Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 144: Chapter 140, I beg for your guidance, my lord

”What help do you need?”

”Please, sir, could you send word that I am safe?” Yu Qingyi said softly.

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and said, ”That’s possible, but there are some things you should understand!”

”Black Cliff Village is entangled in serious issues, and it’s not something your Sky Blue Sword Sect should be meddling with. If you don’t want to see your sect annihilated, I would advise you not to play any tricks!”

Perhaps it was because Yu Qingyi and the Sky Blue Sword Sect were innocent, or perhaps it was because of Yu Qingyi’s beauty, but Yang Zhenshan felt the need to warn her.

Lest she be unaware of the dangers involved and lead herself and the Sky Blue Sword Sect to their doom.

This was no joking matter. Black Cliff Village is colluding with enemies and committing treason, and their actions are even tied to Prince Qing Mansion. Once these things are revealed, who knows how many will lose their heads.

At that time, the attitude of the Secret Martial Guards will undoubtedly be to err on the side of execution rather than letting anyone escape.

They might even take the opportunity to deal with the Sky Blue Sword Sect in passing.

Therefore, for Yu Qingyi, finding a place to hide now is the best course of action.

”This ~~ please sir, show me a clear path!” Yu Qingyi said, her heart filled with unease.

In the past few days, she had come to understand a lot. First, Hou Jun infiltrated the garrison office, and Yang Zhenshan was aware of it, not only was he aware, but he also allowed Hou Jun to infiltrate.

Secondly, the actions of Black Cliff Village in An Yuan City were likely not simple, and Yang Zhenshan might be preparing to deal with Black Cliff Village.

Finally, Yang Zhenshan, the garrison officer, is not a bloodthirsty and cruel villain.

From sparing her life to her recent contacts with the Yang family, she could sense the kindness and simplicity of the Yang family.

It was precisely for this reason that she dared to muster the courage to ask Yang Zhenshan for help.

”Have your people leave this place, return to your sect, and seal the mountain for one year, forbidding anyone from the sect to leave!”

Yang Zhenshan offered a very sensible suggestion.

The Sky Blue Sword Sect is a not-so-small sect in the Liaodong Region, but in reality, the Sky Blue Sword Sect does not have that many members; all told, there are no more than three hundred people.

Having them seal the mountain for a year was not a problem at all, as long as they stayed safe and sound for this year, they would not be implicated by Black Cliff Village.

Yu Qingyi pondered for a moment, then bowed deeply in thanks: ”Thank you, sir. I will write a letter back right away!”

”Mm!”

Yang Zhenshan looked at her approvingly, finding her to be quite intelligent. She knew when to advance and when to retreat, decisive and not making a fuss.

Just at that moment, Yu Qingyi looked up, and their eyes met, causing her to hurriedly lower her head again in fluster.

Seeing her like this, Yang Zhenshan chuckled sheepishly.

Was he really that terrifying?

That he should frighten a female warrior of the worldly society to the point where she dare not meet his eyes!

”Once the letter is written, I will arrange for someone to deliver it tomorrow!”

He did not stop Yu Qingyi from writing the letter, of course, he would still inspect any letter she wrote.

”Thank you, sir!”

Yu Qingyi expressed her gratitude and then took her leave, exiting the room.

Yang Zhenshan watched her graceful figure retreat, his eyebrows raised slightly.

The next morning, Yang Zhenshan had Ding Qiu deliver Yu Qingyi’s letter to the inn where they were staying.

The two nannies and two maids by Yu Qingyi’s side were all Martial Artists, and the cultivation of these two nannies was not low; both were at the Postnatal Fourth Layer.

However, the letter did not require Ding Qiu to deliver it personally; it could simply be handed over by the inn’s errand boy.

In the inn, the two nannies looked at the letter in their hands with grave expressions.

”This is the Sect Leader’s handwriting!”

”Why doesn’t the Sect Leader come to see us?”

During the two days of Yu Qingyi’s disappearance, they had been extremely anxious, inquiring about her whereabouts throughout the city, to no avail.

They had been about to return to their sect to call for help, only to receive a personal letter from their Sect Leader today.

”The Sect Leader says she is safe and asks us to go back and seal the mountain for a year!”

”What do you think?”

”Now we can only do as the Sect Leader wishes!”

The two old ladies looked at each other and could only sigh helplessly.

They guessed that Yu Qingyi must have encountered some trouble, but this trouble seemed beyond their capability to resolve.

And deep in their hearts, the repeated stress from Yu Qingyi for them to go back and seal the mountain for a year, urging them not to meddle, made it clear to them that she was not joking.

”Let’s pack up and go back.”

With no other choice, the two nannies packed up and left An Yuan City.

At the city gate, Ding Qiu watched their figures disappear outside the city before he returned to the garrison office.

”Have they all gone?”

Inside the main hall of the office, Yang Zhenshan asked.

”Yes! I watched them leave the city!” said Ding Qiu.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and continued, ”Go back. Your next task is to teach those twenty young men Martial Arts!”

Yesterday Yang Mingcheng had already bought back some servants.

This time the Yang family bought more than forty servants, including twenty youths around fifteen or sixteen years old.

The addition of so many servants made the large courtyard lively, unlike before, when it appeared somewhat silent.

”Yes!” Ding Qiu responded concisely and to the point.

Now that Ding Qiu’s cultivation had reached the Postnatal Fourth Layer, he had improved by two whole layers since he first joined the Yang family.

He was more than capable of teaching those youths who had never been exposed to Martial Arts before.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and then got up and left the garrison office.

At the entrance of the garrison office, twenty soldiers were already waiting for him.

Yang Zhenshan mounted his horse and took the soldiers straight to City Gate Castle.

Meanwhile, City Gate Castle’s training ground was bustling with activity.

Although the military training plan Yang Zhenshan had compiled had not yet been handed over to Han Cheng and Song Dashan, it did not hinder Song Dashan from starting training first.

”Greetings, my lord!”

As soon as Yang Zhenshan entered City Gate Castle, Han Cheng and Song Dashan came to greet him.

”Um!”

Yang Zhenshan dismounted, took a quick look around, and then entered the main hall of City Gate Castle.

”Here is the training plan, have a look at it!”

He handed over two books to Han Cheng and Song Dashan.

One he had written himself, and the other was copied by Lu Wenhua, with both containing the same content.

The two men opened the books and started reading. Song Dashan, after finishing, showed no reaction; it wasn’t his first time training troops under Yang Zhenshan.

He was already very familiar with Yang Zhenshan’s method of training.

However, Han Cheng, after finishing, had a look of astonishment on his face.

”My lord, is this appropriate?”

He felt that many aspects of the plan were inappropriate. While he could understand the sections about staggered training and ensuring the defense of the city, he was puzzled about provisions like the garrison office providing meals uniformly and issuing reward silver during training.

Soldiers undergoing training was a given, and as for meals and reward silver, these seemed unnecessary.

Meals for garrison soldiers were normally distributed according to the allotment, with each team responsible for their own provisions; there was no need for a central provision.

As for reward silver, unless they were deployed to battlefields, it was a luxury soldiers could hardly expect.

Han Cheng didn’t think it was bad; instead, he felt it was too generous.

Too generous meant that the garrison office would have to spend a significant amount of silver and resources. He feared the office couldn’t sustain the training of the soldiers.

Yang Zhenshan did not bother to explain, simply saying: ”Train according to this plan. Dashan knows how to train, you just need to coordinate with him!”

If not eating together, how could he add Spiritual Spring Water to the soldiers’ meals?

If not issuing reward silver, how could he win over their hearts?

His military training was not solely for training’s sake; it was also to let the soldiers recognize his benevolence and hold him in high regard.

Human hearts are made of flesh; they would certainly know who treats them well.

Sweets and sweet soups doled out, the soldiers’ hearts would inevitably grow fond of him.

Of course, there might be fools who are ungrateful and cannot discern good from bad, but such fools are, after all, in the minority.

Seeing Yang Zhenshan’s insistence, Han Cheng naturally did not object further.

He dared not counter Yang Zhenshan’s orders.

The rest was straightforward; with Song Dashan and several descendants of the Yang family around, it wasn’t necessary for Yang Zhenshan to conduct the training himself.

Still, Yang Zhenshan made it a point to come to City Gate Castle daily, first, to add Spiritual Spring Water to the soldiers’ meals and second, to become familiar with the soldiers.

Even if he intended to be a hands-off manager, he could not afford to stay out of sight.

If he did not show himself, how would the soldiers know for whom they were serving?

Soon, the training was on the right track, and the Liang family’s caravan also began to make their moves.

Although Yang Zhenshan had accepted Liang Rong’s overtures, Yi Shan, and Liang Rong were still cautious; after consultation, they decided to start with a trial.

For the first run, they only transported some common cotton fabric out of the garrison.

Unfortunately, every move they made was under the watchful eye of Wei Cen, and Lv Hua did not rush to act, allowing them to transport the cotton fabric beyond the borders.

Seeing no mishaps, Yi Shan and Liang Rong put their minds at ease and gradually emboldened themselves to transport significant amounts of essential goods like grain, salt, and iron out of the border.

In half a month, they conducted three shipments; Lv Hua made no move.

Yang Zhenshan found this strange and couldn’t help asking Wei Cen, ”What does Mr. Lv mean by this? Doesn’t he want to intercept them?”

Wei Cen replied with a grave expression, ”We’re nearing the New Year; the Admiral wants to let them spend a peaceful holiday. It might be their last!”

Yang Zhenshan was speechless, ”Mr. Lv is really kind-hearted!”

He did not know what to say.

Even now, he still let them celebrate the New Year.

However, as the New Year approached, the Yang family had to make preparations too.

New Year’s gifts must be delivered.

Yang Mingcheng also had to make a trip back to Anning County.

Moreover, the soldiers under his command also needed to celebrate the New Year; Yang Zhenshan had to ensure they had a good celebration.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhenshan started to ponder.

Sending New Year gifts in Anning County could be handled by Yang Mingcheng.

However, ensuring the soldiers had a good New Year would require some effort from Yang Zhenshan.

To give the soldiers a good New Year, the most substantial way was to distribute military provisions.

But the garrison soldiers had been training for almost half a month now, and the granary was visibly depleting.

At this rate of consumption, Yang Zhenshan estimated the garrison office’s supplies would not support the garrison’s training.

The New Year was important, but so was training.

Especially since after the New Year, Yang Zhenshan would train the soldiers responsible for farming in the garrison.

That would consume even more resources.

So, he had to find a way to secure some supplies.

”The New Year is coming; shouldn’t I also show some gratitude to my superiors?” As Yang Zhenshan thought about resources, he considered the officials at Songzhou Guard.

Before at Yinghe Castle, he could disregard the attitudes of other officials.

But now, in An Yuan City, he had to foster relationships with the officials above.