knife

Chapter 536 Two Seniors

Two people were standing at the door of the quiet room.

A man with white hair and beard, his face etched with the deep marks of time, wasn't tall—Li Dachui estimated him to be no more than five feet—but surprisingly, his arms were incredibly long, reaching his knees. Standing there, he resembled a javelin, exuding an aura of a true soldier.

This person must be Xiang Ying, after all, such an appearance is one in a million and is very easy to identify.

The other person standing next to Xiang Ying had gray hair and beard and looked younger than Xiang Ying, but he was much better looking. Even though he was old, he could still be described as handsome and elegant. He was at least seven feet tall, with a ruddy face and was very well-maintained. Compared to Xiang Ying's undisguised martial aura, he gave people a feeling of approachability and gentleness.

In the state of Chu, there was only one person who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Xiang Ying.

That was Xiong Yi, the former chief minister of Chu who retired along with Xiang Ying.

Xiong Yi was born into the royal family, while Xiang Ying was born into a wealthy and powerful family.

The Xiong and Xiang clans have stood side by side since the founding of the Great Chu Kingdom, and they still do today.

"I am truly sorry for not being able to greet you properly with such an honored guest!" Xiang Ying clasped his hands in a fist and said, "However, the situation is such that I have no choice but to resort to this measure. I believe that Protector Li will not hold it against me!"

Li Dachui returned the greeting with clasped hands: "General, you are too kind. I am a junior and a latecomer. It is my good fortune to meet you two seniors. How could I have offended you?"

Xiong Yi also cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Forty years ago, I went to Chang'an as an envoy. The person in charge of receiving me at that time was Li Duhu's father. Crown Prince Zemin is kind and generous, which is admirable! It's just a pity... I was overjoyed to hear that my old friend has an heir. Today, Old Man Xiang originally didn't want me to come, but I had to come and see my old friend's son no matter what."

Li Dachui bowed slightly and said with a smile, "According to what my godfather said, I am neither like my father nor my mother. Not only am I not as good-looking as her, but my character is also far inferior. I hope you will forgive me, senior!"

Xiang Ying shook his head: "The Protector is too modest. In our opinion, the Protector is far more capable than the Crown Prince Zemin back then. If the Crown Prince Zemin had the Protector's cunning, how could he have been defeated by a villain and died with regret!"

“A son should not speak ill of his father. As a junior, I do not know the details of what happened back then, and I am even less qualified to comment on my late parents. I also ask my seniors to be lenient with their words!” Li Dachui said solemnly.

It's true that one's parents were failures back then, and it's inevitable that they would be discussed and even used as negative examples to teach their children. But to say it to one's own parents' faces would be too disrespectful.

"Excuse me!" Xiang Ying and Xiong Yi nodded, then stepped aside to make way for Li, the Protector-General. "Please come, as you are a guest from afar!"

"Thank you!" Li Dachui said without hesitation and strode away.

Today, however, seniority is disregarded; instead, the focus is on the relative status of both parties.
Today isn't about reminiscing about the past, but about bargaining.

He was the Protector-General of the Northern Protectorate, in charge of thousands of miles of land and commanding 100,000 soldiers. He was no less powerful than the two men in front of him. Moreover, these two men were now asking for his help!
The quiet room was extremely simple, with bare walls and nothing on them. There were only three straw mats on the floor. Perhaps before today, there was only one straw mat here.

Li Dachui walked straight to the individual group of people and sat down cross-legged. Xiang Ying and Xiong Yi naturally followed suit and sat down cross-legged opposite him.

"First of all, I must thank Protector Li. If it weren't for your confirmation, we would probably still be unable to confirm the late emperor's death, let alone know that the empress was actually a member of the Demonic Sect!" Xiong Yi said.

"No need to thank me!" Li Dachui laughed. "My original intention was simply to disrupt your Yong'an County so that He Zudao could take advantage of the situation. If I could help He Zudao take Yong'an County, it would be of great benefit to me. As for the things you mentioned, they were just byproducts of what I wanted to do, and not intentional."

"For you, it was an unintentional, casual act; for us, it is a matter of life, death, and national importance!" Xiong Yi said solemnly. "So even though we know the Protector-General has no good intentions, we still have to say thank you."

Li Dachui chuckled.

"May I ask, Protector General, when did you guess the identity of that demon queen?" Xiang Ying asked.

Of course, Li Dachui wouldn't tell the truth and tell these two old men that he had known about this matter for several years.

"It was also after the Yong'an Incident! When I saw He Han and his men appear, I became suspicious. After a thorough investigation, it turned out to be true. I originally sent someone to inform General Xiang about this, but the old general was still cunning and knew about it."

"For this, we paid the price with the life of an extremely outstanding general." Xiang Ying couldn't help but feel saddened when he thought of Wang Jun.

“There will always be various costs to be paid on the road ahead,” Li Dachui said. “I have understood this principle since I started traversing the wilderness when I was a teenager. I don’t know how many predecessors who loved me fell on the way. Fortunately, I have not let them down so far.”

"The Protector-General's schemes make us feel like we've wasted our lives!" Xiong Yi said. "You started plotting this as soon as you discovered the Empress's identity, didn't you!"

"Of course!" Li Dachui smiled and said, "I'm not afraid to admit it, but I've been thinking that this is a golden opportunity. The whole of Chu is united in supporting Jiang Qian, but that doesn't serve my interests at all. Only when Chu is in chaos and weakened can I focus on developing the area outside the pass before leading my troops south to challenge Linghu Ye. Otherwise, if Linghu Ye and I fight to the death, it will only benefit Jiang Qian in the end. What's the point of that?"

Seeing the bitter looks on the faces of the two people opposite him, Li Dachui continued, "Moreover, I believe that you two will certainly not refuse my intention to cooperate."

"You're right!" Xiang Ying nodded and said, "Qin is in turmoil, and Great Chu does indeed have a chance to unify the world. But an opportunity is just an opportunity, and success is not guaranteed. However, if the Empress continues to run her business like this, Great Chu will definitely change its fate. So even if we know that the Protector-General harbors ill intentions, we only have one path to take: cooperation. If we lose an opportunity, we can wait for a new one. But once the country changes its fate, the nation will collapse, and there will be no hope of recovery."

"The General and the Chancellor are wise!" Li Dachui said, "What Jiang Qian wants is probably not just to repeat the events of Empress Wu of the Great Yong Dynasty. What she wants is to go even further and create a new situation that has never been seen before, and to become the empress of that generation."

“As long as we old folks are alive, she won’t stand a chance!” Xiang Ying said. “Governor Li, the situation has come to this point, and we have no way to retreat. The reason I invited you here today is to ask you whether you can keep your promise to take this wicked empress away from Danyang. If you can’t, then Danyang will probably be awash in blood, because we will have no choice but to fight back.”

Li Dachui laughed and said, "Of course! But since I've gone to so much trouble, I'll need the two seniors to show some sincerity first!"

(End of this chapter)