Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 118: Chapter 114: Whispering

After leaving the Assistant General Mansion, Yang Zhenshan took Yang Chengxu to the garrison office and had a chat with Zhao Yuan.

A few days later, the transfer documents arrived at Yinghe Castle.

Yang Mingwu was officially appointed as the households, serving as the defense officer of Tianhe Castle.

Yang Mingzhi was promoted to the Guardian Department garrison commander, in charge of the garrison commander.

Yang Chengxu was promoted to Deputy Thousand Households in the garrison office of Ningzhou City.

On the day the transfer documents were received, Yang Zhenshan organized a banquet in the government office to give Yang Mingwu and the other two a good celebration.

Early the next morning, Yang Zhenshan saw the three men off.

It was not just the three of them who were leaving; each of them also took three or four people with them.

In this way, several official positions under Yang Zhenshan’s command were vacated at once; although most were small flags and General Flags, they were sufficient to arrange for the imminent arrival of the Yang family’s youngsters.

With Yang Mingwu and Yang Mingzhi gone, adjustments needed to be made on Yang Zhenshan’s side as well.

Yang Chengze was promoted to Deputy Thousand Households, Lu Wenchun took up the garrison commander position, Hundred Households Ren Sheng took over as the defense officer of Linguan Castle, and Yang Minghao was appointed Trial Hundred Households to take over Ren Sheng’s previous infantry.

Indeed, Yang Zhenshan took the opportunity to arrange official positions for Lu Wenchun and Yang Minghao.

Even though Lu Wenchun was not a Martial Artist, he had an education and was fully capable of acting as a garrison commander.

As for Yang Minghao, who was already at the Refining Power Level as a Martial Artist, it was completely fine to arrange a Trial Hundred Households position for him.

Of course, all these arrangements had to be approved by Zhou Lan.

In early October, after the autumn harvest, more than a dozen youngsters from the Yang family arrived at Yinghe Castle.

Also accompanying them were Mr. Liang and his family of three.

Inside the government office study, Yang Zhenshan sat by the tea table with Mr. Liang and Liang Xiu.

Over the past year, Liang Xiu had grown quite a bit, but his mature appearance still amused Yang Zhenshan immensely.

”The shop in Ningzhou City has been purchased; you can move in at any time.”

Yang Zhenshan took out a deed and handed it to Mr. Liang.

This deed was not his but belonged to Mr. Liang, and of course, the Silver used to purchase the shop was also provided by Mr. Liang.

Mr. Liang took a glance at the deed, then passed it to Liang Xiu. Liang Xiu looked at it seriously for a long time before carefully storing it away.

This pair of father and son was really interesting.

The adult didn’t act like an adult, devoid of any decisiveness.

The child didn’t act like a child, methodical in everything he did.

”Thank you, Uncle, for your help!” Liang Xiu lifted his little face and said earnestly.

Seeing him like this, Yang Zhenshan couldn’t help but reach out and pinch his face, ”Little guy, at your age, you should be a bit more lively!”

For such a young boy to be so mature was really not appropriate.

It was strange of Mr. Liang, this unreliable Dad, if Mr. Liang were more dependable, Liang Xiu wouldn’t have had to pretend to be a little adult.

Having his face pinched by Yang Zhenshan, Liang Xiu couldn’t help but blush.

However, Mr. Liang beside him, quite oblivious, said, ”This child has been like this from a young age; even I don’t know who he takes after, acting all prim and proper.”

Hearing this, Liang Xiu glared dissatisfiedly at Mr. Liang.

Yang Zhenshan stroked his long beard, chuckled, and stopped teasing Liang Xiu. He then talked to Mr. Liang about the situation in Ningzhou City.

...

In the back courtyard wing room.

Mrs. Lin from the Liang family sat on the kang bed, holding Mrs. Liang’s hand, examining her up and down. Seeing that her cheeks were rosy and her eyes sparkled, free from any trace of mistreatment, Mrs. Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

Before marriage, a woman follows her father, after marriage, her husband.

Once married, she belongs to her husband’s family and must prioritize them in all things.

Many women find life difficult after marriage in their husband’s family.

Commoner brides must obey their in-laws’ orders, cook, wash, do household chores, and so on—these are all reasonable demands. However, some families continuously torment their daughters-in-law, treating them like animals and beating them at the slightest disobedience.

In wealthier families, mothers-in-law set rules for their daughters-in-law, such as attending to them during meals and cooking whatever they desire, and so forth.

In short, the principle is to respect and obey the in-laws—whatever the in-laws do is right, and if you dare to argue or resist, you are considered unfilial.

Mrs. Lin had seen many daughters-in-law in prestigious families suffer in Jing’an Liang family. Later, after they moved to Anning County, she witnessed commoner daughters-in-law being tormented beyond recognition.

Therefore, ever since Mrs. Liang married into the Yang family, Mrs. Lin had been worrying.

She was afraid that her daughter might be wronged and subjected to torment in the Yang family.

”Your father-in-law hasn’t given you a hard time, has he?” Even though Mrs. Lin hadn’t noticed any mistreatment of her daughter, she still wanted to hear it from her directly.

”Ah! Why would Dad give me a hard time?” Mrs. Liang was a bit confused.

But she quickly understood her mother’s concern and said with a smile, ”Dad is busy with government affairs most of the time and rarely meddles in domestic matters.”

”Mom, don’t worry, I’m living well here!”

Seeing her daughter didn’t seem to be lying, Mrs. Lin’s smile grew deeper.

”Ah, I was truly afraid you’d be mistreated in the Yang family. When we arranged your marriage, the thought was that once you married into the Yang family, you wouldn’t have to serve a mother-in-law, and life could be a bit better. Plus, the Yang family is well-reputed, with a good family tradition, and well-regarded in society.”

”But as your father-in-law’s status grew higher, your dad and I became more and more uneasy!”

”We were afraid they would disdain your background, say you lacked decorum...”

Mrs. Lin was a woman who loved to chatter, especially upon meeting her daughter, she found it hard to stop talking.

Mrs. Liang listened quietly, and only when Mrs. Lin paused did she interject, ”Mom, no one at home disdains me, Dad, my eldest sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law all treat me very well!”

”What about Minghao?” Mrs. Lin asked.

Liang’s cheeks flushed with bashfulness as she said, ”My husband is also very good to me.”

Seeing her in such a state, Mrs. Liang was completely reassured.

The harmony between husband and wife is the most important thing. Even if the in-laws are not good, even if there are many conflicts between co-wives, as long as the husband is sincere towards his wife, life won’t be too difficult.

Her daughter’s demeanor clearly indicated that the relationship between this young couple was very good.

”Mom, Dad said that a man of the Yang family cannot take a concubine until he’s thirty without a son!” In order to reassure her mother, Liang brought up the house rules set by Yang Zhenshan.

Hearing this, Mrs. Liang blinked her eyes, watching her daughter intently.

”Really?”

”Mhm, this is a house rule set by Dad, anyone who dares to take a concubine or keep a mistress, Dad will break his legs!” Liang spoke with pride.

With this rule alone, Yang Zhenshan’s image in Liang’s heart instantly grew tall and impressive.

Mrs. Liang’s face lit up with joy. This house rule ensured her daughter’s status and position within the Yang family to the greatest extent. How could she not be happy?

”Then you must try your best to give the Yang family an heir next year.”

Liang’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment as she lowered her head.

She, after all, was still a young bride.

But it was different for Mrs. Liang, as she already had two children, she naturally wouldn’t be as easily embarrassed as Liang.

So Mrs. Liang began to pass on her experience to Liang.

How to have children more easily?

What to eat to increase the chance of conceiving a boy.

She even discussed some indescribable positions, causing Liang to blush painfully red.

If Yang Zhenshan were here, perhaps he could have had a proper discussion with Mrs. Liang about those positions.

Uh, just a verbal discussion.

No, that kind of discussion probably wouldn’t happen.

After all, Yang Zhenshan was a decent man and would not engage in such tasteless acts.

The mother and daughter whispered in the room, while Yang Zhenshan and Mr. Liang discussed the situation in Ningzhou City in the study. Elsewhere, Yang Mingcheng and Lu Wenchun were arranging living quarters for a dozen or so Yang descendants.

These dozen or so descendants were exceptionally excited after arriving at Yinghe Castle, filled with anticipation.

Which young person from Yang Family Village wouldn’t want to follow Yang Zhenshan? Not to mention anything else, just look at the initial dozen or so who followed Yang Zhenshan; now they were either Deputy Thousand Households, Hundred Households, or even Yang Mingwu had become a Thousand Households.

They used to be envious of Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and others, now it was their turn, they were naturally filled with excitement and anticipation.

”These rooms will be your living quarters from now on. The bedding in the rooms is all newly purchased, and there are also clothes in the cabinets, which you can use at will!”

”As for meals, I will have someone deliver them over the next two days. Once you’re familiar with the castle, you’ll need to cook for yourselves!”

”There are numerous rules within the garrison, and there are certain places you shouldn’t enter rashly, especially the government office, the warehouse, and the signal tower, to avoid unnecessary trouble!” Yang Mingcheng carefully instructed while showing them the rooms.

”Mingcheng brother, when can we meet Uncle Zhengshan?” A tall, thin young man couldn’t help but interject.

This young man was named Yang Mingzhen, twenty-five years old that year, two years younger than Yang Mingwu.

Among these Yang descendants, he was the oldest.

”Mr. Liang is here today, my dad will definitely need to entertain him, probably won’t be free until tomorrow to meet with you guys!” said Yang Mingcheng.

”Oh, Mingcheng brother, can you take us for a stroll inside the garrison?” Yang Mingzhen asked, looking expectantly at Yang Mingcheng.

They wouldn’t feel any displeasure in their hearts if Yang Zhenshan didn’t have time to see them right away.

Mr. Liang and they were different; Mr. Liang was Yang Zhenshan’s in-law. When the in-law came, it was natural for Yang Zhenshan to treat him well.

As for them, being Yang Zhenshan’s juniors, it was understandable if they met him a little later.

Besides, weren’t Yang Mingcheng and Lu Wenchun here?

It was not exactly slighting them.

”Sure!”

Afterwards, Yang Mingcheng led them around Yinghe Castle.

Actually, there was nothing particularly interesting about Yinghe Castle; whether in terms of scale or prosperity, Yinghe Castle was not comparable to Anning County city.

The only distinctive feature was that there were many soldiers and military personnel within Yinghe Castle.

What they enjoyed watching the most were those soldiers, especially the Cavalry; their eyes were filled with envy.

”Brother, can we become Cavalry?” Yang Mingzhen asked.

Yang Mingcheng shook his head honestly and said, ”I don’t know about that. You will have to listen to my dad’s arrangements for your future positions!”

”But if you want to ride horses, you can find me. My family has set up a horse farm with many warhorses!”

They had grown up playing together, so Yang Mingcheng was very happy to see them and wanted to take them out for a good time.

However, Yang Mingcheng’s thoughts were premature.

The next day Yang Zhenshan made time to meet these kinsmen from the same clan, then handed them over to Yang Qinwu.

Although these people had trained with him before, the training was a bit amateur at the time.

Now that they wanted to enlist and become officials, they needed to first learn some military skills.

Such as how to observe signal towers, how to interpret whistle signals, and the hand signals and flag signals used for Scout communication, as well as riding horses as a basic skill. They would have to learn all these, along with military formation and practical combat drills, among other things.

Besides these, they also had to learn to read and write.

Nowadays, all officers under Yang Zhenshan’s command could read, and Yang Zhenshan had made literacy one of the basic requirements for officer selection.

There were many areas they needed to master, and Yang Zhenshan couldn’t possibly arrange positions for them right off the bat.

But training them was much easier than training ordinary soldiers, after all, their foundation was much better.