Chapter 170 Piping

"You... say that again!?" Mr. Xiao pointed at her angrily.

"My daughter already has someone she loves, and she would never marry Yang Xin."

Mr. Xiao was furious. He never thought that his daughter, who was always quiet and docile and never spoke loudly, would dare to disobey him like this.

Mrs. Xiao, who was standing by, was thinking hard about what her daughter had said.

The one she loves? My daughter is usually either in the academy or at home reading. Where does the one she loves come from?

Suddenly, Madam Xiao took a deep breath.

After all, she was a woman and a mother. Thinking back on her daughter's daily words and deeds, coupled with her own intuition, the face of the little gardener in the mansion suddenly flashed through her mind.

"Wan'er, tell me the truth. You and that little gardener named Zhao wouldn't..."

Mrs. Xiao almost fainted just thinking about it.

How could the daughter that my husband and I had painstakingly raised fall in love with the son of a gardener?!

Could it be that she intends to live a life of coarse linen clothes from now on?

At this point, Xiao Wan doesn't want to hide it anymore.

She and Sicheng were childhood sweethearts. They had been through thick and thin together and had already decided on each other. If it weren't for this time travel, they would have been a loving couple now.

But since they came to this era, for five years, the two of them had to meet in secret, as if it was something shameful.

Who wouldn’t feel aggrieved and wronged?

Xiao Wan straightened her back and said word by word:

"Father, mother, do you know that if Yang Xin hadn't secretly framed him and had the servants kidnap Sicheng on the day of the provincial examination?

He will also be on the list of this year's provincial examination and become a Juren!

Regardless of whether my daughter has feelings for him or not, she will never marry a despicable and shameless man like Yang Xin."

"Excuse!" Mr. Xiao slammed the table, his anger growing even greater.

"Your uncle Yang has done a great favor to our Xiao family. I don't believe his son would do such a thing. Besides, what is the status of Mr. Yang? What is the status of that man surnamed Zhao? Would a magistrate embarrass a little gardener? What a joke!"

Xiao Wan wanted to argue, but Mr. Xiao suddenly waved his sleeves.

"Stop talking! Marriage is always decided by parents, how can you do whatever you want?

Kneel outside the ancestral hall and reflect on what you did today. When you realize you are wrong, you can stand up again!"

Upon hearing this, Madam Xiao stamped her feet anxiously, "Wan'er, don't be stubborn, admit your mistake to your father..."

"My daughter has done nothing wrong, why should she admit her fault?" Xiao Wan stood up and walked towards the ancestral hall.

Mrs. Xiao was also stunned. Wan'er always spoke softly in front of her parents, but the stubbornness in her eyes just now made her feel extremely unfamiliar for a moment!

"Master," Madam Xiao said softly, "It's gloomy outside and it's about to rain. How can we really let Wan'er kneel down..."

Mr. Xiao sneered and brushed away his wife's hand.

"You've spoiled her. Make her kneel down. As her father, I will make her submit to me today!"

…

The county government office of Long'an County was also in chaos at this time.

"Quick, go gather more people from the people and make sure to drive all the wooden stakes in before the rain gets heavier!"

After receiving Song Mian's order, Qian Zhubu was frantically directing people to reinforce the dam.

This damn weather! Three months of heavy rain finally ended, but why does it look like it’s going to rain again?

The previously collapsed section of the dike was barely blocked not long ago and has not yet been reinforced. If there is another heavy rain and the water level rises, I am afraid that all the work done before will be in vain!

Song Mian brought Zhao Sicheng to the dam and personally led everyone to reinforce the dam. Ouyang Ye, Zhu Lan and others led the people to evacuate to a safer place.

At this time, a layer of stone bricks has been laid on the inside of the dam, which can greatly reduce the erosion of the dam by water.

The rain had begun to get heavier, and Song Mian and Zhao Sicheng were holding umbrellas, both worried. Although Song Mian had been in charge of the embankment reconstruction since he came to Long'an County, it was a bit rushed after all, and he had not had time to inspect it.

Qian Zhubu ran over in the rain and said to the two men, "Sir, the stakes have been driven in. I don't think there will be any problems if the water level rises in the short term. Let's get everyone back to the high ground."

Song Mian frowned, nodded, and ordered all the people who were repairing the dam to start evacuating.

Zhao Sicheng followed Song Mian and also walked towards the high ground.

Suddenly, his feet slipped and he fell into a mud pit. Song Mian and Qian Zhubu quickly pulled him out.

Zhao Sicheng didn't care about the mud all over his body. Looking at the hole under his feet that was still oozing mud and water, his face suddenly changed.

"It's broken, it's a pipe burst!"

Song Mian was also shocked when he heard this, and immediately shouted, "Quick, bring sandbags to block it!"

"No, we can't block it!" Zhao Sicheng forced himself to calm down.

The so-called "pipe burst" is due to the fact that the bottom of the underground soil layer on the backwater side of the dam is under huge water pressure. If the water pressure breaks through the clay layer, a waterway will be formed under the dam, and the water will flow directly to the outside of the dam.

The danger of pipe bursts lies in the fact that the underground soil layer has no anti-filtration layer to protect it, and the water flow will continuously wash out the silt and fine sand under the dam. When it reaches a certain level, the risk of dam collapse is very likely to occur.

Therefore, once a pipe burst occurs, it must be sealed immediately!

In ancient times, people often dealt with dangerous situations like pipe bursts by directly blocking them from the outside. However, the underground water pressure had already been formed and it was still very dangerous, which was only a temporary solution and not a cure for the problem.

Zhao Sicheng acted promptly and asked people to find sandbags immediately. However, they could not directly block the hole where the water was gushing out. Instead, they built a well-shape around the hole and kept raising it higher so that all the mud and water that were gushing out would accumulate in the well.

As long as the water level difference in the water surface wells within the embankment is reduced, the flow of groundwater can be reduced.

"Sir!" A bailiff ran over in the rain, looking panicked. "There are not enough sandbags!"

Song Mian's eyes widened: "How can there not be enough sandbags? If we just find a high ground and dig down, won't it be full of mud and sand?"

“But there aren’t enough sacks!”

Qian Zhubu also asked anxiously, "Didn't they say that a batch of supplies would be delivered to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince soon?"

"The rain is coming and the road is getting harder to walk on. How can they possibly make it here?" Song Mian paced twice and suddenly ordered:

"Tell the men to take off their shirts, tie them into sacks, fill them with sand and bring them here, quickly!"

The bailiff immediately ran to pass on the order.

"No, it's still too slow..." Zhao Sicheng murmured as he watched the hole growing bigger and bigger under his feet.

The size of the hole is expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye. The larger the hole, the more sandbags are needed to surround the well. At the current speed of filling the sandbags, it will not be enough!