Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 101 Division and Robbery
The room was quiet, and several pairs of eyes were fixed on Yang Yu.

Yang Yu instinctively wanted to back away, but this time no one could stop him.

These clansmen, who were even older than his grandfather, showed no sign of caring for the younger generation. Their eyes were sharp, their expressions cold, and they were aggressive.

Beside Yang Zongdao was his eleven or twelve-year-old grandson, who was leaning against Yang Zongdao's knees, being soothed by Yang Zongdao stroking his head, as if afraid that the loud noise had startled him.

Yang Yu was in a daze, as if he was only now seeing the truth. It turned out that the concern and care that the clansmen showed him was all because their second branch of the family held power in the clan.

“We…” Yang Yu clenched his hands, stammering, “The Xie family didn’t give us any benefits.”

His words of feigned weakness did not soften the hearts of his people in the slightest.

Yang Zongdao remained stern: "Would you help us like this if there were no benefit? Do you know how much we would lose even if we got the money back right now? According to the documents, everyone has to share the losses we've already incurred."

Yang Yu immediately said, "Grandmother said that the lost money can be asked for from the third branch of the family."

"Who's going to ask for it?" Yang Zongdao sneered. "You'll help your clansmen get it back?"

Yang Yu shook his head: "No...no, we'll all go ask for it together."

As soon as he finished speaking, laughter erupted from inside the room.

“Your second branch is quite shrewd,” Yang Zongdao said, his face darkening. “Before, because of your family’s case, the clan’s caravans were no longer allowed to leave the city. Later, it was your grandmother who persuaded us to give money to the third branch to do business in lotus root charcoal. Now you want us to take the money back. What do you take us for?”

Yang Zongdao slammed his hand on the low table: "You can use them at will and dismiss them at will. In your eyes, your clansmen are not even as good as those servants."

"Grandpa, please calm down." Everyone immediately stepped forward to persuade him.

Someone said, "Kneel down."

Yang Yu's legs immediately went weak, and he knelt down on the ground. His mind was still in a mess, and he couldn't believe that it was all real. How could a person suddenly change their appearance?
Yang Yu, who had just been thinking of himself as an adult, now realized that he was only twelve years old.

But the clan elder made him bear these burdens.

“I’m old, and I don’t care how you treat me, but I have to explain to the clan,” Yang Zongdao coughed a few times. “Go back and tell your grandmother that this time your second branch must make proper arrangements.”

Yang Zongdao closed his eyes slightly: "New Year's Day is just around the corner. The Yang clan members can't be left to wander the streets. Now that I've become the clan leader, I have to do these things well. Otherwise, how can I face our ancestors?"

“Remember this,” Yang Zongdao suddenly looked at Yang Yu, his sharp gaze seemingly holding a weapon, “Only the clan leader can order the clan members to do things. If you can’t be the clan leader, we old folks can only step forward to uphold justice for the clan members. If the third branch can’t pay back the money lost, you will have to pay it back.”

After saying this, Yang Zongdao stood up shakily, and his children and grandchildren immediately stepped forward to help him.

"Make him kneel," Yang Zongdao ordered. "He doesn't know any manners. Since his father isn't here, the elders of the clan have to teach him on his father's behalf. Make him kneel for two hours before letting him leave."

A buzzing sound filled Yang Yu's ears, as if he could hear nothing at all. He trembled uncontrollably, desperate to escape, but the door behind him was closed, completely shutting out the sunlight.

In a daze, Yang Yu saw Yang Qin's face in his mind. In the past, Yang Qin always looked at the clansmen around him with resentment. At that time, he only thought that Yang Qin was narrow-minded and always held a grudge about what happened back then. Otherwise, why would he target the third branch of the family when all the clansmen were so good to him?

Now he finally understood why Yang Qin acted that way; those faces could change so easily.

After the door opened, Yang Yu limped away. The weather was getting colder and colder, and he seemed to be numb with cold. He didn't know how he got back to his ancestral home.

"What's going on here?"

The old lady's voice brought Yang Yu back to his senses, and tears immediately streamed down his face: "Grandmother, Grandmother...they...those great men in the clan..."

It took Yang Yu a while to come to his senses, and he sobbed as he recounted Yang Zongdao's words.

The two old ladies were furious. They had sent people to persuade the clansmen to give the money to the third branch of the family first. But that was all; they hadn't forced them.

They did it willingly, but now they're blaming the second wife.

Overwhelmed with grief, the two old ladies wondered how their clansmen would dare to persecute them like this and make Yu-ge suffer such injustice if Xie Yu-yan hadn't harmed them so much.
"Grandmother," Yang Yu said in a trembling voice, "will the elders of the clan really come to ask us for money?"

The memory of how the clansmen relentlessly pressured the third branch of the family was still fresh in her mind, and the two old ladies felt a chill run down their spines for no apparent reason.

The second branch of the family still has land and houses. If they are really taken away by the clansmen, what will they do in the future?
Fortunately, there are still options. "Go find Master Xie," the second old lady said to Yang Yu, "and tell Master Xie that the Yang family can help, but they must offer money as compensation."

"If the Yang family helps him take down Xie Yuyan, the water shop will all belong to the Yang family. In addition, we will also have to share some of the coal mines and the money from selling lotus root charcoal. Otherwise, I can't handle this matter anymore."

Yang Yu was terrified and only nodded after a long while: "Grandson will go right away."

……

Before long, it got dark, and the mine pit in front of Xie Chongjun was only about one person deep.

The mine pit was at least two zhang deep, meaning it would take another two days to dig at this rate. The constables were already exhausted and impatient. After the villagers of Sanhe brought them food, they sat there chatting and refused to get up again.

The Xie family's servants had no choice but to take their place.

“Master, they’ve already started making lotus root charcoal in the north of the city. I went to find the owner, and he’s determined to open a lotus root charcoal shop.”

Master Cheng was so eager to use this land to support his descendants that he even told him that the underground coal mine was enough to last for a hundred years.

If he didn't have to coax the Cheng family into selling the land, he would have immediately cursed Master Cheng for daydreaming.

"However, the coal mine is being mined really fast. In just one afternoon, several cartloads have been mined. The servants of the Cheng family are also making briquettes with the people of Sanhe Village, as if... they are making it their own business."

Xie Chongjun took a deep breath. He had been pondering all day. There was only one way to solve the current predicament in Sanhe Village, which had been unable to mine copper for so long.

"Fifty strings of cash per mu of land."

Xie Chongjun muttered to himself for a few moments before finally making up his mind: "I'll agree to his request. As long as he's willing to process the paperwork immediately, I'll buy all 100 acres of land."

The steward gaped in astonishment, his expression shifting repeatedly, looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

Xie Chongjun guessed that the manager would try to dissuade him, so he said calmly, "No need to say anything, go to the accounting office immediately to raise the money."

"No," the steward finally spoke after a long pause, "it's not fifty strings of cash anymore, the Cheng family said... they want..."

Xie Chongjun's eyes widened: "How much?"

"Sixty...sixty strings of cash."

Now anyone dares to step on his foot? Xie Chongjun's gaze turned fierce.

"Master Cheng said that he has already received fifty strings of cash as a deposit from Xie Yuyan, and Xie Yuyan has also taught him how to make lotus root charcoal. If he does not go to the yamen to sign documents tomorrow, he will have to compensate Xie Yuyan with one hundred strings of cash."

Xie Chongjun took a deep breath and said coldly, "He paid me 100 guan, but he's asking me for an extra 1,000 guan."

As he spoke, a thought flashed through his mind: "What did he say? Xie Yuyan taught him how to make lotus root charcoal?"

The steward replied, "That's what Master Cheng said."

Xie Chongjun's face lit up with joy: "I'll ask him for the secret recipe for lotus root charcoal." With the recipe and the coal mine, he could immediately make lotus root charcoal to sell.

Xie Yuyan could no longer use the lotus root charcoal method to exchange for goods and trade with those merchants.

The steward listened to the instructions but did not leave: "The second branch of the Yang family has sent people."

The steward relayed what the second branch of the family wanted in return: "If we agree, they will incite the clansmen to ask Xie Yuyan for money."

Xie Chongjun finally unleashed the anger he had been holding back, and Yang dared to come and try to gain benefits at this time.

“It’s not impossible for them to want benefits,” Xie Chongjun said. “Let them pool their money and buy the land outside the North City with me. I will give them fifteen mu of land, and all the coal dug from those fifteen mu will belong to them.”

Once the storm has passed, he will give the woodland that the Cheng family has contributed to the Yang family, assuming that the Yang family will not dare to compete with him for it.

(End of this chapter)