Goodbye, "Tang Qi"
Tang Qi frowned and looked at Ye Qian with a puzzled expression: "When did you start to like to speak in such roundabout ways?"
Ye Qian remained silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Does he know?"
Tang Qi was taken aback. Although Ye Qian did not say it explicitly, he almost instinctively knew who Ye Qian was talking about.
"Hmm." Tang Qi remained noncommittal.
When did you recognize me?
"It was on the main street of Los Angeles that he first saw me."
Ye Qian opened his mouth slightly in surprise before saying, "So early? How did you recognize me? If I hadn't found you first, I probably wouldn't have recognized you at first glance."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Qi said in a drawn-out tone, as if he had found a kindred spirit, "Right? I also find it strange. I thought it was because I made many mistakes and revealed something that made him see through me, but it turns out he just went by intuition."
Tang Qi chuckled: "There was really no way to avoid it. We used to be at odds, but after faking my death, our relationship improved. Fate is truly absurd."
"Are others trustworthy?" Shen Zhiqing asked.
"certainly."
Tang Qi did so almost without hesitation.
"When did you become so close to him? Didn't you tell me before that you were natural enemies, and now you trust him completely?"
Tang Qi just laughed and looked at Ye Qian: "Relationships between people are not black and white. I trust Cheng Wang because he is trustworthy. Even when we weren't friends, I never doubted him."
"That was just my petty thinking," Ye Qian laughed. "But why does he always choose to help you? Before you faked your death, before you were friends, he seemed to be helping you all along, right?"
Ye Qian remembered that Cheng Junshi had been demoted because he had written a petition on behalf of Tang Qi.
“Because I can trust him.” Tang Qi raised the corners of his mouth and continued, “He knows my position. We used to just disagree on things, but we share the same stance on Shuochao. That’s why he has helped me so many times. Similarly, before we became friends, if he asked me for a favor, I wouldn’t hesitate to do it because I trust him.”
"Let me put it this way, even if you crush Cheng Wang's bones inch by inch and trample him into the mud, making him grovel and bow down for profit is wishful thinking. But if you can give him 500,000 or 5 million bushels of rice and make him kowtow and submit, he can lift his clothes and kneel down with a thud."
Because he knew that this rice could save countless lives.
Cheng Wang is such a contradictory person. Dignity seems to be more important to him than anything else, yet it also seems... insignificant.
"It seems he has a good impression of you."
Tang Qi smiled again: "I feel the same way with him."
Ye Qian found his words amusing: "What, do you want me to praise you two as a perfect match?"
Tang Qi's eyes widened immediately, and his mind flashed back to the silly way he had run up to Cheng Junshi and asked if he liked him.
Seeing Tang Qi's face turn red, Ye Qian's teasing smile suddenly stopped, and a storm of emotions surged within him.
No, I was just kidding.
You're kidding me.
"What if it's later?" Shen Zhiqing suddenly asked.
"After what?" Tang Qi looked up at her.
"If you later find that even the path of the First Prince is blocked, will you resort to that last resort?"
Tang Qi fell silent.
He didn't speak, but both people present understood Tang Qi's answer.
"I hope I don't need to," Tang Qi said hesitantly.
“I hope so too,” Ye Qian added.
“If I have to take that path, it only proves that this world is no longer suitable for human life. If that’s the case, then I’m willing to be the one to explore it,” Tang Qi said in a deep voice.
“If it were truly a case of the common people not being able to survive while the bureaucrats could, then I imagine the cries of the common people would carry far, far away. If it really came to that, I wouldn’t kneel down and beg for my life.” Ye Qian’s eyes were deep and somber.
Tang Qi chuckled and glanced at Shen Zhiqing beside her, saying with a hint of teasing, "I have no ties, I'm all alone, but you have a family to support, you should think this through carefully."
Shen Zhiqing snorted at him and said, "What, do you think my awareness is worse than his?"
Tang Qi lowered his head and chuckled a few times before hurriedly saying, "No, no, I wouldn't dare."
“But Zhong Le, if you go down that path, have you thought about what will happen to Cheng Junshi?” Ye Qian continued, “He is loyal to the emperor.”
Ye Qian and Tang Qi belonged to the group of people who saw through His Majesty early on, while Cheng Junshi was the opposite. He was favored by His Majesty from childhood and promoted by His Majesty all the way. The closer he was to His Majesty, the more he was deceived. In his heart, the emperor was the same as the country.
To betray one's sovereign is tantamount to betraying one's country.
“Then let him continue to be loyal to his sovereign,” Tang Qi said. “With me as the rebel, that’s enough.”
"He has always been honest, upright, and incorruptible. Although I tried to drag him down with me several times, I never really wanted him to be tainted. In this world, there must be some people who are clean, right?"
"So, you're dragging me down with you?"
“He’s different from you and me. He still has a choice. You and I, we’ve long since run out of options.” Tang Qi looked at Ye Qian and continued, “His Majesty bestowed an official position upon you to bind you and the Ye family. After Lang Ce comes Li Guang. Zhou Ziye is right. He can’t escape, I can’t escape, and you can’t escape either. His Majesty has his eyes on you.”
“I know,” Ye Qian said.
From the moment he entered the palace and was granted an official position by His Majesty, Ye Qian guessed His Majesty's thoughts and knew what he would face in the future.
"There's another very important reason why I don't want him involved in this," Tang Qi paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "This is a road of no return. Success is fine, but we could fail."
"If we embark on this path, many people will inevitably have to sacrifice themselves. Those who dare to do this are people who are willing to gamble for themselves or for Da Shuo. There aren't many such people. If we fail, we will all die. What will happen to Da Shuo then?"
Tang Qi looked at him: "Ye Qian, I want to find hope in Da Shuo, but what if we fail? What will become of Da Shuo then? We must ensure that Da Shuo has hope to find."
"He is the source of my confidence to take a gamble, and he is also the next spark that I can leave for Da Shuo."
"You really trust him that much?"
"He is trustworthy."
Ye Qian chuckled: "Good. You really do think things through perfectly."
“After dying a lot, you’ll learn to think things through,” Tang Qi suddenly said.
These words lightened the atmosphere, and the group exchanged smiles and chuckled for a while.
"Thinking about these things now is too far ahead. You should worry about your injuries instead," Shen Zhiqing glanced at him. "Old wounds haven't healed and new ones have been added. This body is really unlucky to have been with you."
Tang Qi pretended to frown and said, "I'm sorry, my back, my arms, my legs, you've suffered because of me."
Shen Zhiqing was amused by him again, rolled her eyes at him and continued, "It seems you're really alright since you can still tell jokes, but I still have to remind you that you won't always be this lucky."
Tang Qi nodded and laughed heartily again: "There won't be another chance for me to die."
That would be best.
"What about Yun'an? How is Yun'an?" Tang Qi asked.
“She’s in the palace. We’re so grateful to Yun’an this time. Otherwise, you would have been left on the cemetery.” Shen Zhiqing replied.
"She's the one who saved me?" Tang Qi frowned, seemingly having no recollection of it.
“It’s Xiaoyan,” Ye Qian said.
Tang Qi was stunned.
"She and the Ninth Prince received news from Yun'an and followed the two executioners who dragged you away. They were the first to pull you back after you were thrown away. Otherwise, if your treatment had been delayed, would you still be alive and talking to us now?" Shen Zhiqing replied.
"Ayan, she...she..." Tang Qi hesitated for a long time but couldn't say anything.
"She doesn't know," Ye Qian finally spoke up, "We didn't tell her."
Tang Qi was silent for a moment before speaking: "It's better not to tell her. Let her think I'm dead."
“But you are still alive.” Shen Zhiqing asked him, “Are you planning to keep this from Xiaoyan forever?”
“Let’s keep it a secret if we can,” he chuckled. “What’s the point of telling her? Anyway, what I’m going to do is life-threatening. What if I really die one day? It would be better for her to accept the fact that I’m going to die sooner rather than later. Otherwise, if I tell her now and then I don’t survive, it will be another blow to Ayan.”
"Rather than that, it's better to let her die in her heart. She needs to grow up, and she can grow up very well. She doesn't necessarily need me as her brother."
After a two-second silence, Ye Qian finally spoke, "Then... what about your aunt? You're not going to tell her either?"
Tang Qi's eyes darkened, and after thinking carefully for a long time, she finally shook her head gently: "I don't plan to. Let Tang Qi become a dead man."
Ye Qian remained silent, but Shen Zhiqing beside him said, "I always feel that this is not good."
Tang Qi looked up at her, and Shen Zhiqing said again, "You're using an uncertain ending to hinder the beginning of the present. Rather than thinking about the pain of losing you again, I think Xiaoyan and the others would rather see you as you are now."
"Just knowing that you're alive is already something to be thankful for, isn't it?"
“But before that, you should worry about your injuries,” Shen Zhiqing said, putting down a bowl of medicine. “You can’t stay in this house in Yun’an for too long. You should recover quickly.”
"How is Hu Xingche?" Tang Qi asked.
"He should still be at home; he's probably fine."
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