"Mr. Si, Mr. Si!" Li Chang whispered softly.
Yang Mingzhao snapped back to reality and asked quietly, "Uncle Li, Dad wonât beat me, will he?"
"Well, he might!" Li Chang thought for a moment and said seriously.
Yang Mingzhao was even less willing to go; damn, this was too terrifying!
Yang Zhenshan had never lost his temper in front of Yang Mingzhao, but it was precisely because he never had that Yang Mingzhao felt so scared.
Yang Mingzhao couldnât even imagine what it would be like if Yang Zhenshan lost his temper; he wouldnât directly shoot him, would he?
Thinking about Yang Zhenshan wielding a gun, Yang Mingzhao couldnât help but shiver.
"Uncle Li, save me!"
"I canât save Mr. Si! We might even have to act ourselves!" Li Chang made a gesture of hitting with a board.
There really wasnât a punishment of beating with a board in the Yang familyâs rules, mainly because the rules hadnât been violated by anyone in the family for years.
But the military has its laws, many of which were personally drafted by Yang Zhenshan.
The Yang clan also has its own rules, which Yang Zhenshan helped establish.
And both military laws and clan rules have the punishment of beating with a board, and itâs extremely harsh, no leniency is allowed.
The military laws need not be discussed, and the Yang clanâs rules are very strict, sometimes even resulting in death.
Over the years, the Yang clan hasnât turned into a powerful family that plagues the town because of these rules. Similarly, the members of the Yang clan have done well in Chongshan Town without becoming corrupt officials and miscreants, also because of the rules.
They donât fear national laws, but they do fear the clan rules set by Yang Zhenshan.
Because the punishments in the clan rules make them afraid to violate them.
Beatings and executions are lighter punishments; what they fear most is being expelled from the clan genealogy.
Being expelled from the genealogy means losing all resources of the Yang clan, not just for themselves, but also for their descendants.
"Uncle Li!" Yang Mingzhao was almost crying, being beaten with a board is no joke.
At the very least, itâs severe enough to tear skin and flesh.
Even though heâs Yang Zhenshanâs flesh and blood, if Li Chang, Wang Lei, and others were to beat him with a board, they definitely wouldnât show mercy.
Li Chang chuckled, "Mr. Si, letâs go. Itâs going to happen sooner or later!"
Yes, he was a bit gleeful in schadenfreude.
Yang Mingzhao realized that pleading with Li Chang was useless.
Li Chang and Wang Lei strictly follow Yang Zhenshanâs orders; the face of Mr. Si amounts to nothing in front of these two, and they couldnât show favor.
Li Chang and Wang Lei, unlike personal followers such as Wu Zhan and Wu Zheng, and different from Yang family servants like Ding Qiu. Ding Qiu and other family servants might take into account that heâs the master, while Wu Zheng and Wu Zhan might treat him as a nephew, but Li Chang and Wang Lei wouldnât.
Theyâre soldiers and only obey orders!
"Uncle Li, please help me!" Yang Mingzhao pleaded.
"Mr. Si, donât put me in a difficult spot!" Li Chang replied.
"I wonât make it difficult, wonât make it difficult. Just inform my wife, say Iâve returned, and have her bring the children to dad!" Yang Mingzhao blinked and said.
At this moment, who could save him?
His mother?
Yu Qingyi likely wouldnât plead for him; as long as heâs not beaten to death, itâs fine.
Others pleading wouldnât work, only Zhu and the two children pleading would be effective.
If his daughter-in-law is present, Yang Zhenshan should not hit too hard!
If the grandchildren were there, it should quell some of Yang Zhenshanâs anger!
Li Chang thought for a moment and nodded to the two brothers behind him.
"Thank you, Uncle Li, thank you!" Yang Mingzhao was so grateful he almost cried.
"Letâs go, Mr. Si, donât keep the master waiting too long, otherwise it might be worse!" Li Chang urged.
"Here we go, here we go~~" Yang Mingzhao decided to stop hesitating and headed toward Divine Wood City immediately.
Plunging forward is a cut, withdrawing is a cut too.
Humph, I might just end up lying around for days!
On the other side, Yang Zhenshan had already received news of Yang Mingzhaoâs return.
As Li Chang had predicted, Yang Zhenshan was ready to give a beating with a board.
Long benches were set up, and Wang Lei and others were already holding boards, standing in the courtyard.
Yang Zhenshan sat boldly in the hall, sipping tea leisurely.
Yu Qingyi was there too, calmly sipping tea.
The two of them looked almost like they were carved from the same mold.
Gently tapping the lid of the bowl, their expressions were calm as they took light sips of tea.
In this situation, Yang Mingzhao sneaked along the wall into the courtyard, first glancing at the long benches, then at Wang Lei and others holding boards, and he gave them an awkward smile.
The next moment, he dashed into the main hall and then slid to his knees.
"Dad, Mom, I missed you so much!"
"Your son is here to kowtow to you!"
Thud, thud, thud, he gave three loud kowtows.
Yang Zhenshan raised an eyebrow, Yu Qingyi didnât even lift an eyelid, this little rascal, claiming he missed us, itâs almost four years since we last saw him, he must have forgotten about us by now.
"Someone, beat him!" Yang Zhenshan spoke.
Wang Lei immediately brought people in, grabbed Yang Mingzhaoâs arms, and dragged him out.
"Dad, Mom, spare me!"
"I wonât dare again!"
"Boohoo, spare me!"
Yang Mingzhao cried out pitifully, yelling as if they were dragging him out to be executed.
His pitiful appearance was akin to being escorted to the execution ground.
But no matter how he yelled, Yang Zhenshan and Yu Qingyi remained unmoved.
Yang Mingzhao looked at their expressions and felt secretly distressed.
"Itâs over, itâs over, playing pitiful and begging for mercy is useless! Boohoo~~~ Thereâs no escaping todayâs spanking."
Very soon, he was pressed onto a long bench by Wang Lei.
The beating started with a resounding thwack.
The paddle used to beat him was solid ironwood, no different from an iron rod.
This kind of paddle was specifically for punishing Martial Artists.
With one stroke, no matter how tough-skinned you are, youâd be screaming.
"Ah~~"
"Ah~~"
The screams were real, Yang Mingzhao was really wailing, no faking it.
"Tsk tsk tsk, Fourth Brother, stop screaming, the louder you scream, the harsher the beating!"
At this time, Yang Mingzhi walked out from under the eaves nearby, taunting with a face full of glee.
"Second Brother, save me! Please plead for mercy!" Yang Mingzhao shouted hurriedly when he saw Yang Mingzhi.
Yang Mingzhi spread his hands, "Begging for leniency, huh, I wondered why you borrowed so much silver from me before, turns out you went to rebel!"
"Beat him, beat him hard, how dare you deceive me, humph, not satisfied until you get a thrashing!"
Yang Mingzhao getting a beating was unprecedented in the Yang family.
No, Yang Zhenshan using a paddle at home was a first.
Such a rare event, Yang Mingzhi naturally wanted to watch the spectacle.
"Donât worry, Iâve talked to Mingzhe, heâs waiting over there, once Dad calms down, Mingzhe will come over immediately to treat your injuries!" Yang Mingzhi even pointed to the eaves not far away.
Yang Mingzhao turned his head to look, covered in black lines, even forgetting to scream.
Under the eaves, Yang Minghao was waving at him, Wang Mingzhe was laughing heartily, and most annoyingly, even nephews Yang Chengmao, Yang Chengxian, and others were chuckling away.
Damn, theyâre all watching my embarrassment.
Yang Mingzhao wanted to curse!
But soon he saw his savior, the Zhu family arrived with two children.
However, the Zhu family walked past him gracefully, not even glancing at him.
Yang Chengâan was on the other side of the Zhu family, making a face at Yang Mingzhao.
Yang Wanqi kept looking at him, head tilted, her pure large eyes full of confusion.
Who is this person? Why is he being beaten?
Wasnât it said that Dad has returned?
Whereâs Dad?
Indeed, Yang Wanqi didnât recognize Yang Mingzhao at all.
As the saying goes, âone creates his own downfall,â since Yang Mingzhao founded the Taiping Army, Yang Wanqi was only three, and since then he often stayed out, returning for at most ten days or half a month each year.
Little children are forgetful, initially still missing Dad, but soon forgot Dadâs appearance.
"Daughter-in-law pays respects to Father and Mother!" the Zhu family gracefully bowed.
"Grandchildren pay respects to Grandfather and Grandmother!" the two children chimed in.
Yu Qingyi smiled, "Sit, come, Qiâer, come to Grandma!"
Qiâer ran to Yu Qingyi, who embraced her warmly.