Taiheiki

Chapter 25 Suspicious
"Not two or three, sir!" the steward said hurriedly, "I just counted them outside. Including sir Wei himself, there are eight of them, all fully dressed in robes and swords. In addition, there are two beautiful girls in the carriage to serve him."

"What?" Cai Buyi's expression changed drastically. Wei Cong suddenly having seven guards wasn't the biggest deal. A fully equipped guard and two beautiful women couldn't just fall from the sky. Could it be that the mysterious force hiding behind him had finally appeared? The thought of this made him feel as if his entire body were soaked in icy water, chilling him to the bone.

"My dear, my dear!" The steward couldn't help but get anxious when he saw Cai Buyi remained silent. "He's waiting outside now. What arrangements are we going to make? Please explain quickly!"

"Oh, oh!" Cai Buyi suddenly woke up from his dream and said hurriedly, "Quick, please invite him in. No, it's better for me to go out and greet him myself!"

At the main gate of Cai's mansion, Wei Cong was getting a little impatient when suddenly the gate opened. Cai Buyi hurried out but tripped over the threshold. If the steward next to him had not supported him, he would have almost fallen to the ground.

"Brother Cai, be careful!" Wei Cong hurried forward.

"It's okay, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Brother Wei!" Cai Buyi bowed awkwardly. He looked up and down at the attendants and Meiji behind Wei Cong, and asked in doubt, "Brother Wei, what are these--?"

"Haha!" Wei Cong laughed dryly twice, not knowing how to explain it for a moment. He couldn't just say he was going to the Deng family in Wancheng to get a free ride, could he? He could only avoid the question and said, "Brother Cai, I'm here to say goodbye to you today."

"Goodbye? Then where are you going, Brother Wei?" Cai Buyi was not surprised at all. In his opinion, Wei Cong went to Wancheng this time most likely because he heard the news from Luoyang. His charges were cleared and he could return to Luoyang to be a nobleman. These followers and the two beauties sent by their families to pick him up were evidence.

"Let's go to Wancheng first, and maybe stay there for a while!" Wei Cong said with a smile. He decided not to tell anyone about his relationship with the Deng family for the time being. After all, nothing has been decided yet, so he wants to avoid any unexpected changes.

"Wancheng? It's not far from Xinye! Brother Wei, you should visit often in the future!" Cai Buyi has regained his composure. In his opinion, it is not surprising that Wei Cong is temporarily staying in Wancheng. After all, Wancheng is one of the largest metropolises in the world, and it has convenient transportation to Luoyang. In Wancheng, you can attack or defend. It is a very smart move when the situation in Luoyang is not yet clear.

"Of course!" Wei Cong said with a smile. He was still grateful to Cai Buyi, the benefactor who had taken him in in the first place. "I still have a lot to learn from Brother Cai in the future!"

"It seems that this guy hasn't thought of me as the one responsible for this attack. I'm truly blessed!" Cai Buyi observed Wei Cong's expression and felt that his face was the same as usual. His heart, hanging in the air, slowly settled down. He grabbed Wei Cong's arm and said, "Wine and water are ready in the hall. Please follow me in and I'll welcome you!"

"Well, excuse me for bothering you!" Wei Cong readily agreed. After all, the one million gold coins were still in the carriage! He had to find a chance to talk about this matter.

Despite the short timeframe, the Cai family's food and wine were quite sumptuous. While not as good as the Deng family's, the lamb stewed with garlic and turnips, the carrot and taro pork soup, the rucai tofu soup, and the cabbage salad topped with pickled beans were all quite delicious. Cai Buyi seized every opportunity to urge Wei Cong to drink, and even though the rice wine was mild, Wei Cong was already a bit tipsy.

"Brother Wei!" Cai Buyi's eyes swept over the beauties kneeling on both sides of Wei Cong. It was not difficult to see that these two beauties not only had good conditions, but also had received strict training. Their behavior was well-behaved and they could not have been raised by anyone other than aristocratic families.

"What's the matter?"

"I just heard from the steward that you encountered thieves on your way back from Wancheng! Is that true?"

"Oh! It's true!" Wei Cong touched his forehead and said with a smile: "If Brother Cai hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten it. Yannian!"

"Here!" Zhao Yannian, who was standing behind Wei Cong, said in a deep voice.

"Bring over the two boxes we just unloaded from the car!"

Zhao Yannian responded, and a moment later he led his men to carry two rattan boxes up and placed them next to Wei Cong. Wei Cong opened the boxes, revealing stacks of gold cakes inside.

"I'm grateful to Brother Cai for taking care of me this time in Xinye. Here's three hundred thousand coins as a token of my gratitude. Please accept it!"

Cai Buyi was startled by the sudden large sum of gold and quickly said, "How can this be possible? Brother Wei and I are of the same mind. It is my duty to entertain the Japanese when Brother Wei is in trouble. If Brother Wei gives me gold as a gift, wouldn't I, Cai Buyi, be considered a greedy villain? Absolutely not!"

"Brother Cai, there's no need to refuse!" Wei Cong patted the back of Cai Buyi's hand and said, "I have something else to ask of you. Please listen to me first, Brother Cai!"

"What's the matter?"

"That's what happened!" Wei Cong said with a smile, "During the time I've been staying at your house, there are a few craftsmen who are quite interested in me. I'd like to take them with me when I leave this time. I hope Brother Cai will agree to this!"

Hearing Wei Cong's request, Cai Buyi breathed a sigh of relief. This was just a small matter. "That's easy. I'll have the steward go with you tomorrow. If you like any of the names, just cross them off the list and you can take them away!"

"Thank you, Brother Cai!" Wei Cong was secretly happy and secretly calculated which ones to take away. It would be best if they had large families and were short of money, so that he could just give them some settling-in money. Otherwise, those with families would not feel at ease even if they went with him.

Cai Buyi carefully observed Wei Cong's expression, and he seemed to be unaware of the inside story of the bandit attack. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, raised his glass, and said with a smile, "Brother Wei, I heard from the steward that you were attacked by bandits when you returned from Wancheng this time. Fortunately, you are safe and sound. I was really shocked!"

"Yes!" Wei Cong gave a wry smile. "Looking back now, it was probably because the vehicle was so heavy that the thieves took notice. Fortunately, the guards fought hard and repelled the thieves!"

"Yes! Are there any prisoners alive? Hand them over to me, and I will capture and punish all the remaining thieves!"

"Not really! I've beheaded thirteen people, but I've never captured anyone alive!"

Cai Buyi breathed a sigh of relief, but said, "That's a pity!"

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"Cai Buyi finally accepted it!" Wei Cong took the bowl of soup from the concubine next to him and smiled at Zhao Yannian, "I feel so relieved. Otherwise, with so much gold in the carriage, I would always be worried and couldn't sleep well! Don't you think so, Yannian?"

"Yeah!" Zhao Yannian responded casually, but his eyes were wandering. Obviously, his attention was not here, but he was thinking about something else.

"What's wrong?" Wei Cong noticed something was wrong with his men. "Do you think something's wrong?" "No, no!" Zhao Yannian quickly denied it. Wei Cong frowned. "What's wrong? Is there anything we can't talk about?"

"No, no!" Zhao Yannian showed an embarrassment: "This is just a feeling, I am not sure yet!"

"It's okay, just tell me!" Wei Cong became serious. He still trusted Zhao Yannian very much and could not afford to be careless at this time.

"That's right, that's right. When you said that no prisoners were captured, I felt that Cai Buyi seemed relieved!"

"Relieved? What do you mean?"

"How should I put it? It's like a porter who has walked a long way and then put the burden off his shoulders!"

Wei Cong's expression grew solemn, and Zhao Yannian dared not speak, holding his breath. A few minutes later, Wei Cong turned to the concubine next to him and asked, "A Jing, you were to my right at the banquet, facing Cai Buyi. How do you feel?"

"I had a similar feeling!" the concubine replied. "At first, I felt that the man was tense, his movements and words unnatural. At that time, I thought it was because of your noble status that he acted like that. But later on, he did become relaxed and at ease. I just can't remember exactly when he became relaxed!"

"I understand!" Wei Cong nodded. "Don't mention this matter again. Also, Yannian, when you go back, tell everyone that everyone should be careful tonight. Do you understand?"

"The villain understands!"

"Back off first!"

"As you command!" Zhao Yannian bowed, then walked backwards to the door before turning and leaving. Wei Cong sighed, "Why is this happening? He saved my life, so why would he send someone to harm me? Is this a mistake?"

"My dear!" The concubine said with a smile while massaging Wei Cong's shoulders, "He had reasons to save you back then, so he certainly has reasons to kill you now, perhaps for money or murder?"

"Murder for money?" Wei Cong gave a wry smile. "That shouldn't be the case, right? You saw it too. He didn't do anything, but I gave him 300,000 yuan."

"Haha!" Ah Jing laughed. "Before he did it, he didn't know you would give him 300,000 yuan!"

Wei Cong was speechless. Ah Jing shifted the massage to his back and whispered softly into Wei Cong's ear, "Actually, if you really want to know the truth, it's not difficult. Just ask Master Deng and he'll reveal the origins of this gang of thieves!"

"really?"

"Of course it's true! That's the Nanyang Deng family, they've been rooted in Nanyang for nearly two hundred years. Even if there's a bunch of thieves or a nest of rats near Wancheng, it would only take a word for the young master of the Deng family to find out!"

"So, thieves also obey the orders of the Deng family?" Wei Cong asked.

"Hahaha!" Ah Jing covered his mouth and laughed. "Master, what you said is really funny. How many people are there in those bandits? At least thirty to fifty, at most three to five hundred, and they don't have complete weapons and armor. The powerful clans and nobles can easily mobilize thousands of clan members, and it's not surprising to have as many as six or seven thousand. They have a full range of long spears, horizontal swords, bows and crossbows, and they have hunting and martial arts competitions every autumn. Compared with them, it's obvious who is stronger and who is weaker. Those bandits are just dogs raised by the powerful clans and nobles, doing things that their masters want to do but are not convenient to do. You should know what the fate of dogs who dare to disobey orders is?"

"Dog?" Wei Cong grabbed the right hand that was massaging Ah Jing's shoulder and pulled her into his arms. "Ah Jing, what do you think I am? Am I also a dog?"

"You?" Ah Jing leaned against Wei Cong's arms, her eyes full of smiles: "Of course it's my master! How could it be a dog?"

"What am I in Deng Zhong's eyes?"

"How would I know this?" Ah Jing laughed. "But the Deng family has invested a lot of money and effort in me. Those bandit leaders wouldn't even be able to touch the corner of my clothes, let alone hold me in their arms and play with me as they please."

"Hehehe!" Wei Cong laughed: "So, I am still a lucky man!" Suddenly he turned over, pressed A Jing under him, and kissed her hard.

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Hanshou County, Wuling Commandery, Jingzhou, was the seat of the governor.

"Sir, the county seat of Yiyang (Yiyang City, Hunan Province) has been captured, and the county magistrate has been killed!" Prefect Lu Ju complained to Inspector Liu Du, "This is all the fault of the prefect of Cangwu (Wuzhou, Guangxi Province). Without him, the situation wouldn't be this dire!"

"Now that things have come to this, there's no point in complaining anymore. We should think about how to deal with this!" Liu Du said to Lu Ju with a frown.

"If that fellow hadn't refused to pay the six hundred recruits from Yuzhang (Nanchang), how could he have sparked a mutiny? Now the rebels have joined forces with the Wuling barbarians. With a rebel force familiar with the situation, the situation in the entire south is in tatters!"

"Alright, stop talking!" Liu Du shouted. "I will naturally report the matter of Cangwu Governor to the court, but if you, Governor Lu, continue to say such discouraging words, don't blame me for impeaching you for demoralizing the army and being unworthy of a minister!"

Faced with Liu Du's harsh words, Lu Ju muttered a few words and fell silent. In fact, according to the original Han Dynasty system, the governor was only a six-hundred-stone official. The magistrate of a county as populous and important as Hanshou County was already a thousand-stone official, not to mention the two-thousand-stone prefect. The purpose of the governor was to supervise the prefects of the prefectures and counties in the prefecture and report to the emperor. However, in the mid-to-late Eastern Han Dynasty, the governor gradually evolved from a supervisory official to a firefighter who inspected the local area and handled various temporary situations.

Throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Jingzhou governor had two main tasks. The first was to deal with the Wuling Barbarians, who would return every few years and were extremely powerful. During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, when the Han army was at its peak, Liu Shang's army was destroyed, and Ma Yuan's body was entombed. Faced with such a problem, the Jingzhou governor simply established his seat in Hanshou County, Wuling Commandery. This county is located in the transition zone from the Dongting Lake plain to the Xiangxi mountainous area. All major Xiangxi rivers flow into Dongting Lake through this area. From Hanshou, the governor could obtain reinforcements and food from various parts of Jingzhou by water, and then launch a large-scale military campaign to suppress the barbarians. He could also prevent the Wuling Barbarians from advancing directly by water and using the Yangtze River system to attack Jingzhou counties, thus strangling the enemy's throat.

The second task of the Jingzhou governor was to maintain the smooth flow of the main transportation lines from the central plains to the Lingnan region. During the Qin and Han dynasties, before the Grand Canal was built, the main transportation lines from the Central Plains to the Lingnan region were different from those later.

(End of this chapter)