Chapter 727: Chapter 569 Zhou Lan’s Arrangement
"Your mother and Chengmao have also arrived, go see them first! We will have dinner together tonight, and tomorrow you’d better get back to Fuzhou City and wait for orders!" Yang Zhenshan said irritably.
He had sent messages to the Assistant Generals of the various routes, telling them to make preparations for the expedition and not to come to Chongshan Pass.
Apart from Yang Mingzhi, no other Assistant Generals came; this guy was a bit unruly.
"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi replied, then obediently left the room.
Yang Zhenshan was busy at the General Mansion until evening, then went back to the General Mansion’s backyard at night to reunite with his family.
The backyard of the General Mansion still belonged to Zhou Lan; the Yang family members were temporarily staying in the cross-yard.
Anyway, it did not actually count as driving Zhou Lan away since she was living there alone.
It was rare to hold a family banquet in Chongshan Town, so Yu Qingyi invited family members from various households over.
The men were still busy with affairs and did not have the time to attend the banquet, but most of the women were free and took the time to gather together.
Now was not the time for joyful gatherings, and Yu Qingyi did not make any extravagant preparations; she merely had the servants prepare a few tables of food, and everyone gathered together for a casual chat.
When the night was deep and quiet, and everyone had dispersed, Yang Zhenshan called Song Dashan, Yang Mingzhi, and Yang Minghao to the tea room.
The four sat together, Yang Minghao meticulously made tea.
Yang Zhenshan looked at them, "Dashan, when can you break through?"
Song Dashan shook his head, "Still early, I’ve just begun to touch the threshold, and it’ll probably take a few more years!"
"And you?" Yang Zhenshan then looked at Yang Mingzhi.
Yang Mingzhi said, "I’m about the same as Brother Dashan!"
Yang Zhenshan turned to Yang Minghao, who also said, "Me too!"
All three of them now possessed Postnatal Ninth Layer cultivation and had reached this level years ago; they were now all concentrating on condensing their first wisp of Innate True Qi.
Compared to them, Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and Yang Chengxu’s cultivation levels were slightly lower. They were either just having broken through to the Postnatal Ninth Layer or were in the process of doing so.
Yang Zhenshan thought for a moment, took out three Jade Boxes, and handed them to them, "Three Yellow Plums, take them tonight!"
These three were still a little lacking in cultivation, and it couldn’t be helped. Once they left Yang Zhenshan, they would have less access to Spiritual Spring Water, and even though Yang Zhenshan often sent them various wines and tea leaves, they would still fall behind.
Their cultivation levels were already far behind Yang Mingcheng, Wu Zheng, and Wu Zhan.
And Yang Mingwu, Yang Chengze, and Yang Chengxu were even further behind.
However, this was not a major concern; Yang Mingwu was a little older, being just over forty now, and Yang Chengze and Yang Chengxu were only thirty-five.
They had plenty of time to make the breakthrough into the Innate Realm.
The three looked at the Jade Boxes in front of them, stunned.
"Dad, where did you get so many Three Yellow Plums? Isn’t it said that there is only one per year?" Yang Minghao asked in surprise.
"That’s none of your concern, just eat it!" Yang Zhenshan said casually.
Yang Minghao picked up a Three Yellow Plum and crunched into it.
"I thought I would have to wait several years before it was my turn, heh, I didn’t expect it to come so soon!" Yang Minghao said with a smile.
Song Dashan looked at the Three Yellow Plum in his hand, hesitating as he looked at Yang Zhenshan.
Yang Zhenshan saw what he was thinking and smiled, "Eat it, no need to stand on ceremony with me!"
Song Dashan gave a simple smile and said only one sentence, "Thanks, Marquis!"
He was not good with words and couldn’t say a lot of thankful things.
Yang Mingzhi also ate the Three Yellow Plum, "Dad, are these rewards from His Majesty?"
Yang Zhenshan collected the leftover pits and said, "Don’t worry about where they came from. Just focus on your cultivation and strive to reach the Innate Realm as soon as possible!"
"Your eldest brother is about to make a breakthrough; don’t fall too far behind him."
Yang Minghao said, "It’s good to be with Dad; I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of good stuff!"
Yang Zhenshan glanced at him, "What good things have I not given you?"
"Heh heh, I’m just saying!" Yang Minghao chuckled.
Yang Zhenshan stood up and said, "Stay here and cultivate tonight."
Having just consumed the Three Yellow Plums, it was the best time to cultivate. If they were successful, they could condense Innate True Qi in one night; if not, it might take two or three months.
This depended on the depth of each person’s foundation; the deeper the foundation, the faster the speed of condensing Innate True Qi, and vice versa.
If the foundation was too shallow, they might not even be able to condense Innate True Qi at all.
The night passed without words, and the next morning, Yang Zhenshan came to Zhou Lan’s courtyard again.
Zhou Lan had awakened from her coma and changed into a neat set of clothes with the aid of her maids. However, her body was still weak, and she needed assistance even to walk.
Seeing Yang Zhenshan, Zhou Lan said somewhat despondently, "I didn’t expect that, in the end, I would have to trouble you to take care of it personally!"
Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, "What, you didn’t want me to come?"
"That’s not it, I originally thought I could eliminate the Wuliang Hu Clan. If nothing went wrong, I was going to ask the court for permission to campaign against the Wuliang Hu Clan in three years!" Zhou Lan said.
This was not empty boasting on her part; Chongshan Town was now strong with soldiers and abundant in supplies. If three more years of accumulation passed, they might indeed have the strength to annihilate the Wuliang Hu Clan in one fell swoop.
By that time, if the court put in a little more effort and had Beiyuan Town and Longbei Town join in the expedition, it was likely that the Wuliang Hu Clan really couldn’t withstand it.
"This does give me the feeling of picking peaches!" Yang Zhenshan said.
Zhou Lan sighed softly, "What do you plan to do?"
"I’m worrying about that, Menghe Mountain Pass is a big trouble!" Yang Zhenshan said with distress.