Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 137: Chapter 133 Fishing

Since Wei Cen recommended handling the matter with Yang Zhenshan in charge, Yang Zhenshan then began to deal with the subsequent affairs according to his own thoughts.

Compared to investigating the smuggling case, it was naturally a top priority for Yang Zhenshan to first take control of the garrison office and the garrison.

Therefore, after meeting Wei Cen, Yang Zhenshan began to first handle the affairs within the garrison office.

While he headed to City Gate Castle, Yang Minghao also conducted a thorough examination of the civil servants and constables in the office. Compared to the issues within the garrison, these civil servants and constables naturally did not pose much of a serious problem.

Despite their blustering and bullying in front of the ordinary people, these civil servants and constables had no qualifications to resist in front of real authority.

Yang Minghao’s method of examination was also simple. Combining the previous investigations, he called each person individually for questioning, and with the promise of rewards for reporting, the civil servants and constables started to expose the dirty secrets of their colleagues.

Whoever had committed dishonorable acts, who was close to whom, who took bribes for personal gain, and who was neglecting their duties—all were reported by one another.

If matters were to be taken seriously, every person in that office should be pulled out for a beating. Not all would need to be beheaded, but giving each of them twenty heavy blows would not wrong a single innocent, including Zhou Ren, this managerial officer.

Of course, Yang Zhenshan was not going to dispose of all the civil servants and constables. The operation of the office could not do without these individuals, so Yang Zhenshan, adhering to the principle of punishing the major offenses and overlooking minor ones, disposed of a dozen or so individuals. The rest had minor issues but were still within tolerable limits.

Of course, after a stick, one should offer a carrot.

Yang Zhenshan also increased the salaries of the civil servants and constables and laid down some rules.

The specific rules need not be mentioned here. In essence, they were to restrain the civil servants and constables from misbehaving and to take their duties seriously.

Once all these were handled, the sky had completely darkened.

The gloomy horizon, at some point, began to flutter with snowflakes, scattering down upon the roof eaves and ridges.

Wrapped in a grey cloak, Yang Zhenshan stepped out from the study, watching the falling snowflakes, and gently said, “The New Year is approaching again!”

Time had imperceptibly entered the twelfth lunar month; calculating the time, he had already been in this world for over three years.

Three years!

Yang Zhenshan, stroking his long beard, wore an expression of helplessness.

It felt like he had been in this world for a very long time.

Probably because his beard grew too quickly.

While Yang Zhenshan was considering whether he should trim his beard, Zhou Ren approached him.

“My lord, Xu Wanfu wishes to see you!”

Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, “I thought he would stubbornly resist to the end. It seems I have overestimated him!”

Zhou Ren remained silent. He was now filled with awe for Yang Zhenshan and stood trembling before him.

“Let’s go, then! Let’s meet him once again!”

Soon, Yang Zhenshan arrived at the cell to see Xu Wanfu.

On his arrival, Xu Wanfu revealed a complex expression.

“Yang Zhenshan!”

The cell was very rudimentary, with nothing more than straw scattered across the floor.

At this moment, Xu Wanfu looked utterly wretched, his arms having been cut off, making it problematic even to eat and drink, let alone other activities.

Zhou Ren, with astute perception, brought a chair for Yang Zhenshan right as he entered the cell.

“You may leave now!”

Yang Zhenshan dismissed Zhou Ren.

After Zhou Ren left, Yang Zhenshan sat on the chair, looking down at Xu Wanfu who was sprawled on the ground, and asked, “What do you wish to tell this official?”

After a long silence, Xu Wanfu spoke, “I don’t want to die!”

“You no longer have a way to survive; conspiring with the enemy and betraying your country, this official cannot save you!” Yang Zhenshan stated.

Hearing this, Xu Wanfu suddenly raised his head, “You—”

He wanted to ask how Yang Zhenshan knew and what else he knew.

But Yang Zhenshan interrupted him, saying, “You don’t really think that this official is acting against you just because you took over the garrison, do you?”

“If it was just for occupying the garrison, I would still target you, but I wouldn’t push you towards death.”

Xu Wanfu’s face turned pale; he finally realized where he had erred.

He always thought that Yang Zhenshan just wanted to fight him for power and never imagined that Yang Zhenshan was acting because of the smuggling.

“Don’t harbor any illusions; no one can save you now, not even the people backing you!”

Yang Zhenshan said calmly, “Although I reckon, they won’t save you; they are probably now discussing how to kill you to silence you!”

Xu Wanfu’s face turned even paler.

“Do you want to tell me something? Like who is the person behind you? Is it Black Cliff Village?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

“Black Cliff Village?” Xu Wanfu looked up in confusion.

“It’s not Black Cliff Village!” Yang Zhenshan was surprised as well.

Wei Cen had said that these people were all connected with Black Cliff Village, but Xu Wanfu’s reaction seemed like he was completely unaware of Black Cliff Village’s existence.

Hanging his head low, Xu Wanfu’s expression turned somber and uncertain; after a while, he finally said, “I don’t know if it’s Black Cliff Village. The only person who contacted me claimed to be a ’Master’.”

“Oh? And what were you responsible for?” Yang Zhenshan inquired.

“Cao Han was in charge of disguising the traces of the goods under the guise of conscripted grain collection, and I was responsible for the entry and exit of the goods in the city,” Xu Wanfu stated openly without hesitation.

“And who were transporting the goods?” Yang Zhenshan continued to probe.

“The ’Master’ forbade us from asking too much, but I know it was the Liang family of Jing’an,” Xu Wanfu replied.

Yang Zhenshan grew curious, “Why were you serving this ’Master’?”

“For Silver,” Xu Wanfu lifted his head, his expression turning numb.

“Just for Silver?” Yang Zhenshan was even more astonished.

“At first, it was for the Silver,” Xu Wanfu said.

Yang Zhenshan suddenly realized that at first it was for Silver, but later he discovered he had boarded a thief ship, and he could only be coerced to follow the arrangements.

“You don’t know the identity of that gentleman?”

“I don’t!” Xu Wanfu said.

Just then, Wei Cen appeared outside the cell, whispering: “That gentleman is none other than Yi Shan, the advisor of Black Cliff Village.”

Xu Wanfu turned his head to look at him, “Who are you?”

“Secret Martial Guard of the Northern Station, Hundred Households Wei Cen.”

Xu Wanfu completely lost hope, his whole being collapsed.

With the Secret Martial Guards involved, he truly had no hope left.

Yang Zhenshan watched Xu Wanfu with some disappointment; he originally thought Xu Wanfu knew something, only to find out that this guy didn’t even know about Black Cliff Village.

Watching Xu Wanfu collapse, Yang Zhenshan slightly shook his head and stood up, leaving the cell.

As they walked away from the cell, Wei Cen couldn’t help but speak: “They might kill to silence him tonight!”

Although Xu Wanfu didn’t know much, he was after all aware of Yi Shan’s existence, and to avoid exposing himself, Yi Shan definitely wouldn’t let him live.

Yang Zhenshan stopped in his tracks, looked back at the cell, and said: “You should be quite skilled in tracking, right?”

“Of course!” said Wei Cen.

“Then let’s follow the vines to see if new discoveries can be made!”

Xu Wanfu was already useless, keeping him had no meaning, might as well utilize this waste, let him serve a final purpose, maybe even lure out a big fish.

And only with Xu Wanfu dead, the other side would relax their guard, which might be more conducive for them to catch the opponent’s weakness.

Naturally, Wei Cen had no objections to this; he was also curious to see who Xu Wanfu might draw out.

…

The snow was getting heavier, and clouds obscured the bright moon, leaving the world in utter darkness.

An Yuan State City in the depth of night seemed to be in an abyss, hardly any light was visible.

Inside the garrison office, it was eerily silent, except for the faint light emanating from two lanterns at the main entrance.

With a swooshing sound, almost inaudible, a shadow slipped into the office.

The constables and soldiers responsible for guarding were already hiding in their rooms, soundly asleep, completely unaware of the intrusion.

The shadow moved swiftly, arriving outside the cell in a moment.

Without any visible movement, he entered the cell.

Xu Wanfu, shivering in the straw, seemed to sense something and suddenly opened his eyes.

But before he could act, a pungent smell suffocated him, blocking his mouth and nose.

He tried to scream, but he couldn’t make any sound.

He tried to struggle, but all he could do was helplessly kick his legs.

Soon, his body stiffened, his eyes rolled back, and he drew his last breath.

The shadow kicked away some stray hay on the ground, left the cell quietly, locked the cell, and then departed.

Right after he left, several shadows quietly followed from outside the office.

At the same time, Yang Zhenshan and Wei Cen walked out from the other side of the cell.

“He’s dead?”

“Totally dead.” Wei Cen nodded.

“Can you tell who that person was?” Yang Zhenshan asked.

Judging from the shadow’s actions, his cultivation should be around Postnatal Fifth Layer, or even higher.

Moreover, he was extremely adept at the Light Body Skill, even better than Wei Cen.

Yang Zhenshan had practiced Light Body Skill too but was not good at it; what he practiced were battle-oriented moves and Cultivation Techniques.

For him, the usefulness of Light Body Skill was not significant.

“It’s Hou Jun, the Third Village Chief of Black Cliff Village,” Wei Cen said.

Yang Zhenshan looked at him in surprise, “You could tell that!”

He had just casually asked, not expecting Wei Cen would indeed know who it was.

With an imperceptible smile on Wei Cen’s otherwise cold face, he said, “There are only four people in Black Cliff Village with a cultivation above Postnatal Fifth Layer—the Village Chief Rong Qianjun, with Postnatal Seventh Layer; Second Village Chief Zheng Qidao, with Postnatal Sixth Layer; Third Village Chief Hou Jun, with Postnatal Fifth Layer; and the advisor Yi Shan, also Postnatal Fifth Layer.”

“Among them, only Hou Jun possesses such Light Body Skill.”

Yang Zhenshan paused, alright, if it could be confirmed the person was from Black Cliff Village, then deducing who it was would indeed be easy.

This was the disparity brought about by the difference in information—Yang Zhenshan was not familiar with Black Cliff Village, naturally, he couldn’t discern who it was, but Wei Cen had already thoroughly scoped out Black Cliff Village.

While they were talking, suddenly a series of clinking collision noises came from the silent night.

Both men looked at each other, their expressions changing.

“Something happened?”

Yang Zhenshan frowned slightly.

Clearly, it was the sound of a fight, and it seemed not far from the office.

Wei Cen’s face grew somber, he leaped up and swiftly skimmed across the rooftops, following the noise.

Yang Zhenshan enviously watched his silhouette; he simply couldn’t match that level of Light Body Skill.

He could jump up as well and skim over rooftops, but he couldn’t do so without leaving tracks in the snow.

He estimated that with one step, he would break several tiles.

With no other choice, Yang Zhenshan could only jump over the wall and chase down the street.