Immortal Travel of Longevity

Tang Mingjing paused at those words, stifling a soft sigh.

He ordered the servants to bring up tea and wine. He remembered Mister's fondness for wine, but knowing he also drank tea, he had both served.

It had been many years since they last met.

Tang Mingjing's hair was entirely white.

The youth of the past was long gone. When he opened his mouth, missing teeth were faintly visible—he had reached the age where they simply fell out.

It wasn't just his wizened face; his body was a shadow of what it once was. His back hunched, seemingly bowed for good from a lifetime of keeping his head down. He no longer stood straight and tall.

He was truly an old bag of bones.

Tang Mingjing sighed. "The years are merciless. Thinking back to the last time I saw Mister, I had just gotten married. I was in my prime, yet now I am an old man."

He let out a self-deprecating laugh, though the sound was weak, as if he lacked the breath for it.

Chen Changsheng looked at him. "You are only in your fifties or sixties, yet you have the body of a man in his seventies or eighties. I really don't know how you've lived your life."

"Don't find it strange, Mister," Tang Mingjing said. "It is just because the trading firm demands so much of me. With so many businesses, I have to look over things personally. Otherwise, how could I ever feel at ease?"

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "I once heard a joke. It said the greatest tragedy in this world is for a man to die before he finishes spending his money."

Tang Mingjing chuckled, replying modestly, "Mister makes a good point. I suppose I will just have to spend my money diligently and strive to use it all up before I die."

Chen Changsheng waved a hand dismissively. It was only a joke, after all.

He asked, "Is Miss Yun in Shangjing?"

Tang Mingjing paused. He cast a glance at Mister and said, "Mister, my sworn sister has fallen ill."

Chen Changsheng stared blankly for a moment. "Ill?"

Tang Mingjing nodded.

"An illness of the heart."

Tang Mingjing elaborated, "Many lovestruck men and women in the world suffer from such an affliction. It comes from pining for a sweetheart for too long, until the melancholy takes root and becomes a sickness."

Modesty aside, he had grown bold enough to make such a teasing joke.

Chen Changsheng parted his lips to speak, naturally understanding the implication behind Tang Mingjing's words.

He picked up his wine cup and took a sip, turning his gaze out the window as if lost in thought.

Tang Mingjing continued shelling peanuts. "Have some, Mister," he offered.

He passed the freshly shelled peanuts over to Mister Chen.

Chen Changsheng accepted them with a word of thanks, though a complex mess of emotions churned within him. Looking at Tang Mingjing right now, it truly felt as though the man had aged overnight.

And in truth, he had.

Even after experiencing this exact scenario countless times, Chen Changsheng still felt a sense of dazed unreality. It felt as though he had been looking at a high-spirited young man just yesterday, and only a single day later, that man had withered into a frail elder nearing the end of his days.

The peanuts were delicious. They carried a faint, earthy aroma and held no bitterness—in fact, they were rather sweet. They must have been freshly dug from the fields for the season, which was when they were at their best.

Tang Mingjing clearly loved the snack. He smiled and said, "I fell ill a while back, and the doctor told me my vitality was lacking. He ordered me to eat more to nourish my body, suggesting I snack on peanuts during the day. I tried them and found them quite sweet."

"How is it that now you're older, you've started liking sweet snacks?" Chen Changsheng asked.

"It is exactly because I'm old that I like them."

Tang Mingjing laughed. "The only ones who love sweets are children and the elderly. Doesn't that make me a perfect fit?"

Chen Changsheng thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "That makes sense."

Tang Mingjing let out a long breath. A hint of lingering defiance crept into his voice as he muttered, "I really am old now..."

"You refuse to accept it?"

"Of course I refuse to accept it—just a little."

Tang Mingjing laughed. "If I were still young and brimming with ambition, I wouldn't need to be so timid and overly cautious. I used to just charge straight ahead. Even if my plans lacked foresight, I always had the energy to adapt and fix things when accidents happened. Now, I simply don't have that in me anymore..."

Nowadays, he wasn't willing to take even the slightest risk.

What he refused to accept wasn't his dwindling lifespan, but the change in his mindset.

It was his spirit that had grown old.

Chen Changsheng ate a peanut and chased it with a sip of wine, enjoying the lingering sweetness. "Everyone grows old eventually," he said.

Tang Mingjing said, "Years ago, Mister told me that while heaven dictates the plans, man dictates the success—that fate accounts for merely three parts, while human effort makes up the remaining seven. Over the years, I've found that to be absolutely true. But now, I no longer have the drive to fight, and I don't know what to do anymore. With a family business this large, there are wolves ahead and tigers behind. I have no choice but to consider the safety of my wife, my children, and my descendants. I am afraid. That is why I don't dare do anything at all. I just fiercely guard my little plot of land and wait for death."

Chen Changsheng asked, "You don't dare to act?"

"Yes."

"Then what about that portrait in Qingshan City?"

"That..."

Tang Mingjing paused, then replied, "That was to repay a favor I owed from my earlier years."

"Is that all it was?"

Tang Mingjing smiled, offering no further defense. He simply resumed peeling peanuts, suddenly looking every bit like an honest, simple-minded man.

"I don't have a choice," Tang Mingjing said. "When a business grows this large, it naturally draws jealous eyes. I had to find myself a reliable backer, at the very least."

At the very least, it would guarantee that the Tang family would still have a future after his death, rather than being slaughtered to the last man.

Chen Changsheng let out a soft sigh. In truth, he understood exactly how helpless Tang Mingjing felt.

How could a man as clever as him be foolish enough to expose himself to such scrutiny? It was impossible for him not to understand the concept of self-preservation. The only explanation was that someone was pushing him forward, forcing him down a path he had no choice but to take.

He was no different from a puppet.

Caught in this situation, Tang Mingjing found himself trapped between a rock and a hard place. Doing nothing at all was, ironically, the best move he could make.

Chen Changsheng looked at him. "And in the future, what are your plans? Are you going to gamble on a side? You know perfectly well that even if you choose the right one, it doesn't guarantee a good end."

Tang Mingjing remained silent for a moment before lowering his head and muttering, "Who knows? The world is vast, but all of it belongs to the king. Where could I possibly run? Not to mention, I have a massive family—how could I take them all with me?"

Chen Changsheng exhaled. "Let's stop talking about this."

"Mm."

Tang Mingjing was beginning to feel a headache coming on. He didn't want to dwell on such matters any longer, either.

"I heard Prince Kang was defeated? And that the Prince of Yan has absorbed the border territories?"

"That's right. The Prince of Yan is quite bold."

"What is the situation like now?"

"It looks like the peace is crumbling. War is about to break out."

Tang Mingjing explained, "This time, the spearhead is pointed directly at the King of Wei. Weidi is currently an isolated territory. Prince Jin and the Prince of Yan have reached an alliance and intend to launch a joint invasion. I'm afraid the King of Wei is about to follow in Prince Kang's footsteps."

Chen Changsheng pondered this for a moment. If that happened, the realm would truly be split into a three-way stalemate.

"Though right now, they still lack a justification for war," Tang Mingjing smiled, "but that won't take long. Once the incident at the Fiend Blood Path blows up, they will have their excuse."

"The incident at the Fiend Blood Path?"

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