There was now no one in the main hall.
Yang Shichang pulled her into his embrace and consoled her in a low voice, "Uncle Xu of the Xu family is Father's good friend. He highly admires and respects him. I'm the same."
"You've told me this. Someone who can develop an ordinary commoner household into a county seat aristocratic family in just over ten years, his talent and wisdom are indeed rare.
But after all, he's a commoner and unlike us aristocratic family descendants who practice martial arts from childhood."
"Ordinary commoners at forty or fifty naturally show signs of aging. Most don't live past sixty. Was there anything wrong with what I said?"
Yang Shichang laughed heartily, "You haven't met him. How can you speculate so casually?"
"If you saw him, you'd know what kind of person Uncle Xu is."
Yang Shichang didn't continue this topic, "Change your clothes later and accompany me with little sister and brother-in-law to walk around the streets."
"I'm not in the mood. I want to accompany Feng'er at home reading and practicing calligraphy."
"Brother-in-law, Mingyuan, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
At the Yang Manor entrance, Yang Shichang looked at them, holding Xu Dewen in his arms, a shallow smile at the corners of his mouth.
"Then let's go see the commandery capital's rouge shops, wine workshops, and wine houses, and see how they differ from our county seat."
"Mingyuan, you truly never forget your affairs wherever you go. But that's good. It'll be noon before long, and we should find a place to eat and drink."
He turned his head and smiled at Xu Dezhao, "Zhao'er, if there's anything you want to eat or have, tell your uncle. Even if your father doesn't usually allow it, your uncle will permit it."
"Thank you, Uncle. Zhao'er doesn't want anything. If I do, Zhao'er will buy it myself."
After speaking, he even took out his delicate pouch and showed him several pieces of broken silver inside.
Altogether it was about seven or eight taels.
"Oh, quite a bit." Yang Shichang turned to look at Yang Ronghua, "This needlework, you embroidered it, didn't you, little sister? I recognized it at a glance."
Yang Ronghua smiled faintly and nodded slightly.
Afterward, they first went to the rouge shop, then to the wine workshop, and finally to a wine house for lunch.
Who would have thought they'd run into an old acquaintance they hadn't seen in a long time, Chang Haowen.
"Xu Mingyuan, hmm, and Xu Mingwei too. How did you two brothers come to the commandery capital?"
Chang Haowen's sudden words surprised both men.
"Uncle Chang, you know them?"
"Uncle?" Xu Mingyuan's face showed surprise. Chang Haowen should only be a few years older than Yang Shichang.
Yang Shichang explained, "He's of the same generation as my father. The Chang family in the commandery capital is quite a bit stronger than my Yang family."
"Nephew Yang jests. Your Yang family's momentum is flourishing. Your father obtained the position of commandery captain, and you married a legitimate daughter of the Wen family. I'm afraid the Chang family can't compare."
"By the way, how did you two come to the commandery capital?" Chang Haowen changed the topic.
Yang Shichang smiled, "Mingwei is my brother-in-law. These are his two sons. They came to the commandery capital to visit us together."
"I see. You all eat slowly. Chang will take his leave first."
Chang Haowen didn't chat much and left the wine house.
Yang Shichang was curious about how the Xu Mingwei brothers knew Chang Haowen and asked briefly.
Xu Mingyuan said they had met by chance in Qingjiang County and didn't expect he came from the Chang family of the commandery capital.
"I heard the commandery capital's governor's surname is also Chang?"
Yang Shichang nodded, "The Chang family has been entrenched in the commandery capital even longer than my Yang family. The two families even had marriage alliances, but later as competition grew, only superficial courtesy and business dealings remained."
He looked at Xu Dezhao gnawing on a chicken leg in his hand and asked with a smile, "Is it good, Zhao'er?"
"It's good."
"How does it compare to your home?"
"Although the taste is slightly inferior, it's not much different. It's just that there aren't as many dish varieties as at home."
"Zhao'er, don't speak carelessly."
"Brother-in-law, children speak the truth."
Yang Shichang laughed heartily, "After eating, I'll take you all to other places."
…
Chang Haowen had come to drink and chat with Xu Mingyuan frequently over the past two days, as if intentionally trying to win him over.
Xu Mingyuan neither agreed nor refused, fearing the Chang family's retaliation, so he only delayed.
Even if they truly were to have dealings, it would only be done in secret, private transactions.
Two days later.
Xu Mingwei's family and Xu Mingyuan all followed Yang Zhao and his son Yang Shichang to the Yang family ancestral residence.
The Yang family ancestral residence had always been where the family head's line and various elders lived. After legitimate descendants of the family married, few stayed there. They all established separate residences.
The ancestral residence's council hall.
The Yang family head and a group of Yang family elders were all here.
"Yang Zhao greets the family head and the elders."
Yang Shichang, Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingyuan, and the others all bowed in salute.
In the main hall paved with blue bricks, the air seemed gripped into blocks by an invisible hand. The fierce beast heads carved on the eight vermilion-painted pillars seemed to stare at everyone with their eyes.
The Yang family head was Yang Zhao's clan brother, that is, the eldest son of his eldest uncle's line. Now in his early fifties, at early grandmaster realm, but looking at his full head of black hair, he was in his prime.
Among the dozen or so elders, the top six ranked elders were also at grandmaster realm, and the rest were all at innate perfection.
A sense of oppression came rushing at them. Xu Mingwei sighed inwardly, "Truly worthy of being a great family in the commandery capital. With such deep foundation, our Xu family probably needs twenty or thirty years to hope to catch up."
"I'm afraid among the Yang family's younger generation, there are also quite a few innate martial artists."
Thinking this, he also thought of the Chang family, an aristocratic clan that suppressed the Yang family in the commandery capital. What kind of foundation must they have?
"No need for excessive courtesy. We're all family."
After a pause, the Yang family head looked at Xu Dewen being held in Yang Ronghua's arms and Xu Dezhao standing beside Xu Mingwei, smiling slightly, "These are the two brothers Dewen and Dezhao. They are indeed Yang family bloodline. Though young, they already show extraordinary bearing.
Test their Yang family bloodline."
A servant standing in the corner carried a tray of red-black lacquered wood with a pigeon-egg-sized stone on it.
"I'll do it."
An elder with gray-white hair stood up, took the testing stone, and walked to Xu Mingwei and the others.
He first tested Xu Dezhao.
Although Yang Zhao had already told them the results, seeing it with their own eyes was still somewhat shocking.
The gray-white-haired elder's eyes reflected the pure red light emitted by the testing stone, full of joy.
The other elders also showed surprise and delight.
The grand elder stroked his beard, his face full of smiles, "In our Yang family's last two generations, such pure bloodline hasn't appeared. Shihui and the others are all quite inferior."
"Let's see the other child."
"Yes, Grand Elder."
The gray-white elder took Xu Dewen's small hand again, extracted a drop of fresh blood, and let it fall on the testing stone. Its red color actually reached deep red, even surpassing Xu Dezhao.
Even the Yang family head stood up with emotion. The other elders all crowded around, staring at Xu Dewen as if looking at a treasure.
Yang Zhao and his son Yang Shichang were incomparably shocked.
They hadn't expected that Xu Mingwei and Yang Ronghua's children would both successively have such pure Yang family bloodline, and one more concentrated than the other.
Xu Mingwei observed this, but felt somewhat uncomfortable because that kind of look in their eyes made him feel as if they were looking at a piece of merchandise.
"Excellent!"
The Yang family head smiled and praised, saying to Yang Zhao, "Clan brother, you have two good grandsons."
"With such potential, we absolutely cannot waste it. Both brothers can learn our Yang family's inherited martial arts."
Hearing this, much of the displeasure in Xu Mingwei's heart dissipated. He immediately bowed in salute, "Thank you for the Yang family head's favor."
The Yang family head nodded slightly, ripples rising in his eyes. Then he continued, "Since worthy nephew also agrees, how about letting the two of them remain in the commandery capital for a period of time?"