Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 178: Chapter 174: Seeing Zhao Yuan Again, Jade Buddha

As the saying goes, when one man gains the Tao, his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Although Yang Zhenshan hasn’t gained the Tao, he is now a Deputy Magistrate Commander of Jianning Guard with a Secondary Third Rank official position, hence everyone who has the slightest connection with him and the Yang family can bask in their glory.

The Wang family, for instance, thanks to their marriage ties with the Yang family, are not to be trifled with in Anning County, to say the least. The civil servants and constables of the county government must treat them with utmost courtesy.

It’s important to not underestimate this; the harm done by minor officials can be even more severe than that of corrupt ones. Take for instance the collection of grain taxes; no civil servant or constable in Anning County would dare to be dishonest with the Wang family.

In Wang Family Village, Mr. Wang is a well-respected figure. Had Mr. Wang not been so honest, he could’ve leveraged the Yang family’s influence to act as a village head or the like.

It is not just the Wang family, but the Li and Jiang families were likewise in this situation.

This time the visitors from the Li family were Mr. Li, his wife, and their eldest son, Li Dashi. Mr. Li, like Mr. Wang, was an honest country fellow and appeared particularly nervous in front of Yang Zhenshan.

It was only after they returned to their guest room that Mr. Li’s nerves slightly eased.

However, since the second branch wasn’t in An Yuan City, Yang Minghao was in charge of receiving them.

After arranging their guest rooms, Yang Minghao said to Mr. Li: “Uncle Li, if there’s anything unsatisfactory, please just tell me and I will rearrange it for you.”

“No need, no need, everything is fine, all is well!” Mr. Li said with a smiling face.

This was not mere politeness; he genuinely felt that everything was very good.

Compared to their own home, this place was undoubtedly much more luxurious and exquisite.

“Well then, my second brother and his wife will probably be back in a few days. In the meantime, please make yourselves at home. I will have Liu Ben assist you, and if there’s anything you need, you can ask him directly, or he can come find me,” Yang Minghao instructed.

Yang Minghao pointed to a young servant, around seventeen or eighteen years old, standing next to him.

“Alright, alright!” Mr. Li could only keep saying alright, incapable of expressing anything else.

Yang Minghao also told him about other matters, such as how to take meals, where to find water, and advised that if they wished to go out, to bring more people with them to avoid any trouble and so on.

In fact, Mr. Li was two years younger than Yang Zhenshan. The Li family’s eldest daughter was Mrs. Li, who also had two younger brothers and a younger sister.

Her eldest son, Li Dashi, was eighteen years old and had just married two years prior.

After giving Li Dashi a few instructions, Yang Minghao then left.

Li Dashi was rather clever; he was much more decisive in what he said and did compared to Mr. Li.

After seeing Yang Minghao off, Li Dashi couldn’t help but exclaim: “Dad, third brother has changed a lot. I remember when he was working at the blacksmith’s shop, he was about the same height as me, but now he’s much taller than I am!”

He was the same age as Yang Minghao, but back then the Yang family was poor, and Yang Minghao wasn’t as tall as him.

“It’s different now. The Yang family has prospered!” Mr. Li said with a hearty laugh.

Standing nearby, Mrs. Han Li had just finished packing up their luggage and walked out from the inner room, saying: “I wonder how Dahua is doing now. I heard she’s pregnant again!”

Dahua was Mrs. Li’s name, Li Dahua, a very rustic-sounding name.

Speaking of Mrs. Li’s pregnancy, Mrs. Han’s dark face beamed with joy.

For women, children were their support within the husband’s family.

Mrs. Li had borne two grandsons for the Yang family, which constituted her greatest support within the Yang family.

“Brother-in-law is now a high-ranking official; elder sister must be living very well!”

Li Dashi sat by the tea table, picking up a pastry to try.

The soft, melt-in-the-mouth glutinous rice cake brightened Li Dashi’s eyes.

“Ah, it’s a pity my younger sister couldn’t come; she would definitely like these pastries!”

Mrs. Han gave him a glance but remained silent.

They had hesitated for quite some time before deciding to come to An Yuan City; the journey of over three hundred li was incredibly far for them. If it hadn’t been for Yang Minghui’s personal invitation, they probably wouldn’t have come.

After deciding to come to An Yuan City, they deliberated for a long while about who should make the trip. They felt it wouldn’t be appropriate for the whole family to come, so they brought only their eldest son.

Li Xiaohua also wanted to come, but she was ruthlessly rejected by them.

In truth, Li Dashi wanted to bring his younger sister along, but his parents were against it, and he couldn’t persuade them, so he eventually had to give up.

…

Over the following two days, friends and relatives attending Yang Zhenshan’s wedding arrived one after another.

Mr. Lu from the Lu family, along with Seventh Young Master Qi Lu, brought no small gift for Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan was somewhat embarrassed by the Lu family’s generosity.

Mr. Lu looked a lot older with his head full of white hair, but he still had a lively spirit.

On the other hand, Lu Qi appeared much more mature and lacked his previous arrogance.

Last year, Lu Qi passed the examination for a Scholar, and now he had some academic credentials. However, his academic talent was nowhere near that of Lu Wenquan; at best, he could probably only reach the level of being a licentiate in his lifetime.

Fortunately, the Lu family did not rely solely on Qi Lu; with six brothers above him—both legitimate and born of concubines—the eldest of the Lu family, Lu Zhi, was already a Prefect of secondary fifth rank. With Lu Zhi’s presence, the Lu family was not likely to decline in this generation.

Besides the Lu family in Anning County, the County Magistrate, Luo Jin, also sent someone. The envoy was his personal advisor, who delivered wedding gifts before departing.

Yang Mingzhi arrived in An Yuan City on the third day of the fifth month, along with Zhao Yuan and Yang Qinwu.

Zhao Yuan represented Zhou Lan, naturally representing himself as well.

As for Yang Qinwu, he came on behalf of Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and others.

Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and the others held official posts and naturally couldn’t come to Yang Zhenshan’s wedding. They chose Yang Qinwu to represent them and deliver their gifts.

The gifts were plenty, but none were particularly valuable; Yang Zhenshan didn’t expect any expensive gifts from them. However, Yang Chengze’s gift did bring much happiness to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Chengze sent over a ledger indicating the recent months’ accounts for Yinghe Castle.

In just a few months, the defense office of Yinghe Castle had an income of two thousand taels of Silver, primarily from charcoal and the sewing workshops at Linguan Castle. Furthermore, the rent from the business street and livestock raised by garrison households had earned the office a significant amount of Silver.

If the office was able to make that much Silver, the military households would undoubtedly be earning even more.

“You have done very well!” Yang Zhenshan looked at Yang Qinwu and praised him warmly.

“Heh heh, it’s all thanks to Grandpa Zhenshan; we just implemented the plan that Grandpa Zhenshan outlined!” Yang Qinwu said somewhat embarrassedly while scratching his head.

“Ha ha, this kid is actually shy!” Zhao Yuan teased from the side.

“Mr. Zhengshan, you are not aware, Yinghe Castle has now become the most prosperous garrison under Jianning Guard’s jurisdiction, bustling every single day!”

He truly admired Yang Zhenshan. How Yinghe Castle was before and how it is now, it’s simply heaven and earth apart.

Nowadays, Yinghe Castle is probably the wealthiest garrison of Chongshan Town, and this is all due to Yang Zhenshan’s efforts.

In his heart, Yang Zhenshan is that all-around talent who can fight enemies on horseback and govern the people off it.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his beard, his face beaming with an even more brilliant smile.

He was truly very happy.

To govern a place and bring prosperity to a region.

The better Yinghe Castle became under his management, the stronger his sense of fulfillment.

Furthermore, with Yang Chengze, Yang Mingwu, and others successively achieving prominence, he felt an unprecedented sense of accomplishment.

“By the way, how is General Zhou doing lately?” Yang Zhenshan changed the topic to Zhou Lan.

He hadn’t seen Zhou Lan for over half a year and missed her quite a bit.

Zhou Lan was his mentor and his support. Even after leaving Yinghe Castle, he still thought about her.

“Uh!”

However, Zhao Yuan smiled in a somewhat embarrassed manner.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Zhenshan asked, puzzled.

Zhao Yuan glanced at Yang Qinwu and said, “Qinwu, you go and arrange our accommodations first!”

The Yang family’s yard was large, but it couldn’t accommodate so many relatives and friends.

Apart from the Yang family’s in-laws, other relatives and friends were staying in guest houses.

The accommodations didn’t need their arrangement; the Yang family had already taken care of everything. Zhao Yuan just wanted to send Yang Qinwu away.

Yang Qinwu blinked and stood up, saying, “Grandpa Zhengshan, I’ll come back later. I have a lot to tell you!”

“Alright! Go ahead!”

After Yang Qinwu left, Zhao Yuan lowered his voice and said, “Brother Zhengshan, General Zhou has been in a terrible mood recently!”

“Why?”

“What else could it be for but because of you!” Zhao Yuan winked and made faces at Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan’s face filled with surprise.

What does that mean?

Does Zhou Lan have a crush on me and feel upset after hearing that I’m getting married?

That can’t be right!

Although his relationship with Zhou Lan was close, it was not of romantic nature.

If he said he had no feelings for Zhou Lan, that would be untrue. Initially, he was quite attracted to Zhou Lan.

The dashing female general looked so lively and impressive.

However, those feelings were just physical excitement, and after they became superior and subordinate, and Zhou Lan became his support, Yang Zhenshan put aside all those frivolous fantasies.

And Zhou Lan?

She certainly shouldn’t have any romantic feelings either.

Zhao Yuan laughed, “Heir Zhou came to Jianning Guard again not long ago, and just so happened to hear about your marriage and advised General Zhou to get married.”

The corners of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth twitched slightly. So it was all about marriage pressure from his elder brother.

He felt a little relieved, but at the same time, a bit disappointed.

It would be nice if she had feelings for him; otherwise, he didn’t know how to continue interacting with Zhou Lan in the future.

As for the disappointment, well, men are inherently a bit irrationally greedy.

“Has Heir Zhou left?”

Heir Zhou was Zhou Lan’s elder brother, Zhou Xu, whom Yang Zhenshan had met before.

“He left. He only stayed in Jianning Guard for two days!”

Zhao Yuan slapped his forehead, “Oh right, Heir Zhou also had me bring you a wedding gift!”

Saying so, he rushed out in a hurry and then ran back soon after.

“Here it is!”

He handed a wooden box to Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan took the box and opened it to find a jade Buddha inside.

A jade Buddha?

What does that mean?

This doesn’t seem like Zhou Xu’s style.

His impression of Zhou Xu was that of a carefree person who wouldn’t bother with religious rituals.

“Huh!” Zhao Yuan also looked surprised upon seeing the jade Buddha.

“Do you recognize this jade Buddha?” Yang Zhenshan was somewhat baffled.

“I don’t, but this is top-grade mutton-fat jade, and it should be worth quite a bit of silver!” said Zhao Yuan.

Yang Zhenshan was confused. He really couldn’t understand why Zhou Xu would send him such a gift.

But no matter what Zhou Xu’s intentions were, the gift had been sent, and he couldn’t just send it back.