The Grain in Ear solar term had just passed, and summer had just arrived in the capital. Cicadas were just beginning to emerge from the branches, chirping tentatively, as if they were still adjusting to the growing heat. However, Jiangnan had already been shrouded in torrential rain for several days. The torrential downpour, like a water basin overturned by the heavens, poured down with no sign of stopping.
Su Jinli sat quietly by the window, the room was filled with the faint scent of ink. The wolf-hair brush in her hand was suspended above the "Dajing River Channel Records", and her thoughts seemed a little erratic. A drop of ink fell quietly from the tip of the brush, spreading a small ink dot on the rice paper, and just happened to fall on the downward stroke of the word "Yangzhou" on the map, as if it was a mark left by fate inadvertently. Outside the window, the sound of thunder was like a dull war drum, rolling past, and the majestic momentum crushed the already weak cicada chirping in the trees. The raindrops dripping from the eaves were like beads with broken strings, hitting the bluestone slabs heavily, splashing small water droplets and making potholes the size of copper coins, as if telling the raging of this rainstorm.
"Miss!" Lingge rushed open the accounting office door in a panic. Her once neatly trimmed temples were now lopsided with pearls, making her look disheveled. She clutched a piece of letterpaper tightly in her hand, dripping with water, as if carrying the endless rain of Jiangnan. "Eight hundred miles from Jiangnan, urgent message! The canal has burst its banks in Gaoyou!" Lingge's voice, tinged with obvious panic and anxiety, stood out in the quiet accounting office.
Su Jinli, absorbed in her cinnabar-painted annotations on rice paper, had just reached the four characters "Guangzhou transport hidden dangers" when, upon hearing these words, she abruptly stood up. The hem of her moon-white skirt swept across the desk with her movements. With a crisp clang, the celadon inkstone was knocked to the ground, and thick ink splattered like a swarm of unbridled dragons, splashing onto the lotus pattern on her skirt. The ink instantly spread, like a sudden burst of inky flowers, adding a different color to the otherwise elegant hem, yet also seeming to foreshadow a disaster. She eagerly snatched the letter from Lingge's hand, her fingertips touching the smudged ink on the page. The characters "Refugees everywhere" and "Crops destroyed" seemed swollen and blurry, as if swelled by rainwater, yet pierced her eyes like sharp knives, as if the words would bleed in an instant.
Instantly, the image of her stepmother withholding disaster relief funds in her previous life flooded back into her mind like a tidal wave. Liu, holding a gilded teacup, a false smile plastered on her face, said softly, "The victims don't need fine grains." Without hesitation, she turned and poured the life-saving food allocated by the Ministry of Revenue into her own granary. That scene, still vivid in her mind, filled Su Jinli with hatred. Her nails dug deep into her palms, leaving crescent-shaped white marks, as if channeling the humiliation and anger of this past life into strength. "Jiang Yan!" she cried out, her voice tinged with urgency and determination.
Almost at the moment the sound faded, Jiang Yan rushed in from the adjoining accounting office, holding a stack of account books. He was dressed in a dark blue uniform, and the grease from the abacus still lingered on his cuffs. It was obvious that he had rushed over immediately after hearing the call while busy. He raised his hand to push up his glasses. The mist on the lenses from his hasty rush had not yet dissipated, making his eyes look a little hazy behind the lenses. "Madam, I asked the secret guards to check the cash flow of the Grand Canal Governor's Office. Of the 30,000 taels of silver allocated by the Ministry of Revenue for disaster relief, only 5,000 taels remained in Yangzhou Prefecture." There was a hint of anger and helplessness in his voice. As soon as he finished speaking, the door was slammed open again with a "bang".
Young Marquis Su, carrying his toy sword, rushed in like a whirlwind. A wet willow branch had somehow become tethered to the tassel, and water dripped down the blade, making a crisp sound onto the blue brick floor. "Sister! My eldest sister said she wants to dismantle her rouge shop in West City to exchange for food!" The front of the young man's cotton robe was completely soaked by the rain, clinging to his body, but he still carefully grasped a piece of dry biscuit. It was breakfast he had specially reserved for Su Jinli, and even in such a panic, he had not forgotten it.
Su Qingyao hurriedly followed behind, and a broken corner of her rouge box accidentally fell out of her wide sleeve. It was the "Tian Shui Bi" color she had just mixed. In a hurry, she slammed the box on the table. The mother-of-pearl lid was shaken open, revealing the emerald green paste inside, as green as lake water. "Jinli, I don't want this color anymore. If I melt it down, I can exchange it for ten stone of millet." Her eyes were firm, revealing an unquestionable determination. Suddenly, she turned her gaze and pointed at Jiang Yan's waist, raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "And your top scholar has also pawned the mutton-fat jade ring awarded by the emperor."
Jiang Yan instinctively reached for his waist, and sure enough, there was nothing there. He coughed softly, his ears flushing slightly. With a hint of shyness, he said, "I asked Li Xiu to take it to the Baochang Pawnshop and exchanged it for three thousand taels of silver, enough to buy five hundred bags of millet." As he spoke, he pulled a heavily creased pawn ticket from his sleeve pocket. The corners were still stained with ink, clearly written in a hurry, a testament to the tense and hectic moment.
Su Jinli looked at her family with a mixture of emotions. Her younger brother, carrying a machete, looked like he was bravely going to "chop down a corrupt official," his eyes gleaming with indignation at the injustice and sympathy for the victims. Her eldest sister, clutching her most precious rouge, unhesitatingly offered it to trade for food. Her cherishment for it was now transformed into selfless devotion to the victims. And her husband, silently accepting it as a gift from the emperor, never mentioned it to her. The tragic memory of her previous life, lying alone and helpless on her deathbed, unable to even get a sip of hot soup, overlapped with the present scene of her family working together, leaving a profound impact on her. She suddenly remembered her mother's dying eyes, filled with hope, and her exhortation to "live well." Her eyes suddenly warmed, and tears welled up in them.
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