Chapter 151 Dam Burst

Zhu Lan and Zhu Qingyan kept vigil over the body. The lamps in the mourning hall also stayed lit all night, as did the candlelight in the main room of the second house.

Du Lanfang pulled the thin blanket off Zhu Hongming and slapped him hard, saying angrily: "Your father is gone, how can you still sleep at this time!?"

Zhu Hongming turned over and tried to pull back the quilt, and said in a daze: "He was already old, and he died of old age, and he died happily, this is called a white wedding.

Besides, the one who is gone is my father, not yours, why are you making such a fuss?"

Upon hearing this, Du Lanfang twisted Zhu Hongming's leg. Zhu Hongming screamed in pain and sat up, asking her if he was sick.

"Why did I marry a stupid pig like you?" Du Lanfang was almost mad. "Your father is gone, what will happen to the huge Zhu family business? Have you ever thought about it?"

Zhu Hongming rubbed his thigh and said unhappily, "Why, do you want to split up the family?"

Seeing Du Lanfang's expression, Zhu Hongming sighed and said helplessly: "I think you are the one with a pig brain!

Don't you know what the status of Lan Jie'er is now? She is not only a juren, but also a jieyuan! What does jieyuan mean? It means that one has already stepped half a foot into the officialdom, and a meteoric rise is just around the corner!

This kind of person is someone that even the prefect would have to look up to!

And it's not just her, even Zhu Qingyan who was recognized has a bright future.

We are rushing to curry favor with them now, and you are still thinking about dividing the family. You are simply, simply an ignorant village woman, extremely stupid!"

After saying that, he grabbed the quilt, covered his head and fell into a deep sleep.

Zhu Hongming was still unaware of the continuous heavy rains in Long'an County. He knew that his son, who was restless when sleeping at night, had gone back to his grandfather's house, and he would finally not be woken up by his son in the middle of the night.

Du Lanfang stood there in a daze. Zhu Hongming's words seemed to make some sense. Could it be that if one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit?

But I always made things difficult for Pei Yue in the past. Now that Pei Yue's two daughters are in power, will they let me go?

Du Lanfang lost her backbone for a moment. She looked at her sleeping husband again, gritted her teeth, and thought, forget it, let's test the attitude of the first wife first.

Remembering that the two powerful maids were keeping vigil, Du Lanfang decided to let them go back to rest. However, as soon as he put on his shoes and opened the door, he saw heavy rain in the yard.

There has been a lot of rain in Jiangzhou recently.

Du Lanfang looked at the rain, took his foot back from the door and closed it.

It’s raining so hard, I’d better go and show my skills later when I have the chance.

…

Jiangzhou, Longan County, Dujiazhuang.

The sky was covered with dark clouds.

"Boom--" After a burst of lightning and thunder, heavy rain followed.

Jiangzhou is already crisscrossed with rivers, and Long'an County is traversed by a waterway called "Luojiang".

Fertile farmland stretches along the banks of the Luo River, and high embankments have been built along the river to prevent flooding. However, the colors of these embankments are not uniform, and some sections are obviously newly built.

Three consecutive months of heavy rains have caused the water level of Luojiang River to continue to rise. Although the embankment is high, people still feel uneasy.

A tenant farmer, wearing a straw hat and raincoat, was walking on the muddy ridge of the field, holding two freshly bought fish in his hands.

He looked up at the black dam not far away, which looked like the horizon in the gloomy rain, and his face was full of worry.

"Oh, when will this rain stop?"

He sighed and shook his head, then continued walking towards home on the muddy ground.

Suddenly, a strange sound came into his ears. The tenant was stunned and looked towards the source of the sound. He saw that the dark shadow of the dam seemed to be distorted.

The tenant rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen it wrong.

The next moment, he saw with horror that the dam was like being chopped by a huge axe from the river, and a huge gap appeared. Then, the gap spread to both sides at lightning speed.

Columns of water mixed with huge rocks and mud rushed up into the sky!

The tenant's pupils suddenly shrank, and he dropped the fish and ran home, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Run! The dam has broken—"

The second half of the sound was submerged in the water and stopped abruptly.

…

"Li Yishen is such an idiot!"

In the prefectural office, Bi Cong was filled with rage and slammed the document in his hand onto the table!

Yang Yao, the newly appointed judge, was shocked by his superior's anger. He walked forward and picked up the document on the ground. He only read a few lines before his eyes widened.

"Sir, this...the river in Dujiazhuang, Long'an County burst its banks and has drowned more than 800 villagers!?" Yang Yao asked in astonishment.

Bi Cong rubbed his eyebrows with his hands, his face turned pale.

Yang Yao lowered his head and carefully examined the document again. The handwriting on it was blurred by water stains, but the numbers were clear and dazzling. He was sure that he was not mistaken, and doubts arose in his heart.

"Sir, before I took office in Jiangzhou, I heard that the dam in Long'an County had burst last year. Didn't the court allocate funds for disaster relief and repairs at that time? How come..."

Yang Yao carefully observed Bi Cong's reaction.

He had just arrived and was not quite familiar with his new boss's temper, so he had to be careful with his words.

When Bi Cong heard the other party mention the repair money, his face became even worse.

Yes, the court allocated 5,000 taels of money, and he had 3,000 taels left in his hands. He gave 2,000 taels to Long'an County, thinking that even if Li Yishen wanted to take it, as a county magistrate, he would only need 180 taels.

God knows how much this idiot took to build the dam into this state!

Hundreds of people died. It’s such a serious matter that even the higher-ups may not be able to contain it!

The butler outside the door reported: "Sir, Long'an County Magistrate Li Yishen wants to see you."

Bi Cong's face darkened, "Let him get in!"

Before he finished speaking, a short figure in green official uniform stumbled in. He rolled over the threshold, not caring to fix his official hat which was tilted, and even less caring about Yang Yao who was standing beside him, he knelt in front of Bi Cong and cried.

"Sir, sir, please save me, sir!"

"Save you? What can I use to save you? " Bi Chong grabbed an empty memorial on the table and smashed it hard.

"Tell me! How much of the two thousand taels of silver did you take yourself?"

"Five...five hundred taels." Li Yishen leaned down and looked up at Bi Cong's face cautiously.

"Oh!"

Li Yishen was so frightened that he had to tell the truth, crying, "One thousand... I took one thousand five hundred taels!"

"One thousand five hundred taels!?" Bi Chong was furious and looked around the table for something else he could smash.

He, a fourth-rank prefect, only took one thousand taels, but Li Yishen, a small-time county magistrate, actually dared to embezzle one thousand five hundred taels. He was so bold!