Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 269: Chapter 260 Commander, Lady of Imperial Mandate

The incense table was set, and the crowd knelt in worship.

Mr. Zhang held the imperial decree and approached the incense table. He read aloud, “By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Yang Zhenshan, the garrison commander of An Yuan City, is talented and virtuous, courageous and strategic. On the battlefield, he maneuvers strategies and charges forward bravely…”

The lengthy opening was filled with praises for Yang Zhenshan, leaving him somewhat dazed and confused.

Although he had read many books since arriving in this world, improving his classical Chinese by at least three levels, he still found the imperial decree somewhat perplexing.

“Intellect sharp as a rhinoceros horn, virtue pure as jade”

“With a chest replete with armaments, he can truly be considered adept in military affairs.”

These phrases gave Yang Zhenshan a headache, and he found them difficult to comprehend.

However, fortunately, he knew that he was being praised, and that understanding was sufficient.

Soon, Mr. Zhang reached the end, and Yang Zhenshan finally heard the content he was hoping for.

Yang Zhenshan, the garrison commander of An Yuan City, is promoted to Commander of the Tenglong Guard, conferred the title of General who Establishes the Nation, and given the duty of military protector.

Initially, Yang Zhenshan thought that was the end of the decree and was ready to kowtow in gratitude, but Mr. Zhang took a deep breath and continued, “The decree states: Great ministers exemplify public service, cultivate virtue within, extend grace in nobility, and their honor is as encompassing as the vision, their reverence shines resplendent and esteemed forever. Bestow upon the wife of General who Establishes the Nation, Yang Zhenshan, Madam Yu, whose femininity is seminal and exemplary, her virtues cascade like the moon across her chamber, her thread penetrates the clouds. Bestow upon her husband the ceremonial attire, for her conduct is well known, and she too deserves to be honored. She is hereby granted the title of Madam, her dignity enshrined in playfulness, her grace extended as if the landscape majestic, her presence as alert as if in the hallowed halls is soaring beyond reach, her golden tablet freshly inscribed, her purple edict from afar carried.”

Yu Qingyi looked up, baffled, and gazed at Yang Zhenshan with astonished eyes, “Are they talking about me?”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but laugh at her puzzled expression.

Madam by decree!

In Da Rong, the ranks for the wives of officials can generally be divided into Madam of the First Rank, Second Rank is Madam, Third Rank is Virtuous Lady, Fourth Rank is Respectful Lady, Fifth Rank is Suitable Lady, Sixth Rank is Peaceful Lady, and below Seventh Rank are considered Ordinary Women.

Madam of the First Rank carries the ’First’ prefix, and for Second Rank, one is simply called Madam. When conferring posthumous honors to an official’s principal mother, she is named as Great Lady.

Someone without rank or title is called Wife.

This means that Yu Qingyi was not formerly entitled to be called Mrs. Yang, but could only be addressed as the main wife of the Yang family.

However, this is the formal court system. In private, the legitimate wife of an official is commonly called Madam, just as in the previous life anyone could be addressed as a CEO, a Manager, and so forth.

Finally, Mr. Zhang finished reading. Yang Zhenshan quickly expressed his thanks, “Gratitude for the great kindness of His Majesty, may the Emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years.”

The members of the Yang family also chanted “Long Live” in unison.

“Hehe, Master Yang, please rise now!”

“Thank you, Mr. Zhang!” Yang Zhenshan stood up, once again gave Mr. Zhang a fist salute in thanks, then signaled Wu Hai with his eyes. Wu Hai understood immediately and took out a purse that had been prepared earlier, distributing it to Mr. Zhang’s attendants.

Yang Zhenshan stepped forward and handed a small purse to Mr. Zhang, smiling, “Mr. Zhang, it has been a tough journey. My residence is humble and I have nothing good to offer, so I invite Mr. Zhang to have a cup of tea!”

Though the purse was small, it contained no small sum – a full 500 taels of silver!

And the other purses each contained fifty taels.

In just a short while, Yang Zhenshan had distributed nearly a thousand taels of silver.

Later, he would also need to distribute several hundred more taels to take care of the soldiers of the left Tenglong Guard.

Is it easy to be an official?

If you don’t offer some favors, they might go back to the capital and speak ill of you. One person saying something isn’t a big deal, but when three people start talking, rumors spread and you’re painted as arrogant and disrespectful.

Mr. Zhang received the purse with implicit understanding, his smile growing warmer, “Master Yang, this is Mrs. Yang’s decree attire!”

Two young eunuchs then presented a lavish outfit, and Yang Zhenshan hurriedly had someone accept it.

Following her husband’s rank, first Yang Zhenshan was conferred as General who Establishes the Nation of the Secondary Second Rank, and then Yu Qingyi was conferred as Madam.

The attire was a red round-neck robe adorned with rank patterns, with a long jacket and skirt underneath, and a headdress with complete sets of gold and silver jewels – it looked extremely luxurious.

However, both the title of the General who Establishes the Nation and the title of Madam by decree were honorary, conferring rank and salary but no real power.

Yang Zhenshan’s two titles, General who Establishes the Nation and military protector, were both honorary titles with rank but without real power.

Of course, having two titles was not without advantages; the most direct benefit being that from now on, Yang Zhenshan could refer to himself as “this general.”

If there was a future call-up or he was tasked with other official positions, both the Ministry of War and the Central Army Commander’s Mansion would prioritize consideration for him.

After an enthusiastic and warm round of courtesies and hospitality, Mr. Zhang had lunch at the Yang family home. Following that, Yang Zhenshan added ten jars of his own brewed medicinal wine before seeing the guests off.

The excitement had faded, but the hearts of the Yang family members were still blazing with fervor, especially Yu Qingyi’s. After returning to the main courtyard, she changed into the decree outfit and couldn’t stop touching herself.

“I am a Madam by decree now!”

“Master, am I really a Madam by decree?”

She had asked this for the tenth time already!

Beside her, Yang Zhenshan looked on helplessly, “Truly, without a doubt.”

“Alright, take off this outfit, you should go rest.”

The decree clothing looked luxurious and flashy, but it was truly uncomfortable to wear, and with so many ornaments on her head, it looked exhausting.

Moreover, Yu Qingyi would likely have no chance to wear this outfit in public for a while.

The decree clothing was usually only worn when visiting the palace or attending important court ceremonies, and since Yang Zhenshan was not a capital official, Yu Qingyi naturally had no chance to visit the palace or participate in any ceremonies.

Yet Yu Qingyi couldn’t bear to take it off; as a woman of the worldly society, she never imagined she could one day become a Madam by decree.

At the moment, she genuinely felt like she was in a dream; everything seemed so unbelievable and unreal.

“Look, your son is laughing at you!” Yang Zhenshan cautiously picked up Little Ming Zhao, letting the little fellow have a good look at his mother, who had turned silly.

The little one seemed very amused and laughed nonstop.

Seeing his own son, Yu Qingyi finally came back to her senses. She took off her clothes and jewelry, and picked up the little one.

No matter how good being the recipient of the imperial decree was, it was not as important as her son.

After settling Yu Qingyi and the kiddo to sleep on the heated brick bed, Yang Zhenshan went to the main hall and stood under the eaves, looking up at the tranquil night sky.

Commander of the Tenglong Guard!

All other titles were nominal, only this position was his official rank.

Since hearing the imperial edict, this position had been tumbling around in his mind.

Plans can never keep up with changes.

Previously, Yang Zhenshan had discussed with Zhou Lan, planning to seek the position of Jianning Guard Assistant General, but he had not expected the old Emperor to directly bestow an official title on him.

According to Yang Zhenshan’s plan, the best positions for him right now would have been either the Jianning Guard Assistant General or the Songzhou Guard Assistant General. With recommendations from Zhou Lan and Wang Bin, and the support of Liang Chu and Duke Ning, he thought ascending to either of these two positions would be easy.

But now, he had become the Commander of the Tenglong Guard.

The position of Commander is only of Standard Third Rank, which means he was only promoted by one rank, but with the additional title of General, it reluctantly counted as two ranks.

The old Emperor probably awarded him the title of General as a compensation; otherwise, with his military merits, he wouldn’t have been promoted by just one rank. The honor granted to his wife must have been another form of recompense.

However, the role of Commander of the Tenglong Guard was different from the usual commanders.

To be precise, the Tenglong Guard should be called the Tenglong Four Guards, consisting of front, back, left, and right formations.

At the beginning of Da Rong’s establishment, the Emperor’s personal army consisted of twenty-six guards. In addition to the existing Twelve Guards, there were the Yunlong Four Guards, the Tenglong Four Guards, the Tiger Guards, and the Secret Martial Guards and Martial Arts Guards.

Afterward, the Secret Martial Guards continued to exist but moved from the light into the shadows, no longer counted among the Emperor’s personal army.

The Martial Arts Guards also continued to exist, stationed at the Imperial Mausoleum as the Mausoleum’s forbidden guards, detaching from the Emperor’s personal army. Besides, the Martial Arts Guards became the hereditary training ground for the royal family’s martial arts, where royals with talents were sent for cultivation.

Thus, the Martial Arts Guards became exclusive to the royal family.

The remaining Yunlong Four Guards, Tenglong Four Guards, and Tiger Guards were stripped from the royal guards a hundred years ago, becoming ordinary garrison forces, yet they retained their fundamental structure.

Among them, the Yunlong Four Guards were stationed in the northwest, the Tenglong Four Guards in the northeast, and the Tiger Guards in the southwest.

The current Yunlong Dragon Guard under Liang Chu originated from the Yunlong Four Guards.

After being stripped from the Emperor’s personal army, they began to decline. Apart from different organization structures, they were no different from the other garrisons.

It took Liang Chu more than ten years to turn the Yunlong Dragon Guard into elite troops.

Now, the current Tenglong Guard is much like the old Yunlong Guard, differing only in organization structure but similar to any other garrison.

What Yang Zhenshan considered now was why the old Emperor appointed him as Commander of the Tenglong Guard?

The Tenglong Guard was in Qinghua Prefecture, and Qinghua Prefecture had a Prince Qing.

Prince Qing!

Yang Zhenshan took a deep breath.

Was this sending him to keep an eye on Prince Qing?

The Secret Martial Guards had been quiet for years, and Yang Zhenshan thought they had given up on the Prince Qing Mansion. But it now seemed that was not the case at all.

The Secret Martial Guards must still be watching over Prince Qing Mansion, and the old Emperor also worried that Prince Qing Mansion might cause trouble, so he was sent to keep an eye on it.

Why choose him?

Actually, the reason was simple!

He had helped the Secret Martial Guards to investigate a case of treason, learning some things he should not have known.

And his humble origins meant he certainly had no ties with Prince Qing Mansion in the past; the old Emperor could use him with peace of mind.

Most importantly, he was skilled at military training and adept at war, making him an ideal choice for the Tenglong Guard.

Yang Zhenshan mulled over it carefully; all this must be preparations that the old Emperor had made for the new Emperor’s ascension to the throne.

The old Emperor believed as long as he was in power for even one more day, even if Prince Qing had ulterior motives, he wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

But once the new Emperor took the throne and the court was shaken, Prince Qing might very well take risks.

As to why the old Emperor wouldn’t just trump up charges against Prince Qing—after all, if the Emperor wanted to kill someone, he didn’t need any evidence—Yang Zhenshan actually understood this point as well.

The old Emperor cared about his reputation.

Especially now, as he had aged, what he thought about even more was his legacy.

His throne had been seized, and if he now used unfounded charges to execute the heir of the previous Crown Prince, how would the history books write of him? How would future generations evaluate him?

“Alas, the Tenglong Guard is not a good place to be!” Yang Zhenshan sighed solemnly.

If Prince Qing indeed had ulterior motives, then Qinghua Prefecture was his stronghold; who knew how many preparations he had made there.

The Tenglong Guard was right in Qinghua Prefecture, so could it be that Prince Qing hadn’t arranged for his people within the Tenglong Guard?

Well, putting that aside for now, once he went to the Tenglong Guard, he would become a thorn in the side, a nail in the eye of the Prince Qing Mansion. If Prince Qing ever wanted to revolt, the first one he’d likely want to kill would be him.

And the most crucial point was that he couldn’t confront Prince Qing openly. After all, the other party was a Prince, and he was just a Commander of the Third Rank; in the presence of the Prince, wouldn’t he have to be utterly respectful?

If the old Emperor instructed him to kill Prince Qing, he would be willing to do so. What was the big deal about killing a man? Easy.

But the old Emperor wanted him to watch over Prince Qing, and that was very troublesome.

Yang Zhenshan had already anticipated how cautious, always on guard, he would have to be once he got to the Tenglong Guard, both internally and externally.