Chapter 80: It’s Going to Rain!
For over ten days, Yang Zhengshan had been busy inspecting all the beacon towers and watching for any signs of enemy movement. He had met with all the soldiers and military dependents, dealing with a batch of incompetent low-ranking officials.
After all this busyness, Yang Zhengshan felt like his brain was going to overflow. He had lost a lot of hair, and if things continued like this, he would probably become a bald old man.
Just as Yang Zhengshan was busy, news of his promotion reached the Yang family village.
“Ah!” Yang Mingcheng exclaimed, holding the letter in his hand, startling Old Lady Wang, who was serving dishes beside him.
“What are you screaming about?” Old Lady Wang slapped Yang Mingcheng on the back, scolding him.
Yang Mingcheng quickly came back to his senses, beaming with joy. “Wife, Father has been promoted to the position of Thousand Household!”
“What?” Old Lady Wang doubted her ears.
“Father has been promoted! He’s now the Thousand Household of Jing’an Prefecture!” Yang Mingcheng’s face was twisted with excitement.
Old Lady Wang stared at him, dazed, before asking after a long time, “How big of an official is a Thousand Household?”
She was just a village woman, and the biggest official she had seen was the Village Head of Yang Family Village, Yang Zhengxiang. Even when County Magistrate Luo Jin came to Yang Family Village, she didn’t get to meet him.
“A Thousand Household is a fifth-rank official!”
“Isn’t that higher than the County Magistrate?”
With Old Lady Wang’s limited knowledge, she knew that a County Magistrate was a seventh-rank official, and a Thousand Household was a fifth-rank official, making the latter higher.
Yang Mingcheng scratched his head, knowing the difference but unsure how to explain.
“In terms of rank, a Thousand Household is indeed higher than a County Magistrate.”
“But, Father is a military official, and the County Magistrate is a civil official, so they can’t be compared!” This was Liangshi, who walked over with her five-month pregnant belly.
“Big Brother, you should tell the Clan Head about this!” Liangshi reminded him.
“Right, right, right!” Yang Mingcheng rushed out the door.
Soon, the news of Yang Zhengshan’s promotion spread throughout Yang Family Village, and the entire village was in an uproar.
Many villagers came to congratulate Yang Mingcheng, who stood in the courtyard, receiving each guest with a smile. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to invite them into the house, but there were just too many people, and the house couldn’t hold them all.
The next day, not only Yang Family Village but also the surrounding villages received the news.
Even more people came to congratulate Yang Mingcheng, bringing gifts with them.
For the next few days, the Yang Family Village was bustling with people coming to congratulate them.
Yang Zhengshan didn’t know about the commotion in Yang Family Village, but he could imagine it. He was too busy to care about these things right now.
Time flew by, and it was already September. The weather outside the mountain was still dry, with no rain in sight.
The land was parched, and what little greenery remained on the mountain slopes had withered away.
Yang Zhengshan stood in the fields, looking at the withered wheat. He sighed, feeling the dry and brittle wheat in his hand.
The situation in WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS was slightly better, at least they could still harvest some wheat.
The worst-hit area was GUAN CITY FORTRESS, where the military dependents had worked hard for half a year but had almost no harvest.
It was easy to predict that life would be difficult for them in the coming year.
What worried him more was the situation outside the mountain. The drought was even more severe outside, and life was even harder for the nomadic Hu Tribe.
Right now, the Hu Tribe wasn’t causing trouble on the border, but that was because they were struggling to survive and didn’t have the energy to attack.
However, once they regained their strength, they would surely invade and plunder the Heavy Mountain Fortress again.
To survive, they had no choice but to do so.
Just as Yang Zhengshan was worried, he suddenly felt a strange sensation.
He looked up at the clear blue sky, wondering if it was going to rain.
Was this a hunch?
The sixth sense?
It didn’t seem to make sense.
But he had felt this way before, when he sensed the coming of the drought while he was outside the mountain.
Facts had proven that his intuition was correct.
And now, he was sensing it again.
Perhaps it would be a big rain.
He really hoped that his intuition was correct.
But where did this intuition come from?
Yang Zhengshan pondered quietly.
Warriors definitely didn’t have this ability, so what made him different from others?
The Spirit Spring space?
Yang Zhengshan could only think in that direction.
But he couldn’t figure out if the Spirit Spring space had this kind of sensory ability.
After thinking for a long time, he still couldn’t understand, and Yang Zhengshan got up and rode his horse back to WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS.
When he returned, WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS had changed a bit. Although he wasn’t training the soldiers or helping the military dependents, he had made many demands, such as sanitation and administrative procedures.
It was just that, due to the drought, his demands on WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS weren’t as high as those on GUAN CITY FORTRESS.
As for his arrival, the military dependents of WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS had initially been cautious, but now they had relaxed, accepting Yang Zhengshan as their new defense officer.
After all, compared to the previous defense officers, Yang Zhengshan was less demanding, didn’t beat or scold them, and didn’t force them to do things beyond their duties.
Yang Zhengshan returned to the fortress, going straight to the backyard of the official residence, where he lived.
Standing in front of the main door, Yang Zhengshan looked up at the sky again.
It’s going to rain!
This feeling was getting stronger.
“Dad, what are you looking at?” Yang Minghao walked over, following his gaze up at the sky.
The clear blue sky didn’t have a single cloud, and the scorching sun made people’s eyes ache.
“It’s going to rain!” Yang Zhengshan whispered.
“Rain? Dad, are you going crazy? It’s not going to rain!” Yang Minghao thought his old man was going crazy, talking nonsense.
Yang Zhengshan glared at him fiercely.
“You little brat, do you need a beating?”
This little kid was too bold, and he had been too lenient with him lately.
Feeling his gaze, Yang Minghao shuddered, laughing nervously. “Dad, it’s time for lunch!”
“Let’s go!” Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, heading towards the dining hall.
Since coming to WELCOME RIVER FORTRESS, he had been eating separately from Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengxu, and others.
Currently, Yang Chengze was in charge of GUAN CITY FORTRESS, Yang Chengxu was in charge of XIANG GUAN FORTRESS, and Yang Chengze was in charge of SAN SHAN FORTRESS, none of whom were with Yang Zhengshan.
Yang Mingwu, as the Deputy Thousand Household, was busy running between the four fortresses, and couldn’t stay by Yang Zhengshan’s side all the time.
Right now, only Yang Minghao, the idle one, was following Yang Zhengshan.
Lunch was simple, with a bowl of chicken stew, some small dishes, and white rice.
The cook was a woman Yang Zhengshan had hired in the fortress.
“Dad, can we bring Brother and the others over?” Yang Minghao asked, eating his lunch.
It had been half a year since they left home, and he was starting to miss his family.
Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment. “After the autumn harvest is over.”
There wasn’t much to do at home, and the tenant farmers were taking care of the fields. Yang Mingcheng just needed to collect the rent after the harvest.
As for the possibility of the Hu Tribe invading, it was safer for them to stay in Yang Family Village. The Hu Tribe didn’t attack fortresses like this, and it would be easier to take care of them here.
“Really?” Yang Minghao’s eyes lit up.
“Uh-huh!” Yang Zhengshan nodded.
Just then, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew outside, rustling the entire courtyard.
A strong wind had come out of nowhere, blowing fiercely and strongly, blowing everything in the courtyard into disarray.
(The chapter ends here)
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