News of the drought in Yunzhou hung like a dark cloud over the Xiaoyao Prince's mansion. Although the servants in the mansion did not know what had happened, they were all worried because they saw that their masters were in a bad mood.
That evening, Song Yaozhu took a walk in the courtyard, enjoying the breeze. Her life was very regular these days; she went to bed early and got up early every day, indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun. She didn't have to worry about many things; her only task was to ensure the pregnancy was stable.
But she was still worried about the situation in Yunzhou, where countless people were dying every day. Moreover, the local officials in Yunzhou were suppressing the news for the sake of their own political achievements. Only after the refugees flooded into other cities and caused overcrowding in other prefectures did the local officials report the disaster, and even then, they downplayed the extent of the damage.
Xie Liwei has been in seclusion writing articles these past two days. It's possible that some people in the capital already know about the drought in Yunzhou, but they dare not show it, since the Emperor should be the first to know this news.
Song Yaozhu didn't know the current situation in Yunzhou. She really wanted to go and see Yunzhou, but given their identities, neither she nor Xie Liwei could leave.
"Your Highness, Bai Sanyuan has just given us the information about what you asked him to do. He said he's setting off now."
Song Yaozhu nodded. She instructed Bai Sanyuan to disguise himself as a merchant and quickly produce a batch of water buckets using bamboo tubes, which would then be sold in Yunzhou.
And starting from the capital, traveling downwards, it should take about a month to reach them. Their only hope is that within that month, Yunzhou will be hit by a sudden downpour, thwarting all their plans and ensuring the people have water to drink and food to eat.
Song Yaozhu looked at the clear sky, the bright moon, and the twinkling stars, seemingly a scene of peace. But under the same sky, someone was living a life worse than death.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound pierced the sky, and the guards hidden in the shadows immediately appeared and cut the arrow in two.
"An assassin!"
Caijin immediately protected Song Yaozhu and retreated, shielding her behind her as they walked into the house.
The assassin did not linger; having failed with his first arrow, he immediately fled. Song Yaozhu immediately ordered her men not to pursue him, lest they be lured away from their prey.
Hearing the commotion, Xie Liwei immediately came over and redeployed the guards in the mansion.
"Which short-lived bastard is so wicked, coming into someone's yard to shoot arrows in the middle of the night instead of sleeping!" Granny Qin cursed as she paced back and forth in the house.
The royal physician took Song Yaozhu's pulse and said, "It's nothing serious. Although she was frightened, the princess is in good health. I will come again tomorrow!"
Only then did Granny Qin feel relieved and send the family doctor out.
"This kind of person is destined to have no descendants!"
Song Yaozhu thought that although the other party still had a few sons alive, they had indeed died out.
In late July, a groundbreaking article, titled "On the Water Conservancy of Jiangzhou and the Drought in Yunzhou," traveled from Jiangzhou to the capital. Upon its publication, the article caused a sensation among students.
The article begins with the Jiangzhou floods, using sharp language to criticize Jiangzhou officials. Why do Jiangzhou's water conservancy projects fall into disrepair every year? Is it a natural disaster or man-made? Are any officials profiting from this?
Then the story leads to the drought in Yunzhou, and it is said that Yunzhou officials concealed the drought after it occurred in order to improve their own political achievements, causing the people in the city to starve, die of thirst, and die from sunburn.
The article also suggests the possibility of a "South-to-North Water Diversion Project." Since Jiangzhou has abundant water, why not dig a canal to connect it to Yunzhou and divert the water from Jiangzhou to the south?
Although Yunzhou is mountainous, the five major rivers in the Great Chen Kingdom can be connected by surveying the terrain and diverting water southward to supply water to Yunzhou.
The article left some students speechless, shocked by its bold ideas, and also shocked by the drought in Yunzhou.
Why is Yunzhou experiencing a drought?!
Some students who didn't believe it attacked the author by writing articles, calling him stupid and trying to gain fame with such a thing.
"Look at this article, isn't the pen name nice?" someone pointed to the signature at the end of the article, which read "Mr. A Few Words".
This "Mr. A Few Words" rarely published articles, but each one he did produce provided directional guidance for the students. The reason was simple: whenever his articles appeared in *Jin Deng Ke* (a journal), they always strangely bore a seven or eight-tenths resemblance to the exam questions.
Some speculated that he might be a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Rites or a renowned Confucian scholar at court. But to this day, no one knows his true identity.
At the end of each article, he would write a line, "Let's chat about history and current events, and at night I'll seek out the Seven Dou with the helmsman." This indicates that his purpose was to explore ways to keep Da Chen going together with Da Chen's ***.
Yuwen Wuji did indeed like his writing, so he saw it immediately upon its publication. However, when he read about the drought in Yunzhou, his face turned a ghastly green.
"What's going on! Li Wei, bring me all the memorials from Yunzhou!"
Li Wei pulled out all the memorials from the Yunzhou officials and found that they were all just ordinary greetings, with not a single mention of the drought.
The fact that Mr. Jiju couldn't have fabricated a drought suggests that he was in Yunzhou at the time, experiencing this major disaster. And the local officials in Yunzhou, with the audacity to conceal this fact, dared to do so!
"Guards, summon Jiang Peiwang!"
Jiang Peiwang quickly entered the hall. When he saw the emperor's angry face, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat, wondering what had happened to offend the emperor this time.
"Quickly select fifty elite generals; I have a secret decree for you!"
Jiang Peiwang immediately went to select people.
Those who could enter the Imperial Guard were either scions of noble families or truly capable individuals. The Emperor had decreed that elite generals were needed, and those generals had to be trustworthy and capable.
He quickly selected the candidates and handed the list to the emperor.
Yuwen Wuji looked at the list and asked, "Who do you think is capable of handling this alone?"
Jiang Peiwang thought for a moment and said, "Your humble servant has a disciple..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yuwen Wuji's sharp gaze swept across his face, as if it could shave off his scalp.
But he still forced himself to say, “His name is Chengcheng. He is a resolute and straightforward child. I raised him myself. I trust his abilities and courage. However, his background is too humble, and I’m afraid he won’t be able to control others.”
There were too many scions of powerful families in the Imperial Guard, and it was common for them to fawn over the powerful and bully the weak. Even if a person of commoner origin made it into the Imperial Guard, they would still be less tolerated than those scions of powerful families.
Upon hearing this news, Yuwen Wuji withdrew his gaze.
"Then let him be the commander, and the Fang family boy as his deputy. Summon the two of them; I have matters to instruct you!"
Jiang Peiwang breathed a sigh of relief; the Emperor was still the same.
Yuwen Wuji was eager to know the current situation in Yunzhou. If, as the article stated, Yunzhou was suffering from a severe drought, then...
He closed his eyes and felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath, making him want to vomit.
Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Li Wei exclaimed in surprise, "Your Majesty!"
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