tang clan? In the future, it will assuredly be your Tang clan, but right now, it is still mine! Since it is my Tang clan, what right do you have to hide it from me and do so many things! "
The Tang Second Master calmly gazed at him. After a very long time, he finally mocked, "As expected."
It was hard to tell if he was mocking himself or mocking the world.
The Tang Old Master asked, "What did you say?"
"It's useless to say anything, because it's all fake. Father, what you need is not reason, only reverence. You only want to maintain your mysteriousness, hiding in the old estate every day and playing mahjong. Naturally, these sons and stewards will help you manage the family business. If they do well, they'll be praised, but if they do badly, they'll be thrown away like a rag."
The Tang Second Master looked at his father and sorrowfully said, "Yes, besides caring about whether the Tang clan is your Tang clan or not, what else do you need to care about?"
The Tang Old Master slightly narrowed his eyes. "That's because you've done things that I cannot tolerate."
"Cannot tolerate?" The Tang Second Master suddenly raised his voice. "Didn't you just say that as long as the family business did not fail, it didn't matter if you were poisoned to death!"
The Tang Old Master expressionlessly replied, "I can say this, but you can't do this. Don't you understand this?"
The Tang Second Master coldly replied, "Because I'm too ruthless? Principal Shang thinks highly of me and is willing to use the power of the Imperial Court to support me, isn't it precisely because I'm very similar to you, both so ruthless? "
The Tang Old Master narrowed his eyes even more. After a moment of silence, he said, "Today, you have disappointed me the most with these words."
The Tang Second Master's face was brimming with derision, but he did not reply.
The Tang Old Master continued, "I have known Shang for several centuries, and we are truly kindred spirits. I know of his strength, his mental strength, and when you said these words, it meant that you had already mentally submitted to him. The Tang clan can only cooperate with him. If this continues, you will bring the Tang clan to its grave."
The Tang Second Master's eyes also narrowed at these words.
"Then what about you? Did you really think about handing the Tang clan to me? "
His voice also sank, but it was not calm, as if it contained many years of hatred. "Yes, in these three years, you thought about it, but in the end, you made up your mind because I used poison to cripple Big Brother, because that grandson you placed such high hopes on was stupid enough to insist on standing on Chen Changsheng's side. You were forced to choose me."
The Tang Old Master asked, "If I don't give this clan to you, who can I give it to?"
"Who can I give it to?" The Tang Second Master crazily laughed, a rare sound escaping his lips. "Hahahaha … who can I give it to?"
He angrily yelled, "Did you really think that I didn't know that that fellow came to the old estate three days ago? Did you tell me about this? No! Because you were afraid that I and the Imperial Court would move against him, because this is Wenshui City! You still hold out hope for him, right? After all these years, you still think that I'm inferior to him, right? But don't forget that his surname is Wang, not Tang! Just who is your son! "
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