Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 81: Chapter 80 It’s Going to Rain!

For over ten consecutive days, Yang Zhenshan visited all the ramparts and signal towers, met all the soldiers and military households, and dealt with a batch of inactive flag officers.

After several bouts of busyness, Yang Zhenshan felt like he was going bald.

A great deal of his hair had fallen out; he joked to himself that at this rate, he would soon become a top-notch martial artist.

Meanwhile, as Yang Zhenshan was busily engaged, Yang Family Village received news of his promotion.

The Yang family.

”Ah~~”

Yang Mingcheng, looking at the letter in his hand, let out a surprised shout, startling Ms. Wang, who was serving dishes next to him.

”What are you screaming about, head of the house?”

The plump Ms. Wang slapped Yang Mingcheng in her haste.

Yang Mingcheng snapped back to his senses, his face breaking into a beaming smile: ”Wife, Dad has been promoted, he’s been made a household head!”

”What?” Ms. Wang doubted her ears.

”Dad has been promoted! He’s been made the household head of Jianning Guard!” Yang Mingcheng’s face was beaming with joy.

Ms. Wang stood there dumbfounded, before finally asking: ”How high-ranking is a household head?”

She was but a village woman, the highest official she had ever seen was the village chief of Yang Family Village, Yang Zhengxiang.

Although the County Magistrate of Anning County, Luo Jin, had visited Yang Family Village, she, being merely a woman, had not had the opportunity to meet him in person.

”A household head is Standard Fifth Rank!”

”Isn’t that rank higher than the County Magistrate?”

In Ms. Wang’s limited knowledge, the County Magistrate was Standard Seventh Rank while a household head was Standard Fifth Rank, making the latter rank higher than the former.

Yang Mingcheng scratched his head, knowing the difference between the two but unsure of how to explain.

”By rank, a household head indeed ranks above the County Magistrate.”

”Big sister-in-law, Dad is a Military Officer, and the County Magistrate is a civil servant, they cannot be directly compared!”

This was said by Ms. Li as she walked over, supporting her waist with her hands. She was already five months pregnant, and her belly was showing.

”Big brother, we should inform the Clan Leader about this!” Ms. Li reminded.

”Yes, yes, yes~~” Yang Mingcheng came to his senses and hurriedly ran out the door.

Soon, the news of Yang Zhenshan’s promotion spread throughout Yang Family Village,

and the village was abuzz.

Many villagers ran to the Yang family’s home to offer congratulations, and Yang Mingcheng, standing in the courtyard, greeted each guest. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to invite them into the main hall, but there were too many guests, and the hall simply couldn’t accommodate them all.

The next day, it wasn’t just Yang Family Village, but even the surrounding villages had received the news.

Even more people came to offer congratulations, many of them bringing gifts.

In the following days, the Yang household was bustling like a marketplace, with a continuous stream of congratulatory guests.

...

Yang Zhenshan was unaware of the excitement in Yang Family Village, although he could imagine it. But right now, he simply couldn’t attend to these matters.

Before he knew it, September had arrived, and there was still no rain outside the pass, nor in Chongshan Town.

The land grew more parched by the day; once-green hillsides were now a uniform drab yellow.

Under the severe drought, the wheat in the fields ripened prematurely, and the fields around Yinghe Castle gleamed with a deceptive golden hue. Yet upon closer inspection, the grains within the wheat ears were tiny and shriveled.

Standing at the edge of the field, Yang Zhenshan rubbed a handful of withered wheat and sighed deeply.

Yinghe Castle was still considered fortunate since at least they could harvest something.

The most pitiable was Linguan Castle, where military households had worked hard all year with almost nothing to show for it.

It was foreseeable that the coming year would be difficult for the military households under his administration.

What worried him even more was the situation outside the pass. The drought there was even more severe, and the Hu Clan’s days were even harder.

So far, the Hu Clan hadn’t harassed the border—because they were dealing with the drought and lacked the strength to launch raids.

But once they recovered their strength, they would inevitably invade Chongshan Town again in search of resources.

For survival, they had no choice but to do so.

Just as Yang Zhenshan was consumed with worry, he suddenly felt a tremor in his heart.

Then he looked up, startled, at the clear, sun-blistering sky.

For some reason, he felt as though it was about to rain.

The sky was cloudless, but he just had this feeling.

”Is it really going to rain?”

Yang Zhenshan furrowed his brow, feeling somewhat hopeful yet puzzled.

A premonition?

The Sixth Sense?

It seems not quite right.

Back when he was beyond the Great Wall, he had sensed the coming of the drought.

The fact proved his premonitions to be correct.

And now he was sensing it was going to rain again.

It seemed to be a heavy rain at that.

He truly hoped his intuition was real.

But where did this intuition come from?

Yang Zhenshan pondered in the depth of his heart.

There was certainly no such ability in a Martial Artist, so what made him different from others?

The Spiritual Spring Space?

It was to this that Yang Zhenshan could only speculate.

But he really couldn’t figure out whether the Spiritual Spring Space had this kind of sensing ability.

After much thought and still finding no answer, Yang Zhenshan could only stand up, mount his horse, and return to Yinghe Castle.

By now, Yinghe Castle had changed somewhat since his arrival. Although he hadn’t trained any soldiers or helped the military households with anything, he still proposed many requirements, such as sanitation and the working procedures within the government office, among others.

It was just that, due to the drought, his demands for Yinghe Castle weren’t as high as those for Linguan Castle.

And as for his arrival, the military households of Yinghe Castle had gone from being initially cautious to now relaxed. It seemed that they had accepted Yang Zhenshan as their new defense officer.

After all, compared to the defense officers before him, Yang Zhenshan was less troublesome, never beating or scolding them for no reason, nor forcing them to do things that weren’t their responsibility.

Upon returning to the garrison, Yang Zhenshan went directly to the backyard of the government office, which was where he resided.

Standing in front of the main hall’s door in the backyard, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but look up at the sky again.

It was going to rain!

The feeling grew stronger and stronger.

”Dad, what are you looking at?” Yang Minghao came over and curiously followed his gaze up to the sky.

The clear sky was devoid of any clouds, and the blazing sun dazzled the eyes.

”It’s going to rain!” muttered Yang Zhenshan softly.

”Rain! Dad, are you having a hysterical episode? How could it possibly rain in this weather?” Yang Minghao felt his father might have gone mad from wishing for rain, even speaking nonsense.

Yang Zhenshan snapped out of it and glared fiercely at him.

”Are you asking for a beating, you little rascal!”

This scoundrel dared to make fun of him; it seemed he had been too lenient on him lately.

Feeling his gaze, Yang Minghao felt a chill run down his spine and shrank his head, chuckling nervously, ”Dad, it’s time for lunch!”

”Let’s go.”

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly and walked toward the dining room.

After coming to Yinghe Castle, he had begun to eat separately from Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengxu, and others.

Currently, Yang Chengze was serving as the garrison commander at Linguan Castle, Yang Chengxu at Xiangyuan Fortress, and Yang Chengche at Sanshan Castle; none of them were by Yang Zhenshan’s side.

And Yang Mingwu, being the Deputy Thousand Households, was busy traveling back and forth between the four garrisons early in the morning and late at night, so he couldn’t always be by Yang Zhenshan’s side.

The only person who stayed by Yang Zhenshan now was his idle son Yang Minghao; everyone else had their own affairs to attend to.

The lunch was simple: a pot of chicken stewed with mushrooms, a dish of small pickles, and the staple was wheat flatbreads.

The person in charge of cooking was a woman whom Yang Zhenshan had hired within the garrison.

”Dad, should we bring Big Brother and the others over?”

During the meal, Yang Minghao couldn’t help but ask.

It had been more than half a year since he left home, and he was starting to miss his family.

Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment and responded, ”Let’s wait until after the autumn harvest!”

Right now, there wasn’t much to be done at home, the fields were being cultivated by tenants, and Yang Mingcheng didn’t need to work the land himself; all he needed to do was collect the land rent come harvest time.

And regarding the possibility of invasions by the Northern barbarian cavalry, living in the Yang Family Village wouldn’t necessarily be safer than staying here.

Before, when the Northern barbarian cavalry invaded, they mainly looted villages, while they did not attack military fortresses like the garrison.

Moreover, bringing Yang Mingcheng and the others over would make it more convenient for him to look after them.

”For real!” Yang Minghao’s eyes lit up.

”Yes,” Yang Zhenshan nodded.

Just then, a sudden gust of wind sounded outside the door.

The wind came abruptly, both fierce and strong, whipping the entire courtyard into chaos.