He turned to look at his grandfather’s back. The old man was patting Yang Ji’s back and comforting him in a low voice. In the sunlight, his stooped spine seemed remarkably upright.

Yang Jing couldn’t help but feel a swell of emotion. ’Grandfather’s magnanimity is truly a rare thing.’

’If he hadn’t been born in the countryside, constrained by his worldview and livelihood, he might have made a name for himself in Yuhe County with his breadth of mind and wisdom.’

The villagers at the courtyard gate watched the scene unfold. Some breathed a sigh of relief, others sighed, and some shook their heads in disappointment. They had expected Yang Ji to get a harsh lesson, but instead...

...

In early September, the autumn tiger still raged across Wazi Town.

A vast expanse of fertile fields stretched across the plain. The rice stalks, heavy with full grains, bowed their heads, creating golden waves in the wind.

On a dirt path between the paddies, Ning Xuezhi strolled with his hands clasped behind his back.

He wore a long robe of silk, his face slightly plump. The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes hinted at both shrewdness and authority.

Two sturdy servants followed behind him, keeping close to his every step. One carried a parasol to shield him from the sun, while the other held a water kettle.

The Ning Family was one of the most prominent and wealthy households in Wazi Town, owning nearly a thousand mu of fertile land and leasing to dozens of tenant families.

Ning Xuezhi gazed at the boundless rice paddies before him, feeling the solidity of the earth beneath his feet. An indescribable sense of pride swelled in his chest.

He took a deep breath. The very air seemed to be filled with the fresh scent of rice grains and the aroma of wealth.

"Look," he said to the servants beside him, pointing toward the horizon. His voice was sonorous, tinged with self-satisfaction. "This thousand mu of fertile land is the foundation of the Ning Family! As long as we hold onto this land, our children and grandchildren will never worry about food or clothing. We’ll be the foremost family in Wazi Town for generations to come, and no one will be able to shake our position!"

One of the servants quickly chimed in, his face plastered with a sycophantic smile. "You’re absolutely right, Master! The Ning Family’s fortune is as deeply rooted as an old tree, planted firm and steady in this soil! It’ll prosper not just for a hundred years, but for a thousand!"

The other servant nodded in agreement. "It’s true. In all the villages for miles around, who doesn’t envy the Ning Family? With you at the helm, Master, you’ll be able to get whatever you wish for!"

Ning Xuezhi was overjoyed by the flattery. He stroked the short beard on his chin, and his steps grew a little lighter.

He continued along the ridge path. Seeing the tenant farmers toiling in the fields, he bellowed with a powerful voice, "All of you, pick up the pace! The rains were plentiful this year, and the rice has grown well. If you can’t bring in a good harvest, I’ll have your hides!"

The tenants all kept their heads down, not daring to reply. They simply focused on swinging their sickles, sweat dripping from their brows and instantly creating dark spots in the dry soil.

Reaching the edge of one paddy, Ning Xuezhi spotted a familiar figure. He frowned and called out, "Wang the Fifth! Your family’s rent—three loads of grain—is nearly half a month overdue! Are you trying to make things difficult?"

The distant tenant, Wang the Fifth, shuddered. He immediately stopped his work and called back with an anguished look on his face, "Master Ning, please, just a few more days’ extension! Just a few days..."

"An extension? If I give you an extension, who’s going to give me one?" Ning Xuezhi’s eyes bulged, his tone turning vicious. "Three days! I’ll give you three days! If you still can’t pay, I’ll go to your house and take your cooking pot! Then I’ll drag your two little brats to the county seat and sell them to cover the debt! We’ll see if you dare to be delinquent again!"

Wang the Fifth’s face went pale with fright. He bowed repeatedly but didn’t dare utter another word.

Just then, a figure appeared on the distant dirt road, stumbling forward at a great speed and kicking up a trail of dust.

"Master, look over there," the sharp-eyed servant carrying the parasol said, pointing him out.

Ning Xuezhi squinted into the distance. The figure drew closer and closer. His build seemed familiar, but Ning Xuezhi couldn’t quite make out who it was.

Not until the man ran right up to them did he recognize him. It was his own steward, Li Zhong.

Where was Li Zhong’s usual composure? His long robe was soaked with sweat and clung to his body, his messy hair was plastered to his forehead, and his face was covered in beads of sweat that dripped from his chin.

He ran up to Ning Xuezhi and bent over, planting his hands on his knees and gasping for air. He couldn’t get a word out for a long moment, his chest heaving so violently it looked as if he might cough up a lung.

Ning Xuezhi’s brow furrowed even tighter. "What’s the meaning of this panic? You look a mess! What happened?" he chided impatiently.

"Ma... Ma... Master," Li Zhong wheezed, his breathing like a broken bellows.

Seeing how hard Li Zhong was breathing, Ning Xuezhi waved his hand impatiently and ordered a nearby servant, "Help him catch his breath. Give him some water."

The servant quickly set down the parasol, took the kettle, and offered it to him while gently patting his back.

It took Li Zhong a long moment to recover, the heaving of his chest gradually subsiding. He ignored the offered kettle, instead grabbing Ning Xuezhi’s sleeve, his expression so grim it looked like it could drip water. "Master... something terrible has happened... The results for the city’s training ground examination have been posted... Yang Jing... Yang Jing ranked fourth! He made the list! He has an official position now. The Officials sent to announce the good news have probably already reached Yang Family Village!"

"What?" Ning Xuezhi’s smug expression froze. He had heard Li Zhong’s words. He had heard them clearly. And it was precisely because he understood their meaning that he felt as if a basin of ice water had been dumped over his head. The color drained from his face in an instant.

It wasn’t that he was unaware of the city’s training ground examination. He had simply considered it a matter for the martial artists in the city, something far removed from the common folk of the countryside, and even further from a country landlord like himself. He’d always treated it as nothing more than a bit of novel gossip.

’But he never, ever expected to see Yang Jing’s name on that list!’

’How is that possible?’

’Yang Jing actually managed to secure an official position?’

In his eyes, this was a life-changing event, no different from passing the provincial examinations—a direct path to power and influence.

Ning Xuezhi felt the very ground shake beneath him. The golden waves of rice that had filled him with such pride moments ago now seemed painfully bright.

Though the autumn tiger was still raging, he felt a bone-deep chill, a cold that seemed to seep from the marrow of his bones.

’Yang Jing...’

’He didn’t know when it started, but that name had become a giant boulder pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.’

’From that boy from a common peasant family whom he had once dismissed, to a disciple of a Martial Arts Hall, to breaking through to Ming Jin and then An Jin... he had watched, step by step, as Yang Jing rose to become a powerful figure he could no longer afford to provoke.’

’But now, the man had become even more formidable. He had an official position. He was an official recognized by the Court.’

’With such power and status, wouldn’t it be as easy as flipping a hand for him to deal with the Ning Family?’

’Forget seizing his land—he could probably make the Ning Family disappear from Wazi Town entirely.’

Ning Xuezhi turned his head stiffly, gazing at the sprawling fertile fields behind him.

Just moments ago, he had seen this land as the foundation of his family’s generational wealth. Now, his heart pounded with panic, as if at any second these fields could change owners and become another’s property.

’A great landlord for generations to come?’

He suddenly found the thought both laughable and pathetic.

’Having offended such a powerful man, it was no longer a question of wealth. It was now a question of whether the Ning Family could even survive!’

’Perhaps one night, someone would come and flatten the Ning Family estate, leaving him with a ruined family and a miserable death.’

The weight of Yang Jing’s name had, without him even realizing it, grown so heavy that it was now suffocating him.

In a daze, Ning Xuezhi felt as if he were trapped in a nightmare, one that left him drenched in cold sweat.

But Li Zhong’s ragged breathing and the glaring sunlight on the ridge path told him this was no dream.

His mind couldn’t help but recall the time he sent that damned Feng Lei to Yang Family Village to forcibly buy those two mu of prime farmland from the Yang Family.

He had only found out later that Feng Lei, that goddamned bastard, had used all sorts of threats to try and force the Yang Family to sell.

’That damned Feng Lei! It would have been a blessing if he had just dropped dead!’

’God only knew what kind of disaster the man had brought down upon him!’

Who could have imagined that such a trivial matter—a mere two mu of land—would bring such a catastrophe upon the Ning Family?

’If he had known Yang Jing would achieve what he had today, forget coveting his family’s two mu of land—he would have gladly given him twenty!’

The memories pricked at his heart like needles.

Ning Xuezhi’s face twisted. A violent wave of frustration and dread washed over him, threatening to drown him completely.

’He had been truly blind. How had he managed to offend such a terrifying figure?’ At that moment, his guts twisted with regret.