Chapter 882 – Northern Overlord (Nineteen)
Yang Si appeared calm, but in reality, he was a hot-tempered fellow who wouldn’t let things slide.
Wei Ci owed him a single coin for a bun, and Yang Si could hold onto that debt like it was a matter of life and death, turning it into several strings of coins.
He didn’t even hesitate to swindle his closest friends, let alone a kid who dared to insult him.
Had it not been for the concerns regarding Mr. Yuanjing and the Lord, Yang Si would have surely retaliated.
By the time Tang Yao’s matter reached Wei Ci’s ears, the weather had turned quite chilly.
He reflected on the events and couldn’t help but sigh.
Yang Si and Tang Yao were really destined rivals.
In their past life, both Yang Si and Tang Yao had served under Huang Song.
Back then, the world was already in chaos, the five states no longer existed, and conflicts among lords escalated as noble families began to take sides.
Tang Yao, who harbored deep-seated biases against humble origins, became an official for the sake of his family’s ambitions and chose to serve under the powerful Huang Song.
As soon as Tang Yao arrived at Huang Song’s camp, he was quickly promoted and achieved two victories. Coming from a scholarly background, his presence significantly boosted Huang Song’s noble faction. However, Huang Song failed to mediate the growing tension between the factions, inadvertently exacerbating their conflict.
The two factions bickered openly and covertly, with the situation escalating.
During a celebratory banquet, Huang Song shared some fine wine he had come across, and Tang Yao, in a moment of joy, got a bit too drunk.
In front of everyone, not only did he make thinly veiled insults, but he also referenced literature to mock Yang Si as the son of a courtesan, leaving Yang Si humiliated.
From then on, the two developed an intense enmity and were like fire and water.
At that time, the Emperor had already dealt with the Xus, launching a surprise attack on the weakened An Huan, making the conflict with Huang Song public.
After regrouping, both sides seemed to align and prepared for a deadly battle.
With the frontline stalemated, the Emperor sought to exploit a weaker flank for a breakthrough.
By pure chance, Yang Si and Tang Yao were stationed together.
The Emperor took advantage of Yang Si’s gluttonous nature, deliberately sending someone to approach him while letting Tang Yao see it.
Everyone knew Yang Si was picky with food, and very few dishes were up to his discerning palate.
At first, Huang Song scoffed at this tactic.
Such a lowly form of provocation won’t work at all!
Initially, there was no trouble; Yang Si even explained to Huang Song. But what if this happened repeatedly?
Little by little, the suspicions grew, and with Tang Yao stoking the flames from the side, Yang Si’s predicament became dire.
Even though Yang Si firmly rejected any bribes later on, Huang Song’s doubts were already deeply rooted.
After that, the Emperor adopted a strategist’s advice, pulling off a hat trick to subtly eliminate some of Huang Song’s elite forces. He had someone with excellent calligraphy mimic Yang Si’s handwriting to forge a misleading letter of treason, then intentionally left clues for Tang Yao to find.
With this so-called evidence, Tang Yao certainly wouldn’t let the opportunity slip away.
On the other side, the Emperor had an undercover inform Yang Si to escape while he still could.
With this complete set of tactics, Yang Si found no refuge under Huang Song’s command.
The Emperor had indirectly trapped Yang Si while simultaneously weakening the flank, paving the way for further advances.
Having gone through all this, Wei Ci felt quite sorry for Yang Si.
Having a little hobby wasn’t a big deal, but running into a ruthless opponent and bumbling teammates made matters worse.
After Huang Song’s defeat, Yang Si still held a grudge and gave Tang Yao a taste of the humiliation he had suffered in the past.
Unable to bear the disgrace, Tang Yao committed suicide by crashing into a wall.
In this life… looking at the current situation, while the two had their differences, their feud didn’t seem too deep, at least not to the point of wanting each other dead.
Considering Mr. Yuanjing’s influence, they probably wouldn’t go all out?
Wei Ci was right; the two indeed wouldn’t build a lethal rivalry again.
However, Tang Yao had also offended Xu Ke and Qi Guanrang. Xu Ke was good-natured and didn’t mind it, but Qi Guanrang’s dark schemes were no less than Yang Si’s. Luckily, Mr. Yuanjing had decided to keep Tang Yao close, making him write seriously, maximizing his strengths while avoiding direct competition with Qi Guanrang and others… thus, their chances of conflict were minimized, leaving no room for mortal enmity.
This year marked the second year of the land reclamation efforts, and the heavens seemed favorable, with abundant rainfall, leading to a rare bumper harvest in Wanzhou.
According to the regulations for land reclamation, the state could receive thirty to forty percent of the grain.
Even so, the amount of grain left for the common people was more than double compared to before.
The tax grain sent to the state office filled the granaries to the brim. After Xu Ke’s calculations, it was enough to support Wanzhou for three years.
When Jiang Pengji received the news, she had already taken Qi Guanrang and others to Chongzhou, while Yang Si followed the original plan to go to Hujun.
Feng Jin and Xu Ke stayed behind in Wanzhou to oversee matters.
Of course, overseeing Wanzhou was no easy task.
Feng Jin stared at the design plans for the Golden Scales Pavilion left by the Lord, feeling furious and regretting why he had ever befriended such a troublesome companion.
In addition to the major undertaking of the Golden Scales Pavilion, he and Xu Ke also needed to entertain visiting dignitaries from Dongqing.
Once the Golden Scales Pavilion was completed, countless students from humble backgrounds would likely show up.
Just thinking about the massive workload made the kind-hearted Feng Jin feel like cursing and wishing he could strangle his own Lord.
Because of this troublesome Lord, neither he nor Jingxian dared to consider having a second child!
Doesn’t your conscience hurt!!!
Once a proper gentleman of good character, he was now being pushed by Jiang Pengji to the brink of madness like an Iron-Eating Beast.
“Sir, sir—” A servant called from outside.
“What is it?” Feng Jin’s brows furrowed, forming a scowl.
“The Old Patriarch has arrived and is currently waiting outside.”
The Old Patriarch?
Having stayed up too late, Feng Jin still felt a bit dazed, and upon hearing that title, he was momentarily unresponsive.
Wait—
Feng Jin jolted awake, suddenly alert.
“Why is my father here?”
The Old Patriarch refers to his father, right?
Feng Jin hurriedly slipped on his wooden clogs, taking two steps at a time, rushing outside to greet his father Feng Ren.
Beside him, the servant silently groaned but dared not stop Feng Jin, only following along obediently.
By the time the weary Feng Ren saw his disheveled second son, his expression was somewhat complex.
Feng Jin: “…”
Feng Ren received the materials for enlightenment a bit earlier than Mr. Yuanjing, but he took nearly a month longer to arrive in Wanzhou.
It wasn’t that he deliberately delayed; it was all due to the time-consuming task of organizing thousands of scrolls, and since they were all bamboo slips, they filled dozens of carts and moved slowly. Moreover, encountering bad weather along the way had forced him to stop in a village to prevent water damage to the slips.
With all these delays, his pace simply couldn’t compare to the swift Mr. Yuanjing and his party.
“Clothes unkempt, no grooming whatsoever, how dare you appear in public in such a state! What kind of decorum is this?”
Feng Ren frowned, his second son had always been steady.
Who would have thought, after getting married and having kids, Feng Jin would regress even more?
Feng Jin: “…”
Dad—son is truly so wronged!
