The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

Chapter 300 Washed Away by the Flood
In the blink of an eye, it was late June, and the capital had experienced the hottest dog days in twenty years. For ten consecutive days, the willow branches along the moat outside the city did not sway.

At noon, the sun was blazing, and the leaves were wilting as if they had been burned. Zen kept calling in the tree.

It was the beginning of the dog days of summer, the weather was hot and humid, and Li Hu was feeling irritable. He couldn't fall asleep even though he was lying on the recliner with his bare chest.

The chirping of cicadas made Li Hu feel upset. He suddenly turned over and sat up, startling Xiangling who was dozing off and fanning him.

Xiangling looked at Li Hu in a daze: "Second Master, are you awake?"

Li Hu pinched her face in annoyance, then subconsciously glanced at her. She was too thin.

Xiangling finally woke up, her face blushed, then she lowered her head and fanned Li Hu with greater force.

Li Hu smiled. The weather was hot and stuffy. Even with ice cubes, it was useless. Men could still go shirtless, but women couldn't. However, the rich and powerful could wear silk gauze and silk. This kind of fabric was breathable and permeable. However, although clothes made of this kind of fabric were cool, they were too transparent. Wearing them would expose the underwear inside.

Li Hu hasn't been to Lin Daiyu's yard for more than ten days. It's not that he doesn't want to go there, but Lin Daiyu won't let him go there. Even if they meet in the back garden after dinner, they just say a few words from a distance.

Thinking of this, Li Hu picked up a piece of watermelon from the almost melted ice and handed it to Xiangling, then took another piece and started eating it himself.

At this time, Feng's voice came from outside the bedroom: "Second Master, a letter from Yuqing Palace."

Li Hu looked at Xiangling and said, "Give your mother a piece of iced watermelon." Then he took the palace fan from her hand and started fanning himself.

Xiangling picked up a piece of watermelon that was neither too big nor too small and ran out happily.

"Mom, this watermelon is so sweet!"

"You eat it. Mom just drank a bowl of sour plum juice."

"Mom, just take a bite."

Listening to Xiangling's coquettish voice, Li Hu smiled.

"Okay, don't delay Second Master's business."

"Ah."

The door curtain was raised, and Xiangling ran in cheerfully again, handing a letter to Li Hu: "Second Master, a letter."

Li Hu smiled and said, "Silly girl." He took the letter, tore it open and read it. After reading a few lines, he smiled bitterly and shook his head.

After the death of the Prime Minister, the cabinet has undergone major changes. First, the new Prime Minister fell off his horse and broke his leg, so he resigned to recuperate. This incident shocked the entire capital. A civil servant, who was also the Prime Minister, actually rode a horse to the government office. No matter how you look at it, there is something wrong. Before the new Prime Minister was elected, two more senior cabinet ministers resigned for various reasons. Three university scholars resigned in succession, and the government and the public speculated, and people's expectations of the officials were low. There were even some bad rumors among the people.

If the news of the Minister of Rites' resignation were to spread, I wonder what kind of disturbance it would cause!

Li Hu sighed. The civil servants were making a fuss and ended up tormenting themselves. They had to go out in such hot weather. What a miserable life!
Li Hu stood up: "Amber~"

"Hey."

"Find my official uniform. I need to go to the palace."

The sun was shining brightly in the capital, but here there was thunder, lightning and heavy rain after the strong wind.

Amid the gurgling rain, the Yellow River let out a heart-pounding roar. Waves as high as a person surged in from the center of the river, creating splashes of water more than ten feet high on the embankment, causing the entire embankment to tremble.

In the rain, countless laborers and soldiers were repairing the dam.

As the saying goes, when the emperor is angry, millions of people die and blood flows for thousands of miles. More than a hundred officials of all ranks in the Henan River Administration were beheaded, which rectified the atmosphere of the entire Henan officialdom. From the governor of Henan to the petty officials, everyone came to the Yellow River embankment to repair the embankment.

Prince Beijing Shui Rong, Jia Zheng, the governor of Henan and others all ate and lived in felt tents set up on the dike.

In the felt tent, Jia Zheng was so exhausted that he soon fell into a deep sleep on a bamboo chair, and in an instant he was snoring like thunder.

The door curtain was lifted, and Zhou Rui came in carrying a food box. Looking at Jia Zheng, whose face and body were covered in mud, a look of discomfort flashed in his eyes. He sighed silently, walked over to the bamboo stool next to Jia Zheng and sat down.

Suddenly, there was a loud thunder and it seemed to have exploded outside the felt tent!

Jia Zheng was awakened. He sat up suddenly, rubbed his eyes, wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth, took out his pocket watch and looked at it in the dim light. The hands on the watch had stopped!

Zhou Rui spoke up: "The watch must have been soaked in water. It's just past noon, Master, please take a rest for a while." Then he opened the lid of the box, took out a porcelain cup from it, and opened the lid, "This is the freshly boiled ginseng soup, Master, drink it while it's hot."

Jia Zheng: "Where did you get the ginseng soup?"

Zhou Rui: "Several gentry in Kaifeng Prefecture saw that the master and Prince Beijing have been working so hard these days, so they sent a few ginsengs to honor the master and Prince Beijing. This can be regarded as sharing the worries of the court." Jia Zheng's face sank: "Share the worries of the court? If they really want to share the worries of the court, they should send people to repair the dike!"

Zhou Rui smiled bitterly and said, "This is Prince Beijing's business. You don't need to get angry with them."

Jia Zheng was slightly startled, then he took the ginseng soup and drank it slowly, asking, "Where is Prince Beijing?"

Zhou Rui: "It is said that half of the dam that was just repaired last night collapsed again."

Jia Zheng's hand holding the ginseng soup trembled: "Half of it collapsed?"

Zhou Rui nodded solemnly.

Jia Zheng didn't even bother to drink the ginseng soup. He immediately stood up and shouted, "Someone come!"

An officer came in in response.

Jia Zheng: "Quick, call up all the soldiers who are on leave, and follow me to support the prince!"

The officer answered loudly, "Yes," and ran out like the wind.

Zhou Rui: "There is no rush. Master, drink the ginseng soup first."

Jia Zheng: "Oil-coated clothes!"

Zhou Rui had no choice but to pick up the oiled clothes and help him put them on.

Jia Zheng walked out into the strong wind. There was a terrifying thunderclap that shook the earth and startled Jia Zheng so much that he shuddered all over.

Heavy rain poured down immediately after thunder. Jia Zheng's eyes passed through the rain curtain like a sky, looking at the muddy river water in the middle of the riverbed. His face suddenly changed, and then he grabbed Zhou Rui's arm: "Has the river water level dropped?" His voice trembled.

Zhou Rui looked over and his expression changed: "It seems to have dropped a bit."

Jia Zheng's mind buzzed, and he said in a trembling voice: "The dam has burst!"

In the distance, there were cries of “The dam has broken, the dam has broken!”

Jia Zheng shuddered violently and looked in the direction of the voice.

An officer stumbled over, crying out, "The governor and the prefect were washed away by the flood."

Jia Zheng's face turned even paler.

The officer ran to him and knelt down, crying, "The dam has broken, Governor, Prefect, and many people have been washed away by the flood."

Jia Zheng: "Where is Prince Beijing?"

The officer: "Maybe, maybe he was also washed away by the flood."

Jia Zheng’s eyes went dark and he was about to fall backwards.

Zhou Rui quickly hugged him.

Jia Zheng: "Quick, go and save them."

The soldiers and civilians who rushed over looked at each other, wondering how to save them.
Jia Zheng stamped his feet and said, "Go!"

The crowd had no choice but to run towards the breach.
Along with the sound of waves, the roaring sound of turbulent water came from the breach of the Yellow River embankment. The breach in the Yellow River embankment was more than thirty or four feet wide. The roaring Yellow River torrent rushed into the breach like an overwhelming force, and then rushed through the breach and onto the land on the other side of the embankment!
Countless soldiers and many civilians came running over, carrying bags of earth!
From a distance, Shui Rong and Yang Qilong watched all this quietly.

After a long while, Yang Qilong spoke: "Young Master, it's time for us to leave."

Shui Rong didn't say anything, just said "hmm" and mounted the horse.

Yang Qilong followed and mounted the horse.

Shui Rong took another look at the other side of the breach, whipped the whip hard, and the horse rushed forward like an arrow.

Yang Qilong rode his horse closely after him and disappeared in the rain.

(End of this chapter)