Chapter 117 |
The magistrate of Le'an County hurried out.
The magistrate, surnamed Hua, wore straw sandals with his trouser legs rolled up to his knees. Mud stains dotted his clothes as he ran over, clutching a jade thumb ring, his face dripping with sweat.
His features were somewhat simian, but he looked quite young, probably in his early twenties. He was likely a Jinshi from the last Spring Examination, assigned here as a county magistrate.
Magistrate Hua looked left and right. "May I ask, who does this thumb ring belong to?"
A young man with a haggard appearance rushed out, tears in his eyes. His gaze fixed intently on Qu Dubian, and he called out with deep affection, "Seventh Brother—!"
It was the Sixth Prince.
He had never looked so wretched before. He wore coarse cloth garments that exposed his arms and calves, both covered in small scratches. His hair was a disheveled mess.
Qu Dubian expressionlessly swatted him away with a slap.
He took the thumb ring from Magistrate Hua and put it back on. "Where is Consort Xuan?"
He hastily bowed and said, "Consort Xuan is in the rear courtyard. Please, follow me."
Magistrate Hua led the way for Qu Dubian.
Qu Dubian quickened his pace to follow. "Is Consort Xuan injured?"
The Sixth Prince, covering his cheek in grievance, still understood his younger brother's poor mood and explained in a low voice, "When the flood hit, we were halfway up the mountain and almost got swept away. Thankfully, Consort Xuan's martial arts are excellent. She, along with the guards, pulled us up to the mountaintop."
"But there were falling rocks at the summit. Consort Xuan was hit on the head by a stone and has been unconscious since."
The Sixth Prince lifted his own garment, revealing a large dark bruise on his back and shoulder. "That rock was vicious. I tried to block it but couldn't stop it completely, and it still hit Consort Xuan."
In these few words, Qu Dubian could imagine how perilous the situation had been.
The dam collapsed, rain poured down, rocks tumbled, and landslides carried away trees, yet they had no choice but to climb to the mountaintop to escape the floodwaters.
Qu Dubian didn't utter a word. A person who is usually jovial isn't frightening, but when someone accustomed to smiling wears a stern face, their intimidation factor skyrockets.
The Sixth Prince's heart thumped nervously. He silently lowered his clothes, neither claiming credit nor making another sound.
Yi Shier, Yu Ruo, and Gu Xin followed behind them.
Magistrate Hua led them to the rear courtyard.
The area behind the county office had been converted by Magistrate Hua into living quarters. For the convenience of his daily duties, he hadn't even purchased a separate residence. Instead, he lived here directly with his wife and children.
Consort Xuan had been settled in the rear courtyard, cared for by Magistrate Hua's wife.
The room was filled with the familiar smell of medicinal herbs.
Consort Xuan lay on the bed, several silver needles inserted into her head. A physician was taking her pulse.
Qu Dubian wiped the cold sweat from his palm, walked to the bedside, and asked in a hushed tone, "How is she?"
After a moment, the physician withdrew his hand and sighed. "There is a blockage of blood in the skull. My skills are limited. I can only stabilize her with acupuncture and prescribe medicine to prevent the condition from worsening."
Qu Dubian pressed his lips together, looking at Consort Xuan on the bed.
A moment later, he sat by the bedside, took Consort Xuan's hand, and sent a stream of prolonged internal energy coursing slowly through her meridians.
Consort Xuan's breathing steadied slightly.
Qu Dubian said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, physician."
Stabilizing her for now was fine. At most by tomorrow, Ye Banban would arrive with the imperial physicians.
Magistrate Hua quietly explained the situation.
The physician had been urgently borrowed from a neighboring county. His skills were passable. As Consort Xuan was not fit to be moved, she would temporarily rest at the Le'an County office.
Qu Dubian nodded to show he understood.
The Sixth Prince said, "Speaking of which, it was Xia Fuyang who rescued us and brought us down."
Qu Dubian looked up. "Where is he?"
The Sixth Prince: "He led troops to conduct rescues in various counties. After saving us, he instructed the magistrate to look after us and left without even resting."
Qu Dubian thought to himself that Xia Fuyang probably hadn't yet received the news that he had also arrived.
The Sixth Prince: "Little Seven, did you come alone? Didn't Father send anyone?"
Qu Dubian: "The people Father sent will probably take five days to arrive. They are a large group and are likely bringing some supplies. With the rain on the road and carriages difficult to move, they can't travel quickly."
A flicker of disappointment passed through Magistrate Hua's eyes. "So long..."
Qu Dubian glanced at him. After feeding the medicine, he entrusted Consort Xuan to the care of the magistrate's wife and quietly withdrew.
-
Qu Dubian and his companions would naturally also need to stay at the county office. Magistrate Hua had people prepare two rooms.
The preparations were rushed but barely tidy. Qu Dubian didn't mind much; as long as they were habitable, it was fine.
After all the commotion, it took another half an hour.
When Qu Dubian finally sat down to catch his breath, he spared a thought for the Sixth Prince. "Sixth Brother, thank you."
He was referring to the Sixth Prince blocking the blow for Consort Xuan.
The Sixth Prince: "For anyone else, I definitely wouldn't have blocked it. If they die, they die. Why should I take the pain? But Consort Xuan is close to you, so I did it." He snorted. "From now on, you can't make me do chores or hit me anymore."
Qu Dubian poked the bruise on his back and shoulder.
The Sixth Prince yelped in pain.
Qu Dubian thought to himself that this at most repaid a small part of the debt owed; he couldn't let him off so easily.
The Sixth Prince said angrily, "Little Seven!"
Qu Dubian: "Alright, alright. I have something to ask you. What do you think of this Magistrate Hua?"
The Sixth Prince rubbed his shoulder: "He seems like a good person. Just... doesn't seem like an official."
"Oh?"
"What official in the capital would build straw shelters for those refugees outside? Getting himself covered in mud, being cursed by the refugees—it's completely undignified. I don't understand why he puts up with it."
Qu Dubian became thoughtful.
The Sixth Prince seemed to just realize something. "Oh, I haven't asked yet. Isn't that Yu Ruo with you? Why did he come too?"
Qu Dubian: "The disaster also affected the people of Nanning. Sixth Brother, you should go back and rest. If anything happens to Consort Xuan, come tell me immediately."
The Sixth Prince: "Alright... understood."
-
Dusk fell.
Yi Shier made a round outside.
Because the crowds were dense, all concentrated around the county office area, progress on building the straw shelters for lodging was slow. The distributed porridge was extremely watery. The people's mood was poor; in just half an afternoon, five or six conflicts had already broken out.
He relayed all the information he had gathered to Qu Dubian.
At dinnertime.
Magistrate Hua personally brought the food.
Two plates of vegetables and three bowls of rice.
Yu Ruo glanced at it and commented, "The food is quite good."
Under the current conditions, having rice and vegetables was indeed quite good.
He was still dressed as a servant. Before the Seventh Prince had even started eating, he picked up his chopsticks first. Magistrate Hua stared, wide-eyed. "This..."
Qu Dubian: "I forgot to introduce. This is His Highness Yu Ruo of Nanning."
Yu Ruo: "Just a minor hostage prince. Pay me no mind. You may speak."
Magistrate Hua's mouth twitched. "..."
Qu Dubian also handed him a pair of chopsticks, inviting him to sit.
"I have some matters I'd like to ask the Magistrate."
Three princes, one imperial consort... what virtue did Le'an County possess to have so many important figures taking shelter here?
Magistrate Hua respectfully accepted the chopsticks but didn't dare use them. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "Please, go ahead."
Qu Dubian pointed at the food on the table. "I see there is clearly still grain within the county office, so why is the porridge in the relief kitchens outside as thin as water?"
Magistrate Hua was taken aback, not expecting this seemingly pampered prince from the deep palace to have noticed the situation of the common people outside.
Qu Dubian said, "Don't worry, this isn't a reprimand."
Magistrate Hua sighed. "There's no grain."
Qu Dubian asked, "No grain in the charity granary?"
Magistrate Hua replied, "None. The charity granary has always been managed by the Prefect of Xianghe Prefecture. The day after the flood disaster struck, relief grain was allocated from it."
He pointed to the piles of grain in the main hall.
"The grain arrived, but those who delivered it told us that this was all the relief grain there was, with no second batch coming," Magistrate Hua's brows furrowed with worry. "Le'an County has twenty to thirty thousand people. Making this bit of grain last, providing some watery soup each day, is already the limit. I'm still anxiously waiting for the imperial envoy dispatched by the court."
Who would have thought that a younger prince would arrive first, someone he now had to divert attention to care for.
Qu Dubian asked, "Why is there no second batch?"
Magistrate Hua sighed again. "Your Highness, three prefectures were struck by this disaster. The largest charity granary is in Xianghe Prefecture, while the granaries in the other two prefectures were damaged to varying degrees by the floodwaters. Now everyone is depending on Xianghe Prefecture for food. A single prefecture oversees over a dozen to twenty counties. Getting this much is considered quite good."
The Prefect of Xianghe Prefecture was so worried about how to distribute the grain from the charity granary more fairly that he was losing hair.
Whichever county received less, the affected people would be full of complaints and discontent.
Magistrate Hua said, "Your Highnesses, please, you two eat first. I have other matters to attend to."
Qu Dubian stopped him. "Wait."
"During the flood relief efforts, have any people from Nanning been found?"
Magistrate Hua glanced at Yu Ruo and said hesitantly, "Naturally, there have been. Just not many. They are probably distributed across various counties. In Le'an County, there are roughly over a hundred, all gathered in one place now."
Yu Ruo stood up. "Where?"
Magistrate Hua looked troubled. "After all, they are not people of Great Zhou, and the common people of Great Zhou don't think too highly of those from Nanning. So their location is quite far from the county office. It's late now, and the roads aren't safe. What do you think about going tomorrow instead?"
Gu Xin also advised, "Your Highness, there's no need to rush."
Yu Ruo restrained himself. "Then I must trouble you, Magistrate, to take me there first thing tomorrow morning."
Magistrate Hua said, "Of course."
After some brief pleasantries, Yu Ruo returned to his room. Magistrate Hua went outside the county office, where people rescued from the water were continuously arriving, coming to rest in the straw shelters set up by the county office.
Qu Dubian went to check on Consort Xuan again.
Consort Xuan was still unconscious.
He kept vigil until midnight, when Yi Shier forcibly pulled him away.
Yi Shier said, "Your Highness, you need to rest."
Two days and nights without stopping, not having closed his eyes once, and still not sleeping at this hour—Yi Shier felt that if he didn't intervene to sanction His Highness, they would both be sanctioned by Xiao Yuan later.
"We've found Consort Xuan. The imperial physician will arrive tomorrow, and she will recover. Don't worry."
Qu Dubian said, "I'm not very sleepy."
He stood by the window looking out, faintly able to hear the sounds of arguments and weeping from outside the county office.
In the aftermath of the flood, the people had lost loved ones, lost wealth accumulated over years, and lost their homes. Their emotions were too unstable. Coupled with the food shortage, if this continued, trouble was likely to arise.
Magistrate Hua was a competent official and was still outside trying to soothe the people's emotions.
But disaster relief in ancient times was too slow, and Magistrate Hua's methods of managing the disaster were also problematic, lacking a systematic approach.
On the way here, Qu Dubian had known that the batch of supplies Uncle Le Tian was bringing would come in handy. He had originally planned to leave the supplies and the imperial physicians behind, and after finding Consort Xuan and the Sixth Prince, to dutifully wait for people from the capital to handle the aftermath.
But now Consort Xuan was unconscious, and he himself was in the midst of it all. He couldn't just stand by and watch so many disaster victims without doing anything.
Yi Shier said, "Your Highness, if you don't sleep, I'll tell Xiao Yuan."
"Alright, alright, I'll sleep. But before I do, I want to write something down."
He didn't ask Liuliu to leave. Liuliu could be trusted; there was no need to hide things from him. But as for others... it was better not to reveal it. He needed to wear a disguise.
Qu Dubian went to the desk, spread out a piece of paper, and after grinding the ink, switched the brush to his left hand.
Under Yi Shier's astonished gaze, Qu Dubian began to write: "Twenty Guidelines for Post-Flood Disaster Management."
The brushstrokes were free and easy, sharp and vigorous.
They formed a stark contrast to the steady, ordinary, and unremarkable handwriting of his right hand.