Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 289: Chapter 280: Leave a Good Impression

Huang Yifu’s face was pale, a few of his ribs had been broken by a casual spear thrust from Yang Zhenshan just now, and he was experiencing severe pain in his waist and abdomen, feeling as though a funnel was draining all his strength.

“Please spare me for the sake of Star Moon Sect, General Yang!”

What else could Huang Yifu say? At this moment, all he could do was beg for mercy, and his only reliance was the Star Moon Sect.

“Spare you!”

Yang Zhenshan revealed a cold smile.

Whether to spare someone or not doesn’t depend on the face of the Star Moon Sect, but on the actions of these people.

In his eyes, the Star Moon Sect had no face to speak of.

He didn’t say anything more but carelessly sat down on a chair.

The chair was wide, with a sheepskin cushion making it very comfortable.

He picked up the wine jar next to him, sniffed the wine inside, then disdainfully put it down.

This bandit’s life seemed rather pathetic too!

The drink was likely cheap.

Drinking from big bowls, and eating meat from large plates sounds joyous, but one only has to think about it to understand. How enjoyable could life in these mountains be?

Who in their right mind would turn to banditry in the mountains?

Only those who have committed crimes and can no longer survive elsewhere resort to becoming mountain bandits.

With Yang Zhenshan keeping silent, no one in the hall dared to speak. For a moment, there was complete silence in the hall, while outside, the sounds of killing and intermittent screams continued.

However, the noise of killing outside did not last long; it died down after just a quarter of an hour.

Song Dashan strode into the hall with commanding presence, “Reporting to the General, all the bandits outside have been executed, and we have recovered all the cotton fabric and carts!”

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, “Lin Xiaoyun, let’s go!”

Saying this, he headed out of the hall, and a bewildered Lin Xiaoyun hurriedly followed his steps.

“Not interesting, just kill them all!” Yang Zhenshan dropped these words and left the hall.

Afterwards, a bout of fighting noises and screams echoed from within the hall.

By the time the noise in the hall ceased, there were no more living bandits throughout the stockade.

What remained was the clean-up of the battlefield, but that was something Yang Zhenshan didn’t need to worry about, as his soldiers were adept and experienced in such tasks.

These soldiers had raced across the Northern lands with Yang Zhenshan and had cleaned up countless battlefields.

Yang Zhenshan, somewhat listlessly, sat on a rock, the warm sunshine making him feel slightly drowsy.

He had come with great expectations, only for it to end like this, utterly uneventful.

Had he known, he would have rather stayed away and let Song Dashan bring people over.

“My lord, we’ve found a number of women in the back! All were abducted by the bandits!” Song Dashan ran over and reported.

“Ask them if they wish to return home, and if so, we can escort them to the nearest town later,” Yang Zhenshan said.

“Uh, they don’t want to! They’ve lost their honor! A few even wanted to take their own lives! I’ve had the men stop them,” Song Dashan said quietly.

Yang Zhenshan felt a headache coming on, this was indeed a difficult issue to resolve.

The future life of women who had lost their honor was bound to be harsh.

Even if they went home, their situation would be difficult, but if not, should he really bring them back to Tenglong Guard?

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment, and it seemed bringing them back to Tenglong Guard wasn’t entirely out of the question.

“How many?”

“Over thirty.”

“Then let’s bring them all back.”

Ignoring the situation was certainly not possible; bringing them back to Tenglong Guard at the very least could offer them some work to do. If nothing else, ensuring they had enough food and clothes wouldn’t be a problem.

Also, at Tenglong Guard, they could be protected from petty gossip, and perhaps after some time, they might even marry and find a place to call home.

“Thank General Yang for taking us in!”

As soon as Yang Zhenshan finished speaking, Lin Xiaoyun, who had been standing by the side, knelt down and started kowtowing.

After the panic, Lin Xiaoyun had now calmed down and become rational. She knew all too well what awaited her if she returned home.

Relatives would shun her, neighbors would scorn her, some with ulterior motives would harass her, she would be surrounded by rumors and insults.

That’s why she didn’t want to go back; she would rather die than return.

Yang Zhenshan’s willingness to take her in was her last hope.

“Get up! Live well from now on, and don’t pity yourself!”

Yang Zhenshan was still gentle towards these women.

They hadn’t done anything wrong; they were just targeted by the malice of the world.

Yang Zhenshan didn’t see himself as a savior, but since he had encountered this, he was willing to lend a hand, which was no difficult task for him.

“Tell the men, when they get back, not to talk nonsense. No matter what others ask, just say they don’t know!”

Yang Zhenshan instructed Song Dashan.

Any explanation would be useless; so many women heading to Tenglong Guard would definitely cause some gossip.

When it came to such matters, not explaining was better than explaining. Not explaining was his stance, and it wouldn’t take long for everyone to understand his intention, and the matter would pass.

“Yes!” Song Dashan responded.

“Go help comfort those women!” Yang Zhenshan then said to Lin Xiaoyun.

“Yes!”

A calmer Lin Xiaoyun was quite astute; she immediately grasped the intentions of Yang Zhenshan.

Comforting those hurt women was definitely not something the soldiers were good at, and in this situation, Lin Xiaoyun was undoubtedly the most suitable person.

Yang Zhenshan also saw her cleverness, which is why he allowed her to go.

About two quarters of an hour later, Lin Xiaoyun led a group of neatly dressed women to thank Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan briefly comforted them and asked them to wait for the soldiers to clean up the battlefield before returning together to Tenglong Guard.

Saying too much was of no use; the harm they suffered could only be addressed with the passing of time. It wasn’t something the words of Yang Zhenshan could make them forget.

The soldiers quickly loaded the cotton fabric intercepted from the bandits onto the carts.

Fortunately, the bandits had just snatched the carts and cotton fabric not long ago and hadn’t had a chance to deal with them yet.

Besides the horses and cotton fabric, the bandits’ savings also became the spoils of war for Yang Zhenshan and his men.

These bandits were quite poor, having only a few thousand taels of Silver Coin, and aside from that, they had also stored quite a few essentials such as food and beverages.

The amount wasn’t large, but it couldn’t all be taken away in one trip, so Yang Zhenshan first took most of the soldiers down the mountain and asked Song Dashan to stay there overnight and send people to transport the rest of the items the next day.

Covering over a hundred li on his way back to Guard City, Yang Zhenshan arrived late at night. However, he had already sent someone ahead on horseback to suitably arrange accommodation for Lin Xiaoyun and the other women.

Although rushed, they managed to secure a place for these women to stay.

The next day, Yang Zhenshan dispatched a hundred soldiers to haul the remaining items back from Qingfu Mountain.

The money and grain weren’t much, but they still valued a few thousand taels of Silver, which Yang Zhenshan wasn’t ready to overlook.

In the morning, Yang Zhenshan called Wu Zhan into the study.

“Go to Jing’an City and have the Wang family come to collect the Silver!”

“Master, are we also giving them Silver?” Wu Zhan asked somewhat surprised.

The Wang family’s cotton fabric had been taken by the bandits, but they had now retrieved it themselves. According to worldly society customs, those materials no longer had any connection to the Wang family.

By the official rules, Yang Zhenshan, as the Commander of Tenglong Guard, did not have the responsibility to eliminate bandits.

Thus, even if they didn’t pay, the Wang family had no right to complain.

“Not only should we give it to them, but also without shortchanging them!”

“In the future, we need the help of merchants in many areas, it’s a good opportunity to gain a good reputation now, which makes a positive impression on the merchants in Jing’an City, so when we need help later, they will be more willing to assist us!”

Yang Zhenshan explained.

Tenglong Guard was not An Yuan City.

The location of Tenglong Guard was rather remote, situated in the southeast of Qinghua Prefecture, more than two hundred li away from Qinghua Prefecture City and also over two hundred li from Jing’an Prefecture City, surrounded only by a few small county towns and lacking any major cities.

Aside from being a small city itself, were he to develop commerce, at best it could only influence the nearby thousand households.

In terms of commercial potential, it may not even match those county towns.

If Yang Zhenshan wanted to develop the commerce in Guard City in the future, he would unavoidably need the support of merchants.

The Luo family would definitely be his first choice, but relying only on the Luo family wouldn’t suffice; he needed more merchants to come and invest.

That’s right, attracting investment!

Now by doing them a favor, when he needs help in the future, could they refuse?

Moreover, this batch of cotton fabric was originally from the Wang family, merely changing hands among the bandits, Yang Zhenshan saw no reason to ruin his reputation over a few thousand taels of Silver.

Wu Zhan didn’t quite understand Yang Zhenshan’s plan, but since Yang Zhenshan had ordered it, he would just carry it out.

After Wu Zhan left, Yang Zhenshan called Lu Wenhua over.

“Have the women been properly settled?”

“They have been arranged properly; they are now staying in Nanyuan. Food and cotton fabric were prepared for them last night, and I just went over to check, they are relatively stable!” Lu Wenhua said.

Nanyuan was originally the residence for the servants of the Lan family, but now the Lan family’s servants had turned into military households, so many houses were vacated there.

“Arrange some sewing work for them, hmm, don’t let them be idle!”

Yang Zhenshan was not a miser, nor did he intend to exploit these unfortunate women.

It’s just that being idle can lead to overthinking, while keeping busy can help avoid it.

There was still plenty of sewing work needed within the government office, the personal attendants and the soldiers who came with him all needed someone to help with their clothes.

They couldn’t possibly let these rough men thread needles and sew.

Previously, the embroidery tasks were processed by the embroidery workshop of the Yang family, for which the Li family had even specifically increased the number of embroiderers, but they were still struggling to keep up.

Now with these women, it could ease some pressure on the embroidery girls in the Yang family workshop.

“Yes!”

Lu Wenhua then asked, “Sir, is there anything else?”

Yang Zhenshan stroking his beard thought for a moment, then said, “Do you want to go back to Anning County this year?”

Lu Wenhua had been by his side for several years and hadn’t returned home.

This year, with fewer things to handle in the government office, Lu Wenhua could definitely find time to return and stay at home for a few more days.

Lu Wenhua was startled; he hadn’t expected Yang Zhenshan to suddenly shift to personal matters.

“How about I go back to check?”

“Hmm, it’s good to go back and look. Next year, Wenyuan is going to take the spring examinations in the capital, so you and Ming Cheng should go back too and ask the Old Man for his opinion. If needed, let Ming Cheng accompany Wenyuan to make a trip to the capital.”

“I’d arranged for a residence to be bought in the capital, so if they go, they won’t worry about accommodations.”

“If they face any trouble in the capital, I have some connections there; Ming Cheng knows them and can help avoid some difficulties!”

Yang Zhenshan explained.

Da Rong’s spring examinations are in March, and if Lu Wenyuan participates in next year’s examination, then he should set out for the capital after the New Year celebrations.

It’s a long journey, and no one can predict unexpected encounters, so arranging an escort is necessary.

If the candidate was a student from a humble background, they could only bring an Attendant Student, follow a merchant convoy or travel with classmates.

The Lu family was also from a humble background, but they had the marital connection with the Yang family. What the Lu family lacked, the Yang family could assist with.

“So let me thank my uncle on behalf of my younger brother!” Lu Wenhua showed a brilliant smile.

The care and attention from Yang Zhenshan towards Lu Wenquan made him happy and helped him appreciate the meaning of family.