Miao Chu

Chapter 277 Movement
Even after Li Zhai had gone far away, Feng Deju, carrying his bundle, still stood by his side.

He was extremely anxious.

He had volunteered to go to Huazhou earlier, obviously because he wanted to make a good impression on the emperor.

Although floods are dangerous, one cannot catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den.

As long as you work hard for a month or two and do your job well, the emperor is benevolent and will surely not treat you unfairly.

Rewards are secondary. If His Majesty can see my competence and appoint me to an outside post, and I can achieve some merit—I dare not dream of being on par with those eunuch predecessors who were famous for their martial arts, but if I can leave a trace in the history books…

Though rootless, it is better than having roots!
At present, there is no trouble in Huazhou—even without seeing the report, after hearing Li Zhai's explanation and seeing the emperor's expression, Feng Deju knew that the situation in Huazhou had probably been quelled.

If that's the case, all my efforts may very well be in vain.

He originally wanted to grab some hot meat, but ended up grabbing a pile of hot excrement instead. He didn't have time to lament his poor eyesight and bad luck; he just desperately tried to think of a way to deal with it.

Huazhou is far away. Even if you go quickly, it would take at least one or two months to make a round trip and to figure out the local situation.

Having been away for so long, who knows which dog will be by the emperor's side when he returns!
Feng Deju narrowed his eyes and saw his newly accepted apprentice standing to the side.

Among the newly recruited eunuchs, this person was the most clever and adept at handling affairs. He took him in as a disciple, firstly because he was easy to use, and secondly because he kept him close to keep an eye on him, lest the person take advantage of a loophole and snatch him to the emperor's side at any time.

Just like now.

This thief, the more you look at him, the more cunning and shifty-eyed he seems; there's nothing about him that's not repulsive.

Feng Deju's mind raced, and he stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, although the report from Huazhou only covers one place, it is so detailed that it is unlikely to be a lie. Why not wait for reports from Weizhou and Weicheng to corroborate each other..."

After speaking, he carefully chose his words and cautiously added, "Right now, Huazhou is not in such dire straits, but the Bian River is rising drastically. I think it doesn't matter who goes to Huazhou, but the capital is the most important place—it would be better to send someone else north, and arrange for me to patrol the dikes day and night, and stay on the dikes, so that I can know the water situation and send people back to the palace to report from time to time, so that Your Majesty's anxiety can be relieved..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu couldn't help but nod to himself.

The situation in Huazhou is urgent, but the impending flooding of the Bian River is equally urgent.

The capital city relies entirely on this canal. At present, the water level can be balanced by the sluice gates. However, if the rain continues or there is another heavy rain upstream, once the water level exceeds the limit, the slow-moving canal will have to be used to protect the entire city.

No matter how much he paid attention to the river floods, he couldn't stay on the dike day and night. Most of the time, he just waited for people to report to him.

However, the reports from different places varied in wording. Sometimes, what one wanted to know in detail was reported in a rough manner, and those below could not fully understand the situation.

If only a capable eunuch could help keep one eye open.

However, Huazhou could not completely listen to the local officials. Even officials from other prefectures and counties could easily collude and deceive them. It was not uncommon for even a minor official to be bribed by the local authorities.

The longer one is away from the palace, the less controllable one becomes.

He looked up and glanced around at the yellow doors on the side.

The people on night duty are mostly strangers, with few familiar faces.

The one standing closest to the others seemed to be Feng Deju's newly accepted apprentice, and had been very proactive and attentive lately.

Zhao Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he called out, "Hey you..."

He couldn't recall the other person's name at first.

Feng Deju immediately reminded him: "Liu Gaoban!"

His disciple stepped forward, both surprised and delighted.

Zhao Yu pondered for a moment.

Although the capital city is the most important, it is still relatively close.

He raised his head and said to Feng Deju, "The Yellow River just changed its course at Huazhou. I'm not comfortable leaving the actual situation there to others to investigate—Deju..."

Feng Deju's heart was burning with passion.

He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject is here!"

"I have always been very confident in your work. You must carefully verify everything you hear and see, the people's situation, Wang Jinghe's situation, and the new Yellow River channel."

Feng Deju immediately swore an oath, saying he would not be afraid to die for the emperor.

At this moment, Zhao Yu turned to Liu Gaoban, who had just been there, and said, "I have seen you a few times. You seem to be a clever person. I cannot always be there in person at the dikes. You should investigate the matters concerning the rivers inside and outside the city carefully and report back to me at any time."

Liu Gaoban was so excited that he imitated his master's words and actions, kneeling down and kowtowing, willing to serve the emperor.

After daybreak, Zhao Yu finally received reports from Liyang, Anlijun, and Weinan. He carefully compared them with the reports from Huazhou and found that they were indeed true.

That day, Feng Deju and his newly accepted apprentice, Liu, a high-ranking official in the palace, left Xuande Gate one after the other, each leading a group of men. One went to Huazhou, and the other went to the river embankment outside the city.

Also leaving the city were various groups heading towards Chanzhou.

Some sent messages, some delivered food and clothing, some carried money, and many wealthy families even sent entire cartloads of goods, along with their servants, all at once.

Soon after, many students who had been temporarily transferred to the Chanzhou government office finally had attendants and companions.

—When everyone set off, they were all instructed that the river was strictly managed and that they were not allowed to bring their relatives or entourage. So they kept their tails between their legs and set off on their own.

But after they arrived, they gradually realized that it wasn't as strict as they thought!
Not only were they not strict, but because of Cai Xiu, a talented scholar from the Imperial Academy who was in charge of all student affairs, they did not suffer much hardship and actually lived quite comfortably.

Brother Cai is very capable and knows how to strike a balance between doing things and being a good person.

But in any case, Chanzhou is not comparable to the capital.

Although the group did not suffer much hardship from working on the river, they did experience some of the hardships of life.

For example, even though they had relatively clean dormitories, they still had to wash their own clothes and tidy up their own belongings. Because there weren't enough rooms, some people even had to share a room.

How can we tolerate this?

So, after discussing it with Brother Cai, they secretly found out what the higher-ups wanted. Finally, they mustered up their courage and moved out one by one, free to roam in their new homes.

Now that servants have been sent from home, and people are helping with laundry, folding blankets, cooking, and making soup, life is even more comfortable!
The group laughed and joked, sometimes bumping into each other on the street, sometimes meeting in restaurants and brothels, feeling that although Chanzhou was remote, it had its own unique charm.

The students, also on temporary assignment, lived in shacks along the Liuta River, but their lives were quite different.

The shacks were built right next to the river, which was already very humid. With the recent heavy rains, the water level rose higher each day, making the dampness even worse. Although it wasn't like the plum rain season in the south, the bedding still smelled damp as soon as you lay down on the bed.

Some people developed red rashes that were unbearably itchy, while others were infested with fleas—because there were few shacks, and some even had large communal sleeping areas, if one person had fleas, everyone else would get them too.

The flea was quite fair in its favor, sharing its bounty equally with everyone, leaving no one untouched.

As a result, complaints filled the shed.

Aside from accommodation, food was even worse; even cabbage and tofu weren't enough to fill one's stomach.

The most important thing, of course, is to get things done—the students in the sheds are never free from morning till night, and they are often singled out for a lecture for making a small mistake, and are repeatedly urged to speed up their progress.

Everyone felt they couldn't go on living like this, barely managing to get through it until now.

That afternoon, the students in the shed were gathered together calculating the water depths at various locations. While they were comparing the results, they heard footsteps outside. Soon after, a person rushed in, beaming with joy, and said, "Everyone! Everyone! Come quickly! My family brought me some food!"

Everyone dropped what they were doing and gathered around. "Xu Da, what did your family send you?"

"Is there enough to go around? If you share it with us, will you have anything left to eat?"

Xu Da unloaded the basket from his back and placed it on the table, opening it for everyone to see: "Enough! Enough! The eldest brother's bundle is full of dried meat and dried cuttlefish—he said he bought it from Song Ji—from Miss Song in Suanzao Lane!"

There were students from the Imperial Academy inside, and their oily faces immediately shone brighter—"When did Song's shop start selling dried meat and dried squid?? Didn't Miss Song only sell glutinous rice, shumai, and drinks??"

"Didn't they say they went to Huazhou!"

"Are we heading back to the capital already? Is the dike in Huazhou finished? When will ours be repaired soon too!"

"When will we be able to eat Miss Song's sticky rice and shumai again?!"

There were also students from other academies in the room, and they couldn't help but ask about Song Ji and Song Xiaoniangzi.

So someone introduced Song Xiaoniangzi to everyone, saying that Song Ji was a very famous breakfast stall in the food alley behind the Imperial Academy and Nanlu Academy, and so on...

"...If you randomly grab ten students from the Imperial Academy's study hall, some of them might not know Chancellor Deng, but they will all definitely know Lady Song!"

"Xu Da, how did you manage to buy so many!"

After a while, Da had taken out the packets of dried meat from the basket, opened one packet, and was about to distribute it to everyone.

Upon hearing this, he hurriedly replied, "My home is at the end of Linxiang Alley, next to Suanzao Alley. We're practically neighbors with that Miss Song. My parents just sent someone to deliver a message, telling me that if I find the dried meat delicious and it's almost finished, I should send someone back so they can buy more and send it over!"

Each person picked up a piece of dried meat, carefully put it in their mouth, and chewed it with great relish.

The aroma and taste of Song Ji's dried meat and dried cuttlefish are self-evident. Moreover, since everyone hadn't had proper meat for a long time, some people almost shed tears when they suddenly got a taste of it.

Immediately, everyone was asking, "Can we still buy some? Can we ask our parents to go buy some more?"

How much is a pack?

"Come on, come on! Let's all make up the numbers! Who knows how much longer we'll have to stay in this awful place!"

The students were registering and calculating the accounts when another person slammed the door shut and walked in.

"Xie Er, what's wrong? Did the door offend you?"

"Come here quickly, the Xu family brought a lot of dried meat, it's from Song's! We've all had some and want to buy some too—would you like to try some and join in?"

The person called Xie Er was extremely frustrated.

He walked into the crowd and said angrily, "I was on my way to the prefectural government to deliver a document, and I passed through Jingkai Street. Guess who I saw?"

Without anyone even needing to guess, he spilled the beans in one breath—"We're working hard here from morning till night, while Cai Xiu, Tian Min, Liu Guan, Lü Dingyang, Feng Sifeng, and about ten others are drinking and having fun in Tingfeng Tower!"

"How do you know?"

"Could I have misread it?"

"What nonsense! They had the window open and were even standing by it, trying to squeeze out to urge the entertainers to sing a song about 'sudden rain'! How could they not get soaked to death! They've been here for months, what have they done? We've done everything!"

The room was silent; no one had the energy to speak.

After a while, Xu Da silently pushed a bag of dried meat in front of Xie Er.

"Forget it, let's just pretend we didn't see it—what else can we do? Eat some jerky! Eat a piece of jerky and forget about that 'sudden rain'!"

Xie Er felt a tightness in his chest.

However, when Xu Da handed over the dried meat, he had no choice but to accept it obediently. He had no appetite for it and held it in his hand. When he turned his head, he saw the rain pouring outside the window. If it hadn't been raining for so many days, it would have been a real downpour.

He was looking out at the heavy rain, and he didn't know if he had been so focused on covering the book in his hand with the umbrella on the way back that he had forgotten to cover himself properly, causing water to get into his eyes. Now his eyes were wet and hot, and he felt very uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, in the Chanzhou government office, Lü Zhongchang, who was in charge of the Liuta River, was sitting in a room with several other officials.

The expressions on their faces were not good.

"I heard the Huazhou dike has collapsed..."

"I've also heard about it. It was Li Jiwen, the messenger on horseback, who reported the news—is he in Weizhou?"

"It's just across the river—the eunuch said he saw the vast, yellowish water next door, a huge, surging expanse, which is probably true!"

"The Huazhou dike has collapsed, and we don't know how the water level will be. We've already been closely watched here, and I'm afraid we won't be able to escape this time."

"Lord Lü, is the Six Towers River truly to be put into operation this month?"

Lu Zhongchang frowned, and finally said, "With the upstream water level so high and the rains continuing, if we don't use the Liuta River, the dikes at Chanzhou will also collapse..."

"Let's delay it a little longer and see!"

***
It's not just Chanzhou that's experiencing incessant rain.

It rained in the capital for a full twenty days.

In Suanzao Lane, Song Miaoxian only covered the fish tank in the backyard with a large umbrella to shield it from the rain, so that the fish would escape with the water when it was full. However, as the wind and rain grew stronger, the umbrella became tattered and could not be used very effectively.

Cheng Erniang volunteered to build a shed for the fish tank when the rain subsided, using her old skills from growing vegetables and building trellises in Fuzhou.

The shelter held up well, and thankfully, the fish in the tank survived.

The moss didn't need any special care; it had grown greener and thicker by itself.

The climate in the central plains of Beijing is usually quite dry, but one morning, when Xiaolian was feeding the fish, she couldn't help but shout and yell, calling out "Sister" repeatedly.

Song Miao went to look when she heard the sound, and saw a small clump of white-umbrella-shaped mushrooms growing at the base of the thick stick that Cheng Erniang had brought to build the shed.

"Is this edible?!"

Xiao Lian looked on with envy.

I wouldn't dare eat something I don't recognize.

Besides the fungi, moss also grew on the base of the wall.

The capital city was severely flooded, and floodwaters had been released multiple times. The floodplains had also been activated. The roads in the inner city were flooded, and the floodwaters had backed up several times, destroying a large number of houses in the outer city.

But perhaps it was a blessing from heaven, as the rains gradually subsided in late July, the floodwaters slowly receded.

One morning, the sun finally managed to break through the thick clouds, and all morning the streets were filled with the joyful sounds of neighbors spreading the news.

Songji gradually resumed normal business.

That evening, after seeing off a table of guests and tidying up the shop, Zhang Si Niang and the others went home. Since Cheng Er Niang was tidying up the courtyard behind them, Song Miao went ahead.

She was about to sit down and look at tomorrow's shopping list when she suddenly heard the faint neighing of horses outside the door. On a whim, she got up and went to the door.

Outside the door, a person with their back to him was changing their outer garment. As if hearing the noise, they turned around.

(End of this chapter)