Waves suddenly arose in Lei Ze, and wind and rain overturned the rivers.
Xu Jiang was restless, so she lit a lantern and searched the bookshop inside and out. Fortunately, a sewer had been dug some time ago, so drainage was working smoothly. However, the water from the eaves in the backyard was flowing heavily, flooding into the donkey shed and soaking its nest, which annoyed the stubborn donkey and kept digging.
I can't sleep like this.
Xu Jiang felt a little reluctant and tried to persuade him earnestly: "The more you dig, the wetter it gets. It's better to just bear with it. I'll change it for you when the rain stops."
The stubborn donkey turned a deaf ear.
A thunderclap struck, creating several cracks in the sky. Then a violent storm blew, blowing the lantern in Xu Jiang's hand all over the place and blowing the grass on the donkey shed into all directions.
The donkey and the people were terrified. The donkey hid in the innermost part of the shed, while Xu Jiang quickly ran back to the bookstore, turned the bearing, and lowered the curtain of the small door to prevent rain from splashing into the house.
If it's like this inside the city, I wonder what's happening outside.
Xu Jiang blew out the lantern, moved the candlestick to the wooden couch, hugged the thin quilt and picked up a book that Lou Yunchun had not finished reading. After reading a few pages, she fell into drowsiness.
A knock on the door startled her awake, and then she heard Shopkeeper Wang calling through the door, "Sister, are you awake?"
Xu Jiang hurriedly got up from her bed and went to open the door. Shopkeeper Wang was standing outside with an umbrella and a lantern.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
"Get up and inspect the granary. I came by to ask how things are going here."
"Thank you for your concern. I'm fine at home. How are you? How are my sister-in-law and the child?"
"My shop and the warehouse are all well, and your sister-in-law and the children are all well too."
Xu Jiang felt relieved, "That's good."
"It's been raining for almost two hours now, and it's getting heavier." Shopkeeper Wang looked at the sky with a worried look on his face. "I wonder what's happening to the crops back home."
Xu Jiang thought of Leyou Township and felt a little worried.
"I just hope the rain stops soon."
As the two were talking, they heard the sound of horse hooves coming from the alley. They looked up and saw a group of soldiers wearing conical hats and holding torches galloping past, followed by four or five ox carts.
Xu Jiang's heart skipped a beat. "What is this for?"
"This is the rescue team from the Ministry of Works. There must be a disaster somewhere. If they're heading our way, they're heading to either Yanping Gate or Jinguang Gate." Shopkeeper Wang's face lost its usual cheerfulness, and his expression became somewhat heavy. He then said to Xu Jiang, "I'll go to Fangmen to inquire. You hurry back to the house."
After saying that, he walked into the rain with a lantern in hand.
"Brother, be careful on the road."
"knew."
Xu Jiang closed the door and waited for news. After waiting for almost an incense stick of time, Manager Wang finally came back.
Xu Jiang quickly asked, "What's the situation?"
Shopkeeper Wang was soaked with rain. "Just now, those soldiers were heading towards Lingtai Township. They said the river estuary in Lingtai Township had burst its dike, and the Ministry of Works had sent people over to repair it."
"What about other places?"
"The river in Gaoyang Township backflowed, overflowing the riverbed and flooding a lot of land."
Isn't Leyou Township downstream of Gaoyang Township? The current backflow of river water from Gaoyang Township means that the siltation in Leyou Township has not yet been cleared.
Xu Jiang felt a chill in her heart. Gaoyang Township was already flooded, so one could imagine how deep the water was in the blocked areas.
Shopkeeper Wang sneezed when the wind blew. "I have to go back and change my clothes. The gate will open soon. I want to go to the village to take a look. You should also take a rest."
Xu Jiang hurriedly said, "Hurry back and be careful of catching a cold."
"It's okay, your sister-in-law is making ginger soup for me." After saying that, Manager Wang waved to Xu Jiang and went home.
Xu Jiang smiled. With someone waiting for her at home, she was not afraid of any storm.
She couldn't sleep either, so she went to the kitchen and made a pot of ginger soup. She sliced the old ginger, added scallion and red dates and boiled them together. When the red dates were soft, she scooped out the residue and added sugar to sweeten it and remove the odor.
Xu Jiang filled a bowl and drank it in one gulp while it was still hot. The chill on his back immediately dissipated.
She kept the few pieces of carbon stars in the stove so that if Lou Yunchun and Liang Mo came, they could drink them to warm themselves up.
Perhaps because her internal organs were warm, she felt a little sleepy, so she went back to the house to rest for a while, and rested until dawn.
The sound of shoveling water was heard outside the shop. Xu Jiang cleaned up and pushed open the corner door. It turned out to be Liang Mo.
As soon as the stubborn donkey saw her, he started braying at the top of his lungs.
"Got it!" Xu Jiang pulled it out, put it in the yard, and then cleaned its shed.
Liang Mo heard voices in the backyard and knew that Xu Jiang had gotten up, so he went to the backyard with a shovel. When he saw that the donkey shed was flooded, he hurried over to help Xu Jiang pick up grass and shovel water.
"Last night's rain was really heavy. I heard Leyou Township was hit by a flood. Most of it was submerged, and several soldiers were washed away."
"What?" Xu Jiang felt his head go numb.
Xu Jiang rode his donkey through the streets and headed quickly towards Qixia Gate. There were huge crowds of people in front of Qixia Gate, some of whom had gone to see the flood, some were evacuated victims, and many officials' families.
Xu Jiang listened for a while and found out that the canals around Liuyuan were flooded, and the officials who had been holding a banquet all night last night were trapped by the flood and could not return for the time being.
She rode her donkey to the riverbank, but saw only a muddy flood plain. The originally narrow river channel had disappeared, and the stone bridge was left with only the arched stone lions sitting blankly in the flood.
The stupid donkey was afraid of water and didn't dare to get too close. Many officers, soldiers and river workers also stopped people from getting too close.
Xu Jiang saw Mr. Qian in the middle of a group of officers and soldiers. His lower garment was tied at his waist, his sleeves rolled up to his arms, he was covered in mud, and his face looked mournful.
The clothes are still the same as yesterday, but they are no longer as beautiful as yesterday.
Xu Jiang drove the donkey over and called out from afar, "Master Qian!"
When Lord Qian turned around and saw that it was her, he quickly straightened his clothes and ordered the soldiers to drive her away.
"Master Qian, I just want to ask how the villagers are doing."
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