Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 148: Chapter 144: It’s Time to Find a Wife!

At night, in the main courtyard’s study, Yang Zhenshan was hunched over his desk, calculating the remaining grain and Silver Coin in the government office.

He hadn’t gone to Songzhou Guard merely to deliver New Year’s gifts; he was also there to request grain and salary.

After accepting Yu Lu as his guest, Sha Pingchuan generously fulfilled his request, promising that within three days, the full amount of grain and salary would be transported to An Yuan State City.

That was the part that Yang Zhenshan found odd, but whether it was odd or not didn’t matter anymore. What he was considering now was how much benefit to distribute to the soldiers.

The soldiers of the garrison camp should receive their share, and so should the soldiers inside the garrison outside the city.

In the short term, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t change the lives of these military households, but he could distribute some grain to them, allowing them to have a good New Year.

At the same time, he could seize the opportunity to court favor, ensuring that all the soldiers and military households under the command of the garrison office were aware of his generosity.

This way, he would face less resistance when dealing with the officials of the garrison after the New Year.

As Yang Zhenshan was pondering how much grain and salary to distribute to each soldier, the door to the study was gently pushed open; Yu Qingyi, clad in a light cyan brocade peony jacket, walked in.

Yang Zhenshan glanced up at her but didn’t pay much attention.

Yu Qingyi carried a pot of soup to the side of the desk; with casual ease, she lifted the lid and served a bowl of silver fungus and lotus seed porridge.

”Sir, this is porridge freshly made by me, please have a taste!”

During this time, Yu Qingyi had been staying in the main courtyard, so she had become familiar with Yang Zhenshan.

No longer feeling the fear and aversion towards Yang Zhenshan as before—possibly in an effort to please him, or maybe just because she felt he was a decent person—she would often make some food for Yang Zhenshan.

There was a small kitchen in the main courtyard, previously used only for heating the kang, but now it had become Yu Qingyi’s exclusive kitchen.

The Sect Leader was not only adept at Sword Dao but also extremely skilled in cooking; her porridge and soups were even more delicious than those made by the cooks at home.

As for Yu Qingyi doing these things, Yang Zhenshan didn’t stop her—as long as she didn’t leave the main courtyard, he didn’t mind her doing whatever she wanted.

It seemed that Yang Zhenshan had grown accustomed to Yu Qingyi’s feeding; he simply reached out to take the bowl and slurped it down.

After finishing the bowl of silver fungus and lotus seed porridge, Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction, ”Not bad!”

”Sir, would you like another bowl?” Yu Qingyi asked with joy-filled eyes.

Yang Zhenshan looked up and caught her bright, shining eyes.

Her standard oval face appeared gentle and serene under the dim candlelight, her joyful eyes exceedingly bright; that one look intoxicated Yang Zhenshan.

He extended his hand to give the bowl back to Yu Qingyi, who failed to notice his momentary lapse; she took the bowl and served another one.

But just as Yu Qingyi handed the bowl to Yang Zhenshan again, whether intentional or not, he grasped her hand.

Yu Qingyi was initially startled, and then her cheeks flushed crimson; she withdrew her hand in a flurry.

”Sir, please enjoy it slowly!”

Dropping that phrase, Yu Qingyi rushed out of the study in a panic.

Yang Zhenshan came back to his senses and looked down at the porridge in his hand; then he looked up at the empty doorway.

”Damn it, I’m being infatuated like a lovelorn fool!”

He had actually developed mundane desires. Just now, he had felt a surge of wanting to pull Yu Qingyi into his arms and ravish her.

It wasn’t really his fault; the passion aroused by Yu Lu during the day had only been temporarily suppressed, not completely extinguished.

In the dead of night, with a beautiful womanswaying by his side, it would be strange if he had no reaction at all.

Food and lust are human nature.

Now that Yang Zhenshan was strong and virile, with his needs becoming more and more urgent.

Even at the age of forty, he couldn’t suppress the fire burning inside him as a man.

Looking down at the tent in his clothes, Yang Zhenshan gave his beard a fierce tug.

”It’s time to find a wife! If this continues, I won’t be able to hold myself back!”

Lifting his head to drink down the porridge in his hand, Yang Zhenshan was ready to continue calculating the appropriate amount of grain to distribute to the soldiers, but his thoughts wandered.

One moment, the graceful dance of Yu Lu appeared, and in the next moment, the brilliance of Yu Qingyi by candlelight emerged.

”...”

With a restless heart and an unsettled mind.

Yang Zhenshan felt somewhat unhealthy—no, it was his mind that was unhealthy, uncontrollably fixating on things he should not.

Left with no choice, Yang Zhenshan put down his pen, rose to his feet, grabbed his spear, and stepped out of the room, wielding it under the cold moonlight.

In the bitter cold of late winter, the freezing air soon pierced through his clothes, but was quickly dissipated by the warmth his body emitted.

On the other side, Yu Qingyi, who had fled back to her room, felt her heart knocking about like a little deer, her face flushed, her heartbeat erratic, her brows and eyes expressing spring, even more stunningly beautiful.

If Yang Zhenshan saw her at this moment, he would probably transform into a beast.

Yu Qingyi’s thoughts were also in disarray; indeed, she wanted to please Yang Zhenshan, but she hadn’t considered involving herself in such a way.

Through the time they spent together, she had come to see Yang Zhenshan as a fairly upright person and sensed his lack of malice towards her, which allowed her to let her guard down and please him.

Her simple goal was to safely endure her time as a captive and seek support for the Sky Blue Sword Sect.

For a worldly sect like the Sky Blue Sword Sect, it was crucial to be in good standing with an influential official.

But in reality, most officials either disregarded Jianghu Martial Artists and their sects or used them as tools.

Black Cliff Village had colluded with many officials in An Yuan State City, which was why they could suppress her Sky Blue Sword Sect.

Therefore, Yu Qingyi wanted to ally with Yang Zhenshan, seeking his protection and support to counter Black Cliff Village using his power and influence.

That was her initial thought.

But now, her thoughts were unconsciously shifting.

Hearing a noise outside the window, Yu Qingyi glanced out.

The thick window screen obscured her view, and the dim moonlight made it difficult to see clearly; she could only make out a tall figure moving back and forth in the courtyard.

Remembering the heat of their brief touch, Yu Qingyi’s heart raced even more.

Even though she always claimed to be a common woman, she had never truly been married, nor had she ever really fallen in love, still pure like a young maiden.

Now, she also felt like a girl experiencing the first awakening of love.

Her heart and mind were filled with chaotic thoughts.

The deeper the night fell, the quieter the world became. Yang Zhenshan practiced intensely for over two hours to suppress the anger in his heart.

In the room, Yu Qingyi sat blankly by the window for over two hours before retracting her gaze.

...

Sha Pingchuan was indeed a trustworthy person, and on the third day, as he had promised, he delivered a large batch of grain and three thousand taels of silver to Yang Zhenshan.

In truth, Yang Zhenshan didn’t ask for much, and those grains and silver were rightfully due to the garrison of An Yuan State, only previously intercepted by the Guardian Department.

However, such old debts were not something Yang Zhenshan had the right to pursue. As long as Sha Pingchuan was willing to provide him with grain and silver, he didn’t mind keeping the Lady Yu Lu at the Yang family home.

It was just a few more mouths to feed, and the Yang family could afford it.

That Lady Yu Lu was strange; after arriving at the Yang family home, she stayed indoors and never took a step outside, making no stir at all.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t go to see her, and she showed no intention of looking for Yang Zhenshan, behaving too honestly for words.

To this, Yang Zhenshan did not pay much attention; as long as the lady stayed out of trouble, he had no interest in meddling with her.

As for whether to truly take her as a concubine, Yang Zhenshan didn’t entertain such a thought.

If he wanted the companionship of a woman, he would rather find a proper wife.

After receiving the grain and silver delivered by Sha Pingchuan, Yang Zhenshan continued to busily manage the training at the garrison.

It was now the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Yang family had already sent out all the New Year gifts.

Anning County was overseen by Yang Mingcheng, and Jianning Guard by Yang Mingzhi.

This year, Yang Zhenshan hadn’t specially prepared New Year’s gifts for Zhou Lan, merely instructing Yang Mingzhi to prepare a similar gift to send to her.

It wasn’t that Yang Zhenshan no longer valued Zhou Lan now, but rather he truly had nothing special to offer her.

He couldn’t be expected to write another military strategy book.

Upon arriving at City Gate Castle and seeing the soldiers in training, Yang Zhenshan nodded in satisfaction.

These soldiers had been training for nearly half a month now, and had nearly completed their basic training. The remaining sessions would likely have to wait until after the New Year.

”Sir!”

Upon seeing Yang Zhenshan, Han Cheng promptly came up to greet him.

”Prepare for tomorrow, I will distribute grain and salary to the soldiers, and the day after I intend to select three hundred to patrol the garrisons outside the city!”

Yang Zhenshan instructed.

Speaking of which, he hadn’t yet visited the garrisons outside the city. Last time he had issued a warning to Tian Gui and other garrison commanders; he wasn’t sure if these men had done any good deeds recently.

If these individuals weren’t taking care of their responsibilities at all, Yang Zhenshan wouldn’t mind cleaning them out before the New Year’s.

”Your subordinate obeys!” Han Cheng promptly responded.

Yang Zhenshan nodded and entered the main hall.

Han Cheng followed closely behind and also signaled with his eyes to a young man behind Yang Zhenshan.

The young man hurried into the neighboring room to prepare tea.

This young man was Han Cheng’s elder son, Han Fei. He was twenty-three years old and had a cultivation at the Refining Power Level.

Previously, Yang Zhenshan expressed a desire to meet Han Cheng’s eldest son, and afterwards he kept Han Fei by his side.

Inside the hall, Yang Zhenshan chatted with Song Dashan and Yang Mingzhen, among others, about the situation of the soldiers.

It was to ascertain if there were still any ’mice droppings’ in the soup of the garrison.

Although he had already cleared out Xu Wanfu’s confidants, it was still possible there were other forces’ spies within the garrison.

After over half a month of training, Song Dashan and Yang Mingzhen had conducted a screening of all soldiers.

The results of the screening were quite favorable; there were no excessively problematic elements, only a few minor rascals, whom Song Dashan and the others had already dismissed.

”Keep up the screening, always keep an eye on them, and foster some of your own confidants.”

”Mingzhen, especially you all, if you wish to achieve something in the military, you need to have a group of brothers you can trust with your life.”

”Now is the best opportunity to turn the soldiers under your command into your own brothers, you all need to put more effort into it!”

Yang Zhenshan started his mentoring once again.

Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and the others had already been brought up by him, and there was very little left that he could teach them.

However, the younger members of the Yang family, like Yang Mingzhen, were just beginning their military careers and had much to learn.

Even though they all held the position of cadet officers, that did not mean they were qualified yet.

”Yes, we will ponder over it carefully!”

Yang Mingzhen humbly accepted Yang Zhenshan’s guidance.

For them, Yang Zhenshan was not just an elder but also a teacher.

It was Yang Zhenshan who made them martial artists and gave them a future to strive for.

”Hmm!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded with a smile.

For these members of the Yang family, he was quite satisfied.

Obedient, diligent, practical, and not impulsive, Yang Zhenshan could see many merits in them.

This had to do with their background; they used to be a bunch of peasant children. To put it bluntly, even if they wanted to learn any bad habits, they didn’t have the means to.

Furthermore, the people Yang Zhengxiang sent to him were all carefully selected.

The Yang family clan was not without its share of ruffians and lowlifes, but such persons would never catch Yang Zhengxiang’s eye.