Protect Our Patriarch

Chapter 2 – Where did the system go?

“Looks like I can only take one step at a time.” Wang Shouzhe looked grave, but he quickly felt relieved.

Even if he didn’t have a golden finger, he did have some advantages.

At least after merging the memories, he discovered that although there were many experts in this world, they were not as advanced as the humans on the earth in terms of livelihood development and sophisticated thinking, even although he was just an office worker who graduated from a normal university.

Just as he was about to summarize his advantages…

His personal servant, a panicking Wang Gui barged in, “Patriarch, Patriarch, bad news! The sixth master was beaten! He sent someone back to summon for help.”

Sixth master?

Wang Shouzhe frowned slightly, his memories came flooding back, “It’s sixth uncle, Wang Dinghai.”

Wang Dinghai was his clan uncle, ranked sixth according to the family’s generation. He has average aptitude, but was good on water, so he oversaw the fishing fleet, one of the family businesses.

Now that Wang Dinghai was beaten up, there should be some uncertainties on the side of the clan-owned fishing fleet.

Great! He would take the opportunity to personally investigate this world.

“Calm down. Why’re you panicking? Where’s your decorum?” Wang Shouzhe himself calmed down when he thought of checking out the xuanhuan world.

After rebuking his servant, he said, “Prepare the carriage, let’s go and have a look.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Wang Gui responded and rushed off to prepare for the trip.

Wang Shouzhe walked out of the door according to his memory and strolled towards to the main house’s main door.

Along the way, he observed the various architectural facilities and structures of the main house, confirming them with the memories in his mind.

Along the way, he happened to see his father’s official wife, Gongsun Hui. With a grave expression, she led several of the family’s generals and rushed towards the main gate.　　

Wang Shouzhe bowed to Gongsun Hui, “Madam.”

Wang Shouzhe knew his mother passed away when he was a child. Subsequently, his father married Gongsun Hui as his official wife. They had a daughter named Wang Luomiao, who was eight years old this year.

Although Gongsun Hui was Wang Shouzhe’s official mother, she wasn’t his biological mother. But her natural disposition was simple and kind. She had always treated Wang Shouzhe as if he were her own son and took good care of him in every aspect.

This was different from the other xuanhuan novels.

Gongsun Hui stepped forward and took Wang Shouzhe’s hand when she saw him. She was solicitous, “Zhe’er, why did you come out? Have you eaten? Do you feel better?”

The other generals also hurriedly made their obeisance to Wang Shouzhe.

“Madam, I’m fine. I’ve eaten all the spiritual food which you asked the servants to prepare. Let’s talk more about this later.”

He gently broke free, and solemnly said, “You’re leading the generals. Are you going to support sixth uncle? I’ll go with you.”

Gongsun Hui expression turned grim, and she hesitated before saying, “Since you’ve inherited the position of the patriarch, you’ll face these sooner or later. Since you’ve recovered, let’s go together and investigate what’s happening.”

“Yes, madam.”

The two of them walked out of the main entrance of the main house. On the front entrance plaque, the characters of “Ping’an Wang” were written in a lively and vigorous calligraphy style, and the grandeur of the writing was extraordinary.

However, the flaking lacquered corridors and the white lanterns with the word “奠” (dien – signifying death in the family) which were fluttering in the wind, showed the decline and desolation of the Wang family.

“Patriarch, Madam Gongsun, the carriage is ready.” Wang Gui trotted over. “The swords, bows and arrows are already on the carriage.”

After a brief discussion, Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui shared a carriage, while the four family generals each rode yellow horses to escort them all the way to the Anjiang Dingpu ferry crossing.

On the way, Gongsun Hui recounted the causes and consequences.

The transmigrated Wang Shouzhe quickly understood the actual situation. Anjiang was a large river hundreds of km wide. The river was rich in distinctive aquatic biodiversity. The fishing fleets could generate long-term economic benefits.

Where there was money to be made, there would be conflicts. Naturally, none of the three prominent families in Ping’an town would be willing to give up this lucrative business.

After all kinds of fights and compromises, the three families finally demarcated their respective territories, and prohibited the crossing of the boundaries.

The territory of the Ping’an Wang clan comprised 30 miles of the river from the Dingpu ferry port to the right of the rocky shore.

It was just that in recent years, the other two families’ talents continued to raise in prominence. As such, their ambitions had grown. With the limited territory, it was naturally easy to stick one’s chopsticks into someone else’s pot.

The piecemeal encroachment had been going on for ages. The family’s territories and industries had been shrinking year after year. The smaller the territory, the scarcer the resources would be, and it would be increasingly difficult for the clan to grow. From then on, it would be a vicious circle.

The situation was dire. The clan’s defining force, ancestor Longyan’s health was deteriorating by the year. She had been in retreat/ seclusion for the last few years. Although such a huge incident happened at home, she didn’t even appear. The outside world was bound to wildly speculate whether she could still fight!

The situation wasn’t looking good, Wang Shouzhe frowned.

It is said that the main residence of the Wang family was built on the mountain and near the water, only 10 miles away from the Dingpu ferry wharf. The road was solid and maintained all year round. With the outpost general leading the way, the carriage arrived smoothly in less than half an hour.

When this wharf was first built in Ping’an town, it was already one of the outposts of Chang Ning’wei. After more than 100 years of development in Ping’an town, Dingpu Ferry has become a major transportation link connecting north and south.

All three families had docks, ferries, shops, and other infrastructure here.

There were some simple defensive facilities at the wharf. The walls were rather rudimentary, only between five or six meters high and could only withstand the impact of small-scale ferocious beasts.

After Wang Shouzhe and his party entered the terminal, they headed straight towards the deep-water pier. Under the long wooden pier, towered mammoth wooden pillars, which lifted the pier three or four zhang (1 zhang = 3.33m) above the deep-water. There were two more lateral bridges in the deep-water area, forming a berth.

Water vessels of various sizes docked at the berth. These included ferries, merchant ships, and fishing boats.

From a far-off distance, one could see two groups of people confronting each other at the end of the bridge. Both sides held clubs, knives, and spears, and were very violent.

“Wang old sixth, you’re certainly bold! You dare to bring people to block your Yongzhou young master, do you think your young master hasn’t beaten you hard enough?” A youth’s teasing and taunting voice rang out.

“You! Liu family’s son of a bitch.” Another man’s voice roared in agitation and anger, “Weren’t you hiding under the water for a sneak attack? If you’re a man, we’ll rely on our own skills.

“Dive into the water, let’s battle it out with knives and spears. Let your Wang family sixth master teach you, son of a bitch, how to behave like a human being.”

“Wang old sixth, don’t blame this little master for looking down on you. You’ve been living like a dog for ages, you don’t have any brains.”

The youth sneered, “Underwater ambush is one of the war tactics. Come on, you don’t expect me to announce this in advance, do you? Why can’t I use this tactic?

“Really, the older you get, the more you go to the dogs. Why don’t you get out of Ping’an town earlier, so as not to waste food.”

His group of men burst into raucous laughter, and followed him in heckling, get out of Ping’an town, get out of Ping’an town!

Dingpu Ferry terminal was crowded with many travellers and merchants. At this time, they had gathered around to watch the excitement, and were babbling away.

These bystanders would inevitably spread the conflict today, like a wildfire to many other places.

The Ping’an Wang family, the loser, would become a laughingstock for a while, and the butt of after dinner conversations. All these were detrimental to the Wang clan’s power.

“You! Son of a bitch of the Liu family.” Wang sixth uncle was boiling red in rage, “You big bully, your sixth master will fight with you!”

“Wang’s old dog, come on if you’ve the guts!”

The two-armed groups were on the cusp of battling it out…

“Stop it!” Seeing the urgency of the situation, Gongsun Hui rushed into to the middle of the confrontation to stop them, “Wang Dinghai, Liu Yongzhou, please calm down first. It’s best to talk rather than fight.”

Wang Shouzhe was afraid that his official mother would be injured. With a wave of his hand, the four royal family generals rushed forward to protect Gongsun Hui. The cold-eyed Wang Shouzhe followed closely behind and continued to observe everything.

On-site observation and memory told him that the young man attired in a close-fitting wetsuit, with a short blade hanging from his waist and looking slovenly was called Liu Yongzhou, a member of Liu’s family.

According to rumours, he was good at water warfare, and was exceptional at escaping in water.

He once dived with a short blade to kill a first-ranked fierce beast, a red-scaled eel which weighed more than 100 kilograms. However, he became famous at around the age of 23-24 and showed great potential for success.

The other man was lean and dark-skinned. He looked like someone who made his livelihood from the rivers. It was just that his head and arms were wounded, and he cut a sorry figure with his wounds wrapped in some linen cloth.

That was Wang Dinghai, Wang Shouzhe’s clan uncle. He was responsible for the family’s fishing operations within their territory. He was also very good at water combat, fishing, and hunting. He was also the main catcher of the red-tailed Linggan which Wang Shouzhe ate earlier.

“Well, well, looks like it’s Madam Gongsun of the Wang family.” Liu Yongzhou smiled and paid his respects.

Then, he ridiculed Wang Dinghai, “Wang old sixth, you and I, a junior, had some friction and conflicts, and you summoned your clan sister out here to support you. Yongzhou truly admire you, and feels ashamed.”

“You…” Wang Dinghai’s dark face turned beet red.