Following the dry riverbed south, Song Jinzhao and her group finally arrived at Mount Suiyu just as the evening sun was about to set.
Song Jinzhao looked toward the small path leading up the mountain. "Let's go up and take a look."
Liu Hucheng looked hesitant.
"My Lady, it is getting late. Perhaps we should go up tomorrow, otherwise it will be completely dark by the time we come down."
The mountain walls were steep and covered in rocks. It would be easy to trip and fall in the dark when they could not see the path.
Song Jinzhao shook her head and pointed to a spot wedged between two mountains. "We will not go to the peak. Let's just check out that spot first."
Half an hour later, looking at the riverbed blocked behind the cliff, Song Jinzhao fell deep into thought.
It was this very cliff wall, piled high with rocks beneath their feet, that had cut off the river water originally flowing toward Laogan Ditch.
Judging by the location, this cliff wall must have been formed by the collapse of the mountains on both sides. As long as they blew up this mountain, the water from the Suiyu River could flow into Laogan Ditch once again.
Seeing that Song Jinzhao remained silent, the impatient Liu Hucheng frequently glanced at the others.
Seeing them looking as if they were perfectly used to this, he had no choice but to suppress his doubts and continue waiting.
Watching the sky begin to darken, Song Jinzhao turned and said, "Let's go."
Liu Hucheng blinked, looking completely bewildered.
He followed her, feeling deeply puzzled.
Riding a horse all day just to come look at a mountain, only to leave without saying a single word—what exactly was this County Princess Linghui planning?
She couldn't possibly just have too much free time on her hands.
It was unrealistic to travel back to Suining City overnight, so they spent that evening at a nearby villager's home.
Seeing Song Jinzhao swallow the wild vegetables that looked like grass roots from her bowl without changing her expression, Liu Hucheng's face showed admiration in addition to shock.
Even though these wild vegetables had been boiled in water, their texture was still extremely coarse.
The fact that Song Jinzhao, as a County Princess, could actually eat them without showing any disgust seemed simply unbelievable to Liu Hucheng.
Song Jinzhao asked as she ate, her tone as casual as if she were making small talk.
"Old man, do you always eat this?"
The wrinkled old man's hands trembled as he held his chopsticks.
He sighed, "The highland barley we harvested last year was just finished off last month. Now we only have wild vegetables. Fortunately, there are plenty on the mountain, enough to last us until the autumn harvest."
Song Jinzhao chewed the tasteless wild grass roots in her mouth, only feeling them scratch her throat.
Spring planting had not been long ago; waiting until the autumn harvest would take about four months.
That meant they would have to eat wild vegetables for four months.
She noticed two wooden buckets placed in the corner, one of which still contained water.
"Where do the nearby commoners get their daily water?"
Coming from Mount Suiyu, Song Jinzhao had not seen a river, nor even a stream.
The old man smiled and pointed casually toward the window.
"There is snowmelt flowing out from the crevices in the rocks on the mountain. We all get our water from there."
Song Jinzhao did not speak.
She had seen the rock crevices with flowing water at the foot of the mountain just earlier. It was six miles away from here, making it a twelve-mile round trip.
Without any means of transportation, carrying water back and forth by human labor would be incredibly exhausting.
Thinking of Laogan Ditch not far from the village, Song Jinzhao took a deep breath, only feeling the pressure increase.
The day after returning to the government office, Song Jinzhao rode her horse to the lower reaches of Laogan Ditch.
At first, the riverbed was still visible, but later it turned into a plain with villages built on it; the original shape could no longer be seen.
Just blowing up the mountain was not enough; the flowing water needed somewhere to go. She had to find an existing river for it to merge into.
On the map in the study, Song Jinzhao had marked out tributaries of all sizes with a pen.
Too small would not work; it would not be able to handle the water volume.
Too far would not work either; digging it out would be time-consuming and laborious.
Finally, Song Jinzhao set the connection point at the lower reaches of the Yongning River.
The riverbed was wide enough, and the depth was sufficient. The lower reaches led straight to Qingxia County. With an increase in water volume, the water usage problems of the commoners on both banks could also be alleviated.
