Cunning Three Kingdoms

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Pang Tong was reading a bamboo scroll, but his mind was elsewhere.

At this moment, Pang Tong felt a bit uncomfortable and unsettled. His original plan had been to enjoy some peace and quiet while Fei Qian was away, savoring the leisurely days without anyone to bicker with. However, to his surprise, even though Fei Qian wasn't around, it seemed like more and more people were coming to Lushan.

A few days ago, a man named Cui Jun had come to visit. When he found out Fei Qian wasn't there, he left his name card and departed.

More recently, a man named Xu Fu had arrived, carrying a name card from Sima Hui. After paying his respects to Pang Degong, he was actually allowed to stay in the wooden house.

Pang Tong was not happy about this. The wooden house wasn't very big to begin with. Zao Zhi, who was gentle and scholarly, seemed like a decent person, and since he was someone Fei Qian already knew, Pang Tong didn't mind him staying. But now, a burly man with a thick beard had also moved in. What was going on?

Although this was Pang Degong's decision and arrangement, Pang Tong couldn't say much about it. However, that didn't stop him from using his superior knowledge of the classics, history, philosophy, and literature to deal a devastating blow to the newcomer, causing Xu Fu to avoid him at all costs these past few days.

Pang Tong thought disdainfully, 'With such a weak foundation, how dare you strut around in front of me? Even Fei Qian, Fei Ziyuan, isn't my match in this area. How is it that you, who look older than Fei Qian, are even worse?'

'How boring... Life without a worthy opponent is truly lonely—'

Just as Pang Tong was lamenting, he suddenly noticed a group of people approaching the wooden house. Upon closer inspection, it was Cai Feng, the head of the Cai family, accompanied by a group of servants!

Pang Tong quickly went out to greet him, bowing respectfully to Cai Feng and saying, "Master Cai, your visit is an honor. Please forgive us for not welcoming you properly!"

Cai Feng gave a slight smile and waved his hand, saying, "I happened to be passing by and thought I'd pay a visit to Pang Gong. Is he available?"

Passing by? What a coincidence!

Pang Tong nodded and led Cai Feng up the mountain, all the while thinking to himself, 'What kind of coincidence is this? There's nothing related to the Cai family around Lushan. You must be here because of the Fei Qian situation, and yet you claim to be passing by.'

It made sense. Originally, the Cai family had planned to use the Kuai family's move against Fei Qian to both curb the Kuai family's overreach and make Fei Qian owe them a favor. After all, Fei Qian had obtained Pang Degong's "Six Secret Teachings", so he was bound to achieve great things in the future. Planting a seed now might prove useful later.

But unexpectedly, Fei Qian hadn't taken the simpler route offered by the Cai family. Instead, he had gone directly to the Huang family, leveraging their large number of skilled craftsmen to complete the seemingly impossible task of producing the arrows—

This had left the Cai family in an awkward position.

After observing for a few days and seeing that neither the Pang nor Huang families had made any moves, Cai Feng, the head of the Cai family, decided it was necessary to clarify things with Pang Degong. He didn't want Pang Degong to mistakenly think that the Cai and Kuai families were allied. That was why he had come to Lushan to pay his respects.

As for what Cai Feng and Pang Degong discussed, Pang Tong wasn't particularly concerned, nor was it his place to be. After escorting Cai Feng up the mountain, Pang Tong returned to the wooden house. But he had barely sat down when another visitor arrived.

"It's Master Sima Hui!"

Pang Tong hurried out and bowed respectfully to Sima Hui.

Although Pang Tong wasn't very familiar with Sima Hui, he had seen Pang Degong and Sima Hui engaged in pleasant conversation some time ago. He also knew that Sima Hui was a master of ancient texts, so he treated him with great respect.

"Excellent!" Sima Hui laughed heartily, looking at Pang Tong and then at the wooden house behind him. "Marvelous! Did you build this house, my dear nephew?"

Pang Tong answered while inviting Sima Hui inside for tea, "This was built by Fei Qian, Fei Ziyuan."

Sima Hui entered the wooden house, looked around, and smiled. "Excellent! Such thoughtful design!"

At this point, Xu Fu, who had been hiding in his room studying, heard Sima Hui's voice and quickly came out to greet him.

When Sima Hui saw that Xu Fu was staying at Lushan with Pang Tong, he was even more delighted. "Excellent! This is even better!"

Sima Hui had originally thought that sending Xu Fu with a name card would at most get him on Pang Degong's waiting list. After all, Sima Hui knew that Xu Fu wasn't yet qualified to live on Lushan. At best, he could stay in Xiangyang for a while before either returning home or joining the students at Liu Biao's newly established Imperial Academy.

But he hadn't expected Fei Qian to have built a wooden house at the foot of the mountain, allowing Xu Fu to stay there with Pang Degong's permission. This meant Xu Fu could easily receive guidance from Pang Degong at any time, which was far better than attending Liu Biao's superficial academy.

Moreover, living with Pang Tong, Pang Degong's nephew, would allow Xu Fu to engage in scholarly exchanges and mutual improvement. Sima Hui now had even higher hopes for Xu Fu's future.

Sima Hui thought to himself, 'It seems Pang Gong is indeed beginning to fulfill his agreement with me. In that case, I need to speed up my own plans.'

While they were talking, Cai Feng, the head of the Cai family, came down from the mountain. When he saw Sima Hui, he quickly stepped forward to greet him.

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while before Cai Feng left with his entourage.

Naturally, Pang Tong then had to escort Sima Hui up the mountain.

But to Pang Tong's surprise, he had barely returned to the wooden house and read a few lines from his bamboo scroll when he heard a hearty laugh outside. The laughter was familiar, and when Pang Tong went out to look, he saw that it was indeed Huang Chengyan, the head of the Huang family.

What kind of day was this? Why were so many people coming?

"Master Huang, what brings you here?" Pang Tong, being quite familiar with Huang Chengyan, asked directly.

"Others have come too?" Huang Chengyan was also curious.

Pang Tong nodded. "Master Cai just left, and Master Sima Hui is currently on the mountain."—You're really not here by prior arrangement, are you?

"Master Sima Hui is here too? Then I must go see him." Huang Chengyan laughed heartily and prepared to head up the mountain. Meeting an old friend was always a pleasant surprise.

As the junior, Pang Tong naturally had to escort Huang Chengyan up the mountain.

As he led the way, Pang Tong couldn't help but grumble inwardly. 'In just this short time, I've already gone up and down the mountain several times. Sigh, if only Fei Qian were here, he could at least run a few errands for me. He should be done with the arrows by now, right? Otherwise, Master Huang wouldn't have left so easily.'