C143 Relief

The voice inside abruptly stopped, and the pretty face of the young palace maid turned to look at him with fear. Seeing that it was him, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"You can go back. It's not your fault that the dessert was not tasty. Go back and have the imperial chefs serve more snacks."

In a panic, Nan Xin accepted the order and left, leaving behind the fallen food boxes and scattered pastries. One of them was even broken into two pieces and scattered on the ground.

"Muhou, did something happen?"

The empress smiled and shook her head, "The empress was just a little hungry, so she asked the imperial kitchens to send some snacks over. I didn't expect that the food would be so bad."

"I always feel that the Queen Mother's secrets are increasing, as if there are many things that I do not know."

The empress got up and walked in front of him, saying in a gentle voice with a kind expression, "Imperial Mother doesn't have any secrets hidden from you. Your eldest brother has already … "Well, you are my only hope now."

Xiao Yiyan frowned as he looked at her reddened eyes. He extended a finger and lightly scratched her cheek, feeling the wetness.

He sighed, "What does mother want me to do? The Spring Festival case was implicated, and not even one of the top officials was able to bring it down. "

"You are wrong, the purpose of the trial was not to overthrow Shang Shang." The empress's face was filled with tears, her eyes were red, but her lips curved into a smile. "You've done well enough. In the drought in Long Prefecture, even after the relief money sent by the national treasury was given out, it still hadn't been able to solve the problem of the victims and was afraid that it would cause a plague of locusts later on … What you need to do now, is to request your own people to help your royal father settle this matter. "

Xiao Yiyan raised his eyebrows, "Imperial Mother, if this matter is handled well, it is naturally best. However, if it is not …"

"Long Prefecture is to the north of the capital city, just a few states away. If there is a riot among the affected people, I'm afraid the south is heading towards the capital city, causing the people to feel uneasy."

Xiao Yi Xiu sighed softly.

"Yan'er, this is not for mother, nor for anyone. This is for the people of the East Abyss."

"Got it."

After Xiao Yiyan left, the empress let out a sigh. Since Xiao Yi Bei had been crippled, she was naturally the one that had suffered the most. However, what she was most afraid of was not this matter, but the fact that she couldn't push Xiao Yi Yan to the throne.

Trembling slightly, she smoothed out the piece of paper in her hands, which was covered with crumbs, and slowly rolled it up before placing it on the flickering candle flame.

Bei'er, bear with it. The Queen Mother won't be able to save you right now. she thought.

Xiao Yixiu and Gu Qingli, who had both been worn out from their journey, finally stepped into the Scarlet Moon Mirror, heading straight for the place most affected by the disaster.

Only here did he realize that it was more than just a pack of wolves.

More than ten days had passed since the disaster broke out. The entire area was still flooded with countless houses and farmhouses. Floating on the surface of the water were some random things. From afar, there seemed to be furniture, planks, clothes … Taking a closer look, there were actually a lot of corpses wrapped in clothes, including cattle, horses, sheep, and other animals.

They stood on the high ground, unable to speak for a long time. Eventually, they saw the approaching wooden boats that seemed to be fishing for something, searching for something.

"Hey!" Cheng Dong waved his hand from a distance, trying to attract the attention of those on the boat.

The boatmen finally heard the noise and raised their eyes. Then, they called for the few light boats nearby to row over.

When they got closer, they were surprised to find that the people on the boat were all dressed in blue robes. It seemed like they were all from the prefectural yamen.

"Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?"

"See if there are any living people or things worth salvaging." "The leader sighed." We are the bailiffs of the state yamen. "

"What are you all doing with your faces covered with cloth?"

These people, all of them, covered their faces with a three-cornered cloth. If it weren't for this special period of time, Cheng Jia almost suspected that they were robbers who pretended to be soap slaves.

However, Gu Qingli threw Cheng Jiaxi a look of disdain. "Plague often happens after a water disease. They're just trying to prevent themselves from encountering an epidemic."

Ah!

Gu Qingli explained, "A large number of corpses rotted in the water, and the various germs in the soil also dispersed. Not to mention polluting the water source, there might even be people who are alive who can't bear the hunger and went to eat these rotting corpses …"

Before this, he did not know much about the affairs of the Water Ministry. As soon as he had taken up his post, before he was familiar with the affairs of the Water Ministry, he had actually encountered a disaster like this. In reality, he was helpless.

On the boat, Qing Li looked at Gu Qing Li with admiration. "This madam is very insightful. She is truly a learned person."

Cheng Qi then remembered that he was going to reveal his identity. He then hurriedly said to the officials, "What Madam, there are no rules. This is our Princess Mo's side consort."

When Gu Qingli left the house, she had changed into a red veil and followed him out as Li Yue. The only thing that could be done was to say that she was the side concubine.

"Prince Mo, imperial concubine!" It was obvious that these people knew of the matter, so they quickly bowed in shock.

Xiao Yi Xiu shook his head. "No need to stand on ceremony. Let's go on a plank and have this prince disembark to accompany you. Let's go take a look together."

"This... "How can we do that? The boat is too light, and the prince is too rich …"

Before he could finish his sentence, Gu Qing Li had already jumped off the boat and landed beside him. He grabbed the plank at the end of the boat and tossed it flat on the slope where they were standing.

He had no choice but to instruct the other boats to get closer as well. Otherwise, there was not enough space for so many people in one boat.

However, only Xiao Yi Xiu and Cheng Hao boarded the boat, but ordered the rest of the people to take their carriages and horses to the magistrate court.

The one leading them was called Guan Qi. He was one of the leaders of this group. He was rowing his boat in fear as he answered the questions of Xiao Yi Xiu and the others.

The entire Chi Yue Prefecture was located in the middle reaches of the East Abyss's largest river, the Han River. It was mainly hilly and geomorphic, but there was also a peak on the west side of the mountain. Every year, it could face the calamities of the spring flood and the summer flood.

The area where the flood occurred was not more than a hundred miles from the foot of Mount Juneau, near the Henan tributary, the Crossing Cloud River.

This place was supposed to be rich in water sources, rich in land, and rich in specialties. However, due to this unexpected flood season, it often caused people to leave their homes.

The dam here had been built for the last time by Ding You's officer, and it had been solid and stable. For three years, except for the time before the spring flood, the villagers had been called to reinforce the dam and prevent the flood from leaking out.

This year he returned to his hometown, and this job was replaced by others. About three years after the arrival of the Great Flood, the flood control and reinforcement measures were not done well, which caused this year's spring flood to burst some of the dikes and flood the fields at the Crossing Cloud River and at the foot of the Jun'e Mountain.