The courtyard was dead silent. After Qin Shaozong said "go back to farming," he stopped speaking and just stood quietly at the courtyard gate, looking at Mo Yanyun.
The aura of a ruler who had fought his way out of a storm of blood and gore was heavy and overwhelming, like mountains and seas. Even without saying a word, just staring coldly at someone was enough to make them break out in a cold sweat.
Mo Yanyun was sweating profusely. He kept his head down, glancing out of the corners of his eyes to the left and right, but could only see the tips of his brothers' boots.
Each one was standing further away than the last, and some were even quietly shuffling further away.
Mo Yanyun was screaming in panic internally. Great, they had promised to share blessings and hardships, but now that disaster was upon him, they were all scattering?
Feng Feng was still sneaking away, thinking to himself that taking a blade for him on the battlefield was fine, but facing the Lord's furious wrath... well, he'd better bear it alone.
These heavy thoughts passed in merely a few breaths.
Mo Yanyun thought left and right but couldn't find a way out. Finally, he simply fell to his knees with a thud before Qin Shaozong. "This subordinate begs the Lord for forgiveness. I ask the Lord to consider that the situation was urgent at the time, and I had no choice but to take a risky move. Please spare my life."
Originally, Qin Shaozong only felt that Mo Yanyun was hiding something. Since the matter involved his wife, and hearing that they had previously fooled Qin San, he had developed a bit of curiosity.
At first, he didn't think it was a big deal. The reason he acted so sternly was purely because he disliked subordinates deceiving him, and he wanted to know everything related to her.
As a result, Mo Yanyun even said things like "spare my life." Qin Shaozong immediately realized that the severity of this matter might far exceed his expectations.
His mind raced through countless twists and turns, but Qin Shaozong remained expressionless. "What risky move did you make?"
Mo Yanyun swallowed hard. "Back when Lady Dai left Xiagu with Young Master Qin, after I was discovered tailing them in the eastern suburbs, Lady Dai said those things to me..."
Qin Shaozong knew what she had said.
She said she was unwilling to be a concubine.
Thinking about it now, there must have been a continuation, but Mo Yanyun hadn't mentioned it at the time.
Qin Shaozong merely hummed in response, showing no emotional fluctuation.
Mo Yanyun's head drooped even lower. "Lady Dai seemed determined to leave. I couldn't help but tell her that the Lord's manor hadn't had a mistress for many years, and with your attitude towards her, she could walk sideways in the manor in the future without any problems. Lady Dai was still unwilling at the time, so I... I told her that it wouldn't be impossible for her and Young Master Qin to live outside."
The veins on Qin Shaozong's forehead throbbed.
No wonder she wanted to live outside the manor; so this was the source.
Seeing Qin Shaozong's face darken, Kuang Ye and the others knew things were bad. They frequently looked at Mo Yanyun, trying to give him a look.
He should have stopped here, because it was enough. The following words absolutely could not be said.
But Mo Yanyun was kneeling with his head down, a grown man wishing he could shrink into the ground.
His personality was more straightforward than the others, lacking their slickness. Feng Feng and the others thought they should sugarcoat it, but Mo Yanyun was solely focused on how to say the rest as tactfully as possible.
"I praised your stern heroics and extraordinary appearance to Lady Dai. In terms of power and looks, no one in the entire North can match you. If she lived outside and occasionally met with you, she definitely wouldn't lose out..." Mo Yanyun's voice grew lower and lower.
Qin Shaozong was such a sharp person. First there was "living outside," then "looks" and "lose out."
Especially the phrase "lose out," which was like a little man armed with sharp blades, dancing madly on his nerves.
Qin Shaozong's mind buzzed.
He, the dignified patriarch of the Qin clan, had once flattened nations infested with hungry wolves with his iron cavalry. Step by step on the battlefield, he earned the Han Emperor's enfeoffment, and now controlled vast territories north of Yanzhou.
What did she mean by not losing out? Was he putting up a sign to sell himself?
He knew very well that Mo Yanyun's words had definitely been polished; the original words must have been even more explicit and wanton.
Qin Shaozong flew into a rage. "Mo Yanyun, are you tired of living? If there's nothing else in this world you're attached to, just say it, and I'll end you with one strike."
Mo Yanyun was terrified. "Lord, please spare my life for the sake of Lady Dai living peacefully since returning to Yuyang."
Hearing this, Bai Jianping and the others nearby twitched their lips.
What was this fool saying? Lady Dai living peacefully was partly because she had nowhere to run, but mainly because the Lord was helping treat Young Master Qin's illness.
Look at what he was saying, as if he had made some massive contribution.
The courtyard was silent for a moment before Qin Shaozong spoke. "What was her reaction at the time?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Lady Dai didn't reply," Mo Yanyun recalled.
Qin Shaozong asked again, "Did she show any surprise or shyness on her face?"
Mo Yanyun tried hard to remember. "It seems not."
"You're in charge of cleaning the manor's stables for this month and the next," Qin Shaozong said coldly.
With that, he turned and left. The autumn wind lifted a corner of his black robe, its arc looking cold and severe.
In the courtyard, Mo Yanyun looked up in disbelief. "I... I don't have to go back home to farm?"
Compared to going home to farm and never being able to earn military merits on the battlefield again, what was washing stables for two months!
Just as he finished speaking, someone kicked him in the rear from behind. "You really lucked out. It seems the Lord is in an exceptionally good mood today, to have so much thunder but so little rain."
Mo Yanyun fell flat on his face, but he wasn't angry. He chuckled cheerfully, "Perhaps the Lord felt my words made a bit of sense, or maybe it was for Lady Dai's sake that he let me off the hook."
He let out a long breath. "Regardless, a heavy burden has been lifted from my mind. I can sleep soundly tonight."
"Sleep my ass, you have to go wash the stables tonight."
...
When Dai Li arrived at the pavilion courtyard, her son's treatment had not yet ended.
She waited for a while. She didn't see Qin Yanzhou come out, but instead saw Qin Shaozong walking in from outside.
His clothes were mostly black and gray. The heavy colors matched his own oppressive aura. Combined with the intimidation brought by his height, whenever he appeared, it was hard for anyone to ignore him.
"Madam," a deep male voice came, revealing no obvious emotion.
Dai Li had spent day and night with him, and immediately sensed something different in his tone. She turned to look into those brown eyes and didn't speak, waiting for his next words.
Qin Shaozong indeed had a follow-up. "Back at the Ding residence, Madam once said, 'If only there were an airplane here, traveling back and forth between the north and south in a single day wouldn't be a problem.' Madam, what is an airplane, and why wouldn't traveling between the north and south in a single day be a problem?"
Dai Li froze. This matter had passed for over a week. She had felt terrible right after muttering it back then.
Qin Shaozong was so close to her at the time; he definitely heard it. But strangely, she waited and waited, day after day, yet never heard him mention it at all.
Since he didn't bring it up, Dai Li was happy to be at ease and certainly wouldn't take the initiative to talk about it.
She thought the page had been turned, never expecting him to bring it up now, remembering it word for word until this moment.
Dai Li pursed her lips, trying to bluff her way through. "What airplane? What traveling between the north and south? I never said such a thing."
Qin Shaozong stared at her unblinkingly. "Aside from me, there was also a maid who heard it at the time. Does Madam wish to see her?"
Dai Li's brow twitched, not expecting there to be another witness. "Then she..."
"Even if she tells others, they would only think she is speaking nonsense and wouldn't believe her." Qin Shaozong spun the jade thumb ring on his finger.
Dai Li swallowed the rest of her words.
"Madam," he said, the two heavy words pressing down.
Dai Li furrowed her brows and then relaxed them, truly unable to grasp this man's thoughts.
If he was just intensely curious, why didn't he ask back then, choosing instead to wait until now? Could it be that something happened just now that provoked him...
There was no one else around. Nianxia and Bipo were waiting outside and hadn't followed Dai Li in. Qin Qinian had gone off to show off his fire starter and hadn't accompanied her either.
They were the only two in the courtyard.
It was as if the secret of the "Peach Blossom Spring" was known only to the two of them.
Dai Li sighed, knowing he wouldn't rest until he got an answer. "Qin Changgeng, you can think of an airplane as being made of iron, capable of carrying many people at once, and controlled by humans... like a Quru."
She hesitated slightly on the last word.
Quru was a strange bird from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. This bizarre bird looked like a wild duck, had a white head, and possessed three feet.
Dai Li's answer was quite abstract, but Qin Shaozong didn't accuse her of speaking nonsense. Instead, he asked, "A Quru is a bird that can soar through the highest heavens. Madam says the airplane is made of iron. Doesn't that mean it weighs thousands of tons itself?"
Dai Li nodded. "Indeed."
Qin Shaozong asked again, "Since it can carry many people, how big is it?"
Dai Li recalled the behemoths she used to ride. "There are large ones and small ones; it cannot be generalized. The largest can be up to eight zhang tall, with a wingspan of about twenty-one zhang, and a length from head to tail of around fifteen zhang, capable of carrying nearly a thousand people at once. The smallest is less than two zhang long and can only carry one person."
Qin Shaozong fell silent.
Dai Li glanced at him, completely understanding his silence at this moment.
In the world of the ancients, saying that thousands of tons of iron could fly in the sky was really no different from claiming to summon wind and rain, achieve immortality, or ascend to the heavens to become an immortal.
How to put it? Although she had briefly told him about the "Peach Blossom Spring" before, it was simply not on the same scale.
The matter of the "airplane" and "traveling back and forth between the north and south in a single day" could not be glossed over. Dai Li currently lacked the energy to make up a story to deceive him, so she decided to just tell the truth.
As for whether he believed it or not, that was Qin Shaozong's own business.
Of course, Dai Li was also prepared for him to continue asking questions.
This man was ambitious; what he plotted for was not merely a corner of the land or a small city.
From the Northern Lands, to selling refined salt to merchants across the realm with Ying Commandery as the core, and then to allying with Qingzhou to jointly attack Yanzhou.
Every step he took landed precisely on the path to hegemony. This path was paved with blood and rain, swords and shadows, where the slightest carelessness would lead to eternal damnation.
And now, a fork had appeared on this long, thorny path. Standing at this intersection, one could vaguely see a quiet shortcut, unknown to outsiders.
In Dai Li's expectations, Qin Shaozong would have many questions next.
He might ask how airplanes are built. What weapons are used in the Peach Blossom Spring? Or he might ask again where the Peach Blossom Spring is, and besides her, who else comes from that isolated utopia.
However...
"Madam, in this world there are brothels for men. Are there brothels for women in the Peach Blossom Spring?" After a long silence, Qin Shaozong blurted out this sentence.
At this moment, Dai Li's eyes widened slightly, unable to stop the astonishment from showing on her face.
Her expression was so shocked, as if she were meeting him for the first day, that Qin Shaozong couldn't help but laugh, instantly dissipating nearly half of the suffocating gloom gathered in his chest.
"Why is Madam looking at me like that?" Qin Shaozong chuckled.
He clearly understood her bewilderment and current silence, yet he still asked despite knowing the answer.
Dai Li opened her mouth, having much she wanted to say, but failed to utter a single sentence.
Qin Shaozong looked up at the sky. The azure dome was cloudless for miles, as clean as a boundless scroll waiting for someone to freely splash ink and paint the rivers and mountains of the entire world.
"A true man born in troubled times should carry a three-foot sword to establish unparalleled merits. Forcing a woman to be used for one's own ends is the behavior of a base villain. Dai Li, I admit that the various rarities in the Peach Blossom Spring are exceptionally unique, and every single one invites exploration. If you are willing to tell me, I will naturally be overjoyed and treat it as a precious treasure. But if you do not wish to speak of it, let it be. I will just treat it as a dream, a beautiful dream that the common people of the world might have in the future."
Dai Li's pupils trembled slightly.
It was hard for her to describe the feeling of this moment. It was somewhat like a sudden realization, suddenly understanding why the Northern Army was full of talents, and why even someone as noble and pure as the clear breeze and bright moon like Nalan Zhi was willing to serve him.
In his bones, Qin Shaozong possessed a considerable degree of arrogance, which was his sense of responsibility as a person in power. He could shoulder burdens himself, possessed certain principles, and disdained crossing the line.
It also felt like a touch from time, as if an invisible screen had suddenly risen between her and him.
The long river of time was entirely compressed within it; he stood on this side from a thousand years ago, and she stood on the other side, a thousand years in the future.
With their conversation, and with that final word "future," this invisible barrier rippled like water.
Every ripple was a fold in time, sweeping across thousands of years, reflecting the rise and fall of dynasties.
Finally, a new era appeared in the ripples, where a forest of high-rise buildings could be faintly seen, and countless women wearing professional attire moved in and out of government offices and workplaces.
Dai Li smiled unconsciously. "Yes, it is indeed a beautiful dream of the future."
Qin Shaozong looked at the upward curve of her lips, feeling a strange and unfamiliar sensation at this moment.
It wasn't a cold alienation that pushed people thousands of miles away, but something profoundly mysterious. She was clearly close at hand, yet at this moment, she was enveloped in an unattainable sense of distance.
"Creak." At this time, the door over there opened.
Qin Yanzhou and Ding Luying came out one after the other.
Seeing this, Dai Li hurried up to meet them. As she walked past Qin Shaozong, she casually tossed back a few words: "There are indeed brothels for women there, quite a few of them, for one to choose as they please. However, the past has become the wind, and there is nothing more to say about it now."
Qin Shaozong's face instantly darkened, and a spiderweb of cracks immediately appeared on the jade thumb ring in his hand.
A breeze blew past, curling up a corner of the woman's dress ahead, and scattering the fine jade dust falling from between the man's fingers behind.
*
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Wei Congmu walked out of the Qin Manor with a face full of sorrow. He had unexpectedly still failed to see the Marquis of Wu'an this time.
Could that Cai Yuan be bluffing?
In fact, he probably hadn't seen the Marquis of Wu'an at all. What he said earlier about meeting him and receiving guidance was likely just a ploy to make him burn with anxiety.
Thinking that the matter regarding his younger brother remained unresolved, Wei Congmu suddenly felt a wave of headache.
However, two days later, the Wei family was shocked to discover that what they had to worry about was not just the mess of Wei Conglin killing someone after drinking. It also included some of the Wei family's farmlands and various unspeakable illicit dealings hidden from outsiders.
Cai Yuan, as the Agricultural Commandant, was in charge of military agricultural colonies and grain production.
The colony farming system was implemented by the imperial court to accumulate grain to feed the army, utilizing soldiers and landless peasants to reclaim and cultivate wasteland. This system could be divided into three types: military colonies, civilian colonies, and merchant colonies.
The so-called military colonies involved soldiers transforming into farmers during non-combat periods, with the land cultivated entirely by the military.
Civilian colonies were managed by agricultural officials who recruited commoners to farm. After submitting a portion of the harvested grain to the state, the hired farmers kept the rest for themselves.
As for merchant colonies, they were not much different from civilian ones, except the initiatives were led by merchants seeking the lucrative profits of state salt licenses rather than by agricultural officials.
Overall, under strict supervision, this system was tantamount to installing several tireless grain-producing machines, constantly churning out food day and night.
However, everything has its pros and cons, and the colony farming system had its drawbacks as well.
Although the commoners participating in the colonies were exempt from military service and corvee labor, once supervision became lax, the system became highly susceptible to corruption and exploitation.
The prominent noble families had existed for a long time. Like towering trees, their roots plunged deep into the lower echelons of society, twisted and thoroughly intertwined with one another.
When water is too clear, there are no fish. It was not that Qin Shaozong was unaware of the dirty deeds and corruption hidden within; he could only tighten their leashes from time to time to keep them in check.
This time, a conflict happened to break out between the Cai and Wei families. While having the Cai family demonstrate his stance, Qin Shaozong conveniently used their hands to purge a batch of corrupt parasites.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone.