“His Lordship is truly impressive. He reclaimed two commanderies without shedding a drop of blood,” Qiu Wu marveled.
Xie Nanxiao shook his head. “Isn’t His Lordship’s real brilliance in burning all the grain in Anwu County?”
Qiu Wu nodded. “Indeed. His plans are flawless.”
Xie Nanxiao glanced at him. “Not bad. You’re using idioms one after another now.”
“Hehe, naturally. If I hadn’t joined the army, I might have become a teacher.” Qiu Wu was rather proud of himself.
Xie Nanxiao scoffed. “You? You look like an uncouth brute. What part of you resembles a teacher?”
Qiu Wu didn’t take offense. “Haven’t you heard the saying? You can’t judge a person by appearances.”
In Sizhou, Jiu’an.
Chen Xi stood before the large glass window of Fengge Pavilion, watching the torrential rain outside. Worry flashed across his eyes.
“With rain this heavy, the people outside must be having a hard time,” Mei Sheng sighed.
Chen Xi sighed as well. “Rain at this time of year means the harvest will probably be poor. I wonder how much grain the First Prince and the others have stored?”
Mei Sheng shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Chen Xi murmured softly, “I wonder how things are going for His Lordship.”
Though his voice was quiet, Mei Sheng still heard him. He couldn’t help worrying. To him, fighting from deep within enemy territory was far too dangerous.
Just then, several mounted riders came galloping down the street, splashing water everywhere.
“What happened?” Mei Sheng’s gaze sharpened.
Chen Xi’s expression darkened as well. “Something must have gone wrong.”
As they spoke, Li Tong hurried in. Though he was holding an umbrella, his clothes and hair were practically soaked through.
“What happened?” Chen Xi’s expression sank at the sight of him.
Li Tong wiped the rainwater from his face. “Something’s happened. Flooding has broken out in many parts of Sizhou. Houses have collapsed, villages have been destroyed, and there have been numerous landslides. In short, the casualties are severe.”
Chen Xi asked, “Have the local authorities sent anyone to help with the rescue efforts?”
Li Tong shook his head. “No. The officials are all hiding inside the cities. Not a single one of them has gone out.”
Mei Sheng frowned. “In weather like this, even if they wanted to help, it would be difficult.”
Li Tong disagreed. “They should at least try. What does it mean to do nothing at all?”
Mei Sheng smiled bitterly. “Isn’t that how things are usually done?”
Li Tong stared blankly at him, then followed with a bitter smile.
He had been with His Lordship for too long. He had grown accustomed to His Lordship helping every kind of disaster victim and had completely forgotten how the officials in Sizhou normally behaved.
Chen Xi let out a sigh and instructed him, “All right, go and change into some dry clothes. Don’t catch a chill.”
Li Tong nodded and hurried into the inner room.
Zhenghe Hall.
Jiang Chun swept a grim gaze over the ministers below.
“I have just received word that Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery have suffered severe flooding. The other commanderies were not affected as badly, but they have all been impacted by the torrential rain to varying degrees. The disaster is spreading everywhere.”
“Tell me, gentlemen, how should we provide relief and pacify the people?”
Dong Cheng shook his head. “Your Majesty, even if we are to provide disaster relief, we must wait until the rain stops. With the storm as violent as it is now, sending people out would accomplish nothing and might only cost us soldiers and officials.”
Wen Zixin’s expression was grave. “The soldiers and officials in the cities and garrisons of the two most severely affected commanderies could begin relief efforts on their own. Once the rain stops, we can send people there.”
Jiang Chun shook his head. “The county seats and military camps in both commanderies have suffered varying degrees of flood damage. Many of the granaries have been submerged.”
“They can barely save themselves. There’s no way they can provide relief. It would be fortunate if they didn’t have to ask us for help.”
Qi Pingwei sighed. “It seems we can only wait until the rain stops.”
Jiang Chun turned to Du Guan, the Grand Astrologer. “Can your Bureau of Astronomy determine when this rain will stop?”
Cold sweat instantly drenched Du Guan’s back, but his face remained calm. “Your Majesty, the rain is too heavy to make any observations.”
Jiang Chun’s face darkened as if it could drip ink. “If you’re this useless, what purpose do you serve?”
When the rain had first begun, he had secretly been delighted. He believed that he was the Son of Heaven, protected by the heavens, and that the rain after a prolonged drought was an auspicious sign.
But the rain had continued without end, growing heavier with every passing day.
At the time, he had asked the Bureau of Astronomy about it, and Du Guan had said it would definitely stop after three days.
Yet three days had passed, followed by another three days, and then another. By now, no one knew how many sets of three days had gone by. And now, when asked again, Du Guan actually claimed he didn’t know?
“Your Majesty, please forgive me,” Du Guan said, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“Forgive you? Flooding has now broken out across Sizhou. The crops will fail, and the people are suffering. How do you expect me to forgive you?” Jiang Chun was furious.
The ministers in the hall fell silent, trembling like cicadas in winter.
It was obvious that His Majesty was taking his anger out on Du Guan. Although the Bureau of Astronomy was responsible for observing celestial phenomena, its usual duties involved calculating the seasons, establishing the calendar, and overseeing sacrificial rites.
The weather was unpredictable. No one genuinely expected the Bureau of Astronomy to determine whether the skies would be clear or rainy, because it was impossible to get such predictions right.
Du Guan bowed again. “Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am willing to accept punishment.”
Jiang Chun’s expression grew even uglier. He stared at him for several breaths before saying, “You are hereby removed from your position as Grand Astrologer. Return home and reflect on your mistakes.”
Du Guan secretly let out a breath of relief. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
As long as he wasn’t losing his head, that position could go to whoever wanted it.
When His Majesty had previously asked when the rain would stop, Du Guan had tried to evade the question by saying that he couldn’t predict the weather. But His Majesty had insisted that he give some sort of answer.
Left with no choice, Du Guan had fudged it and said “approximately three days.”
As it turned out, his estimate had been no estimate at all. Three days had passed, then another three, and this cursed sky seemed determined to defy him, refusing to stop raining.
Being dismissed was wonderful. Now he wouldn’t be forced to predict the weather anymore and could finally sleep soundly.
As Jiang Chun watched Du Guan respectfully withdraw, he couldn’t understand why the man seemed to be in such a good mood.
Jiang Chun: “…”
“Your Majesty, although we cannot go out to provide relief while the storm continues, we can prepare the relief supplies in advance, such as rice, grain, and medicinal herbs,” Dong Cheng suggested.
It was common knowledge that epidemics often followed major disasters, so the medicinal supplies had to be prepared beforehand to prevent disease from spreading on a large scale.
Jiang Chun suppressed the frustration in his heart. “Tell me, gentlemen, how much grain and how many medicinal herbs should we prepare? And where are they to come from?”
Qiu Dao frowned. “Your Majesty, we will certainly not have enough medicinal herbs on our own. We will need to cooperate with the major medicinal merchants.”
Jiang Chun nodded. “You will be responsible for this matter.”
Qiu Dao did not refuse. He merely asked, “How much funding does Your Majesty intend to allocate?”
Jiang Chun: “…”
“This is to save the people. Have those medicinal merchants donate some of their herbs.”
Qiu Dao: “…”
“Your Majesty, even if they are willing to donate, the quantity will still be limited.”
Jiang Chun waved a hand. “We’ll do as much as we can with however much medicine they provide.”
Qiu Dao lowered his eyes. As expected, it was just like before.
How much could they possibly obtain through donations alone?
For the countless disaster victims, such a small amount of medicine would be nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
He sighed and changed the subject. “We still don’t know the exact conditions after the disaster. Epidemics are usually difficult to treat and highly contagious. Without a prescription…”
Everyone couldn’t help thinking of the epidemic outside Jiu’an City. At that time, they had used a prescription from Fengge Pavilion.
Jiang Chun’s expression turned cold. How could that be Fengge Pavilion’s prescription? It had clearly been Jiang Jin’s.
His dear imperial sister truly knew how to win people’s hearts on his own territory.
Dong Cheng’s eyes flickered. “Since Fengge Pavilion has a prescription, we can simply have them contribute it. This concerns the lives of thousands upon thousands of people. Surely they will be willing.”
Qiu Dao: “…”
He knew it. He didn’t know why, but at that moment he felt somewhat envious of Du Guan.
If he submitted his resignation now, would he be dragged outside and beheaded?
He was just about to speak, but Jiang Chun gave him no chance. She settled the matter with finality: “Minister Qiu, you will be responsible for this.”
