Sisters reunited
A sudden downpour occurred at night.
An Hongdou was awakened from her dream by a series of urgent knocks on the door.
"Madam is resting peacefully; I'll go check on her."
After Li Zeli opened the door, the person who came in said hurriedly, "Sir, a village is flooded. Do you think we should evacuate the people now?"
Li Zeli quickly asked, "Hasn't the relocation already been arranged?"
"This..." the man stammered, "Sir, it hasn't rained for a while now, and the people are all eager to go home. We can't stop them!"
Li Zeli interrupted his further explanation and ordered, "Go and organize the evacuation according to the previous plan. Try to get everyone to higher ground before dawn!"
"Yes, sir." The man received the order and prepared to leave.
Li Zeli followed up with, "What's the water level in the river now?"
"Although there has been an increase, it is not exceeding the levels of previous rainy seasons. I just finished my shift at the observation point, and I think there hasn't been much change yet."
Li Zeli nodded and waved to him, signaling him to hurry up and get busy.
Afterwards, Li Zeli turned around and went back into the house, changed his clothes, and said goodbye to An Hongdou.
"My dear wife, I've been busy with flood control lately and I'm afraid I won't have time to come home. Don't worry about me, just take good care of yourself at home."
"Okay, go ahead and get busy! Oh, and be careful, come back the same way you came." An Hongdou gave a couple of instructions, then went back to sleep.
Upon returning from the prefectural capital, Li Zeli began preparing for flood prevention. An Hongdou observed this and found his plans meticulous, so she wasn't overly worried about him.
When An Hongdou regained consciousness, she no longer knew whether it was day or night.
Dark clouds loomed overhead, and torrential rain poured down, making it difficult to discern the time in the gloomy atmosphere.
Upon reaching the front courtyard, An Hongdou finally found a constable on duty in the empty mansion.
"What are your orders, Madam?" Upon seeing An Hongdou, the dozing constable quickly woke up, wiped his mouth to make sure there was no drool, and then got up to greet her.
"Are all the officials at the county government busy with other things?"
"Indeed, I'll stay and watch the door. Please feel free to ask if you need anything, Madam!"
"What's the situation now?"
"The brothers went to evacuate the people and haven't returned yet. The magistrate went to the dam to inspect it himself, with the head constable accompanying him. Madam, you don't need to worry."
Have you eaten today?
The young constable scratched his head, smiled sheepishly, and said, "Not yet, but I'm not tired from guarding this place. Skipping a meal won't bother me."
Seeing this, An Hongdou called him to the kitchen to help Dongxue start a fire and cook, while she went to hitch up the cart, preparing to deliver food to the busy crowd later.
Once the car reached the river embankment, An Hongdou could see people using bamboo poles to measure the water level from afar.
"Is the water level high?" An Hongdou asked as they approached.
"It's not optimistic." The person taking measurements didn't look up, his brow furrowed as he stared at the river. "It's already close to the high water levels of previous rainy seasons. If it rains like this, the river might overflow its banks. I need to go and report the situation to the adults right away."
That evening, Li Zeli began calling on the people of the county to dig earth to reinforce the dikes. He promised that anyone who contributed would be registered by the government and rewarded with a bushel of rice after the flood was over.
With such a generous reward, people eagerly signed up. This was especially true for families whose fields had been flooded and whose harvests were hopeless this year.
While delivering the meal, Li Zeli discussed the next steps with An Hongdou. If the water level rises further, they might have no choice but to breach the dikes downstream to release the floodwaters.
Fortunately, residents downstream of Qingyin County have been evacuated. But once it comes to this, the price to pay will be considerable.
The fertile farmland of Qingyin County is located downstream of the river and is the county's main grain-producing area. If the floodwaters are indeed released, Qingyin County will inevitably experience a reduction in its harvest this year.
Although Qingyin County is remote, it is the main supplier of grain among the counties in the prefecture. The reduced yield not only affects the livelihood of the people in the county for a year, but also affects the grain supply within the prefecture.
In previous years, when there was a shortage of food, it was mostly borrowed from Qingyin County. If Qingyin County is affected by disaster this year, neighboring counties may not be able to provide rice and grain support, and the price of rice and grain within the prefecture will inevitably rise.
If not handled properly, the lack of resettlement for disaster victims can lead to more homeless people, increase security risks, and trigger a chain reaction.
Li Zeli spoke with deep concern.
An Hongdou comforted him, "Husband, you have planned this carefully. Just follow the steps. It is already quite remarkable that you have accomplished so much so soon after taking office. Don't be too hard on yourself."
"As the head of a county, I bear the responsibility for the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. It is not that I am being harsh on myself, but if anyone freezes or starves to death this winter, I will find it hard to rest in peace."
"In addition, the grain lent out last year is unlikely to be returned this year. I sent a message to the prefectural government and learned that many counties have been flooded and there is a shortage of grain everywhere. We have many difficulties that we must solve ourselves."
"The most urgent task is still flood control. Once the floodwaters recede, I plan to mobilize wealthy households in the county to donate grain," Li Zeli said.
An Hongdou thought for a moment and then mentioned to him that she had written to Wu Linglong, asking her to send some grain here.
"I haven't received a reply to the letter yet, I wonder if Linglong has received it, and if she can come."
"It must have been due to heavy rains in many places along the way, making it difficult for the messenger to travel back and forth and thus preventing him from delivering the message in time."
Upon hearing An Hongdou's words, Li Zeli suddenly realized his mistake. He continued, "Madam is wise! If you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that we have enough food at home. I'll send another message along the official road, asking my second brother to transport grain here. The government will buy it all at a fair price! This will solve another problem!"
With things progressing smoothly, Li Zeli felt much more at ease. He once again took the lead and went to the dam. An Hongdou returned home to continue providing logistical support.
These days of delivering water and food have brought An Hongdou closer to everyone, and many people have begun to genuinely help An Hongdou with their affairs.
Li Zeli had not returned by night.
Suddenly there was a knock at the back door. Dongxue went to open it but didn't return for a long time.
"Winter Snow? Who's here?" An Hongdou asked, raising her voice.
The courtyard was silent; there was no reply.
An Hongdou's heart suddenly jumped. She ran towards the front yard, wanting to find the constable on duty to see what had happened.
As she ran, a thought flashed through her mind, and she continued, "Husband, why hasn't the maid returned from opening the door yet? Why don't you take a lamp and go check on her? Also, tell the brothers on duty to go to the kitchen for some midnight snacks; they've been working hard keeping watch all night."
After saying that, An Hongdou felt clever. "I've managed to pull off a clever ruse today! It should keep the people outside calm," she thought to herself.
There are only a few people in the manor now, and she just put on a show of being heavily guarded.
She ran to the screen wall leading to the front yard, but before her foot could land, she heard shouts from behind.
"Oh, so the young mistress is home alone!"
The sudden noise startled An Hongdou, who stumbled and nearly fell. She quickly reached out to grab the screen wall, and after a few movements, she managed to lean against it without falling, looking rather disheveled.
Just as An Hongdou was about to use the screen wall to hide herself and call for help in the front yard, her voice came again.
"Alright, alright, I won't scare you anymore! Red Bean, come out and see who's here!"
The voice sounded familiar, like Wu Linglong's. But An Hongdou deduced that Wu Linglong shouldn't be here at this time. Fearing a trap, An Hongdou didn't move.
"Oh my! It really is me! I should have arrived much earlier, but the closer we got to Qingyin County, the heavier the rain became. To avoid our grain getting wet and making our journey more difficult, we rushed as fast as we could and only just arrived."
"I came straight to the magistrate's mansion to find you as soon as I arrived, so hurry up and come out to prepare some good food and drink to entertain me!"
Upon hearing this, An Hongdou peeked out from behind the screen wall and discovered that the person standing in the backyard was indeed Wu Linglong!
It seems that Dongxue was the one who cooperated and orchestrated this farce with them.
"Your appearance is both surprising and delightful!" An Hongdou calmed herself down and walked briskly toward Wu Linglong.
Dongxue quickly pulled Qiuyu away, helped her settle her luggage, and prepared food.
Wu Linglong followed An Hongdou into the house. While tidying herself up, she boasted, "Last time when I returned home, my father told me that there had been a lot of rain and floods in the south this year. He was worried that Zeli would have a hard time in his new post, so I went home and discussed it with Zeren. We brought twenty carts of grain to help in the emergency."
"Didn't you send the grain after receiving my letter?"
“You wrote to me? I was wondering why you hadn’t written in so long. Zeren comforted me by saying that you’ve been busy lately, but now it seems that the letter was lost.”
"Did you receive all the letters I wrote to you?"
"We haven't harvested any since the rainy season."
"It seems alright, there should only be one less letter."
What did this letter say?
"I have good news for you. Zeying and my younger brother are engaged! Also, I'd like to ask if you need any food for disaster relief."
"Good Linglong, thanks to you for remembering me, you've been a great help! Where's Second Brother? Why didn't he come along?"
"He took people and grain to find a place to settle them. There were more than one disaster-stricken area along the way. Fortunately, we had a lot of people, and we took a detour. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have been able to get the grain here."
After a long separation, the two had so much to talk about.
"How is things at home now? Has Chen Zaoting given you any difficulties?"
"Both of her daughters are married, and her son is too young to be relied upon for the time being. She did cause a few troubles when she saw that her father had handed over the land and rent to Zeren. But seeing that it had no effect, she's now trying to curry favor with us!"
"How did Dad agree to let you come? Aren't you busy in the fields right now?"
"The work in the fields has just been finished, and the rest can be handled by family members, so we don't need any able-bodied laborers. The busiest time will be the autumn harvest."
“During this period, many young men in the village were either idly playing cards and drinking, or looking for odd jobs nearby to earn more money for their families. So Zeren hired them to transport grain.”
"They followed us out? Aren't they afraid of ruining the autumn harvest?" An Hongdou asked.
"We can just take it back to them before the autumn harvest, it won't cause any problems," Wu Linglong said easily.
"Besides, Zeren also wants to get these people together to set up a security escort agency in Qingyin County. They can take on escort duties here during the off-season and return to their hometowns to farm during the busy season. If this works out, I can stay in Qingyin County and keep you company!"
"Will Father agree? Why did he suddenly have this idea?"
“As long as it doesn’t affect the crop yield, Dad won’t refuse. Besides, we can help Zeli by coming here! It’s not like we suddenly had this idea; Zeren has long wanted to travel, but he just lacked the right opportunity.”
"Now that Zeli has become the county magistrate, he has a powerful patron to rely on, and it should not be difficult for him to obtain the necessary travel documents. Once the escort agency is established, he can use the pretext of escorting goods to travel around freely."
The two were having a great conversation when suddenly there was a rapid knocking on the door.
The figure of the person who came was reflected in the window, and it was clear that he was a man.
"What is it?" An Hongdou called out from behind the door.
"Madam, something has happened to the magistrate!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
