"Dad, I’m back..."
Yang Tiansheng strode into his own study, flopped down carelessly into the Taishi Chair, and leaning against its back, he muttered, "That was exhausting... Fu, make me a bowl of tea."
Behind the writing desk, Yang Yinghao, dressed in a round-collar home casual suit, put down the writing brush in his hand, casually picked up the teacup beside him, and asked in surprise, "Why are you back so soon? Didn’t you meet Erlang?"
"I did."
Yang Tiansheng tilted his head back and said languidly, "But I hadn’t even stayed for two days when the Sect Hierarch urgently summoned me back to face the treacherous elders of the Five Poisons Cult... Don’t you know about this?"
Yang Yinghao’s face darkened, he heavily placed the teacup back on the writing desk, and with dissatisfaction, he coldly said, "The Sect Hierarch is becoming more and more outrageous!"
Yang Tiansheng pursed his lips and made a "tsk" sound, not wanting to rub salt into his old father’s wounds.
Yang Yinghao glanced at him, "Did you figure it out? That day at Bright Summit, was it really Erlang who lent you a helping hand?"
"Who else could it have been?"
Yang Tiansheng burst into laughter, "He still wouldn’t admit it, but how clever is your son? I tricked him into confessing after just a few words!"
"So it really was him..."
Yang Yinghao clicked his tongue, feeling a surge of emotions for a moment.
Previously, he and Yang Tiansheng had secretly speculated about that battle atop Bright Summit; they both felt it could only have been Yang Erlang, but speculation was one thing, and confirmation another.
He thought about his own friendship with Yang Potian, having grown up together since childhood; Yang Yinghao always considered himself to have treated Yang Potian with nothing but sincerity.
But why is there such a disparity between friends?
"Right, Dad, Ge thinks that if our sects keep clamoring on like this, sooner or later it will lead to big chaos. He wants to act as a middleman for our sects, find a time for the heads of the sects to sit down together over a cup of tea and have a chat."
Yang Tiansheng straightened up, pretending as if he had just remembered this issue, and with a beaming face, he said, "I was thinking, you’ve been around the martial world for many years, Dad, with many friends and a big face, so I wanted to trouble you to extend an invitation on behalf of Ge to the heads of the sects... What do you think, do you have the time?"
Yang Yinghao glanced at him and said with a scoff, "Don’t pull that one on me, I’m not so old that I need you young ones propping me up..."
Yang Tiansheng quickly shook his head, "How could that be! I’m sincerely asking for your help, Dad. Perhaps outsiders don’t understand your son, but don’t you? Asking your son to go fight someone, no problem at all, but managing a tea party... Isn’t that making things difficult for your son? And this matter involves Yang Ge’s face, it’s not good to trouble others, and he calls you uncle, so it would be perfect if you personally took charge!"
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Yang Yinghao snorted with laughter, ignoring his ever more crafty and cunning son, and absentmindedly took a couple of sips from his teacup, then suddenly asked, "Erlang has a spotless reputation, why would he think of getting involved in this messy business? Did you little scamp cause trouble for someone again?"
"I didn’t want to trouble him either..."
Yang Tiansheng protested, "But he said that since I bear the title of the young hierarch of the Ming Sect, I must do what a young hierarch should do. If I keep allowing the sect brothers to harm the common folk in the south, eventually all sins and debts will be attributed to me. He felt that since he persuaded me to stand up and deal with this messy business, it wouldn’t be right for him to just stand by and watch, and insisted on acting as a middleman for our three sects."
"I told him not to wade into this muddy water, but he wouldn’t listen!"
After listening, Yang Yinghao silently sipped his tea for a long time, and only after a while did he say with emotion, "Yang Erlang is indeed Yang Erlang, he looks at problems differently from us folks of the martial world..."
Yang Tiansheng nodded in agreement, "Ge is indeed beyond reproach, it’s just a pity that he and little sister don’t see eye to eye. If he could enter our family, how great that would be!"
Yang Yinghao, upon hearing this, also sighed helplessly, "Matters of men and women really can’t be forced... Alright, you better watch that mouth of yours, don’t bring up Erlang in front of your little sister, she’s not young anymore, don’t mess up her chance at a good marriage."
"Who mentioned it? Do you really think I’m clueless?"
Yang Tiansheng refused to take the blame but then sighed heavily, "But having seen someone as remarkable as Yang Ge, how could any ordinary man catch her eye? The martial world is vast, but besides me, where else can you find a man that compares to Yang Ge..."
Yang Yinghao felt his fists clenching, "Don’t you have anything serious? If not, get out and stop disturbing my meditation!"
"I do!"
Yang Tiansheng hastily sought to please, "I’m discussing my little sister’s lifetime happiness with you, what’s the rush..."
Yang Yinghao’s forehead creased with a big "well" character [井], "Speak if you have something to say, fart if you have to fart, and if you keep babbling, watch out or I’ll beat you!"
"Yes, yes, yes, who else but you is Dad..."
Yang Tiansheng sat up straight and seriously said, "Dad, the matter of accepting the government’s amnesty has been argued about within the sect for so long, and not only is there no result, there’s even a tendency for big issues to fade into nothing... The Sect Hierarch has had me scurrying all over the southeast these days, surely you can see through the game he’s playing?"
Yang Yinghao’s anger in his brows eased, and pondering, he asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Yang Tiansheng thought for a moment, then said, "Dad, among those in the sect who have a say, who isn’t wealthy with abundant provisions? Expecting these people to give up their power and let their followers surrender to the imperial court... unless they’re pushed to the brink, I’m afraid we’d have to wait for rivers to run backwards!"