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Yang Biao walked slowly until he stood behind an elderly man. There, he tucked his hands into his sleeves and waited in respectful silence.
The old man's frame was hunched and bent. With his back to Yang Biao, he was straining with great difficulty to lift his head and gaze at the treetops.
It was now autumn once again, another year turning. Even on a sturdy, robust tree, many leaves among the high canopy had already withered and yellowed. Under the sunlight, the veins of those leaves were exposed with stark clarity, just like the old man's own gaunt hands, where the blue veins stood out prominently—trembling faintly, as though no one knew at which moment that final shiver would come, and they would wither and fall away.
"Well?"
Yang Biao cupped his hands and replied, "It has been investigated and clarified. They came from the encampment of General Fei, north of the city..."
The old man lowered his head, grasped his pigeon-staff, and slowly turned around. He was precisely the Grand Elder of the Yang clan—the sole surviving figure of the Yang family's elder generation. By reckoning, he was already ninety years of age this year...
At the age of a hoary elder, back bent and mottled, one's teeth are loose and shaking; the earth draws near, the sky recedes, and the descent into the Yellow Springs below is not far off.
Yang Rang walked leaning on his pigeon-staff. Every step he shifted forward seemed an immense struggle. The attendants beside him cautiously extended their hands, hovering around him in a pantomime of support, but none of them dared to actually step forward and hold him.
Yang Rang had an obstinate and unyielding temperament; the older he grew, the more rigid he became. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would never permit another person to support him...
But for an elder of such an advanced age, the greatest fear was precisely a fall. A single moment of carelessness, one misplaced step, might result not just in a broken bone but could trigger a chain reaction of complications, ultimately leading to...
Therefore, while Yang Rang found walking arduous, the servants attending him were even more terrified and jittery. When at last they managed to get him into the main hall, and Yang Rang sat down steadily upon the nomadic-style couch, only then did these servants breathe a collective sigh of profound relief, secretly wiping away the cold sweat that had beaded on their foreheads.
"Hahaha..." Yang Rang laughed, slapping his thigh with great self-satisfaction, as though he had just won a great victory in battle. "So... I am not yet old, am I?"
"No, Grand Elder," Yang Biao replied, kneeling respectfully on a mat placed below the couch.
Yang Rang tilted his body, allowing a serving maid to kneel at his side and gently massage his frail, aged legs. Then he closed his eyes, as if that short walk just now had already drained a great deal of his energy. Were it not for the occasional, barely perceptible movement of his eyeballs turning beneath the drooping, wrinkled lids, one might almost have mistaken his body for one that had already lost all vitality...
Yang Biao waited quietly.
After a long while, Yang Rang finally opened his eyes. He waved his hand faintly, dismissing all the attendants, and only then spoke. "The Minister Over the Masses—has there been any word?"
Yang Biao shook his head.
Yang Rang cocked his left eyebrow, the long white hairs of his longevity brow twitching twice. With a disdainful tone, he said, "This Minister Wang..."
Yang Biao inquired, "Should we perhaps send someone first to..."
Yang Rang shook his head. "There is no need for that. Let him be. The Yang clan will simply watch quietly and observe."
Yang Biao nodded in affirmation and then asked, "Does the Grand Elder mean that he considers Minister Wang to be unreliable, unworthy of serving as our support?"
"Minister Wang is not a man who can settle chaos," Yang Rang stated gravely. "Though he preserves his integrity, upholds righteousness, and is filled to the brim with classical learning, his ability is insufficient to rescue the state. Disaster is sure to follow..."
Yang Rang extended a single finger and pointed towards the main entrance of the hall. "What is this place?"
Yang Biao turned his head for a look and replied, "It is the Hall of the Four Knowings." From the time of Yang Zhen and his direct lineage, all descendants branching from him would hang a horizontal plaque above their main hall, and upon every one were the same three characters: "Hall of the Four Knowings."
Yang Rang nodded and said, "What is meant by the Four Knowings?"
Yang Biao's pupils darted slightly left and right. The Four Knowings—even those not of the Yang clan, vast numbers of people knew exactly what those Four Knowings referred to. But clearly, Yang Rang was not asking for the superficial explanation.
Thus, Yang Biao replied, "Underlying the Four Knowings are but two words: judgment and caution... Judgment is the measure of long and short, the assessment of a matter's context and boundaries. Caution is not venturing into perilous ground, but rather making the best of the situation, guiding affairs according to circumstances..."
Yang Rang smiled and nodded, but quickly withdrew the smile. Slowly, he said, "If every member of the Yang clan could grasp the meaning of the Four Knowings as Wenxian does, we would not suffer the pain of broken branches that afflicts us today..."
This time, the Hongnong Yang clan had also suffered devastating losses.
Originally, Yang Rang had opposed open confrontation with Dong Zhuo. However, many elders from other collateral branches, driven by certain objectives, had not hesitated to invoke the clan judgment. But the final result had been a complete and utter rout...
When it truly came to blows, those methods and military forces that the other elders had placed such high hopes upon proved to be like colorful bubbles of water under the bright sun: they appeared large in volume and dazzlingly iridescent, but after Li Ru dispatched Niu Fu and Zhang Liao to jointly suppress them, within just a few exchanges, they shattered into scattered fragments and vanished without a trace.
In the aftermath of this single conflict, not only were hidden agents cultivated over many years outside the clan rooted out, but even within the borders of Hongnong itself, six or seven out of every ten of the Yang clan's fortified estates were lost. Furthermore, some of the local gentry and powerful families who had been subordinate to the Hongnong Yang clan also suffered grievous losses.
One could say that at this moment, the great tree that was the Hongnong Yang clan had been stripped of all its leaves, left bare with only its trunk and branches remaining...
Of course, the roots hidden beneath the soil—men like Yang Rang and Yang Biao—still supported the Yang family tree. It was just that now, the tree could no longer catch the wind and waves, nor could it flaunt itself for the time being.
"Beneath the Four Knowings lie the two words, judgment and caution. But above the Four Knowings, there still exist the Three Delusions!" Despite his age, and though this brief exchange had already visibly wearied him, Yang Rang still propped himself up and continued. "Only by wisdom reaching the true nature of things can one avoid the Three Delusions blinding the eyes and beguiling the heart. Likewise, only with penetrating insight and clear understanding of one's nature can one truly grasp the essential meaning of the Four Knowings... Wenxian, speak now. What strategy should the Yang clan adopt at this moment?"
Yang Biao pondered for a long time before answering: "Thunder concealed above the highest heavens can, in a single dawn, sound out and shake the eight directions. For the Yang clan now, the appropriate course is to refrain from impatience, practice forbearance, remove ourselves from the affairs at hand, and wait for the day when the water recedes and the rocks emerge..."
"Shandong..." Yang Rang interrupted Yang Biao's discourse, his voice tinged with weariness.
"Shandong will have its own men to handle... Beyond the two Yuans, there is also the imperial clan..." Yang Biao understood that Yang Rang was somewhat dissatisfied with his long-winded mode of exposition and directly stated the key points.
"Hmm. And the Liang-Yong region..." Yang Rang gave no indication of his thoughts and simply continued.
Yang Biao replied, "Their hearts are filled with fear and anxiety. We need only wait for them to fall into chaos of their own accord..."
"And Bingzhou..." Yang Rang pressed on.
Yang Biao paused slightly, then said, "A few days ago, there were rumors circulating that General Fei wished to remain in the capital, but then it was immediately denied by the Fei family..."
Yang Rang chuckled drily. "Even in that bitter, cold land, there is still contention. How utterly tedious..." It was obvious that for the Yang clan, which had once established itself in Hongnong, the very center of the realm, a region like Bingzhou was genuinely somewhat beneath their notice.
Yang Biao nodded and said, "My intention is simply to push the boat along with the current." Since Huangfu Song desired it, the Yang clan would not stand in his way. Yet neither would they exert great effort. If they could help, they would lend a hand, but if they could not, it would be of no real consequence.
After all, compared to Huangfu, Fei Qian seemed to be even less liked by the Yang clan.
Yang Rang nodded, then closed his eyes, signaling that this audience could now come to an end. The prolonged conversation had already drained what little remained of his dwindling energy.
Yang Biao rose quietly to his feet, gave a formal bow, and slowly withdrew from the hall. He gestured to the attendants waiting outside to be especially careful, and only after watching with his own eyes as the Grand Elder, under the meticulous care of the servants, lay down and began to rest, did he finally feel at ease.
He took a few steps away, then suddenly halted. He turned back and lifted his head to gaze at the plaque of the "Hall of the Four Knowings" above the lintel of the main hall. His eyes flickered with an unreadable light, lost in thought for a moment. After a while, he retracted his gaze and slowly departed.