Chapter 5: Long Rain and An
After bidding farewell to the queen and walking out of the hall, it was raining heavily outside.
The area in front of Hanyuan Hall was completely flooded, and the ditches were overflowing with yellow and turbid sewage.
Qiandeng stood inside the palace gate, frowning and thinking. The palace had cut down on redundant expenses and only had one carriage left. But it happened that it got stuck in a pit yesterday and a wheel was broken, and it had not been repaired yet. Did she have to wade back home?
The prince's voice happened to come from behind: "Lingling, let me take you back."
Qian Deng hurriedly thanked him and asked Aunt Xuanji to follow the East Palace guards behind. She then got into the car with the prince and sat obediently in a corner of the car.
Looking at the water outside, she hesitated: "Is it because of the heavy rain for several days that the water in the city can't be drained out?"
The prince sighed, "The dam outside the city collapsed, and the canal overflowed, flooding into the city. I was just about to leave the city to check the dam."
"So that's how it is." Qiandeng saw that although the prince looked haggard, he had been in charge of the overall situation in the capital during this period and began to show determination. He was no longer at a loss as before when facing the chaotic army.
She was relieved and sighed, and warned: "Floods can cause dike collapses and are very dangerous. Your Highness must be careful when inspecting."
The prince nodded: "I know, don't worry."
The carriage rumbled through the streets. In the silence, the prince asked again, "I heard that among your candidates for husband, how many of them have moved into your house?"
"These are troubled times, and it's not easy for anyone." Qian Deng briefly explained everyone's situation, saying, "Anyway, we all know each other and have fought the enemy together on the farm. Let's help each other if we can."
The prince asked, "Then, what are your plans?"
Qian Deng silently held her chin in her hand, gazing out the window at the blurry street scene outside. She whispered, "Actually, I don't want to get married. I'm afraid that if I get married, there will be no Changhua Palace anymore in this world."
The prince clenched the scroll on the riverbank in his hand and stared at her subtle profile. "Don't be silly, Lingling. Do you want to be an old maid and guard the palace for the rest of your life?"
He did not tell the more cruel truth. Even if she stayed in the palace all her life and refused to get married, once she died, the Changhua Palace would still completely disappear and would not be able to exist forever.
Qian Deng stubbornly said, "To be honest, Your Highness, I want to preserve the glory of my ancestors and keep the Changhua Palace going. Even if I practice cultivation at home and become a nun, as long as I don't leave and don't get married, my family will always be by my side, and the Changhua Palace will always be there..."
"Unfortunately, ordinary families can still adopt children, but the royal succession involves too many things, and the court will definitely not allow it." The prince stared at her resolute face and sighed, "Lingling, the grace of a gentleman, will be cut off after five generations. The glory and title of your grandfather and father will eventually disappear. Why do you insist on it?"
"But I won't give up..." Qian Deng raised his hand to cover his burning eyes and murmured, "How can everything my father and grandfather sacrificed their lives for be destroyed in my hands? In this life... I absolutely do not want to lie under their shadow, wasting my time and living a muddled life!"
The wind and rain howled outside. She didn't know if it was her imagination, but the Crown Prince's voice was hoarse and seemed to carry a hint of pleading: "There's nothing wrong with this. I... and my father, the Emperor, and my mother will ensure that you will have a life of wealth and glory, and that you will live better than anyone else."
His solemn promise was met with only Qian Deng's silence. She buried her face in her hands, her slender body trembling slightly, burying all her resentment and despair in her deep, silent breaths.
The girl's thin shoulder blades protruded slightly, and under her thin plain clothes, they looked like wings trembling in confusion and hopelessness.
The prince hesitated and raised his hand, wanting to stroke her back to comfort her, but his hand stopped abruptly when it was hovering not far from her, unable to get any closer.
After a long time, the carriage slowly stopped, and the hand hanging on her back could only be withdrawn hesitantly.
We arrived at Kaihuafang. Sewage was backflowing into the streets outside the palace, and the roads were completely submerged.
Qian Deng took a deep breath, then forced a smile towards the prince, lifted the hem of her skirt and was about to get out of the car: "Thank you, Your Highness, I will be leaving now."
The prince motioned for her to wait, his eyes falling on her shoes.
Qian Deng looked down and hesitated. These plain brocade thousand-layer high-soled shoes and the plain silk skirt she was wearing were purchased specifically for the audience in the palace, and this was the first time she was wearing them.
Thinking of the palace's current financial situation, she hesitated for a moment.
The prince raised the curtain and gave an order to the guards who were with him. Seeing that the workers from the Ministry of Works were inspecting the canal across the street, the guards asked them to find bricks and place them in a row between the carriage and the gate of the palace.
Aunt Xuanji fell behind. Qiandeng, holding an umbrella in one hand and her skirt in the other, got off the prince's carriage by herself and walked forward on the blue bricks laid out in the water.
The water was big and the bricks were small, so they were not placed firmly. After she stepped over a few bricks, her body swayed and her skirt fell down.
"County lady, be careful!" A clerk from the Ministry of Works hurried forward and grabbed the hem of her skirt to prevent it from getting dirty.
Seeing that he raised his hands too high, revealing a whole pair of brocade shoes under the skirt, and even the edges of the plain white socks wrapped around the slender calves were revealed, the prince in the car was a little displeased and coughed lightly.
The official from the Ministry of Works behind him immediately shouted, "Sun Lushi, are you worthy of lifting the county lady's skirt with your dirty hands?"
The Water Conservancy Supervisor was just a lowly clerk. The man was so frightened that his fingers loosened and he quickly nodded and bowed, saying with a smile, "Yes, yes, I'm just worried that the county lady's skirt might get wet..."
Before he finished speaking, someone waded over, raised his hand to hold Qiandeng's arm, and said softly, "County Lady, be careful."
It was in Guangling.
The Imperial College was in Wubenfang, diagonally opposite Kaihuafang, where the Changhua Palace was located. He happened to meet the county lady when he passed by here on his way back from school.
The prince's gaze paused on him, and when he recognized him as Yu Guangling, his expression darkened slightly.
But then, without saying a word, he waved to the guards.
The people from the Ministry of Works followed the carriage and hurried out of the city with the prince.
Qiandeng used Yu Guangling's arm to gain leverage and jumped onto the steps of the palace.
Her white skirt fluttered as she turned around, holding her umbrella, and nodded in thanks to Guangling. A few strands of her loose hair fell down, draping over her cheeks. "Thank you, Mr. Yu, for leaving school so early today."
Yu Guangling lowered his head, not daring to face her beauty. "Yes, the canals in the Imperial College are blocked, and the water has flooded into the classrooms, so we have to disperse halfway through today."
Qian Deng looked at the incessant rain and murmured, "We don't know when this rain will stop. The levees outside the city have collapsed. It seems many places in the city will be affected."
Before Yu Guangling could answer, another student who had come with him and was standing behind him asked in surprise, "Did the dam outside the city... collapse?"
Qian Deng heard his voice trembling with anxiety, so he turned his head and glanced at him.
This handsome student was about the same age as Yu Guangling, and even had the same quiet temperament with a hint of depression.
Seeing the county lady's attention, Yu Guangling hurriedly introduced, "This is my best friend, Jian Anting, also a student at the Imperial College. His father is the head of the water department, and he's been leading his men on the dike for over ten days and nights without returning home."
Jian Anting asked anxiously, "I wonder which section of the dam collapsed? Is anyone injured?"
Qian Deng then said, "I don't know the specifics, but that's exactly what the Crown Prince said. They were just about to go over there to inspect the disaster."
Jian Anting immediately turned around and waded through the water that was up to his calves, heading out of the city.
"Wait a minute." Qian Deng looked at the floodwaters that were flooding the city and was very worried. He said, "I'll go take a look too. You guys wait a moment."
Yu Guangling was a little worried: "This, there will be chaos after the dam collapses, County Master..."
"The whole of Chang'an is about to be in trouble, so why would you still care about this little chaos?" Qian Deng said without hesitation, "I'll change my clothes and go visit my grandparents' tomb."
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