Chapter 177

Chapter 177

Han Zhang was temporarily unaware of what was happening in Quyang Prefecture.

After discussing the ancestral rites with the clan, the Han family began their preparations.

Although Quyang Prefecture and Yunyang Prefecture were not far apart—a day's round trip would suffice—packing was still a hassle since they had to bring the infant Xiao Tao'er along.

Fortunately, Xiao Tao'er had been well-cared for in the womb and had been strengthened by Han Zhang's special ability, so not only was he healthier and sturdier than most kids.

He was also smarter—sharp as a whip, laughing and smiling all day. Apart from shedding a few tears when hungry or needing a change, he never cried no matter how you played with him. He was a breeze to take care of, an absolute angel of a baby.

Once everything was ready, a few days before Xiao Tao'er turned one month old, Han Zhang's entire family set out for Quyang Prefecture along with Patriarch Han, the elders, and some of the clan's younger men.

Since they had sent people ahead to scout things out, they knew some of the Han clan were still alive and that someone was still taking care of the ancestral hall.

Therefore, upon arriving in Quyang Prefecture city, Han Zhang's party didn't head straight to the village with the ancestral hall.

Instead, they checked into an inn in the city first and then sent formal visit notices to the Sun, Song, and Zhong families.

The three families each had a different reaction to the notices.

The Sun household.

When the notice arrived, Sun Kangsheng was drinking tea. When the gatekeeper announced the visitor, his hand jerked, and the scalding tea splashed onto the back of his hand. He didn't even feel the pain, his voice incredulous.

"Wh-what... what did you say? A notice from the Han family? The Han... the Han family still has a male heir alive?!"

His voice was shaking, full of panic.

You couldn't really blame him for being scared—the Han men had been truly formidable back in the day. Though the Quyang Han couldn't match the real noble families in the capital, they were absolutely the undisputed power in Yanzhou.

If any male descendants of the Han family still survived, they'd have to be the smartest and best of the clan's young men—the seeds of hope who managed to get away.

After all these years, they were coming back. What did that mean?

It meant the Han family was making a comeback!

The Han were rising while the Sun were fading. Knowing his family had been mistreating the Han women all these years, even if they didn't kill him, they'd probably flay him alive.

Just thinking about possible retribution sent a chill from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head!

Concubine Dai beside him had the same thoughts. Her face went pale, and she nearly twisted her handkerchief to shreds, her voice frantic and full of hate:

"Husband! Th-this... how can this be?! Didn't everyone say back then that those damned rebels slaughtered every last man of the Han family?"

"It's been so many years! Why now, of all times, do they come back?!"

The main branch had dwindled over the years, with nearly all its sons and grandsons dead—at least eighty percent of that was her doing, pulling strings behind the scenes.

Because back then, she and Sun Kangsheng were in love, but because Seventh Lady Han came from a better family than she did, the Sun family made Seventh Lady Han the proper wife, forcing her to settle for being a concubine. She'd held that grudge for half her life, hated it for half her life.

She'd finally pushed Seventh Lady Han to the edge, waiting to use Seventh Lady Han's granddaughter to pave the way for her own kids and grandkids, hoping to literally anger her to death and finally satisfy her grudge.

Who would've thought that at this very moment, the Han men would come back!

"..."

Sun Kangsheng and Concubine Dai stared at each other, both frightened pale by their own imaginations, staring fixedly at the notice in their hands, momentarily at a loss, completely unsure of what to do.

And in stark contrast to the terror in the main courtyard—

In a remote small courtyard, Seventh Aunt Han, upon hearing the news from her old servant who had served her loyally for years, was first stunned, then burst into unrestrained, joyful laughter—laughter suppressed for years finally erupting.

"Hahaha... good, good, good! I knew it! Heaven has eyes! I knew our Han clan's sons couldn't all have perished in that disaster!"

"Sun Kangsheng, Dai Yuzhen, you two black-hearted dogs, your retribution has come! This time, watch how this old lady deals with you..."

After the laughter subsided and her emotions settled somewhat, Seventh Aunt Han suddenly snapped to attention. Abandoning everything else, she grabbed her grandson Xing Wang with one hand and her granddaughter Qian Jieer's wrist with the other, speaking urgently: "Let's go! Xing Wang, Qian Jieer, we're leaving now! Out of this house immediately—not a single moment's delay!"

She had to escape this den of wolves before Sun Kangsheng and that poisonous woman could snap out of their shock and panic and make a move against them.

Because the blood feud between them could never be resolved, and cornered dogs would jump the wall—they might do anything.

Compared to the chaos and panic in the Sun residence, the atmosphere in the Song and Zhong families was more harmonious.

The Song family.

After hearing the steward's report, the Song family head also sprang up from his armchair in shock. It took him a long while before he sat back down, clutching his chest, speaking with lingering fear and relief:

"Good, good... thank goodness I wasn't as ruthless as my wife back then, and she managed to establish her position in the household."

"Over the years, though we've often quarreled and couldn't stand each other, I never truly did anything vicious to her and the children—just minor squabbles over household matters, nothing to worry about... Otherwise, I'd be in big trouble now..."

"Ah, that old Sun Kangsheng must be jumping with anxiety right about now, isn't he? This man, really... even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. No matter how much he dislikes his legitimate wife, those children are his own flesh and blood. How could he let others trample them at will..."

Though he said the words with pity, the Song family head's tone was thoroughly gleeful.

Who told Sun Kangsheng to always mock him behind his back for being henpecked and spineless? Now the Sun family was in trouble, wasn't it?

Hahaha!

The Zhong family.

Because Han Jiu had managed the Zhong family head and his wife well, the Zhong family treated Han Jiu and his children and grandchildren kindly. Thus, when they heard the news about the Han family, their joy outweighed their shock.

"Heavens, this is truly wonderful news! I never imagined the Han family still had male descendants alive, and now they've returned to Yanzhou! When Ninth Brother hears this, he'll be overjoyed!"

Zhong's wife stood up, beaming with delight.

Beside her, the Zhong family head reacted quickly this time. Before his wife could give further orders, he had already stepped forward and announced to the servants:

"What are you standing around for? Go quickly—tell the fourth branch this wonderful news and let Ninth Master share in the joy..."

If Ninth Brother received such good news from him, he would surely like him even more in the future!

The three families received the notices—some with joy and excitement, others with fear and anxiety.

But in the end, all of them, without exception, chose to immediately seek out Han Zhang and his party at the inn rather than wait for the appointed time on the notices.

After so many years, brothers and sisters met again.

Because Grandfather Han and the others had been too young back then and their appearances had changed considerably, Seventh Aunt Han and the others couldn't recognize them at first.

But Grandfather Han and the others remembered what Seventh Aunt Han and the rest looked like. Even though their youth had faded, their features were still faintly recognizable.

"Seventh Sister, Eighth Sister, Ninth Brother... I'm sorry. Your unfilial descendant Zhiyuan has finally brought the clan back."

Clan Chief Han stepped forward first, tears streaming down his aged face as he lifted his robes and knelt before his elder siblings.

It was his failure that it had taken so many years, and only thanks to Big Brother's good fortune were they able to bring the clan back—leaving his elder siblings back home to hold up the family's last shred of dignity and tend to the ancestral graves and shrine.

Then Grandpa Han and the other clan elders followed suit, kneeling and weeping loudly: "Seventh Sister, Eighth Sister, Ninth Brother... it's our fault... we put it off all this time and only now have we finally made it back."

A bunch of old men, bawling their eyes out.

Seventh Aunt Han and the others couldn't hold back their tears either, each one pulling a few of their younger brothers into their arms and weeping:

"It's not your fault, none of it... come on, get up, all of you..."

"Back when you managed to escape, we older siblings were already thanking heaven and earth..."

When these younger brothers fled back then, the oldest of them—Clan Chief Han—was only ten years old. In times like that, just staying alive was already a huge accomplishment.

All those years out in the world, the younger brothers had built their own livelihoods from nothing and brought the clan back—the hardships they must have gone through were unimaginable.

Now that they were finally able to come back, it was already a blessing from the ancestors. How could they possibly blame their brothers for taking so long?

The two groups hugged and cried for a good long while. Only after the emotions of the reunion had settled a bit did they slowly start catching up on what each side had been through over the years.

Clan Chief Han spoke first.

He told of how they'd escaped the rebel massacre, how they'd bluffed and scammed their way along—er, no, cleverly talked other refugees into being their bodyguards—until they finally settled at the foot of the capital.

He also talked about how they'd started families and raised their children and grandchildren over the years, and how they'd finally raised Han Zhang, that Qilin Son, and how Han Zhang had been assigned to Yunyang in Yanzhou as prefect.

One thing led to another—not every little detail, but basically everything that could be said was said.

Seventh Aunt Han and the others listened, feeling a mix of melancholy and heartache.

"It's good that you've come back. The capital is a complicated place. Yunyang Prefecture may be poor and out of the way, but it's far from the fighting. With Big Brother's ability, if he runs things carefully, he'll surely get this place in good shape in time..."

"Big Brother is still young and doesn't have much experience yet. If he puts in solid work here for a dozen years and lets the past fade away, as long as he racks up real accomplishments, the court—if only to save face—won't treat our Big Brother badly."

Sure, officialdom is all about connections and favors, but when a person's skill is strong enough, even the rules get out of the way.

Grandpa Han, hearing this, puffed up his chest with pride and nodded over and over:

"That's exactly what we thought! When heaven is about to give someone a great mission, it first tests their will. Our Big Brother has eaten bitter and carried heavy loads—he's bound to do great things in the future!"

"By the way, Seventh Sister, Eighth Sister, Ninth Brother... how have you all been doing all these years? Have your in-laws been giving you a hard time? Now that we're back and the family's together again, we won't let anyone push you around!"

The clan elders spoke up, worried and concerned.

All they knew about their elder siblings' lives was secondhand gossip from the outside—the real truth could only come from their own mouths.

When it came to her own situation, Seventh Aunt Han's face first flushed with shame, then twisted into bitterness and grief as she said:

"It's all my fault—back when I was a girl, I was always lazy and playful, never really learning any skills to make my own way in the world. Over the years, several of my good sons and grandsons... all died at the hands of that black-hearted Sun family!"

"Now all I have left is Xing Wang and his little sister Qian Jieer, just the two of them, clinging to each other. If it weren't for Eighth Sister and Ninth Brother helping me out in the open and behind the scenes all these years, you wouldn't even be seeing me alive today..."

Eighth Aunt Han sighed at this, patted her seventh sister's hand, and then told her own story:

"My husband can't get the better of me, so there's been no open bullying over the years. But in the back courtyard, the petty jealousies and fights over property have never stopped—day in, day out, it grinds on your nerves, and there's never a moment of real peace."

Finally, it was Ninth Uncle Han's turn.

Honestly, he didn't need to say a word—one look at him told you everything.

—Even though he was already a grandfather's age, his skin was rosy, his wrinkles were few, and he was in great shape—looking a good deal younger than his years. Clearly, life had been kind to him.

However, after Ninth Uncle Han finished awkwardly recounting his glorious achievements, the Han clan members were left with their jaws dropped.

Han Zhang, in particular, couldn't help but inwardly exclaim that this Ninth Granduncle was truly something else!