knife

Chapter 767 Old Friend

In the drizzling rain, Xiong Yi, wearing a straw hat, a raincoat, a small hoe, and a small bamboo basket, walked on the lush green grass with straw sandals on his feet. Every now and then, he would bend down and use his small hoe to dig out a tender wild vegetable from the ground, putting it into the small bamboo basket along with the mud on its roots.

Since Xiang Ying died under mysterious circumstances and Na Wei became the regent of the Great Chu, the old regent Xiong Yi naturally stepped aside.

He wisely left Danyang City and moved to a manor outside the city.

This distance was also the furthest distance that Nawei could tolerate him leaving.

Even if someone like Xiong Yi wanted to flee far away, it would be impossible, because with his influence, if he were to run to a place that Na Wei couldn't control, he might become another Xiang Zhuang.

So this distance is just right.

"Grandpa, you've only recently recovered from your illness, and the doctor specifically told you to rest well. The weather is also bad today, so you should go home early!" Beside him, his grandson Xiong Yi, dressed similarly to Xiong Yi, was quite worried and tried to dissuade him, saying, "The rain looks like it's getting heavier!"

"Gather more, gather more!" In front of her grandson, she naturally had no airs at all, but instead smiled at him in a somewhat ingratiating way, saying, "Then I'll go back. I've been lying in bed for so long, and I'm so bored."

"Then I'll help you pick them. We'll go back once we've picked enough, okay?" Xiong Yi said.

"Alright!" Xiong Yi nodded.

Upon hearing this, Xiong Yi chuckled, bent down, and swung his small hoe with incredible speed, quickly gathering a large handful.

"How can you not distinguish between good and bad? Look at what you dug up, some are too old, and some are just weeds!" Xiong Yi was both annoyed and amused.

"I'll just pick them and fill your little basket. As for whether they're good or bad, usable or not, you can decide for yourself when you get back, Grandpa!" Xiong Yi laughed and stuffed the bunch of wild vegetables in his hand into Xiong Yi's little basket without saying a word.

Looking at the wild vegetables in the small basket and listening to his grandson's words, Xiong Yi suddenly became half-obsessed, remaining silent for a long time, which made Xiong Yi a little flustered.

"Grandpa, did I say something wrong?"

Xiong Yi knew that the root of his grandfather's illness before the New Year was actually in his heart. The imperial physician also said that a mental illness must be cured with a mental medicine. Now that his grandfather had finally recovered, if he were to say something that made his grandfather have other thoughts, his father and uncles would probably beat him up when they got back.

It took Xiong Yi a while to react. He reached out and patted his grandson's head, and said with a smile, "You didn't say anything wrong. Grandpa was just daydreaming. Come on, let's keep digging. You dig, and I'll choose, okay?"

"Alright!" Seeing that the old man had returned to normal, Xiong Yi finally felt relieved.

The two masters dug and selected, and after another half hour, they finally filled the small basket.

"Let's go back!" Looking at the basket full of fresh and juicy wild vegetables, Xiong Yi finally smiled a little, even though his face was full of wrinkles. After all, he had dug them himself.

Such peaceful and idyllic life, enjoying time with grandchildren, is truly a wonderful thing!

He let out a long sigh and turned to leave, but then froze. On the way he had come, an old man in a Qing Dynasty robe was slowly walking towards him, holding an oil-paper umbrella.

"Who goes there?" Xiong Yi's expression changed slightly, and he stepped in front of Xiong Yi to block his path.

This was their own estate. Although only the grandfather and grandson were present, there were actually dozens of guards and servants surrounding the estate, including many martial arts experts. Yet, this old man with the oil-paper umbrella appeared before them silently. The old man tilted the umbrella slightly back, revealing a face. Upon seeing this face, Xiong Yi sighed and reached out to pull his grandson aside.

"Yi'er, don't be nervous. This is Grandpa Jiang Chong from Jiangling. He and your grandpa are old friends!"

Upon hearing the name Jiang Chong, Xiong Yi felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. This was a master of innate martial arts. Someone like himself, who was only a novice in martial arts, could be easily defeated by Jiang Chong with a single finger.

Grandpa said he was an old friend and asked Xiong Yi to call him Grandpa Jiang. This did not make Xiong Yi feel any more at ease. On the contrary, it made him more wary. Grandpa was deliberately showing weakness and trying to curry favor with him.

Jiang Chong was originally Jiang Qian's confidant. Although he was forced to join forces with his grandfather in the end, his stance became uncertain after his grandfather and General Xiang were defeated in their struggle against Na Wei.

More importantly, at this juncture, what did he want to do by coming to see his grandfather?
“I remember there’s a lotus pond and a pavilion not far from here if you turn left. Shall we go sit there?” Jiang Chong said with a smile.

"You have a good memory!" Xiong Yi said with a smile. "Since you've come all the way to Danyang, why aren't you flattering the shaman? What are you doing here trying to curry favor with us?"

"Yesterday I did indeed fawn over that shaman, practically sending her to play with snakes before the King of Hell!" Jiang Chong said casually. "I had some free time today, so I came to visit an old friend!"

Even though he had seen the ocean and found it hard to be impressed by a river, Xiong Yi suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned sharply to look at Jiang Chong, his eyes filled with disbelief, and Xiong Yi even exclaimed in surprise.

After a long while, Xiong Yi turned his head back, slowly walked forward, and asked as he went, "Who else?"

“Me, Hong Zhan, and Hu Tianying!” Jiang Chong said directly.

Xiong Yi nodded, which made sense: "You reconnected with Jiang Qian, and she accepted you back without holding a grudge? However, this woman isn't exactly magnanimous. She'll forgive and forget about you today because you're still of use to her, but who knows, she might turn around and seek revenge the day you're no longer useful!"

"So that's not who I'm looking for!" Jiang Chong said.

"So you've come to Li Dachui!" Xiong Yi suddenly realized: "That makes sense. Judging from what he's done outside the pass, he's indeed a man of great ambition. He's determined to unify the world and is laying out plans in the south. With only Jiang Qian, he'll inevitably be controlled by Jiang Qian and her subordinates in the future. So, you, who have a grudge against Jiang Qian, can be a good means to restrain her."

At this point, Xiong Yi couldn't help but shake his head repeatedly, "To think three steps ahead for every step one takes is already an outstanding person; to think ten steps ahead for every step one takes is to be called a dragon among men. Someone like Li Dachui can only be called a monster. Losing to him is not unjust, not unjust at all!"

Jiang Chong looked at Xiong Yi: "Prime Minister, now that you think about it, do you, like me, deeply regret what happened back then? If I hadn't plotted to overthrow Jiang Qian, I wouldn't have colluded with Li Dachui, and none of this series of events would have happened! Although it was only a little over a year, for me, it was a series of ups and downs, as if several lifetimes had passed!"

Xiong Yi shook his head: "What's there to regret? Jiang Qian's behavior back then clearly showed her ambition!"

"But if we really follow the Empress Dowager's original plan, the Great Chu might actually have a chance to unify the world!"

“She has the opportunity to unify the world, but will Great Chu still be Great Chu? What she wants to do is not just to become Empress Wu of Dayong, but to rule as the sole ruler herself!” Xiong Yi shook his head and said, “If that time really comes, is there a single member of the Xiong clan left alive? Besides, the late emperor died at her hands. If we, the Xiong clan, still tolerate this, how can we be human?”

“That makes sense!” Jiang Chong sighed. “So there’s really no solution to this problem. Even if we had to go through it all again, our choice wouldn’t change!”

“Yes, nothing will change. It doesn’t matter to you, because even if the emperor changes, you will still be a member of the Jiang family of Jiangling. But we, the Xiong family, have no room to surrender!” Xiong Yi said.

(End of this chapter)