Chapter 3: Terror

Chapter 3: Terror

Shen hour, time for the evening meal.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the ancient system was followed, with two meals per day: the morning meal and the evening meal.

The so-called evening meal was usually taken during the Shen period (15:00–17:00).

However, today the Wang family fortress was hosting distinguished guests, and the banquet had continued well into the afternoon.

The cooks and kitchen staff in the main kitchen were exhausted and had no energy left to prepare the evening meal.

They simply took the leftovers from lunch, boiled them up casually, and sent them to the various households.

Looking through the food box brought back by the maid, Lady Jiang frowned slightly.

The steward of the main kitchen was becoming increasingly outrageous.

Or rather, it wasn't just a small kitchen; the entire Wang family was in a state of chaos and decay.

People’s hearts had long since been in disarray!

Lady Jiang picked out a few items that her daughter could eat and had the maid prepare a dining tray.

The Great Zhou adopted a system of individual dining, where each person had their own tray.

On the tray were portions of rice, vegetables, and porridge.

The rice was slightly yellow.

This was the old grain stored by the Wang family, and it was the best they had at the moment.

With the three-year drought in Yizhou, not to mention commoners, even moderately wealthy families had long since run out of grain.

There wasn't even bean rice to eat, let alone the luxury of fine grains like polished rice.

It could only be said that the Wang family was worthy of being a prominent clan for hundreds of years.

Although they were in decline, the family’s foundation remained.

The warehouses were piled high with grain, and even the central axis buildings like the Cien Hall had walls built with sticky rice bricks.

If the Wang family fortress reached the point of total starvation, they could even break down the walls and boil the bricks to eat.

"What a pity. Even if the ancestors had foresight, so what?"

"The dignified Langya Wang clan—haven't they been reduced to the point of offering up a wife to cling to the powerful?"

After portioning the food for her daughter, Lady Jiang had no appetite at all.

After thinking for over an hour, she had already made her decision.

Lady Jiang looked delicate and fragile, but in reality, she was extremely decisive.

Back then, she had been able to marry into a noble clan as a woman of humble origins not only because of her stunning beauty, but also because of her own schemes and planning amidst the Wang family's decline.

She understood the baser nature of men and knew the principle that "what one cannot obtain is always the best."

She controlled the situation perfectly, holding Wang Lin firmly in her grasp.

Beyond her schemes, Lady Jiang possessed resolve.

Although it was still just a guess and she hadn't received confirmation from her husband, Lady Jiang had already begun to make preparations.

If it were true, she would fight for the greatest benefits for herself and her child.

If it were false... No, it shouldn't be false.

The Wang family had truly reached the end of their rope.

Lady Jiang curled her lips into a mocking smile.

"Mother, A'Jiu is full!"

Just as Lady Jiang was lost in thought, Wang Heng, having finished her meal, set down her chopsticks and spoke in a milky, childish voice.

"Good girl, A'Jiu!"

Gently stroking her daughter's small buns, Lady Jiang’s gaze fell upon her daughter's chubby little face.

Her daughter's brows and eyes were almost identical to her own.

And her skin, white enough to glow, was like fine mutton-fat jade.

The only thing about her daughter that didn't resemble her was the shape of her face.

Lady Jiang had a melon-shaped face with a slightly pointed chin—a look that men loved, but elders considered "lacking in fortune."

Wang Heng, however, had a standard oval face—round and full, the very picture of good fortune.

Her daughter was still young, and her features hadn't fully matured.

However, Lady Jiang did not doubt for a moment that her daughter would grow up to be a great beauty just like her.

After all, besides having a beautiful mother like her, her biological father, Wang Lin, was no slouch in the looks department.

A scion of a centuries-old noble family, with ten generations of handsome men and beautiful women—unless it was a rare exception, they were naturally handsome gentlemen with excellent features and outstanding temperament.

"In such chaotic times, beauty is not a good thing!"

If it were peaceful times, with a great family like the Wangs to protect her, there would be no need to fear being beautiful.

But now the world was in turmoil. Not to mention outsiders, even the Wang family themselves—

Taking a deep breath to suppress the nausea and anger surging in her chest, Lady Jiang pinched her daughter's little cheek: "A'Jiu, you must learn to take care of yourself in the future. Listen more, watch more, and ask your own heart. No matter who says something, if you don't feel happy, don't listen to them!"

The only thing Lady Jiang couldn't let go of was A'Jiu.

She was still so small, and such a beautiful little girl.

Without her mother, with an opportunistic father, and a grandmother who was a cold, calculating, and mercenary old thief... With such a large Wang family, yet not a single person who truly loved her, what would she do in the future?

Lady Jiang’s lips trembled; she had so much she wanted to teach her daughter in advance.

But as her gaze met her daughter's, she saw only the clarity and innocence filling those round, wide eyes.

"It's all my fault. I raised A'Jiu to be too pampered, too naive!"

She couldn't understand any of this!

No!

My A'Jiu is still so small; I must plan well for her.

Even if I am gone, I must find a way to protect her!

"Mother! What's wrong?"

Mother is talking so strangely.

Wang Heng didn't understand, but she felt that the mother before her seemed very sad and conflicted.

Is Mother unhappy?

A'Jiu is very good; other than sneaking off to play with the cat, she hasn't been naughty.

Besides, Mother loves A'Jiu the most; even when A'Jiu is naughty, Mother never gets angry.

She would softly tell A'Jiu "don't do that" and gently help her wipe her face and hands.

"It's nothing. Mother will teach you to recite poetry, shall we?"

"Since you've finished reading the Classic of Poetry, let's read the Songs of Chu."

"If there is a person in the mountain's bend, draped in creepers and girded with vines..."

Amidst Lady Jiang’s gentle, melodious voice, Wang Heng, tired from playing all day, actually fell asleep.

She let out soft little snores, her chubby little belly rising and falling.

Looking at her adorable daughter, Lady Jiang’s eyes were once again filled with reluctance, as well as resentment toward Wang Lin and the Wang family.

However, when Wang Lin walked in, Lady Jiang raised her head, her face already replaced with an expression of coldness tinged with tenderness.

She was already a beauty who could topple cities, and when she looked at him with such loving, gentle eyes, even Wang Lin, who had long since plucked this high-mountain flower, felt a moment of distraction.

A'Jiang is truly beautiful!

After the distraction came pain and reluctance.

Such a beautiful woman was his wife, the mother of his daughter, and yet now—

But thinking of his mother's words, the Wang family's predicament, and everything Yang Chong could bring, Wang Lin hardened his heart.

"Jiaojiao, save me!"

...

Wang Heng was fast asleep, dreaming of that chubby orange cat.

It didn't run away, but lay down obediently, rolling over to reveal its chubby belly.

Wang Heng happily reached out her little hands, petting it to her heart's content.

Suddenly, the cat ran away!

Wang Heng opened her eyes wide, looking left and right, but saw no cat.

Rubbing her eyes, she realized this wasn't the courtyard, but a bed.

Lifting the layers of bed curtains and bypassing the screen, Wang Heng saw her parents.

She was about to run over happily and call out to them, but she stopped.

Because she found that her parents looked very strange.

Mother was standing, Father was kneeling, and Father was kowtowing to Mother.

Then, Mother knelt down too.

She didn't know what her parents were saying, but then, the two of them hugged each other and wept bitterly.

They were crying?

Why?

What were they saying—

"After I leave, I hope you will take care of yourself."

"You and A'Jiu are the closest kin I cannot bear to part with. That I can no longer serve you and can no longer raise A'Jiu is all my fault."

"...No matter where I go, I will pray for you and A'Jiu. I wish you wealth, splendor, and a thousand years of prosperity."

Wang Heng didn't understand, but for some reason, two lines of tears had already quietly flowed down her chubby little face.

...

The next day, Wang Lin wrote a letter of divorce and separated from his wife, Lady Jiang.

Almost that very evening, General Yang Chong, stationed outside Yizhou city, accepted a stunningly beautiful concubine.

That concubine was said to be the foster daughter of the Wang family's Madam Xie.

Admiring General Yang's prestige and bearing, she was willing to follow him, even as a concubine or servant, bringing with her three thousand shi of grain as a dowry from the Wang family.

General Yang gained a beautiful concubine and secured military provisions—he had gained both people and wealth.

He generously lent his troops to help the Wang family fortress clear out the bandits surrounding them, wiping out the rioters and outlaws for dozens of miles around.

The chaos that had previously plagued Yizhou was instantly cleared away.

Yang Chong gained complete control over all of Yizhou.

As for Wang Lin, although he had lost his wife and a significant amount of stored grain, he had saved his fortress and obtained the official position of Magistrate of Hedong County under Yizhou.

Although it was only a seventh-rank position, lower than his previous post, it was a real, substantive office.

The key was that he had officially joined Yang Chong's camp and become his "trusted aide"!

...

"Awoo!"

The chubby orange cat, with its big belly, nudged Wang Heng.

What's wrong with the little demon?

Why didn't it chase it today?

Wang Heng was listless, curled up in a corner behind the rockery.

Mother had left. Before leaving, Mother said she would write to her and come back to see her.

But Wang Heng had a premonition that she might never see Mother again.

She... had no mother anymore!

"...I heard that the Second Young Master is going to Hedong County in a few days. Tsk, it's good to have a backer; he gets an official position just like that."

"What backer? Hmph, if he hadn't offered A'Jiang to Yang Chong, could he have had today?"

"It's good to be beautiful... A'Jiu looks just like A'Jiang. In a few years, she'll be another great beauty who could topple cities."

On the other side of the rockery, two women chatted as they walked.

Wang Heng’s little ears twitched. She recognized that the speakers were none other than her two aunts.

"What are Third Aunt and Sixth Aunt talking about?"

Wang Heng frowned slightly. She should not have understood, but for some reason, the secret conversation between mother and son she had heard at Cien Hall that day, and the scene of her parents kneeling and weeping in the main room that evening, surfaced in her mind.

"A'Jiu is worthy of being A'Jiang's daughter; she really is pretty. It's just that she looks a bit chubby now. If she were thinner, she'd be a perfect beauty!"

The two women walked further and further away, leaving behind this sentence before they disappeared.

Wang Heng, being singled out once again, felt a strange sense of terror rise in her heart. Her round little body couldn't help but tremble...

(End of chapter)