HomeAfter I Bloom Hundred Flowers DieChapter 656: I Have a Brilliant Plan

Chapter 656: I Have a Brilliant Plan

Shen Xihe had done this deliberately. Xiao Changyan had been here since the drought began, working diligently for months, never abandoning Dengzhou. During the month-plus of heavy rain, he hadn’t let the people go hungry or cold, earning an excellent reputation among them.

If she didn’t damage his reputation somewhat, he could use this prestige and reputation to protect himself when she questioned him about Xiao Changgeng.

Shen Xihe didn’t deny Xiao Changyan’s previous merits, but she didn’t feel she was being despicable either. She hadn’t framed Xiao Changyan – he had handed her the knife himself, and wouldn’t it be wasteful not to use it?

“Sister-in-law, please don’t be angry. I was just thinking about how to transport things faster so the grain doesn’t pile up here,” Xiao Changyan remained steady as a mountain, seemingly unaffected as he calmly explained and made excuses for himself.

“Prince Jing need not worry. If we run out of carts, I’ll simply have them stop sending from the other shore,” Shen Xihe said flatly.

“Look at me, I was so overjoyed seeing the grain that I didn’t think of this. Sister-in-law, rest assured, I will ensure all grain entrusted to me reaches the city intact,” Xiao Changyan smiled and accepted Shen Xihe’s assignment, leading his men toward the unloading grain transport carts.

The silent Xiao Changqing, watching the supplies being unloaded stack by stack and the iron nets being sent back, curiously asked: “Imperial Crown Princess, how do you return these iron nets?”

Such fine iron nets, capable of carrying such heavy grain and sliding down from such heights without breaking, must be rare items and couldn’t be numerous. With the amount of grain being transported, there probably weren’t enough nets on the other shore.

Moreover, since the iron chains sloped down from the opposite shore to this side, the nets couldn’t be latched on to slide back up.

An unmeasurably wide river connected one shore to the other, with terrifying waves making boat travel impossible. Given such a vast distance, people couldn’t cross. Xiao Changqing grew curious.

“Prince Xin is exceptionally clever. Why not try to guess?” Shen Xihe didn’t answer him, instead handing the empty nets to Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan took ten iron nets and rode away. This task was naturally completed by the Eastern Eagles, though Shen Xihe had suggested to Xiao Huayong about setting up wood piles at a higher point to connect to the other side’s lower point to slide the nets back, but Xiao Huayong had rejected it.

Xiao Huayong said the Eastern Eagles were faster, and the iron chains were limited. Going there to return the nets would require extra people on the other shore to collect and send them, wasting time.

They couldn’t reveal the Eastern Eagles in front of everyone, so it was convenient that Xiao Huayong claimed illness, giving him a reason not to come here and instead stay elsewhere with the Eastern Eagles, directing their work.

The Eastern Eagles could carry a live person or a wild boar – a few iron nets were no burden at all.

The grain wasn’t transported all at once, and reaching the temporary dock on the other shore required taking an extremely circuitous route to reach where the wood piles could anchor the iron chains connecting to this side. They worked from daylight until nearly dark, transporting only about twenty carts of supplies.

However, these twenty-odd carts of grain were enough to solve the country’s urgent needs for several days. Everyone who came to transport was excited, showing no signs of fatigue. When the supplies entered the city, the watching citizens cheered, their eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing their beaming smiles and the light in their eyes warmed Shen Xihe’s heart. The subsequent task of distributing to various towns would be handled by Xiao Changqing. Shen Xihe returned to her residence, where Xiao Huayong had already prepared warming medicine and a medicinal bath, waiting for her return.

“The rain makes everything damp and the ground is cold. You shouldn’t go there anymore after this,” Xiao Huayong said with concern, holding Shen Xihe’s slightly cold feet.

Unable to pull away, Shen Xihe stopped struggling and let him help her soak her feet. “Mm, today was the only time I needed to go.”

The daily grain transport was limited, and who knew how many more trips would be needed? Today being the first day, many matters required Shen Xihe’s presence to keep Xiao Changyan and Xiao Changqing in check. Afterward, sending Mo Yuan to watch would suffice.

“Prince Xin and Prince Jing seemed very curious about how the iron nets are returned,” Shen Xihe mentioned.

Xiao Huayong chuckled softly, his thumb applying gentle pressure as he massaged Shen Xihe’s soles. “They’re not just curious about that, but also about how I set up the iron chains.”

The shores were far apart – throwing wasn’t possible, and the rushing river below made swimming or boats impossible.

But this would remain an unsolvable mystery for them. The other shore was essentially an isolated island, requiring an extremely long detour to reach via the calm branch of the river from another end. Even if Xiao Changqing and Xiao Changyan wanted to investigate, they couldn’t.

“I saw sparks when the nets slid down. Won’t the nets and chains wear through?” Shen Xihe remained worried.

“There’s wear, certainly, but they won’t break in three to five days. We don’t know how long this rain will last – if it continues for another month or two, don’t worry. I’ll have people constantly check for wear and have ordered more made as backup,” Xiao Huayong said calmly. “Don’t worry about the grain transport. After the grain arrives and is distributed, the urgent task is digging channels and waterways to direct flow to the sea.”

“Have Grandfather and the others planned out the excavation routes?” Shen Xihe asked.

Xiao Huayong dried her feet, carried her to the couch, carefully wrapped her in a rabbit fur blanket, then washed his hands, lit some incense, and brought several scroll paintings.

Shen Xihe reclined on the couch, casually unrolling one scroll. It showed a rough map of the county, with different colors marking areas of water accumulation, soil conditions, and suitable digging locations, trying to avoid homes though some would unavoidably need to be demolished.

As Shen Xihe unrolled scroll after scroll, she imagined how the waterways would look once complete. Her eyes grew brighter as she looked: “If this succeeds, this area will never worry about floods again!”

This water conservation project had been tentatively planned a month ago by Commissioner Tao and Zhong Pingzhi, receiving support from Shen Xihe and Xiao Huayong. The two had worked tirelessly to implement every detail, submitting it as quickly as possible.

“Not only will floods no longer be a concern but look at these areas – they’ll benefit farmers’ irrigation. And these spots here – Commissioner Tao and Master Zhong suggest building reservoirs to store large amounts of rainwater, solving future drought concerns as well,” Xiao Huayong pointed out to Shen Xihe.

The two discussed enthusiastically, their happy voices and laughter continuous when reaching exciting points.

“Everything is ready – we just need Youyou to convince the people.”

Local officials might oppose it, but being part of the court, they could only follow orders. Although the Emperor might reject it, given the great distance and current difficulty in communication, the Emperor’s commands could effectively be ignored.

As long as the people were convinced and willing to follow directions, everything would flow smoothly.

Shen Xihe’s lips curved upward as she looked at him meaningfully: “I have a brilliant plan that will surely make the people respond en masse – I just need to borrow your name.”

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