On the day of the sea training, Yin and Yin personally saw Yin off as they left. Qingyan stood behind Yin, watching the Tenth Prince's wife wave goodbye to her sisters-in-law with red eyes.
"Little darling, let's leave first." Yin Genjue Luo Shi was not in a good mood either. The Tenth Prince Consort had not spent much time with them, but they could still talk to each other.
As the two walked back, Lady Yin Genjue asked if they had brought enough things for the Tenth Prince's wife.
"Sister-in-law, I've packed everything, enough for at least three or four months. Yin didn't say when he'd be back, and the elders here said the tsunami might cause ships to lose their way!" Qingyan said helplessly.
After the two took their seats, Yiken'e led his sisters out and sat down next to Qingyan. Songkelierha and Hutulifengshengzhalaf each took a dzi bead, which the Tenth Princess had given them yesterday.
"This one..." Qingyan was stunned. "Sister-in-law, she looks like my tenth brother's wife."
Yin Genjue Luo took the dzi bead around Songkelierha's neck and examined it carefully.
"This should have been the prince's blessing for my sister-in-law when she got married. I remember there should have been nine of them," said Lady Yingenjueluo, recalling the conversation among her sisters-in-law.
"Mother, my tenth aunt gave me one!" Yiken also took out a dzi bead, which was entirely black with some red cinnabar patterns on it.
“This is one of the most important dzi beads. It’s clear that my tenth sister-in-law left behind six dzi beads!” said Yin Genjue Luo Shi.
"Sister-in-law, won't this have an impact?" Qingyan was worried that it might put the Tenth Prince's wife in danger.
"My tenth aunt said that six means smooth sailing, so we can come back safely!" Hutu Lifengsheng Zhalafen said this personally when he received the dzi bead.
As evening approached, Yin returned to the courtyard, checked the twins' homework, and coaxed Hafeng to sleep before sitting down with Qingyan.
"Little darling, why do you look so absent-minded?" Yin found it strange, as Qingyan rarely spaced out like this.
Qingyan leaned against his chest: "Fourth brother, tenth sister-in-law gave one of the dzi beads she wore when she got married to the twins and Songkelierha, while Yikene took the main dzi bead!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yin was stunned. Logically speaking, the dzi bead should be given to a close child.
"Don't worry, let Yiken'e and the others take it. They'll make sure the tenth prince comes back safely," Yin reassured Qingyan.
Why?
“Twins are very fortunate, so wearing a dzi bead can ward off bad luck.” Yin also understood that, in this day and age, twins are a blessing from heaven.
Qingyan stopped talking. It was too late to say anything now. Yin and his wife also left the naval port.
“Starting tomorrow, we need to be on guard against tsunamis. The imperial ships that went out to sea are returning one after another and are all moored outside,” Yin said with emotion. “Moreover, the neighboring villages have all moved to the vicinity of the naval port.”
"Should we get Yuelai Inn and Linglong Pavilion involved?" Qingyan asked. "Yuelai Inn still has food reserves, but we're worried about a potential tsunami."
"Let's move everything to the naval port. If a tsunami occurs, this area is quite high up." Yin decided to store the supplies in the naval port first, in case the area below is flooded. These supplies are meant to be life-saving.
In the early morning, after having breakfast, Qingyan summoned the manager of Yuelai Inn and asked him to prepare the disaster relief grain stored in Nuodu.
"Master, let's move all the disaster relief supplies to the naval port tonight. Moving them during the day will cause panic among the nearby residents!" The innkeeper noticed that many people were buying grain, and the Pingfan Grain Shop under the Yuelai Inn was also buying more and more grain. "Recently, the grain shop's supplies have been selling very quickly; basically, by noon, the entire day's quota is gone!"
When opening a grain store, Qingyan required the managers to set a daily purchase quota. No matter what happened, once that quota was sold, the store would have to close down!
"It's only past noon, and there's nothing yet?" Qingyan muttered.
"Almost!" The shopkeeper nodded. All the other shops were being sold off. Recently, many shopkeepers had come to the grain store to discuss business, saying they wanted to purchase goods from here. "As agreed, this servant did not agree to allow outside shopkeepers to purchase goods; this servant refused them all."
After listening to the shopkeeper's words, Qingyan understood a little better. The fishermen had bought all the grain and hadn't set sail, which meant they had no means of making a living.
"Are you ready? Try to reduce your share in both of the grain stores here," Qingyan instructed the manager.
After hearing this, the shopkeeper agreed immediately and turned to leave. Qingyan then went to the study.
"Fourth Brother, the market outside is unstable, and the people are starting to hoard food!" Upon hearing this, Yin put down his pen, pointed to the chair opposite him, and gestured for Qingyan to sit down.
"What happened?" Yin asked curiously.
The weather conditions aren't even at their worst yet, so why are people suddenly starting to hoard things?
"The fishermen aren't going out to sea anymore, so they're starting to prepare things at home," Qingyan relayed the shopkeeper's guess.
Yin frowned slightly. The fishermen were very experienced; when they encountered similar situations, they would notify their families in advance so that the women could prepare things.
"The messengers below say that makeshift houses have been set up on the nearby highlands, and some have even been completed so that families can be brought up," Yin said directly. "It's still quite close to the naval port, and the guards have increased the number of sentries nearby."
"The villages below have all come up?!" Qingyan's eyes widened. "How many people does that take?!"
There isn't much fresh water in the vicinity, so what can be done about gathering so many people together?
“The fishermen will still go back to fetch water; it has nothing to do with the naval port!” Yin said.
We've already spoken with the village chief; we won't use any of the naval port's resources.
"That's good. If things get really bad, we'll have to protect ourselves!" Qingyan doesn't have much patience when it comes to a crisis. The soldiers in the naval port are willing to risk their lives for the country, so protecting them is the priority.
"Just remember that, but don't 'do good' indiscriminately." Yin was worried that if Qingyan saw the people suffering, he would take pity on them and use the military port's reserves for disaster relief, and then they would be the ones who suffered.
"I understand. My sister-in-law and I have already agreed that we can use the extra rice for disaster relief!" Qingyan promised.
Yin nodded, relieved that Qingyan had come to provide disaster relief. However, the Yin Genjueluo clan was being extra cautious, as someone accused Yin of trying to win people's hearts.
"This rice will all come from the silver taels at the naval port, supposedly for disaster relief, since it's a mutual support system between the naval port and the fishermen!" Yin said.
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