Chapter 39: Planning for the Future and Considering the Meaning of the Bet

  When they talk, Du Yi is not expressionless. If someone who doesn't know the situation sees this scene, they would think that they are old friends!

  It is said that one should not hit a smiling face; when others show me respect by an inch, I return it with a foot.

  Since Du Yi can be like this, Ma Chao also cannot appear too cold, "Zhong Ming brother, no need to be polite, it's not often seen outside!"

  Ma Chao also followed suit, you act and I'll act too, after all, we're all on the same stage performing together.

  "That's also true, but it's not good for Brother!" Du Yi said as he invited Ma Chao and the others into the mansion.

  Arrived at the living room, everyone took their seats as host and guest. Actually, including Ma Chao and his group, there were only four people in total. Although there weren't many people, it didn't feel particularly deserted either.

  The attendants brought in food and wine. Dui Yi poured a cup of wine and said to Ma Chao, "Today my younger brother has been very wrong, I hope Meng Qi will forgive him!"

  Ma Chao is a man who yields to the soft but not the hard. Since Du Yi has spoken, he must also make some show of humility: "Brother Zhongming's words are too kind; I, too, admire Uncle Ming's divine skill, and am honored by his notice!"

  "So be it! So be it! Meng Qi, you and I will drink to the bottom of this cup. No matter what happened before, from now on, no one is allowed to mention past events again!" Du Yi said to Ma Chao.

  "Everything will be decided by Brother Zhongming!" Ma Chao also took a drink.

  "Uncle Ming, what did you say?" Du Yi said to Du Li again.

  Du Li listened to Du Yi's previous words without missing a single word, and since his second brother had said so, he didn't think it was good to keep calculating anything else either. "Alright! Everything will be done according to Second Brother's wishes!"

  Although he said so with his mouth, Du Li's words still showed some reluctance. Du Yi saw this and frowned slightly, "Uncle Ming, what do you really want?"

  "I, I, Second Brother, I, ah!" Du Li was at a loss for words this time.

  After a pause, Du Li said: "Second brother, my personal affairs can be ignored. But no matter what, Du Qiang is still a member of the Du family. Now that he has been killed by an outsider, where will our Du family's face go?"

  Du Li's words also make some sense. Although the Du family is not a prominent clan, they are still a respectable family in Lewang. Now that their steward has been killed, it would indeed be embarrassing to talk about it.

  "This matter should not be mentioned again! Uncle Ming, Meng Qi, you are both here tonight, and my intention is that everyone will speak openly and honestly from now on, so there won't be any more misunderstandings. Du Qiang's downfall is entirely his own doing, no one else can be blamed for it. Even if he didn't die at Meng Qi's hands today, I would still have cleaned up the Du family's mess."

  As for the issue of saving face or not, since my family, the Du family, produced someone like Du Qiang, I think we've already lost a lot of face. No one even bothered to handle such a shameful thing that slaps our family's face, and yet people still talk about saving face? Du Qiang deserved to die!

  After Du Yi finished speaking, Du Li didn't dare to utter another word. What Du Yi said was all correct, leaving him no room for refutation, and he himself wasn't someone who wouldn't listen to reason either. As for Ma Chao, he secretly admired Du Yi in his heart, thinking that Du Yi was an extraordinary person, a real talent. He might say that he didn't want to get involved in anything, but at critical moments, he would definitely stand up, just like tonight.

  Now that the eldest son of the Du family, Du Ren, is not at home, Du Yi naturally becomes the person in charge of the entire Du family. With Du Yi around, it's believed that the prosperity of the entire family is a certainty.

  As for Du Jia's third brother, Du Li, this person is actually not bad. It seems that he listens to his two older brothers and more importantly, Du Li is also a talented individual. The current Ma Chao lacks talent.

  He also thought that if Du Li could be under his command, it would be great, but this was just a thought.

  At this moment, Du Yi's attitude is indeed beyond Ma Chao's expectation.

  If it were the old Du Yi, he might have killed Ma Chao and his men, but now he is much calmer than before. Killing Ma Chao and his men sounds simple, but Du Yi knows it's as difficult as climbing to heaven.

  Others may not be very clear, but he himself is the clearest. Ma Chao's kung fu, at most, can only match him evenly, and if it really comes to a life-and-death struggle, he will not be his opponent.

  As for that Cui An, at that time even his own elder brother was not his match. If he really wanted to kill them, if it wasn't successful or let one of them escape, then afterwards it would be a disaster for the Du family.

  After careful consideration, Du Yi decided that he could only make amends with Ma Chao and his men, rather than bear a grudge. Moreover, he had a good impression of Ma Chao's future prospects, firmly believing that Ma Chao would not be an ordinary person in the future and would definitely achieve something. Therefore, even if Du Sheng died, it would be worth it to gain the opportunity to make amends with Ma Chao - this deal was a win-win situation.

  The dignity of the Du family at this time cannot be compared with the rise and fall of the Du family. Moreover, Du Qiang deserved to die, but he died at the hands of outsiders. Du Yi even sighed that Du Qiang's death was a great contribution to the Du family.

  Nowadays Du Yi is indeed much better than before, I suppose this can be considered a blessing in disguise.

  After everyone finished eating, Du Yi had his servants lead Ma Chao and the others to their prepared rooms, while he remained alone with Du Lü.

  "Second brother, is there something you want to say to me?" Du Li asked, feeling that his second brother had intentionally kept him behind, so naturally he must have something important to discuss with him.

  "Third brother, how old are you this year?" Du Li was taken aback by the question. He hadn't expected his second brother to ask such a thing. His second brother naturally knew his age, but since he had asked, he couldn't not answer.

  "My younger brother is already thirty-one years old this year."

  "Indeed, even you, Third Brother, have already passed the age of thirty!"

  Du Yi sighed and Du Li was confused, he didn't understand what was wrong with his second brother tonight.

  "Third brother, now Father is seriously ill and from the current situation, I'm afraid he doesn't have much time left."

  Du Yi said with some sadness, Du Li nodded, of course he knew all this.

  "Second brother, just say what you want to say!"

  "Alright, I'll be straightforward then!"

  "Go on, Second Brother! What can't we brothers talk about?"

  "After Father's hundredth birthday, of course, the position of head of the household will be succeeded by Big Brother, and we all have a responsibility to assist him well!"

  "Second Brother is absolutely right!" Du Li hastily said.

  "With the ability of my elder brother, handling all matters is more than enough, and I, due to the previous bet, can only stay at home, naturally also helping my elder brother manage family affairs."

  "Yes, with Second Brother around, everything at home is naturally even more unmentionable!"

  Du Li deeply understands his second brother's skills. With Du Ren and Du Yi combined, they are absolutely a golden combination.

  "But third brother, although big brother and I can handle family matters with ease, it's not a problem within the family. But what about outside..."

  Du Li hastily said: "Second Brother, speak freely!"

  "It's like this, Third Brother you also know, since Father fell ill, no one in our family has been able to hold office again. Eldest Brother and I can only stay at home, it's safe inside but outside..."

  "My younger brother will listen to my second brother, and I will go join the Youzhou army. With my skills, I believe that within three to five years, I will definitely achieve something in the military!" Du Li said firmly.

  Indeed, with Du Li's abilities, he can definitely make a name for himself in the military.

  Who would have thought that after listening to Du Li's words, Du Yi shook his head. Du Li looked at him and said: "Second brother, what do you mean? Is my younger brother wrong?"

  "It's not Third Brother's fault, his idea is correct, but now there's an even better way, I just don't know if Third Brother will take it or not?"

  "Second Brother, at this time, just say whatever you have!" Du Li was somewhat anxious.

  "Third brother, no need to rush, the better road that Second Brother mentioned is indeed the one taken by Ma Chao and Meng Qi!"

  "What about him? What's his relationship with our Du family?" Du Li asked in confusion.

  Du Yi smiled, "Now it's nothing, but if Third Brother were to acknowledge him as his master, wouldn't that create a relationship?"

  "This, this, is Second Brother's words true?" Du Li was greatly shocked. His own second brother actually asked him to acknowledge that teenager in his early teens as his master. He even suspected whether he had misheard or not.

  "Of course, I dare ask Third Brother, how are you compared to Ma Mengqi?" Du Yi asked Du Li.

  "This, this, this young brother is superior to him in age and archery skills, but inferior in all other aspects!" It can be said that Du Li has a certain degree of self-awareness and can view himself objectively.

  Du Yi smiled and said, "Can the Third Brother at Ma Meng's age compare with this person?"

  Du Li thought to himself, "Second brother, aren't you joking with me? I'm not even comparable to others now, let alone when I was in my teens." Although he thought this, he didn't dare say it out loud.

  "My younger brother is even worse!"

  Du Li said it was indeed straightforward, Du Yi nodded in approval. The biggest advantage of his third brother was not archery, but that he could face his own shortcomings, and even if he had achievements, he would not be proud or complacent. Putting him outside, he was at ease a hundred times.

  "What the third brother said is not wrong, in fact it's not just the third brother. As an older brother who has traveled north and south for nearly twenty years, I can say that I have met countless people, but there is no one at this age who can be compared to Ma Mengqi!"

  Du Li was shocked after hearing this. His second brother was a renowned figure in the world, known as the number one swordsman of Youzhou. After traveling the world for nearly twenty years, he had met countless people, including many young masters from noble families. But Du Li had never heard his second brother give such high praise to anyone before. He didn't think his second brother was deceiving him, so it seemed that Ma Chao must have some extraordinary qualities, otherwise his second brother wouldn't hold him in such high esteem.

  "Third brother, I know you also know about Ma Mengqi's abilities, it's just hard to convince yourself, but now the family..."

  "Second brother, let me think about it carefully!" Du Li interrupted Du Yi's words. He also knew that Ma Chao was not ordinary, but he really couldn't get past the threshold in his heart.

  Du Yi didn't force him, he knew that such things could only rely on Du Li himself, others had no good way to do it. If not, even if Du Li followed Ma Chao as his master, with such a reluctant heart, it would be better to go and surrender to the Youzhou army.

  After a while, it seemed that Duli had made up his mind. He said to Duyi, "Second brother, I'll listen to you! As a member of the Du family, we must consider the interests of our clan!"

  Du Yi was overjoyed when he heard this, "Third brother, it's really great that you can think this way!"

  "However, Second Brother, I have a condition! Whether Ma Mengqi is worth me going to join him depends on whether he can meet the conditions I set!"

  It seems that this third brother of mine is rough but has a delicate side, and can even think of such a move.

  "Alright then, let's talk about it!"

  Du Li then shared his thoughts with Du Yi, who nodded in agreement after listening. It seemed that his third brother sometimes had good ideas, which made him feel more at ease about him.

  "Alright, I'll follow Third Brother's words. Tomorrow when I see Ma Mengqi, I will tell him the truth and I believe he will agree with us!" said Du Yi after hearing Du Li's words.

  "So be it, I'm out of here!" Du Li turned around and went back to his own room, while Du Yi was still thinking about how to tell Ma Chao all this tomorrow.

  On the second day, after breakfast, Duyu left Ma Chao behind and waited until everyone else had withdrawn before Ma Chao asked Duyu: "I don't know why Brother Zhongming has kept me back?"

  Du Yi said: "Since you call me Brother Zhongming, I'll call you Younger Brother Mengqi!"

  After making up his mind last night, Du Yi started to get close to Ma Chao today.

  "Exactly as I wished!" Ma Chao said with a smile.

  "What is your noble brother's ambition?" Du Yi asked Ma Chao with a changed tone.

  Ma Chao thought to himself, "I want to follow the example of Wei and Huo, drive out the Xiongnu, and make our great Han dynasty's prestige flourish!"

  He can't possibly be telling the truth, saying I want to be an emperor, and judging from the current situation, there are hardly a few people in the world who would take what Ma Chao says seriously. Probably on the first day he finishes speaking, at the latest by the second day, he will be harmonized.

  Du Yi nodded after hearing this, it can be seen that he was still very satisfied with Ma Chao's ambition.

  "Meng Qi's younger brother has a good ambition, but one tree alone cannot make a forest!"

  Ma Chao listened and understood what Du Yi meant, could it be that...

  "Brother Zhongming's words are quite right, I also mean this!" After finishing speaking, Ma Chao sighed.

  "Meng Qi, little brother, why don't we make a bet?" Du Yi continued.

  Ma Chao thought to himself, "This Du Yi is interesting, he likes to make bets. Last time he lost, this time what new idea does he have?"

  "Brother Zhongming, please speak up!"

  Du Yi then told them what Du Li had said to him last night. It was actually quite simple, just setting a five-year agreement.

  From now on, within five years, if Ma Chao can make a name for himself and obtain an official position, then Du Jia's Du Li will acknowledge Ma Chao as his master. If Ma Chao fails to achieve this, he will become a son-in-law of the Du family and marry the most beautiful daughter of the Du family.

  Ma Chao heard this and thought it was interesting, it seemed that he couldn't shake off the Du family no matter what. He had confidence in winning, and Du Li was a talent he wanted to win over, so he agreed without hesitation.

  After Ma Chao showed his attitude, he and Du Yi looked at each other and burst out laughing. Both sides understood each other's intentions. To put it nicely, this is called a win-win situation; to put it bluntly, they were just using each other for their own benefit.