After the small talk, Li Jincheng and Liu Dongjun made an excuse to leave, giving Yang Ge and Shen Fa the space to themselves.
The two men looked at each other wordlessly in the quiet wooden room, where only the sound of boiling water could be heard.
It wasn’t that there was nothing to say, but rather that there was too much to say, yet they both felt those words seemed unnecessary now.
After a long while, Yang Ge picked up the teacup in front of him and touched it to Shen Fa’s cup as if toasting with wine, "Yuelai Inn... thank you!"
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Shen Fa silently drew a gilded waist badge from his robe and gently placed it on the tea table, then pushed it toward Yang Ge with two fingers.
Yang Ge glanced at it and recognized it as his own badge from when he had been appointed as a commandant for the Imperial Guard... only the characters on the badge had been rubbed off.
Shen Fa looked down as he drank his tea, "Keep it as a memorial."
Yang Ge didn’t touch the badge, but instead joked with a smile, "Such a sloppy job, it doesn’t seem like something Shen would do."
Shen Fa smirked, also laughing, "You think I had a choice?"
Yang Ge asked with interest, "Regretting it now?"
Shen Fa nodded, "Regrets, deep regrets..."
Yang Ge: "Too late!"
Shen Fa: "Indeed, it is!"
The smiles on their faces slowly faded as they both used drinking tea to mask their mixed feelings, though the once sweet aftertaste of the tea now felt bitter, like medicine.
Yang Ge dumped the remaining dregs of tea, grabbed the teapot, emptied out the leaves, washed the pot, refilled it with fresh tea, and continued the process...
"Others may not know, but you should be aware."
He repeated the tea brewing process smoothly, speaking calmly and indifferently, "I have no intention of being an enemy to the Imperial Court, nor do I have any ambitions for power. As long as the court doesn’t provoke me, I think I can live peacefully with it till the end of time."
Shen Fa looked at him, his voice low but firm, "But you should also be aware that even if you do nothing, your mere existence has already endangered the stability and well-being of Wei... Even if a tree wishes for calm, the wind will not cease!"
Yang Ge smiled, "So, because my existence endangers the stability and well-being of Wei, I should just pick up a knife and end it all? Keep your morality-bound arguments to yourself, Shen. If you push me to that point, the Imperial Court won’t fare well either."
Shen Fa kept his eyes fixed on him, "I didn’t mean to morally bind you, I know you won’t fall for that anymore, but the current turmoil is indeed caused by you alone, Yang Ge... Wei’s current prosperity is obtained through the sacrifices and struggles of hundreds of thousands of border soldiers enduring harsh conditions, and countless loyal and diligent officials working day and night; it must not be destroyed by one person!"
Yang Ge was still smiling, "You claim not to morally bind, yet your words bind... Is this prosperity you speak of not due to corrupt officials exploiting the people, or the royal family recklessly exploiting the local areas? Do the border soldiers, who endure ice and sacrifice their lives, agree with your so-called prosperity? Do the loyal and diligent officials, who work tirelessly day and night, truly consider the state and the people?"
Shen Fa picked up his teacup, took a sip of the burning tea, and sighed, "You’re too extreme!"
Yang Ge nodded, "Perhaps I am, but I distantly remember, I wasn’t always this way..."
Once again, the two found themselves with nothing to say.
The clear and light steam of the tea drifted between them, like an invisible barrier.
After a long while, Shen Fa picked up his teacup, signaling to Yang Ge, "Help your brother one more time!"
Yang Ge, with his eyelids lowered, indifferently stirred the teacup in front of him, "How?"
Shen Fa placed his teacup back on the table, and spoke earnestly, "Have you heard the story of Xiang Zhuang performing a sword dance with the aim of killing Duke Pei?"
Yang Ge calmly replied, "Just speak plainly, I can understand."
Shen Fa took a deep breath, speaking slowly, "The premises of ’Lou Wai Lou’ were originally the Zhou Tang Imperial City Division. Wei was established nearly two hundred years ago, yet those remnants still harbor ambitions to restore their former state; currently, they are trying to use you to instigate discord among the martial arts world, but ultimately, they want to provoke confrontation between the four elders of martial arts and the Imperial Court, seeking to gain from the chaos."
Yang Ge looked at him, "Knowing they are loyalists of the former dynasty, why have you left them be, allowing them to stir trouble in secret?"
Shen Fa countered, "Doesn’t everyone know that both the White Lotus Sect and Ming Sect harbor rebellious intentions, yet do they not still exist?"
Yang Ge "Oh"ed, then asked, "Does ’Lou Wai Lou’ also have a Grandmaster presiding over it?"
Shen Fa responded, "Obviously, if ’Lou Wai Lou’ didn’t have a Grandmaster presiding, they wouldn’t dare to malign the heroes of the world."
Yang Ge pondered for a moment, thinking that this ’Lou Wai Lou’ was really following the cunning doctrines closely, then unchangingly nodded and said, "Continue..."
Shen Fa, discretely observing his expression, continued, "The court ordered the Western Factory to take over this case; Wei led people into the Northern Pacification Commission, held a knife to my neck, and criticized our Imperial Guard for being ineffective over the years... I had no option but to give him three strategies."
"Best strategy, another joint law enforcement by the Six Bureaus, bringing in the ancestors from the Imperial Horse Supervision to thoroughly clear the mess and solve the problem once and for all, and incidentally regain the face lost by the court in your case."
"Worst strategy, ’Lou Wai Lou’ can instigate issues through the martial arts hero ranking, so the court can similarly create a China Hero Ranking, Top Hundred Martial Artists list, and expose the ambitions of ’Lou Wai Lou’s’ revered mind and the Five Agents..."