Chapter 99 Parting (Part 4) Too careless!
The sky seemed to have a hole in it, and the rain showed no sign of stopping.
Upon receiving the news, Li Yunru rushed to the scene.
Songji arrived a step ahead of her with some soldiers. The entire foot of the mountain was cordoned off, and the soldiers were running around digging in the dirt to find people. Songji, wearing a straw raincoat and bamboo hat, was yelling at a man who was about the same age as her.
"I told you to notify us to evacuate earlier, what were you doing!"
The man was somewhat indignant, but given the situation, he could only accept it. Seeing this, Song Ji became even angrier and said angrily, "You wait until the governor returns to deal with you according to military law!"
He ordered the men to go and reflect on their actions, but despite his resentment, the man was ultimately responsible and refused to leave, saying, "This was my negligence, and I will take full responsibility. I won't leave until I get this person out!"
"Whatever!"
Song Ji left in anger, but after taking only a few steps, he caught sight of Li Yunru.
"Why has the princess come here?"
Still seething with anger, his tone was harsh. After that greeting, he turned his attention to the two maids behind him, "Didn't I tell you to take good care of people? You can't even keep an eye on one person!"
Li Yunru frowned upon hearing this. "Enough. Is this the time to criticize and pursue this?"
She glanced ahead and asked, "How is it?"
Song Ji remained silent for a moment, then said, "The rain is too heavy. Please move to a safe place, Princess, and I will explain everything to you in detail later."
Li Yunru refused.
"No need, if everyone else can stand here, why can't I?"
She walked over and surveyed the mountain. It wasn't very high, but it was quite large and stretched out continuously. However, the surrounding soil was mostly gravelly soil, which was inherently coarse. When she was a child, she and her older sister had played house and built mountains with this kind of soil, but they would collapse if the wind was even slightly strong.
Raindrops pelted her raincoat and straw hat, sliding down her clothes and making her feel a little cold, but she didn't care.
The man looked around and asked with concern, "What's the current situation regarding casualties?"
Song Ji: "Currently, there are about ten households with a total of more than sixty people. Three households, about fifteen people, have already left, but the situation is not very optimistic. The doctors in the manor are all waiting."
As he spoke, someone carried a stretcher past them; the scene was so gruesome it was unbearable to look at.
Li Yunru gasped in shock and ordered, "Pass down the order to recruit all the doctors and medicine providers in the city. Those who come voluntarily will be richly rewarded!"
"yes."
In the rain, everyone was busy with their own tasks, without stopping.
But this can't go on forever; the rain won't stop, and so many people are gathered here...
The order was issued that, except for the soldiers and officers of the Jiangzuo Camp who were searching, all others should be withdrawn from this place, and the temporary resettlement point should be more than ten miles away from here.
Having learned their lesson, no one dared to delay this time. Everyone acted quickly and made arrangements in less than half a day.
Doctors and medicines arrived one after another.
However, due to the severity of the collapse, many people were not rescued; those who managed to escape did not survive.
Three to five days.
As the rain subsided and everything settled, Li Yunru sat in the seat of honor in the official residence, listening to the reports from Song Ji and the generals in the camp, her face showing a somber expression.
If the evacuation had been announced in time, things might not be like this now.
“Go to the storehouse and take more money for the surviving family members. Also, look around and choose a piece of land to rebuild their homes.”
After dealing with this matter, Li Yunru focused on the issue of dereliction of duty. Song Ji felt extremely guilty and voluntarily accepted the punishment.
A mistake is a mistake. Even though the two had a good relationship, this was a matter of life and death, so Li Yunru did not show any mercy and punished him with thirty strokes of the military rod, while the others behind him were each punished with twenty strokes.
Thirty sounds like a number, but with each blow, the frail scholar Song Ji collapsed onto his bed.
"A woman? This is outrageous! What kind of nonsense is this?!"
Some people felt indignant on his behalf, saying, "Who knows if the tiger tally in her hand is real or fake? Why does the official listen to her so much? They were just some country folk. If they die, they die. When has Jiangzuo ever lacked people? Why should a young girl be humiliated like this!"
"You've been in Jiangzuo for so many years, everyone knows you, everyone admires you. If the Governor-General is ranked first, then you're second. This is truly outrageous!"
"Shut up!"
Song Ji was so angry that the veins on his face bulged. Ignoring his injury, he slapped him across the face, the pain making his body tremble.
The two servants were startled by the sudden outburst of anger, but they knew what was good for them and immediately knelt down, saying, "My lord, please forgive us! We misspoke!"
He didn't have much time to argue with people about these things, and simply warned coldly, "She is a master, a master just like the governor. If I hear such disrespectful remarks again, watch your heads!"
He was not very willing to call Li Yunru the Governor's wife.
In his heart, a princess is a princess, not anyone's appendage, and she doesn't need any prefixes to justify her status.
He could tell others without any hesitation that this was Yan Langjun's wife, but in terms of power, she was just herself!
The two were so frightened that they trembled and dared not speak again.
"Alright."
Song Ji glanced at the two of them and said, "Go and receive your punishment."
"yes."
The two men, upon hearing the news, felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly got up and left.
"You drove away the people who were supposed to take care of you, and now look what's happened, no one's even giving you your medicine. Let's see how long it takes you to get better?"
"Princess!"
Song Jiben was in a daze when he heard the sound and hurriedly got out of bed to greet her.
Li Yunru stopped him, saying, "Sir, have you forgotten again? There's no need for so many formalities between us."
He hadn't forgotten; it was just a habit.
Once a habit is formed, it is very difficult to change.
well.
Li Yunru was also helpless and didn't know where to start. She helped him up and laid him down, then asked a maid to hand him the medicine. "This is some wound medicine that I prepared when I was out. It's especially effective for these kinds of injuries. Try it."
She apologized to the man, "Sir, please don't blame me."
With Yan Ning absent, Jiangzuo is currently being managed by the strategist Song Ji, and her actions are indeed somewhat overstepping her bounds.
Songji held it in his hand, feeling a warmth in his heart.
He said, "It was my fault for mismanagement, and the princess turned the tide. I am only grateful and dare not complain."
"And you said you didn't blame me."
This is utterly servile.
It was one thing before, but now that she has this identity, it sounds rather ironic.
Seeing her dejected expression, Song Ji realized he had said something inappropriate and quickly corrected himself. Li Yunru was not the kind of person who was sentimental or petty. After they talked things out, the two were back to normal.
His injury was in an awkward location. When they were young, she could pretend to be ignorant and say, "Let me help you." But now that they're older, doing so would only embarrass them both. So Li Yunru only came to visit him. After her visit, she found the person who had been taking care of him and had him apply medicine.
Even so, Songji remained in bed for seven or eight days before he was finally able to get up and move around.
During the days he was bedridden, Li Yunru would come to visit him whenever she had free time, but she was mostly out running around, traveling between the wounded and the mines.
When he came looking for her after he recovered, she was surveying the terrain at the mine.
"What is the princess looking at?"
"You're all better now."
She was pleasantly surprised and joked, "I thought you were going to stay in bed for a while longer."
Song Ji laughed: "I've built up a strong physique in the military these past few years, so I don't need to stay for that long."
"Hahaha."
Li Yunru laughed heartily and said, "Then it seems that it was right of me to let you come over back then."
It wasn't that she gave up...
It was Yan Ning who advocated for it.
She even had a big argument with someone over this, and during that time their relationship almost reached a freezing point. But it also led them to re-examine everything, and after the conflict, they felt even closer to each other.
However, she naturally wouldn't talk about these things. They were all personal matters, and there was no need to discuss them. What's past is past, and the current situation is better for everyone.
The two chatted and laughed, then gradually turned their conversation back to business. Li Yunru looked at the hill in front of them and asked, "Have they started harvesting here?"
Song Ji said, "No."
"It was only discovered a little over a month ago. After that, the emperor and various powerful families all came after hearing the news. The governor wanted to keep the sovereignty in his own hands and did not give in. So, while everything was still uncertain, they just fenced it off and did not start mining. They didn't even hire any workers yet."
The families living at the foot of the mountain were local villagers. One of the old farmers felt something was wrong. He had been farming his land for many years, but no matter how he turned the soil or planted it, the harvest was poor. He tearfully complained to Yan Ning. This was a minor matter that most people wouldn't care about, but this master took it to heart. After listening to the old farmer's complaints, he brought several experts to investigate, and that's how they discovered the mine.
Li Yunru shook her head, "No, someone must have picked it."
The rain was indeed heavy at the time, but logically it shouldn't have been this heavy, at least not this fast, unless the ground underneath had emptied first, but that's not something that can be done overnight...
Hearing her say that, Song Ji also began to have some doubts, but he had always had people guarding the place and had not found anything unusual, so he asked again, "Has the princess noticed something recently?"
That's the problem.
She didn't notice anything wrong.
Seeing Li Yunru remain silent, Song Ji understood and said, "I will make arrangements immediately to have people investigate the movements within this area of several dozen miles."
Some things may not be in the open, but in the shadows.
Li Yunru had only been there a few days. Although she held the Tiger Tally, her status as a young lady and the recent commotion caused by the heavy rain had drawn some discontent, preventing her from fully mobilizing her troops and making them work for her.
Many people outwardly obey her, but in reality, they only pay lip service to her.
She will find a way to handle it, but the matter at the mine is more important right now. If the investigation is not completed, things will likely get even more complicated and there will be more casualties.
Furthermore, with so many people eyeing this place covetously, who knows if they might take advantage of this incident, knowing they can't control the situation, to plot something?
With Yan Ning absent, she is the one who needs to take on this responsibility.
After all... Jiangzuo was originally her dowry, it was her property!
...
Just as she had guessed, after Song Ji mobilized personnel for a thorough investigation, the problem was discovered several miles away from the accident site.
Someone has indeed made a move.
Moreover, a lot of work has been done, and the entire area is almost empty inside. It's just that the location was cleverly chosen, with mountains and trees providing cover, and it's not located at the mine site. Construction hasn't officially started yet, and no one usually comes here specifically for it.
However, Songji still felt that he had failed in his duty.
Right under his nose, such a big thing happened, and he didn't even notice it. Even when the princess asked him to arrange for people to evacuate, he didn't think it was a problem!
That was far too careless!
If it weren't for this rain, and if it weren't for the princess, when would we have ever been discovered!
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