Chaos begins when one joins a martial arts school

Chapter 86 Regretful Intestines

Only after the sound of the officials' horses' hooves completely disappeared at the village entrance did the surrounding villagers breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the soldiers did not use violence, their armor and long swords exuded a deterrent aura that kept strangers at bay. This pressure from the government was particularly heavy on the hearts of the villagers who had worked the land for many years.

Yang Shouzhou stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at the dark mass of people in front of him. His face, etched with deep wrinkles, was filled with smiles as he announced loudly, "Today is a joyous occasion! Tonight, my family will host a grand feast, and the whole village, young and old, will come to celebrate in a lively and festive atmosphere!"

"it is good!"

The villagers cheered immediately, cupping their hands in unison to congratulate him: "Congratulations, Uncle Yang!"

"Yang Jingzhen has made something of himself! He's become a martial arts scholar in those operas! Our whole village is benefiting from this!"

The noise was ten times louder than when the officials were there. Whether it was genuine or not, the villagers were all loudly offering their congratulations, afraid that Yang Shouzhou and Yang Jing would see that their voices were weaker than others.

Just then, a thin, dark-skinned figure squeezed through the crowd; it was Yang Ji.

He hunched his shoulders, his eyes darting around, completely out of place with the jubilation around him.

All eyes immediately fell on him, and the noise subsided somewhat.

Yang Ji was known in the village for being greedy and unwilling to suffer losses, and he had no shame whatsoever. He once even snatched a cornbread from a child.

Many families had been taken advantage of by Yang Ji's shamelessness, including the Yang family. Everyone still remembered that he had taken a plot of land from Yang Jing's family last year. Now that he had shown up, everyone was waiting to see how he would handle the situation.

"Yang Ji!"

Old Yang, with his sharp eyes, rushed up to him in a few steps, his voice booming, "Don't forget our bet from the other day! I won, so shouldn't you give me your wife's hairpin?"

Yang Ji's face flushed red and then turned pale. Under everyone's gaze, he hesitantly pulled a cloth bag from his pocket, opened it, and inside was a nice silver hairpin with a slightly blackened tip.

He shoved the hairpin into Yang Laosan's hand and said irritably, "Take it, take it! It's just a broken hairpin. Don't flaunt it in front of my wife anymore, or she'll get angry and start arguing with me again!"

Old Yang, holding the silver hairpin, grinned from ear to ear: "Don't worry, I'll sell it when I go to town tomorrow and get my wife a new one. I guarantee your wife won't recognize it."

Having just settled the bet, Yang Ji took a deep breath and walked straight to the courtyard gate, stopping a few steps away from Yang Shouzhou and Yang Jing.

As everyone wondered what he was going to do, they saw him kneel down with a thud, his knees hitting the muddy ground with a dull thud.

"Old Master Yang, Yang Jing... Lord Yang," Yang Ji's voice trembled, his head bowed low, "I was a scoundrel before, I occupied your land and said a lot of nonsense, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lord Yang! Please forgive me this time, please be magnanimous!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead quickly becoming covered in mud.

He had clearly seen how respectful the officials were to the Yang family.

In these chaotic times of war, several new graves are added to the desolate cemetery outside the village every month; a person dying is as common as a chicken dying.

Now that Yang Jing holds an official position and possesses such abilities, dealing with his family would be incredibly easy for him.

He was truly terrified now, and dared not even think about taking advantage of the situation. He only wanted to admit his mistake as soon as possible and save his family.

The courtyard gate fell silent instantly as the villagers stared at Yang Ji kneeling on the ground, their expressions varied.

Yang Jing frowned slightly, his gaze falling on Yang Ji, who was kneeling on the ground.

He naturally remembered that this person had once occupied a plot of land belonging to his family, and he also knew that this person was greedy for small gains and had no sense of shame. However, he had never thought it was worth arguing about, so he had been too lazy to pay attention to him.

Before he could speak, Yang Shouzhou beside him had already moved.

The old man walked slowly to Yang Ji, bent down, reached out and pulled him up, saying gently, "Get up, the ground is cold."

“Your father and I have known each other since we were little. We used to fish together in the river with our bare bottoms. Our relationship is closer than brothers. You were chubby when you were little, and I even held you in my arms.” Yang Shouzhou patted Yang Ji’s muddy arm and sighed, “There was never any major conflict. It was just a matter of a few feet of land. The past is the past, don’t take it to heart.”

Yang Ji was pulled up and was stunned when he heard these words.

He had imagined how seriously Yang Shouzhou would reprimand him, insult him, or even kick him over, or forcibly demand a certain amount of land as compensation. But he never expected that Yang Shouzhou would just let the matter pass so calmly.

Yang Ji stared blankly at the old man in front of him.

What Old Master Yang said was true. His father, who had passed away many years ago, often talked about how Yang Shouzhou used to follow him around the villages of Wazi Township when he was young. The two were so close that they could share a pair of pants.

Logically speaking, the two families should have been as close as family, but he was blinded by greed back then and took over Yang Jing's land, which caused the relationship to cool down.

"uncle……"

Yang Ji opened his mouth, and the guilt and fear that had been building up in his heart surged up instantly. He couldn't help but burst into tears, crying like a wronged child, his tears mixed with the dirt on his face, covering his entire face.

Yang Jing stood aside, observing coldly without saying a word.

He could see clearly that Yang Ji's tears at this moment were partly due to being touched by his grandfather's words, but more so because of his own current status and power.

Did Yang Ji not know about the history between the two families before? Why didn't he cry then? In the end, it was because his family was no longer what it used to be, which forced him to abandon his wishful thinking and admit his mistake.

He turned to look at his grandfather's back. The old man was patting Yang Ji's back and gently comforting him. His hunched back looked particularly straight in the sunlight.

Yang Jing couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration; his grandfather's magnanimity was truly rare.

If he hadn't come from a rural background and been constrained by limited perspectives and livelihoods, with his broad-mindedness and wisdom in handling affairs, he might very well have made a name for himself in Yuhe County.

The villagers at the courtyard gate watched this scene. Some breathed a sigh of relief, some sighed, and some shook their heads in disappointment. They thought Yang Ji would be severely punished, but they didn't expect this.
In early September, the lingering heat of late summer still raged in Wazi Township.

A vast expanse of fertile fields stretches across the plain, the rice ears full and heavy, bowing their heads and creating golden waves in the wind.

On the dirt road between the fields, Ning Xuezhi walked slowly with his hands behind his back.

He was dressed in a long silk robe, his face was slightly plump, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes revealed a hint of shrewdness and authority.

Two strong servants followed closely behind, one carrying a parasol and the other a kettle.

The Ning family was a prominent wealthy household in Wazi Township, owning nearly a thousand acres of fertile land and dozens of tenant farmers.

Looking at the boundless rice paddies before him, feeling the weight of the earth beneath his feet, Ning Xuezhi felt an indescribable surge of pride welling up in his chest. He took a deep breath, and the air seemed to be filled with the fragrance of rice and the aura of wealth.

“Look,” he pointed into the distance, his voice booming with a hint of pride, and said to the servants beside him, “These thousands of acres of fertile land are the foundation of the Ning family! As long as we hold onto this land, our descendants will be able to live a life of plenty, and we will be the number one family in Wazi Township for generations to come, and no one can shake our position!”

The servant quickly echoed, a fawning smile plastered on his face: "Master is right! The Ning family's business is deeply rooted, like the roots of an old tree in this field, firmly planted! It will prosper for a hundred years, even a thousand!"

The other nodded in agreement: "That's right. Who in the surrounding area doesn't envy the Ning family? With you at the helm, Master, they'll have everything they want from now on!"

Ning Xuezhi was overjoyed to hear this, stroked his short beard, and quickened his pace.

He walked along the ridges of the fields and saw the tenant farmers working in the fields. He shouted in a loud voice, "Hurry up! There's been plenty of rain this year, and the rice is growing well. If you don't harvest a good crop, you'll be in big trouble!"

The tenant farmers all lowered their heads, not daring to answer, but simply wielding their sickles, sweat dripping from their foreheads into the soil, instantly spreading a small patch of dark color.

As they reached the edge of a field, Ning Xuezhi caught sight of a familiar figure. He frowned and called out, "Wang Laowu! Your three loads of rent are almost half a month overdue. Don't you want to live anymore?"

Wang Laowu, a tenant farmer in the distance, trembled and immediately stopped what he was doing, pleading with a pained expression, "Master Ning, please grant me a few more days, just a few more days..."

"Grace period? I'll give you a grace period, but who will give me one?" Ning Xuezhi's eyes widened, his tone fierce. "Three days! I'll give you three days! If you still can't pay, I'll go straight to your house, take your pots and pans, and sell your two little brats in the county to pay off the debt! Let's see if you dare to delay payment again!"

Wang Laowu was so frightened that his face turned pale. He bowed repeatedly but dared not say another word.

Just then, a figure stumbled and ran along the dirt road in the distance, moving at great speed and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Master, look over there," a sharp-eyed servant carrying a parasol quickly reminded him.

Ning Xuezhi squinted and looked over. The figure was getting closer and closer. The figure was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't make out who it was for a moment.

It wasn't until the other person ran up to him that he recognized him as his own butler, Li Zhong.

At this moment, Li Zhong was nowhere near as dignified as he usually was. His long robe was soaked with sweat and clung tightly to his body, his hair was a mess and stuck to his forehead, and his face was covered with beads of sweat that dripped down his chin.

He ran up to Ning Xuezhi, bent over, put his hands on his knees, and gasped for breath. He couldn't say a word for a long time, his chest heaving violently as if he were about to cough up his lungs.

Ning Xuezhi frowned even more, and impatiently scolded, "What kind of panicked behavior is this! What happened?"

"Master, sir," Li Zhong gasped, his breath coming in like a broken bellows.

Seeing that Li Zhong was panting heavily, Ning Xuezhi waved his hand impatiently and ordered the servant beside him, "Give him some water to catch his breath."

The servant quickly put down the parasol, took the water bottle and handed it over, and then gently patted Li Zhong on the back.

Li Zhong took a while to catch his breath before his chest gradually calmed down. He didn't even bother to take the water bottle. Instead, he grabbed Ning Xuezhi's sleeve, his face so serious it looked like it was about to drip water: "Master... something terrible has happened... the results of the city's military examination have been posted... Yang Jing... Yang Jing ranked fourth and made the list! He's already an official, and the messengers bringing the good news have probably all arrived at Yangjia Village!"

"What?" Ning Xuezhi's smug expression froze instantly. He heard Li Zhong's words and understood them clearly. Precisely because he understood them and figured them out, he felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and his face turned pale instantly.

He wasn't unaware of the martial arts examinations in the city, but he felt that those were matters for urban martial artists, too far removed from ordinary people in the countryside, and also far removed from him, a landlord. He usually just listened to them as something new.

Unexpectedly, Yang Jing's name appeared on the list!
How can it be?

How did Yang Jing manage to obtain an official position?
In his view, this was a major event, akin to passing the imperial examination and becoming a successful candidate in the provincial examination, a meteoric rise to high office.

Ning Xuezhi felt the ground beneath his feet shaking, and the golden waves of rice that had once filled him with pride were now blindingly bright.

Despite it being the sweltering heat of late summer, he felt a chill run through his body, as if cold air was seeping from his very bones.

Yang Jing...

He didn't know when it started, but this name felt like a boulder, making it hard for him to breathe.

From the ordinary farm boy he once disregarded, to a martial arts disciple, and then to breaking through to the levels of Ming Jin and An Jin... he watched helplessly as Yang Jing rose step by step, becoming a powerful figure whom he could hardly afford to offend.

But now, the other party is even more remarkable; he has actually obtained an official position and become a "sir" recognized by the imperial court.

With such strength and status, dealing with the Ning family would be a piece of cake.
Let alone seizing his land, it's probably not impossible to make the Ning family disappear completely from Wazi Township.

Ning Xuezhi turned his head stiffly, looking at the endless fields behind him.

Just moments ago, they thought this was the foundation of the Ning family's generations of wealth and prosperity, but now they only felt a sense of panic, as if these fields would change hands and become someone else's property at any moment.

To be a large landowner for generations?

He suddenly found the idea both laughable and pathetic.

Having offended such a powerful figure, it's hard to say whether the Ning family can even save their lives, let alone remain wealthy!
Who knows, one night someone might trample down the Ning family's gate, leaving him with nothing but ruin and death.

Yang Jing's weight had unknowingly become so heavy that it suffocated him.

Ning Xuezhi felt as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, a nightmare that left him drenched in cold sweat.

But Li Zhong's rapid breathing and the blinding sunlight on the ridge of the field told him that this was not a dream.

Involuntarily, the memory of sending that damned Feng Lei to Yangjia Village to forcibly buy Yang Jing's two acres of fertile land came to mind.

He later learned that Feng Lei, that damned bastard, had also done many coercive things to force the Yang family to sell the land.

That damned Feng Lei deserves to die!

God knows how much trouble he's gotten himself into!
Who could have imagined that such a small matter as two acres of land would bring such a huge disaster to the Ning family?

If I had known Yang Jing would end up like this, I wouldn't have coveted his two acres of land; I would have given him twenty acres instead.

Looking back on everything, it all feels like needles pricking my heart.

Ning Xuezhi's face contorted as a wave of intense frustration and depression surged through him, almost overwhelming him.

He was truly blind; how could he have offended such a formidable figure? At this moment, he was filled with deep regret.

(End of this chapter)