Miaozhou City was surrounded by floods on all sides. The underground river in the city had a section of the city wall washed away by the flood, and the water was very strong. Many houses along the riverbanks were destroyed. At this time, those people had been resettled in the government office.

Zheng Boyuan and Feng Shaoli were at the government office with a group of constables to settle the disaster victims. To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation, Zheng Boyuan made a list of the ranks of every disaster victim who came to stay temporarily. They not only had to clearly state which village they were from, what their name was, and how many people were in their family, but this also had to match the household registrations at the government office. Zheng Boyuan also required at least five people to vouch for him.

The government office had stockpiled some supplies earlier, and the disaster victims had also taken their food with them before leaving home, so they didn't have to worry about food now, but they didn't have enough firewood to start fires.

Xi Jing'an came from the kitchen of the government office and said to Zheng Boyuan, "Sir, when I went to the kitchen just now, the uncle who cooks told me that the firewood in the kitchen will only last for the next two days, and that we should try to get some more firewood."

Zheng Boyuan looked at the sky, which was still covered with leaden clouds. Where could he get firewood? Even though there were many places in the city with piles of dry branches and weeds that had been washed over by the water, they had been soaked in water and could not be burned.

The water in the street had receded considerably, now only reaching ankle depth. Zheng Boyuan stood on the steps in front of the government office, looking at the scene of the flood that had ravaged the street, and said to Xi Jing'an, "Take some men and collect all the dry branches and weeds in the street. Let them dry and see if they can be burned."

Xi Jing'an agreed and led a few men to collect the withered branches and weeds from the street. They carried them in baskets to the courtyard where the government office's kitchen was located. The head chef looked at what Xi Jing'an and his men were carrying and sighed, saying, "Sirs, how can these things be burned?"

Xi Jing'an was also helpless. Everyone knew that these things were wet and naturally couldn't be burned. But where could they find dry firewood that could be burned? Not to mention that the water in the city hadn't completely receded, the area outside the city, even within a radius of several miles, should be a vast swamp.

The chef could only sigh and help move the wet, dry branches to a slightly drier place. After thinking for a moment, he picked up a few branches as thick as his arm, took them into the kitchen, and placed them on one side of the stove, hoping they would dry out a bit and be able to catch fire.

Xu Zhi chatted briefly with Ping Shi and Ming Shi at Ping Shi's house, discussing some arrangements that needed to be made later. Xu Zhi was worried that the Third Prince would send more people later, and didn't want to appear in public to avoid harming innocent people. She didn't sleep well all night. Ping Shi saw that Xu Zhi looked unwell and told her not to go to the government office, saying that she could go with Ming Shi instead.

Xu Zhi stayed home peacefully. Xu Bai and Chen Yuyuan naturally knew about this. Afraid that Xu Zhi would be bored at home, Xu Zhi pulled Chen Yuyuan over to talk to her. They even brought a deck of cards and played cards with Xu Zhi. The siblings ate, drank, and played like this, and the day passed quickly.

When Zheng Boyuan returned home for dinner that evening, Xu Zhi ran to the front yard to eat with him and asked if Lord Chu was acting strangely.

Zheng Boyuan said with great surprise, "I really didn't see anything unusual about Lord Chu. Logically speaking, since Lord Jia and his men went to his house during the day and kidnapped people, Lord Chu, as the head of the family, should have made some kind of reaction. But he was just like usual. I observed him carefully, and he really was just like usual."

Xu Zhi was also filled with doubt and surprise. The more she pondered, the uglier her expression became. Zheng Boyuan, seemingly having thought of something, looked at Xu Zhi and asked in surprise, "Zhi, what have you thought of?"

Xu Zhi was now terrified and said to Zheng Boyuan, "Brother Boyuan, do you think Lord Chu has been faking it all these years? Although his family has fallen on hard times, he is still the son of an earl's mansion. How could he be so cowardly? Especially Madam Chu, she doesn't usually socialize with outsiders. Is all of this just a facade that Lord Chu deliberately puts on?"

Zheng Boyuan's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed Xu Zhi's hand, his eyes fierce, and said, "Azhi, stay at home for the next few days and don't go anywhere. Miaozhou City is now an isolated island. We don't know what our hidden enemies will do next, so this is the only way to guard against them."

Xu Zhi nodded, bit her lip and thought for a moment, then said, "Fortunately, everything in the city has been arranged now. You and Lord Feng can handle the rest. I'll send a message to Sister-in-law Feng and the First Madam of the Second Branch of the Yun Family, telling them that they've worked hard these past few days and that we don't need to go."

Zheng Boyuan nodded, and after dinner he went to the government office. He wanted to see Chu Huaigui again. According to Zheng Boyuan, Chu Huaigui should not make trouble at this time. After all, Zheng Boyuan had already registered everyone in Miaozhou City. Moreover, Zheng Boyuan had heard Jia San say that there was no place to hide people in the Chu family mansion. After Jia San and the others brought back Li Mama and the others, there were not many people left in the Chu family courtyard.

Zheng Boyuan felt that Chu Huaigui was probably waiting for outsiders to arrive. He didn't know when the water would come to Miaozhou, and he also knew that since Zheng Boyuan arrived, strangers entering Miaozhou had to register at the city gate. Zheng Boyuan also liked to wander around the city, checking the population registers kept by the government. Under such circumstances, it would not be easy to hide people safely in the city. The people were probably hidden somewhere outside the city, perhaps with a pre-arranged signal to let them in at any time.

The biggest worry right now is that we have too few people at our disposal. Although we have already sent a message to Dengzhou, who knows when the message will arrive? Most importantly, we don't know if the messenger will have a smooth journey and arrive in Dengzhou safely.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!