HUS Chapter 46: Secretly Crossing Chen Cang
HUS Chapter 46: Secretly Crossing Chen Cang
Dec 21, 2025
Early the next morning, Yang Can brought Li Damu and Qingmei to find Zhang Yunyi.
When Zhang Yunyi heard Yang Can state his intentions, he naturally agreed readily.
"I, Zhang, conduct myself openly and aboveboard. I actually look forward to a thorough investigation proving my innocence."
Zhang Yunyi laughed heartily and immediately instructed Steward Wan Tai to summon the head accountant from the estate's accounting office.
Yang Can added, "Although Miss Sangzhi and Miss Xiaotan are attentive and gentle, I have no need for such service. Please have the estate master reassign them."
Hearing this, Li Damu immediately began coughing loudly.
Zhang Yunyi glanced at Qingmei, thinking this little woman was jealous of Steward Yang.
Hehe, Steward Yang's seduction of this little maid beside the young mistress was probably because he'd offended the Suo family too severely before and now wanted to indirectly ease relations with them.
In that case, Steward Yang needed something from Qingmei, so naturally he wanted to please Miss Qingmei greatly.
Thinking of this, Zhang Yunyi smiled and stroked his beard, "Since the steward doesn't need them, I'll summon them back."
"Uh~~~ cough cough cough..." Accountant Li coughed violently again.
Master Zhang glanced at Li Damu and said, "Master Li must work hard examining my Feng'an Estate's accounts from the past three years. How about this, I'll select one from Sangzhi and Xiaotan to serve tea, deliver water, and attend to Master's daily needs. How does that sound?"
"Hahaha, Master Zhang is truly considerate. Then this old one won't refuse but there's no need to choose. Miss Xiaotan is very good, hahaha, very good indeed."
Li Damu eagerly made his selection, choosing his favorite type.
Hearing this, Zhang Yunyi thought it suited his purposes perfectly.
Although Sangzhi was just a concubine, in Master Zhang's eyes she was a commodity that could be traded but that also had to be worth the value!
In Zhang Yunyi's eyes, Steward Yang was worth the price of Sangzhi.
As for Xiaotan, she was merely Sangzhi's personal maid. He had originally intended to assign Xiaotan to serve Li Damu anyway.
Thus, Zhang Yunyi agreed with a smile.
Before long, Wan Tai arrived with the estate's head accountant.
Master Zhang gave his accountant some instructions, then had him take Accountant Li away.
Yang Can added, "I don't understand accounting. Now that the urgent matter has been entrusted to Master Li, I can't be idle either. Why don't I just make inspection tours around the estate? Otherwise, if word reaches the Clan Head and young mistress, I won't be able to explain myself."
Zhang Yunyi raised his eyebrows, "Do you need me to accompany you?"
Yang Can politely declined, "It's currently spring plowing season. The estate master needn't accompany me. However, I do indeed need several people familiar with estate affairs to come along."
Yang Can knew that if he didn't let anyone accompany him, Zhang Yunyi would definitely be uneasy.
His gaze swept over the crowd of stewards behind Zhang Yunyi.
Zhang Yunyi smiled, "Our Yu family prioritizes agriculture above all, and Feng'an Estate focuses mainly on farming. How about this, I'll have Estate Head Lai Gulu and Field Supervisor Peng Jin accompany Steward Yang on his inspection."
Estate Head Lai Gulu and Field Supervisor Peng Jin—one managed people, the other managed land. They were quite suitable.
So Lai Gulu and Peng Jin accompanied Yang Can and Qingmei out of Feng'an Fortress.
As soon as Yang Can left, a trace of suspicion clouded Zhang Yunyi's eyes.
Of course the estate's accounts would be examined. He'd been mentally prepared for this.
Actual preparation naturally came too late, because Second Master Yu had surrendered the accounts too quickly but in any matter, what played the decisive role was definitely people and regarding people, he'd already paid respects at Yang Can's shrine long ago.
With First Steward Li Youcai, he'd also already made arrangements.
Logically speaking, he'd already secured Yang Can's side, and as for that Li Damu, he had even more confidence but what he feared was a new official's three fires upon taking office. What if this Yang Can's ambitions were too great!
Calculating in his heart, Master Zhang beckoned and summoned Steward Wan Tai before him.
"Wan Tai, go instruct Lai Gulu and Peng Jin a few things. Tell them to... carefully attend to Steward Yang."
Wan Tai understood perfectly and nodded, "Master, rest assured. This small one will go now."
"Wait!"
Zhang Yunyi called him back again. His gaze darkened, his expression beginning to show some conflict.
After a long while, Zhang Yunyi slowly stroked his beard and said, "Have our people prepare. Once the situation becomes uncontrollable..."
Zhang Yunyi's hand descended along his stroked beard toward his chest, the movement carrying some sharpness, like a blade falling.
Even though Wan Tai had followed Zhang Yunyi since youth and had done plenty of dirty work, he couldn't help but be startled.
"Master, Steward Yang is someone the Clan Head sent! If something happens to him at our estate... Even without any evidence, we'll still be implicated."
Zhang Yunyi sneered coldly, "No matter how great the implication, can it be greater than our 'mountain goods running' affair?"
Wan Tai was stunned. Zhang Yunyi added reassuringly, "As long as there's no evidence, even the Clan Head can't condemn us to death but that 'mountain goods running' matter, once the Clan Head learns of it, you know the consequences."
Wan Tai gritted his teeth, a cold light flashing in his eyes, "What Master says is right. This small person knows what to do!"
...
Qingmei accompanied Yang Can, first visiting the village's craft workshops, then calling on some villagers.
Next they toured the water storage ditches outside the village, finally arriving at a stretch of fields west of the village.
Yang Can stood on the field ridge, gazing at the farmers plowing and tilling in the fields. The spring breeze brushed his face, making him feel refreshed and at ease.
Suddenly a fragrant breeze wafted over. Turning his head, Qingmei's pretty face, suitable for both joy and reproach, had already drawn close.
"Hey, are we just... going to wander around aimlessly all day like this?"
Yang Can couldn't help but laugh, "What, already tired?"
Qingmei turned to glance back. Peng Jin and Lai Gulu were chatting idly under a tree.
She lowered her voice, "Didn't you say the breakthrough would come from someone else? Then why are we working so hard? My feet are sore from walking."
As she spoke, she stretched out her foot.
Yang Can looked down. Below the pomegranate-red skirt emerged a deerskin short boot.
Even just the shoe appeared extremely petite.
Seeing his gaze fixed intently, Qingmei shyly withdrew her foot under her skirt again.
Qingmei said coquettishly, "I'm talking to you. Did you hear me?"
Yang Can spread his hands helplessly, "If you and I just stay in Feng'an Fortress the whole time, won't Master Zhang become suspicious?"
Qingmei acted spoiled, "Oh come on, I know you're full of clever tricks. Just think of something."
Yang Can suddenly smiled mischievously, "A solution? It's not that there isn't one. For example..."
Qingmei looked at Yang Can's lecherous eyes. Her pretty face suddenly flushed red like Longshang's elm-leaved cherry blossoms in spring.
"Annoying! Are you trying to die?"
Qingmei extended her foot and "forcefully" ground it on Yang Can's foot.
Perhaps because the foot was so small, or perhaps because Qingmei's body was so light.
In any case, it didn't hurt at all. Instead, it made Yang Can's heart itch.
With Suo Zhanzhi before, Yang Can had been like Pigsy eating ginseng fruit, he hadn't had time to savor it at all.
As for Pan Xiaowan, that was a female demon wanting to eat Tang Monk's flesh, wanting to be eaten yet fearing being eaten, with a unique allure.
As for this Xiao Qingmei, Yang Can actually had no rush to devour her immediately.
This kind of ambiguous interaction, wasn't it also a wonderful flavor?
...
The fields in Longshang thawed much later than the Central Plains.
The planting season here was generally about a month later than in Central Plains regions.
At this time, Central Plains lands already had lush green sprouts, while here spring plowing and soil turning were just beginning.
On the vast and flat wilderness, a scene of busy farming.
Self-cultivating farmers, dependent households, and Feng'an Estate's tenant farmers were all tilling the land.
The plowed soil presented a loose state, like yellow waves.
Unlike the Liaodong region's black soil so rich you could squeeze oil from it,
Longshang's soil was generally yellow or brownish-yellow.
Though not black soil, this place was indeed the "Longshang granary," with genuinely fertile land.
Liaodong's black soil was naturally formed black calcium soil.
That was formed by large amounts of organic matter slowly decomposing in the soil—"naturally born" fertile land.
The Hetao region's soil relied on irrigation from the Dragon River.
Dragon River water was rich in various biological nutrients, which compensated for the local soil's natural deficiencies.
Leopard Head Cheng Dakuan's wife was currently working in the fields.
Father-in-law Old Man Cheng held the plow while Sister-in-law Cheng led the ox.
Her two sons and several cousins of similar age played on the ridges.
Her baby daughter, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lay on clean tree roots protruding from the ground beneath a large tree, sleeping soundly.
Cheng Dakuan was the eldest son of the Cheng family and the most accomplished child.
He had six brothers and two sisters, this was Old Man Cheng's lifetime glorious achievement.
Among Cheng Dakuan's six brothers, two had died in infancy.
So now he had four brothers and two sisters. The whole family were self-cultivating farmers.
Compared to tenant farmers, the Cheng family's life was naturally much better but this "better" was only relative to those tenant farmers.
As the eldest brother with the best circumstances, Cheng Dakuan helped his younger siblings considerably.
Otherwise, with his steward-level treatment at the Yu family, if he only cared for his own small household, life could be even more comfortable.
Next to the Cheng Dakuan family's land, arranged in sequence, were his brothers' and sisters' lands.
This large stretch of land all belonged to the old Cheng family.
Several brothers' households had no plow oxen. If they all waited for the eldest brother's ox to become available, they'd likely miss the farming season.
Therefore, they could only use human-pulled plows now.
Without able-bodied laborers in the household, this exhausting work truly couldn't be done.
Fortunately, Old Man Cheng's extraordinary talent wasn't only in reproduction. The children he sired were all larger and stronger than ordinary people.
The Cheng brothers were all broad-shouldered and thick-waisted with tremendous strength.
Therefore, though pulling the plow was hard work, the Cheng family could manage it.
In the fields, Second Brother Cheng and his sixteen-year-old eldest son, with hemp cloth padding their shoulders, bent at the waist and braced with their legs, were plowing like old oxen.
Sweat streamed down their faces, flowing to their chests and backs, or dropping directly from foreheads and chins into the soil.
Second Sister-in-law Cheng held the plow behind them. The family of three was plowing together.
Plowing more land now meant when eldest brother's ox became available, they could finish the remaining land faster.
That way, the other brothers' households could also "get help" more quickly.
Suddenly, a pair of hemp shoes appeared before Second Brother Cheng.
Second Brother Cheng raised his head and saw beneath a bamboo hat, half a face with beard and hair like spears emerged.
Though he couldn't yet see the eyes and brows, Second Brother Cheng had already recognized who it was.
He cried out in pleasant surprise, "Eldest Brother?"
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