"I don’t trust that old Deng..."
After midday, at the second floor of Yuelai Inn, Yang Ge slouched tiredly in his chair, holding a teacup: "Whether it’s true or not, you go verify it yourself. If there’s a problem, don’t come looking for me..."
Shen Fa sat opposite him, gently moving the lid of his teacup with one hand, showing a contemplative expression. After a long while, he exhaled turbidly and nodded seriously, "I’ll verify it carefully... I’ve put you through a lot of trouble again. After I return to the capital, I’ll report the details to the official family, in full, without omissions. You won’t have shed blood and sweat for nothing."
Yang Ge stared blankly at the room’s beams, replying softly, "If you guys can muster some more fighting spirit, I’d be extremely grateful... I only have one life, don’t pin everything on me. If one day I don’t make it back, you’ll still need a backup plan."
Shen Fa fell silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled bitterly, sighing lightly, "You’ve already done enough!"
Yang Ge looked down at him with curiosity and chuckled, "That doesn’t sound like something you would say."
Shen Fa managed a smile, "I’ve never seen you like this either..."
Upon hearing this, Yang Ge suddenly felt much more at ease: "Alright, go about your business, no need to stick around here with me."
"Then I’ll head back to the capital to make arrangements..."
Shen Fa put down his teacup and stood up, "If there’s anything, send someone to give me a message. Even if I can’t be of much help to you, I can still offer some ideas."
Yang Ge nodded and waved, "Fine, make sure that little bastard Zhao Hong rolls back soon to continue fixing his public toilet, instead of waiting for me to go to the capital and catch him!"
Shen Fa shook his head in amusement, turned around, and left without any hesitation or delay.
Yang Ge watched him leave, surprised that the fellow had actually changed. Given such a great opportunity, he didn’t even try to talk to him about Ming Sect’s matters.
He sipped his tea and pondered for a long while, then suddenly sighed and went downstairs.
Downstairs, the three mahjong tables clattered noisily.
Jiang Kui, Zhou Fu, Wang Cheng and others, burdened with military duties, had left the city before dawn, facing wind and snow.
The only ones left weren’t in a hurry and were still lingering in the inn. Yang Tiansheng was even clamoring to have hotpot tonight...
After looking around, Yang Ge brought a chair over and sat behind Yang Tiansheng, who was playing mahjong with Li Jincheng, Xiang Wudi, and Wu Eryong. While watching him play, he chatted in a low voice, "Big brother, aren’t you in a rush to get back to Bright Summit?"
Yang Tiansheng, focused on his own hand, replied without turning his head, "My father and father-in-law have urgently reached out to all the branches and leaders to discuss the succession of the Sect Hierarch. At such a critical moment, it’s actually better for me not to go back. Although everyone understands the implications, rushing back now would seem too eager for quick success... wait, whose bamboo stick is this? I’m going to make a Kong!"
Yang Ge thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and mumbled to himself that this fellow was starting to act more and more like a head of a household, "But staying holed up here at my place doesn’t seem quite right, does it? I’ve just led people to take down Yang Potian and dismantled Holy Fire Hall; isn’t it time for you to avoid suspicion at this critical point?"
"What? You’re kicking me out?"
Yang Tiansheng glanced at him sidelong, showing not a bit of courtesy or estrangement, "I’ve been attentively looking after your house for half a month, and you want to kick me out before your butt even gets warm?"
Li Jincheng and Xiang Wudi at the mahjong table laughed "hehe," and Wu Eryong practically buried his head under his hand of cards.
"Cut the crap!"
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Yang Ge swore with a laugh, "What do you think I mean? If you have important things to do, just go ahead. That little matter can’t hurt our brotherhood."
"You really undervalue your reputation as ’Second Master,’ don’t you?"
Yang Tiansheng played his mahjong while responding with a teasing tone, "If this had happened to anyone else, even if they were number one in the world, even if they were in the right, their cause would be doomed. We in Ming Sect may not have much, but we do have a lot of tough folks who are not afraid to die. But when it comes to you, this matter is really nothing more than a fart!"
"You executed Yang Potian, and the vast majority of the disciples in the sect think you did well. They say that Yang Potian did unspeakable things, selfishly dragging the whole Ming Sect down with him... I haven’t heard a single whisper of you being ruthless, ungrateful, or treacherous!"
"If you ask me, why are you even running an inn? The moment you join Ming Sect, with just a few words, naught a few hundred thousand Ming Sect disciples would cry and beg to put the seat of the Sect Hierarch right under your ass, with a cushion to boot, for fear that the chair might make your noble backside uncomfortable!"
After his sarcastic and double-edged words, everyone in the front hall couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
They also secretly envied the bond between the two of them...
In all the world, apart from the elder brother of the Liu family, probably only Yang Tiansheng dared to speak to the Second Master like that, right?
Yang Ge laughed and cried at the same time, "Can we not talk about butts today?"
Yang Tiansheng: "Can you not nag while I’m playing mahjong?"
Yang Ge: "Alright, alright... you play."
Yang Tiansheng: "Nine dots!"
Li Jincheng and Xiang Wudi threw down their hands: "Hu!"
The two of them high-fived each other, ecstatic.
Yang Tiansheng: ...
He had a "well" character furrowing his forehead and grumpily said to the opposite Wu Eryong, who was looking nervous, "What are you dazing out for, draw the tile!"
"Oh, oh, oh..."
Wu Eryong meekly drew a mahjong tile, checked it, and played, "Six characters."
"What are you playing six characters for? Aren’t you going for a pure characters hand?"
Li Jincheng curiously leaned over to look at Wu Eryong’s hand, sorted it out, and said, "Are you blind? You’ve already drawn the winning tile!"