good season

Chapter 264 Disaster Relief (Two chapters combined)

Five days later, the Fourth Prince and his entourage were finally able to set off, but by then, Tongzhou was already a vast expanse of water!
In just one day, four urgent reports arrived in the capital, reporting floods in Tongzhou and Yuzhou, and that Baixian and Xianxian were in grave danger!

Tongzhou is really flooded!
Emperor Yongjia asked, "Where is the Fourth Prince now?"

Based on the time they left the city, the Fourth Prince and the Ministry of Works should have arrived in Tongzhou ten days ago.

Eunuch Liu hurriedly said, "His Highness the Fourth Prince fell ill a few days ago and is still in Yanzhou."

"Yanzhou? Why is it still in Yanzhou?" Emperor Yongjia was furious and ordered someone to bring him a map.

Yanzhou is not far from Tongzhou, normally only a two or three-day journey. However, the Fourth Prince's illness has delayed the journey. First, there was torrential rain in the Tongzhou area, making the roads difficult to travel. Then, floods occurred, and a bridge on the official road from Yanzhou to Tongzhou collapsed. Now, people from Yanzhou cannot cross, and people from Tongzhou cannot come to either.

The Minister of Works looked grim; he hadn't expected the Fourth Prince and his entourage to still be on their way.

Moreover, he had received a letter from his subordinates sent back to the capital. Originally, he was only supposed to stay in Yanzhou for one night, but the Fourth Prince was curious about that so-called Fairy Cao, so he stayed for two more days. As a result, he drank unclean water, and the whole group vomited and had diarrhea. The Fourth Prince was even unable to get out of bed. The result of the delay was that Tongzhou was hit by heavy rain, followed by raging floods.

To put it bluntly, this has nothing to do with their Ministry of Works; the only one to blame is the Fourth Prince.

Without saying a word, the Minister of Works impeached the Fourth Prince.

Don't say that princes can't participate in ginseng; when it comes to life and death, no one wants to take the blame for him.

Feng Ke seized the opportunity and immediately followed. So while the Fourth Prince was still pacing around the official post station, baskets of memorials impeaching him were already being carried into the Imperial Study.

Even Xiao Zhen didn't expect that in the previous life, the Fifth Prince arrived in Tongzhou after the flood, while in this life, he gave an early warning, and the Fourth Prince also left the capital in advance, and was still on the road when the flood occurred.

A lifetime later, with an early warning and a different prince, things still turned out the same.

Fortunately, in this life, with the addition of him and Zhao Shiqing, six or seven out of ten people from the four regions of Tongzhou rushed to Gaoping before the flood.

Yes, out of 60-70% of them, 30-40% haven't left, either because they don't want to leave, are unwilling to leave, or are unable to leave.

For example, today, a grandmother and her two grandchildren had just arrived on the mountain. Their son was doing business in another city, and only the mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law who was in confinement after childbirth were at home. All the neighbors had left, so they couldn't leave. When Zhao Shiqing was rowing out, she happened to meet them and brought them up the mountain.

"Where is Young Master Xiao? Has he gone down the mountain again?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

Xiuxiu nodded: "Yes, after Xu Le went up the mountain to see Young Master Xiao, they left together."

Since going up the mountain, Xiao Zhen has completely removed his fake face. Firstly, he was getting rained on every day, and the fake face was very uncomfortable to wear. Secondly, this was also part of his plan.

There is no Young Master Zhen now, he is Young Master Xiao.

As usual, Zhao Shiqing went to the inn at the back first. Although there were a few houses on the mountain before, there were only a few. The current inn was temporarily built after Xiao Zhen and Zhao Shiqing arrived. Due to limited time, they moved in before it was completely dry. The roof was covered with tarpaulin, so there was no leak.

A strong smell of mugwort wafted over. This mugwort, along with a large amount of quicklime, had been transported up the mountain before the heavy rains arrived, and now it was coming in handy.

"The Second Miss has arrived!"

Someone shouted something, and several girls ran over at the sound.

"Second Miss, the family that just arrived has been settled in. Their baby is so cute."

"The baby can even blow bubbles."

The speakers were two young sisters. Zhao Shiqing recognized them; they were the granddaughters of Old Madam Hao. Since settling down on the mountain, the three of them had spontaneously helped take care of the new female relatives.

Zhao Shiqing patted her younger sister's head and asked, "Did anyone have a fight or quarrel today?"

The older sister thought for a moment and said, "It's Aunt Li. Today at mealtime, she brought her grandson over here and even stole Xiaohua's eggs. My grandma told her off, and she cursed at my grandma, saying that Xiaohua was a good-for-nothing and didn't deserve to eat eggs."

Supplies on the mountain are limited. Pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding, and children under the age of seven each receive one egg or one piece of dried meat per day, while others receive nothing.

Zhao Shiqing remembered that Aunt Li, a very shrewish woman. On her first day there, upon hearing that the women's living conditions were much better than the men's, she demanded to live with her grandson. However, it was the rule on the mountain that men and women lived separately, and since her grandson was already twelve years old, he could not live with the women. So she made a big fuss. Lingbo went over and scolded her, saying that if she made any more noise, she should get down the mountain. Only then did she stop.

Zhao Shiqing asked, "Where is her grandson now?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than the sound of a little girl crying came from a room. The older girl pointed to the room and said, "Aunt Li's grandson is still there."

Zhao Shiqing walked over quickly. The door was open, and a tall, fat boy was gleefully munching on the jerky he had stolen. The victim was a little girl of about four or five years old, who was being held in the arms of a woman and crying sadly.

Seeing Zhao Shiqing come in, Aunt Li felt no remorse whatsoever; instead, she was filled with pride, thinking how capable her grandson was!

As for this Miss Zhao, Aunt Li didn't take her seriously. Kind-hearted people are easy to bully, and besides, she's just a little girl.

Zhao Shiqing narrowed her eyes. Dried meat, like eggs, is a way to supplement nutrition for pregnant women and children. Aunt Li's grandson first snatched eggs from one child, and now he's snatching dried meat from another.

Originally, these were all minor matters that Zhao Shiqing didn't need to concern herself with. However, every small matter could potentially escalate into a major issue. Moreover, in Xiao Zhen's dream, bad people infiltrated the mountain and killed the entire teahouse owner's family. Therefore, Zhao Shiqing had instructed people to keep an eye out from the beginning and to resolve any problems immediately.

There's no point in arguing with someone like Aunt Li, because she's completely unreasonable.

"Lingbo, throw this grandmother and grandson out! There's no room for them here!"

Before she finished speaking, Lingbo rushed forward, grabbed the boy who was about her height, and dragged him out. Aunt Li didn't expect Zhao Shiqing to have her grandson dragged away without saying a word. She screamed and rushed forward to snatch her grandson: "Yaozu, you good-for-nothing, put my Yaozu down right now!"

Seeing this, Zhao Shiqing reached out and grabbed Aunt Li's shoulder: "You and your Yaozu go out together!"

The master and servant dragged the grandmother and grandson out of the inn. Although the mountain was not flooded, it was muddy everywhere. The grandmother and grandson were thrown on an open ground. A moment later, Aunt Li's son was also dragged out.

Zhao Shiqing looked at the family of three with a cold gaze. Every family that came here had a detailed registration. This family came up the mountain after seeing others doing so. They were registered as residents of Dahe Village. They had heard about the flood and went to the city to seek refuge with relatives, but they couldn't find them and were trapped in the city by the heavy rain.

At the time, she didn't think anything of it, but now Zhao Shiqing has become suspicious.

She looked at Aunt Li's son, Li Dazhu: "Where is your wife?"

Li Dazhu was fast asleep when he was dragged out of bed, and he still doesn't know what happened.

"Dead, dead!"

Zhao Shiqing asked again, "You only have one child?" The child is already twelve years old. Unless the child's mother died when the child was very young and Li Dazhu never remarried, this situation is rare. Most children would have younger siblings.

Li Dazhu avoided eye contact, then subconsciously looked at Aunt Li: "Yes, yes, there's only one."

Zhao Shiqing then looked at Li Yaozu: "Where's your mother? If you don't tell the truth, I'll throw you off the mountain!"

The biggest shock Li Yaozu had ever experienced in his life was being dragged out of the house like a dead dog. Terrified, he hid behind Aunt Li and whispered, "My mother, my mother was... was sold."

Aunt Li hurriedly said, "That's not true, that bitch is long dead."

Zhao Shiqing sneered: "Tell the truth, whether you die or get sold out!"

As she spoke, she drew her sword and pressed it against Li Dazhu's chest.

Li Dazhu swallowed hard in fright: "It has nothing to do with me. It was all my mother's idea. She said that the slut ruined her body when she gave birth to those two girls and couldn't have any more children. She said there was no use in keeping her, so she sold her along with the two girls."

Zhao Shiqing: "Girl? You have two more daughters?"

Before Li Dazhu could speak, Aunt Li shouted, "Doesn't fleeing cost money? Where will we get the money if we don't sell those two worthless things? If that slut is blocking us from selling, then sell her too. What's the use of keeping an old hen that can't lay eggs?"

Zhao Shiqing: "No wonder you came to the city while others were fleeing. You came to the city not to seek refuge with relatives, but to sell your wives and daughters? Bah! Who was the blind fool who brought these three beasts up the mountain?"

Two guards came out, their faces flushed. They had not only brought the family of three up the mountain, but they had also carried Yaozu up with them. Originally, they wanted to carry Aunt Li, but Aunt Li asked them to carry Yaozu instead, so they had no choice but to do so.

Zhao Shiqing's face was gloomy: "How did you bring them up here? How do you take them down here? I can't tolerate any nonsense. These beasts who sell their wives and daughters before everything else don't deserve to be taken in!"

Li Dazhu then realized what was happening and pointed at Aunt Li, shouting, "This was all my mother's idea, it has nothing to do with me! I don't want to go down the mountain, I don't want to go down the mountain!"

Two guards came over to drag him away, but Li Yaozu hid behind Aunt Li and said, "My father said this was all my grandmother's idea. Throw my grandmother down, but don't throw me!"

Seeing the ugly state of this family of three, Zhao Shiqing was both angry and amused. She wondered where the mother and her two children had been sold to. Anyone who wanted to buy people at a time like this was probably trying to take advantage of the situation to lower the price, and it couldn't be a good place.

The family of three was taken away, and the crowd silently dispersed. Some felt relieved, while others were indifferent.

“This Miss Zhao has gone too far. I heard it all started because Li Yaozu took food from the other children. Is she using this as an excuse to make trouble? Does she think there are too many people on the mountain? If not, then she is just narrow-minded and intolerant.”

"Shh, stop talking. Do you want to be kicked off the mountain too?"

Zhao Shiqing soon learned of these whispers, but she didn't care. She knew that some people with a saintly heart would think she was wrong for doing what she did today, but she didn't think she had done anything wrong. If she had to do it again, she would do it the same way.

Xiao Zhen returned to the mountain very late. In the shed, a single lamp shone dimly, and Zhao Shiqing was still waiting for him.

"Hey, why aren't you asleep yet?" Xiao Zhen asked softly.

Zhao Shiqing: "I was worried you would be swept away by the flood."

Xiao Zhen smiled and said, "I'm lucky and have a long life; it won't be washed away."

"Where did you go?" Zhao Shiqing asked.

"I went with the constables to rescue people. Today we found dozens more people and temporarily settled them in a house belonging to the Huang family. It's on higher ground and there's no immediate danger. The Huang family has already gone to Gaoping and lent this house to the yamen before they left. Prefect Qian is hiding there."

Zhao Shiqing was amused; she had almost forgotten about Prefect Qian, never expecting him to have found a place to hide.

Zhao Shiqing told Xiao Zhen about driving the Li family away today. Xiao Zhen said, "The place where that group of people gathered before has been flooded. They have disappeared. Some of them may be mixed in with the disaster victims. We need to carefully check the people who come up the mountain recently. Also, don't go down the mountain. Just stay on the mountain."

Only God knows what he felt when he saw the floating corpses after coming down the mountain today.

Among them were young women!
Zhao Shiqing knew that Xiao Zhen cared about her, but even his tender words sounded dry and unnatural.

"Okay, I understand. I'll stay on the mountain starting tomorrow."

"Be careful on the mountain, and bring a bodyguard wherever you go."

Two days later, the heavy rain finally stopped, but the floodwaters at the foot of the mountain did not recede, while the scene in Gaoping City was quite different.

The refugees who fled from the four places in Tongzhou have been settled.

Those with relatives went to stay with them, those with money bought houses and land, and those without money received relief grain according to the allocation of the yamen and went to the village with the village head. Some chose to reclaim wasteland. For these newly established villages, the yamen not only provided relief grain but also farming tools. In addition, when it was time to cultivate the land, they could go to the yamen to collect seeds.

Farmers cannot live without land. They were reluctant to leave the place where their ancestors had lived for generations, but now that they know that whoever reclaims the land owns it, and can also receive a year's worth of seeds, everyone is very happy and full of energy. They can't wait to rush to their destination and work hard.

Meanwhile, a name began to circulate among the disaster victims.

Prince Guanyue!

Not only was the relief grain donated by Young Master Guanyue, but even the money for buying farm tools and seeds was paid by Young Master Guanyue.

What a great philanthropist! He is a truly great philanthropist!

Some commoners have seen the Moon-Viewing Prince.

"He was a young man in his teens who looked just like the golden boy under the seat of Guanyin."

Soon, the legend of Guanyin Bodhisattva, who saves people from suffering, sending a golden boy to earth to help them spread, and the idea that the Moon-Viewing Prince was the incarnation of the golden boy also began to circulate among the people.

Many disaster victims came to Gaoping, including poor people as well as many wealthy people.

Whether they were poor or rich, people would definitely take all their valuables with them when they fled.

Gaoping, which was originally a place that everyone avoided, is now flooded with merchants who want to profit from the disaster.

Thus, the legend of the Moon-Viewing Prince spread from Gaoping City to all corners of the Dayong Dynasty along with the comings and goings of these merchants.

These last few chapters weren't very interesting, but this plot point is about to end. Let's try to get the male and female leads back to the capital within three days.