Chapter 297: Reunion

When Da Wang appeared before Wei Tinghou with Wei Shen and the Eagle Riders, it was as if heavenly soldiers had descended.

The old master, accustomed to grand scenes, could scarcely believe it at first; when Da Wang came running toward him with joy, he slapped his own face hard.

"Am I hallucinating from too much worry? How could I see His Highness and Ah Shen?!"

"Commander, it really seems to be His Highness and the Second Young Master!"

"How did they come?!"

"Yes!"

Da Wang and Wei Shen had come running with joy, a cavalry unit following behind with a clatter, and looking further back, there seemed to be even more troops?

This left Wei Tinghou bewildered—Youzhou, on the far eastern coast—how had they come all the way here!

Da Wang ran up close and shouted "Great-grandfather!" then leapt from his horse and threw himself forward; Wei Tinghou immediately stopped thinking of anything else and caught the grandson who had descended from the sky.

Wei Tinghou held Da Wang tightly, repeatedly saying Da Wang had grown thin, "... This soon and His Highness is already this thin—Ah Shen must not have looked after his brother well, how did he get this thin, too thin!" He kept repeating over and over that Da Wang had grown thin.

Wei Shen's excitement quickly faded; he rolled his eyes, "Looks like the old man finally saw me—truly not easy, I even thought he hadn't seen me, hum! Only the grandson is in his heart!"

"What else would it be? The rarer, the more valuable—you're not worth much." Grandson three, but grandson-in-law only one.

Da Wang proudly clung tightly to Wei Tinghou, then suddenly met his strange beard.

Wei Tinghou no longer bore the air he had last time they met; his beard, once cultivated to be sufficiently immortal and dao-like, now looked utterly ridiculous, the longest tuft in the middle gone... leaving only the short sides.

Da Wang had just seen his great-grandfather and was only thinking of excitement, but now the longer he looked, the funnier it became.

Wei Tinghou was busy worrying about the battle situation and hadn't bothered to groom himself, so Da Wang finally began to feel guilty.

He released Wei Tinghou as if nothing had happened, "... Cousin, look at your great-grandfather's beard—I already said there's no need to let Bian Tian bring a token back, but you insisted it bring back... sigh!"

Upon hearing mention of the beard, Wei Shen seemed to flip a switch and could no longer hold back, bursting into laughter.

Wei Tinghou picked up the whip Da Wang had tossed aside and lashed out at the grandson he had just picked up; Wei Shen dodged nimbly, leaving behind a trail of unpleasant laughter like ducks all along the way...

"Ga ga ga~ Old man, you're being unreasonable—do you believe everything Wei Tai Ping says? It's all his doing!" Those bird-like eyes glanced at him askance; whoever could listen to him was better off!

Wei Tinghou declared firmly: "I don't believe it!"

Wei Shen:...

Wei Tinghou: "Good, you're still dragging in a child! Stop right there!"

Wei·Little Child·Tai Ping, standing nearby, watched the show with great interest.

He twisted his fingers, pretending to mediate, to enrich the plot needs: "Great-grandfather, stop fighting—Cousin is already an adult, he needs face too~"

Wei Tinghou: "What big, what big—he's thirty already, grandfather still whips him just the same!"

Da Wang laughed until he hurt, blurting out: "Good good good... no, Cousin, you better run~"

Wei Shen, indignant: "It's you who loves drama! You wait, I'll make you look good someday!" As he shouted, he charged into the southwest army's camp, and only then did Wei Tinghou let him go.

Da Wang caused trouble once more, and the main force behind also came rushing up; only then did Wei Tinghou realize he had brought Tang Qian along.

The old master was overjoyed, rubbing Da Wang's little head again and again, shouting several times "Good."

For Da Wang, he was satisfied beyond satisfaction.

Upon hearing that two hundred thousand cavalry had been brought, the old master laughed even louder: "Two hundred thousand! Hahaha~ Your uncle and Ah Ke are saved!"

Da Wang nodded without surprise: "Sure enough, it's Uncle who's besieged in Dun City!"

He combined what Bai Ze said—that Wei Peng was still alive—with what the east-fleeing herdsmen had said, and already guessed eight or nine out of ten. Uncle with so many people couldn't have vanished silently; Wei Peng was an experienced old general, not so easily overturned; the siege of Dun City was likely them eight out of ten.

But now the most important thing is: "Who has Uncle besieged in Dun City? The Xiongnu?"

Wei Tinghou straightened his face, sighed, "Worse than the Xiongnu! It's our own people from the Jin Dynasty. After exchanging blows once, grandfather already had a guess—it should be the Chen Hou of Li Shui."

Da Wang could no longer laugh either.

Which good brother did this again!

Da Wang didn't know Chen Hou, recalling Li Shui's position: "Isn't that the garrison north of Wuling? Hanshou Hou has rebelled—why did the old master still withdraw the Li Shui garrison, not fearing they'd march north straight to Chang'an?" He hadn't finished speaking when he realized, maybe this wasn't the old master's doing.

"This Chen Hou, though a marquis, is also of noble birth, just lacking in military achievements. His Highness is still young and may not know, but the Chen Clan and Cui Clan are related by marriage. His Highness used to follow Empress Cui, and our family has always watched the Cui Clan. Empress Cui's grandmother and aunt came from the Chen Clan, and the Jing Wang's peers also have marital ties."

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Family, I'm back—normal updates resume tomorrow!

If you knew my silent period's income, you'd know how unmotivated this work is! (／_＼) A true resentful one!

Ox and horse still need to eat, so I'll definitely come back, still hoping to accumulate word count for a resurrection! Don't worry~ Work starts tomorrow~