I never expected that I would be hunted down again.
Seeing Zhou Ziliang take a step back, Tang Feng finally felt relieved and dismounted. Back inside, Tang Feng carefully considered Zhou Ziliang's words. If a large rock were sunk into the river as a marker for the rising and falling water levels, the problem would be easily solved. But what about the Luo Xi River? Tang Feng rubbed his aching temples. Hearing a knock at the door, he got up and asked, "Who is it?" Opening the door, he saw Fang Zihui. The old man, carrying a tray, ignored Tang Feng and went in, saying, "Young Master Zhou asked me to bring you food. He's so fussy, always bothering me. If he hadn't offered to give me two jars of fine wine on credit, I wouldn't have done it!" Tang Feng assumed it was Zhou Ziliang, but seeing Fang Zihui, he felt a slight disappointment. Hearing that Fang Zihui had been ordered by Zhou Ziliang to come up, he finally asked, "Did he send you?"
"That's right! Look at this porridge, he made it. He wouldn't deliver it himself, he insisted on having me come. Hey! Tang family boy, did you two have a fight?" Fang Zihui didn't treat himself like an outsider, serving himself a bowl of porridge and drinking it. "Hey, you old man, you're not young anymore, always gossiping about these things." Tang Feng hadn't expected Fang Zihui to be so gossipy.
"Oh dear! I've been running around taking care of you two, and I can't even know the details? But honestly, the young master of the Zhou family treats you quite well! Giving him that long face is a bit ungrateful! Hey, hey, don't glare at me! Besides, our dynasty is so understanding about marriage; in my opinion, you wouldn't be at a disadvantage marrying him."
Tang Feng snatched the bowl of porridge from Fang Zihui. "Are you just showing off? Give it back! This porridge was made for me, why are you drinking it?"
"Oh dear, you're still angry?" Fang Zi finished his bowl of porridge in one gulp. "Alright, alright, I won't bother you anymore. Make up with her as soon as you have time! What kind of man acts like that, all fussy?"
Tang Feng rolled his eyes at Fang Zihui and ignored him, only asking if the people had been found. Fang Zihui nodded, "Yes, yes. I originally wanted to find government soldiers, but the people of Daze heard that we were going to build a dam to control the water, so they all got involved. There are quite a few people. Let's start work tomorrow!"
"You might need to take care of some things. Find me a larger stone statue; I want it submerged in the river," Tang Feng said, staring at Fang Zihui. "And the Shiro River channel." Tang Feng took a piece of paper from the table behind him, scribbled on it, and held it up to Fang Zihui, saying, "Didn't I say before that we needed to blast open one side of the Roof Ridge Mountain? The method is the same as what I told you before. As for the newly opened channel, it should be half the depth of the old channel. This way, the water flowing through the new channel won't carry any silt. The old channel has silt, but we can build dams. During the flood season, we can close the dams, and during the dry season, we can open them. This should block some of the water flow and also prevent siltation. The Shiro River is a huge project. For those two rivers, have someone quickly dredge the silt along the banks, widen the channels, and then submerge the statue. If there are no problems during the flood season from now on, make a mark on the statue. When the lake water exceeds the mark in the future, we can clean up the silt."
"Young man of the Tang family, not bad! I have many people who admire me, but you are the first of your kind to be so young! The stone statue is easy to solve, I'll find it. Your method is indeed good, not only convenient, but also avoiding the drawbacks of wasting manpower and money."
"This idea wasn't mine," Tang Feng shook his head. "It was Zhou Ziliang's."
"Oh dear! Then you should definitely make up with them! There's an old saying: 'When husband and wife are of one mind, their strength can break metal,' do you understand?"
"I'm a man!" Tang Feng grabbed a teacup and threw it at Fang Zihui. "I'd rather die than marry him!" Seeing Fang Zihui flee as if running away, Tang Feng sighed inwardly. What kind of karma had he created? Why was he punishing himself like this? Actually, Tang Feng quite liked Zhou Ziliang's care for him; he was gentle, considerate, and thoughtful. If Zhou Ziliang were a woman, he would have risked his life to marry him. The problem was, he was a man, and he just couldn't get over that hurdle.
The next day, construction began on the Luo Xi River. For the remaining two rivers, Fang Zihui had people dredge the silt overnight and had stone statues brought in and sunk into the water. Tang Feng didn't go this time; after all, he was just an advisor, and going there might cause trouble. Tang Feng stayed at the post station for four or five days. Zhou Ziliang was busy helping Fang Zihui every day, and Tang Feng hadn't seen him for four or five days. Tang Feng didn't mind too much; seeing him now would be awkward, so avoiding him was best. "Young Master, your letter has arrived!" Just as Tang Feng was lost in thought, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"
The waiter handed Tang Feng the letter, and seeing that Tang Feng had no instructions, he greeted him and left. Tang Feng was still wondering who would write to him when he saw that the envelope was from Han Jiuhua. He quickly opened the letter and read the few words written on it: "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, for ye may ye have nothing left to pluck." Tang Feng slowly closed the letter. "Isn't this making things difficult for me?" Tang Feng stared blankly at the letter. "Oh well, everyone has their own family matters to attend to." Tang Feng walked out of the house and stood in the corridor, leaning on the railing and looking down. He met Zhou Ziliang's gaze as he returned. Zhou Ziliang looked up at Tang Feng and smiled slightly, then went back into the house without saying a word. The words Tang Feng wanted to say remained on his lips, and he ultimately didn't say them.
At this moment, Fang Zi entered the house, brushing the dust off his clothes. Seeing Tang Feng standing in the corridor, he called out, "Tang family boy, just woke up? Your trick worked quite well. You cleaned up the river channels a few days ago, and these past few days, even though it's the flood season and the Xiluo River has started to flood again, those two rivers are perfectly fine."
Tang Feng nodded. "It's good that nothing's wrong. I've been in Daze for about half a month now. If I don't go back soon, I'm afraid Master Chen will get so angry that his beard will fall off. I'll go back first thing tomorrow morning. If anything happens in Daze, please send me a letter!"
"Very well! The people of Daze thank you." Fang Zihui finished speaking and sat down in the main hall. He called to the waiter, "Hey! Tell the cook in the back to fry some peanuts for me, and bring me a pot of wine from my room." Then he beckoned to Tang Feng, "What are you daydreaming about up there? Go and call the young master of the Zhou family down. Let's have a couple of drinks together."
Tang Feng reluctantly agreed and stood at Zhou Ziliang's door for a long time without knocking. Just as Tang Feng was hesitating at the door, Zhou Ziliang opened the door. "Looking for me?"
"Ah? Well, um... I... Fang... Fangzi will let you go downstairs." Tang Feng stood at the door, his fingers constantly twisting the hem of his clothes, his words somewhat hesitant.
"Okay, I understand." Zhou Ziliang nodded, turned and left. Tang Feng turned and followed behind him, letting out a long sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Fortunately, he hadn't said much. But then he thought, wait a minute! I went through all this trouble to come find you, and all you say is these few words!
Fang Zihui didn't mean anything by it; he just wanted to have a drink before Tang Feng left. "Young man Tang, we really owe you a lot this time. Once the work in Daze is finished, I'll return to Xiling to report to the Emperor."
Tang Feng shook his head. "It's nothing. If you really want to thank me, just send a few jars of wine to my residence another day."
"Heh? You certainly know how to enjoy life! Alright, alright, another day! Another day I'll have someone select a few jars of fine wine and send them over to you," Fang Zihui laughed. "I haven't touched this wine in a long time either. Today, firstly, it's to see you off, and secondly, I hope the floods in the Great Swamp will stop here, and the people will no longer suffer."
"You're really something, bringing up the flood even in a toast," Tang Feng rolled his eyes, downed his drink in one gulp, and stood up. "Leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I'm going back to pack my things; I'm a bit of a dawdler, so I need to get everything ready in advance." He then went upstairs. Actually, Tang Feng just went to the backyard from the second floor to buy a horse from a shopkeeper. He figured he needed a horse to get back tomorrow, otherwise Zhou Ziliang would preemptively strike again.
The next day, Tang Feng got up early. By the time Zhou Ziliang came downstairs, Tang Feng was already mounted on his horse. Seeing Zhou Ziliang emerge, Tang Feng snorted, lightly tugged the reins, and rode off. Actually, Tang Feng didn't find riding a horse difficult, having learned it at the academy. His hesitation stemmed from two reasons: firstly, the indelible childhood trauma caused by Hongdou, and secondly, he didn't actually own a horse. Riding Hongdou? If Zhou Ziliang wasn't around, he wouldn't dare even if he had ten lives.
Zhou Ziliang packed his luggage, watching Tang Feng walk away, and sighed softly. Fang Zihui patted Zhou Ziliang on the shoulder, "What are you looking at? He's already far away! No rush to chase after him."
Zhou Ziliang bowed to Fang Zihui. "How could I not be anxious? It's just that he's having a falling out with me right now, and if I get too close, I'm afraid he might get into danger."
"Hey kid, why don't you try to coax her? Boys like to hear sweet words, just like girls. If you act like this, my wife would probably have broken your legs by now. If she's angry with you but doesn't cry or make a fuss, you should be burning incense in gratitude!"
Zhou Ziliang mounted his horse, bowed to Fang Zihui, and said, "Xiao Feng is kind-hearted and gentle, so he doesn't cry or make a fuss. Mr. Fang, we'll meet again." He then urged his horse forward a few times, trying to catch up with Tang Feng. Catching up wasn't difficult for Zhou Ziliang; he caught up after only a few steps. When he was about four or five meters away from Tang Feng, Zhou Ziliang slowed down. He was afraid Tang Feng would be unhappy if he saw him, so he silently followed behind. Tang Feng, of course, knew Zhou Ziliang was behind him; he wasn't deaf. His red hooves pounded the ground loudly. Tang Feng still felt a little awkward. He now knew whether he was awkward about Zhou Ziliang's coldness towards him yesterday, or awkward about the current relationship and distance between them. Tang Feng gripped the reins, forcing himself not to look back, and spurred the horse's belly, urging it to go a few more steps.
Seeing that it was already dark, Zhou Ziliang tugged on the reins and looked around. The fog was thick by the lake at night, and visibility was very low. Zhou Ziliang planned to tell Tang Feng to dismount and rest, but in that short time, when he looked up again, Tang Feng had vanished. Zhou Ziliang's heart skipped a beat. "Xiao Feng!" Zhou Ziliang pulled on the reins, forcing himself to calm down.
Tang Feng, having ridden his horse for an unknown distance, heard the sound of hooves cease behind him. He pulled on the reins and turned to look, but Zhou Ziliang was nowhere to be seen. A sense of dread crept in; he knew no way around, and if he got lost, he'd likely perish in the wilderness! Reluctantly, Tang Feng had no choice but to call out, "Zhou Ziliang! Zhou... Ziliang?" He saw a blurry figure on horseback opposite him. He called out again, "Zhou Ziliang?" There was no response. Tang Feng gently tugged on the reins, urging the horse forward a few steps. Just as it was about to reach him, an arrow grazed his neck. Tang Feng winced in pain, clutching the wound. He could clearly feel blood seeping from between his fingers, but he couldn't care less about the injury. He just stared in terror at the figure opposite him, wondering if he was really that unlucky. Coming out to manage the flood, he unexpectedly ran into his old acquaintance, the Sixteen Riders of Yanshan. Before Tang Feng could react, a second arrow had already struck his horse's neck. The horse, in pain, reared up, neighed, and crashed heavily to the ground, throwing Tang Feng off. There was a dirt slope by the roadside; Tang Feng landed on the ground, rolled a few times, and then tumbled down the slope. A few claps of thunder shook the sky, making Tang Feng's ears ring. When Tang Feng sat up, the assassin was already standing in front of him, looking down at him. Tang Feng shrank back slightly.
In a daze, Tang Feng seemed to hear Hongdou's neighing. Then he saw the assassin's horse seem to have been hit by something, and it took a few steps back before leaving. Zhou Ziliang also heard the commotion and thought of coming to check. As a result, he saw Tang Feng fall off his horse. Seeing that the assassin had left, Zhou Ziliang did not chase after him. He quickly dismounted and checked Tang Feng's injuries. "Is Xiao Feng alright?"
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