Chapter 858 – Before and After the Sun Sets Behind the Mountains (1/2)

Chapter 858 – Before and After the Sun Sets Behind the Mountains

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

Chen Changsheng had no idea why Tang Thirty-Six had come to the old estate or why he wanted to play a game of mahjong with the Tang Old Master.

Only when Tang Thirty-Six stated his demands did he finally understand.

Chen Changsheng had brought the people of the Orthodoxy and placed himself at great risk to come to Wenshui City. Only after putting up the most unyielding stance did they succeed in changing the Tang Old Master's mind.

Tang Thirty-Six was released from the ancestral hall while the Tang Second Master was imprisoned elsewhere.

An ordinary person would probably express their gratitude to Chen Changsheng and those fellows outside, and then think about how to repay them in the future. But Tang Thirty-Six was not an ordinary person, did not walk the ordinary path. He was keenly aware that such a friendship could only be repaid with the Tang clan.

The old estate was very quiet.

The snow on the brim of the well melted under the light of the sun, silently trickling into the well.

The Tang Old Master expressionlessly said, ”If the Orthodoxy ultimately loses this war, then no matter how deep your understanding of the Tang clan, your hand will be empty. How can you threaten me then? Since you've thought in the ancestral hall for half a year, you must have thought of this. What, then, do you want to do?”

”I want Second Uncle to die, immediately. Before the sun sets behind the mountains today, he must die.”

He looked into the Tang Old Master's eyes and calmly added, ”And then I want the Tang clan to maintain a neutral position in this conflict.”

The Tang Old Master fell quiet. After a long time, he asked, ”If I say 'no', the words on this scroll will come into reality?”

Tang Thirty-Six replied, ”Correct.”

The Tang Old Master looked at the green jade tiles on the table and slightly furrowed his brow. ”You've truly made a mess of this mahjong game.”

Tang Thirty-Six replied, ”I and Chen Changsheng are both young, and so are the people outside. We're naturally not as shrewd or ruthless as you in playing tiles. But we have the courage to flip the table over at any time, because we can play another round. But none of you can, because all of you are already old.”

The Tang Old Master looked at Tang Thirty-Six and suddenly said, ”Did you ever think that after yesterday, I might have already intended to make you clan head?”

Taking only the clan's benefit in mind, the events of yesterday had made it readily apparent that Tang Thirty-Six was the best candidate for successor of the Tang clan.

If Shang Xingzhou and the Imperial Court won, the Tang Old Master still had enough time to change Tang Thirty-Six's mind, or even just change his selection for clan head. If Chen Changsheng and the Orthodoxy won, the Tang Old Master just needed to pass the Tang clan to Tang Thirty-Six, and Wenshui City would be unaffected.

Chen Changsheng had never thought about these things, as they were rather complicated for him.

He was not skilled in sorting out the numerous rights and wrongs of the secular world, only skilled in seeing people.

Those days in the Orthodox Academy had made him clearly aware that Tang Thirty-Six did not want to be clan head.

But Tang Thirty-Six would have to face these problems eventually, so why was his stance so fierce today?

”Even if I do become clan head, that's a matter for many years in the future. I care more about the clan's stance in these next few years.”

Tang Thirty-Six added, ”And besides, a unilateral promise is never as secure as an agreement made when both sides are threatened.”

The Tang Old Master asked, ”You don't believe in me?”

Tang Thirty-Six answered, ”After all that has happened, do you not get the urge to laugh when you hear the word 'believe'?”

”From the day you were born, you were my choice to be the next head of the Tang clan. Don't forget, it's you, not your father! So that you could become clan head, just how many things did I do? Just how much did the Tang clan pay? And what happened? Unexpectedly, foolishly, for the sake of this thing called 'friendship', you insisted on standing at his side!”

The more the Tang Old Master spoke, the more infuriated he became, his voice growing louder and louder. At those final words, he pointed straight at Chen Changsheng.

Chen Changsheng silently moved to the side, avoiding that finger.

”Foolish friendship? Without this friendship, I would still be playing the mute in the ancestral hall.”

Tang Thirty-Six finally flew into a rage, shouting, ”If not for the fact that Chen Changsheng was my friend, I would have died three years ago!”