Wanzhong took out the portrait of Concubine Jia from the corner and brought it to Emperor Yao. Emperor Yao looked at the woman in the painting and stroked the cheek of the person in the painting with his trembling palms.
"Wan Zhong, hurry up and do what I asked you to do. Just hang this portrait in my palace."
…
After the rain dispersed, the scorching sun evaporated all the water from the ground in a few days, leaving cracks everywhere on the loess ground.
With a thirsty mouth, Li Wei looked at the devastated land and asked anxiously: "Hasn't the imperial court responded yet?"
The zhezi has been sent to the capital for several days. It stands to reason that such a big thing happened, and the court should have made some announcement.
There was a layer of loess on the subordinates' bodies, and both of them were unshaven, looking no different from refugees.
"Sir, I have sent you three warnings in a row, but the court has not responded yet, and I don't know what's going on!"
Only the downstream dams were washed away by this flood, and Xuzhou was the most severely affected.
"Did the prefect of Xuzhou submit any information to the court?"
Li Wei was so anxious that he had blisters on his mouth, and his subordinates were also angry.
"I handed it in. The victims from several nearby counties are rushing to Xuzhou City, but there is no order from the court. Xuzhou City cannot accommodate so many refugees!"
"Then someone cut him off on the road!"
Li Wei had no choice but to write a secret letter in his own hand and gave it to his subordinates.
"Go to the capital in person and find a way to deliver this letter to Si Yiluo's house!"
Now there is nothing to avoid.
Due to the rain this year, mature crops were not harvested in time, and all were destroyed by floods. People's belongings were also washed away, and the only edible things on the ground were grass roots and bark.
The weather is hot now. If we wait a few more days and no one cleans up the rotting animal carcasses and human corpses, it will develop into a plague. If the victims are not treated in time, it will easily lead to civil unrest.
Who cares about his friendship with Si Yiluo at this time! If King Zhan can take care of this matter, he will directly hand the certificate to Prince Zhan's Mansion!
The subordinates traveled day and night to deliver the secret message to the capital. Another two days had passed.
Si Yiluo saw the contents of the letter.
"Is there really a flood in Xuzhou?"
No news has been received from below, and no one in the DPRK or China has mentioned it in the past few days!
The subordinates felt anxious.
"Master Si, my lord has submitted three sealed envelopes in a row but there is no news. The prefect of Xuzhou has also handed over the envelope, but until now there is no follow-up. I don't know where the problem is!"
"My lord is deeply concerned about the victims of the disaster, and there is really nothing we can do, so I asked the official to go to Beijing in person and hand over this secret letter to you. The people of Xuzhou are in dire straits, and there is no time to waste. Please Sir, please hand over this letter to me."
emperor!"
The situation was urgent. As soon as Si Yiluo returned to his house, the stool was not warm yet, so he immediately ordered his servants to prepare horses and rush to the palace.
After the palace door was locked, she waited outside the palace for nearly half an hour before she received Emperor Yao's command.
When we arrived outside Emperor Yao's palace, another two quarters of an hour passed.
"Your Majesty, the floods in Xuzhou a few days ago broke down the Yellow River embankments. Several counties including Tongshan, Peixian and Xiaoxian were severely affected, and hundreds of thousands of people were affected. Mr. Li submitted the report to the imperial court several times, but there was no response. He had no choice but to
Only then did I send the secret message to the minister’s house.”
"I don't dare to delay after receiving the news. This is a secret message!"
Emperor Yao had rested early today and was forcibly awakened. He was suffering from a headache. When he heard the news, most of his sleepiness was gone.
"What did you say? The Yellow River burst its banks? Only this spring the imperial court made great efforts to urge rivers to be dredged..."
The handwriting on the letter was scrawled, and it looked like it had been written in a hurry. Emperor Yao read it for a long time, rubbed his temples and said: "Wan Zhong, go find He Yan, and then announce that Prime Minister Shen and the two elders have entered the palace to discuss matters. .”
The situation was urgent, Wan Zhong said yes and hurriedly ran out of the palace.
"Wait a minute!" Emperor Yao stopped him, "Invite the three ministers from the Ministry of Personnel, Household Affairs and Industry, and inform the princes."
His tone paused.
"Let them enter the palace together to discuss affairs and listen to politics."
In the past, he refused to delegate power, and the princes never had the opportunity to participate in government affairs. Now... Si Yiluo lowered his eyes and waited for his orders.
The Yellow River broke its banks, but the news could not be sent to the capital. If it was not intercepted by someone on the road, it was intercepted by someone in the capital. If such a big thing was really suppressed by someone, the nature of it is probably not as simple as bursting of the banks. .
Emperor Yao didn't know what he was thinking after leaning against the bed tent, while Si Yiluo lowered his eyes in respect.
This is what Wei Heyan saw when he arrived.
"Your Majesty, my servant is late, please forgive me."
On the way out of the palace, he met Si Yiluo, who was galloping on his horse. It was dark and she didn't even see his car. Something serious must have happened.
He turned the carriage around and returned to the palace. After entering the palace, he first sorted out the recent news and went over what happened recently before he dared to appear in front of Emperor Yao.
Emperor Yao's voice came from behind the gauze curtain.
"He Yan, has the DPRK received any news from Xuzhou recently?"
Wei Heyan had just read the news. Everything was normal in Xuzhou, but to ask Si Yiluo to knock on the palace door after the key was locked, it showed that something big must have happened in Xuzhou!
"Back to the Emperor, I have just gone to read the latest news, but there is no secret message from Xuzhou."
"What about the memorials? Among the memorials delivered to the court every day, are there any memorials from the prefect of Xuzhou and Li Wei?"
The memorials sent from the local government had to go through the cabinet before being sent to Emperor Yao's case. Wei Heyan shook his head and said: "Back to the emperor, I only have the memorial that Lord Li reported on the dredging process a month ago."
That is to say, someone took away Levi's discount.
Emperor Yao ordered: "Si Qing, show Li Wei's secret letter to He Yan."
Si Yiluo handed over the secret letter, and Wei Heyan reached out to receive it suspiciously. Si Yiluo turned his back to Emperor Yao and gave him a heavy look.
Wei Heyan suddenly remembered what the two of them had said before and contacted Xuzhou.
After reading the content of the letter again, I immediately understood.
"Your Majesty, this slave is guilty, please punish me!"
Emperor Yao just waved his hand through the gauze curtain.
"What does it have to do with you? The sky is high and the emperor is far away. The people below want to hide it from me... You get up. The first priority is to find the discount first, and wait for Prime Minister Shen and others to discuss countermeasures after they enter the palace."
"Slave, let's go find him now!"
It has been getting hotter day by day since the rain stopped. Lying on the bed felt like pancakes. Zhou Zhan had already rested and was woken up by a servant.
"Your Highness, someone from the palace invites you to come into the palace to discuss matters."
Yinyue's voice came through the door, and Zhou Zhan got up and put on his clothes.
Shen Moran thought about his past life and whispered in his ear: "It may be that the Xuzhou embankment was washed away by the flood. Your Highness may wish to think of countermeasures on the way."
She knew what was going on before entering the palace. Zhou Zhan asked doubtfully: "How did the princess know?"
Shen Moran had no idea of being exposed at all. She covered her mouth and nose with a fan in her hand and smiled arrogantly.
"Aluo should be in the palace now."
She did not explain in detail, but Zhou Zhan heard the implication. Si Yiluo should have sent someone to inform her about this matter. According to past practice, no one from the palace would come to the palace to ask him to enter the palace to discuss matters, so there was no Tell him the need.
Tonight is another test for him.
"Okay, Princess, please go to bed early."
The stars are shining tonight, but it is a sleepless night.
Wanzhong helped Emperor Yao dress neatly and came to the imperial study room. Everyone had arrived one after another.
Si Yiluo took out the secret letter and after everyone circulated it, Zhou Chen asked: "Such a big thing happened. Mr. Li did not report it to the court, but sent the secret letter to Mr. Si's house. I don't know what his intentions are..."