Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 165: Chapter 161 Guesses and Selfishness

”Dad!”

Seeing Yang Zhenshan, the little girl could no longer hold back her grievances and fears, running over wanting to embrace Yang Zhenshan.

But as she reached in front of Yang Zhenshan, she stopped herself.

A young lady should keep a distance from her father, she was already twelve, not a little girl anymore.

Yang Zhenshan squatted down, steadying her by her shoulders, sizing her up, and seeing she was unharmed, he then let go of his worries.

”Dad is here, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!”

Yang Zhenshan held her in his arms, softly comforting her.

At twelve, she was just a pupil.

”Dad, I’m not afraid!”

Feeling the warmth of the embrace and her cheeks rubbed by the long beard, Yang Yunxue’s flicker of fear instantly disappeared, replaced by full-hearted warmth.

Yang Zhenshan saw her eyes clear and bright, her expression calm, then he stood up.

”What happened?” he asked Wu Hai.

Wu Hai hurried forward and reported: ”When I arrived, the third young master of the Lin family was bandaging a wound on his forehead, and the young lady was locked in a side room.”

This might sound complicated, but in actuality, it had been less than an hour since Yang Yunxue was captured.

Although that young master wished he could flay Yang Yunxue, he had injured his forehead and also hurt his leg badly, so after returning, he first looked for a doctor and didn’t have time to do anything to Yang Yunxue yet.

Yang Zhenshan nodded, ”Break his limbs, and throw him into the garrison for imprisonment!”

This son of the Lin family was surely not going to survive; Lin Xuan committed treason, a crime punishable by the execution of the entire family.

But that did not prevent Yang Zhenshan from venting his anger first.

Damn it, daring to capture my daughter, killing him would be letting him off too lightly.

”Yes!” Wu Hai responded.

”After everything is handled, you all can go back first!”

Yang Zhenshan then lowered his head to Yang Yunxue and said: ”Dad has official duties to attend to, so I won’t accompany you back!”

”Okay!” The little girl obediently responded.

As he watched them leave, Yang Zhenshan let out a long breath.

Thankfully the little girl was unharmed, otherwise, he really wouldn’t know what to do.

It seems that the Yang family must enhance the protective measures around its members.

It’s manageable at home, but who knows what unexpected events might occur outside.

This world is not a safe world, not everywhere is filled with danger, but many troubles are unpredictable.

Like the incident Yang Yunxue encountered this time, the young lady acted on impulse, and although she had a heart of chivalry, her actions were not prudent.

Madam Zhang was indeed prudent, but after all, she was just an ordinary woman; she couldn’t help much if real danger occurred.

This incident was a wake-up call for Yang Zhenshan.

By this time, the backyard had already descended into chaos, lots of soldiers flooded in, throwing the Lin family members into panic, with crying and pleading everywhere, mixed with some scolding.

But all their actions were futile; the soldiers soon rounded them all up and threw them into the Prefectural Government’s prison.

Watching one after another elegantly dressed women being rudely herded by the soldiers, Yang Zhenshan shook his head slightly.

No matter how much you covet, what’s the use if you have no life to enjoy it?

Ruining yourself is one thing, but dragging the whole family down with you.

As Yang Zhenshan was about to go to the front yard to check the situation, his steps suddenly halted, his eyes darting towards a nearby rockery.

Rockery!

This rockery seemed very similar to the one in his mansion.

Not in shape, but in layout.

He walked around the rockery.

After a long time, he finally stopped.

If he wasn’t mistaken, there should be a large underground space hidden beneath this rockery.

Should he try to check it out?

Yang Zhenshan’s brows furrowed slightly.

They were only responsible for arresting people, not for raiding homes, and even if they found something underneath, it would be meaningless.

After a brief hesitation, he decided to leave it be for now.

Of course, he had his own selfish reasons; when Cao Han’s home was raided, that underground space was probably not discovered, and later it seemed someone had removed the things inside and collapsed the passage.

And when Lin Xuan’s home is raided, it might not be possible to discover anything unusual here either.

If something really was left behind, perhaps he could claim it for himself.

Everyone has their own selfish desires, and Yang Zhenshan was no exception.

This matter was not his concern, he had no need to worry about it, and if there was a chance, he wouldn’t mind taking advantage from the court.

The key was that this advantage wouldn’t burn his hands; he could take it with peace of mind.

As for honesty and integrity, haha, let’s leave that traditional virtue for others.

Having thought it through, Yang Zhenshan turned and left, heading back to the Front Office.

Everyone in the Prefectural Government was already detained, and Lin Xuan’s family and servants were also locked in prison.

”Leave two teams to guard this place, without my command no one may enter!”

”Song Dashan, take your men immediately to the Military Equipment Department, If you’re short on people, ask Han Cheng to allocate them.”

”Wang Sheng, go seal all properties of the Liang family, arrest all members of the Liang family! Ding San, you assist Wang Bazong!”

Yang Zhenshan instructed.

Today, they have a lot to do: block the city gates, seal off the Prefectural Government, the Military Equipment Department office, and the Liang family. This requires a large number of people!

”Yes!”

Song Dashan and Wang Sheng responded.

Ding San stepped forward and followed behind Wang Sheng.

”Ding Si, come with me!”

After saying this, Yang Zhenshan mounted his horse with Ding Si and a group of personal followers, heading towards the western district.

At this moment, in a small courtyard in the western district, Yi Shan and Hou Jun received news of Yang Zhenshan’s attack on the Prefectural Government office.

”What does he want to do?”

”Why does he dare to do this?”

Panic was unmistakable in Yi Shan’s eyes.

Naturally, the ”he” he was referring to was Yang Zhenshan.

He did not know why Yang Zhenshan was heading for the Prefectural Government, but he felt a strong sense of unease.

This unease stemmed from Cao Han being captured, the Liang family’s caravan being raided, and Yang Zhenshan attacking the Prefectural Government office.

If it were just Cao Han being captured, he would consider it a coincidence. Even if the Liang family’s caravan was raided, he could find a reasonable explanation for himself.

But now, Yang Zhenshan had actually led troops to surround the Prefectural Government office, which sent chills down his spine.

”Sir, the situation is unknown now, we should leave first,” Hou Jun suggested quietly.

Perhaps Yang Zhenshan’s attack on the Prefectural Government office was unrelated to them, but they did not dare to gamble, as losing the gamble would mean they only had death awaiting them.

”Leave!” Yi Shan paused, ”Yes, let’s leave first!”

At this moment, he could not care about anything else. Each man for himself when disaster strikes.

Whether it was Lin Xuan or Hao Zhaoxian, he could no longer care about them, and even the Liang family would be ruthlessly abandoned when necessary.

”Pack up, we’re leaving!”

Yi Shan turned and walked into the room to pack.

They were not the dawdling type; after packing a few clothes and a bundle, they walked out of the room.

But Yang Zhenshan had already arrived.

With a bang.

Yang Zhenshan kicked open the large door of the courtyard.

Dressed in black, holding a Gold-plated Flying Fish Spear, Yang Zhenshan strode into the courtyard.

Seeing him, Yi Shan and Hou Jun’s faces instantly turned solemn, while their followers nervously drew their swords.

”Third boss of Black Cliff Village, Hou Jun, strategist Yi Shan!”

Yang Zhenshan asked in a questioning tone.

He knew of their existence, but had never met them before, no, he had seen Hou Jun, but Hou Jun had been masked that night.

He was not asking these two, but was asking Ding Si.

”Yes, it’s them!” said Ding Si.

Yang Zhenshan looked at the bundles on their bodies, a smile appearing on his face, ”It seems we have come at just the right time!”

However, seeing the smile on his face, Yi Shan’s heart sank to the bottom of a valley.

Such a smile obviously bore ill intentions.

Before, he thought Yang Zhenshan was one of their own, someone they had brought aboard, but now Yang Zhenshan was here, showing such a smile at them.

He knew that everything had been exposed, they were all exposed.

Still, he was somewhat unwilling to resign to fate, and asked, ”Master Yang, what does this mean?”

”Hmm, do you recognize this official?” Yang Zhenshan looked leisurely at them.

”I had the fate to have seen Master once before!” said Yi Shan.

Of course, it wasn’t fate, but he had specifically gone out to secretly observe Yang Zhenshan, even though it was just a few glances outside the garrison office, but he had indeed seen Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan, stroking his long beard, said, ”You can’t blame this official, blame the Secret Martial Guards then, they targeted you, and it was also them who arranged for this official to feign acceptance of your bribe. I didn’t take a single coin of your silver, it all went to the Secret Martial Guards!”

”You should have heard of how formidable the Secret Martial Guards are, seeing as you two are wise men, under these circumstances, why not surrender peacefully?”

”Secret Martial Guards!”

A hint of fear appeared in Yi Shan’s eyes.

They were well aware of the terrifying nature of the Secret Martial Guards.

If in the official circles, the Secret Martial Guards were someone everyone kept at a respectful distance, then in the worldly society, they were regarded with fear akin to snakes and scorpions.

In official circles, the Secret Martial Guards still adhered to some rules, at least there were figures there they needed to fear.

But in the worldly society, they didn’t need to consider anything, anyone who provoked them or was targeted by them had only one path: death.

Hou Jun slowly drew out his short dagger; he was thinking much simpler than Yi Shan. The Secret Martial Guards were terrifying, but it wasn’t enough to make him await his death without resistance.

Without putting up a fight, he wouldn’t despair.

Watching the short dagger in Hou Jun’s hand, Yang Zhenshan sighed helplessly.

”It seems peace is unattainable today.”

Hou Jun, third boss of Black Cliff Village, with cultivation at the Postnatal Fifth Layer.

Yi Shan, strategist of Black Cloud Village, with cultivation at the Postnatal Sixth Layer.

Both certainly possessed formidable strength.

Yang Zhenshan originally wanted to see if he could persuade them to surrender, although he knew that hope was slim, but he still wanted to try.

The result was obvious.

Yi Shan took a deep breath to steady his mind, ”Gentlemen, from now on, let’s entrust our fates to the heavens.”

With that, he unexpectedly turned around and leapt up, in the blink of an eye, he was already on the rooftop.