Rescue people
After a fresh rain, the hollyhocks in the yard are blooming as brightly as the morning glow.
When the rain arrived, the people at our inn were busy mixing hay for the horses.
"Aunt Qing, the suspension bridge will be repaired today. I'll take you there to see it!"
I looked up at Shiyu on horseback and pointed to the mountain of hay: "Aunt Qing can't leave right now, she'll go later."
Shi Yu looked disappointed, but Huai Xu said, "Godmother, you should go with him. I'll stay here."
Feng Qiao nodded: "Huai Xu is right."
"Lin Zhong?"
Lin Zhong, with his back to me, lazily raised his hand.
I brushed the grass clippings off my clothes and walked towards Shiyu: "This was agreed upon by the three of you, so don't come back and say I didn't share your joys and sorrows."
Shi Yu pulled me onto the horse's back: "Aunt Qing, the master will be very happy to see you!"
I sat behind him and laughed, "Your husband must have been incredibly busy lately, right?"
"Yes. To save money, the adults drew all the blueprints themselves. They stayed up late and got up before dawn, and they all became thin from exhaustion."
"Shiyu, you should persuade your master. There's never enough work in the government office, but people need to rest."
“I tried to persuade him, but he wouldn’t listen. The adults said that the lives of the mountain people were too hard, and he couldn’t eat or sleep if the bridge wasn’t built.”
Iron chains stretched across the river, and soldiers of the Changning Army were laying wooden planks. Wei Ji and Zhou Hong squatted on the suspended iron chains, occasionally tapping the iron rings with their swords, as if they were inspecting something.
Suddenly, Wei Ji seemed to be trying to stand up, but he lost his balance and fell from the gap in the iron chain, plunging straight into the middle of the river.
I grabbed the reins from Shiyu and gave him a push: "Dismount, quick!"
Shi Yu swiftly leaped off his horse.
"Giddy up!" I spurred the horse and chased downstream.
I rode my horse to the bluestone beach, where several half-naked oarsmen were lying on the ground sunbathing. I stumbled and jumped off my horse: "Quickly, go into the water and rescue them!"
A young oarsman slowly stood up, pointed to the iron chain bridge in the distance, and asked, "The officials from the yamen? Is there a reward?"
"Give him a head, my foot!" I picked up a paddle from the ground and shoved him into the water, then chased away the remaining few. "Lord Wei fell in while building a bridge for the people of Nan Guang. You just stand by and watch him drown? Do you want the court to send a few more butchers like Xiong Tuan here?!"
The river flowed swiftly after the rain.
I threw down my oar, picked up a stone, and threw it into the river in a fit of anger: Is the mountains and rivers of Nanguang incompatible with kind-hearted officials, just like the prefect Du of three years ago and Wei Ji of today?
Shiyu came looking for her, crying loudly.
I hugged him and said, "No rush, we're not in a hurry. Lord Wei will be alright."
A commotion came from downstream, and the oarsman who had mentioned the reward to me waved from a distance, saying, "We've got it! We've got it!"
"Is he still alive?" I asked loudly.
"Alive, alive!"
I let out a long sigh, leaped onto the horse's back, and pulled Shiyu along as we rode along the riverbank.
Two oarsmen were massaging Wei Ji's back to drain the water when Shi Yu jumped off his horse, rushed over, and hugged Wei Ji tightly, muttering in Dongcuanwu language that no one else could understand except me.
Hey, I'm a little touched. This child called out "Dad".
I dismounted and bowed repeatedly to the rowers, saying, "Thank you for your help, brothers of the rowing gang. I'll treat you to drinks another day."
An older oarsman said, "The river water is very cold. Quickly take it back to boil water for a bath, or you might develop a chronic illness."
"Shiyu, take your master to the inn first, and have Huaixu and the others boil more hot water."
Wei Ji's face was as pale as paper, but his eyes were still bright. Seeing him looking at me, about to say something, I preemptively said, "Lord Wei, please save your energy. I understand that you want to entrust the finishing touches on the drawbridge to General Zhou. Don't worry, I will pass on the message."
Shi Yu helped Wei Ji onto the horse and said goodbye to me, "Aunt Qing, we're leaving now."
"Go."
As I walked back along the riverbank, I suddenly saw Zhou Hongzheng in the middle of the river, leading two soldiers, drifting downstream on a raft.
This scrambling and dragging their feet doesn't look like they're here to rescue someone; they're more like they're retrieving a corpse.
"General Zhou! Over here!" I waved loudly at him.
Zhou Hong hurriedly ordered his men to bring the raft to shore.
"Lady Qing, Prefect Wei, he—"
"It's okay, it's been fished out."
Zhou Hongdong looked around and asked, "Where? Where is it?"
"I asked Shiyu to take him back to the inn to change into clean clothes."
"Oh, I'm so glad you're alright. You really scared me."
Zhou Hong is a rough and boisterous man. I have known him for many years and have never seen him so reserved.
I laughed and said, "Is it really necessary? It's not like you pushed him down."
“How could I possibly push him away?! He’s willing to do things for the people of Yuezhou, I’m more than happy to help him.”
"Then what's there to be so scared about?"
"You don't know this, but Prefect Wei and our military commander are from the same cohort. Our military commander is a man of honor. If Prefect Wei were gone today, who knows what he would do to me."
"Heh, General Zhou, you'd better thank me properly. I managed to get the man out of there for you."
Zhou Hong smiled and cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, thank you."
"Oh, right, to get serious, Lord Wei just asked me to ask you to take care of the finishing touches on the suspension bridge."
"Of course. Tell him to rest assured, I, Zhou Hong, will take care of it."
Back at the inn, Lin Zhong told me that Wei Ji had been placed in Fengqiao Room, had been bathed and changed, and should be fine.
When Huai Xu saw me, he said, "Godmother, Lord Wei seems to have a fever."
Wei Ji waved his hand: "I'm fine, it's probably from being soaked in hot water just now."
Seeing that his face was flushed and his voice was a little hoarse, I said to Huai Xu, "Feng Qiao caught a cold last time and I prepared some medicine. Go to the cabinet outside and find it, and brew a dose for him."
Huai Xu was too busy to catch up.
I looked at Wei Ji and said, "Prefect Wei, you must cherish your life. You must have stayed up several all-nighters to be so dizzy and lightheaded. General Zhou was quite frightened by you. He said that if you were gone today, Xiong Tu would probably do something terrible to him."
Wei Ji smiled, his eyes shining even brighter: "It seems that today, Lady Qing not only saved Wei Ji, but also Zhou Hong."
I laughed too: "Lord Wei has worked hard for the well-being of the people of Nanguang, and he deserves this reward."
A moment later, Huai Xu brought over a bowl of medicine and said solicitously, "Lord Wei, let me feed you!"
Wei Ji quickly took the medicine bowl: "I can move, I can do it myself, I can do it myself."
He took two sips, and his expression suddenly became a little strange.
Huai Xu tilted his head to look at him: "What's wrong, sir?"
I tilted my head to look at Huai Xu: "Did you brew the wrong medicine?"
Huai Xu looked conflicted: "How could that be, godmother? It was a prescription given by the town's doctor, and we picked and dried the herbs ourselves."
Wei Ji said, "Bring me the prescription so I can take a look."
Huai Xu brought over the prescription: "Give it to me, sir."
Wei Ji glanced at it twice and said, "This prescription is not suitable. Here's a pen."
I rummaged through Feng Qiao's room and found a worn-out brush and a broken inkstone. I dipped it in water, ground it a couple of times, and handed it to him.
After a moment's thought, Wei Ji crossed out two medicinal herbs, added one, and also changed the dosage of several other herbs before handing the medicine back to me.
"No way! We've been taking the wrong medicine all this time." Huai Xu looked dejected. "For the past few years, we've been taking this medicine for every cold and flu, except for my godmother—"
"Why are you looking at me?" I rubbed my temples. "It's not like Godmother didn't want to drink it. I just find the medicine too bitter. When you catch a cold, just drink more hot water and sleep it off."
Huai Xu pointed at me and said to Wei Ji, "No wonder my godmother always recovers the fastest when she catches a cold. She even complains that we're too delicate, saying that we've been taking medicine but we're still not getting better."
"Why are you complaining so much?" I glared at her. "Go, go, go, and make another bowl according to the revised recipe."
Wei Ji's relaxed expression suddenly turned serious: "Judging from the situation, this area of the mountain village is lacking a reliable doctor."
"We lack not only doctors, but also teachers, farmers, and everything else. Lord Wei, please don't worry, this is not your fault."
"Then let's try our best to solve the most urgent problem first. What do you think it is, Qing Niangzi?"
I thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I think the most urgent thing is to find a midwife to help with childbirth. In the mountains, it is common for women to lose both mother and child during childbirth."
Wei Ji nodded: "I'll figure something out."
As they were talking, Feng Qiao rushed over and said, "Auntie, the big boss of the Rao Gang wants to see you!"
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