Chapter 223

"Please make way, make way."

Just as Yang Zhi was imagining the future, feeling that the wind blowing in his ears had become a bit softer,

a familiar voice that made him unforgettable and that he dared not forget for a lifetime rang in his ears.

He turned his head to look, and saw a person he had been thinking about day and night appear behind him.

"It's you!"

Yang Zhi widened his eyes, staring fixedly at the person, squeezing two words out from between his teeth.

If eyes could kill, the person would have been sliced into a thousand pieces by Yang Zhi's hateful gaze long ago.

He was thinking about this person day and night, but this day and night wasn't the day and night of longing,

but the day and night of gnashing his teeth in hatred, wishing to eat his flesh and drink his blood!

The person was wearing black official robes, a Liang crown on his head, and holding a goose-feather fan, looking like a human,

dressed like the dog-headed military advisor in the storybooks and novels circulating among the common people,

who else could it be but the "Star of Wisdom" Wu Yong, who had recently formally joined Zhang Jie's command with Brother Chao Gai Gai,

who had been polished of his arrogance, and was responsible for doing some unspeakable private work?

Yang Zhi stared fixedly at Wu Yong, who intended to pass by him.

At the time of the Huangni Ridge, it was this person who first pretended to be a merchant selling dates with several men,

pushing a Jiangzhou cart and cooling off in the pine forest, deceiving him that they were "selling dates to Tokyo."

Afterward, a shifty-eyed man carried a load of wine up the ridge,

and this person cooperated in acting to buy wine to drink, further eliminating his doubts,

and only then did he fall into the trap, paying out of his own pocket to buy another barrel of wine laced with knockout drugs.

Finally, he could only watch helplessly as this person and his accomplices took the Birthday Gift and walked away.

It could be said that this person was the culprit—one of them—who forced him to become a bandit on Liang Shan!

And looking at his dog-headed military advisor outfit, it was likely that the seizure of the Birthday Gift was planned by him!

Although he had seen his benefactor Zhang Jie today, which could be considered a blessing in disguise,

this hatred still made it hard for Yang Zhi to forget.

"It, it's Commander Yang."

Suddenly encountering a victim like Yang Zhi, even with Wu Yong's thick-skinned face,

he felt a bit embarrassed and was the first to bow and greet him.

"Hmph!"

Yang Zhi snorted angrily, having no intention of pretending to be polite with this culprit, and was about to flick his sleeves and leave.

Wu Yong first looked at Yang Zhi, then looked at the personal guard standing beside him, who had always been guarding Zhang Jie,

how could he not know that Yang Zhi was here to join Liang Shan like them.

He knew that he was selected by Zhang Jie to do private work,

so he couldn't avoid offending people, but this face still had to be maintained.

Everyone would be colleagues in the future, so they couldn't be too stiff,

if things were ruined and the Village Master was dissatisfied in his heart, it wouldn't be good.

A smile appeared on his face, and he bowed deeply to Yang Zhi:

"Commander Yang, from now on we are also colleagues serving the same master,

let the unpleasantness of the past be left at the foot of the mountain.

Of course, it was our fault first, I apologize to the Commander here,

I hope the Commander will be magnanimous, not hold a grudge against a small person, and forgive me."

"Breathe, breathe."

Faced with Wu Yong, who wanted to gloss over the grievances with just a few light words,

Yang Zhi's breathing couldn't help but become heavy, and a flush surged onto the blue-purple birthmark on his face.

Losing the Birthday Gift almost caused a devastating blow to his life,

causing his ideal of revitalizing his Yang family to die in the cradle,

could it be glossed over by just a bow and an apology?

If grievances could be resolved so easily, where would there be so many irreconcilable hatreds in the world?

"Commander Yang, Professor Wu is the military advisor under the Village Master."

The personal guard, seeing the atmosphere was too stiff, spoke up to smooth things over.

Well, because Wu Yong was doing private work, it was hard to give him any title,

so Zhang Jie arranged a nearly omnipotent position for him—military advisor.

This military advisor, in a desperate situation, coming up with some poisonous schemes like the "extinction scheme," could be imagined, right?

"Yang Zhi, greets Military Advisor Wu."

A smile was barely squeezed onto Yang Zhi's face, but he didn't even raise his hand, returning the salute without any sincerity.

Wu Yong was right, they would be colleagues serving the same master in the future,

seeing each other every day, so it wouldn't be good to be too stiff,

but wanting him, Yang Zhi, to smile and forget the grievances was impossible!

Yang Zhi, whose heart was burning with anger, didn't want to see Wu Yong again, turned around, and left.

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to help but greet this Wu Yong properly—with his fists!

"Wu Yong bids farewell to Commander Yang."

Faced with Yang Zhi, who didn't even want to act to maintain surface harmony,

Wu Yong's smile didn't diminish, having quite a bit of the demeanor of being spat on and letting it dry.

After watching Yang Zhi and the personal guard walk away, he shook his goose-feather fan and went to do what he was supposed to do.

"Village Master, it seems there is some discord between Military Advisor Wu and Commander Yang."

The personal guard, after sending Yang Zhi to report, reported the conflict between Wu Yong and Yang Zhi to Zhang Jie.

Although in terms of status, Yang Zhi and Wu Yong were both above him, he only respected them,

and did not fear them, and would not hide anything for them, because Zhang Jie was the only sky above his head!

He was only loyal to Zhang Jie alone; other people, no matter how high their status, were just his colleagues.

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work."

Zhang Jie didn't commit himself to this, and after encouraging the personal guard, he threw the matter to the back of his mind.

"Cleverly Seizing the Birthday Gift" is very exciting, and Wu Yong's scheme is also very useful in it,

but for Yang Zhi, who is the most direct victim, it is not the case.

If it weren't for the experience of losing the Flower and Stone Gift earlier, and running away without hesitation,

running fast, if he had been caught by the Great Ming Prefecture bailiffs,

Yang Zhi would have ended up being exiled to the Western Army or sent to the redemption camp, even if he didn't die.

This exile to the Western Army was not Yang Zhi's dream of

"fighting for fame with a blade and a spear on the battlefield,"

but directly becoming cannon fodder; after a great battle with Western Xia, he would be dead or disabled.

Even if he survived by luck, he would only save his life.

As for the merit earned with his life?

You've already entered the redemption camp, what merit do you want?

Being sentenced to immediate execution at that time would have been the imperial court's heavenly grace!

The direct cost of Wu Yong and the others' "Cleverly Seizing the Birthday Gift" was Yang Zhi's future and life.

Enemies meeting, eyes red with hatred, is a normal person's normal expression.

If Yang Zhi could still be harmonious with Wu Yong after all this,

Zhang Jie would have to suspect whether he had been possessed by some deep-thinking old guy.

Moreover, Yang Zhi having a conflict with Wu Yong, Brother Chao Gai Gai, and the others was not entirely a bad thing for Zhang Jie.

If everyone under his command was united and could move forward firmly toward the same goal,

then what would he, the boss, be for—a mascot, a rubber stamp?

In "Ming Dynasty 1566," Emperor Jiajing used his fear to tell Zhang Jie that what an emperor,

or rather, the boss of every force, worries about most is:

Everyone united, colluding inside and outside!

Politics is the art of balance.

Moreover, the so-called "no party outside the party, emperor's thought; no faction inside the party, strange and weird."

As long as people gather together and divide the fruits, they will definitely form camps, confront each other, and exclude those who disagree.