Chen Changsheng had no idea why Tang Thirty-Six had come to the old estate, or why he wanted to play this game of mahjong with the Old Master.
It wasn't until Tang Thirty Six stated his request that he finally understood.
Chen Changsheng had brought the Orthodoxy and braved the dangers of coming to Wenshui City. Only by putting on the most unyielding stance did the Tang Old Master change his mind.
Tang Thirty-Six had been released from the ancestral hall, but the Tang Second Master had been imprisoned in some place.
A normal person would probably express their gratitude to Chen Changsheng and those fellows outside the room, and then think about how to repay them in the future. But Tang Thirty-Six was no normal person, and he did not walk the normal path. He was keenly aware that this sort of affection could only be repaid with the Tang clan.
The old estate was very quiet.
The snow on the edge of the well was melted by the sunlight, silently trickling down the walls of the well.
The Tang Old Master expressionlessly said, "If the Orthodoxy ultimately loses this war, no matter how much you understand the Tang clan, without the cards in your hand, how can you threaten me? Since you've been thinking in the ancestral hall for half a year, it's impossible that you haven't thought of this, so just what do you want? "
"I want Second Uncle to die, immediately die, before the sun sets."
Tang Thirty-Six looked into the Tang Old Master's eyes and calmly said, "And then I want the Tang clan to maintain a neutral stance in this war."
The Tang Old Master was quiet for a very long time, then he asked, "If I say no, you will turn those words on the dossier into real means?"
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Correct."
The Tang Old Master looked at the green bamboo tiles on the table and slightly creased his brow. "Your mahjong is truly a mess."
Tang Thirty-Six replied, "Chen Changsheng and I are both young, and so are those people outside the room. Our mahjong skills are naturally inferior to yours. But we have the courage to flip the table at any time, because we can play another game, but you can't, because you're already old. "
The Tang Old Master looked at Tang Thirty-Six and suddenly said, "Did you ever think that perhaps after yesterday, I was already prepared to make you clan head?"
Purely from the perspective of the clan's interests, after yesterday's incident, it now appeared that the best successor to the Tang clan was naturally Tang Thirty-Six.
If Shang Xingzhou and the Imperial Court won, the Tang Old Master still had enough time to change Tang Thirty-Six's mind, or even change the candidate for clan head. If Chen Changsheng and the Orthodoxy won, the Tang Old Master only needed to hand the Tang clan over to Tang Thirty-Six, and Wenshui City would be unaffected.
Chen Chang Sheng didn't think about these things. These things were a bit complicated for him.
He was not good at dealing with the complicated affairs of the world. He was only good at looking at people.
Those days in the Orthodox Academy had made him keenly aware that Tang Thirty-Six did not want to be clan head.
But Tang Thirty Six must have thought of these questions, so why was his attitude so intense today?
"Even if I become the head of the family, it will be many years in the future. I am more concerned about the family's attitude in the next few years."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "And a one-sided promise will never be as firm as an agreement made by two parties under threat."
The Tang Old Master asked, "You don't believe me?"
Tang Thirty-Six said, "So many things have happened. Don't you think the word 'believe' is ridiculous?"
"From the day you were born, you were the next head of the Tang Family that I chose. Don't forget, it's you, not your father! How much have I done so that you could take over as the next Patriarch? How much did the Tang family pay? What about you? You actually foolishly insisted on standing on his side because of your so-called affection! "
The Tang Old Master grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, his voice growing louder and louder. In his final words, he pointed directly at Chen Chang Sheng.
Chen Chang Sheng silently moved to the side, avoiding that finger.
"Is it a foolish sentiment? If not for this affection, I would still be pretending to be mute in the ancestral hall. "
Tang Thirty-Six was finally enraged, yelling, "If Chen Chang Sheng had not been my friend, I would have died three years ago!"
The Tang Old Master angrily said, "Do you really think that I would kill you?"
Tang Thirty-Six sneered, "Of course you would kill me. In any case, you just need to wash your hands and eat a few tables of vegetarian food, and you'll feel that you're innocent!"
This was the second time the term 'vegetarian food' had been used in the Tang clan's old estate.
Yesterday, news had come from the ancestral hall that Tang Thirty-Six had sent someone to Chicken Crow Nunnery to prepare a vegetarian meal.
But before the vegetarian meal could be prepared, everything had come to an end.
Just like yesterday, upon hearing the term 'vegetarian meal', the Tang Old Master's complexion turned abnormally nasty, his hands trembling.
After some time, the Tang Old Master finally calmed down and asked, "How was the taste?"
"That table of vegetarian food was sent into the ancestral hall at night. It's already cold."
Tang Thirty-Six fell quiet for a while, then said, "The taste was ordinary, and it wasn't real meat. It was inferior to the Clear Lake Restaurant of the past, and it was also inferior to the Orthodox Academy's dining hall."
The Tang Old Master was quiet for a very long time, then he said, "Is that so? After I die, I don't know if anyone will be willing to eat it. "
"Grandfather, this is the greatest difference between us."
At this point in this long conversation, Tang Thirty-Six had finally said this word for the first time.
But this word did not warm the mood in the room. On the contrary, it made it even colder, just like what he said next.
"Yes, in order to raise me to be the head of the Tang clan, you truly did treat me extremely well in these twenty-some years. The clan truly did pay a great price, but did you ever think … those were not what I wanted, nor were they what everyone in the clan was willing to accept, like the matter of all the branches having no descendants!"
Tang Thirty-Six angrily said, "Yes, my Tang clan has its own talent in cultivation and longevity. After Sir passes away one thousand years, I will be in complete control of the clan, and the other branches can have as many children as they want. Those younger brothers and sisters are much younger than me, so they can no longer threaten me … but did Sir ever think that this was too ruthless?
"That year, Fourth Aunt secretly got pregnant with a child. Using the excuse that her mother was gravely ill, she returned to her paternal home and hid the child for five months, but in the end, you still found out. You wanted Fourth Uncle to force Fourth Aunt to abort that child! Did you ever think about how much pain Fourth Aunt was in? Compared to that, what do those hostile gazes the chief branch received count for?
"As for the vegetarian meal on Chicken Crowing Mountain … you don't need to worry, because I am not you."
Tang Thirty-Six gave the Old Master a disappointed glance, then got up and walked out of the room.
Chen Changsheng also left.
Only the Tang Old Master was left in the room.
He sat alone at the table, his thoughts a mystery.
Those emerald green bamboo tablets just lay quietly on the table, untouched.
… …
… …
The dark clouds gathered once more, and the surface of the river at night was very quiet, very gloomy.
In the past, the surface of the river would have been illuminated by many lanterns.
Tang Thirty-Six sat by the river, gazing at the pitch-black shore as he thought of those days.
Chen Changsheng was also present. Today, he had once more come to the estate of the chief branch of the Tang clan as a guest, but not as the Pope, but as a friend.
Not long ago, news had come from the old estate that the Tang Old Master had agreed to Tang Thirty-Six's request. Perhaps it was because of that mahjong game, or perhaps it was because of the young man's determination to flip the mahjong table.
Or perhaps it was because of the vegetarian meal from Chicken Crowing Mountain.
Tang Thirty-Six suddenly asked, "Do you want to know this story?"
Chen Changsheng replied, "If you want to tell it."
… …
… …
I was too busy in the afternoon and forgot to update. Today, I'll just update this chapter. I'll be leaving for Hubei tomorrow and there are many matters to take care of at home, so the updates will slow down. Continuing to update twice for a month has made my mental state much better, and everyone finds it rather interesting. This is truly excellent. Thank you, everyone. The updates will only be delayed for a few days. Once the journey is over and I return to my home in Yichang, I will definitely continue to work hard.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
