Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 141: Chapter 137: Who to Marry?

Once Ms. Wang returned to her yard, she paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pot.

”What’s bothering you?” Yang Mingcheng, who was baffled, said.

”I’m feeling tense!” Ms. Wang said pitifully.

”Tense about what?”

”What else but father’s situation!” Ms. Wang replied irritably.

Yang Mingcheng became even more confused, ”What’s going on with Dad then?”

”That, that~” Ms. Wang found it somewhat difficult to articulate, ”That if Dad takes a stepmother!”

Only then did Yang Mingcheng understand her anxiety, but he dismissed it nonchalantly, ”So he marries, as long as Dad is willing, what objections can we have?”

As to whether Yang Zhenshan would remarry, the three Yang brothers had indeed thought about it long ago.

If it were the past, when they were living in Yang Family Village, they would never consider such a matter, but now that Yang Zhenshan had an official title, being a Secondary Third Rank Commander, marrying a stepmother was quite normal.

Not to mention a stepmother, even keeping ten or eight concubines wouldn’t draw any criticism.

Therefore, the three Yang brothers were already mentally prepared for Yang Zhenshan’s remarriage.

”Okay, even if Dad remarries, it won’t affect you, so stop worrying needlessly!” Yang Mingcheng, ever the simpleton, clearly didn’t understand Ms. Wang’s anxiety.

Ms. Wang’s nervousness wasn’t about whether Yang Zhenshan would remarry, but rather that she didn’t know how to get along with a completely new mother-in-law.

Her emotions were just like when she had first married into the Yang family.

The presence of Yu Qingyi certainly couldn’t be hidden from the Yang family, and soon enough, everyone knew that there was a new woman in Yang Zhenshan’s residence.

In the Yang family’s third household, Yang Minghao and the Liang Family were also discussing this matter.

”I don’t know what her temperament is like, whether she will make life difficult for me as a daughter-in-law!” The Liang Family was full of concerns too.

”Don’t worry, Dad is not unreasonable, what’s there to fear with him around?” Yang Minghao was very confident about his own father.

No matter what, as long as Yang Zhenshan was present, a woman would not be able to turn things upside down in the Yang family.

This belief stemmed from Yang Minghao’s blind worship of Yang Zhenshan.

”Ah, let’s hope so.”

The Liang Family remained uneasy. She was worse off than Ms. Wang; at least Ms. Wang had served a mother-in-law before, while she had never seen one since she married into the Yang family.

However, compared to their uneasiness and tension, Yang Yunyan’s heart was feeling somewhat heavy.

With Dad about to bring in a stepmother, his sons might not care much, but it was naturally unsettling for a daughter.

Sitting on the heated brick bed in the room, Yang Yunyan’s mind kept conjuring up the sound of her late mother’s voice.

”Ah~~”

Her heart ached, but of the five children, she was the least appropriate to speak up.

Spilled water can’t be regained, just like a daughter who is married out – could she, a married-out daughter, oppose her father’s remarriage?

In contrast, Yang Yunxue had more right to speak since she was not yet married off.

When it was time for breakfast, everyone gradually gathered in the main courtyard.

One by one, they assembled in the main hall, where Nanny Li and several maids had already brought the food to the table.

After finishing his cultivation practice and freshening up, Yang Zhenshan sat down at the head of the table, absorbed in his own thoughts.

”Let’s eat!”

Everyone seated themselves, but their expressions were odd, as they occasionally glanced towards the inner room.

Yang Zhenshan, preoccupied with organizing the training of the garrison, did not notice their actions.

Now that he was in charge of the garrison, it was time for him to start its training.

Training the garrison was certainly necessary, but it was also crucial not to neglect the patrol and defense duties within the city, so thorough planning was required for the training process.

”Dad, isn’t the lady going to eat?”

The silent atmosphere suddenly broke, and the speaker was surprisingly Yang Yunxue.

”Lady? What lady?” Yang Zhenshan lifted his head to ask.

”The one inside the house,” Yang Yunxue said, blushing slightly.

Yang Zhenshan looked puzzled and glanced into the room, ”Don’t worry about her, just send her a portion of food later!”

How could a prisoner be expected to join them at the table?

”But isn’t that inappropriate?” Yang Yunxue continued.

”What’s inappropriate about it?”

Yang Yunxue began to squirm, as she was an unmarried maiden and there were some things she simply could not voice openly.

Seeing her younger sister struggling, Yang Yunyan promptly took over the conversation, ”Dad, if you’re considering marrying that lady, perhaps you could introduce her to us first!”

She thought since the woman was already brought home, it wouldn’t hurt to get acquainted first.

”Marry her!” Yang Zhenshan was taken aback.

”Marry whom?”

The others were equally stunned, then they looked at Yang Zhenshan with very strange eyes.

What did they mean?

Did Dad not want to marry her?

If they knew the term ”scum man,” they would definitely be screaming it in their minds.

Bringing someone home, even into the bedroom, and then saying nothing happened—who would believe that!

Yang Zhenshan’s expression stiffened as he looked at everyone, then glanced towards the bedroom, finally realizing what was happening.

He couldn’t help but smile wryly.

Damn it! This misunderstanding was serious.

He truly hadn’t considered this. Since he didn’t harbor such thoughts, naturally he didn’t think in that direction.

So it never occurred to him that a misunderstanding could arise from this.

However, he didn’t know how to explain it for the moment; there were too many issues involved, and they couldn’t be clarified in just a few words.

As the head of the family, he held the ultimate power of interpretation; what he said was law.

”Alright, this is not something for you to worry about. Do what you’re supposed to do and go!”

Yang Zhenshan didn’t even bother to explain, he simply sent them away forcefully.

Everyone looked at each other, knowing they had no choice but to disperse.

Yang Zhenshan watched them leave, shaking his head with a wry smile.

What a mess of things!

He really didn’t have the time to think about all these messy matters.

The situation in An Yuan State City wouldn’t allow for such trivial matters of the heart.

Thinking of the many issues awaiting him at the Front Office, Yang Zhenshan stood up and walked towards it.

Yesterday, he had established his authority at City Gate Castle by arresting Xu Wanfu and others, and the repercussions were only beginning.

As he expected, when he arrived at the Front Office, all the officials subordinate to the garrison office were already waiting for him in the main hall.

”Sir, Xu Wanfu is dead!”

However, as soon as he stepped into the Front Office, Zhou Ren was the first to report.

Yang Zhenshan nodded indifferently and said, ”I know. Are all those people here?”

Zhou Ren cautiously looked up at Yang Zhenshan and replied, ”To answer sir’s question, everyone who should be here has arrived!”

Everyone who should be here has arrived!

What a good response!

The corner of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth lifted slightly.

Who should be here at this time?

Besides the officials from the garrison, naturally it would be the officials from the garrisons outside the city.

One garrison commander, two defense officers, seven garrison commanders.

The garrison office had jurisdiction over two defense offices, seven garrisons, close to forty Fire Road Piles and signal towers, commanding over two thousand troops and more than three thousand military households.

Previously, these garrison officers had all taken their cues from Xu Wanfu, but now that Xu Wanfu was finished, they should see the lay of the land.

Speaking of which, Han Cheng was just a fair-weather friend, forced to side with Xu Wanfu for the sake of his family.

But these garrison officers were different; they were real opportunists, siding with whoever was in power without a shred of principle.

But they were only fit to be opportunists without any real use; even Cao Han and Xu Wanfu dared not rely on them, let alone Yang Zhenshan.

As he entered the main hall, all the officers stood up and bowed, ”We greet the sir!”

Yang Zhenshan gestured with his hand, took his seat on the main chair, ”Sit down, everyone.”

After sitting down, Yang Zhenshan glanced over the people below.

He had met all these people before, but could only name one, the garrison commander Tian Gui.

”Why have you all come?” Yang Zhenshan asked knowingly.

The crowd was silent. After a moment of hesitation, Tian Gui spoke up, ”The sir has just taken office, and we have prepared a modest congratulatory gift, hoping sir will kindly accept it!”

Saying this, he presented a wooden box in front of Yang Zhenshan.

”...”

Yang Zhenshan genuinely didn’t expect this group of people to pull such a stunt.

Bribery!

And openly teaming up to bribe, no less.

This was indeed an eye-opener for Yang Zhenshan.

Yang Zhenshan glanced at the wooden box; it wasn’t big, definitely not holding silver ingots, nor gold. It was probably silver notes.

He was curious about how much Silver Coin these people were offering as a bribe.

Upon opening the box and seeing a large stack of silver notes inside, the corner of Yang Zhenshan’s mouth curled up slightly.

Tsk tsk, quite a substantial amount.

All of them were hundred-tael silver notes; judging by the thickness, there should be fifty of them.

Five thousand taels!

What a generous gesture!

Yang Zhenshan had accepted money before; Mr. Lu, to thank him, also sent him two thousand Silver.

Two thousand Silver might not sound like much, but in reality, it was already a large sum.

Take the former Yang family for example, in a good year with favorable weather, the hard-earned harvest only yielded twenty Silver after selling the crops. This included the income from Yang Mingcheng driving a bull cart to ferry people to the county city during slack seasons and Yang Mingzhi earning some money from odd jobs now and then.

An entire family would earn just twenty Silver in a year.

Yet despite a whole year of eating and drinking, the family would have no savings. Add to that weddings, funerals, and the cost of medicine – the Yang family was living hand-to-mouth.

For the Yang family at that time, not to mention hundreds or thousands of Silver, they even had to count their copper coins.

The reason Mr. Lu could easily afford to give away two thousand Silver as a token of gratitude was because the Lu family was the largest landlord in Anning County, the only prestigious family in the county.

To the Lu family, two thousand Silver was not a significant sum.

But what about these officials before me?

They could come up with five thousand Silver!

Could they compare with the Lu family?

They couldn’t match the Lu family if they combined forces and multiplied by ten.

Yet they were able to produce five thousand Silver!

Corrupt officials indeed!

And the kind that were insatiably greedy.

Yang Zhenshan had served as both a garrison officer and a defense officer; he knew all too well how hard it was to squeeze a few hundred Silver out of these military households.

To put it bluntly, even if you tried to extract oil from these military households, you wouldn’t get much.