Qi Pingwei was left dumbfounded. That tongue of his was practically dripping with sarcasm.
Yet for some reason, although Zhou Leng’s mockery was aimed at their own side, Qi Pingwei did not feel particularly bothered by it.
But would Lord Wen be angered to death?
He turned toward Wen Zixin and, sure enough, saw him swaying on his feet, looking as though he were about to faint from rage.
Qi Pingwei hurried over to support him. “Lord Wen, are you all right?”
Wen Zixin gasped for breath, feeling as though he might cough up blood. At his age, no one had ever dared speak to him like that.
He had finally realized that not a single person in Fengzhou was easy to deal with. As expected of people raised under women’s authority—they had no manners at all.
He glared viciously at Zhou Leng. “Hmph. I won’t stoop to the level of a petty person.”
Zhou Leng tugged at the corner of his mouth. “A petty person? You mean yourself, right? Though you’re ugly, bald, and useless in every way, don’t despair. At least you’re right about one thing: you do have the correct self-awareness.”
This time, Wen Zixin really did feel as though he were about to vomit blood. “You—you…”
Even Xie Nanxiao did not know what to say. When it came to arguing, Zhou Leng was truly formidable.
He very considerately asked, “Would you like to continue? I suggest you prepare a bottle of heart-protecting pills first.”
Wen Zixin: “…”
Clutching his chest, he staggered back a step and finally shut his mouth.
Seeing that he was no longer causing trouble, Xie Nanxiao pointed at the map. “General Qi, is this the Bilan County you mentioned?”
Qi Pingwei came back to his senses and hurriedly nodded. “That’s right. This is a deep-water area with few reefs. Large ships can come ashore here, but there’s no dock, so unloading supplies may be difficult.”
Xie Nanxiao waved his hand. “It’s fine. We’ll inspect the docking conditions first.”
After discussing the best place to come ashore, he asked about the specific situation in Tao Commandery.
In fact, Xie Nanxiao had only received the notice yesterday. They had been ordered to go to Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery to provide disaster relief; there was no need to go anywhere else in Sizhou.
However, Sizhou had not provided many details about the conditions in those two commanderies.
Qi Pingwei sighed. “All we know is that the disaster is severe. Corpses are strewn everywhere, and the losses are tremendous. Alas.”
Xie Nanxiao felt that Sizhou’s attitude was somewhat perfunctory, but he did not pursue the matter. Instead, he looked at the men Qi Pingwei had brought with him. “How many people have you brought this time to assist us with disaster relief?”
Qi Pingwei answered sheepishly, “Only two thousand soldiers.”
Xie Nanxiao frowned slightly. “Will the garrisons in Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery assist us?”
Qi Pingwei looked even more ashamed. “No. An epidemic has broken out in both commanderies, and the soldiers stationed there refuse to leave the cities.”
Xie Nanxiao and the others were stunned.
Zhou Leng sneered, “Those who are capable worry about the world. Those who are incapable have nothing to worry about.”
Wen Zixin flew into a rage. “You—you dare slander His Majesty by calling him incapable?”
Zhou Leng shot him a sidelong glance. “I never named anyone. You’re the one who chose an incapable man for your emperor.”
Wen Zixin took another blow to the heart. His anger made him dizzy, and it took him a long while to regain his composure.
“Since you people of Fengzhou are so capable, then let the capable take charge. You can handle the relief efforts in Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery—and deal with the corpses as well.”
Xie Nanxiao shook his head. “I brought only a little over ten thousand soldiers. Providing disaster relief already leaves us short-handed. We have no manpower left to deal with corpses in every region.”
He looked at Wen Zixin, a trace of mockery flashing in his eyes. “This is Sizhou. Since the First Prince has declared himself emperor, his people are suffering under a natural disaster, yet he has not sent a single soldier, a single measure of grain, or a single dose of medicine. Can such conduct befit an emperor?”
Zhou Leng shook his head. “Naturally not.”
Yan Ke sighed. “Since he is unfit, why not hand those two commanderies over to someone capable?”
Xie Nanxiao’s brows twitched as he looked toward Wen Zixin. “What do you think? If the First Prince hands those two commanderies over to my lord, I will immediately send a carrier pigeon back to Fengzhou and request more troops to take charge of them. We will handle the corpses ourselves.”
Wen Zixin’s lips trembled. For a moment, he did not know what to say.
Qi Pingwei and Qiu Dao stared at the scene before them, completely dumbfounded.
His Majesty dared to think it, and Her Highness the Sixth Princess dared to do it!
One wanted to provide no effort at all while getting the disaster-stricken regions’ relief and reconstruction for free.
The other was thinking: Since I’m already providing the money, grain, and labor, why don’t you simply give the two commanderies to me?
They truly were siblings, in every sense of the word.
It was not until the fleet reached the place Qi Pingwei had mentioned that the ship’s cabin finally fell silent.
This really was a deep-water area, with practically no reefs. Along the shore stood enormous rocks arranged at something close to right angles, and behind them rose a low hillside.
The helmsmen were all experienced sailors. They quickly found a suitable place to dock, and the medium-sized ships went in first.
Thick, heavy wooden planks were laid down. The soldiers crossed onto the shore, pulled out their engineer shovels, and immediately began working with loud, forceful strikes.
Qi Pingwei could not help exclaiming, “What kind of tool is that? Why can it extend and retract?”
Xie Nanxiao explained, “It’s an engineer shovel. It’s convenient to carry when traveling.”
Watching gravel and sand fly along the shore, Qi Pingwei sighed in admiration. “Not only is it convenient, but it’s useful too.”
He turned to Xie Nanxiao. “Will you sell me one?”
Xie Nanxiao shook his head. “No.”
As more and more naval soldiers came ashore, the entire area grew lively.
Some soldiers were building a temporary dock, others were looking for suitable places to drive iron posts into the ground as mooring bollards, and still others were clearing a road.
This was a stretch of wasteland, and there was still some distance to the main road. On top of that, the torrential rain had destroyed the terrain, leaving potholes and mud everywhere. It all had to be cleared before supplies could be transported.
The clanging and banging almost drowned out the sound of the waves.
Meanwhile, food had begun to be prepared on the ships.
Qi Pingwei did not know what to say. “You—you’ve already started cooking? But—but we haven’t even done anything yet!”
Xie Nanxiao raised the pocket watch hanging before his chest and glanced at it. “It’s ten fifty now. The food will be ready around noon, just in time for everyone to eat and get to work.”
Qi Pingwei looked utterly bewildered. Unable to resist, he leaned forward to peer at Xie Nanxiao’s pocket watch. “What does that mean? What is that thing?”
With a snap, Xie Nanxiao closed the watch and tucked it inside his clothing. “This is a pocket watch specially bestowed by my lord. It can tell the exact time. You wouldn’t understand.”
Qi Pingwei: “…”
He coughed. “Why don’t you explain it to me?”
Xie Nanxiao shook his head. “You haven’t received any basic education. Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”
Qi Pingwei: “…”
This man was truly irritating.
Still, he could not help asking, “What does ‘basic education’ mean?”
Xie Nanxiao: “…”
Wen Zixin sat listlessly to one side, but his ears had perked up as far as they would go. He wanted to glean more useful information.
Xie Nanxiao looked outside. “You should send people to notify the various counties. Otherwise, our arrival might cause a misunderstanding.”
He sighed. “It would be best if your local officials could cooperate with us and help inform the people in each area to wait at the designated locations for rescue. Relying on our own people alone will be difficult.”
Qi Pingwei sighed along with him. He had been thinking the same thing. However, with the plague raging, he feared that the garrison troops in those two commanderies would refuse to leave the cities.
Even so, he quickly issued orders for soldiers to notify each county seat and military camp that the Jinyang Army would be entering the area to provide disaster relief.
Before long, several dozen horses were led off the ship, their eyes covered. The soldiers mounted and galloped toward Tao Commandery.
Some of the Jinyang Army’s sailors were sent out as well. Some would act alongside the troops from Sizhou, while others were sent ahead to scout the roads and inspect the situation.
Before leaving, the Jinyang Army sailors each put on a mask and handed one to every soldier from the Sizhou army as well.
The Sizhou soldiers said nothing and put them on directly. During the Ji'an epidemic, they had already seen the people from Fenggexuan wearing masks, so they knew that masks were a precaution against infectious disease.
Qiu Dao looked at everything before him and sighed in admiration. “You’ve prepared so thoroughly.”
