MLMD – Chapter 3 The Knock at Dawn

Yue Yang quickened his steps toward the house he had lived in for decades. Moving with practiced familiarity, he went to the head of the bed and fished out the phone from beneath the pillow. When he pressed the power button, the screen lit up. After glancing at it, Yue Yang finally clutched his chest and let out a long breath.

“Good. Twelve days have passed. That means the flow of time in this world is synchronized with the late–Ming world. If that’s the case, I won’t have to worry about any time discrepancies when I go back. But… if I’m away from here for too long, will it attract thieves or cause trouble?”

At the thought, Yue Yang frowned. This house was located in the suburbs, with no other residents nearby. If it stayed unoccupied for too long, it would inevitably invite unnecessary trouble. Moreover, the registered owner of this house—the original Yue Yang—had already been struck dead by lightning. The body Yue Yang now occupied belonged to a twenty-year-old young man. From a modern scientific and legal standpoint, this house no longer had any blood relation to him. If the original Yue Yang failed to appear within a certain period, the state would confiscate the property. Thinking of this made Yue Yang’s head ache.

“Forget it. This problem isn’t urgent for at least half a year. Worst case, I’ll just buy the house back when the time comes.”

After pondering for a long while, Yue Yang simply set the matter aside. He looked at his phone—4:35 a.m. Yue Yang’s heart jolted.

“Oh no, I need to go back. If the Linglong sisters wake up and don’t see me, that’ll be bad.”

Yue Yang hurriedly ran out, leaving the room and rushing into the front yard. He fetched a basin of water, then took the jade pendant from around his neck and placed it into the water. Bright moonlight passed through the surface of the water and shone upon the jade pendant, reflecting streaks of light. These beams intertwined, forming a small silver-white door.

Yue Yang took a deep breath and stepped through the door. The moment he entered, the door—along with Yue Yang and the basin of water—vanished into thin air…

At daybreak, Yue Yang, who had slept for less than an hour, was jolted awake in a daze by a series of urgent knocks.

“Bang bang bang… bang bang bang…”

Soon, Yu Ling’s gentle voice sounded from outside. “Eh… coming… coming… who is it out there, being so rough and noisy? What if you wake the young master?”

“Sister Yu Ling, has the young master woken up yet?” an anxious voice asked at the door. Yue Yang recognized it immediately—it was his pageboy, Shunbao.

“It’s Shunbao. The young master hasn’t gotten up yet. Why are you knocking on the door so early in the morning?” Yu Ling’s gentle tone carried a hint of reproach.

“Sister Yu Ling, something terrible has happened. Early this morning, people from the Wang family came again to fight us over the water—and they even injured several people from our Yue Family Village! Right now, Master Hu is leading the guards and confronting the Wang family by the river!”

After being scolded by Yu Ling, Shunbao’s voice dropped noticeably, but to Yue Yang’s ears it sounded like a muffled thunderclap, making his heart pound violently.

“The Wang family… fighting us over the water again!”

Those words sent waves surging through Yue Yang’s heart.

“What? Those Wang bastards! Last time in Yingzhou City they nearly beat our young master to death, and now they’re actually coming again to steal our water? They’re bullying us too much!” Yu Long’s voice rang out as well.

Listening to the indignant voices of the Linglong sisters outside, Yue Yang quickly recalled certain memories. The previous owner of this body had suffered grievous injuries and fallen unconscious more than ten days ago. Had Yue Yang not taken over this body, that Yue family young master would likely have already died. The culprits behind those severe injuries were none other than people from the Wang family—and the cause had also been a dispute over water.

Outside the courtyard gate, Shunbao—dressed in a servant’s short tunic—was standing there talking with the Linglong sisters. With a creak, the door in the middle of the courtyard opened. Yue Yang, disheveled and untidy, stood in the doorway, looking at them.

The Linglong sisters hurried forward at once. “Young master, why did you come out? Your injuries haven’t fully healed yet!”

Because of the lack of sleep, dark circles ringed Yue Yang’s eyes, and his complexion was poor. This sight only made the sisters more worried.

Yue Yang said solemnly, “I just heard Shunbao say that people from the Wang family came again to fight us over water and even injured some of our people. Is that true?”

Yu Ling quickly tried to soothe him. “Yes, young master. It’s just a minor matter—you don’t need to worry. Master Hu and the others will handle it.”

“A minor matter?” Yue Yang shook his head. “If it were really a minor matter, would Shunbao have run over here so early in the morning to look for me?” He fixed his gaze on Shunbao. “Shunbao, tell me the truth. What’s the situation by the river right now?”

Meeting Yue Yang’s penetrating gaze, Shunbao couldn’t help but shiver. He thought to himself, I never expected the young master’s temperament to change so much after being injured. In the past, if you put it nicely, he was gentle; if you put it bluntly, he was weak. But now—there’s no trace of his former self left. His eyes are like knives.

Under Yue Yang’s sharp stare, Shunbao didn’t dare delay. He recounted the entire matter in detail, and as Yue Yang listened, his brow gradually furrowed.

It turned out that although Yue Family Village, to which Yue Yang belonged, could be considered a major landlord in Yingzhou Prefecture, Yingzhou was vast—it was impossible for the Yue family to be the only gentry landowners. Throughout the prefecture there were many gentry landlords, but the largest and most representative were only four families: the Yue family, the Wang family, the Li family, and the Lin family.

First, the Yue family. They owned the most land in the entire prefecture—over ten thousand mu of fertile fields. Nearly half of the farmland in Wuli Village belonged to them.

Next, the Wang family. They dealt in illicit salt, and their salt trade monopolized nearly the entire Yingzhou market. The Li family controlled close to seventy percent of the fur trade in Yingzhou Prefecture. As for the Lin family, they dominated more than eighty percent of the mining operations in the region.

Logically speaking, since the four families each reigned supreme in different fields, they should have minded their own business and lived in peace. But reality was far from that. For the people of this land, there were only two things that truly mattered: the continuation of bloodlines, and land.

Chinese people—especially in feudal times—had a passion for land that later generations could scarcely imagine. There was an almost fanatical obsession with land, even bordering on fixation, because this attachment was etched into their very bones from birth.

Thus, although the Yue family was known as the largest landlord in Yingzhou Prefecture, in reality the Wang, Li, and Lin families each owned no less land than the Yue family. Even if they did have slightly less, the difference was minimal.

In earlier years, the Yue family’s relations with the other three families were fairly good. But in recent years, tensions had gradually escalated—and there was only one reason: water.

There were four rivers near Yingzhou Prefecture: the Sanggan River, the Hun River, the Huangshui River, and the Mugua River. Wuli Village lay upstream along the Sanggan River, effectively controlling it. The remaining three rivers were controlled by the other three families. The Sanggan River was the main river, while the other three were its tributaries. In past years, when the Sanggan River flowed abundantly, there were no issues. But over the last two years, as the weather grew increasingly dry, problems began to arise.

As the main river, the Sanggan naturally had the greatest flow. But with the ongoing drought, its water level dropped, and the amount of water flowing into the three tributaries decreased accordingly. Once the water diminished, trouble followed. As mentioned earlier, the Wang, Li, and Lin families each owned extensive farmland. Without sufficient water, irrigation became impossible, and harvests declined year after year.

Seeing this, the three families grew anxious—especially the Wang family. Their landholdings were second only to the Yue family’s, and the Hun River they controlled was the most severely affected. Since the start of spring this year, due to water shortages, much of the Wang family’s farmland had cracked, making it impossible to sow rice. When summer arrived, the situation worsened further—many rice paddies dried up completely.

Faced with this, the Wang family naturally turned their attention to the Sanggan River. The Wang clan head, Wang Shoucheng, personally went to see the Yue family matriarch, hoping that the Yue family would allow the Wang family to dig a canal upstream along the Sanggan River, diverting more water into the Hun River.

Although the Yue family matriarch was kind-hearted, she was utterly unyielding on this matter. What a joke. With the drought, the Sanggan River’s water level had already dropped sharply. Even irrigating Wuli Village’s own fields was barely sufficient. If the Wang family were allowed to dig a canal and divert water to the Hun River, what would the Yue family do? Moreover, once such a precedent was set, the Li and Lin families would certainly swarm in with the same demands. If all were granted, would the Yue family’s fields still survive? Would the tenant farmers who depended on the Yue family still have food to eat? This was absolutely unacceptable.

After being so decisively rejected, the Wang family head Wang Chenglin returned home and began instigating his people to come to Wuli Village every few days to cause trouble, even secretly sending men to attempt to dig canals. Naturally, the people of Wuli Village refused to allow it, and thus conflict erupted, escalating more and more. The Yue family even stationed people to guard the Sanggan River around the clock to prevent the Wang family from secretly digging canals. Several times, the two sides nearly erupted into large-scale armed clashes.

This feud also spread to the younger generation. A few days earlier, the Yue family’s young master, who was studying in Yingzhou Prefecture, had run into the Wang family’s second young master, Wang Chenglin, at the Baihua Pavilion in Yingzhou City. A conflict broke out, and the Yue family’s young master was beaten so badly that he nearly lost his life—creating the opportunity for Yue Yang to seize this body.

Hearing all this, Yue Yang finally understood—so even the young masters of great landlord families weren’t entirely free of troubles.

“Shunbao, come with me to the Sanggan River at once. Remember—bring more people with you!”

Looking at the uneasy Shunbao, Yue Yang gave his order.