At the very last moment Jiang Qinyu had planned, Old Wang jumped onto the carriage.
The yamen runner, who was already terrified, immediately spurred the carriage out!
No sooner had they left than a huge breach was breached in the dam of the reservoir behind them.
The reservoir was already more than half full that night due to the torrential rain, and the continuous drizzle in the past few days has caused it to overflow. Now that the dam has been breached, the surging water is rushing downstream.
At the same time, most of the mountainside of Hongtongya collapsed, and the accumulated water from the mountain washed down from both sides of the reservoir, like a torrent.
Jiang Qinyu lifted the rear curtain of the carriage and saw this scene, her mind filled with lingering fear and worry.
I wonder if Meng Tianze has properly notified everyone? Have the people from Qiaojia Village and Hongya Village all moved away?
...
Meanwhile, Meng Tianze was leading the people of Qiaojia Village to Banpo Village.
"Village chief, why are you so easily swayed? Do you think the water will rise just because he says so? It's raining, and you're making us drag our families to Banpo Village. Isn't this just making things difficult for us?"
"Yes, village chief, my dad is over seventy years old, he really can't run anymore!"
"Oh dear, my Dazhuang is only five years old. How is he supposed to walk this road?"
"..."
The people of Qiaojia Village were all complaining. There was nothing wrong with the river in front of the village. It was just that the water level had risen a little in the last couple of days. After such a long drought, what was a little water? Why did they need to go and seek refuge?
Village Chief Qiao, leading the way with his oxcart, was immediately enraged by the conversation. He turned around and shouted, "Why are you all talking so much nonsense? Little Meng has the county magistrate's token; do you think I can refuse him? Hurry up and get going, or something will go wrong!"
He didn't want to go through all this trouble in the rain, but Meng Tianze had a token, and he heard that the people from Hongya Village would also be going. If he didn't go, wouldn't that be disrespecting the county magistrate?
Remembering the consequences of refusing the county magistrate's request when Zhu Youcai was around, Village Chief Qiao shuddered and immediately lashed the ox's back with his whip, yelling, "Giddy up!"
Meng Tianze walked behind the village chief Qiao's oxcart without saying a word, but when he turned his head to look into the distance, he suddenly opened his eyes wide, pointed in that direction and shouted, "Look!"
The people of Qiaojia Village were puzzled, but they all looked in the direction he was pointing, and immediately everyone gasped.
"That's... a real dragon has emerged!"
"My God! Is that the direction of Hongtong Cliff?"
"Look closely, it's not just Zoujiao! The Hongtongya Reservoir has also collapsed!"
"The dragon's escape hasn't affected us much yet, but the reservoir incident..."
The people of Qiaojia Village dared not imagine what would happen if the Hongtongya Reservoir collapsed. Since Qiaojia Village is downstream of Hongya Village, the water and mud would wash down, and not only would their crops fail to survive, but their houses would also be lost!
"Hey? Has the rain gotten much heavier?" someone suddenly shouted.
Before anyone could react, the rain suddenly intensified, as if a huge hole had been torn in the sky, and the rain wasn't just falling drop by drop, but pouring down bucket by bucket!
"Quick! Everyone, hurry up, we need to get to Banpo Village as soon as possible!" Village Chief Qiao shouted anxiously as he stood up.
When Meng Tianze saw the heavy rain, he immediately sensed something was wrong. Could something have happened to his younger brother and sister-in-law?
He couldn't stand it any longer and said to Village Chief Qiao, "Village Chief, you all go to Banpo Village yourselves, I..."
"No, Meng, you have to come with us so we can have a place to stay in Banpo Village!" Village Chief Qiao immediately spoke up, not wanting Meng Tianze to leave.
Remembering Jiang Qinyu's instructions, Meng Tianze gritted his teeth and didn't say anything about leaving.
Regardless, he needs to settle these two groups of people first, otherwise he won't be able to explain it to his younger brother and sister-in-law.
In just a few short breaths, another villager shouted, "Look everyone! The Qiong River is flooded!"
This shout startled everyone, and they all looked towards the direction of the Qionghe River.
This sight was alarming; the villagers of Qiaojia Village, whose homes were located by the river, immediately burst into tears.
"Oh no! My house almost flooded a couple of days ago. We can see the Qionghe River right here. My house must have been flooded!"
"My God! Is this some kind of living hell? My family had several acres of land by the river! Now it's all gone..."
"My family too..."
Despite the raging wind and rain, Village Chief Qiao was still covered in cold sweat. He turned around and bowed in Meng Tianze's direction, saying, "Little Meng, you saved our whole village!"
If Meng Tianze hadn't come to inform them, with the Hongtong Cliff dike breached and dragons swirling above them, and the Qiong River overflowing below, not only would they not have been able to save their homes, but many of them might have died!
"No, it was A-Zheng's wife from our village who asked me to come to you." Meng Tianze didn't want to take credit, so he quickly mentioned Jiang Qinyu, "She's the wife of the Great General Protector of the Nation."
Village Chief Qiao immediately said, "Thank you so much, General Lu's wife! You have a great sense of justice and care deeply for us ordinary people. You are truly a good person!"
He wasn't very learned and couldn't offer many words of praise, only using terms like "righteous" and "good person" to compliment Jiang Qinyu.
“The magistrate is a good man,” Meng Tianze added. “If he hadn’t given you the token, you wouldn’t have listened to your sister-in-law and followed me.”
This time, each family in Hongya Village and Qiaojia Village only packed their essential belongings and left everything else behind, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to evacuate so quickly.
That's why they survived.
"Yes, yes, the magistrate is very kind, we should all thank him properly..." Village Chief Qiao nodded repeatedly, deeply grateful that the current magistrate of Yongshan County is Wei Chengzhong.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier. After witnessing the two disasters, no one in Qiaojia Village dared to say anything more. They quickened their pace and rushed towards Banpo Village.
...
On Jiang Qinyu's side, even after the carriage had left the area of Hongtong Cliff, everyone was still shaken.
However, Jiang Qinyu felt panicked looking at the torrential rain and shouted, "Liu Shuli, go to Banpo Village!"
If a mudslide is combined with a torrential rain and the reservoir breaks down, it's easy to imagine how serious the consequences will be. She has to go and see for herself whether the people from Hongya Village and Qiaojia Village have gone to Banpo Village, otherwise she won't be able to feel at ease.
“But Madam, the rain is too heavy now, we must go back quickly, otherwise…” Liu the clerk was also panicked, but he valued his life more and did not want to risk his life outside anymore.
Old Wang interrupted him, saying, "We'll listen to the lady! Brothers, let's go to Banpo Village. It's on higher ground and close by, so it won't take much effort!"
Old Yuan and Liu Shuli both looked at him in surprise. They knew that Old Wang was the most afraid of death among them, but now he was willing to continue to follow Jiang Qinyu on her adventures.
“Alright! Let’s go to Banpo Village!” Liu, the clerk, knew what Old Wang was thinking after a little thought, so he gritted his teeth and agreed.
The carriage turned and headed towards Banpo Village.
Jiang Qinyu looked back, then at the sky, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips.
Heaven really didn't leave the people of Yongshan County any way to survive...
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