Eight month ago, Yang Residence
"Jun, how long have you been under my wing?" An old man in his 70s asked. He took a piece of black chess from its container, and put it on the board. He nodded his head while patting on his long white beard. The game on the board showed that he was in upper hand.
"Six years, Grandpa." Yang Jun answered while putting a white one on the corner left (3-3)
The old man smiled, directly fight for the corner? Interesting. He moved his chess 2 points below to test Yang Jun's ambition. "So, you are already 13 years old, no more a little boy. What have you learnt for these past 6 years?"
Yang Jun silently put his chess on the corner left. Controlling the left side meant controlling the whole game. His grandpa had an upperhand on the center. At least, he had to gain that corner, moved to the sides, and expanded his area. He was neither too hurry nor slow. He was patiently wait for an opening.
"Grandpa had taught me a lot of things, including the art of the war." He saw an opening, or rather a gap he created. As he was aggresive toward the upper left, the below area was left off guard, a trap he set up. As his granpa put the piece to strengthen it, the side was cracked. With a confident, he put his chess on it. And with that move, the game was turned to his favor.
His grandpa laughed out loudly. His grandson set on a trap early on, and simply waited him to be caught in. A smart move. He was steadfast, precisely moved to his opponent favor, and then killed him off. His grandpa nodded in satisfaction. He did not think a 13 years old could pull this move out and fooled him.
"You fool this old man. Good thinking, Lad." He laughed.
"If I may ask, why does Grandpa want to see me? I assume it is not just to play chess, is it?"
"Indeed." He poured tea to his cup and sipped it.
"What do you think about Yang Family's position nowadays?" He continued to ask Yang Jun.
Yang Jun was puzzled. It was uncommon for his grandpa to discuss politic matter with him. "Forgive me if I was lack of understanding about politic and court matter. But I do have some consideration..."
"Oh, really? You can share it with me. I won't blame you even if you are wrong."
"Among the founder families, Yang position is the most fragile and weakest." He uttered, piqued his grandfather's interest.
"Why do you think that?"
"Even though we have priviledge in government and imperial council, the power of black qilin seal, we are lack of one foundation, the military power. Unlike Wei, who is basically has strong military base, Wu and Shu also had their own military advisor and great general who can lead thousands of armies -- not only protect their back, but also lead a war."
"Since grandpa retired, our Yang family lost a figure who is able to lead our troops and strenghten military base. We are only focus on imperial council and politic that we forget to built our own fortress. It's a critical point, that even emperor is wary of Yang family, thus limit our resources and support."
His grandpa nodded. A good analysis. "You are right. These past years, we have no achievement. If we stand out obviously, emperor can get suspicious. But if we have no achievement, our position in the court will be unsteady. Either way is the doom for Yang family. Not even black qilin seal will help."
His grandfather shook his head, wondering, if only this kid become Yang family's successor, it will be such a blessing in the future. It's pity that he is just a son of a mistress.
Yang Jun was Yang Bao's (the current leader of Yang Family) bastard son. His mother was a lowly courtesan of red district. Yang Bao fell in love and had an illicit relationship with her. After learning she was pregnant with his child, he bought her to Yang residence. But living inside the residence was no better than living in hell.
Yang Bao's wife was from well-known family, Shen Family, the side branch family of Shu. He was engaged to her in his young age. They got married not because of love but for the sake of family. Even without love, they gained mutual respect and benefit from the marriage. She was the one who made Yang Bao possible to be head family. So, Yang Bao did not dare to oppose her.
Yang Jun's mother life was miserable -- grieving each day for mistreatment she accepted and abandoment of her love one. She chose to end her own life after giving birth to Yang Jun.
Yang Jun was a shame, unwanted, and unloved child. His father despised him, his stepmother was cruel to him, and his brother bullied him. In addition, the servants in the house did not treat him well.
The one who has been good to him was his grandfather. He was the one who taught him to read and write, recite poem and strum guqin, play the go chess and the art of war. But his grandfather was rarely at home.
He would do anything to please his father and stepmother. But each time he did that, the harsher treatment he got, until he accepted that he was just a black sheep in his family. His antics behavior was a result from constantly resentment and rejection.
From the age of seven, he was taken under his grandpa's wing. That time, his grandpa had retired and spent his time mostly at the eastern gate barrack. He was tired dealing with family and politic issues. That's why he would rather consumme time with troops or meditate in solitude.
"Is it all? Or had something budge you recently?" Yang Jun asked politely. He always talked formally with his grandpa, because Yang Jun highly respected him.
"Hmm... I want to hear your opinion on this matter. I heard something had happened at the border. Children and women had been trafficked through ShenGang to east side. What facinated me is the way they choose the victims. They are either well fed or military background. When the fathers guard the border, their children and wives disappear at the night. This matter has put troops in the border restless." The old man took a sip of a tea, dampening his throat.
"The perpetrators are the ruthless ShenGang horse bandits. They are initially horse bandits, but whether how they turn to be abducters. They know well the desert climate to hide and ambush. But I have my suspicious, they cannot operate by themselves. Someone must have pulled the strings."
"So, grandpa suspicious that there is someone targeting Yang Family?"
The old man nodded. "Fu Zhong dreamed of equality rights for civilians. He fought his life to finally abolish the slavery and human trafficking. He had offended a lot of people in process. Only Yang Family stood tall by his side. And now he has passed away, some regions started arbitraty acts. I do not care about other regions, but the eastern is still under Yang Family protection. The ones they offended are not only us, but also our troops."
"This is indeed an urgent matter. 官逼民反,民不得不反 (guān bī mín fǎn, mín bù dé bù fǎn; When officials force the people to rebel, the people have no choice but to rebel). If we stay silent, the grieving people will lead to betrayal. Later, the accusation of Yang Family rebellion is validated." Yang Jun poured himself a cup of tea, glancing at the chess board in front of him.
"Have you discuss the matter with Father?"
His grandpa sighed helplessly, shaking his head, "Yang Bao doesn't have deep connection to the troops, unlike me. I have fought with them for decades expanding our territory from south to east. Their descendants even serve Yang family. When Yang Bao became prime minister, Gifu had been in peace. He thought if he served the emperor well, Yang Family would be fine. My sons are unreliable. Once they got position within imperial council, they did not take this old man's words into heart."
"Grandpa, do you want to catch rats which mess up with your garden or the one who put them in?"
The old man laughed, "Catching rats are easy, yet useless. Someone might have put them back. What I want is 'who'." His expression shifted dark and serious.
"Jun, it's not simple. Someone is trying to ruin imperial government, using Yang Family as tool. As long as I am still alive, I will not let they succeed."
Yang Jun smiled, he took a piece of black chess from his grandpa's chess container, and put it at the below corner. Soon, the game had changed. The board that seemed to favor white pieces had been turned over.
"If we keep discerning, we will find a way out. The game can be reversed."
This what the old man wanted to hear. They said, Yang Jun was a lion cub, but a roaring mature lion could be seen inside. Even if he was still thirteen, his perception excelled adults. Too bad, his birthright hindered his future. The bastard son title would follow him to his grave.