Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 888: Chapter 645: Dajing Dynasty (Part 2)

The years had worn away her beauty, but they had also bestowed upon her a serene elegance.

"Sui Qingmo, the devotee of Dajing, pays respects to the elder!"

In the front hall, Sui Qingmo solemnly and naturally cupped her fists in salute to Yang Zhenshan.

She referred to herself as a devotee of Dajing, rather than simply announcing her name, indicating her willingness to affiliate with the Dajing Dynasty, but also showing her reluctance to submit to the Yang family.

The Yang family and Dajing are still different; although Dajing belongs to the Yang family, a dynasty is a dynasty, no matter how small it is.

"Hmm, have a seat!" Yang Zhenshan said calmly.

Yang Zhenshan was well aware of Sui Qingmo’s intentions.

Belonging to Dajing required little constraint for her, but belonging to the Yang family meant following the Yang family’s orders in the future.

Sui Qingmo sat beside, and Yang Minghao also took a seat.

After tea was served, Yang Zhenshan asked Yang Minghao, "Is everything well with Chengyou?"

"Very well, everything is going smoothly, and the alliance with the Zhang Dynasty is settled; the next step is to gradually sort out the internal politics of the dynasty!" Yang Minghao replied with a smile.

Yang Chengyou was his son, so naturally, he had to be more concerned about the Dajing Dynasty.

As for Yang Mingzhi, after ascertaining the stability of the Dajing Dynasty’s situation, he went ahead to Divine Wood Island with the Starlight Navy.

There were still many matters on Divine Wood Island that required his assistance, as Jiang He was somewhat overwhelmed.

"Hmm, that’s good. In the future, you should support Chengyou more!"

Yang Zhenshan asked simply, then focused his gaze on Sui Qingmo.

Sui Qingmo felt his gaze and somewhat reluctantly put down the teacup in her hand, looking seriously at Yang Zhenshan.

She found the tea here very delicious.

Better than all the tea she had drunk before.

This left her wanting more.

Noticing her small gesture, Yang Zhenshan smiled and said, "Since you are willing to assist Cheng You, you are now considered part of the Yang family!"

"This~~"

Sui Qingmo wanted to refuse, but before she could speak, Yang Zhenshan waved his hand to interrupt and said, "Don’t be in a hurry to refuse. Joining my Yang family, you will gain more than you imagine!"

"Ming Hao, take her to meet your mother first and say she can be given a cultivation salary for a year!"

Since Sui Qingmo was a woman, it was more appropriate for Yu Qingyi to meet her, as there were things Yang Zhenshan was not suitable to say.

As for whether Sui Qingmo was willing to become a vassal of the Yang family, Yang Zhenshan did not see it as an issue.

The Yang family’s cultivation salary was generous beyond words; if it were to be revealed, it would surely attract many Innate Martial Artists to come forward.

However, Yang Zhenshan generally didn’t recruit outsiders. With the Yang family’s resources and heritage, there was no need to recruit outsiders,

and rather than recruiting outsiders, it was better to cultivate their own people.

The reason he was willing to recruit Sui Qingmo was partly because she was alone and had no ties with other forces, and partly because she would be useful to Yang Chengyou, helping him stabilize the situation of the Dajing Dynasty.

Adding or missing one person like Sui Qingmo in the Yang family didn’t make a difference.

Since Sui Qingmo was useful, Yang Zhenshan naturally wouldn’t mind pulling her into the Yang family’s ranks.

Afterward, Yang Minghao took Sui Qingmo to the backyard to meet Yu Qingyi.

Recently, Yu Qingyi had been focused on taming the Sea Eagles; the four fledglings gifted by Zhang Juhai, plus the two caught by Yang Cheng’an on the eastern mountain, had grown considerably, their feathers fully developed, and they were almost ready to take flight.

Yu Qingyi had made some progress in her training, as these six Sea Eagles were now able to understand simple commands.

When Yang Minghao brought Sui Qingmo to the backyard, the six little eagles were lined up neatly on the flying eaves of the corridor, waiting for Yu Qingyi to feed them.

The six little guys were standing all in a row, looking somewhat silly, which made them seem a bit cute.

Little Qi’er stood beneath the flying eaves, yelling, "Come down, if you don’t come down, there’s no meat for you!"

Her yelling seemed to have the opposite effect, making the six little ones shy away on the roof, not daring to show themselves.

"Grandmother! Look, they don’t want to play with me!" Little Qi’er said unhappily, complaining to Yu Qingyi.

Yu Qingyi chuckled, pinching her chubby cheeks, "You, if you want them to play with you, stop bullying them!"

"I’m not bullying them!" Little Qi’er said with innocent eyes.

"Their fur almost got plucked off by you!"

"Ah, that was an accident! Grandma, I wouldn’t bully them, please call them down to play with me!" Little Qi’er said coquettishly.

What else could Yu Qingyi do, but coo a few times, and six little eagles flapped their wings and descended, though they still shied away from Little Qi’er.

Yu Qingyi handed a strip of meat to Little Qi’er, "Come, Qi’er, feed them, and then they’ll play with you!"

Little Qi’er was also afraid these little eagles would fly back up to the eaves, so she carefully fed them the meat strips.

The little eagles were afraid of her, but they weren’t truly unwilling to get close, as Little Qi’er had been with them for months and was quite familiar with them.

Soon, Little Qi’er had them pacified, and the six little ones, with her, started playing happily.

But it probably wouldn’t be long before the six little eagles hid back up on the eaves.

Qi’er was still young, playing roughly, not realizing when she’d press a little eagle flat on the ground.

Playing rough and forgetting all caution in an instant.

A scar healed is soon forgotten, seeing the meat strips they forgot the previous ordeal.

And just like that, they played back and forth for several months.

Yu Qingyi was already accustomed to Qi’er’s way of interacting with the little eagles, and seeing them playing together again, she decided not to intervene further.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Come in and sit down!"

Yu Qingyi looked at Sui Qingmo and smiled gently.

"Greetings, Madam!" Sui Qingmo appeared much more relaxed and at ease in front of Yu Qingyi.

Yu Qingyi led Sui Qingmo into the main room, and Yang Minghao said, "Mother, father said that from now on, Senior Sister Qingmo will be our family’s offering, and she will receive a year’s salary!"

"Alright! Qingxia, go fetch the year’s salary!" Yu Qingyi said.

She already knew a bit about Sui Qingmo; regardless of whether it was in the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain or Da Rong, female Innate Martial Artists were rare. In Da Rong, one could still see a few female Innate Martial Artists, but in the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain, they were as rare as a phoenix’s feather.

As for the reason, one is because childbirth affects a woman’s cultivation, a fact very evident in the Yang family.

Take, for example, the three daughters-in-law Ms. Wang, Mrs. Li, and Mrs. Liang, who by rights should not lag behind the three brothers Yang Mingcheng by much in cultivation.

But in reality, after years of cultivation, they were still just at the Postnatal Ninth Layer.

In contrast, Qingxia and Red Cloud both broke through to the Innate Realm earlier this year and neither had married nor borne children, so their cultivation speed was naturally much faster than the three of Ms. Wang.

The second reason is tradition. Da Rong’s customs are relatively conservative, where most young ladies from official families do not even step out of their homes, let alone practice martial arts.

However, Da Rong still has worldly society sects, martial arts families, military gates, noble families, and military households where women can cultivate martial arts.

Logically speaking, the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain should be more open, but in reality, in many aspects, it’s more conservative and rigid.

A typical example is the Zhu family of Earth Fire Island. As a martial arts power, the Zhu family doesn’t encourage women practicing martial arts. Although they don’t entirely forbid it, essentially it is not allowed.

For instance, Yang Mingzhao’s wife, Mrs. Zhu, only learned a decorative set of swordsmanship before she married into the Yang family.

The Zhu family represents a typical case within the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain but is not unique. Most powers in the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain do not encourage women to practice martial arts, possibly because of the distribution of cultivation resources.

Once daughters grow up, they marry, and naturally, families would not waste too many resources on them.

After marrying, they bear children, which fully halts their cultivation.

The third reason is that the situation in the Ten Thousand Miles Sea Domain is more chaotic, and chaos brings human misfortune. Although hardship can sharpen martial skills, women facing such hardships are more likely to face untimely death.

Sui Qingmo is one of the lucky ones. She hails from a small family. Although the family’s strength was not strong, her parents were open-minded and supportive of her cultivation.

When the family was destroyed, she escaped death and endured many hardships, which greatly strengthened her mind and cultivation.

Coupled with the drive of revenge, she was able to reach where she is today.

She is fortunate in martial arts, but in life, she has not been.