Taiheiki

Chapter 71 Missed
"My dear, is this woman playing any tricks?" Diwu Deng whispered, "Should I capture her?"

"No need!" Wei Cong stared at the dancers beside the pond and said with a smile, "She's singing Qu Yuan's 'Nine Songs of the Mountain Ghost'. It's fine!"

In the blink of an eye, Lu Ping had already sung the last few lines, her voice rising in pitch. Just as Wei Cong was secretly sighing that this woman had made a good living as a singer, Lu Ping suddenly let out a low cry, swept the bamboo fan in her hand across the water, and rolled up a white chain, and then jumped out of the stone platform. Wei Cong was startled. The side where Lu Ping jumped was a cliff, a full forty or fifty meters below the mountain. Was she going to commit suicide?
"Bitch!" Diwu Deng cursed. He grabbed a crossbow and rushed to the edge of the stone platform, but was stunned by the scene before him. He saw a pair of water wings appear on Lu Ping's shoulders, gliding away in the mountain breeze.

"Witch!" Diwu Deng raised his crossbow and was about to shoot, but was stopped by Wei Cong who had caught up with him, and the crossbow arrow flew away.

"Lang Jun!"

"Forget it. I've watched her dance once, so I'll just let her off this time!" Wei Cong had a half-smile on his face, without any anger at all. "There's a long way to go, and there will be many opportunities to interact with each other in the future! There's no need to cut off all connections!"

"Yes!" Although he wasn't quite sure what Wei Cong meant, Diwu Deng nodded and said, "So what should we do now?"

"Let's go back to Chaisang first!" Wei Cong said, "If there's anything, we can talk about it when we get back!"

On the way back, the soldiers all looked strange. Although they hadn't gained anything today, what they had seen and heard was enough to make them talk. If it weren't for the constraints of military law, they would probably be whispering to each other by now.

A roar interrupted the peaceful return journey. Diwu Deng's face changed drastically and he shouted, "My dear, that witch is back! We shouldn't have let her escape!"

"Hmm!" Wei Cong's expression turned a little ugly. "Never mind. It's my fault today. I was seduced by her charm!"

"I dare not!" Diwu Deng was startled and said quickly, "This is not my lord's fault at all. It doesn't matter. We can catch him later!"

Just as Diwudeng ordered his soldiers to form a battle array to protect Wei Cong, a leopard appeared from a short distance ahead. It looked vaguely like the one that had accompanied Lu Ping. The leopard was holding a large package in its mouth. It dropped it onto the road, growled at Wei Cong and the others, and retreated into the woods beside the road.

"That beast looks like it's delivering a package!" Diwu Deng whispered.

"Well! Send someone over and bring the package over!" Wei Cong said.

A moment later, Wei Cong stood beside the package and saw a horn bow and dozens of horseshoe gold coins inside. Wei Cong picked up the horn bow and looked at it carefully, and found a seal with small seal script on the handle of the bow.

"Great Qu? Could this be Nie Zheng's bow?" Wei Cong put the bow aside and rummaged through the package, finding a slip of paper. He opened it and saw a note written in elegant handwriting: "Nie Zheng's bow, the money for redeeming my freedom, are all here." "Lu Ping has not let you down in today's matter. I will repay you someday."

"This woman is quite interesting. She ran away and even returned the ransom money! What did she mean by 'revenge' at the end? Is she going to take revenge on me? It seems not!" Wei Cong thought to himself, "Well, if we can turn enemies into friends, that would be great. After all, I'm not strong enough to deal with the King of Qinghe! Her last move was really beautiful. I must find out what happened!"

"My dear, do you want to chase that witch now?" asked Diwu Deng.

"She worships a mountain ghost. This forest is her territory, and she has a leopard to protect her. What are we chasing after?" Wei Cong picked up the horn bow and said, "Forget it, let's go back to Chaisang! We have the bow of Daqu in our hands now, and we have a way to avenge Nie Zheng. There's no need to continue to work hard!"

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Chaisang, Nie Mansion, Back Hall.

"Madam, please look at this bow!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "Is this the one your husband used when he was alive?"

"Yes, it is the 'big quiz' that my husband uses every day!" A hint of joy flashed across Zhou's face, but at this moment she no longer had the ambiguity and warmth that she had when she was with Wei Cong a few days ago. A young man in his early thirties was sitting on her right, looking at Wei Cong warily, as if he was looking at a thief who had broken into the house.

Wei Cong glanced at the young man. He also sensed the subtle change in the atmosphere, but he had been through a lot and was no longer the rookie he had been when he first crossed over. He pretended not to notice anything unusual. "That's great! I put in a lot of effort this time but failed to catch the thief. I was too embarrassed to see my wife again. I was lucky enough to get back Brother Nie's beloved bow, so it can be said that my trip was not in vain!"

"Ah, you couldn't catch the thief. What happened?" Zhou was a little surprised. She knew that Nie Zheng's bow was a treasure passed down from generation to generation, and it was quite famous in Yuzhang County. When the murderer took the bow, he obviously knew its value. Recovering the bow was obviously much more difficult than finding the murderer. Now Wei Cong was able to recover the bow, but the thief escaped. It was indeed a bit strange.

Wei Cong smiled and glanced at the young man, but said nothing. Zhou Shi understood that Wei Cong didn't want to reveal his identity in front of strangers, so she said with a smile, "This is my cousin, Zhou Ping. Ever since my husband passed away, our family has been uneasy. I wrote home, asking him to bring two hundred pieces of music to Chaisang to look after us. Feel free to speak frankly if you have anything to say; there's no need to avoid him!"

"A few days ago, this woman acted like she wanted to use me to help her seize the family business. Now that someone has come to her house and I'm no longer needed, she puts on the appearance of a chaste and heroic woman! No wonder Jin Yong said that the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie!" After finding out the whole story, Wei Cong was secretly unhappy and decided to let this woman know how powerful he was.

"So that's how it is. Then I don't have to worry about Madam's safety anymore!" Wei Cong laughed. "But there's one more thing: Mr. Nie wants to take me as his adoptive father. I see he loves the child very much, so I plan to take him back to Nanjun with me. Let Madam know!"

"What, Mr. Nie wants to worship you as his adoptive father!" Zhou was surprised: "How come I didn't know this?" "Haha!" Wei Cong smiled: "This is all my fault. In fact, before I came to Chaisang, Master Nie had expressed to my subordinates that he was willing to worship me as his adoptive father and asked me to help him inherit the family business. But I have always been fair and don't want to listen to one side of the story. So I didn't agree to Master Nie's request at the time. I planned to come to Chaisang and see the situation here with my own eyes before making any plans. After arriving in Chaisang, I met the lady and found that she was kind and kind. She was also Brother Nie's legal wife and had an adopted son. Naturally, the family business should be temporarily managed by the lady, and then handed over to the adopted son when he grows up; as for Master Nie, I would just give him some of Brother Nie's family business——"

snort!
Zhou Ping was furious when he heard Wei Cong sitting there, talking about how to deal with the family property after Nie Zheng's death. He snorted coldly, "Who are you to dare to say anything about the Nie family's affairs? Nie Zheng is gone, and my sister is in charge of the family affairs. Nie Sheng is just a young boy, how can he be asked to cause trouble? As for you, there is no need to say more. You talk about being an adopted son and a foster father, aren't you just coveting the Nie family's property? I give you a quarter of an hour, get out of the Nie Mansion immediately, or your life will be in danger!"

"Jiulang, don't be so rude!" Zhou Ping hurriedly stopped her. Then she turned her gaze to Wei Cong and said with a smile, "My brother's words were rude. I beg Mr. Wei to forgive me. But no matter what, Ah Sheng is my late husband's flesh and blood. If I follow you to Nanjun like this, I'm afraid there will be rumors in the county that I'm unfair and oppressing my late husband's son. I absolutely cannot tolerate this!"

"Madam, perhaps you haven't understood what I mean!" Wei Cong clapped his hands twice. Diwudeng and Liu Jiu had already entered the hall and stood behind Wei Cong, swords drawn. More than a dozen crimson-robed guards followed them, guarding the steps below. Zhou and Zhou Ping suddenly became nervous. Zhou Ping, startled, took a half step back and said, "What are you trying to do? We are the Zhou family of Lujiang. We have several high-ranking officials in our family. We can wipe you out with just a letter!"

"Madam!" Wei Cong ignored Zhou Ping and said to Zhou, "I'm not here to discuss anything with you, but to inform you. Young Master Nie has already boarded my ship and is on his way to Nanjun. Secondly, I'm taking him away not because I suspect you will harm him, but because your mansion is no longer safe. If your family hadn't sent troops here, I would have advised you to flee!"

"I'll avoid it too?" Zhou was a little confused. She looked at Wei Cong again to make sure he wasn't joking. "What do you mean, Mr. Wei?"

"Let me put it this way!" Wei Cong said, "Actually, I had already caught the murderer who killed your husband, but then she escaped!" Having said that, Wei Cong winked at Diwu Deng who was standing beside him. Diwu Deng went downstairs and when he came back in a moment later, there was a witch beside him.

"Tell Madam what happened that day!" Wei Cong said.

"Yes!" The witch responded, and then carefully led everyone to the cave where they worshipped the mountain gods. They met Lu Ping by chance, and Wei Cong captured him with a trick, and then he escaped with magic. The hall was dead silent at this time, and everyone was stunned by the twists and turns and weirdness of the process.

"Madam! I was able to capture Kun Dao the first time because I caught her off guard. The second time, she was prepared, and there was nothing I could do to her. Putting aside other things, just the leopard at her side makes her invincible in the mountains and forests. Not to mention that she claims her ancestors were great witches who served the King of Chu, and who knows how many magic skills she possesses. Although my soldiers are brave, there is nothing we can do to her!"

"Is this, is this all true?" Zhou asked with a mixture of belief and doubt.

"Whether it's true or not, you can ask her, madam!" Wei Cong pointed at the witch.

"Tsk—" Zhou Ping scoffed. "I didn't expect you to be such a master at making up stories. This woman must have been bribed by you. You just told her to say whatever she wanted. In the final analysis, you just wanted to scare my sister and profit from it!"

"You--" Diwu Deng was furious when he heard this. Before he could curse, Wei Cong raised his hand: "Forget it, believe it or not! Goodbye!" He stood up, bowed to Zhou as a greeting, then turned around without hesitation and walked out.

"Wait a minute!" When Wei Cong reached the door, he heard Zhou's voice behind him. He stopped, turned around and asked, "Madam, what's the matter?"

"I'm so ignorant, I don't know if the story about the assassin being a witch is true or not!" Zhou caught up with him and said, "But it's true that Lord Wei helped me recover my late husband's belongings. And Ah Sheng is my late husband's blood, after all, and he has a share of the family fortune. Come, take all the valuables from the left treasury and send them to the dock!"

"Sister, why are you doing this?" Zhou Ping was anxious when he heard this and lowered his voice and said, "You want to give away all the valuables!"

Zhou ignored her and just put her hands flat on her left chest, pressed her right hand on her left hand, bent her right leg backward, bent her knees, and bowed to Wei Cong. Wei Cong was stunned when he saw this, and smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, madam!" After that, he bowed and turned to leave.

Zhou Ping watched Wei Cong and his group leave, and the servants begin to carry away the valuables as Zhou had instructed. He couldn't help but get anxious: "Sister, are you really going to give that guy so much money? He's clearly trying to take advantage of Nie Zheng's death to extort money. Seeing that you have someone from your mother's family, and unable to get any money, he captured that kid Nie Sheng and even made up a story to cheat you out of money. Did you fall for his trap so easily?"

"Guo Kui, take twenty people with you and deliver the valuables to Mr. Wei at the dock!" Zhou ignored Zhou Ping and spoke directly to Guo Kui.

"Yes!" Guo Kui responded, then turned around and directed his men to start loading the truck. Zhou Ping, seeing this, became anxious and angry, grabbing Zhou's shoulders and saying, "Have you been bewitched by that guy? Why won't you listen to me?"

"Let go!" Zhou Ping's hand was thrown away. "If I don't listen to you, then I've lost my mind. Don't forget, you're just a guest I invited. I'm the one who's in charge of the Nie family right now, not you!"

"You—" Zhou Ping's face turned pale and blue, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a moment. After a while, he said, "Okay, okay, okay! You're awesome now! Don't forget what was written in the letter! If I hadn't brought people here, that Wei guy would have become your lover long ago, and you would have been chewed up and swallowed by him long ago!"

"So what?" Zhou sneered. "I'm a woman, meant to be chewed up and swallowed by men. That Wei guy is handsome and capable, so what's wrong with that? But when you came, you took over the back hall first, as if it were your family property. When it comes to eating, you're not even as good as him!"

"I'm doing this all for the Lujiang Zhou family!" Zhou Ping raised his voice: "Don't forget, your last name is Zhou too!"

"We women take the surname of whoever we marry!" Zhou sneered. "Wei Cong at least found my late husband's heirloom. You've been here for a few days now, what have you done? Eat meat? Drink? Play with women? Count the Nie family's assets? Don't forget, this is Chaisang, not Lujiang. Mr. Nie also has his mother's family. If you don't restrain your behavior, you'll be driven back sooner or later!"

Zhou Ping suddenly came to his senses after hearing these last two words from Zhou. Just as Zhou had said, although Nie Sheng had lost his status as the eldest son of the Nie family due to his mother's death, his mother's family still existed and was still a prominent local clan. If Zhou Ping brought hundreds of people to the Nie family and turned hostile, it would only be a matter of time before Nie Sheng went to his mother's family to seek help and drive out these "outsiders" from the Zhou family. After all, people at that time were extremely attached to local clans.

(End of this chapter)