Seeing Zhuge Guo brighten instantly at a single piece of news from her father lifted Huang Yueying's mood as well.
She simply set aside her steel pen, took her daughter by the hand, and led her out into the courtyard to stretch a bit. While they moved about, she casually explained the principles behind the glazed glass house.
Using greenhouses to grow out-of-season fruits and vegetables was nothing new. Huang Yueying remembered that as early as the Former Han, a hot spring had been discovered near Chang'an. Even in the depths of heavy snowfall, grass around that spring remained lush and green. The imperial court promptly claimed the land and planted melons and fruits there for winter consumption in the palace.
Later on, greenhouse halls became a standard feature within the imperial palace.
But according to records from the Former Han, plant growth was thought to rely primarily on "heat." Huang Yueying felt that this explanation was incomplete.
After all, greenhouses were hardly rare anymore. Even merchants would build them to turn a profit during winter.
She had seen and tasted the fruits and vegetables grown in common folk greenhouses. Nearly all of them were inferior to seasonal produce—less full-bodied, less sweet. Some greenhouse-grown crops even resembled chive shoots, looking entirely different from their original form.
On this matter, Kongming had written to her before. By observing how plants differed depending on east, west, south, or north exposure, and whether they grew in sunlight or shade, one could tell that sunlight itself played a crucial role in plant growth.
Zhuge Kongming had noticed that Huang Yueying had hit a bottleneck in her "skill tree."
Zhuge Kongming activated Deep Contemplation.
Zhuge Kongming initiated Technical Transmission.
The Alkali Production Method and Detailed Notes on Glass Firing were successfully transmitted. The results were outstanding.
At present, within this modest residence, the courtyard housed a greenhouse built from crude glass, while the rear yard contained a traditional opaque greenhouse.
Comparing the two, recording their differences, forming hypotheses, and then verifying them—this had become one of Huang Yueying's quiet pleasures for the winter.
There was no helping it. Planning for Gong'an County could only remain at the draft stage for now.
Watching Zhuge Guo hopping around the courtyard, Huang Yueying let out a soft sigh.
In the end, this was still an age of chaos.
On the walls of Jiangling City, Jiang Wan had been standing there for a long time.
He still remembered the clerks' quarters at the Gong'an County office. He also remembered the shock he had felt the first time he saw the luminous screen in the side hall.
Regret for General Guan. Righteous fury at Cao's treachery. Lamentation over his lord's fate. And fear—fear of his own illness and early death.
All of these emotions had long since been buried deep within Jiang Wan's heart, rarely allowed to surface.
But now, watching the sea of flames slowly swallow the remains of Gong'an County, he could not help but feel a deep sense of melancholy.
Compared to Jiang Wan's quiet sighing, Lü Meng was experiencing something far more visceral—raw fury.
"Those bastards…"
Since their target was Guan Yu, Lü Meng had naturally studied the Jing-Xiang campaign in detail.
Though it was difficult to obtain precise intelligence, by piecing together rumors and accounts gathered through covert contacts with Cao's forces, Lu Yi had managed to reconstruct the campaign's general outline.
Advancing by both land and water. Massive ships locking down the river. Fan City falling in moments. A nighttime strike on Wan City.
According to Cao's side, Fan City had been lost to a single ship equipped with enormous crossbows.
The moment Lü Meng heard that description, he recalled the eye-catching giant vessel that had once passed through Jiangxia.
And only then did it fully click—weren't those giant crossbows exactly like the ones set up along the riverbanks at Gong'an County?
Jiangdong had always excelled at bow-making. Lü Meng had even taken one of those massive bolts to local bowyers and asked them to replicate it—but with little success.
The military craftsmen either couldn't make it at all, or else dragged out the same old repeating ballistae that Lü Meng had long grown tired of seeing.
If the army couldn't do it, what about civilian master craftsmen?
After searching everywhere, he discovered that Jiangdong's civilian artisans—bowyers, shipwrights, blacksmiths—had all vanished at some unknown point.
And all signs suggested that they had ultimately gone to Jiangling.
If they couldn't build them, then they would seize them!
Lü Meng remembered that night clearly. Just from the sound alone, he could tell that there were no fewer than twenty giant crossbows deployed along the Hudu River.
And best of all, Gong'an County had no city walls. He had arrived brimming with confidence.
Only to be greeted by nothing but ashes.
At last, Lü Meng reached a grim conclusion:
"Those traitorous scoundrels planned this long ago. They've harbored disloyal intentions from the very beginning!"
In an instant, the face that surfaced in his mind was Lu Su's—mild-looking, faintly annoying.
If not for that man's secret dealings with Liu Bei, persuading our lord to gift Jiangling away, how could they have grown to such strength?
If not for Lu Zijing's persistent urging, had Sun Hou listened to Gongjin and detained Liu Bei at Chaisang—killing him to eliminate future trouble—how could today's situation exist at all?
And then there was yesterday's news from Jianye.
Lu Su had vanished—under mysterious circumstances.
Recalling the carefully phrased way the messenger had delivered that report, Lü Meng unconsciously tightened his grip on his sword.
If they had ignored Lu Su's counsel and acted earlier… If, during the attack on Hefei, they had possessed such massive ships and giant crossbows… with a hundred thousand troops, perhaps—
Thinking further was pointless.
Lü Meng shook his head and forced himself to focus on the present.
The enemy had clearly adopted a scorched-earth strategy, digging in for a prolonged standoff. Lü Meng knew exactly how to respond.
"Camp here at Gong'an. Face off against Jiangling."
"Dispatch armored ships to blockade the northern water gates of Jiangling."
"Send fast patrol boats. Do not let a single soul slip out of the city."
"Send scouts and patrol craft upstream. Search a thirty-li radius."
Jiang Wan naturally saw the Jiangdong fleet arrive as well.
But after watching them make camp, deploy scouts, and proceed methodically, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.
"At a time like this, shouldn't Lü Meng be coming to the city walls to hurl insults and shout accusations?"
"He breaks the alliance on his own initiative, yet doesn't even bother to explain himself?"
Only after saying this did Jiang Wan remember that Ma Liang had already departed south under Kongming's secret orders, while Zhao Lei had followed Guan Yu north to the more critical Jingbei front.
Now, Jiangling truly had only him left.
Realizing this, he felt a pang of loneliness.
Then an unexpected voice spoke behind him.
"Lü Meng is said to have witnessed the power of the giant crossbows firsthand. If he came forward to shout challenges, a volley from the walls might leave him without even a whole corpse to bury."
"Gen....General of Awe?"
Jiang Wan turned around, momentarily stunned into silence.
He had met Liu Zhang when the latter entered Jiangling. At the time, Liu Zhang had been all smiles, eyes full of wonder at the city's prosperity.
Now, Liu Zhang looked noticeably plumper, his skin fairer—positively well-fed.
But his face was deathly pale, cold and bloodless. Bloodstains marked both his face and clothes. In his right hand was a sword. In his left, the severed head of Zhang Yu.
Liu Zhang looked at Jiang Wan and lifted the head toward him.
"This scoundrel gathered bandits in his residence and planned to coerce me into inviting Magistrate Jiang to a banquet—to commit an unspeakable act."
"I considered it carefully. With Jiangling sealed off, there was no fear of their escape. And such petty criminals were hardly worth troubling Magistrate Jiang."
"So I handled it personally."
Jiang Wan accepted the head, suppressing a wave of nausea. This kind of experience was still far too intense for him.
"General… are you injured?"
Liu Zhang wiped the blood from his hands onto his clothes, sheathed his sword, and shook his head.
"They had eight ballistae manned by singing girls, barring the doors and firing wildly. I entered with Zhou Qun, swords in hand, leading my household servants, and killed them."
"Seventeen corpses in total. They're all still in the residence. Please have someone verify them and remove them—leave them too long, and the stench will become a problem."
Jiang Wan handed Zhang Yu's head to someone behind him and instructed them to swiftly collect the bodies.
Then he turned back and praised him sincerely.
"The General's blade is as sharp as ever."
Liu Zhang snorted.
"I simply refuse to be used as someone else's pawn."
Jiang Wan's thoughts drifted for just a moment.
So all that chaos and fragmentation in Yi Province back then… was something you personally orchestrated?