"What? This Shen Qinghui is truly a coward!"
Upon learning that Shen Qinghui had reported everything to Song Yu and Song Shihuan, Xie Zhiyi was so furious he leapt out of bed.
"Sir Magistrate, what should we do now?" A servant beside him wore a worried expression. Given the current situation, a single misstep could cost them all their heads.
"What else can we do? We must insist our current approach is correct."
Xie Zhiyi took several deep breaths to calm himself. "We must prevent Prince Qin and Lady Fuan from going to Xiangyao County. Based on past experience, the floodwaters will recede in two or three days, and this matter can be downplayed."
With this in mind, Xie Zhiyi hastily ordered his attendants to help him dress.
It was better to let the Emperor think of him as an inflexible but well-intentioned official who erred in his methods than to be seen as a villain who deliberately disregarded the lives of the people.
As for the other crimes, let Shen Qinghui, the prefect, bear the blame.
......
At the same time, in the capital.
"Father, did you not sleep well last night?" Shen Qingping couldn't help but speak up upon seeing the exhaustion on Shen Mingwen's face.
Shen Mingwen let out a heavy sigh. "There's still no news from Laijin Prefecture. I can't shake this uneasiness."
Shen Qingping fell silent.
They both knew that if Laijin Prefecture were truly unharmed, the capital would have received word by now. No news was the worst news.
"Your elder brother is too impulsive in his dealings, but I... I simply cannot believe that someone of the Shen bloodline would harm innocent lives."
Overnight, Shen Mingwen seemed to have aged considerably.
"Father, everyone has their own fate. If elder brother made the wrong choice, no one can save him."
Shen Qingping's words only deepened Shen Mingwen's sorrow.
"If he chose wrongly, I will have no face to meet our ancestors."
The only consolation was that he had swiftly removed Shen Qinghui from the Shen family registry. If Shen Qinghui had indeed committed a grave offense, the Shen family would not be implicated.
"Father, perhaps the situation isn't as dire as we imagine."
Shen Qingping's attempt at comfort sounded feeble.
Meanwhile, in the Zichen Hall, Emperor Yuanyou also sensed something amiss.
"Wu Qi, has there still been no word from Laijin Prefecture?"
"Your Majesty, none at all."
"Trouble must have arisen." A flash of anger crossed Emperor Yuanyou's eyes. "Dispatch more Imperial Guards. By my decree, grant Prince Qin and Lady Fuan the authority to act first and report later."
"Ensure Prince Qin and Lady Fuan remain unharmed."
"This servant will see to it at once."
Watching Wu Qi hurry away, Emperor Yuanyou clenched the memorial in his hand.
Chaos in the prefecture, yet he, seated high in his hall, had not the slightest inkling.
How audacious!
......
Shen Qinghui, trembling with fear, led Song Yu and Song Shihuan to Xiangyao County.
Before them stood tightly shut city gates. From the other side, the desperate cries of refugees echoed incessantly, their hands pounding against the gates.
The scene was one of utter desolation, as if they had stepped into hell itself.
Song Yu and Song Shihuan's eyes reddened.
Song Shihuan acted first, snatching Yu Fan's spear and charging at the guards barring the gate. "Out of my way, all of you!"
In an instant, the guards were all knocked to the ground.
"Open the gates!" she commanded.
"Wait!"
Just as the Imperial Guards moved to comply, a voice rang out. Xie Zhiyi rushed forward, his official hat askew, followed by a large contingent of Laijin Prefecture soldiers.
"Your Highness, my lady, the gates must not be opened! They must not!"
At his words, the soldiers once again took up positions before the gates. Song Yu scoffed at the sight.
"Then tell us, why must the gates remain shut?"
"After floods, epidemics always follow. Those soaked by the waters carry disease. If we let them out, more innocents will be infected."
Xie Zhiyi spoke with feigned righteousness. "Moreover, experience shows the floodwaters will recede in two or three days. Once they do, we will send food and lumber across, and the people can rebuild."
"If Your Highness truly pities them, Laijin Prefecture will open its granaries to compensate the victims once the disaster passes."
As Xie Zhiyi finished, Song Shihuan clapped slowly. "Magistrate Xie, what a brilliant strategy. No wonder we’ve heard so little of floods in Laijin despite the Mi River’s seasonal surges—this is how you’ve handled it all along."
"You flatter me, my lady. This method minimizes casualties."
Just as Xie Zhiyi thought he had swayed them, Song Shihuan suddenly thrust her spear toward his throat, stopping mere inches away.
"Those who defy humanity invite divine retribution."
"Floods are natural, but as officials, your duty is to manage them—to find ways to divert the waters, not sacrifice lives time and again. Today, these gates will open!"
"Your Highness, my lady, I beg you, they cannot be opened!"
Xie Zhiyi stood before the gates, his voice shaking. If the gates opened today, the lives of his entire clan—hundreds of souls—would be forfeit.
But if they remained shut, he might yet survive when the flood receded.
"Xie Zhiyi, do you think I dare not kill you?"
The townsfolk had never witnessed such a standoff. Yet with disaster looming just beyond the walls, they were torn—open the gates and risk plague, or leave their fellow citizens to perish?
"Killing me would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken, Your Highness. But can you bear to drag Ji'an Prefecture’s people into this calamity?"
"Moreover, without the Emperor’s decree or authority to command local troops, Laijin’s soldiers cannot obey you. To do so would be treason. Send word to the capital. If His Majesty orders it, I will open the gates at once."
Song Yu and Song Shihuan only smiled at Xie Zhiyi’s provocations—a smile that mocked his futility.
"I—I am the prefect of Laijin! I demand the gates be opened now!" Shen Qinghui’s voice rang out, yet not a single soldier moved to obey.
In an instant, the siblings’ smiles vanished.
A prefecture’s soldiers, ignoring their own prefect’s orders, heeding only a magistrate’s words.
Seeing this, Song Shihuan drew a jade seal from her sleeve and handed it to Song Yu.
Raising it high, Song Yu declared so all within and beyond the walls could hear:
"By the authority of the Crown Prince’s seal, I command Laijin’s soldiers to open these gates at once!"
The Crown Prince’s seal...
The triumph in Xie Zhiyi’s eyes dissolved.
And from the other side of the gates, the refugees erupted in a thunderous roar:
"Long live the Crown Prince! Long, long live His Highness!"
