Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

The banquet concluded, and each retired to their own rooms.

Within the wutong garden, Yang Mingcheng furrowed his brows, unable to comprehend why Yang Zhenshan was now letting him inherit the noble title.

Ms. Wang, however, was all smiles, incessantly muttering to herself, "I'm going to be a Marchioness?"

"Haha, I will be a Marchioness!"

"Hehe, Marchioness!"

Her round, full face was plastered with a silly grin, looking every bit like a fool.

"Alright, enough with your prattling!" Yang Mingcheng was getting annoyed by her chatter.

"My dear husband, aren't you happy? You are going to be a Marquis, and I will be your Marchioness!" Ms. Wang laughed with a hehe.

Think about it, a village woman like her had improved in status and position with the ascent of the Yang family, but since Yang Mingcheng had never held a military position, she did not even have an imperial command.

Women like the Li family and Liang Family all had imperial commands, whereas she, as the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yang family, was merely an ordinary wife.

Although she had never spoken of these matters, there was a touch of dissatisfaction in her heart.

Now that Yang Zhenshan was passing the title to Yang Mingcheng, she too would become a Marchioness.

A First-class Marchioness!

That was beyond any official rank.

Her status was higher than that of any First Rank imperial command wife.

Yang Mingcheng looked at this foolish woman with eyes full of gloom.

I'm already simple enough, how can you be even more foolish!

"I'm nothing compared to Dad, and you're nothing like mother! If Dad passes the title to me, we will have to uphold the honor of the Yang family from now on! Have you thought this through!"

Ms. Wang blanked out, "Both Dad and Mother are here, what do we have to fear?"

"You... Fool!" Yang Mingcheng felt frustrated, like hating iron for not becoming steel.

"You're the fool!" Ms. Wang retorted discontentedly.

"If Dad is passing the title to me, it must mean he will leave the Capital City. This is different from the past, even if Dad wasn't in the Capital City, the court's affairs wouldn't come looking for me, but if Dad is not there, then it falls on me to represent the Yang family in dealing with the court!"

Yang Mingcheng might be simple-minded, but he was not stupid.

And having stayed in the Capital City alongside Yang Zhenshan for many years, he had witnessed the intrigues of the court.

Though there were some matters he could not fully comprehend, he could discern insights to a certain extent.

Ms. Wang also caught on, "So what should we do?"

"How should I know what to do?" Yang Mingcheng replied gruffly.

Ms. Wang pondered and then, with a flash of inspiration, exclaimed, "That's simple, if Dad leaves the Capital City, we could leave too!"

Yang Mingcheng was a bit confused, "Why would we leave the Capital City?"

Ms. Wang smiled and said, "We could go back to Anning County for a visit, or to the manor in the countryside. Everyone knows that the primary family of Marquis Jing'an Mansion doesn't meddle in affairs, as long as we are not in the Capital City, even if something comes up at court, it won't land on our shoulders."

"Is that appropriate?" Yang Mingcheng's mind was struggling to keep up.

Ms. Wang might sometimes act foolishly, but at times her brain worked faster than Yang Mingcheng's.

"Whether it's appropriate or not, why not just ask Dad?"

Yang Mingcheng nodded, convinced, "Right, I will ask him tomorrow!"

When facing the complex court politics, the two of them had the self-awareness to know they were completely out of their depth, fearing that they might inadvertently fall into someone else's trap.

Hence, their consensus was to keep a distance from the court.

We will not get involved; let them do as they please.

...

The next day, Imperial City.

Yang Zhenshan, accompanied by Yang Mingcheng, went to the Imperial Study Room.

Emperor Yanping was the same as usual, spending his days replying to memorials in the study, or summoning ministers for meetings.

Busy and bustling, it seemed as though he had done a lot, yet it also seemed as though he had done nothing.

Upon Yang Zhenshan's arrival, Emperor Yanping did not even lift his head, simply instructing him to sit and wait for a while.

Li Shangxi invited Yang Zhenshan to sit down and then instructed the eunuch at hand to serve tea.

It appeared that Chen Zhongshu had already retired, with Zhang Mingzhong taking up his position as the chief eunuch of the Ritual Supervision, and Li Shangxi had become the chief eunuch of the Imperial Stables.

Yang Zhenshan sat by the tea table, casually sipping his tea.

Yang Mingcheng stood behind him looking somewhat nervous.

Although it wasn't his first time meeting Emperor Yanping, it was his first visit to the Imperial Study Room.

About fifteen minutes later, Emperor Yanping finished dealing with the memorial in hand, stood up, and came to the tea table. Yang Zhenshan got up as well.

"Please sit! It just so happens that I have some matters I wish to discuss with you!" Emperor Yanping said cordially.

Yang Zhenshan sat down again, "Your Majesty, please speak."

Emperor Yanping looked at him, "I am considering placing the Martial Arts Pavilion under the jurisdiction of the Martial Arts Temple, what are your thoughts?"

Yang Zhenshan's mind raced, but his expression remained as calm as an ancient well, "Your Majesty, I was just planning to resign from my position as the Chief Instructor of the Martial Arts Pavilion. Such an arrangement would be most fitting, I was previously concerned that without me, the Martial Arts Pavilion might not continue to operate normally."

"It would be most suitable for the Martial Arts Temple to oversee the Martial Arts Pavilion, considering the internal affairs of the Martial Arts Temple are relatively simpler and can prevent the Martial Arts Pavilion from being involved in court politics."

Although he had been the one to establish the Martial Arts Pavilion, it had actually lost much of its significance to him.

These past two years he had managed it less and less, first dealing with the Star Moon Sect, then venturing off for nearly half a year, followed by leading troops in Chongshan Town; in two years, his appearances at the Martial Arts Pavilion could be counted on one hand.

As to why Emperor Yanping wanted to place the Martial Arts Pavilion under the jurisdiction of the Martial Arts Temple, Yang Zhenshan had already guessed the reason.

To limit his and the Yang family's expansion, ever since Emperor Yanping started intervening in Beiyuan Town, Yang Zhenshan knew that Emperor Yanping had become wary of the Yang family.

First, resolving the issue of the Yang family's dominance in Beiyuan Town, then taking back the Martial Arts Pavilion from Yang Zhenshan's hands.

This represented that Emperor Yanping was putting guards against the expansion of the Yang family.

"It's good that you are resigning from the Chief Instructor position. This time, the court had significant objections to your lack of support for Beiyuan Town, ah~~ I know your methods were not wrong, even, if it wasn't for your surprise attack on the Wuliang Royal Court, the conflict at Beiyuan Town would not have ended so quickly."