After more than half a month of traveling day and night, the East Palace's carriage finally stopped at the territory of Luo City.
Shi Qi was about to contact the troops stationed here first, but was interrupted by Ling Shumo.
Ling Shumo planned to dress up as an ordinary citizen and conduct an on-site inspection of the construction of local water conservancy projects.
Many houses where villagers lived were flooded and empty. The surviving refugees lived in simple sheds built by the government.
The clerks were distributing porridge, and the refugees were queuing in an orderly manner. Overall, everything seemed normal.
Shi Qi said, "If we ride eastward for half an hour, we will reach the upper reaches of the Hongcang River. Your Highness has been very tired today. Why don't you go to the Luocheng County Magistrate's Mansion to rest up first, and then have local officials accompany you to the Hongcang River tomorrow?"
Ling Shumo shook her head.
The disaster here is so serious, but it seems calm on the surface. She can't see anything privately. If she asks the local officials to accompany her tomorrow, she will not be able to find out anything.
The upper reaches of Hongcang River.
The supervisor is organizing the coolies to dredge the river.
A stout, neatly dressed woman whipped the coolie, "Did you not eat? Why are you so slow? Your Highness's carriage will arrive in Luocheng in seven days at the latest. If the river is still blocked by then, none of you, your husbands, or your children will survive."
The woman who was hit had a face full of wrinkles and looked to be in her fifties or sixties.
She was thin, almost skin and bones. After being knocked to the ground, she tried several times but couldn't get up.
The whip in the supervisor's hand had turned deep red, stained with the blood of countless people. Even if it was soaked in water for three days and three nights, it would probably not be washed clean.
At this moment, a young man, also dressed in rags, rushed out from nowhere and immediately protected the woman. He kowtowed twice to the supervisor and said, "My mother is in poor health and can't do such heavy work. Please let her go."
Another woman who looked like a petty official poured a bucket of water on the mother and son who were sitting on the ground, cursing, "Where did you come from, little beggar? Get out of here right now..."
The young man's face was originally covered in dust, but after drinking the bucket of water, it was washed clean. His appearance turned out to be quite good-looking.
The supervisor suddenly became interested and pulled the young man up from the ground. He put one hand on the young man's chest and was about to strip him of his clothes on the spot.
The young man's mother stepped forward to protect her son, but was kicked hard by the clerk. With a "crack", her left arm immediately dropped down. It was obvious without looking that the bones inside were broken.
Shi Qi lowered his voice and said, "The court has been paying monthly wages to the people who built the canals. Now it seems that all the money has been embezzled by officials at all levels. Forget the wages. They can't even survive under such heavy labor."
Ling Shumo folded her arms, her face expressionless.
Logically speaking, this river should have been dredged long ago, but now they are rushing to do the work.
It's simply because they knew she was coming to inspect, so Nuwa patched up the sky here and took human lives to advance the process.
Shi Qi asked, "Your Highness, are you going to check on the construction of the city wall drainage first, or go to the dam? It rained heavily the day before yesterday, and the embankment is a bit dangerous..."
Ling Shumo shook her head and interrupted Shi Qi, "Don't bother looking at it. It's all shoddy work. Let's go straight to the County Magistrate's Mansion. I really need to ask how the County Magistrate of Luocheng does his job."
Ling Shumo was about to leave when she heard a noisy argument from behind.
Chu Changying protected the young man who was being taken advantage of by the supervisor and angrily scolded him, "My mother asked you to come here to dredge the river, not to rob the people. You actually dared to break this woman's arm? Do you believe that I will charge you with oppressing the people right now? You will be sent to jail for three to five years."
The supervisor and the clerk looked at each other and burst into laughter.
The supervisor bared her yellow teeth, her face showing no fear at all, "Miss Chu, what you said is too unkind.
Why are we beating these coolies? Isn't it to quickly complete the task assigned by the higher-ups?
If the river can't be cleared on time, the first person to be held accountable when the princess arrives will be your mother, the county magistrate of Luocheng."
Chu Changying's breathing became heavy with anger. "My mother was an upright official. She never embezzled a single cent. The project is in such a state now because the people above us have hidden all the money and grain. We don't have any supplies. How can we expect the project funds to appear out of thin air? My mother is completely innocent."
The supervisor laughed even harder. "Miss Chu is so well protected by her family. She's so innocent and adorable. So what if your mother is innocent? With the ups and downs of officialdom, she would have been dragged into this mess even if she didn't want to. I advise you to get out of the way immediately. If you don't clean this up by today, your mother's head will be hanging on the gates of Luo City tomorrow. After all, someone has to take the blame when this disaster strikes, don't you agree?"
Chu Changying was speechless for a moment. The supervisors here were all lackeys sent by the higher-ups. His mother had no power to deal with these people. The deep feeling of powerlessness almost suffocated him.
However, the next moment, a mechanical voice rang out in his mind, "Congratulations, host! Your destined love has appeared nearby. The system is loading... System loading complete. The current princess, Ling Shumo, is directly west of you. Please find an opportunity to chat with her as soon as possible. Friendly reminder: Gaining the princess's favorability can redeem any item in the system mall."
Chu Changying was stunned by the sudden sound.
He was a little dazed for a moment, and a feeling of melancholy and sadness came over him.
The time he spent traveling here was really too long.
He grew so old that sometimes he thought that the modern society with equality between men and women was just his fantasy.
In his previous life, he was hit and killed by a drunk truck driver just after graduating from college.
When he regained consciousness, he had transformed into the newborn son of the Luocheng County Magistrate.
Originally, he comforted himself that he could achieve great things here with the knowledge he had learned in modern times.
As a result, after a few days, he discovered that this seemed to be a society where women were superior to men.
Men should wear a Adam's apple strap around their necks and shoulders to cover their Adam's apple, which is their second sexual organ.
If a man here has his neck looked at by a woman, he will lose his virginity and must either marry her or go to a temple to live with the ancient Buddha and green lamps for the rest of his life.
Fortunately, God did not force him into a desperate situation. He was bound to the system as soon as he came here.
But this system is really a scam.
The system told him that he could only activate it if he found his soulmate.
The men here never go out of the house. He asked the system, if he can't find the so-called true love in this lifetime, then this system is just useless?
The system confirmed his problem.
If he doesn't meet his soulmate, the system will always be loading.
It's as good as nothing for him to have a golden finger.
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