```
Wang Zeng’s character was still a mystery to Yang Ge.
However, he agreed with some of Wang Zeng’s ideas.
Falling behind means getting beaten, an eternal truth through the ages!
But to Yang Tiansheng, just listening to this kind of talk was enough to give him a headache, so feeling mentally exhausted, he picked up his teacup and slid over to the side to sit down, saying listlessly, "We’re supposed to be roaming martial heroes, right? Why are we worrying about national affairs all the time?"
Yang Ge: "Buck up, you’re a rebel, you know!"
With a disdainful "Hmph," Yang Tiansheng replied, "Have you ever seen a rebel hanging out with officialdom folks?"
Yang Ge sat down beside him: "That’s where you’re wrong. Most rebels are deeply entangled with the official folks..."
Yang Tiansheng turned his face away, too lazy to look at him.
Yang Ge patted his shoulder and chuckled lightly, "Don’t be discouraged... I know, you always feel like the world belongs to the Zhao Family, but it doesn’t. It belongs to everyone in this world. We’re not working for the Zhao Family; we’re working for ourselves, for the people we care about and who care about us!"
"There’s a saying: Do good deeds without asking about the future."
"We just need to do what we think is right, do our best to make the world a bit better."
"If... I mean if, the Zhao Family really can’t be supported, then what’s the harm in flipping the world upside down and starting anew!"
Yang Tiansheng cursed in amusement and slapped his thigh. "No wonder everyone else climbs higher when they go into office, but you, Yang Ge, you keep getting demoted. With all these crooked and perverse ideas in your head, you’re even more like a rebel than a rebel like me!"
Yang Ge gave a feigned smile without humor: "You enjoy your cheap laughs!"
After a brief round of laughter, Yang Ge clapped Yang Tiansheng’s shoulder and stood up: "Alright, let’s get to work!"
Yang Tiansheng: "Are you sure?"
Yang Ge: "Yeah, we’ll set the ambush at Wang Zeng’s base, Liede Port."
Yang Tiansheng frowned: "You’d better think it through..."
Yang Ge: "I’ve thought it through. Shuangyu Port for sure has people from Prince Ning, setting the ambush there is too risky. Plus, as Wei’s only port for international trade, Shuangyu Port is too valuable to be destroyed just like that. Let’s go with Liede Port. If Wang Zeng really doesn’t know what’s good for him, just as I helped him to the throne of the Pirate King, I can send him to queue up in the netherworld!"
"Tsk."
Yang Tiansheng suddenly felt a pang of pity for Wang Zeng: "Let’s hope that guy has a clear head and doesn’t provoke you, you obstinate mule who sticks so hard to your guns!"
...
"Wonton, Hangzhou’s time-honored wonton, new guests should absolutely not miss it..."
"Green dates, home-grown green dates, both crunchy and sweet, great deal, customers from the north, come and try..."
An old man and a youngster walked past Liúxiāng Restaurant with their distinctive, melodic pitch of peddling.
Inside the restaurant, a burly man with arms thicker than a normal person’s thigh was sitting cross-legged in an elegantly decorated chamber, tearing into a roasted, oily leg of lamb with his bare hands, with a heavy iron spear adorned with a red tassel resting quietly by his side.
A weathered elderly man in a golden-red outfit entered, advanced to the burly man and whispered, "Young master, I have found out where the Ming Sect people are hiding."
Without looking up, the burly man gruffly responded, "Fu, call back the brothers we’ve sent out."
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The elderly man hesitated for a moment, then said with concern, "Young master, shouldn’t we try diplomacy before resorting to force... to avoid giving people something to talk about."
The burly man, puzzled, glanced at him: "What sort of talk?"
With hesitation, the elder spoke in a low voice, "Aren’t you planning to attack them directly? You always used to do so!"
"Attack?!"
The burly man snorted with a laugh, pointing with a cleanly-gnawed lamb bone toward the still-lingering calls of the peddlers outside the window: "And let the whole Dong River region point their fingers at the Xiang Family’s backbone?"
```
The elder with graying hair: "Ah?"
You would never have considered these things before!
The brawny man grabbed a chunk of roasted lamb and tore off a big mouthful sideways, his lips moving as he rolled strips of lamb into his gaping maw: "I’ve always said that if I wanted to earn the name ’Spear Master,’ I would rightfully challenge Lianhuan Fort. You wouldn’t listen and insisted on using these underhanded methods that can’t be seen in public, resulting in a bloody mess. Now you’re forcing me to go out and save face... Isn’t this just an embarrassing runaround?"
The gray-haired elder, upon hearing this, felt both like laughing and crying and also helpless: "Young master, what’s done is done; dwelling on who’s right and who’s wrong is pointless. The Xiang Family cannot lose face, and the fourth brother’s vengeance cannot go unclaimed. The only plan now is to stand on moral high ground, start with courtesy then proceed to force, and avoid giving others a reason to criticize."
"With your wisdom, sir, how can you believe that our family still has moral high ground to stand on?"
The brawny man looked at the gray-haired elder, puzzled, and spoke unhurriedly: "Not to mention, I have no guarantee of defeating Yang Ge. Even if I could narrowly outmatch Yang Ge under the public eye, do you really think that our peers in the martial community and the elders of Jiangdong will give the Xiang Family a thumbs-up when they recount this event?"
The elder with graying hair did not answer.
He could not answer that question.
He could only change the subject: "Then, young master, what do you think our Xiang Family should do in this situation?"
The sturdy man steadily stuffed pieces of lamb into his mouth, and after a long while, he suddenly said: "Aren’t Yang Erlang and Yang Tiansheng currently slaughtering the Japanese pirates? What if I joined them now in slaying the pirates?"
The gray-haired elder was completely baffled: "Ah?"
"After the deed is done..."
But the brawny man, as if he had already made up his mind, continued at his own pace: "I will then set up a challenge against Yang Erlang. Regardless of who wins or loses, our peers in the martial community and the elders of Jiangdong will surely give the Xiang Family a thumbs-up when they speak of us, and our family’s honor will be restored!"
The gray-haired elder’s thoughts were completely frozen: "Huh?"
The brawny man continued: "If Yang Erlang is just a fraud, I will kill him, and that will avenge my uncle. If Yang Erlang is truly as strong as the rumors suggest, losing to him won’t make much difference, will it?"
Finally, the elder with graying hair came to his senses, raised a thumb to the young man: "The old patriarch’s foresight is truly as unparalleled as ever, young master, you truly are the Qilin of the Xiang Family!"
"Qilin?"
The brawny man laughed casually, thinking to himself: ’There’s no Qilin that can be trained in a courtyard...’
The gray-haired elder let out a long breath as if he had dropped a heavy stone, straightened his back and said: "Just command me on what to do, young master!"
After pondering for a moment, the brawny man spoke softly: "I recall, we have a capable force in Shaoxing."
The gray-haired elder nodded: "Inside the ancestral lands of Kuaiji, there indeed is a force of elite soldiers."
The brawny man: "How many?"
The gray-haired elder: "Not many, only about three hundred, but they are all skilled in martial arts and experts in battle formations!"
The brawny man: "Bring them here."
The gray-haired elder: "All of them?"
The brawny man: "All of them!"
After hesitating for a moment, the elder stamped his foot and said: "I will go and send the message immediately. They can reach Hangzhou in no more than four days!"
With that, he turned and walked briskly towards the door.
The brawny man called out loudly: "Have your meal before you go..."
The elder with graying hair, without turning back, waved his hand: "No need to eat!"
Watching the elder’s figure quickly disappearing into the distance, the brawny man chuckled lightly: ’You don’t really want to face off against Yang Erlang, do you?’
He turned his head, listening to the cries of the hawkers outside the window, and mumbled with a smile tugging at his lips: "In such a tumultuous golden age like this, how could I let you two have all the limelight?"
"Yan Bufan, this time I’m taking the lead..."