Taking in adopted sons has been a common practice since ancient times. During times of war and chaos when warlords ruled over different regions, they were especially fond of taking in adopted sons. Having over a dozen or even several dozen adopted sons was considered normal. Sometimes the adopted sons were even older than their adopted fathers. During the peak of power of the Northern Wei Dynasty, military governors even took imperial concubines favored by the emperor as their adopted sons and daughters. The ages of the military governors were old enough to be the fathers of those imperial concubines.
Adopted sons did not mean they were adopted as heirs or successors. It was merely a gesture to build relationships and show favor.
Tang Mingjie was an orphan without any support. Giving him the status of an adopted son would prevent others from bullying him.
After conquering a place, it takes more than just winning battles. There are many trivial matters that need to be handled afterwards.
First, taking inventory of the assets in Tang Manor. These assets include not just movable properties like money and treasures, but more importantly, lands and tenants. Anyone capable of building a castle manor must be a big landlord. Indeed, the Tang family had a lot of fertile lands and tenants. Over the past few years, these were seized and divided up by the stewards and evil servants.
Fortunately, the registers and deeds in the manor were intact, so it was easy to sort everything out clearly.
Unlike Tang Manor, the lands around Ye Manor were not claimed as private properties. Instead, they were distributed to refugees.
If the refugees were only made tenants of Ye Manor, it would be hard to make them stay when times got better and they wished to return home.
In order to make these refugees remain in Dengzhou and truly become Ye Suijin's people, they had to be given permanent properties to cultivate.
But that was unnecessary here in Tangzhou.
The lands were still cultivated by local farmers. They were natives of this place.
Therefore, the former assets of Tang Manor now changed hands and became the Ye family's assets.
Everything was now owned by the Ye family.
It took two days to sort everything out clearly. Ye Suijin called Tang Mingjie over and handed him several deeds, "These are for you."
"But you must understand," she said, "I'm not giving these to you because you are surnamed Tang and should inherit them."
"The Tang family had long lost everything. You and your sister did not have the ability to take them back, so your family's lands and assets had already become others'."
"If I had come a few years later, you would probably have died at the bottom of the well. It seems your sister would not have had the ability to seek medical help for you either."
"You should also know that I am not a great philanthropist."
"I did not come here to seek justice for the Tang family. I came here and seized these assets through my own abilities. So from now on, these manor and lands belong to the Ye family. They are obtained through our Ye family's abilities."
"I owe you nothing." She told Tang Mingjie, "Giving these to you is out of pity for your sister."
If not for the younger brother still waiting for her at the bottom of the well relying on her secret feedings, perhaps with Miss Tang's fortitude, she would have ended her life long ago instead of surviving disgracefully for so many years, suffering the humiliation of bearing children for her enemies.
"Giving these to you is to make sure you do not forget about your sister," she said. "Do you understand?"
It was obvious Tang Mingjie's mind was still a bit slow.
It took him some time to fully digest everything Ye Suijin told him.
"Understand," he said. "Bad people took my family's, made it theirs."
"My family, gone."
"Adopted mother took it back, made it adopted mother's."
"Not mine."
"I, will not forget sister."
Ye Suijin stroked his head, "Your speech has improved a lot."
Tang Mingjie said, "Uncle Ah Jin... talks to me."
Ye Suijin laughed, "How can he be uncle? He is just a child."
Tang Mingjie said, "He said... is uncle, not brother."
Ye Suijin ruffled his hair, "Alright, uncle it is then."
She pondered for a moment, then took off her sword belt and gave it to Tang Mingjie. "This is for you too. Ah Jin's martial arts skill is great, no one will bully him. You should also learn martial arts diligently, then no one will bully you again."
It was Duan Jin who held his hand and taught him how to exert force and kill when he could not stab someone.
Duan Jin was very skilled at killing.
Who would dare bully someone like that?
Tang Mingjie gripped the sword he used to kill his enemies and nodded forcefully.
The location of Tang Manor was truly excellent. Since Ye Suijin had chosen it as a military base, she stationed her troops there directly.
There were so many things to handle that Sanlang, Wulang, Qilang and Shilang were kept busy rushing around. Ye Suijin ordered them about until they were spinning around in circles.
Fortifying the interior defense of the manor was the first task to be done. Although it had already been taken over by the Ye troops at dawn on the day they conquered the manor, now it underwent proper organizational changes and shift rotations were formally assigned.
These were easy to handle since the Ye family members grew up familiar with such defensive duties in their family manor that was also a fortress.
But sorting out the Tang family's land assets was really tedious. The young masters did not enjoy handling these trivial matters. They only loved riding horses and fighting battles, maneuvering troops.
Qilang complained, "We should have brought father along instead of letting him stay behind in Shangma. It would have been better."
Because the elders were more adept at these things.
But Ye Suijin insisted they do it themselves.
"So in future you'll yell for father whenever something comes up?" Ye Suijin asked.
The brothers laughed heartily.
Ye Suijin told them, "In future there will be many more of such matters. Of course you won't have to handle everything personally each time. But if you don't get familiar with these things now while they are right in front of you, later you'll easily be fooled and deceived by your subordinates."
Ye Suijin did not resort to flowery words to inspire them.
But often, her casual remarks seemed to reveal a corner of a long scroll. Always leaving people curious, not knowing how wide the full picture was.
It made people unconsciously straighten their spirits.
Although extremely busy, the young masters worked diligently and willingly.
Ye Suijin sent Tang Mingjie back to Ye Manor.
Not only did Tang Mingjie need to gradually recover his speech and mind, he was also lacking in education over the past few years. His foundations needed to be reinforced first.
She wrote a letter to Fourth Uncle Ye entrusting him with these matters.
Judging from Sanlang and Wulang, Fourth Uncle was quite good at nurturing children.
The locals were already aware that an outlander troop in green and black had conquered Tang Manor.
Soon, these people swiftly came to the villages and informed the elders, asking them to pay their respects to the new master. The tenants were notified that they had a change of owner again.
Among the common folks, farmers were the most docile group.
As long as their lands were not seized, and they were left with enough crops to survive, they would remain docile no matter who their master was. The surname of the owner did not matter.
Just that in the past few years, the previous group had exploited them quite badly, and life was not easy. Suddenly the new master surnamed Ye announced a significant reduction in rents. Although not reduced to the levels during the Tang family's time, it allowed the folks to loosen their belts a little and eat a bit more.
Moreover, the previous group also frequently committed evil acts like bullying men and disgracing women.
The new master's troops were in green and black. They looked spirited and conducted themselves properly, unlike people who would commit evil.
No one had any objections to this change. On the contrary, they eagerly welcomed it with open arms and feet.
Although trivial, these matters proceeded smoothly.
Ye Suijin's main focus was on fortifying the manor.
Tang Manor was an unexpected spoil of war, but it was great. It could be put to good use.
But it was merely a civilian manor, a wall built by a rich landowner to protect his family, life and assets. It was still lacking compared to a military fortress.
Ye Manor was different. From the very beginning it was constructed as a military fortress. After all, it belonged to a military household.
Building military fortresses was Ye Suijin's expertise.
She sent people to deliver Tang Mingjie back to Dengzhou, while summoning Fifth Uncle and Master Yang over to be in charge of the reconstruction works at Tang Manor.
Her younger brothers were too young for such financial and construction matters, her uncles would be more capable at them.
The round trip took several days, as a child was sent away, while middle-aged Master Yang could not travel at the urgent speed of scouts and relay riders.
Ye Suijin took this time to have her brothers take troops out on patrols to sweep the surroundings clean. All the bandits and small groups of thieves in the vicinity were eliminated.
For a period of time, public security within the vicinity was cleaned up extremely well.
She herself remained in the manor, drawing plans and designing the fortress.
Unexpectedly, some people claiming to be clansmen of the Tang family came calling.
"The Tang family?" Ye Suijin raised her eyebrows when she heard the report. "I thought with the exception of Tang Mingjie, all the Tangs were dead?"
"They claim to be relatives." Duan Jin said coldly, "Surely nothing good."
Although the same age as Qilang, Duan Jin completely lacked Qilang's naivety.
No matter how favored one may be, Ye Suijin was still just a pampered servant after all. Having grown up among the lower servants, she had seen the fickleness of status, the warmth and coldness of human feelings, the cunning and scheming.
When he finished speaking, Duan Jin lifted his eyes, only to see Ye Suijin gazing at him, her expression somewhat distracted.
"Master?"
Duan Jin did not know that Ye Suijin had been reborn eighteen years from the future.
In the eyes of others, he had grown into a young man, just beginning to take on the contours of manhood. People had already enthusiastically begun proposing marriage prospects, thinking he should take a wife and start a family. After all, boys his same age already had children.
The fifth, seventh, ninth and tenth young masters had not yet married because they were waiting to take wives of equal status. Elite families could afford to keep their daughters at home a bit longer, allowing them more time to enjoy blessings.
Servants like Duan Jin did not need to wait.
The more presentable head maids also stayed an extra year, to finish training the junior maids.
The rougher maids had no such prospects. As soon as they came of age they were married off, hurried to start bearing children.
But Ye Suijin had been reborn from eighteen years in the future. Etched in her memory was Duan Jin, the stalwart Marshal who had stood tall in the imperial court.
That man had been tough and valiant, with a wild air about him that brooked no disagreement. Only Ye Suijin could tame him.
Those who loved Duan Jin did so fiercely, while those who hated him gnashed their teeth in frustration, yet still they were powerless against him.
Not until the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun had been fully recovered did his enemies make their move.
Having divined the mind of the Emperor, they knew if Duan Jin returned alive, he would surely be made Grand Marshal.
But to an emperor, a dead Grand Marshal was the best kind of Grand Marshal.
Marshal Duan Jin had not returned alive, but his visage was forever engraved in Ye Suijin's heart.
Yet having gone back eighteen years to the past, the fifteen-year-old Duan Jin was not the Marshal.
The boy was naive and tender, bold and beautiful, but ultimately not the same as the man who had touched his forehead to her pearl-studded shoe before riding off to war.
Not just young Duan Jin, even his older brother San Lang seemed but a child in the eyes of the reborn Ye Suijin.
The human heart had such difficulty returning to youth.
Just now, Duan Jin had given a slight, cold laugh. For a moment, Ye Suijin saw in him the shadow of the Marshal.
She greedily wanted to look a moment longer, but Duan Jin lifted his eyes and he was a boy again.
Facing the youth's puzzled gaze, Ye Suijin smiled slightly and lowered her head. "It's nothing."
She lifted her head again. "Who's all here in the fort? Call everyone to come and meet the Tang family together."
Growth happened not just on the battlefield. A person's life encountered so many people and events.
It was because Duan Jin had seen and experienced them together with her that he later became the man he did.
