Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather
Chapter 219 - 211: Touch Not the Dragon’s Reverse Scale, For Killing May Be Unavoidable.

Chapter 219: Chapter 211: Touch Not the Dragon’s Reverse Scale, For Killing May Be Unavoidable.

The next morning.

Yang Zhenshan arrived at Chongshan Pass, covered in dust and weary from travel. It had been over two years since he last visited Chongshan Pass, but now he had no mood to observe any changes there.

Arriving at the entrance of the Yang family’s small courtyard, he didn’t even dismount from his horse before Wu Zhan came out to greet him.

"Master!"

"Is the lady injured?"

Yang Zhenshan dismounted from Red Cloud and asked.

"No, the lady and miss are all fine!" Wu Zhan said.

Yang Zhenshan let out a sigh of relief.

Although the guards who reported to him earlier had clarified that Yu Qingyi and Yang Yunxue were unharmed, he still couldn’t help but worry.

He hurried into the courtyard and into the main house. Seeing Yu Qingyi resting on a soft couch, that heavy stone in his heart finally fell.

"You’re here!"

Yu Qingyi, seeing Yang Zhenshan, smiled warmly.

"Um!"

Yang Zhenshan stepped forward, holding her hand, and after a meticulous examination, assured that Yu Qingyi was indeed unharmed, then said, "You’ve been frightened!"

Yu Qingyi smiled and said, "Coming from the worldly society, I can withstand such a small scene. However, Yunxue and Yun Qiao were quite startled."

"Mm!" Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly, "I’ll go see them first!"

"I shall accompany you, Master!"

After speaking, the two of them left the main room and went to the chamber next door.

Having rested for one night, Yang Yunxue and Wang Yunqiao were no longer anxious. Yu Qingyi had already consoled them the previous night, so they had slept relatively well.

Seeing Yang Zhenshan, the last bit of unease and panic in their hearts vanished without a trace.

Yang Zhenshan briefly comforted them and then returned to the main room to rest.

In fact, he didn’t need to rest. Despite the overnight rush, he did not feel the slightest fatigue.

But the Personal Followers that came with him had run all night, cold and hungry, and definitely needed to rest properly.

"You will have to go to the Marquis Mansion later, there’s still some time now, you should rest for a bit!"

Inside the room, Yang Zhenshan said to Yu Qingyi.

Yu Qingyi was pregnant, and although her cultivation was strong and her constitution robust, she still had the physical reactions of a pregnant woman, such as morning sickness, feeling easily tired, and sleepiness, among others.

Yu Qingyi didn’t decline and started to nap on the soft couch of the louhan bed.

Yang Zhenshan called Wu Zhan into the hall and asked, "Where’s Ding Qiu?"

Ding Qiu had always been gathering information in Chongshan Pass. Although they had gathered almost all the news about the Marquis Mansion so far, Yang Zhenshan still had orders to continue probing for information within the city walls.

These past few days, Ding Qiu had been setting up outposts, which is why he had not returned to An Yuan City.

"He left early in the morning, said he would investigate the origins of those people!" Wu Zhan said.

Yang Zhenshan nodded slightly.

He had already confirmed the origins of those people. They were from Marquis Jingyuan Mansion.

"Send someone to pass him a message, tell him that those people are from Marquis Jingyuan Mansion. If I’m not mistaken, there should still be people from Marquis Jingyuan Mansion in Chongshan Pass; tell him to find these people for me!"

As he said this, a sharp coldness flashed in Yang Zhenshan’s eyes.

To ambush his wife and children, that was stabbing right at his heart!

Although Yu Qingyi and the others were not injured, Yang Zhenshan would certainly not let such a matter rest.

"There’s another matter!"

Yang Zhenshan’s face turned dark and grim, "Send someone back again, tell our third son to root out the traitor in our house!"

Although Yu Qingyi’s trip to Chongshan Pass wasn’t a secret, it was not something everyone was aware of.

Besides the Yang family and the garrison office, there should be no one else who knew the specific timing of Yu Qingyi’s expedition.

The fact that the adversary could grasp Yu Qingyi’s itinerary so accurately meant that someone had leaked the information.

If this person was not uncovered, Yang Zhenshan would find no peace.

"Understood!" Wu Zhan responded and went to carry out Yang Zhenshan’s orders.

And Yang Zhenshan sat in the hall, gazing at the snow that was beginning to fall heavily.

The snow fell more and more intensely, and Chongshan Pass became colder and colder, but the anger in his heart did not subside; rather, it grew stronger and more ferocious.

One must not touch the scales of a dragon. Murder was inevitably necessary.

...

Inside the inn.

Su Shanyu was sitting in his guest room, twisting a jade rosary in his hand, his brows deeply furrowed.

Su Bai had not returned all night, which gave him a sense of unease.

Logically, whether the mission was successful or not, Su Bai should have sent someone to inform him, but until now, he had not received any news.

"What exactly went wrong?"

He silently contemplated this, unable to figure out how such a simple task could have encountered any unexpected problems.

Regarding the Yang family, he never took them to heart.

Such a small family from a border town was just one among many in the vast Da Rong. With the power of Marquis Jingyuan Mansion, it would be easy to deal with such a small family.

If it weren’t for Zhou Lan backing Yang Zhenshan, he wouldn’t have needed to go through the trouble and caution of acting in secret; he could have simply suppressed Yang Zhenshan openly through official means.

"Someone come!"

Unable to figure out where things could go wrong, Su Shanyu could only instruct his followers: "Take some men to look for Su Bai and the others, and have them return as soon as possible!"

...

Inside the General Mansion.

Liang Chu sat behind his desk, his brow also furrowed tightly.

"Mrs. Yang and the others are all right, aren’t they!"

Early this morning, he had received news that Yu Qingyi and the others had been ambushed.

This is Chongshan Pass, where almost nothing can escape his notice.

Of course, some news he receives might be somewhat delayed, such as when Su Bai took men to ambush Yu Qingyi.

He knew that Su Bai had left Chongshan Pass, but he had not anticipated that Su Shanyu would be so brazen as to dare ambush the Yang family’s convoy.

"It’s all right, but Master Yang has arrived!" his aide-de-camp whispered.

"Yang Zhenshan is here?" Liang Chu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes, the city gates just opened, and Master Yang entered the city. He must have received the news and rushed over immediately!"

Liang Chu twisted his eyebrows, "Things are getting troublesome!"

He was not very familiar with Yang Zhenshan’s temperament, having met him only once, yet anyone whose wife and children had been ambushed like this would not let the matter rest easily.

"Marquis, should we remind Master Yang?" his aide-de-camp asked.

Liang Chu took a deep breath and shook his head helplessly, "Remind him of what?"

"Tell him not to seek revenge? Do you think he would listen to us? And even if he were willing to accept our warning, the marriage arrangement between our two families would be in jeopardy!"

"As for warning him that Su Shanyu is in the city, that’s even less feasible!"

"Marquis Jingyuan has already pledged allegiance to the Crown Prince. Whatever Su Shanyu has done will be supported by the Crown Prince! If we intervene, the Crown Prince will certainly be dissatisfied with us!"

At this moment, Liang Chu found himself in a dilemma.

Regarding the Crown Prince, he didn’t want to pledge his allegiance, nor did he wish to offend.

The secret to Changping Marquis Mansion’s three-hundred-year legacy has been to avoid involvement in the struggle for the throne. Although this strategy could lead to losing power, as long as they could retain their title, they could regain authority sooner or later.

Like now, if he does not side with the Crown Prince, when the Crown Prince ascends to the throne, at most he would be dismissed from his posts, but his title would not be taken away as long as he hadn’t made major mistakes.

The Crown Prince might even reconsider him because by then the Crown Prince will be the Emperor, with a different status, and views issues differently. The Changping Marquis Mansion’s refusal to take sides, staunchly standing with the Emperor, would not be disliked by a new Emperor.

But if he were to act against Marquis Jingyuan Mansion, that would be a different story, potentially leading the Crown Prince to think he was dissatisfied with him.

Therefore, under no circumstances could he act against Marquis Jingyuan Mansion.

At the same time, he still desired to make marriage ties with the Yang family, despite the threat of Marquis Jingyuan Mansion.

Because even if he were to change alliances, the result would be the same.

Now that the Yang family was involved, there was no need to switch to another family.

"But what if Master Yang acts impulsively?" The aide-de-camp still felt it was necessary to suppress Yang Zhenshan’s possible rash actions.

Liang Chu pondered for a long time, then finally smiled and shook his head, "Let him be!"

"Marquis!" The aide-de-camp was a bit anxious.

He didn’t have any objections to Yang Zhenshan; he was worried that any trouble caused by Yang Zhenshan would affect the Marquis Mansion.

After all, the root of the issue was with the Changping Marquis Mansion.

Liang Chu appeared to have realized something and laughed, "Don’t forget, Yang Zhenshan has Zhou Lan supporting him from behind!"

"Who would dare to touch Duke Ning Mansion at this time!"

Duke Ning Mansion is different from their Changping Marquis Mansion. Their mansion seems aloof within the noble circles, similar to a solitary official without alliances, solely loyal to the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Duke Ning Mansion has always played the role of a leader among the nobles. Of course, this role was also bestowed by Emperor Chengping to better control the nobles.

The Crown Prince dares to woo Changping Marquis Mansion, but not Duke Ning Mansion.

Courting a few marquis’s mansions is part of the princes’ struggle for power.

But if the Crown Prince dares to woo Duke Ning Mansion, the old Emperor would likely become restless.

So no matter what Yang Zhenshan does, as long as Duke Ning Mansion is willing to support him, there won’t be much of an issue.

Liang Chu waved his hand and said, "Let’s stay out of this. The more we get involved, the more trouble we end up in!"

"Recall all our men from Yang family and Su Shanyu’s sides; whatever happens, we know nothing."

He had decided to stand by, the most advantageous choice for Changping Marquis Mansion.

...

In the morning, Yu Qingyi went to Changping Marquis Mansion as scheduled. The Marchioness and the Han family warmly received them.

The external affairs did not affect them, and Yu Qingyi naturally did not bring it up, while the Marchioness and the Han family were probably unaware of what had happened.

During her visit, Yang Yunxue once again met Third Young Master Liang. The Marchioness asked Third Young Master Liang to take Yang Yunxue for a walk in the mansion’s greenhouse.

Two unfamiliar young people walking together, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, Third Young Master Liang was not a man of few words.

"Miss Yang, which flowers do you like?"

Outside, the snow was fluttering heavily, but within the greenhouse, it was as warm as spring, with many flowers in full bloom, looking very cheerful.

The Yang family did not have such a greenhouse, so Yang Yunxue found it quite novel.

"Flowers!" Yang Yunxue’s eyes flashed with a strange hue as she looked at the blooming flowers.

Indeed, she liked them because they looked pretty, but she couldn’t say she had a particular favorite among them.

In fact, what she really wanted to do at that moment was find a stick and thrash these flowers.

Yes, whipping them vigorously would be quite satisfying!

In the summer, the flowers in the Yang family’s garden often suffered at her hands.