Taiheiki

Chapter 94 Peng Li Ze

"Asheng? Of course he will stay in Chaisang. It's just in time for him to learn how to manage the household!" Wei Cong picked up an orange from the table. The maid next to him hurried over, stretched out her hands to take the orange peel that Wei Cong had peeled, and turned to walk out.

"Alright!" Diwu Deng's eyes were practically glued to the maid's waist and buttocks. "We've just had two days of good times, and already we're going to be tormented again!"

"Can't bear to part with it?" Wei Cong laughed.

"Yes!" Diwudeng sighed. "Aren't you going south next? Chaisang is already south enough. Going further south, it will be even more desolate!"

"Desolation has its advantages!" Wei Cong said with a smile while eating an orange. "In a desolate place, if you find something good, it's yours. If you were in Luoyang, even if there was something good, would it be your turn?"

"That's right!" Diwu Deng suddenly turned over, leaned closer to Wei Cong, and chuckled softly, "By the way, today I see that Zhou is even more beautiful than before. Such a beauty lost her husband, and I don't know which bastard got her!"

"Have you forgotten the oath I swore to the river today?" Wei Cong knocked Diwudeng on the forehead with the hilt of his knife. "If you dare to attack that person, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Ouch!" Diwudeng screamed and complained, "I was just saying it casually, my dear, you took it seriously!"

"You know whether it's true or not!" Wei Cong clapped his hands. "Go check out the camp! We're leaving in a few days, so don't cause any trouble at this critical moment!"

Diwu Deng grumbled, then stood up and walked out. Wei Cong stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the trees in the yard. He couldn't help but sigh: "It's been more than two months since the troops were sent to Jiangling. I wonder how Ah Jing is doing now." He thought for a moment, then returned to the house, wrote a letter, sealed it, and called a servant, saying, "Send someone back to Jiangling tomorrow to give this letter to Ah Jing!"

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Jiangling, Zhangjiawu Fort.

Of all the rooms in the Zhang family's Wu Fortress, Ah Jing's bedroom was the warmest. Wei Cong had originally laid ceramic pipes in the walls, connecting them to a natural hot spring near the fortress. The hot water flowed through the walls like blood vessels, dispelling the chill from the room. Even on the coldest winter days, Ah Jing needed only a single layer of clothing inside, a luxury she had never experienced even at the Deng residence in Wancheng.

Ah Jing loved staying in the house, leaning against the warm wall. This feeling brought back childhood memories, reminding her of the days when she and her sisters played and ran around in the sun. Those were her happiest times. Because her father died soon after, she was sold into slavery and became a dancer in the Deng family.

But she was lucky. Even though she had become a dancer, she had found a man who loved her deeply. In this regard, she couldn't ask for more. Even if her parents were still alive and she hadn't been sold into slavery, she couldn't imagine finding a better man than Wei Cong. Thinking of this, Ah Jing subconsciously stroked her belly. She could feel Wei Cong's seed taking root, sprouting, and bearing fruit within her. She secretly prayed to the gods that she would give birth to his firstborn son.

"Madam!" The voice of the maid came from outside.

"A letter has arrived from my husband!"

"What!" Ah Jing stood up in surprise. "Bring it in quickly! No, let the messenger come in too. I have something to ask him!"

"Yes!"

Ah Jing took a deep breath, suppressing the ecstasy in her heart. Suddenly, she caught sight of herself in the bedside bronze mirror. Her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were thin. This was not a suitable appearance for meeting an envoy. But she didn't want to spend any more time dressing up. She simply sat back on the bed, grabbed a wide robe and put it on, picked up a hairpin, and hastily tied her hair into a bun.

Soon, the messenger was brought in. He was a man of medium height, dressed in a short brown shirt, with a short knife at his waist. He had a face that would be hard to recognize if thrown into a crowd. After entering the room, he looked around cautiously, and only spoke after the door was closed behind him: "Madam! Please forgive me for interrupting you. The captain asked me to hand over the letter to you personally!" After that, he opened his lapel and took out a scroll of silk and presented it to her.

"Very good!" Ah Jing stretched out her right hand and took the silk book. The familiar handwriting on it made her mouth curl up subconsciously. However, she did not open it immediately. She planned to enjoy this rare happiness in private. Before that, she wanted to ask Wei Cong about his recent situation in person.

"Is my husband ill today? How often does he change his clothes? How much does he eat at each meal? What dishes are there? Does he drink alcohol?"

Faced with Ah Jing's barrage of questions, the messenger looked troubled. He hesitated for a moment and replied, "The captain is fine. He had already arrived in Chaisang when I left. His clothes and food are all good. As for his specific condition, I don't know."

"Really?" Ah Jing looked skeptical. "He killed the county lieutenant. He's probably been on the boat all day, exposed to wind and rain. I'm afraid he can't even have two decent meals a day. He doesn't even have a decent servant by his side. How can you say he's good?"

"Haha!" The messenger laughed. "Madam, you may not know this, but the captain has already taken back the family property for the young master. He has been staying at the Nie Mansion recently, and he has attentive servants waiting on him. You don't need to worry!"

"Young Master? Are you talking about Nie Sheng? Is he in Chaisang now?"

"That's right! He was in Chaisang when I left!" The messenger laughed, "The captain contacted more than ten wealthy people from Jiangxia, Jiujiang, Danyang, Yuzhang and other prefectures and counties. They gathered in Chaisang and beat the Zhou family, who had usurped the young master's family property, to a pulp. It was so satisfying!" He smiled and recounted the story of Wei Cong's recovery of Nie Sheng's family property from beginning to end. "Madam, you don't have to worry about the captain. With his ability, he's the only one bullying others wherever he goes. No one bullies him."

"That's good, that's good!" Ah Jing let out a long sigh. "Then the Zhou family of Lujiang has suffered so much this time, are they just going to let it go like this?"

"Hehe!" The messenger laughed, "Don't worry, Captain, we have hostages in our hands. Why should we be afraid of the Zhou family making a move?"

"Hostages? What hostages?" An ominous premonition suddenly flashed through A Jing's mind.

"That widow!" the messenger laughed. "The captain detained her two children. She couldn't bear to leave them, but she also didn't want to go back and be forced to remarry, so she stayed. The captain also promised to give her the children's share of the family property. The Zhou family had no choice but to accept this loss. What else could they be but hostages?"

When Ah Jing heard this, she suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if someone had tugged at her heart, causing a sharp pain. She waved to the messenger, motioning him to come closer, and lowered her voice to ask, "I'm asking you, is that widow very pretty?"

"This..." No matter how stupid the messenger was, he realized something was wrong. He shrank his neck and answered carefully, "It should be okay. I was far away and couldn't see clearly!" Ah Jing waved his hand, signaling the maid to leave. Then he picked up a pair of silver candlesticks from the cabinet beside the bed and handed them to the messenger. "This is for you. There are only two of us in this room right now. It comes from your mouth and enters my ears. No one else can hear it. As long as you tell the truth, I won't blame you!"

The messenger looked at A Jing, then at the candlestick, his throat moved twice, and he nodded suddenly.

"Fox charmer!" Ah Jing cursed angrily. She stuffed the candlesticks into the messenger's hands and said, "Please keep them for now. I, Ah Jing, will remember this kindness in my heart!"

"Thank you, Madam!" The messenger stuffed the silver candlestick into his arms, bowed to Ah Jing, and hurried out. As soon as the messenger left, Ah Jing swept the things on the cabinet to the ground and burst into tears.

Ah Jing's crying didn't last long. When she was a dancer in the Deng family, she knew that it was common for men of noble status to have other women outside. So when she learned that Wei Cong had detained the widow surnamed Zhou, she was not surprised at all. After all, Wei Cong had his needs as a man. After all, she was pregnant at the time and could not stay by his side. At this time, although she often missed Wei Cong, her main focus was on the fetus in her belly. After all, this was her and Wei Cong's first child, and it would also be her future comfort and support. As for Wei Cong seeking comfort in a warm embrace during his busy military life, it was completely understandable.

But Zhou's presence gave Ah Jing a terrifying association. This woman was not only beautiful but also of noble birth. Most importantly, she had the backing of a powerful family. This was Ah Jing's greatest fear. She knew she was beautiful, but men didn't marry for looks alone—they married for virtue, and concubines for beauty! A wife's virtue referred not only to her personal integrity but also to the support her family provided to her husband. In this regard, she was very self-aware. She knew she had to do something if she didn't want to become one of those pitiful abandoned women in folk songs.

"Someone, get Ayun here!"

A moment later, a beautiful woman came in from outside. She was one of the five dancers that Deng Zhong had given to Wei Cong, and she was also the one who had the best relationship with A Jing.

"Ayun, come here quickly! I have something to tell you!" Ajing said.

"Sister, what's the matter?"

"My husband has a letter!" Ah Jing took out the scroll and shook it. Ah Yun was startled when she heard it, then laughed: "Congratulations, sister. Is my husband all right?"

"Everything is fine!" Ah Jing sighed, "But he has another woman around him now!"

"There's another woman?" Ah Yun forced a smile. "This kind of thing is very common, right? He's out there now, he can't be without someone close to him!"

"This is different!" Ah Jing shook his head: "If we don't do it well, we will all end up in trouble in the future!"

"That's impossible?" Ayun showed a look of doubt: "My husband dotes on you very much, and you have his child. Even if he has a new woman, she will still be ranked behind you!"

"You don't understand, this is different!" Ah Jing recounted Zhou's situation. "If that woman gains power, given her family background, our future will be in jeopardy! So I want you to stay with my husband and keep an eye on that side for me! He's a man who cherishes old feelings. As long as he has his own woman by his side, that bitch won't stand a chance!"

"This..." Ah Yun showed hesitation. Ah Jing saw it, bent his knees, and knelt down in front of his female companion: "Ah Yun, for the sake of our friendship over the years, please agree to me!"

Ah Yun was startled by Ah Jing's sudden action and quickly reached out to support her: "What are you doing? Be careful of the baby in your belly. Okay, I promise you!"

"Okay, go back now and pack your things. Tomorrow morning, you'll board the boat to Chaisang!"

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Chaisang, the big river.

"Look, that's Sangluozhou!" Guo Kui pointed to a sandbar in the north.

"Then how do we get to Pengli Lake?" Wei Cong asked.

"Pengli Lake? It's to the north of Sangluozhou!" Guo Kui replied.

"North? Shouldn't it be on the south side of the river?" Wei Cong asked in surprise.

"If you can say the south is included, but most of them are in the north!" Guo Kui replied.

"What the hell, it turns out that Pengli Lake doesn't refer to Poyang Lake, but the entire lake! Isn't the change in topography between ancient and modern times too huge?" After Guo Kui's explanation, Wei Cong looked at the map he brought before the time travel and the scenery in front of him, secretly complaining.

As a former student at China University of Geosciences, Wei Cong was well aware that the Yangtze River flows from west to east at the junction of Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui provinces. The southern bank of the Yangtze River belongs to Jiangxi Province, while the Gan River, flowing from the heart of Jiangxi, flows north through the mouth of Poyang Lake into the Yangtze River. The northern bank of the Yangtze River is divided between Hubei and Anhui provinces, with the upper reaches of the lake belonging to Hubei and the lower reaches to Anhui.

On the north bank of the Yangtze River in this area, a vast chain of lakes stretches east to west, stretching nearly 100 kilometers from east to west and about 20 kilometers from north to south, facing Poyang Lake on the south bank of the Yangtze River across the river. Today, these lakes are known, from west to east, as Longgan Lake, Longhu Lake, Daguan Lake, Huanghu Lake, and Pohu Lake. The main body of this lake chain is located in Susong County, Anhui Province, with a small portion of Longgan Lake, the westernmost lake, belonging to Huangmei County, Hubei Province. The lakes north of the Yangtze River form a relatively independent river system, flowing slowly from west to east, ultimately entering the Yangtze River through the Huayang River in Wangjiang County.

Between the Jiangbei Lakes and the Yangtze River lies an isthmus-like alluvial plain, nearly 80 kilometers long and 5 to 10 kilometers wide. Across the Yangtze River from this isthmus, downstream from Hukou, lies Pengze County, Jiangxi Province, nestled between mountains and the river.

Since Pengli Lake became a synonym for Poyang Lake after the Sui and Tang dynasties, Wei Cong had always believed that Pengli Lake was located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, at most slightly larger than modern Poyang Lake. However, he didn't realize that before the Western Han Dynasty, the isthmus-like alluvial plain separating the Yangtze River from the lakes north of the Yangtze River didn't exist. In other words, today's Longgan Lake, Long Lake, Daguan Lake, Huang Lake, and Po Lake, a series of lakes north of the Yangtze River, were completely connected to the Yangtze River and even to Poyang Lake on the south bank of the Yangtze River. All of this belonged to a vast, ancient lake stretching hundreds of miles in radius: Pengli Lake. This ancient lake was completely integrated with the main channel of the Yangtze River, forming a water-transmitting lake.

Topographic maps show that the summits of the Dabie Mountains in the north, the Mufu Mountains in the southwest, and the Huangshan Mountains (Southern Anhui Mountain Group) in the southeast coincidentally enclose an area nearly 100 kilometers in radius. In ancient times, this area, shaped by the collision of the North China Plate to the north and the Yangtze Plate to the south, formed the floor of a graben-like valley. At one point, it even served as a bay where the ancient Yangtze Sea extended into the ancient Huaiyang landmass.

(End of this chapter)