Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 534: Chapter 476: Three Yellow Plum Tree_2

Yang Zhenshan was holding his granddaughter and then glanced at the disciple in the arms of Lin Zheng’s wife.

Liang Qingqing is almost two years old this year, while Lin Zuyao is not yet one year old, and the little guy seems a bit shy.

Nevertheless, Lin Zheng’s wife still had the nanny bring Lin Zuyao over to Yang Zhenshan to see.

”Once this little guy grows up, let me train him for a few years!” Yang Zhenshan said with a smile.

A disciple is also a grandson, especially since Lin Zhan grew up in the Yang family, so there’s no real difference from a blood grandson.

Hearing this, Lin Zhengshi immediately beamed with joy, ”It’s Yao’er’s good fortune that Master is willing to teach him!”

”My disciple will naturally be trained by me. Lin Zhan, that boy, is now solely focused on his official duties, almost neglecting martial arts training. In the future, we can’t let him misguide my disciple,” Yang Zhenshan said with a laugh.

In fact, Lin Zhan’s martial arts skill hasn’t really diminished, but because of the busyness of public affairs, he certainly doesn’t train as hard as before.

But this is inevitable; what one gains, another loses, the duties of an official are naturally in conflict with cultivations.

After teasing his little disciple for a while, Yang Zhenshan turned his attention to the little girl by the side of Lu Lushi.

Lu Miaotong was to be his future granddaughter-in-law.

”Miaotong pays her respects to Grandfather Yang!” The little girl was also very endearing, and despite her young age, her greeting was well-mannered.

Lu Lushi was a genuine lady of a grand household, and the family education from Anning Lu’s family naturally goes without saying; the daughter she taught also leaned towards that of a grand household lady.

Being a lady of a grand household is not a derogatory term; it’s not about being born into wealth that makes one, but rather having talent, virtue, and etiquette.

However, many official families are strict with rules when raising their daughters, with notions like ”not stepping out the main door or the secondary gate,” which makes many daughters of officials fragile and rigid.

Therefore, Yang Zhenshan doesn’t particularly like those daughters of officials, but he’s still charmed by a cute little girl.

Granddaughter, disciple, future granddaughter-in-law, they are all his family’s children.

Yang Zhenshan has no reason not to like them.

At noon, the Yang family hosted a family banquet, a lively and warm gathering.

Meanwhile, as the Yang family was holding the family banquet, in the Taiji Palace of the Imperial City, Prince Dai was kneeling in front of Emperor Yanping, stubbornly resistant.

”Father Emperor, why not?”

He questioned, dissatisfied.

Emperor Yanping felt somewhat of a headache; he had no solution for his son, who was obsessed with martial arts.

In fact, he deeply liked this son; an obsession with martial arts signifies a pure nature, perhaps not suitable to rule a country, but to a father, such a son is more filial.

It’s just that sometimes such purity in his son made him feel powerless.

He had just expressed his dissatisfaction with Yang Zhenshan, avoiding even to meet him when he came to offer thanks.

If he were to let his son become a disciple to Yang Zhenshan at a time like this, wouldn’t that be contradictory?

”It’s no, and that’s final. You may withdraw!” Emperor Yanping said, unable to explain.

Prince Dai, his head bowed, felt aggrieved and did not dare to voice out but did not leave; he just kept kneeling in front of Emperor Yanping.

”If you refuse to withdraw, you will be defying the imperial order!” Emperor Yanping feigned anger.

Prince Dai indeed got a bit scared, said aggrievedly, ”This son will take his leave.”

Then he stood up and left the Imperial Study Room, but as soon as he departed, Emperor Yanping helplessly shook his head.

”Your Highness, did His Majesty not agree?”

Just as Prince Dai stepped out of Taiji Palace, Xiao Anzi noticed the expression on his face and couldn’t help asking.

”Yeah, Father Emperor didn’t agree!” Prince Dai was full of suppressed frustration.

Xiao Anzi’s mind raced before he whispered, ”Your Highness might try asking the Empress, she will surely agree.”

The moment Prince Dai heard this, his previously dim eyes suddenly lit up.

”Right, Mother surely will agree!”

However, Prince Dai still miscalculated. Although the Empress adored her youngest son, she was not the type to act without weighing the consequences. If Prince Dai had sought her help first, she would have definitely spoken to Emperor Yanping on his behalf. But since Prince Dai had already approached Emperor Yanping, and was rejected by him, she naturally couldn’t make things difficult for the Emperor.

”Mother!” Prince Dai looked at the Empress with a sullen face, his stubborn little eyes now appearing aggrieved, like a wronged young bride.

Although Prince Dai now had his own government office, he was after all just a sixteen-year-old boy, and moreover, one inexperienced in the ways of the world.

Even though he was now tall and strong, in front of the Empress he was still like a child, inclined to act spoiled.

The Empress massaged her temples, ”Your father the Emperor does not agree, and I am powerless to help, so stop making a fuss!”

”But I wish to take Marquis Jing’an as my mentor. Marquis Jing’an Mansion and my maternal grandfather’s family are relatives by marriage, and it was you who orchestrated my cousin’s marriage, Mother. For me to take Marquis Jing’an as my mentor is just adding ties to family relations, isn’t it? What’s wrong with that?” Prince Dai reasoned.

The Empress couldn’t help but smile indulgently, looking at her handsome son, she said with a laugh, ”You, it’s rare to see you think through so much!”

These were of course not Prince Dai’s own thoughts. How could he consider all these twists and turns? It was his attendant, Xiao Anzi, who thought of this.

Seeing her younger son still insisting, the Empress could only say helplessly, ”Well then, wait a few days. I will speak to your father the Emperor again. He just refused you, so it really isn’t appropriate for me to go persuade him now!”

Hearing this, although Prince Dai was still a bit unwilling, he had no other choice but to say, ”Alright then, but Mother, you must not forget!”

”When have I ever broken my promise to you?” the Empress said.

”Then I shall take my leave now!”

”It’s noon already, have your meal before you go!”

”No thank you, I need to go back to my cultivation!” Prince Dai ran off in a puff of smoke.

The Empress was both amused and exasperated, ”This child, doesn’t care about his mother one bit.”

...

When Prince Dai did not return, Yang Zhenshan knew that Emperor Yanping definitely refused to agree to his mentorship.

For this, Yang Zhenshan was not concerned. Although he thought well of Prince Dai, he currently had no strong desire to take on disciples.

Over the next few days, Yang Zhenshan stayed within the Marquis Mansion. The Mansion was vast, with mountains and water, so he never felt bored.

This was the first time in many years that Yang Zhenshan had such leisure.

He neither had to attend morning court nor sit in office at the government office, and importantly, the salary was good.

For a job that required little and paid well, Yang Zhenshan admitted he could do it for a lifetime.

With nothing pressing to do, Yang Zhenshan could now spend more time in the Spiritual Spring Space.

In the Spiritual Spring Space, Yang Zhenshan squatted beside a sapling, carefully watering it.

This was no ordinary sapling; it was a Spirit Fruit tree known as the Three Yellow Plums.

Originally, Emperor Chengping had given him a Three Yellow Plum, which he didn’t eat but gave to Yu Qingyi instead. With the power of the Three Yellow Plum, Yu Qingyi managed to condense her Innate True Qi and stepped into the Half-step Innate level.

The seed of the Three Yellow Plum was then planted by Yang Zhenshan in the Spiritual Spring Space. Initially, Yang Zhenshan was not sure if the seed would sprout, but he tried anyway.

However, it turned out that the seed could sprout.

Not only did it sprout, but it also grew very quickly. In half a year’s time, it had already reached a height of three feet.

Only, he didn’t know when the Three Yellow Plum tree would bear fruit.

After watering the Three Yellow Plum, Yang Zhenshan went to a small pond. The pond was now three zhang wide with a depth of about five feet. In the center of the pond, the Spiritual Spring gushed endlessly, and the twelve buds around it had now grown their first floating leaves, clearly identifiable as lotus buds.

Yang Zhenshan wasn’t sure exactly what kind of lotuses these were, because he hadn’t planted them himself; they had grown spontaneously in the Spiritual Spring Space.

Nevertheless, he believed these lotuses must be extraordinary, and so he hadn’t disturbed them.

After checking on the lotuses and seeing they were fine, Yang Zhenshan walked towards the south side of the space.

Inside the Spiritual Spring Space, there were originally no directions, but for convenience, Yang Zhenshan had set directions including east, south, west, and north.

With the small hill where his courtyard was located to the north, by extension, the grassland opposite the hill was the south, with a large orchard to the west, and to the east lay the tea plantations and Medicinal Fields.

The Spiritual Spring was located in the center, and the Treasure Medicine Garden was situated between the Spiritual Spring and the small courtyard.