Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 191: Chapter 187: Two Elders Chatting

”This matter is simple; I will have someone buy back their servitude contracts!” Yang Zhenshan agreed.

For the servants of a disgraced official’s family to be bought back is not difficult, especially since their servitude contracts are currently in the hands of the Secret Martial Guards and the Assistant General Mansion.

For such a small matter, there’s no need for Yang Zhenshan to take action personally; sending Han Fei to Jia City will suffice.

”May the great master show mercy!”

However, just as Yang Zhenshan finished speaking, the four elderly maids and maidservants behind Yu Lu suddenly knelt and cried out for mercy.

”May the master show mercy!” Yu Lu also knelt on the ground, touching her forehead to the floor, and softly called out.

Yang Zhenshan frowned, ”Is there anything else?”

”Please, master, buy back their family members too,” Yu Lu spoke up.

Yang Zhenshan looked at Yu Qingyi, who gave a slight nod.

”Very well, but since you’ve entered the Yang family’s door, you are now people of the Yang family. Later, go and learn well the rules of the Yang family!”

Yang Zhenshan stated solemnly.

The so-called rules of the Yang family were mainly for the servants; without rules, nothing can be properly managed. Currently, with nearly a hundred servants in the Yang family, this set of rules was naturally something that had to be established.

The rules were made by Yu Qingyi. Yang Zhenshan only reviewed them and felt there were no issues, so he agreed to them.

”Thank you, master, for your generosity!”

Yu Lu and the maidservants and elderly maids thanked him together.

Yang Zhenshan nodded and said no more.

In fact, having their families join them would be good too; with their families around, they would be even more loyal.

As for whether the Yang family needs so many servants, that’s not a concern at all.

If they cannot be used at home, they can be placed in the horse farm; if not needed there, a manor can be purchased for them to cultivate the land.

The next day, early in the morning, Yang Zhenshan sent Han Fei to Jia City.

Just after Han Fei left, a constable at the entrance of the government office came to report, ”Reporting to the master, there is a Mr. Zheng seeking an audience outside!”

”Mr. Zheng?” Yang Zhenshan wondered.

Just the day before yesterday, a Mr. Wang had been sent off, and today a Mr. Zheng has come. He did not recall knowing any Mr. Zheng.

Could it be another person here to cause trouble?

”Invite him in!” Yang Zhenshan spoke somewhat gloomily.

He had been preparing to visit the City Gate Castle, but it looks like that would have to wait.

Soon, the constable led in a man who appeared to be in his thirties.

”Zheng Xiao from the Imperial Examination Hall pays his respect to Master Yang!” Seeing Yang Zhenshan, Zheng Xiao greeted with a bow.

Yang Zhenshan noticed his amiable smile and thought he probably wasn’t here to cause trouble. However, one cannot be certain; when Mr. Wang came, he initially seemed like a refined gentleman, but in the end, he still revealed his true nature.

”So it’s Mr. Zheng, please come in!”

The visitor being a guest, Yang Zhenshan could only invite him to sit in the main hall.

With Han Fei absent, Yang Zhenshan asked one of the civil servants from the office beside to brew tea. As for Zhou Ren, he was the major steward of the garrison office, busier than Yang Zhenshan on normal days and certainly had no time to serve tea to Yang Zhenshan.

With the tea served, Yang Zhenshan kept quiet, waiting for Zheng Xiao to break the silence.

”I am here on the orders of my mentor to visit Master Yang!” said Zheng Xiao.

Yang Zhenshan took interest, ”Who is Mr. Zheng’s mentor?”

”Hehe, my teacher is Liu Yuanfu, who previously received much care from Master Yang at Yinghe Castle!” Zheng Xiao smiled.

It then dawned on Yang Zhenshan; this was a pupil of Liu Yuanfu.

That was normal; who was Liu Yuanfu? A significant court figure who fell from grace and regained position three times. Having spent decades in the court, it was quite normal for him to have several pupils.

Thriving and falling three times demonstrated that even if he had left court, there were people in the court who still thought of him; it wasn’t a case of ’out of sight, out of mind’.

”So Mr. Zheng is a distinguished disciple of Boss Liu. Hahaha, Mr. Zheng has already met Boss Liu!” Yang Zhenshan chuckled.

Zheng Xiao shook his head slightly, ”No, when my teacher returned to the Capital City, I, unfortunately, had just left. Although we were on the same route, we missed each other!”

”I wonder how my teacher’s health is?”

He spoke with a hint of regret.

Liu Yuanfu had many students and followers, but Zheng Xiao and Liu Yuanfu’s relationship was more than just that of teacher and student. His own father was a good friend of Liu Yuanfu. After his father passed away, he stayed with the Liu family for ten years until his own successful imperial examination allowed him to leave.

To him, Liu Yuanfu was both a teacher and a father, hence his profound feelings towards him.

When he had left the Capital City, he had just received a letter from Liu Yuanfu. He had hoped to meet Liu Yuanfu on the road, but unfortunately, they had not crossed paths.

In truth, he had known about Yang Zhenshan’s existence for a long time. When Liu Yuanfu first arrived at Yinghe Castle, he had already sent people there, but others were not aware of this.

Later, when he heard that Liu Yuanfu was doing well at Yinghe Castle, he was reassured.

This was also why when he knew Li Chunhui intended to target Yang Zhenshan, he unhesitatingly refuted Li Chunhui.

Zheng Xiao did not stay for too long. He came specifically to thank Yang Zhenshan personally for taking care of Liu Yuanfu and also to meet Yang Zhenshan.

After a brief chat for about two hours, he got up to leave.

However, upon his departure, he left behind a gift, a rather commonplace one—a set of writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.

When Yang Zhenshan escorted him out, he actually found this Mr. Zheng to be quite an intriguing person.

Surprisingly, he gave a set of writing materials to him, a Military Officer.

If it had been anyone else, they might think Zheng Xiao was mocking him for being uneducated.

Having sent away Zheng Xiao, Yang Zhenshan was ready to head to the City Gate Castle, but unexpectedly, the gatekeeping constable came running to report again: ”Reporting to the master, Lord Tan has arrived!”

”...”

Yang Zhenshan was at a loss for words.

Lord Tan, of course, referred to Tan Jingtai.

This esteemed elder had just been promoted to Commander of Songzhou Guard the day before yesterday, and unexpectedly, he was already coming to An Yuan City today.

What could Yang Zhenshan do? Since the man was now his direct superior, he could not afford to neglect him!

”Haha, this subordinate pays respects to Lord Tan, congratulations to Lord Tan!”

Yang Zhenshan came out to greet him at the gate, cupping his fists towards Tan Jingtai as a sign of respect.

There’s a saying that goes, ”A level higher in rank can crush a person.” Although Yang Zhenshan had helped in Tan Jingtai’s promotion, now that the deed was done, he couldn’t use it as leverage over Tan Jingtai.

Another saying is, ”Once you’ve married off the daughter, you throw the matchmaker over the wall.”

Now that the task was accomplished, it was uncertain whether Tan Jingtai would acknowledge Yang Zhenshan’s favor.

However, Tan Jingtai was no young man; he was someone who had been in the officialdom for decades, obviously understanding the principle of mutual benefit.

”Master Yang, haha, my visit is rather sudden, I hope Master Yang will excuse me!”

Tan Jingtai said cheerfully.

”How dare I, if Lord Tan speaks like this, you’re really flattering this subordinate too much. Please, come in!” Yang Zhenshan, with a beaming smile, invited Tan Jingtai into the office.

His posture and expression were both eager and friendly.

To the uninformed observer, they might have appeared to be very close friends; in reality, this was their first meeting.

Entering the main hall, the two took their seats.

This time, Yang Zhenshan did not sit in the main seat, and naturally, Tan Jingtai did not sit there either; Yang Zhenshan invited him to the seat of honor.

This is the etiquette of officialdom.

Even though Tan Jingtai was Yang Zhenshan’s direct superior, the Commander of the Songzhou Guard had no authority over the garrison office because the garrison office reported directly to the Assistant General Mansion.

However, the garrisons and military households under the jurisdiction of the garrison office were, in turn, managed by the Songzhou Guard. Simply put, the garrison office and the garrison themselves fall under the Assistant General Mansion, while the external garrisons and military households fall under the Songzhou Guard.

Therefore, within the garrison office, Yang Zhenshan was the chief official.

But since Tan Jingtai’s official position was higher-ranked than Yang Zhenshan’s, Yang Zhenshan naturally could not sit above Tan Jingtai.

Once seated, the atmosphere was amiable.

Tan Jingtai was a very talkative person, though his chattiness mainly involved talking about family matters.

Having no prior connection to revisit and no extensive current official interactions, Tan Jingtai simply chatted with Yang Zhenshan about family matters.

They were both grandfathers, with plenty of descendants, so the two elderly gentlemen certainly had no lack of domestic affairs to discuss.

”You know what, after arriving in An Yuan City, I had the eldest bring in a governess to teach my eldest grandson, and he indeed became much more mannered!”

”However, I always feel that children should be more lively; too many rules make them seem a bit too solemn!”

Yang Zhenshan also started talking, sharing about the education of Chengye’s children.

”The eldest grandson should look the part of the eldest grandson. If you like livelier kids, you can dote on your other grandsons a bit more!”

”Brother Yang, when it comes to raising children, the eldest brother here has quite a few insights!”

Tan Jingtai spoke with an air of self-satisfaction.

He was indeed very proud of this, as he believed all his sons and grandsons were well-raised.

In fact, Tan Jingtai deserved some praise in this regard.

The Tan family was not an aristocratic one, and Tan Jingtai’s attainment of the position of Deputy Magistrate was already considered a blessing from his ancestors.

As for raising children, the Tan family didn’t have many rules in the past, and it was only after Tan Jingtai came to Songzhou Guard that many family regulations were established.

His sons were not outstanding, but they weren’t bad either—there were those who could handle literary matters and those skilled in martial ways, it’s just that none had achieved great things.

As for his grandsons, they were all well-mannered kids; even his most beloved youngest grandson hadn’t grown up to be arrogant or domineering, just a bit spoiled.

The two talked for more than half a ’shi chen’ about how to educate their grandsons, and afterward, Yang Zhenshan hosted a banquet for Tan Jingtai at his residence. After being well-fed with food and drink, Tan Jingtai took a short rest in the guestroom of the office until the afternoon ’shen’ period before taking his leave.

After seeing off Tan Jingtai, Yang Zhenshan’s face was flushed red as he returned to his study.

Damn it, this Lord Tan really was a heavy drinker; he almost couldn’t keep up.

Speaking of which, his alcohol tolerance was already formidable; his physical constitution far surpassed his fellow Martial Artists, and likewise, his drinking capacity was not something ordinary people could compare to.

Three to four jin of weak liquor would normally not affect him, but today Lord Tan nearly got him drunk.

”It seems like aside from not excelling in handling official duties, he’s quite impressive at everything else!”

Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but comment.

Eloquent and chatty.

Ordinary people would really not be able to withstand it.

However~~

The corners of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth curled up slightly.

The bout of drinking had not been for naught—Tan Jingtai had already agreed to arrange provisions for him once he returned.

”My Lord, should we move the items in the courtyard to the back house first?”

At this moment, Zhou Ren entered the study and asked.

Tan Jingtai had not come empty-handed; his purpose was to express gratitude to Yang Zhenshan, naturally bringing gifts.

Moreover, compared to Zheng Xiao’s previous visit, Tan Jingtai was much more generous, bringing along over a dozen presents.

Of course, they weren’t anything particularly valuable; if they were, Tan Jingtai wouldn’t have been able to bring them to the office so openly and aboveboard.

”Have Wu Hai come over to arrange it!”

Yang Zhenshan, reclining on the reclining bed and rubbing his forehead, replied.

The visit to City Gate Castle would have to be postponed until tomorrow.