Chapter 294

The light spots leaking from the bamboo curtain moved slowly on Le Luo Luo's face, from his trembling eyelashes to his tightly pursed lips, and finally settled on his chest, which was slightly sunken due to his hunching.

I don't know how much time passed before Le Luo Luo straightened his back, like a bowstring that hadn't been used for a long time being tightened again. His voice was dry and hoarse, and his speed was half a beat slower than usual, but it sounded as if it were wrapped in a weight like chiseling stone and carving a monument:

"Father's words, this son has remembered."

Old Zou Ye looked at his son, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes relaxing imperceptibly. He wanted to stretch out his arm to pat his son's shoulder, but felt that this action was too exhausting, so he finally just moved his palm on the quilt, the force so light that it couldn't even startle a grain of dust.

"The future of the Wenyang Tribe is on your shoulders. I believe you will do better than me."

Le Luo Luo was greatly terrified:

"How can I be mentioned in the same breath as father! Father made the Wenyang Tribe grow to the point where it could stand shoulder to shoulder with large tribes like the Yongning Barbarians, the Wu Ning Barbarians, and the Yidu Barbarians, making a tiny tribe that once had fewer than eight hundred warriors leap to become one of the six major tribes in Jingzhou! This merit is enough to be compared with Adugu (the legendary ancestor of the Wenyang Tribe, who led nine warriors to climb over Wenyang Gorge with vines, killed the Wild King like a god descending from heaven, and founded the Wenyang Tribe)! If it weren't for father, the Wenyang Tribe would have been destroyed by the Yongning Barbarians long ago; how could it have continued until today!"

"Old, toothless matters, why mention them..."

Old Zou Ye rolled a few muffled laughs in his throat, the wrinkles on his face shriveling up like dried orange peel.

"This is something that all tribespeople keep in mind! Father's heroism and wisdom are something I can never reach!"

Le Luo Luo looked at his father, the light in his eyes as bright as fire-tempered steel, full of reverence and admiration.

Old Zou Ye chuckled and said:

"When I was your age, I was much worse than you. If I have any place where I exceed ordinary people, it is that I am good at learning. Learn from friends, learn from enemies, learn from those who are better than yourself, and learn from those who are not as good as yourself. If you want to learn, your heart must be big. Some people have big bodies, but their hearts are very small. They cannot accommodate new things and only believe in the little bit they already have, so they can only spin in their own shadows forever. Just like the passage Wang Yang said about the military advisor before... eh? How did the original words go? I can't remember clearly, but it was satisfying to hear. Guo Shao must have been almost angered to death, right..."

Old Zou Ye smacked his shriveled lips, a mischievous spark dancing in his pupils. He jumped twice and changed the subject: "So as long as you make your heart big, are willing to learn, and are willing to accept, you will exceed your old Daka."

Le Luo Luo was just about to speak when Old Zou Ye said as if he had guessed it:

"Although your old Daka has accomplished some things, received some praise, and even some people say that if I hadn't had this illness, I would have done this and that, and the Wenyang Tribe would have been this and that, actually I thought so too at the time. But it was only many years later that I understood that I have an upper limit..."

Le Luo Luo was about to speak anxiously again, but was interrupted by Old Zou Ye again:

"You listen to me finish first. My current knowledge and strategy are naturally far better than they were back then. Of course, there are also many things that are not as good as back then, such as spirit and so on. But if you put aside those things that are not as good as back then and let me regain control of the tribe, I still can't achieve much. Actually, even if I hadn't been ill back then, at most I would have grabbed two more mountain tops, annexed a few small tribes, or maybe beaten the Yongning Barbarians a few more times? The highest achievement I could reach in my life might be to destroy the Yongning Barbarians, and that's all. And this possibility is not very high. But even if the Yongning Barbarians were destroyed, what could happen?

What I can do is actually very limited. On the one hand, there is naturally the reason for my lack of talent, but on the other hand, and more importantly—the path of the Wenyang Tribe has long been blocked. With the Han court lying there, we simply cannot get out of Wenyang Gorge. Even if the Han court didn't interfere and let us destroy the Yongning or even the Wu Ning Barbarians, the territory wouldn't be connected, and we would still have to shrink back into the mountains to spin around, and there would never be any great development. But it will be different after you become Zou Ye. You have two great opportunities, which are equivalent to two wings. When you spread your wings and fly, I can't even catch up with you!

One opportunity is that the Han court abandons the policy of blockade and opens the barbarian road to trade. This is something that our ancestors, including me, didn't even dare to dream of! In the past, even if we submitted, they wouldn't have opened the ban for us unless we were willing to abandon our swords and bows and move to the Han lands to become registered households. This is unacceptable to us barbarians. And as long as we don't accept this, it is impossible for the Han court to open its arms to us. In their concept, this is no different from aiding the enemy. Not to mention buying our things to let us make money, even selling us things to earn our money is something they are absolutely unwilling to do. I said before that the heart is big; the person who drew this strategy has a very big heart. Not only is the heart big, but the means are also high, making you have to follow him even if you can see through his intentions. Not only follow, but follow willingly and gratefully! Brilliant, truly brilliant..."

Old Zou Ye's expression was intoxicated, as if he were savoring some wonderful sentence. Amidst his soft chanting, his voice also added a bit of distance.

Le Luo Luo's thoughts also drifted away with his father's voice, but they were mixed with some heavy things, making them sink bit by bit, and finally settled into a deep silence.

"This is the Emperor's handwriting, right..." Le Luo Luo said with a complicated mood.

Old Zou Ye came back to his senses: "The Emperor has a big heart, so he can accept this strategy."

"Accept the strategy? Not the Emperor?"

Old Zou Ye smiled slightly, his voice wrapped in an unclear meaning, and said softly:

"The one with the big heart is not just the Emperor."

"Then..."

"Now let's talk about your other opportunity."

Le Luo Luo originally wanted to ask, but when he heard his father mention another opportunity, he couldn't help but restrain his distracting thoughts and listen carefully. But he didn't expect Old Zou Ye not to say it directly, but to throw the question to him:

"What do you think is the other opportunity for you and the Wenyang Tribe?"

Le Luo Luo pondered for a long while and said uncertainly:

"Is it Wang Yang and Seeing Liu Cheng?"

"Wrong." Old Zou Ye half-closed his eyes and lightly denied his son's judgment.

Le Luo Luo asked suspiciously: "Then..."

"There is no Seeing Liu Cheng."

Le Luo Luo was slightly stunned.

Old Zou Ye repeated: "There is no Seeing Liu Cheng, only Wang Yang."

Le Luo Luo pondered for a moment, a bit puzzled:

"Seeing Liu Cheng is the son of Duke Liu. Although the Hedong Liu clan is not as good as the Langya Wang clan, it is also a high-ranking family, and there is Lema married over there—"

"These are all useless."

Le Luo Luo was stunned, trying hard to think about the meaning of his father's words.

Old Zou Ye didn't explain, but instead asked a new question:

"What do you think of this person Wang Yang?"

Le Luo Luo's eyes condensed, his expression turned solemn, his palms clenched unconsciously a few times, and he pondered:

"This person is extremely intelligent, understands the human heart, has extensive knowledge, is highly eloquent, is round and smooth on the outside but sharp on the inside, has thoughts as fine as hair, and can observe things in the smallest details..."

Old Zou Ye's eyelids lifted lazily: "Stop, stop, don't say these general things."

Le Luo Luo felt it was unbelievable: "This is still general???"

"For him, it is general. Say something unusual."

Le Luo Luo didn't understand: "Father's meaning is..."

Old Zou Ye's eyes were filled with light like a deep pool:

"What kind of feeling do you think he has for the four words 'Langya Wang clan'?"

Le Luo Luo thought for a moment and said: "He is very proud of the Langya Wang clan. This is also normal; after all, it is the number one high-ranking family..."

"No, I don't think so..."

Old Zou Ye spoke very slowly, with a bit of hesitation and deliberation:

"I think he is proud of the Langya Wang clan on the surface, but in reality, he uses the Langya Wang clan."

"Uses?" Le Luo Luo didn't understand.

"Uses. It's as if the Langya Wang clan is a gold nugget. He takes it out casually to show everyone, and even puts on a look of reverence and pride. After putting on the look, he puts it back in his pocket. How much reverence do you think he has for this gold nugget? Not necessarily. This is like the mask worn during the Mountain God Sacrifice. When wearing it, everyone is upright, solemn, and respectful, but after the sacrifice, isn't it stuffed into a box? Who looks at it at ordinary times? When Wang Yang mentions the Langya Wang clan, he also gives me this feeling, which is that he is very solemn on the surface and treats it with empty etiquette, but in reality, he doesn't value it much in his heart. Perhaps because he is in an unpredictable place, he has to use his family's name to bluff people, thus appearing slightly rash? Or perhaps it is because I had a preconceived notion that the suppression didn't exist, so when he swore in the name of the Langya Wang clan, it made me suspicious? Or perhaps the atmosphere in the Han lands is just like this..."

The more Old Zou Ye spoke, the more uncertain his tone became.

Le Luo Luo had rarely seen his father look confused in the past two years. After hearing his father's words just now, he was also confused. He thought about Wang Yang's words and deeds carefully, but still felt he couldn't grasp the point, and said:

"I think using the clan is also normal. Just like Seeing Liu Cheng, he also always mentions the Hedong Liu clan. The children of high-ranking families in the Han lands take pride in their surnames and rely on their clans, so they often mention them in conversation. It cannot be said that this is not valuing them. Besides, their own clan is so prominent, how could they not value it?"

"Although I haven't seen Seeing Liu Cheng, I can hear from you and Lema that Seeing Liu Cheng truly takes pride in the Hedong Liu clan and uses it as a life-saving reliance. But Wang Yang's confidence does not lie in the Langya Wang clan. He hangs the family glory on his lips, but he may not truly value it much in his heart. Perhaps he is very confident in his own abilities, confident to the point of not caring about external things at all. Even the prominent Langya family portal is nothing more than a tool for him to use at will."

Le Luo Luo still didn't agree with his father's analysis, but he respected his father's ability, so he still followed his father's line of thought and thought about it, and said with some surprise: "If he is really like this, then he is too arrogant..."

"He is very arrogant, but what he is arrogant about is his bones, not his spirit. This person has arrogant bones but no arrogant spirit, so he can be round and smooth in handling things and transparent in dealing with people. Don't you feel that he has never looked down on us because we are a different race..."

Le Luo Luo nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, but I don't know if it's faked or—"

Old Zou Ye's gaze carried a calm insight:

"This kind of equality in the bones cannot be faked. He didn't look at us as a different race lower than him from the bottom of his heart. On this point, even Guo Shao cannot compare with him..."

Le Luo Luo said in surprise: "It shouldn't be that much, right? Military Advisor Guo is very respectful to us!"

"No matter how respectful Guo Shao is on the surface, the layer of barrier in his heart cannot be dissipated. Wang Yang, on the other hand, has no barrier at all. This is also one of the reasons why he is willing to recognize Lema as his adopted sister. He will not feel that Lema is not worthy of being his sister just because she is a barbarian. Only such a person is worth our betting on."

"Betting?"

Old Zou Ye had a faint smile on the corner of his mouth:

"Do you know how a small insect can fly above the clouds?"

Le Luo Luo shook his head.

"That is to attach itself to the wings of a phoenix. But the phoenix is the master of all birds; how can it allow a small insect to cling to it? So find a young phoenix, and follow it before it grows up..."