Chapter 797: Too Late! [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
Shen Tang didn't even look up: "Feeding ants."
Gong Xichou lifted his robe and squatted down as well. Only when he got closer did he realize that there were indeed tiny, dense "red dots" moving on the ground, splitting into several groups, carrying something. Those were a few crumbs of bread that Shen Tang had swept up from the corner of the food table after finishing his breakfast.
She then used them to feed the ants.
Gongxi Chou asked, "What's so good about feeding ants?"
Shen Tang tossed another crumb of bread to the ant: "Isn't this just too boring? Wu Hui and the others are already mature subordinates, able to handle official business and assign tasks themselves. Wei Yuanyuan and Uncle Qian are also mature military officers, able to clear wasteland, cultivate fields, cut through mountains, build canals and divert water... Sigh, isn't this lord of mine just idle? So incredibly bored."
Gong Xichou: "..."
It does sound really boring, and he can empathize with that.
Before Gongxi Chou could volunteer to invite the sacred object itself to play marbles, Chen Tang, who was looking at the ants on the ground, said, "Have you ever thought about what we look like in the eyes of ants?"
Gong Xichou would never think about such a question if he had nothing to do.
However, since Shen Tang had asked, he thought about it.
"Perhaps it's a mountain, perhaps it's a deity. Is the food Mama feeds them a blessing from the gods?" He pondered seriously. "Are we to ants as mountains are to humans? And these mountains must be towering high, invisible to the naked eye?"
Finding food is not easy for ants.
The process of searching for food also involves facing many natural enemies.
Mama casually tossed down a few crumbs of bread, and those crumbs required dozens of ants to carry them back to their nest. They didn't have to risk their lives to easily obtain enough food to last a long time—wasn't that a divine blessing?
Shen Tang looked at the ants working diligently in a long line and left a crumb of bread on their way back to their nest: "What you said makes sense, but I've heard another theory—that they can't actually see us."
Gong Xiqiu asked in surprise, "Can't you see it?"
Shen Tang said, "It is said that in their perception, the world is a flat plane, with only left and right sides and no up or down."
Gong Xichou blinked rapidly, unable to imagine it.
“Small ants can only see a finger or two's width away from you, and even large ants can only see about six inches. Their eyesight isn't enough to see us, and our naked eyes can't see the end of the sky either…” Shen Tang threw the remaining crumbs into the ant colony, clapped her hands, and stood up, asking, “What’s at the end of the sky?”
Gong Xiqiu didn't like thinking about these kinds of questions.
Nobody likes to be an ant, right?
He chuckled and patted Shen Tang on the shoulder: "Want to play marbles?"
Shen Tang asked, "Aren't you bored?"
"I'm bored, and Mama's bored too, perfect!"
Shen Tang was quite skilled at marbles, giving Gong Xichou a sense of satisfaction at meeting a worthy opponent. It was a pity that those were things from many years ago; now it was a good time to relive those moments. Shen Tang, being pushed along by him, chuckled and asked, "Gong Xichou, how old are you now?"
Gong Xichou retorted confidently, "Just because you're older doesn't mean you can't enjoy your old hobbies anymore! That's absurd!"
Let's not talk about now—
Even seventy or eighty years later, he still enjoys playing marbles.
Shen Tang asked, "Can you see it with your own eyes?"
He's blind and still thinks he can beat her?
"I'm blind, not deaf." Hehehe, even a martial arts master can still judge location and distance by relying on hearing and the perception of air movement. Blindness does not affect their performance.
Shen Tang: "..."
She couldn't quite understand why Gong Xichou liked this kind of exercise where he was on all fours with his butt sticking out.
Gong Xichou sat cross-legged on a rock, propping his robe up on his lap to create a platform. He then untied the small cloth bag from his waist and poured out round, plump beads. He counted ten for Shen Tang and ten for himself.
"By the way, Mama, I brought you back a pretty good seedling this time." Gong Xichou handed over the bead and casually mentioned Yun Ce, "Judging from the situation, you should know him."
Shen Tang reached out and took it: "Who?"
It's not easy to get Gong Xiqiu to call a "good prospect".
Gong Xichou said, "His name is Yun Ce."
Shen Tang was quite surprised: "Yun Yuanmou? Didn't he return to Huang Xiguang's command? How did you bring him back? Did you use force to tie him up and bring him back?"
Gong Xichou said, "How could that be? When I found the Luan family's group, he was there too, and he looked quite badly injured."
Shen Tang became increasingly puzzled.
As far as she knew, Yun Ce had been gone for a long time. With his strength, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to find Huang Xiguang's troops. How could he be seriously injured and mixed up with the Luan family's caravan? And how could he have been brought back by Gong Xi Chou? This was completely inconsistent with her understanding of Yun Ce.
Shen Tang chuckled, "Do you know what 'being in Cao's camp but having one's heart in Han' means? Yun Ce is loyal to Huang Xiguang, and Huang Xiguang hasn't done anything to him, so he wouldn't switch sides. He probably had an accident on his way back to the team, and he'll leave again once he recovers. Although I have a good impression of Yun Ce, no matter how good he is, he's still an enemy, and it's too dangerous to keep him by my side..."
Yun Ce knew too much, so she had no choice but to silence him.
Gong Xichou said, "He betrayed Huang Lie."
His words caught Shen Tang off guard, causing her finger to flick off target and miss Gong Xi Chou's bead. Gong Xi Chou happily took the bead from her: "That guy named Luan Xin under Mama's command has a personal guard who keeps praising Mama to Yun Ce. It won't be difficult for you to recruit Yun Ce."
Shen Tang: "..."
Is mutual dedication the only eternal path to success?
Shen Tang said, "Okay, I'll be careful later."
Although she wasn't lacking in martial arts experts after the Dragon Slaying Bureau, Yun Ce was willing to come, so why wouldn't she accept him? Talented people are always welcome, not to mention this kid is handsome. It would be pleasant and pleasing to the eye during morning meetings or battle meetings in the future.
For some reason, she suddenly understood why good looks were one of the requirements for becoming an official. If she were the emperor, seeing all sorts of handsome faces with different styles every day at court, young, old, and old, each with their own charm, she would have the motivation to work 996 every day.
Hehe, she's made up her mind—
Every day of the rest of my life begins with seeing a group of handsome men and beautiful women.
Gong Xichou, unlike Gu Chi, didn't know what Shen Tang was thinking at the moment, and continued, "This Yun Ce has a background."
Shen Tang asked, "What's your background?"
Gong Xichou's aim was as steady as ever. With a crisp sound, the bead in his hand jumped over a stumbling block, flew a beautiful arc, and hit the target: "I wasn't very sure before, but Yun Ce's movement technique matches a passage in the clan records. He also has the surname 'Yun,' which is not a common surname, so it's almost certain that behind him is a nineteenth-rank Guannei Marquis, or even a twentieth-rank Che Marquis."
Shen Tang: "???"
Shen Tang faltered for the second time: "You mean—you want me to use Yun Ce as a connection to win over the people behind him?"
Gong Xichou is overestimating her.
Let alone a 20th-rank Marquis, she couldn't even handle a 19th-rank Marquis within the Passes! Even if she could, she couldn't afford to support him. She lacked both the allure to attract him and the power to suppress him. Couldn't she handle a powerful figure of that caliber on her own?
Gong Xichou turned his face away, his little braid hanging down beside his face, seemingly shocked and puzzled by her answer: "When did I say that? I only told Mama to keep Yun Ce and Xianyu Jian, these two fellow disciples, in check, so that if anything happens in the future, they can be killed!"
Shen Tang: "..."
Why would she kill her own subordinate for no reason?
Gong Xichou: "This guy surnamed Yun is not easy to deal with, and Mama's identity makes it impossible for him to help me."
Shen Tang: "...Why?"
Gongxi Chou replied, "Because he has a feud with the Gongxi tribe, or rather, their relationship is not good. Most importantly, he came from Shiwu a hundred years ago. According to the clan records, his birth mother was from a tribe in Shiwu, but she married into the Northern Desert for political reasons. She lived in the Northern Desert for the first ten years or so, and then, due to some changes, she fled back to Shiwu."
Of course, he was later persecuted and fled into the interior of China.
Although she never returned after that, it was a certainty that Shiwu was her mother clan. On the other hand, didn't Mama have any idea what kind of mess she had made of Shiwu? In addition, she was a sacred object of the Gongxi clan, so the two sides were naturally enemies.
Shen Tang: "...Shi Wu has this kind of connection?"
Why didn't you come out when you attacked Shiwu?
If the Ten Crows truly exist, how can Yonggu Pass still be defended? We can't just remain in seclusion forever, oblivious to everything happening outside.
Gong Xichou nodded firmly: "Yes!"
He then added, "He didn't help Shiwu. It's possible that he has no feelings for Shiwu anymore, or that he simply doesn't know about it, but the most likely reason is that he couldn't come."
Shen Tang: "...Can't come?"
Gong Xichou said, "He's locked up."
There's a strange rule in the clan's regulations: any member of the Gongxi clan must avoid five places when out in the outside world. One of these places is that person's lair. Gongxi Chou had also read the old priest's notes and knew the trickery involved.
Shen Tang: "...Then it doesn't pose a threat to me?"
Gong Xiqiu sighed, "I reckon he won't be locked up for long."
The Gongxi clan is now small, with only a handful remaining. The constraints imposed by the five desolate mountains are gradually weakening, and it's only a matter of time before the old guard emerges. As for what's suppressed beneath the desolate mountains?
Heh heh heh, a hundred years! Even the most tenacious Gu King can only survive with no intake. According to the old priest Ji Moxing's estimation, it probably died decades ago. It's just that the guardians of the five desolate mountains are unaware of this…
Once they emerge from seclusion and discover the truth, things will get interesting. Gong Xichou is even considering whether he should go into hiding for a while, until his strength grows enough to challenge them in a duel.
Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to withstand the retaliation.
Shen Tang was unaware of all the intricacies and details.
All she knew was that she might be in trouble.
"Well... how long can we keep them locked up?"
Gongxi Chou shrugged: "I'm not the High Priest, so I don't know the details of the seal. It could be as short as three to five years, or as long as thirty to fifty years? Alas, how could our ancestors have guessed that the Gongxi clan would be wiped out? If it weren't for that calamity, they would have been imprisoned until they died! Naturally, they wouldn't have had to worry about being sought revenge by a few old fogies from a hundred years ago."
Shen Tang: "..."
She finally understood: the hatred lay with the Gongxi tribe.
"Is it too late for me to sever ties with the Gongxi tribe?"
Gong Xichou revealed a set of clean, even teeth: "It's too late. You're a sacred object of the clan. By then, even if Mama wanted to lie back in her coffin, it would be too late. They'll definitely dig up all the urns containing your ashes from the clan's cemetery and scatter them..."
Shen Tang: "..."
It's true, even a passing dog gets slapped.
She lowered her voice: "Why are you only saying this now?"
Gong Xichou was very honest: "I forgot before."
Strengthening the seal was the High Priest's job. Back when the old High Priest Ji Moxing was still alive, he would disguise himself and go out every twenty years to check if the seal was secure. If it wasn't secure, he would apply another layer. This was something he had read in the journal.
Shen Tang: "..."
——
Gong Xichou finished his mission and left, leaving the task of settling the Luan family to Luan Xin and Luan Cheng. Luan Cheng, who hadn't seen his mother for a long time, couldn't hold back his tears, and the two of them burst into tears. The guards also rushed to Luan Xin's side to pay their respects.
"Parents".
Luan Xin looked away: "Thank you for your hard work."
He didn't really want to see this elder sister, not because he disliked her, but because he had been away from home for many years and didn't know how to treat her upon seeing her again. Luan Xin turned to leave, but the Luan clan lady saw him, pushed her son aside, and hurried forward.
"Justice!"
Luan Xin had no choice but to stop, turn around and bow: "Your Majesty."
Hearing Luan Xin address her as "Lady" instead of the affectionate "Elder Sister," she was taken aback at first, then gave a bitter smile. After Luan Xin's adoption, she had lived with him as his brother for many years and knew his temperament. After that incident, he had never changed his address back. Now, she had no face to ask him to change it again: "Thank you for saving Cheng."
She once thought Luan Cheng was dead.
Without Luan Xin, Luan Cheng would have died.
Now he has saved himself... What the Luan family owes Luan Xin now is far greater than what Luan Xin received from the Luan family back then.
For a moment, she didn't know how to express herself.
“He wasn’t the only one who was rescued.” Luan Xin said coldly. He hadn’t gone there specifically to rescue Luan Cheng; he had just happened to run into him. “I’m currently busy with official duties. If Your Majesty has nothing else to do, I won’t disturb your reunion with your son. Farewell.”
Luan Xin left with his personal guards.
The queen stood there, stunned, watching them go for a long time.
Only after Luan Xin's figure disappeared did Luan Cheng dare to speak softly: "Mother, let's leave it at that. If we stay too close, neither family will feel comfortable. Although what happened back then is in the past, the marks still remain on Uncle. This is a difficult hurdle to overcome."
Both my mother and uncle are reserved people, but they can become stubborn and difficult once they start to dwell on something.
Forcing them to be all lovey-dovey would be putting them in a difficult position.
The queen poked her son's forehead with her finger, leaving a white mark: "Heh, not very old, but you know a lot?"
Luan Cheng said, "My uncle has a knot in his heart."
It's an old, unresolved issue that can't be untied.
The queen sighed deeply upon hearing this, her expression forlorn. They both understood the situation back then and knew the difficulties each faced. But knowing the difficulties didn't mean they could accept reality with equanimity; that was the crux of their conflict: "Alas, how could I not know?"
We should try to meet less often in the future to avoid awkwardness for both of us.
It's enough that Gongyi is willing to acknowledge Cheng as his nephew.
Everyone went back to their own homes and to their own mothers.
Yun Ce also went to find his junior brother.
They found a pitch-black junior brother in the wasteland.
(End of this chapter)
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