061 Abandoned Project

Anqing Prefecture, Huaining County.

Having recently undergone a dynastic transition, the city of Huaining showed no signs of a prosperous new imperial era. Over the past three months, the local markets had grown increasingly desolate, appearing even more listless and decayed than during the final years of the Ming Dynasty.

Yet, one place within the city grew increasingly prominent day by day: the Du family residence, formerly the home of Huaining's wealthiest gentry and now the residence of the newly appointed magistrate.

Ever since Du Ming accepted his post as magistrate under the Great Shun Dynasty, he had spared no effort in his duties and shown unwavering loyalty to the new regime. With Li Laixiang’s army of sixty thousand locked in a stalemate on the front lines against the Ming general Huang Degong for over a month, Du Ming’s role during this period had been remarkably industrious. Within the single county of Huaining alone, he had repeatedly squeezed the populace to extort fifty thousand shi of military grain, effectively providing crucial temporary relief for Li Laixiang’s urgent needs.

Du Ming’s frantic efforts were not entirely driven by fierce loyalty to the new Great Shun court; they were largely motivated by self-interest. As the majority of Anqing Prefecture fell under Great Shun control, and the former Ming prefect of Anqing, Zhou Shihning, had disappeared without a trace, the high-ranking post of prefect had been left vacant by the Great Shun court for many days.

Having already tasted the sweetness of official advancement, Du Ming naturally refused to let go of such a golden opportunity. He coveted the position of the first Great Shun Prefect of Anqing with intense greed, racking his brains to find connections and pulling strings in every direction.

The common folk of Huaining had originally hoped that a change of dynasties would bring a few years of peace, but they never expected that while the damned Ming Dynasty had fallen, an even more damned Great Shun Dynasty had arrived.

Although the former Ming Dynasty had levied heavy taxes, at least they followed established rules; as long as one scraped together the required coins, people could manage to live in relative peace. The current Great Shun Dynasty was entirely different. Magistrate Du dispatched bailiffs and soldiers every few days to search house-to-house. Any household storing more than half a month's worth of grain had it entirely confiscated under the pretext of supporting the frontline troops.

Life in Huaining County had truly become wretched. The dead filled the wastelands, beggars crowded the streets, wealthy households sold their land and estates, and poor families sold their sons and daughters. Those destitute souls who owned nothing at all had no choice but to sell themselves into servitude to fight and die on the front lines.

Lately, Du Ningning had been returning home late and leaving early every day, arriving back at the estate covered in dirt. Several times Du Ming had wanted to question her, but because his official appointment was still unsettled, he had no time to spare. Of course, there was another reason: his precious daughter had finally calmed down and no longer threw tantrums demanding to run away from home to find that damned Wang Lanping. Aside from that, even if his daughter were to tear Huaining City apart, he wouldn't have cared.

Early this morning.

After a simple washing and grooming, Du Ningning called for her personal maid and prepared to go out once more. Just as she stepped through the small circular doorway outside her boudoir, she ran squarely into her father.

"Oh! Ningning, what are you rushing about so early in the morning?" Du Ming was knocked back a few steps by his enthusiastic daughter.

Du Ningning was dressed in a sleek pink tunic, wearing no cosmetics, her waist tightly cinched with a light blue sash. Her naturally dark, lustrous hair was braided into several strands that hung loosely over her fragrant shoulders, making her look exceptionally pretty and charming, though her face still bore traces of fatigue, as if she had not rested well. She shoved her father aside with her hand. "Old man, move aside. I'm busy and have no time to bicker with you." With that, she attempted to walk around him.

Puzzled, Du Ming grabbed her and asked suspiciously, "Tell me, girl, your father has been busy these past few days and hasn't had time to pay attention, but the servants say you've been leaving early and returning late every single day. Just what on earth are you busy doing?"

Du Ningning raised an eyebrow. "Old man, stop poking your nose into my affairs. Go do whatever you're supposed to do. Aren't you off to extort more grain? Go on, go on!"

Du Ming’s brow furrowed tightly as he clicked his tongue. "Just look at you! Is this any way to speak to your father? And look at your attire—half male and half female, parading around in public every single day. What kind of behavior is that?"

Having no patience to bicker and waste time, Du Ningning’s pretty face darkened. "Dad, are you annoying or what? Lecturing people first thing in the morning as if this is my first day doing this. I'm leaving!"

"Stop right there! You are going nowhere today. Accompany your father on a trip to meet someone." As he spoke, he reached out to grab her.

Du Ningning sidestepped. "I'm not going."

"What do you mean you're not going? Do you even know who we're going to see?" Du Ming’s face beamed with excitement; it was clear that the person they were going to meet must be a major figure.

"I don't care who it is, I'm not going. I'm off, I'm off—you've already wasted half my workday! Xiaohua, let's go."

Du Ningning turned, called her maid, and bolted outward.

"You—where are you going? Get back here, you disobedient wench!" Du Ming shouted several times, but failed to call his daughter back.

Today was a major event. He had heard that Li Laixiang was about to launch his offensive, and this would also be his final time escorting military grain to the Anqing front lines. Once Li Laixiang’s army pushed beyond the borders of Anqing Prefecture, he wouldn't even find a temple door to kowtow to, even if he wanted to curry favor. Therefore, he had to muster all his strength for one final push to secure the position of Prefect of Anqing. With a single word from General Li, the matter would be as effortless as reaching out and taking it.

Aside from frequently delivering military grain, Du Ming actually had another trump card he had yet to play: his precious daughter, Ningning. He considered himself fortunate to have produced such a stunning daughter who possessed virtually no flaws—save for a slightly stubborn temper, but who could blame her when General Li fancied her?

Through his repeated travels to General Li’s camp and his conversations with Li Laixiang, Du Ming, a seasoned veteran of the business world, had long since sensed that the general harbored romantic intentions toward his daughter. Upon making discreet inquiries, he realized this was truly a match bestowed by the heavens: General Li was still unmarried! This discovery had overjoyed the old man.

A fine blade must be used on the cutting edge, and he would not deploy this ultimate weapon until the critical moment.

Du Ming’s calculations regarding shipping military grain and offering up his daughter had all been carefully premeditated. Being a merchant by origin, even after becoming an official, his actions were entirely driven by profit. Taking a loss? Absolutely out of the question. The military grain alone delivered to the front lines yielded a handsome profit. Although those funds had not yet been disbursed, dealing with the Great Shun Dynasty meant one didn't have to worry about defaults. If General Li became the Du family’s son-in-law, it would be far more formidable than Wang Lanping’s past prestige. Li Laixiang was the grandson of the current Great Shun Emperor, Li Zicheng—true imperial royalty. Even a fool knew which side held the greater power.

Du Ningning rushed out of the family estate in a flurry, with Du Ming panting and following a few steps behind. After all, advanced in age as he was, he could only run a short distance before running out of breath, and he had to wave over several servants.

"Go! Follow the eldest miss and see what mischief she's up to."

Five li south of Huaining City, there was a cart-width pathway that wound tortuously, connecting Huaining City at one end and stretching toward the riverside over a hundred li away. Lush green grass bordered both sides of the path. Originally, this entire area consisted of contiguous paddy fields, but ever since the Great Shun army arrived, the local gentry had long since fled across the river for their lives, leaving the farmland abandoned on the northern bank to grow weeds—truly ownerless land.

At one section of the path, a dozen bare-chested men were bustling about with intense energy, continuously carrying stones and mixing mortar. Beside them stood an unfinished structure that, judging by its appearance, was meant to be a memorial archway.

Speaking of memorial archways, they could be found almost everywhere in Jiangnan. They were erected by the court or local officials to honor individuals who had made special contributions—such as arches for chastity, loyalty, filial piety, or benevolent motherhood. Anyone who received such an honor was invariably a figure of widespread renown throughout the locality and the prefecture.

If one wished to know for whom this archway was being erected, one only had to look at Du Ningning, who stood at the construction site with hands on her hips, letting beads of fragrant sweat roll down her face.

"That's right, a bit to the left—more to the left! Yes, right there. You over there, reinforce that section! You, go hand him two buckets of mud!"

Du Ningning played the part of a female foreman to perfection. After a few days of fumbling, she now looked quite professional, and the workers all obeyed her. After all, she was the magistrate’s daughter, paying good wages, providing meals, and building an archway for an important figure—why wouldn't they comply?

As the sun hung high, a sedan chair creaked its way from the direction of Huaining City, followed by a dozen or so soldiers.

Du Ningning was entirely absorbed in giving directions and failed to notice until her sharp-eyed maid, Xiaohua, anxiously patted her arm. "Miss! Miss! This is terrible, the master is coming!"

Du Ningning looked up hurriedly, her pretty face tightening into an expression of impending disaster. "Oh no, why did this old man wander over here? Quick, let me hide!" She made as if to dive into the roadside grass.

"Wretched girl, don't hide! Your father sees you! You good-for-nothing girl, so all these days you've been mingling with these masons—you've truly brought shame upon your old man! Come out here!" Du Ming possessed sharp eyes indeed; from dozens of paces away, he instantly recognized his precious daughter, who was capable of nothing except causing trouble. Shouting from inside the sedan chair, he urged, "Faster! Hurry up!"

Realizing she had been spotted, Du Ningning abandoned the idea of hiding. Dusting off the dirt from her hands, she brazenly walked forward to greet him with a cheerful grin. "Dad, what a coincidence! Haha!"

With a gloomy expression, Du Ming surveyed the surroundings. The workers, recognizing the senior magistrate upon his arrival, hurriedly dropped to their knees in salute.

"Stop all of you, halt! What on earth is going on here? Ningning, tell me, what kind of nonsense are you stirring up in this place?" Du Ming demanded.

At this moment, Ningning acted like a child who had done something wrong, scampering obediently to the sedan chair to steady her father as he disembarked. "It's nothing, just building a memorial archway."

Puzzled, Du Ming asked, "What archway? Such a major undertaking, why didn't I know about it? Who authorized you to do this?"

Ningning replied, "The magistrate."

With his hands clasped behind his back, Du Ming looked around. "Preposterous! When did your father ever issue such an order?"

Ningning chuckled softly. "The *former* magistrate, not the current one."

"What?" Du Ming was thoroughly startled. "You mean that dead Kong Rusong?"

Ningning nodded. "Yes, yes, exactly him! Furthermore, back then, you even donated ten thousand taels of silver for this very archway, don't you remember?"

The wrinkles on Du Ming's forehead tightened into a knot. He pondered for a long while before his jaw dropped in utter shock, leaving him speechless for a frantic moment. Overwhelmed by panic, he hurriedly pulled his daughter aside and lowered his voice to ask anxiously, "Th-this is the filial mother archway being built for Wang Lanping’s mother?"

Du Ningning patted her father’s shoulder. "Congratulations, your answer is correct."

Du Ming was completely dumbfounded. He had thought his daughter had turned over a new leaf these past few months and stopped causing trouble, only to discover she had been secretly digging a pit for her own father right under his nose! For an official of the Great Shun Dynasty to construct a memorial archway for the mother of a Ming Dynasty official—wasn't that courting death? After all, the two sides were still at war!

On the day Wang Lanping returned home in glory, the then-Prefect of Anqing, Zhou Shihning, eager to flatter Wang Lanping, proposed erecting a filial mother archway in Huaining County for Wang’s mother. The project was overseen by Huaining Magistrate Kong Rusong, with all necessary expenses voluntarily donated by the local gentry. At that time, Du Ming was merely a wealthy merchant boasting deep pockets, and upon opening his mouth, he had instantly pledged ten thousand taels.

Kong Rusong had attached great importance to the matter since this was the first imperial scholar produced by Huaining City in centuries. The site was chosen, materials gathered, and even artisans hired, but unexpectedly, the Great Shun army suddenly descended upon Huaining, causing the project to be shelved indefinitely. Later, Kong Rusong died in battle and Wang Lanping departed for Nanjing, leaving the matter completely abandoned, to the point where even Du Ming had almost forgotten it, leaving the roadside stones to be overgrown with weeds.

Having spent days desperately wishing to find Wang Lanping only to be locked inside her home by her father for a month, Ningning had barely calmed down when she somehow learned that this unfinished project still existed outside the city. Having finally found something connected to Wang Lanping to occupy herself with, she threw caution to the wind and busied herself day and night, never expecting that just as it was nearing completion, her father would discover it.

Rolling his eyes in extreme anger, Du Ming rushed over to the maid Xiaohua, raised his hand, and delivered a heavy slap. "You have immense audacity, daring to instigate the young miss into such reckless behavior! Someone drag her away and sell her to the Piaoxiang Pavilion!"

Clutching her face in terror, her delicate features drained of color, Xiaohua dropped to her knees. Piaoxiang Pavilion was the city’s most notorious brothel; any woman sent there would meet a miserable fate. "Master, Xiaohua was wrong! Xiaohua will never dare again! Young Miss, save me! Please save me!"

Not understanding why her father was flying into such a rage, Du Ningning protested, "Dad..."

Before she could finish, her father interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "Silence! Men, disperse all these people immediately, and tear down everything here! Leave not a single trace!"

Panicking, Du Ningning ran forward to block the soldiers. "Dad, why are you doing this? What is wrong with building an archway for Aunt Wang?"

Furious, Du Ming snapped, "Everything is wrong with it! Let me tell you, this matter ends right here. Come back with me to see General Li. Once you are married, you will finally settle down."

Angered in return, Ningning retorted, "I won't! I refuse to marry that Li Laixiang! I can't stand him at all. If you like him so much, you marry him!"

"I am your father, and I have the final say in this matter!"

"You still know you're my father? Is this how you push your own daughter into a fire pit?"

"I am doing this for your own good!"

"I don't want your kind of good!"

"You have no choice in the matter! Men, escort the young miss back to the estate!"