Chapter 209 Disaster Relief

The Queen Mother did not leave the palace, but stood at the highest point of the imperial city, looking far away in the direction of the disaster relief team.

"Queen Mother, the Princess Protector of the Country has something to tell you." A eunuch hurried to report. The

Queen Mother's expression changed slightly when she heard it, "What did she say?"

"The princess said, please wait for her to return safely!" The eunuch answered respectfully. The Queen

Mother looked into the distance with a gentle look, and a kind smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

With an order, Minglan mounted her horse, faced the rising sun, and resolutely embarked on the journey to the disaster area.

Along the way, Minglan insisted on riding a horse, and only when she was too tired to bear it, she would sit back in the carriage. All the way, the horse did not stop.

When they reached the bank of the Yellow River, the scene in front of them made people feel heavy. The majestic waves of the past now appear unusually fierce due to the continuous heavy rain, as if it is a vent of nature's anger. The water level of the Yellow River has risen sharply, and the river water is surging. It is no longer the mother image that gently nourishes the earth in the past, but has turned into a raging beast, ruthlessly devouring every inch of land on the shore.

The waves hit the embankment, making a deafening sound. Looking at the raging Yellow River, Minglan was shocked and a surge of grief in her heart. This is not only a pity for the scene in front of her, but also a painful reflection on the severe disasters that the Yellow River floods have brought to the people for thousands of years. Those homes destroyed by floods, those people displaced by disasters, those tragic stories that have been played out countless times in the long river of history... are all like this surging river, making people unforgettable.

Minglan stared at the surging waves of the Yellow River in front of her, her brows tightly locked, and turned to Lord Xu beside her and asked softly: "Lord Xu, the river situation here is complicated, and the continuous heavy rain in recent days has made the water flow more turbulent. Is it possible for us to cross the river here?" Lord Xu bowed

and reported with a bit of caution in his tone: "Your Highness, this is the Nine Bends of the Yellow River. At Eighteen Bends, the water was extremely turbulent due to the heavy rains for several days, and it was not a good opportunity to cross the river. I boldly suggested that we continue to go downstream for a hundred miles, where the terrain is flatter and more suitable for official ships to cross the river safely. "

Minglan thought about it carefully. Although the time for disaster relief was urgent, it was indeed impossible to cross the river here, so she had to follow Mr. Xu's advice and continue to move forward.

Minglan heard this, although she felt an urgent need to provide disaster relief, she also understood that Lord Xu's concerns were reasonable, so she nodded and agreed: "In this case, we will follow Lord Xu's plan and speed up, and we must reach the river crossing as soon as possible."

The team moved forward at full speed in a tight and orderly manner. After three days of trekking, they finally arrived at the scheduled river crossing.

Here, the scene was far more bleak than Minglan expected. There were only broken boats floating on the river, and each boat was crowded with disaster victims with their families. Their eyes were full of panic and anxiety. When they saw the arrival of the officers and soldiers, they instinctively retreated and did not dare to get off the boat for fear of being driven away.

Seeing this, Minglan felt an indescribable sadness in her heart. She took Xiaotao and walked slowly towards a small boat. On the boat, a peasant woman was holding a child tightly. The child was very nervous because he saw a stranger and hid behind the peasant woman. Seeing this, Xiaotao took out a snack from the package and handed it to the child gently. After hesitating for a moment, the child finally couldn't resist the temptation of food, took the snack, and gobbled it up, not forgetting to hold the rest tightly in his hand.

Minglan saw this and felt mixed emotions. She took a step forward slowly and asked softly, "Auntie, where are you and the child going?"

The peasant woman looked at Minglan and Xiaotao timidly. Seeing that they were girls and feeling the kindness of Minglan and Xiaotao, the peasant woman finally dared to speak in a numb voice, "We are going to escape the disaster. Our house was washed away by the flood, and the crops were submerged. The child's grandfather and parents were also washed away with the house. , I was rescued by someone while lying on a piece of wood with this child. Our home was gone, our land was gone, there was no water everywhere, and there was no food... Only the two of us were left... We didn't know where to go, so we could only follow the others and stop wherever there was food and where we could survive. "

The peasant woman's words were simple but heavy, just like the rain that had not stopped for days, falling drop by drop into Minglan's heart, making her deeply feel the severity and complexity of this disaster. Xiaotao's face was already covered with tears, while Minglan was holding back her tears, looking at the ragged and haggard victims on the boat, which made her more determined and determined to provide disaster relief this time.

Minglan ordered the soldiers to clear the way and let the victims get off the boat, while she returned to the carriage with Xiaotao to write a letter.

"Miss, who are you writing to?" Xiaotao asked as she saw Minglan spread out the letter paper.

"The official in charge of this place, let him temporarily take in these victims." Minglan replied while writing.

"But there are also disasters here, and I'm afraid they are too busy to take care of themselves, so how can they spare the energy to take care of these victims." Xiaotao was a little worried.

Minglan put the letter she had written aside, waited for the ink to dry, and started writing another one. "So we still have to ask the court for aid. I will write to Your Majesty now, asking for assistance from the court. I will make this place a key relief point, and propose to Your Majesty that if you can properly resettle the disaster victims and help them rebuild their homes, then one year later, the growth in the number of households in their jurisdiction can be used as a basis for performance appraisal. In this way, officials from all over the country will have enough motivation to go all out." After Minglan finished writing, she blew away the ink.

"However, before that, the most important thing is that the court can still come here to provide disaster relief. The supplies we bring on this trip are for the people in the epicenter and the center of the flood. The real disaster area here is still some distance away. We can't stay here for long, let alone leave the supplies here, so we can only seek help from officials from all over the place."

Minglan packed the envelope, found Cao Shi, handed the letter to him, and solemnly ordered: "General Cao, please send someone immediately, ride as fast as possible, and make sure these two letters are delivered safely to the destination."

Cao Shi took the order and left, quickly arranging the delivery of the letters. Afterwards, he returned to Minglan and asked about the next itinerary arrangements: "Princess, do we want to rest here for a while?"

Minglan shook her head and looked at the disaster victims in the boats in the river. "We won't rest here. The disaster victims have spread here. There must be more disaster victims waiting for us ahead. We can't wait any longer. Let's set off now!" Upon hearing this, Cao Shi looked at Minglan deeply, then nodded in agreement, and turned around to arrange the subsequent itinerary.

Afterwards, Minglan found Lord Xu again and told him her plan in detail: "Lord Xu, please send someone to inform these disaster victims immediately that they can stay in this city temporarily. Soon, the court's disaster relief supplies will be delivered. At the same time, please make sure that their basic living needs are met."