Yang Chao: "That may be true, but which of us here is Jiang Tian's match?"

Yang Gongda: "I just can't swallow this. This land belongs to us. Why should the Jiang family give our land to those people?"

Yang Jin: "You see those civil and military officials of the court? Their corpses are still hanging on the city tower."

Their entire family was executed, and their nine generations of relatives were exterminated; all their property was confiscated.

"Jiang Tian is a bastard, ruthless in his actions. If we make enemies with him, it won't be long before our skins are hung on the city walls."

When Yang Jin finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Everyone knows Jiang Tian's abilities.

However, none of the people in the Yang family could swallow this insult.

The group sat there dejected, looking like defeated roosters.

Yang Dezhi had barely sat down when he slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly: "Damn it, when have we ever been bullied like this? This Jiang guy is riding roughshod over us, defecating and pissing on us. If we just swallow this insult..."

Yang Dezhi did not continue speaking.

He didn't want to be skinned alive, nor did he want his entire family to be executed.

If that happens, the Yang family will truly be wiped out.

The Yang family has existed for a thousand years. Not only did the Yang family rise to prominence in the Great Xia Dynasty, but they also maintained connections with neighboring countries.

What makes these powerful families so formidable is that they not only possess enormous wealth, but they also never take sides.

They maintained contact with the Great Xia Dynasty and also had close relations with the surrounding countries.

In this way, no matter who is in power, these powerful families can thrive and prosper.

“We haven’t lost this matter yet, everyone.” Yang Youcai sat in the corner and glanced at everyone. “We must not act impulsively now. What we need to do now is to be patient and not make a move.”

"As long as we seize this opportunity, we should go all out and keep killing Jiang Tian."

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

But they still have no idea when they will have the opportunity.

...

Zhoukou Village outside the city.

Old Mrs. Zhou barely managed to make ends meet with her two grandchildren.

Although the local people had already received their land, Old Lady Zhou's land had not yet been allocated.

This family of three lives, a grandfather, grandson, and granddaughter, survive by begging for food every day.

Night falls and the city lights come on.

The sound of dogs barking came from afar.

Sunzi Gou Dan ran back with something tucked in his arms.

"Grandma, look what I got."

Dog Egg ran home and pulled a leg of lamb out of his pocket.

Although this stuff has gone a bit stale, it's still meat after all.

The room was filled with a fishy stench.

The old woman frowned.

"Dog Egg, what is this?" The old woman rubbed her eyes. Ever since her sons died on the battlefield, Old Mrs. Zhou's eyes had almost gone blind from crying, and her vision had severely deteriorated.

"A leg of lamb! I found a leg of lamb!" Gou Dan excitedly waved the spoiled leg of lamb in his hand.

"Little brother, this thing already smells a bit bad, can we still eat it?" Gou Dan's older sister, Ya Tou, pinched her nose.

“What’s wrong with eating it? I’ll boil some water and put the mutton in it to get rid of the fishy smell.” The old woman was overjoyed when she saw the lamb leg, which weighed at least four or five pounds.

The family of three chatted and laughed.

Light the fire to boil the water.

Old Mrs. Zhou put the slightly spoiled lamb leg into the pot.

In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the water boiled.

The old woman lifted the lid of a pot, and immediately, a foul stench assaulted the nostrils.

The water was full of white, greasy foam.

"Grandma, can we still eat this meat?" The little girl kept swallowing.

She wanted to eat meat, but she thought the smell was too pungent.

"Cook this meat a little longer, leave the pot uncovered, and cook it a little longer to burn off the meaty smell. If only we had some wine." Old Mrs. Zhou shook her head and sighed.

Half an hour later.

The mutton is cooked.

A foul odor still lingered in the air.

However, the stench was much milder than before.

The old woman had already scooped out all the greasy foam from the pot with a spoon.

However, the mutton soup was not clear at all; it turned very yellow and cloudy.

This pot of mutton soup smelled a bit pungent at first, but if you smelled it carefully, you could still detect some meaty aroma.

"We can start eating now." Gou Dan took a chopstick and gently poked the lamb leg. The chopstick easily pierced through the lamb leg meat.

The family of three placed the lamb leg on a wooden plate.

They gathered together and enjoyed their meal.

Although the meat was somewhat spoiled, it was still enough to fill my stomach.

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

The entire leg of lamb was eaten clean, and even the bones were smashed with stones.

Chew it all, then swallow it.

The three of them, grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, each drank two more bowls of mutton soup.

They all ate until they were stuffed.

Dog Egg patted his belly, then lay there contentedly, burping.

"Little brother, where did you find this leg of lamb?" the girl asked quickly.

Although the lamb leg wasn't fresh, it was still better than going hungry.

"There was a battle a few days ago, about 20 li north of our village. A lot of people went there to collect things," Gou Dan said, while continuing to look north of the village.

"I found out quite late, and I only managed to find this one leg of lamb." After saying that, Gou Dan smiled slightly at Old Lady Zhou and his sister Ya Tou. "I'll go find more tomorrow morning. I heard that if you cut it carefully, you can still find horse meat that has already been smashed."

Upon hearing that there was mutton, beef, and horse meat, everyone was astonished.

They were all overjoyed.

The girl licked her greasy lips: "I'll go with you tomorrow. My eyesight is better than yours."

I really hope I can find some meat that doesn't smell so bad tomorrow.

The two nodded.

In the stillness of the night, the family slept soundly.

But he never woke up after that one sleep.

The family did not get up at noon the next day.

On the third day at noon, there was still no movement inside the house.

The nearby villagers could already smell the stench emanating from their house.

"Is Granny Zhou home?" an elderly man shouted into the yard. "Gou Dan, girl, are you both home? Say something quickly."

No one in the courtyard answered.

The gate was tightly closed, and the room door was also tightly closed.

It's clear that both the house door and the courtyard gate are bolted from the inside.

"Old Mrs. Zhou, are you home?" the person outside called out a few more times.

But still no one answered.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to Granny Zhou."

"It's very possible. The stench I'm smelling isn't the stench of a rotting corpse."

"Stop gossiping outside, hurry in and take a look. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, don't waste time."

Several daring individuals kicked open the courtyard gate and then the house door.

When they rushed into the room, everyone was stunned.